On the Verge of Lunacy

I posted this Ezio sketch in my deviantArt. See link below. http://fav.me/d4i4f9m

When I first saw the cover of this game, I thought it was just another no-brainer, relaxing game with a cute character. I was wrong. The first few levels were really fun but as I progressed through the story mode, some levels got trickier. Now I know why this game got good reviews. The opening video explains how the world was created - through dreams. But even such creations were threatened by a greedy Curator called 'the Collector'. The Curators, composed of eight, are responsible for creating the different levels. Sackboy goes through the seven levels before finally meeting the Collector on the eighth. Each has a different theme and difficulty level. Each level also has bonus games which can be unlocked by collecting the keys. Sackboy also meets different characters who tell him what to do on each level. Most of the levels require Sackboy to jump, grab, run, push/pull, use vehicles and mechanisms, and solve puzzles to get through. The player also has to collect items ...

With so many games available today, it's hard to find one that has touched both gamers and non-gamers. Plants VS Zombies is fun, easy to understand and very addictive. It's a combination of strategy, puzzle and action kind of game. I've seen first-time gamers get addicted to this game. PVZ has four modes, namely: Adventure, Mini Games, Puzzle and Survival. You also get to grow and maintain gardens once you get to the later stages of the adventure mode. It might look like an easy game because of the cute plants and zombies but the later stages and the bonus games need a little more strategy on the part of the players. Once you're familiar with the plant abilities and the zombies' attacks and weaknesses, it will be easier to set up a defense. This is helpful for the inexperienced players because it introduces some of the basic features in today's games: the player's ability to adapt to different opponents, different difficulty levels, the boss fights and ...

This first-person shooter game is the sequel to one of the best-selling games of this genre. The single-player campaign follows up on the story from Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare. I played the four following characters: Private 1st Class Joseph Allen, Private James Ramirez, Sergeant Gary "Roach" Sanderson, and John "Soap" MacTavish. Although I did not play the previous game, the story is quite easy to understand.  The opening shows that Imran Zakhaev has taken control of Russia. But this is just one part of the story. One of his underlings, Vladimir Makarov has begun campaigns of terrorism. Joseph Allen was recruited into Task Force 141 by Lieutenant General Shepherd. He was sent to an undercover mission in Russia as one of Makarov's men. This mission in the game is optional because it's quite sensitive. It shows Makarov's massacre of the people at the airport in Russia. All I had to do was shoot innocent people (I discovered that Makarov would kill me...

Publisher : KOEI Developer : Omega Force This sixth installment of the Dynasty Warriors (Shin Sangoku Musou) series has 41 playable characters and the new Renbu system and stage targets. It also features the Skill Tree where players can choose which skills to use when upgrading the characters. It tells the story of the Three Kingdoms period at the time when the Han Dynasty lost its power. It all started with the uprising of the Yellow Turbans. People who sought power saw this as an opportunity. Three states rose to quell the chaos in ancient China: Wei (or Cao Wei), Shu (or Shu Han) and Wu (or Dong Wu). The previous games also included the factions from Dong Zhuo, Lu Bu, Meng Huo and Yuan Shao. Wei is led by Cao Cao, Shu by Liu Bei and Wu by Sun Jian. This period in China has been adapted in many forms including this video game series. I'm glad they included Sima Yi in Musou Mode because it tells how he was able to manipulate everyone in the end. Most of the characters' outf...

Developer : Criterion Games Publisher : EA Burnout Paradise is not just a racing game. The game is set in Paradise City which becomes your playground where you can compete in five different events to level up your driver's license to unlock cars and more events. The five events are: racing, road rage, marked man, stunt run and burning route. There are also bonus missions such as: power parking, super jumps, road rules, showtime, smashes and billboards. It's a very addictive game. I found I could not put the controller down once I got used to navigating the menus. It was a bit confusing at first and I did not know what the other events are for.  I love this game because it is not just about speed. I found a good use for my destructive abilities. Road rage is my favorite event. I could finally use the big, noisy cars in a race. The same cars are pretty useful in marked man as well. Stunt run is a bit tricky, and in order to win the burning route and unlock special cars, you ha...

