So this past week is been pretty eventful , so I just wanted to reflect and see what made it so big.

First off I drove down to my grandparents house, and spent a couple of days with them, it was great, I wish I could do it more.

Went by the GIANT Barnes and Noble (Trust me, it's HUGE!) and picked up an interesting book:

I guess it's based on a video game called 'The Witcher', but it's PC only (Rumors of a possible 360 port.) so I can't play it (My Computer is junk.). Pretty good book, half-way through it, and it actually has a pretty interesting story. If you are interested in reading and fantasy stuff pick this up for a cheap 8 USD at your local book store (I found this at Barnes and Noble at the 'New Releases in Paper Back' section.

Added all of my DS games to my collection, and I haven't had anything really too play on it recently, so I picked up this:

I'll save my opinions on it later when I write up a review. But all I will say is that it's interesting...

My computer died, so I had too wipe it clean, and redo everything, so that's probebly why no folks haven't heard from me for a while (I'm Sorry!).

Just watched Cloverfield on DVD, it was okay, but I was motion sick the whole time, ruined the experience.

And finally, as if my week was not big enough:

The trailer (Which you can find just about anywhere, but the one from XBL is the best in my opinion.) was mind blowing. Seemed to improve a almost perfect game with large amounts of new content. (And the graphics are mind blowing! THEY HAVE COLORS OTHER THEN GREY!)

This kinda makes every other game I've been waiting for this year seem small and unimportent (With the expection of Too Human, and Ninja Gaiden 2.). And during the whole time I was thinking: 'Can't stop the train, baby!' LOL. (It actually fits the trailer pretty well.)

Anyway that's it from me, looking forward too X-Play tomorrow, might go see Speed Racer (Uggh.), and gotta finish up The World Ends With You and get a review up, and catch up on work and Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess.

Don't get me wrong, I love Microsoft and my Xbox 360, but I feel like I need for info about the following games because I am thristing for more info.

1. Banjo Threeie
2. Gears of War 2
3. Blue Dragon 2
4. Alan Wake (GIVE ME MORE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)
5. Cry On
6. Mass Effect 2
7. Bioshock 2
8. Halo Wars
9. Too Human
10. Halo Chronicles (NOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

And here are some games I wish would get sequels, that I doubt will ever happen.

1. Oddworld: Stranger's Wrath
2. MechAssault 2
3. kill.switch
4. Black
5. Lost Odyssey
6. Brute Force
7. Advent Rising
8. Crimsion Skies
9. Area 51 (Blacksite doesn't count.)
10. Baldurs Gate: Dark Alliance 2
11. Beyond Good & Evil
12. Call of Cthulhu
13. Darkwatch
14. Freedom Fighters
15. Indigo Prophecy
16. Jade Empire
17. Metal Arms: Glitch in the System
18. Panzer Dragon
19. Star Wars Battlefront
20. Shinobi

Hey folks, I know it has been a while now since I last put up a blog post, but I'm back!

Anyway I picked up a Nintendo Wii a couple days ago. Why a Wii, you ask? Well because I felt like I already have my hardcore console (360) and I wanted something different to mix it up a bit. So I got a Wii, and Wii Play.

Now Wii Play sucks, really it does. Sure the mini-games are enjoyable for the first few times, but after that it gets boring, at least it came with an extra controller!

But Wii Sports is very fun! It has less mini-games then Wii Play, but they have more deph then the mini-games on Wii Play, and really displays the potential of the Wii Remote/Nunchuck. I also picked up The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, which is actually my first Zelda game apart from messing around with my friends copy of the orginial LoZ on the GBA.

Not that far in it, but I actually found it quite fun.

Now the hard choice I made. Well, it may not really be that hard for most people out there, but I found it painful. I have a lot too save up for this year, so I'll probebly won't be picking up most of the games I want this year, so I won't be getting Quake Wars, The Bourne Game, or BF:BC. Instead I'll be getting Ninja Gaiden 2, and MAYBE Alone in the Dark.

