GOBB

UPDATE: A Message From A Friendly YouTube User

2010-01-03T20:22:00.002-06:00

Just got a message today from a YouTube user by the name of “drogon334” regarded an old video I made on my YouTube account titled, “PSN vs Live.” Let me get straight to the message. Read it below.

Copied verbatim from drogon334’s no subject message sent:

“mate stop chatiin crap man xbox live is $40 a year it doesent cost to play online its free it doesent say in xbox live it isent free because ive played on xbox live its way better than shitty psn xbox live has a better internet service better online play and you can do way more on xbox live its that good even celebritys have xbox live and its cheaper on there and you make your own avatar and stream hd movies on to the xbox 360 and you can watch sky tv on there now theres more to xbox live mate xbox live is the best internet service and its worth paying for and anyone can efford it its like 20p a day so get your self together i hate ps3 fanboys and at the end of the day PC RULES and the funny thing is it took sony a year more to get there internet right even now it isent it can die out any day i know it happend to my friends and me so now you know psn isent worth paying for if it was than they would charge more than microsoft. they would charge like $27 a month like they did with the ps2”

And there you have it… Lots of errors and misspelled words in there, but I guess it still readable. If you want to, head on over to his profile page and comment to this paragraph.

Hope you enjoyed this somewhat humorous post and there may be more to come in the future. Just depends on the fanboys and if they feel like calling me out. Until then, catch me on twitter.

UPDATE: Here is another message he sent to me today. Hope you enjoy this one also.

"why dont you grow up bitch i did'nt say any insult to you shit face xbox 360 is better in every way on xbox live im not a 360 fanboy im actually a pc fanboy but i like xbox 360 aswell ive played on ps3 its shit wii is good and ps2 and ps1 are good i just checked out ps2 internet is free sorry ok ps3 now charge £1.50 a month now ive watch video game history yes microsoft were a failure back in 2006 when they realeased the pro version but theyve fixed it now you dont get rrod anymore un like ps3 you dont get ylod anymore on that now so that says 360 are better now and they dont have blu ray because back when the 360 was realesed in 2005 they had hddvd then now they dont have it anymore you can download hd movies from xbox live and you can do way more on xbox live then psn even the ps3 fanboys have said it now that psn sucks compared to xbox live so shut ya mouth boy.xbox live is worth paying for so is psn but psn isent that good i like pshome thats worth paying now because theres no rrod xbox 360 have out sold ps3 now at the end of the day stop aguring becasue pc rules"

A Change Once Again

2009-12-28T20:02:00.002-06:00

As you can see, the layout of PSGOBB has changed once again. Due to personal dislikes and some small errors and bugs with the last template, I decided to find something new and came across this template. I really hope everyone enjoys the new template as much as I do.

On to another few updates for you since I haven’t posted in a while…

The above picture is of the new laptop that I got for Christmas so I can now update my twitter and the blog from anywhere. It uses Windows 7 and I’m really enjoying it. I’m liking everything about Window’s new operating system thus far.

In gaming news there really hasn’t been much going on for me. I’ve been playing Counter-Strike: Source with my cousin a bit and some Ratchet and Clank Future Tools of Destruction on my PS3, but that’s about it. However, I’m still trying to get into the ModNation Racers beta, so if you think you can help me out there, leave me a comment or message me on twitter. I’d really appreciate it.

Well that’s all for now, but I’ll be back again one day for another quick update. Maybe when I’m not as busy anymore you can head over to Play Unwired and see me writing some gaming news. Until then, see you later.

Kane & Lynch 2: Dog Days Officially Comfirmed

2009-11-18T18:13:00.006-06:00

Square Enix has officially confirmed that the rumored Kane & Lynch 2 game is completely real. In fact, there are already two teaser trailer up for the game. In the first, which can be watch on the games official website over at kaneandlynch.com, shows two criminals running through a Chinese restaurant that are being pursued by a gunman and an attack dog caught on a surveillance camera.

"Gamers are always looking for something new and that is exactly what they are going to get with Kane & Lynch 2: Dog Days," said Niels Jorgensen, general manager of IO Interactive. "A special thanks to gamers worldwide for their feedback. They are certainly in for a shock as we, with immense pride, welcome back our two dear, violent and somewhat unfortunate friends."

Also seen on the game's website is three more videos are coming soon along with some screenshots. Visit kaneandlynch.com to check out the videos and to register for news, updates, and exclusive content.

Kane & Lynch 2: Dog Days is expected to release on PC, PS3, and Xbox 360 in 2010.

