GTA IV - Reflections So Far

We’re about a month away from possibly the biggest game release of 2008. The new trailer recently dropped showing more of the story and characters we can look forward to encounter come the end of April. You know what we haven’t seen? Gameplay. It’s the elephant in the room and everyone is so excited about this game, no one wants to talk about it. If we don’t see any gameplay soon, this is going to start looking like a strategy film studios use when they don’t want to invite negative reviews by not releasing the film to critics in advance of the theater release.
Why is this a big deal? Well think about it. Most games with only a month to go before release usually have some sort of gameplay to show. Granted this is the biggest release for Rockstar this year and expectations are high so they want to get it right. But wouldn’t you want people to see what they have look forward to that’s not a cut scene?
Rockstar has even gone so far as to set up other things in advance like the Rockstar Social Club, a possible list of the achievements and even a contest that promises a $10,000 cash prize and a trip to New York City. What we don’t have -- is any idea what this game really looks and plays like.
Anybody in this industry knows by now that 9 times out of 10 the FMVs and cut scenes are not a true representation of the game. Even in today’s new technology we have yet to come to a point in game development when the game you play looks the like game videos. Are there exceptions to this? Sure but they’re few and far between. Maybe that will change but that’s not the point is it? Games like GTA have almost guaranteed sales just by name and reputation alone so it’s not like Rockstar is not going to make money. What we want as gamers is to be able to get a chance to see what this hall-of-fame worthy franchise will bring us.

Note to Rockstar: We’re good with trailers – let’s see some of the game.

Rainbow Six Vegas 2 -- A Knockout In The Second Round

Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Vegas 2 (R6V2) is the perfect example of what a sequel should be. Developer Ubisoft Montreal took great pains in making sure they didn’t mess with the stellar quality of the original while adding depth and diversity to the sequel. It’s a simple formula that many developers fail to adhere to: leave the good stuff and add better stuff. So you’re probably wondering, if they didn’t change the stuff from last year’s version what did they add?

First off, you can now sprint. Not that big a deal you say? When you have to get across the expanse of a warehouse with no cover and there 5 enemies looking to bring you down, you’ll see how big a deal it is. The sprint function also comes in handy when one of your buddies or AI buddies is down and you need to get to him for a nice injection of healy stuff. As an added bonus the pace of the games seems to have quickened as a result and this becomes very apparent in some of the single player mode levels where you feel compelled to sprint because of the action taking place. At this point in the evolution of shooters, being able to run should be mandatory.

The next new change is the fact that your can level up both online and offline. What does that mean? Well unlike other games where you can rank up to a major general butt kicker in the single player campaign but start off as a private nothing when you jump online, R6V2 lets you keep all your points and perks regardless. When you consider that some gamers buy a game like this and never touch the single player campaign then you show up to compete with a lobby full of colonels, this parallel advancement is not a major upgrade but a welcome one no less.

The coolest upgrade by far though are the new multiplayer and single player maps. That’s right single player maps. Once again breaking convention that only online play is deserving of all the upgrades, the developer added some fresh new maps that offer some branching off and varying obstacles that make the story mode a little less linear. If you want to see what top quality level design looks like look no further than this game. On one level you can send off your AI cohorts in on the ground floor while you head up to the roof and snipe enemies through the glass then come through the ceiling and meet up with your team. How’s that for varying paths?
Other game tweaks include about 12 new weapons and a new jump in/jump out co-cop mode which lets a buddy join your game anytime. A cool feature but questionable since the original game offered four player co-op. Also curious is the fact that only one player can control the AI redshirts. Sharing of this mechanic might have made for some more interesting online gaming. On the plus side the multiplayer modes are as good as ever with three new modes: team leader, total conquest and demolition. Of the three, team leader’s elimination style play is as good as it gets for multiplayer.

When you add it all up what you get with this sequel is a solid new game wrapped in a slightly used box. This game looks and sounds better than the original with nothing even remotely comparable to it at this point. It’s clear that Ubisoft went back to the playbook and came up with some great new additions and worthy tweaks. Sure these were safe plays but when you have a game of this caliber, why mess with what works. More than just run and gun plus rehash, you’ll have on hell of a time with Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Vegas 2.