So from now on for a while, I'll be getting games for legeth of content, and those that have really good reviews. It's kinda sad, because some of my favoriate games have gotten low scores (Lost Odyssey, The Darkness, Turok, etc.), but I need too get done what needs to get done first.

Anyway, I'll put up my first impressions of LoZ later today, now I have too clean the house lol. Thanks for reading!

NOTE! THE FOLLOWING REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS, SO IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO NOT BE SPOILED, READ CAREFULY AND SLOWLY! GOT IT? GOOD! LETS GO!

Opening Statement:

The Armored Core series and I have a love-hate relationship (Just like my real life relationships...), I love blowing s$%t up with giant armored robot suits, and I love customizing my mech with tons of weapons and giving it my own custom paint job so it feels like mine. Not unlike that same feeling some people have with cars.

But then this beauty of mine rears its ugly head, usually ugly graphic-wise, horrible soundtrack and voice acting, and a poor story (Which I value a lot in games now-a-days.).

So I kind of gave up on the Armored Core series, but recently I have been thirsting for a mech game, and I could not find Chromehounds anywhere. So instead I, almost fearfully, picked up Armored Core 4 for the Xbox 360. 'Maybe this game will be different,' I said to myself,
'maybe this will be a great game!'

So what is my final opinion on the game? Well, see for yourself.

Each Armored Core will look different from each other. But all look great.

Game Play

In my research there are two completely differently genres of Mech Combat Simulator games; WMCSG (Western Mech Combat Simulator Game) and JMCSG (Japanese Mech Combat Simulator Game), which is a lot like the RPG genre right now (NOTE: This is just something I dub them, that is not the official title of the sub-genres.).

WMCSG's play more like the Mechwarrior series, or Chromehounds. Usually slow moving battle robots, which the battles are usually more tactical based. While JMCSG's are more about fast-paced, frantic battles, much like watching the Gundam series (Mostly Gundam Wing).

For awhile now the Armored Core series has been in the gray area between these two genres I created. It tries to be fast, but fails, so the result of its gray spot; a 'try and fails' situation.

But it seems like the series has grown out of teenager indecision to become an adult, and finally picks a side. It chooses to fully embrace the JMCSG genre, allowing you to fly around at a common 500 KPH, with loads of enemies and lasers flying both ways. And believe me; the result of its soul searching has made this a very good MCSG.

This is probably the most approachable Armored Core game of the lot, most of the garage options have been toned down. Less parts, simpler options, so newcomers to the game will not feel too overwhelmed, and the game does a good job of slowly introducing game elements.

One of the drawback's is that this game series garage feature worked much like building, upgrading, and tuning your own car so you fully made it your own. But now the customization is much more streamlined so you can only make so many different combinations, which sort of takes part of the fun out of the game my making your own unbeatable warmachine.

The controls in this game have also been highly improved, making much simpler to switch weapons on the fly, changing directions in mid-air, and to shooting your weapons. The controls may be awkward to get use too if you haven't ever played a MCSG before, but it has a most helpful tutorial which will make everything much easier.

Overall many improvements have been made to the games game play, improved controls and a simpler customization option will make the game easier for newcomers, though may disappoint veterans of the series. The rush of the fast paced combat can be compared to that too many popular FPS's on the market now-a-days, and are a pure joy to play.

Some of the best lighting effects I have seen in a while, and it even looks better in motion.

Art

Graphically this game got the overhaul it desperately needed. The ruined cities, flooded capitals, giant buildings, and fearsome robots all have a surreal feel to them, almost as if what you are all seeing is a dream, but it is a damn pretty dream at that.

All of the explosions are properly explode-y; all of the particle effects are gorgeous, and the lighting when you for example fly in a night mission, or shoot a barrage of machine gun fire is some of the best lighting effects I have seen in a long time.

Down side, some of the textures are ugly close up, there is some tearing (Tearing is where objects collide, but instead of bumping off, go through each other.) especially with large mechs, and there can be frame rate drops when the large amounts of lead, plasma, and missiles start flying around.

