Well what do we have here … Monopoly is once again getting a make over !! This time around EA have a plan to bring this classic board game to fully living 3D world that evolves while your playing !!! This sounds like fun. It’ll be available on Wii, Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 and will be accompanied with online multi-player and unique downloadable content for both Xbox 360 and Playstation owners.
Monopoly Streets is scheduled to launch in fall of 2010. Finally a version of Monopoly that will not end in tears, despair or with someone losing their temper and throwing the board across the room, putting and abrupt end to the evenings entertainment… Hmmmm yeah right, who am I kidding… Monopoly always ends tears 😉
Ahhhh let the good times “roll” once again … double 6 .. woo hooo … Doohhhh GO TO JAIL !! :S
… and the mighty Sam sayeth unto him, “Let there be gore, let there be enemies, let their be 16 play co-op only on the PC”. [Excerpt from the Book of Sam]
Below are is Episode One of the “House of Sam videos, which is oddly entertaining and creepy at the same time. Also included is some gameplay footage which has up to 16 player co-op. Sadly the 16 player co-op is reserved to the PC version only. Most likely the XBLA version will again only have 4 player co-op.
Feeding Frenzy 2: Shipwreck Showdown Publisher: Popcap Developer: Popcap Platforms: Xbox 360 Release Date: September 17th, 2008
Story
“Chomp your way through an underwater mystery in Feeding Frenzy® 2: Shipwreck Showdown™! Play solo or with friends to dodge predators and eat your way up the food chain to save the sea in this sequel to the popular Xbox LIVE® Arcade game Feeding Frenzy. Play wild, wacky party games, and try to stay alive in Time Attack mode! Sixty spectacular levels, brand-new fish, and underwater scenes await!” [Via Xbox.Com]
There is an intruder in the waters where you live, and it is up to you to stop it. Control different fish as you eat your way up the food chain and get to the mysterious intruder. All is not well, and there are multiple obstacles that stand in your way. Can you succeed in saving your waters?
Gameplay
The gameplay found in Feeding Frenzy 2 is extremely straight forward. Swim around the area eating small fish to get bigger, and then bigger fish to become even bigger. Once you fill up your meter you beat the level and continue to the next. With endless lives through continuations, there isn’t really any penalty for dying. The only penalty would be starting over the level if you used up all 15 lives through 2 continues. Friends and Family that have absolutely no experience with games and sit down and laugh as you play the game.
The game has multiple different fish types to eat, as well as powerups and obstacles. Each powerup helps towards beating the level, while the obstacles hinder you. Powerups include speed boosts, fish shields, and more to be discovered. Obstacles include squids that blind you, poisoned fish that reverse your controls, and mines that instantly kill you. Certain levels will also throw other hindrances in your path such as pitch black surroundings that you need to light up to see the fish.
Younger players will get much more joy out of the game, as older players will get bored after a while. The game is simply too easy. No real challenge is present, and a normal gamer can beat the entire thing in a day.
Audio & Graphics
There isn’t really anything special about the Audio. Voice actors may have helped develop the characters and the soundtrack wasn’t memorable. The graphics were nice but they are also not really special. There are only a few backdrops and about 15 fish variations.
Achievements
The Achievements in Feeding Frenzy 2 are extremely easy. They just take time. One play through should get you a majority of the achievements. The miscellaneous achievements and party achievements can all be achieved with a dud controller as second player. The most annoying achievement is to complete Time Attack. Plenty of time is given to complete it, but after completing the game once, replaying it just feels too similar and you have to regainall your powerups.
The Achievement List is:
Frenzyfest Master – 15 – Come first in a Frenzyfest Tournament
Well Fed Fish – 25 – Accumulate 5000 fish in your food bank
Fast Food – 20 – Complete Time Attack!
Life of the Party – 15 – Compete in Party Games to accumulate 1000 Party Points
Mega Frenzy – 5 – Rapidly eat fish to max out the FRENZY meter in a single player game
Well Defended – 10 – Accumulate three simultaneous fish shields
Barracuda Bully – 25 – Score a ‘Barracuda Bonus’ by biting a barracuda’s tail four times in a row
School Teacher – 20 – Eat 500 entire schools of fish, or swarms of bugs
Flippin’ Good Time – 15 – Complete a Quadruple Flip
Secret Achievements
Fish Upgrade – 10 – Awarded for your first fish upgrade in the single player story mode
Full Tank – 15 – Awarded for unlocking all Fish Upgrades in the single player story mode
The Intruder – 25 – Awarded for defeating the Intruder and completing the single player story mode
Overview
Simple gameplay makes the game fun for the whole family, and added co-op features makes Feeding Frenzy 2 fun to play together. Multiple power ups and 60 levels create a fun relaxing game that anyone can enjoy. The game can get bland and repetitive if played by yourself and in long sittings, but it is still fun. A great purchase for kids and a fun experience for everyone else, but the overly simple game is unable to hold onto the enjoyment for extended periods of time.
