Thursday, April 25, 2013

Pong Review

From the first Pong to the at home version
Happy Friday everyone, hope you ready for a very short review.  As I mentioned on Wednesday I would be reviewing older games this week, so today were going back even further than Pac-Man.  Were going back to Pong, one of the first video games ever created.  First released in 1972, the game was developed and published by Atari Inc.  Among its release, it was recognized as one of the stepping stones in the gaming industry.  The gameplay features two players hitting a small ball back and forth, as if to mimic table tennis.  The game continues as long as the players decide to play, with a small scoreboard above each side of court displaying their points.  Among its many achievements  it was Atari's first published game and the first major industrial game release on the planet, the entire gaming industry to date was inspired by this simple little game.  That's about all, but before I go, I have a quick update for the next week.  I will not be posting for a while, have some things that I need to get done involving school.  So I hope you have enjoyed and I will see you all in two weeks.  This has been Jacob Arnold, signing off.
Since they didn't have trailers back then, heres some footage of the game














Tuesday, April 23, 2013

Pac-Man Review

Pac-Man American Advertising Art
     Hello everyone and happy Wednesday.  Today I've decided to take a break form all the modern HD graphic games and dedicate this week to some of the first games to hit the world, from Pong to Pac-Man. Today were doing Pac-Man, first released in May 22, 1980 by Namco.  The game received much enthusiasm and praise among its release.  By the 1990's the game had brought in over $2.5 billion in quarters.  The objective of the game is to eat all the pellets while avoiding the squid like enemies on the map.  Collecting these pellets generates a point system, that for each pellet a number of points are gained.  The game-play varies depending on how the player plays the game.  One of the perks of the game are that once a super pellet is eaten, the player can now eat the once invincible enemies for a certain amount of time before they respawn.  Another way of gaining points faster is to eat fruits when they appear on rare occasions, point gain also begins to build from double to triple and hence forth the longer the player stays alive, since it only takes one bump into a enemy to die and lose a life.  The player starts with three lives, and will continue to play until all lives are lost.  Sorry this is such a short review, Pac-Man really doesn't have a story line beyond gathering as many points as possible. (Ignore the crappy Pac-Man series, other than the original game, the others aren't worth playing)  You can play Pac-Man at your local arcade or movie theater.  Hope you have enjoyed this review on the origin of gaming and I will see you all Friday. This has been Jacob Arnold, signing off.
IIn the 1980's they didn't have game trailers, so I
decided to show you a little gameplay of the game

Thursday, April 18, 2013

Toy Soldiers: Cold War Review

Toy Soldiers Branding Art

     Happy Friday everyone, hope your doing good.  Today were going to take a look under a genre that is completely unrealistic in the gaming world, but still really fun. That game is Toy Soldiers, more specifically Toy Soldiers: Cold War.  Released in August 19, 2011 by Microsoft Studios and developed by Signal Studios.  The game is basically exactly what it sounds like, a strategy game where you control a certain amount of USSR toy soldiers with your American toy soldiers.  It my sound stupid the way I say it, but it's not.  The soldiers can walk and actually fire real bullets at each other until one of them die.  

     The game is set in a mid 1980s scenario as matters between the USSR and America continue to escalate into military aggression.  The game features similar aspects of the the original game, with gamers trying to repel a Soviet invasion force while playing on a play set towards a toy box in a child's bedroom. The game is not that different to the original game which featured generic World War I battlefields, ranging from sets of jungles and deserts to real world locations such as the streets of Paris and the Great Pyramids.

