Alpha Beta the Col

Alright so here’s my review of The Espionage RGP Alpha Protocol. I’m gonna try and keep this one short and simple, due to the fact that it kinda sucks.

Alright so i said it, my tweets have said it, this game kinda sucks. I wish I waited for the Xplay review, they gave it a 2 and i never go against their reviews. Then again it got better reviews from other sites so it’s all in the hands of the gamer.

Being a spy is very cool, I wish I was a spy, maybe I am, maybe I’m not. I could be a spy for Alpha Protocol the secret organization that sends people in and if shit hits the fans the US government can’t take responsibility. That being said the main character Mike Thornton was screwed or something after the 1st mission, then but on Burn notice.  Trying to fix everything and trying to figure out who screwed him from the inside Mike has only a few companions, and they are all chicks.

The 1 good thing I like about the game is the leveling up ability, it’s always fun picking which skills to level up and grow your character into who you want them to be. Yeah well that’s crap. I picked to be a spy over a soldier and I can’t even hide behind a corner and walk up behind someone without getting caught, yeah stealth sucks. Hopefully when i get Splinter Cell this week it will fix my spying abilities. Hacking is terrible. There are 3 forms of hacking, lock picking (the easiest) alarm disarming, (pick the path in numerical order) and then the computer hack, (very hard, search a comp screen for a set of solid numbers while every other number is spinning, gives you a headache.)

Also kind of a good thing is the conversations between characters. But sometimes it’s a little frustrating, cause well you have time to pick a way to say something but unless you know the past you want then you are kinda screwed cause the convos need to go like regular people and say something right away unlike other rpgs where you can wait and decide what you want to say.  After picking what you say sometimes you either make character like or dislike you, and pending on your relationship thinks happen, or so I’m told i haven’t got that far yet.  Although i have gotten 3 people to like me so i got the achievement. Now making sure i don’t get seduced.

OK I’m done, if you want an RPG then try this game, other than that I would say pass, but I’m sure most people already are. I just needed something new and different.

The Forgotten Sands

Here’s to what can be a decent review. Beloved fans of The Sands of Time trilogy have what can be a long awaited gap in the story. Forgotten Sands bridges the gap between 1 and 2. Most of my preview and details are in my other P.O.P entry. Let me get to the nity grity.

Quick recap of the story for those that don’t wanna read previous entries. Prince visits brother named Malik. Malik is under attack by a massive army. Overwhelmed Malik opens a sand army encased by King Solomon. Army can not be contained, 2 shard pieces are separated and divided into Prince and Malik’s hands, keeping them unaltered by the sands, in a matter so to speak.  The Prince encounters a aura wall that where he meets a overseer who gives him power of time(back) water and air.

Graphics are solid especially the opening cinematic. One weak graphical point is that the Prince after walking through water stays wet for a second and then disappears, unlike Enzio in Assassins Creed 2 who stays damp for a more couple of seconds instead of just drying off. I would’ve liked to have seen the Prince stay wet for as long as he can since he’s going through water after water. Controlling water is amazing, the castle is surrounded and controlled by water, wait to you get to the Observery part.  With the flick of the left trigger time freezes water and you can either swing or wall climb.

Another new added feature is the ability to aerial dash, the side affect is that you can only use this move when there are enemies on the other side of anything, it could be a huge gap in the ground or an enemy in front of you. Easy achievement to get, knock out 50 (me thinks) enemies, easy 15 points. along with water and air, (by leveling up with exp gained from defeating baddies,) comes powers with fire, stone, frost, and a whirlwind. Each power is different in it’s own way. Fire is a trail that follows you and burns all the victims that you get close to. Stone armor grants a stone arm to the sword arm making his strike more powerful, frost is a kind of dash with a frost pike leading the way. My favorite is whirlwind, strike the ground and a wave of wind knock outs all the surrounding demons, which works great cause when under attack your really under attack, most battles contain dozens of enemies weak and armored and sometimes magically powered enemies who can bring more enemies to the field.

Flaws in this game are a weak battling system, a single X attack with a weak and strong attack. A kick helps with guys holding shields and when grouped in by many opponents. One of the basic rule in sword wielding games is the ability to block and counter, well guess what, instead of of blocking cause I’m assuming they ran out of buttons to use we get the ability to dodge, tuck and roll. Kinda lame dodging in battle but if you think about it, it works. Jumping and rolling makes moving around the battle field less harmful to your health. A minor flaw in my opinion is that there is no double jump, what kind of platform doesn’t have a double jump?? I also don’t remember the Prince being able to wall climb to far, maybe I just forget but I’m pretty sure he couldn’t run the walls so far. Basically what I’m saying is that I believe the Prince is to acrobatic.

