Uros' Transformers: Fall of Cybertron Review- 360 Edition

In the past decade or so, fans of the treasured Transformers series haven't had the most noble of adaptations in regards to video games. Despite the massive popularity that Michael Bay's Transformers trilogy has garnered, the video game spin-off's have done little to pay homage to the beloved characters that they are based on. Not until High Moon Studios took control of the franchise and brought it back to it's roots with 2010's War for Cybertron. It was received with a relatively positive reaction from both critics and fans alike, both appreciating the return to Cybertron instead of Bay's setting. High Moon has now decided to step it up another level with Fall of Cybertron -- a direct sequel to War for Cybertron. The results? Let's find out!

Having basically picked up right where War left off, Cybetron is still stuck in a civil war splitting the planet into two factions; the Autobots and Decepticons. Now, as the planet is dying and running out of Energon, a desperate plan to escape both the conflict and find a new home is hatched and it soon becomes a race to the finish so to speak. On one hand, the Decepticon leader Megatron merely wants to destroy every single Autobot while Optimus plans for the survival of their species while locked in a death battle with his nemesis. Surprisingly enough, the story jumps to various perspectives from both factions, even glancing upon the famed DInobots!

The most evident difference between the two games comes with it's mission structure. Rather than being able to choose which side of the story to begin with and which character to select, you follow the path you are given this time around and are not given the choice of playing as a specific Autobot or Decepticon. It's a little disappointing but it's fantastic to see the other less appreciated characters take a spotlight for once and you quickly come to forgive this change. Another disheartening difference comes in the lack of any sort of cooperative campaign options, which might be infuriating to the co-op lovers out there, myself included - but as you play through the campaign, you may find that an addition of co-op may distract from the pacing of the story that developers wished to tell.

A new addition to the series this time around is the Teletraan I upgrade system, which pays a homage to fans but also changes and makes up for the lack of ability to choose a specific character to play as for each mission. These upgrade stations allow you to select a specific weapon to choose from; light or heavy, specific perks which carry on to every character, and further upgrade each weapon. These stations appear every so often in each mission and specific blueprints scattered around each level allow you obtain new weapons quicker rather than waiting to unlock them through story progression.

What easily might be the most distinguishable aspect of the High Moon Cybertron series thus far is the simple, yet elaborate third-person gameplay. Taking a massive inspiration from Gears of War, the movement and shooting mechanics are instantly recognizable with one major exception; the lack of a proper cover system. While you can still hide behind objects, you can't truly take cover but you are given the option to switch your shooting hand at any given time to better take advantage of your position when under fire. Herein lies what could be both a praise or a gripe towards the game - the difficulty. Recklessly stand out in the open for too long and you'll be picked off in seconds. On top of that, the game takes notice of "health cubes" rather than a regenerative system, which leads you to be careful with your actions. Nonetheless, the shooting mechanics are nearly flawless and the fluidity in which you control your character is worthy of the highest of praise. Each shot you land, each pull of the trigger is felt when lander upon your foe and it's extremely satisfying.

Adding more fuel to the fire is the game's fantastic visuals and admirable voice work. While stylistically taking inspiration from Bay's films, the setting is all it's own. It's a stunning sight to see a planet such as Cybertron in such despair and broken and one is left to imagine how beautiful it must have been before all the chaos. An all-star voice cast makes it's return and plants it's feet as one of the best attributes that Fall of Cybertron has to offer. Each voice actor brings their A-game and helps to further expand the character's story and personality. It's one aspect that should be rightfully recognized.

Now to make up for the lack of any proper cooperative options in the game's main campaign, High Moon decides to repay it's fanbase by returning the ever-popular Escalation game mode -- a wave based survival mode. Four players can team up and choose from four characters in attempt to survive 15 relentless waves of enemies. Map selection is given in the pre-game lobby and your team either plays as the Autobots or the Decepticons, although the choice is not given to select between the two. Each level has certain sections which can be unlocked further when enough credits are amassed, which expands the playing ground. Escalation is an enjoyable co-op addition to Fall of Cybertron and is best enjoyed with a group of friends rather than by your lonesome.

Making it's return is the ever enticing multiplayer portion of the Cybertron series. Allowing you to fully customize your Autobot or Decepticon of choice from the colour to the specific armour set and weapon loadout through the game's ranking system. There are four classes to choose from; Scientist, Infiltrator, Destroyer, and Titan. Each holds their own benefits as specific perks set each class apart and plays a specific role on the battlefield. Infiltrators for one are quick, Bumblebee fashioned characters that are coupled with camouflage and are best utilized in short range combat. Titan's on the other hand are the "tank" class of the competitive multiplayer. Slower and more adept with heavier weaponry, they provide mass amounts of fire and push enemies back with ease.

The game types given are your standard fare as Team Deathmatch and Capture the Flag make their return, joined by newcomer Headhunter. Each mode is equally as thrilling and the map design is brilliantly crafted for each specific mode to keep things balanced. Any fan of the series will be ecstatic when they encounter the multiplayer options and the experience itself is enough to keep you occupied for days on end.

