Taking place a little before the powerful end to Mafia, this sequel proves itself true as you see two Italian punk kids fresh from Sicily go through the hardships of being an immigrant in America. The boys realize that American life was no easy road and having left the old country to escape Mussolini, they resort to crime as a means of getting the things their hearts desire. If you see The Godfather 2 by Mario Puzo, the beginning of this game is pretty similar with Joe Barbaro being the Peter Clemenza and Vito Scaletta being Vito Corleone. The big difference between the game and the movie however is that Vito gets pinched (arrested) and is made to choose between prison time and the military to which he chooses the latter and Mafia II begins.

What I Disliked:

Tow The Line: I absolutely hate linear games, I mean back in the days of Final Fantasy 8 and Metal Gear Solid I would be all for the Choose Your Own Adventure style of gameplay but in 2010 Bioware and Rockstar have made us gamers drunk off of open world gameplay. We want to roam, I want the choice of doing a mission or going to the strip club or calling up my virtual girlfriend to go see a movie. Choices makes gamers happy and Mafia II does not offer you this luxury. To add insult to injury they give you this awesome reproduction of 1940′s era America and you can’t go raising hell at your own discretion. I hoped that after completing the game in it’s entirety they would let me loose like Grand Theft Auto 4 did but no dice. Maybe this can be solved via DLC later on.

The Ending: When I got to the final mission after only 15 hrs of gameplay my mind went to “I really hope this isn’t it”, I hoped for a mini epilogue and then another 20 hrs as an older version of myself or another mafioso altogether, but surely this couldn’t be it! Well my hopes were wasted as the depressing ending played itself out (remember the realism bit?) and the credits rolled and placed me back at the main menu. I absolutely hated the game for a couple days after this, not wanting to play it or it’s DLC from the nasty taste in my mouth… I am still recovering from it.

What I Liked:

The Look, Music and Language: Mafia II feels absolutely authentic, starting with the music that takes you into the time period and ending with the landscape, old cars and fashion of the day. It gives you a “wow things don’t seem so drab back in the 40s” feeling as you walk and run around the city doing the missions. 2K Czech’s attention to detail is commendable as nothing seemed out of place for the time period and my immersion was intact throughout as I stole cars, bought tailored suits and admired dames puffing on their cigarettes outside of lit restaurants. Even the racist Italian attitude is intact, “ain’t that a Mooli neighborhood? I’ll stick out like a sore thumb” said Scaletta in one scene where he was made to enter a black neighborhood. “Maybe if you could open your eyes wider” – a blast at an Asian gangster by Vito’s partner Joe in one scene involving the Triads. There aren’t any punches pulled and if you are offended by women being objects and Irish people being “Micks” then don’t play Mafia II, its pretty raw!

Vito and Joe: The animation, mannerisms and attitude of Vito brought him to life. He’s very much the quiet Italian hoodlum from the streets who is stuck in a world where “ya gotta do what ya gotta do”. At one point Joe Barbaro tells his friend that he will help him come up and then offers the insight “the working man is a sucker that’s for damn sure” to which Vito simply replies “you said it!” The two men feel like old friends, Vito mouthing off to Joe at times and Joe always maintaining a “glass is half full” attitude – “Don’t worry Vito we’ll get it back”. They complement each other extremely well, Joe being the careful and well connected of the two and Vito being the skilled, handsome sidekick. If there were a movie about this game, I would hope it would be headlined by these two characters – and they MUST keep the scenes where Vito catches Joe in a threesome lol!

Prison: No other game have I played allow me to play the part of an inmate. You get to witness “the yard”, segregation, racism and hardass guards as you are forced to earn your respect will doing 10 years in the system. There’s a shower scene (I guess the boys wore boxers in the showers in 1945 ‘snicker’), a rape attempt! And even prison fights. The prison chapter blew me away as it wasn’t something I expected.

Playboy Magazines: I found these to be a nice distraction even though finding colored magazines of plump breasts and vag in a 1940′s warehouse does seem odd. The game allows you to collect the centerfolds as you find them throughout the world and adds a bit of replay value if that is your thing.

Would I Recommend Mafia II?

Yes and no – If you find it for less than $30 then it’s a steal, or if you have a GameFLY account then go to town. If you don’t however and you see it retail for $60 then stay away from it or you will be pissed at both myself for this review and your stupidity for buying what feels like an unfinished game. For all its good Mafia II proved to be a tad too short for me and as much as I loved the story, they could’ve done better to add in free-roaming gameplay to satisfy the modern RPG gamer.

