Classic Goodness!!

One of the first things I liked about Revenge of the Titans is the clean, retro arcade art style.  It’s simple, its stylish and I love it.  I even like how the achievements look!

“Pristine” is SUPER hard to get in the later levels

Harder than Adamantium

Another thing you’ll notice pretty quickly is that RotT is a pretty hard game.  These evil Titan aliens come at you very quickly, and are not forgiving.  This isn’t your typical tower defense game where the enemies funnel into a nice death trap…. Noooo, Titans run around defenses and come at you from all angles.  You have to get creative with walls and defenses to get far in the game.

I told you to research “PEW PEW” not get some COFFEE!

Some advice for those who are new to the game.  Look up a tech tree online before you start playing.   If you end up researching the wrong tech, the game does very little to help you fix your mistakes.   I decided to research battle droids and tanks, and although they are very strong in numbers, they fail to cover all areas for defense.  After playing the game for a while I highlight recommend, “Lasers, Assault Turrets and Cooler attachments”.  If you are seasoned pro I’m curious to know what your build you used.  Did you use rockets?  A sea of shockers?

One of the most deadly techs, REACTORS!

Check out the official trailer!

ok ok already… should I buy it?

Answer these questions to see if you should buy this game:

Do you like tower defense games?

Do you like retro style games?

Do you like a challenge?

Do you like strategy/puzzle games?

Do you like destroying alien invaders?

If you answered Yes to all of these questions I highly recommend picking up the game.   I’ve had a lot of fun with the game!  Let us know what you think about it!

Big thanks to Puppy Games for sending us a review copy!  

Thanks.

Poor Dale can’t seem to stop caring about other people. He always wants to do right by someone instead of keeping to himself.

Dale’s the type of man who knows there’s just as much danger in not doing something right as there is in doing something wrong.

Like Dale, we can see that what’s going on between Andrea and Shane can’t end well, but the tragedy of it is that Andrea doesn’t.

I found myself sympathizing a lot with Herschel this episode. It’s easy to pass judgment on a man when he has the means to protect others but doesn’t want to.

It seems easy to keep Rick and the other survivors on his land; well, maybe not “easy” but the “right” thing to do, especially since Lori is pregnant.

But put yourself in Herschel’s shoes. You’re under the same roof with a bunch of strangers who think differently than you. They want to kill people who you love(d) and who you believe can be restored; they also take risks when you want to remain safe.

It’s his land 100%, and he has a family to take care of. You have hope that the world will turn out alright because you believe in God and a possible cure. Why wouldn’t you refuse to keep men and women on your land? They’ll make it on their own out there.

Won’t they?

If there’s one thing this episode taught me it’s that sometimes we’re the ones who make our situations worse. We worry so much about how bad things could be that we actually make our situation worse through our efforts to make them better.

The barn was locked up tight: two locks and a wooden bar across its doors. If no one had touched the barn, it would have remained intact for a long time.

But where’s the conflict in that?

Shane can’t see the destruction he’s causing.  He can’t see how secure the barn is before he starts opening it. The thought of one of those walkers getting out to kill them all drives him to open up the barn and eradicate them for his own piece of mind.

Yet the last walker to come out of the barn is going to haunt the survivors for a long time coming . . .

The Walking Dead just keeps improving upon the comic book in every way. The writers are so good at what they do.

Here’s to the next half of the season.

Overall 10/10

“Get Gellar” reveals a huge twist that quite a few people on the Internet anticipated but that I abandoned a few episodes ago.

Since this is a review, spoilers are pretty much a given, which is why I’ve never put up spoiler warnings.

However, this one is pretty darn big, so if you haven’t seen the episode yet:

SPOILER ALERT!

With that out of the way . . .

