MashButtons does just that and looting in Dungeon Seige III review

It is time for MashButtons to review another dungeon crawler, this time in the form or a disk based game rather than a download. Obsidian made and Square Enix published action RPG with online coop capabilities, Dungeon Siege III, has just released and we have had a full week with this title on the PS3, so let’s get the basics out of the way before I get to the meat and potatoes of the experience. You pick one of four Legionnaires, protectors of Ehb, similar to the Grey Wardens in Dragon Age, who have been betrayed and almost wiped out to the brink of extinction. Like others in the genre you are able to develop your character to fit your play style, loot, button mash your melee, plan your moves based on your energy, quest, and more loot. With all the Diabl-esque titles recently being released in the form of downloadable on XBLA and PSN, is it worth it now a days to pay full retail price to get what some would call the same content for a quarter of the price?

So far, I am going to have to go with yes. Admittedly, if you are not sure which character you are going to play as, this may be the toughest decision made in this game. I decided to play through as Anjali, you know since she is a vixen, good with a staff, and likes to play with fire. The gameplay was smooth and I do not recall coming across any bugs or glitches in my single player play through. The multiplayer is rather hit or miss, depending who you are playing with. If you are playing with friends that have the same goals and intentions you will really enjoy the coop gameplay. If you do not play online, you will not miss the coop as you can play couch coop, which played really well, and if you are the type that would rather play with yourself, you will get assistance from NPC's throughout the story. The graphics look great and think the environment design along with the character animations, and fluidity when things get hectic is what makes the game play so well in comparison to others out there in the same genre. There really isn't much in the way of load times that I noticed, not enough to deter playing like that which I encountered during another recent review, which may mostly be due to the installation of the game to the hard drive on the PlayStation 3.

Now to the other side of the online coop gameplay and a couple other issues encountered. There are two ways to play online coop, join a match or have others join you game, I have been focusing on having others join me until I have my character build figured out. Playing with strangers runs a huge risk of encountering some...well, for lack of a better word, jerks. Whether speeding through areas they have played through already, messing with your loot stash, or lack of support, it is bound to happen here and there, but as I said before, it is hit or miss. It is a large world in this land of Ehb, but is rather linear in terms of maps, Where in a similar title, Sacred 2, It was an open world environment, not a big issue, just less exploration than I would have thought. Also, this is an Obsidian titles, which means there are decisions to be made, you know, those of us that have played such titles as Alpha Protocol, Fallout: New Vegas, and Knights of the Old Republic Dos, but I felt as if your decisions didn't impact the story as much, making morale questions easier to answer.

I am happy the Dungeon Siege III released on a console. The high def dungeon crawling typically seen on handhelds, has been really trying to breakthrough as of recently, and though most are fun though without multiplayer, or have multiplayer with numerous bugs, this will hopefully bring new life to the genre so we can see Diablo III on consoles. Being a newcomer to the Dungeon Siege series, I didn't feel lost at all playing through the third entry, and had enough fun to go back and start a new character, so there is a lot of replay value here, doubt I will try all four, but will enjoy the looting and multiplayer for as far as I get.

Tomb Raider E3 Trailer | E3 2011

Okay, so I'm not a Tomb Raider fan, I never got into it.  Not because it was bad, but just because I tried most of the titles in the series, and just didn't like the controls, and overall felt pretty clunky to me.  It just wasn't my cup of tea.  Each time a new developer came along and tried to reboot or re-imagine the franchise, I thought would be worth checking out.  Still, no dice. 

But imagine my surprise when pulled into one of the private meeting rooms of South Hall just last week to see a two-level demo of the latest game, and then walking out, jaw-agape.  I cannot wait for this game!  This is probably the single biggest "surprise" of the show this year.  Funny; Uncharted did Tomb Raider better than Tomb Raider ever could dream, and now here we are, and the newest entry seems to want to dethrone the Uncharted series.  The game looks phenomenal...the graphics, the cinematic direction, the sound, the interaction, and even the voice acting is truly looking to up the ante and break all previous impressions you had of Tomb Raider...I cannot wait to play it.

We still have some time before its release, but here's the debut trailer unveiled at E3 2011.  What do you think?

