Half-Life 2 Playthrough Part 3

Left 4 Dead 2 Gameplay Video

Review: Gears of War

I’ve got to be honest, I was hesitant to play Gears of War because it is a third-person shooter and I much prefer first-person shooters. I was thinking I would be comparing it with FPS games such as Call of Duty. However, GoW is completely different than what I was expecting, in a good way.

Gears of War 3 was developed by Epic Games and released by Microsoft exclusively for the Xbox 360 in 2011. It is the 3^rd installment in the Gears of War series. This was my first Gears experience so I’m not an expert on the storyline from the previous two games so I will focus on the story just for this one.

Marcus Fenix is a soldier who is part of The Coalition of Ordered Governments, which is code for unnecessarily large humans wearing big breast-plated armor holding large guns. Marcus receives information that his father, who he previously thought was dead, is in fact alive. The purpose of the game is to rescue Adam Fenix. Marcus and other COG members must defeat the Locust, Lambent, the Imulsion, and their Queen, Myrrah. Once they arrive at Azura, where Adam Fenix is being held, they use a weapon to destroy the Imulsion/those infected by the Imulsion. That’s the gist of it.

If you’re tired of the main storyline you can always opt for the online multiplayer alternative, specifically the Horde game mode. I’ve got to say, for some reason I was not expecting much from the multiplayer mode in this game but it was highly entertaining. You and up to four others have to fend off hordes of enemies. They come in rounds, increasing in volume and difficulty as you progress.

Let me just say, I loved this game and here’s why. Firstly, the objectives were clear, always accessible on you screen, and could be located by pressing the LB. You can also use LB to locate your team if you can’t see where they are. Secondly, the gun system was unique as far as I’m concerned. It allows for 2 main weapons, 1 pistol, and 1 type of grenade. I’ve never encountered a system like this before but I quite liked it. Thirdly, I didn’t love the third person aiming and running around AT FIRST, however it did grow on me. It separates itself from all of the other shooting games out there at the moment. Lastly, when Marcus is running you are subjected to hilarious close up shots of his ass. There’s an image for you.

There are a wide variety of weapons to choose from, be they Lancers, Boomshots, Shotguns etc. Once you’ve significantly wounded an enemy you press Y when standing next to them to perform a gruesome kill. Each weapon will provide a unique kill to add to your list. In certain parts of the game other machinery will be available to you. I’m talking about The Loader and The Silverback. The Loader is an exoskeleton designed to lift heavy cargo and kick the crap out of cars. The Silverback is an exo-suit with a machine gun and a missile launcher. I thought these were great additions to the weapon arsenal.

A few other things to note; there was practically zero loading time between scenes and gameplay. This was a big plus for me because I can sometimes get impatient while playing. The graphics were stellar although I will always have a super soft spot for the newer Final Fantasy graphics, starting with FFX, but I loved these almost as much.

Overall, GoW3 delivers tons of action, a good story, and fun gameplay. The straightforward and to the point attitude of this game is the reason why it’s so great.

The Results Are In:

Difficulty: Just Right

           

Verdict: Solid, Very Fun

Rating: 9/10

Super Mario World Walkthrough Part 1

Portal 2 Coop Trailer HD

Review: Portal 2

After I played Portal I was in love. I was more than excited to play Portal 2 knowing that it would be amazing. Little did I know that it would exceed me expectations tenfold. It was OUTSTANDING! Because the first Portal was so short I was expecting the second to be equally brief. Therefore, while I was playing Portal 2 I kept expecting it to end, but it didn’t. It just kept going and revealing more surprises, more humour, and more excitement. So let’s get into it…

Portal 2 is a first-person puzzle platform game developed and published by Valve Corporation. It was released in 2011 for Windows, Mac OS X, PS3, and Xbox 360.

In the first Portal you are GLaDOS’ test subject, forced to complete dangerous life threatening tests for the sake of science. In Portal 2, you wake up in a room where a core named Wheatley greets you and helps you try to escape. Unfortunately, you and GLaDOS are reunited and another round of testing begins where she will insult your weight and your orphan status. This story goes much further than the previous one however. You will learn about the previous owner of Aperture Laboratories, Cave Johnson via pre recorded audio announcements. And there will be a twist that will force you and GLaDOS (in potato form) to work together to survive. Not to mention this game is about 5 times longer than the first.

There’s also a co-op option where you will play as two testing robots to solve a multitude of new tests built for co-op play. You can play split screen with a friend, play with friends online or the less popular option, play with some random, which is what I did. The co-op play develops your teamwork skills and co-operation. Completing tests with a second person can be more satisfying but also more nerve racking for fear of screwing up or pissing the other person off with your lack of brain capacity. Nevertheless, it is very interesting to see how another person operates in the test chambers. The option to do cute little gestures like: high-five, wave, dance, laugh etc. will make for a hilarious time. Or seeing your partner blow up and then respawn will be equally as entertaining.

