Duke Nukem Forever

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Duke Nukem Forever: PS3

Reviewed by: Aaron Waller

If you're interested in purchasing follow this link:

http://www.amazon.com/Duke-Nukem-Forever-Xbox-360/dp/B002I0HAC6

Story:

To begin telling you about the plot of this game, I should explain some of the history behind it.  Having the title Forever is quite ironic seeing as how this video game has been in production since 1995/1996.  The original Duke Nukem Forever was slated to be released in 1997.  Obviously this did not happen and ended up finally releasing this year 2011.  There is actually a huge history behind this game and I urge you to try and research it.  Out of any game in history I would have to say this one probably has the largest legend/jokes behind it.

The game begins in the Football stadium of the latest Duke Nukem game.  As any fan of the last Duke Nukem PC game would know, the antics run high and thick.  One of the first things I noticed about the game, that possibly foreshadowed my enjoyment through the game was walking up to a bathroom stall and grabbing a turd.  The quotes that Duke relays to the player are priceless and classic and range in vulgarity.  At first like most games and first person shooters it allowed the player to become accustomed to the controls and the character you are playing.  The former emperor from the previous game is your target and it ends up being rather easy.  Just dodge his attacks and collect the ammo drops your allies drop off for you by chopper.  After defeating the boss Duke will take a moment to really show the aliens who is boss and desecrate the emperors body, classic.
The game progresses hilarious quotes and antics ensue.  The story line is actually very basic, eventually the aliens start to attack.  At first the aliens only attack anything related to Duke, whether you live there, or your name is in the title ex: Duke Burger.  It starts to look like the Aliens are really only after Duke for revenge from the last time Duke and the aliens met. But eventually it ends up the way any great alien invasion ends up, and the aliens begin to kidnap women from Earth.  Of course I believe the women that are kidnapped are actually employees (strippers) from Dukes strip clubs.  Duke could barely handle the aliens attacking his tower, and burger business but when they took his women the fight was really on.

Game design & Graphics:

Now to be honest and fair, the graphics here are not that great.  It was almost like playing on the original XBox, or even an earlier game for the 360.  I played the PS3 version, so that alone tells you they did not take any extra time to up the graphics for PS3 users.  I found only one section of the game that had a design/programming error a.k.a. bug. But it didn't lessen the game experience any, if anything I made jokes about Duke having too much to drink.
That was the bad news, the good news however is simply just common sense for any gamer out there that likes a game passed its graphics.  Sadly I think the newer age gamers out there put the graphics before the story, or in Duke Nukem Forevers' case the graphics turn them away from its inner awesomeness.  I've read the reviews out there on this game, and I respect that opinion.  However I also think that most of those critics were either forced to grow up and leave fun behind them, or they were pressured into thinking like everyone else.  The graphics were not great, frankly they sucked.  But in Dukes' case I'm not basing my experience solely on this alone.

Overall game-play re-play value:

As I was saying previously I will not be taking the graphics of this game as a main basis for my review.  The story was "old" as critics liked to put it, but old for who and what?...  The only game in history as far as I'm concerned that uses Dukes' plot is Duke himself.  The last game he had was in the mid 90's, which means half of the demographic for this game was not around then or can only remember random acts of Duke awesomeness.  So the story itself might be "old" to you old farts out there, but for me it was a great time reminiscing of those times I found pissing in a game hilarious (I still do).
I remember playing it for the first time when it FINALLY came out, and the thing that made me realize how fun this game was going to be was a toilet floater.  That's right, poop.  I grabbed the turd and Duke said "What now, s--t finger painting?".  That made my day, and my entire gaming experience.  In Duke Nukem Forever you can interact with almost anything, from microwaves to "personal massagers".  They will even reward you for interacting with the environment on occasion.  Of course like I said earlier you can even use the bathroom in game, which has always been an important staple in the Nukem franchise.  I think the best thing about this game, isn't its story or game-play. It was just the opportunity to be a grown kid, having fun with the vast amounts of inappropriate moments and quotes.
The re-play value for this game is low, I don't know if I'll be playing it again.  I only see myself playing it again if it takes another 18 years to come out with a sequel.  Which is very possible, considering its unfortunate and legendary past.
I recommend this game for anyone looking to just forget about looks and enjoy the immature kid that is in all of us. Of course because of its language and sexual content I would avoid letting your children play this, or even watch you play it.  Play this game by yourself or with friends that just want to watch, while your kids and wife (or whomever) are out.