I give Feeding Frenzy 2: Shipwreck Showdown
Pros
Fun for the whole family with co-op and party modes.
Easy to pick up and enjoy.
60 levels with gameplay twists and new powerups as you progress.
Let me get this straight. We get to play as a badass who takes mind numbing drugs, hits on all the hot ladies, cuts into tons of people, and the developers have reduced it all down to a bunch of minigames?
NBC Universal and Legacy Entertainment could be turning House’s badass persona into a Grey’s Anatomy love fest. Even with everything broke down into minigames House MD still looks like an interesting game that lets you solve 5 cases like House would, so it can’t be all bad.
I honestly can’t play DDR at all, let alone play other games using the pad. The video below shows Nick Hagman beating the game on the DDR pad. It took him 14 attempts and plenty of practice to complete the classic game. The video runs for 11 minutes, with certain parts sped up for to fit into youtube’s length limit.
The next game Nick plans to beat is Megaman 2, good luck man! That is all I have to say.
This has to be one of the best Street Fighter ideas I’ve ever seen. This short film entitled Street Fighter Legacy is created by actor, film-maker, and action choreographer, and martial artist Joey Ansah
Check it out below and for more information make your way over to his official website to find out every behind the making and inspiration behind creating this fantastic little film.
If only the official Street Fighter movie was as good as this.
The recent Medal of Honor Trailer emphasizes a different side of war. While other games usually show the carnage and the action, this trailer shows the more emotional side. You know, the side that actually feels pain when killing 100s of people.
“Medal of Honor is an authentic look into today’s war. Inspired by real people and real events, the game puts players in the boots of today’s warrior — from the infantry ground pounder to the Tier 1 Operator,” said Greg Goodrich, Executive Producer of Medal of Honor. “We are proud of this piece because it offers a glimpse into the game we’re creating, while also showing the mindset of these warriors.”
The EA blog further reveals information on the game by saying “The Medal of Honor single-player campaign is being developed by Electronic Arts in Los Angeles who has been working closely with Tier 1 Operators from the U.S. Special Operations Community to create the most authentic modern war experience possible. To compliment the single-player experience, EALA has enlisted the multiplayer expertise of EA Digital Illusions CE AB. Together these studios are poised to reset the franchise for a new generation this fall.”
Below is the trailer, and no that isn’t your phone it is in the trailer. Enjoy.
A few weeks ago it was announced in Japan that a Monster Hunter skin for Lost Planet 2 would be included as one of the game’s many ways to customise your characters. A PlayStation 3 exclusive and originally only planned for the Japanese release, we are pleased to confirm that the Rathalos Armour will now also be available to western gamers as a free download. This PlayStation 3 exclusive is scheduled to go live on PSN in late May.
Lost Planet 2 for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 will release across Europe and North America on May 11th.
The second video walkthrough, titled “What’s New,” details the enhancements and additions of one of the biggest, deepest, and most satisfying handheld roleplaying games of all time–particularly the inclusion of an all new playable female protagonist. This fresh new perspective to one of gaming’s most inventive narratives increases the replayability of a game already renowned for its length and depth, offering new dialogue, social links, story events, and romantic opportunities. Numerous additional improvements and enhancements serve to streamline the experience for optimal handheld RPG enjoyment.
Adding to the value of the upcoming handheld adaptation of one of the highest-rated role-playing games of all time, a special “Junpei” baseball cap is available as a pre-order bonus exclusively from Amazon.com, Amazon.ca, and GameStop/EB Games (in stores and online in the United States and Canada), and only while supplies last. The hat, modeled after the one worn by fan-favorite SEES member Junpei Iori, offers a rare collectible to celebrate while also serving as a rather convenient costume component for cosplay-minded gamers.
SMT: Persona 3 Portable is currently scheduled for release on July 6, 2010.
