Well, it doesn’t sound like it is right now and before you dish out $70 for it you may want to read a few reviews, or best, watch Raging Bros Doom 2-minute review above. While major media outlets like IGN and Gamespot are still reviewing Doom, this one is quick to the point and appears to be the most honest one so far.

We didn’t get a chance to play Doom’s campaign yet, so we can’t officially comment about the shooter, but we did try the open beta last month, which gave players only access to a multiplayer mode. Our experience with that wasn’t a positive one. It was extremely boring and felt overall dated. So, I’m not surprised the new Doom is getting attacked.

Anyhow, Doom is out and we strongly suggest waiting for more reviews to come out before investing. Maybe wait for it to drop in the bargain bin? You decide and let us know your first impression of Doom in the comment section below.

Who’s the baddest half-mortal, half-vampire you know? Channeling his martial arts skills into some deadly swordplay and combining that with his fictional vampiric abilities, your answer better bloody well be Wesley Snipes’ Blade.

Starting back in 1998, Blade turned into one of the coolest and most memorable action/horror trilogies. The Blade films have also seen a who’s who of cast members, including Stephen Dorff, Kris Kristofferson, Ron Perlman, Norman Reedus, Parker Posey, Jessica Biel, and Ryan Reynolds. There’s no doubt that you recognize most of those names, however, a couple of them were just starting out at the time, such as The Walking Dead’s Norman Reedus and The Amityville Horror and Green Lantern’s Ryan Reynolds.

So how would you like to play a game that combines said badass half-breed vampire and the chance to win some silver (because we all know that silver kills vampires)? Who knows, the rush you get from the bloody visuals and the gruesome sound effects just might translate into good luck and good fortune.

All you have to do is download the gaming software and set up a real money account. Then point your cursor to the Blade slots at Casino.com and slay away at some of the undead. Oh, sign up now and you could open the crypt to a $3,200 Welcome Bonus! Sweet, right?

Have a look at some of the game features:

Blade Game Features

This is a 20-payline, 5-reel multi-line slots game. The Blade symbol acts as wild and if you hit at least 3 of them you will be rewarded with 15 free spins and varying amounts of bonus multipliers. Furthermore, if you get a Blade symbol on the fifth reel it counts as two Blade symbols, meaning that if you have five of a kind, it actually becomes six of a kind, increasing your jackpot prize! This game also contains four progressive jackpots, the biggest of which is known as ultimate power, followed by super power, extra power, and power. So there is simply so much to play for.

If Blade isn’t your thing, Casino.com also has other Marvel properties to play, such as Daredevil (which has a cool bulls eye feature that could triple your winnings) and Fantastic Four (and despite its name, the game actually has five wild symbols, the members of the Fantastic Four plus Dr. Doom, to help up your winnings). As you can see, it’s all about giving you some superhuman powers to help you win some loot.

So, do you have the chops to take on the undead as Blade, or other Marvel villains, and win some coin?

So, what exactly sets this review apart? Not a whole lot exactly, but instead of racing to finish Grand Theft Auto 5, I decided to really take some time with it, to get not only an initial reaction, but a long-term reaction as well.

Expectations for this game were high, not only from a universal standpoint, but also from an individual’s personal standpoint. The last time I had hopes this high for a game, was probably Grand Theft Auto IV, or maybe even Red Dead Redemption. My point is, this is Rockstar, and Rockstar is simply held to a much higher standard than most other companies, but this praise is well deserved. Unlike something like Call of Duty that comes out annually, Grand Theft Auto, or Rockstar in general, takes multiple years on a given project. This is the first and foremost thing to know about Rockstar, they always take it to another level.

What are the limits in the GTA V world?

After popping in the first disc, I waited patiently for this gargantuan to start. Though, nothing would prepare me for just how massive this game would actually be. I don’t think I ever had this problem before, but stepping into Los Santos for the first time is almost overwhelming. In fact, each time I turned the game on after that, I would take about 5 to 10 minutes just to figure out what to do. Should I steal a car and drive around the countryside? Jump straight into some story missions? Do some side quests? Play golf? Tennis? Cause mayhem?

