Resident Evil 5

Concept: Over the shoulder third person shooter. Smart zombies, they move fast use weapons and are tougher to take down now than ever.

Graphics: Graphics aren’t mind blowing but they are damn good. The game is clean and the zombies and monsters look great.

Sound: Squishy-squashy.  The sound is amazing.  The zombies, voice overs, and basically any sound effect in the game is amazing.

Playability:  Plays great.  If you haven’t played the past installments of the over the shoulder RE games then it takes a bit to get used to.  Your computer controlled partner however is trash.  But I’ll get to that later.

First off, this is the first time I have played a Resident Evil title since Nemesis.  And I never did finish that one.  Coming down that staircase and trying to walk passed the window but no! ROCKET TO THE DOME! I quit shortly after that.  But that is beside the point.  RE5 is a truly phenomenal game.  Hours of fun,  you get to see how Chris Redfield handles business, and boy does he.  

They game puts you in Africa to investigate a terrorist threat.  You pretty quickly uncover that threat.  Zombies.  You are partnered up with Sheva who cannot shoot worth dick.  Seriously, she wastes all your ammo while you are on the couch screaming, “SHOOT ‘EM IN HEAD BITCH!”  Although, I highly doubt even if she did take a moment to aim that she would actually hit them in the head.  As a duo you start to form a bond.  Redfield sees a picture of Jill and turns this into I have to find my partner, I know she is alive sort of story.  So you hunt down Umbrella and follow their trail and trying to stop the spreading of the Uroboros virus.  

As I have stated before, Sheva sucks.  I suggest you get yourself a buddy to play online with or else you will be spouting off so much sexist and vulgar language that your neighbors will call the cops on a domestic abuse sort of deal.  Either way the game is fun though.  You can upgrade your weapons and armor.  I didn’t do so until way late into the game when I got stuck.  Then shit got real.  I suggest holding off until you really need the boost.

The game is great.  Awesome compelling story that is easy to get emotionally involved into.  Half the time its almost like watching a movie.  Great cut scenes, challenging levels all the way around.  The boss battles feel like boss battles.  Just don’t play at night, your dreams will be messed up.  

Score: 5/5

mc chris show at Slim’s in San Francisco 6-8-10

This was my second time seeing mc chris live, both times at Slim’s. I must say this show was absolutely amazing. The show was the complete package just like the first time I saw him. mc chris really thinks about the fans when he picks his openers and they are always great performers.  I suggest to anyone still thinking of going to an mc chris show, this might be the best one you’ll ever see.

The Opening Acts:

Math the Band:  These two were insane.  Think 8-bit and postpunk/poppunk thrown together in a blender.  That is what you go here with Math the Band.  They have really intense energy on stage and you can tell they really enjoy performing for everyone.  They really did set the stage for the whole night, they got the crowd hyped.  The perfect opener.

MC Lars and YTCracker: This was my first time seeing either of these two live, and I was not let down.  When I was reading the bill, I thought there were going to be three openers then mc chris would come on.  I was dead wrong and glad I was.  MC Lars and YTCracker absolutely killed it.  I have limited knowledge on either of their music, I have one album by each of them so I knew a few songs but then a line blurred when I didn’t know which song was whose.  Which wasn’t a bad thing at all, because if they weren’t doing a duet performance they were hyping for the other guy.  I got my monies worth just from these guys, excellent energy and stage presence.  There was even a guest appearance from K. Flay, again another artist I don’t know much about, but when she got the mic she wasn’t toying around.  They kept the crowd hyped and excited for the main act.  The show could have ended and I would have plenty happy.