     The game features many boss levels that were not included in the first game with certain large enemies, such as the Antanov winged tank, the Typhoon class submarine and the final boss of the game, the Russian project R.I.S.E (not sure what it stands for) and a number of changes and additions to the game play. Just to name a few new changes to the gameplay that I enjoy, such as to say while you are still able to control vehicles such as tanks or helicopters on the battlefield.  However the time using vehicles in the game is now limited by a battery charge which can be replenished either by collecting floating batteries or returning the vehicle to its recharge stand. Another aspect added is that killstreaks are rewarded with a few special one time attacks called barrages, which include being given the ability to call an airstrike or control Rambo for a limited time.  I would buy this game just so I play as Rambo, cause its that fun.  So I'd probably give this game a 8 of 10, still worth buying and with it, hours of fun.  Hope you have enjoyed and I will see you next week.  This has been Jacob Arnold, signing off.
Toy Soldiers: Cold War Trailer

Wednesday, April 17, 2013

Poker Night 2 Update

Possible Box Art

     Hello everyone, hope your doing good.  Today instead of doing a review, I've decided to do a update on a game that's coming out in the next month.  Kind of like to let you know what to look out for in the meantime.  The biggest thing I wanted to highlight this month was Poker Night 2.  My main interest of this game was that the company that makes the game is currently on roll of game after game, their most recent was the next Walking Dead game released this month.  Although I question a few of their games, I respect for bringing me the Walking Dead and Poker Night at the Inventory.  Poker Night 2 is a sequel the first game: Poker Night at the Inventory, the game is scheduled to be released April 23, 2013, six days from now and counting. The game features a colorful cast of characters all gathering around to play poker including Claptrap (Borderlands 2), Brock Samson (The Venture Bros.), Ash (Army of Darkness) and Sam (Sam and Max series), and my personal favorite; GLADOS (Portal Series).  With chances to unlock items for Team Fortress 2 and BorderLands 2 by beating certain players for their items, similar to the first game. Other than that, I don't know much about the game.  I hope you have enjoyed this update and I will see you all Friday.  This has been Jacob Arnold, signing off. 

The Game's Official Website 

Thursday, April 11, 2013

Gears of War Review

Delta Squad
American Box Art
     Hello everyone and happy Friday.  As most gamers know Gears of War: Judgement released a few weeks back and while its pretty awesome I will not be review it.  Instead I will be reviewing the game that led up to all these sequels and merchandising: Gear of War 1 or just Gears of War. I've been playing Gears of War since it came out in 2006, I still do even with all the new installments of the game out.  Developed by Epic Games and published by Microsoft Game Studios, the game was well received by gamers and critics alike.  The game place on the planet Sera where a highly valued liquid is 93 prior to the current events of the game.  A war for 79 years is raged over the precious mineral until a event that dwarfs all the bloody seemingly endless violence of the Pendulum Wars.  A event that would change the world forever: Emergence Day.  E-Day was the day that the Locust emerged on the surface.  I also am speed writing this because its really late and I'm going to hand the reigns over this video, I promise that I will redo this post (eventually) and I will be back to my old thing next week, until then have a awesome weekend.  This has been Jacob Arnold, signing off.  Warning: Both videos contain some vulgar language, view at your own risk. 
Gears of War in Five Minutes(Also Gears 2 as well)

Gear of War Lore (basically the same thing but animated and shorter, but still hilarious) 

Tuesday, April 9, 2013

Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood Review

   
    Happy Wednesday everybody, hope your having a fabulous day, mine's windy as hell.  So today we're going to continue our road down the path of salvation in Assassin's Creed.  Released in November 16, 2010 in North America for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. The game was developed by Ubisoft Montreal and published by Ubisoft.  Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood is an adventure video game the with main idea surrounding a different type of gameplay including sandbox style and parkour movements, crowd blending stealth as seen in previous installments of the game. Assassinations and a improved melee fighting system are also included. The combat system is relatively the same as Assassin's Creed II, but for the first time in the series, the game offers a multiplayer mode alongside the campaign.
Most of Brotherhood takes place in real historical places such
the Colosseum seen above 
    Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood introduces a new system allowing the player to recruit and train new members by destroying any of twelve of the Borgia towers around Rome. These are one of the few places where papal troops are stationed, then by rescuing endangered citizens in their districts from harassing guards they can train them to fight alongside them. Also, as Ezio, the player can then send them to assignments around Europe or can call on them for support during missions (if they are not already occupied as I mentioned earlier). Tasking the recruit Assassins makes them gain experience, and then Ezio is able to customize their appearance, skills and weapon training to a degree by spending the skill points they have earned from Assassin's missions.  The down side of this, is that Assassins can die on missions, from which they will not return and you will have too recruit new ones. 
     Ezio masters new gadgets not seen in previous AC games, such as Leonardo da Vinci's parachute, which can be used by jumping from tall buildings.  Some other features include poison darts, a faster acting poison, a crossbow, and the ability to hold and throw heavier weapons like axes, which is loads of laughs and fun at the same time.  The primary setting takes place in Rome, which has fallen into chaos due to the corrupt rule of the Borgia tyranny and the Templars over the Papal States. These Templars are concentrating all the wealth in the Vatican focusing on locating, if not stealing more pieces of Eden.