Gellar and Travis are the same person. The proof that Gellar never existed was there all season:

• The waitress doesn’t “see” Gellar in the café
• While praying, Gellar bleeds from his forehead for a split second and then returns to normal
• Gellar moves around with no urgency and without anyone noticing him in the same way that Harry and even Dexter’s brother Rudy have in previous episodes
• The constant reference to Gellar as Travis’s “Dark Passenger”

The writers got me with a bit of misdirection: Gellar’s notebook filled with the tableau drawings proves he’s a real person, and a missing person’s report was never filed. I took that to mean Gellar’s still alive.

Boy was I wrong.

I was disappointed with Dexter’s performance at the end, though. In pursuit of Gellar, Dexter had to move a large table off of the trap door leading to the church’s cellar.

If Gellar were down there, how could he have closed the trap door and covered it up himself? It was a rare misstep for the usually keen Dexter, one that I’m not sure is in line with his character.

Of course, no one is perfect; not even Dexter. We’ve seen that time and time again. But the trapdoor/heavy table scene seemed blaringly obvious.

Deb finally telling LaGuerta off was a moment of triumph for Deb and viewers alike. Who didn’t see Captain Matthews as being the person who broke that hooker’s ribs in that hotel room?

This isn’t the first time a blackmail/cover-up has lead back to these two, and I’m worried about what they’ll  do to keep Deb from reopening the case.

Finally, Louis the Forensics Intern is becoming quite the dark character; I’m not just talking about the Ice Truck killer’s hand in his apartment — that did surprise the crap out of me.

It’s how he said he “collects” things; it sounds eerily similar to a serial killer’s passion, sort of like what Dexter and other murders on the show have done.

Just who is Louis?

Overall, “Get Gellar” was an entertaining episode. The plot twist didn’t blow my mind, even after I had abandoned the idea that Gellar didn’t exist. However, it was fun and set the stage for Dexter’s showdown with Travis.

Travis is at least a new breed of villain for Dexter: someone with a split personality who really doesn’t seem to know that he’s a serial killer.

Fight Club anyone?

Overall 8.75/10

• Raising children during a zombie apocalypse
• The consequences of finding a cure

I’ll admit that the consequences of finding a cure were more implied than flat out stated. But that’s why The Walking Dead is so great. It presents scenarios that make you think deeper.

We finally got a taste of Herschel’s rationale for keeping the walkers in his barn. By not killing his infected family, Herschel holds a different kind of hope than mere survival: the walkers are sick, so they need to be cured.  We saw attempts to cure the plague near the end of last season, and it’s great to see it hinted at here again.

A possible cure raises an interesting question: if a cure for the zombies was found, how would the survivors live with themselves after killing so many people?

I also loved Dale’s talk with Lori about her pregnancy. With zombie movies, you don’t get all of the little details of life in a zombie apocalypse. Sure, the Dawn of the Dead remake had a zombie baby in it, but that hardly dealt with the trials of raising a child during such a difficult time.

Lori is terrified about the kind of life her newborn child would have; there’s no “well of joy” for the child to draw from. All he or she will know is the need for survival in a world in ruins.

But then again, people have had to hunt, kill, and forage for survival in the past. The zombie apocalypse is a kind of trip backwards in time. If humans could do it then, couldn’t they do it during a zombie apocalypse?

The search for Sophia continues. I’m not annoyed by the search just yet; it’s produced some memorable scenarios like Daryl getting pierced by his own crossbow arrow and Shane and Andrea fending off a wave of undead.

But it’s starting to drag on a bit, and it’s less believable at this point. Could this young girl really survive on her own this long? Let’s wrap this up already.

Finally, Shane reminds us just how dangerous he is when Dale confronts him. The writers have kept him on the show longer than he was around for the comic, but eventually things have to come to a head.  Now Rick knows about Shane and Lori. How will that affect the trio’s relationship?

Just what is Shane capable of doing?

The Walking Dead just keeps firing out the complex, exciting questions. With each episode, I admire the writers and actors more and more.

Overall 9.5/10

Dexter is at its best when it tackles difficult issues like trust and faith.  “Sin of Omission” didn’t disappoint as Dexter strained his relationship with Deb.