The Closing Act:

mc chris: mc chris came on stage, started of the show with a new song, “Lowercase”.  His shows are great, he engages the crowd and puts his all into the show.  There were songs, jokes, and even a t-shirt contest.  Yes, it isn’t just a rap show, he takes time out of the show to make you laugh, and he will.  mc chris is extremely hilarious, and can really deliver a joke.  He had me cracking up at both shows I’ve been to.    He eventually closed the show with the most popular song in his repertoire, “Fett’s Vette”.   mc chris is a huge presence on stage and makes sure his fans are happy.  He will even wait until everyone in the venue has had a chance to meet him, get an autograph, and snap a picture.  A lot of artists wont go that far for their fans, mc chris really cares about his fans and puts on a show worth seeing.

Bottom Line: The show was amazing, even if you don’t know the opening acts it is very much worth the price of admission to get in.  All of the performers will make sure you got your money’s worth.  They all really love to be there and love to put on a show.  Go see this concert.

repertoire

Dynasty Warriors: Strikeforce

Concept: Go in slaughter an army, fight the boss.

Graphics: Flashy weapon play and some nice visuals. The combos look nice and there is nothing like taking down 20 guys at once.

Sound: Again, nothing to write home about. The voice over work is okay. The gameplay sounds are alright as well. Some of the music does get you in the mood for an old school rampage.

Playability: Maneuvering the camera while cutting down hundreds of men can be a bit frustrating. You can get whacked from behind and never see it coming.

There isn’t much going on for this game. Its your standard Dynasty Warriors game. Button-mashing, hack and slash through armies of men. The story isn’t very involved. Cut scenes are reduced to a narrator speaking over some still images. Needless to say, I was far removed from the story.  Since the story was so dull and the poor excuse for cutscenes weren’t engaging in the least.  I just focused on leveling up my character, buying new weapons, items, and power-ups so I could do even more damage than I have been doing.

So what keeps you playing this game?  Not much really.  Its fun to kill 200 men in one level.  There is a multiplayer aspect which is pretty fun.  It will keep you playing a little bit longer  if you have some people to share the experience with.  Honestly, if I weren’t playing with friends I would have thrown it out the first day.  You can go into fury mode which is almost a super saiyan-esque power up so you can do massive amounts of damage and fire off special combos. This game is kind of a shut your brain off and party up with some friends sort of game. Its whole appeal is to relax grab yourself some snacks and a beverage of your choosing and button mash your way to victory.  Unfortunately, none of that is enough to really keep you playing.   Every level is the same.  The map layouts are pretty similar.  When maps get filled with a lot of guys it can get pretty laggy and slow the game down.  Sometimes it gives you an awesome slow motion effect, but overall it is just annoying.  

Score: 2/5

Major League Baseball 2K10

Concept: What you see is what you get.  A baseball game with the game modes you’d expect.

Graphics: Great graphics, lighting effects change the way you play the game.  Looks and feels like real baseball.

Sound: Personally, I think this game sounds great the commentators work well.  Kruk is spouting off stats left and right sounds like a real game.  I would like the sound of the ball off the bat to be more of a crack that we know and love from a well hit ball.

Playability: While the franchise as a whole has improved, fielding is still weak.  Pitching and batting are the bees knees.

I had the overwhelming urge for a relaxing game of baseball.  I don’t have a PS3 (at the time of this review) so I went straight to the store right before closing and picked up MLB2K10.  The first thing I am usually drawn to is the franchise mode with a fantasy draft and show these guys how a real GM does it.  But as I’m leaving the store I start checking out the back of the box.  I saw something I didn’t recognize, My Player Mode.