Take Two Says No Way To EA

When was the last time you heard someone say $2 billion is inadequate? Have you ever? Well in possibly the craziest rejection of all time Take Two Interactive Software has rejected Electronic Arts' offer of what amounted to $26 a share, to buy the company.

Here's the legalese, mumbo jumbo version.

The Board of Directors of Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. (NASDAQ:TTWO) announced that it has thoroughly reviewed Electronic Arts Inc.'s (NASDAQ: ERTS; "EA") unsolicited conditional tender offer with the assistance of its financial and legal advisors and unanimously determined that the $26.00 per share cash offer is inadequate in multiple respects and contrary to the best interests of Take-Two's stockholders. Accordingly, the Board recommends that stockholders not tender any of their shares to EA. The basis for the Board's unanimous decision is set forth in Take-Two's Schedule 14D-9 filed today with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Translation: Get outta my face with your mad money.

Maybe it's the thought of EA which already owns a lot in the videogame industry (Valve, Criterion, Bioware, half the earth) grabbing hold of the cash cow that is Rockstar along with Take Two's thriving sports franchises and other cool titles (Oblivion, Bioshock). Or maybe they have a better plan than a straight up takeover. At this point EA hasn't been completely ruled out. Take Two has said their board will, "Explore alternatives to maximize value for stockholders, which may include a business combination with third parties or with EA, remaining independent, or other strategic or financial alternatives that could deliver higher stockholder value than the current EA offer."

These "explorations" of course will be after the release of Grand Theft Auto IV. Kudos to Take Two for holding their ground and not become part the much feared mega-corporatization of the videogame business, but inevitably we may still end up with some strange amalgam of an EA/Take Two partnership.

Call of Duty 4: Bring On The Maps

For all of us who have been playing this amazing game since November, we can finally delight in the fact that at some point in the next few weeks, we'll have four, count 'em four, new multiplayer maps to go crazy with. Maybe you've already achieved prestige status, there's sa safe bet you’re still playing Activision's stellar title. At a reasonable price of 800 Microsoft points on Xbox Live Marketplace, the new COD4 variety map pack offers both indoor and outdoor multiplayer mayhem. But what about PS3? No worries, the maps are coming to PS3 as well, just no firm date on when or how much they will be. On the plus side Activision does now have the new PS3 patch available now. Here's the breakdown on the new maps



Broadcast
If you've played through the single player campaign then this one will seem familiar as it’s like the mission where you’re chasing down the game's main villain at his TV station. A cool feature here is the floor-to-floor combat with outdoor areas and lots of places to hide and snipe on the roof and on the bottom floors (snipers you know who you are). This will rock for the ground war mode.





Creek


Think the “overgrown” map except with more woods and a village. Add an underground cave, a ravine, and lots of houses to hide and you got a great mode for hiding in natural foliage, behind rocks and in abandoned houses. Imagine if you’re in that wacky, Chewbacca gear, it will be really hard to get pinched. This is another good ground war or domination mode map.



Chinatown
Kickin’ it old school this map is a remake of an old Call of Duty map called carentan. Not sure which Chinatown this new map is supposed to be but it’s at night, it’s foggy and there’s lots of lanterns, open streets, connected roads, courtyards, antique shops and markets. This one works for just about any mode is just simply a really well designed map.



Killhouse

Well the name says it all doesn’t it? Imagine the closed quarters of the current warehouse level except with plywood structures, mock-ups and speed-run courses used for training. Here’s a map that can work great for small team games and free-for-alls because of the soft and hard cover spots throughout the map.




All in all these four maps will add more legs to a game that has already exceeded expectations. Now if this entire article sounds completely alien to you or for some reason you haven’t bought this game then come April 3 you can pick up Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare Game of the Year Edition, which will give gamers a free token for the new maps. If you like videogames at all and haven’t bought this game, this would be a more than worthy addition to your library.

Will Gibson Pull The Plug On Rock Band and Guitar Hero?