Boasting a story riddled with fan service and a top notch voice cast, and despite the lack of any cooperative options in the campaign being a slight downfall -- the intriguing story, adored cast of characters and magnificent multiplayer options makeFall of Cybertron a worthy sequel and and welcomed entry into High Moon's series.

Final Score: 8.5

End of the year means Best of 2012!

Wow! 2012 truly flew by didn't it? Well, since it's that time of the year and we're closing in on the last two weeks of December, I've decided to start building up my "Best of 2012" list for all those interested. I'll mostly have it locked into 360 games as the majority of games I have had the opportunity of playing have been situated on said system, but the categories will be limited.

It'll most likely be centred around Best of the Year, Most underrated, Best Sequel, Best New IP, and all that fun stuff. NOTE: Some games that pop up on the list -- which I will throw up later this week -- may or may not have been reviewed so keep an eye out!

Until then, look out for my next review of Fall of Cybertron (extremely overdue I know) and Far Cry 3 will soon follow!

Clark Kent's Love Life: Lois vs Diana!

Alright, alright I'm back and I know as much as you guys hate my rants regarding the distate I carry for the largely unbearable Clark and Diana relationship that Geoff Johns is so eager to force feed down everyone's mouths, the latest issue of Superman -- number 14 to be exact -- left me curious about what DC is truly trying to sell.

It's no surprise to anyone that with the "rebooting" of the New 52, changes were to be made and separating Clark and Lois was the hardest hitting one of them all in regards to Superman. Now, I know some people appreciate the change, some cried out for the chance to allow Superman to stretch his legs, expand his horizons, etc -- but as of so far, little has been done to actually hold true to what they promised. For the majority of Superman's namesake title, we saw him sulking over Lois and her new "boy toy". Instead of trying to distance him from Lane as most fans would've assumed, they refused to do so and even hinted at a possible relationship between Clark and Lois' younger sister Lucy Lane. Great job at trying to distance the two characters DC and even if you tried to give them points for effort, the proposition of anything beyond friendship didn't even last beyond that last panel in Superman #12. It's kind of sad really, Clark really lacks any sort of chemistry with ALL the women that DC is trying to set him up with and the lack of build-up is quite disheartening.

Let me bring up the "relationship" that Diana and Clark have restrictively been sharing in the pages of Justice League. Besides putting aside the fact that in both Superman and Wonder Woman's main titles, each writer refuses to acknowledge the existence of said interaction between the two characters for the most part, little has been done to solidify the impact of what happened, nor does anyone really know about it. Selfishly enough and for reasons I'd rather not bring up again, it seems that Geoff Johns is eagerly trying to create this new "status quo" that he stated the two would be creating for the NewDCU and the example that everyone would apparently follow. Listen, I have nothing against Diana as a character. She's fantastically written by Azzarello in her namesake title and I'd like to keep it that way, but what Johns has been demonstrating in his Justice League title is hilariously annoying. But my distaste for John's work on team books is a story for another time.

Jumping back to Diana and Clark. Not once, in the entire series until the most recent issues (12-14), has there been any notable interaction between the two characters. A seemingly large amount of creepy stares emanating from Superman coupled with some apologetic moments and we're supposed to believe that these two can build together one of the most influential relationships in the New 52? Sorry, I'm not buying it.

And then we have the icing on top of the cake. In issue 12 -- after Steve's dismissal as the League's liaison -- Diana takes his reaction and the entire situation poorly. Clark does what he does best and attempts to comfort her with "relatable" words. And in turn, out of the blue, with absolutely no build up or chemistry shown, a kiss is produced. The kiss that has had everyone talking since it's debut. Things were pulled back a little in following issues with Diana referencing the kiss as just a "spur of the moment" type deal and most recently in Justice League #14, we have Clark trying to comfort Diana once again and push the boundaries of their relationship by giving her a tour of his hometown and showing her the inspiration for his heroics. Unfortunately, that built up moment was short-lived again and another forced kiss was produced, this time with the always acceptable creeping from Batman.

Enough of that and finally moving onto Lois. As of so far in the New 52, even when regarding Action Comics -- which takes place five years in the past for the most part -- Lois has never looked at Clark as more than a friend but for him, it's much more than that. He's tried to win her affections and he's made it clear on several occasions. Sadly, Lois has only ever shown interest in Superman, despite having been Clark's partner for over five years at the Daily Planet before it's overtaking by Morgan Edge. In the last two issues of Superman (13 and 14), it has been clearly shown that Lois has decided to make things serious with her boyfriend; Jonathan Carroll. Obviously, this bothers Clark greatly and more than likely influenced his departure from the Daily Planet.

With Superman #14, we finally see Clark admit his feelings for Lois (to himself of course), dictating that even with the shared kiss he had with Diana, his true feelings for Lois never faltered nor weakened.

