God of War

The Spartan warlord, Kratos, once was under the command of Aries, the God of War. Now, Kratos is on a mission from the Goddess of wisdom, Athena, to rid him of the sins from his past. God of War was developed by Santa Monica Studios and published by Sony Computer Entertainment. God of War was originally released on March 22, 2005 for the PlayStation 2 and was re-released as a HD collection bundled with God of War 2 on November 17, 2009 and available through the PlayStation Network or Blue Ray disc. This third-person action adventure game that takes you on a new mythological epic story. The controls for God of War are a typical beat-em up scheme in which you have a block, evade, light attack, heavy attacks, grabs, and any combo in between. The epic orchestral music keeps you in the moment with seamless transitions in between traveling and battle music. The color palettes used for each level gives the feeling of authenticity to the time period portrayed. A few issues I have come across are things like grabbing on the edges and evading. When falling off a ledge, you will find times to where you know you should have grabbed on a ledge and don't. I suggest getting prepared to be very frustrated. As while evading, you will find yourself being hit while evading even against the lightest of attacks. Overall, God of War is a very fun game to play and can be a proud addition to your platinum collection. God of War gets an -A.

Minecraft: Xbox 360 Edition

The Xbox 360 version of Minecraft was released on May 9, 2012. It was originally developed by Mojang for the PC and co-developed for the Xbox 360 by 4J Studios. This is a game that will keep you busy for hours at end for what seems to be for no reason at all besides to build what ever you can conceive. When you are first are introduced to your world, you may think to yourself "Why am I here?". You start off in a 8-bit block world with no items, tools, equipment, weapons, or armor. Everything you must create on your own. In this version of Minecraft, everything available to create is already visible to you when you have the appropriate ingredients, versus trying to figure out what goes where on your own like on the PC version. Just remember, make sure you make shelter as soon as possible so Creepers don't spawn on top of you and blow the area up. Unfortunately, it doesn't seem like everything in the full game is available to the Xbox version just yet. Minecraft does support four player online play and is recommended to play with others, especially while trying to make giant projects like a to scale Deathstar.

Mass Effect 3

     Mass Effect 3 was released March 6, 2012 on the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC. It was developed by BioWare and published by EA. If you haven't picked up the game yet then you are missing out on a lot of fun. You can expect the deep story, as in the first two games, and plenty of conversation. When you think of the first two games and the transition between the two, some would say that a lot of the RPG elements of the first were not carried over. If you agree, then you will be very pleased with Mass Effect 3.
    One element I am talking about was the ability to customize weapons. From the first to the second game, weapons and other options were less customizable than the previous game. Mass Effect 3 brings that back, bigger and better. Skill trees open up at the max level and allow you to choose between two options. Don't like the skill you just picked? Take some credits to the Med Bay and redistribute you skills. Weapons are now upgradable without having to search entire planets for the upgrades. Go to the arsenal and upgrade the weapons you have, add attachments, and purchase new equipment, armor, weapons.
    The Co-op Multiplayer is some of the most fun I have had in a game like this. Essentially a horde mode, your team gets dropped into an area that they have to recapture from the Reaper forces. What make this fun is the fact that instead of just making you survive wave after wave, objectives are implemented to keep things moving. One example is during a later wave of enemies, you will have to hold down a specific area, like a capture the hill game. This forces the squad to pick and move from their comfort zone. There are also multiple classes like Soldier, Sentinel, and Vanguards with multiple character models including the drell, krogan, and quarian. Each class and race has its own benefits and consequences regarding the biotics and technology that they each have.
     Kinect has been incorporated into the storyline of the game. This would be a great feature because it allows you to throw grenades by yelling "grenade", tell your party members to use biotics, abilities, or cover, and even other interactions like doors, pickups, and dialogue selections. Problem is that the Kinect still has the annoying response lag to your commands (maybe half a second). It will be a while until the Kinect works the way we want it to.

This is a great game and a must have.