It’s official. Gibson Guitar Corporation is bringing down the hammer on Harmonix, MTV Networks and Electronic Arts citing patent infringement on their top selling game, Rock Band. If that’s not enough the legendary guitar company is also suing retailers like Wal-Mart, Amazon and Kmart and many more for patent infringement on Guitar Hero. That’s right people, a guitar company is suing the makers of a videogame that uses a fake guitar? If this puzzling turn of events confuses you here’s the breakdown.

Gibson claims to have a patent for a device used to simulate a concert performance that has a musical instrument (fake guitar or real?) and 3D visuals supplied by a head-mounted 3D display with stereo speakers. Called the “405 patent” it apparently is way too close to what Rock Band or Guitar Hero does for Gibson to feel okay about it. Keep in mind this patent was filed 10 years ago, and clearly does not sound like a videogame where you get achievement points and jam with your friends.

Now before this happened, Activision who makes Guitar Hero, sued Gibson trying to get them to say that their game in no way violates the aforementioned patent. Interesting isn’t it?

Gibson says they approached Harmoinx and EA about a licensed patent agreement but apparently they didn’t respond (maybe they were too busy rockin’ out?). As a result Gibson felt compelled to take action last week leading to this: (official statement from Gibson’s PR Department)

On March 20, 2008, Gibson Guitar Corp. filed a patent infringement lawsuit against Harmonix, MTV Networks (a division of Viacom) and Electronic Arts (EA Games) in the Federal District Court in Tennessee. This new lawsuit relates to the same U.S. Patent involved in the lawsuit filed by Gibson Guitar recently against various retailers in the same court. Gibson Guitar had made good faith efforts to enter into a patent license agreement with the defendants in this case. The defendants have not responded in a timely manner with intent to enter into negotiations for a patent license agreement. Gibson Guitar had no alternative but to bring the suit and it will continue to protect its intellectual property rights against any and all infringing persons.

Infringing persons? So impersonal.

At this point no cash has been mentioned but you can see the potential cash value for these games which have consistently ranked in the top 10 in sales since the release of Guitar Hero III and Rock Band last year. Is this a sour grapes issue or does Gibson really have a valid case? One has to wonder if the games weren’t successful would this even be a case?

The Street Fighter Movie -- Meet The Cast So Far

The rumblings buzzing around the Internet have been going for a while now. Since Jean Claude Van Damme mucked up the would-be movie franchise more than 10 years ago, people have wondered if the fighting game of fighting games would make another roundhouse kick at the silver screen and our pondering were answered when it was announced the there would be in fact a Street Fighter Movie in 2009.

So next year we'll finally get to see what a decade, some hopefully better writing and 21st century special effects will do for a film that sported an embarrassing poster of Jean Claude in that stupid beret. Rather than mar a perfectly good article with that poster, feast you eyes on the new Chun Li -- That's right Smallville's Kristin Kreuk.

The cast so far:

• Chun-Li -- Kristin Kreuk. Lana Lang in the WB television series Smallville and all around babe.

• Balrog -- Michael Clarke Duncan. Star of lots of films where he plays a big hulking dude like The Island, Daredevil, The Scorpion King, Armageddon and so on. Wonder if he'll sport the weird skunk fro?

• M. Bison --Neal McDonough. He's been in stuff like The Hitcher, Flags of Our Fathers, The Guardian, Minority Report. No worries. Good villain casting for sure.

• Charlie Nash a.k.a. Nash, Udon (Big ups for you Street Fighter Alpha and Street Fighter II fans)-- Chris Klein. You know, that American Pie dude who's sort of Keanu Reevesish?

And now for the ????? cast member

• Vega --Taboo. Then you say who? Okay Google Image the Black Eyed Peas. Then stop looking at Fergie and look at the guy with the long hair. Yeah that's going to be Vega. The weird thing. It actually kind of makes sense.

Still up for grabs fan favorites and series icons like Ryu, Sagat, Zangief, Guile and potentially the Jar Jar/Gollum element with Blanka. Stay tuned for more Street Fighter news as more characters are cast and hopefully a plot is written.