It's interesting to note this because it seems that not every writer that will be penning Superman is interested in making the relationship between Clark and Diana a priority and it's clearly evident with this most recent issue. On top of that, future writers Andy Diggle and Scott Snyder have both expressed great interest in Lois Lane as a character and a focus on her and Clark will be prominent. Of course, Diana is brought up, but it seems not everyone is exactly on board with what Johns is planning.

Anyways, back to Lois and Clark. We see some fun banter between the two characters in this issue. Lois remarking that her relationship with Clark is strictly friendship, albeit a strong one according to her. Clark calls her out on this in regards to not informing him about the move with Jonathan. Some more banter is thrown back, accusing Clark for being naggy, etc. The point I'm trying to make here is that -- in this single issue alone, several pages at best -- there is more chemistry shown between Lois and Clark than there has been in the entire series of Justice League up to this point with Clark and Diana. That's a sad fact to point out and should be a warning sign to the Editorial team at DC. Lois' feelings might try to be prevalent here, but it seems more just like a cover for something that she refuses to accept about Clark, true feelings that she might be keeping well hidden. Oh and one more thing, Rocafort draws one absolutely gorgeous Lois Lane.

But hey, these are just my useless thoughts. Everyone has their own opinions and are free to speak them. I know I'm not the only one who dislikes the forced relationship between Wonder Woman and Superman, but there also might be plenty of you who hate the idea that Lois might be returning into Clark's life as more than just a friend. Whatever the case may be, I hope DC decides to stop pulling marketing stunts and appeal to the fans once again.

Halo 4 Review!

Since it's explosive introduction back in 2001 that helped revolutionize console shooters for years to come, Halo has become recognized as one of the most innovative and adored franchises to hit the genre. What was once thought insane, Bungie was able to craft a first-person shooter on a console and not only have it succeed, but do so in ways that no one could ever imagine. In a market once dominated completely by PC's, consoles became relevant and many give credit to Bungie and Halo for accomplishing such a feat. Now with Bungie stepping down and 343 Industries taking the reins, how have they faired? Does Halo 4 reclaim it's title as king of the shooters or does it fall miserably short?

As many already know, Bungie has stepped down from their beloved franchise and has left it confidently in the hands of 343 Industries. Many were skeptical at this decision, especially due to the fact that it was Bungie's treasured possession. How could anyone re-invent their work? Thankfully, a lot of the good folks at 343 are ex-Bungie employee's who have Halo's future in their best interest. Is that enough though?

Halo 4 picks up some four years after the events of Halo 3 which left John and Cortana stranded in space aboard a mutilated ship, drifting through space with everyone presuming death. Let me just quickly get this out of the way. Disregarding the extended Halo universe, Master Chief had very little personality and nearly nothing to say and little reason for anyone to care for him throughout the games. Thankfully and surprisingly, 343 corrects that and gives players a reason to see Chief as a person, not just some unstoppable killing machine and for once, you actually feel his humanity and given reason to. Make no mistake, this story is not his, it's all about Cortana. While John has slept for the past four years, Cortana was left on her lonesome, with nothing to do but think and in turn, her age is slowly becoming the death of her. To anyone ignorant of the Halo universe, A.I.'s have a life expectancy of seven years. By that age, they begin to become rampant and quite literally think themselves to death as they can no longer process the information held within them. It soon becomes a struggle for Cortana as she helplessly loses her mind while trying to help Master Chief stop the incoming threats. It's a sad tale which walks the line of questioning who really is the machine and who is real.

The Chief is awoken to once fight again and as the Forward Unto Dawn is attacked by pocket resistances of the Covenant, the entire ship is being sucked into a Forerunner planet known as Requiem. The game's story takes precedence here as John and Cortana take it upon themselves to stop an ancient Forerunner threat known as the Didact, who is bent on destroying all of humanity. It is here that I would issue one of my only gripes pertaining to the campaign. Little information is given regarding this threat nor is much backstory explained without the inclusion of the novels. But the true story revolves around the two star characters and how their relationship grows. I can't give enough credit to 343 for brilliantly creating such an emotional and gripping story for a series that was once very poorly recognized for it's lore. The length of the campaign is but another minor gripe I might add. It only took me roughly 6-10 hours to beat the main campaign, albeit I never took it upon me to search for additional Terminals that provide substantial back-story into the game. What helps keep the game almost perfectly fleshed out is the excellent balance between on-foot and vehicle missions. The game expands into more of a sandbox in this situation and gives you the choice to either tackle it on foot or even jump into a Scorpion tank and annihilate anything in your path. Another wonderful addition to the vehicle side of things is the Mantis. An enormous, two story mech that's equipped with rockets and a mini-gun capable of eliminating anything short of a Phantom.

