SLEEPING DOGS Review

SLEEPING DOGS Review - So John Woo and Michael Bay took a crack at a Grand Theft Auto-type Game called Sleeping Dogs. Not really, but you can’t blame me for making the assumption. Well, with all of Hijack-Jumps, the roundhouse kicks, mid-air car explosions, and slow-motion bullet time moves, it’s easy to see why I might think that. The truth is that Sleeping Dogs was originally supposed to be part of the True Crime franchise but was canceled. Square Enix swooped in, bought the IP, and then made this little beauty under the new name. Sleeping Dogs puts you in the very capable Kung Fu-kicking shoes of Wei Shen and throws you into the robust city of Hong Kong. Wei Shen is an undercover cop attempting to infiltrate China’s most powerful organized crime syndicate the ‘Son On Yee’ so it goes without saying that Wei Shen is in a very difficult situation. 

During Wei Shen’s journey he’ll meet some interesting characters along the way and have some ups and downs, but Wei’s endeavor is constantly a struggle of morality that blurs the line between what is right and wrong, justice or vengeance. Not everything is so Black and White in Hong Kong. Hong Kong itself is one of the most interesting characters of Sleeping Dogs – it’s bright and lively with a lot to do while simultaneously looking fantastic. Although, in one extreme it does have some very cheap-looking storefronts at times, but, in the other, the brilliant lightshow from the refractions of neon signs off the wet pavement while racing down a city street is mesmerizing. But Hong Kong isn’t just skin deep: There’s street racing, cock fights, side-missions, fight clubs, wardrobes, collectables, and much more. 

Man there’s a lot to do here. And this is all in between the branching story quests that will take you through some fantastic cinematics and fun scripted events. Like, high speed car-jumping, hostage situations, stakeouts, and crazy car chases to name a few. Upon completion of these various story quests Wei will increase his rank in either Cop or Triad experience. These increased levels will unlock perks like cheaper prices, special disarm abilities, or even unique attacks for combat. Which is great because combat is definitely Sleeping Dogs’ strongest aspects. The melee combat is visceral and raw. In melee Wei fight’s very similar to Batman from Arkham City. He can attack directionally with various punch and kick combos while also utilizing grappling attacks and timed counters for devastating effects. Also, while grappling with an enemy, different environmental hazards will highlight red to indicate a place to execute an enemy. Yeah, the combat is ruthless and I love it. It’s a good thing too because on the other side of the spectrum is the gunplay, which isn’t that great. 

There are some pretty nifty slow-motion moves like hurdling over cover or diving from a car, but overall it’s subpar – the aiming reticle lacks finesse, the physics seem spotty, and the cover-to-cover mechanics are clunky. When you’re not beating the crap out of a group of enemies or shooting them full of led, then you’re making your escape in some fashion. To flee Sleeping Dogs has some pretty interesting avenues to pursue; Wei can make way on foot with some parkour-esque free-running, or there’s always to the option to jump in one of the games’ many cars to make use of the active ramming ability. Really, it’s all just quite entertaining and using a car as a weapon is always interesting. 

Any game where you can listen to The Who or Queen while doing doughnuts around your enemy is pretty awesome in my book... my work here is done Sleeping Dogs tries to have all of these things: the amazing combat of Batman, the intuitive free-running of AC, and the gunplay of Uncharted or Gears, but It falls short of the excellence those titles bring to those gameplay aspects. That doesn’t mean Sleeping Dogs is Bad at any of them, it’s just not the best in class. This makes Sleeping Dogs seem like it's a Jack of all Trades, Master of None – which basically true – but when you add up the sum of all its parts; Sleeping Dogs is more along the lines of feeling like the jack of all trades, Master of Fun.

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HAZE for PlayStation 3 Review

HAZE for PlayStation 3 Review - Oh man, look at this. Another overhyped first person shooter that could not live up to the hype. With the game’s industry the way it is, with people being so hooked on their particular FPS of choice and so many other FPSs coming out and being ignored, I actually understand the marketing. If a company knows they have an average game and not anything amazingly new and special, it might be better to overhype a game in the hope that at least some people will take the risk before being disappointed. And that is what happened here. Haze was hyped so high and when it came out the world gave it a collective, “Meh.” I personally had high hopes for Haze. 

