Naughty Bear

I was excited for this game. I couldn't wait to beat the stuffing out of other teddy bears in an incredibly gruesome manner. Call me twisted. So you play as Naughty Bear and he is the only bear on paradise island not invited to a birthday party. The other bears all laugh at him so he plans on taking revenge. Sounds decent doesn't it. Well Alpha Protocol has taught me to deal with disappointment and this game sure is disappointing. The graphics are terrible. Maybe the developers were aiming for an art style out of some physchotic child's sketch book. Couple bad graphics with a horrible camera and the inability to lock on to other bears in order to kill them and you have the formula for disappointment. Maybe they thought, "Hey, the premise for this game is f***ing amazing and original we can just bs everything else". The narrator in this game is like Justin Bieber minus the high voice. You either love him or hate him. I loved the narrator. (Can't say the same for Bieber) I thought the narration was hilarious and had a good sense of incredibly dark humor. The other sounds in this game were mediocre. Why don't I hear tearing of cotton when I stab bears with machetes. Another point about this game, if it takes place on Paradise Island and has teddy bears why are there machetes all over the place. Anywho I can say that this game is definitely not for kids even though it appears so and it definitely shouldn't be on anyones shelf. 5/10.

Army of TWO: The 40th day

This game came out early this year and was highly anticipated. A lot of people assumed this would be great. You know what happens when you assume? Well this game does precisely that. It makes the characters seem like asses out of each other. The AI is still dumb as hell as it was in the first game and the plot is more unstructured. I like their outfits, the masks are cool. The guy with flames looks bad ass. The graphics are good, the voice acting is okay. The morality system is nice. Who doesn't enjoy customizing weapons? So how come the gameplay is f***ed up?! I didn't like the mechanics and the aggro thingy in the first game. I don't like them now. People who buy this won't be playing it to the 40th day, I was pissed on the 4th day. This game is good for some 'quick shoot some shit for 10 minutes" type thing. But it's not worth the buy and the cash. If you want to buy it so bad, split it with 8 friends and then take turns playing co-op. 5/10.

Funding for a Capture Card?

I'm debating with myself about whether or not to get a capture card so that I can do Video Reviews and record gameplays for the site and Machinima. A cap card costs 80 dollars though. Or I could just stick with written reviews and not upload anything to Machinima. I'm in a pickle.

Battlefield Bad Company 2

I recently shared my game of the year nominees for this year, and I thought that I should probably review the games that were on the list. This being one of them. The sequel doesn't continue the plot of the past game but the characters from the previous iteration are still in here. This game tries very hard to have a strong plot but it falls short yet again but I'm glad to see that it was better than the first one. The highlight of the plot is the charming characters that are occasionally hilarious and only want to fight this war because they have to. The characters have lost some of their charm (specifically Haggard) for the constant swearing that wasn't present in the first game. It made them seem less their own person and just another shit mouthed person in the military that isn't a person but a statistic. The gameplay and online mode retains it's fun from the first game and improves it with enhanced graphics and better gun sounds. The create a class option is present now and there are more rewards besides credits. The environment is still destructable and more blow-up-able than before. The sole problem with the gameplay is that there are occasional WTF moments where you may just instantly die with no in sight. This occurs in single player and online. One time I just hopped in a tank that had full health and it blew up instantaneously. WTF! Anyways, this was still a solid experience and fun to go back to and it deserves a 8.5/10.

Mid-Year, Game of the Year Nominees

My game of the year nominees thus far. The list may change by end year. The asterisk * denotes games that have not yet been released but are expected to be Game of the Year worthy.

Best FPS Game:
Battlefield Bad Company 2
MAG
Bioshock 2
Halo: Reach*
Call of Duty: Black Ops*

Best Hack and Slash Game:
God of War 3
No More Heroes 2
Bayonnetta
Castlevania: Lord of Shadows
Darksiders

Best Open World Game:
Red Dead Redemption
Just Cause 2
Mafia 2*
Naughty Bear*
iNfamous 2*

Best Action Game:
Mass Effect 2
God of War 3
iNfamous 2*
Just Cause 2
Splinter Cell: Conviction

Best TPS Game:
Red Dead Redemption
Just Cause 2
Splinter Cell: Conviction
Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker
Mafia 2*

Best RPG or JRPG:
Pokemon Heartgold or Soulsilver
Fallout: New Vegas*
Final Fantasy 13
Mass Effect 2
White Knight Chronicles