MOON DIVER BY SQUARE ENIX REVIEWED WITH LOVE BY MASHBUTTONS.COM

Welcome once again my fellow arcadnaughts (yeah, yeah, it’s my term for arcade loving pioneers). Okay moving on, so back in the golden/silver age of arcades, March 1989 to be exact, Capcom introduced a new action fest named “Strider” (Google it youngsters). Set in the year 2048, Strider starred a young hero named Hiryu whom was tasked with the assassination of the dictator of his future dystopia. You, the player, had an 8 way joystick and two buttons. One, for slicing your plasma sword called a “Cypher” and one for jumping. Gameplay consisted of jumping, slashing, clinging to girders and sliding down ramps and causeways all while slicing everything insight like a crazy ADHD kid who’s lost his Ritalin. It was truly amazing and was quickly ported to home systems such as the Sega Genesis. Those were the days. Guess what? Those days are back and Square Enix has a beauty in store for you. I give you Moon Diver for download on Xbox Live Marketplace and my god, I am so glad I am not taking Ritalin anymore.

Moon Diver brought fond memories to my brain the second I started to play it. Here I was jumping around scrambling from platform to platform, dangling from ceilings and girders all the while slashing enemy hordes and mechanical what not. Had I been returned to 1989?? Nope, New Kids on the Block was defiantly not coming out of my Radio, but here we now have an incredible drop in drop out multiplayer experience much like Strider, in the sense that it can be played as a single player jaunt but soon it reveals that in order to truly spank this game right you will need a friend or two to join the cause. The reason? Individual player level-up abilities that are unique to each of the four playable characters.

The later levels of Moon Diver will have you wishing that you could mutate at will an extra finger because things start getting so frantic that you will need the aid of your comrades and their best defensive and offensive spells that they have had better leveled up at this point. Playing online was a blast! Because if you are playing with a group and your player takes a dirt nap you re-spawn wrapped up in glowing chains and one of your teammates can set you free to rejoin the fight. The Graphics are your typical Anime flair and seem to be a perfect fit for this type of downloadable. Squaresoft has been really surprising me as of late and I want the surprises to keep coming so please support the cause.Go to Xbox Live Marketplace download the demo then buy the full blown download.

Zircon’s gotta go pack his bags for E3, I got’s some people to meet and I hope to run into some fans as well so hopefully I can bring back a bag of swag to give away here on MashButtons, so keep your eyes peeled! Okay so I end these reviews with a quote (heck, I don’t know why) so here goes. “A Freudian slip is saying one thing but meaning your mother.”

Z man has left the blog….. No really I left like an hour ago.

FINAL FANTASY IV THE COMPLETE COLLECTION AND COMPLETE REVIEW ON MASHBUTTONS.COM

It’s hard to believe that it has been 20 years now but yes, 20 years ago Square Soft released Final Fantasy II here in the states on the brand new super cool Nintendo SNES. (Lovingly referred to by many as the Nintendo Sneeze) So many of us now know the lore of this title as it was named Final Fantasy II here in America when in actuality it was Final Fantasy IV since the real II & III which were NES titles that never made it stateside. Through the years we have had the chance to experience what II & III had to offer (or lack thereof) and came to realize that Final Fantasy IV brought the story back to the RPG. Now as many will agree Final Fantasy VII will always be my baby but if RPG’s were to be a metaphoric family of mine, Final Fantasy IV would have to be my Second Born.

Having played IV as I will call it from here out over 7 times now…let’s see. SNES (Twice), a Kanji PC Version,  PlayStation One, Gameboy Advance, Nintendo DS, a questionable cellphone version, and now the PSP don’t leave home without it version, I think it’s safe to say it’s a favorite. But this time we get all the goods, and I do mean all the Goods. I feel it’s my birthday and Square’s letting me get BUSY, that’s not until the 7^th, til then, gotta keep getting busy. So we have the main game that has all the classic story trimmings of good vs. evil, classic betrayal and redemption, all this wrapped up in sacrifice, adding a couple of compelling love stories that would make a romance novelist weep for a week. Think if Star Wars, Camelot, and The Lord of the Rings had a freakish love child through some Triad Union, and you end up with Final Fantasy IV, summed up in a word…AWESOME.

