Castle Crashers

Publisher: The Behemoth
Developer: The Behemoth, 2008
XBLA, Coming 2010 to PSN
Level of Difficulty: 3.5 out of 5

ESRB Rating: T for Teen

1UPs: Four-Player simultaneous brawl with epic music, boss fights, and ridiculous (in a funny way) humor. Unlockable characters provide a fun incentive to replay the game numerous times.

Goombas: Could use a bit more focus in the direction things take in the story. While it feels like they're trying to do a Monty Python-esque treatment of a medieval beat'em up, things tend to lean more on the absurd and silly rather than pulling off a balance between the two.

Buy or Try: Buy - Once you get into it, you'll see a game that is over-the-top. The difficulty can be punishing, but if you're up for the challenge you won't be disappointed.

Price: 1200 Microsoft Points

Ghostbusters: The Video Game

Publisher: Atari
Developer: Terminal Reality, 2009
PC/Wii/Xbox360/PS3/DS/PSP(Coming Soon)
Level of Difficulty: 3.5 out of 5

ESRB Rating: T

1UPs: Captured the fun of the Ghostbusters movies in a surprisingly fun video game. The mechanics of capturing a ghost and the variations on the proton pack seem to fit, and are all fun to use. The fact that the original cast reprises their roles and write the script for this make it something very fun to be a part of. Multiplayer works very well, and they build on the theme seen throughout the game: teamwork.

Goombas: The biggest downside to Ghostbusters is the lack of co-op play in the main campaign. To team up with a buddy versus Stay-Puft would make this game a dream come true for any Ghostbusters fan. Noticed a few substantial bugs in multiplayer as you try to trap ghosts, but most of the time the game ran like a dream.

Rent or Buy: Buy - If you've never had the chance to dabble in the paranormal, and would love to do so in the most entertaining way possible, pick this one up!
Price: $25.99-$55.99 depending on the console.

Are you the Keymaster? I am the Gatekeeper...

Ghostbusters. Yep, it's great. The video game? AMAZING! Just playing it right now and trying to absorb all the Ghostbuster gaming awesomeness so that I can properly channel it into a review for you, the reader. It's coming, I promise. Until then, just remember to NEVER cross the streams...it'll result in total protonic reversal, you know.

Half-Life²

Valve, 2004
PC/Xbox/Xbox360/PS3
Level of Difficulty: 4

ESRB Rating: M

1UPs: If you didn't know anything about the first Half-Life, you're going to be okay. The second game does a decent job of telling you everything you need to know. Gameplay is solid, with nice puzzles added into it (you don't normally see as rich of a puzzle in a First-Person Shooter) to make the game unique. The experience of Gordon Freeman's world is what will pull you in here. You get scared at what feels like the "right" moments, you have weapons ranging from normal to extra-terrestrial, and there's just enough challenge to keep you interested.

Goombas: There could be a bit more balance with the A.I. enemies. Although you can see implications of organization in what you're told are dominant enemy soldiers, they'll sometimes just charge right at you. This is harder when you first start out, but as you get more powerful weapons, things just don't seem fair. Also, at times when main characters are addressing you, you sometimes have no clue where they're coming from because you're so engrossed in the action. A little direction and focus on specific parts of the story seem necessary.

Rent or Buy: Buy
Price: $20 (The Orange Box)

It's about time!

Well, it finally happened. I found a name for this blog that should stick. The Other Castle is a reference to Super Mario Bros, when you would defeat a world (up until the final world) you would get the message "...but the Princess is in another castle..."

So sit back, relax and enjoy. I'll tell the Princess you finally showed up.

Watch this: Super Mario Rescues The Princess

Revisiting a Classic...

Back when I was a kid, there was a game that came out called Bionic Commando for the Nintendo. It was so cool, and it stuck out in my mind because of one thing...the Bionic Arm. My little kid mind couldn't wrap my head around how cool it was to just shoot out your arm, grab hold of something, and pull yourself to it. Seems pretty simple and ridiculous when I say it that way, but the designers at Capcom made something fresh and original in Bionic Commando.


We had some good times with Bionic Commando. Thankfully, so did Capcom. They liked it so much, they gave it a nice face lift:


I've just been playing it for about an hour, and I'm impressed. Everything looks great and well done. It's fun to play, and definitely been worth this rental. So let me put it this way if you want to see more of one tough son of a gun doing this:


Or this:


...and fight this:


...then you've got to check out the new Bionic Commando!

Check it out here: Bionic Commando

GT Retrospectives

One of my favorite gaming websites has to be GameTrailers. They pride themselves on being the source for gaming media, a standard which they will not disappoint you.

