Dead Rising 2: Case West -- All-In-One.

I have completed the stand alone Xbox Live Arcade epilogue that is Dead Rising 2: Case West. I earned the two hundred achievement points. Case West features the long awaited return of the original Dead Rising's Frank West. The gameplay of Case West is a little more focused than what's available in the full game. It's roughly the same size as the area in Case Zero, and about as complex, which is to say not very. As in Case Zero, you'll only get the one psychopath battle. There are nine or so survivors to find and help. The combo weapons return and there are handful of new ones to create. There is a collection aspect in having to destroy security cameras for an achievement, and photographing all the PP stickers for another. Overall gameplay wise, Case West offers another bite sized taste of Dead Rising just like Case Zero. The real draw of Case West was in the return of Frank West and the potential story revelations. As far as Frank West's return, it's good to see the character back and his slightly adversarial relationship with Chuck Greene is well done and their banter is fun to listen to. His character model however is not. The model looks awful in my opinion. He looks like Dan Aykroyd on a bad day. Also the big story revelations are sort of a letdown. Nothing revealed is beyond what you've already figured out and amounts to nothing more than a small tease for Dead Rising 3. I'd have to say overall it's a must play, but wait for the eventual Xbox Live sale. I'm giving Dead Rising 2: Case West a 7.

The Saboteur -- All-In-One.

Again with being late and lazy. I have completed The Saboteur with the full thousand points with forty-seven hours worth of effort. The Saboteur was developed by Pandemic Studios and published by Electronic Arts. Pandemic Studios is now defunct with The Saboteur being their final game. The Saboteur is an open world sandbox title set in 1940 Nazi occupied France. You play as an Irish racecar driver who goes on to inspire the French Resistance. The game features a rather stylized visual style like something out of a graphic novel. The game kicks off with the world in black and white and raining to represent the oppression of the Nazis. There are splashes of color in the yellow city lights and the red of the Nazi flags and the swastika armbands and the blue of the French Resistance. It's a very striking visual style that I rather enjoyed. As you progress through the story you'll return color and clear sunny days to the world which represents an inspired French Resistance for that area. Beyond that the game otherwise plays like Grand Theft French Resistance. You're free to roam the world doing what you'd like in between the story and side missions. When you're not on a mission there are over a thousand free play targets to destroy. These include radio towers, sniper nests, propaganda loudspeakers, Nazi generals, anti-aircraft guns, tanks, V-1 Flying Bombs, V-2 rockets and radar installations. There are also monument postcards, vehicle jumps, and scenic spots to find and collect. The game features the climbing and stealth of Assassin's Creed mixed with the mayhem of Grand Theft Auto mixed with De Blob's color revolution and Just Cause's sabotage. The Saboteur really is a mix of a lot of games. They've thrown in everything but the kitchen sink. As far as story is concerned, The Saboteur is firmly tongue-in-cheek. It comes off as very pulp and isn't taking itself too seriously given the subject matter. The voice work is rather decent. I guess it depends on your tolerance to German and French accents. Musically the game features roughly ten tracks from the era, only a few of them vocals. They do a decent job of helping with a sense of time and place but become a tad repetitive after a while. Which is also the biggest complaint I'd have with the title's gameplay overall. There are too many free play targets to avoid repetitiveness. Clearing out the free play targets in an area makes the missions there so much easier that it's something you'll want to do, but it just drags on after a while. I enjoyed the game though and it's an all around solid game well worth the asking price you'll find it for these days. I'm giving The Saboteur a 7.5.

Castlevania: Lords of Shadow -- Final Opinion.

I have completed Castlevania: Lords of Shadow with the full thousand points. I have to say I'm impressed. This is how you do a reboot in my opinion. The limited edition of Portrait of Ruin came with a chart that had the timeline of the previous series explained in detail. That's how convoluted the story for the series had become. You needed a freaking chart to attempt to make any sense of it. Konami has done away with all that and MercurySteam has started over, at the beginning, before even Dracula exists. MercurySteam tell a very straight story. A story of love, betrayal, corruption, and the nature of good and evil. They also don't shy away from the religious overtones. They tackle everything head-on. I also was also initially sort of perplexed by the pacing but came to really enjoy it. They take their time. Something not many video game stories have the guts or the skill to do. You don't even get to the castle itself until the middle third of the game. And you'll be done with it before the final third of the game. This isn't your father's Castlevania. It feels entirely fresh. And I have to say that the after the credits tease is about the best one I've ever seen. It answers some questions, raises a bunch more, and shocks. Konami has had trouble creating 3D versions of the series. In a post God of War action game world, the solution became a little clearer. I really liked the combat of the game. Sure it's a God of War clone, but it does everything very well. The combat feels visceral and I enjoyed the light and shadow aspects to the battle system. The controls work perfectly and they pace the learning of new techniques rather well. You're constantly having to deal with new mechanics. I also came to really like the chapter system and the trials provided good challenges and a reason to replay every stage. Graphically the game is just impressive. It's perhaps the best looking game on the system. It still suffers a bit from that too shiny aspect of this generation's overall graphic design. The art direction is stellar. Everything just looks cool from environmental to creature and character designs. The voice work was also well done all the way around. Not a bad voice in the bunch and Patrick Stewart lends a bit of class to the game as with most voiceover work he's done. I truly enjoyed my time with Castlevania: Lords of Shadow and I'm giving it a 9. I can't wait for a sequel, especially after that tease after the credits. Now, what to play next...

