Game Adrenaline

Vanquish Review

2011-02-11T20:15:00.000-08:00

Score:8.25

What's the answer to full robo-russian invasion on a space colony, where there are only 8 hours to annihilation? Meet the Sam Guideon, the jack@$$ with a suit that has rockets, guns, and slo-mo for awesome head shots. God bless America.

Story

It's the near future, and guess what? Earths running out of resources and America makes a space station/colony that harvests solar energy for all the world to share,NOT. Russia was like "aw hell no, we nedz energy too", and USA was like "foo,git ur own solar station".

So the russians forcefully overtook the station and used the energy to attack San Francisco and basically microwave the whole town which blows everybody up in a sticky ooze, America vows to attack despite promise of another attack. Then theres you, Sam Gideon, with the AR suit [augmented reaction] which gives you boosters on your legs n arms, access to three "remembered" weapons, and slo-mo to save you from death or for some badass headshots.

DARPA made the suit and this is the perfect scenario to test it out. He joins a team known as "bravo company" and you have recapture the colony with some big guy who looks like jerk and is, but whever, some robo-russians need so "re-programming", so lets get into how we "re-program" in the gameplay.

Game Play

This is a third-person shooter that falls into a "bullet hell" environment where bullets are flying 24/7 and makes it seem frantic but controlled. You may have the AR suit but that's basically the key trick of the game.

More than half the time its "clear this area of enemy's and wait for the elevator" or "kill all the turret gunners" dominate missions, but some missions like the slow ride on a monorail car where you have to kill all the spotlights with a silenced rifle mix up the play and smooths the games pacing, which is lightning fast and a little repetitive but stays fun.

Also the AI [artificial intelligence, or you enemy's smartness] is very well designed and will hunt you down, same with friendlies who actually kill bots for you. There is also a steep learning curve on the controls, but feel natural when you get a hang of them.I'll put it in stupid terms: SHOOT,BOOST,SHOOT,BOOST,COVER,recharge suit,BOOST,SHOOT,SHOOT,cigarette.

Overall intense and enjoyable despite the short campaign that took me about 6 hours to kill on normal, 4 on casual. Now can vanquish display itself in stylish fashion. Lets find out.

Visuals

The game has grey-green/future pallate that looks a little bland but robots should keep you occupied. Which, by the way looks impressive and character models and faces look fantastic. The cut scenes were like movie scenes, just brilliant.

Also most of the backgrounds look stunning and qualify as stunning setpieces, such as the time where you are shooting of robots on a train that is going on a 360 degree-course that goes upside down, sideways, with the city zooming by. The Havok engine was put to great use here too. This game took three years to make with a high production budget, and it shows.

Verdict

Vanquish was a great departure from today's shooters with its suits game play mechanics, humor, and overall feel. If you love anything anime-robo-ish, then buy this game at once. I loved it despite short campaign and half repetitive game play. I loved the look,concept, and overall play. Now if you could excuse me, some robo-Russians need pwning.

Challenger Appeared!

2011-02-10T17:09:00.000-08:00

Le Gasp! A new Author on Game Adrenaline! BLASPHEMY!

-Ahem- All kidding aside, hello folks, my name's Jawa, and I'll be your new GameAdrenaline author as of today! -Cheers, ecstatic applause- I'll be doing reviews and tributes to characters and games all over the blue marble we call Earth! -Applause- Next week, I'll be reviewing Alan Wake, a game about a famous writer who goes on a vacation in Bright Falls, and scary and mysterious things start happening. I'll also be doing a tribute on a very not-thought-of character who's been with us since the time of Mario! All this and more, from Jawa! -Bow-

Guitar Hero and DJ Hero Say Adios!

2011-02-10T14:42:00.000-08:00

It is a sad day in video game history. There is a rumor going around that Activision might be stopping the Guitar Hero and DJ Hero franchises.

Since the economy is still pretty stinky at the time of writing this post Acitivsion is currently laying off a few employees that worked on these games. All this comes to no surprise, music games have been, iffy, lately.

I mean come on, when was the last time you actually played Guitar Hero and liked it? All Guitar Hero games have the same concept, be the best in rock and roll. The gameplay is basically the same, try your best to click the buttons on a video game guitar as they scroll down on your screen.

This is all fine for maybe the first week you get the game but, after a while it just gets repetive, and did I mention boring?

It is quite sad seeing Guitar Hero go though. I've been a fan since Guitar Hero 3, we've had some good times, some frustrating times, but overall its been pretty great.

Am I sad about DJ Hero? Nope, it has a good concept but a horrible delivery. That one deserves to end!

