Posts filed under ‘Reviews’

This newest addition to the Marvel Pinball series was released at the beginning of the month and with the PlayStation Store finally back up I was finally able to review it. I’m always excited to see the newest Marvel tables as it always seems to relive a certain part of my childhood. Those wondrous moments spent on Saturday morning watching cartoons were a highlight of the week. Even though Spiderman is spectacular, a certain group of heroes has always held a special place in my heart. That group, of course, is the Fantastic 4. Now when you see this name put out for this table, it seems to be written Fantastic Four, but for me that word must always, ALWAYS, be written as an actual number 4.

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Over the weekend we were left a wonderful message in our chat room stating that On The Fly Entertainment would love to have us review their latest Xbox Live Indie Game. If you’ve been reading these reviews, You know by now that I love to review these Indie games. I am a big fan of the idea that these indie games are no longer trapped behind the XNA format. So of course I got on the horn (e-mail) with On The Fly Entertainment and said “Yes!”

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If you’re reading this then it means that the PSN Store FINALLY came back up.  Consumers can bitch and moan all they want about their information possibly being stolen.  Regardless, I feel that Sony doesn’t owe you a thing save the offer of 1 year of identity protection. What about a poor (in the loosest sense of the word) company like ZEN Studios? Here they are with a new table for ZEN Pinball and the PSN service, with which they use to earn a living, drops out from under their feet. Now that it is back up both you, the consumer, and I can take a closer look at Sorcerer’s Lair.  Once due to be release on April 26th, now available simply due to services being restored. This means I was finally able to get my grimy hands on a controller and play this new table.

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I read Penny Arcade’s comic strip describing the mutants found in the prequel X-Men movie as “Bleg”. So I wasn’t expecting much out of this action flick, but was lured in by my local $3 dollar theater. Even the trailers I had seen hadn’t totally appealed to me. So when I sat down in my soft chair, I totally expected some gimmicky hero movie. After coming out of it, I think lots of people think it is either one or the other and don’t really see what the true nature of the movie is.

Let me explain. What I think the Penny Arcade folks were trying to say goes beyond pointing out the non-combat abilities of certain characters. A few of those good ‘ole mutants benefit from the intellect others, to find ways to control and manipulate their abilities. Without that push, they would end up being fairly useless. Who knows what other useless thins were in their predecessors. These abilities could be as useless as a double jointed finger or other such abnormalities that don’t do anything for humans these days. The movie strives to go beyond the limitations of the idea of that comic, by not only delivering powerful actions scenes but also insight into the human condition of evolution. To further delve into this idea, Magneto’s past is explored. The days of the Nazis and the hunting of the Jews directly foretells Eric’s fears towards the new breed of humans known as mutants. By stepping into the light, they are exposing themselves to those who would fear their new abilities. X-Men: First Class doesn’t aim to answer this question, but true to being a prequel sets the stage for many characters to later struggle with the same idea.

Let me settle the score about what this movie is. It is neither gimmicky nor a hero movie. This is a down right villain movie. These villains downright stomp on the world announcing themselves. After all, they say that without villain there would be no heroes. The pattern starts to merger, the heroes face the same question over and over again. Some even buckle and start to see the other side. Of course, then we get back to reality. Awesome action is found everywhere. Actions and heart wrenching scenes: the heart wrenching the gates of a German prison camp, the actions of Hank McCoy, and the betrayal of allies. Everything lends itself to being another excellent X-Men film. Of course, I think we could have done without the few seconds of Wolverine, but to each their own cameo. I think this was an excellent film and a worthy addition to the series. What does everyone else think?

I keep mentioning the word “crossovers” in my reviews. That is just because I keep coming across great ones to review.  When I saw that Sequence was a rhythm/RPG hybrid, I knew that I just had to review it. The thought of battling with musical attacks really pumps me up. I figured it might be something more akin to DDR or Rockband, but what I found was possibly the most unique and intriguing game that I have played so far this year.
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Crossover titles, or even ones that just blur the boundaries of genres, always seem to attract my attention. So when Fortix 2 had info put out describing it as a reverse tower defense game, I knew I had to play it. In my mind I envisioned waltzing through mazes blasting towers with a gun. What I received was something a mite more challenging that Nemesys has created.