Dead Nation -- All-In-One.

Again this one is a little late. I've been playing Dead Nation on the PlayStation 3. Dead Nation was developed by Finish developers Housemarque and published for the PlayStation Network by Sony Computer Entertainment. Housemarque previously had a hit with Super Stardust HD on the system. Dead Nation is a twin stick shooter set in a zombie apocalypse and heavily inspired by Left 4 Dead. I find the game to be great fun. Graphically it's rather impressive and features some of the best lighting and shadow I've ever seen. Everything casts a wonderfully realistic shadow. Which is impressive considering how dark the world is and that the two players carry flashlights attached to their guns. So the characters cast light anywhere they're actually aiming. Dead Nation features an impressive number of zombies on screen at one time. A literal flood of them at times. In fact the game is really about crowd control. The game provides a bunch of tools for the player to use to do just that. There is a good deal of strategy involved in best using your limited resources. Especially on the harder difficulty levels in co-op games. When you're on your game you'll never be touched. You'll herd hundreds of zombies to their demise without a scratch. The game features, for lack of a better term, special infected. Boss type mutations that show up to wreak havoc. Exploding fat zombies, screaming things that call hordes of zombies to come running, acid spitting mutant baby worm like things, leaping giants and a variety of giant that has blades for hands. There is also an impressive level of variety to the standard zombies. The game will give you your money's worth, especially if you're going for the platinum trophy. It's surprisingly large and has some great replay value. I'm truly impressed by the game and I'd seriously consider it in the running for downloadable title of the year. I'm giving Dead Nation a 9.

Castlevania: Lords of Shadow -- Initial Impression.

I'll be playing Castlevania: Lords of Shadow on the Xbox 360. Castlevania: Lords of Shadow is intended as a reboot of the Castlevania series. Faced with ever diminishing returns on the stale handheld Symphony of the Night clones, the disastrous fighting game on the Wii, and unsuccessful attempts at console iterations of the series over the years Konami had little choice but to start over. Konami tasked Spanish developers Mercury Steam with development, with supervision by Kojima Productions. The game was of course published by Konami. Longtime series producer Koji Igarashi has had nothing to do with the game. From the time I've spent with the game thus far, which amounts to through the first boss, the game initially comes off as a rather drastic departure from the series. The game is a 3D action title that follows the standard path. You know the drill, light and heavy attacks, combos, jump, block, dodge rolls, sub-weapons, magic, and quick time events. The game really only feels like Castlevania in name only at this point. I'm using a chain whip, I'm controlling a Belmont, I'm fighting dark fantasy creatures somewhere in Eastern Europe sometime around 1,000 AD. Maybe the biggest reason it has yet to feel like Castlevania is the music. I haven't heard any track from the series thus far. It's all new. And it's all cinematic score in style. I can say the game sure does look great. The graphics are impressive, in a too shiny sort of way. The controls seem solid. I'm also struck by how segmented the game is in its structure as well as how cinematic they've gone with the game. Lots of camera pans to reveal this or that. My interest has definitely been piqued. I'm looking forward to seeing where this goes.

Splinter Cell: Conviction -- All-In-One.

