There’s always a lot of controversy when it comes to sequels, and Fable 3 is no exception.  I love Fable, Fable 2, and Fable 3.  I have had some of my most enjoyable experiences ever in a console game with the series’ odd humor and system of providing me with so many decisions between good and evil.  Unfortunately it seems that between Fable 3, Peter Molyneux, and I — one of us doesn’t get the others as much as they claim…

As with the other games, the second I put it into my console I was sucked into the odd world of Fable once again.  Ugly women, male prostitutes, the undead – all of them welcomed me back just like each other time.  However it seems that this installment is somehow quite different from the last.  I hope to enlighten all of you on these changes and how to use them to your advantage and disadvantage using my own archaic skills of strategy developed from oh so many hours of beta testing lousy Korean MMORPGs.

First of all, instead of being able to use your overwhelming monetary power to enhance your character like in the last game, you have to do various things to collect “guild seals”, sort of like “Hero Points” if you will,(they double as experience too in a way) which allow you to purchase new abilities and spells in a kind of virtual store call the “Road to Rule.”  This actually seems a bit frustrating at first, but you quickly find that it balances access to gameplay features very well.  The system definitely keeps your power level where it should be as you progress through the storyline.  One little sidenote: as with Fable 2, the difficulty of the enemies you fight increases each time you enhance your characters abilities.  So make sure you have a handle on fighting the enemies you are facing at your current level of expertise before upgrading to the next melee, spell, or ranged level.

The storyline unfolds rather hurriedly in the beginning of the game and feels almost like you were just shaken out of bed and tossed into the ring.  This being said, the warmth and conversation directed toward you by friendly characters early in the game help you to understand why you are there and immediately feel an attachment to the world and your character’s situation (which I personally find very important in rpg games).  I would say that I have played about 12-16 hours right now and according to the strategy guide, which I purchased solely to use in finding the evil gnomes and to help me open demon doors like in the last game, I am about 65% through the game.  Now I don’t consider myself a real power gamer, nor do I fool around achievement-hunting, so this is probably about an average estimate of game time.  I will say that as with other games set in Albion, make sure you participate in side quests and do some exploring early and throughout the game.  The world changes the more of these things you do and you might find there are some enjoyable experiences waiting for you.  Personally I like the fact that the franchise doesn’t take itself too seriously.  You will find it full of references, characters, and digs at missions from the previous title.  One of my personal favorites so far is a mission where you are shrunk by dorky wizards who put you into a small game board and make you participate in a small campaign in which you have to interact with cardboard cut-outs. (if only I could keep my sword with +3 to Baron-killing…)

The new weapons system is wonderful.  I remember in the last game I just put a ghoul gem in my Master sword and splattered every bad guy I came across through the entire game.  In Fable 3 there are tons of weapons.  As you level up your skills with each weapon class through purchasing them in the Road to Rule they look cooler and cooler.  In fact there is a set of Hero weapons left to you by your father, the last hero of Albion which seems to only get better looking with no real added effect.  The other weapons are a lot cooler.  They all kinda lean towards a certain type of gameplay, as the actions you take give them permanent special abilities and enhance their looks.  Some are evil, some good, some social, etc.  For example some of them have stipulations like kill 100 villagers, have sex 30 times, give gifts in multiplayer, or kill x number of enemies with the fireball spell.  The only downside is that you have to have a weapon equipped to work towards unlocking any of it’s abilities.  It’s also pretty lousy when you’ve worked on completely upgrading a weapon only to find one you think suits you better, and have to start grinding out it’s stipulations now too.  Magic has been simplified as you can only have one spell or “gauntlet” at a time.  There is no different spell per level of charging to confuse you like the last game.  You can wear 2 spell gauntlets at once, but it just combines the 2 spells.  Unfortunately my two favorite spells in the last game, slow time and summon, have been turned into potions usable only in combat for a short-term effect.  They are also rather rare and expensive, but if you are careful you should find plenty to suit your needs by digging them up on your travels or searching Reaver’s mansion while raiding his panties.  I seem to get by through just about any encounter with the combination of fireball/shock or shock/vortex anyway though so I wouldn’t worry about not having excessive amounts of evil minions this time around.

