Mix it up!

Dj Hero explained.

PlayExclusive: Monkey Business A “Wet” Review

Console: 360, PS3
Genre: 3rd person Shoot/Slash 'em up
Players: 1









Story
Rubi is a fixer. She gets jobs from interesting clients, travels to interesting places, kills interesting people, and always gets the job done. A year after a mission she does for a client, Trevor Ackers, she is asked to travel to Hong Kong to by the clients father, William to save Trevor Ackers.


From there, Rubi is thrown into an out-there story rife with deception, betrayal, and lots of angry gun and sword wielding guys.

Gameplay
I love shooting. I love slashing. And I absolutely love 3rd person platformers. Throwing the three together in a brilliant whirlwind of over the top combo's is something that'll bring smiles to any hardcore gamer out there. From wall-runs, dives, and slides, players get launched into Matrix-esque bullet time, making dodging attacks and shooting enemies a real breeze.


It's not necessary to dive over a burning car, slide under a truck while shooting a bunch of guys, and then doing a rising slash on a bat-wielding thug as you get up, but it never gets old. In addition, comboing kills also lets Rubi regenerate health; more kills, the more damage she can take.

As you progress, you get style points, earned by performing stylish kills, and after completing certain areas, you can upgrade Rubi's weapon specs and acrobatics, for firepower and flashier stunts, respectively.


Graphics & Sound
Traversing the stereotypical environs of Hong Kong and London, everything looks to have come out of a brilliantly cheesy action flick. Add in the film grain and infrequent film intermissions, and the look is complete. While there aren't too many major graphics glitches, enemies that fall off ledges seem to have their bodies stretch in all sorts of odd ways.

Music done by various artists like “The Arkhams” and “Gypsy Pistoleros” totally set the mood, and conveniently enough some of the soundtrack is also available for a free download at www.wetthegame.com.


Overall
The mixture of fighting styles blend together perfectly, making for endless combo's off of cars, tables, walls, and even jumping off enemies. The platforming elements do slow down the action during clumsy chase scenes and climbing/jumping portions but they're easily forgivable.

For fans of Grindhouse/Quentin Tarantino flicks, or any hardcore gamers looking for a dose of over the top gunslinging action, I highly recommend players go out, and get Wet.



This may be not be reproduced under any circumstances except for
personal, private use. It may not be placed on any web site or
otherwise distributed publicly without advance written permission.
Use of this guide on any other web site or as a part of any public
display is strictly prohibited, and a violation of copyright.

All trademarks and copyrights contained in this document are owned
by their respective trademark and copyright holders.

Copyright 2009 Johar Aston, TheLAG

6 games to look-out for!

These trailers we're sure are already making most gamers in drool mode.







The Conduit



Let's Tap



Fight Night Round 4


Infamous


Punch-Out!


Bionic Commando

Night Visions Goggle anyone?

If you're a big fan of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, then this is the must-have edition to add up to your collection? Why? Free night vision goggle of course!








Yes, this Prestige Edition comes with a fully functioning night vision goggle (as seen above). Other items in the package includes the Hardened Edition of the game, an exclusive art book and a "head" to display your night vision goggle, should you get tired of having it around your head all the time.



Hands-down, this is the best special edition of any game we've seen, even if you didn't think much of the game, the night vision goggle is probably worth its US$149.99 cost. No news on where to purchase this online, but we'll be sure to do an update if ETA would be having some on their shelves.

Who you gonna call???

The boys are back to save the day!






The Ghostbusters are back and accorsing to boys at Gamespot, "It's funny and it's fun". Check out their video review of the game below.



It's should be coming to the ETA's shelves soon. We'll keep you posted.

PlayExclusive: Red Faction: Guerrila - A Real Blast

Console: X-Box 360, PS3, PC
Genre: 3rd person shooter
Players: 1 (2 – 16 online/lan)
ESRB Rating: T
Developer: Volition Inc./Reactor Zero (PC)





In the far future, set after the first Red Faction, Alec Mason, a former miner heads to the planet Mars in search of work. After witnessing his brothers death at the hands of the local military force, Alec joins that war for freedom under the newly re-formed Red Faction to free the planet and avenge his brother.