My heart went out to Debra this week. She’s become a pretty tragic figure whose having  a hard time all around:

• She feels responsible for Lisa’s (Travis’s sister) death at the hands of DDK
• She’s forced to close the case on the overdosed prostitute
• She finds out that Dexter lied to her about going to Nebraska
• Dexter blows her off her genuine effort to do something nice for him

That last problem, Dexter refusing to stay for dinner with Deb, was the real sin of omission this week. Dexter fails not because he did anything wrong. He let Deb down by not doing something, namely being there for her.

It seems as though Dexter trusts everyone else around him more than Deb. This has been the case since Season 3. From Miguel to Lumen, Dexter has opened up to people who cross his path briefly, including Brother Sam.

He even confessed to a senile old priest that he’s killed people.

When is Dexter going to trust his own flesh and blood? I’d personally love to see him finally tell Deb who he really is. Talk about a challenge for the writers!

Quinn continues his downward spiral this week. I find myself waffling between pity for and anger at Quinn. When he’s not acting like a jerk and trying to hurt other people, he’s vulnerable and pathetic.

Finally, we have Travis deciding to help Dexter track and kill Gellar. I predicted last week that Gellar would use Lisa for his next masterpiece, and I was unfortunately right.

Poor Lisa was a very likable character, but of course she had to die in order to move the story forward. Otherwise, what reason would Travis have to hunt Gellar?

Let’s see how Brother Sam’s light affects Dexter’s search for Gellar. Will the kill play out differently from what we’ve seen so far?

Overall: 9/10

Dexter admitting to another person that he’s killed someone.

Dexter taking advice from his dead brother as if it were totally natural.

Dexter having sex with a convenience store clerk.

Dexter standing with a bloody pitchfork like in the “American Gothic” painting.

Yup, this pretty much happened in tonight’s episode.

Did I miss something? Was tonight an airing of a very special Dexter set in Bizarro world? I didn’t know Nebraska was THAT strange.

The entire episode felt surreal. I was waiting for Dexter to wake up and ask if it was all just a crazy dream.

The most cohesive part of “Nebraska” was Travis telling Gellar that he’s through killing women. I suspect that the “whore” Gellar needs for his next message will end up being Travis’s sister. Will that motivate Travis to hunt down Gellar in return?

I’m not sure who the hell decided this episode was a good idea, but it felt completely out of place and unnecessary. We had some pretty interesting themes being tackled in the last few episodes, and Brother Sam’s death last week was a good opportunity for Dexter to really explore himself. And no, his brother Rudy egging him on to kill people doesn’t count!

“Nebraska” felt like it ignored everything that season 6 has been building up to. I’m seriously disappointed!

Overall: 5/10

What did you guys think? Am I missing something here? If so, PLEASE explain it to me . . .

ZOMBIES everywhere!
One of the best things about Atom Zombie Smasher is that it’s HARD. The game doesn’t pull any punches. You are forced to make tough decisions and live with them. Should you destroy a whole city block, sacrificing several civilians to buy a few minutes for others to evacuate? Will you bait Zombies back into a smaller crowd of innocent people to save a larger mass? While the steep learning curve and difficulty might turn off a few players I found it refreshingly satisfying when I beat a level.

This aint no RPG?!
I love RPGs, Final Fantasy, Mass Effect, you name it! Everything! Anyways another cool element of “AZS” is that you can level mercenaries and tools that you acquire in the game. There isn’t a DEEP leveling system but it does add a small element that makes your experience a little bit different from everyone else’s. For example you could choose to increase your helicopter’s load time or arrival time. In a smaller map, load time would be a better choice, in a larger map, maybe arrival tie would be better. I really liked this added layer of depth.

Check out this gameplay video:

Oh Presidente! Wait a minute is this RISK?!

Audio? Meh?

Probably the weakest link about AZS is the music and sound effects. It’s not BAD but it’s just generic. It doesn’t really detract from the overall experience but if they put some better sound in the game I think it would’ve been awesome. I’m also just being picky.

WTF? All I see is squares….