Desmond Miles  suddenly found himself becoming the specimen for a search of the Pieces of Eden. Abstergo Corporation is using Desmond's genetic memories to reveal what had happened to his ancestor Altair ibn La-Ahad . Altair is a member of the Secret Order of Hashshashin. Looking at his genetic memories was made possible by the use of the machine called Animus. Desmond was taken back to the time of the Third Crusade and takes control of the actions and memories of Altair. Assassin's Creed is a game that will teach you how to master the art of killing. The first scenes show that Altair was trying to stop Robert de Sable from taking an artifact known as a Piece of Eden. But in doing so, he broke the rules and even put his comrade Malik in danger. Altair was stripped of rank by the leader Al Mualim. He now has to complete nine assassinations in order to get back everything he has lost.  In time he learns that there is a tension between the Assassins and the Knight Templars a...

PlayStation 3 Exclusive Developer : Naughty Dog Uncharted: Drake's Fortune features the adventure of Nathan Drake as he uncovers the tracks in the clues left by Sir Francis Drake 400 years ago. He searches for the treasures of El Dorado but what he does not know is that he will find more than he was looking for. With the help of his friend Sully and the reporter Elena, they escape a group of pirates, treasure hunters and mutated humans. After acquiring the diary from Sir Francis' empty coffin and ditching Elena somewhere, they search through the remains in the Amazon river. Here they discovered a German U-boat and the group of treasure hunters led by Roman and his assistant Navarro who heard about Nathan's plans. Roman shoots Sully and Nathan was forced to escape. Later he met up again with Elena but their plane was shot down. Nate was captured by Eddie Raja but Elena was able to rescue him. They also found Sully alive and who had chosen to cooperate with Roman and Navar...

This PlayStation exclusive is the sequel to Resistance: Fall of Man. It follows up on the Chimera invasion in the United States and the desperate battle of the infected soldiers called the Sentinels against this threat. Lt. Nathan Hale is a member of this special task force. The infection they carry is kept at bay through special inhibitors that last for a certain time. The game begins with the extraction of Hale by the Special Research Projects Administration. They were shot down later and had unknowingly released the Chimera Daedalus who is to become the protagonist of the game. It was at this time that Hale was introduced to the Sentinels. Later their base came under the attack of the Chimera. Then they pursued a Chimera battleship and were able to save the Liberty Defense Perimeter from being breached. Hale at that time was long overdue for another shot of an inhibitor but he chose instead to rescue the scientist Fyodor Malikov, who later revealed to him Daedalus' identity. D...

When I first saw the cover of this game, I thought that it is related to the original series of the same name. And that the Prince in the cover is the usual Prince but with a different costume. I was in for a surprise. The main guy with the red and blue scarf is a Prince in name only. He was wandering in the desert looking for his donkey when the princess Elika stumbled upon him literally. Little did he know that what he was about to find was a battle to save the City of Light from Corruption. For thousands of years, Ahriman the God of Darkness has been striving to conquer everything that he does not possess. The God of Light Ormazd retreated and refused to fight against Ahriman. But this only made the latter bolder in his ambitions. As the Corruption spread however, Ormazd and his Ahura, the Warriors of the Light, were forced to confront the growing darkness. They sealed Ahriman in the Tree of Life. The Ahura were in-charge of guarding the prison but as the years passed, their powers...

A few years back I downloaded a game to pass time. I did not realize I will spend the next two years playing skirmishes and Defense of the Ancients for hours and hours. This review is a bit late but I feel that as a fan I have to write something about it. Warcraft 3: Reign of Chaos and Warcraft 3: The Frozen Throne follow up on the story of the aftermath of the Burning Legion invasion. The game begins with a warning sent to Warchief Thrall through a dream. The Prophet delivers this message as well to the other armies. Fans of the Warcraft universe will soon find out the true identity of The Prophet. The Orc campaign is one of the many stages the player has to go through to unlock the other campaigns.          Another campaign involves the humans. Prince Arthas Menethil is introduced. Later he would join Jaina Proudmoore to discover the source of the plague. The discovery led him to kill Kel'thuzad. The chase led him further into a trap that he would later ...

