Review: BioShock 2Posted by JJ on February 18th, 2010

As the cover for BioShock 2 tells you, it is the “sequel to [the] Game of the Year”. Cheeky, that, but in many ways that bit of advertising copy defines this sequel, for better or for worse. BioShock 2 has big shoes to fill, and a lot of people were either full of anticipation that the second go-round would be as inventive and atmospheric as the first, or instantly dismissive of something that could never live up to the original.

The original game has a reputation of excellence from most quarters. It’s actually the first game I played this generation, when I picked up my 360 back in 2008. I had heard so much about BioShock that I just had to check it out. Also, I’ve always been a fan of “horror” games, which BioShock is to a certain degree. It isn’t a full-bore jump-and-scream gorefest, but it does have an evocative setting and deliberate pacing that fills you with tension and certainly creeped me out.

So when a sequel was announced, I was instantly excited. I loved the setting of the original game, and no amount of multiplayer or skeptical friends were going to keep me from picking up the sequel on release day. Here I am a week later to tell you how it all stands up.

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GamerSushi Top 10 Games of 2009Posted by Eddy on February 3rd, 2010

Well, we’re a bit late on this, but that’s because we were waiting to make sure we had all sampled enough of these games to confidently vote on what we felt were the best 10 games of 2009. This kind of list needs next to no introduction, but suffice it to say that 2009 was one incredible year for our hobby. What once seemed barren and unimpressive became, honestly, one of the best years I can remember, and probably was the best year for the whole generation to date in a lot of ways. We saw new IPs, old ones re-vamped, and got some of the same awesomeness from franchises we already loved.

For the list, we put this together by having the GS staff (myself, Nick, Jeff, Anthony and Mitch) vote on our top 10 games, and then associated a point system with each to determine which games came out on top. So, without further ado, scroll down for the GamerSushi Top 10 Games of 2009!

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Impressions: Mass Effect 2Posted by Eddy on January 27th, 2010

We don’t always write impressions of games that we’re currently playing, but I figured since 15 people on my friends list last night were playing Mass Effect 2, I’d start a little thread about it.

As you all know, I’m a pretty big Bioware fan. I don’t know what it is, but something about their games just grab me in a way other games don’t. With most games, I have to take a break every couple of hours or so. With Mass Effect 2, I played it for 7 hours straight without a break once I got home from work…

So I guess that means I like the game. A lot. I still feel like I’ve barely scratched the surface, story wise. Perhaps that’s because I spent over an hour scanning planets for raw materials and looking for sidequests, maybe. I hesitate to gush over the game too much, because admittedly, for the first hour or two I was terribly confused. Gone were many of the RPG elements I loved from the first game. But with them, the awful item management system, confusing menus and cumbersome weapon/armor load-outs. The game is an extremely simplified version of the first, and my worry when I loaded it up and got into the action was that it was much too simple.
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Splinter Cell Conviction Co-Op and Deniable Ops GameplayPosted by Eddy on January 10th, 2010

Wow. You all know of my mega-boners that I get for Splinter Cell. Specifically, co-operative play in the Splinter Cell franchise is something that I will go off on a rant about, because of how much I loved the mode in Chaos Theory. Well, they’re bringing the mode back in Splinter Cell: Conviction, and I couldn’t be happier.

Up until now, all we’d gotten to see was a slick trailer for the mode. Now, though, we’re getting to see honest-to-goodness footage of the co-operative mode, in addition to Deniable Ops, which is more of an adversarial multiplayer in some ways. The coolest mode from Deniable Ops seems to be the “Spy vs Spy” gametype, where two players showdown in the midst of hostile enemy AI guards. The thought of that makes me a tad crazy, in the best way possible. Anyway, check out the new video and leave your thoughts.

Splinter Cell: Conviction is out on February 23rd, 2010. Anybody else jumping on this?

Battlefield 1943 is Good Old Fashioned FunPosted by Eddy on July 9th, 2009

As many of you know, Battlefield 1943 released yesterday over PSN and XBox Live. While the game launched with some issues (namely, server capacities), those issues are being dealt with and the game is slowly but surely becoming playable again.

After some difficulty joining a server, I finally was able to land inside, and I have to say, I had a blast. It really is good to be playing Battlefield again, especially in the WWII setting, with bombers, aircraft carriers, boats and jeeps all at your disposal. The game works with squads and squad spawns, which was such brilliant addition to the series with BF 2. So, if you’ve got either a PS3 or XBox 360, this game is a ton of fun and a definite steal at only $15 for the whole deal.

So, who’s gotten to play this game yet? What did you think?

