Forza Motorsport 3

Forza is hands down the best racing game I have ever played. Yes, Need for Speed and Burnout are good, but Forza 3 blows all of their games out of the water. Alright, now that I am done jaw dropping at the sheer amazement of this game I will continue with the review. Forza is the long awaited squeal to Forza 2, that racing fans have been begging for. Forza 2 was tough to top, but will the next game in the saga do it. Here is my review.

Forza, I my opinion, is at the top of the racing world. They have a huge selection of cars, from every dealer, and customizable parts. You want a Ferrari, Mitsubishi, or Lamborghini Gallardo Superleggera (not even released yet), Forza has it all. Not only can you get your favorite car, but make the fastest, tricked car in the world. With thousands of customiziable options, the ways to mix and match seem endless. The level of difficulty and driver assist can be changed to fit the gamers prestige, and the countless numbers of tracks keeps the game entertaining. One interesting thing that the producers included was that they custom made every cockpit in every car. This means that if you have ever wondered what the inside of a Lambo looks like, you can see it here. The graphics are visually stunning, and the cars look amazing, making it a gamers choice. Overall Forza 3 recieved a 9.5.

-Justin

Best Game Ever

On Gamespot, they have a place where you can see the all the ratings of every video game. I was interested to see what some of the highest rated games were. I was shocked to see some of my favorite games up there. There were new titles such as Grand Theft Auto, Metal Gear Solid, and Oblivion, and throwbacks like Tony Hawk Pro Skater and Mario World. All of these games received perfect scores, and where basically everything a gamer would want. Although these games where the highest rated, they were no where near my favorite game.

I chose 2 games, one from next generation era, and the other a throwback, that I personally feel where the best games ever created by man. A lot of thought went into this, such as characters, storyline, and difficulty. In a previous post, I mentioned a man name Gordon Freeman, who is the main character from a series of games called Half-Life. Half-Life is an older game that originally came out on the PC. It was one of the highest grossing PC games ever during its release and for good reason. The storyline is complex and intriguing, and really makes the gamer think about what do next. I was never a PC gamer, so I had to wait until the game was released on the Xbox. There is nothing better than pulling out your gravgun and whooping some zombie...tail.

The choice for next generation game was really a tough choice. I had narrowed it down to Final Fantasy and Call of Duty 4. In the end I went with Call of Duty for a few reasons. One word, multiplayer. No word is more important than that in gaming industry. If any game wants to be successful then it must have some from of multiplayer. Call of Duty 4 arguably has the best multiplayer ever. I have more than ten days played for multiplayer, and played in Call of Duty tournaments all over North Carolina. Not only does it have that, but also a great storyline to complement. Final Fantasy has no mulitplayer, but like every Square Enix game, the story is amazing.

Even if the only game you have every played is pac-man at the grocery story, leave a comment telling what your favorite game ever is.

-Justin

Brutal Legend

Jack Black in a video game? Yes it is true as he stars as metal head Eddie Riggs in Double Fine's Brutal Legend. The game hit shelves October 13, and has the possibility to be one of the biggest games of the year. It combines music and hack-and-slash gameplay into an exciting new genre. How will it fare when given to critics? Here is my review.

The reviews that I have seen praise the game for its mutiplayer and extremely funny storyline. These two ideas are very important when trying to create a game the will catch all audiences, and become a best seller. Brutal Legend is a button mashers paradise, as you can basically close your eyes and win a fight. Double Fine brought in some on the legends of metal in as voice actors including Ozzy Osbourne and the leader singer of Moterhead. But the only downfalls are a short campaign and boring side missions. Brutal Legend recieved an astonishing 8.5 average from reviewers.

Eddie Riggs is a roadie on a mission to bring back metal. You have stage battles to gain popularity and fans on your quest to put metal back on top. The fun doesn't stop there as Eddie destorys enemy buses, control your minions, and he even has wings. How? I don't know, its a video game. The campaign is fun, exciting and full of surprises. Brutal Legend has the potential to become a smash hit in the gaming world.

Sony's New Handheld

Just when you thought Sony was slowing down, they release the PSP Go, which revolutionizes handheld gaming. This new addition is very different from the previous PSPs, as it has a sliding screen, no UMB drive, and built in Wi-Fi. It also has a crazy amount of storage with 16GB, Bluetooth, and it is even possible to connect your PS3 controller to the handheld.

