Guitar Hero:Metallica (First Impressions)

First of all, if you know me you know I'm not very fond of metal. Not since early high school have I even heard the stuff. And the only reason I heard it back then was because my girlfriend at the time blasted it on my ears. Still, ever since I played the very first Guitar Hero on my Playstation 2 I was pretty hooked. I've played basically almost every music rhythm game since (except bullshit like Lips and American Idol). However, around the time of Guitar Hero 3 I was already pretty damn burned out on the games. The guitar playing just got boring and repetitive. Lucky for me Rockband came and introduced me to the drum set. Bye-bye guitar and hello expert drum mode. The ability to play different instruments, online game play, and start a band with some friends brought incredible amounts of fun to the genre.

Even though these games are great fun, in my opinion they always had one fatal flaw; the track list. I'll admit it, I'm a music snob. But seriously, playing 7-8 minute classic rock songs like AC/DC's "Let There Be Rock" was one of the most obnoxious things in the gaming universe. It literally took me about 2 months to finish the World Tour mode in Rockband 2 only because every fucking song was so boring and so long. The classic rock really gets to my nerves and I just can't take it anymore. I wanted something fast, fun, and that would have me panting by the end of the song but would also give me a sense of accomplishment. In other words, I wanted sick pop-punk songs from The Ramones of course, OR fast old school metal songs in the vein of Helloween. Enter Guitar Hero:Metallica.



As of today March 20, the Guitar Hero: Metallica demo has gone live for download on the XBOX Marketplace for free. Of course I downloaded it as soon as I found out about this over on Destructoid. The demo consists of 4 songs, Seek & Destroy, Sad but True, some stupid Alice in Chains song (seriously, grunge GTFO!), and Queen's Stone Cold Crazy ( O_o ). I could care less about the Queen and Shit in Chains, so I just played both Metallica songs over and over on my drum set for maybe 3 hours. After getting pretty sweaty of playing on Expert drums one thing was clear, I had a huge smile on my face.

The songs are obviously pretty damn long since it's Metallica. You wouldn't see me listening to these long-ass bullshit songs on my I-Pod if my life depended on it, but actually playing them on a video game?-pretty damn fun. Like I said, the songs are long, but their fast or at least "hard". It's not some Grateful Dead pussy shit that would put you to sleep. Over at Destructoid.com they also released the entire game set list which includes classics from the therapy-ridden short haired Metallica like: Fade To Black, For Whom The Bell Tolls, Frantic, Fuel, Master of Puppets, Whiplash, and tons more. The game also has various artists giving up some of their own songs. Pretty stupid if you ask me but whatever. Some of those artists include, Motorhead's Ace of Spades (AGAIN..), Slayer's War Ensemble, Suicidal Tendencies War Inside My Head, and alot more others. The game will even include a full rendered character cameo from Diamond Head. Personally I don't care for Diamond Head but apparently it's a big deal.



Aside form really fun game play, the demo overall just looked fucking nice! I mean, the Rockband graphics have always been shitty. In these music games you don't really notice graphics since you're focused on the notes coming down, but I quickly noticed how great the models of the Metallica members looked. The animations are smooth and next gen. Even though James Hetfield looks like Eddie from Iron Maiden and Kirk Hammett still looks like a queer, the animations are pretty fucking slick. One thing they got right though was Lars Ulrich's enormous boulder of a head. Shit is huge and realistic. However, one question I have to put out there is why would they waste space with a Diamond Head character model when they could've put in Jason Newsted or Cliff Burton. Yeah I know Metallica members said it would be disrespectful to Trujillo, but seriously what the fuck?! Trujillo needs to stop being a pussy and get it through fatass head that he replaced Newsted who MADE Metallica legendary in metal head's eyes in the first place. Do they expect hardcore Metallica fans to just erase Newsted from their early 80's memories and replace him with some ponytail sporting substitute? As for Cliff Burton, this would've been the ultimate tribute to the original members. Fucking up Metallica, you are fucking up. And why the hell is there no Megadeth in this game but a song from The Foo Fighters?! CAMEL SHIT is what I say.