GamerSushi Asks: Making ChangesPosted by Eddy on June 13th, 2009

I’m playing Star Ocean: The Last Hope right now, and it’s the first JRPG that I’ve played in a good long while. After playing some games like Fallout 3 and Mass Effect, it really feels childish and completely ridiculous in comparison, and really got me thinking a bit about the choices that designers sometimes make in games.

The reason for this is that while I’m overall enjoying the game, there are some things about it that really irritate me, and lead me to ask “why would they do that”. For instance, the game starts with a 30 minute battle tutorial followed by both a 20 minute cut scene and a 2 hour dungeon. How does that even make sense in terms of not boring the person playing it to tears? In addition, there are some minor character and script issues that bug me, such as the annoying item creation character and adding a six year old to the party that ends all her sentences in “kay?”.

Like I said, overall I’m having fun, but there are some simple things that keep this game from being great. What’s the last game that you’ve played that you felt that way about? Solid mechanics, but if it wasn’t for one or two things, you would have loved it? Go!

Review: Sacred 2Posted by Eddy on June 10th, 2009

Several years ago, I played two great titles in a unique genre back-to-back. Over the course of a couple of months, I enjoyed these two gems in a co-op setting with friends back before co-op was the new kool-aid. These two discs were known as Baldur’s Gate 2: Dark Alliance and Champions of Norrath. They were hack-n-slash games. And they were brilliant.

Since that time, there haven’t been many hack-n-slash games that graced us with their hacking presence. Sure, there was Marvel Ultimate Alliance, but true RPG dorks really wanted a full on fantasy experience complete with leveling, grinding, slashing and most of all, loot. I feel that we may have finally found that game in Sacred 2.
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Crackdown 2 Has 4 Player Co-Op And AwesomenessPosted by Eddy on June 10th, 2009

Crackdown is still one of my favorite games of this generation so far. The game played like an open world platformer, with sandbox elements and super powers to boot. I loved orb hunting, whooping up on gang members, and making my car do ridiculous jumps. The city really is your playground.

Luckily for dudes like me, Crackdown 2 is coming to the 360 next year. And not only that, but apparently it’s getting 4 player co-op! The co-op experience was a blast with just 2 players in the first game, so I really can’t imagine how fun it is going to be with that many super powered agents destroying the city together. I seriously can not wait for this game.

Who else is excited about this news? What other games would you like to see get this kind of upgrade?

Source- VG247

Microsoft E3 Presser HighlightsPosted by Eddy on June 1st, 2009

The Microsoft E3 press event has officially taken place. With it come a bevy of announcements, trailers, videos and more.

Here are the highlights:

• Modern Warfare 2 gameplay looks awesome.
• Splinter Cell Conviction coming Fall 2009. Sounds like they’ve added some new gameplay elements, mainly for the story.
• Final Fantasy XIII coming in Spring 2010, much earlier than projected.
• Left 4 Dead 2 Coming November 17th! Seems a little early, but I can dig it. New weapons, including chainsaws.
• Forza 3 is coming in October.
• Crackdown 2 trailer shown! This rules, it was one of my favorite games of this generation so far.
• Halo 3 ODST video looks sweet. They also highlighted a story-telling element: most of the game will be a mystery pieced together through flashbacks. Coming September 22nd.
• Bungie also shows a trailer for a new Halo game, Halo: Reach. Guess they lied when they said they were done with Halo, but I’m cool with it since Reach is such an awesome story. The book is incredible. Fall 2010.
• Last.fm is coming to XBL gold users at no additional cost. Listening to music is neat, but I’d rather not do it on my TV. Still though, not bad for a service I’m already paying for.
• Facebook and Twitter are coming to the XBox 360? Double no thanks. The world is over as we know it.
• Kojima sneaks onto stage to announce that the Metal Gear Solid franchise is coming to the 360. Kind of cool, but it’s a Raiden game. Which is not so cool. If you’re bringing MGS to the 360, bring the actual game, not some dumb Raiden extension. Guess sloppy seconds is better than nothing, though.
• Motion control coming to the 360. The final wtf? It’s not a controller. It’s a camera that translates your actual movements to the game. Sounds mega-lame. “Project Natal”. Lionhead even showed off a new game for it called Milo.

By the way, the links are to videos. So, which of these excites you most? Which is the stupidest? Go!

Mass Effect 2 Teaser Includes ShephardPosted by Eddy on May 29th, 2009

Mass Effect 2 is maybe the game I’m looking forward to the most this generation. I loved the first one, and I have no reason to believe that the sequel won’t be even better. In a brand new teaser for the Bioware space RPG, we are finally shown glimpses of Shephard, who may or may not be something more than human. I’m really liking the look of this, it seems like it’s improved graphically, and the shooting segments look beefed up. Thoughts?