A zone of killing, the second (third) time around

Killzone 2 was released today, and I spent a good amount of time with both the single player and multiplayer components of the game. It’s been getting a ton of great reviews, which goes to show that developer Guerrilla games has certainly improved a lot since the original Killzone, which received fairly average reviews in comparison. Now I enjoyed the original Killzone; it was far from perfect, but the single player was fun and the multiplayer was pretty addictive. And now here’s the sequel! Does it deserve the praise it has been receiving in the past few weeks? In short, yes, it definitely does.

Let’s Tap! A venture into the simplistic yet fun nature of tapping

Let’s Tap, Yuji Naka’s newest project, is going to be headed to the United States this June. What exactly is Let’s Tap? A Wii game, a very unusual Wii game. A very unusual Wii game in which you put the Wiimote on a cardboard box, and then tap the box in succession to what is on the screen. The tapping will cause the Wiimote to move slightly, which causes the game to pick up on it, and thus things will happen. What kind of things? Oh, several things, some of which I will discuss here.

One of the biggest shocks so far this year

I’m completely surprised and almost dumbfounded by this. I think when making this post, people may look down at me, may shun me, may even question many things that they previously thought about me. I know I might if, even a week ago, I looked at this post and read what I had to say here. There are several reasons why you may never even read this blog again because of this. I can’t believe I’m about to type this, I can’t believe I even considered this for a second. It’s a complete shock to me, to everyone around me…but I think it may be worth it in the end. And I normally don’t consider myself easily swayed by other people’s opinions, but sometimes…just sometimes I have to give in. What am I talking about, exactly? Why am I filling this large wall of text with pointless and stupid filler? I’ll tell you why, I’ll tell you what completely took me by surprise. I think I want to buy 50 Cent: Blood on the Sand.

For those lonely guys: Onechanbara

Onechanbara: Bikini Samurai Squad was released a couple of weeks ago, and I finally had the “privilege” to play it myself. And the result? The worst 360 game I’ve ever played. And yeah, some my my previous worst games for that system were Bomberman Act Zero, Two Worlds, and Operation Darkness, all of which were my least favorite games of their respective year of release. Onechanbara is one of the very few games that would get a 1/10 from me, if I were to rate a game on that scale.

The history of the Ace Combat series (Part three)

This is where things really get interesting. Part three of five will focus on the first two PS2 entries in the series, one of which I not only consider the best among them all, but one of my favorite games of all time. Without further delay, here’s the third part of the history of Ace Combat!

A Look Back #7: The History of Matt Hazard

Matt Hazard was once one of the greatest game characters around, his games played by many, the villains we loved to hate, and the character himself. Matt has built himself a legacy, and that legacy was destroyed by a few bad decisions and a faded career. But now he’s back, and to celebrate his return to the gaming industry with Eat Lead: The Return of Matt Hazard, I have put together a brief history of his amazing gaming career.

Bungie, the developers of the Halo series and…Oni? What?

Yeah, Bungie developed Oni, the anime inspired third person shooter that barely works. And when it does work, it’s kind of boring. There are some legitimately fun moments in the game, but they are all overshadowed by the fact that the game is buggy and pretty much terrible in all respects. I was never a big fan of Bungie to begin with, the Halo series is incredibly overrated, but this just gives me more of a reason to dislike Bungie.

Ensemble, you shall be missed

I’d like to make this quick post to remember one of the greatest development studios that has ever existed; one of the most talented group of people who have worked and will continue to work in the industry today. The death of their former studio was quite the shock to everyone, despite the fact that they had not even released what may be considered by many to be their biggest project yet.

Ensemble Studios was once the best RTS developer around, but with the release of Halo Wars, the studio will be no more. Most of the original team has gone on to form a new studio, Robot Entertainment, but the original developer is now long gone. The Age of Empires series, their main focus before Halo Wars, is still a fantastic series and rivals Civilization as the best strategy series of all time.

It’s a shame when a developer of such high regard has to close its doors. I just wanted to say I wish the best for everyone at the newly formed Robot Entertainment, and I know I’ll be getting Halo Wars pretty close to its release. Long live Ensemble!

The Lost Noby Noby Boy and Damned Noby Noby Boy

This week saw the release of two completely different downloadable…things. One is the first of two expansion packs for Grand Theft Auto IV titled The Lost and Damned, and the second is a Playstation Network exclusive “game” from the creator of Katamari Damacy called Noby Noby Boy. As I said, both are completely different, but I downloaded both today and had the pleasure to experience some great new content and a strange…something.

The Madden Trials: Exclusivity in the game industry

As you may or may not know, EA Sports bought the exclusive rights to the NFL license in video games a few years back. And in September of last year, began the hearings to decide whether or not this is a “monopoly” in the gaming industry since it makes it impossible for 2K Games to continue their own NFL series. Here’s a bit more on the issue, but that leads me to today’s post. What does exclusivity mean in the gaming industry? Is this really a monopoly?