As for the test chambers themselves, they are bigger, harder, and just better than the previous ones. Portal 2 takes test chambers to a whole new level. Some tests aren’t even in the chambers; some will be outside in the wreckage or on the catwalk of the Aperture Science Building or alternative rooms inside. There are brand new ways to test as well. You’ll be introduced to new devices such as repulsion gels, aerial faith plates, laser beams, hard light bridges and much more.

There’s about 400% more dialogue in this game than the previous and it’s about 200% funnier. The introduction of the Wheatley character was exactly what this game needed. Just adding one character to make a grand total of three characters (even though Chell doesn’t speak) in this game is enough to create a ton more storyline and dialogue.

In the end, I HAVE to give Portal 2, 10 exploding test robots out of 10. Basically this game is too good for my words. So stop reading and just go play it.

Retro Review of Contra III: The Alien Wars

Now I know many of you may not have heard of this game but I urge you to give it a go. Contra III is a side scrolling “run and gun” action game released in 1992 for the Super Nintendo Console. The fourth game in its series, Contra III is full to the brim with energy and excitement. Although it is primarily a single person game, you have the option to play with friend on the second controller. If you do choose the two-player option, you and your partner will have to be in sync to survive.

Set in the future year of 2636, alien invaders are launching an attack on a worldwide scale. Our trusty soldiers, Jimbo and Sully, must fight their way through an apocalyptic future earth and defeat the ferocious foes in their path.

Unlike the past incarnations, in this game you can hold two different guns at once and switch between them with the push of a button. This two-gun system will come in handy, as you might need different options to beat a more troublesome     adversary. Also, you can do a badass pose under an arch of fire.

And if you find yourself in a tough situation you can always deploy a bomb that will devastate all enemies around you. As you trek on through the rubble you will come across gun upgrades. These will replace your standard issue with specialty guns:

Laser (L): fires a narrow laser beam (it’s kind of shit)

Spread (S): fires six red ball shaped shots in a spread

Flame (F): an awesome flamethrower

Crusher (C): fires short-range powerful missiles

Homing (H): finds your target almost every time

Barrier (B): gives you a temporary force field

With the second and fifth level you’ll get a change from the traditional side scrolling gameplay and you’ll get a top view of the level in its place. The controls on these stages differ from that of the regular stages. The objectives here will differ as well, from a linear path to the end of the level, to fixed locations containing enemy swarms. 

The Contra series in known for its near insane difficulty level so good luck with that…

Short but sweet, there’s tons of alien slaying, motorcycle riding, tank driving, and phallic shaped mechanisms, packed into six bizarre levels. Overall, Contra III is fun yet challenging and will take you a couple tries, if not more, to conquer. Verdict: 8 flaming arches out of 10. 

Review: Portal: Still Alive

Let me begin by saying that everyone should play this game. I loved it, seriously loved it. Go buy it right now. Moving on…

Portal is a first-person puzzle game released in 2007 by Valve Corporation. Valve is responsible for titles such as Left 4 Dead and Half-Life. Portal is available for several different platforms: Xbox 360, PS3, and Mac/PC.

Basically you start the game and you find yourself in some sort of lab/testing facility and an AI (artificial intelligence) named GLaDOS is telling you that you must complete a test. But not to worry, “Cake, and grief counseling, will be available at the conclusion of the test”. You are given a gun that creates a blue portal and an orange portal in walls so that you can travel from one portal to the other. You use this gun to solve the puzzles in the room before moving on to the next room and the next puzzle. 

You must get through 19 test chambers to complete the test (One with the help of your friend, The Weighted Companion Cube). After you complete the last test chamber, you learn that the facility was intending to kill at the conclusion of the testing process by throwing you into a fiery pit of death. Fun.

 

GLaDOS tries to convince you that pretending to kill you was part of the final test protocol and that there is a party and cake waiting for you if you place your gun on the ground and wait for an associate to come and get you…

“Assume the Party Escort Submission Position, or you will miss the party.”

At this point you must escape to find GLaDOS and defeat her.

Although the game is fairly short, it’s well worth it to make it to the end where you are subjected to GLaDOS’ rants about how you have no friends and that you will soon be dead. The dry humour is spot on and really quite insulting. Needless to say, I thoroughly enjoyed the GLaDOS character.

There’s also a treat for you at the game credits in the form of a song by GLaDOS. She sings about how she’s not even angry because in the end she’s “still alive”, which is the name of the song.

I really liked that this game was challenging without being impossible to figure out. Not one puzzle is unsolvable but some might take you longer to complete than others. Of course, the chambers get progressively more difficult as you move on through the game but it also becomes more interesting as you learn to use the portals in new and creative ways. I sometimes found myself wishing that I could jump higher and/or farther but that’s just another part of the challenge. Each time you enter a new room there’s an air of familiarity without it being too repetitive. You quickly discover what the objective is; the challenge is in how to get it done. In addition to the main story, there are also advanced challenge maps that you can do just for fun.

I am giving Portal 8 pieces of cake out of 10. This game was original and hilarious and I can’t wait to play Portal 2.