The possibilities in this game are practically endless, but just hopping in a car and driving around is, in itself, something to marvel at. Streets actually feel properly scaled, which is pretty much a first for this series. It would probably take me the same amount of time to walk to my own street corner, as it would to have Franklin walk to his street corner. I can’t even imagine how long it would take to walk from one side of the map to the other. Certainly a long time.

In this sense the game reminds me heavily of Skyrim. If I see some mountains off in the distance, all I need to do is find a way to get there. Nothing appears to be off limits, even swimming to the end of the ocean is perfectly doable, if you have the desire. Freedom is certainly nothing new for the Grand Theft Auto series, in fact, the games have been built around the concept, but GTA V makes previous installments look like boxes, trapping us inside.

How are the NPCs more lifelike?

Los Santos is one of the few gaming worlds I’ve played in that actually feels completely open. Of course the game has limits, but they are so spread out that it makes it totally irrelevant. Not only do I, as the player, have freedom, but even the NPCs feel more lifelike. I can recall being blown away by how “alive” Liberty City felt in GTA IV. Well, GTA V makes the NPCs from that generation look like a bunch of brain-dead zombies. Not only do they seem freer, but they are also less repetitive. For the most part, I never see the same reactions twice when nearly running someone over or pulling a guy from his car. The sheer variety of the background is a marvelous achievement and it’s certainly going to set a new standard for this upcoming console generation.

How have gameplay and menu systems been improved?

Now let’s get down to the brass tacks. In terms of the story and gameplay, the changes are more subtle. Most veteran GTA players should feel right at home with a similar control setup to previous outings. One upgrade that I noticed and loved immediately was finally using radial menus for guns, radio stations and what not. Everything feels much more on-hand, and it makes you wonder why this way of doing things hadn’t been implemented before. Shooting, running, swimming, they all feel about the same as in previous GTA games, just tighter, as to be expected. One of the bigger differences to the core gameplay was the driving overhaul. Cars feel more individual than ever before, and driving as a whole is just easier/more fluid. Also, choosing the right car for your mission becomes an important factor. You don’t want to try getting away from police in a pickup truck or crappy bucket mobile. Personally I like the Mercedes and Audi knockoffs, but everyone has their personal favorites.

Meet the characters of GTA V after the jump…

Hot off the heels of their most recent Uncharted outing, developer Naughty Dog could have simply stuck to the tried and true, guns-blazin’, wall-clamorin’ formula of the iconic action/adventure series. Instead, the Sony-owned studio chose to go much darker with The Last of Us, a brooding tale of loss, redemption, and survival.

A mysterious fungal parasite has ravaged the country, leaving countless victims in a zombie-like state of blood lust, and Joel, a smuggler with a mysterious past, is stuck in the middle of it all.

The nation’s state of decay is immeasurably large-scale as survivors are moved into ghetto-like quarantine zones run by the military. For reasons we won’t spoil here, Joel finds himself in a tricky situation, and must escort teenaged Ellie across the nation whilst contending with the viral outbreak, ruthless bandits, and others just doing their best to get by and live another day.

The Good

If there’s one thing Naughty Dog, it’s engaging and detailed stories. The Last of Us takes these tenets to brilliant new heights.

The engaging story

Joel is a man with a tortured past now working as a smuggler in a Boston quarantine zone. Need pills or guns? Joel is your guy. These military-run ghettos might promise safety and security, but the sad fact is that everyone is still struggling to get by using any means necessary — sometimes violent means. Food rations are scarce, trust is a thing of the past, and many are forced to do things they might otherwise never have even thought of just to live another day.

We join Joel and his partner, Tess, as a routine deal goes awry and they are forced to confront a fellow smuggler to retrieve stolen firearms. This sets into motion a chain of events whereby Joel finds himself escorting 14-year-old Ellie across the country as a means to retrieve the weapons from the Fireflies, an insurgent group of radicals attempting to wrestle control away from the military and put it in the hands of the people.