What Recession? Videgames Are Making Mad Cash

There was a report that came out recently that talked about the fact that despite this never-ending news about the financial market and the economy being awful, mortgage rates, gas prices, wheat, everything, the videogame industry has seen an increase in sales.
A surprising fact considering that in most cases when money is tight the "luxuries" are the first things get dropped from the personal budget. But numbers don't lie.The NPD Group, a market research company that reports on all sorts of consumer trends dropped some surprising numbers recently showing the videogame industry having a 34 percent increase in retail sales of all things gaming (software, hardware, accessories, doohickeys) clocking in at a whopping $1.34 -billion -- insert wacky cartoon noise of surprise here.

This increase in sales is up 12 percent from 2007 which by itself was an extraordinary year for the business not just in sales but in quality titles as well. Call of Duty 4 was a top seller after its release and last month apparently moved almost 300,000 units. At $60 a pop that's a lot of money. That's just one game out of several that were top sellers last month alone. Add to that are the rock steady sales of the Nintendo's DS, a spike in sales of the PS3 now that Blu-ray is the official victor in the HD war and the third place but still profitable Xbox 360 and you can easily see how you could get into the billions.

Fresh on the heels of this news is the latest report showing that videogame retailer GameStop made more than $7 billion in 2007. The Texas-based retailer which snapped up retailer EB Games two years ago closed out it's fiscal '07 year in February with astronomical figures and 586 stores opened across the globe as well.

Is the videogame industry "recession proof?" That remains to be seen but with numbers this high early in the year and no indication that the industry is slowing down at the end of the first quarter, most experts foresee 2008 as another banner year for the business of videogames.

What To Do Until GTA IV

We're way deep into March now and we've already been treated to some good titles for 2008 like Burnout Paradise, Devil May Cry 4, downloadable content for Mass Effect and that little Nintendo Game called Smash Brothers Brawl. But all that will become irrelevant come April 29 when the maelstrom that is Grand Theft Auto IV will finally hit the stores much to the chagrin of parents, politicians and anyone who wants to blame the ills of society on videogames (see Jack Thompson, disgraced Elliot Spitzer).

From the arm-tattoo sporting Peter Moore at E3 last year boasting the 360 owners will not have to wait this time, to the delays and rumors buzzing about PS3 being the cause of delays, this is the one game that already poised to be in the spotlight, steal the spotlight and shoot up the spotlight. Reports are already proclaiming a 100+ hour gaming experience and we’re not even sure if that includes online play. Let’s face it, GTA IV will consume you like no other and hopefully get you through the gaming summer slump at least until E3 in July. But with a whole month left before the game drops and your $5 pre-order already spent how will you get ready for the first true contender for Game of the Year?

1. Play other games? I mean it's not like they're going to stop releasing games for a month. There's the always good Rainbow Six 2, Smash Brothers, coming out soon games like Dark Sector and Universe at War. Seriously play them now because after GTA IV you won't remember you have them (if you haven't traded them to get GTA)
2. Have you your friends send you random messages on your phone to perform missions
3. Drink lots of hot coffee (if you don't get that joke then you never played San Andreas or live in a cave or both)
4. Start practicing your Eastern European accent so you can connect with GTA IV's lead character
5. Come up with a valid list of call-in-sick excuses for that last week of April first week of May. "Um ... my eyeballs hurt."
6. Take a picture of what it looks like outside your house because you won't see it for a while
7. Get a good list of takeout food places and some large trash bags for all the containers that you will pile up
8. Have your defense ready for owning the morally reprehensible game of the year. "Dude it's more than just shooting dudes and jacking cars. There's like character building and problem solving too."
9. Charge up them controllers and make sure you have a spare already charged. Imagine the battery going out in the middle of a big level.
10. Imagine what it's like being alone or single as your significant other will despise this game more than Jack Thompson.

There you go. Feel free to add your own tip, there's room for more.

