The dark knight makes his return in Batman Arkham City

After all the acclaim and praise for Batman Arkham asylum and two years of waiting it is finally time to unveil Batman Arkham city. Time has passed after the events in the asylum, Quincy Sharp is now mayor of Gotham thanks to some underhanded help and the eerie Dr. Hugo Strange has now opened Arkham City, a dark gritty run down section of Gotham that will hold all the prisoners of Black gate Prison and the previous Arkham Asylum. Sensing dangerous elements Batman enters Arkham City to get to the bottom of this growing plot.

The presentation for Arkham City is amazing to say the least, Kevin Conroy and Mark Hamil seem to be the two destined actors to live out the epic struggle between the dark knight and the clown prince of crime, and yet again they do an astounding job along with the rest of the returning crew from Arkham Asylum on Arkham City's amazing story full of twists and amazing turns. In Arkham City the environment itself seems to be alive, teeming with side missions and activities happening alongside the main storyline to keep you busy, trophies to collect and crimes to solve, assaults and brutal beatings happening all over the city. A phone booth killer and a mysterious figure watching the dark knight are just a few of the events that will keep the Arkham City disc spinning in your disc tray.

Unfortunately all this content can be a double edged sword, while it is great to have so much to do in Arkham City it can at times dilute the main storyline with all the random happenings around the city that seem to all be urgent when they occur. There are also a plethora of villains in this game, almost to the point where some A-list villains like two-face or Poison ivy end up playing second fiddle to the main opponents. While some would call this a strike against the game I will call it even because rocksteady has been dedicated to one goal and one goal only giving us gamers a true Batman experience and this is part of that experience, giving you the feeling the while, yes you are Batman you still are only one man in a city that is screaming out for savior and full of deadly opponents.

The first thing you will notice in Arkham City are the similarities and the differences from Asylum. The one button combat system has returned and been built up and expanded on, now Batman can takedown multiple enemies while countering and combat is smoother in AC making Batman a more polished and lethal combatant. The bulk of the caped crusaders gadgets have also returned along with new tech to keep Batman armed to the teeth, and as well as the basic functions most of the gadgets have combat capability’s and have a hot button setting so they can be effectively used during battle. These improvements empower players and truly give them the feeling of being the Batman and wielding all of his technology, suddenly walking into a room full of opponents is not such a daunting task because u have the equipment needed to succeed.

Improvements have also been made to the dark knight's aerial tactics as well. Dive bombs, flying kicks and swooping down on enemies adds new dimensions to Batman in traversing the city and in combat. Batman can dive through the air to pick up momentum and then continue to glide and soar through the snowy skies of Gotham, or in combat use the new dive-bomb attacks allowing him to come screaming out of the skyline and take out enemies. These new skills and abilities transform Batman's image from a physically dominating land master into a truly dangerous aerial predator, able to take out enemies from the ground or air with equally lethal tactics.

Another element that makes this game a great experience is the inclusion of Catwoman as a secondary main character. Those who buy the game new, or used and download the Catwoman content will get to have Selina Kyle and Mr. Wayne alternate between having the main role in the story, also Catwoman gives an interesting and very different perspective on the happenings in Gotham than the caped crusader with different morals, goals and gameplay. Where Batman is a big, powerful, extremely physical fighter and a dark brooding character; Catwoman is a smaller, sleek, more agile combatant with a very sultry attitude and her change of pace and four levels in the main storyline are a must have to get the full Arkham City experience.

Overall this game is amazing, developers rocksteady have once again given us a truly awe inspiring Batman experience. The balance between protector, detective and predator truly make you feel as if you are the dark knight and rocksteady has taken that core that is Batman and put it into an amazing storytelling experience with Arkham City. While tasks and opponents may be daunting no matter what difficulty you play on you are given the feeling that you are Batman and you can rise to the occasion through tactics, use of your tools and mental as well as physical execution, the skills that make this hero without superpowers arguably the greatest of them all. Batman is a fictional character in the DC comics’ universe, but if the dark knight were real, with that ever-present scowl on his face; Arkham City would be at least one thing for the caped crusader to smile about. Needles to say any and all Batman fans and gamers looking for a great action adventure experience should pick up a copy of Batman Arkham City.

Rage game review

Its not very often a game comes along that really pushes the limits of the current generation systems ability in the graphics department. Well thanks to ID software it seems like its finally time for the xbox 360 and ps3 to get a good workout with Rage.

Rage is a very beautiful game, as dirty, gritty and grimey as the game is the graphics are still so top notch that it qualifys for the word. The graphics are actually so good it is recommended to download the game to the 360 hard drive to fully enjoy the graphics abilitys. Its only then that you can really appreciate all the work ID software clearly put into this games graphics for the overall game experience.

