Gamefly Deal of the Week.

I'm going to go with Ghostbusters: The Video Game for Playstation 3 this week. At $12.99, you should get that much out of the game. Voiced by the actual film actors and written by Dan Aykroyd, its not overwhelmingly awesome, but it is fun and you aren't paying that much for it. Gamefly ships the game in full with
case and manual; even though the discs are used, they are usually in excellent condition.

Buy it HERE.

TL;DR Video of the Week.

So apparently Halo still exists. Whodathunkit? In fact, there is a new Halo game tentatively scheduled for a fall release, and if you were a sucker lucky enough to pick up Halo: OSDT, you are privy to the multiplayer beta that goes live next week(?). I shouldn't be a Halo hater; after all, that is the game that brought me over to the Xbox camp for good. It was the first game that brought more than 2 of my friends together for actual gaming-centric parties and events. I kind of feel that with each iteration of the game, the franchise loses a bit of its luster. However, since Halo 3 has consistently run in the top 2 on Xbox Live's most active games consistently, that really ain't bad for a game that is two-and-a-half years old.

Today's video is the live action trailer to Halo: Reach. Bungie has a history of doing some live action films for its Halo franchise, and a lot of them have been pretty good. Here is this one, enjoy:

There is also some news coming out today about Bungie is partnering with Activision on a new franchise.

Wednesday Commentary, Joint Outsourced and In House Edition.

Before I begin, I just want to say I'm a big fan of Roger Ebert. So, when he came out a few weeks ago and declared that Video Games Aren't Art, I didn't go apeshit and burn every copy of his books I've ever owned. Because I've never owned any but that's really not the point. There has been a lot of hubub about his remarks, and a few people have weighed in, or been asked to weigh in on the statement. I wasn't one of those people who were asked but I wanted to give a few thoughts. First, I'm going to let Ben Croshaw take the mic and give his two cents.

"Yahtzee", as he is more affectionately known, does Zero Punctuation reviews for The Escapist. His game review videos typically run about four minutes long, are crude at times, bitterly truthful at times, a little overly critical at times, and lacking dead air all the time  (hence, "zero punctuation"). He actually takes a pause this time and takes to the written word to comment on Ebert's piece.

Here it is: Extra Punctuation.

Not to be a total conformist, but Yahtzee is, for the most part, correct. Is it really a big deal if Roger Ebert thinks games cannot be art? One shouldn't take someone's opinion as gospel, especially when there is so much room for interpretation and exception. Also his opinion on video games would be about as relevant as me challenging him on why Harold and Kumar is one of the better movies of the last decade.

I guess Ebert may have jogged some insecurity in the games industry and gamers in general. Can an industry that has been competing with film, television, music and print for the hearts (and wallets) of entertainment-thirsty-ADD-ridden consumers actually claim that the product they put out is on the level artistically? Is there a poetic symmetry to me dropping a tea-bag on the face of a vanquished enemy that I smited with Akimbo P-90's?


Yahtzee is dead-on when he says "art is something that provokes emotional attachment". For something so personal and subjective, that means that what constitutes art can be open to interpretation. Thats why someone can drop a crucifix in a jar of piss and then ask the National Endowment of the Arts to fund the follow-up. That's why I can think this song is a masterpiece and you may think its just clambering of loud noises (in which you would be wrong because At the Gates fucking rules). 


The fact of the matter is, as an entertainment medium, video games have proven they can holdtheir own against cinema and music. If you are going to claim that the latter can be art and games aren't, consider that computers are just an integral part in creating what makes those forms art as well as video games (i.e. Avatar). Also consider that like cinema and music, 95% of what is out there sucks. Those that are the cream of the crop can truly inspire great emotion, and make you feel not that you've "won", but that you've completed the journey the story tellers or artists have set forth in front of you. The industry is too new to set along side great poets or painters, but I wouldn't be surprised that 50 years from now there may be some games that are still discussed for their beauty in presentation, and intrigue in gameplay. 


TL;DR- Check the end of Yahtzee's piece. Motherfucker stole my shtick!!!

