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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.

Super Scribblenauts NDS review

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Supper Scribblenauts NDS

Reviewed By: Aaron Waller

Buy the game here at Amazon.com

Storyline, & Concept:

Super Scribblenaughts is the sequel to the original Scribblenaughts for Nintendo DS. The original gave you, Maxwell, a few options as far as playability goes. The levels were 1 through 10, and each one of those had 10 additional sub levels. Each section was based on a certain type of environment and in some cases played a role in figuring out the puzzle that lay ahead. For each sublevel there were two choices, and you could play either or both. The first, my favorite option was the puzzle option. The level had an objective to complete, and you had to type in words in the games dictionary to create the items you needed to accomplish that goal. The other option for each sublevel was more based on action, fighting, &/or rescuing/protecting a character. A lot of these levels were very fun, but I found it to be quite aggravating when I would type something in, and it would not accept it or it would be something different than what you wanted. That actually pales in comparison to how many words the game actually does recognize. Cthullhu Lord of Dreams is actually a character you can bring into the game, just about anything you can think of you can bring in to the Scribble world. With the exception of a few items on a few levels THAT WOULD HAVE MADE IT EASIER!!!... Alas I digress... The sequel; Scribblenaughts 2, or Super Scribblenaughts is basically the same thing just an enhanced uber version of its former. While you're not only able to type what you want into the game, you can also write adjectives that add color, or texture, or even SIZE/size to your creations. I was fascinated to see that I could create a metallic, tiny, furry, building to complete a puzzle level. You also like the first game, are able to create your own level and play in it, but you can also download it to other players systems so they can play it as well. They took out the option of buying new music themes, which I myself was ok with. And in order to do an action level, you have to beat a certain level, or amount of levels to unlock them. I found that to be a little constrictive, but otherwise I was fine with my puzzle solving levels. Most sequels to video games usually leave me weeping and gunning for the nearest GameStop to trade in, but I was and still am happier with this Super version over the original. I should mention that the game really has no plot per-say, I myself created a story for Max. I honestly cannot wait to see what they can do for a 3rd installment to this great, inventive game.

Score:

N/A for story, 5 out of 5 stars for concept

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SINGULARITY:  X-Box 360

Reviewed By: Aaron Waller

Controlling:



The game handles quite well, despite having multiple abilities due to your TMD gizmo. There are a few issues involving aggressive battle scenarios in the game and accidentally using an unwanted power.  By pressing down on the right stick or R3 for the knowing gamer, you can create a bubble causing all activity (except yourself) to slow down almost freezing it still.  In some of the action I caught myself pressing down on the stick and creating this time bubble rather than running or moving when in most cases it was imperative.  But otherwise the controlling of this first person shooter is smooth, and familiar for all FPS fans.

4 out of 5 stars

Game design and graphics:



I always love reminding to whoever listens, that I love how graphics in the entertainment industry are incredible.  As a former art student and current gamer I enjoy seeing how far graphics have come.  But I have to remind people it’s not always about the look, but the feel of the design as well that can make a good game, into a great one.  A good example is the latter half of the Final Fantasy genre.  Not to say that some of them were not great, I myself became an avid gamer thanks to FF7.  I just believe SquareEnix has put more time in the look of their story rather than the feel of it.  Most of the games are half video and half game, and the story line (probably the most important) has not been the same since the early golden age of gaming.  Ok so now that I’m done chatting your, eye out…?  I’ll bring you back to the game I’m reviewing.  Singularity has average for today’s standard when it comes to its look.  It’s a very basic style of FPS graphics, you can find on just about anything from the 360.  A good game to compare it to would be Wolfenstein.  However unlike Wolfenstein, Singularity is a very linear game.  You have specific goals to accomplish, but only one route to go so you won’t have a problem getting lost.  Being that I have said one good thing about the game design I have to say I really dislike how there is barely any exploration in this game.  Now given FPS games are not always adventurous.  But when you have to run away from a continuous onslaught of enemies and the door closes behind you, I can’t tell you how annoying it is when you know you’ve missed that one item you need to fully complete the game.  I always make sure to check every corner and every room in every game I play, but in this heavily linear game I was not always able to.  I did enjoy the game play, but to make the environment so closed off to the player now a days just seems like a horrible idea.               

2 out of 5 stars

Story:

Alright, so this is going to be the hardest and most confusing section in this review.  Singularity is exactly that, a Singularity in an easy to understand definition is the center of a black hole.  That is where “supposedly” all time and space itself stands still, and in some theories is obliterated.  But enough of me explaining to you what these things are, and hopefully you can pick up an encyclopedia or search it on Wikipedia for yourself.  The game basically starts off with you as a member in a Spec Ops team sent to an island east of Russia in the present.  Your team knows nothing about the operation and it is just like every other game out there, your job to find out why and to fix “it”.  On your way to the island in one of a few choppers you notice a large storm over the island and large amounts of radiation, while conversing with your team leader a large blast of microwave radiation engulfs the island and each one of the Spec Ops choppers.  The next thing you know is you’re waking up on the shore of Kartuga island and all of your squad mates are missing, eventually while running around for a minute you get a signal from your leader giving you the objective of meeting up with him.  It actually takes a while for the action to start, or even find a weapon.  But it does a good job building up the suspense during that time, it almost felt like a watered down FPS version of Silent Hill.  Little kids and dolls in any suspenseful, scary game always creep me out…  So eventually as events start to unfold throughout the game you end up going to the past and affecting it by changing what was meant to happen in your universe, causing an alternate and ultimately horrifying present.  The story is rich and it has you wondering who it is that is writing on all the walls, all the way up to the climactic end.  It honestly is a rich and thoughtful idea for a game; it is however a letdown that you weren’t able to mess around with changing the timeline on your own terms.  For those people that are like myself and love watching the episodes of Star Trek where in they go back in time and alter their reality in some way or another, you will like playing out this games paradox.

 5 out of 5 stars

Synopsis:

Singularity is a wonderfully written game, with average graphics and little to no adventure in game play.  I did have fun playing through the game, but found myself getting upset on how linear the world is.  I would recommend this game for anyone that likes Sci Fi, and hasn’t but would love to play another FPS.  Best for occasional gamers, and maybe a lot of dads out there.

  
Average & Overall Game Score

3 1/2 out of 5 Stars



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Service to the Emperor

Aaron Waller 12/13/2010