Speaking of game experince that may be one of the few areas that the game lacks. Rage is amazing on the outside, the wastelands are big bright wide open spaces, and the towns though run down are vibrant and full of characters. Unfortunantly there doesint seem to be a huge emphasis on story with Rage. In fact at times its seems the missions you recieve in the form of odd jobs from the towns folk are really just an excuse to move you from one firefight to the next, and as amazing as those fights may be you expect more from a great game. Great video games are expected to have a level of innovation along with the polish and execution, while this isint a dealbreaker for Rage that innovation or x factor that really makes a game standout is missing from this tittle.

A few examples of this are the overused post apocalyptic setting and traditonal shooter style gameplay favoring small closed off zones as opposed to the open spaces seen in games like Farcry and the Halo series. Characters who are key to progressing the story can seem very bland and boring and this can really throw off the experience. As uninteresting as some of the characters are in Rage the gameplay is fastpaced and fun enough to keep you going through the storyline,wepons tools and vehicles are customizable and fun to use. Each bullet has a different effect and you will need them for the different groups of enemies you will face in the wasteland. Rage also boast an interesting multiplayer, composed of car combat, races and cooperative missions and though it isnt the main attraction its something to do after the story is over, which will run you about 15 hours max.

All in all Rage is a good game that will keep you engaged and having fun. While it has its flaws if you are looking for a solid shooter and can deal with the thousandth post apocalyptic borderlands style game then this will be a fun outing.

G.O.W 3 Aftermath

Its been almost a month now since gears3 was released in september, and that has given the majority of gamers an oppertunity to play throught the story alone or with friends, so with the queen dead and the locust seeming defeted whats left for marcus and the rest of the humans on sierra, these are all questions that epic clearly stayed away from at the end of gears3 for whatever reasons they had to not truly end the story but here are the thoughts that I have had and im sure most gears fanatics share some of the same questions

1. What will humanity do now?
With 99% of humanity dead, a destroyed planet low on resources and the main source of fuel proven to be a deadly virus how can humanity possibly continue life of sierra? Even if the locust & lambent are all dead (which we dont really know) how can this be called a "victory" for humanity and even if it is where does the human race go from here? It seems highly unlikely that humans can continue life on sierra with any level of success with the planet left completly barren.

2. What is stopping the lambent from returning
From what was explained the lambent came from immulsion, the gears version of fossil fuels on sierra, and somehow they came from it and caused the mass infection of the locust and humans, it is not explained if the immusion is used up or distroyed but assuming it isint all gone what is stopping the lambent from returning?

3. Why didnt humanity leave sierra?
Gridlocked in a nasty war that has seen 99% of the species murdered for a cause largely unknown why didnt it dawn on prescott and the government to leave sierra and venture to other planets with the rise of the locust army?
What was so precious including immulsion (which was the tipping point in this extreamly heinous war) that was worth the potential death of the species?

These are the big questions i have in the aftermath of gears3, hopefully in some form or another they will be answered, in the mean time I would love to hear from all of you on what you think went down after gears3 and whats to come for the franchise...

Brothers to the end Gears of war 3 review

After what seems like an eternity in waiting epic games and Microsoft studios once again reunite to bring us the third installment of gears of war, and it has been well worth the wait. The game continues the storyline set by the previous two installments following Marcus Fenix, Dominic Santiago and Augustus Cole a.k.a COLE TRAIN BABY!!!!! WHOOOOOO!!!! As they continue to fight off the locust armada and Marcus continues his search for his father. The story is very well crafted and while I wont give away any endings don’t be surprised if u find gears getting the halo new trilogy treatment sooner or later. While the story is a good appetizer with a dash of closure, the main course for gears of war games is always the multiplayer and this time around it is better than ever, thankfuly shotguns have been regulated and multiplayer should be a mutch more level playing field. The addition of new weapons like the retro lancer and the sawed off shotty also help to round out the gaming experience.

The standard team death match, capture the flag now called capture the leader and other suspect game variants are in gears of war 3 but by far the biggest attractions to the online multiplayer has to be the revamped horde mode and the all new beast mode in GOW3.