Overall this game does a lot of things right with the art, but some things keep it from truly being a art masterpiece.

This game is sooooooooo fast paced, and that is a VERY good thing.

Audio

Japanese games have a long tradition of sucky voice acting; but fortunately the English voice work is extraordinary. Some of my favorite VO (Voice Over) actors are in this game, and instead of the empty emotion, and too much emotion that go in most Japanese titles, you will find none of that here. Replacing it is high-quality voice acting.

All of the weapons sound great; missiles have the nice 'VROOM!' when they are flying through mid-air, plasma, pulse, and laser weapons all sound great as well with their air-ripping like quality to them. And machine guns sound nice and shooty.

The mechs all have that oily squeak, and roar of thrusters and engines like what you would imagine mechs of their size, and equipment, to sound like.

One thing that I found disappointing audio-wise was that the game is usually either WAY too quiet, or WAY to loud, so you might have a hard time adjusting your speaker system and volume level to that just right level.

Let the robot a$$-kicking begin.

Content

This, unfortunately, is where Armored Core takes a sky dive of failure.

You have about a total of 35 missions, which is actually quite a lot, and they all offer different and interesting challenges so it never feels old. But Armored Core 4 steals two horrible trait from its older brothers. First, the missions are WAY too short, so while you get many of them, the most you will get out of longest one is about 2-5 minutes, and the average mission lasts about 1-2 minutes. Second, the missions can be ungodly hard even on normal. Sometimes you'll need to completely retune your mech for that mission, and that mission alone.

Story-wise the game is sort of a mess. It usually expects you to know stuff in advance, or expects you to understand the most obscure parts of dialogue that refers to important events they never go into. You play as a mute uber-powerful mech pilot known as a Raven (You get to name your own character.), while you work as a merchanary who fights for the highest bidder, which are mostly one of the big corporations that have over-thrown the nations of today to rule the ruined world of the future.

The game offers a fun offline spilt screen option, and an online eight player multiplayer, but there is not that many different levels and they are usually boring, and very few game type options. While it is great to have 8 other mechs flying in the same space as you, you will quickly find it boring with its limited choices and move back to the single player. Other bad thing about the multiplayer is that most fun of the weapons in the game are completely useless online, which takes the enjoyment of it a bit.

So what is back for you after you beat the single player the first time? Well, you can replay all of the missions on the inhumanly difficult Hard Mode, and get all of the achievements and fiddle with your mech and different designs,

There is also a fun battle arena mode where you can fight AI driven powerful mechs which can make a good challenge, but doesn't last very long either. So overall this game will not stay in your disc tray for weeks to come.

Mech combat wise, you won't find much better then Armored Core 4, because it is REALLY good.

Closing Statement

Overall this new Armored Core game does a lot of things differently, and does them very well. But some things many turn off more experienced players, like lack of parts, and the simple garage mode. But this game does try to reach out to gamers new to the series by being more user friendly.

With strong game play, art work, and audio work behind it, Armored Core 4 is probably the best mech game on the market. But the short campaign and limited replay ability may disappoint. Of course this game is only 30 USD new, so it is well worth the price.

In a way this game is a dirty tease. Hinting at all of the wonders and great new possibilities that lay within it's fast passed action, great control scheme, and wonderful game play. But before you can really start to dig into this great meal, the plate and food is taken away from you just as quickly as it is put in front of you.

If you are someone who loves anime series like Gundam, or a fan or MCSG's, or are interested in getting into this genre, you owe it to yourself to pick this game up. You won't be disappointed in this best installment of the Armored Core series yet, and here's to hoping for a sequel that will take all the promises the game made, and does it the justice it deserves.

Game Play: 9 out of 10

Art: 8.5 out of 10

Audio: 9.5 out of 10

Content: 6.5 out of 10

Technology: 8.5 out of 10

FINAL SCORE: 8.5

Hey folks, so a couple days ago I bought Armored Core 4 for 25 USD, and I just beat it last night. So look for my review, that I shall put up tonight.