Anyway, the demo to this game was really promising and I'm seriously considering picking this up on release day. Activision is even adding and "Expert+" mode on drums that will need you to use to drum bass pedals. That my friends, is fucking epic. This demo was ridiculously fun, tiring, looks awesome, and doesn't bore you with boring 54 minute classic songs that fucking suck. The game is being released on March 29th on the XBOX 360 and Playstation 3. So if you ever want to see me jamming out to something besides 3 chord pop-punk, put a Rockband drum set in front of me, pop this game in, bring over some beers, and let's have a great time. Pretty excited for this game and you should be too.

G.V.P Super Smash Bros. Tournament

Unfortunately (or not), I haven't been able to attend club meetings because of class schedule problems but it looks like club members have finally gotten up from there asses and decided to be productive for once.

Thursday March 26th Los Angeles Mission College's Gamer club, Gamers vs Players (god I hate that lame-ass name) will be holding a Super Smash Bros. tournament on the lower level of the LRC building on campus. From what I understand the venue fee is $5.00 ($2 venue, $3 pot), and no, pot does not mean you're contributing for a burlap sack full of marijuana (unfortunately). People planning on competing should get there early to sign up and bring their own controllers. No exceptions for any slackers who show up late unless you're a really hot chick looking for a stud wearing a leather jacket (I wish hah!).

The rules of the tourny are 7 minute rounds, 3 man stock, best 2 out of 3. Stages will be chosen by the winner of a coin toss. The stages will have to be chosen from the list of: Battlefield, Final Destination, Lylat Cruise, Smashville, Pokemon Stadium 2, and Wario Ware. The Mission College campus does have a cafeteria and a hot dog vender that can give you your hunger fix. Yeah I know, the club is skrimpy for not providing free food. :P

For people not into Smash Bros, Guitar Hero and Street Fighter 4 will also be there. The games will be displayed on huge projector monitors so everybody can have a good time. Although I and the other site authors CRS and RAB will most likely be there (you hear that ladies!), it's most likely I personally won't be participating in the Street Fighter 4 madness going on. I'm used to playing that game with an arcade stick and I'm sure as hell not going to take it to campus-Hahaha! Still, that's a good thing because I'm 100% certain me, CRS, and RAB could easily dominate the night. Is that a challenge? Show up and find out! Hope to see you their and meet alot of new faces!

Address: LA Mission College 13356 Eldridge Avenue, Sylmar.

Mortal Kombat vs DC Universe (Game Review)

Title: Mortal Kombat vs DC Universe
Developer: Midway

Even though it is very obvious we here at the blog are Street Fighter fanboys, I would be lying if I said I wasn't a fan of other fighters at some point in my past life. As much as I hate to admit it, Tekken was the very first game I played on my Playstation when I bought it, the first Dead or Alive was cool when playing against my brothers, and if we wanted to talk oldschool then you should know I was a proud owner of Eternal Champions for the Sega Genesis as well. However the only other franchise that has given any type of competition in recognition has been the Mortal Kombat series.

Growing up I owned the first 3 MK games for my Sega. As time went on the games only got worse with absurdly complicated Fatality motions and an overall obnoxious control scheme. Speaking from today's stand point, I absolutely hate every other fighter that is not Street Fighter related. 3D fighters like Tekken and Virtual Fighter might look gorgeous, but the fact that they play so slow and have a dumb "ring out" option just makes me sick to my stomach. I want fast paced action with tons of personality. Again, the only game that has stood out as something as cool as Street Fighter has been Mortal Kombat. Ninjas and sorcery is a cool concept and only gets better when it's mixed in with alot of violence. Sadly as the years went on the MK series also became silly parodies of itself with stupid shit like "Friendships", gimmicks that try to bring in a new audience, and even worse the removal of the cool over the top violence. Bitches and bastards, welcome to Mortal Kombat vs DC Universe.