Game-play photo found:
http://www.amazon.com/Duke-Nukem-Forever-Playstation-3/dp/B002I0JBL4/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1320220730&sr=8-2

In Service to the Emperor
Photo origin unknown

Aaron Waller 11/2/2011

Dragon Age Origins

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Dragon Age Origins on PS3

Reviewed by Aaron Waller

Purchase the game here:

http://www.amazon.com/Dragon-Age-Origins-Playstation-3/dp/B001IK5TJI/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1295913976&sr=8-4

Story:

Ok so for once I really cant write what the personal story is for you.  After all there are a lot to choose from.  In each race there are 2 ways you can normally go, and each has their own background and history.  The two basic ones of course are the humans, which is what I'm going to be writing about.  Or at least the Warrior class, its the most basic storyline and character and actually the only one I've almost beaten.  For my character I made him a male, so things are a little different depending on what gender you take but mostly small words like sister and she/her sort of things.  You start out as the son of a well known and well liked Noble Man, who has his own estate or castle and his own troops.  There is word of a "small" amount of Dark Spawn making its way onto the surface from below and everyone is preparing to send a small amount of troops to fight them off before it starts another Blight.  Your brother leads this team of men either with or against your blessing, and you don't really ever see him again (remember I'm near the end but have not finished).  With half of the men that were guarding your castle gone, your fathers friend Arl Howe (I think please correct me if I'm getting that mixed up) gets into a bit of a quiff with your father.  While all this is happening a strange man, or at least strange to you comes into town to have a talk with your father.  This man Duncan is what everyone calls a Grey Warden.  The Grey Wardens are basically what their name entails they are he/she whom defend the world from the Dark Spawn, mainly the Blight should one happen to occur.  They Ward off evil wherever it hides or attacks, its just what they do.  Coincidence?  I think not.  During the night while you're asleep the castle comes under attack.  Its the Arl's men and they are attacking everyone that they see.  Eventually leading to you escaping the castle with Duncan (whom I think happens to be voiced by Liam Neesen) after the inevitable deaths of your parents inside their own castle walls.

That is one origin story among many others in this game.  I recommend that you try and play to the end of each possible one.  It will actually help you in your journey with whom ever you decide to finish the game with.  Because from what I can tell, each one of them somehow intersects with the other.  For example, I am the human knight and I've just now come across an Alienage which had a riot break out and left a powerful man dead.  In the Dalish City Elf story you end up getting revenge Mel Gibson style (no not against your wife or Jewish police women) and you kill the Arl watching over the Alienage.  Turns out that's the area I'm trying to get into now, as a human.  So if not for the trophies, or Achievements then just to help you get a total understanding of the big picture.

On this they've done a fantastic job.  The sheer amount of story that comes from this game is huge, not only is the game 20 to 50 hours long but it has 8 or more to choose from (I'm not going to count).  And they did a great job on the stories they've chosen to use in this game.  I could probably do without the Woodland Dalish Elf story, but so far the others are pretty rich and unique.  It really does bring you into their world, and if you're not a D&D fan you will be or you'll have a better understanding of what its all about just by playing a little bit of this game.