Newly introduced alongside the Covenant are the Promethean's. While having the Covenant back is like reuniting with an old friend, these new enemies require a completely new strategy and you are forced to work outside your comfort zone on many occasions. Promethean Knights are exceptionally smart, carefully avoiding your shots while playing aggressively one you decide to retreat. And to make matters worse, the Crawlers are just as relentless as they can reach multiple vantage points in order to attack you. With new enemies, comes a new arsenal and for the most part, it's pretty fantastic. The weapons range from short to long range and the majority even boast different firing options based on whether you scope the weapon or not. While some might never replace fan favourites such as the Battle Rifle, Energy Sword or Magnum, they are a welcomed treat and only help to diversify combat situations.

Now, Halo has never been recognized as one of the most graphically superior games of it's age. While it's never been a bad looking game, it was never exceptional either. That all changes with this most recent installment. With a new engine to work off of, 343 revamps the look of the game entirely and it can be said without a doubt that Halo 4 is one of the single most gorgeous looking games of it's time. From the expertly crafted cut-scenes, simply beautiful backdrops and some of the best facial animation I've seen this side of L.A. Noire. Halo 4 is a graphical force to be reckoned with and it is wonderfully coupled with amazing motion capture scenes that truly leaves the player enamoured.

On top of that, the sound design has been completely re-done. No longer are the returning weapons recognizable by mere sound anymore. This might come as a turn off to some, but truthfully, it shouldn't. The iconic returning weapons now sound more powerful than ever, packing a responsive punch with each pull of the trigger. Each piece of Master Chief's armour can be heard as he moves even in the slightest direction and it's incredible. But that's not the only change to come to the series. Sadly, Marty O'Donnell's extremely iconic theme is no longer heard as 343 opted for a new composer for Halo 4. Neil Davidge is O'Donnell's replacement and while his music will never strike a specific tone that the former's did, it is nothing if not atmospheric and appropriate. The voice work also takes a massive leap here and for the better. Both Master Chief and Cortana's voice actors are given more fleshed out lines and are given more room to breathe. As the story progresses, you can feel Cortana slipping and the fantastic voice work from Jen Taylor is commendable.

Replacing ODST's and Reach's popular firefight mode is Spartan Ops. Instead of keeping the popular wave based mode that has become popular over the past several years, 343 decides instead to create a weekly episodic feature that puts you in the shoes of a team of a Spartan-IV' and you are given the option to team up with up three other friends or by your lonesome if preferred. Each episode is split into five separate chapters, each with their own given objectives and while it's a fun addition, you aren't given much reason to jump back and replay each chapter. Theater and Forge also make a return and with very little changes.

And finally, we move on to the creme of the crop of Halo; multiplayer. Up until this point, one of the only reasons Halo has remained so relevant in the shooter genre is because of it's constantly innovative multiplayer. First revolutionized in Halo 2 and the introduction of Xbox Live in 2004, and only continued to improve with each installment, fans worried most that multiplayer would take the biggest hit. That is not the case as 343's endearing respect for the series is most evident here. The gameplay takes little visible change and is as fluid and responsive as ever. Unease spread through fans when new additions were announced though. Supply drops, which are similar to kill-streaks in Call of Duty, play a part in Halo 4's multiplayer, albeit not in every mode. Thankfully, what could have been unbalanced and over-powered, fits perfectly into the universe and does little to turn the tide massively in favour for one team as it might in other games. When a player garners enough kills, they are allowed a random choice between three items to choose from. It might be a weapon that will not spawn on the map, a speed boost or even a damage boost. But make no mistake, once selected, the item drops down on the map where the player selects it to and it all becomes fair game from there on out.

The ranking system first introduced in Halo Reach makes a comeback here where levelling is revolved around experience points. Competing objectives or racking up medals grants you a larger amount of experience points at the end of the match. Once you reach a new level, you are awarded a "Spartan Point" which can be used to purchase select pieces of armour or even alter your load-out weapons or armour abilities. Most of the familiar game types make a return with slight adjustments in roster size or name. The game ships out with 10 multiplayer maps, all with their own different feel and suited to different styles of play regarding the modes you play or the amount of players in the match. As with Halo Reach, it's apparent that with Forge mode, Community maps might become a part of the multiplayer again as there is countless variations to be made and selected from. If 343 is even only half as dedicated as Bungie was when it came to their community, expect to stick around for the long run.

With a brand new developer comes a cause for concern, especially when it comes to one that has never released anything prior. Such is not the case with 343 as their utmost dedication for Halo is clearly evident even without playing the game. Adding in not only one of the most gripping stories in the Halo universe but also re-creating a formula which was once though impossible, 343 sought out to continue Bungie's efforts in the best fashion they could and to put it simply, they created what could be the best Halo game to date.

Final Score: 9.75

Uros' review of Borderlands 2- Xbox 360 Edition

Gearbox Software created a new genre with the release of the first Borderlands. For the first time, Gearbox managed to successfully blend RPG elements with FPS gameplay and the result was a massive cult hit. Borderlands succeeded with over-the-top action with a massive world and a chaotic cast of characters. The game was mostly regarded as widely successful with a few minor gripes and Gearbox now returns with Borderlands 2. Have they managed to improve on the first Borderlands? Let's find out.

