Dead Rising 2

This week, i picked up my copy of Dead Rising 2, ready for some mindless, zombie killing fun. And while I did indeed get that; i honestly got more than i expected. Allow me to elaborate in my review.

Dead Rising 2 is a zombie based action game developed by Capcom and Blue Castle Games. It's out now for the PS3, X-Box 360 and PC; and is a sequel to Dead Rising.

STORY
Dead Rising 2 follows Chuck Greene, a survivor of a previous zombie outbreak; and his daughter, Katey, as they get caught up in the latest Zombie outbreak, this time in Fortune City. This is where things get interesting, you see, Dead Rising is one of those games where absolutely everything is optional.
You may do the main story missions, and save chucks daughter with her medicine... or you may just ignore all that and kill zombies for the 75 in game hours you have.

When it comes down to it, you are Chuck. You are trapped in Fortune City, with thousands of hungry zombies and 75 hours to kill. The summary of this game is pretty much, play it your way.

While completely optional, the actual story was better than i had initially expected. Its got its twists and turns, and has a unique gameplay feature, in that every mission is timed. You didn't complete an objective in time? The story has been failed, and you get a new ending. This also adds a new layer of difficulty.

PRESENTATION
So, DR2 isn't the best looking game, but it certainly is adequate to say the least. People look how they should, but the game lacks any CG cutscenes; so all the story driven cutscenes are performed within the game engine. Helping the look of the game are the various locations there are within Fortune City.
Places like the Western Themed casino or the under construction hotel really add some variety to the locations you experience in Chuck's adventure.
ALSO there are a cubic buttload of zombies on screen at once, with minimal technical issues; which is a feat in itself.

Now, there is also some horrible pieces of dialogue. Theres nothing wrong with the voices saying the lines, but the lines themselves are atrocious. The script is full of innuendo and horrible puns; so bad that it makes the script kind of endearing. That doesn't excuse it from being horrible though.

Along with some fairly good voice acting, the soundtrack to the game is really quite excellent. From mall style music (similar to elevator music), to heavy metal music for the "boss fights"; Dead Rising really does create a unique feel with its in game music.

GAMEPLAY
The gameplay of DR2 has 3 main focus points. First of all, Zombie Killing: it's really quite entertaining, even though its more or less the same action over and over again. The variety of weapons AND weapon Combos really makes the zombie killing experience a more unique one than games like, say, Left 4 Dead.
While guns are available, your main arsenal will consist of every day items you'll find in the casino/mall city that you're trapped in.

Second of all, you have the fetch quests. These include saving survivors and getting items for certain saved survivors (or medicine for your daughter). As well as these, though not really "Fetch Quests", are the "Boss Fights". All of these missions are set to a time limit; which normally lasts a few in game hours.

This leads us to the 3rd gameplay mechanic; Time Management. In Dead Rising 2, you're required to do any of the missions you choose, in the time that has been set. This is displayed by a bar in the right side of the screen.
This makes it easy to know exactly how much time you have left to do a certain task, and allows you to figure out what you want to do with your time; as not every mission can be accomplished.

Everything in the game gives you Prestige Points, which allows you to level Chuck up. PP is earned from killing zombies, saving survivors, killing psychopaths, or doing certain random tasks (such as rolling a seven on the giant craps table).
Levelling up gets Chuck new skills and higher levels of health, speed and attack damage; making each replay easier and easier.

My biggest problems with the game are as follows. First of all, at lower levels, some of the boss fights are absolutely cheap and rather difficult; while offering very little in the way of hints to defeat them. Secondly, if you die, you get transported to your last save. While I applaud this title for using this mechanic to make the game more difficult, I find it annoying when I forget to save, then get gang raped by fifty zombies. Oh well, perhaps that's my fault.
Also, money is sometimes hard to come by (aside from a few missions). Though not essential to the gameplay experience; to get some cool additions to the game, you will need money.

REPLAYABILITY
As it stands, I have played through Dead Rising 2 three times; and yet I haven't gotten all of the endings yet; let alone found all the combo cards, or survivors; and i have a hell of a lot more zombies to kill.
This game offers a lot of mindless zombie killing; and anyone who picks this up is practically guaranteed to play it again, if only to level Chuck up to the level cap.