Overall Score

5 out of 5

Gameplay and Controlling:

The game basically works like an action RPG, where you have the option to stop the battle or regular game anytime you wish in order to select an action for any of your characters to take.  Lets say I want to cast Frost weapons for all my characters.  I would press the L2 button and then select the character with that spell ability.  In my case it happens to be a powerful witch called Morrigan.  After selecting the the ability your character automatically uses the spell, even if it had a prior command locked in.  There are more detailed ways in which you can command your party, but it would take a while to explain and example.  The controlling of your characters is rather smooth, and a great mix between strategy, and action.  For D&D fans everywhere I believe you will be pleased.  Otherwise I never had a major issue with controlling any of my characters.  I did have an issue where it got stuck on the action reticule but all I had to do was press start and go back into the game.  So I wont use that against the game.  The game handles rather well in all other respects.  If anyone is a fan or has watched, been apart of a D&D game this works a lot like that, but without the dice.  Everything is handled electronically of course which makes this version of a D&D game well worth a shot by all Role Players.  If you're ever at home and your geekdom requires a Dungeon Master and a group of adventurers this game takes care of that need.  The max level for the Origins game is lvl 20, so as from what I found out plan everything out beforehand.  Some of the abilities I wanted, I'm no longer able to have since I had just reached the max level.

Overall score

5 out of 5

Overall game

Overall Dragon Age Origins is a great game.  It doesn't just tell you a story, but you actually get to live it.  Like a choose your own story book, in this game your choices change the outcome of the game.  Either for good or bad, whatever you chose is what you get.  BioWare is amazing at choice, and immersion.  They are slowly becoming my favorite gaming company.  All they have to do is keep making games like Mass Effect and Dragon Age and I'll be happy.  I do recommend this game for everyone, but children do need to either have a parents permission or a parents censorship at certain points.  The game is made for Adults, there is a lot of blood and some old uses of language.  If you do certain things right in the game you can even have a relationship with one or (more) of the characters.  So please be forewarned parents this game is not for the kind at heart.  But you will love this game, and despite not being great for younger players this game would be great for any adventurous parent or teenager.

Overall game score

5 out of 5

Personally this game makes my top 10 list.

www.Amazon.com

In service to the Empire
Reviewed by Aaron Waller 01/24/2011

Fable 3 Review

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Fable 3 only for XBox 360

Reviewed by Aaron Waller

Purchase new or used games here:

http://www.amazon.com/Fable-III-Xbox-360/dp/B002I0JGDM

Story:

The story begins not as a child this time, but as an early adult.  You are a prince/princess depending on what you chose to be, and the youngest child of the last ruler the Great Hero King of Albion.  Yes you heard that right, we're back to Albion.  Only in this chapter of the series we are 50 *Thanks to a helpful reader, 100 years would be a long time for an old king wouldn't it?  lol* years after the last game ended.  If you did finish the 2nd Fable, then you hopefully realised that you are now the King of Albion.  In the 3rd game you actually play as your child, however from what I've seen you are not a child taken from your previous save.  So thank goodness you start out STD free.  However if you play like I do, and try to have a spouse in every town that will not stay true for too much longer.  As of right now my character has 3 STDs, its probably good that it doesn't tell you what your character has.  You are the youngest child of 2 (that I'm aware of so far), and are rudely awoken one morning by your loyal butler who happens to be voiced by the greatly loved John Cleese.  You're eventually after learning how to control your character imposed by your brother to choose who lives and who dies, the choices are your best friend/love interest and a few towns folk.  I myself chose my best friend, either because I'm a bastard or just selfish but who really knows right?...  You're taken by your teacher and master swordsman to a secret exit in the castle to escape your brothers inevitable wrath for standing against him.  It turns out to be a good thing, which is normally true for these genre of games because your brother turns out to be a psychotic ruler whom threatens to rule with an iron fist and move even the mountains to his will.