It is developed by Free Radical Design, coming right off the amazing TimeSplitter series to work on this. So you can understand my disappointment. You play as Sergeant Shane Carpenter, a marine sent on a mission to South America to combat the local rebel group known as “The Promise Hand.” After you meet your squad mates, you get sent into the deep jungle to find the rebel leader. story starts off interesting, with some very deep concepts like war time propaganda, hate training in the military and some other ideas that are not really explored much in games. Unfortunately the deepness of the themes are not carried over to the gameplay, which is as shallow as your local kiddie pool. The hook of the gameplay is the use of performance enhancing drugs. 

Just as Barry Bonds used them to make himself into a superman of the baseball field, you will use them to make yourself a superman of the battlefield. All the soldiers use a substance called Nectar. By shooting up a large dose of Nectar, you can outperform what you thought was possible. Your guns will have less kick and you can move through the jungle at break neck speeds. The Nectar becomes part of the story as you will start having unsettling images of people being tortured and other hallucinations. It is an interesting concept but doesn’t live up to the evilness the game makes it out to be because you will always be using it to kill off your enemies. 

That is the main problem with Haze, it doesn’t know what it wants to say. It tells about the horrors of war and people becoming desensitized to evil but then encourages you to shoot up again and go back to the killing. It deals with some deep and interesting concepts but covers them with generic gameplay. It is worth a look, but not an extended stay.

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FAMILY GUY BACK TO THE MULTIVERSE Review

FAMILY GUY BACK TO THE MULTIVERSE Review - But here is my review of Family Guy Back To The Multiverse. Join Brain and Stewie as they head into alternate worlds. With Stewie's evil rival trying to destroy their world, Brain and Stewie are off to save the day. First off one of the best things about this game, is just all the little references to the show. The storyline is very funny, and while it might not be the best materiel, its still Family Guy, and any real fan will love the story, the jokes, the little hidden references, this is a game for the fans and it shows. Gameplay is a mix of 3rd person shooting, and very very light platforming. Puzzles are in the game, but very limited and pretty easy ones. 

It's similar to a slightly dumbed down version of Ratchet and Clank in a way. There's tons of guns, Stewie has ray guns and some awesome sci-fi stuff to use. Brain gets normalish guns. With such well designed weapons, and a good variety of them to use, Back to the Multiverse never gets dull. You can switch between B RI and Stew wa anytime you want, there's also drop in and drop out coop. And I have to say it's incredibly fun, one of the best coop times I’ve ever had had. However coop and the multiplayer modes, are gasp. Only offline never online, that’s right the multiplayer in the game is local only. This was a big shame to me, the one time I was very excited to play online. 

I was like yay family guy online. Awww no online for me. However the campaign is very very funny, and plays quite well. My expectations for back to the multiverse was simply, I know I will laugh and it will be funny, But i did not expect to love the gameplay as much as I do. The shooting and weapons were a blast to use, the game looks really good and captures the vibe of the show quite well. And with bonus objectives, challenge modes, and tons of unlockables, for fans of the show they will get a lot out of the 6 hour campaign. Its not a perfect game, i'm sure non fans won't find anything special here, but to family guy fans, this game is just freakin sweet! This is a true fan service, and is more than I could dream of. 

The game is really really easy, but its also just such a fun guilty pleasure. The humor is fantastic and just laugh out loud funny all the time. The gameplay is so outrageous and just pure fun, this game is just a pure delight to play. The level design is such a wonderful tribute to the show, the little Easter eggs shows what love went into this game. Its obscene its random its Family Guy, now shut up Meg, and play this funny game.

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DOOM 3 BFG EDITION Review

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DOOM 3 BFG EDITION Review - Its seems to be all the rage nowadays to port old games to new systems, give them a poor transfer and barely upscale them for HD. However for Doom 3 BFG this is not the case, this is not just a port of Doom 3. In many ways this is the best version of Doom 3 on the market. When Doom 3 first hit the market way back when in 2004, it was met with mixed criticism. However I found Doom 3 to be an excellent shooter with great visuals and fantastic atmosphere. The gameplay is largely unchanged, however there has been two tweaks to the gameplay. One now finally you can use the flashlight and your weapon at the same time. While most complained about this when Doom 3 was first released, I for one liked being limited to one or the other. 