Joel is a reluctant hero and at first wants nothing to do with Ellie… the tension between the two is palpable.

The post-outbreak generation gap

Ellie is, for the most part, a happy-go-lucky teenager as she has never known a world without the infected. In other words, this is the only life she has ever known. For Joel, who can remember a time before the outbreak, it’s a little harder to achieve any sort of happiness. Though she is feisty, Ellie is still naive, and it’s endearing to see her gasp with wide-eyed astonishment at things we take for granted…forests, wildlife, fresh air, etc., or tell bad jokes during downtime.

Joel, on the other hand, is hardened by the horrifying events of his past, and struggles to look at the transport gig as a job and nothing more.

Over the 15-20 hours of gameplay, however, the two begin to form a father/daughter bond similar to that of Lee Everett and Clementine from Telltale Games’ brilliant Walking Dead series. Whereas Joel is gruff and curt with Ellie at first, he slowly grows to love her, and so do we. This gradually forming bond is the true star of the show, and the dynamic that develops between the two characters feels truly organic and showcases some of the best writing of this gaming generation.

Early instances that find Joel impatiently bossing Ellie around evolve into more of a partnership, and we begin to care for Ellie as if she were our own daughter. The lengths to which Joel will go in order to provide protection are mind blowing and sometimes heartbreaking.

Questioning your morals

In most games — let’s face it — the task of killing is an almost joyful event. In The Last of Us, however, each enemy you encounter and kill carries serious emotional weight. For the most part, those you fight are survivors just like you, and you begin to see yourself in your enemies’ actions. Yes, some enemies are downright bad guys, but they are fundamentally trying to find another meal, more water, antibiotics, etc. You will begin to wonder who you are to decide who lives and dies; it never feels good to sneak up behind an enemy and strangle them to death as they fruitlessly try to cling to life.

Naughty Dog’s different take on game violence is smart and sticks with you. The game even goes so far as to straight up point out that the very people you’ve been fighting and killing are no different than you in terms of situation and motivation.

Continue reading the review after the jump…

Yell! Rating (x/5 Skulls):

[rating:4.5]

Published by:

Sony Computer Entertainment

Developed by:

Naughty Dog Software

Year Released:

June 14, 2013

Also Available On:

PlayStation 3

Genre:

Action

Official URL:

The Last Of Us

Bioshock Infinite has faced more than its fair share of delays, story changes, and lofty promises since it was announced a couple years back that industry titan Ken Levine and the crew at Irrational Games would be developing the series once again. After the semi-bland outing that was Bioshock 2 (a case of too many cooks spoiling the broth), a breath of fresh air was definitely needed, and now that we’ve had a chance to explore the fantastic floating city of Columbia, we’re glad to announce that just about every single fear we may have had has been laid to rest. Rejoice, nerds, for one of the greatest games of this or any generation has indeed been gifted upon the gamers of the world.

The year is 1912, and you are Booker DeWitt, a former American solider turned Pinkerton agent turned private eye. You owe a lot of money to some very bad people, so when you are hired to free the young Elizabeth from the mysterious city of Columbia in exchange for a clean slate, the opportunity to get your life back on track is simply too enticing to pass up. But the world is often more complicated than it seems, and what is supposed to be a simple rescue mission sets into motion a series of events that will cause DeWitt to question his own morality, his place in the grand scheme of everything, and his very existence.

The Good

It was entirely possible that years of excitement and expectation could have buried Bioshock Infinite. It seemed that every new tidbit of information was promising bigger and better things, and each delay was cause for more worry. Was Irrational stalling? Had they bitten off more than they could chew? These are valid questions, but within the first 10 minutes of gameplay, we are treated to a rich and creative universe so ambitiously gigantic yet so masterfully executed that it’s almost hard to believe they pulled it off at all.

Our first vision of Columbia is every bit as exciting as our first glimpse of Rapture, if not more so. It is a bright and cheerful world bustling with life, and you’ll probably spend a good amount of time freaking at how amazing everything looks. Wandering around the plazas and thoroughfares of Columbia provides a sense that people really do live out their lives here, a welcome change from the non-stop insane denizens of Rapture.

