Rating: 6.5 out of 10

Recently I played and finished Star Wars: Force Unleashed II. In Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II, the world is re-introduced to Darth Vader’s now fugitive apprentice, Starkiller-the unlikely hero who would ignite the flames of rebellion in a galaxy so desperately in need of a champion. In the sequel, Starkiller embarks on a journey to discover his own identity and to reunite with his one true love, Juno Eclipse. Once again fighting not be a pawn of Darth Vader, the dark lord is attempting to clone his former apprentice in an attempt to create the Ultimate Sith warrior. The chase is on, Starkiller is in pursuit of Juno and Darth Vader is hunting for Starkiller.

This is where the problem lies in the game, because Starkiller is simply looking for Juno Eclipse, the game simply doesn’t have enough material to cover what I would consider a full game. In comparision the first installment of The Force Unleashed lays out the story nicely, with each Jedi hunted down bringing Starkiller closer to end game, finally breaking Darth Vader’s hold over him. Each level is laid out to consume roughly about the same time as each other, and is finished off with a massive boss fight, usually the target Jedi you were hunting. Now I’m a big fan of star wars, I have read many side stories in the universe of star wars (although I haven’t read the novels), and any fan out there can fill in the bits and pieces that the creators miss using their own imagination, For example the parallel that Starkiller is going on a journey similar to that of Luke Skywalker in the Empire Strikes Back, where he has to find himself before he can truly face Darth Vader, but this story could have been so much more. More characters of the rebellion could have been introduced, more characters from the empire could have been introduced, more powerful bosses could have been waiting for you at the end of each level, more focus on the growing strength of the rebellion (in similar fashion to the first game). The main problem I saw with this game is that there was no real progression for Starkiller, he simply had to hack and slash his way through a heap of storm troopers, (which is fun but can get a bit boring if there is no significant boss fight) until he made his way to Juno. Some of the original characters are back, for example Starkiller’s Jedi mentor General Koda, Juno Eclipse, and in a small part princess Leia, and of course Darth Vader. A cameo role for our little green master Jedi Yoda is also introduced in this game which I found quite refreshing.

Now I know I have spent a good chunk of this review talking about where the game can be improved, I can tell you what this game does bring to the table is epic battles. From the get go, the battles are huge, with the creators of this game throwing you into the throng of battle immediately. I particularly enjoyed the opening battle sequence with starkiller falling out the sky head first dodging Tie fighters and cannon fire. All the force powers that were in the first game are back with the inclusion of a new power, Force Fury. This is an awesome power to have, it simply cuts through absolutely everything without taking any damage. The graphics of this game are awesome as with any game on the Xbox 360 or PS3 and the controls are easy to master, X to attack, A to jump, B for force push, and Y for lighting (for the 360 platform) and the left and right triggers used for block and force lift respectively. The cut scenes are well done and smoothly rendered, these scenes help you fill in much of the story as you progress from level to level. The game also introduces some challenge games outside of the main story line and depending on how quickly you finish the challenge, a new achievement is unlocked and bonus cut scene is shown. The cut scenes are comic based but done well enough to further fill in the pieces of the main story. The difficulty of the game has four levels easy, medium, hard, and unleashed. I finished the game on medium quite easily. On this level of difficulty expect to finish the main game in roughly 6-8 hours of gaming. I will definitely be playing it again on harder levels to get my worth out of this game. Overall its an OK game, and worth a go if you’re a fan of platform gaming or an avid star wars fan. As I mentioned at the start my biggest problem with this game is length, if they had included perhaps 2-3 more levels I believe this game would have been excellent as it would have truly explored Starkiller’s journey from Darth Vader’s apprentice to hero of the rebel alliance. I did hear that there is a DLC available for this game, which I will be searching out and giving it a go. I do hope that the creators of of the franchise have an ace up their sleeve for the final installment (if there is one). I have included some screens for people to enjoy.

Its finally been confirmed, Mass Effect 3 is to be released in 2011. The story is the final installment in the Mass Effect triolgy which follows commander Shepard as he bands together a multi-alien team to fight the biggest threat known to the galaxy, the Reapers. Each decision, each move affects the final outcome of this fantastic game. This was the description provided by EA when it accidently released Mass Effect 3 for pre-order a little bit to early

Earth is burning. Striking from beyond known space, a race of terrifying machines have begun their destruction of the human race. As Commander Shepard, an Alliance Marine, your only hope for saving mankind is to rally the civilizations of the galaxy and launch one final mission to take back the Earth.

