So, we get down to it, my favorite genres of games, as of lately I'm a hybrid of FPS and RPG mainly, mostly due to the preponderance of them in the market lately, but I favor those two genres the most.

That being said...

1.) Unreal Tournament 2004 (PC)

There is Halo, there is Duke Nukem, there is Goldeneye, Perfect Dark, you name it, nothing in the genre is better than this game in my opinion. The fast paced perfectly balanced weapons, diverse maps, great team modes, polished graphics (were top of the line upon release) and the buckets of copious gore.

That and the Flak Cannon, the greatest weapon in FPS history.

I generally regard myself as a good, to maybe great FPS player, but there are clearly many more people out there who are better than me at a given game like Halo or CoD 4 or whatever. I can probably hold my own against experts and pros, but won't win... That is not the case in this game. I WILL own you if you play me at this game (assuming my connection isn't crappy... but that's always a possibility).

My friend and I in college would play this game 2 players against like 5 or so on capture the flag and win 90% of the time. We played the first night it came out from 9 at night to 7 in the morning or so.

A damn shame that Unreal Tournament 3 became a shadow of its former glory, especially on the PS3 and 360. Twitch FPSes belong on the PC, there is no question.

Hail to the King! (Sorry Duke...)

2.) Gears of War (Xbox 360)

From the house that Unreal Tournament built (Epic) comes Gears of War. Another extremely high quality shooter... of the 3rd person variety. For about a year this was the undisputed graphical king of the console game world, and even today holds its own against the best. But it also contains extreme gore to satisfy the bloodlust in all of us, and best of all, it is the most tactical shooter I've played in... well ever. Let's just say it didn't invent the cover mechanic but sure as hell perfected it, so much that GTA 4 copied it.

Not only is the gameplay solid, the story is intriguing (but not well fleshed out). But who cares when you have an amazing action game and a cast of characters with diverse personalities. It's like an interactive buddy movie... with blood and gore.

I've beaten this game on Casual, Hardcore and Insane a number of times, by myself and with a friend, and it's never boring, always entertaining, and I am waiting for November to come with the excitement of Christmas morning.

3.) Perfect Dark (Nintendo 64)

I still say this is the greatest split screen deathmatch (vs. bots or otherwise) game on a console. I've played this game with friends for over 5 days of solid play time, something unheard of outside of a huge RPG or MMO or online game. Hell, my brother who didn't even really play a game unless it was a racing game or sports game played it for over 26 hours on his character.

Sniping, using grenade launchers and shotties, slow mo, explosive fun, you name it this game had it. Hell, we had people lining up to play it. The main game wasn't bad either, better than the sequel.

Sorry, but Golden Eye may have started the trend, but this game perfected it in every way and this game just proves that the N64 was a multiplayer system through and through.

4.) Duke Nukem 3D (PC)

This is the game that got me addicted to the FPS genre... not Doom, not Quake (although I owned a group of 5 people guarding the BFG room in Quake 3, but that's another story), but this game.

Violence, Strippers, Aliens and Swearing, what more could a 15 year old ask for at the time?

Among my favorite weapons of the game are the pipe bombs and shrink gun. The pipe bombs were soooo useful, and if deployed en masse, could easily crash my computer which boasted a whopping 120 mhz pentium and I think an unheard of 32 mb ram at the time. Anyways, the game was just as much fun killing aliens as it was blowing up innocents and destructible environments.

And what the hell happened to the same level of level diversity and location difference that appeared in this game but is strangely absent in a lot of games now?

Duke Nukem Forever can't come soon enough.

5.) Halo 3 (Xbox 360)

Why did I do this???

Halo 1 was utterly generic and full of cliched crap and undelivered hype... and home to the single worst stage in any game in history. Yes, the Library. Halo 2 stepped up the level diversity, but didn't add a whole lot to the formula. Halo 3 didn't add a whole lot more to the base formula outside of a few weapons and items (which are quite handy in a battle). And the graphics on a flagship game of the 360 pretty damn bad.

Why did it make my Top 5? Because a bunch of drunk grad students blowing each other up until 3 in the morning is probably somewhere on my top 10 things to do.

I admit, the multiplayer is pretty damn fun and can see the appeal. So much so that I've blown a lot of time playing this with friends since it's release. If nothing else, the multiplayer keeps me coming back.