TL;DR Old Skool Video of the Week.

Tecmo Bowl Throwback releases today tomorrow Xbox Live Arcade for the not-so-low price of 800 M$ points, or ten dollars for the currency exchange-impaired. At five or seven bucks, I would have been all over this, but I'm going to wait for a demo before I go ahead and throw down. You can customize your team name and player names, so MAYBE I can just go ahead on and create Bo Jackson for the Raiders and do this:



I was a HUGE Bo Jackson fan growing up. However, being a Kansas City Chiefs fan, I hated the fact he played for the Raiders and pretty much blamed his downfall on them. As a Chiefs fan I got use to seeing Bo like runs against us last year. This game comes to mind.

Today is Xbox 360 day at the Amazon Gold Box.

Its all in the title.

Looks like the lineup for the Lightening Deals goes like this:

6AM PST - Bad Company 2
9AM PST - "Prepare to journey to the darkest reaches of space in this RPG hit." (Mass Effect?)
11AM PST - "BioWare’s deepest universe to date just got bigger..." (Mass Effect/Dragon Age?)
2PM PST - "Rock out with your Stratocaster." (Guitar Hero or Rock Band)
4PM PST - "A legendary war between two of science-fiction’s most popular characters." (AvP?)
6PM PST - "Charge up your Xbox 360 controllers."
8PM PST - "This hit franchise comes to life on Xbox 360." (Final Fantasy XIII?)


The Deal of the Day is Bioshock 2 for the 360 and PS3 going for $39.99, which is about right to pay for Bioshock 2. If you are looking to buy, go ahead and click on the Deal of the Day widget to your right. I mean, what the hell, if you're going to buy the game, may as well give me some credit, right? 

REVIEW: Aliens vs. Predator

Its funny sometimes how this whole games review business goes. Last week I kind of trashed on a game that's a critical success. This week, I'm going to give some love to a game that sold well but the critics bombed. Sometimes, its about what you've expected vs. what's been delivered. Tonight, we delve a little bit into Aliens vs. Predator, Rebellion's follow-up (or update) to the PC title of the same name.

In actuality, this should be called Aliens vs. Predator vs. Colonial Marines. Perhaps that was a little to much to fit on the box art, or an acronym that got way out of hand    (AVPVCM? yeah, too much). The single player campaign gives you the option to start out as either species, each with their own distinct storyline that passively weaves in and out of one another. I want to start with the Single Player, because that is what I spent the most time playing, and I feel its the strongest part of the game.

I began AvP(vCM) as the ubiquitous Colonial Marine. Ahh, the Rookie, getting his feet wet with the grunts doing a stand up fight and a bug hunt, of course this chicken shit outfit isn't good enough to guide you along the course, everything is going to go belly up and you're going to have to go it alone with nothing but your handy pulse rifle and your instincts. Don't get too friendly with any fellow grunts you encounter in your travels because they aren't going to last long. For salty veterans, they do tend to die wastefully.

Unlike most people, I actually dug the Marine campaign the best. I didn't mind the constant tick of the motion tracker, and you are given flares to deal with the substandard lighting in the game - which has been a sticking point in many of the reviews. My reaction to that is that you are given unlimited flares. Use them. The lack of lighting is done to build suspense within the gameplay. You hear the xenomorphs in your motion tracker, its actually a little anxious trying to figure out where they are coming from, then you throw a flare and its AWW SHIT. Blerg.

Before I go into the other species, one thing I do like is that once you finish a section of any given campaign, you can pick up another species. I found myself playing all three campaigns at once. The story kind of interweaves through all three, and kind of keeps your interest pretty well.

As an Alien you find out that the Company is full of asshole scientists who just want to study you being the perfect organism. You begin in captivity, and subjected to a battery of tests that serve as your tutorial. However, no man can hold you and you're job is to pretty much bust out and wreck shop. Mother alien sends you on your missions which is pretty much to ruin the Marine's day. You also have a few arsenals of execution moves up your sleeve. There's the old tail spike up impale, the tail spike decapitation, the ol' trepanning maneuver with your second mouth. You can also take those cruel corporate scientists and turn the tables on them by introducing them to your friend Mr. Facehugger.  You also have the luxury of running fast, running on walls (which can be a bit disorientating at times), and stealthing for your kills. The Marines aren't that bright, but they're good in numbers and brought some remote guns to lay down on your ass, so the best strategy is to separate them and take them down one by one.