    
  

Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Future Soldier

     Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Future Soldier was released on May 22, 2012 for the Xbox 360 and the PlayStation 3. A PC version will be released on June 12, 2012. It was developed and published by Ubisoft. This is a co-op game that we have all been waiting for since Rainbow Six: Vegas. Ghost Recon: Future Soldier features a solo campaign, co-op campaign, multiplayer, and Guerrilla mode. Future Soldier offers a rich co-op experience between the Guerrilla mode and the co-op campaign. Guerrilla mode tests your skills and abilities to communicate with your teammates through fifty waves of enemy infantry and vehicles, including helicopters.
     Campaign offers just as much intensity especially during co-op. Four-player co-op gives you and three teammates a complete experience using team work. Future Soldier makes you believe you are surviving as an elite squad and as one elite cohesive unit. One great example is when the squad forms up in a diamond formation and covers all sectors of the group, ultimately covering each others peripherals. You may find yourselves calling out each enemy to your squad mates, even though you might be playing offline and in single player.
    Just a few complaints: The controls and the graphics seem a little dated. The controls could be a little more fluid but the game play makes up for it. For instance, instead of holding the left trigger button, you have to toggle the right stick to aim down your sight. Graphics seem like we have seen them in the last Ghost Recon game but once again, the game play is more than worth the sixty dollars.
     There are quite a few bugs I've found a bit annoying. Checkpoints really seem to be the culprit, especially after dying and restarting the checkpoint. In one mission, I had to restart the entire mission because enemies that spawned inside a vehicle couldn't get out or be killed. Which, in turn, prevented the next check point and the progression to the next objective. In guerrilla mode I died a few times and bled out. Problem was I could still move about crawling around or I would bleed out and stay dead and died revive in the next wave.
    Gamestop offered the Signature Edition at the same retail price that gave codes for exclusive content including two exclusive weapons and weapon skins, an exclusive Guerrilla mode map, and forty-eight additional headgear. A friend from Gamestop said that they have plenty of copies and suggested that I drop in and ask for the Signature Edition. I did and am very glad I got to pick up all the goodies before settling for the regular copy.

NBA JAM: On Fire Edition

Remember hearing “From Downtown!!” and “He’s on fire!!” Then you will remember playing NBA Jam on the Sega Genesis. Electronics arts published and developed NBA Jam: On Fire Edition for the PSN and Xbox LIVE. With an E-rating so anyone at any age can enjoy this game, either for the first time or just revisiting an old favorite. This rebirth of a classic definitely enhances everything you loved about the original. The commentator not only tells when your “on fire” but also when you should be embarrassed when you’ve had the ball stolen right from your hands. New music in the game gives it a fresh feel with some beats you may think your familiar with.

 The controls are just as easy to get a handle on as there are just a few buttons that you need. To make things easier, some button combinations are mapped for ease of access. A couple new features Jam has, is the Road Trip mode, where you play each division of the NBA in Two-on-Two matches. You can play this mode as a single player or with a friend in co-op. Also, Jam Points allows you to unlock titles, icons, legendary players, and special effects. Arena allows you to play online against others for some head to head action. It’s even a great party game with the Jam Now mode. This mode allows you and three others to play a local game or online. The only thing I would possibly change is the fact that the AI is completely unforgiving. It seems as if you start to pull ahead the computer just completely becomes unstoppable. If your looking for a sports game to pass some time, hook up with friends, or even beat up on other gamers, then NBA Jam: On Fire Edition will give you what you need to get away from all those first person shooters and without the seriousness of other sports games. 

Bastion

Bastion is a game developed by Supergiant Games and published by Warner Bros in 2011. It has an E-rating and available on the PC and Xbox 360 as an action-adventure RPG. If you remember any of the games from back in the day, then you will remember how easy it was to pick up the controller and just start playing. Well, it is just as easy getting into this game. Using just six buttons on the 360, Bastion will take you back to the days of the SNES. I remember a game called Secrets of Mana, and specifically remember how many different colors it had in it.
 Bastion definitely compares to it and with the retro style they went with. Bastion has great graphics quality and I think it helps a lot being sixty frames a second, although it doesn’t seem like the player’s character is. The music in Bastion is perfect for the games entirety; from the moment The Kid wakes up and the first boss fight you know where you are in the story. Every moment you spend in the game, emotions are all expressed through the music. The music even perfectly fits the theme for the game. I enjoy the narrator of Bastion, speaking to the player as if telling them a story.
 Bastion takes you back the retro games you remember and loved playing at a younger age, and I am glad it did well at being the game that the developers wanted and that the consumers wanted. This game is very enjoyable to play and the story is extremely easy to just bury yourself into. This game is a must play and there really isn’t anything for the players to complain about.