Interactions with villagers and real estate has changed quite a bit since the last installment.  There is no rotary emote dial, nor can you raise the level of adoration of multiple villagers at once by dancing or playing the lute.  Interactions are now a performed on a (grueling) one on one basis.  The radial menu is replaced by a random selection of good, evil, silly, or other button press option each time you interact with a particular villager.  I suppose that this is because each villager has a mission for you to perform on the way to becoming their best friend or lover and I am having enough trouble with one or two following me around each town driving me bonkers, I can’t imagine how annoying it would be if every time I danced twenty people wanted me to find a letter for them in the woods…

As far as real estate goes it’s much easier and a little bit harder to manage at the same time.  I myself am raking in about 40,000 gold every 5 minutes.  You no longer make money while you aren’t actively playing however, so I have adopted a method of leaving my character  in his house with a wired controller connected and my tv off – making obscene amounts of cash while I eat dinner, do my laundry or walk the dog.  My new xbox 360 slim seems to be able to handle it without any trouble of overheating, and even if it does I’ll have made enough gold by then that it will be worth buying a new one and spending some of it.  One tip I have for you is that since the buying and renting of houses requires you to frequently repair them(by paying money) in order to continue receiving your rent checks, DON’T BUY ANY HOUSES! (unless you want you or your spouse to live in them)  I personally just made pies and played lute hero until I had enough to buy some stands and pubs and then proceeded to get wealthy beyond my wildest dreams.  Businesses require no upkeep.  It’s much easier.  For those of you that do want to own every house asap luckily you can access the houses’ info panels(actually all property in any area you have unlocked) and pay rent, buy, or sell them right from the “start menu.”

I say this because there is no real menu.  This is another change you will either love or hate.  I see how it seemed like a good idea.  It’s kind of fun to talk to a butler every time to check your money, change a weapon or your clothes, but I can’t say it doesn’t slow down the process.  Because it does!  luckily you can warp to the Hero Chamber during just about any moment you want: in the middle of battle, while talking to someone, or diving off a cliff, and they will never notice a thing.(except if you put on snazzier clothes.)  It takes some getting used to, but it’s not at all a broken feature, every bit of accessibility you would want from the start menu is there, it just takes longer to access.

So what is wrong with this game?  Well the thing that continues to ring in my mind is that for some reason it reminds me more of playing the Sims 3 when I’m in towns than it does anything else.  It’s just something about the interactions and the weird little babbling that happens when I hug or kiss someone.  I just miss my emote wheel so much!

Another thing that has been driving me nuts is the slowdown.  Man this game gets so slow and choppy in towns that it makes you fail the button pressing minigames and start from the beginning of the round.  Sometimes when first appearing in a zone it will freeze entirely for 30 seconds or so.  I have played for several hours without it installed on my hard drive and then the remainder of my time playing has been with it installed and it seems to make no difference.  I don’t mean to say that the game is entirely messed up, but I would think that they could have worked these kinks out by the release.  Mind you, I do tend to find things wrong with the games I play that no one would ever find, (like weird invisible wall collision, warping, ghosting, and getting stuck in crazy places.  haven’t found any of those things yet luckily) but luckily it’s been pretty much a walk in the park bug-wise.

Lastly it seems that it’s not what is wrong with the game as much as it’s what is missing.  Someone (I don’t want to mention any names) has promised us certain things which I remember and then some things which I personally don’t remember but people keep bringing up enough for me to mention in the review.  Some common complaints and things I personally feel the game should include:

• The ability to give your spouse and child different clothing.  How come when I am king do my wife and child still have to dress like they live in a gutter?
• A more free and open world.  I understand that the winding paths and inspired vantage points provide for the correct artistic vision to come through and give us the “right” feeling for the world, but seriously……you’re competing with oblivion and fallout here guys.  Along with that, why not vehicles or horses?
• Someone said that our children would be able to grow up and come adventuring with us.  — not that I need help since I am the ultimate hero, but it would be cool wouldn’t it?
• Speaking of clothes…  we did a lot better in this installment, but there are so many possibilities!  I personally own 3 or 4 clothing stores, why isn’t there more than 6 or 8 clothing sets for me to buy with my millions upon millions of gold?
• Dogs are man’s best friend, but what if we could have any companion we want?  Bird? Giant Spider? Sheep? Hobbe? Steam robot? …Baby dragon anyone?
• We need at least as much DLC as Dragon age, GTA 4, and Fallout. k?
• Give me back my Emote Wheel!

With all that said.  The game is awesome.  It’s pretty much all I could ask for in a sequel to one of my top 5 games of all time.  Since we don’t really have a clear rating system here at Sparkbox, let’s say that I give it a 4.25 out of  a possible 5 missed hours of sleep per night.