As well as this, DR2 offers the "Terror Is Reality" multiplayer mode; where players compete in various zombie killing games for in-game money. While not a core part of the game, it offers an excellent distraction to the main game. Think of Dead Rising 2 as a big juicy piece of steak; well the T.I.R games are like the big, golden, crunchy chips that are served with it. God I'm hungry.

Lets not forget about the trophies/achievements for all you hunters and whores out there. Some of them are really a lot of fun, and I intend to get as many as I can. Happy hunting!

OVERVIEW
Dead Rising 2 isn't the most intricate, arty game around. And it doesn't ever try to be. Dead Rising knows what it does best, and that's Mindless Zombie Massacre. However, in addition to this, Dead Rising 2 also offers a surprisingly well thought out story, and lots of variety; in both locations, music and combat.

It also offers a lot of replayability, so if you like killing zombies, you will cream yourself over Dead Rising 2. Unless you're more into guns and fast sprinter zombies (as opposed to the classic slow movers), in which case, GO BACK TO LEFT 4 DEAD!

Should hopefully have a review of FIFA 11 between now and next Thursday, in a special edition of Tophat Gamer; if not, go to hell. See you next time! =D

Assassins Creed 2

Since I'm waaaay to excited about the Assassins Creed multiplayer footage I've seen, i decided to go back and play through both previous games. Kept me busy for a few days, and I figured I may as well do a review of one of the 2; and I chose AC2.
Assassins Creed 2 is an action adventure game developed by Ubisoft Montreal for the PS3, X-Box 360 and PC.

STORY
Although being a sequel, Assassins Creed 2's story doesn't follow immediately on from the first game. Well, it does and it doesn't. The Assassins Creed games follow Desmond Miles, though most of the action follows the memories of his ancestors, through the use of the Animus.
You see, the Assassins and the Knights Templar have been waging a secret war for ages, and to get an edge over their adversaries, Desmond searches his ancestors memories for any information that is particularly valuable to the cause.

The story is definitely an interesting one; providing players with an alternate history where many of history's great leaders were in fact Templar's, and their exploits can be traced back to artifacts known as pieces of Eden. Convenient little plot devices created for this story that sounds like its written by a team of conspiracy theorists. Still interesting though.

PRESENTATION
The Graphics of Assassins Creed 2 are quite fantastic, even by today's high standards; and lighting/ water effects really make the environments seem realistic. However, you're soon reminded that you are in fact in a machine; by way of graphical glitches and the HUD. I like the presentation, but at times, the Animus lacks personality (for example, during loading screens).

Voice acting is pretty impressive, with the majority of characters sporting an Italian accent that doesn't go over the top. A lot of the lines are also delivered in Italian which certainly add to the immersion. (The English is explained, as the Animus auto translates memories apparently).

GAMEPLAY
Gameplay in Assassins Creed 2 focuses mainly around fighting and free running, both of which work extremely well. The missions you get sent on are pretty varied (or extremely varied when compared to the first game) but at the expense of the freedom to plan your assassinations.
While this isn't a huge loss, it does take away from the feeling of being an assassin, that the first game did so well, despite being extremely repetitive.

Apparently, the Renaissance was a time for great achievements in the field of murder, among many other things. New assassination techniques, as well as a variety of weapons make the combat truly fun. The free running is also a lot faster and more fluid than the first title in the series, and the addition of a notoriety system (albeit an imperfect one) make this game a stellar improvement over the previous game.

The biggest downfall from Assassins Creed 1 is the massive drop in difficulty. Although enemy AI is more intelligent, they simply aren't vicious enough to be able to take your character down. And most fights can be won with patience and counter attacks.

REPLAYABILITY
Being an open world game, Assassins Creed 2 offers the players a massive sandbox to explore, including Italian cities such as Venice or Florence. Found in these cities are side missions (assassinations, courier etc) as well as collectibles to find. There are a ton of feathers to find in the game, as well as "The Truth" files to look out for. Trophy Hunters and Achievement Whores will have alot of fun with this one.

OVERVIEW
With an interesting and deep storyline, well executed game mechanics and a lot of things to do and find; Assassins Creed 2 truly was one of last years better games. It was far from perfect however, as the low difficulty level and often repetitive gameplay stood in its way. Oh, and I fucking hate the random Lute playing douchebags. I swear, they hunt in packs. (Although they aren't AS annoying as the beggar women and super strong lepers from the first game.)