This is where the title starts to make sense. “Atom Zombie Smasher”, Atoms are generally symbolized with little squares, hence the title. The squares perfectly represent the zombies and civilians but it would’ve been great if you could actually zoom in and see some zombies eating some humans. Maybe in AZS 2 !?

Check out the official trailer:

ok ok already… should I buy it?

Answer these questions to see if you should buy this game:
Do you like Zombies?
Do you like simulations with RPG elements?
Do you like a challenge?
Do you like strategy/puzzle games?
Stunning visual graphics aren’t important to me?

Big thanks to Blendo Games for sending us review copies! You guys Rock!

I would say my feelings towards the Uncharted franchise is pretty similar to the relationship a husband has with his pregnant wife… You love her to death but having to wake up and go on pickles and ice cream runs at 2 in the morning can get frustrating quick. Uncharted 3 is an awesome game; it’s breathtakingly beautiful, the story telling is unparalleled and the character design is peerless. But after finishing the 10-12 hour campaign I am content but disappointed at the same time. Uncharted 3 could have been a perfect game… it was soooo close to being a solid 10 out of 10; but there are a few game play design issues that hold it back from being flawless.

Is that a lost artifact of Ubar in your pocket or are you just happy to see me?

Let’s start off this review with the great things that Naughty Dog accomplished in Drake’s Deception; and there are a ton of things that they got right.

Let be honest, the Uncharted games are the closest thing we have currently to playing Indiana Jones and Naughty Dog does a fantastic job of infusing their game with a cinematic flare. If this was a movie, it would have been written and directed by Michael Bay. Some of the sequences in Uncharted 3 will leave your jaw on the floor, and it’ll stay there until you turn off your PS3. It’s impossible that Nathan is able to survive these encounters and there’s definitely a Looney Tunes quality to some of the stunts that he pulls, however that is part of the charm that Uncharted brings to the table. You have to throw common sense out the window, but you do the same for all the summer blockbusters every year and make no mistake Uncharted 3 is a summer blockbuster.

The story starts with Nathan and Sully in the middle of a shady exchange in a bar, cash money for Francis Drake’s ring. Thing quickly go sour and escalates to a dirty bar room brawl. The story never lets up from there and, similar to Uncharted 2, Nathan trots around the globe looking for the next piece to the puzzle that will lead him to the lost city of Ubar. Sprinkled in between the main story are some flash back sequences that develop the relationship between Sully and Nathan. It’s a great addition and explains the strong friendship that they have. The voice acting is once again top notch and sets the bar for all other video games in my book. It’s a tall order for any game to compete with the quality of the voice acting in this franchise and Uncharted 3 continues with that excellence.

Don’t move! Or I’ll blow your face clean off your face!

The game play of Uncharted 3 is broken down into 4 parts, hand to hand combat, gun fighting, climbing, and puzzles. Most of the latter 3 aspects are similar to previous Uncharted games, but Naughty Dog added some new, welcome features to the hand to hand combat. You can now use the environment to your advantage, slam heads against boxes and break bottles on people. There are some added animation that makes the combat look cool as well; like knocking your enemy’s gun in the air and grabbing it.  Grabbing is also refined a tad; if Nathan is grabbed you can still attack an enemy in front of you. You can also grab and throw people off ledges. The new moves make the hand to hand combat a little more fluid and is a nice addition.

I’ve always had a gripe with the gun fighting in Uncharted; both the previous games suffered from endless waves of enemies, and towards the end of Drake’s Fortune and Among Thieves it was getting a little ridiculous. How many god damn pirates/ mercenaries are there?  You can take over a first world country let alone a third world country with the number of bad guys that Nathan has killed. Uncharted 3 fixes it to some extent, but there are still issues with certain parts of the game that leave you frustrated and ready to throw your controller out the window on normal difficulty. Parts that have 3 or 4 snipers on the roof, 20 guys grenade spamming your little corner, all while a couple of armored machine gun turrets are pointed right at you. Makes you wonder how a foot thick brick wall can withstand all that. Uncharted 3 attempts to resolve this by having more checkpoints and for most of the game this works fine; but there are a few cases where the added checkpoints are not enough and I just wanted to tear my hair out. The really frustrating thing is that these elements aren’t necessary, the areas would be just as challenging with one sniper instead of 4 or 5. I feel like Naughty Dog just added them in to extend the game play to the industry standard 10-12 hours. That is the most disappointing thing about this game. Without the few areas of added frustration this game would have been perfect.

