The Sims 3 Review

Try to explain the Sims to someone who's never played it and you're likely to be met with the same incredulous expression: a raised eyebrow, a disdainful shaking of the head, or a blank stare. This is followed by some variant of "more work than fun." Truth is, mopping up floors, cleaning toilets, and taking out the trash aren't exactly the stuff dreams are made of. On a basic level, play is akin to setting up an aquarium, picking decorations, introducing some fish, and watching them blow bubbles. If you aren't a tinkerer at heart, you probably aren't a fan of the series. The Sims 3 doesn't try to convert the non-faithful, opting to polish and streamline 1995's Sims 2 instead of moving the virtual life genre significantly forward. It's more a nudge than a push.

Going to Town

Yet Sims 3 is hardly a disappointment. In addition to the revamped presentation that retains the same sense of whimsy and charm as in previous games, improved social interactions make life as a Sim worth living. While most of your time was likely spent in a relatively small area in Sims 2 thanks to some egregious travel loading times and little payoff for a lot of hassle, Sims 3 will broaden your Sim's horizons.


Life Goes On

The core gameplay that made the first two entries among the best-selling computer titles of all time hasn't changed drastically. You still have five basic needs to care for (bladder, hunger, social, hygiene, and fun), but you don't have to micromanage them. One of several gameplay sliders allows Sims to take care of their immediate needs on their own, so you can focus your attention on something more interesting than clicking on the toilet, like figuring out how to get rid of a ghost. There is also a surprising number of role-playing like elements designed to keep you glued to your monitor.

Happy Accidents

Another is the unpredictability of events, leading to some amusing situations. Watch an evil scientist burst into your abode and use a high-tech contraption to "absorb" one of your prized possessions. Witness a green gas trail behind your unkempt character as pedestrians cover their noses or mouths and run away in disgust. Take a few laps in the athletic center's pool to lose some weight, splash others, or challenge someone to an underwater breathing contest. Win said contest and receive an adrenaline rush moodlet, making your character sprint everywhere with newfound vigor. It's too easy to keep your mood at a high rate, especially when sitting in a comfy chair balances out, say, being robbed by an evil scientist, but that oddly doesn't detract from the experience. There's so much to try, to collect, to tinker with.
Sim-sational?

X-Men Origins: Wolverine Video Game Review

I’m constantly dismayed that the more popular Wolverine gets, the farther he moves from his original concept. Don’t get me wrong, now - yellow and brown spandex can never return and I won’t shed tear one - but Logan’s character used to be different. He was feral, primal, animalistic, and raw; the sort of guy that would just as soon tear a man’s head off with his own teeth as his handy claws. The latest X-Men movie certainly made overtones in this regard but we see how well that turned out. X-Men Origins: Wolverine rectifies these years of Wolverine’s absence with a splendid return to form. While the game has pacing and repetition issues, it’s a great beat-em-up thanks to old fashioned jaw-dropping cry-of-disgust-inducing violence.'

I’m not kidding about that violence either. Here’s an example - Wolverine jumps on a helicopter, punches out the windshield, hurls the driver out, and instead of merely tossing the guy to the ground, he shoves his head up into the helicopter blades. It’s so unnecessary but so, so enjoyable. Fighting on the ground is just as brutal, as Wolverine will gladly tear off a man’s arm and use it to club his head off at player’s behest. Don’t take that to mean you’ll be tearing off appendages with ease from the get-go however. Wolverine’s controls are complicated. Performing a basic dodge requires holding the left and right triggers and pressing a direction on the control stick, while lunging at an enemy (an important action - more on that later) requires first locking on with the left bumper, then pressing the right. Players will dash when they want to block, and bring up a special skill menu when they want to dodge. This makes the first few hours of Wolverine clumsy and confusing.

Though they take a bit of practice, mastered controls do a great job enabling the player to become Wolverine. The lunge is instrumental, which allows players to lock on to an enemy and then dive at them across great distances. Most fights revolve around lunging at an enemy, doing something really terrible to him, and then lunging to the next poor sucker. This creates a series of terrifically one-sided fights with Wolverine dashing around, reducing enemies to piles of organic stuff. The flip-side is that most of the fights are incredibly easy - creating an experience similar to Dynasty Warriors or Diablo. You’ll feel powerful and badass, but after a while dispatching enemies takes on all the splendor of folding laundry. It’s still fun due to the violence and sensation of power but not fresh or mentally challenging.