One of the best features GT has are their retrospectives. In these retrospectives, they take a look at a popular franchise in gaming (I've noticed that they usually do them for whichever franchise has an upcoming blockbuster release), and do a fifteen to twenty minute in-depth looks at each game in the franchise.

If you're a hardcore gamer, these Retrospectives will give you insight and depth on what you've already learned from your favorite games. If you're relatively new to games, what you'll take from these games is perspective. You may not entirely understand everything in the retrospective until you play them, but you will realize that these games are quite epic. Whether they are first-person shooters or role-playing games, you'll come to appreciate the product that has been crafted through countless hours of labor.

Click the link below for access to GT Retrospectives:

http://www.gametrailers.com/retrospective/?rdir=1

Start-Up Game: Number One - Prince of Persia

Start-Up Games are games I consider for those looking for a decent entry into the world of video games, and for those who want a great time. Any of the start-up games I recommend, I will have played, so you can rest assured you'll get an honest recommendation from someone who loves a great game.

History

Prince of Persia is considered a classic. The first game, titled Prince of Persia, was created by Jordan Mechner in 1989. It is a story that has been told before. You originally had to save the Princess from the evil vizier, Jaffar, or the Princess dies. The original game gave you an hour to complete your bold rescue, which at the time was unique to any video game. Luckily, the next-gen iteration of this story is a bit more forgiving.

Story

In the most recent Prince of Persia you play the Prince on your way home from some treasure- hunting abroad, when you and your treasure-laden donkey get lost and separated. The Prince wanders off into a clearing, when down below he observes a beautiful woman, named Elika, being chased by men with swords. The Prince saves her life, but as a result, gets caught in an epic battle between good and evil.

Presentation

The art direction and soundtrack for this game are out of this world. I have literally never seen a game look and sound so fantastic as Prince of Persia does. They immerse you almost completely into the Prince's world, and you feel like you're on a grand adventure of your own. I've seen multiple other reviews of the game, and to paraphrase GameTrailers.com, "...nothing is quite like seeing one of the lands purified of corruption [and evil]..."

Gameplay

The gameplay decisions were well done for this game. Other entries into the Prince of Persia franchise were quite a bit more difficult than this one, but I believe that making the gameplay more about the experience of the world in Prince of Persia is great to make the game more approachable for those not having heard of the Prince's exploits. The combat is pretty simple, as one button is designated for every individual action you do, and it doesn't take much to pull off a spectacular combo with the Prince and Elika. The acrobatics the Prince must pull off to get to the various areas of the game are spectacular to watch. They all look quite natural, and you'd think that an actual human being could do the things the Prince does.

The one thing I don't like about the game are the light seeds. Elika is a servant of good, and a gifted magic user. In order to increase her power and access certain areas of the game, you must collect a certain number of these light seeds that are left by the God of Light. The problem is that there are more light seeds than necessary distributed throughout the levels of the game, so when you get enough, there is no motivation to go back and get them all. It is a minor annoyance; but for those of you out there who are completionists, it could turn into a big problem.

Final Thoughts

Prince of Persia is a well made game. It has a few flaws to it, but it really is a game that tells a story that is worth telling. The gameplay is fairly simple and straightforward as far as most games go, and that is why I've made it my first Start-Up Game.

For more information about Prince of Persia, follow the links below:

Prince of Persia Ubisoft Homepage: http://prince-of-persia.us.ubi.com/index.php
Prince of Persia Xbox 360 Achievement Guide: http://www.xbox360achievements.org/game/prince-of-persia-retail/guide/
Prince of Persia PS3 Trophy Guide: http://www.ps3trophies.org/game/prince-of-persia/guide/
Prince of Persia Wikipedia Listing: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prince_of_Persia

Level One

OmegaRedSix here, making my first attempt at the best gaming blog on the planet.

Here is my goal: to provide thoughts on gaming that will be helpful to those that might want to know more or provide views on gaming that are fresh and different.

To tell you just a little bit about me, I'm a child of the eighties. I grew up in the golden age of Nintendo. My first exposure to video games was through my brother buying one for our house, and I guess ever since then I've had quite the fascination with them.

Gaming has always been a fun form of entertainment for me, but I will say that I've definitely danced the fine line between normalcy and too much time spent on them. When I decided what I wanted to do with my life, I danced between numerous options and I eventually thought that sociology would be my calling in life. After I married my sweetheart though, she could see that I would like doing something that I've always liked all my life: gaming. I now study to get a Digital Media degree at Utah Valley University to get a job in the gaming industry.

Like any other form of entertainment, time spent needs to be done in moderation. As you read my posts, this is the bottom line: I love gaming, but I love my family more. I'm going to design games not only because I've loved them all my life, but because I want to build a life for them.

I hope you enjoy what I have to say, but remember, this is just one gamer's thoughts...