Minecraft

 I visited Minecraft months ago, when it was in it's stages of Beta. Back then, this game was rated 9.0, in an unofficial state, since the game wasn't truly released. Now, with Minecraft released I'm revisiting it.(Well, I never stopped playing. This is an amazing game.)

 Minecraft is an indie game built from the ground up and it couldn't have done better. Over the course of several builds launched before release the public was allowed to play Minecraft. This let the devs add content and fix bugs with community input. Going into this review, I won't touch upon graphics, or this games engine much, as both are unique to this game. The graphics wouldn't live up to current standards, but they're not supposed too. The engine has bugs, but the devs have them fixed within weeks.

 When you normally jump into a game world, the first thing you see in front of you, is your end goal. Minecraft takes a different approach, dropping you into a world where you can build, destroy and do anything. There is no real end goal, unless you count defeating the final "Boss". With so much content added before release, Minecraft turned into a shining game. No longer can I compare another video game with Minecraft. It's on a planet of its own, in a great way.

 Minecraft works off a basic system, break blocks, which you can then place, with some exceptions. At first, this is all it offered, then it came out with Survival mode, adding tools and weapons to help survive against creatures which spawn every night. Not only did this add more play time to Minecraft, it made it a challenge, what every real gamer wants. With each update, there were bugs, but at the next update, they were always removed or at least hidden.

 With hundreds of items and blocks, Minecraft is in no way limited by content. Recently Notch, the main dev and creator of Minecraft, released The End. The End acts as a realm to combat the final boss, the Enderdragon (OMG. Yes. This game has a dragon in it!) Another realm, the Nether, a hellish zone with appropriate land forms and terrain was also added a while back. NPCs and their villages added a new spice to the game and of course... Multiplayer.

 Multiplayer for Minecraft is an experience totally it's own. Building castles and towns with friends is something that you can't beat in any other game. Though it contains more bugs than singleplayer, multiplayer is much for entertaining. Though setting up a server may be a hassle for some, it pays off. There are plenty of third-party mods which also boost your multiplayer experience, but do detract from the feeling of vanilla Minecraft. So if you're a gamer who can't live without his friends to play with, do not fear.

Overall, Minecraft is a game for almost everyone. The engine, graphics and gameplay lead it to be a game that can't be compared to another and make it stand out with a gleaming shine. Bugs don't mean much in this game, as the devs are great about repairing any problems. Minecraft does have one of the biggest, or THE biggest community for a single game. Just buy it.

 Overall Score: 9.75
Yes. It's almost the best game ever created.

Dead Space 2

Guest Reviewer: Luke T.

            Dead Space 2 is the sci fi, horror sequel to Dead Space. Dead Space 2 takes place on a space station where Isaac (the main character) is being held in a mental hospital after the events of Dead Space. You are awoken right around the time the shit hits the fan, necromorphs are overrunning the space station and once again Isaac is called to battle with these monsters. I don’t want to spoil the the story for you but trust me, it is awesome and from start to finish Dead Space 2 keeps you on the edge of your seat. Some people don’t think they can be scared by a video game but if any game can scare you this one will. The thing that scared me the most was the feeling of vulnerability as I walked down the dark halls, you never know when a necromorph is going to burst through the wall or ceiling, or when one of the mutilated bodies on the ground comes to life and attacks you.

            The graphics in Dead Space 2 are not amazing but very good. Whether it be the excessive gore or some of the epic views the game holds I was never disappointed when it came to the graphics. The graphics for character models are extremely well built. For example, the necromorphs disfigured bodies are very detailed, and the bloodied carcasses of the inhabitants of the city are quite realistic.

            The combat in Dead Space 2 is intense and satisfying. One thing I loved was that there was no HUD, your health display is a row of bars on your back and your ammo is displayed right above your weapon. When you bring up your inventory it doesnt pause your game instead it projects it directly in front of you and leaves you vulnerable to enemy attack, I think this adds a nice bit of realism to the game. Almost all of the weapons in the game have a primary and secondary use, for example the line gun can fire a wide powerful shot or it can place a mine on the ground, things like this make it so you have many different ways to approach a battle.