It gave tension and kept you on edge. And no there is no option to let you use the flashlight like before. Most people will like being able to use both, for me though i preferred using them separately. The other change is ammo is far less scarce than before. Now ammo is plentiful and easy to find. These two changes which seem small on paper, change things more than one would think. Now the game focuses on the action and less on the horror elements. Combat is fun and satisfying with fantastic weapons, the enemy A.I is also very smart and keeps you on your toes. In fact the A.I is better than you will see in most current games. However the horror elements and great atmosphere are still there, in addition to those changes, the entire game was given a facelift and textures were greatly improved. The game admittedly does look out of date, but is still rather impressive. 

Doom 3 is still a great shooter with fantastic enemies, great level design, and superb boss fights. Doom 3 plays far differently from the shooters released today, if you're sick of iron sights and liner set pieces Doom 3 has you covered. Not only are you getting Doom 3 but your getting Resurrection of Evil the first expansion pack, and the lost missions, an entire new set of levels. Along with Doom 1 And 2. This is the most complete set you will find for the Doom series. And for 40 dollars you get tons of content. If you never played Doom 3 now is the perfect time to catch up on the entire series. Few games have the atmosphere and fantastic combat Doom 3 has. If you like First Person Shooters don't miss one of the most important ones gaming has to offer.

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Titanfall Review Part 3

Titanfall Review Part 3 - Hopefully there are a lot more when it comes to the release of the game which I am sure there is because I know they are really lessening down the things we are able to do within the beta. You are only even allowed to rank up to rank 15. And you're only allowed to get so many things within a couple of ranks. They’re definitely really limiting us to what we can do with the maps and the modes. The modes that they have on there so far hopefully they have some sort of alternative so if you don’t really feel like playing against half of the other team being bots and that’s pretty much how it is with hardpoint and attrition. You have these bots on the other team or they are actually called grunts. These drones. Whatever you want to call them. And it’s really easy to kill them. If I didn’t say that already. It’s really easy to kill them. 

You can just bust in a building and have five of them standing there and you can kill every single one of them and you wouldn’t really have a red screen. And you wouldn’t die. It’s really easy to do. Trust me. Especially after you have played a couple of games and you are used to how the game play flows. You can kill grunts like no other. It’s just really easy to do. I don’t know if they are going to step up the game play of these drones when the actual game comes out and have them be able to kill you a lot quicker and it seems like the bullets and the guns hurt you a little less than it does the actual regular player. And especially Titans. Titans shoot you once and you're dead. But you know just getting to the point. 

The grunts they are weak. They are not very aware of what's going on and they are not really that intelligent for being an artificial intelligence especially taking place in the future. I would expect it to be a little more up than that. Of course they are trying to balance the game. I understand that but they need like an alternative mode to where you can even… or private matches where you can even up the intelligence a little bit on the these bastards so that they can find you a little better and know that you are just around them a little better. And also have a mode or some sort of playlist of modes where you can have literally no bots at all. And I think this would definitely balance the game out a lot because then people would be able to choose okay I don’t really like playing against half the team being artificial intelligence. 

I just don’t like that fact. So I will go play in this playlist. And then people are like I like things to be very fast paced. I like things to get a little mixed up for my average shooter so I am going to go ahead and play with these bots and play against these other humans and just do everything the way the game was meant to be played. And as I said this game is still in its beta stage. They do have room and time to improve and add things in. so just is sure that you guys know that. It’s already a great game so you guys definitely need to try it out. By the time the game comes out its going to be even better. They are going to have more features. They are going to have more things to play around with. It’s just going to be all around awesome. And so far I am loving it. 

So if you guys do want to play with me message my gamer tag I have it on the screen right now. Just send me a message on my Xbox one and I will try to get back to you as soon as I can. So we can get a game together. If you guys did enjoy the video please leave a like down below to show your support. If you guys want to see more videos like this and you want to get updates every single time I make a guide or a tip and trick video you guys can subscribe to my channel and stay on top of your game and make sure you are staying better than the other players. So thank you guys for watching today and I will see you guys next time.

