Yup.

Okokok. Its Christmas season, and all of the big hitters in the gaming department have been released. This one is definitely at the top of a LOT of wish lists. Black Ops has been released for a month or so now, and is calling in a napalm strike on most of its competitors.  You liked my reference.  I’m not going to be able to fit everything about this game in to one review without going on for hours, so I’m going to try to hit on the main points.

If you played any of the other games in the series, then you’ll be able to jump right in to this one with absolutely no problem. The controls and engine are exactly what you will remember from the past titles. As a matter of fact, with the exception of a different story line for the campaign, and the zombie mode, this is MW or MW2 all over again. While not necessarily a bad thing, its more of the same.  It was a bit of a disappointment for me. With all of the hype and excitement behind it, I expected at least a few new additions, but instead, we were given small tweaks that seemed to be more gimmicks than anything else.

Campaign seems to be the most solid part of the game. The plot and all of the dialogue is all extremely well written. At the start, i just wanted to skip all of the story and just get straight to the killing, but after fighting that urge and seeing several scenes and situations play out, I was pulled in to it. Match that together with the intensely explosive action scenes sprinkled through, like its predecessors, and you have a win.  This game also sports one of the best difficulty breakdowns I’ve toyed with. Veteran is absolutely no joke, while the lower settings will let you still have fun if you’re not in it for the pro glory, achievements, trophies, etc. It’s lack of glitches or problems was also very impressive. Not once during my campaign play thru did I experience any problems. But don’t get your hopes up. I still have to talk about zombie and multi-player modes…

Now to the part you all ACTUALLY care about…the multi-player. Just like the campaign, if you’ve become familiar with the last 3 games, then you’re instantly familiar with this one. Everything is set up almost the exact same way in terms of the “how-to’s”. I still notice the same glitches and bugs ive seen from the past games also, however I’m glad that it’s been able to go this long without seeing people crank out the glitches to exploit multi-player like before. (knock on wood…) The main change that you’ll bump in to is the XP/money system. For anything and everything that you will be able to equip to one of your custom classes, you’ll have to earn both a minimum level, AND enough $$ to spend on it. While the money and experience both flow in fairly well, I still consider it to be just a tad in to the overkill department to require both. You’re also going to find the stats breakdown the give you is WAY more than the average player needs, but personally, I LOVE being given that much access to my play record. There is too much to cover all of the items, but i will tell you that the heat-map for your bullet hits is definitely my favorite out of the bunch, and apparently my bullets like to go for your “make god cry” area 99% of the time.  Another welcomed feature, which should be on every multi-player game from here on out, is the theater system in the multi-player. Threw a tomahawk that bounced off 5 objects and went across a level to kill someone? No one believed you? Now you will be able to get proof. And you can all thank my buddy, Master Chief, for that one. While this is where most people are going to spend most of their time, its the most disappointing mode for myself due to the lack of changes.

And for my personal favorite mode. ZOMBIES!!!!! It really doesn’t need as full of a review as the other modes. Its simple and to the point. Kill zombies. Survive. Move around the level. Get new guns. Rinse. Repeat. I have noticed several bugs or glitches in my many many many times playing, but nothing that really kills the flow. If you got any edition besides the regular version, then you are also given access to the other 4 maps from World at War, in addition to the two maps they give you by default. If you haven’t heard of or seen the second level, then you haven’t unlocked it. Either beat the campaign on any difficulty, or break out of your chair in the menu screen and enter the code for it on the computer against the wall. Just youtube it… This level is played in the Pentagon, and replaces the 4 different zombie slayers you’re used to with JFK, Richard Nixon, Robert Mcnamara, and Fidel Castro, complete with a boat load of zombie killing sayings they’ll toss out at you. I’m interested to see what downloadable content they will be releasing for this mode.

Done and done. The game as a whole is put together well, but the lack of changes or additions seems to keep it from being the game that it could have been. I am content with it at the very least, and its definitely worth buying, I just wish they had taken a little more time and care with it.

Call of Duty: Black Ops – 360 – 8/10

Wanna buyz it?