The Good

Open World: As soon as you get the opportunity to do your first real mission, the whole area is open to you, letting you have free roam to destroy what you want, when you want, with plenty of side missions to keep you busy. The tutorial is thankfully short, letting players get into the action with handy, mostly unintrusive popups as they play, or tutorial movies in the pause menu that players can access at any time.


Destroy EVERYTHING: With the exception of the ground, pretty much anything can be blown to pieces, from people to vehicles, to massive buildings. Sure, you could use explosives like any normal demoman, but a real man takes apart a military base with only his sledgehammer! In addition, players are actually rewarded for their destructive tendencies with pieces of scrap to buy upgrades, making times of boredom induced destruction a worthwhile romp.

Online Mode: While there's nothing like destroying entire buildings, beating down players online is pretty entertaining as well, with an excellent XP based unlock system to receive new aesthetic and gameplay upgrades.

The Bad

Tough Guys: While it's understandable that the EDF are tougher and better armed, players will find some missions will be near impossible to complete due to waves of enemy soldiers that fill an area after a bombing spree. Sure, the point of this game is to make a quick strike and retreat, but it just feel like the game places punishment for no reason, even on easier settings.

Please, don't try: Civilians have always been a thorn in the sides of gamers for ages, getting in the way of perfectly lined headshots, swerving into our way during high speed chases, and just being generally annoying. Unfortunately, in this game, they pose a greater threat; in getting killed, they penalize the player by lowering morale, meaning that players can't simply get into a killing spree for fun. Even worse, this penalty applies even if they are killed by EDF, making players dread assistance from these poorly trained allies.


Overall
Every building you destroy never quite goes down the same, and for many players that means a different experience for each mission they start on. Just remember that swift attacks and a quick retreat when the enemies roll by are the only recipe for success in this game, whether you're trying to avoid death, or the annoyingly moronic AI of other guerrilla's.




Review by Johar Aston, TheLAG

This review may be not be reproduced under any circumstances except for personal, private use. It may not be placed on any web site or otherwise distributed publicly without advance written permission. Use of this guide on any other web site or as a part of any public display is strictly prohibited, and a violation of copyright.

All trademarks and copyrights contained in this document are owned
by their respective trademark and copyright holders.

Copyright 2009 Johar Aston, TheLAG

Microsoft's Project Natal

Is this the Wii killer? So far, let's just say it's looking very impressive.

Well according to the current official site of Project Natal, it is a "a revolutionary new way to play: no controller required. See a ball? Kick it, hit it, trap it or catch it. If you know how to move your hands, shake your hips or speak you and your friends can jump into the fun -- the only experience needed is life experience."

And this is how the motion-sensing peripheral for your Xbox360 would look like.


In a nutshell, NATAL will;

• that track a player's full body movements while responding to spoken commands, directions and even shifts in emotional tone.

• can tell how far away a player's body is and track the positions of multiple players.

• tell the console has software that tells the Xbox how to find 48 of the body's joints.

• has the ability to distinguish the voices of the competitors from those of other people in the room.

Check-out the demo video recently shown at E3 recently.



So when can we expect this? Well nobody really knows but it could be just a year away. Maybe by the next E3?

PlayExclusive: Bionic Commando - Into the swing of things

Console: X-Box 360, PS3
Genre: 3rd person shooter
Players: 1 ( 2-10 Online )
Rating: Mature 18+





Story
In this sequel to the original NES game and it's remake, Bionic Commando: Rearmed, players take to the ruins of Ascension City as Nathan “Rad” Spencer, the Bionic Commando. Armed with powerful bionic limbs and special firearms, players will have to fight their way to find out just what happened to the megacity, stop those responsible, and in doing so, find out what happened to his missing wife.


Gameplay
From the first leap to the millionth, swinging through the wreckage of Ascension City is simply breathtaking. Players weapon of choice will be the main protagonist's Bionic Arm, a prosthetic arm, capable of grappling to various environmental objects like cars, buildings and lamposts, or even enemies for high speed transport and unique attacks.


Nathan scales buildings with relative ease, thanks to his bionic limbs, making use of tremendous upward leaps and swings, and the ability to zip towards anything grappled.


Yet, for all the excellent exploring mechanics at our fingertips, players remain trapped in corridors created by radiation throughout the city, turning a beautiful free-roaming adventure into a boxed in trod from one level to the next.