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Titanfall Review Part2

Titanfall Review Part2 - Go into the training mode and hop in to a public match and just completely dominate. It’s absolutely fun. It’s something everyone needs to try as I said. But getting back into the impressions of the game. What did I not like about it besides everything I do like about it? Why I gave it a 9 out of 10 instead of a 10 out of 10 is because one simple little thing, one simple little bug. And just remember bugs are able to be fixed so if this I fixed by the time the game comes out and this is just a beta problem. If you actually go into training mode after you type in the code and all that fun stuff after the beta is installed or whatever. If you go into training mode so you can learn how to play the game as your pilot and access the Titan and do all the miscellaneous things you can do with the Titan when you’re in training mode doing this you can actually have someone or at least this is what happened to me this could be just an Xbox problem which I doubt. 

Because multiple things happened afterwards but someone joined my party and it pulled me out of the game or out of the training mode and it threw me into a matchmaking with one of my buddies that just joined my party. Now he didn’t send me an invite or anything. He just joined my party. He just joined to chat with me. And that was it. And it pulled me out and put me into his game. And he was freaking out because he was like whoa how did that happen. And then I'm just freaking out because I was enjoying my time in the training mode because I was doing some new things like wall running and what not and then all of a sudden I get pulled out of it. Then I had to restart because of that and I don’t know it just really pissed me off at the time and it’s not enough to make me go oh this is a 6 out of 10. Everything is good and that was just a little bug and I'm sure they can fix it as soon as they get a report on it. And that’s another thing I have to mention that is really good respond entertainment. 

So far everything that has happened with the beta including Microsoft with their Xbox One support as well. Everything has been very smooth. Every single person I have talked to that’s played with the beta when the servers went down for a little bit because they have to fix something. They did it very quickly and very efficiently. I think it even went down a second time and they fixed it even faster. So their support is very good. I am very sure if this is an actual problem I was talking about then they are going to fix it pretty fast. But going back to that issue that I had I'm like hey buddy can you just exit my party real fast I wasn’t to try something out. So he exited my party. I was the only one in my party and I exited his game afterwards. 

I went to the main menu and I clicked play and it brought me straight into his game. Now for the people who do not have the beta just understand after you click play from the main menu it brings you to a screen where you are able to choose on training. You are able to choose match making and then choose your mode. It doesn’t just bring you into match making and just chooses a certain mode for you. And that’s exactly what it did when it had me join the matchmaking thing. And it’s weird because it’s like he didn’t send me any invites. He didn’t send me any party invites. Nothing happened. There was no connection between me and him after that point. And I'm like hey alright. I'm going to exit my party and see what happens then. And the weird thing is it actually worked when I exited my own party. Now I don’t know what that even has to do with him. He was in it Or if there is still a connection between me and him and the party even though he left. I don’t know. It was kind of weird. It’s just a small thing and I am sure they will be able to fix it as soon as they can. But now jumping back into my impressions of things. I would have to say that the game modes that they have so far are pretty good.

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Titanfall Review Part 1

Titanfall Review  Part 1 - Hello everybody I'm back here giving you guys my first impression of the Titanfall beta. This isn’t the official game it’s just the Beta so there is still things they can improve on. So keep that noted. But right now I would have to say for a Beta 9 out of 10 is probably where I would land my final decision on this. And you'll see why when I finally get through this entire video. But I want to point out the good things first because it is definitely a good beta and it definitely revolutionizes how you play a first person shooter. And why I say this is because one, it has parkour, two, it has Titans and three , the overall gameplay, the speed and the AI’s added in make everything very paced fast. Once you get into combat like the very first point of contact right after that the whole game just feels like everything is going very fast. 

I mean I was even telling my grandma this morning right when I came out for lunch and all of sudden I started getting all jittery and I can’t hold anything I'm just like what the heck is going on and my grandma is just like why are you shaking so much? I'm just like well I was playing this very fast paced game. And yeah it is definitely fast paced. I can give you that. I got legitimate proof. I was playing it for three hours. Got off the controller and then I tired picking up a glass of OJ and actually could not hold the cup because I was so jittery and my hand was shaking too much. I just went for a little walk and I came back and I was fine. But the gameplay is literally just so actively driven. And what I mean by that is even by the very beginning of the game they have you doing some sort of movement that you're just coming out of this aircraft, right after you choose your class and do what you need to do you just get right onto the battlefield and you start running. I mean they keep you moving and if you don’t move then you're really not a part of the game. 