Army of Two – Not Good Enough

Genre: Action Shooter
Developer: EA Montreal
Publisher: EA
ESRB: M
Platforms: X360, PS3

Rating – A Marginal 7

Ah the co-op game. Since the days of the 2-D classic, Double Dragon, there have been too many of these games to count and a majority of them in the shooter/action category. In recent years, we’ve seen some great success with games like Crackdown, Gears of War, and to some degree Lego Star Wars. Last year, Halo 3 upped the ante with four-player online co-op. Essentially throwing down the gauntlet for cooperative play, this new benefit that Bungie added basically said to developers, “This is more than just multiplayer. Now you can share you single player experience with anyone.” Enter EA Montreal’s Army of Two. With promise of outstanding graphics and innovative gameplay relying heavily on the co-op mode the hype for this new title from EA was high. This is also a new title from the company and not one of their franchise or movie-tie in games. Unfortunately while the idea and delivery is serviceable in terms of a videogame, Army of Two falls flat enough times to make it not a must have.

The story follows the dynamic duo of Salem and Rios, two mercenaries who basically spend their lives killing people for money and during the course of the game you take part in their missions over a 16-year span. As you continue on in the story you discover that something just isn’t right which ultimately leads to the revelation that there’s someone who has set up these hired guns. It’s a fairly formulaic story peppered with plenty of r-rated dialogue making cracks about the regular army and some pointless banter. This is not what you would call a gripping story line.

Gameplay involves you and your buddy on mission after mission basically going after your target to earn money. This money you then use to buy more weapons as well as customize them to the degree of “pimping” them out. Why? Because making gold plated weapons is cool? No because having weapons like this helps with your “agro.” Aggro is a staple of MMORPGs like World of Warcraft where a character draws attention to themselves to so that their partners can flank enemies and effectively take them out. In Army of Two, this mechanic is used to make one player almost invisible while the agro player turns red. Other than the aggro move, there are a variety of co-op moves you and a live player can mess around with to accomplish your task like, co-op sniping, back to back shooting, being able to drag your wounded buddy out of harms way while he keeps shooting or faking death to trick the AI enemies.

As far as the single player campaign goes, it’s simply not as much fun. EA put so much time into developing the co-op mode the AI buddy is frustrating if not downright dumb at times. Often times, he’ll drag you into heavy fire when you’re wounded instead of somewhere safe. As far as commanding him to do things for you, you’re limited to go there, stay here or shoot a lot. Even if you send him out he doesn’t always go where you want him to go. Your best bet is to play this game with a buddy because a lot of the AI flaws are not as present with a live partner. This goes to same for the multiplayer element which features a good variety of modes for anyone into this type of game.

Of the other issues not related to the co-op play probably the most frustrating is the shooting mechanic which offers up no real way to aim properly unless you take the time to stop and aim. There are times when you’ll find it more effective doing a melee move than shooting somebody on the ground. If that’s not bad enough the enemies seem to have no problem hitting you at all and some of them seem to have quit the stamina. When you run out of bullets on all three weapons you’re carrying and you still can’t take a man down, that’s not good. For an action shooter this is not a good thing at all.

No question, this is a good looking game and that definitely helps. The character models, crisp background and destructible environments work very well with the theme of this game. Ultimately this is a shooter that’s a notch above average but misses the mark on making it shooter that’s comparable to some of its predecessors and counterparts.

The Incredible Hulk ... Again

Everywhere from Marvel.com to MTV was abuzz with excitement this week when the new Incredible Hulk teaser trailer finally reared it's mighty green head. This new, non Ang Lee, non stay-puff green Hulk, boasts the acting chops of Edward Norton in the lead role as Dr. Bruce Banner and a supporting cast that includes William Hurt, Tim Roth and for Hulk's leading lady, the ready to cry Liv Tyler.

So far so good right?

Maybe. 90 percent of the trailer builds on the "wait for it" moment that we finally see the smash master himself. Up until them this movie has the same feel and look of the craptacular mess that was Ang Lee's 2003 version. Meaning it seems like it has the same pacing and sort of doldrums-like foreboding that eventually leads up to big money shot when we see the beast make his first ginormous, muscle ripped appearance. So he shows up and then what? Well for this first film of the new Hulk franchise, we get Abomination (a.k.a Emil Blonsky). Another gigantor beast that came out of a gamma ray dose gone worse then the Hulk. He's big and nasty of course we'll get treated to the monster showdown in Times Square.

We get a taste of that in the last 15 seconds of the trailer as Hulk and Abomination go running toward each other full speed kind of like Neo and Mr. Smith did in the Matrix series (twice) as have other characters in a slew of other films. Cut to the title and we have to wait until June to see where that smackdown ends.