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Fable III has been out for several months on the Xbox 360 while the porting team has been working on getting it ready for the PC. Today the US gets their chance to download this from Games for Windows LIVE, but our lovely UK folks have to wait until this Friday. However, this gives a chance for our friends across the pond to read reviews such as this and make up their own minds whether to decide to purchase the game or not. Of course, you could probably read a review of the game done on the 360 and come to the same conclusions, but new material is always nice as well. Read the rest of this entry »

Phantom EFX has spent the last several years becoming one of the top slot machine game developers of the Real Deal series. This explains why several of their regular games grace the shelves of my household. When Battle Slots was released 5 days ahead of schedule, on April 14th, to quell the masses yearning hunger for it; I was more than curious. After a fresh copy arrived in my mailbox, I soon discovered what had people clinging to the game. In fact, I had a hard time weaseling it away from my fiancee who loves slot machine games and owns several of Phantom’s games already. I honestly didn’t think she would like it. After all, it has RPG elements with might and magic at its core. Can adding slots really convert someone? She says yes, but I still had to play it for myself.

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Ever feel like you’re almost ready to explode while at the office? The smart person doesn’t just melt into oblivion leaving behind a charred desk and chair. No, the true combustible individual will spread this inferno across the office.  Of course, I’m not talking about real life, but instead Inflamous.  Inflamous is Milkstone Studios 8th Xbox Live Indie Game with the premise previously mentioned. The challenge is to burn everyone fast and efficiently. Sure, you can use up your flame and have to recharge by a gas pump.  However, that will slow you down.  Or maybe you’ll pick up some heat by following your flaming co-workers tail. Of course, you loose a little bit of health that way. Oh no, are those firemen that put burning people out? Sprinklers that stop you from exploding and take away your gas? Yes! There are all sorts of challenges that appear on each new level. How will you ever destroy everyone on the level unless you turn off the elevators that keep spawning people? The challenge here is to manage flame and health wisely. No easy task since the time is always running down.  This game is as easy on the eyes as it as it is fun to play, and let me tell you it is very much fun to play.

Inflamous
Platform: XBLIG
Marketplace link: http://marketplace.xbox.com/en-US/Product/Inflamous/66acd000-77fe-1000-9115-d80258550811
Price: 80 MP ($1)

Presenting to you, the faithful reader, Running Pixel’s creation Bouncing Avatars. This latest game of theirs is a tower climber. The catch is that it involves a bubble with your Xbox Avatar conveniently placed inside of it. The object, of course, is to get as high as you can in the tower, bouncing from platform to platform.

There are several unique things present other than the whole bubble deal.  Randomly, black balls fall causing your bounce to be deflected. Some platforms are green with a spring or red for an explosion.  Both give you quite an extra boost.  The largest boost comes from a row of arrows point up that suck you in and shoot you higher.  If it’s not high enough to reach another tower,  you do have a rocket boost available. These are replenished by hitting the star checkpoints. Also if you fail, you can restart from one of these points. I suggest holding onto the rocket boost unless absolutely necessary, and believe me it will become necessary. Also, avoid black platforms at all cost as these are instant death as is the rising water that you fall into should you miss your jump. One more thing, the bubble can start spinning, affecting your bounce. So, with that in mind you are able to counter-spin or even create your own spin with a simple press of the a button.  This does need to be recharged, so I wouldn’t use this too often either.  Maybe just if the spin of the avatar makes you start to feel nauseous.

Some of the added fun in the game revolve around the multiplayer. Sure you can play with just yourself and try to reach a high score, but where is the fun in that. This game allows for a 4 player split screen race to the top that doesn’t exist. A fun local multiplayer game for only 80 MSP, it’s quite the deal.  Imagine sitting on a couch next to your drunken roommates as you all try to bounce about. Now that is my kind of fun!

Now for a bit of sad information. In the time that it has taken for me to get this review posted, Running Pixel has announced on their blog that they are no longer making XBLIG and WP7 games. The good news is that they have purchased the Unity license and will be focusing on Android games! Until then, the best we can do to support them is to give away 3 codes to download Bouncing Avatars.

Simply comment below answering the following question:

“What game did Running Pixel develop that require the use of a box to play the game?” (Hint: Check out their blog!)

We’ll pick 3 random winners from the correct answers this weekend and e-mail the codes to you. So be sure to use a valid e-mail when submitting.

Bouncing Avatars
Platform: XBLIG
Marketplace link: http://marketplace.xbox.com/en-US/Product/Bouncing-Avatars/66acd000-77fe-1000-9115-  d802585507fd
Price: 80 MP ($1)