Overall Score

4 out of 5 (Story was much better than Fable 2)

Game Play & Control:

Fable 3 controls fairly the same as the 2nd with the exception of your magic and various conversation buttons.  These conversational options which are given to you I would myself give a negative critique to.  I'm a fan of the 1st and 2nd Fables conversational wheel, where you could choose a reaction or conversation starter that fits your characters reaction to a particular NPC.  In the 3rd game you're only given 2 options, a good and a bad reaction.  If you wanted to be bad to someone by threatening them right away, you would have to go through an entirely different set of bad actions before getting to that point.  Same goes with the happy, or good feelings.  I was very frustrated with this option, I almost rarely until recently kept from using this option but in order to obtain optional missions or missions that progress the story you have to use it.  The magic on the other hand is a different story.  I am thankful for the easier use of your magical prowess, and the ability to mix different magical elements together.  My personal favorite is the fire fused with tornado or wind, its not the most powerful combination but it sure is the best looking.  Like the other games all you do is press the b button, and either let it go or aim with your left thumb stick to use your magic.  You can also hold down the b button to strengthen your magical attacks.  The big difference comes when you can change your magical element.  In the 3rd game you're given a gauntlet to cast your magic from, in the other games you are the instrument of your magic.  I tend to like this choice better, instead of getting flustered in the middle of battle by worrying about your character and what kind of spell you're going to cast next, you can escape the battle and switch your gauntlet.  However sometimes this can cause trouble as well.  Sometimes you just need to choose on the fly, if you leave and come back you might not be as prepared as you thought you would be.  The only other thing I can think of to point out would be how the game seems to have advanced in technology compared to the other two games.  Its good to see it actually reflect an actual timeline advancement, unlike the other two where 1,000 year difference didn't really change much more than the environment.  Fable 3 is a good and faithful addition to the other 2 Fables from what I've seen so far.  I would recommend this game to anyone who is not only a fan of the series but a fan of adventure and fantasy.

Overall Score

3 out of 5 (Same 'ol stuff, but a little lacking)

Updates and Summary:

I've recently actually beaten the game, and have some words on the overall game and the ending itself.  For starters I do remember sitting down and feeling a combination of rage, anger, and sadness towards the makers of the 2nd Fable game for its ending.  The game built up for a huge climax, and let me down poorly.  It was probably the easiest boss I have ever fought, I'm sorry I mean the easiest boss I never fought.  I thought it was interesting that they tried to change the mechanics of the ending, being that you don't really fight a last boss, and it was geared more towards the story.  But there are some things in the gaming industry that you just don't mess with.  One of those is having a boss worth killing, or just defeating.  Maybe in our children's future perhaps, but right now for the gamers of my generation just don't please.  Ok *phew* I'm done, now on Fable 3 they must have traveled forward in time to read my review and go back in time to work on a better ending.  Now not to get your hopes up, the end was rather easy.  But it wasn't press and hold the A button easy, for those of you who don't know what I mean that's how you beat the boss in the 2nd game.  I know right?  ...   But the battle itself and the battle happening around the town was well worth a thumbs up for bringing back the way things should be.  It also kind of made me tear up in the end, which is always a plus.  I do by the way have to congratulate everyone on the team that made this game, for creating the kingdom part of the game.  I really would like to see more of this implemented in more games, and to even greater detail.  I'm a Sims fan as well, and I love control.  Giving the player control of what future Albion has was amazing.  I actually felt like I was the king, and that to me is what made this game.  It was short, and not as detailed as I would have liked, but its a beginning and it was original.  Thank you guys for making such a great game, and I look forward to scoring the 4th game.