In summary, if you haven't played this game, i suggest you do. It's fun, and is bound to keep you entertained for quite some time.

Next week, my Dead Rising 2 review. Thank god the Australian Ratings Board let this one through with little/no modifications.

New Super Mario Bros. Wii

A few weeks back, I had a chance to sit down with a classic Nintendo game, with a current day make-over. This game is "New" Super Mario Bros. for the Wii. I figured I may as well review it, seeing as it is quite a rarity; A wii game I truly enjoyed.
Again, could be due to the minimal use of motion controls.

New Super Mario Bros. Wii is is a side-scrolling platformer, published and developed by Nintendo for the Wii video game console. The game was released on November 12, 2009 in Australia.

STORY
This review will be starting with one of my least favourite things about this game; and in fact, many games. The story begins at Princess Peach's birthday, where Mario, Luigi and two differently coloured Toad characters are celebrating with the birthday girl. All seems well until a large cake rolls in; out pops Bowser Jr. and "The Koopalings" (that's right, Bowsers children pop out of a cake like a stripper) and guess what they do.
That's right! They kidnap Princess Peach. Again. Once again proving that the Mario series, much like the Zelda series, are just ONE game in a number of different dresses.

Seriously, are Nintendo writers just not trying anymore?

PRESENTATION
Crappy story aside, the game looks and sounds really cool; from the 3D graphics on a 2D plane, to the retro sound effects that resonate from the wii-mote.
The 2.5D graphics are really cool, and hit home on the retro front of the game, as do the sound effects. The soundtrack was also ripped from previous games; however, unlike the story, will never get old.

...Until of course, you hear it over and over again. As awesome as the classic Mario music is, it doesn't hurt to make some new additions.
Really, what more can I say about this games look and sound... Its just like a classic Mario game, though perhaps too much like one.

I suppose the lesson here is.. You can have too much of a good thing.

GAMEPLAY
Just like everything else in this review so far, the gameplay is more or less ripped straight from the Nintendo Archives of Mario. Sidescrolling platformer gameplay is the core of this game, and I'm struggling to think of anything else this game gave me.
As little variety as there is in this title, its done extremely well. Though that should be expected, since New Super Mario Bros. Wii has been done many, many times before.

Its amazing how little there is to really comment on, yet i still found it fun. Of course, this game has a large focus on multiplayer; as many areas require the aid of at least one other player, but some of the biggest problems I found with the gameplay occurred because I was playing with a friend.

Multiplayer platforming in NSMBW is like putting cricket balls in a washing machine, and watching the madness unfold. Characters just bounce off of each other if they get particularly close, and are in the air; and I often found myself accidentally picking my friend up... then throwing her down a pit. Completely unintentional. I swear.

Oh, and the game is easy. REALLY EASY. And I'm pretty sure you have the ability to just watch Luigi perform a walkthrough of the level, before you even take a try.

REPLAYABILITY
Theres a lot of hidden stuff to find in this game, and getting 100% will include multiple level run throughs, with more than one player. The game is still really easy, and you'll breeze through it.
Also, without the incentive of achievements or trophies, most players won't bother going back through the game.

OVERVIEW
This was an extremely short review, simply because theres not enough to comment on. What little there is, however, is done quite well; fans of the original games are definitely in for a treat, whereas newcomers will probably enjoy this too. Although, for newcomers, the retro soundtrack and sound effects might get a bit boring after a while.
In all, an enjoyable platforming experience (so long as its in single player) and one of the better reasons for buying a wii in my opinion.

So... that was shorter than I thought it was going to be. Next week, Assassins Creed 2; because I'm just so excited for Assassins Creed: Brotherhood. See you guys next time.

Halo 3

In celebration of the release of the final Bungie addition to the Halo series, I've decided to review Halo 3; one of the most popular games on the Xbox 360 to date. Halo 3 is a first-person shooter video game developed by Bungie for Xbox 360, and was released back in September of 2007.

STORY
Halo 3 follows on from Halo: Combat Evolved, and Halo 2; which tell the story of a SPARTAN super soldier, known as Master Chief, and humanity's struggle against the alien force known as the Covenant.
In Halo 3, Master Chief and the human forces try to stop the Covenant from activating all of the Universes Halo Rings, which would destroy all sentient life in the universe.
If you've never played the game series before, its a fairly simple storyline; though many things aren't really explained for newcomers. Characters such as Cortana would need explaining for someone who had not played through a Halo campaign before, but as its the third in the series, i wouldn't expect much explanation as it is.