The reason these two game types stand above the rest is because they demand a level of teamwork and strategy that most games simply don’t. In horde mode you and your fellow Cog must fend off the locust onslaught for 50 rounds, with locust getting boosts like extra health and dealing extra damage as the rounds go on, with each kill you will earn money you can use to boost your defenses as you defend your position from the locust. A new addition to horde mode in gears 3 is the inclusion of Boss monsters, every 10 levels you will be faced with a boss monster from the story like the brumak and berserkers

(A revamped horde mode including boss monsters will push ur gears skill and teamwork to its limits)

this adds a really nice change of pace to what at times can feel like going through the motions after wave and wave of enemies. Beast mode is the newest game type in gears3 where you take control of the nightmarish locust horde and set out to destroy the remaining gears and stranded, unlike horde mode beast mode is timed and this really adds a level of strategy forcing you to use the money you have wisely when selecting what locust you will control. You can add time by killing the gears and destroying their defenses along with killing key characters from the story, which is pretty awesome in itself. Overall gears of war 3 is a great game the main story and multiplayer combine for an amazing experience and with downloadable content for multiplayer and an extension to the main story in the works you can expect gears to remain in your gaming library for quite some time. Gears of war has been a great series, it and halo along with a few other great tittles have combined to make the xbox 360 into the must have console for gamers. We don’t know if there are any serious plans to continue the series but it is a must have in every 360 gamers library…

The Value of YOUR dollar

Gaming is an amazing hobby, through video games we can go places and do thing that just are not possible in real life. From traveling the farthest reaches of the galaxy and fighting the convenient, to becoming a professional athlete or being a superhero and protecting your city from evil and tyranny. Gaming allows it all, but its not just about the games its about the people we meet and the experiences we have while playing them. This special edition of the carnage report is about the gamers, it’s about us, how we spend our hard earned money to enjoy this hobby and how what we buy can change the gaming market. First off I would like to note that while this article will address certain company’s producing games that does not mean that I hold them in a negative light and neither should you, we all should make our own educated opinions when it comes to this topic and this article.

That being said as gamers we have to be smarter about when and how we spend our money and support video games. With the release of the past console generation the asking price for new video games has reached over sixty dollars, a far cry from past games that were 49.99. In developers defense games have evolved in leaps and bounds with the arrival of new technology like the unreal engine, so its fare to say games are worth more money with the new advances. Both sides being considered certain things should not be tolerated and as gamers allowing a company to continually remake a title and demand more money for it is definitely one of those things. A perfect example of this argument is capcom and its constant rehashing of the street fighter franchise. Street fighter 4 was released February 17th 2009, it is a great fighting game that almost single handedly revived the two-dimensional fighting genre. For sixty-dollars gamers were able to reunite with favorite characters of the series as well as forge memories with new characters and expand the street fighter franchise.

Flash forward to April 27th 2010 and the release of super street fighter 4, the game had the returning cast of twenty-five characters from the first street fighter 4 as well as the introduction of ten new characters. Some of these characters return from previous street fighters like Adon and Dudley, and the game also introduced new fan favorite characters like Hakan and the newest character to join the street fighter elite Juri. Capcom said that super street fighter 4 would mark the definitive end to the street fighter 4 series and that all the added content of the different online modes and characters was too much to add onto the original sf4 disc but also lowered the price to 39.99 for ssf4. Super street fighter 4 is a great game and was received with high marks across the board from all the major gaming sites and channels. If your keeping track of the money spent so far gamers have spent at this point 100 plus dollars on sf4 not including tax, now that is quite a bit of money but with the advances of ssf4 it is a validated purchase for fighting fans. But little did gamers know capcom was preparing to release another super street fighter reincarnation.

(looks like akuma found the 7 dragon balls and wished for capcom to keep raping your wallet)


June 7th 2011, enter super street fighter 4 arcade edition which added 4 new characters, no; wait, wait a minute its really 3 old characters (evil ryu, yun & yang) and one new character Oni who really looks like he should be the next level of super saiyan in dragon ball z instead of a character in street fighter. The game simply put should have been downloadable content for ssf4 but instead capcom decided to take 40 more of your hard earned dollars to get it in retail stores. The game was identical to ssf4 right down to the opening video and backgrounds and had minimal online changes. This super recycling of street fighter 4 sadly is only one example of how capcom and other developers are using a popular franchise to take advantage of gamers and we have to make it stop. (On an interesting side note if you want another example of how capcom continually hoers out its best franchises look at marvel vs. capcom 3 and the info on ultimate MVC3, have fun getting your ass handed to you by Wesker and Dante as you try to learn the combos for
Rocket raccoon and Frank west…)

As gamers we need to support games that are worthy of sequels and further content and avoid games that don’t meet our expectations, developers like capcom shouldn’t be rewarded for lackluster efforts like SSF4AC with high sales, it sends the wrong message and lets them know that if the slap a little spit shine and monkey grease on this run down tired edition of street fighter they can continue to make millions and leave us holding the bill. If you love street fighter I am not tell you to stop playing it, I am simply saying don’t support SSF4AC, force capcom to make better DLC or better yet move forward to street fighter 5 by not supporting crappy titles. The ticker for money spent on street fighter 4 just whent past $140 if you purchased arcade addition and thats not counting purchase of any of the special editions which were in the hundreds including the fight stick(and if you did my condolences on your loss). This is the third time gamers forked over money to capcom and quite frankly unlike ssf4 which really improved on the first title, even 15 bucks for the online download is a bit pricey for one new character, three old ones and minimal "rebalancing" of the game. Once again I must restate that as gamers we have to be smarter and more importantly buy smarter so you dont get vomit worthy remakes such as super street fighter 4 arcade edition

Love, Lust and nightmares!!! This weeks special thursday edition carnage report is about Catherine!!!!