Next, we are given something new, and we all like new. Behold Final Fantasy IV Interlude… Wha What? Yes, this 4-5 hour mini RPG bridges the gap between the main game and its sequel. This little nugget o’ goodness has never been seen, not even on the Wii NES version, so it’s all new just for you. Now the quests seem a little like a Kingdom Hearts retread at times, but I really liked the story aspect as it did make things flow together right, so well done Square, well done. Now on to the piece de resistance… Final Fantasy IV The After Years, well my faithful readers guess what? Its 17 freaking years later and King Cecil and Queen Rosa have a son named Ceodore who is sent on a quest with the Red Wings to discover why a second moon has appeared, the monsters are back and there is the sudden appearance of a helpful but strangely indifferent Hooded Man.

And thus this new RPG has begun and it’s all here, no costly passive aggressive monthly episodic download content to rob you of your lunch money. A whole new RPG, heck, it really is your birthday and Square is delivering! Good lord I almost forgot about the beautiful signature Square Soft cinemas that are a little sparse this time but I will take anything I can get because they are delicious! So there you have it my little RPGers go, run, race, or teleport to your game kiosk or store and get Final Fantasy IV The Complete Collection, your kids will thank you when they sell it on EBay Prime 20 years from now for 70 creds. As always, I will leave you with a little quote from my Dad… He’s gone but always remembered, “There’s a destiny that makes us brothers, none walks this way alone, and all that you put into the lives of others, comes back into your own.” Yeah pretty deep, till next time, Zircon has officially left the Blog. PEACE!!

Tomb Raider Trilogy for PS3 Review on MashButtons.com

Lara Croft, ah yes that Lara Croft, you know the woman with incredible body proportions that got many a young gamers through puberty. Well she’s back and she’s been redone in high definition. Yes, there is a gaming god after all. So, let’s start from the beginning...Sherman set the way back machine for 1996. Back in 1996 there was an incredible 3D world being explored by Mario fans on the Nintendo 64 and Sony wanted theirs. Thus the ground breaking Tomb Raider was released on the Playstation One and it starred one buxom beauty named Lara Croft. Being a rich English socialite adventurer, Lara braved many ancient tombs with a wild zeal that could only be outdone by Indiana Jones himself.

The 3rd Birthday Review on MashButtons.com

Mitochondria quite frankly are considered to be the factories of biological cells that create energy within that cell. Suppose if you will that mitochondria which are inherited through females, in mass, form a type of consciousness that is just waiting for the right moment in our evolution to take over and allow a human child to be born that would have the ability to form and control it's own genetic code. Wow, didn’t mean to blow your mind there but that is the initial idea behind a book, Parasite Eve, authored by Japanese writer Hideaki Sena. This science fiction novel was made into a Japanese movie and then adapted into two Playstation games Parasite Eve and PE2 back in 1998 and 1999. Parasite Eve the video games on Playstation One served as sequels of a sort for the original novel. These games were an amazing achievement for Square Soft back at the turn of the century and have always been revered as classic action RPG’s with incredible signature cinemas that Square is so well known for. The hero Aya Brea Was a New York cop that waged turn-based RPG battles against mitochondrial creatures in an attempt to save Manhattan. It’s hard to believe that over 10 years have gone by and no sequels have emerged until now. I hereby give you The 3rd Birthday for the Sony PSP.

FINAL FANTASY’S DISSIDIA 012 DOUDECIM REVIEW

Square Enix has over the years become my favorite game designer of all things RPG for over 2 decades. Now and each and every release seems to express a collective improvement over the last. Needless to say, the elders at Squenix have chosen to do it again. Final Fantasy Dissidia 012 Duodecim is here and ready for your gaming consumption. If you need to know just what that subtitle means it basically means the number 12 (Duo=2 Decim=10). So let’s start with a little back story, a couple of years ago a concept was created at Square that revolved around having many of our beloved characters from the “Final Fantasy” Universe come together in a tournament battle with each other to decide the fate of the “Overworld”. It was felt that if Square went the way of Soul Calibur or Mortal Kombat that they would just create yet another cookie cutter fighter title that would ultimately feel lopsided due to a certain characters initial traits. Thankfully that idea was scrapped and the decision then seemed to focus on a turn based battle system that also seemed to feel rehashed. Then genius struck, why not make the game a melding of both? Fast action fighting with turn based fighting control schemes, Dissidia was born, but there were a few complications that occurred during delivery.