The heroes and villains from both universes are beginning to disappear. According to Green Lantern the MK and DC worlds are merging and being overtaken by a "Rage" that is causing the fighters to go mad and contamination to the entire galaxy. As a result, both sides must team up with their villains and fight the opposing universe. There ya' go, that's the storyline. It's pretty basic and honestly pretty dull. It doesn't bring anything interesting to the table and their really is no word to describe it except boring and it's many synonyms. However many gamers don't even worry about the story at times and just want to get there hands dirty with Sonya Blade's blood. Too bad you can't do that either because all the violence has been removed since the game was finalized to have a "Teen" rating. A Mortal Kombat game with extravagant fatalities is utter complete bullshit because that's what made the game the powerhouse franchise that it is today. The DC cast doesn't even have fatalities, instead those were replaced with "Heroic Brutalities" because super heroes don't kill. Instead of killing a fucking freak like Baraka, The Flash's "Heroic Brutality" simply punches the enemy onto the ground from up in the air. Whoop-dee-fucking-do it's complete horse shit. Every fatality and heroic bullshit wasn't even done well. They were half assed and almost all of them just look like demos of something in progress. Sometimes there is literally like 5 second gaps (yes I counted)after the finisher where the characters just stand their staring at the camera all awkward. If that wasn't bad enough, it only gets worse as well.

The game is pretty much just a gimmick in a nutshell. Crossing over super heroes with a well known franchise might appear to most as a scheme to try to create something cool like the Marvel vs Capcom games. The gimmick just becomes old really fast and it's real easy to lose interest in the fact that you're watching Wonder Women beating up Captain Marvel (as if that was interesting to begin with). I admit it was cool watching Batman fight Sub-Zero when I first popped the game-in, but after every huge disappointment started piling up I lost interest in the first day. Also as expected, controls are stiff and many fatalities are still stupid hard to do (why the fuck do they add "up" in a combination?!?).



The only thing I thought was pretty fun about this game was the online play. I found myself winning plenty of matches and anybody who plays online knows people over XBOX LIVE are no-life assholes who master every inch of the game. Even though it was fun it also had it's problems too. Apparently a handful of the characters are "broken" and have a constant button combo that could never be broken once it's started. Batman of all people was the most hated online and everytime I picked him the other player would be quick to disconnect. Picking Batman in a game is a must so why not do it right Midway you fucktards?

Overall like I said, Mortal Kombat vs DC Universe was fun for like the first day. Even if the superhero gimmick is cool don't be fooled; Midway didn't even bother to give the fans full animated endings. Instead you get one still art design while a narrator tells you what adventures Batman had after completing his quest. Each ending lasts about 10 seconds and just isn't worth it. Many little gameplay elements were added like the "Test Your Might" mini games, but after the second or third time they become annoying as they only work to break a cool combo you probably had going on. I've bashed on this game so much only because it was something that was interesting but just executed poorly. It had potential to be something pretty cool and memorable but ended becoming a Batarang to fans of both worlds faces.

FINAL REVIEW: 3/10 STREET FIGHTER 4 FEBRUARY 17TH!!

AMV FIX (Robotech)

Maybe you had to have grown up with it like me, and maybe it's way too late for you to get into it, but if you ask anyone which anime was at the forefront of the U.S-Anime-Boom, they're all gonna say Robotech. Easily the greatest anime sci-fi/space opera of all time (sorry Gundam!) Robotech is remembered and revered for being the total package, having a significant and well balanced amount of action, comedy, romance, and drama. If you can manage to get off your high hoarse and look past the awesome mech-action (Idol) you're bound to fall in love with this timeless classic.



Oh, and I know the animation and music is outdated, but I still love it in all it's cheesy 80's glory!

