F.E.A.R. 2:Project Origin

I had this game lying around and decided to pop it in and give it a go for some quick cheevos. I remember the first one was pretty shitty, so I was not expecting much. Some things I quickly noticed was that the graphics were slightly improved and so were the controls. The game feels pretty solid in those aspects. Another thing I must mention is that the game tries to portray itself as some kind of horror driven game, but it is as scary as Katy Perry's marriage to Russel Brand(what was that about?). The only thing horrifying about the game is it's lack of destination markers. If you ever wondered what it would be like for a game to not tell you where to go at all, you have hit gold with F.E.A.R. 2. You will get lost alot. At one point in the game I was trying to get into the building to fight Alma (Frankenstien) and couldn't get entry into the damn building. Only to find out I had to go back into the vehicle I had just gotten off of again. Why did I get off in the first place? The whole game is a by the numbers FPS experience. You can slow down time to destroy multiple foes that would other wise destroy you. The guns you get in the game are pretty good If you've played Half-Life 2 you have seen every gun this game has to offer. My favorite is the shotgun because you get to see the enemies explode into a pool of blood when you shoot them close range. The multi-player, yes I'm mentioning the multi-player,is as good as any aracde fps out there. Nothing here you will remember. You will probably have to boost the cheevos for this cause I can count in one hand the amount of people playing this online on a daily basis. All in all i recommend you get this game simply because it only costs 15 bucks now. The game really shines on its hardest difficulty becuase only then does it really give you a challenge. I enjoyed the mech boss battles, I feel I have to mention those as they were the only highlight of the game. My rating for this game? I give it a chicken wing rating. Just enough meat to keep you chewing, but  it will still leave you hungry.

Ron Zambie's Arcade: Crimson Alliance

I have recently been feeling burnt out from playing to many FPS, so I decided I wanted to play a good arcade rpg. I came across a game called Crimson Alliance and noticed it was for free. I began to download it only to figure out the game is free, but you have to download the characters seperatley. Each character costs 560 MS points and there are 3 of them. A warrior, a rogue, & a wizard. Luckily the game was on sale this week and I got all 3 characters for 800 MS points. I was impressed with the game immediatley as it reminded me of my favorite game Baldur's Gate. Hack & Slash RPGs are my favorite genre in videogames, so I was immediatley absorbed into the game. I will be honest and tell you I didn't have high hopes for this arcade game, but I am glad to announce that this game is AWESOME! The game design is very good. Nothing feels cheap in this game everything is well done. The hit detection is spot on and the enemy animations are fluid. The game says it has 4 player co-op, but there are only 3 characters to choose from; so I don't know how that works. I played two player co-op with my friend Munky and we experienced little to no lag. I think in the 3 hrs we played we got like 3 seconds of lag in one level. That is pretty good since it was an America to Canada connection. Also, your characters don't level up in the traditional sense. This game is like Borderlands in the sense that your character becomes stronger by finding equipment in chest during the levels, or by buying new equipment from shops. Gold becomes very important in the game as it helps you buy new expensive equipment that only serves to make you stronger. You can by armor,trhowing axes, enchanted weapons, or equipment. The equipment in this game is pretty good and has alot of strategic value. Some of the equipment you can get are health springs, throw this down and you can regenerate your teams health for a couple of seconds in the area in which the spring was set down. Turret guns that shoot arrows at any enemy that gets close to it. Monster Meat! Enemy hordes run towards the meat when thrown and are distracted for a few seconds; sorta like the pipe bomb in the Left for Dead series. You also have a power guage that fills up as you slay orcs. Once the guage is filled up you can unleash a special attack. Each of the 3 characters has a unique special attack. The rogue can slow down time allowing her to use her quick strikes to take down multiple enemies. The warrior can do a spinning attack that drains enemies of their health. The mage,well, I haven't used him yet, so I don't know what he does, but I'm sure its cool. You can also combo together these special attacks to take out hordes of enemies. The game has many secret areas filled with gold and traps. Enemies will use these traps against you, but you can also use the traps against them. You can pick up explosive barrels and poisonous urns and lob them at enemies to kill them. Crimson Alliance allows you to replay levels in an effort to find all the hidden loot, or to farm gold. It also has a game plus mode where you can take your powerful character over to a higher difficulty. In summation I really enjoyed this game and think it is a really good buy if you're looking to play a good Hack & Slash rpg. Remember its a free download and each character costs 560 MS points, so for 560 MS points you can have access to a well made game. I do recommend a buy.

