Bioshock: Infinite

'Ello, 'ello!  What's all this then? This, my friends, is the new Bioshock game planned to launch in 2012.  Quite a wait! Why would they release a trailer already? Well, little kiddies, they claim it's going to be a big game!  I, for one, can't wait already.  Bioshock is such a well-done game franchise that I'm sure this one won't be a let-down.  There are some differences to the original games however; some of which are evident in the trailer I posted above.  If you haven't yet watched it, I'll recap everything; so no fear!  Plus there are some that aren't shown in the trailer, so you might as well read on!

The first (and most obvious difference) is that you are no longer in an underwater Utopia anymore; rather, you're in a city in the sky! Yes, that's right.  But, this isn't the vision of a single man like Andrew Ryan.  Oh no, not at all. Instead it's the American government who made this (which is still set in the 1900's).  It was actually made as a weapon, however! (How it's a weapon is yet to be revealed).

The woman you need to find, Elizabeth

The idea here is that you are a security agent sent to find a woman in this city (which is called Columbia, by the way); now, the location of Columbia is said to be unknown, but this mysterious man who sends you on this mission knows where the location is.  So, you go up there.  And everything is just as normal as the previous Bioshock titles.  And if you've played them, you know that "normal" means that everyone is a psychopath and wants to kill you.  Now, the new game allows for much more to do than the previous titles; you might be fighting someone from a mile and a half away, or fighting 15 people at once; there are skyrails you can use to travel around the city.  There are still plasmids (thank heavens) and you can use them in conjunction with someone for devastating attacks.

This someone is the person you've been sent to find: Elizabeth.  She has plasmid powers too, and you can use them with your own to make a powerful attack (for example, she sends a storm cloud above your enemies, and you use your electrobolt...water conducts electricity!) or you can ignore that and use your own, traditional Bioshock style.  It's up to you, really.  It's important to note, however, that this woman will not always be able to save you if you need it; the designers wanted to show that she's a normal person who is caught in this trouble just like you, and isn't a super hero.

The designers also claimed that finding her wouldn't be the hard part, nor helping her get out of her captivity; rather, it would be escaping the city which would be the hard part.  Just like Rapture all over again!  At least you aren't alone this time...

If you want to take a peek at the gameplay trailer, then by all means, click here!  Just be sure to change it to high definition.  I can't wait!  And remember folks, that if you ever find a city that is not traditionally made, make sure to have a wrench handy.

Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword

Greetings fellow nerds!  I decided to voice my thoughts of the upcoming Zelda title: "Skyward Sword".  Now, I know this isn't a review, but I absolutely <3 the Zelda series and I felt like doing an article about one! So THERE!

Now, I've been waiting for a new Wii Zelda title for a while; the last one was Twilight Princess, and I was absolutely impressed with that title.  It left me quite happy with the way it was made, even if the wolf gameplay felt tedious.  But that's not what I'm going to talk about today.  Now, from what I gathered about the new game, it seems like it has potential; they even have the cool adult Link from Twilight Princess! But, what I'm not really a fan of, is cell-shading.  And wouldn't you know it! They made another cell-shaded Zelda title.  >=( Now, just because it's cell shaded, doesn't mean it won't be good.  Windwaker sure wasn't my favourite Zelda title; in fact, it may be one of my least. But I still had fun playing it (despite the long, tedious job of finding all the Triforce pieces in the sea...ugh).  Now, I have a hope that it will be good too.  Although my excitement has waned from when I first heard they were making a new Zelda title.  Especially with the teaser picture they released; it looked like the same style as Twilight Princess!  But, like I said, it has potential.

"Enough with the graphics already!" I'm sure you're saying; well, alright! Calm down! Let's get to the gameplay!  The game is going to follow the movements of your Wii remote, using the new Nintendo product the Wii Motionplus.  This is said to take the precision and accuracy of the Wii remote to whole new level.  But really, Nintendo, isn't this something that should have been done from the start? I mean, isn't your console BASED on following movements? And you're only NOW making it precise?

This though is new; Link will swing his sword the same way and direction that you do.  This could be good, and it could be bad.  Good because it could offer a whole lot of fun for people, to feel like they're actually fighting off those nasty goblins and skelefos and Skulltulas.  But some people may like the traditional style better.  I, for one, preferred to play Twilight Princess on the Gamecube, because it felt more...comfortable, shall we say?...than having to swing the Wii remote.  But, of course this is all just speculation.  It may completely blow everyone's mind away!  All we can do is wait! And wait we shall.  I never thought I'd say this, but "holiday season! Hurry up and get here!"

If you're interested in taking a look at the trailer because you have yet to see it, or maybe you love it and want to watch it again, you can do so at Machinima's channel here.  May the Force be with you!

Halo 3: ODST

Why hello thar! I trust that you are well, whoever you are! I decided that I shall write about the Halo title, ODST.  Now, I know you MUST be wondering... "Why ODST? Reach is out, who cares anymore?" Well, if you must know, I decided to do ODST because the cost of it has gone down, and a few of you may wonder if it is worth a purchase.  Here's my opinion, if it counts for anything!  I'll let you chums decide on your own, k?