What would you do if after years of a committed relationship you awoke next to a very attractive girl who is not your girlfriend? How would you react? That is the main plotline in the game Catherine. You play Vincent, a man in his 30’s who still is struggling to make the transition into an adult and is dealing with life’s problems. Vincent is in a relationship with Katherine, a high school sweetheart who he has been dating for the past few years. One night while drinking at a local bar Vincent meets Catherine with a C and after one to many drinks wakes up in bed with her, the following night Vincent begins having horrific nightmares of constantly climbing a huge tower where if he or any of the men there die they die in real life as well.

Catherine is a story driven puzzle game the likes of which gamers have never seen, for eight days Vincent must tackle towers of blocks that vary from heavy blocks, ice blocks, blocks that explode and many other obstacles in order to make it to the top of the tower and the next night. There is no inherent right or wrong way to climb the tower, just like there is no right or wrong way to play the game with the multiple answers and choices throughout the story. The game strikes a really great tempo between the panic and chaos of the nightmares that rush you forward at a life threatening pace and the slow, calm atmosphere of the stray sheep where Vincent relaxes with friends and throws down shots. Aside from the nightmares the game takes place at the stray sheep where Vincent has drinks with friends, sends text messages and plays tunes from the games awesome soundtrack. Vincent also has the option to speak with other men at the bar having similar woman troubles, and play rapunzel, an arcade game in the stray sheep that can help prepare you for the nightmares, also downing drinks at the bar will increase your speed during the nightmares as well as give you interesting facts about the different types of liquor.

This kind of attention to detail is what really makes this game shine. Atlus clearly put a lot of time and effort into this game and it shows from the dialog, to the gameplay and main message of the game. Vincent’s nightmares and new crisis in his relationship aren’t just coincidence and they all have a much deeper meaning which echoes throughout the entire game, the things you say to both love interests will affect the game and lead you closer towards one of eight endings. Atlus is to be commended for striking outside of norm and creating a game that is truly original by tackling story elements that have always been seen as taboo by developers. Relationship problems, the journey to adulthood and infidelity towards a loved one are the main struggles Vincent has to cope with in Catherine and they are all themes you never see in games, which really is a shame because they provoke interesting questions and cause reflective thinking the likes of which most games never even attempt.

Catherine is a very different but very good game, but due to its oddities main stream gamers will probably pass but if you aren’t thrown off by its different gameplay style and presentation then you will really enjoy the game

Captain America review

Captain America review
The surprise game of the summer proves why the first avenger is the mightiest marvel.

Captain America has always been heralded as the mightiest avenger, Americas greatest hero but if you were born in the past decade or so without reading the comics you might not fully understand why, luckily caps movie premiered last month to get everyone up to speed on Americas greatest hero and like all recent superhero movies it donned a sidekick in the form of a game adaptation, which shockingly enough is pretty good. The first avenger is a really good game that shows off all of cap’s abilities, much like arkham asylum show off batman’s skills as the worlds greatest detective first avenger really gives you the feeling that you are in control of Americas super solider. The game takes place over multiple areas of a hydra castle that is acting as base camp for many of hydras military activity and development. Cap goes in kicking ass, taking names and freeing P.O.Ws (prisoners of war).

The game has some good combat, cap is extremely athletic and you will need all of his moves to defeat hydras forces, also there are a lot of extra content and achievements to be found in the hydra castle, there is also a challenge mode that is similar to arkham asylums. Unfortunately there are a few problems with the game; the enemies seem to look very repetitive after the first few chapters with only a few variations of the different enemies. Also caps animations are limited as well and as the game goes on you will begin to see the same crippling strike moves over and over, both minor but still are strikes against the game. I guess the biggest gripe would be the length of the game, for a 60 dollar price tag captain America is very short, less than a week of game play for the main story.

Speaking of the story first avenger has some pretty good boss fights and dialoge. Along the way the captain will rescue his crew that accompanied him into the hydra castle as well as encounter many of the foes from the captain america universe, including the red skull. While the game doesint really support the first avenger movie, it does bring cap back into relevancy and is a good game which is more than most ask of a movie game tie-in. Captain America the first avenger is a good game and defiantly a rental tittle but above that the game is not much more than a good first attempt, hopefully marvel and next level games will make a second captain America game and put a little more time and effort into there star spangled man .