And yet, despite the seemingly happy facade of the city, there is a sense that something evil lurks underneath. Perhaps it’s the unabashed religious zealotry or the sheer adoration heaped upon the city’s founder, Comstock, from Columbia’s citizens. Whatever the reason, something is not quite right.

Bioshock Infinite, like other games in the series, uses mood and tension to drive its story forward, and as you adapt to these new surroundings, it builds on these tenets perfectly by tackling the concept of racism and patriotism wrapped in the guise of religion. Really, Irrational has presented a thinly veiled critique of blind faith, and it’s almost as if nobody can fathom that Comstock would be an evil man because he claims to love God and has constructed an actual, physical heaven of sorts.

When things get going, they really get going. In fact, before you know it you’ll be swapping out guns and firing off Vigors as Comstock puts an entire army between you and your ticket to a new life. It’s harrowing and difficult at first, especially on the higher difficulties, but once Elizabeth joins you, Bioshock Infinite truly shines. The AI programming is flawless and finds Elizabeth easily keeping up and providing ammo, health, and salts (these power your Vigors similarly to Bioshock’s Eve) as well as serving as a means to access hidden areas with her lock-picking skills.

The slow bond that builds between DeWitt and Elizabeth is excellent. As she has been locked away in a tower her entire life, it only makes sense that she would have trust issues. [Editor’s note: I’m confused; she was locked in a tower her entire life, yet she has lock-picking skills.] As such, it’s quite believable that she would cower and run upon witnessing her first murder. Yes, DeWitt doesn’t have much of a choice in terms of killing, but the way it affects the young woman makes actual, believable sense.

The new Skyline and Skyhook mechanics are a blast. The hook becomes an excellent means of roller coaster-esque traversal along a system of rails set up to ship cargo around the city. In these sections, DeWitt can shoot enemies while careening along the rails or dismount/strike foes with ferocious power. Irrational was good enough to provide a means of acceleration, deceleration or reversal mid-travel, and achievement/trophy hounds will find plenty of reasons to experiment. The hook becomes your melee weapon and is worth checking out for the grisly finisher move animations alone.

Continue reading the Bioshock Infinite review after the jump…

Yell! Rating (x/5 Skulls):

[rating:4.5]

Published by:

2K Games

Developed by:

Irrational Games

Year Released:

March 26, 2013

Also Available On:

PlayStation 3, Xbox 360

Genre:

First-Person Shooter

Official URL:

Bioshock Infinite

If you played Crystal Dynamics’ excellent 2010 twin-stick shooter, Tomb Raider: Guardian of Light, you were probably among the throngs of gamers delighted to hear that the developer would be at the helm for Lara Croft’s reboot. Oh sure, GoL wasn’t as grand as many of today’s action-adventure shoot-’em-ups, but it was endlessly entertaining, full of mind-blowing puzzles and downright clever at times. These same elements have made their way into the newly released Tomb Raider, and if Crystal Dynamics has proved one thing, it’s that the first lady of gaming (sorry, Princess Toadstool… you just get kidnapped too damn much) still has a trick or two up her sleeve.

We join a young Lara Croft (and we’re talkin’ way before the other games in the timeline) as she and a team of doctors, researchers and various others are hot on the trail of a mythological Japanese queen who may have just had dominion over the elements. For thousands of years, scientists have attempted to find the tiny island Queen Himiko called home, but a misunderstanding handily cracked by our here Ms. Croft leads the team to the Dragon’s Triangle. It is worth noting that an NPC mentions the area is way worse than the Bermuda Triangle, but as history generally amps up these types of people, they go anyway. Big mistake. Stranded on the island, Lara and her band of homies must fight to survive against its mysterious inhabitants. Will these people ever make it home? Who knows? Who knows?