The game’s enemies and environments don’t liven things up either. There are about as many enemies in the game as you have fingers on your hands, and half as many environments. Add to this that the game is long for a beat-em-up - about 10-12 hours - and most environments wear out their welcome before the game moves on. At least players won’t artificially extend their stays by getting stuck. Wolverine has "feral senses" which highlight intractable objects and provide a pointer to the next objective. Additionally, his health recovers quickly (duh), so players will only die when they do something exceptionally stupid.

Unless the point hasn’t been driven home yet, the game’s best visuals are in its gore. Claw strikes leave ribbons of blood and enemies dismember terrifically. Special mention needs to be made of Wolverine’s character model. Damage is represented real-time on the mutant - bullets leave actual holes, explosions shred off flesh, and swords expose bone and muscle as it happens. As you’d expect, the skin heals back over time, but seeing Wolverine’s ribs and skull poking out while he claws a poor sucker’s head off is a video game first. Environments range from normal to great but undeniably feature Unreal Engine 3 softness.

As special mention needs to be made of Wolverine’s damage modeling, I must also call out the hilariously awful story. The problem here doesn’t lie with the source material (I mean it does but that’s a job for another reviewer). Only a few scenes in the game tangentially refer to the movie, while the rest is very loosely based around some of the movie’s quotable lines. Obviously Raven got a few notes about the movie in advance and had to hastily tie it in as quickly as possible once the movie’s story solidified. What results is a plot that is entirely unintelligible without knowledge of the movie and equally bad having seen it. That being said, this is a game where you shove a man’s head into a rotating ventilation fan, so obviously the game wasn’t looking at developing a strong fan fiction community.

The Godfather II Video Game Review

Imagine a really nice cut of beef; the type that makes a steak of legend. We’re talking the type that sells for about three arms and a leg. When it comes to intellectual properties, that’s The Godfather. It’s ripe for adaptation with thrilling moments, deep characters, and a thought-provoking plot. Unfortunately, EA decided to grind this beef into a hamburger. Godfather II is generic and artistically void, but it’s downright enjoyable. It’s not anything close to its potential, but it still succeeds in its own right. This is the most mouthwateringly awesome hamburger you will ever taste.

Players take the role of Dominic as they rise in the ranks from a one man family to one worthy of a Corleone. Along the way, Dominic will be involved with events from the cinematic classic. These moments feel forced, but they are a far cry from the inevitable mess when the game decides to write its own plot. Even still, the story is a disaster. The events that transpire outside the movie are uninspired and laughable.

The real Michael Corleone’s (Al Pachino) absence affects the game negatively. For anyone who holds the movie on a pedestal (most of the target audience for the game), it doesn’t feel like The Godfather. Some of the rest of the cast’s involvement is a great addition (like Robert Duval), but I wish Pachino would have allowed for his likeness to be used.

Godfather II plays like a sandbox / real time strategy hybrid. For those who played the first, it’s a nice upgrade, and for those of you who missed out, it’s more or less similar to GTA or Saints Row. While the story was disappointing, the games single player campaign excels. You begin with a small family, and as you progress you add new members. These soldiers are your weapons in the game, with each possessing a skill that you can use to change how the game plays. For instance, a demolitions man can break down walls, an arsonist can start fires to distract enemies, and engineers can cut the power or create new entrances by cutting down wire fences. There are six classes in all, and as your soldiers are promoted in your family, they can learn new skills.

The driving mechanic feels off. For one, drifting apparently isn’t possible in cars from the 1950’s. It would have been a lot more fun if the cars were more responsive like in titles like GTA and Saints Row. Unlike GTA, there are no forced, clumsy drive-by shootings. Instead, you can just click the left bumper and your men will attack your enemies.

The missions are simple. So simple in fact, that the majority of them are predicated upon the same thing. You attack a building, kill the current family occupying it, and threaten the life of the owner to pay you for protection. Thankfully, attacking the same building two to three times doesn’t feel old. On top of this, you can send your men to take over the building remotely, while you work on other concerns. The Don’s View, which allows you to view the whole city and tell your men to attack or defend a location, isn’t important at first but becomes more valuable once you operate in multiple cities. Once you add a consigliore to your arsenal, he can advise you on your odds of success.