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So what with all the awesomeness floating around out there today, there’s not always time to sit down and hammer out a full article; for those of you left wanting by this, I apologize. I don’t know how frequent my input may be, so for now I’m just going to give you guys a “wham-bam-thankya-ma’am” of what’s been getting my attention.

Books

• The Prince of Nothing by R. Scott Bakker – It’s the crusades, except in the future, or maybe an alternate past; that doesn’t matter. What does matter is that this trilogy is fantastic in its scope, and though a little heavy-handed at times, has enough blood, sorcery, and gratuitous bits to keep you entertained through most of it. Book one is The Darkness that Comes Before.
• The Book of the New Sun by Gene Wolfe – If you like your sci-fantasy heavy on the “wtf” and light on the mass-market appeal, this set is for you. Set unknown-eras into a possible future, Wolfe tackles everything from theology to philosophy to physics and beyond as he drags his main character – a torturer, complete with violent depictions – from one side of reality to another. The first two novels are collected in one tome called Shadow and Claw.
• Terry Brooks – This man has written a good half-dozen trilogies, any of which can be read separately from the others. Though many claim his work is cliché, the dude has been at it since ’77, and is arguably part of the reason high fantasy still exists. If you want something very elves-with-pointy-ears, pick up The Scions of Shannara; if modern-era demon fighting is more your thing, try out Running with the Demon.

 Games

• Metro 2033 - If you own a 360, you should get this next time you go into GameStop. If you have a computer with Steam – and if you have a PC, you need Steam – just get it now. An FPS set in post-apoc Moscow – or rather, then metro tunnels under said city – this chilling sci-fi tale has it all. Beautiful production values, a too-good-to-be-true story, tight gameplay mechanics, and several moments that will keep you up at night.
• Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light - I hate to be such an XBot, but this Live Arcade action / adventurer has sucked up many hours in my house since its release. With full on-box or online co-op, this little gem will surprise you and whoever you get to play it with you. The graphics are impressive, the puzzles are either thoughtful or oh-$#^%-a-giant-spike-wall intense, and each level has multiple challenges and time-trials to keep you coming back for more.
• Torchlight - A little more PC love, again brought to me by the goodness that is Steam. This Diablo-style loot grabber is all about becoming bigger, meaner, richer, and then selling all that old crap two level-ups later. Created by the same mind that brought us the aforementioned devil-monikered title, this single-player-only experience is the testing platform for an MMO that will launch later on down the line. If my time with this version is any indication, adding the ability to play with friends will render me useless for a month or so.

That’s all I’ve got for now; keep a weather eye on the horizon, as tomorrow should bring similar tidbits from the cinema and comics areas of entertainment.

Now. Some people might be ecstatic over this. I am definitely not one of those people. When a game gets a sequel, you at least want it to have a few new features that makes it distinguishable against the rest of the games in its series. Crackdown 2 has none of those features. The same ability and orb xp system are in play from the first one. There are no added abilities in the mix, but the now have “renegade orbs” which will flee from you when you try to collect them. After a short chase in either a car, or on foot, you’re able to snag it and add its xp to the rest of your collection. That just about concludes the new features…

The story is barely different from the original. Its the same deal with the cops and robbers part, but now there are zombies. Zombies? Yes. Zombies. A massive infection has blah blah blah blah blah. I’m a huge fan of zombies. Putting zombies in a game usually makes me buy it, but this time it just makes me sad. They are what the bulk of the redundant story centers around. For the whole game, except a hand full of missions thrown in occasionally and at the end, its all about trying to take down the zombies. You fight your way thru regular baddies to get to the zombie weapons. Use the zombie weapons. Repeat. And that is the next 4 or 5 hours of your life. The other 2 or 3 hours of the game will be filled up with you trying to max out your abilities. Then game over.  Multiplayer is almost the exact same experience, just with a friend. Your character won’t transfer over from the single player, tho. You will have to work on a new / different one in the online mode.