Regarding the cast of characters, you're given a new set of vault hunters to choose from instead of being able to jump back into the shoes of the heroes from the first game. You're given the choice between four new classes to choose from this time around; Axton the Soldier, Zero the Assassin, Maya the Siren and Salvador the Gunzerker. For the most part, they all play relatively the same in regards to what weapons you can use, but it's their unique skills that sets them apart. Axton on one hand is able to toss down a turret, which once upgraded can blow apart your enemies with deadly rocket launchers or even spawn a second turret. On the other hand, the Gunzerker can duel wield weapons and every kill he racks up, improves his durability, speed and strength. Having all these unique skills for each class makes it quite the challenge picking between each character.

As for the supporting cast, Borderlands 2 assumes that the gamer has played the majority of the previous games DLC's and includes characters from the respective added content. Luckily, none of it is needed to truly understand what goes on in the game's main plot as Borderlands 2 explains all that is needed to know about their history. An additional surprise that Gearbox threw in is the return of the four Vault hunters from the original Borderlands; Lilith, Roland, Mordecai, and Brick. While they are un-playable, they serve as the leaders of the resistance and essentially guide you in your efforts to take down the maniacal Handsome Jack. You'll find yourself fighting against them from time to time, but for the most part, they remain as quest-givers.

The plot itself barely goes behind a revenge story. Handsome Jack has taken control of the Hyperion Corporation and as such, has declared himself the leader of Pandora. Wiping out all resistance in his path and utilizing Pandora's resources to his advantage, the people of Pandora group together to form the Crimson Raiders, bent on eliminating Jack's control on their home. One of the weak points of the original was the lack of a proper story and while Borderlands 2 makes a slightly better effort this time around, it's not a notable one. Luckily, the supporting cast is interesting enough to carry the dull plot and keeps you interested enough to keep pressing forward until the end. The game does boast it's own set of collectibles in the form of audio recordings. Some will tell the story of Pandora in between the games and through the words of the heroes of the original game, while others will focus on the leading cast of Vault Hunters.

The mission structure in Borderlands 2 will be familiar for fans of RPG's. You speak with a specific character to receive a quest and are sent off at their request to do them a favour. One of the biggest annoyances while making my way through the side quests is the constantly recurring "fetch" quests you're sent on. The world is enormous, there is no doubting that, but when you're sent running back and forth across portions of the map only to grab the most redundant items, it becomes a chore.

Easily the most redeeming quality of Borderlands 2 this time around is the absolutely comical dialogue. The conversations to be over-heard between the cast of characters is simply priceless and you can't help but chuckle at some of the topics being discussed. The cel-shaded visuals make a return and while they haven't improved much over the original, the style remains unique and a pleasure to look at.

In accordance with the popular tagline, Borderlands 2 returns with 98 Bajillion more guns for your pure enjoyment and it's here that Gearbox truly succeeds. While there is only a certain amount of weapons to choose from; Assault Rifles, Pistols, Shotguns, Snipers, etc, almost each weapon you find while looting has it's own set of statistics that set it apart from one another and it's almost guaranteed that you won't find another gun identical to the other. The gameplay remains the same and quite honestly for the better as the gunplay was arguably the best part of the series and it's enjoyed even further with a group of friends by your side, eliminating everything in your path.

Borderlands 2 and Gearbox deliver again with the award winning gameplay and ridiculous cast of characters that will keep you occupied for hours on end and while the story might fail to grip the gamer, it does a better job that it's predecessor.

Final Score: 8.5

First Thoughts on Resident Evil 6

Resident Evil is a series that has seen a variety of changes throughout the years to it's once award-winning formula. Everything changed once Resident Evil 4 hit in 2005, changing the face of the series as we know it. Long gone was the camera controlled action along with slowly creeping around corners and newly introduced was a massive dose of third-person shooting while maintaining it's popular survival horror elements. Resident Evil 4 was critically acclaimed along the board and was believed to have inspired some of the more popular third-person action shooters of today. Capcom attempted to replicate this success with Resident Evil 5 and was treated with slightly mixed results albeit it was still mostly positive even when the game dropped the survival horror element for bigger action sequences and co-op, which was a first for Resident Evil.

Resident Evil 6 is now out and the amount of mixed results are staggering. The reviews range from near perfect scores to absolutely abysmal reviews that just rip the game apart limb from limb. Obviously, a reviewers opinion is his own and should only be taken with a grain of salt as if you're still curious, you should check it out for yourself, but here are my thoughts on a few hours in the game with each campaign.

There are three separate campaigns with two of them following arguably the series' two most popular characters: Leon Kennedy and Chris Redfield. The last follows a brand new character Jake Muller with connections with another major character but I'll leave out the spoilers.