Best Racing Game:
Modnation Racers
Split Second
Blur
Gran Turismo 5*
Need for Speed: Shift*

Best Platforming Game:
LittleBigPlanet 2*
Super Mario Galaxy 2
Toy Story 3: The Game*
Lego Harry Potter
3D Dot Game Heroes

Best Sports Game:
NHL 11*
NBA 2K11*
UFC Undisputed 2010
Skate 3
Madden NFL 11*

Best Graphics:
God Of War 3
Super Mario Galaxy 2
Heavy Rain
Mass Effect 2
Bioshock 2

Best Story:
Mass Effect 2
Final Fantasy 13
Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker
Alan Wake
Red Dead Redemption

Best Voice-Acting:
Red Dead Redemption
Modnation Racers
Fallout: New Vegas*
Splinter Cell: Conviction
Battlefield Bad Company 2

Best Online Game:
Battlefield Bad Company 2
Red Dead Redemption
Call of Duty: Black Ops
Modnation Racers
LittleBigPlanet 2*

Best Original Game Music:
Super Mario Galaxy 2
Heavy Rain
LittleBigPlanet 2*
Metroid: The Other M*
Final Fantasy 13

Best Letdown:
Final Fantasy 13
Alpha Protocol
Dead to Rights Retribution
Dante's Inferno
Call of Duty: Black Ops*

Best Hyped Game:
Call of Duty: Black Ops*
Halo: Reach*
LittleBigPlanet 2*
Battlefield Bad Company 2
God of War 3

Best PS3 Exclusive:
God of War 3
LittleBigPlanet 2*
Modnation Racers
Heavy Rain
Infamous 2*

Best 360/PC Exclusive:
Halo: Reach *
Splinter Cell: Conviction
Gears of War 3*
Mass Effect 2
Alan Wake

Best Wii Exlusive:
Super Mario Galaxy 2
Metroid: The Other M*
No More Heroes 2
Red Steel 2
Trauma Team

Best Multi-Platform Game:
Red Dead Redemption
Fallout: New Vegas*
Call of Duty: Black Ops
Bioshock 2
Battlefield Bad Company 2

Overall Game of The Year:
Red Dead Redemption
Fallout: New Vegas*
Call of Duty: Black Ops
Mass Effect 2
Halo: Reach*
Super Mario Galaxy 2
LittleBigPlanet 2*
Modnation Racers
Splinter Cell: Conviction
God of War 3

Answering some FAQs

1. What is your review system?
I generally start at a 10 for a game and then I'll take off a .5 for every bad aspect. There is some leaway to this. Some games are just so huge that if I counted every bad detail, the game would have a lower score than what it actually deserved. I occasionally look at Metacritic to get an idea of what kind of title a certain game is and what score would be suspected of it. Sometimes I don't agree with Metacritic. I didn't enjoy Mass Effect as much as the bigger reviewers did.
2. Do you swear in your reviews?
I will use spurts of it. There are some words that I am discouraged to say. I'll swear minorly such as: shit, ass, hell, damn, bitch. I won't use any racial or ethnic slurs. I won't drop an F bomb but instead will type as F***. Anything that an actual journalist could get in trouble, is something that I won't do.
3. What games do you normally review?
Unlike paid reviewers I am not required to review bad games and I don't get the games for free. So most of the time I will review well marketed titles that are generally well received. I am curious about some lackluster games and will rent them and then compile my review about them.
4. What games do you own?
PS3- Assassin's Creed 2, Bioshock, Battlefield Bad Company 2, Call of Duty 4, Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2, DJ Hero, Grand Theft Auto 4, Fallout 3, Rock Band 2, Modnation Racers, The Orange Box, LittleBigPlanet, Infamous, Metal Gear Solid 4, Uncharted 2, Red Dead Redemption, Just Cause 2, NBA 2K10.
PC- Mass Effect 1 and 2, Left 4 Dead 1 and 2, Modern Warfare 2, Halo 3.
Wii- Super Mario Galaxy, Metroid Prime Trilogy, Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, Super Smash Bros Brawl, Super Paper Mario, Wii Sports Resort, Bully, Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games, Mario Party 8, Guitar Hero 3, Guitar Hero World Tour, Rayman: Raving Rabbids.