Originally posted at: 3GodKings.com

I don’t think the cake is a lie and I’m Still Alive! Don’t get the nerdy reference? If so please do yourself a favor and download the now free copy of “Portal” from Steam. Portal was one of those quirky games that didn’t have a crazy amount of hype, but it certainly became a cult classic. This game pits YOU as the center of the story in a self-told narrative only to be passively directed by GlaDOS the A.I masochist.

Portal was simple and fun app created by the guys that made Half-Life 1&2. Originally this title was conceived by some students at the DigiPen Institute of Technology know as the title “Narbacular Drop”. After receiving much praise Valve Studios slapped the physics engine of Half-Life and even gave it a different story which many have grown to love.

I can say this game had a special place in my heart because of its ingenious and sadistic plot. You wake up in a testing facility for a rival technology company to Half-Life’s “Black Mesa” called Aperture Science. You are guided by the facility’s A.I. system GlaDOS (Genetic Lifeform and Disk Operating System) who instills the ideology that you will make it out using a ASHPD (Aperture Science Handheld Portal Gun) and will receive cake at the end of your journey.

The game consists of the player solving challenging puzzles by using the Portal Gun to open gateways between two locations and solve how to get out of each of the rooms. There will be rocket turrets, robotic guns, and deathly drops. The amazing thing about this game was its originality and the fact that it could tell a narrative without the use of traditional means such as cinemas and multiple character interaction. It is simply you and GlaDOS throughout the whole game.

This game has received many awards and deserves such high praise for being such a simple concept. There is currently talks of a new Portal game and I expect to see high sales for the sequel. Originally the game shipped alongside the Half-Life bundle “The Orange Box”.

Since its initial release it has such a cult following from Youtube Machinima spoofs to special Rock Band appearances of the famous Johnathon Coulton song “Still Alive”. Portal is undoubtedly a fan favorite. If you haven’t played it already, there is no excuse because for a limited time Steam is giving away Portal for free to commemorate the  anniversary of its release. Though the cake may still be a lie muahahahaha………..

Originally posted at: 3GodKings.com

The clock rounded the 6 am number when the small aircraft touched down on the dusty track outside of Shadowloo headquarters. The stoic Vega jumped out on to the tracks, a thing that his aides had grown familiar with being that their leader hated to stay still for very long. Crossing the plain with long strides he answered his communications band angrily and began to bark orders at one of the scientists within his employ. Vega was going in to try out his brand new boots and braces, a technology that would allow him anti-gravity through the sheer power of will, a technology that he had dubbed “psycho power”. No longer would the overlord need silly aircrafts or vehicles, the world would be his swimming pool, one of ultimate power and mobility.

At the Interpol HQ, a healed and alert Chun Li looked over the paperwork for another contact that had come forth with information on Shadowloo. This contact’s name was a popular one, a former heavy weight champion that had fallen from grace to become hired muscle for anyone who had the money to afford him. Mike Bison used to knock his opponents out early in matches and was considered worthless to the gambling world. His last professional fight ended with a blatant headbutt that knocked his opponent’s teeth out and earned him a disqualification from the match and ultimately boxing. Now Mike had connections to Vega and Chun had the money to pay for it all, anything to get a chance at the over lord.

“I still fight, but my ring is the streets now” Bison opens with as soon as the beautiful Interpol detective plopped down across from him at the bar. He wouldn’t shut up, “you’re a pretty little thing, what do you want with an ugly mug like Vega?” She stared at him intently trying to figure out how he would have anything to do with a man as powerful as Vega then asked “how do you know Vega, Mike? Did he have stakes in boxing too, or is this all a setup that will inevitably waste my time?” Bison began laughing uncontrollably, his huge hands clutching the half-finished beer bottle. “I am his personal bodyguard girl. You may think this is a joke cause I was a prize-fighter but if you see me dance out in them streets you’d gimme the respect I deserve.”

To be continued next week Thursday…

<< Click here for last week’s episode

The Legend of The Lightning Legs is a fan-fiction written by Greg “The Dragon” Dyer of 3godkings.com. No unauthorized copying of this work is allowed unless the copying is accompanied by a visual and relative link back to 3godkings.com with credit made to the author.

Originally posted at: 3GodKings.com

The video game has come a long way from the black and white Pong and the arcade games we played in our youth. Now video games refer to interactive games that have a storyline. The video game became more accessible after the personal computer became a household appliance. The console also developed simultaneously.

A console is a device that is used to play video games. Both PCs and consoles are popular depending on the country. For example, the console is very popular in the United States and Japan, while the PC version is popular in south Asia and Africa. This mainly because if issues with the availability and pricing.