First off is Leon's campaign. It attempts to harken back to Resident Evil games of old with creepy, dark corridors and even tossing in the traditional zombies again. Chris' campaign is basically Resident Evil 5 again. It boasts massive action sequences, with gun-wielding foes and enormous BOW's to face. As for Jake, his campaign is mostly similar to Chris' with a twist. The campaign takes a major focus on chase sequences where you sprint away from a massive BOW on a hunt for Jake and his partner Sherry Birkin.

Each campaign has it's own style in one sense or another but they all play relatively the same to one another. As for the gameplay, it takes a giant leap from the previous installments in the series with the biggest change of all: being able to move while shooting. Overall, the game takes a more action oriented focus when it comes to gun-play, allowing you to roll and dive around and newly introduced is the camera being able to fully rotate around the character instead of being locked to the shoulder. As with Resident Evil 5, this game re-introduces a cover system which is arguably one of most unusual additions to the series as it doesn't work at all. It's glitchy, you often find yourself not even being attached whatever surface you are up against and end up being shot up completely.

Capcom tried to re-integrate survival horror elements into the series by reducing the amount of ammo you receive and with that said, it's a ridiculous mistake due to the games massive action focus and you'll find yourself wasting the majority of your ammo quite quickly and being helpless especially in Chris or Jake's campaigns. Also a new addition is melee attacks. With a tap of a button, the character can initiate separate melee attacks that are limited by a small energy gauge. Sadly, melee attacks are far more effective than actually shooting your enemy in the head.

On top of that, weapon upgrades are now completely removed and the health system has been revamped. You get stuck with a set of weapons for each campaign, and while you can find a new weapon or two along the way, you can't choose what you want to use. Instead, a skill upgrade system has been chosen to replace weapon upgrades and to be quite frank, it's a lazy and boring mechanic. From what I saw, you had three slots to choose from and a massive list of skills to select, but still had to be bought or unlocked. They range from critical hits to improved piercing damage or even stronger melee attacks against certain enemies. As for the health system, you still pick up the different coloured herbs, but instead of using them as spray's, they now become ingested in pill form and each pill only fills a single block of health at a time.

As for the story, there are a large amount of cutscenes to be seen and while they are well produced, they occur far too often and break apart whatever tension there is in the gameplay. While the game remains enjoyable and has a decent control system for the most part, some of the new additions and changes are a little irritating and you'll find yourself dying... a lot. Although, you'll be interested to see how the story plays out and how each character interacts with one another.

Darksiders II Review- 360 Edition

The original Darksiders was a game that was relatively underrated by both critics and gamers alike, and at the same time, criticized for being a "rip-off" of multiple major franchises such as the Legend of Zelda and God of War. Yet, I liked to see it for what it did correctly. Instead of blatantly ripping off such popular games, Vigil Games instead chose to brilliantly craft certain ideals from those games and blend them together with an extremely engaging story to create a new IP well deserving of your attention. Evidently, Darksiders was popular enough to warrant a sequel but has it surpassed the original? Let's find out.

Without spoiling anything, Darksiders II picks up where the first left off. War, one of the four horseman of the apocalypse, has been convicted for the apparent extinction of the entire human race and his elder brother Death has set out to clear his name. Death's quest will take him to world's unbeknownst to even himself as he struggles to reveal the truth while battling his own inner demons and his facing his mysterious past. Alongside the main quest, which leads you to several different sprawling worlds, each location holding their own cast of characters and side quests to complete. Even though they're all optional, the rewards give a suitable incentive to complete them. Each world you visit is roughly the same size but each has their own gorgeous artistic style and boasts different enemies to face. It's a treat to explore these expertly crafted worlds as they all have their fair share of loot and mysteries to uncover.

The side quests themselves range from simple retrieval missions to fighting in a death arena where each wave becomes drastically harder and harder as you face every enemy encountered throughout the game. In turn, Darksiders II adds in a strong incentive for finding the various collectibles scattered around the world. They are all tied into separate side quests, with some being extremely difficult to finish as it requires nearly complete exploration of the worlds you travel through, while others are merely found along the way.

Death himself is the complete opposite of his younger brother War. Where War is quiet, respectful and honourable, Death on the other hand is sarcastic, cocky, and calculating. His mere presence among the beings he encounters exudes power and strikes fear into those who dare to defy him. Death's unearthly calm and piercing gaze always seem to garner him the respect that he demands and despite his appearance, which is evidently smaller than that of War's, makes him no less imposing. Time and time again, I found myself grinning at how almost every character seemingly undermines Death's reputation and pays for it in the end.

In terms of gameplay, Darksiders II retains the action packed combat from the first game, but being that you play as Death instead of War, the style changes drastically. War was a hulking brute able to take hits and counter the strongest of attacks. Death on the other hand, is far more agile and prefers to evade rather than counter or block. In addition, Darksiders II introduces new ways to traverse the world and it's plentiful dungeons. Taking inspiration from the Prince of Persia games, Death is able to seamlessly climb, run and jump off walls to reach areas that would've been inaccessible to War. While it's integrated brilliantly doesn't mean it's without faults. Occasionally, you'll find yourself running or jumping in a direction in an undesirable direction, sometimes leading to a death during scenes where you must escape an oncoming flow of lava or a rising death trap. It's a minor annoyance but far from game breaking. Alongside this, there is no sprint mechanic in the game so besides the open area's of the world, you won't be able to use your horse and you'll find yourself using the evade mechanic as means to move around faster.