Predator may be one ugly motherfucker, but he's got the best of both worlds. He's got some ranged attacks, a couple of devastating claws, and multiple views to spot bad guys. Aliens tend to gang up to take him down, and Marines never seem to be able to give him much trouble. He has a few pretty good killing moves on his own. He's also the guy you want to have in multiplayer because he seems to be the strongest overall of all the species at work.

One knock on the game that I can probably deal with is that it doesn't look great. I think that's a little harsh, but I do think it could use some polishing visually. The Alien animation could use some work when you are playing from the perspective of the Marine or Predator. It doesn't look fluid almost cardboard cutout-like. I've read that there is a blandness when it comes to the executing moves--I guess if you've seen one decap, you've seen them all. Ever since I saw early videos and screenshots of the game, I've advocated that the game should go for max gore. For the most part I've been satisfied. I don't think there is an abundant lack of ingenuity when it comes to finishing moves. Perhaps Rebellion should have introduced Babalites.

Multiplayer offers a slew of good modes. I'm kind of skimming over it on purpose because I didn't put a lot of time into it. Its worth checking out, but my only complaint is that when one game is over, you are spit back into your own lobby; the game will not cycle onto a new map with the same room you just played in. C'mon, folks, its not 1999 anymore. We can actually stand to play the same room more than once.

One thing that I'm kind of at odds with has nothing to do with the game itself, but with the reviews. This game scores about a 66% on GameRankings, and sites like 1Up and Gamespot gave the game a much lower review than what this really is. Gamespot pointed out the level design and controls being substandard, and gave the game 5.5. I really don't agree with this at all. I mean, maybe they were expecting too much of this game. I had pegged AvP as a middle of the road shooter incorporating elements of two different franchises (save the horrific AvP movie franchise) that I love. That's what I got. Is it flawed? Yes. Will it be in my top ten of the year? Likely no. But is it worthy of a barely passing grade? No - its worth more. I take a look at reviews like that, and compare them with the reviews Splinter Cell Conviction has been getting, and I'm beginning to wonder if Sega didn't put enough review bribe money in their marketing budget. Its very interesting to see the reader response grade be much higher than the critics' grade. I'm with the gamers on this one. Yes there's room for improvement but you can deal with that over a weekend or two before you send it back through Gamefly.

TL; DR- Like Alien 3: Underrated, but still a rental. (also Fincher rules)

Monday Commentary, Outsourced Edition.

Today's outsourced commentary is actually a bit of old news. Originally published on April 7th, this come from the New York Times Online Edition, and further weighs in on the Bad Company 2/ Modern Warfare 2 battle. While I do plan on posting a Bad Company 2 review soon, its going to be difficult for anyone to review the game or discuss the game without comparing it to the juggernaut in the room which is Call of Duty.

Prior to this year, the whole battle between Activision and EA for what company has the better FPS military shooter franchise was pretty decisively one way.  However, recent developments at Activision (more specifically Call of Duty's developer, Infinity Ward) and EA's release of Bad Company 2 have brought things more in balance by way of gameplay even though the sales figures tend to tell a different story. I have noticed that while Modern Warfare 2 has a solid following, more and more gamers are beginning to defect to Bad Company 2. Now the New York Times is weighing in as well:

In the Electronic War, Momentum Shifts to the Underdog.

To be honest, this article isn't very well written, and doesn't give a lot of insight into what may make Bad Company 2 a better game. Lord Bling actually wrote a more thought out piece in the commentary I posted a few weeks ago. However, I wanted to show the world that the tide may be changing, and maybe also to help set up my review of Bad Company 2, expected toward the end of the week. (I actually have another review coming before that so stay tuned.)

TL:DR - NYT: Hire me as your Video Game blogger.