Games That I’m Looking Forward To

2009-11-04T16:53:00.001-06:00

I’ve been noticing many games lately that I would love to try out and since PSGOBB is now a personal blog for myself, I thought I might as well tell you which games I’m looking forward to.

First up is Modern Warfare 2. Most everyone loved Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare and now that Infinity Ward is releasing a sequel to their hit, everyone is hyped up for it. Being a guy that loves to play shooters, this game really stands out because of its little brother, Modern Warfare.

Should I really have to explain why I’m excited for this game? Anyone who has played the beta knows the intense awesomeness this game delivers.

Anyone who knows me well should already know that I’m looking forward to Metal Gear Solid Peace Walker. I have been a fan of the Metal Gear Solid series from it’s original PlayStation days. I’ve also played the demo for Peace Walker and I can’t wait for this games release next year.

The same goes for Metal Gear Solid Rising. However, I’m not as excited for Rising as I am for Peace Walker, but Kojima’s new gameplay style that will be in Rising should be pretty interesting. Playing as Raiden again may not be so bad, but we’ll find out.

ModNation Racers really caught my attention when I first saw it at E3. It has one of the most important features a racing game can have in my opinion… Customizable vehicles. And to go along with that, it also has customizable characters and tracks. If you enjoy racing games, you should really keep an eye out for this game.

For those of you that have been visiting my blog will know that I’m excited for Interstellar Marines. This game has attracted my attention due to it’s style more than anything. One of my favorite FPS games is F.E.A.R. and this game seems like it would bring back some good old memories.

Yeah, there are a few others I may have left out, but at this time, this is all I could come up with to put on this list. Hopefully everyone enjoyed reading this update and may have another game or two to add to their list of games to buy. Until next time, you can catch me on Twitter @JacobRollin.

Awesome Looking AAA Indie Game

2009-10-11T11:31:00.002-05:00

Since I’ve made my last post, I came across a really awesome looking AAA indie title named “Interstellar Marines.” It is a FPS Sci-fi, action and adventure game which is being developed by Zero Point Software A/S. The game has no release date yet, but it will be on PC, then PS3 and 360 later on.

From the look of the videos and images on the official website, the graphics looks really good and from the gameplay shots in those videos, it looks really fun. I would compare it to look like F.E.A.R. with a switch of enemies. Also, in one of the videos, they say , “Screenshots and videos are so last century. You are all invited to enter “The Vault,” which they describe as an interactive experience in your web browser. Inside of “The Vault” you can walk around and see how the game looks. Also found in “The Vault” is 4 gates. You can already enter 1 which says Marines over it, and for the 2 on the side, they will be unlocked in a little under a week, and the last will be unlocked in a little under 2 weeks.

Below are a few in-game screenshots. There are more images on the games official website if you’d like to check them out along with more videos and “The Vault.”

I am very excited for the released of the game. Hopefully one the last gates in “The Vault” will reveal a release date. If so, I’ll keep everyone posted about this game on my Twitter, which you can also watch on the right side of the page.

Metal Gear Solid: Philanthropy is Great!

2009-09-30T20:55:00.002-05:00

All of you who check my blog will know that Metal Gear Solid: Philanthropy was released on the 27th of September, and all readers who are Metal Gear Solid fans have probably watched it by now.

In my opinion, this movie was (almost) everything I could have expected from a fan-made MGS movie. The characters were great, the environment was stunning, and the special effects were actually better than I thought for a non profit movie.

The only thing I was disappointed about was the ending. After my two year wait on the release of this, I didn’t expect it to be cut into three different parts. Other than the disappointing ending, the movie was great and if you haven’t seen it, you should go check it out. You can watch the movie on the official site for Metal Gear Solid: Philanthropy.

Be prepared for a gaming update soon.

Beta's Galore!

2009-09-23T16:33:00.003-05:00

Been wondering what's going on with my life lately? Well, go ahead and continue reading to find out everything... Almost.

About 6 weeks ago I started back school which has really got in the way if my time being able to write here at the blog, as well as lowering my time to be able to enjoy my games. However, I've been able to sneak in some gameplay on the weekends and a few days during the past couple of weeks. As you can probably guess from the title of this post, I've gotten in some beta's. Can you guess which ones? That's right... MAG and Uncharted 2.

Thanks to a friend over at PlayUnwired, Mathew Saeger, I got the Uncharted 2 demo (some still call beta). I had some time to play it last week so I did. For those who care to know, I'm currently rank 3.