Just Cause 2

So, I was going through my games to find some I hadn't yet reviewed. I found a good one. (All my games are AAA titles btw, I rent the okay ones) If the year ended right now, this would be the best action game of the year. Just Cause 2 has you playing as U.S. army specialist Rico Rodriquez as you venture to the island of Panau to find out why Russia, Japan and China are so interested in this island. The gameplay in this is just awesome. The guy has a grappling hook that you can use to get to places. It also has a link feature that you can do to: hang an enemy from a ceiling, whip a car off the side of a bridge, carry some high explosives by helicopter, etc. The protagonist also always seem to have a parachute as well, which another element to the gameplay. Mix that with some guns, lots of vehicles and a large open world and you have a fricking amazing action game. I haven't really noticed a soundtrack in this game because I'm too immeresered with the gameplay. The story is okay, It's a very shallow, the American always wins, type story. With that said, this game has huge stereotypes about Americans, Russians, Chinese, Japanese, Spanish, Portugeuse and Australians. I being Austalian, did not really appreciate that. This game could offend. The voice-acting is shit. Why do all the Spanish people sound the same? But still this is a fun game and my action game of the year thus far. 8.5/10.

MW2: Stimulus Pack

From Left to Right: Bailout, Crash, Storm, Overgrown, Salvage

So as some of you may know, the Second Map Pack for MW2 called the resurgence pack has recently come out on Xbox Live. But I am a PS3 gamer so I have to wait a month before I can get the map pack, so I'm going to look at the first map pack. The Stimulus Pack. The price for this map pack is $15. That's a little too much for just 5 maps. The new maps are Storm, Salvage, and Bailout. They brought back two oldies but goodies from Cod4, Crash and Overgrown. I was an avid Cod4 player and Crash was one of my favourites so I enjoyed getting a nuke the first time I played Crash on here against the people who had no clue where everyone was cause they didn't play Cod4. I would say all the maps here except for Bailout (which is like an urban apartment block type map) are good. I enjoy Storm (Factory type place with Rain) and Salvage was pretty good as well. But again most of you will buy this for $15. I did the download sharing thing that you can do for PSN purchases and I split it with two other people so really I only payed $5 for this map pack. Which is the price that it should be worth. If you got this on PS3, you have the option to split it with four others. But if you're on Xbox or PC, you may have got this a month earlier but really your paying for overpriced maps and therefore you got the dick end again. So if your on PS3, you should split this with some friends. But if your not, wait for a price drop.

Modnation Racers

Mario Kart meets Littlebigplanet and what a reunion it was. The result: Modnation Racers. This game features the addictive kart racing of Mario Kart where you race and hit enemies with your items, then it has the creation things you would find in Littlebigplanet where you can create your own Mods (People), Karts and Tracks. The result it an amazing kart racing that you and friends can play every weekend to see who has the coolest creations and best racing skills. With that said this game supports up to 12 players online and four player splitscreen. If you wanna race against NPCs you can do that too. This game has a legitimately long and difficult career that has plenty of challenges and collectables to keep you busy for a while. The graphics in this game are very artistic and cutesy like in Littlebigplanet but there has been a few cases of frame rate drop online. The online is amazing regardless but it is also the biggest downside to this game. If you don't have an online connection the game won't let you play it. So if your internet is knocked out or you just don't have a hookup altogether guess what you won't be playing. Anyways the sound in this game is very good as well but I haven't really paid attention to it when I'm in a rage about how I went from 1st to 9th in five seconds. If you don't like to lose that much you will get a little pissed at this game. But even though I suck at this game, I still give it a 9/10.

Alpha Protocol

Alpha Protocol recently came out. I like guns and I like RPGs. So this game seems to be perfect for me. Wrong. I may like guns and RPGs but I don't like dated graphics and horrible gameplay. This game puts you in the shoes of the newest Alpha Protocol agent, Michael Thornton. The story and plot in this game are quite amazing but have been brought down by the poor cover system and glitchy gameplay. I get tired of trying to take cover behind a bench and I end up taking cover in front of the bench. This game plays out like a regular RPG. There's mission and things you can do on the side. But it's all very forgetable. I don't remember half the things that I did and I didn't really care about the plot that much. That's a bad step for an RPG. I played this on my PS3 and I was amazed at how bad the graphics were. If this supported Playstation Move it could pass for a Wii game based on the graphics. The VO I found was pretty solid but there are never any memorable lines like in games with terrific VO. (Which is every game that Nolan North is in) In the end a good story with good sound can't pick up the sloppy gameplay and aged graphics. I'm giving this a 6.5/10