Everyone loves to, ‘make a guy’ and that’s just what this is.  You start off making your player changing his appearance from head to toe, position, batting stance, pitching motion, different clothing options.  I felt like I was in an RPG.  You start in the minor league and work your way up hitting goals until your player is ready to get called up to the big leagues.  All the while you get experience points for completing almost anything you do.  You have goals for nearly every batter (if you are a pitcher like me) or every time you come up to bat.   Then you get to spend points in whatever category you chose after the games.  This is truly a gamers dream.  Here I am playing a baseball game because I am a huge sports fan and then I get a taste of RPG gameplay thrown in? Thanks 2K Sports.  Unfortunately, there were some bugs in the system that never got fixed.  Anytime I am offered to throw an eephus pitch in a baseball game I take it.  There is a practice mode inside My Player Mode to earn additional points before each game.  The game would freeze in this mode whenever my catcher couldn’t get his mitt on the eephus, which was pretty often.  So I had to skip it most of the time.  I did get a chance to play My Player as a different position.  Talk about odd.  You only play defense when you’re going to have the ball coming to you.  I played catcher thinking I would call pitches for the pitcher.  I was disappointed to find out, I would only play defense when there was a foul back or a bunt.  And half the time the pitcher would steal my pop ups and take away from the points I could earn.  Only play My Player if you’re going to be a pitcher.

The franchise mode is nothing to write home about.  It is what it has always been.  Standard.  Simulation statistics seem to be a bit out of whack batters will have awesome years with bloated home runs and stolen bases, and pitchers will have a high WHIP and ERA.  Do we really care though?

The game play has vastly improved.  The hitting and pitching are phenomenal.  The addition of the hitters eye and the defensive swing let you really work the count as a real pro would do.  You can actually draw a walk or get the pitch you want if you are poised enough to wait for it.  The gesture-based pitching is better than ever.  You are almost never throwing fat pitches over the plate for the hitting wallop out of the park you can hit corners and really work the batter.  The pitching is my favorite part this year.  Fielding still needs work.  While you aren’t making an ungodly amount of errors on pop flies like last year’s installment, the infield is pretty wonky.  I don’t know how many times the CPU has hit a weak ground ball right between my short stop and second basemen with out no effort made by either.  The play happens to fast to get a jump on but other times the CPU will take fate into its own hands an make that jump for you.  Very inconsistent.  And short bunts.  No one goes for it and switching players is always not as good as it should be so your catcher can almost never make the throw to first. Fundamental problems that the 2K series has had for a long time.

Bottom line if you are an xbox owner like me, this is worth it this year.  Believe me, I was so disappointed in last years installment I didn’t have it for more than 2 weeks.  Give My Play Mode a shot, you wont regret it.  It only had one bug that I noticed but was fixed shortly after some upgrades.

Score: 3/5

Mass Effect 2

Concept: A story-heavy RPG shooter.  Allows the player to continue the story they have started in the first

Graphics: Cinematics are incredible.  The gameplay isn’t as luxurious, but this game is all about the story.

Sound: The voice actors all get a gold star.  The score helps move the action along in both battle and story sequences, to perfection.

Playability: Gun play is decent.  Coupling gunplay and bionics keeps the game flowing.  You can use your teammates to save your ass if you are caught in a situation.

I have sat down to play this game quite a few times and I feel like I haven’t even scratched the surface yet.   The game starts of with a cinematic to get you warmed up and ready for the story, afterwards, you are thrown right into action.  You are given a gun and told to shoot your way out of the area.  That is my kind of style.  The combat and cover system work well.  It took some getting used to when you get a team together and are using the block buttons to bring up special move options and weapons, but it works nicely.

The characters and their stories are compelling, they really make this game worth playing. Every decision you make in the game feels like it could do you in.  Nearly, anytime I have to make a tough decision I submerge myself into the captain role and make a gut call, forget saving pre-decision, no looking back on this ship.  The plot takes twists and turns, the game does a good job of leaving you just enough in the dark to be as confused as Sheppard, the main character, should be.

There is just so much you can do in this game and it really keeps gameplay moving.  Talking to people, getting in firefights, flying your spaceship.  It is just an awesome all around game.  I can’t really say much more about it other then that it is worth the price.

I do recommend importing you character from the 1st Mass Effect, it will effect the gameplay of ME2.  I was not fortunate enough to have played the first game in the series due to a gaming hiatus I took due to shallow pockets.  Although, if you are in the boat I am in, this game is still worth picking up.  You wont be disappointed.

Score: 5/5