            Overall I think this game is definitely worth its price and it is as fun as it is scary. It has a deep and very interesting story, it has very fun game play, and last but not least the graphics are awesome. So if your looking for a great scare or some fun get this game, once you start to play you wont be able to stop until the game is finished then you’ll have to play it through again.

Overall Score: 8.5

Killing Floor

 Now, before I start this review, I'd like to hint that I have something really, really, REALLY awesome coming up. Oh. How I love dragons. ;)

 Killing Floor, a Left 4 Dead rip off, you might say? Not really. Just because it's a horror, and has things that look like zombies, it's not based off Left 4 Dead. This game is an interesting build from the people (Tripwire interactive) who have now created the new Red Orchestra game.

 Killing Floor is, for one, a game that does not really include zombies... or, the normal kind. These are mostly referred to as Specimens. Though server Specimens seem to echo the Left 4 Dead zombies, like the Bloat, a huge, fat, and bile spewing Specimen, you can't really mark this game down. Take Dead Island for example, it ALSO had a fat, exploding guy of sorts. Moving on. The game also does not run the same. Killing Floor lets you select one map and then battle out against waves of Specimen which increase in number and difficulty. There is NO really storyline for this game, unless you want to look on the Main Data Base for all things Killing Floor. Killing Floor also allows you to go to a trader between waves, who will let you buy and sell weapons. You will not really find weapons around the map, but a few do spawn, though rarely.

(Yup. That's a Christmas themed event. They also have Halloween. :D)

 Killing Floor's graphics look great for a horror survival game. The tone seems gritty, which is totally awesome. While you are dead, your spectator cam looks as if it came from the early model of recorders, with old style effects everywhere. The models of guns and equipment look fine, but the character model's animation looks the same. Not a bad thing... but come on, maybe the guys with gas masks can move the mask around when the player stands still. There are numerous weapons, and seven classes to go with them including: Firebug (Pyro), Commando, Sharpshooter, and Field Medic. The classes gain boosts with their class weapons, and discounts from the trader. It really seems like a solid system and when you get bored of one class, you still have six more to play.

 Killing Floor is a great game to play with friends. Alone, it gets boring, but it's not called a co-op survival for nothing... The game has perfect atmosphere, and the totally British survivors calling for money, heals and spouting jokes is aways funny. The graphics are great for this sort of a game, not for a COD game of course. The engine I didn't talk much about, but it's quite solid also. The Specimen are coded nicely. Don't buy this game if you are easily scared. It's a horror after all.

Overall Score: 7.5

Arma II

Tired of Call of Duty arcady gameplay? Do you hate the little eleven year old kids screaming over microphones and mucking up teamplay? Maybe you should look into Arma II... Gunships scream over the battlefield, snipers position on hill tops as ground forces attack strategic locations. But, though the gameplay seems to be interesting, different and invigorating, as shall be shown, do the graphics and engine work and look well?

Arma II is probably one of the most realistic shooters created to date, with some flaws in it's intricate design. The gameplay is a lot more tactical and focuses almost totally on teamplay. With so many vehicles, weapons and two maps, one of which is about 225sq km, this game seems to have everything. That's obviously not all, Arma II contains a useful, powerful and amazing mission editor. This is definitely not a normal editor such as Halo: Reach's, this editor has the power to create scripted events, actions and enemy tactics.
Gunships screaming over battlefields? I wasn't kidding, this game has beautiful sounds and makes the atmosphere seem totally real. The sniper rifles have a normal amount of drop, which makes sniping at 2km from the battlefield actually challenging. The gun sounds sound a bit dull though, ever shot sounding the same, no matter what. Then again, most gamers don't care about sounds that much.