Anyways, what do you think of this news? Is this just a stupid rumor that we should let pass or is this a sign to the music video game industry that people don't like them anymore?

Leave a comment below!

Red Faction: Guerilla Review

2011-02-09T18:12:00.000-08:00

This trip to mars is well worth visiting. Score:9.5

Hmm, an earth on the verge of collapse economically and a free ticket to mars and an offer to start fresh as a minor. Hell, why not? Not so fast.

Story

Its the year 2075 and mankind has pushed earth to its limit. Fortunately, we have colonized mars and mine precious minerals to keep the economy alive. However, highly oppressive soldiers and low morale doesn't make an ideal mining environment. Coming into mars to meet his brother, Dan Mason. Our protaginist, Alec Mason comes to start anew.

But the EDF kill dan for being a supposed terrorist, and alec joins the red faction in an act of revenge .Enter the red faction, who wishes to overthrow the EDF [Earth Defense Force]. Unfortuantly, a ragtag group of guerillas against an entire contracted army makes revolution seem so far away. But thats only the story, lets get into the gameplay.

Gameplay

Red Faction guerilla [RFG] is a shooter/action that is displayed in 3rd person camera view and is in a large open world where missions are done when you want. The shooting and explosions feels refined. Most of the objectives follow actual guerilla tactics like blowing up forts and bases and getting the hell out fast. Most of the time its go here, blow something up, get out or kill this guy but does not feel redundant.

The weapons are standard issue: an assault rifle, shotguns, a sniper rifle. But a few neat "guerilla guns" like the thermobaric rocket that destroys everything in sight or the nano rifle that uses nanites to deconstruct everything molecule by molecule. Also the enviroment plays a key role, which I'l explain why next.

Visuals: The game presents great martian deserts, towns, vistas in great detain and frame-rate holds everything together nicely. Also there is the game's biggest feature: the Geo-Mod 2.0 engine which turns the environment to a weapon or playground. All buildings are destroyable brick by brick and adds a great touch of awesome onto the game.

Or in simpleton terms: Dont have a key to a door, make a door with your trusty sledgehammer. Being the most advanced engine to boot, it's a reason to buy the game itself.

Verdict

This game was an experience and replay it almost all the time after finishing the 10 hour campaign, which has a weak story but good gameplay, a fantastic destruction engine, and hitting EDF soldiers in the head with a sledgehammer never felt so good. Long live the faction!

inFAMOUS 2 And Cole MacGrath Keep Frying Up Some Teasers For Fans

2011-02-08T18:24:00.000-08:00

The popular sequel to the successful PS3 game is getting closer to being released, and sure enough developer Sucker Punch has got even more in store for us. Take a look at some new screens and a brand new trailer below.

Here we have the all new trailer which gives us the sketchy comic book feel we had in the first game:

And here are some new screens of Cole in action:

Is it me or does Cole have some new lovers?

What do you think of how the games shaping up?

The Adventures Of inFAMOUS Continue Through Comics

2010-12-23T10:25:00.000-08:00

DC Comics, publisher of famous characters such as Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, The Flash, and many more popular titles, has announced they will be releasing an all new inFAMOUS comic book in 2011.

The comic will link the time period between inFAMOUS 1 and 2, and hopefully explains Cole's departure from Empire City and move to New Marias.

The main villain in the comics will be The Beast, who is seen at the end of inFAMOUS 1, but has had no mention in the promotion or trailers for inFAMOUS 2.

DC comics is an odd choice, personally, for carrying out the story of Cole. I'm a Marvel fanatic, so I would've loved to see Cole under their label. but I've got nothing against DC, and I'm sure they can deliver us an amazing new adventure of Cole Macgrath.

The series will be written by William Harms and illustrated by Eric Nguyen. Doug Manke will be designing the cover art for the series as well, and a sample of that can be seen at the top of this page.

The comic hits store shelves in March 2011 for a price of $2.99.

What do you think of the idea of an inFAMOUS comic? Will you buy it?

World of Warcraft: Cataclysm Slashes The PC 24 Hour Sales Record

2010-12-14T05:26:00.000-08:00

Cataclysm is finally here and in less than 24 hours it makes record sales selling 3 millions units. How are those numbers for ya?

Personally these numbers are no surprise for me because WoW already has a solid playerbase, a subscription based model going on and obviously it has addictive gamplay downpact.

Blizzard has really done a fine job in their new expansion. I personally play World of Warcaft and this new game really opens the world- a whole lot more!

Are you going to play World of Warcraft: Cataclysm?