The game’s gun play works well; but not so well that you can run the whole game alone. Your family is essential in fight. Each of your made men equates to a couple normal guards. However, this is also true for your enemies. After taking over a building you have the option of paying for guards to protect your investment. This can get costly, so you’ll need to take into consideration what buildings are really worth keeping. You can also send a member of your family to help defend the location.

The Chronicles of Riddick: Assault on Dark Athena Video Game Review

Ever since E.T. first made his blotchy appearance on the Atari 2600, gamers have suffered through hundreds of poorly made film adaptations. When Starbreeze first announced The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay, people assumed the combination of a licensed title and Vin Diesel would not equal an enjoyable experience. However, the developers at Starbreeze crafted a masterful first-person action-adventure title that not only matched the quality of the film, but exceeded it. Now, The Chronicles of Riddick: Assault on Dark Athena brings back the original game and partners it with an all-new sequel on the same disk. Can this two-pack of Diesel goodness deliver a face-smashing good time?

Escape from Butcher Bay begins with the introduction of Richard Riddick, a deadly criminal that has been captured and taken to the most feared prison known to man. Once inside, Riddick immediately hatches a plan for escape. This involves making his way through the bowels of the facility and defending himself from naturally antagonistic inmates, guards, and security robots. The sequel, Assault on Dark Athena, picks up right where Butcher Bay leaves off, with Riddick being captured by a spacecraft full of treacherous mercenaries. After averting another imprisonment, he sets out to free the other hostages and take down the icy Captain Revas before blasting away to freedom.

Each campaign shares the same game play, which blends first-person shooting and adventuring in unique ways. While Riddick can (and will) use guns, the game is built more for hand-to-hand combat. As such, you will find plenty of objects that can be used to stab or bludgeon your opponents into the afterlife. The gun play is less successful, as enemies at long distance are hard to hit no matter which gun is used. While they understandably did this to encourage close quarters combat, it does make certain exchanges - especially in the gun-heavy Dark Athena - feel more frustrating than they should be.

Luckily, you can utilize the game’s stealth mechanics to avoid gunfights. You are able to hide in shadows and use a night-vision ability called Eyeshine, which illuminates your path through the darkness. If you manage to get behind a patrolling soldier, you are given the opportunity to perform an instant-kill attack. These moves are vital, as Riddick cannot survive for long under fire. Platforming also works its way into the game. These segments require you to climb or crawl your way through certain areas. While tromping around in this manner isn’t engaging, it does you a break from nonstop violence.

Both adventures share gameplay elements as well as problems. Butcher Bay starts off rigidly, including several moments of controller-throwing rage. This is because you don’t have the Eyeshine ability in the early going. Facing invisible enemies armed with guns isn’t the most pleasant experience. The Dark Athena campaign suffers from a lack of originality, as the generic sci-fi environments aren’t as interesting as what you see in Butcher Bay. The ship that houses the entire game has few distinguishing features, and most of the campaign is spent traveling through the ship wiping out identical-looking drones. The year gap between titles hurts Dark Athena more than anything, as it feels like more should have been done to evolve the series. While still fun, Athena lacks the spark that made the original so special.

Splinter Cell: Conviction Eyes-On Preview

Sam Fisher has spent many years in the shadows. In his previous adventures, only the chirping sound of his Third Echelon-provided earpiece kept his silent escapades moving forward. In Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell: Conviction, this marionette’s strings have been cut, his Echelon ties have unraveled, and former spy is on the streets searching to uncover who was behind his beloved daughter’s death. I got to take a look at Sam’s latest adventure at E3 2009, eager to see if this old spy has any new tricks.

The demo began with Sam in a bathroom, where we got our first look at the new ’interrogation’ gameplay. Nearly every object in the room was at Sam’s disposal, allowing him to pulverize his ‘informant’ in any way he saw fit. This is also where we received our first look at the game’s innovative in-gameplay cinematics. While other titles have foregone noninteractive cutscenes to tell a story in-game before, Splinter Cell: Conviction takes this idea one step further by displaying projected visions of cinematics on walls. Mission objectives and other key information are also projected as you make your way through the level. It is an interesting mechanic that allows the player to still feel in control of the game while the story is unfolding, keeping the plot moving as in-game events unfold.