The combat system itself is so deeply fleshed out that it never becomes a tiresome chore to engage in combat. Death has the ability to wield both a main weapon, which is unchangeable, but his secondary can range from heavy axes to hammers, gauntlets, maces, claws and far, far more. The rarer the weapons picked up or purchased, the better they are, although it's almost impossible to compete with possessed weapons. The rarest of all weapons, receiving one of these allows you to upgrade by sacrificing other items in your inventory. In turn, it improves the base stats of the weapon while allowing you to add on stats of your own choice that vary from defence, elemental damage, health, strength, critical damage/chance, etc. Alongside the items and weapons comes an in-depth skill tree. It's split into two halves with one side focusing mainly on Death's physical powers as a warrior and includes skills such as teleport dashing, a spinning scythe attack, etc. The other half focuses on Death's experience as a spellcaster which allows powers such as summoning ghouls to fight for Death.

To help diversify the combat and dungeon crawling, the cleverly crafted puzzles return and help provide a breathe of fresh air between epic boss battles and the hordes of enemies you'll be constantly be facing. Most of the puzzles involve using the environment to your advantage and some require abilities that can only be unlocked by playing through the main quest, which in turn, creates an incentive for back-tracking. None of the puzzles will leave you completely boggled but they do require quick thinking and are extremely satisfying when solved.

The graphics are a stand-out improvement over the first game. The world and it's fantastically intriguing characters are wonderfully rendered and there are times where you'll find yourself just staring off into the distance, completely enamoured with what revolves around you. While the artistic graphics are a wonder to behold, technically, they aren't anything to brag about. Textures still could've needed more tweaking, but the near perfectly consistant frame-rate easily makes up for it. Easily the most admirable portion of the game has to be the voice acting. Each actor plays their part superbly and helps bring life to the character they portray. The dialogue has it's humorous moments but can suddenly become just as grim as the situation around the characters.

Now brings us to the loot. The original Darksiders had no such thing. You unlocked different weapons as you made your way through the story, but besides that, you had no option to alter War's appearance or change the weapons he wielded. Darksiders II changes that, and for the better. Loot is never scarce and you'll find yourself spending hours just trying to build the perfect character as each piece of loot has it's own unique set of stats that help strengthen Death. To be honest, loot has never been done so well outside of games such as Diablo and Borderlands and it's easily the most impressive part of the game. Although, considering how much loot you receive throughout the games various dungeons and quests, it also makes the majority of the items that merchants provide completely obsolete., but a minor gripe in the grand scheme of all things. Death is completely customizable from his shoulder armour, the gauntlets he wears, boots, pants, and even talismans.

To put it simply, Darksiders II is quite easily one of the best action/aventure-role playing games of it's generation and can be easily held up to the likes of the Elder Scrolls, The Legend of Zelda and the Witcher 2. With a story that can last up between 15-20 hours without completing the majority of side-quests, arguably the best combat system to ever grace an action-RPG and a universe with such rich lore, it will leave you researching and begging for more.

Final Score: 8.75

Temporary absence

What's up readers. Sorry I haven't posted in the past week or so but I've been relatively busy. Fret not though as I have a Darksiders 2 review headed your way shortly and possibly followed by a Borderlands review in honour of the sequel releasing on Tuesday!

Stay tuned and thanks for reading!

Justice League #12: Is it all justified reasonably?

As many, and perhaps very few know, I'm not a huge fan of Geoff Johns. I love his work on Aquaman and Green Lantern, but those are the minor exceptions. Ever since he was listed as the writer for Justice League alongside superstar artist Jim Lee, there was a decent amount of skepticism rising inside me. The first few issues were done fine, it was your basic superhero beat em-up that we expected from an early Justice League team-up. But one particular moment in the series has pissed me off beyond belief. In all of the series thus far though, not once has Superman nor Wonder Woman shown any innate interest in each other. There was the one time comment from Superman concerning Diana's strength in the battle against Darkseid's parademons as well as Diana's apology for the infamous sucker punch she landed on Clark after he attempted to calm her down in Justice League #12. So through that, it's deemed logical to force the two to pucker up?

