Welcome to my humble abode of movies, gaming, & weird techie goodness. :)

Batman: Arkham Asylum Review

Saturday, September 5th, 2009

Batman: Arkham Asylum - "The choke's on you!"The prison guard jerks The Joker’s arm as he leads him off to his familiar cell in Arkham Asylum. As The Joker looks back over his shoulder at Batman, he trips and falls to his knee.

When the guard leans down to help him up, Joker takes the opportunity to quickly headbutt the guard as he stands up, sending him reeling. Before anyone can react he leaps up & wraps his cuffs around the guard’s neck from behind. Batman beats on the reinforced glass separating him from his nemesis as he kills the helpless prison guard.

When The Joker hears the guard’s last gurgling attempts at breathing, he gets in his punchline… “Choke’s on you!”

This scene sets the whole tone of Batman: Arkham Asylum, and I think someone may have been pumping Joker gas into my living room, as I had a silly grin on my face the whole time.

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Popularity: 67% [?]

[Prototype] Review

Sunday, June 21st, 2009

[Prototype] Screenshot - Alex in the morgueWhy do most people play videogames? Is it to feed their competitive streak in hardcore multiplayer action a-la Call of Duty 4? Or is it the epic storytelling of titles like Bioshock? Maybe it’s the ultimate cinematic experience when a true gaming masterpiece is created such as Grand Theft Auto IV.

I’m guilty of all of the above in one form or another… however my favourite games are the ones like Radical Entertainment’s [Prototype] – I’m talking about pure unadulterated laugh-out-loud FUN. Assassin’s Creed is another prime example of a game that had it’s faults, but I loved it all the same because the freerunning and combat elements made me grin like an imbecile on crack.

Like Assassin’s Creed and Mirror’s Edge before it, Prototype has tapped the freerunning market again… but is adding so much more into the mix. It is a sandbox action title that dispenses with the pleasantries and provides you with the means to decimate an entire city & it’s inhabitants with your bare (albeit mutated) hands.

You play the part of Alex Mercer, an amnesia-stricken former employee of GENTEK who wakes up in the morgue finding that he has the ability to modify his genetic structure, enabling him to utilise mutated powers of attack, defense, and perception. He can also easily perform superhuman feats of strength, endurance, speed and agility. Mercer, now of course incredibly pissed-off with his newfound godlike powers, decides he’s going to find the person responsible and make them pay (very possibly in some kind of excruciatingly painful way).

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Popularity: 36% [?]

The Dishwasher: Dead Samurai Review

Thursday, June 11th, 2009

The Dishwasher: Dead Samurai - T-Shirt Back PrintThe Dishwasher: Dead Samurai
Genre: Beat ‘Em Up
Rating: ESRB M for Mature
Publisher: Ska Studios & Microsoft Game Studios
Release Date: 1st April 2009
Format: Xbox Live Arcade

Rating: ★★★½☆

When I first heard about this release from Xbox guru Major Nelson on Twitter, I thought it was an April Fool’s prank. However I was pleasantly surprised to find out that it wasn’t, and promptly checked out some of the available gameplay videos. These turned out to be surprisingly gruesome and frantic – and if you can describe a game with those words… I’m there.

The Dishwasher: Dead Samurai was conceived when game creator James Silva was himself a dishwasher, finding himself the butt of many a joke. After pointing out that Bruce Lee was a dishwasher, he began to conceive a game about one that slaughters an insurmountable array of highly trained agents… and that became what we have here today.

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Popularity: 21% [?]

Batman: Arkham Asylum – Lookin’ Good!

Sunday, May 17th, 2009

I’ve always been a fan of comicbooks, and their ease of use in movies and games… but there aren’t many comicbook orientated games that I get excited about (except maybe the Watchmen game).

However, the new Batman game from Eidos looks particularly droolworthy! Almost every video I see on the game makes it look very appealing, from the storyline to the stealth aspects. The visuals are particularly good too… but normally what looks too good to be true falls down on gameplay. There is light at the end of the tunnel though, and it looks to be in the form of the game’s combat system – from what I can see here, the gameplay looks to stand up to scrutiny… so I’m back to being very excited about the game.

Here’s a new video showcasing the game’s freeflow combat system for your enjoyment:

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Popularity: 4% [?]

Marvel vs Capcom Coming to XBL & PSN

Friday, May 1st, 2009

One of my all-time favourite fighters is coming to the Xbox Live Arcade and PSN soon… and if you’re a PS3 owner, you can download the demo already.

And to add to the nostalgia, Stan Bush’s “The Touch” is used in the trailer (which you’ll recognise from the Transformers animated movie soundtrack, and soon to be Transformers 2 soundtrack – though Stan Bush is doing a new version for the new movie).

Check out the trailer:
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Popularity: 1% [?]

Street Fighter IV Review

Sunday, March 29th, 2009

Title: Street Fighter IV
Genre: Fighting
Publisher: Capcom
Format: Xbox 360, PS3 (Coming soon to PC), Arcade

Rating: ★★★★☆

Chances are, you’ve already heard about Capcom’s legendary Street Fighter series – Street Fighter 2 was/is the benchmark for almost every 1v1 fighting game that exists today. If you haven’t, then you’re either not a gamer, or haven’t set foot in an arcade in the last 15+ years.

SF2 is quite possibly one of my favourite games of all time – it is (in my opinion) one of the most polished and flawless fighting games to date, even if it’s 2D. The game’s combo system and tactical gameplay makes it fun for beginners to pick up, and great for hardcore players to arrange tournaments around (which in turn makes for some amazing viewing).

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Popularity: 16% [?]