Anyway, here are some on my top things for today:

Top Song: Vermillion/Vermillion Part 2 by Slipknot (Awesome songs, even if you don't like Slipknot.)

Top Movie: AVP Requim (Fun movie, that countines with the AVP series.)

Top Writings looking forward to: Elann's 'The Darkness' Review (Though he will probebly be playing GTA 4 rofl.), and craig's review of 'Lost Odyssey'. (Hopifully he will write one!)

Also, I just got a new game today:

Yep, I know it's late but I got Assassin's Creed at my local Fred Myers for 30 USD new, 25 USD used at Gamestop. So I will probebly write a review up once I finish it.

Anyway, I know a lot of people might not read this because they are camping out for GTA 4, but I will probebly not get it myself until the middle of May. I bascially remembered unforuately that I have to save up for a airplane ticket to New Mexcio for my 80-mile hike, so I don't think I will be getting as much games as I have been getting.

My review on Operation: Darkness has bascially been thrown out the window, because there was not much for me to review and work with, and I tried to sit down and write it, but I just couldn't get into it. But expect a Armored Core 4 Review, Assassin's Creed Review, and an article about what I am looking forward to in May.

Thanks for reading folks, I gotta go get to work. Oh, and if my profile says I am on LIVE, the profile I use is also used by two other people, so if you are wondering why it says I am playing WWE 2008, that is not really me. (Also I am not playing much Halo, or CoD as well.)

I just went into town today and picked up Armored Core 4 (You won't believe how many stores I had to go looking into to find this game.), so hopifully I will get a couple hours in this game tonight. I might or might not get the Operation: Darkness Demo Review up tonight, but I have my hopes up.

Anyway something I found surprising was I found this copy of Condemned 2: Bloodshot for 40$ used! I was going to grab it and run off into the sunset laughing, but instead I picked this up because I have been wanting a mech game for awhile now. Though I also found Assassins Creed for 25$ so I have a hard choice between Assassins Creed or Condemned 2. *Sigh*

Anyway Elann just informed me that new Lost Odyssey content is up, before I buy it I am looking forward to his review, he says he will have it out tonight, but no rush man! You got The Darkness to review as well lol!

Well later folks, going out to walk my dog.

NOTE! THE FOLLOWING REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS, SO IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO NOT BE SPOILED, READ CAREFULY AND SLOWLY! GOT IT? GOOD! LETS GO!

Opening Statement:

EA has been known for milking entire game series dry until they kill the thing, so when a new IP dubbed 'Army of Two', a game that focused on perfecting the Gears of War co-op, people were shocked EA was actually TRYING something new! The thought was almost overwhelming, but to restore peace among the gaming nation, gamers all around were flaming this new series to no end. Quotes flew from the battleground between EA and a large amount of gamers with no end in sight.

But oddly EA did not respond, and kept most of the news about Army of Two quiet. When they released the game a year or so ago to the game reviewers, supposedly the game was so horrible '1's were flying around, so EA delayed the game further to try and improve what the reviewers had problems with. Again, the anti-EA gamers took this as more evidence on EA pumping out lame titles, and with this new ammunition, those gamers took to the fields again.

So is Army of Two, now released awhile ago, be the new IP that could steer EA to greatness, or to only confirm the epic failure that is EA?

So...What's up?

Game Play

Army of Two states very plainly that it's a game that should be played with friends or someone online. I agree with this because the AI partner is so stupid I would burn this game if there wasn't any option for a non-AI partner. Well that might be a little harsh, I would make my friend play it by himself and have him burn it for me.

Army of Two rips of the Gears of Wars cover system, and over the shoulder camera placement, but I like it and fits the game much better than if it was a FPS.

Having a dumb AI partner is interesting; the enemy AI is top-notch with only a few times were they're shooting at nothing at all. But when you, for example, take enough damage and needed to be healed, the AI comes over like a good puppy, and then drags you halfway across the map before healing you.

Leaving the horrible world of AI partners behind us for now, let's turn to the guns. Oh yes there are guns, and lots of them and they make me very, very happy. Why you ask? Well sit down son, and let me explain something in Army of Two that blew me away.