Graphics in this game are almost realistic. The option to be able to free-look and yet walk forward is great, and maximizes the amount of enjoyment you can get from the world. Sitting in one of the trucks in a convoy and looking all around you makes this game seem super realistic. The weapons are shiny and detailed, yet small things could have been changed: Weapon dirt, better muzzle flash, reloading animations. The helicopters are modeled quite well, but have strange hit boxes that don't match their shape. Dust and grime are kicked up from helicopter blades and from fast moving trucks. Worried that your budget computer doesn't have the power to hold up to such a game? The graphics can be altered easily and don't take away from the overall gameplay. At full graphics and maximum fog distance, the environment is beautiful, with grass and bushes. The view distance is truly insane, allowing you to spot and fire at targets from crazy ranges. Water is animated without flaw and looks great. Can an engine handle this?

The Arma II engine actually holds up such a game without too many problems. The game renders as fast as your computer lets it, FPS is definitely not a problem (:D Max graphics and I think I'm still at 60FPS atleast.) The main issue with this game is the bugs. A few times I've found myself wondering why my character had invisible hands. Or... was frozen to the ground... Or died after he got out of an unmoving helo that was in my own base. There are problems, but that is NOT a reason to skip out on this realistic game. Bugs though, in about five hours of straight gameplay, maybe show up once. They aren't that major, not gamebreaking at all.

Overall Score: 9.0

Fallout: New Vegas

*My greatest thanks for almost 20,000 views!*

Set in the aftereffects of a Globa Nuclear war fallout, Fallout: New Vegas is something different for most gamers. Fallout brings the classic RPG elements to the abandoned Vegas Strip. Now, the question many Fallout veterans may ask... Is this just a drawn out add-on that costs too much? Read on fellow wastelander, for this question and many others will be answered.

 Fallout: New Vegas has almost the exact same graphics and engine as the previous Fallout. There are minor tweaks, such as a better combat system that is more streamlined with aiming down the sights of your weapons (Finally!) and a not so over powered VATS. The engine runs smoothly and despite the rumors of the game being as buggy as the rear end of a zebra, I found only a few glitches and bugs. These few bugs were hardly anything to get annoyed with and I was greatly satisfied with the quality. Not to say I never found myself wondering why a certain important character had not appeared in my game... In the end I used console commands to port the man in. But compared to the amount of bugs in a game like Dead Island, Fallout: NV is perfect.

*Yes, that is a Barret. Yes. You may kill things with it.*

Moving on from bugs, and onto a quick topic, the graphics are the same. The new weapons have textures that may look higher resolution, but are essentially not. So, all in all, this game has the same look of Fallout 3.
The gameplay of Fallout: New Vegas is unique. Instead of hunting out enemies to kill, or money, you really want to be hunter for people to converse with. New Vegas really strains the fact that you are alone, except in highly populated areas like The Strip. The sense of accomplishment, or wonderment when you find a random NPC who, for example, is a cannible is great. It actually seemed like there were too many quests to complete and you'll need to play through the game multiple times to side with different faction for full playing quality. Fallout: NV does a great job of adding weird and interesting characters as always and of course, new problems to overcome. Oh! Did I forget to metion that you can modify your weapons with silencers, clip extenders and all that good stuff? Yeah, it's like ducktaping a scope to a magnum. It works and the result is awesome.

Wrapping this up, Fallout does have some flaws. Of course, the small bugs and possibly how easy it is for you to get caps (The ingame currency). The main thing that makes Fallout: NV piss me off, is the invisible walls that FORCE you to use the road that is totally overrun with really high level bastards... Now, I don't remember Elder Scrolls: Oblivion doing this, and that game was perfect. Take out the stupid invisible walls and other minor things and I would be very content.
So, do you buy Fallout, or is just a glorified add-on that costs $20 (At the date of this being written)? Yes, though the engine and graphics haven't changed, the addition of SO much stuff is tempting. This is certainly something that will destroy many hours of your long awaited weekends.

Overall Score: 8.5

Halo: Reach

   This review was quite late, due to the fact that this game was so awesome I completely forgot to review it. Here it is. Halo: Reach, in it's amazing glory and epicness.