The story as a whole is rather deep, though not the deepest I've experienced. It involves some excellent character development through Master Chief, and his Cortana flashbacks; and has some fairly unforeseen twists.

PRESENTATION
During gameplay, the graphics are quite impressive, with a wide range of colours that sets Halo 3 apart from so many other shooters these days. Chapters are fairly short which means environments don't get too repetitive, and there is quite a large amount of variation.
Cut-scenes, on the other hand, don't look as impressive; and the leap from gameplay graphics to CG cut-scenes isn't a noticeable one. This may be intended; though, i for one prefer my cutscenes to look good.

In game music sets the tone of each level quite well, especially during the huge, climactic battles that will be encountered. Along with this, the voice acting is fairly above average; although Master Chief himself sounded rather bland.

My biggest problem with the sound design, is that almost all the guns sound like shitty Mattel toys. If I'm firing an alien weapon that can explode a man, I want to hear how powerful it is! Kudos go to the gravity hammer for its powerful sound.

The dialogue is actually better than I expected, what with the Covenant sounding all high and mighty and biblical, while the humans are all quite boring; which is strange, because they're on the verge of annihilation.

GAMEPLAY
Halo 3 is your typical, non realistic, first person shooter; guns are over the top, jumping is like you're on the moon, and you have regenerating armour. Controls work well, and there are a variety of guns, melee weapons, grenades and equipment that can be utilized to take down your opponent. Alot of these guns are, frankly, kind of lame; but for every few of these, theres a gravity hammer or spartan laser ready for you to kick ass with.

Enemy AI is smart, to a degree, however enemies often neglect cover and charge your position. In fact, one of my biggest problems with Halo 3 is that the gunplay requires little, to no thought.
Cover is fairly useless, since enemies will charge you all the time, and your armour takes enough damage then regenerates fast enough, that you can just hide for a few seconds before killing everyone else.

That said, at the end of the day, halo 3's gameplay is still really fun. It's not the tactical shooter you may be looking for, but damn it's awesome to stick plasma grenades to what would appear to be midgets.

OH! And vehicle sections. Theres lots of cool vehicles to mess around with, from tanks, to the Warthog; Ghosts and Banshees, to the Mongoose and what would appear to be a VTOL (Helicopter thing). They're all cool, and mix up gameplay slightly, however the controls for these are a bit sloppy. Handling on the warthog is particularly bad, though they're apparently made out of cardboard, due to the ease of flipping it over.

REPLAYABILITY
Halo 3's campaign is extremely short. Like, so short, i finished it in less than a day; without finding it too much of a challenge.
The replayability of Halo 3 lies mostly in its multiplayer; however that's not to say that multiplayer is all there is. As well as multiplayer, there are the forge and theatre modes; which allow for some fun down time between fighting.

Forge is basically a level editor, and Theatre mode allows you to replay moments from both multiplayer, and the single player campaign. This is an excellent tool for Machinima directors, though I'm pretty sure the best already use it.

Along with that, there are a multitude of Achievements to be earned; and they range from simple, to frustrating; including Finishing the campaign on Legendary.

OVERVIEW
In summary, Halo 3 isn't the most complex game around. In fact, its one of the simplest shooters to just pick up and play. Couple that with a detailed story and somewhat believable characters, and you have a fairly good game. Not exactly the perfect game that so many fanboys rant about; but definitely a decent play.

I honestly had fun with this title, and I can't wait to try out Halo: Reach for myself, as it looks vastly better than this entry to the series.

So theres my Halo review. Pretty fun, but far from perfect. Next week I'll be reviewing New Super Mario Bros. Wii... granted, its not really New anymore.
Anyways, see you next time!

Super Smash Bros. Brawl

Tonight I wanna post a review of one of my favourite Wii games. Wanna know why it's one of my favourites? It doesn't use the motion controls! Hurray!!!.... Well.. aside from the character selection screens, but shuttup! I just want to set this straight, motion gaming is not cool in my eyes; immersion in a game requires your thoughts to be transferred into precise actions, which can be far better done with a button press instead of an actual movement.

Now, on to the review!

Super Smash Bros. Brawl is the third installment in a series of fighting games featuring an all star roster of Nintendos most popular characters. It was published by Nintendo for the Wii in 2008.