As for the MAG beta, I got it from a contest hosted by PSXExtreme in which you had to upload PS3 or PSP themes or wallpapers. Sadly, after getting into the beta, I had to wait for the game to download and install the new update, so the servers were down by the time I had the beta ready to go that night. The next day, yesterday, I have surgery on my thumb, so I am unable to use my PS3 controller that day and can't play. Even today, my birthday (YAY!) I can't play because of my thumb. My hopes are I can play next Thursday once my stitches are out.

That's pretty much my life in gaming for the past 6 weeks. I'll try to get back to everyone either this weekend of next week and tell you all how I like the Metal Gear Solid: Philanthropy movie. If your interested in seeing it yourself, download it this Sunday on the movies official website.

Sites I Like To Visit: Play Unwired

2009-08-16T21:02:00.001-05:00

I’m back again to tell you about another site that I like to visit. This site is called Play Unwired, and this is the place you should go if you are looking for a good set of writers and are looking for a place with gaming news. Currently the site is still being worked on and is in need of a few more pick ups, for it’s already shown to be a great site to go to. Whether your looking for PC, PS3, 360, or Wii news, Play Unwired is the site to go to.

I’d also like to throw in the fact that I write for the site occasionally as well, so if you’d like to read some of my gaming articles, be sure to stop by.

Sites I Like To Visit: Pure Pwnage

2009-08-05T22:35:00.002-05:00

This may be a pointless update to most, but if your someone who is bored of visiting your same old websites each day, why not give one of my favorites a try?

As seen in the header image, Pure Pwnage is a site I like to check out. Pure Pwnage is an internet show about the life of a gamer named Jeremy, real name Jarett Cale. You may think watching the life of a gamer will be either like your everyday life, or really boring, however Pure Pwnage is just the opposite of that. The show is very entertaining, has characters that you really come to know, and it quite funny at times. So if your ready for a laugh and don’t feel like switching through channels on your television, check out Pure Pwnage.

Website: PurePwnage.com

Metal Gear Solid Philanthropy Release Date

2009-08-04T00:16:00.001-05:00

The long awaiting fan-based movie Metal Gear Solid Philanthropy finally has a release date. The movie was originally supposed to be released in summer of 2008, but was pushed back due to the fact that the final scene still needed to be shot and the planned area for filming was demolished a little earlier than expected. However, a few months later, they found a great spot to film and hurried to make the reservations.

After long months at a time without updates, fans of the movie grew angry, but then we were all relieved to see another update. A few updates after, a release date was stated, September 27th, 2009. As you can see, they took a Kojima approach by making a countdown to the day the movie is released. Only 53 days left to wait!

[Source]

GOBB’s Future Decided

2009-08-02T14:07:00.001-05:00

When GOBB first started last year, it was known as PlayStation 3 Fanboys. However, throughout the past year, GOBB has been through a lot and has changed a lot as well. It went through 3 different designs, and now on its fourth and final design, it will be a personal blog for me from here on out. If you liked GOBB the way it was, and you like our writers, you don’t have to say goodbye to them, but simply head on over to PlayUnwired.com where our old writers will continue writing for you to read. I will also be writing occasionally for the site with news.

The basic run-down of GOBB will now be updates on what I’ve been doing and what I’ve been looking at. You can follow me on Twitter to find out when I update, or subscribe to GOBB’s feed. Read more about me by clicking here.

Back To Square 1

2009-07-15T21:17:00.012-05:00

GOBB has gone a long ways since it first was introduced in July of 2008. Now, almost at it’s 1 year anniversary, we have decided to give news to everyone instead of only to the PlayStation community.

So where will you be able to find us now? PlayUnwired.com

The site is still being developed so please note that what you see may not be the same as it will down the road.

As for GOBB, it will be staying up as PSGOBB.com until sometime in November, then it will be psgobb.blogspot.com from there on out. I’m not really sure what I should do with the site, but if you have ideas that may keep PSGOBB alive, please say so in the comments. Again, I’d like to thank everyone for visiting the site and we really hope you enjoyed it as much as we did.

GOBB’s Future Update #2

2009-07-14T21:11:00.005-05:00

It’s been a while since I’ve last updated you and I’d like to just take a minute to write about what I, and others here at GOBB, have been working on.

Ever since pre-E3, I have been laying off on the posting due to a busier schedule as well as the other writers having the same thing happen with them. This caused a lack in news being brought on to GOBB and it just seemed that the site was going to fall straight into a big hole and never be able to recover from it (Maybe). However, that is not the case… A few weeks ago, the GOBB crew decided that we needed to expand the blog to reach out to more people, not just the PlayStation universe. So we came up with a plan. That plan also has a name: PlayUnwired.

