Bioshock: Come on, Mr. Bubbles we need more ADAM!

This game came out a while back when the Xbox 360 was just starting to warm up to its next-gen surroundings. This past week I’ve have been “sick”, well to my parents thought. So I had to stay in my house and since I haven’t bought any new games lately I decided to play some games that I haven’t played yet. The game is Bioshock. Now I’m not going to give you my story why I haven’t played the whole game but this week I beat the game. Well actually in three days between my sneezing, coughing and endless hours of sleep. Now what kept me actually playing this game unlike Spiderman Web of Shadows and Legendary (other games I have bought recently and in which barely played). I played this game continuously. I always wanted to search through rooms and the thrill of such an epic story drove me to keep picking up my controller over and over again.

The game circulates on you as the main character who is not given a name but you are so lucky to be in a plane crash that you land in the ocean right above an underwater city called “The Rapture”. You head down and now you’re in a crazy world run by Andrew Ryan the creator of this marvelous but insane city. As soon as your get down there you can already tell that the atmosphere is dark and mysterious. Also you are affected by a crazed splicer running around and attacking your bathysphere. Let’s just say, the game starts off with a bang.


What I really enjoyed was the striking storyline. It just kept me asking for more and more. Why was Dr. Suchong doing these experiments? Why is Dr. Steinman so stinking crazy? And who the heck is Atlas? Questions that were answered only by me killing thugs left and right. I usually used a shotgun because I felt it was the best gun to use. I also liked to hypnotize a big daddy to beat upon my foes. But the game was filled with intense environments with blood on every wall and obscenities written in more blood. Did I mention blood? Yeah, they could’ve maybe taken the tone down a little but it still was awesome.

What was really cool was the amount of customization to your character, whatever his name was, was pretty unique. You can choose what you want and how your character feels in certain situations. What I also like was you having the choice of either saving or harvesting the little sisters. Because I had a soul my first time through the game I rescued them but it left me with less ADAM (the genetic money) so the game wasn’t too easy. What I didn’t like was that every time I killed a Big Daddy or fought more than three enemies I would practically be out of ammo that I would have to use my wrench which wouldn’t help me half of the time. But the game was ridiculously intriguing and better than many “scary” games. I’m not a fan of the freights and screams but this game wouldn’t let me put it away for good. For my final score this marvelous game gets 5X points out of 5. But last I would like to say that this review leads me to my soon to next article Top 10 games of 2009 by the Xtreme Gaming Zone.

-T

Left 4 Dead: Witches, Hunters and Boomers! Oh My!!

Why do zombie games never get old? You run around blasting zombies heads off and you keep doing the same thing over and over again and its fun, right? Well not really...The game today is Left 4 Dead. A game released exclusively for the Xbox 360 in November. What actually makes this game different from any other run and gun zombie killing game is the online play. You can play the campaigns online with up to three of your friends. The game consists of running and splattering most of the time. But you have to work as a team during the way. You can also play a online battle where you can play as the "infected" aka Zombie or as a human with a few weapons at your arsenal. So is this game as good as its said? Is running and shooting boring for a while but ten times better when you play online with your friends? Can we be so happy with the same thing over and over again where you just shoot, say something to your friends, run and than die? I don't think that's a good reason.

Okay so the game does feature some cool infected people though. You have the boomers. Huge like twice the size of Ruben Studdard that have giant boules and vomit green stuff on you so you can't see for some time. Also when they die they explode all over the place. Than you have smokers. They have large tongues and are obviously by there names in general have smoke around them. When they die it becomes smokey. But they can use there tongues and bring you toward them so they can kill you quicker. Then you have your hunters who are quick zombies who jump on top of you and punch the living snot out of you. There are also the giant bosses who take alot to kill and destroy everything in its way. The last enemy other than the regular infected humans would be the witch. Not like Sabrina the teenager or the wicked witch from the east either. I don't even know why she is called the witch. She cries until you put your light on her and then jumps and beats you to a bloody pulp. But if you can take your glock out and pop her in the back of the head, she is no task at all.

So for this game the whole concept was pretty cool. I mean the ideas for the zombies were one of my favorite reasons to play. But I do get bored after playing the same thing over and over again. I kill and kill and then get a little bored. The graphics were good and the environments on each level were really detailed. But I don't think it was as good as it was hyped up to be. Anyway this game gets 3X points out of 5. But you know what? Sometimes I might like to walk out at daytime. I didn't understand that? Why is every level at night? Do the infected only come out at night? This was the (made up completely) conversation at the Left 4 Dead development facility:

(Between two developers for Left 4 Dead)
"Why is it always nighttime?"
"Because that's when the infected come out, duh"
"But why would they go out at night if its when the infected comes out?"
"Because its the only way to get help...is it that hard to understand, sheez!"
"But they can search for help during the day too.."
"You know what, just shut up! its at night!!"

-T

Reistance 2...Chiamera don't deserve to live!

Welcome to the end of it all. Well that's what Resistance feels like. The game is packed with misery and pain with the fighting of the war against the Chiamera. The blood, the guts and the war are back. You are back again as Nathan Hale, with some help. Hale joins a team of super soldiers with the same side affects that Nathan Hale suffers from, or is powered by mostly. The game includes most the same guns from the first game, but with some new guns like the Marksman. A human made gun with armor piercing bullets. Also a grenade launcher that bullets burst into flames instead of an explosion. Not my favorite weapon of choice, but its a new weapon that's not from the last game. Resistance continues the death of human kind. But with some time there might be a possible chance for human kind.

After destroying the Central Chimera Tower in London in Resistance:Fall of Man, Nathan Hale is extracted by Black Ops soldiers and than sedated. Two years after the Tower in London is destroyed, in 1953 the Chiamera launch a full-scale invasion into the United States of America. The Chiamera wreck havoc through states like California, Idaho and Utah. It was sad when you watched the fall of Europe. But it hurts more when its your own home. Through the fire and flames Chiamera put up a fight that is almost too hard for Hale. Or is it?

What I enjoyed about this game was that the online was awesome. You could have up top 60 player battles. The weapons selection was always good. But also the plot usually kept me intrigued. But some reason this game didn't hit me as hard as the first. The first was so good. Maybe because it was one of the better exclusive PS3 had for a while. I might have expected more from the game. I mean the in game graphics were powerful and so were the cut scenes. If I was going to give the first game a rating it would easily get 4.5X points out of 5 just because how good it was when it first came out. This game, and even though I always push more to the PS3 side, isn't as good as I hoped it would. Like other games Gears of War was blown out by Gears of War 2 or God of War being beaten by God of War 2. Resistance 2 didn't pull it off like its predecessor. So for my final score I give Resistance 2 3.5X points out of 5.

-T