"Well if there is no UMB drive how will I get games for my PSP-Uninformed Gamer"

Dear Uniformed Gamer, Games are downloaded online from the Playstation Store. You can get almost any PSP game that has been released, and you can even get older PS1 games such as Final Fantasy 7-Allknowing Justin

"How big is the new PSP, the older models are big, bulky and uncomfortable-Lethargic/Apathetic Gamer"

Dear Lethargic/Apathetic Gamer, The new PSP Go is 40% lighter and 56% smaller than the original PSP. With the smaller innovation the PSP Go is more compact, which in turn makes it easier to carry and play. However the screen is 3.8" whereas on the older models the screen is 4.3", but the PSP Go is much better- Extreme Gamer Justin

Overall the PSP Go brings a new wave of technology to handheld gaming. It will be interesting to see where Sony will go from here.

-Justin

Saw the video game?

This past week Saw the video games hit stores bringing a new wave of puzzle games. As I had said before I do not like video game adaptation of movies but this one however is different. Saw is not your ordinary kids game like Wall-E or Ironman, it appeals more to the older, mature audience with over the top graphic game play. But will this game flop like other games of the like? Here is my review.

The Saw films are some of the most mind bending and gruesome films of the decade and the game follows suit. The developers did an amazing job incorporating the environment a Saw movie would have. There are plenty of traps, explosions, and puzzles to keep you guessing as well as surprise moments to keep you on the edge of your seat. The reviews I have read on this game praise it for the atmosphere, and puzzles which make the game actually enjoyable. Another aspect that the game includes is the voice of Tobin Bell who plays Jigsaw in the movies, which is a major plus. Some of the downfalls of this game is that it can become repetitive, frustrating and the combat is horrible. Overall this game received an average of 6.5 on various sites.

The storyline is very complex and intriguing. You play was David Tapp, who is a detective who is on the search for Jigsaw. However he gets shot, but Jigsaw captures him and replaces the bullet with a key. Then you are placed into Jigsaws crazy and murderous world of puzzles and traps. It is not long before you find out that you are not the only player and everyone else is out to get the key in your chest. The main story is about you going around helping others escape from their traps in order to complete yours. You are met with plenty of attackers along the way and you have many weapons in you arsenal from a bat, pipes, syringes, and machetes that keep the game interesting.

"Would you like to play a game?"

-Justin

Problems I have with Video Game Developers

I don't have many problems with what happens in the gaming world, but are a few i do have. First thing that I can't stand is when developers create video game adaptions of movies. For example for the Ironman movie, there was a game that came out with it that was horrible and I mean horrible. That is the way most games like that are. They have horrible graphics, sketchy movement and seems like they just rushed the project. Making games like this take away from the integrity of the movie because they don't follow the story line or even tell a whole different story in itself. They make a game for near about every movie. The new Terminator, Lord of the Rings, and the Chronicals of Riddick all have games that came out with the movie. Most of these types of games score poorly and appeal to kids but still cost $60 which is a waste of money if you ask me. The only "good" game adaptation of a movie was Wolverine only because it had over the top blood and was made to appeal to an older generation.

The second problem that I have is with people at Square Enix. Square Enix are the creators of the Final Fantasy series among other games but right now really caused a riff in the gaming community. They continue to push the date back on the lasted installment in the FF series, which is now not expected to come out until the second quarter of next year. Orignally it was supposed to come out in November but for some unknown reason they pushed it back. It makes me wonder because Square Enix puts out other games, like most recent Dissidia: FF but push FF 13 back. The way I see it is that their moneymaker is the mainstream FF so I would be putting as many people as I could on that project rather than others. All I know is that Final Fantasy 13 better be the best game I have ever played.

-Justin

Lacrosse coming to Xbox?

There are video games for all sports, from baseball to the Olympics, but lacrosse always seemed to be absent. In high school I played lacrosse and always wanted EA Sports to make a video game. The only one is existence is BLAST LACROSSE for the PlayStation, and really does not give the game the respect it deserves. So some designers from the Xbox Community indie games decided to give a lacrosse game a try. The push for a game came when there was a petition give to EA with over 157,000 members. The game is going to be a trial run, and if it catches on EA will make it into a franchise such as Madden or FIFA.

As for as game play, the game will have all rules, offensive formation, dodges, and a practice mode. The only let down is that the game was low budget and will not have to best graphics. But die hard lacrosse players will not care, because it will be the first of its kind. Besides it will only be ten dollars and possibly turn into something great. Personally I'm excited because while playing football is fun, but I would rather have a lacrosse game any day. The game drops later this month on Xbox live.

-Justin