Niko Bellic came to Liberty City to live the 'American Dream'. Instead he found himself entangled in Mafia wars and drug dealers. Despite all the criticisms and controversies connected to the franchise, GTA 4 has provided players a more complicated character and a memorable story. Before his cousin Roman convinced him to come to the city, Niko's was searching for answers from his past and trying to start life anew. Roman's gambling debts  and love affair plunged them into trouble. One death led to another and Niko found himself in the similar path he took in his past. He found friends along the way, but those friends consisted of arms dealers and steroid junkies. Niko was later betrayed by Dimitri Rascalov and when things got complicated in their group. Niko and Roman managed to escape and moved to another part of the city to start again. But this time Niko motivation was to get his revenge. Niko took jobs from a vigilante, drug dealers and befriended men connected t...

Several adaptations of Greek Mythology in media have appeared over the years. Some were successful while the others have failed to represent the ancient Greeks. Among the most memorable I've encountered is this series. Not only was it able to illustrate the heroes, monsters and gods in myths, but also brought to the fore the often ignored question - what happens to the Greek pantheon after they defeated the Titans? It is unique because the hero in this game is not a hercules-achilles-jason clone. The protagonist is a minor figure in Greek mythology. Kratos (Cratos) is a servant of the gods and one of Zeus' children, which is close enough to the real version (Cratos is not a child of Zeus, but one of his servants along with Nike). And unlike most heroes, he does not carry weapons to save humanity. He seeks revenge to cleanse his past. The series began when he sought to kill Ares, the God of War.  He was finally able to kill Ares with the help of the other gods. The portrayal...

Title : Trash Panic or ゴミ箱 Gomibako Publisher: SCEA Platform: PlayStation 3 Modes: Single and two-player Trash Panic is different from most puzzle games because the player has to make the items fit in a limited space. Usually in most puzzles, the pieces are grouped together to make them disappear and provide more space for the other pieces that are dropped. Some good examples of this is Tetris and the classic brick game. This is not the case for this game. The size of the garbage bin in Trash Panic is uniform throughout the different stages of 3 modes that the player can choose from. The game will end when the player has dropped 3 undamaged items outside the bin. The next stage is unlocked once the player has compacted all the trash in the bin delivered by a yellow conveyor.The items delivered by a conveyor have different characteristics and the player must take these into consideration while disposing them. Some items are heavy objects that ...

As a long time enthusiast of video games, I think I would never be able to survive another year without it. I've been on a hiatus for seven years and I regret it. I missed a lot of good titles and it seems like I have wasted my time with other things. The first game I got hooked into was CounterStrike. I used to play with my high school female friends after school. We usually spent 3 hours at the Internet cafe challenging other players. I've never played with bots but with real people. One thing I noticed was the lack of females among the competitors. However, I went on hiatus because I cannot fully explain to my parents my need to get my daily head shots. It was only when I discovered that our personal computer had a handful of challenging real-time strategy (RTS) games that I rediscovered that passion. I was introduced to Generals by no less than my father. Next I tried Battle Realms and the old version of CounterStrike, but this time I played against bots. I love military ta...

It's not just a game. Five years ago I could not sleep without playing even just one round of it. Five years ago, I walked through dark alleys and endured hunger just to get a taste of it. Five years ago, I could go head-to-head against the toughest gamers. It was the best thing the world has ever created. And it took me months to stop playing Counter-Strike. It's not just a game. Few people realize that virtual games are no different from books, music, movies and other forms of media and recreation. They all have the same function: an escape. We watch television, listen to music and read because we want to experience what it's like to be in another world as a different person or place. I'm a CS addict, but I also know that life will be so boring without it. There is an art in playing. All people have the ability to learn how to do it but not everyone can be good at it. Battle Realms and Generals require strategic and tactical skills. Counterstrike requires pr...