In Army of Two you carry a Primary Weapon (Assault Rifles, shotguns, and very manly machine guns.), a Secondary Weapon (Pistols, and sub-machine guns.), some grenades (Which you can't have different ones.), and a Special Weapon (Rocket Launchers and Sniper Rifles.). There are about 10 or more weapons in each category, and they're ALL different. Each one fires differently, each have different stats, and you can play with ALL of them.

How you buy these weapons is by completing in-game objectives and hidden objectives or side objectives. Soon you will have enough cash to buy the weapon you want. But that's not it my friends, you can even upgrade them from several different options. From silencers, to stocks, to barrels, to scopes and more, you can even 'pimp' out your weapon with gold, silver, and other shiny bling. While it sounds stupid it actually boosts one of your stats, called Aggro (More on this later.).

And that is not it, you can improve your body armor to take more hits, while if you do this you slow down and are less agile. And you know those funky masks they ware? You can even buy different masks, and there are quite a bit to choice from. And all of the upgrades and weapons mentioned above ACTUALLY change what your character looks like. I love how they tried to combine the character creation system from RPG's into this game.

Now to another interesting feature, this is dubbed 'Aggro'. Aggro is commonly used in RPG, mostly in MMORPG. Basically when one character gets in the thick of battle more, all of the enemies are going to focus on them, and then other players whom are now ignored can sneak around back stabbing people or flanking them. While this sounds gimmicky, the game actually gives you challenges where you NEED Aggro.

From distracting a turret with a bullet-proof front, to attacking enemies with full uber front body armor, and to assaulting fixed positions. Soon you will usually dub someone to be the main guy who will always gather Aggro in their Aggro meter by firing at the enemy, to increase the amount of Aggro gathered you can upgrade your guns to attract more Aggro (From bigger barrels to 'pimping' out your guns.). Soon you and your friend will be using this tactic over and over again without even thinking out it. There are also bigger bonuses if you max out your Aggro meter, you can activate a mode where you become an unstoppable juggernaut, and your friends attack enemies with them not even noticing him, this usually lasts for a few seconds so use it tactically.

Army of Two really tries to make it so each player feels needed in the game by using co-op moves. From a bullet time back-to-back shoot frenzy (Which oddly you cannot trigger when you want to), boosting your buddy up a wall so they can help you up, a mode where you can snipe at the same time, to the ability to trade primary weapons, carrying a riot shield while the other gun hides behind you and mows down n00bz, to even dragging a wounded gun into cover so you can patch them up.

Overall Army of Two tries, and succeeds in trying to improve the 3rd person genre, especially in the area of co-op, but some things stand in its way to become a holy deity of shooters. Such as a faulty AI for your computer buddy, to some of the upgrades for you guns doing not that much, a vehicle that steers just as well as a drunken pig on ice skates ,and to sniper rifles generally sucking all across the board. But I need to give a special shout-out to the level designers who gave us so many things to do in one level, thanks guys!

Just another day on the job for an Army of Two.

Art

Art-wise, Army of Two fails pretty short. Well, sort of. The characters look great, the enemies are designed well, and graphically the game looks pretty great. But a lot of the environments looks bland; some of the textures are just plain embarrassing, and generally while the levels are pretty, they are mostly uninspired and dull.

Though one place in the whole game where I HAVE to set above as one of the best video game levels of all times. You will come across this one level were you actually have to storm a captured aircraft carrier, and sink it. And what happens in that level is just pure awesome, that it may even make it all the way to my years end awards blog post.

Remember, you're a team so make sure to tell the other guy is he doing a good job with a hand shake...Or an air guitar solo.

Audio

Audio, so let's start.

First off the guns all sound different, and realistic. Which helps give each one a special personality, so you will stick with it throughout the game. The grenades sound a little weak, and that sniper rifles are just embarrassing how weak they sound. I've also noticed that adding a silencer to your gun really doesn't quiet it down that much.