The original Dissidia, once released had a very favored following in its natural habitat of Japan, but American tastes were of a more discerning pallet. When I first booted up the original I instantly felt the game was extremely over complicated where it did not need to be but alas it was what it was and I came to love it, feeling that if it had been simplified a bit it would have gotten stale quickly. Dissidia’s heir apparent Doudecim does try to repair some of these issues and in many ways succeeds, but there are also a few lingering issues, but none that diminish this title enough to be concerned about.Okay, let’s dive in! It is a rare thing in this world of ours that the sequel out matches it original. Many players will want change and just as many want things to stay the same, but yet still be better and different. I hear it every day in my chosen profession that a player will hate on a game for the changes made and others will love it because of those changes. Still, others will love it because they just love the franchise all together regardless. I can honestly say Doudecim pretty much remains the same yet feels new with the inclusions of new Final Fantasy favorites. First up is Lightning from XIII (Stop it, why are you hating?). Lightning is definitely in charge in this game and then we have Yuna from X, Tifa from VII, and Vaan from IX. There are more but those will come from playing, but I should tell you that all of their respective annoying traits are here. Thank god I haven’t seen “Hope” from XIII in here yet.

Gameplay is basically the same but with a few new features like being able to sap Bravery points from your opponent weakening them considerably before moving in for the kill. This function can actually turn the tide in a match and allow you to win just when you were sure you were done for. Also there is now an Assist system that will allow you to call upon one of your teammates and have them lend a hand when the going gets tough, yes its cliché but “The tough get going”. These battles are awesome and beautiful and kept me going to see just what was next. Now, on to the Story Mode, ah yes the story mode. While I absolutely love the signature Square benchmark of computer generated realism from their cinemas, there were quite a few spread out within the game and though I was looking forward to each and every one of them, something seemed to be missing. For a game with over the top flashy battles and enough characters with Uber angst issues I really thought the story would at least throw me an Inception like curve similar to what seems to be the norm now in current American Cinema (Now that I think of it, that is asking a bit too much).

Thinking of this release as a whole; the battles, characters, and their drive considering the predicament that they are in during the story make this is an excellent addition to the Final Fantasy canon. I recommend this to any Final Fantasy fan and overall I do believe that players will enjoy it fully. Thank you Square for another quality title in the waning days of the aging PSP. Now Square I ask you this… WHERE IS MY HD REMAKE OF “FINAL FANTASY VII? You have to know that title would be a cash cow and the new NGP is just begging for a release like that. While I am at it, Kingdom Hearts 3? All in all, it is no secret that I am a Squenix Fan and probably always will be.

This review has been fun, but Zircon has other places to be for the moment so till next time I bow out.

It is with great pride that I give this Title 7 out of 10. Z man out.

The 3rd Birthday makes me want a PSP

We have gotten the newest trailer from Square Enix for The 3rd Birthday, the sequel to the Parasite Eve franchise. I loved the first title on the original PlayStation and now the the trailers and videos have been surfacing, it may be time to get another PSP. You can check out the trailer below.

Deus Ex to hit stores this Summer

Square Enix has recently announced that their upcoming sequel to one of their most popular franchises, Deus Ex, will be releasing on August 23, 2011 with Human Revolution. Fans of the series will be able to purchase an Augmented Edition which will include a 44 minute, making of DVD, soundtrack, comic, and art book. Pre orders will also include gameplay enhancements, such as weapons, upgrades, missions, and credits.

Behold, the Dungeon Siege 3 trailer

I have put by far, way too many hours into Dungeon Siege on the PSP, and after hearing about and seeing Dungeon Siege III for the PS3, I am excited. Having the ability to play this entry on a HDTV should make this title so much better even if it is the same as the handheld counterparts. Here is a trailer for your viewing pleasure to raise that excitement level up a notch.