It became immediately clear that Sam packs an extra punch in this iteration. This isn’t your typical Splinter Cell title, as Sam now embodies certain characteristics of Jack Bauer, James Bond, and Jason Bourne. He is not a man with whom to be trifled, as he is now able to rush headfirst into battle. Stealth was once the confines in which Sam had to operate. Now, it is a tool at his disposal. What once restrained the gameplay is now being used to expand the boundaries of the series into new territory.

This isn’t to say that all planning can be forgone. The development team has replaced loading screens with an area viewer which allows the player to get a preemptory look at the level. This isn’t the only strategic feature that has been added. One of these--called ’mark and execute’--is a new way for the player to achieve a cinematic level of marksmanship, as Sam can mark enemies before charging into a room as long as they are within his line of sight. If they aren’t immediately visible, he can use a mirror to look underneath doors and around structures. Once marked, Sam can execute these enemies automatically with the simple click of a button. It allows for the perfect accuracy you’d expect from an iconic action hero and leads to some thrilling moments.

Fallout-3 Broken steel Review

Broken Steel, the downloadable add-on that Fallout 3 nuts have been so eagerly anticipating, has finally been put up for sale and the wait has been worth it. Available to Xbox 360 and PC owners, this add-on extends the main story, lifts the level cap and offers some new weapons and armor to toy around with. If you've been holding off on buying any add-ons for Fallout 3, this is the one to take the plunge with.

The story in Broken Steel picks up at the end of the main quest in Fallout 3. Many were saddened that there was a full stop ending to the game and so Bethesda has changed that with this download. Shortly after the events that end the main quest, Broken Steel picks up, thereby removing any true ending and allowing the player to continue exploring the wasteland and work towards that new level cap.

After a somewhat awkward transition from the end of Fallout 3 to the new Broken Steel content, you'll find your character back in the Citadel and ready to get back to questing and exploring. Though Project Purity was a success and clean water is flowing, the war between the Enclave and the Brotherhood is not over. And without a plumbing system, there's that whole issue of distributing the fresh water throughout the wastes. This is where you come in for a series of three extensive main quests and a few new sidequests.

Most of this adventure takes place within the Capital Wasteland which won't do anything for anybody burnt out on the muted grays and browns that are so pervasive in Fallout 3. There are a few great set pieces including the return of Liberty Prime and a quest that brings you to the new Adams Air Force Base location, but you won't spend all of your time in an alternate location as with Operation Anchorage and The Pitt. Even so, these new quests are a lot of fun and offer more of those morally gray decisions with far-reaching consequences that make Fallout 3 so memorable.

Playing through the new content took me roughly seven hours which is a bit longer than the past Fallout 3 add-ons. Along the way, you'll find a few new enemies and a few new weapons to deal with them. The new Tesla Canon must be the most powerful weapon in the game yet, capable of taking down Vertibirds and most any enemy in a single shot. There's also the Heavy Incinerator that spits long range balls of fire. Fire that baby up in VATS for a great looking kill. These new toys and the hours of gameplay would be enough to satisfy many and that isn't even getting into the feature that has Fallout 3's hardcore fans so excited.

For many, the most important feature in Broken Steel will be the lift in the level cap from 20 to 30. Anybody that has spent a lot of time in the Capital Wasteland knows that it is quite easy to hit level 20 long before you see everything. By lifting the cap an additional 10 levels, Bethesda has provided a great reason to go back and take care of any unfinished business you might have in terms of side quests or general exploring. I've found the reintroduction of leveling and experience rewards enough to get me excited about playing Fallout 3 well beyond the Broken Steel quest lines.

The lift in the level cap isn't a superficial change either. Three new achievements exist for reaching the new level cap -- one each for good, evil and neutral karma. New perks have been included as well. Though they aren't as imaginative as some of originals, they will help players who feel they've made a mistake in the past. One allows you to get Dogmeat back anytime your dog companion dies. Another will turn every 10 bottles of Nuka Cola you collect into a Quantum. You can even snag some at the higher levels that will reset your karma to whatever extreme you'd like.

Of course, I'm of the opinion that players shouldn't be required to pay in order to gain this level cap lift. Together with the new quests, it makes for quite the attractive package, but a level cap adjustment is the sort of thing that should be made available to everybody at no cost. Let's not forget about the PlayStation 3 players who are stuck at level 20 and have no option to buy Broken Steel.