Battlefield 3 Campaign

Just finished playing the Battlefield 3 campaign and I must say it was an awesome experience. The game uses lighting & sound to create a very realistic atmosphere. I've never really seen anything like it. I heard people say that the campaign was short, but I thought it was pretty long. I didn't clock the total gameplay time, but it felt long(thats what she said). The enemy and friendly AI was amazing. The only thing I didn't like about the enemy A.I. is that they could spot you  a mile away in total darkness. Wtf? The friendly A.I. was very helpful and actually helped you pass the levels by killing enemies! Impressive to say the least. The levels felt fluid and the scenerios at no time felt forced upon you. My favorite moment in the game is when a jet spots you in the middle of the "battlefield"(see what I did there) and then begins to stalk you and harrass you until you shoot him down. My favorite scenerio was when you are in the middle of a warzone and natural disaster strikes the city you are fighting in; The city is decimated by an earthquake and you have to fight your way out of complete chaos. Amazing! I thought that was a pretty unique scenerio. I very much enjoyed the campaign and thought the campaign was flawless. The only problem is that this has almost all been done before. Every war shooter campaign will feel the same through no fault of its own. Though, Battefield 3 threw in alot of enjoyable suprises. I loved the timed active button presses you had to press during the time active cutscenes. It made the game feel a little more realistic and it was cool to watch the fight scenes taking place on the screen. All in al, Battlefield was a surprisingly enjoyable ride.

Vigilante 8 Arcade

I had 400 ms points lying around, so I decided to go through the arcade and look for a cheap arcade game to buy. I came across Vigilante 8 Arcade and quickly got nostalgic about it. I remembered the great level design and wacky story lines for each character from the N64. So I download it expecting it to be a glorious remake of the original. I expected to play through huge,rich,luscious, fun enviroments and fight through 8 levels before I get to the final boss battle. Instead, I get 3 levels, with shitty and I mean shitty level design. You still have all the cool moves from before, but the game feels cheap as fuck. You will not be satisfied with this game. The whole experience will feel bland. Like drinking cool aid without sugar. There is alot missing from this game. The level design is uninspired at best. Stay away from this game at all costs and do not buy. It feels like one of those free Dorritos game they give away. Please for the love of humanity, DO NOT BUY THIS GAME! IT SUCKS!

Beast Mode Tips N Tricks

I've been playing Beast Mode for the past week & Onyxing the entire set of Medals for this mode
is not that hard. Here are some Tips N Tricks to get the most out of your Beast match.

 One thing I quickly learned is that the Retro Lancer is king from waves 1 - 5, so use the Savage Drone as much as possible till then. From waves 6 on, you will encounter heavier barriers that will
likely cause you to miss the battles and the kills if you don't choose your character wisely.
 I recommend using characters that can break barriers, such as the Mauler, Blood Mount & Boomer.
These characters will help you overcome the barriers & get the 7,000 points you need to unlock the heavies, such as the Armored Kantus, Berserker, & Savage Boomer.

Tactics
1. If you're looking to get the first blood medal in Beast Mode, use the ticker.
You gotta be fast & smart about your approach. You can only get
the first blood medal once in the 1st wave, after that you can't
get it anymore. The drawbacks are, if you fail or succeed by the
time you respawn the Savage Drones will have killed everything.

2.Remember the wretch can jump over the barb wire fences, in some
levels this can be an advantage.Plus he is fast & can stun enemies with his scream.

3.If you can, try to destroy everything from Turret Guns to
Decoys; you get very good points for that. A good team will leave
1 guy for last and run the clock while they destroy all the barriers for
maximum points.

4.If someone has already gotten the Berserker, choose someone fast
to follow him and steal the kills from under him. This way, you still
get some points. It is possible to out do the Berserker in the kills
department if done correct. I usually run after him with a Mauler
and steal all the kills.

5.If you got your Beserker already & you want to be cool like the Fonz,
just break all the Turret Guns & Barriers and let your buddies get the
kills, so they can get the heavies too.

6.Boosting the Onyx Medals: You can boost the Dismantler,Ruthless, &
Investor Onyx Medals by playing a private match solo. Get to wave 12 and use
the Berserker to destroy all the Barriers and get some kills.
Remember to not kill everyone, as you will need to die to start from
wave 12 again and achieve the maximum points towards your Onyx
Medals.

7. By dying and restarting on wave 12 you should be able to get at least 10 kills and 20 Barrier breaks before each death. Don't worry you won't run out of money. You will always be able to
afford the Berserker class, as long as you break stuff.

Well, this has been my little mini-guide to achieving maximum success on Beast Mode, happy hunting.