If you have stories, questions, or tips, don’t forget we have a fully functioning forum and would love to hear your thoughts.  For now I’d better get back to playing before I get too enthralled with my Kinect tomorrow…

The sequel to the original Force Unleashed was released this past Tuesday on the 26th, and on the 27th I was frantically tearing off the plastic wrap of the Xbox 360 version like the rabid fanboy I pretend not to be.  So what does this sophomore effort bring to the table?  A hell of a lot less then the original.

First off, let me preface this by pointing out that the need for me to reawaken my login on Spark Box in order to write a review has to tell you something.  Before you go any further, let me warn you again there shall be spoilers.  Again: ******SPOILERS******  Ok then, now that I got that out of the way, on to the crappy!

The game starts you off the same exact way the playable demo does with a few more minutes of gameplay.  Before you know it you’re cutting off bits and pieces of stormtroopers in no time as you begin to get accustomed to the extra lightsaber Starkiller is wielding this time around.  The attacks are more of the same mashing of the same one button over and over again with the sprinkling of 2 other button choices to shake things up a bit with your force powers.  Of those force powers you only get a mesmerizing two brand spanking new abilities.  I know, I could barely contain myself either.  One is mind trick which eventually lets you “trick” up to three opponents, the other is Force Fury, an activated rage ability you unleash once the meter fills which gives you temporary invincibility and stronger attacks.  One thing I thought was pretty cool was the carry over of three of the alternate costumes if you happened to have played through the original.  As I mentioned earlier, you’re now duel wielding lightsabers which allows you the ability to mix and match ‘saber crystals for each weapon allowing you various perks.

A bit now on the plot.  Vader has cloned Starkiller and wants him back as his apprentice to do all his dirty work, but  Clonekiller is still all choked up over Juno Eclipse and Vader just wants it to be bro time.  Starkiller escapes and starts his search for Juno.  Yay a love story with lightsabers!

Ok so what really got to me?  Lets start with the cut scenes.  I love cinematics just as much as the next gamer, I know it’s Star Wars and we all want more story, but this was a bit much.  I like the Levine method of letting the game tell your story.  We don’t need a books worth of dialog.  Luckily these are able to be skipped, for the most part.  Which brings me to the next gripe, General Kota.  Your very first task is to go rescue General Kota who has been dismembering creatures in a gladiator style arena for the crowd’s amusement.  After his rescue, how does he thank you?  By yelling the same commands in your ear over and over and over again.  To say this gets annoying really quick is an understatement.

Lets get to some of the baddies.  There are basically 3 types of adversaries; health filling lightsaber fodder stormtroopers, “medium sized” bad guys that take a bit more involvement with repetitive button sequence finish offs, and the ridiculously long wtf-am-I-doing/my-god-my-fingers-are-bleeding-stumps opponents.  Luckily you’ll only have to suffer through two of the last type.  And oh you will suffer.

Force Unleashed 2 also offers two cameo appearances by Master Yoda and the notorious Boba Fett.  Both of which you get no game play interaction with.  None.  Zero.  The best you get is a quote from Yoda from the original trilogy.  Some type of game play would have elevated the game exponentially.  A Luke style training session with Yoda for some extra force power points.  Or maybe have a locked ability that can only be attained by completing said training session with the pint sized jedi master.  As you may have guessed, no fight with Boba Fett either.  Sorry.  He barely even stops by to say hello before he runs off doing his bounty hunting thing.

The bulk of annoyances in the game are interactions with Vader, which mirrors the protagonists anger with him so maybe it was all planned that way.  Towards the very end of the game you have to find Vader to discover where Juno is.  You get to a point where you’re surrounded by cloning tanks containing “mistakes” of you.  You can’t do anything but walk in this portion.  Imagine being in a haunted house where everything is hazy, you’re not allowed to touch anything, but things jump out at you.  Oh and your shoes are tied together so you can’t move very fast.  This is exactly what this portion of the game is like (yay useless filler!!).  The exception being that it’s Lord Vader popping out at you, then automatically blocking his saber and dramatically yelling at him about the location of Juno.  You then have to climb the spire of cloning tank platforms and eventually whittle away vaders life.  You finally get to the final battle with Vader where he does nothing but walk around with his lightsaber in a defensive position and occasionally hits you with lightning.  Riveting.  The final battle with the emperor in the last game was much more involved compared to this concluding battle.  After a few more yelling matches you finally execute the least complex button combinations ever to pin down Vader….and then mash the hell out of the lightning button for what seems like eternity.  I kid you not.  If I had something to constantly tap force lightning for me I could’ve made a PBJ in the time it finally took to sufficiently turn Vader into a light bulb.