What we intend to do with PlayUnwired is keep the same PlayStation news rolling in while also having other console’s thrown into the mix. So basically, PlayUnwired is going to be just like this, except newly designed and have news for every system.

I will have a concluding update sometime before the end of this week giving all the information that is needed to get started with our new experience.

GOBB’s Future

2009-06-23T19:10:00.003-05:00

I’m here just to update everyone on the future of GOBB. No we are not going away, but we are all very busy these days and don’t have much time to keep you updated on your daily PlayStation 3 news. The reason for giving you this update is because we don’t want to lose our readers and would like you to continue reading our news when we start posting up news again. Just keep checking back here for further updates and we hope we haven’t disappointed you. Thanks for coming to GOBB and supporting us.

X-Play to show biggest demo ever, God of War III

2009-06-18T14:27:00.003-05:00

In the case that you may have missed the God of War III gameplay shown off at this year’s Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3 09), G4’s X-Play will be showing off more than enough of the game to wet your palit tonight with a live demo and commentary with game director, Stig Asmussen. They’ll be showing over 20 minutes of gameplay footage, making this "the “biggest demo X-Play has ever done.” They’ll be airing the episode tonight at 6:30 PM e/p, and if you miss that, again at 8 PM. The demo will be shown on G4TV.com minutes after the show starts if you’d prefer watch it in HD without the commentary of Stig Asmussen.

Video Games - E3 2009 - X-Play

GOBB Recruiting Writers

2009-06-14T19:56:00.002-05:00

You may have noticed the lack of news making it’s way onto GOBB in the past weeks, but we are hoping to make a change to that. To do that however, we are going to need a little help from you. Due to busier schedules of the current writers, we are beginning to have less time to cover all the exciting news that you want to hear. That’s when you come in. As of now, GOBB is recruiting a maximum of two more writers to write general gaming news that comes each day. If you are interested in joining the team, please email us at admin@psgobb.com telling us you would like to start posting for GOBB.

As for all the current writers, we will not be leaving, but while having others cover the general news, we will be working on bigger projects for the blog such as interviews. Also, we will be able to spend more time fixing things around the blog and making it easier for our readers to navigate and participate.

Again, please email us at admin@psgobb.com if you have taken interest in writing for us or if you have any questions you’d like to ask. We’d love to have you on the team.

REVIEW: LEGENDARY

2009-06-08T01:09:00.003-05:00

Spark manages to release a new game for the Next-Gen consoles In hopes of standing out above all other titles. But does Legendary live up to its convenient title? Did Spark develop a game that could win back their former popularity? This reviewer thinks they could have, if they had only tried a bit harder...

By the time I'm done writing this review I'd have successfully cracked my head open against the wall and splattered my brains out all over the floor. Reason being is that writing this review has driven me madly insane, mainly because after playing Legendary I was torn between either admiring the beautiful scenarios and ideas behind the game or puking out gobs of hatred at its retro gameplay style. I really hate to say this because Legendary looked like it could be a very good game if given the time and effort but FUCK ME for not saying that developer Spark really needs to get on the ball! If you’re hoping to make a game that’s going to stand out above all the other titles then maybe you should do a bit of homework before swinging your penis about in an obnoxious manor! It's upsetting and disappointing and quite frankly I think it's safe to say that after I'm finished with this review I'm going to start writing a news article about this issue!

Getting back to the review, Legendary is an eight month old game developed by"Spark", a developer that was well known in its time after releasing the console version remake of Call of Duty for the PS2 and Xbox systems. Anyway, In Legendary you play the role of an art thief named Charles Deckard who is hired by a secret organization to steal Pandora's Box from a Museum set in New York City. Instead, his curiosity gets the best of him and he ends up opening the box, unleashing its power throughout the world and bringing about what looks like the end of the world as we know it. Being responsible for this global disaster, Deckard decides to take it upon himself to find a way to reverse the effects of Pandora's Box and save our modern civilization from complete and utter destruction. That's a pretty noble thing to do considering he's a THIEF.

Let’s go ahead and get the good part of this review out of the way. When I first played Legendary I was impressed. Really, I was. The beginning of the game really pulled me in and I couldn't rip myself away. The game supplied an action packed experience right from the start and I really got into it. Spark did very well in flexing the "Shock and Awe" factor of the apocalyptic events that take place. I was truly captivated by the stunning display of Gryphons flying through the City of New York and reeking havoc in the streets because not only did it look surreal, it also looked like allot of effort went into making this almost elegant display of destruction and mayhem, not to mention the intense and fitting sound track that playing in the back ground really helped improve these experiences.