Past the awkward stage I guess

But truly, besides those two instances, when has there ever been reasoning given for a relationship between Clark and Diana. Up to this point, they've spoken as much as a few sentences to each other in total. Considering they've been teammates for roughly five years, you'd expect Diana to at least know Superman's real identity or even refer to him by his Kryptonian name as she occasionally did in the Pre-52 universe. Honestly, Diana wouldn't have been my first choice for Clark's first love interest in the New 52, but at least they've attempted something new(sort of). My main problem with the entire situation is, as I stated not the kiss itself, but the lack of ANY sort of build-up towards it. Neither Diana nor Clark have shown any interest towards each other besides camaradiere as teammates and respect. From what was shown, Diana has spent the majority of the series focusing on her past relationship with Steve and how she has apparently avoided him all these years to keep him from danger. That's fine and all, but given all that Diana has gone through regarding the past few issues and Steve's "death", it'd be safe to assume that she'd attempt to avoid a relationship of any sort, despite how long it takes to open up again. And yet, after the entire ordeal with Graves and her visions showing her true feeling for Steve manifesting, she jumps directly to Superman with seemingly no regrets.

Yeah, I'll get the responses claiming how "similar they are", or "they're both alone and just want to be human", but truly, that's complete nonsense. Diana wants nothing of the sort. She has no interest in being normal or living among the humans as simple common folk as Clark does. She was raised as a Princess and hasn't been taught the same ideals and virtues that Clark was raised with. He's alone in the Universe for a reason. His entire race has gone extinct, and as such, his solitude was not of his own doing. He's been stated on several accounts to be the most powerful being on the planet and yet, he considers doesn't consider himself above the human race. Instead, he prefers to be one of them, live among them, to simply fit in. In what way does this make him similar to Diana besides the fact that they're both basically "gods" among men?

Some consider it a logical choice to pit the two together. They're both perfectly capable of handling themselves. One is a highly trained warrior with years of experience, while the other is nigh invincible and supposedly the most powerful being on the planet. Given their power-sets, they would have less to worry about compared to if they were in relationships with normal humans such as Steve or Lois for example. But instead of unbearably forcing the kiss so early on, would it really have been hard to creatively build up their relationship or interest in each other over the course of a few issues? Give the readers a reason to care for why they are together instead of just tossing it all together so blatantly.

I barely know you... but let's make out.

Could I possibly be overreacting or pulling the trigger too quickly? Perhaps, and maybe I should let events unfold over the next few issues or so, but thus far, this entire ordeal has seemed to be just like a massive publicity stunt to attraction further attention on top of the New 52.

Quick Thoughts- Sequels: Reaction, Anticipation and Expectation

We've reached a point in the current console generation where developers are more or less refusing to release brand new IP's. Be it that sequels are guaranteed to sell or that they're worried that a new IP won't kick off and their efforts would be left in vain. Regardless, we live in a time riddled with an overabundance of sequels and are left wondering if the lack of creativity is a factor or merely that sequels are one-way tickets to the bank.

Now, sequels aren't necessarily a bad sign either. An original game launches, a fan-base becomes established and gamers are left wanting more. Sequels grant the opportunity to build upon what could've been, but time was a restriction. Developers are given the chance to experiment with different mechanics or elements to the game that was dropped previously and essentially; a new game is born. In most cases, a game will become a break-out hit and will launch the developers into stardom and the publishers attempt to take advantage of the success. But does every successful outing truly deserve a sequel? 

Take for example the Call of Duty series. It's first beginnings were a mild one at that. Starting out as a simple First Person Shooter with a WW2 setting, it was set to challenge Medal of Honor for the throne. Each game that followed improved on the previous and even introduced several mechanics that are wide-spread throughout the FPS genre even to this day. With what might be regarded as the most influential releases of its time, Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare skyrocketed the Call of Duty series to such a popularity that a sequel was warranted annually from two different developers. While each game retains the same formula and the game's play fantastically, critics and gamers alike began to jump onto the hate bandwagon towards the series. Stating that the lack of innovation or creativity each year hindered each outing and that the series reached it's peak with Modern Warfare. 

But Call of Duty isn't the only series that can be said suffers from massive sequel anxiety. Final Fantasy, Street Fighter, Mario, and plenty others have all suffered from constant over-exposure, albeit not all critically panned, it's merely that the lack of breathing room has caused gamers to start to question the purpose of purchasing an "expansion pack".

On the flip side, it can be considered that the non-stop media exposure and rising expectations might hinder's a sequels worth. Is it more satisfying to pay as little attention or restrict knowledge of an upcoming game as much as possible to reserve that feeling of surprise or remain unbeknownst of what to expect? Some developers prefer to keep trailers to a minimum and reveal as little as possible to keep the game feeling fresh, but others feel that if that remains restricted, then excitement for said sequel cannot be established. 

What it can come down to is what the player is seeking and/or expecting. Are they satisfied with receiving a sequel that endures little to no significant changes at all. Re-tracing our steps back to Call of Duty, the series constantly breaks sales records with every release, proving each year that gamers are satisfied with how it remains. If it ain't broke, don't fix it as they always say. On the other hand many gamers, myself included, enjoy learning about the upcoming release as it gives you the opportunity to know what to expect.

Sequels will and always have existed if they're truly demanded. Not everyone wants or expects the exact same thing when concerning a sequel so there will always be someone who ends up being disappointed. But the true potential in sequels lies in what the developers can cook up, improve, alter, or even expand further upon when such opportunities weren't available with the original.