I was never compelled to play a Duke Nukem game. I just found the character and content to be too mature, so I never bothered. I also failed to mention too much about Duke Nukem Forever. It happens that the guys at 3D Realms noticed my lack of interest and sent me a copy of Duke Nukem Forever in a concealed package that only I was allowed to open. I was blown away, literally. Also note that due to the fact that the game is so eye-blindingly incredible, I couldn't take screenshots. Instead, I drew them. So, here is my review of Duke Nukem Forever.
The initial problem I had with the game was the fact that it blew up my Wii, which was quite uncalled for. Only then did I notice that a letter was inside the package telling me that the only console that was capable was a Sega CD and 32X combined, which explained why a cartridge came with the game. Why a Sega CD and 32X? I clearly don’t know. So after hunting for a Sega CD and 32X on eBay, I discovered that I also got a controller in the package as well, stating that it is the only controller compatible with the game. It was called the Duke Controller (not to be confused with the Xbox controller), which has 65 buttons and 12 analog sticks to run the game. There was also a kick pedal that came, which I never understood why I needed until I played the game. I was also told that I required the controller to access the online play, which was indeed surprising.
What does it take to be a sporting champion? Along with physical prowess you must show grit, dedication and determination. You must be willing to make sacrifices and stay focused. On top of all this you must be a stupidly hot woman or hilariously ugly man, and display at least three characteristics stereotypically ascribed to people of your race or nationality.
At least, that's the case if you want to be the kind of sporting champion featured in Sports Champions. But more of that later - let's start with the good news. Sports Champions, despite being yet another compilation of mini-games played by waving a motion controller about as if you're playing a real sport really badly, is actually quite good. The reasons for this boil down to two simple factors. First, PlayStation Move works. It enables you to aim, hit, throw and do all sorts of other sports-related things easily and accurately. Unlike with so many Wii games, reticules don't wibble, bats don't jiggle and attempts to put spin on balls aren't misinterpreted. There's rarely any perceptible lag and objects almost always behave just as you'd expect them to.Second, while there's not a huge selection of mini-games in Sports Champions, the ones on offer are generally of a high quality. They have depth and offer challenge. The best ones accurately recreate the experience of playing the sport they're based on, while featuring the kind of fun elements you could only ever find in a videogame. Take the Archery game, for example. This is played by pointing the Move controller to aim and releasing the trigger button to shoot. If you have two controllers you can draw the other one back like a bow, which enhances the sense of realism but also adds an extra layer of complication you might decide you'd rather do without. In any case, reaching back to pull an arrow from your virtual quiver, taking aim and watching the arrow fly according to accurately recreated laws of physics is deeply satisfying.
The indie scene is exploding, and with it the two main indie genres: platformers and shoot 'em ups. Razor 2 falls squarely into the second category, with all the trappings of classic shmups: plenty of enemies and bullets, Japanese text, and a vertical perspective. However, Razor2 falls short in nearly every department, rendering the game a playable, but disappointing mess. With a ton more polish and some changes to the design, it would be fantastic, but as is it is inferior to any decent indie shmup.Razor2's issues begin right at the start. Trying to skip past the introductory cinematics using the normal method (Escape) immediately boots you out of the game, which is jarring. Assuming you skip past all the tediousness and actually get into the game, you are presented with menus with no clue as to how they function and no real interest in learning how. In this sense, Razor2 completely fails to engage as soon as you boot it up, which is only a sign of further troubles. It almost seems petty, but it's not so bad when you consider how the rest of the game is. It may also be worth mentioning that Razor2 has nothing remotely resembling an interesting plot, unless throwaway words are considered a plot. While shmups are hardly the best games to tell a story, plenty (DoDonPachi, Giga Wing, Ikaruga) have told interesting stories without issue.Presentation. It is the key to drawing in the player, and Razor2 lost the key in a bedroom drawer. The only decent part of the entire game is the orchestrated soundtrack, which is still inferior to other comparable soundtracks. The graphics look like something you would expect from the N64/PSX generation, thanks to incredibly blocky models and poor texture quality. The sound effects are grating and cheesy, and never get better.
The question everyone asks about DLC is invariably, "Is it worth the extra money?" As modern gamers, you've spent your hard-earned dollars to buy some really expensive hours of gaming up front, so if you're going to pay more for what are essentially additional episodes of the same game, they need to be a bargain. And for the hours of fresh gameplay that it offers, the Borderlands: Double Game Add-On Pack at $20 is just that. This pack features two of the three currently released expansions to the world of Pandora, The Zombie Island of Dr. Ned and Mad Moxxi's Underdome Riot, and each brings some great ideas from other games and incorporates them into the Borderlands universe uniquely.