Now comes the bad part of the review. Though Legendary’s graphics and the environments seemed elegant and masterful, the gameplay didn't do the game ANY justice. The controls seemed decent enough, but moving about the environment felt retro and the way you progressed through each level made it feel like the game developers took pointers from a mediocre old-school FPS game, constantly waiting for a scripted trigger to open another linier path that you must follow. Aiming was rather bothersome since the x-axis revolved slower than the y-axis, and aiming down the sights was even worse because your aim sensitivity seemed to accelerate. Jumping was a bitch and a half since your character couldn't seem to jump more that six inches off the ground, making it hard for you to jump over obstacles that you need to get over before continuing with the game. What’s worse is that the game seems to taunt you by placing an obstacles on the ground that look like you can jump over them, but you can’t seems to jump high enough. This issue is already noticeable at the start when you try to jump over a bench that can easily be cleared, but can't because you were supposed to jump over a small collection of rocks right next to it. That's a pretty stupid thing to do to the players if you ask me, but the level design is where it gets really bad.

Level design was decent, but in most cases half-assed in the since that any minor imperfection found along the floor was considered an "obstacle" to the player. One scenario that best demonstrates this issue is when you finally exit the Museum and reach the congested streets of New York. A beam of light from Pandora's Box shoots through the roof of the museum and opens a portal in the sky, causing a shock wave to pass through the city, creating a massive earthquake that sends everything in the streets flying a good six to eight feet into the air and creating massive tremors in its wake that begin destroying the road beneath you. As this is happening there's so much chaos going on around you that the game distracts you from looking at where you're going, much like a child in a candy shop looking around at all the amazing assortments of colorful candy. As I was moving about the streets in awe, I soon found myself stuck. When I looked down to see what was obstructing my path I saw a very rude chunk of asphalt on the ground in front of me. It was only 2 inches high and for some reason my character just couldn’t merely step over it. This frustrated me beyond any form of reason and I found myself asking, “Why is a two inch chunk of rock stopping my progression!?”. This, Spark, is what we call "LAZINESS"! You could have easily had the character step over this small obstruction, but no, instead it acts as a wall instead! If you're too lazy to do that at least have the common decency to make my character TRIP OVER IT instead of forcing me to look away from this spectacular scene of events just to jump over it!

NPCs were another aspect of the game that made me wince in pain. There are only four other characters in this game that seem to be as equally important as you are, and everyone else just seems to die the second you see them. This frustrated the hell out of me because the character design that went into some of these NPCs seemed like wasted effort since none of them ever survive. There were several NPC characters that looked interesting enough to have a back story and possibly a longer life span. Perhaps even lend a helping hand without sacrificing themselves. I mean, at first it was understandable when civilians are getting slaughtered in the beginning since the scenario was “every man for himself”, but once you start receiving help from allies I think that’s a perfect time to make the NPCs less “pussy-like” and more “badass”. There are several cut scenes that show off a variety of good looking NPCs that look as though they’re going to be key characters that help you through the game, but then the game thwarts that warm hearted feeling of friendship with the “most pathetic way to die, EVER” trigger that kills everyone around you. For a moment there I thought I was playing HALO since you were the only person left standing after every encounter with the enemy. What ticks me off more is when after everyone around you dies, more allies suddenly appear out of nowhere just to get slaughtered in the same manor. This was a total let down since there didn’t seem to be any connection with you and your fellow man, and because of this, the player is left not giving a rats ass if your allies die or not since they have no significant importance, thus defeating the purpose of having them come to your aid in the first place since the game makes you out to be a fucking one man army.

(I happened to take a liking to this particular NPC when I first saw him, thinking he was going to be some type of badass commando who will stand back-to-back with you when the shit hits the fan. Sadly he died not five minutes after this screenshot. R.I.P. NPC # 15709. We hardly knew ye…)

In my opinion, Spark needs to get with the program, as should all game developers, less they want more reviews like this one. Developer Spark seems to be falling behind in the world of next-gen gaming and honestly it's a disappointment because Legendary could have been so much more than what it is now, not to mention the game was rather short. I'm not actually sure if this is a good or bad thing at this point what with all the imperfections I've pointed out but the fact that there's a cliffhanger at the end makes me fear the coming of a sequel. If Spark would be willing to take this game and remake it, taking the time and effort to smooth out all the imperfections, Legendary might actually live up to its name and win a few awards. Until that happens, Legendary remains a very poorly made game.