The game concludes with you having to pick the light side or the dark side.  Not very imaginative and overly predictable.

Overall, I’d rent this for the night or two it would take to complete it. I started off the game in hard mode, hoping for a bit more of a challenge and a few extra achievement points and received little of either.  A few unlocked challenges add some replay to the game, but at the end it’s really not all that worth it.  For something that could have been a lot better, it’s significantly worse than the original.

Sometimes I find that there are times in a day whereby I need something to do for a very short period of time, where reading may be more than I want to get myself into, and paying too much for verizon store cell phone games just won’t do.  Where do I turn?  Well the iTunes store where I can get endless fun, productive, and stupid things to mess around with for my iTouch, iPhone, etc.  What have I enjoyed this week? Well for starters, there are numerous are things available all the time.  One only has to open the “hot new games” or “Featured” apps page in the App store, and away we go!

This week, my picks are one free and one paid app.  Both of which take me back to earlier periods in my life when gaming was much simpler, yet satisfying, somehow.

Pick Number One: “Air Assault.”  A free OpenFeint enabled game, which is reminiscent of one of my favorite PC classics “Night Raid.”  In this game you defend your meager little base against waves of choppers, parachuting Russians, and psycho ground assault troops with a 50 caliber machine gun and a mortar launcher.  The waves get harder and more vehicles assault you until you just give up due to the sheer impossibility of this game type, but I happen to like spending hours on it.

Pick Number Two:  “Robot Rampage.”  This game is like what if Godzilla for the NES met Rampage, and then had a simplified child.  You storm the city as an unstoppable atomic robot and use your eye beams and crushing limbs to squash buildings and burn infantry for minutes of fun on end!  It seems this game never ends, it just goes on and on in a survival mode where you destroy each block fully to proceed.  Very fun and addictive in that simple side scrolling destruction game kind of way.  This game was 99 cents when I got it on sale, so if you want it I suggest you take advantage as it’s well worth it.  I’ve gotten to block 35.  Let me know if you do better!

That’s it for now, I’ll be posting these periodically when apps catch my eye.  Let me know if there’s anything I should check out, or if you have an app reviewing job available for me

Later!

Yes, I was there to see The Wolfman on opening night, and it was certainly a scary movie, continue on to find out why…

I went into this film not really expecting too much, (which turned out to be a good thing) but surprisingly it was a little more gory and a little less story than I had hoped for.  The film boasts quite a decent cast; Benicio Del Toro, Anthony Hopkins, and Hugo Weaving all point towards some serious acting potential, but it’s not entirely necessary.  The way remakes have become epic visually appealing fan-fests, should indicate that this movie would have a lot in common with the original, which I was only able to ever see some of in my past. This being the case, I cannot expertly compare the two.

Seeing the trailers for this movie, with such dramatic actors in the cast, led me to believe that the characters would be deep masterpieces of modern story-telling.  This was not the case at all.  The characters in this movie, as well as the overall storyline, are more shallow than that of ‘Dude Wheres My Car?’ or ‘I Know What You Did Last Summer’.  It has a very dark atmosphere and story.  It turns out that this movie, although not as campy as the original tries to be a pure thriller/horror movie at heart and thus doesn’t feel a need for expert emotional portrayal, back story, or character development.  Don’t expect too much in that department…

Another thing that was crazy, Del Toro, although known to me as one of the homeliest men alive, was actually one of the better looking folks in the film.  This really makes me not want to jump into a time machine to England anytime soon.  There were certainly some very nicely done makeup and special effects in the film though.  One of my favorite parts of the film was when Inspector Abberline walks into an area where the Wolfman has gone nuts and absolutely destroyed a large group of men.  He wades through piles of organs and limbs that look like steaming cow patties in the cold night air.

One thing of note, the sets, costumes, and atmosphere were all very well put together.  I really felt like the movie brought me into the feeling of the time period.  Whether it was the spooky, foggy forests, the bland old England attire, or the hanging pigs in the slaughterhouse/morgue, it really delivered in that department.