Final Fantasy XIII (Preview)

Alright, I know Square Enix's Final Fantasy XIII is a ways away (and I'm talkin' bout 2010 here!) but Square just posted up a brand-spankin' new trailer showing off the game's amazing graphics engine as well as the very first look at the actual game play. The trailer opens with a glimpse into the hyper-cybernetic world, hustling and bustling with elaborately intertwined railways skimming the neon skies. So far, the sleek and sexy Heroine of the story seems to only be fighting mechanical enemies, though I'm sure there's gonna be some crazy power possessed tyrant controlling them (there always is). There's also a few shots at some of the potential important side characters, such as the blonde rouge we see fighting along side our heroine. The combat system is very similar to that of Final Fantasy XII, which is a classic turn-based system. There are a few differences from your normal turn-based RPG's though, once you've selected your attack, your characters duke it out as if it you were controlling them in a action RPG, in short, the game play looks phenomenal.

With many worthy JRPG's already on the market for the next-gen consoles, such as Lost Odyssey, Eternal Sonata, Last Remnant, and the soon to be released Star Ocean, Final Fantasy XIII looks to re-establish why it's #1. With it's brilliant CG animated cut-scenes, solid combat system, and the sheer prestige and legacy of the most famous RPG franchise in the world, Final Fantasy XIII has me very excited (if you couldn't already tell!). Just don't make me wait too long Square Enix!



Oh and I added a link to the Official site if you wanna watch the trailer with better resolution, just click on the title of this post.

Left 4 Dead (Game Review)

Left 4 Dead
Developer: Valve

I know what you're all thinking. You all think I'm way late on jumping on the Left 4 Dead bandwagon right? Well actually you are all wrong because I've been playing this game so much and so long that I just haven't had time to write up a review about it. Since I'm the "horror guy" to everybody who knows me, it's only natural that I'm going to have some kind of bias to this game. And I'm not going to lie, I do. Zombies were the first type of "monsters" I had ever been exposed to back when I was only a child star and not a teen idol at the age of seven. My brother rented Return of the Living Dead 2 on VHS and after watching my first undead corpse bite into a punk rockers head before yelling "Brains!" into the camera, I knew I had just been infected with the horror bug. Throughout my gaming years my horror movie fascination crossed over to my video game fascination with titles like Resident Evil and Illbleed. Although not many games have done the horror genre as perfect as Resident Evil and other popular titles like Silent Hill, Left 4 Dead took the survival genre to a whole other area. Instead of having instant jump attack scares explode all over your face, we get hundreds of fast running zombies rushing and beating the shit out of you. Yes my friends, this game is really fucking intense and I love it.



Now, I'm not going to get into the whole "these are not zombies" controversy because that argument can honestly go on forever. Although I personally would consider this to be game about a "rage" virus infection because the infected beat you and don't actually eat you (and also run instead of the traditional zombie undead corpse creep), the developers did purposely tag this as a zombie game. Don't know if it was simply for marketing or because developers have only seen Zack Snyder's version of Dawn of the Dead, but either way it says they are zombies; deal with it. Aside from zombies this game also gives us "Special infected" enemies that range from a fatass deformed zombie called the Boomer who vomits on you and also attracts the horde onto to you. We also get a Smoker who uses his long tongue to grab and constrict you, a Hunter who pounces on you like an animal, a Witch who instantly kills you if you disturb her, and a Tank which is an enormous over powered beast who pounds on you until you die. Each of these enemies have their own special attack that really keeps you on your heels and makes a strict game plan very difficult to stick by.