Enemies that players come up against, range from weak, gun-toting grunts, to large robots and flying vehicles, that take more than a little force to take down. Obstacles like cars and boxes can be flung into the air to be thrown at enemies, and high speed zip kicks make for an entertaining array of attacks.

And if hand to hand combat fails, there's always firearms to fall back on, from the handgun, to the many explosive weapons you acquire later on. While they do make short work of the weaker enemies you meet, it's not exactly enjoyable trying to aim at a small, fast moving target while swinging back and forth through the air, and clicking R3 to zoom your aim only slows you down, opening you up to enemy fire.




Overall
While it's action constantly keeps players coming back for more, the level design keeps us boxed in, with the radiation as annoying, near invisible walls, leading to many highly annoying moments in gameplay. It feels like the game was capable of so much more, but bad scriptwriting, a shoddy attempt at online multiplayer, and painfully linear story progression only make this a “Rentworthy” game.

Review by Johar Aston, TheLAG

This may be not be reproduced under any circumstances except for personal, private use. It may not be placed on any web site or otherwise distributed publicly without advance written permission. Use of this guide on any other web site or as a part of any public display is strictly prohibited, and a violation of copyright. All trademarks and copyrights contained in this document are owned by their respective trademark and copyright holders. Copyright 2009 Johar Aston, TheLAG

PlayExclusive: Vin Diesel - Wheelman

Console: X-Box 360, PS3
Genre: 3rd person shooter/Driving Sim
Players: 1
Rating: Mature 16+





Story
In the streets of Barcelona, undercover CIA agent Milo Burik, from the U.S., works his way through the underworld to investigate, and put a halt to the gang activity there. By dealing with criminals and gangs of all sorts, Milo works his way up to the head of the operations, one mission at a time.


Gameplay
Wheelman catches the eyes of everyone who plays it with it's awesome car based stunts, from an aggressive melee and gunfire attack system, to the insane “airjacking” stunts that Milo can perform.


Airjacking is the most invaluable tool in Milo's arsenal, as the vehicles you drive will inevitably accumulate damage, and eventually explode. As soon as you need a new pair of wheels, just drive up behind an unsuspecting civilian vehicle, and press the right button to leap from your smoking heap, into their ride, ala Pursuit Force for PSP.


When you're in a ride, you can also perform Melee attacks, to the right, left and straight ahead to damage and bash through any vehicles in your way, or dodge melee attacks from other vehicles. In some cases, when you've hit an enemy enough times, their vehicle will be susceptible to a “Melee Finisher”, where the next move will send their wreckage flying off in an explosive, slow-motion spin through the air, complete with terrible graphic stretches as they crumple away.


Performing all of the above, will earn “Boost” as well, a source of nitrous for a quick boost of speed, but more importantly, power for the “Aimed Shot” and “Cyclone” moves. Either one throws Milo into slow motion, letting him aim for engines, gas tanks, and easy headshots, for use in those high speed chases, or for eliminating the competition in street races.


For all it's shining features Wheelman comes with more than it's fair share of shortcomings.

There'll always be moments where you can stand in the middle of a highway, and you can count the number of cars on the street on one hand. Honestly.

When cops, helicopters, and enraged gangsters are chasing you and your ride had exploded seconds after you ditch it, the last thing you want is to be without a ride; a situation that players may find themselves in, on more than one occasion.

In addition, shooting out tires, and using your boost seems to do almost nothing to slow and/or overtake your competitors, making your failed attempts seem more like a cheap AI rather than a lack of skill on your part.


While the core of the game is focused around Milo's airjacking and the flimsy gang plot, the devs have added the expected cinematic jumps worthless destruction of cat statues, which do absolutely nothing for the Wheelman, except unlock worthless achievements and artificially lengthen the games time.


Another weak point, is it's 3rd person shooting segments, which are too easy due to the poor AI aim, and Milo's lock on, making every firefight a repetitive exercise. That and your limited choice in weapons hardly makes for an interesting gunfight.

Graphics & Sound
Any graphics intensive users will be sorely disappointed with their console versions, while PC users can just crank their settings to an acceptable level, but in either case, the graphics take the back seat as all the intense action and stunts make you forget about them.


Exploding cars have a tendency to stretch awkwardly as they fly into the air, and during some Airjacks, if the car you ditch manages to hit something and come to a full stop, Milo will fly through the air several meters to his target car before Airjacking it. As entertaining and rare as it is, it might make some players instantly pause the game in fits of disbelief and laughter.

