Game Reviews

Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Future Soldier

2012-05-31T12:55:00.000-04:00

Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Future Soldier was released on May 22, 2012 for the Xbox 360 and the PlayStation 3. A PC version will be released on June 12, 2012. It was developed and published by Ubisoft. This is a co-op game that we have all been waiting for since Rainbow Six: Vegas. Ghost Recon: Future Soldier features a solo campaign, co-op campaign, multiplayer, and Guerrilla mode. Future Soldier offers a rich co-op experience between the Guerrilla mode and the co-op campaign. Guerrilla mode tests your skills and abilities to communicate with your teammates through fifty waves of enemy infantry and vehicles, including helicopters.
Campaign offers just as much intensity especially during co-op. Four-player co-op gives you and three teammates a complete experience using team work. Future Soldier makes you believe you are surviving as an elite squad and as one elite cohesive unit. One great example is when the squad forms up in a diamond formation and covers all sectors of the group, ultimately covering each others peripherals. You may find yourselves calling out each enemy to your squad mates, even though you might be playing offline and in single player.
Just a few complaints: The controls and the graphics seem a little dated. The controls could be a little more fluid but the game play makes up for it. For instance, instead of holding the left trigger button, you have to toggle the right stick to aim down your sight. Graphics seem like we have seen them in the last Ghost Recon game but once again, the game play is more than worth the sixty dollars.
There are quite a few bugs I've found a bit annoying. Checkpoints really seem to be the culprit, especially after dying and restarting the checkpoint. In one mission, I had to restart the entire mission because enemies that spawned inside a vehicle couldn't get out or be killed. Which, in turn, prevented the next check point and the progression to the next objective. In guerrilla mode I died a few times to and bled out. Problem was I could still move about crawling around or I would bleed out and stay dead and died revive in the next wave.
Gamestop offered the Signature Edition at the same retail price that gave codes for exclusive content including two exclusive weapons and weapon skins, an exclusive Guerrilla mode map, and forty-eight additional headgear. A friend from Gamestop said that they have plenty of copies and suggested that I drop in and ask for the Signature Edition. I did and am very glad I got to pick up all the goodies before settling for the regular copy.

NBA JAM: On Fire Edition

2012-05-29T13:31:00.001-04:00

Remember hearing “From Downtown!!” and “He’s on fire!!” Then you will remember playing NBA Jam on the Sega Genesis. Electronics arts published and developed NBA Jam: On Fire Edition for the PSN and Xbox LIVE. With an E-rating so anyone at any age can enjoy this game, either for the first time or just revisiting an old favorite. This rebirth of a classic definitely enhances everything you loved about the original. The commentator not only tells when your “on fire” but also when you should be embarrassed when you’ve had the ball stolen right from your hands. New music in the game gives it a fresh feel with some beats you may think your familiar with.

The controls are just as easy to get a handle on as there are just a few buttons that you need. To make things easier, some button combinations are mapped for ease of access. A couple new features Jam has, is the Road Trip mode, where you play each division of the NBA in Two-on-Two matches. You can play this mode as a single player or with a friend in co-op. Also, Jam Points allows you to unlock titles, icons, legendary players, and special effects. Arena allows you to play online against others for some head to head action. It’s even a great party game with the Jam Now mode. This mode allows you and three others to play a local game or online. The only thing I would possibly change is the fact that the AI is completely unforgiving. It seems as if you start to pull ahead the computer just completely becomes unstoppable. If your looking for a sports game to pass some time, hook up with friends, or even beat up on other gamers, then NBA Jam: On Fire Edition will give you what you need to get away from all those first person shooters and without the seriousness of other sports games.

Bastion

2012-05-29T12:53:00.004-04:00

Bastion is a game developed by Supergiant Games and published by Warner Bros in 2011. It has an E-rating and available on the PC and Xbox 360 as an action-adventure RPG. If you remember any of the games from back in the day, then you will remember how easy it was to pick up the controller and just start playing. Well, it is just as easy getting into this game. Using just six buttons on the 360, Bastion will take you back to the days of the SNES. I remember a game called Secrets of Mana, and specifically remember how many different colors it had in it.
Bastion definitely compares to it and with the retro style they went with. Bastion has great graphics quality and I think it helps a lot being sixty frames a second, although it doesn’t seem like the player’s character is. The music in Bastion is perfect for the games entirety; from the moment The Kid wakes up and the first boss fight you know where you are in the story. Every moment you spend in the game, emotions are all expressed through the music. The music even perfectly fits the theme for the game. I enjoy the narrator of Bastion, speaking to the player as if telling them a story.
Bastion takes you back the retro games you remember and loved playing at a younger age, and I am glad it did well at being the game that the developers wanted and that the consumers wanted. This game is very enjoyable to play and the story is extremely easy to just bury yourself into. This game is a must play and there really isn’t anything for the players to complain about.