Halo 3: ODST is different than usual.  As opposed to traditionally being a Spartan (Master Chief himself, to be precise) you are an ODST (Orbital Drop Shock Trooper).  Now, you must already be thinking "Why?!" and to be honest, I did too.  Hell, I still do!  ODST had so much hype, and yet it fell short of it.  The campaign mode was interesting, allowing you to play different troopers and see what happened to them and their perspectives.  But the multiplayer was virtually non-existant.  The only ODST multiplayer mode itself was Firefight, and even then you could only play with people on your friends list.  And on top of that, only one guest per Xbox!  So even if you had three other buddies over, only two you could play.  Lame!  The matchmaking that came with it was for Halo 3.  This seems rather lazy; but at least it came with all the map packs.

Let's go back to the fact of you being an ODST instead of a Spartan.  This bothers me, because in all the games you play, you're always some super-skilled agent or marine or whatever, who is able to kill multitudes of enemies by yourself, when you're just an ordinary person!  Which is what happens in ODST!  What I like about Halo is that Spartans are super-humans: genetically enhanced humans who are faster, stronger, and trained since childhood about combat.  Which explains why they're so much better than normal marines.  In ODST, you kick Covie ass when they're just normal marines! Sure, they've been trained a lot, but..come on. No one person, no matter how much they've been trained in adulthood, can openly take on a whole army.

However, Firefight (despite it's lack of matchmaking) is fun, as is the campaign; and the Halo 3 package is a good deal.  I would suggest you rent it first before buying, unless you're a hardcore Halo fan (like me), since Firefight is in Reach and so is matchmaking. Or just buy Halo 3.  Or nothing at all!

Anyways, that's the end of this! Hope you found it useful, or fun, or fantastic....hell, as long as you don't hate it!  I'll do non Halo reviews soon too, so stay tuned....same Bat Time, same Bat Chanel!   May the Force be with you!

Halo: Reach

Greetings and Salutations! Welcome to my first blog post; I hope that this post will be up to snuff, and everyone will be like "zomg wat a gud p0st!11!!1!" But let's be realistic... I'm sure not many people will ever lay eyes upon my opinions here.  This will probably be a long one, so for any of you who don't have the patience or time, abort! ABORT NOW! For those who care enough to read the whole blog...<3 for you all!  Anywho, let's get to the point!

Halo: Reach... where to begin?  To be honest, I was excited about this game, but also cautious.  Last Halo title released was ODST, and well... it fell kind of short of all the hype that Bungie made for it.  But that's for another day, mon amis!  For now, let's start with what many people I'm sure will consider to be the most important aspect: Matchmaking!
There are several changes to the online multiplayer that the Halo franchise has never before experienced.  The one I shall start with; how to level up.  This Halo title has "borrowed" from Call of Duty series in this aspect; you get experience not based on wins, but from how well you do in a game!  This experience you obtain is then translated into coinage, which you can then use to purchase armor changes, to more appeal to your taste.  This may take away from the competitive aspect I felt was in the previous Halo titles, where there is a ranked playlist for serious players, and a social playlist for easy-going players.  This does not take away from the fun, however.  Another new change to the Halo franchise is that instead of one level and game mode being displayed (with the option to veto once, and being stuck with what's next), instead players are presented with three different levels/game mode mixes, and are given a chance to vote for the best one.  Now, if say, all options seem to sap your will to play, there is an option to select "none of the above", and three new options will be presented (the "none of the above" option will be gone after this, however).
Another feature changed in this new title is Equipment.  The developers took out the equipment aspect which was added in Halo 3, and instead put in classes (reminiscent of Star Wars: Battlefront).  I personally feel this adds a new element, and is a fun twist to game series.  I'm sure that this will take some getting used to for some players, though!  On top of this, there are some redone levels from previous Halo titles, which I'm sure will appeal to some fans (One such example is "Hemorrhage", a redone level from Halo 1, "Blood Gulch").

The game took a good aspect from ODST: Firefight.  Only this time, they improved it!  You can now matchmake a Firefight game, instead of ONLY being able to play with friends.  This I felt was a definite plus; sometimes it's hard to find three other people online who are all playing the same game and want to play the same mode together at once! (On a side note: there isn't a flashlight anymore.  Rather, there is night vision, which is rather reminiscent of the HUD Visor in Halo 3: ODST)

The campaign is quite splendid!  I must say, I felt much more confident charging into battle with some Spartans to back me up instead of those lousy marines you'd get in previous Halo titles.  You know what I'm talking about....those "friends" of yours who would walk in the way of you shooting, get killed, and make the rest of them gang up on you calling you a "traitor".  Then you'd have to kill all those bastards, and waste your time.... oh, look at me rant.  Let's get back to the original thing here. SP4RT4ANS!  The great thing about being a new addition to the squad, is that for the first time in campaign mode, your character shows up in both cinematic and gameplay views, as the customized armor you made.  It's a small matter, to be sure, but it's a nifty feature nonetheless!  The campaign levels were all fairly fun, and a new little aspect was added which I found particularly interesting: civilians!  There were interactions with civilians in this game, from questioning farmers in the first level, to evacuating them in later levels.  Granted, the interactions were scripted and were not really engaging, but I found this new little aspect interesting!  Also, you get an actual look at Dr. Halsey (for those not-so extreme Halo fans, Dr. Halsey is the creator of the Spartan Project).  This was a surprise, and a pleasant one at that! (Seeing as how I am a huge nerd and find such things interesting.)

Anywho, I believe that just about sums it up... If I left out anything, I apologize!  Feel free to leave a comment, and follow me cuz you know you love me! =D May the Force be with you!