Alan Wake Publisher: Microsoft Developer: Remedy Entertainment Platforms: Xbox 360 Release Date: May 18th, 2010
Story
“When the wife of the best-selling writer Alan Wake disappears on their vacation, his search turns up pages from a thriller he doesn’t even remember writing. A dark presence stalks the small town of Bright Falls, pushing Wake to the brink of sanity in his fight to unravel the mystery and save his love.” [via Xbox.com]
You play as Alan Wake, who is a best-selling author with writer’s block. He goes on vacation with his wife in hopes to relax. Upon arriving in Bright Falls, and receiving a key to a lake cottage from a mysterious woman everything goes horribly wrong. Alan’s wife disappears and he finds himself inside one of his thrillers that he doesn’t remember writing.
As the intricate story unfolds you will want to keep playing to find out what happens next. When you finish one episode you will want to play the next to find out what happens; just like the set up of a TV series, which they draw inspiration from for their episodic level set up.
Gameplay
Alan Wake plays out like any other action thriller. Remedy has managed to take the basic gameplay; however, and mix it up to help Alan Wake stand alone from the crowd. As you explore Bright Falls and its surrounding forest you will heavily use light as a weapon. Darkness surrounds Bright Falls and you must first use your light to remove the darkness before you can harm the creatures. Extra tactics take place when you fight large groups of enemies with only your flashlight and a pistol. Your beam of light cannot target everyone and as you slowly remove the darkness from one enemy the rest will advance on you. Using cinematic dodges will help a lot but will take time to master. A cinematic dodge is a dodge you make right before an enemy strike that slows down time and gives you some time to think of your next step in the chaos
Ammo conservation is very important in Alan Wake. At first you will receive a lot of ammo, but the levels are decently long and ammo is scarce. Preserve your ammo, or you will be stuck with an empty gun and surrounded by multiple enemies. Aiming for the head helps, but due to the weird aiming system it may take some practice before you can easily dispatch enemies. By this time new enemies will be after you and adapting will have to commence. You can easily get surrounded by enemies without even knowing it which causes you to need to adjust your camera to hold them all back. This constant change keeps you on your toes, but makes you feel constantly against the odds. The constant camera changing can also cause trees or boulders to block your screen, but anyone who plays a lot of this type of game won’t be bothered by it much. Easier settings will help you ease into the game and is advised to be played first, but jumping right into the harder setting will present a challenge that you may find fun.
Collectables are abundant throughout Bright Falls and will call for multiple trips back on different difficulties in order to collect them all. Unlike other games, the collectables in Alan Wake aren’t all useless. Though the coffee thermoses and the can pyramids are in a general sense useless, the other collectables increase the depth of the story. Manuscripts which are scattered throughout the levels actually tell you more about the story which you are in. The downfall of the manuscripts is that they sometimes reveal what is about to happen before you actually do it.
Audio & Graphics
A brilliant soundtrack gives an ambient feel throughout every level within Alan Wake. The voice acting is also nice, but not all of it is of equal value. A few of the sounds overlap as well which interrupts the story. The graphics are also beautiful. Remedy has left no visual detail overlooked in the development of Alan Wake. The lighting and environment add to the atmosphere of the game, which adds to the thrill of the game.
Achievements
The achievements found in Alan Wake. A huge chunk of them are story related, while another huge chunk is for collecting achievements. The collecting achievements are not that difficult since the game keeps track of how many you have collected, and the episodic gameplay lets you jump to any level to collect on it. The levels are long, but luckily they are also split into sections for much more ease. The hardest achievement will be beating the game on Nightmare due to the enemies being stronger, but it is still manageable. Overall the achievement list is pretty good, and all of them are manageable.
Overview
Alan Wake is a fun experience that plays out like watching a TV show. Though it may be annoying at certain points, but it helps for a gamer who only plays one level a day. The gameplay follows closely with other action games of this type but the added light mechanic makes the experience more unique. With tons of collectables to get and an intricate story that will keep you wanting to find out what happens next, Alan Wake is a very good single player purchase. Alan Wake is story driven game that plays like reading a book or watching a TV series which is a fun experience.
I give Alan Wake:
Pros
Unique tactics that involve using light as a weapon.
A psychological story that will even get a watchful player second guessing himself.
Relatively large environments, collectibles, and multiple difficulty levels for added replay value if you are into collecting things.
Cons
Constantly running out of ammo if you aren’t careful and accurate.
Aiming your gun takes a while to get used too.
The manuscript pages give away the game before even playing it. Although they are a vital part of the story, don’t read them if you don’t want to know what’s about to happen.