A Roundup Of The Latest Video Game Trailers From VGA 2010

2010-12-12T12:35:00.000-08:00

Thanks to the Spike Video Game Awards, we've got tons of newly released trailer. You've already seen the Arkham City trailer (Courtesy of Edwin), now it's time to see Uncharted 3, Mass Effect 3, Portal 2, Prototype 2, and Thor: The God of Thunder.
First off, Uncharted 3 has been named Drake's Deception, and takes place in, get this, the dessert. Sounds exciting, not. But I'm sure Naughty Dog can turn this setting into a master piece.

Looks like Drake's looking for the Atlantis of the Sands, whatever that is. It looks great. oh, and no ladies, I'm not talking about Drake.

Here's the Mass Effect 3 trailer:

Remember PS3 users, you guys can get your hands on this one too.

Here's Portal 2 trailer:

This game looks very friend-ly. Tell your budies to preorder this one. PS3 users, you also get your hands on this one.

Thor the God of Thunder trailer:

The gameplay looks fun, but the graphics are just to goofy and unproportional for me. And be sure to check Turbo Exp for the Thor movie trailer!

And Prototype 2:

That will give you inFAMOUS haters out there something to brag about.

What did you think of the trailers? Which one was your favorite?

Batman: Arkham City Trailer HD

2010-12-12T07:21:00.000-08:00

The Batman: Arkham City trailer was released today! From what I saw the graphics look amazing, fighting looks pretty rad and basically this game looks sweet!

So, the main villain is Hugo Strange, a...very strange scientist that seems to have a thing for men dressed as bats. The trailer pretty much shows Batman running away from, what looks like, Hugo's personal S.W.A.T team.

Its awesome how he fights bad guys and doesn't even look like he is breaking a sweat. He is always cool and collected and that is what I admire from Batman.

Did I mention the graphics? The Batman: Arkham City trailer looked so life like and real! For some scenes I thought actual people were in it.

Check out the trailer below:

Isn't Hugo Strange creepy? I seriously think he needs a girlfriend :) .

What do you think of the trailer?
Do you think it will be a hit?
Are you going to buy the game?

Am I Dreaming Or Does Microsoft Want To Reward You For Gaming?

2010-12-04T14:01:00.000-08:00

Microsoft recently started a rewards program, which, like the name says, it rewards you for gaming.

Now this rewards program has been in beta for a year which leads me to believe Microsoft wasn't too sure if they should go through with it, cause c'mon, they have to pay you, not the other way around.

The concept of this rewards program looks kind of appealing. They reward you for renewing your membership, or doing "quick" surveys and give you some Microsoft points. I guess its pretty cool but they could improve on it.

They should reward you for all the achievements you get, for buying new games, playing on your Xbox longer.

You can check out their rewards program and sign up to it by clicking here.

The Latest On Back to the Future The Game

2010-12-03T21:10:00.000-08:00

We've got the latest news on Telltale's Back to the Future video game, including a trailer, behind the scenes, story, and release dates.

It's been awhile since we heard from Telltale on their Back to the Future game, but now they have come to us with all new info. Michael J. Fox will not be reprising his role of Marty Mcfly, but he will be replaced by talented voice actor AJ LoCascio, but Christopher Lloyd will be reprising his role of Dr. Emmet Brown.

The exact story is not known, but this information was released on it:

“The story in the game is completely new, set several months after the events of the third movie from Marty’s perspective. Of course, this is a story that involves time travel, so who knows where it’ll end up? We’re working with Bob Gale to make sure we’re delivering an authentic experience. There’ll be numerous recognizable elements of course – the Hill Valley town center, the clocktower, the DeLorean, Doc’s lab, and quite a bit more. And you’ll see them in ways you haven’t experienced before.”

Here's the all new trailer:

Here is the complete list of titles and dates, with the exception of the finale, which is unknown as of yet.

•December – “It’s About Time”

•February – “Get Tannen!”

•March – “Citizen Brown”

•April – “Double Visions”

•Finale (Date TBA) – “Outatime”

Back to the Future is my favorite movie of all time, and I really hope Telltale puts in all the key elements of the franchise into this project.

What do you think of the game so far?

Inception Video Game In The Works

2010-12-01T19:13:00.000-08:00

Those of you out there who are fans of the summer blockbuster Inception, it seems a video game is heading your way. And more specifically an RPG based in the dream world created by Christopher Nolan. Here are the details:

Here's what Nolan had to say on the subject:

"I always imagined Inception to be a world where a lot of other stories could take place. At the moment, the only direction we’re channeling that is by developing a videogame set in the world".

