Moonbase Alpha Review

Steam Cover Image

     Hello everyone and happy Friday.  Sorry about no posts on Wednesday, was busy and forgot. But I'm back and ready for another day.  So to start off, this kind of strays from the usual post, and since I haven't done a post about a non violent game in a while I though Moonbase Alpha was as non violent as you can get (not really) and is a great game to play with your friends. Developed by Virtual Heros, Inc. and America's Army Game Studio, while the game was published by NASA Learning Technologies. The plot of the game takes place on the moon, where you are a NASA astronaut on your way back to base from patrol when a meteor shower strikes the life support system to critical condition.  The point of the game is to fix and repair damaged equipment while on the moon.  The overall objective is to do this before time runs out.  Thankfully you won't go into battle unarmed, you will access to futuristic fully automatic weaponry to help you in your quest to save your friends and conquer the alien menace that also threatens your life.  Just kidding, you will be completely unarmed and defenseless against these aliens as they massacre everyone stupid enough to be on the moon, and everyone stupid enough to think the game would be this exciting.  But seriously, you are armed with a welding torch, wrench, and other tools to help you repair the damaged couplers, hoses, and solar arrays.  Another option of repairing something is that is damaged enough, it would be faster to fetch a replacement from the equipment shed where the tools are also located.  To increase your time in which you repair and replace gear you have a car-like vehicle to help you move faster, you can also load equipment and tools on the back to transport it faster. Although this is the main objective of the game, most people only download the game because of the text to speech translator that is funny to listen to.  Well, that's just about everything about the game there is to know, wait, the game is free, so now you know everything.  Hope you have enjoyed and I will see you all next week.  This has been Jacob Arnold, signing off.

NASA's Official Trailer

Halo Reach Review

Halo Reach Box Art

     Hello everyone, good to be back and happy Wednesday.  Today since I had no inspiration on what to do, I decided to talk about Halo Reach.  The sixth installment of the Halo series. Released in September 14, 2010, Halo Reach received positive and welcoming reviews form critics and the public alike. Developed by Bungie and published by Microsoft Studios, like the previous installments of the game, the creators are the same.  The game takes place within the same universe as the previous games, however Halo Reach is a prequel that takes place before he Fall of Reach and before the rise of Master Chief.  To put it simply it takes place before the first game: Halo: Combat Evolved.  The game however introduced newer and better technology than the other games, which take place in the future, I little confusing, but awesome none the less.  New features of the game include things ranging from jet packs, armor abilities, to reintroducing shields, and finally introducing the long awaited sprint ability (you could not sprint in any of the Halo games until Reach).  The storyline, while taking place in the same universe, the characters and plot are different. Instead of taking on the role of Master Chief, you step into the shoes of Noble 6, a Spartan III of Noble Team and with new shoes come new places to walk and new roles to take on.  You have one responsibility, a very important responsibility: prevent the fall of Planet Reach at all costs.

The base of the Spire, one of the many locations in Reach

 So thats the story in a nutshell, now for the multiplayer.  As I mentioned earlier new features have been added to the campaign and multiplayer alike, but a big thing to point out is new gamemodes.  For those of you who don't know a gamemode is the thing that decides the role of what you'll be doing, what kind of weapons you'll have, and how much time you have to do it in.  So one of the favorite new game types is Invasion, in which you are either a Spartan or a Elite(alien) in which your objective is to get the enemy power core to your ship.  To do this you have to to go through three steps.  First you have capture one of the two of your enemies control points, in which you then have access to another set of control points farther up the map in which you must also capture.  After that you can finally have access to the power which you must grab and take to your Pelican. (or Phantom, depending what team and map you on) But like most things this is easier said than done, you have to carry the core, which impairs movement speed and you cannot defend yourself, leaving you to hope that your team will protect  you.  So that's one of the many game types the game has to offer, I'd go into more, but I'd be here all night.  Bottom line, great game, totally worth buying, way better than Halo 4, but that's just my opinion. So I hope you have enjoyed and I will see you all Friday.  This has been Jacob Arnold, signing off.

A live action film that secured my purchase of this game

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

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

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

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 

----->http://www.telltalegames.com/pokernight2<----- 

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)