What we now know is that the Reapers are here and have targeted humanity, it is up to Shepard to call on the galaxy to help (this is where being a nice person really helped). So enjoy the trailer, I personlly cannot wait for this game.

Rating: 8.5/10

This game is massive, the amount of content in this game and the amount of side missions you can do is huge. But I’ll get into the details a little bit later.

 For those of that think Brotherhood is just an offshoot story of the main storyline of AC1&2, you are mistaken. This game is pivotal in the overall scheme of the story. Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood picks up where we last left Desmond, and our team in the last installment, running for their lives from Abstergo. Once again Desmond relives the memories of his ancestor, Ezio only this time he his a little bit older and more mature. The start of the game throws you straight into the action with the Assassin’s hideout, Montegeri from AC2 attacked and destroyed by a new enemy from the Borgia family, Ceserai. This forces Ezio and all those that survived the attack to escape with Ezio giving chase to Rome.

Here is where all the fun stuff begins and my first sentence of this review comes into play. To get back up to strength the good people at Ubisoft have gone nuts with the amount of things that you can do while playing the main memories of the story. First and foremost is improving the economy, with many years of Borgia rule, Rome has become run down and the people are desperate. Like its predecessor, to get income you need to renovate buildings, however you can’t do that until the local Borgia influence is removed. This is done by assassinating the captain in charge and burning the tower that resides over that area. Each one of these towers have varying degree of difficulty ranging from one star to a maximum five stars. I found these to be quite challenging as some of the captains make a run for it forcing you to give chase and at other times they are so well hidden it take you ages to actually find them. Once influence is removed, renovating can begin and income can be earned. Other fun side missions that have been brought back are the hidden treasures of armour and weapons, like in Assassin’s Creed II where you get Altiar’s armour, this game introduces the followers of Romulus. There are six lairs that must be investigated, each rewarding you with money and a key which will open up the main treasure. The secret videos have also made a return from the previous game, I won’t tell you what the hidden message is but I would recommend you finish this side quest before you finish the game, it is important to the ending. In this situation there are ten secret markings scattered across Rome, each one unlocking a series of puzzles (some of these puzzles can be extremely difficult) and then unlocking a segment of the message. Finally, your old friend Leonardo makes a comeback in the game and the side story that he provides is probably one of the more interesting and action packed side missions in the game. 

Some more new introductions brought into this installment include horse riding in the city, which I found really cool (this just tells you how big they made Rome in this game) and a good way to get around really quickly. Another new way of travelling introduced by this game is the tunnel system which is scattered across Rome (before you can use these you need to renovate them first). A big introduction which, I have to admit was my favourite, was the ability to recruit citizens of Rome to your cause and make them fully fledged assassins. This is by far the funnest of side missions, as not only can you use these recruits as back up in battle, but you can also send them away to far away places to carry out missions which in turn earns them experience points, which allows them to level up and become stronger. I found this part of the game so much fun that I would spend hours just sending them away on  missions and waiting for them to come back.

As mentioned, content wise this game is huge providing ample content to allow the single player story last for hours on end. I do have to mention here that Ubisoft has also introduced a multiplayer platform which allows you to go up against players from all around the world in a knifing battle of a lifetime. I personally have not tried the multiplayer side of the game (the single player side took me so long to finish) but I would love to read your thoughts on the multiplayer side of the game, just put them in the comments below.

Graphically the game is spectacular, with the wonders of Rome captured beautifully just like the previous titles and their respective locations. The motion and movement is smooth and I have to say I didn’t encounter some of the bugs mentioned by other review sites (I played it on Xbox 360). The combat is smooth and with the introduction of the kick, Ezio no longer has to wait for an attack to counter (especially the big guys with the heavy weapons), simply kick your opponent to put him off guard, then go for the kill. Furthermore if you felt overwhelmed in a fight, and I can guarantee you in certain parts of the game you will be, you can call your assassins to come to your aid. This made some of those difficult missions that little bit easier.