The voice work is quite good, but some of it is ruined by cheesy one-liners ripped of every cool action movie ever made, and are really quite boring after a few hours in the game. Rio's voice actor is actually one of the best actors I have heard in a while, and generally you will ignore the whinny dialogue from Rio's partner, Salem.

The enemies' voices are nowhere near as good, and have just as lame dialogue as the other characters. But I guess you could make the excuses for the dialogue that it was MENT to be cheesy, I mean, this game is really just an interactive version of Die Hard 2, so really I can forgive the character dialogue.

This is actually a really awesome ability...Too bad it's a scripted event so you can't control it.

Content

Overall you have a grand total of six missions, and it sounds just as small as it is. I spent around an hour on each level on the second-hardest difficulty setting, so you can guess this game was made for replay ability. And with all of the achievements you are probably going to miss out on, and all of the cools weapons to mess around with, I have played this game through about 3 times and it still is not boring when I take the time to pop it in.

I could go on and describe the story, but really it sucks. The concept is nice, but they introduce plot twists you could see from miles away, and the ending shamelessly hints at sequel. One of the BIG issues I have is that you don't even get to fight the final boss, but a cut scene appears out of nowhere to do it for you. (Though the second-to- final boss is gratifying awesome because you will hate that boss so much at the end of the game.)

You play as Rio's and Salem, former Army Rangers turned to private military mercenaries. You will slowly unravel a sinister plot to take over the US military, and to find out the people they work for are planning to betray them. The sad part is that this game tries to take itself WAY too seriously, if would be funnier and more enjoyable if it was treated like a Die Hard movie instead (Or a Jackie Chan movie.). Maybe we will see some improvement in the sequel

Multi-Player wise, the game had a lot of potential, but falls flat on its face. There really only is one mode where you take a number of objectives like 'assassination' or 'defend and transport the pilot' which earns you money, while you battle it out with bots and another team. Whoever gets the most cash wins.

While this is fine, you can't even take the cash you earned in the online modes, and use it to upgrade your character. You have to buy weapons during the match, and once that match is over everything you earned is gone. And it would have been nice to see a character creation screen. Also the servers are region locked, so for example, you won't be able to play with your friend in Japan from the USA.

The online co-op is fun though, playing through the campaign online is usually lag-free, and fun if your buddy gets bored of playing the game, and you rather not play with the AI partner (I don't blame you.).

Really it would have been fun to see an all-out death match using a full-fledged character creation screen, buying masks, armor, weapons, and making your character from the ground up. Or even have a huge capture the flag or death match with eight or more other teams.

Closing Statement

Army of Two tries to be different in a over-flooded shooter genre, and some of the things this game tries out is good, but some are also bad. Multiplayer had a lot going for it, but drops the ball on that one, and some of the game play choices (AKA crappy hovercraft, bad AI partner, etc.) just don't work out so well.

Overall if you have a buddy, or online friend (Who lives in the same region mind you.) who likes Gears of War, or other co-op games, pick this up or rent it and enjoy it, sense it has a lot to offer, even if it not all good, and personally, I like it and I am excited to see what surprises Army of Two 2 (lol) will pull out.

Game Play: 8 out of 10

Art: 8 out of 10

Audio: 7.5 out of 10

Content: 6.5 out of 10

Technology: 7.5 out of 10

FINAL SCORE: 7.5

I love the Zero Punctuation reviews, so was interested in this weeks Super Smash Brothers Brawl review.

While Nintendo fans may not like what they are about to see, I actually really don't care because it's freakin humorous, and if you place Nintendo higher above humor, then don't watch this.

Can't wait 'till the next review.

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/editorials/zeropunctuation/4845-Zero-Punctuation-Super-Smash-Bros-Brawl

I have to say this now, I am a huge fan of the Gundam Wing series, and I always loved mech games. But just today I called my local Gamespot to see if they had either Armored Core 4 or Chromehounds...No luck. So I decided to save up my money 'till the middle of May and go hunting for Armored Core 4, and go hunting for Chromehounds now. (For 10$, I would be a fool not to get it.)