As far as the technical side goes, its almost rock solid. I never had any problems with any glitches or errors. It always played smoothly. Even the multiplayer seemed to run fine with no lag or problems. The blend of normal CG mixed with cell shading is really awesome to take in when you get out to the more natural parts of the game and away from the city. The real problem i found with this game is its targeting system. If there is more than one target on the screen, then good luck picking out the one you want. The targeting reticle will lock on to everything. Bad guy. Good guy. Cop. Car. Whatever. It doesnt distinguish whatsoever between who youre supposed to be shooting and who youre not, so you wind up targeting everything and the kitchen sink before youre actually able to pick out what you need to. This was an incredible hassle for me.

This game is an ok time waster. I regret putting the time in to the story because of the lack of story, and the lack of mission variation. Its good for hopping on and having 20 minutes of fun before a movie or something, but as a game that you would actually sit down and play, its just one big ‘eh’. Shoulder shrug included. I definitely would not pay full price for this game. I would feel ok paying 20 or 30 maybe, but for a game that lacks anything that should make it be called Crackdown 2 instead of Crackdown 1.5, its not worth the full launch price.

Crackdown 2

Each main division of the game has had a complete overhaul, or is a completely new addition itself. The standard campaign and multi-player are back, and now there is the addition of the Co-Op mode. Campaign is where you will be noticing the bulk of the changes. They have added in several RPG elements such as being able to earn money in missions, and use that to upgrade units, buildings, or vehicles. There is also a skill tree that resembles a World of Warcraft or Diablo style talent point system, that gives you points to invest based on completing specific bonus mission objectives. The points you invest are spent for good, also similar to their MMORPG cousins, so there will be units or upgrades that you wont have access to in one run thru of the campaign. The race focus is on the Terrans. There aren’t 3 different campaigns that you will be playing. From what I hear Blizzard will be releasing the Protoss and the Zerg campaigns separately, but this DOES NOT take away from the game. It stretches out to 29 missions total, and some of those you actually get to take over the Protoss for a bit. Some of those, however are actually branching path missions. Once you get to them you have to make the choice of which mission you take, and will affect the your game over the next few levels.

Multi-player and Co-Op are both much closer to what you already know about the Series. There is no talent or money system in either, just the standard process for tech trees and upgrades. In fact, the only real change is that its all handled thru Battle.net now. All of your info is saved on to their server, so if you were to get the itch while at a friends house, all you have to do is log in to your Battle.net account and all your info is right back at your disposal. The co-op is just the same as multi-player, except with A.I. No different features.

For those of you who played the unholy bat shit out of the first game and its expansion, you will notice a LOT of small additions and tweaks to various game actions that streamline problems from before, and that also add in some of the items that you might have wished for. Nothing super crazy, its not going to take years and years to learn. It performs just like its predecessors, so you wont have any problem picking it up and going. The units have also changed slightly. There are, of course, new units, but a few units have been taken out. No worries, tho. The replacement units all take care of replicating the jobs of what they took out. But I’ll miss my dragoons. Sigh.

Oh, and did I forget to mention the ABSTOLUTELY BREATHTAKING CINEMATIC SEQUENCES.

Starcraft II – 10/10

Go get this game. Seriously. Right now. Trade in your GTA collection and get it. Any fan of the GTA series is going to be an immediate fan of this game, assuming you dont hate the wild west with a passion. If youre skeptical because of the first title in the series, then you shouldn’t be. Redemption is a completely different game from the first, making it 10 times better right from the start.

Like I mentioned, any fan of GTA will be a fan of this due to all of the  similarities . Its incredibly easy to pick up and go with the controls, even if you havent played any of Rockstar’s other titles. Except for the inventory, the set up is the exact same as any of your beloved GTA’s. Nothing fancy, and no huge button combinations for anything at all. After about fifteen or twenty minutes of fooling around, youll be lassoing and yee-hawing with the best of em. Even the more advanced stuff like shooting from horseback, or lassoing moving targets isnt really so advanced. Id suggest just taking some time during your free roaming and just playing around with your inventory. You would be surprised at what you can pull off.

Another huge selling point for this game is the free-roaming environment. Just like tons of games now, this game is non-linear. You have the option of roaming around the desert shooting cattle as much as you please before furthering the main story or any of the side quests. So you can go take in all the sites on your own time. And thats something you definitely want to do. The environments are really really well done from the setup and placement of items, towns, etc, to the actual artistic appeal of it, which makes exploring or just goofing around that much more fun.