All in all it was a very entertaining film.  There were only a few parts I felt that I could look around and move around in my seat, indicating that it kept my attention very well considering how little I cared about what was going on.  I would probably write more about it if it left more of an impression on me.  If I have to use stars, it would get a 2.5 to 3 out of 5 at the most.  My suggestion is that if you haven’t, you would spend your money better by going to see Avatar before it leaves theaters.  Heck, even if you have seen it, just go see Avatar again and wait for The Wolfman to make it’s way to FX or the Syfy channel…

Hey SparkBox Listeners! It’s time for the JungleTrek Check-IN, giving you the latest on whats coming out in theaters and the video game stores. Check out this week’s update right now:

Click Here:  JungleTrek Check-In

Well, its been hyped for months, and here it is! BIOSHOCK 2, the sequel to the original, Game of the Year, “Bioshock”. I, like hundreds of other Bioshock megafans have been waiting a long time for it and I spent my entire day yesterday playing completely through it. Ready for the whole inner scoop? Here is what I thought of my return to Rapture…

I bought Bioshock 2 the day it came out, and I did what any other mega Bioshock fan would do… I went to work and bounced up and down holding the Game Disc and drooled heavily on it wishing the day would end so I could go home and play already! Which fortunately happened after about 8 hours. And man, was it worth the wait.

I was very, very worried about Bioshock 2… the first Bioshock is my favorite game of all time and I was sure that a second one would ruin it. I am very pleased to announce to Bioshock fans everywhere that I was dead wrong! This sequel matches the story quality and magic of Rapture in all its glory; shedding new light on the city in a whole number of defining areas without messing with the formula. The city we had come to know in the first one was suddenly much larger and more open, with more beautifully designed areas and visual stories in each room.

Let me cover a few of the newer perks of this second game.

First off, the duel welding control system that was established in the first Bioshock was maintained and perfected. As in the first one, it feels bulky and bizarre for about five minutes and then begins to feel very, very natural. The menu and inventory system was streamlined just a little bit to make smoother transitions to get to inventory during battles. And finally, my favorite feature, the button that once made you instantly use a MedKit was relocated to the D-Pad so that you aren’t using unneeded Medkits during battle. (Trust me, my brother did that a lot in the first Bioshock.)

The weapons are super charged! Heavy duty weapons that only a Big Daddy could handle. Rivet guns, grenade launchers, and of course the almighty drill! My own person favorite was the Spear Gun that pierced through your enemies and nailed them to the wall with one powerful stab… an effect that could only be better if you could attach an explosive to it… which you can! (Quick tip, any Big Daddy can be taken down with 6 headshots using your Rocket Spears.)

The Plasmid system is again fun and easy to understand. Having just spend the past two months playing “Borderlands” and having to use a calculator to figure out what gun is better, its nice to have a system that tells you these things.

Plasmids have evolved in Bioshock 2, letting you do far more then in the first Bioshock and giving you powerful new add-ons to the original Plasmids we all know and love. One new plasmid called “Scout” lets you ghost out of yourself and scout the area ahead unseen, later you can use the ghost to hack machines and attack enemies without being anywhere near danger.

Another Plasmid, which was featured in the first game, “Security Command” now allows you to summon Security Bots to come fight for you at anytime. For once in Rapture, YOU are leading the attack and you get to watch the fear in the eyes of the Splicers as you, a massive Delta Big Daddy slams into a room with rockets and grenades blasting and Security Bots unleashing waves of machine gun ammo into your enemies. It is just awesome! There is one more Plasmid that you get right towards the end of the game… but I’ll save that as a very special surprise for you players

Ok, lets talk about the thing that really matters here: the story.

I, like other Bioshock fans, understand that Rapture far more then just a game world and reaches into your own emotions and feelings, playing with your mind in a way no other video game ever has. This second installment is no different! For those of you who spent as much time playing the first game as I have know that Rapture is not as scary as when you first stepped out of that Bathysphere. In Bioshock 2, they understood that the players of this game have also emotionally evolved. We are very much comfortable in Rapture and therefore this second game does not entail much horror as in the first one. It is seen through the eyes of someone who knows Rapture and has lived there a long time.

I was terrified that 2K Games was going to ruin the first game by revisiting old places and altering the story of Andrew Ryan and Fontaine. I am so happy that they did not touch it at all and completely took a new direction with the story! Bioshock 2 features a much more personal story and is much more isolated. Your choices alter greatly how this game is played, far more then the original.

((Quick Note: You get to hear Fontaine’s voice only twice in this game in Audio Diaries and it is so weird… because you find you actually miss him.))

The gathering Little Sister aspect continues; but this time, you’re part of it… many, many times. The developers really worked to create a connection with you and the Little Sisters this time around and it really pulls at your heart strings in several places. In the end, the choices you’ve made will affect them all and you… just keep that in mind while playing.