Games has always has cult following. As the game has evolved, so has the gamer. Today’s gamer demands better storylines, better graphics and more options. In order to meet this demand gaming companies have poured an ever increasing amount of money into the development of these games. This cost is passed onto the average gamer. Not all gamers can afford these costs, and in the end everyone loses out. Renting gaming titles is a new trend that has emerged in the gaming arena.

There are rental stores in both the real world and the virtual one as well. With game rentals you do not need to purchase the game. You can rent it out and play it at your own leisure. You may or may not like the game. If you like the game, you can purchase it from the store at a reduced price or you could just rent it till you finish with it. On the other hand if you do not like the game, you can easily return it and get another one. Of course you need to be a member of a particular rental store to avail these options.

Online video game rental stores are also very popular for a variety of reasons. You do not need to leave the comfort of your home to go to the store to get the game. It is delivered to your doorstep free of charge. Yeah, that’s right. Most rental portals deliver the games free of charge. Another advantage an online portal has is the availability issue. There is no guarantee that you will find the title you are looking for at a store, but with an online portal you are sure to find the title you desire. Some online stores have up to 70000 titles in their library! So next time you want to rent a game consider an online store to Rent Video Games.

As a Gamefly member, you rent video games you want, try them for as long as you like and even Buy Video Games Online you can’t part with at extremely discounted prices. All that comes at a small monthly fee – especially if you consider the cost of buying new games off the shelf at full price.

Originally posted at: 3GodKings.com

Ultima was your classing RPG, you go out and fight things trying your best to avoid death, mastering new skills and honing your battle prowess. Getting stronger means you get richer and getting richer meant you got better weapons, armor and magic which in turn makes you even stronger. I recall the difficulty of the game and the need to use my imagination on the pc version (I played both it and the NES version) due to the limited graphics and my team basically being stickmen.

Ultima Exodus had one of the most breathtaking endings of any RPG I have played. You and your team mount horses and have to escape a crumbling castle after slaying the final creature. This escape was through a gauntlet of debris with huge refuse falling with intent on crushing you as you rode out. The difficulty of the game itself and the big boss is enough to make you shake as you ride out hoping and wishing that you will not die and be forced to fight that boss again. Awesome, awesome game, Ultima Exodus was one of my favorite RPG experiences.

Originally posted at: 3GodKings.com

Memories of Fallen Leaves Part 2 of 2

The Englishman was distracted as sirens in the distance drew near. Spitting out a tooth that must have gotten dislodged from a successful high roundhouse, he pulls out a dirty comb and adjusts his Mohawk. This cocky gesture was all Chun needed; kicking at his ankle then the outside of his knee, the big man bellowed in pain as the crippling kick stunned him  and he dropped his comb as he clutched his knee. Chun was now on her feet, weak but enraged, time slowing down as his vulnerable body was now hers for punishment. Pushing at him with the energy of a Kikoken Chi ball and chasing it with alternating roundhouses from each leg, she climbs the brute with a crushing stomp to his damaged leg, then another to his shoulder and then uses his head as a springboard to catapult herself off of him and away from the wall. The crunch from the last stomp let her know that she had successfully compressed his spine and as he fell over, blacking out from his head hitting the asphalt, she knew that this gangster “Birdy” would never walk again… that’s _­­­if he lived.

As she made her way out of the alley, clutching her bruised chest, her thoughts ran back to teenage years when she laid in a forest similarly damaged from self-inflicted wounds. Whenever she would train, that horrible day would return fresh in her mind. She couldn’t shake it, it was like a scar burned upon her hands, reminding her daily whenever she looked at them. She had followed in her father’s footsteps and mastered an ancient animal form of Kung-Fu but remembering her father’s inability to move Vega she had befriended a Korean man who taught her how to kick. Her Korean master was old school and the training he gave her was cruel and relentless. Today she was being made to roundhouse a young tree and as the skin on her legs gave way to black and blue bruises and skinned flesh he would not let her stop, issuing forth insults and reminders of former students who failed him.

The kicks shook the tree weakly and the memory of Vega came back in a flash as she got wearier. It was enough to spike her enthusiasm into blind fury. Suddenly the pain in her legs were gone and she alternated legs on the tree finding new locales with which to kick it, switching and kicking as her master yelled for her to go faster. Her kicks became like lightning as she would do this daily getting faster, stronger and deadlier with it. She remembered the leaves falling seemingly endlessly, there were always falling leaves whenever she would train with him.