The missions and the story are also really well done. All the writing is great, and sticks to what it needs to stick to. No rambling or over the top speeches. No dialogue that sounds like it was written by kids. Just the great Rockstar stories and writing that you have come to expect. They even keep the vocabulary and jargon accurate to the period as well. They do a really good job of going outside the box and making missions with things that you wouldnt normally see, like herding cattle, or catching wild horses. And I know how that sounds, but once you get to it, youll have a ton of fun. I laughed, I cried, I hogtied a lady and put her on the tracks.

Multiplayer is also set up really well. There arent any new modes that you wont be used to playing already. Slayer, Team Slayer, Capture the Flag. The best part about the modes is the starting points. For every game type, regardless of objective, you start the game with a quick draw. Both teams are lined up facing each other, the announcer calls the draw, and the bullets start flying. Once one team has won, the match starts in whatever level with the normal set of rules. I still jump every time he calls the draw.

Now why youre reading this part is a mystery. I told you to go get this game a looooong time ago, and here you are … reading instead of buying and playing video games. What would your mother say?

Red Dead Redemption – XBOX 360 – 9.25 / 10

We here at LCP have both personal and independent confirmation that one of the numbers on the new posters being given out with CoD: Black Ops reserves is a phone number:

877-386-4270

When called, the number gives you an automated recording that sounds something like old jack-in-the-box or merry-go-round music, which is frequently interrupted with telegraph beeps.

Our guess? The beeps, and possibly the rhythm of the music, point towards a possible morse-code message. Whether this has anything to do with the possible “hidden beta codes” remains to be seen. For my two cents, I’m guessing more along the lines of a viral marketing campaign, like the “I Love Bees” days before Halo 2.

Update: The younger Black sibling (Tyberius, and no, not like in Star Trek) has informed me that the music playing on the recording is reminiscent of the jingle from the “Pack-a-Punch” machines used to upgrade weapons in CoD: World at War’s infamous “Nazi Zombies” multiplayer mode. Since this new CoD is also being developed by the guys at Treyarch, I’m willing to run with this.

I tried waiting for the demo to launch, but after two months of seeing the screen say “Download the demo soon”, even past the actual launch date of the game AND the movie, I figured it wasnt going to launch. And it still hasnt. I should have seen that as a sign of things to come. I have successfully wasted $50. SIGH. Again. Disappointment 2k10.

Im a huge fan of the Ironman franchise as a whole. The movies, games, animated series. Ive gotten my hands on a solid chunk of it, and this seems to be the worst one, which confuses the hell out of me seeing as how its based on one of the most anticipated movies of 2010, and definitely the summers blockbuster. You would think a little more TLC would have gone in to it. But no. Nothing about this game excited me.

Lets start with the visuals. None. Not impressive. Over it. Its, again, super confusing. Especially on this level. Iron Man and the sequel were both visually STUNNING on the screen, but somehow, somewhere, theres an editor, or a designer, or a boss man thatlet this slip by, and that needs to be fired for giving this the green light to be linked to either of the films. Even the menus are poorly designed and a sloppy attempt to recreate Stark’s personal computer system that you see him playing with in the films. The suits themselves are designed well. Theres a nice level of detail in all of the suits that youre able to unlock and use, but thats the only place youll find detail. Period. Seriously. At times it looks like someone just took a handycam and recorded someone else playing with the figures. I want to tell you just how bad the “suiting up” sequence for both Iron Man and War Machine are, but id rather not extend this review another two paragraphs.

I was suprised to look up these games on IMDB and find out that the voice talent for MOST of the main characters are the actual actors from the movie. Tony, Rhodey, Whiplash and Fury are all voiced by the appropriate actors. That would be a plus, if the acting would have wound up being decent. Buuuuut it wasnt. It kills me to say it, but it really does suck. Even RDJ and Don Cheadle are slacking big time.