Overall, Uncharted 3 is a great game. It does a lot right and only a few things wrong and with a game, that is all you can really hope for. The story does leave room for a sequel, and I really do hope Naughty Dog explores at least one more adventure in the Nathan Drake universe.

Does the game pull off this strange combination?  Or does it end up being a big mess?  Continue reading to find out!

Major selling point ($5)

One of the best things about Sequence is that it’s cheap.  Sequence is $5…In the age of $60 games, this is a GREAT deal.  Skip that large coffee from Starbucks and pick up Sequence instead.  The game holds a lot of value for $5.  The soundtrack and music alone should be $5.

Fun Gameplay Elements (DDR + RPG)

The game features DDR battling enemies, loot progression, and leveling.  Crazy as it sounds, it all manages to work out.  It’s not as extensive as World of Warcraft but for a $5 game it’s pretty meaty.  It’s hard to actually explain the gameplay… check out this video we made:

ANIME style!

If you are into anime, you’ll probably appreciate Sequence’s art style more than the average gamer.  The game features a lot of anime style characters and even the humor is very similar to a lot of anime I’ve seen.  It’s all voiced over pretty well despite a couple of bad jokes.   The graphics are pretty low tech but its all presented pretty well.

Delicious Audio

Probably the best thing about sequence is the music… the music ranges from fresh beats to acoustics guitars.  Here is a sample:

ok ok already… should I buy it?

Sequence isn’t a game for everyone.  Despite being $5 this game really only appeals to a specific niche market.  Answer these questions to see if you should buy this game:

Do you like DDR?

Do you like RPGs?

Do you like Music Games?

Do you like Anime?

Stunning visual graphics aren’t important to me?

If you answered YES to all of these questions, I recommend getting Sequence.  Even if you answered Yes to a few of them this game might be worth looking into.   Despite its niche appeal I really like Sequence and think it’s well worth the $5.  If you thought the videos above were good, I recommend buying the game!!   Also a big thank you to Iridium Games for sending us review copies!

Carl isn’t getting any better. Lori breaks down on Hershel’s porch and begins questioning what the survivors hope to accomplish in this world.

If Lori hoped for a return to order, if she thought society could be restored, then she wouldn’t have thought for a second about letting Carl die because death was better than surviving in their world.

But she can’t see beyond the day to day existence that they have—scrounging for food and trying to fight off death. If Carl dies tonight, then that all ends for him.

Lori is hopeless.

She asks Rick for a reason why it would be better to let Carl live in a world like theirs. Rick can’t seem to come up with a response at first. To be honest, his answer later wasn’t very compelling. The potential for goodness may exist in that world, but that’s within a sea of suffering.

I’d wager that watching Carl wake up briefly did more to sway Lori than Rick’s answer. She chose to save Carl because of the possibility of not hearing him again. It was a beautiful, selfish desire.

It was nice to have a bit of normalcy in this episode; Maggie and Glenn have a calm discussion about God on the porch. Their romance is starting to bud with little glances at each other. I’m glad their intimacy is being carried over from the comic book.

After slowly redeeming himself this season by supporting Rick and trying to help Carl, Shane has proven himself to be a threat yet again. I knew something was wrong with his explanation for why he returned alone. There was guilt in his eyes, and they hadn’t shown Ottis’s death onscreen.

No one but Lori and Dale have any idea just how risky it can be to have Shane around. Shane shaves his head, and he loses what little humanity he has at the same time.

I’m praying for our survivors.

Overall: 9/10