Mindjack | Review

Synopsis: Promptly following the Lord of Arcana review, Square Enix has apparently decided that they want to keep us busy since it was too cold to do anything else over here in sunny Arizona. Mindjack is the recent futuristic shooter from the company most known for their RPG titles. With little promotion behind this game, I am here to tell you what this title holds and to help determine if this is a diamond in the rough or just an ordinary lump of coal. In Mindjack, you join a rogue team of agents fighting for survival only to get deeper in the middle of a conspiracy. Two features that are unique to this game is the ability to seamlessly go from single player to coop when people join your game and also the ability to hack into enemies, vehicles, or civilians to get the upper hand in battle. Now, on to the review.

Praise: The gameplay behind this title is rather unique and helps to make the game more fun. This holds true especially when you are shot and killed because you are able to find a civilian to “hack” into and continue the good battle. The other good side behind the hacking ability is that when you take down an enemy and not kill them, you can then turn them into slaves, building your own army to take out the opposition. The cutscenes resemble that of the typical Square Enix titles, which is always fun to watch and kept me playing to see what happened next. The coop feature was pretty nice and was able to find people to play with rather easily; however, I have yet to have someone join me in my single player game.

Gripes: Unfortunately, in Mindjack, I felt that the cons outweighed the pros, specifically with the graphics, gameplay, and story. The graphics looked rather flat and unpolished, as if the game was rushed and put out before being totally finished. One thing that bugged the hell out of me was when you shoot the enemies, they do not react when hit, making it hard to tell if you are even hitting your target. The story is also rather bland, starting with the background behind your character and conflict, which seems to start strong, but I quickly lost interest into what was going on, and started focusing on enslaving enemies and racking up experience points to level up and evolving my character’s play style.

Overall, Mindjack was not a bad game, but did lack some key elements to help improve its list of shortcomings. Though I would not suggest this game as it wasn’t my cup of tea, but for those interested, my best description of it would be to compare to a mixture of The Club and Lost Planet should they have a short deadline to fully develop what they originally had conceived it. Those looking for trophies are able to rack them up as I was getting one every ten to fifteen minutes. Though I don’t think I will be going back and playing again, I do still plan on finishing it, as it is still generally entertaining, at least until the release of Bulletstorm, which we should be reviewing in the next week or two.

Mashbuttons.com gives Mindjack a 4 out of 10.

Mindjack is available now for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.

Zircon's review of Lord of Arcana

Well my PSP-RPGer's, Lord of Arcana, a multiplayer guild, fetch, dungeon crawling RPG has been released on the gaming masses. Can it live up to the reputation of awesome RPG's that have come before it? We shall see.

Lord of Arcana is a Dungeon crawler that starts out with the typical story of a land in chaos that was saved when a legendary warrior fought an evil and powerful dragon, saved Mankind, and then passed into myth. You start your journey as the intrepid warrior-savior of old, going on to defeat the dragon. The story then advances a generation and reincarnates you into the present world as the true heir of Legendary Hero, leaving you soon to realize your current vocation.

Monster Hunter! Before I go any further, lets talk about the presentation of this game from our beloved Squeenix. (Square Enix, get it?) The graphics are truly amazing, looking like developers really loved making this title, while taking the time to appease us all, so big thumbs up, way up. Character animation is detailed and clean, not like the pixels on a paper plate effect that many DS RPG's give us. The artistic style behind this title, provides the player are so pretty that you may find yourself just looking around once in a while.

The story continues to release bit after bit as you continue on and guess what? The game gets better! A dear friend of mine a few weeks ago was describing a game he was playing as, "The first hour was painful and I immediately started to hate the game, but hours 2 through 18 have been AWESOME!". Well, I don't know if "awesome" should be the description about Lord of Arcana, but I will say, a job well done. The game had me engrossed for many hours and I am happy that Square has released it.

The PSP has been the portable go to system for these lost and overlooked RPG's so being that I love them, I will always have uber respect for the developers who take the risk and release these for us to enjoy. Lord of Arcana also hails its multiplayer chops with a robust multiplayer aspect, which I tried and it was very fluid with no lag issues so far. Square has also just announced that they are prepping Final Fantasy 4 and 5 for release on the PSP, possibly in time for the release of the NGP (PSP 2), so lets hope they polish them up a bit and not just provide the Playstation One Chronicles or Anthology versions, amazing as they may have been.

Thank you Square-Enix, next up, Mindjack!