The story itself is completely entrapping and lives up to the tale-telling traditions of Bioshock, with twists and turns and sudden stops and gos that make you never want to put down the controller. I was afraid that this Bioshock 2 would be overly science fiction with monsters and other unbelievable things that were alien to Rapture’s world… again, I was wrong! There is nothing that I could find that crossed overly the line of “unbelievable stupidity”.

There is no major story twist as in the first one, but some jaw-dropping climaxes. But we DO finally get to see something we have all wanted to see: Rapture at its peek back in the day. And yes, it is stunningly beautiful and elegant.

After completing this game, I literally sat on my couch, held the controller, and needed a few minutes to digest what had happened. Finally, I opened my mouth and said: “Woooooooooooow.”

Ok! To be fair, I need to point out two things I did NOT like in this game!

First one, the new design and character animation was way too cartoony for the Rapture. The splicers ran like “Woody” from Disney’s “Toy Story” in places and their faces were almost comical in a spot or two. Fortunately, Splicers usually die before they can get too close to you.
((Note: Splicers have many, many more spoken lines this time… so those of you who got sick of hearing the splicers shout: “RYAN.. RYANNNNNN” in the first game will be happy to know that phrase is NOT in this game even once.))

Second thing I didn’t like: For the most part, the voice acting in this game is incredible, however a couple characters were simply too stereotypical. The “Irish Preacher” was just simply too Irish and was too much a “God-flangled, hallelujah-shouting, TV evangelist” which reflects a modern view of religion, and the only African American character felt the need to call me a “Tin Daddy”… which just didn’t work.

I really need to wrap up this review, but here is a very quick lowdown on the multiplayer!

The Multiplayer feature of Bioshock 2 again changes everything you know about Multiplayer games. It is fair and balanced and comes down to your skill and not just the weapons. And best of all, they actually worked the story into the action and they gave you something you always wanted in Rapture: Your own apartment overlooking the city that you can walk around in freely… I want to really live in that apartment so badly.

In conclusion, Bioshock 2 only cements the Bioshock series as the ultimate video game series of all time, always paving the way for a new generation of games and raising the bar. I am proud to award this game 5 Stars out of 5.

Your Buddy,
JungleTrek

Hey everyone, real quick, go on over to facebook and check out the new page for our new start up:

http://www.facebook.com/?ref=home#!/pages/wwwsparkboxshowcom/262453409158?ref=ts

So what have I been doing that has taken me away from my beloved Sparkbox, you ask?  Well personally I changed jobs. I now no longer work for the evil empire known as Enterprise rent-a-car and work for the slightly less evil empire know as Verizon.  Actually I work for an authorized retailer so it’s more relaxed, fun, and I can wear jeans to work. WOOOO!

Now I know you’re not entirely here to hear about me. You want gaming news, right? Sadly we’re in that time between Christmas and another marketable holiday for video games.  What I can review for you right now is Smackdown vs. Raw 2010.  Now for those of you who aren’t into Wrestling or the games inspired by them, I’m sorry. It’s just what I’ve been playing.  For those of you who are fans (and will get this reference) this review is for the peeps and by the peeps!

OK so the game controls have varied very little from the last game, which is good as the worked pretty well. Naturally they’ve been tweaked and revised adding in “struggle submissions” with a simple click of the right stick. An improvement that actually makes the controls flow better.  The roster is of course updated, but all that means is your created character has new guys to fight.  The best improvement is now you can level up your character’s stats in free play, online fights, story mode, and career mode. A vast improvement over 2009′s only in career mode leveling.  The only addition I didn’t like was the “mixed tag” option.  It’s not that I never teamed with the divas in the last game, it’s that now men cannot fight the women at all. If the male character hits the diva you are instantly disqualified.   It makes it very hard to help your tag partner when all you can do is ask her opponent nicely to please break the pin.  All in all it’s a solid game. It doesn’t feel like I’m playing an expansion of the last one, the new stories are entertaining, and there’s a small reminder every now and then that the game knows its a game by making fun of you or itself.

Until next time my friends.

Hey everyone, it’s Andy!  That’s right, I still exist and sparkboxshow.com isn’t exactly as dead as you may have thought!

I’ve been recently getting alot of emails and youtube messages wondering what has been going on at sparkboxshow.com and with “I am senataur” our greatly popular online short animated series. 

Well, as with most things it’s rather complicated.  Seems that everyone has been doing their own thing this summer and/or has had trouble with work and money(surprise, surprise in this economy!)