Though Legendary was impressive when it comes to graphics and environments, the gameplay just dragged it down completely. I must say though that the idea and story behind it somewhat compensates for it’s errors, though not entirely. Legendary receives a 4 out of 10.

Score: 4-- Below Average (4's can sometimes look good, but only in the right light. They have few good points, but the imperfections are blatant. Not the worst games, but can be difficult to recommend to anyone except your little sister.)

Big Surprise: Crysis 2 will make PS3’s Explode!

2009-06-06T11:51:00.003-05:00

Over a century ago, SCE’s Kaz Hirai revealed to the world that it could possibly take game developers nine years, or most of the PS3’s projected lifespan, to learn how to optimize the hardware of the PS3. Of course, he did exaggerate a bit, but here’s a snippet of information that should be interesting. According to Crytek’s Cevat Yerli, Crytek has supposedly pushed the black beast to its limits with Crysis 2.

"The interesting thing is we did run a performance analysis on the PS3 devkit, and you know the funny thing is the occupation on all the CPUs, the Cell and the GPUs, is pretty much –- the needle is at the limit,” the executive told Gamasutra.

For console gamers, this is a win-win situation. We get the amazing game in all its graphical allure without the need for expensive gigawhat’s and megawho’s.

E3 09: Crysis 2 will throw glass in your face

2009-06-06T00:00:00.005-05:00

Or at least that’s what I assume, after watching this trailer. Seriously, what more can you say about random shots of explosions and miscellaneous other random scenes in the reflections of shards of floating glass, finally forming into the Crysis logo? Basically I just summarized the video for you. The trailer is after the break or in GOBB TV.

Review: Stormrise

2009-06-05T17:30:00.003-05:00

I can't say that I'm a hater of games. On the contrary, I happen to love games of almost any kind. I just have some likes and dislikes just like any other hairless mutation of a monkey we call "Human". That being said, Stormrise is a newly released RTS game developed by "The Creative Assembly" and published by the ever so loved yet sadly still dying "SEGA" company. The game was advertized via the internet, and was advertized quite well I must say. The sales pitch was that this game allows you to fight in the front lines with your troops as you lead them into an epic futuristic battle for humanity. Developers also promised that this game would make you experience an RTS game never seen before, stating that "Stormrise is the first truly 3D, next-gen RTS that, via the 3rd person camera perspective, putting you directly into the action." They also promised that "No other RTS game combines this level of immersion and emotional intensity with the scale and depth of a strategy game." I was already excited about this game, what with the coming of Tom Clancy's End War that changed my experience of RTS gaming. I figured this game might surely be worthy of competition. Alas, after watching an amazing and compelling introduction and finally being brought to the tutorial stage, I soon found out that I had purchased a game with nothing more than a great big stiffy for itself.

Stormrise is an RTS game set up in a distant future where you play the role of "Commander Geary", a soldier who was put into Cryostasis after a seemingly Apocalyptic global disaster that almost destroyed Earth. People who were less fortunate were left to die in the ruined cities of the world. Some who survive the destruction mutated into beings called "the Sai" and are now declaring war on the humans for what they did to them. You, as the hero, happen to be woken by the Echelon forces (the seemingly last remnants of humanity) some time after the war had already begun, and are now given the responsibility of leading your forces to victory.

Now that we have the story out of the way, lets get down to the game itself. Though the game seems to have a compelling storyline, I can't seem to get any further into it due to the fact that more of the story is revealed as you play, and because gameplay was so incredibly bad I ended up dropping my controller, ejecting the game from my system and fighting the urge to chuck $50.00 worth of CD out the window. Yes I regret to say that I was deceived into buying a game that doesn't live up to its praise.

If it's your first time playing Stormrise, the game will not take you to a title screen or main menu. Instead, Stormrise will do you the favor of launching you right into the game. I thought this was very convenient because I'm the kind of guy that likes to cut through the red tape and get right to the point. Once done with the introduction movie that somewhat brings you up to speed with current events, you're brought to a tutorial stage which introduces you to the controls. This is where I started to loose hope in its gameplay value.