Square Enix releases their trailer upcoming Deus Ex

That is right game fans and PC gamers that were into and played the original, we have gotten the newest trailer for Deus Ex Human Revolution, which gives a back story as to the protagonist's role in the story. Though it is a cinematic trailer, the original title was very good and had a strong following so I feel that this has a high potential for success when released.

Square Enix releases trailer for next Final Fantasy

But will it be the Final Fantasy you have been waiting for? Final Fantasy XIII-2 has previously been announced and now to go with the news is a CGI trailer if your looking for some serious eye candy. This was done previously X-2 and as I remember, it fell rather short, lets see if XIII-2 will be the redemption that the Final Fantasy sequels need.

Kingdom Hearts Re: coded | Review

Synopsis: First off, thank you Square Enix for sending me a review copy of Kingdom Hearts Re:coded for the Nintendo DS. This new entry to the Kingdom Hearts series is a remake of the mobile title Kingdom Hearts Coded for mobile phones, with improved controls, revamped combat system, and new gameplay mechanics. The premise of the story behind Re:coded is that you once again take on the role of Sora in the “datascape”, called upon by King Mickey to find out how a mysterious message was placed in Jiminy’s journal used to hold the story of the first adventure against the heartless. Will this hold a torch to the console titles that I played through multiple times and even saw its debut announcement at my first trip to E3?

Praise: Gameplay, I can stop there but I am sure you would like me to elaborate. It is fast and action packed with massive, and I mean massive amounts of character development, in which you acquire chips to place on a circuit board to unlock boosts to your abilities. Throughout the story, Sora will also acquire new equipment and keyblades, along with skills that can be mixed to make bigger and stronger abilities and magic. In the beginning of the game you also get to choose your primary and secondary abilities whether it be magic, strength, or defense. The cut scenes look great for a DS title and the boss fights are pretty epic, making it feel as big as the consoles versions.

Gripes: The bad, well I think that would be the story. I wouldn’t say bad is the word to describe it, but it did feel a lot like a Kingdom Hearts 2.5. the reason I say this is because it is a lot of the same worlds and enemies, and the story doesn’t differ much aside from the “datascape” element where you use a radar to locate rifts in the world to enter a matrix like mini level where you have to take out a set amount of enemies per floor to clear it, earning currency, experience, abilities, and chips for the circuitboard. The worlds are also pretty long taking me about two hours on average to complete each, and like the first and second Kingdom Hearts, some of them aren’t so much fun, making it harder to work your way through.

Overall, I had fun with the gameplay and since there is a good recap to the original games, newcomers can pick up this title and start where the previous games left off. Though I did say that the story is a little bland for me since I am still pretty familiar with the events of the last, it does not get old due to the fun and engaging gameplay along with the in depth character development. Whether you are an adult or a child it is still a blast to play through Disney’s bright and colorful worlds with the mechanics that Square Enix has always been great at providing.

Mashbuttons.com gives Kingdom Hearts Re: coded a 7 out of 10.

Kingdom Hearts Re: coded is available now for the Nintendo DS.

Front Mission Evolved | Review

Synopsis: Front Mission is back to the future, 2171, to be specific in this recent installment to the series, players are put in the third person perspective of both the wanzers and pilots. What’s a wanzer you ask; well it is a codename for wanderpanzers, which is an armored humanoid battle vehicle that you will pilot in a number of battles around the globe. Toting the new “Evolved” to the title brings in a number of new features to the gameplay, such as third person perspective, online gameplay, and the ability to play as the pilot, Dylan Ramsey, without his wanzer. Without any further anticipation, get ready to arm your wanzer and take to the battlefield in this review of Front Mission Evolved.

Praise: The extent of my mech or wanzer experience lays solely with Front Mission for the DS, Mech Warrior 2, and F.E.A.R. 2 as there aren’t a lot of these types of games out there. I was however pleasantly surprised by this title as the gameplay is fast and fluid while the customization options for your wanzer’s arms, shoulders and backpack are virtually limitless. With each kill of the opposition you will earn cold hard cash to throw new weapons to your artillery along with skills and abilities so that each mission can potentially play differently. The single player story mode is great practice before taking your wanzer online for some heavy metal destruction, and the level system was a smart move to show off bragging rights and earn new weapons, unfortunately, I am only a level 8 so far, which means no bragging from me…yet. The graphics look good if not great most of the time, but one thing that made me fall in love with Square years back is the cinematic cut scenes, in which there are a plenty that look amazing as expected.