I have spent all of this review praising how great the game is, however there are some negatives to this game. For example one thing I found annoying in the game is that to get perfect synchronization, missions had to be completed in a certain way, such as killing your target with the pistol or an air assassination, etc. I know the people at Ubisoft want to remind us that in this story we are assassins and assassins use stealth to get the kill, but sometimes it just wasn’t possible (we’re not all master assassins). Another example which I think could have been improved is the amount of time you spend with Desmond. This installment does allow us to control Desmond more than in the two previous games, but more control would have been better, more exploration and story development for this pivotal character would have been awesome.

Overall this game is fanatastic and a must have for those AC fans out there. It provides hours of gamming time (I spent roughly between 20 – 25 hours of gamming time on the single player part of the game). The difficulty is quite good and not as easy as some reviews I have watched have claimed, as there are numerous instances where you will be challenged considerably. If you want the complete story you must get this game as the ending is another cliff hanger leaving you asking WTF just happened??? I give this game an 8.5/10. I have included a gallery of screenshots  below for people to enjoy beware some of the images may quite large.

With the recent complaints about Fable III, lionhead studios has released the first patch which addresses the major issues affecting gameplay. Although not all issues were fixed, the patch addresses the major bugs in the game. The patch covers the following:

Sanctuary: Fixed numerous issues whereby Jasper would stop talking or whereby the world map would become unusable

Quests: Tabletop: The Hobbes may not spawn in the last area causing the player to be unable to progress

Quest: Tabletop: Online multiplayer: Player host is unable to vault off platform to Hobbe area

Quest: Tabletop: Player can become stuck behind some rocks

Quest: Tabletop: After defeating the hollowmen in the room with the lever the player is unable to progress

Quest: The Masquerade: Player can become trapped in Reaver’s mansion.

Quest: The Masquerade: Player can fall out of the world

Quest: GNOMES PART 1: Player can break script

Live: The players fall out of the world (FOOTW) when transitioning from Shifting Sands to The Veiled Path

Crash: Mourningwood guards audio

Crash: During the quest “Peace, Love and Homicide”

Minor Fixes

General improvements to performance and frame rate

World: Online multiplayer: Fast Travel area does not extend from end of level the “The Hole” to go to Mistpeak Valley

World: Player can fall out of environment in Mistpeak Valley while in combat

World: After proposing marriage, Bowerstone Castle cannot be selected as family home.

World: If client repairs a house, the house goes from renting out to living in

World: Player can become stuck during Castle Battle after vaulting over sandbags near burning cart

World: Bowerstone Industrial: Player can fall off the world

World: a fix for existing or future FOOTW situations

World: Online multiplayer: No Particle Effects on Host Screen after Marrying another Player

Live: Orbs do not always show up

Live: Online multiplayer: Fixed an issue with sliding host in the sanctuary

Live: Fixed several issues relating to gifting and receiving gifts in local and online coop

Quest: Tabletop: Breadcrumb not leading to Demonic Chickens

Saves: Fixed a few issues that could cause a corrupt save game slot

World: Driftwood: Hero can become stuck inside of tree

World: Shooting a crate creates a duplicate crate

World: Black chicken in castle gardens flies straight up into the air for several seconds when kicked

Speech: Japanese: Reaver is missing VO in one quest

Author: Matt Carr
Website: www.cratemonkey.com

What the hell is a BlazBlue? I assure you now, neither of us will know by the end of this review. What I do know, is that it’s a kick ass game on the PS3 and Xbox360.

BlazbBlue is a 2d fighter of exceptional 2d quality in an amazing 3d world. Although it stays in the horizontal plane, the depth of 3d adds a lot of character to this little ditty. BlazBlue was created by the awesome guys who have brought us the Guilty Gear series, so there’s no lack of awesome outfits, massive combos and death defying aerials.

As a Guilty Gear fan, I thought I knew what I was in for but couldn’t have been more wrong. I was expecting similar character fighting styles to the GG characters but was pleasantly surprised. Each character in BB has a unique fighting style not similar to any other 2d fighting game and you’ll find that only a few characters will be easy to learn based on your own mental fighting style. IE if you love to get up close and personal, smash out with Ragna, but if your for speed and long range, go Noel as she is pretty much the opposite to Ragna. Those seem very basic play styles, but there’s also other strange play styles like Carl, who uses a puppet as a second character on the field but only activates and moves when you command it to.

Story mode is very basic, you follow the events of various characters and at certain points you can kind of trigger different paths to go down. This actually really annoyed me, as to get 100% with certain characters you needed to lose some battles in story mode. That doesn’t really seem like the fighting game kind of thing to do. The story itself is kind of alright, with too much left to mystery and a lot of them being bound by fate. Maybe others will take more from the story experience then I did.