The Good

Do you like Naughty Dog’s incredible Uncharted series? Of course you do… everyone does. Lucky for you, Crystal Dynamics also enjoys this series. A lot. So much so that anyone familiar with the exploits of Nathan Drake will automatically be awesome at Tomb Raider. And whereas emulation isn’t usually as good or as interesting as the results of inspiration, this game manages to fit the mold while adding a heavy dose of its own panache. You’ll run, climb, jump, and gun just like you always have as Drake, but here we are given a much more harrowing story of survival and the evolution of one woman who, despite falling off of things more often than anyone since Chris Pine in that Star Trek reboot, becomes the iconic hero we’ve all felt weirdly amorous about for ages.

Everything in this game is downright beautiful, from the facial animation and staggeringly huge environments to the lighting and water effects. Jungles and forests are complex locations with tons of verticality and secret collectibles hidden around every corner. It’s almost hard to believe this is the same development team from GoL, but these guys have really upped their game as it were.

Lara is as beautiful and kick-ass as ever, but she is now relatable and her new and improved (read, down to earth) personality is far more accessible than the wise-cracking Lara who’s been murdering wolves since before she sashayed onto consoles. We grow with her from her first harrowing moments on the island and as she faces horror after horror, forcing her to become the strong and skillful woman we know she’ll grow to be.

With a subtle nod to their previous game, Crystal Dynamics has created hidden, puzzle-based tombs throughout each area. These puzzles range from head-scratcher to straight-up brain buster, but are a blast to find and even more fun to solve. Solving these areas will provide you with extra salvage with which you can upgrade and mod Lara’s ever-growing arsenal of killer weaponry. That is, you may start out with an unreliable SMG, but through collecting salvage and completing challenges, you’ll soon be wielding a savage assault rifle complete with grenade launcher. No weapon is quite as exciting and versatile as the bow. This primitive weapon allows for such exciting abilities as taking out enemies like a stealth champ to creating ziplines for different means of traversal. It’s especially badass that we can unlock even more upgrades and perks at later stages in the game (mark my words, you’re gonna love the fire arrows).

You’ll be hard-pressed to think of a game with more jaw-dropping set pieces than Tomb Raider. This is where Naughty Dog’s influence shows the most. Even Nathan Drake would probably have to give our girl a hearty, “Damn, girl!” when she is faced with escaping a fire-ravaged palace or must parachute through a dense forest or is forced to take some medical steps in what is one of the most difficult moments to watch in gaming history.

Story-wise, Tomb Raider makes the previous events of the timeline seem kind of boring. This is a complex tale that reveals bits and pieces of information with such spot-on pacing that it’s incredibly hard to put down. You’ll always want to discover what’s behind the next door or why Mathias does what he does to the point where you will just about laugh with glee at the big reveal. Don’t worry; we’re not about spoilers in this review… but for real, it’s awesome.

Continue reading the Tomb Raider review after the jump…

Yell! Rating (x/5 Skulls):

[rating:4.5]

Published by:

Square Enix

Developed by:

Crystal Dynamics

Year Released:

5 March 2013

Also Available On:

PlayStation 3, Xbox 360

Genre:

Action Role-Playing

Official URL:

Tomb Raider

When the first screenshots and trailers for Crysis 3 started to trickle out from developer Crytek, fans of the sci-fi FPS were spellbound. Graphically speaking, Crysis has always set the benchmark to which all other shooters aspire, and the newly announced stealth bow only served to entice us all the more.

Players assume the role of Prophet, the very same super-soldier who took out those evil Koreans in the first game and who put a bullet in his brain moments into the second. Turns out that while the strong but silent Alcatraz was taking on the evil alien Ceph in NYC, Prophet was just hibernating deep within the suit itself. And now he’s back in a sort of ghost-in-the-shell type of scenario and he is out to save the world.

CELL, the mercenary group from Crysis 2, has the entire planet in the grips of its economic/energy industry-driven madness. All energy now comes from this mega-conglomerate, and those who cannot pay their bills wind up working off their debt in cruel and unusual ways. The good news? Most of the Ceph seem to have disappeared and a small group of insurgents (led by none other than the first game’s Psycho) are out to topple CELL and return freedom to humanity. Things are pretty dire, but Prophet is nothing short of incredible and now he’s on the case!