So if we were to see an Inception video game, is an RPG really the right route for it. Would you enjoy playing a video game in the dream world. And more importantly, would actors like Leonardo DiCaprio, Tom Hardy, Ellen Page, and Joseph Gordon-Levitt reprise there roles as voices of their own characters. Here's what Nolan had to say about video games:

Something I’ve wanted to explore— and certainly a veritable massive multiplayer online role playing game (as imagined by Carl Jung) would seem to be a perfect for the interactive, non-linear dream world of Inception.

As we all know from past attempts, we have yet to see a very successful movie based video game. But with Nolan, it's possible.

Would you pick up an Inception video game?

Wii 2 Coming In 2011?!?!

2010-11-15T16:14:00.000-08:00

Sorry to break it to you but there wont be any successor to the Wii, until as Nintendo’s Reggie Fils-Aime puts it, they sell more systems. Reggie announced in a recent interview with Kotaku that until they sell $45 million copies of the Wii, a Wii 2 wont happen.

Later on in the interview they asked if it will be announced in 2011 and Reggie responded saying:

“As we sit here today we’re saying the Wii has many, many more units to sell. After we’ve reached an installed base of 45 million here in the U.S., we can have a conversation about the next generation. “

For all you die-hard Wii fans out there, if you want to see a Wii 2 anytime soon you know what to do. Open up your wallets and go on a Wii shopping spree.

Will you be excited for a Wii 2?

The Reviews Are In: Call Of Duty:Black Ops

2010-11-09T04:35:00.000-08:00

Call Of Duty: Black Ops was released today. I dont have the luxury of getting the game the first day but here is what other video gaming sites think about the game.

IGN: "Call of Duty: Black Ops is a great overall package that has a ton of content to enjoy. The multiplayer modes are largely based on what was established by Modern Warfare, but the twists that Treyarch throws in work well."

Guardian: "Call of Duty: Black Ops quite probably represents the pinnacle of the linear military shooter experience – and you wonder where the sub-genre can go from here."

Joystiq: "Black Ops is a terrific action game with a solid story and a deep, rewarding multiplayer mode."

1Up: "It's admirable to see just how much stuff there is in Call of Duty: Black Ops. Despite the removal of campaign co-op or a mode comparable to MW2's Spec Ops mode, the sheer amount of content is almost staggering."

As you can see the game looks like its great. I cannot wait to get my hands on it, and play like crazy!

If you want to buy Call Of Duty: Black Ops, get it right now cheaper at Amazon.com.

Call Of Duty: Black Ops Will Allow You To Customize The Game From Beginning To End

2010-11-07T05:37:00.000-08:00

Have you ever played Little Big Planet? One of the reasons why it was probably so popular was because of the ability to allow you to make your own levels inside of it.

Are you going to get Black Ops? Luckily for you Treyarch ( as amazing as they are) went overboard this time on customization. Trust me, thats a good thing.

Now, you are allowed to customize every little detail of your matches in Black Ops. You can set everything from Time and Score limits, or even deeper things like what weapons will be available, the gear and even perks.

After creating your own match you can even save it and allow the whole Call Of Duty: Black Ops community to play and download.

Awesome!

If you like playing private matches with your friends. Black Ops has got you covered.

Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds Character Roster

2010-11-06T10:04:00.000-07:00

Marvel vs. Capcom games are a long running series. The newest game Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds comes out in 2011.

Here is the confirmed characters roster for Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds. Enjoy! If you find out any new characters please comment below and inform us so we can add to this list. Thanks.

Marvel Characters

Captain America

Dormammu

Deadpool

Doctor Doom

M.O.D.O.K.

Iron Man

Hulk

Magneto

Spider-Man

Thor

Wolverine

Super-Skrull

X-23

Capcom Characters

Albert Wesker

Amaterasu

Sir Arthur

Chris Redfield

Chun-Li

Dante

Felicia

Morrigan Aensland

Nathan Spencer

Ryu

Trish

Tron Bonne

Viewtiful Joe

First TV Broken By Idiot Playing Kinect

2010-11-06T07:49:00.000-07:00

Yes, it's a new world record. As most of you may know Kinect is out on store shelves and is selling out, but for the first time a idiotic Kinect player named Phil Villarreal broke his TV in the middle of a game of Kinect Sports Volleyball .

We all remember those people breaking their Televisions while throwing around their Wii remote during an engaging Wii game.

Microsoft has given you the responsibility of being the controller, but please don't be the destroyer.

Are you going to buy Kinect?

Champions Online Is Going Free To Play

2010-10-31T08:22:00.000-07:00

Champions Online is a MMO all about superheroes. Just like City of Heroes you can make your very own superhero and have your own nemesis.