STORY
The story mode of SSBB introduces a group of antagonists called the Subspace Army, who are led by the Ancient Minister, and follows each individual characters attempts to stop them from taking over. Its a fairly weak story, lacking in dialogue, but featuring well rendered cutscenes. There isn't much (or any) character development, since players know most of (if not all) the Nintendo characters already. The story is really a weak wrapping for the gameplay in this case.

PRESENTATION
As i said before, the cutscenes in this game look stunning, and are one of my favourite parts of this game. Alongside that are the excellent in game graphics, coupled with the catchy/familiar tunes played on each stage, giving each location its unique feel.
There are also points where characters will talk during gameplay (i.e. taunts) and the voice acting here sounds spot on, especially for Sonic and Solid Snake. Its really a Nintendo fan boys wet dream, although non nintendoids may be able to appreciate its looks and sounds as well.

GAMEPLAY
Super Smash Bro.s Brawl isn't your standard fighting game, by any means. Players control 1 of 35 playable characters over 41 selectable stages; where the objective in most game types is to knock your opponent off of the stage. This may be off either side, off the bottom of the screen, or out of the ceiling. This gets easier the higher your opponents damage goes, and its all a fairly simple interface to understand.
Controls work fairly well, and nothing really bothers me about this game in the way of glitches or bugs; but SSBB strikes me as the kind of game you want to play with friends. Strangely then, you are forced to unlock the majority of the character roster; meaning that if you take it to a friends party, guess who won't be playing as Solid Snake!

Gameplay gets a tad repetitive after a while, and the variations on game type do very little to avoid this. Every match will consist of you beating the crap out of a beloved Nintendo character; and while that is acceptable, it will get boring to most gamers.

Before I forget, there is a single player campaign of sorts, which takes the form of a side scrolling platformer/beat em up; which plays like a normal match, except all the maps are basically the same and the screen scrolls along with your character. Would have been more fun if it weren't so lengthy.

REPLAYABILITY
SSBB is a decent game, with lots of characters and levels to unlock. As well as that, their are in game awards to win by completing certain tasks, along with online multiplayer if you feel so inclined.
But the real draw for Super Smash Bros. is that it creates immense amounts of retarded fun when multiple people gather around the Wii and start beating the shit out of each other. As Nintendo characters of course.

I assure you, if you're doing it right, you wont be able to tell who the fuck is doing what until the final bell rings.

OVERVIEW
Overall, Super Smash Bros. Brawl is a decent game. It looks pretty, sounds amazing and is addictive as all hell. Add friends into the mix and you may never put it down.
But then again, even soccer can be fun with more than one person. Come to think of it, soccer with one person is very sad....
But, yea, as I was saying, a non existent story and long boring single player campaign drag this fun fighter down a bit, but not too much. I'm just happy I got to beat the stupid out of Princess Peach using Solid Snake.

That's my 22nd review down, i hope people are reading this. If not, oh well, I'm having fun. While I'm here, I think everyone should take a listen to ww.beeradio.podbean.com, do it; it'll mean alot to me. See you next time!

Gears of War- First Impressions

Recently, I spent some time with Gears of War; the first in a trilogy made exclusively for the 360 by Epic Games. Unfortunately, this time spent with the macho men of Gears was cut short due to me not actually having a 360; and therefore not being at home. None the less, i got far enough that I believe my opinion is worthwhile and fair, as I've had others collaborate with me on this review.

Gears of War is a third person shooter, developed by Epic Games for the X-Box 360. And before anyone says anything, yes i do realise this game came out ages ago, and the 3rd game of the trilogy is set to come out soon. For those people who are thinking that, just think of this as a special edition because Gears 3 looks fantastic. Or stop reading.

STORY
The story of Gears of War takes place on the planet Sera, 14 years after Emergence Day; the day marking the beginning of the Locust War against humanity. It begins as Marcus Fenix, a former COG soldier, is reinstated into the military after spending four years in prison for abandoning his military post in order to make a vain attempt to save his father, Adam Fenix.
Dominic Santiago successfully extracts him from the prison, and takes him to meet Delta Squad. The group seeks to obtain the "resonator", a device that will map "The Hollow", the underground caverns which the Locust inhabit.