Overall game score

4 1/2 out of 5

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In service to the Empire
Reviewed by Aaron Waller 01/24/2011

The Saboteur, Review

Welcome, and Thank you

http://www.ea.com/news/pandemic-studios-launches-the-saboteur

The Saboteur: PS3

Reviewed by Aaron Waller

To purchase this game visit Amazon.com at

this site: http://www.amazon.com/Saboteur-Playstation-3/dp/B00149ILDO

Story:

You, Sean are a Scotsman, from Scotland.  Brought to France with the hopes to escape a troubled life.  Your best friend a Frenchman accepts you into is house, where his father a mechanic and former racer puts you to work.  In the meantime it is just the beginning of the Nazi occupation of France.  The story goes on a little longer, and you meet your arch Nemesis _____.  Basic plot for this game is revenge. Probably the most simplistic, but reliable plugs in the industry.  It takes some doing, but the French resistance and Allies end up getting you to do their dirty work.  Your main time in the game will be spent will be spent sabotaging and committing espionage in free play events all around France.  The rest will be concluding the story line, I myself am only 35% through because killing Nazi's in a GTA style is a dream come true, so to me the free play events are where this game shines.

Over all score

4 out of 5

Game play & controls:

Like I said before your main time spent playing will be used to destroy and kill Nazi posts, armor, and propaganda.  You can do this any number of ways.  You can plant bombs (either timed or detonated), vehicles, grenades or rockets.  One of my favorites though would have to be when you plant a bomb in your car, drive/aim at your target and jump out.  Hopefully if you did it right, you wont be dead, but they will be.  The player controls Sean in a 3rd person shooter style orientation.  You can take cover, call for back up, and even request a getaway vehicle.  Which if you're lucky you can do some massive damage while getting away.  But usually you just try to get the hell out of that spot.  The controlling of the vehicle can just depend on what vehicle you have at the time, but most of them actually handle better than GTA 3 & 4.  While playing you will accomplish certain goals, these goals go towards obtaining perks.  These perks are very relevant to the game, unlike some other video games.  I have so far achieved about 80% of the perk choices.  My favorite so far would have to be the trigger dynamite RDX.  You will have fun playing this game, along with the story there are a lot of opportunities to make Nazi Germany pay.

Overall Score

5 out of 5

Side note:  The game can be highly offensive to some players.  I would advise people 17 and older, only, to play this game.  It has strong language throughout and it can get bloody at times.  There is also a PSN d/l that you can get where it takes the pasties (censored covered breasts) away.  But otherwise, if you're looking for a good open world blow 'em up game?  This is the one for you.

Overall Game Score

4 1/2 out of 5



 



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In Service to the Empire
Reviewed and written by: Aaron Waller 01/07/2011

Welcome, and Thank you

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Mass Effect 2: X-Box 360

Reviewed by Aaron Waller

Purchase Mass Effect 2 Here: http://www.amazon.com/Mass-Effect-2-Xbox-360/dp/B001TORSII/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1292750418&sr=8-1

Summary:

Mass Effect 2 is by far a superb storyline in a video game setting.  I remember when I was growing up, and up until recently sequels were worse than maggot food.  However this new century has brought a flood of talent in the sequels genre.  Such as Toy Story 2 & 3.  Like the first game, you play endearing Commander Shepard. However unlike the first the beginning is a blast!  Never and I mean never, have I ever bore witness to such a mind blowing intro.  You, Commander Shepard are on the USS Normandy as its commanding officer.  Your mission?  To continue saving every ones butt that resides in the Milky Way Galaxy.  I wont spoil anything for you, but the game ends just as it began, with a bang.  Mass Effect 2 relies heavily on a deep storyline enriched from your continued save from the original.  If you have not had the chance to play the original I would advise you do so.  If not that's OK too, you just end up missing a 1/3 of the plot, question Shepard's previous companions and are stuck with a background Bio Ware gives you.  Other than the story the action is pretty much the same.  I would say its redundant and unoriginal, but they've managed to blend the story with the action better this time.  The armor and gear setup is different, and on this I was a bit upset with the new change.  I again appreciate the motive of doing something new, but the first game was spot on with its gear menu.  It was nice to have the powers that change your ammo, but I thought being able to switch and mix match upgrades allowed me more involvement and uniqueness in the genre.

Overall game score:

4 1/2 stars out of 5

*One of my personal favorites, among 1 out of 10.