I didn't say it's the best FPS, I said it's my 5th favorite, nothing more.

That about sums it up.

Now I know it's not as fun as looking at hot cheerleaders or commenting how big my brother is, but:

Grand Theft Auto 4 Review

Not a lot of talking in this one.

You get to see my lecherous looking self with 6 of the New England Patriot's Cheerleaders from the New England Airshow last weekend.

Hint I'm not the one on the right.

P.S. Her name is Kelly.

The only thing that could have been better (*anticipates some of the remarks* BESIDES THAT... sheesh people) was if they were piloting the fighter jets too.

I realize that the pictures get better as I go on... why did I start with my goofiest looking one?

The dude with the big arms is my little brother, yes, he's 15 months younger than me. I realize we have the same goofy look that time. Her name was Leah (one of the ones I could actually make out her signature, so that's how I remember).

And finally...

I was literally the last person in line to get my pictures with these two. They had to leave to some CBS skybox opening thing out in Foxboro for that night before Sunday's fateful game.

Anyways, mission accomplished for that event.

These photos were brought to you by my iPhone, the number 3 and the letter Q. Sponsored in part by your local public library and viewers like you.

Here we go again. I must add this is a disclaimer of being mostly my opinion (which I back up, I must objectively say). So take it as such.

1.) State of Emergency (PS2, Click for Review)

Read my review for a better understanding. But for those of you too lazy (this one is much shorter than my more recent by the way), the game consists of 100s of random screaming characters running around while you struggle with a consistently poor camera on a nebulous quest to "Smash the Corporation" (which happens to be 57% of the sounds in the game).

Yes, this game SUCKS. I mean it's not even fair to call this game "Poor".

2.) Star Wars : Empire at War (PC, Click for Review)

I hope you readers aren't offended by this following statement. If so, I apologize but this must be said.

This inbred bastard child of Star Wars and Star Craft should have been aborted in the 3rd trimester. It is such a generic POS that if the Star Wars license was removed you'd never give this game the time of day. I was shocked at how utterly generic and completely useless half the units were in this game.

3.) Final Fantasy III (Nintendo DS, Click for Review)

I'm sad to have to ever say this is one of the most overrated games in my opinion. It is an antiquated model of what RPGs used to be and half of the time mindless grinding may not get you anywhere. Read my review as to why many MANY cheap enemies can catch you off guard and end your game before the fight starts. The storyline is very standard and generic (especially the whole switching jobs and each character is almost the exact same in stats). The whole presentation felt... hollow and a grindfest without the character development which came to the forefront of the series in FF4 and beyond.

Aside from FF2 and 1 (although it was the originator), this is the worst one in the series in my opinion.

4.) Gran Turismo Series (PS1, 2, 3 and P, no review).

If realistic physics and driving are indicated by not being able to make a 90 degree turn at anything faster than 20mph in a super sports car... then I don't want to play it. This game is mind numbingly boring, and as a racing game, it seems unfair that CPU controlled cars can smear into you sending you off road, but if you try agressive driving, you get bucked off like a midget on an elephant. CPU cars are glued to the road, but you have to some how slow to a stop to turn even 2 degrees.

This may be mostly my personal opinion speaking about the whole "sim sports" genre, but even beyond that, Gran Turismo just isn't that good and has a lot of problems.

5.) Brain Age (Nintendo DS, Click for Review)

Let me say this...

This is not a game. It's a math simulator based on repetition, not on how smart you are or how well your brain is used. It makes you write numbers and draw lines that are often misinterpreted or just completely ignored all together.

This "game" is horrible and I'm apalled at how many people (including myself) bought it thinking it's going to turn you into Einstein.

We made it through 5 games without me hitting on some big ones like Zelda or Halo for instance. Those games may be overrated I think... but no way near on the order of how Gamespot and the general public percieve these 5 titles.

Comments questions and of course... any threats to bodily harm?

First off...

Don't get a Wii.

Second... Don't get this game:

The reason as to why (Click here).

Instead of giving you some extra text, read the review.

I don't blog enough with top 5s so people can either agree, disagree or learn something. Today's installation is my top 5 underappreciated/known/etc. I.E. games that flew under the radar but should not have in my opinion of course. This is in no particular order of importance/favorite game.