   Halo: Reach is a fusion of great multiplayer and equally great singleplayer. Starting with singleplayer, the Bungie team has edited some things. The most noticeable of which, is the story is set on Reach. This lets the player take in the dieing human life on the planet, instead of seeing it from the perspective of indestructible John, Spartan-117 from Halo 3. The graphics have been upped immensely and now look easily better than any COD game, explosions and bullet trails look beautiful. At one point, the game lets you take control of a space craft and you proceed to battle baddies in the final frontier. The AI has been upgraded, as usual in every Halo game. Pushing towards the main idea here, all this and a driven storyline filled with moments worthy of "Wows", the singleplayer is awesome. Over the course of ten missions you follow the path of Noble 6, a Spartan whose appearance will actually change with your multiplayer/singleplay character. The voice acting is perfect, with accents being flawless and not too over the top. The story is moving in it's own way and at the end, I really felt sorry for those digital souls who lost their lives fighting a losing battle. The singleplayer is definitely top notch.

Note: This is not an in-game vehicle. This is user created material in the photo.

   There are two modes which are different than the normal multiplayer versus competition.  Forge mode allows you to build anything imaginable, from fortresses in the sky, to space ships. Ever wanted to make your own map that makes it on the online game modes? Now you can. Reach's forge mode was boosted to a higher level than Halo 3's, which lacked some thought. This forge mode is easier to use, more fun and a lot more creative. Even if you're not the best builder, forge is fun. The next game mode is firefight. This mode can be played in ranked lobbies in Xbox Live but focuses on team work to destroy limited waves of enemy forces. It is a mix between multiplayer-campaign than is welcomed by most. It gives Halo a new way to play, if anything starts to get boring.

   The normal multiplayer consists of several playlists with different gametypes for all styles of gaming. The gaming is amazing, with a perfect armor customization feature. This feature lets you customized all aspects of your spartan, from chest, to visor color. Even down to knee pads. The only downside to multiplayer is the slow leveling at higher levels, though this seems to be the way that Bungie compromised for having no prestige option.

Overall Score: 9.5

Assassin's Creed Brotherhood

 The third installment of the Assassin's Creed series, not counting the online game, Project Legacy. Assassin's Creed Brotherhood brought something to the table that none of the other Creed's contained, Multiplayer. It had a short storyline as usual and took Ezio to Rome. "This was bound to be a great game", I thought, but was I correct?

   Singleplayer will be touched upon first. There are a few new combat implications, the crossbow, which is probably the coolest long range weapon of stealth ever. The development team also created the use of the hidden gun while using swords and hammers seen in the picture above. The poison blade has gained the ability of long ranged poison, which is pretty awesome, but overshadowed by the more powerful and quicker weapon of destruction, the crossbow. The base combat has been upgraded to be faster and a lot more awesome. This sometimes makes combat too easy, making it feel like your swatting a group of flys instead of elite guards. Assassinations stay in the same basic concept, though you dont start out with your hidden blade from Assassin's Creed II, you have to buy it from Leo. The additons of the Assassin recuits lets you train them and use them to battle foes on the field. After training them long enough, they can become full fledged assassins, which are almost invincible. The game gains a lot from these awesome assassins.

As every Assassin's Creed game has been for me, once you finish the story mode and complete any side quests, it becomes boring. The same is true for Brotherhood. Though the storymode is amazing and gives you a feel of living Ezio's deadly life, it is extremely short, as mentioned before. There are more side quests than in Assassin's Creed II, but in an overall feel, Brotherhood seems like the same game. The only differences between Brotherhood and #2 seem to be a slight graphics upgrade, multiplayer and a different story, combined with a few new weapons and a different combat setup. It is still worth it's cost for the singleplayer if you're a fan of the series.

The multiplayer has a few modes, Wanted, Manhunt and Alliance. If you get the free DLC you also gain Chest Capture mode. There are variations of a few modes, resulting in a hardcore mode. Multiplayer though is a lot more enjoyable than singleplayer. Duking it out with serveral friends, or participating in a ranked match against battle hardened foes who are constantly owning you give Brotherhood a new edge. There is a normal level up system with perks, abilities, death and killstreak rewards and character customization that are unlocked at various levels. This leads players to have a reason to play, if not for just plain old fun. The graphics, if it's not just me, seem to be better on the character models in multiplayer. This is probably because lots of Brotherhood singleplayer models were salvaged from #2.

 Overall Score: 8.0