When I first started playing the game, I was reminded of Full Spectrum Warrior where the third person camera is fixated on the selected squad and the squad commander. This was a nice touch to the RTS experience because it puts you right in the fight, and with the random commentary you hear from your troops, it almost adds to the realistic vision of war. As you begin to learn the controls, you also learn that you can send some units, like Enforcers, behind cover, and other units such as Infiltrators onto higher platforms to utilize the effectiveness of their sniper rifles. The interactive environment did seem rather nice, but it was only until later in the game when I found out that cover doesn't make a difference in your unit's survival. No, I found out that an Enforcer squad gets slaughtered in the same manor as if it were standing out in the open. There didn't seem to be an significant defensive gain in having your troops hide behind cover and it seemed the only defensive ability they had was using their Riot Shields much like the ones used in Command & Conquer Red Alert 3. At least in Stormrise, your Enforcers have the common sense to shoot back even with their shields drawn. The only issue with using the shields is that once you pull them out, you can't give that unit a move order, otherwise they'll put the shields away and make themselves vulnerable again.

Another Issue I encountered was Unit Selection System. In most conventional RTS games, you're allowed a free roaming camera with a birds eye view of the battlefield that can often be pivoted, rotated and zoomed to the players needs in order to view the battlefield and his units. Because you're view is limited to only following your selected unit, it looked as though it would be rather difficult to select another unit that might be outside your view range. "Not so fast!" said the tutorial level as it introduced me to the new "Whip Select" feature that allows you to select individual units via the icons they have hovering over their squads, making them visible to you throughout the battlefield where ever they may be. That was reassuring for a moment, but once the fighting started I found it a bit difficult to get used to constantly having to switch between individual units just to give them a move order, and at times it gets rather frustrating not being able to select multiple units at once so that you can give them all the same move order.

What makes this experience worse is that Stormrise doesn't have a Unit Cap, so there’s no restrictions on making as many units as you want. This invites the old-style Command & Conquer strategy of swarming your enemies into submission, but after deploying ten or fifteen units on the field, it becomes very difficult to whip select through the cluster-fuck of icons that are displayed on your screen and actually be able to select the unit you want to command.

Here's a perfect example: On the first mission (yes, the first level of the game after the tutorial) after I had created a warp portal to deploy my troops into battle, I decided that strength in numbers would be a good plan, and so I proceeded to max out my production cap of ten Enforcer Squads and began strategically spreading them out in defensive positions. After all that was finally done, the Sai attacked. I saw that my Enforcer Squads were dying rather quickly so I tried Whip Selecting to my hero character who was in a powerful mech-suit that was capable of standing up to the few Sai Raiders that were slaughtering my men, but instead of selecting my hero character, the whip select tool selected the long lost forgotten Enforcer squad that was on the other side of the map, and because the only way to select your units was to use your whip select tool I eventually grew furious with the game and almost immediately after fifteen minutes of playing turned off my system and picked up a book for once in my game infested life.

After I cooled off and had a nice snack or two, I decided to give the game another chance. At this point the only thing that was aggravating me was the unit selection process and how it was so bothersome because it was unorganized and almost impossible to work with. After looking through the control settings and finding out that you can group units together, I decided to try and play through a quick skirmish to see if this would help my Gameplay Experience. Sadly it didn't help enough. The grouping system only allows you to group 3 units together, and you can't choose which units to group together either. No sir, the grouping system only takes your selected unit, and groups them with two other units adjacent to them. Now this may help reduce the clutter of unit icons on your screen, but after a while you find yourself back at square one after creating ten to twenty groups. Trying to navigate these groups is even harder due to the fact that almost every map in this game was created with confined and cramped environments, which is a shame because if There's one thing I liked from this whole game, it would be the amount of details, textures and graphics that went into it. Unfortunately though this isn't a beauty pageant it's a GAME REVIEW, for a VIDEO GAME that's supposed to generate FUN but instead causes FRUSTRAION and SELF DESTRUCTION.
I think, however, there is an easy solution for this unit selection problem:

1.) Add in a Unit cap

and

2.) have a "Unit Card" selection laid out on the HUD so that it would be easier to pick out the units you wish to command much like in Tom Clancy's End War

On that note, for gods sake "Creative Assembly"! I know you were trying to be original but you've made the game look so much like Tom Clancy's End War that you might as well have used the HUD elements from the game as well! Then and only then can I honestly say that you could have made something worthy of RTS console gaming!

In playing this game, I felt that the Game developers wanted to make a stunning and thrilling RTS game, which is fine because they did very well in making a gripping story, but they just couldn't seem to grasp the RTS Factor. That saddens me because it had all the right ingredients. It was just missing two specific factors that would make it a great RTS game: Strategy and Gameplay. I wouldn't say the game was a complete waste, but when you get right down to it, it just didn't live up to its potential.