1.) Earthbound (SNES, no review)

One of the most unique RPGs ever in my opinion. With an offbeat, and oftentimes crude, sense of humor, Earthbound is different from that every day run of the mill RPG where a rag tag team saves the world with swords and crystals. This time it's frying pans, bottle rockets and psychic powers. The backgrounds are a trippy kaleidascope that isn't as big of a contrast as you'd think to the variety of enemies. You get giant trees that burst into flames when you defeat them, "Angry Businessman", "Liberal Flower Hippy" to bosses like "Master Belch". Yes, he is a giant puddle of puke. Finally, one of the most interesting parts of the game mechanics involve the rotating HP bar, sort of like a gas meter, but in reverse. Say you have 700 hp, and the attack does at least that 700 hp worth of damage to you. Your numbers start draining quickly, but if you can heal on your next turn or end the battle or something, you will live. Never have I seen such a feature before or again afterwards.

This is one of those games that deserves a real sequel, or at the very least, a reissue (Nintendo, are you listening? You usually milk stuff for what it's worth.)

2.) Earth Defense Force 2017 (Xbox 360, click for review)

Simply put this is one of those great old school arcade type shooters. Yea, it is a 3rd person shooter, but the type of combat isn't as if it's Halo or Gears of War or something. There are many types of weapons to collect as you go through the game through 53 levels of alien and bug slaughtering B movie goodness. Granted it had some pretty crappy lag at times (which I don't understand with it being on the 360), and it was repetetive and generic in nature often, but you could pretty much blow up any building you see and the price at introduction was a very cool 39.99$.

3.) Fighting Force (PS1, click for review)

One of those coop beatemups that hasn't been experienced since Super Double Dragon. This game featured 4 different characters who all had different fighting techniques and strengths and weaknesses. Also, it featured the most weapons out of any game I've seen ever... perhaps only surpassed by Dead Rising some 10 years later. You could literally rip a bar off the wall in an elevator and beat someone with it. Needed life? Smash open a soda machine and chug the soda. This is the kind of mayhem and interaction with the environment I want to see in this generation. Coop - Check. Lots and lots of weapons - Check. Numerous ways to beat people down and smash objects - check.

What more can you ask for?

4.) Mario Kart 64 (N64, click for review)

I only do this because Gamespot absolutely dropped the ball with giving this game a 6.4 This was possibly the best party game on the N64 (yes, I am talking to you Mario Party). The greatest feature was the 4 player combat mode in addition to the much varied courses. One of the best parts was that you could come back as a bomb in the middle of a battle for one last bit of revenge. Now clearly it wasn't anything mind blowing, or ultra original, but it was a solid game with some improvements in every area from it's predecessor, and I would venture that many of those of us who played it would agree that a 6.4 was very harsh.

5.) Folklore (PS3, click for review)

Boasting beautiful ethereal graphics, a haunting score and excellent voice over cast amidst a time when the only good game on the PS3 was Resistance, this game somehow flew under the radar. It is an action adventure murder mystery super natural thriller. Yea, I think that's accurate. The boss fights are reminiscent of GOOD Zelda games and a lot more challenging. The only major drawback is that when playing the two characters (they are mandatory to play both) is you basically go through the same area twice in each chapter. Still, such a beautiful and enthralling addition to the PS3 library being missed by many people was a shame.

There you go, my 5 most underrated/underappreciated/overlooked games of all time.

You might wonder why I put a big image of World of Warcraft up there first off in this blog. Simple, it relates to my blog's title.

I want to play WoW, but I can't. I suppose I should start from the beginning...

Most of you who are my friends on Gamespot know I am not a big supporter of MMORPGs, and that's true for probably 90% of the case. Now the question is "Why"?

I guess some history might be important in understanding why I can't condone MMORPGs.

Right after my sophomore year in college I got into Everquest, the granddaddy of MMORPGs. At first it was quite cool, slaying monsters, getting loot, playing virtual dressup, getting stoked at getting that first set of leather armor that took you your first week of playing to get. That magic wears off once you realize how pathetic you are as a newbie especially in an already existing world (Which is how I joined into Everquest and later Final Fantasy 11).

Now the problem was that MMOs are built upon the predication of getting awesome drops and getting the "rights to kill and loot". I.E. the unwritten rules that if someone is in a prime hunting spot, your party needs to go elsewhere when you show up. That's the case everywhere, and the higher you get in the game, the more of a hassle it is for big guilds (clans, unions, whatever you call them in that specific game).