The Good

This is one of the best looking games you’ll play this generation. You will enter the Liberty Dome, a massive means of containment that has left NYC covered with more plant life than we’ve seen since Enslaved. It’s a clever device, especially in such a well-known location. Familiar landmarks have become dilapidated ruins and the level of detail is nothing short of pleasantly overwhelming. A lot of it is due to the brilliant lighting and particle effects that make each new area come to life.

The campaign plays out a lot more like the first game and brings the multiple means of execution that was so highly touted in Crysis 2 to staggering new heights. Oh sure, the second game constantly told us there were multiple paths to explore, but given the narrow battlefields that dominated most missions, this promise wound up being little more than a superficial means to justify multiple plays. Crysis 3, however, takes the open-world/sandbox style of development and infuses it with a healthy dose of linear structure. Most missions have multiple objectives and it is (mostly) up to you how to play them out. Whether or not this actually fleshes out the experience is up to each gamer, but it goes a long way toward varying the action.

These are the best, tightest, and most responsive controls since Call of Duty and shine especially in the area of upgrades and weapon customization. By simply equipping the weapon of your choice you can hold down back/select and choose from a variety of scopes, barrel attachments, and various other accoutrements. Suit upgrades are similarly applied and, once you’ve unlocked them all, can be mapped to the face buttons for a quick and tactical means of adapting to any combat situation.

Once again, the visor returns! This sweet little piece of tech is a strangely addictive means of both marking the locations of enemies or waypoints, and using a newly implemented timing-based hacking mini-game that allows you to turn landmines or turrets on the very enemies they’re supposed to protect. You’ll get into hacking to open up new paths of traversal, but you’ll return because it’s honestly a fun little game.

The new stealth bow becomes an absolute joy to use. So much so that you’ll sometimes wonder what the point of using other weapons might be.

Continue reading the Crysis 3 review after the jump…

Yell! Rating (x/5 Skulls):

[rating:4]

Published by:

Electronic Arts

Developed by:

Crytek

Year Released:

February 19, 2013

Also Available On:

PC, Xbox 360

Genre:

First-person shooter

Official URL:

Crysis 3 Official

Isaac Clarke just can’t rest! Every time it seems he’s put an end to the vile Necromorph plague and those pesky markers, he discovers another piece of the puzzle just aching to be made whole. This time, it’s the frozen world of Tau Volantis. Two-hundred years ago, something awful happened here, and now our hero – not to mention new co-op character John Carver – must piece together the events of the past to discover the very origin of the markers and just what the hell is going on in the universe! Old and new faces show up to aid in the process, and Isaac must decide if he is willing to pay the ultimate price to give Earth another tomorrow.

The Good

Longtime fans have been more than a little vocal about their concerns over the new highly publicized co-op capability and huge action set-piece moments. Many have bemoaned developer Visceral Games’ willingness to turn its back on the tight-corridor/survival-horror roots of the series. Well, rest assured, nervous gamers, the core Dead Space experience remains intact. Yes, there are new over-the-top action moments, but these do not occur with any level of frequency. Furthermore, the chills, thrills, and spooks are every bit as present as they’ve ever been – you will be on the edge of your seat! In fact, early portions of the game that play out in a 200-year old abandoned flotilla are classic Dead Space. Your eyes will be glued to the air vents as you search out a means of entering the atmosphere of Tau Volantis.

Graphics are more beautiful and detailed than they’ve ever been, right down the the individual stitching on certain character outfits. Visceral has always put together breathtaking scenes in space, and this game is no different. Whether it’s a stunning planet scapes or a gritty city on the moon, this is beautiful stuff.

Oh, and let’s not forget that this game is just plain fun.

There are some exciting new enemies to combat that are, in a word, horrifying. None more than this one necromorph that moves at lightning speed and in completely unpredictable patterns. There is a new enemy that attacks in pack formation similar to Dead Space 2, but this one is a little creepier and its AI makes the previous iteration seem lacking. Isaac will also do battle with unitoligists. Human enemies are a series first, and though these are tough foes, Visceral has done a wonderful job of spreading these encounters out.