They recently announced that they were moving to free to play in 2011. A lot of online games are starting to go free to play with more success than when it was P2P or subscription based.

Games such as Lord of The Rings Online and Dungeons and Dragons have gone F2P with huge success.

What does this mean for you? You can finally pretend to be a superhero without your friends making fun of you.

Are you going to play Champions Online?

Call Of Duty: Black Ops Maps List

2010-10-30T10:09:00.000-07:00

Call Of Duty: Black Ops is fast approaching. Many are counting down the days and can't wait to get their hands on this game. I am one of those people.

Not much is known about the maps that will be available in Black Ops but the following might be inside the game. I will only list the names because even though some sites might have more information than just the names of these maps, that information might not be accurate or even true.

The following maps might appear in Call of Duty: Black Ops:

Summit
Villa
WMD
Array
Cracked
Crisis
Firing Range
Grid
Launch
Nuketown
Radiation
Hanoi
Havana
Jungle

If you find some more maps or info on the maps in this list please comment and share it with us. Thanks!

Source: http://www.cod7blackops.com/multiplayer-maps/

Look, A Portal Is Inside Little Big Planet 2!

2010-10-23T10:21:00.000-07:00

Do you like Little Big Planet. Its great cause it allows you to make your very own levels in the game. In one of our past posts someone made Limbo inside Little Big Planet. Inside todays post someone made a Little Big Planet 2 level which is like the game Portal.

Its a really cool video. Go check it out below!

Call Of Duty: Black Ops In Depth Look At Multiplayer Features

2010-10-23T09:38:00.000-07:00

Here is an in depth look at the multiplayer features in the new upcoming Black Ops game. Watch the video and soak in the awesomeness of this new CoD game.

What did you think of the video?

You Scream, I Scream, We All Scream At Kinect!

2010-10-22T17:27:00.000-07:00

Do you think the Kinect is an over rated piece of crappy machinery? Are you tired of the endless advertising of Kinect while you scream at your T.V screen?

Prepare to get more pissed. Microsoft ( the huge money filled company) is estimated to spend $500 million on a gigantic marketing campaign to try to sell as much copies of Kinect as possible.

Be ready to see it everywhere. While you take a shower, in your dreams, even while you rub ointment on your grandmas back, (gross I know).

Kinect will be everywhere. It be only a matter of time before the endless amounts of advertising get to you and you end up buying yourself one.

Lets get the pitchforks and the wooden torches ready before its too late.

Call Of Duty: Black Ops Was Stolen?

2010-10-19T05:42:00.000-07:00

Yep you heard that right! A thief sneaked into a printing press in Alabama and got a few copies of the game. The thief later sold the copies of Black Ops to several people.

There have been recent attempts to catch the thief or any of the individuals which he sold the game to too but to no avail. They've used all means! Forums, Twitter, security cameras, nothing.
We have to only wait and see what they'll try to do to catch this thief. Hopefully they catch him before its too late.

What does this mean to for you? Don't be surprised if you start seeing downloads of Call Of Duty: Black Ops in the near future.

What do you think of these news? Are you happy, or mad?

PS3 To Have Disc-Free Netflix Streaming

2010-10-16T07:15:00.000-07:00

If you have been tired of always having to insert a disc into your PS3 to access Netflix their is finally good news. On October 18 you will be able to stream TV and Movies straight from your PS3.

The ability to do this has been available on the Xbox 360 for a while now so this news isn't to huge for 360 fan boys. You PS3 folks on the other hand might of been waiting for this for a while.
Also in addition to disc-free streaming their will be a new interface which will allow for better navigation. Plus it will be much faster to stream on it too.

Remember disc-free Netflix streaming will become available Monday, October 18.

Here is an instructional video straight from Sony. Enjoy!

Project LMNO Is Officially Over

2010-10-14T14:46:00.000-07:00

First let me explain the title of this post. Project LMNO was a super secret collaboration between Steven Spielberg and EA. Project LMNO was so secret that little to no info was known about it.

Recently a former developer of the project announced that the game was over.

This is what he had to say:

“I don’t know exactly what was the thing that made it fall apart. I’m sure anybody you ask is gonna tell you something a little bit different, but it didn’t end up ever taking off.

There was some rival game stuff that may or may not have come out of EA that was basically the same thing minus some of the stuff we were doing. There was just a lot of politics.”

I have to admit it would of been cool to see what they could of came up with Project LMNO, but after Boom Blox, Im afraid their game would of, how can I say this nicely, sucked!