The Hulk was part of that Marvel core that came out in that five year span in the 60s that spawned marvel icons like Spidey, X-men, and The Fantastic Four among others. In his 4-decade history we've seen him beat up Iron Man, be part of the Defenders and come close to leveling the whole planet. In between you get a variety of villains, a power hungry general hell bent on killing him, a separation of beast and man, and a couple of sidekick esque buds like Rick Jones. You see the problem here. While the characters of Bruce Banner and the Hulk offer up a lot of acting worthy emotional angst, how do you translate that into a full length comic-book movie?

For most of the viewing audience who don't know the mythology or even the 80s series with the late Bill Bixby, all they know is this is a big green dude who smashes stuff.
Sure it was exciting to see a better visualization of the Hulk looking more like his comic book counterpart than a pissed off Shrek with hair, but for now I'll reserve judgement on what the new Incredible Hulk movie aims to deliver.

Electronic Gaming Monthly -- Game Over?

Technically the magazine's owner Ziff Davis hasn't shut down or anything like that. But they did file for bankruptcy last week and have started throwing around corporate terms like restructuring. We've all heard similar terms before -- downsizing, transitioning, reorganization. The reality to that plan is that some people are going to be out of work. The company cites poor subscriptions and ad revenue as the core reason for them being in this hole which raises the question -- is their core publication, Electronic Gaming Monthly relevant anymore? Is this trouble with Ziff Davis a reflection of our digital, electronic age where people just don't read magazines any more? The company publishes other mags like PC Weekly and Games for Windows but with less people singing up for subscriptions what does that mean for these publications as a whole. There are certainly enough gaming zines out there. All you need to do is go down to your local Borders to see them. You have to wonder though -- who is reading them?

Granted I've always enjoyed going to the mailbox and getting my copy of EGM which a great compendium of news, features and reviews all in one nice glossy magazine I can read at my leisure. That being said, sites like this one (Just Press Play) and others like IGN, Gamespot and Ziff Davis's own 1UP provide me with all that information daily anytime I want. Not only can I read news and reviews, I can see videos, demos, screenshots, blog posts, user comments and so on and so on. Add to that is G4TV, an entire channel dedicated to gaming along with a slew of of podcasts on Itunes with the and anything an everything gaming related. With all that at my fingertips, why wait every month for a magazine? When the magazine itself, has a website that has everything the printed version has, it becomes hard to justify the expense of printing a publication which produces news and features people will already know or have seen. The immediacy that the Internet and cable TV provides all but eliminates a monthly magazine like EGM's power as a resource for gaming news.

It's a hard fact to argue and even harder to compete with. While no actual announcements have been made it's clear that something is in the wind since the masthead of EGM has new titles for it's lead staff members. It will be a sad loss to the community if the magazine becomes a victim of this restructuring. The bigger question -- how many of the current generation of gamers will really miss it?

Rockemten: Axis of Evil Review

Rocketmen: Axis of Evil
Publisher: Capcom
Developer: A.C.R.O.N.Y.M.
Platforms: XBLA and PSN
7 out of 10

As Much Fun As It Is Funny

Before you think that Rocketmen: Axis of Evil has any connection to some real world conflict think again. Conversely this isn’t your ordinary arcade game either. So what is it? You could best describe it by calling it an amalgam of a top down shooter, RPG (sort of) and comic book. This new arcade game from developer A.C.R.O.N.Y.M. available for Xbox Live Arcade (XBLA) and the Playstation Network (PSN) delivers up some madcap fun mixed in with a basic arcade-style shooter in the style Robotron and Smash TV.

The basic premise behind the game is simple, you as one of the “Rocketmen” join forces with wacky characters Nick Sion, Alec Mink and the Alliance of Free Planets (no really that’s the name) to battle against the evil forces of the Legion of Terra. After some basic character customization you can begin to fight the fight either alone or with up to three friends (locally or online). Battling hoards of not so bright Martians you run through levels picking up weapons that lay about as you make you’re way to an all out massive battle to save the universe. There’s a mix of on the ground, ship and jetpack levels to make it not just the same scene of mindless AI enemies over and over. The bosses are fairly typical though and serve up varying degrees of challenge. All in all the difficulty is not great nor is the learning curve. You’re basically looking at two thumbsticks and one button although there is a scroll mechanic to switch your secondary weapons.