But I decided to look to the future, and see if there were any cool looking mech games coming out. And I found one, and holy $@#! It was cool looking and looked hella fun. Funny thing is, it's a Gundam/Mobile Suit game...

Now, most Gundam games blow, like a lot. It is very disappointing because Gundam is so cool! So what makes this game so cool? First of all it is focused for online play, you heard me right, ONLINE PLAY!

But putting that aside, what makes its online play so good? First of all you can play as foot infantry (Almost unheard of.) that act almost a Battlefield or Call of Duty 4 fashion. Cool, cool. And of course you have your Mobile Suits. But what really got me hyped are a couple of things.

1. It is based off the Battlefield series. This is ungodly cool. (Though sadly it is limited to 5v5.)

2. THE FOOT SOLDIERS CAN BE FOUGHT IN FIRST PERSON!!!!!

3. You can play with not only infantry and mobile suits, but with tanks and aircraft.

4. THE F#$%*&G MOBILE SUITS CAN BE FOUGHT IN FIRST PERSON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

You can check out game play trailers on Gamespot, or Gametrailers.com. If you are a fan of mech games, liked the Gundam series, or you are interested in mech games. You owe it to yourself to look at this game. I will keep an eye out for this game. Suppose to come out third quarter of this year. Though, this may be old news, but I was exicted about it.

Opening Statement

Earlier this year I didn't even know this game existed, but as I was looking through my Game Informer I read a preview about this odd game called 'Condemned 2: Bloodshot' and I was extremely hyped up for it. But as I was going to pre-order it I noticed there was a 1st game already out called 'Condemned: Criminal Origins', so I decided to buy the first game (For a grand total of 15 USD), and then decide if I would even want the second game.

So here's my opinion about this gory, survival/horror FPS that focuses on brutal close combat. I know this was a launch title for the Xbox 360, and that I am REALY late with this review, but please don't beat me too badly. And please excuse my lame jokes that come with the pictures...

I can't even get away from my cell phone in a video game!

Game Play

As said above, it seems the developers (Monolith) were trying to get away from their firefight packed title F.E.A.R, and wanted to do something a little different, well they certainly achieved that.

Condemned: Criminal Origins focuses on melee combat, and while this sounds boring if you automatically think Halo 3 or Call of Duty 4 melee combat (Mostly for Call of Duty 4, but Halo 3 tries to spice it up with the Gravity Hammer and Energy Sword.), but Monolith takes it to a deeper, even strategic level.

There are many weapons for you mess around with, from 2X4's (Including those of the flaming variety) to Locker Doors. Each weapon is defined by different stats (Power, Reach, Speed, Block, did I miss any?) so each weapon has their own strengths and weakness, and you can even compare them to each other before you pick them up. I love this feature as it almost seems to be combining an RPG element into the game, and it is a nice feature. (Imagine shooters that would do that with guns!*Points at Army of Two*)

Each weapon, thanks to the stat system, has their own character, so pretty quickly you will find a weapon you like the most and grab it at any chance you get (Even if you are carrying a fully loaded firearm!). My personal favorite was the electrical conduit if in case any readers were wondering.

You can sense Monolith firmly placed the screaming-and-kicking jealous and spoiled firearms in the backseat in this game, the guns are not that cool looking, and they don't do that much damage as the melee weapons, and most of the time I would rather pick up my melee weapon and go crazy with it. Something I have to give Monolith credit for is that they let you choice between using it a melee mode and shooting mode, but sense firearms break easily on contact, and do lame damage, I rather just run away from any enemy and search around for a better melee weapon.

Each impact with melee weapons feels satisfying and brutal (Yet again, firearms fail here to; the bullets don't even slow them hobos down!), but one MAJOR problem I have with melee combat is the blocking. Even with weapons high in the blocking stat, you move about as fast as Bigfoot when you block, and most of the time your timing is off so you get hit A LOT. Also even if you hold down the block button, it goes up then back down, so you can't even be a n00b and block the whole time. I found it is just easier to strife and dodge attacks then actually block.