As Chun-Li emerged from the alleyway the police rushed past her to collect Birdy, the Interpol agents hurriedly throw a coat around her hunched shoulders and rush her to an unmarked car. As they sped off she looked back to see the brute being walked out from the alleyway, handcuffed, bloodied and strangely smiling at her in a strange show of reverence. She felt happy that he hadn’t died, and happy to see him walking albeit poorly. Birdy was a criminal but drugs were not the equivalent of murder and she only wanted information. Though she had failed at interrogating him, she had proven to herself that she was a force to be reckoned with and although she was no closer to Vega, it at least gave her comfort that when the time comes she would have the heart to finish it.

To be continued next week Thursday…

<< Click here for last week’s episode

The Legend of The Lightning Legs is a fan-fiction written by Greg “The Dragon” Dyer of 3godkings.com. No unauthorized copying of this work is allowed unless the copying is accompanied by a visual and relative link back to 3godkings.com with credit made to the author.

Originally posted at: 3GodKings.com

Alien Swarm has got to be one of the best things going for owners of a Steam Account. Valve issued this free game to anyone with a PC and you better believed I jumped on it after receiving a tip from my buddy Krys on Facebook. Expecting a cheesy momentary distraction, I had no clue that I was installing an addictive kickback to games like Smash TV, Ikari Warriors and Gauntlet. Alien Swarm is a kickback to many older games but it comes with a twist! We can level up our avatars from continuous gameplay thus unlocking better weapons for even more gameplay! What a twist!

The basic story of Alien Swarm is that there is an infestation of a facility by… you guessed it, Aliens and 4 marines are dropped in to clear them out. The game allows you to choose from four marines of varying bonuses and abilities and they are paired into  4 classes of Officer (run and gun), Tech (hacks), Medic (self-explanatory) and Special Weapons Expert (bullet hell). The game is meant to be played online but allows you to practice solo with the classes and weapons before logging in and subjecting yourself to embarrassment when you go shooting your teammate. Yes you can shoot your teammate.

Playing online is the same as always, there are tons of pickup groups but being that Alien Swarm is a game of teamwork, one lazy medic or clueless tech can cost you the game just as easily as one badass Weapons Expert can lock down an army of aliens while you take a smoke. Get yourself a team of friends and invite them to the party and you may find that this game is a walk in the park on a hot sunny day. So far we are given about 8 stages to run through, each taking anywhere from 5 minute to 15 minutes to clear depending on the knowledge of the players. The last 2 stages introduce you to the face-huggers from Aliens that are dubbed “parasites” for this game which can only be removed via a shock suit, or a medic. It also has a countdown, exploding eggs and all sorts of nuclear cool sh-t on top of it all.

You would think that with only 4 classes and 8 stages on a free game that it would get old fast but you are out of your mind if you believe that. Alien Swarm will have you logging hours upon end blasting at the slimy bad guys and listening to people nerd rage over the microphone about others either shooting them or not healing fast enough (sorry you can’t nerf crybabies). All-in-all, if this game was a $15 purchase you would not hear me bitching about it, seriously Valve, can you put this thing on X-Box Live and PSN please? If you have a Steam account and want an awesome new and free game to play, pick up Alien Swarm. If you don’t have a Steam account, then get one, it’s free too! Either way, do not miss out on this, I am having a blast and you can too. Just leave me Vegas or Sarge to use when we team up and sit back and watch papa Dragon dance!

Originally posted at: 3GodKings.com

For those of you Mass Effect fans who were annoyed by the short length and campy story of Kasumi Goto (the last DLC) I can assure you 100% that Overlord will regain your trust in expansions. I was happy for Kasumi (the character) who has now become an invaluable teammate and the Locust Sub-machine gun but the quest left me salty at the money I spent last time. This time however Bioware gives us a true quest in the endgame, more clues into Cerberus and the shady Illusive Man and a mission that took me well over 2 hours to complete.

:: The Mission

In Overlord, a VI has gone rogue and taken over a number of Geth in a Cerberus facility. Shepard and crew are called in to investigate and you find out that things are much worse than you assumed. This mission is gory as all hell and extremely creepy, you see bodies strewn about with their brains splattered everywhere, some disemboweled and others just in heaps. The VI randomly pops up on the screens of computers throughout making an annoyingly grating noise and cameras watch you and call in nastiness randomly.

One of the coolest thing about Overlord is that it utilizes the new Hammerhead -raise your hand if you’re a fan of the hovering, firing and jumping Hammerhead (raises hand frantically). You have to drive the machine to different areas – which allow you to pick up additional clues and bonuses on the way. The planet that holds the VI is BEAUTIFUL, think earth with a dusky yellow tint to the skies rather than our blue. There are dinosaur type creatures walking around and flying overhead, and you can see three planets/moons looming largely on the horizon. But don’t go sight-seeing too long as the baddest of the badass Geth are lounging planetside too!