Stromrise in my experience receives a 2 out of 10.

Score: 2 -- Bad (2's may have potential, but it is furiously devoured by glitches, design flaws or a plethora or other issues. If you squint and look hard enough, you may find a tiny morsel of fun left on the carcass.)

E3 09: Recap

2009-06-05T00:11:00.003-05:00

So there you have it folks. E3 09 is now over, and in it’s wake, we have such an outstanding number of new games and hardware to look forward to. It’s just blown me away! The big three have left us with a plethora of information for our minds to decipher, while some third party developers have shown us the new an innovative creations they’ve been working on for the past millennium –as it seems.

Over the last few years, this industry has taken the form of three big companies competing neck and neck to get their respective platforms out of the starting gates and into our living rooms. Recently though, we’ve been starting to see them branch out in their own separate ways and take on completely different markets. Sony is out there showing the breadth and width of gaming with their strong lineup of games. Microsoft is setting out to be the console for for everyone, with it’s vast amount of partnerships to enable a social-networking, media center extender that also plays games. Lastly, Nintendo is chasing their own audience, completely separate from what we may consider the gamer crowd. They know the market they are targeting and they are going to continue doing that, even while putting itself at odds with their original fanbase.

So what can be taken away from all of this? I think what we should have learned by now is that we need to get accustomed to a ten-year life cycle for this generation of gaming. All the companies are thinking that way, so we need to as well. These are the platforms we are going to have for a long time to come. I believe this year’s E3 has just been the fork in the road where they all have decided upon their paths and will now venture out to separate parts of these woods. They will strive to bring us unique experiences and content, although they may still cross the same path here and there. The age of directly comparing them has started to fade and now it’s all about how each company will innovate now that they have their own corners of the woods with time away from the so-called “console wars.”

E3 09: ModNation Racers Continues “Play. Create. Share.” Genre

2009-06-02T20:19:00.002-05:00

We all know that the start of the “Play. Create. Share.” genre came from LittleBigPlanet as a PlayStation exclusive, and today, Sony has announced another game that follows the same genre, known as ModNation Racers. The characters from LBP and ModNation Racers are similar as you will find out by watching the video from G4 below, and like being able to create levels in LBP, you will be able to create tracks in ModNation Racers. The track customization is easy and anyone could make an epic track themselves in no time. And the best part of it all is that you can share you tracks online!

Something I didn’t mention above is that you can fully customize your character and vehicle to your liking. See a demo of ModNation Racers from Sony’s E3 press conference below.

Video Games - E3 2009 - E3 '09 Live

E3 09: Gran Turismo PSP coming October 1st

2009-06-02T20:05:00.002-05:00

The PSP version of Gran Turismo is set to release on October 1st, the same day the PSP Go! will hit shelves. This game will be packed with content which consist of 800 cars, 35 tracks, and both online and offline modes. In single player, you will be able to race time trials or improve your driving skills which in multiplayer, you will be able to race with up to 4 other players as well as the ability to trade cars. Look below for the Gran Turismo PSP presentation brought to you by G4.

Video Games - E3 2009 - E3 '09 Live

E3 09: PSP Go! Coming October 1st for $249

2009-06-02T19:53:00.005-05:00

Yet an even smaller version of the PSP was officially announced today at Sony’s press conference known as the PSP Go! Although this new PSP won’t have a UMD drive, it won’t replace them, but making it where you will have to buy the downloadable versions of games from PSN to get them on your Go! The PSP Go! and it’s awesome slide screen is 50 percent smaller and 40 percent lighter than the PSP 1000 and will cost you $249 at launch on October 1st.

Don’t worry about not getting your hands on all those awesome PSP titles announced today because all future retail games will have retail and PSN releases.

E3 09: Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker Details

2009-06-02T19:09:00.002-05:00

Kojima made his appearance at Sony’s E3 press conference to announce Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker for the PSP calling it a “true sequel” and not a spin-ff or side story like the new Metal Gear Solid: Rising. Kojima also said that he will be writing the script to the game himself so that Metal Gear fans will get the most out of this experience.

Onto some of the story’s details; Peace Walker will be taking place in the 1970’s, 10 years after the events of Metal Gear Solid 3. You will be playing as Big Boss in Costa Rica divulging the back story of Outer Heaven's creation. The game is set to hit shelves in 2010. See the trailer shown at E3, provided by G4, below.

Video Games - E3 2009 - Video Game Trailers