Another problem I have is sprint; it is mapped to pushing down the left stick and forward to actually sprint. I have always hated this feature in most games (*Glares at Call of Duty 4*) and you actually can't sprint that long so there really is no point expect if you are rushing an enemy, and it doesn't recharge that fast either so you be walking very slowly for most of the game.

One thing that I found broken right away with the melee system is the taser, it automatically stuns enemies for a large amount of time, and recharges ungodly fast. Soon you will completely rely on the taser, so when it takes taken away at the end of the game, you suddenly find that you actually have to play with SKILL.

Overall I loved the things Monolith try to go after with the melee system, and they still did a great job, but some of the things just didn't turn out as well as they sound.

Look Ma! No face!

Art

Even for an older game, Condemned: Criminal Origins looks good, but it sadly it never tries to take advantage of this and exploit it to its fullest. You will get one beautiful glance at a sunset in the beginning of the game, but there will be the only time you see the trick. For the rest of the game it is dark and gloomy environments that are all too familiar with other horror games.

I suppose you could argue me down by saying that Condemned: Criminal Origins IS a survival/horror game, and one of the best ways to create a horror atmosphere is with dark and gloomy environments, but it would have been nice to see something new every once in a while.

The repetitive bloody walls and dirty floors soon get all jumbled up, so it is hard to tell where you are. This problem reminds me of Monoliths other game, F.E.A.R; it would have been nice to go into a forest, or a zoo or something, just something else then the old walls over and over again. And the one time the game tries to take the fight outside, it STILL looks familiar and repetitive.

The character animations are superb, and really make you feel like you are in a real, no rules fight-for-your-life melee combat. No much over-the-top which is nice. (Expect for one monster that I am thinking of, but that thing is too cool to put down.)

The monsters and angry hobo's models are designed extremely well, and the blood and teeth that fly out when you smack them in the face is quite satisfying.

With almost no health, and a gun in my face. You cant tell this is not going to end well...

Audio

The audio is extremely well done, when you hit somebody it sounds almost pretty close to what it actually sounds like. Each melee weapon sounds a little different which adds to their character, and the enemies make the correct grunting and screaming sounds when you smack them around.

The music is well done as well, sometimes you can't even hear it but you know it's there, that is how well it mixes with the rest of the game and its dramatic moments. One place the audio fails is the guns (Monolith, why!?) they sound boring and under powered, like a badly done WW2 shooter.

Not even Condemned is safe from the horror which is LoL Cats!

Content:

The story is superb in the game; you play as SCU Agent Ethan Thomas and follow him in his adventure to clear his name of the murders of two police officers, and to get his damn gun back. The story is just deep enough so you love the characters, and so it is interesting, but not deep enough thankfully to steal the show and put the quiet and shy Melee System in the backseat with the little brat Firearms.

The ending is well done (Actually one of the best endings in most of the games I have played in awhile *Shakes fist at Assassins Creed.*), and sets it up for Condemned 2: Bloodshot. One of the things I didn't like is the alternate endings; they all end the same way so there really isn't any point. (Expect for two shameless achievements that take advantage of this.)

After you beat the first game, there is not much reason to go back expect to get the collectibles (In the forms of dead/dying birds or metal pieces.) and unlock the rest of the achievements. With its sort single player mode you should breeze past it pretty quickly, and then turn your back 6 hours later wondering why it was so short. But you could argue that the game lasts just long enough so it doesn't overstay its welcome.

Wasn't I just here!? It all looks the same!

Final Thoughts

Condemned: Criminal Origins is a great game, which unfortunately has a lot of flaws, some major, some not that might distract the player from the fun brutal melee combat. Some it steals from its big brother F.E.A.R, and some it grew for itself.

But overall nice game, now I will be going to pick up Condemned 2: Bloodshot, hopefully here is to major improvements for the sequel, and a satisfying journey through a world that seeks redemption.

Game Play: 7.5 out of 10

Art: 7 out of 10

Content: 8.75 out of 10

Audio: 9 out of 10

Technology: 8.5 Out of 10

Final Score: 8.5