The engine itself isnt really that bad in terms of controls and performance until you get in to the pre / post game suit customization. Im a big fan of being able to customize, swap parts, etc. but it needs to be done using a system that someone besides Tony Stark himself can understand. I exaggerate. But not much. You can earn credits in missions to unlock more suit variations, open up different suit upgrades, and even fabricate different parts for different reasons, but its thrown together in a clunky and confusing system that makes me want to just skip it and play with whatever load-out is ready by default.

Finally theres the plot. Sorry. I mean “plot”. Good news for spoiler haters. While the game does have an element or two in it from the game, the story is a new one created just for the games, so youre safe to play it if you havent seen the movie. Bad news is it all sucks. Everything from the actual plot to the way it was executed just makes me facepalm. They throw you from random location to random location, dont even try to piece it together for you, and then throw you in and let you blow everything up. It has a very “Wherever he lands, there shall he blow things up”, kind of feel to it. After getting about half way in, i started skipping everything that wasnt game play.

The verdict is in. I would NOT buy this game until it drops to around $20 range. Rent it for sure. Its a fun game as long as you play it in maybe 20-30 minute spurts, but after that you just start getting annoyed at how bad everything looks, and start suffering from repetitive stress disorder from doing the same mission objectives over and over. Its the same problems that the first game and similar comic-movie games, like Superman Returns, suffer from. I guess all of this is why the demo didnt launch. If it had i dont think i would have bought this game…Sigh.

Iron Man 2: TVG – 4.5 / 10

I know…I know…this is the billionth splinter cell in the series. What could possibly make this game worth getting over other big hitters like Just Cause 2 Final Fantasy XIII? Well I hate to break it to you, kittens, but there aren’t too many new features that are going to ‘wow’ you over to this game. It just continues getting a little bit darker, and give you actual guns this time! No more taser rifle, or air foil guns. This is mainly just the next in the line of games, so if you’re looking for something new, youre probably going to want to keep this one as a renter.

The visuals are all top knotch, except for the cinematic scenes before and after the levels. The models and environments in those actually look worse than the in-game engine. Backwards? I know its supposed to be grainy to simulate the film quality, but there is still a noticeable difference  between the two, and not in the way it should be. Thats the only gripe I had on the technical side at all besides the AI, but the AI is just what youve come to expect from any other Splinter Cell title. I didnt find any problematic glitches at all. The controls are a little different since there was the introduction of the ‘mark and execute’ system, but absolutely nothing off the wall that is going to make you completely fudge up your game, like jumping up and yelling instead of sliding in to cover.

The story is the selling point, and its pretty killer. Pun intended. It finally winds down the saga and Fischer’s story, and reveals some info that kind of throws you for a loop at a few points. Just like Assassin’s Creed II, it was really the story of the game that kept me playing. The game, as a whole, has kind of fallen in to just a “go here, kill them quitely’ style of play, which has its pros and its cons. Its almost just a straight line from point A to point B.

The motion and movement on this game was pretty disappointing. In the previously released versions, you were able to hop on, over, behind, etc. etc. almost everything in the game. In Conviction, however, you are extremely limited to what you can do with the environment. Its almost a skeleton of what it used to be in that regard. You are still able to venture off the beaten path and find the super sneaky ways of getting to where you need to go, but you just dont have the options that you used to when it comes down to escaping or getting wily in both the single and multiplayer modes.

The last thing I’ll hit on is the multiplayer modes and unlockables. They have cut out the spy vs mercenary side to it. Everything except for one mode revolves around co-op, which again, has its pros and its cons. The story mode for co-op is a decent length. Its not just a filler like it is on some games. The unlocks are decent. You unlock different weapons after so much game play, and are able to upgrade both them and your uniforms to give you more access to gadgets, ammo, armor. you know how it goes.

This game is a must play, but not so much a must buy at the launch price. Give it a bit and find a used copy after it drops down one or two times.

Splinter Cell: Conviction – 6/10

I’m going to be a negative Nancy and start with the bad for this review. This game is fun fun fun in the sun sun sun, until you start playing the missions. The writing and voice acting for this game are HOOOOORRIBLE. All of the dialog sounds like it was written by 14 year olds that think they know how to make an action movie, and the actual voice actors don’t sound like they’re too far behind that. At some points it feels like they cut out pieces that you’re supposed to see / hear and did a very poor job editing it back together.