I do know I can tell you what I’ve been up to though:  I have been sweating my butt off at work!  Also I have been enjoying the living hell out of Protoype on the xbox 360.  If you haven’t tried that game I HIGHLY suggest you stop reading this and go do so!  I don’t think I am going to write a full review but I would definitely give it at least a 7/10.  That’s not too shabby at all!

I saw a TON of movies.  The good:  Ice age 3, The Hangover(<— go see it now before it leaves theaters!!!), Harry Potter.  The Bad: Orphan and Year One.  I’ve seen more, but obviously if they don’t come to mind, then they aren’t really worht mentioning, are they?

What else?  Well I’ve been trying to arrange podcasting and article schedules to no avail.  Please email your faves on the sparkbox team and demand their return if you do so wish. 

In the meantime I will try my best to get you some back to school content and get our myspace and twitter pages up and going. 

‘Later!

What?  E3?  Damn…

This week:

- We’ve been to alot of recent movies lately

- We talk about some upcoming games

- The big Microsoft E3 announcement!

Please stop by and check out the new forums! Make sure you take a look at our YouTube channel and watch the latest “I Am Senataur” episode!

Enjoy and make sure to leave us positive feedback by clicking on the iTunes button on the right if you like the show. You can also subscribe on iTunes via the same button or the yellow RSS logo. Or you can download the mp3 here.

…As always a special thanks to Mippa-chan!

Download audio file (SBS_Ep32-06-03-09.mp3)

SYNOPSIS: The Senate Chamber travels into the world of social issues and the miracle of the birds and the bees… only to discover that none of them actually give a darn.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=6S9iYNG39Hg

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Check out the “I Am Senataur” forums on SparkBoxShow.com and keep an eye for new “I Am Senataur” episodes every month!

]]> http://sparkboxshow.com/2009/05/episode-five-%e2%80%9ctrees-reproduction%e2%80%9d-i-am-senataur.html/feed 1 http://sparkboxshow.com/2009/05/episode-five-%e2%80%9ctrees-reproduction%e2%80%9d-i-am-senataur.html http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/SparkBoxShow/news/~3/ieB1ryK90dw/memorial-day-game-veterans.html http://sparkboxshow.com/2009/05/memorial-day-game-veterans.html#comments Mon, 25 May 2009 16:45:14 +0000 JungleTrek http://sparkboxshow.com/?p=1303

As we celebrate Memorial Day here in the USA, let us not forget the brave souls who fought tirelessly and against all odds to defend our country and our world virtually. Join me now in paying respect to our Video Game Veterans and let us look back on some of their heroic deeds…

Lt. Jimmy Patterson
Medal of Honor: Frontline

Lt. Patterson bravely fought and kept at bay the evils of the German war machine during World War II. It was he who made Operation Market Garden a success and, in the end, lived to tell the tale. Great work, Jimmy!

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Zack Hammond
Dead Space

It is with a heavy heart that we say goodbye to Zack Hammond. He was a great leader and great man. Only because of his noble sacrifice, was Isaac able to defeat the spreading space evil that surely would have wiped us out if it had reached Earth. We salute you, Zack!

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Master Chief
Halo

What can be said about this heroic soldier? The Master Chief has protected our world time and time again. Overcoming the odds, he kept the invading forces of the Flood and Elites from over-running our soils. But, this hero’s journey is not over yet! We wish you luck, Master Chief, in your coming battles.

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The EDF
Earth Defense Force

Again our world was threatened by the alien scourge and who answered? The EDF, of course! Ranked with the best fighting men of Earth, they were able to slam back the insect invaders. Many of them fell in the war and they have our deepest thanks.

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The Gears
Gears of War

Well, we aren’t sure just which world they are protecting. But, they are doing a bang up job!

Your Buddy,

Jungletrek

]]> http://sparkboxshow.com/2009/05/memorial-day-game-veterans.html/feed 3 http://sparkboxshow.com/2009/05/memorial-day-game-veterans.html http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/SparkBoxShow/news/~3/IGtri1G9vWM/gaming-for-cheapskates-peggle.html http://sparkboxshow.com/2009/05/gaming-for-cheapskates-peggle.html#comments Sun, 24 May 2009 16:39:17 +0000 JungleTrek http://sparkboxshow.com/?p=1298 Are you enjoying your Peggle trial game, but don’t want to take the plunge to buy the full arcade game? Well, here’s how you can get a little more gameplay time from your trial game without having to spend a dime…

When you first enter the Peggle trial game, you’ll notice that all play modes are unavailable in the trial except for “Adventure” mode. (“Master Duel” appears to be available, but its not.)