The story behind the Overlord ends up being the standard well thought out, cinema-worthy tale that Bioware is known for. This isn’t a James Bond influenced distraction like Kasumi at all, this is one that could have been in the main game easily. If you haven’t downloaded Overlord, you should do so as soon as possible and dust off your crew for action. You may as well dust them off anyway since we get a chance to go after Liara’s Shadow Broker next DLC and you better believe that one will be major!

:: Greg Dragon is now a Mirimancer

For those of you who have followed my ongoing ramblings on this awesome game (Mass Effect 2), you know that I had avoided Miranda during my initial playthrough. Well I just finished beating it again and this time I romanced Miranda…  I must say that it was not painful. Miranda turns from bitch to delicious really fast if you at least try to get to know her, now my question is, will a Mirimancer get to keep her in Mass Effect 3, or will she go the way of Ashley? Oh well that’s why  smart Mass Effect players keep multiple saves (Jack, Kelly and Tali on deck).

Originally posted at: 3GodKings.com

Capcom’s X-Men vs Street Fighter is the title that started all of the crossover madness that 2D Fighting game lovers like myself cherish. While it had its share of flaws, I recalled the early days of the arcades when infinite loops weren’t discovered, Wolverine was king and variety was the spice of life. Nothing beats the raw arcades when a title is new and everyone is playing it. 3GK and company has spent hundreds of dollars in quarters/tokens plugging away at that game beating people and getting beat by people only wishing to use our favorite characters.

My team was Rogue and Storm, I loved the voice acting for Rogue and ending a combo in a kiss then having the other person’s signature move led into more creative combos along with adding insult to injury. I relished in ending a character using his own move like doing a 360 pile driver on Zangief or Dragon punching Ken out of the screen. Storm was all aerial annoyance as I would combo someone all the way up to the top of the screen and landing them into a lightning storm before allowing them to fall. My first tournament in X-Men vs Street Fighter turned me off immensely when I saw that the chess game I adored had become a cheese-fest of infinites as I witnessed a Storm user do my combo then throw his opponent only to loop the combo again infinitely. It was a sobering wake-up call to the versus series as they all have suffered from this throughout the sequels.

Recently we had Capcom vs Marvel 2 ported to PSN and X-Box Live so I hope for a kickback to this original. The version that I own on Playstation is laughably limited (no tags) so I hope for a real arcade port of this awesome classic.

Originally posted at: 3GodKings.com

Memories of Fallen Leaves Part 1 of 2

The brute rushes at Chun Li with the force of an automobile in an attempt to smash the young detective against the wall. Blood ran easily from her nose and mixed with the sweat that had already collected above her top lip as she barely felt its flow from the pounding in her skull. They had been going at it for 5 minutes and she wondered if she would still be considered pretty if she managed to live. His dash came so quickly that all she could manage to do was steel herself and block which did absolutely nothing to prevent her fragile body from going limp after the impact. His thick English accent was not one that she could decipher as he yelled things at her while looking down at her crumpled body. This was it for Chun and she wondered at what would be said at her eulogy: “here lies Chun Li an obsessed woman who fought men twice her size on a fool’s errand of revenge”. These thoughts were quick scans through her brain, interrupting her Chi which she now summoned in an unconscious effort to save her life.

There was a time past when this same resolve first presented itself as young Chun watched from a tree as Vega met with her father for business which resulted in a fight. Her father was a respected business man and she could not figure out why he would meet with this evil man. His entire look scared little Chun Li and his smile was that of a predator. The meeting had started peacefully with friendly exchanges but had deteriorated to shouts and it was in a language that was foreign to her ears. Before his successful career her father had been a champion, one of his school’s finest examples in Kung-Fu, an honor of which he never spoke but now presented itself as his graceful stances and moves deflected Vega’s harsh kicks and punches. Her father, for all of his grace and power was not stopping Vega’s advances however and as he inverted himself, balancing on an open palm, the evil Vega jumped and landed on his face. Screaming in horror out of pain, dismay and helplessness, Chun leapt from the tree to help her father, but breaking her leg in the attempt. It was the first time she uttered the promise of revenge to herself, “I will never be this helpless again”.

To be continued next week Thursday…

The Legend of The Lightning Legs is a fan-fiction written by Greg “The Dragon” Dyer of 3godkings.com. No unauthorized copying of this work is allowed unless the copying is accompanied by a visual and relative link back to 3godkings.com with credit made to the author.

Originally posted at: 3GodKings.com