The Bad

The number one problem with this game is the awful checkpoint system. While playing in marathon sessions, it’s not so bad to die and start over a little further back from where you were. However, the “save and quit” function from the pause menu is outrageous. Don’t be surprised if you’re forced to replay vast sections after reaching an autosave point and hit save and quit.

Story elements are mostly contrived, and we’ve all seen them before. Who can forget a story as played out as the good old-fashioned guy-loses-girl, girl-gets-stranded, guy-dismembers-space-zombies-then-wins-girl-back? Seriously though, while interesting to learn the origin of the markers and the necromorphs, everything from the story line to the tacked-on and useless NPCs seems like little more than filler.

Later in the game, a new mechanic is introduced in the form of amplifier pads. This allows for your TK and kinesis abilities to be supercharged. This is especially exciting when we learn that dismembering the necromorphs with kinesis becomes possible. Though this is an interesting addition to the gameplay, it’s too little, too late and could’ve been used in better ways.

Kinect capabilities are basically worthless. Sure, you’ll check them out, but it’s so much easier to just use the button inputs.

That dude Carver sucks. He’s boring and his voice actor is little more than functional. Certainly he is inoffensive as a co-op partner, but he’s hardly as cool as Isaac, particularly during his super-irritating “Am I a good man?” speech.

The Co-Op

While it’s pretty fun to jump online with a pal and kill those space zombies, it kind of takes away from the scarier aspects of the series. And though it is possible to find a quickmatch with a decent random player, we can’t recommend trying out the co-op without a gamer you know and trust.

The Verdict: [rating:4]

You will have fun playing this game, but realize that those new to the series or those looking for the same tight-corridor gameplay may not get all they can out of Dead Space 3. Isaac Clarke is one of the coolest characters of the generation, and finally having all the answers is worth playing the game alone… you should probably get out there and pick this up right away.

Source: Alex de Vore | Spiffycats

Yell! Rating (x/5 Skulls):

[rating:4]

Published by:

Electronic Arts

Developed by:

Visceral Games

Year Released:

February 5, 2013

Also Available On:

Xbox 360, PC

Genre:

Action

Official URL:

Dead Space 3 Official

When it was announced that UK developer Ninja Theory (Enslaved, Heavenly Sword) would be producing the reboot of Capcom’s stylish hack-and-slash, Devil May Cry (now known as DMC), plenty of gamers freaked over the new direction. All information pointed to a younger Dante sans-white hair, and it was generally assumed the new title would be too great a departure for longtime fans to stomach. Well y’all can worry no more, because DMC is exactly the breath of fresh air this series has needed for ages.

By setting the game in a timeline well before the events of previous installments, Ninja Theory introduces a younger Dante who is somehow more brash and hot-headed than the son of Sparda we already know. Demon slaying by day and group-sexing by night, our new hero discovers a higher purpose and his own origins after reuniting with his twin brother, Vergil. Leader of an underground anti-demon organization known as The Order (think hacker group Anonymous), Vergil jogs Dante’s amnesia-clouded brain and lets him in on the truth: there are demons living among us, and by clouding our minds via spiked energy drinks/taking over all the world’s media/ruling the economy by orchestrating mass debt, they are taking over the globe. King of all demons, Mundus, runs the show, and the brothers’ father, Sparda—once second in command in the demon hierarchy—has been imprisoned for eternity after falling in love with an angel and defying his boss to have children—Vergil and Dante. The brothers are nephilim: half-demon and half-angel, and they are the only ones who can disrupt Mundus’ stranglehold on the world. Hot damn!