You're not doing anything contributing to the team. If you're trying to camp your boundary you will be killed a some point. It’s really an anti-camping sort of game. It’s got a big difference from Call of Duty. And having all these different things going on. These Titans stomping around. Rockets flying past you. When you are in a Titan you are constantly being shot at. It’s very active driven. There's lots of movement. If you don’t keep moving you're really just you're either dead or you’re not part of the game is how I say it. But that’s just my opinion; that last part. It is definitely a very active game. It has a lot of movement to it. And it really gets your adrenaline going. As you guys can tell in that experience I told you earlier today that I had it is definitely something I haven’t had in a while like that. I mean I sued to play zombies back in the day. I played for hours on end and all of a sudden I would get off the controller and I'm walking like a drunk man. 

Now I'm kind of having the same experience with Titan fall just from my first time playing the game. I think that’s absolutely awesome. At least everyone who enjoys FPS Shooters needs to get their hands on this beta while it’s still out there. I know it’s a closed Beta so you guys have to register as soon as you possibly can. There is a link in the description down below so you can enter that. But after a couple days of this video being out you probably won’t be able to enter but at least try to if you still can. Just click on the link. If you're able to register you can. If it says the beta is over well then you can’t do it. Just at least try to get in because if you do get a code it’s absolutely free to just put it in and play it.

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SUPER MARIO 3D LAND for Nintendo 3DS

SUPER MARIO 3D LAND for Nintendo 3DS- Nintendo has dug themselves quite a hole with the 3DS. There’s the literal hole, which goes about a billion dollars deep and is also known as a “record financial loss,” and then there’s the figurative hole, which is the fact that video game retailers have more dust on their 3DS shelves than must-have titles. It would take a serious jump for Nintendo to finally clear that hole, some magnificent leap from a bad dude for whom even the most gaping chasm is a simple matter of finding a leaf. Fortunately, Mario brought one. This isn’t the first time Mario has proven a console’s potential. This isn’t the first time he’s made every other game on a system seem like it wasn’t even trying. This isn’t the first spectacular Mario game, but given the circumstances, it does feel special. 

Super Mario 3D Land isn’t the best Mario game of all-time, but I’ve got a flower and three mushrooms that say it’s pretty damn close. The first major 3DS game developed by Nintendo that isn’t a remake of a game from the last millennium, Super Mario 3D Land is an incredible release if only for the design expertise it displays...and seemingly without effort. From the moment he steps into the screen, it’s as if Mario walks with a swagger, like he’s telling the rest of the industry... “Hey, look...an amazing 3DS game. You uh, you guys couldn’t do this on your own?” That quality can be attributed to a lot of things, but its masterful game design is the foundation. There’s not much here you haven’t seen before this isn’t as inventive as the Galaxy games, for example. 

But the genius of Super Mario 3D Land is its balance and how it incorporates nearly three decades of the plumber’s evolution into a single experience...delightfully familiar, yet viewed from a whole new perspective. There is, of course, a literal component to that new perspective. 3D Land uses stereoscopic 3D graphics, but it uses the effect more completely than we’ve ever seen in a 3DS release. 3D Land is designed to be played in 3D, so there’s actually a degree of precision gained when you turn up the slider. Whether you’re jumping, stomping or Tanooki-ing, having that visual depth is a key component of 3D Land’s gameplay. But that new perspective has to do with more than just the 3D effect. There’s an interesting rhythm to 3D Land. One level is open, bringing to mind Mario 64, while the next is a more linear experience, almost 2D in its feel. Meanwhile, you find items from Mario 3 scattered across levels inspired by Mario Galaxy. 3D Land manages to be a comprehensive Super Mario experience without ever feeling stale. It’s still clever. And perhaps that’s the game’s greatest achievement.hOf course, with a game this good, achievements are abound. 

In addition to its masterful design and system-justifying use of 3D, the game also impresses from a technical perspective. 3D Land is the best-looking 3DS game to date. The colors just pop off the screen, the beneficiaries of crisp textures and some really impressive effects. Throw in even the slightest details, like the dandelion seeds that drift into the air as Mario walks by, and you have the kind of super-polished, console-quality exclusive the 3DS has been sorely missing. As well as the best Nintendo game in a long time. Super Mario 3D Land is a very special game, perhaps the first Super Mario title to transcend categorization as 2D or 3D and capture the essence of the entire series. It doesn’t reach the heights of the Galaxy games, but you’ll be floored by its attention to detail. You’ll love its fan service. You’ll adore its blend of old and new, and as always, almost helplessly...you’ll smile with the plumber.

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