Left 4 dead(Game of the year edition) Review

Despite the love of Hollywood to turn games into movies, there doesn't seem to be a need for a movie based on Left 4 Dead, as it's already been made several times over. Left 4 Dead is a game that venerates zombie movies throughout the ages, from George A. Romero's Dawn of the Dead to Danny Boyle's 28 Days Later. In the game, you and up to three other survivors must battle a zombie apocalypse with a simple goal; you aren't trying to eradicate the undead horde, you're just trying to survive.

However, Left 4 Dead is also a completely different kind of game, and it feels as much of an experiment as it does an amazing gameplay experience. Valve against convention and delivered a game that is built almost entirely around cooperative multiplayer action. Sure, there is a single-player mode that lets you play through the game with bots, but that feels like practice. Bots lack the dynamic play, the interaction and the interplay, and the social aspect of co-op play. This is a game that comes to life when you play with at least one other human player, and it's even better if there are four humans in each game.

Let's start with the basics. Left 4 Dead is about the seemingly hot new fad in storytelling: the dreaded zombie apocalypse has finally come to pass, turning the vast majority of the population into a mindless, ravenous undead hordes. A handful of humans remain immune to the zombie virus, and you play as a small group of them. There's Zoey, a young woman; Bill, the grizzled veteran; Louis, the middle-class office worker; and Francis, the biker. Armed with real and makeshift weapons, these survivors must battle their way to salvation. It's a simple plot that anyone can recognize, and Valve pulls it off with its trademark incredible attention to detail.

In each of the game's four scenarios, you must battle your way to a series of safe houses that lead to a rescue point. You can have up to four players in a game, controlling each of the characters, but if you're short of humans, the AI can fill in and control the bots. The AI is generally solid; it's good about killing zombies, not hitting you with friendly fire, and even patching you up with med kits if you're down. The downside is that the bots are passive; you always have to be in the lead, which is problematic when you're hurting. If you're playing with other humans you can tell them that you're hurting and can switch the formation around. That doesn't happen with bots. Still, you can play the game with the bots on almost all the difficult levels save for expert. Frankly, expert is so brutal that you'll need four human players to prevail, and even then it's not a sure bet you'll make it through.

Each scenario is presented like a movie, which is a nice touch. At the beginning there's a movie poster showing the cast. If you survive, the "credits" display the statistics for the game, like who killed the most zombies, who inflicted the most headshots, who delivered the most friendly fire, and the like. The final credit shows how many zombies were killed in the making of the film, and a nice touch I really like is that if only some of the survivors make it to safety, the film is dedicated to the memory of those who didn't. Even the scenario titles are awesome in a cheesy sort of way. There's No Mercy where you battle through a hospital, Dead Air which requires you to fight to an airport, Death Toll has you make your way to a dock, and Blood Harvest where you take shelter in a farmhouse.

The zombie horde that you battle is based on the "fast" zombies seen in movies like 28 Weeks Later. These zombies don't shamble. Instead, they sprint at you with inhuman speed, scale fences, and bust down doors to get at you. Horde zombies aren't smart, but they are dangerous in large numbers. The real danger comes in the form of some special zombies. There's the hunter, which can leap across large distances to pin a survivor to the ground. Then there's the smoker, which has a frog-like tongue that can grab a survivor by the throat. The boomer is a corpulent zombie that vomits or explodes to spray survivors. Getting hit by the substance will not only temporarily blind survivors, but it drives the zombie horde into a feeding frenzy. The tank is just that; he's a brick of a zombie that can take an enormous amount of damage and dish out a fair amount. And finally, there's the witch; she's an enormously powerful zombie that can take down a survivor with a single swipe.

The game is paced almost perfectly so that you're always pushed to the edge. You'll run low on health. You'll run low on ammo or you'll run out entirely, requiring you to rely on pistols, which have unlimited ammo but aren't as effective as shotguns, assault rifles, and submachine guns. There are pipe bombs and Molotov bombs that you can scavenge, and you can turn propane tanks and gas canisters into weapons. The latter are particularly useful in the many "crescendo" elements in the game. These are points where you must initiate an action in order to open the way forward like having a van drive through a steel fence to open the route. The kicker is that the moment you initiate the action the zombie horde are going to come down on you like a tidal wave. The good news is that you have time to prepare and place down fuel canisters and discuss the battle plan. If a player falls victim to the zombie menace, a respawn mechanism reintroduces them back in the action as another survivor who has been found (though don't ask why the new survivor is exactly the same as the old survivor).