Getting past that point and wanting to "learn" about the story is an impossibility to a casual player. First you have to grind and get lots of experience and weapons to get further to the point you need for leveling. Second, the human factor of having a full party and leveling in an optimal location is pervasive in MMOs like Everquest and Final Fantasy XI. OMG, we don't have a white mage/cleric, we can't level!!!!! People will sit hours to get no XP to fight monsters they can barely kill instead of going to fight monsters that yield quality experience but are proportionally much easier.

The way of thinking in an MMO is very rigid and that's problematic.

Now on the personal level, aside from wanting to learn about the story in these games (something I barely could do in Everquest, and something that was hard to do in FFXI), you had to sacrifice a lot.

I literally would play Everquest from 4 or 5 in the afternoon to almost midnight every night in the summer. Final Fantasy XI was no different. I'd languish at logging on whenever a server went down and when it went back up, I'd fight the crowds in logging (often getting booted out), waiting to get a party, and just wasting my time all while screaming at the computer.

I played so much in those games my friends would often ask "Hey want to go out somewhere" and my response was "I can't" because I was waiting for a party to level up. My social life and family life suffered from these games. I was short of tempers, I couldn't wait to get back to get to my house and log on, even if I just went to Six Flags, or got a new game (Hell, my friends here know I love Metal Gear Solid 3... I got that game the day it launched and it sat in the wrapper for 5 months or so because I had Final Fantasy XI at the time).

You get it yet? These games are highly addictive, I was like a drug addict.

But that's not the only problem, it's the combination of what I said overall.

I want to experience the story of these games, I want to make friends and make a difference in the virtual world (but to do that, you have to devote a ton of time to leveling up...)

So it's like a real drug, being addicted to something that in reality drains your time and money and energy but gives very little back. To me it was a glorified expensive virtual chatroom dressup game.

I did make some friends online, don't get me wrong, and MMOs like WoW and Everquest do often allow for people around the world to socialize, but they are a pitfall for some people.

I know many of you have seen the "Make Love Not Warcraft" episode of South Park. As much of a parody as that was, it was absolutely true. You see that wrist brace? I had one...

So, I want to play WoW, but with my recanting of my time in the trenches, MMORPGs offer nothing to me in terms of a chatroom where I can play dressup with a Blood Elf Mage and argue about my crappy drops.

It would detract from my single player and multiplayer console games which I treasure dearly as they are under my control of progression, and I am not a slave to them as I can easily pause or shut off the console. It would harm my social life and family life, and most importantly, ruin my academics. In nearly my 4th year of PhD studies (I quit FFXI cold turkey 4 days before I started my first day of studies of Graduate School by the way... I didn't even give my friends a warning... something I regret to this day, but it was that serious).

MMOs are not all bad, but MMORPGs have hurt a lot of people (Yes, people kill over MMORPGs, example 1, example 2, example 3), and more than a handful have committed suicide over MMOs and have suffered the social setbacks like I did.

So, I'm trying to fight my urges to play WoW, and trying to convince anyone where who has what could be considered an addictive personality for whatever reason to stay away as well.

Maybe I should like Captain Morgan and say "Please play responsibly"?

Metal Gear Solid 4 Review

Yes, that is how Solid Snake looks in game in case you were wondering about graphics.

This is a sort of long review, well rather quite long, but I had to illustrate the differences in each act where the gameplay is broken down into many components rather than the old fashioned mere sneaking around. In that case, the gameplay has taken a huge leap forward.

Story presented in the cutscenes is definetely there, and done in an amazing manner.

Rather than write again what I wrote in gorey detail in the review, I intentionally left as much blank in terms of specific story (which means I also can't explain why I feel the game's story makes it so great overall and makes me as a player want to play and want to find out more, which I'd have to say is a strong mechanism for wanting to continue to play as much as pretty graphics or the gameplay itself).

I will say this though, if this was the only game for the PS3 and considering I paid 499$ for it plus the cost of the game at 59.99$, it would be worth it to me, it is that important of a member of my games library.

A truly fitting end to this saga.

This is nothing but a mere rubbing it in the face of any LA Laker fan. Kobe is overrated, their team sucks, Celtics own, Boston owns (except for the Patriots choking).

And now a word from our sponsor...

Oh yea, Lakers should have quit after Game 4.

Neener neener :P