Play the Peggle Adventure mode completely through to the end. The game allows you to play the first five levels before kicking you back out to the menu.

Think you’re done? Don’t go back to the arcade just yet!!

Re-enter the Peggle Mode Selection screen and you’ll notice things are just a bit different! “Challenge” mode is now unlocked and provides you with three NEW additional maps to play, adding a great amount of gameplay in the trial game… at no cost to you!
Also, you can now choose “Quick Play” mode where you can replay any of the levels instantly from “Adventure” mode without having to beat them consecutively.

Enjoy your gaming! And stay cheap!

Your Buddy,

JungleTrek

So, last night I, JungleTrek, saw the new Terminator Salvation movie on its opening weekend. Are you ready for my rip-snortin’, no holdin’ back review of this latest installment of an American classic series?

(SPOILER ALERT) I will be sharing some minor spoilers in this review so don’t read it if you don’t want to know.
To sum up the movie in two words, Terminator Salvation was “rushed” and “cliche”. There was nothing in this movie that we haven’t already seen 500x over in a million other movies or video games. (Fallout 3 comes to mind.) Each scene was extremely predicable and you could almost count down to when something was about to happen.

Let me break it down to a few finer points.

First off, this was a man’s man movie. (Yawn) There was very little plot, very little depth, and the women kept feeling the need to remove clothing as the men kept putting on more armor. The movie was filled with moments of cliche situations that ended with cliche solutions that wouldn’t happen in a million years.

The acting was spotty. Christian Bale is getting quite overused in Hollywood, and to be honest, I’m getting quite sick of seeing him yelling towards the camera, with a giant explosion behind him, as his forehead bleeds. (I swear this shot happens in every movie he is in.) HOWEVER. the character of Marcus, a human-terminator crossbreed, played by Sam Worthington, was the best part of the whole movie. His character was interesting, well-presented, and actually had some emotional depth to it. Honorable mention goes to Anton Yelchin for his role as Kyle Reese. Anton, who also made a memorable appearance in the new Star Trek, is definitely bound for great things in Hollywood. And finally, Helena Bonham Carter proved once and for all that she is just as freaky looking without hair as she is WITH hair.

And speaking of hair, the worst thing in the whole movie was DEFINITELY the little girl named “Star”. Nothing ruins a movie more then a child with an outrageously stupid haircut! Apparently, the costumer designer/hair dresser for Terminator Salvation loved the movie “Waterworld”… (Gag)

Ok, let’s talk technical! The biggest problems with Terminator Salvation was in the technical departments. The main one being that is was poorly, poorly written. Everything in the story has a reason for being there and has a predictable outcome. For instance, the character Marcus has a human heart…. why?! Because its going to be needed in the end, that’s why! There is no other reason that the machines would give him one. Now, a brain I can understand… but a heart?! That’s just bad writing. Also, apparently the writers thought it would be clever to keep repeating the words “second chance” about 3000 times during the movie to make it seem deeper… but, to be honest, it was just annoying.

Another one of the technical problems was the editing. It seemed the editing was rushed and the timing was off on several shots. I noticed that some shots started about three seconds too early, as if the director had just said “action” and the actors hadn’t begun to act yet.

And finally, the special effects were a half and half split for quality. Some of the them were well made and well done. However, MANY others were noticeably terrible. Many of the explosions were badly composited and the edges were very visible and pixelated. The moments where Marcus has a half-human, half-terminator face are obviously green-screened, since when the actor moved, the machine part did not. (Tsk tsk.. sounds like the keyframe editor got lazy.)

In closing thoughts, I will not call this movie a complete waste. If you are a Terminator fan, this movie delivers on everything that the second Terminator promised and you get to see a lot of things that Terminator fans have been wanting to see for years. However, if you enjoy good movies, Star Trek is my pick so far for this year, because without Stan Winton’s brilliant Terminator design, Terminator Salvation or the entire Terminator series wouldn’t be worth jack.

One last thing, the grand Arnold Schwarzenegger special effect was the highlight of the entire movie and was not only done well, it was done believably! Arnold will definitely take his grandchildren to this movie and say: “See, kids? That’s what your flabby ol’ grandpa USED to look like…”

Over all, I give Terminator Salvation a thumbs down, and 1.5 out of 5 stars.

Your Buddy,

JungleTrek