The Good

Ninja Theory has long been known for killer writing, but it’s clear that stylish combat is the star of the show. This has always been the focal point in the series, and the UK developer has created a deep and satisfying combo system that takes hours to unlock and even more to master. Dante still wields the sword Rebellion and twin pistols Ebony & Ivory from previous games, but he also inherits new demonic and angelic weapons that are, in a word, badass! Melee is flawless as merely holding down one of the triggers allows our hero to utilize his new toys. Stringing attacks with each of the weapons becomes a downright pleasure, especially as more and more abilities, combos and attacks are unlocked with experience points earned by slaying the demonic hordes.

Traversal abilities become more and more exciting as each new weapon provides new means of exploration. The Osiris, for example, allows Dante to fling himself about via floating waypoint in a way that’s extremely similar to Nero’s demon arm from Devil May Cry 4. The Arbiter (a totally bitchin’ and heavy-hitting axe) allows Dante to manipulate the environment and open up new paths for exploration. This becomes particularly interesting during levels which contain hidden rooms or multiple paths.

Boss battles in Devil May Cry have been incredible since that one spider dude crawled up over the parapet in the first game, but everything is bigger and better here. There’s an almost Zelda tone to the puzzle-like nature of these battles, and some of the bosses are downright scary. One of the baddies in particular spews some pretty amazing and outrageously obscene dialogue at Dante…it seems like Ninja Theory had a total blast writing this thing. The strong and intelligent writing perfectly lends itself to the stellar voice acting as we learn that even though Dante is a hot-blooded badass, he still has a lot of heart.

Find out what we think is bad in DmC: Devil May Cry and our verdict on the jump…

M for Mature:

Blood and Gore, Drug Reference, Intense Violence, Nudity, Sexual Content, Strong Language

Yell! Rating (x/5 Skulls):

[rating:4]

Published by:

Capcom

Developed by:

Ninja Theory

Year Released:

January 15, 2013

Also Available On:

Xbox 360, PC

Genre:

Action

Official URL:

DmC: Devil May Cry

When committing to anything that would take longer than five minutes’ time, I find it important that we ask ourselves the simple question, “Why?” “Why should I sign up for polo lessons?” “Why go to the zoo to make fun of the baby gorillas?” “Why should I tie up and gag my grandmother, and carry her around in a gym bag?”

With a little deliberation, you can use this process to streamline your life.

So, with today’s review of District 187, I think it’s important that you ask yourself why you would take the time to play this game. Maybe if we delve into the details, we can justify that shiz.

As a generic FPS, it’s pretty straightforward – you got your team deatchmatches, you got your capture the flag, you got your “detonate the bomb” settings, all to satisfy your blood-baring needs. Everything is cut-and-paste, so you’re delving into familiar territory.

The same could be said, with regard to characters and character models. The game’s set in a Cops-vs.-Robbers-type atmosphere, with both sides comprised of the same character build, albeit, with different colors. A mediocre customization option is employed, but it doesn’t really stretch any further than giving your guy a shiny pair of aviators or switching out his cornrows for a hat. On the plus side, there are a couple outlandish duds you can pick up (a troll-face mask that’s for some reason titled Grendel mask, for example). But as it stands, your options to let your freak flag fly are inherently limited, so here’s hoping that the devs’ll patch that up for the sake of us artist types.

“I’ll customize my character to look like a massive tool.”

The in-game clothes are purchased through small portions of gold – a small reward for shooting your opponents in the face. For signing up with the open beta, NetMarble seems to give all players somewhere around 30,000 gold pieces, so you’re left to customize to your heart’s content, upon arrival.

Customizations extend to your weaponry as well, but you can only own what you’ve purchased for limited amounts of time, a la Combat Arms. Truth be told, I suppose “renting” would be a better way of putting it. It’s an incentive to keep players playing, all the time and keeps a steady balance. Still, I can imagine some people just aren’t into that sort of thing. As a permanent option, you could always slap a bad-ass decal on your gun, but some people might just laugh at you because, well, you went and slapped a decal on your gun.

Continue reading the District 187 review after the jump…

Yell! Rating (x/5 Skulls):

[rating:2]

Published by:

NetMarble

Developed by:

NetMarble and CJ games

Year Released:

November 20, 2012

Also Available On:

Windows PC

Genre:

FPS

Official URL:

District 187