As far as voice acting goes, most of the script is the usual gang war drivel and one dimensional characters, and those that you take for a ride end up repeating the same annoying lines while you attempt to concentrate on evading that next roadblock up ahead.


Overall
With a flimsy story, weak missions, and high repetitiveness in gameplay, Wheelman isn't quite worth every cent, but in small doses, it's a fast paced action game with addictive high speed chase mechanics.



Wheelman is available now at ETA.


Review by Johar Aston, TheLAG

This may be not be reproduced under any circumstances except for personal, private use. It may not be placed on any web site or otherwise distributed publicly without advance written permission. Use of this guide on any other web site or as a part of any public display is strictly prohibited, and a violation of copyright.

All trademarks and copyrights contained in this document are owned by their respective trademark and copyright holders.

Copyright 2009 Johar Aston, TheLAG

PlayExclisive: The Godfather II

Console: X-Box 360, PS3, PC
Genre: 3rd person shooter
Players: 1 ( 2-16 Online )
Rating: Mature 18+



Story
On a fateful business trip to Cuba, the Corleoni mafia family's don gets killed during a revolutionary riot. As the next in line, you are in charge of the family, and putting the other families that have decided to encroach on your territory, back in their place.


A story of betrayal, greed, and all kinds of backstabbing, you'll learn that the only people you can truly trust, is your family.

Gameplay
While the game does bear many similarities and plays mostly like Grand Theft Auto, or Saints Row, like doing quest's (called Favor's in this game), The Godfather II brings an excellent new system to the table: The ability to build your own “Family”.


While in the other two games, you were able to have followers or gang members to back you up, the Godfather II's family members all have their own abilities and skills to use in different situations. Characters like Medics help downed family members back up to their feet with full health, while Demo-men and Bruisers can open doors in their own ways.


Each member has their purpose, and as you progress through the game, these soldiers can be upgraded to Capo's and eventually an Underboss, with additional health, and another ability for each upgrade, making these family members more important than ever.

As you build your army, you'll be able to expand your grip on the multiple cities within your reach, taking fronts and rackets by eliminating enemy mob guards, and threatening the owners until they cave in to your control. With each business, comes more cash and power, and entire chains of business can grant special bonuses when totally controlled, like body armor, or extra ammo belts!


Of course, enemy families won't go down without a fight, and they'll fight to regain their business' with their own family members; each one as powerful as 5 guards, with Capo's and Underboss' even more powerful. Thats where “Hits” come in.


Marking an enemy Soldier, Capo, or Underboss will let you eliminate them personally, through a specific condition unlocked through doing a favor for someone on the streets. Getting rid of them, stops the assaults on your businesses, and leaves their home base wide open for an attack!

All of these features are easily controlled through the games “Don's View”, a bird's eye view of the cities, with nice large icons for every business racket and base, and a simple menu from which everything you need is smoothly and easily accessed.


With a few button presses you can add guards to a base under siege, launch your own attack on an enemy racket in a different city with a few soldiers, then set a waypoint to finish up a few favors and leave the menu to do your own thing elsewhere, all while knowing that everything is under your full control.


For those that enjoy simplistic multiplayer, there's online mode, a huge red vs. blue gang war in a variety of mode made to put use to each family members skills, and to upgrade their weapon rank as well!

Graphics & Sound
Even on the PC version, the graphics are quite sad to say the least, and lag is abundant when there's tons of explosions, or when driving through the city at breakneck speeds.

Even with these annoyances, players are able to overlook them with decent voice acting in the in-game cut-scenes.


Overall
It's simplistic, yet fun gameplay gives players their moneys worth, even as they finish the short 1 player campaign and move on to the addictive online multiplayer, with the ability to play as and upgrade one of their soldiers! If you enjoy 3rd person sandbox games, the The Godfather II is as an offer you can't refuse.






Review by Johar Aston, TheLAG

This may be not be reproduced under any circumstances except for personal, private use. It may not be placed on any web site or otherwise distributed publicly without advance written permission. Use of this guide on any other web site or as a part of any public display is strictly prohibited, and a violation of copyright.

All trademarks and copyrights contained in this document are owned by their respective trademark and copyright holders.

Copyright 2009 Johar Aston, TheLAG