Where it all shines for me, is the online network play. You can play for fun or for ranks and I’m all for ranks. In ranked mode you pit yourself against other online opponents in your standard versus match type. These battles get extremely competitive and there are a lot of insanely good players out there. Watch out for Jin, he can do a series of annoying freezing moves that will leave you unable to attack. This gets nerfed in the next game they will release…But for the time being, don’t take the loss to badly; otherwise you will miss out on a lot of fun.

This is a damn good game, but with the sequel on the way I would hold out for now. If you already have the game, you can fight me on the ps3 version. I go under the name fatpenguin64 (I’ll double check that).

A special thanks to Matt for writing this review. He specialises in PS3 gaming. Matt is administrator for a humor website/blog www.cratemonkey.com

This is purely a rumor but big gamming news sites are abuzz with excitement at a big announcement Bioware intends to make on Dec 11. Bioware has released a teaser picture that looks a lot like something about mass effect which has sent IGN into an investagive tail spin, about what this announcement could be. All signs point to mass effect but it could be an entirely new game aswell, I will let you guys be the judge on it. I for one hope it is an announcement for mass effect 3 but I am not holding my breath, so keep Dec 11 in your diary for this announcement. The article by IGN can be read here, Enjoy.

The good people at gamespot have provided us with a very detailed video review of Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood. In this installment of the game you resume the role of Ezio, our hero in the second intallment, travel to Rome and take revenge on the Borgia. Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood comes with a multiplayer component that allows you go around knifing other players. Enjoy this video review, and stay tuned I will be uploading my own review of the game soon.

Author: Matt Carr
URL: www.crateMonkey.com

If you love zombies and various melee mayhem, you will love this beautiful(ly gory) little game made by Capcom. From smashing hundreds of zombies with a multitude of whacky weapons to tricky time based bosses, this game packs a punch whilst staying loyal to the undead theme.

Dead Rising 2 takes place sometime after the first game (I assume, I haven’t played/read it), in a world where zombies have broken out and been somewhat contained. Some of these poor zombie bastards have become apart of various zombie slaying reality TV shows for intense sports fans to enjoy. This is where we meet the main character of the game, Chuck. Chuck is a contestant killing zombies for big prizes to pay for a product called Zombrex to keep his daughter from turning undead. However, some group frames Chuck and unleashes all the zombies. Now you’re pinned down, trying to find clues and kick some ass to some straight up answers.

As far as game play goes, it’s pretty basic. Run around, attack stuff, help people, avoid zombies etc. This is all pretty standard, however the fun comes in the ability to pick up most objects in the game and start using it as a weapon in some form. One of my favourite pick up-able weapons would have to be the metal baseball bat. He serves a ball and hits home runs into zombie’s heads at close range.

Finding weird weapons in the mall is a lot of fun, but to kick it up a notch you can combine specific weapons together to make some really bizarre items. Some fun ones are the punching gloves with machetes tapped on to work kind of like a zombie slaying wolverine. There’s also the drill hat, electric chair and typical nail bat, not to mention heaps more. This really works a creative element into the zombie mix of games.

One thing I didn’t get straight away was the time based system. If you’ve played Majora’s Mask back in Zelda days you’ll do better then me, but I wasn’t ready to rush straight up in this game. This means all the events in the game all happen at certain times, so don’t be late for any of the story based missions. This all works around the idea that the military will save your asses in 3 days time, so you need to de-frame yourself and thus avoid a hefty life imprisonment for letting loose undead mayhem. Once you get this idea down, it’s actually a rather good feature. It means you have to get used to achieving things in a short space of time with hundreds of zombies bearing down on you. It’s a good way to put panic into a player.

The bosses are by far the most fun part. They are all a bit tricky though, and for most of the side bosses I’ve found myself looking up various battle guides (Shame on me? Shame on you!). They force you to get good with various weapons and every boss has a different playing style. Most of the bosses are various psychopaths in the casino region and for some reason Chuck feels obligated to take them down vigilante style. This lets the game take advantage of its other horror storytelling style, which differs a lot from the slow moving idiots plaguing the joint. The psychopaths are enemies you love to hate and this is done well, when fighting them you feel a rush or sense of duty to rid the world of this scum, but after you beat them I tended to sigh a relief and feel I did something good in my life.