Rocketmen is a good looking arcade shooter from the cartoony cut scenes which you can skip to the actual gameplay graphics. What gives this space shooter some extra flair is the loopy dialogue exchange between characters. Additionally there are secondary objectives like in Lego Star Wars, where you can save people, blow stuff up or open things. This will get you items you can use at the end of each level to upgrade you character. On the down side the weapons you pick up aren’t keepers but there are plenty of them all around.

Where the trouble lies is the fact the unforgiving camera often forces to leave things behind like secondary objectives because there’s no way to go back once you get past a certain point on the screen. Co-op play reduces that issue slightly but this can make for some frustrating gameplay at times. You’re set with infinite lives but the penalty for death is you lose experience points which means when it comes time to beef up your character you won’t have as much loot. This is the nominal RPG element where you can improve the performance of your secondary guns so when you do pick them up, they’ll pack a bigger punch. As far as the other character optimization, they don’t seem to really play a major role but then again when the major objective is to run around shooting stuff, it’s not necessary something you worry about.

Some may find the bizarre cut scenes a little off, but as mentioned before you can skip them. A decent download no less, Rocketmen, has enough variety make it a little more that the average shooter. While there’s a lot of room for improvement, the core game here is a solid fun arcade experience that’s easy to play and enjoy.

WTH Atari? News of the Day

Phil Harrsion. Are you kidding me? Mr. Sony worldwide media?Is he insane? Well the big question isn't that he's the new prez of Infrogames (Atari's parent company). No that's not it -- it's a gutsy move but he probably also likes jumping into a basketball game with 5 minutes left and 30 points down. Can one of the the icons of the videogame indsutry make a comeback? Why not? I mean look at the crazy stuff last year. No no, the big question is what happened at Sony Mr. Harrison. What? Hmmmmmmm?

In other news Wii owenrs can delight in getting a ---- TV guide -- In JAPAN!!!! with no immediate plans to be available here.

So there's really no point in talking about it any more. Hey at least there's be a new game on Sunday.

March is here woohoo!!!!!!

The week to come


Can you believe it!! The winter slump is almost over and kicking things right off the bat is EA with the co-op chaos that is Army of Two. It was originally supposed to drop last year but consider this ...

1. It would have got lost in the glut that was Fall '07 (Halo, COD4, Bioshock, Mass Effect, Super Mario Galaxy, Bueller..... Bueller).

2. Plenty more time to smooth out the kinks

The game looks crazy fun and if you don't have a co-op online buddy the AI will be your friend. Sorry kids this one is rated M. Probably won't be a whole lot of weird face mask tie-ins either (free mask with a pack of pepsi?)


Also on tap for this week, a Bully Rehash (scholarship edition). You remember Bully right? The Rockstar game where you got to throw some good ol beatdowns to your schoolmates at Bullworth Academy? The new version features new bullying stuff that wasn't in the previous edition. If you have no idea what I'm talking about then you probably weren't a big fan.

Two count 'em two baseball games -- Major League Baseball 2k8 and MLB 08: The Show

And the weirdest release of the week Rocketmen: Axis of Evil. Yes that's the title. Capcom is dropping this top down RPG multiplayer shooter on XBLA and PSN. It's got RPG elements and then has this Robotron/Smash TV feel to it -- left right stick good times. What's the Axis of evil you ask? Not a clue but if you're a rocketman you'll be fighting it.


But wait --- there 's more ....

SUNDAY SUNDAY SUNDAY SUNDAY -- SMASH BROTHERS!!!

Delay after delay forced Nintendo to push the release to ..... wait did they say Sunday? You know how they roll. Ok so technically it's next week but c'mon. It's Smash Brothers. Do I need to say more? I mean if you don't have a Wii then there's no better system seller than this. Of course you would have to find a Wii first. Good luck with that.


That's the week. Look for an Army of Two review coming soon.

Peace