     Just like the villa at Monteriggioni in Assassin's Creed II, Ezio is able to invest in the Rome and witness its development to unlock rewards, among other things.  Ezio has to conquer and destroy Borgia towers to free certain city zones from the Borgia's influence.  Completing these tasks unlocks new missions and different opportunities.  Rome is the biggest city ever created after the first two installments (Rome is three times bigger than Florence from Assassin's Creed II, the frontier of AC3 is bigger than Rome). Unlike the previous games, travel between different cities or regions in Italy is no longer present because most of the action in the game takes place in the city of Rome. In its place, a network of tunnels throughout the city allow Ezio to travel to different sectors of the city with ease in a small amount of time. However Desmond will also be able to explore the entire city of Rome such as visiting the harbour of Naples, a part of Navarre, Spain, and Monteriggioni in the present day.
Ezio utilizing the new combat system 
     As mentioned earlier the combat system has been modified. Striking first and offensivly can decide the battle before its begun and help dispatch enemies with ease, this tactic can prove to be more leathal than in previous games where counter attacks were more efficient.  Before, in AC2 this made Ezio wait until the NPC struck, which slowed down the pace of fighting. The NPC in this game is much more aggressive and enemies can attack simultaneously attempting to dispatch the player.  To eliminate them, Ezio can use melee and ranged weapons at the same time, as well as introducing the hidden pistol in combat, which doesn't actually use ammo, but activate a quick combat movement of shooting the NPC. After killing one enemy the player can start an kill streak to dispatch multiple enemies quickly, pretty much allowing you to take on a army. Ezio can throw heavy weapons (axes, spears, and swords) at his enemies, a very fun concept I found amusing and fun at the same time. There are new enemy types in addition to those seen in Assassin's Creed II such as horsemen, papal guards and others as well.
   Horses play a larger role in this game, not only used as a means of transport (inside the city for the first time, making transportation and escapes much easier), but as a component of assassination sequences and advanced combat as well, allowing Ezio to use ranged weapons while riding them.  There are natural objects like flower pots in Assassin's Creed II, allowing Ezio to move faster inside the city (a system of tunnels around the city allow fast travel is a example of these objects), as well as new objects such as merchandise lifts to quickly fling the player up high buildings or structures. Unlike the previous games, Desmond can leave the Animus at almost any time he wants. This allows Desmond to explore the present day town of Monteriggioni, which is rather desolate. The player is also offered a virtual training mini game where players may test their free running or combat skills.
     As of my vows I do not explain the entire story only enough so you will want to play the game, not have me spoil the story and leave you with a sad face.  So here goes my best attempt. The story is set in a fictional history of real world events set in two time periods, the 16th and 21st centuries. The main portion of the game takes place immediately after the plot of Assassin's Creed II, from which our small group of present day Assassins flee their little safe house in hopes of finding a more secure location in which to continue Project: Save Humanity and Defeat Templar A-Holes.  Allowing Desmond to once again in the shoes of 16th century Assassin Ezio Auditore da Firenze in Italy and his quest to restore the Assassin order to Italy, and destroy his new enemies: the Borgia family.Throughout Desmond's journey, the overall point is to prevent the 2012 apocalypse and make sure the Templars don't stop them from doing so.  
     Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood was my favorite game in the franchise until AC3 came out, but I still play is all the time because its a fun game.  It is available on Amazon for $19.00 and total worth it, personally recommend this game on Xbox and think you will love it. I give this game 10 of 10 because that how awesome it is.  Well that's all, hope you enjoyed and I will see you all Friday.  This has been Jacob Arnold, signing off.
E3 Trailer for Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood

Thursday, April 4, 2013

Halo 3 Review

     Hey guys, hope your all doing well and happy Friday.  Today we're going to jump back into the beautiful science-fiction universe that will always hold a special place in my heart: Halo 3.  Probably my favorite game of all time on every system. Halo 3 is a master piece in gaming that helped form the next level of gaming and graphics with its awesome multiplayer and intriguing story line.  Released September 25, 2007 in North America, I remember the day I waited in the rain for my copy of the game and the second it came out, I ran home and jumped into the campaign.  Some gamers only play Halo for the multiplayer, which I frown upon because Halo actually has a interesting plot unlike some games. Developed by Bungie and published by Microsoft Game Studios, Halo takes place in the twenty-sixth century during a galactic war between the human race and a variety of aliens formed together are known as the Covenant. 


Capture the Flag on Vahalla
     The gameplay allows the player to see the game from a first-person perspective. Much of the game, multiplayer and campaign, takes place on foot, but also includes vehicular combat.  Players may dual wield a few weapons, not allowing the use of grenades and melee attacks, but allows the combined firepower of two weapons which reeks more havoc depending on the weapons the player is dual wielding . Many weapons available in the previous games of the series return with minor cosmetic and power alterations, so basically it's hard to notice power wise, but the graphic update is beautiful. Unlike previous installments, the player's secondary weapon is visible on their player model, holstered or slung across the player's back, this is very good for making Machinimas:(The art of using a pre-rendered gaming engine and making it into a film. The word is derived from: Machine and Cinema.) Quoted from http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Machinima
Some of the crew members of the Halo Universe

     Halo 3 introduces heavy weapons (
usually mounted on a stand), which are large two handed weapons that slow down the player, but offer increased firepower in return. Such as carrying a missile pod that kills most enemies and vehicles with one rocket, but slows you down.  In addition to weapons, the game contains a new class of gear referred to as equipment; these items have different effects, going from defensive screens to shield regeneration and flares, which are useless most of the time.  One piece of equipment can be carried at a time and if you pick your 
equipment well, it can decide the battle.  The game's vehicular component has been expanded with new vehicles that were seen but not drivable and AI-only vehicles.  My personal favorite vehicle in Halo 3 was the Hornet, a human air based vehicle, in previous installments only the Banshee were available to the player. 
     Halo 3 contains non-competitive additions, such as Forge, a map editing tool which enables players to insert and remove game objects, including weapons and crates, into existing maps.  Almost all  objects can be placed and moved around on maps with Forge.  Players can enter Forge and edit and manipulate objects in realtime. A budget limits the amount of objects that can be placed in Forge depending on the size of the map.  Players can also save up to a hundred films of gameplay to their Xbox 360's hard drive, viewing the action of the game from almost any angle and at different speeds.  Halo 3 offers a form of file sharing. With this file sharing  allows items such as saved films, screenshots, and custom map variations to be uploaded to Bungie's official website, Bungie.net, which sadly was shut when all Halo data was transferred to 343 Industries, the guys that made the fail of a game called Halo 4.  All players can browse this created content that has been uploaded to Bungie's website and tag it to automatically download to their console next time they sign into Xbox Live for Halo 3.  The plot of Halo 3 basiclly consists of Master Chief landing on Earth to finish the fight, stop the Covenant, find The Ark, save Cortana and destroy the Flood once and for all, but such tales are only revealed through blood, sweat, dedication, and $20 on Amazon.  Until next time this has been Jacob Arnold, signing off. 

E3 Halo 3 Trailer
Some other awesome Halo Trailers:
This one below is Halo in Five Minutes (spoiler alert) But it will 
help you know everything about Halo if you know nothing 
or will let you have a good laugh if your a seasoned Halo player like me:

All credit goes to
for creating a amazing universe that will be with me forever, thank you guys for everything.