Left 4 Dead also switches the survival horror genre up by not giving you a linear storyline. Instead the game is presented to you as a movie. Their are 4 campaigns (or 4 different movie scenarios) which consist of 5 chapters each. All campaigns end with the 5th chapter being the extraction/rescue of your team. For example in the first campaign called No Mercy, you travel through the city and sewers to reach your goal being a hospital rooftop where you use a radio to call in a helicopter rescue extraction. It may sound easy or repetitive, but the area where Left 4 Dead really exceeds even most action adventure games is the incredible A.I. The game functions under a new technology A.I system that Valve has called "The Director", which also goes with the movie theme of the game. What the Director does is it alters the in-game gameplay every single time you play through it. If you and your team of survivors are doing extremely well and playing as a team, the director might throw numerous hordes at you from random areas, or even sick a tank on you when you least expect it. Another example of this is say you and your team are doing absolutely horrible and can't get very far on your journey. The Director might be generous and place extra health packs of pipe bombs to help you out as well as tone down the number of enemies. Basically in lamens terms, the game is never exactly the same twice.



The gameplay of Left 4 Dead is extremely fast and tight. You are never left without anything to do and are constantly on your toes to defend yourself or save\help friends live. The best part of this game is obviously playing it with a group of friends. You can heal each other, give each other pain pills, and really need to act fast as a team to save one of your friends if a hunter is mauling them on the ground or if they're simply outnumbered by an enormous group of zombies. This co-op gameplay is something that was done to perfection unlike other faulty co-op games like Army of Two that promised so much but only disappointed.

Overall Left 4 Dead is one of those games that absolutely nobody knew about when it was under development. However when it was near release date, the marketing system took advantage of the horror/zombie fad and only took it to the extreme. All of sudden hundreds of zombies movies are in development, alot more zombie games are planned, and everybody claims to be a top notch zombie hunter. Even though I think this will only lead to half-ass games and movies hoping to cash-in on this fad, as long as I get downloadable content over the XBOX LIVE Marketplace; I'm happy. Left 4 Dead is a blast to play and honestly does not have any faults that makes this game less of an enjoyable new experience.

FINAL REVIEW: 8.5/10 "THEY'RE COMING TO GET YOU BARBARA!"

Tatsunoko vs. Capcom: First Impressions

Alright, on my way home from school yesterday I decided to stop by my local arcade-watering hole: Family Fun, because it's seriously been way too long since I got in a game of Capcom vs. SNK 2. But as I walked into the geek-sphere that is Family Fun (I'm including myself here too so keep your panties on) I found myself walking past the SNK cabinet and on to the T.V that was playing the very much anticipated Tatsunoko vs. Capcom, the latest cross-over fighter that pits old school anime characters like Tekkaman and Casshern against Capcom classics like Ryu and Megaman. It was being run on an imported version of the game for the Nintendo Wii, equipped with Wii licensed joysticks and all. AND, they only charge a buck for 30 minutes of play, now that's a bargain!

As I payed my dollar in quarters to the cashier, luckily, a friend and fellow patron of the video game arts was also playing and had been playing Tatsunoko for about a month now. After he gave me the rundown on the game mechanics it was a total combo-fest in the vein of Marvel vs. Capcom 2. Now anyone who knows me knows that I am not a big fan of Marvel vs. Capcom 2, there's just too much chaos going on for me to enjoy the game. I prefer my fighting games to require more strategy and finesse, both of which traits are found in SNK 2. But being a true Capcom fan through and through, I give all of their games a fighting chance. And in this case, I'm glad I did because although the game was just as chaotic as MVC2, it brings with it a new fighting style all it's own, incorporating elements from MVC2 (of course), guilty gear, and many familiar combos found in Third Strike. So any game that can put together an enjoyable mash-up of all those games is A.O.K in my book.

The specials are over the top, the comobs-fast and fluid, and the characters are unique, refreshing, and well-balanced. Revitalizing old anime characters and matching them up against Capcom's elite was another stroke of genius by Capcom. It's gonna take a whole lot of quarters to properly review this one, but having gotten in some game-time already makes this one of the premiere fighting games of 2009.



....Oh, and F.Y.I, I'm totally rusty on SNK 2:(