Gripes: To start I did not like the gameplay when you play as pilot Dylan without his wanzer as it felt really generic. There is also this feature called EDGE which can be used once charged but I did not notice any difference or benefit as is just seemed to turn the screen grey and the enemies red. While I did not have a problem trying to find games online, I did notice I would play the same people a couple times in one sitting, which kind of worries me about the online community for this title, as it normally doesn’t last long before no one else is playing, luckily there aren’t many games in the mech genre. There isn’t much replay value to the single player campaign which lasts about 7 to 8 hours playing on normal, without being too much of a challenge to complete.

Overall, Front Mission Evolved was rather fun to play through aside from the times played without my wanzer. Though I mentioned there isn’t much replay value to the single player campaign, it is a great way to learn how to play before taking your battle online, as that is where most of the fun is. Diehard fans of this genre will like having a new title to play, though controls seem to be easy enough to pick up and play without the technical customization options found in previous titles, action is fast enough to keep the matches coming. Wanzer up cowboy and keep an eye out for me, as I will be playing this online for a while.

Mashbuttons.com gives Front Mission Evolved a 7 out of 10.

Front Mission Evolved is available now for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC.

Kane and Lynch movie and now a comic series?

Earlier today, I get another email regarding Kane and Lynch, but this time to my surprise, it wasn't a trailer or videos displaying the multiplayer modes. It was instead the DC comic covers for issues one and two of the upcoming Kane and Lynch comic series from Ben Templesmith.

Just Cause 2 | Review

Synopsis: Square Enix has just released their third person action title Just Cause 2, and since we got a review copy, my spare time has been spent playing this game and thinking about different destruction options to try when I am unable to play. You take on the role of Rico Rodriguez, armed with a parachute, grappling hook, and your typical arsenal of vehicles and weaponry to cause chaos and destruction to find Rico’s previous boss and mentor, Tom Sheldon that has gone rogue with the agency’s money and intelligence. In order to do this, you will need to align yourself with rival gangs to complete your mission as a hired weapon trading your services for intel. Just Cause 2 now allows your character Rico even more options to complete your objective, whether it be free falling, hijacking vehicles which includes jets and helicopters mid flight, and over a hundred weapons and vehicles for causing mass destruction using virtually anything you can imagine.

Praise: Whether you’re a fan of sandbox titles or not, it is hard to think of anyone that would not have fun playing this title. You can literally do almost anything at any point in this game and an example of the game’s size is that I am 10 hours into this and only 7 percent completed. It is incredibly easy to get distracted and hijack a truck, then come across a helicopter, attach the truck to your chopper and drag it around destroying everything and everyone in your path. The environment is visually stunning and the massive size will take you many hours to explore and take on additional side missions. The character controls are similar to most other sandbox titles and does not take long to master your grappling hook and parachute. The story is strong especially after completing missions from the local gangs; you quickly become cautious of those you are working for to make sure they do not turn on you.

Gripes: Vehicle controls are my biggest problem with the title as they are difficult to control and most of the vehicles can be easily destroyed by the opposition, leaving you stranded trying to find the next vehicle to help get you to a mission location. You can use a quick extraction, but that only works to be taken to locations that have been previously discovered. Some missions can get a bit repetitive and occasionally too long especially if your or an NPC that you have to protect gets killed and you fail the mission, you get to start all over again from the beginning.

Overall, Just Cause 2 is a much needed sequel to its mediocre predecessor. Whether you are looking to play through the story missions, or just taking your time exploring Panau and destroying local properties and assassinating Colonels, it is hard not to enjoy and notice the hard work and creativity put into Just Cause 2 to make it enjoyable by most any gamer, casual or hardcore. This title has the replay value to keep you busy for a long, long time with almost 200 missions and over 350 towns to discover and wreak havoc on.

Mashbuttons.com gives Just Cause 2 a 9 out of 10.

Just Cause 2 is available now for the PlayStation 3, PC, and Xbox 360.