I’m yet to finish the game, but I’m about to start the final day of the storyline and I have to say I haven’t been disappointed so far. If you love all that is zombie, I urge you to get this game in some form! Here are some screenshots from Dead Rising 2, its out now for PS3, XBox360 and PC, so Enjoy.

A special thanks to Matt for writing this review. He specialises in PS3 gaming. Matt is administrator for a humor website/blog www.cratemonkey.com

To understand the context of this DLC I will give readers a little back story on the history between Liara and the Shadow broker. (To all the PS3 gamers waiting for this game and haven’t played it on an Xbox 360, be warned MASSIVE SPOILERS AHEAD !!!) The events begin shortly after the Normandy is attacked by a collector ship in the Terminus System. These events are well known and can be seen in the opening sequence of Mass Effect 2 (broke my heart when that happened, especially if you romanced Liara in first Mass Effect). Soon after the attack on the Normandy, the team is dispersed throughout the galaxy (you find out what happens to each one as you play mass effect 2) with Liara on her way to the Terminus system in a hope to find answers regarding the where abouts of Shepard. It is on Omega that Liara meets Feron who has information regarding Shepard. Here is where all the action begins, before being able to get started Liara’s life is threatened by the shadow broker. She is rescued by Cerberus and there the illusive man convinces Liara to help Cerberus to find commander Shepard’s body. A whole heap of trouble occurs but in the end just as the shadow broker is about to close the deal with the collectors, Liara and Feron pounce on the opportunity to “steal” shepherds body. In the fray Liara manages to steal the ship that Shepard is on, but Feron is left behind. Liara has a new worst enemy, the shadow broker.

If readers are interested in getting the full story about the events that I’ve mentioned you can buy the comic Mass Effect Redemption from Amazon by following this link: Mass Effect Volume 1: Redemption

And On the Main Event, the actual DLC…

The lair of the Shadow Broker is the latest installment in available DLCs for Mass Effect 2. This is one of the first bridging DLCs which means that the decisions you make while playing this DLC will affect future events in Mass Effect 3. Teaming up with Liara you track down the Shadow Broker and exact sweet revenge for everything he has done. In this DLC Liara joins your squad and you can customise her powers just like other squad members. 

The game visually is spectacular, Bioware has put alot of effort into this DLC. The cut scenes are really well done and jam packed with action sequences and great voice acting. You also get to explore Illium a bit more with a nice car chase through its skies. This DLC is not just limited to Illium but sends you across the galaxy to find where Shadow Broker is hiding. Once again visually spectacular.

The action in this DLC is non-stop (barring cut scenes and some discussion), from start to finish waves of shadow broker agents are trying to stop you from getting to your target with each stage finishing with a boss fight. I played this on difficulty hardcore and I can tell you, each battle is one hell of battle, real instense, lots of heavy weapons being fired at you, especially when you reach the location of the Shadow Broker.

All this action is broken up with some really nice banter between Liara and Shepard, and at one instance you reminisce about things that occur during Mass Effect 1. I found it to be light hearted and really well done. Lastly for those Liara fans out there who were totally smitten by her in Mass Effect 1, rest assured that opportunity presents itself during the game (I won’t tell you when, you’ll just have to play it). But I can tell you from playing this DLC, it was really heart warming, the way the people at Bioware did this. It just makes you want Mass Effect 3 all the more to see what opportunities await Liara and Shepard.

Overall the game length is about 3 hours in length depending on the difficulty, on hardcore difficulty it was probably a little over 3 hours (would have loved it to be longer, but being teamed up with Liara was enough for me). This DLC is a must have for all mass effect fans out there, it has to be the best DLC so far. It will set you back 800 Microsoft points or just a little over $10, I give it a 9.5 out of 10, I could not find anything not to like about this game, it is a must have. Lets hope Mass Effect 3 doesn’t tale too long to be released. I have included some screens of events that happen during the game, enjoy.

The good people at IGN have provided this nice short video review for the latest DLC for mass effect 2: The Liar of the shadow broker. In this installment, team up with liara to take on the shadow broker in one of the first bridging DLCs, meaning your decisions in this DLC will affect the outcome in mass effect 3. For all you mass effect fans this is a must have. For all you Liara fans out there, this is must must have. Stay tuned for my personal take on this DLC comming soon. In the meantime, enjoy this video review.