The story isn't particularly well explained early on, though certain plot elements like Emergence Day and the resource of "Imulsion" are touched upon and quickly detailed. As far as I could gather, the story wasn't one of the deepest that I have ever seen in a game, but was adequate none the less.

PRESENTATION
Gears looks extremely good; the graphics are high quality and character models and landscapes are detailed. However, there isn't much of a colour scheme here, with colours normally ranging from boltgun metal to black; though what could you expect from a war torn, horrific world?
The settings for each act are fairly varied; though the ones I played through were quite similar, save for the time of day. Though I do know that levels can range from these destroyed city landscapes, to Imulsion mines, to a heavily armoured freight train.
The sound in Gears of War isn't as amazing as the rest of it. The music is great, setting the tone and mood for each section, but gunshots don't seem as powerful as they ought to. The voice acting is quite good, though I can't help but feel that the men of Delta Squad are trying a bit too hard to be macho. Macho and manly aren't the same thing boys; and I think they just missed the mark. By no means is the voice acting terrible, it just made it hard for me to truly like many of the characters.

GAMEPLAY
This is where Gears shines brighter than many games, though its not without its faults. Gameplay is mostly a lot of excellent 3rd person shootouts, revolving around battlefields littered with chest high walls to take cover behind. The gameplay has been referred to as Stop and Pop gameplay, and that's a fitting description as any.

You see, while you could stand and go completely Rambo at whoever you wanna kill, it probably won't work too well. Bullets hurt, and you'll soon discover that. The art to playing Gears comes from getting to cover, then picking your shot and ducking back; moving out of cover only to shoot, or run to different cover.
And the enemy knows this too. They'll use cover efficiently, even flanking you if your mind wanders, forcing you to watch the battle at all times.

My biggest problem with Gears comes with the context sensitive button. Alot of actions are tied to the A button, such as run, dodge, take cover or hurdle over obstacles. Now, running may seem simple, but not when you get sucked into cover whenever you sprint by it. Another problem i had with the running is that, despite it looking cool, and having a distinct "run for your life" feel to it, it was annoying to control,as you could never make tight, or even normal turns. If you, say, want to run to your left, you'd better be looking that way, or the best you can do is run straight, and veer left slowly.

Now that my minor complaints are out of the way, lets continue. Gears has quite a few weapons and attacks; including your standard SMG's and Sniper rifles. However, you also get cool weapons like the lancer; an Assault Rifle with a chainsaw on the end, and the Torque Bow, with bolts that explode when they connect to enemies. Oh, also; there is a close range attack with your grenades! This is a very welcome addition to melee attacking in shooter games.

Oh, and you can curb stomp. Gears of War is nothing if not gory, and most gamers will welcome that. I know I do. Though i didn't experience many different types of enemies to gore it up on. Sure, there were variations of the low level grubs that hold different weapons; but aside from that there were ceiling running Wretches, bat-like Kryll who swarm and kill you if you step into the night, and the Berserker; who more or less served as a boss fight.
Now, it goes without saying that I do want to play this game more; but i Hope to see more variation in the later levels.

Speaking of a lack of variation; its all well and good to add vehicle sections, but if you do, you should make it a core gameplay mechanic. Now, me saying this is a bit odd, as I didn't get to complete Gears; but I've heard it lacks vehicle sections to break up the slicey, shootey 3rd person action. That's ok, but i know theres at least one. So why bother with making just the one?

REPLAYABILITY
Gears of War has a fun campaign (from what I've seen) and I personally want to play through it multiple times, not only by myself; but in the co-op mode provided. Not many games feel like a co-op mode is necessary, but in Gears, you're always with at least one other guy, so it makes sense. As well as that, there are online multiplayer modes for anyone brave enough to stick their head out into Xbox Live (only to get it cut off with a lancer).

OVERVIEW
In all, Gears of War is mostly what I expect from a game. It has excellent gameplay with solid controls and its own unique character and level style, that fits the not-entirely-serious tone of the game (for example, the soldiers who look like they've been taking bullshark testosterone since they were 6). To me, Gears is a game that can laugh at itself, but can also be rather serious; what with the game world being set in a war torn world over run with giant things that want to kill you.
Sure, it has its problems, but Gears of War is one of those titles that you want to keep playing, just cause its full of awesome.

That's all for this week, I'm not sure what I'll be reviewing next week... perhaps Super Smash Bros. Brawl? Or another wii title? I haven't reviewed a wii title yet, so that could be interesting.
Anyway, see you next time!

Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots

This week i felt compelled to play through Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots again; what with the Metal Gear series ranking up there in my all time favourites. The series has long been known for its longer than necessary cutscenes and codec conversations, as well as its solid stealth gameplay (no pun intended).

Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots is a stealth action video game developed by Kojima Productions for the PlayStation 3 console. The game was directed by Hideo Kojima and made its worldwide release on June 12, 2008, ten years after the release of Metal Gear Solid and twenty years after the North American release of Metal Gear. (interesting facts for you all)

STORY
Now, Metal Gear games have always been story heavy, at least, they have been since Metal Gear Solid. MGS4 is no exception, and it expects that the player has understood and accepted everything that has happened before it. To sum the story up; MGS4 is set 5 years after MGS2, in a time where the world economy relies on continuous war, fought by PMCs, which outnumber government military forces. PMC soldiers are outfitted with nanomachines to enhance their abilities and control the stress on the battlefield.
The control network created through these nanomachines is called Sons of the Patriots (SOP), and Liquid Ocelot is preparing to hijack the system. You play as Sold Snake (now known as Old Snake), who accepts a request from (Colonel) Roy Campbell to terminate Liquid. The story also revolves around Snake's accelerated aging, and the FOXDIE virus circulating within him.

The story, if a little convoluted, is intricate and fairly well written; with likeable characters and interesting situations to say the least. But as I said before, a lot of this story really depends on the players knoiwledge of previous MGS games.
If you're new to the serious, a lot of the little references and nods to previous games will go straight over your head, but if you enjoy the series, the story of MGS4 will not disappoint.

PRESENTATION
A well written and interesting story is only as good as the manner in which you tell it. Thankfully, the graphics in MGS4 are superb, and settings vary from The Middle East, to Eastern Europe; with each setting having its own unique gameplay feature. For example, you may be sneaking through gunfights in the Middle east, but in South America, you may attack the PMC companies to make the local militia friendly.
The soundtrack in Metal Gear Solid 4 fits in as well as any other MGS game, with epic tracks to accompany Hideo Kojima's epic story.

As well as this, Snake has his own iPod, so many songs from MGS past will become available to the player through exploration. Another thing that comes back from past Metal Gear Solid games, is the superb voice acting. Whats the point of having an hour long cutscene, if the person acting in it is shit, right?

My biggest problem with the presentation, is that many of the cutscenes are extremely long I'm quite sure on one occasion that it went past the hour mark. However, considering my adoration of the story, this problem doesnt seem like much of one in the end. At least there arent hour long codec conversations anymore.

GAMEPLAY
Guns of the patriots plays a little differently than previous games under the MGS banner. Controls are solid as usual, but instead of playing from a top down perspective, you control snake over the shoulder, like a 3rd person shooter. This can also be changed at any time to control Snake in 1st person. I found this to be extremely useful, seeing as many situations will force you to take the direct approach, and fight. The answer isnt always found inside a cardboard box.

While the gunfighting gameplay is tight, what with the Drebin Store allowing you to buy guns, ammo and upgrades; the stealth gameplay lives up to its reputation. You can procure many items to use, such as cardboard boxes or even Playboy magazines, to slip by the enemy unnoticed.
It's nice to know that if you do fuck up the stealth, you can fight your way out.

There are also many cool side gameplay features I'm gunna just allude to, but you wont know what I mean till you play the game. They're extremely unique in the MGS game style, but break up the sneaking/shooting gameplay nicely.

REPLAYABILITY
For all the Metal Gear Solid fans, this game has a number of titles and secret items that should have you playing through this game over and over again. I'm already on my third play through. For those who aren't so interested in that, there is Metal Gear Online, for all you wannabe Solid Snakes out there. No trophies are available, however it is a solid title without them anyway.

OVERVIEW
Metal Gear Solid 4 is a must have game, not only for anyone who is familiar with Hideo Kojima's previous works, but for anyone who owns a PS3. No, even those who don't should get this, if only to look at it and imagine playing it. Ok, fans of the series will love this, those of whom who aren't will have hours of fun with the solid gameplay, but may choose to skip the detailed story entirely. It is one of those games that depends on backstory quite heavily.

So thats another review, and i hope people are reading this. Leave Feedback, somewhere, please! See you next time!