The map and environments are another trouble spot for me. You can destroy a lot, but not everything. It all looks very nice, but the things you can destroy have a very preset look and feel to them. Everything will blow up or fall down the exact same way every time. The map itself is HUGE, which would normally be a plus. But its more like 75% desert, 25% city. With the exception of a few side towns, most of the towns and communities you find are spaced FAR apart from each other. So far that if you lose your vehicle somehow in between the towns you’re going to, you’ve fudged yourself over for the next ten minutes. Enjoy walking or whatever it is you do when you press the sprint button, cause its not sprinting. On top of all of this, the towns and missions have a very Assassin’s Creed feel to them. Meaning that there are really only 3 or 4 originals, and the rest are carbon copies of those. On the plus side, you’ll feel like you know everything like the back of your hand after completing 15% of the game.

Ok. Enough bad mouthing. Now to the… good… mouthing? Can I say that? There are still good points to the game. The grappling hook and the parachute are fun toys that you get to play with. They are two of your main allies against all the choppers trying to gun you down for attempting to blow up everything in sight. The hook will attach to almost everything, can tether two objects together, and provides you with that extra way to cause more carnage. The parachute is an interesting addition to a game like this, letting you get to different places safely, or helping you get from one place to another. The cinematic elements they throw in are also nice touches. Jumping off cliffs or driving of big ramps (or more cliffs) will kick in a very nice looking “follow the leader” camera angle that gives me goosebumps every time it kicks in. I like the idea of the vehicle hijacking also. If you’re just stealing from citizen Bob or Sally, then its just a quick button press to get in. If its a more serious vehicle, they will require you to complete a button pressing mini game. When you combine all of the mentioned items together, you have tons and tons of self created situations that will keep you giggling and craving more destruction.

Here’s that technical mumbo jumbo. After one or two sessions of the demo, I had the controls down solid and was ready to be tearing ass all over the city on foot, in vehicles, or just being Spiderman grappling from roof to roof. The cinematic scenes done with the in-game engine, so you don’t really get an awesome show between missions. The map itself, tho is very pretty, especially when you kick in the cinematic camera and enjoy it from a parachute.

This wound up being another wait-to-buy. It seems like it was kind of rushed to get to the floor. Its another good $30-40 game, but in my opinion, definitely not work the $60 launch price tag.

Just Cause 2 – 6/10

This game blends an entertainment factor with a very in-depth engine, and is all set to be a game that will pump out just as much as you pump in. There is SO MUCH depth to the engine, however, that it becomes overwhelming at times. The level of info that you can acquire from an individual citizen, building or one of your various graphs or charts or overlays is insane. But its not actually necessary to learn all the in’s and out’s of the entire engine. You can play with the bare-bone info that is readily available to you, but if you really want to kick the game in to overdrive then the resources are there for you to do so. This gives you a win/lose situation. It’s a win because you can tinker with and manipulate so many things from your citizens to edicts like tax cuts, but the down side is that the tutorial doesn’t cover everything you need. There are of course things the tutorials cant teach you, like how to use all of this information to its fullest. That requires s bit of intelligence mixed with a bit of common sense from the user. But being able to access that detailed information or changing some of the options that are off the beaten path are kind of left in the dark. I need Clarissa’s number so she can come explain it all. Yeah. 90′s joke. I went there.

On the more technical side, this game is pretty solid. The islands and environments look really good for being the type of game that it is, and I haven’t seen any hints or signs of any sort of engine problems or glitches. Its a smooth running game. Some of the controls are a bit touchy at times, but to be honest, I cant tell you if that’s the engine not performing properly, or my controller needing to visit the hospital because of all the button pressing and usage ive been putting on it for bad company 2. Sigh. They also include an island generator so you can spawn random environments for you to free play on if you get tired of the scenarios they set up for you to play thru.

In retrospect, I should have waited to buy this game. Its a great game, and very entertaining, but not really worth the launch price tag. This is definitely a buy when it reaches around $30, but until then just keep blowing things up or conquering things on a different game.

Tropico 3 – 6/10