I've been lazy again and haven't updated. After Epic Mickey I went into Splinter Cell: Conviction, spurred on by a $15 sale on Amazon and fifty percent off the download content sale the same week on Xbox Live. I had this game preordered originally, the limited edition even. But then the demo hit and it caused me to cancel. Splinter Cell: Conviction was developed by Ubisoft Montreal and published by Ubisoft. The series has always had leapfrogging teams developing the games. Montreal developed the original Splinter Cell, Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow, and Splinter Cell: Conviction. Ubisoft Shanghai developed Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory, and Splinter Cell: Double Agent. In my opinion the series took a serious misstep with the fourth entry in Double Agent. Both in story and gameplay. Splinter Cell: Conviction was originally announced in 2007 with a release date for the same year. The reveal did little to assuage the fear I now had for the series because of Double Agent. It featured a longhaired and bearded Sam Fisher on his own being hunted by Third Echelon based on the events of Double Agent. He had the ability to blend into crowds in an Assassin's Creed sort of way. It appeared as a very drastic change, to the point of it not seeming like Splinter Cell anymore. Needless to say the fan reaction wasn't great and it never made its 2007 release date and was put on hold as it was taken back to the drawing board so to speak. The game finally resurfaced in 2009 and made its 2010 release date. The game now looked like Splinter Cell with a focus on action. Which is sort of a shame as Splinter Cell has never really been about action. Splinter Cell was the one stealth game that really was about stealth. It had decent stories and smart characters with great banter and the best stealth based gameplay in existence. All of that changed when Double Agent took the gameplay, story, and characters and drove them over a cliff. I have completed the main game of Splinter Cell: Conviction. I've been through most of the online modes. Magus and I are still working our way through the Last Stand mode for the remaining achievements and then we'll tackle the download content. Graphically Splinter Cell has never looked better. I personally like the black and white representation of being in the shadows. Magus however does not and would prefer the older game's meter on the HUD. Musically I'm not that impressed as honestly I can't even remember the music beyond the pounding full alert theme. And this is for a game I'm currently playing. Michael Ironside has done his normally great job of providing the voice of Sam Fisher. As a story Conviction does a rather admirable job of picking up the pieces from Double Agent although you can see everything coming from a mile away. The gameplay of Conviction is fine for what it is. But it's really no longer classic Splinter Cell. It's way too focused on action. Ubisoft has attempted to ditch the image the series had established with the first three games as being too hard. As being unforgiving. So now if you mess up, you can just blast your way out of most situations. I've resigned myself to the fact that Xbox era classic Splinter Cell is gone forever. Especially now that Conviction has sold as well as it has. I'm pretty sure Magus is a lot less forgiving as I am on this one. I think I might have been far more critical at a $60 price point, but at $20 for game and download content, Splinter Cell: Conviction has been fun enough. I'm giving Splinter Cell: Conviction a 7.5. I still have a few days left with the game for those achievements, and I'll have an entry on what else I've been playing, but as for what's next, that's going to take some real thought...

Epic Mickey -- Final Opinion.

I have completed one playthrough of Epic Mickey. My initial impressions bore true through to the end. Warren Spector had an inspired original concept. The concept of a world of forgotten Disney characters and having it accidentally turned into a wasteland by the world's most famous cartoon character was brilliant. The real life events in the character of Oswald the Lucky Rabbit and the subsequent creation of Mickey Mouse couldn't have been more perfectly suited for such a story. As a concept and story Epic Mickey is a great success. It's also a great success as Warren Spector's love letter to all things Disney. I have to wonder how the game comes off to those without the understanding of Disney history. The more you're a Disney fan, the more you're likely to enjoy the game. Your knowledge of Disneyland itself will also aid in your enjoyment. Most of the signature rides and attractions at Disneyland past and present feature in the game as locations. What's most amazing is how Spector has taken what's easily the most quintessential aspects of what Disneyland is and put them in the game. The story and presentation sides of the game are truly impressive. The graphics and music are well done. Especially in using some of the music from the original cartoons. The game is not perfect however. There are some technical issues and some design choices that will have you scratching your head and wondering why. On the technical side, the camera just plain sucks. It will actively fight your progress in certain situations. The platforming action seems a little amateurish. You'll jump to something and slide off. You won't grab a ledge when you should. It feels like this is the first time anyone at Junction Point has ever worked on a game of this genre. It doesn't feel polished. On the design side of things you'll wonder why things you repair don't stay that way when you leave and return to an area. Assuming you can return. You'll wonder why they made the decision to lock out action areas. If you talk to this character instead of that one you might accidentally clear the area and you won't be able to return there. You'll have to forget any quests you might have had for the area or any of the collectible items that might have been there. There were numerous times when I was asking myself why did you do that as it seemed like the wrong design choice to me. Ultimately Epic Mickey is a fun and worthwhile game. It feels like Warren Spector had a grand vision and his team at Junction Point just didn't have the experience to fully realize it and maybe six more months might have made the difference between a good game and a great game. I'm giving Epic Mickey an 8.