The Zombie Island of Dr. Ned opens a darker, zombie-infested section of Pandora that offers around 6-8 hours of undead-blasting action that feels very similar to Left 4 Dead in a lot of ways, whereas Mad Moxxi's Underdome Riot is a lengthy Coliseum/Horde-mode expansion that will appeal to gamers who just want to get their fight on, wave after wave. Combined, you are likely to get a solid 22-25 hours of gameplay out of these expansions, assuming you play through the entirety of the Underdome missions. However, while the zombie-hunting expansion maintains a solid pace sprinkled with moments of real intensity, the Underdome can get monotonous simply because of the nature of its repeating wave formula. Think of it more as another game type than a mission-driven add-on.
Dead Rising 2: Case Zero is kind of difficult to judge. While it is a standalone title, it's not really a full game per se. It is, essentially, DLC for a game that hasn't been released yet, an extension of Dead Rising 2. Of course, no one has had that experience yet, meaning that Case Zero serves double duty as a demo as well. It's an interesting experiment for Capcom and for the industry in general; thankfully for Dead Rising fans, it pays off.Case Zero takes place three years before the events of Dead Rising 2, in a town called Still Creek a few dozen miles from Las Vegas. It's here that renowned motocross star Chuck Greene and his daughter, Katie, are stranded in the wake of a zombie outbreak and, making things worse, someone made off with Chuck's truck during the panic. Now Chuck has to repair a broken down motorcycle and find a way to keep his undead-bitten daughter from turning.
Luckily, as Chuck tells Katie, "Daddy can fix anything," so all he needs is to find the right parts. The parts, naturally, are scattered all over town, meaning Chuck has to wade through a sea of zombies -- and bring each part back through said sea -- all within a single in-game day. In other words, apart from a slightly different storyline and shorter time limit, the overall thrust of Case Zero is the same as its retail big brother: Kill zombies with makeshift weapons, find Zombrex -- an anti-zombification drug -- for Katie, save other civilians and find a way out of town before the military arrives.
Gunblade NY & LA Machineguns is a nostalgic blast from the past of the late 90’s light gun shooter. Fans of the original arcade versions of these games will sure enjoy these wii-makes of their predecessors.The creators of these two arcade games didn’t stray to far from the original games in this remake. The clunky, late 90’s, graphics that we grew to love from likes of the 64 are still there with the lovely techno style music to take you even further back. The game is fairly short; with each section finished by yours truly in about 15 min each. The game does offer a lot more than the single player campaign. The ability to play with your friends through the story mode or challenge them to the points battles is a nice touch to these games. Also to flex your muscles with the online leaders boards is a great way to show off how great your really are.Not everything has ported over easy from classic arcade to Wii. Lives seem to be non-important. Losing all three of your lives and receiving a continue doesn’t offer any penalty except for reaching up and pressing the A-Button. I do have to say this is better than the original arcade game where it would take another 25 cents to keep my game going. Let’s just say I probably saved two dollars on the Wii version.
Naturally Gold’s Gym Dance Workout completely won me over simply by adding Good Vibrations to the song list. I mean honestly, is there a better booty shaking song? I dare you to name one so I can argue with you. That being said, it only makes sense that I am already a fan of this game. I’ve only played it a handful of times so far (It just came out on August 17), but I am definitely enjoying it. My favorite aspect of the Wii Fit is the step dancing, so I am excited to have another similar dancing activity that I know I already enjoy. Plus I’ve always wanted to learn how to Salsa.
You can customize a variety of workouts which incorporate Latin dance styles, as well as a selection of boxing-inspired dance routines and mini games. What else do I love? 1) It is compatible with the Wii Balance Board. 2) It supports two-player co-op mode, so even Dave can get his groove on with me. 3) It stores the number of calories burned, body mass index, as well as a complete exercise history so you can track your progress and goals. What don’t I like? It starts off a little fast, especially when you are trying to get the hang of it. 2) The Wiimote sometimes doesn’t register your moves even when you do them correctly, and counts them as a “miss” during your routine. 3) So far besides checking my weight, I haven’t been able to figure out how else to use the Balance Board for actual workout routines.
Overall it is a lot of fun, and you will be surprised just how much you sweat. Trust me, you will feel like you did a full cardio workout and then some when you are done. The chick in the video below says you won’t even realize how much you are sweating, but she’s totally lying, yo. You will, because if you are anything like me, it will be a lot. Feel it, feel it.