Overall I love this game. I could careless if it bridges the gap between 1 and 2, well because I haven’t played 1 or 2 since my good old ps2 days.  So if you love(d) the original trilogy you must play this game, stop reading this review and get this game. It’s fun and has nothing to do with the movie coming out on the 28th. Although this game would help bridge a gap when the continue the Prince of Persia movie franchise (well only if this movie is good, and makes me like Jake, whom I really dislike.)

Lie to Me

Recently I’ve discovered a new tv show that I enjoy. Usually FOX has shows that I watch, The Simpsons, Family Guy, Dark Angel, Fastlane, House, That 70′s Show, Gregg The Bunny, Married With Children, and now Lie to Me.

I love my xbox 360 and I love netflix so once they came together I found all sorts of new and interesting movies and shows. So Lie to Me, it’s only been around for 2 seasons I believe going on in fall into the 3rd I believe. The show stars around Doctor Cal Lightman played by the enemy of the Incredible Hulk Tim Roth. Roth is supported by a 3 team crew, his 2nd in command DR. Gillian Foster, a man child that always tells the truth, Eli Loker, and his “natural” Ria Torres. All characters are different and alike in so many ways. The show revolves around Roth’s character helping the police, the fbi, the mayors, and the military trying to crack down on crimes that need their help in uncovering the truth.

One of the things i love about the show is that they show clips of famous celebs faces while making connections to the suspects involved in their stories. All celebs from past presidents to Michelle Obama to A-Rod and the queen. I enjoyed when they showed Obama using his middle finger itching his nose to compare to a guilty man.

Roth reminds me of Dr. Gregory House and detective Eliot Stabler from Law and Order: Special Victims Unit. He’s one smart ass truth detector. Lightman has spent years studying people emotions, being able to see a micro expression in under 0.5 seconds.

I enjoy this new found show and recommend it to anyone looking for a new cop show.

Heroes Age Now

So Siege is over, (if you haven’t read Siege 4 you really shouldn’t be reading this!! I warn you)

Captain Rogers is now in charge.

Heroes are united and masked and unregistered.

Osborn is jailed in a lonely floor below level 6 in Ryker’s Island.

Thor is well kinda back, when called he shall return.

Loki is dead. (For now right? I mean he is a god, can’t he come back in the future?)

So after reading Siege, Avengers Finale, Dark Avengers, and just looking through Embedded and the Sentry Fallen Sun comic i decided to blog a all in one blog review. OK so after hits from every power the heroes have the Angel of Death (sentry) falls to a crashing hellicarrier thrown by Tony, REALLY REALLY A FUCKING PLANE!!!!!!!! So with all their powers upgraded by Loki’s stones nothing can harm Sentry, but let me throw a plane at him and hey look its a boy, and then Thor goes kaboom!!!!! and Bobby goes “you can’t kill me I’m the Angel of Death bitch” nononono he didn’t, but that would’ve been funny.

Avengers Finale was a epic sized comic and was awesome, ok not really but I really enjoyed Ms.Marvel finally fucking someone up and saying “No one remembers I can do that” and blasts the fuck out of Count Nefaria who is Madam Masque’s daddy who was going to give Hood powers but Carol said “bitch hell no.” And then she kicked major Count ass. So yeah that’s about it, capture The Hood and his bitch and her daddy, series over. O but wait there is more, 4 more pages of former Cap.America speaking about unity of the Avengers with epic pages filled with previous battles with ninjas, Black Bolt, giant fire guy, the Invasion, Death Angel, and the Dark Avengers. Nothing major about Finale but capturing Hood but it was about damn time Carol Danvers got her time to really shine and fuck up some guy and show her true powers.

So with all the criminals behind bars, well the ones that stayed around Oklahoma. Drakan was able to escape by taking out a guard and swapping clothing, end. Heroic Age should be fun with enemies of new and old that were hidden, I’m sure somehow the island will be attacked and the baddies will be released into the world. My money is on the Avengers Prime title will focus on Dr.Doom in it’s 5 part series. Steve Rodgers will take his Secret Avengers Initiative  and fix the world in his eyes, while the New Avengers will handle the rest of the Marvel U. My real question is where is Marvel Boy is?? For at the end of his Annual issue Caps, see him disappear. So what kind of future does the U have waiting for it? we will wait till next month to find out.

ENJOY THE HEROIC AGE!!!

Chapter 6

Spoiler Alert Spoiler Alert

Like most mutant readers i have been reading the Second Coming saga. i will not tell a lie, I have no real idea the back story with the Messiah Complex and all stuff featuring baby Hope, (didn’t read comics till Secret Invasion.) Anyways I have been enjoying Second Coming minus spending money on EVERY X-men title out there, Uncanny, New, Legacy, and X-Force. I’m very glad Siege doesn’t include all the Avenger titles or I might need a new bank loan. Back to the story, this story has gone fast paced and has not skipped a beat, from all hands on deck Hope has arrived to finding her and returning her to Utopia.

That is till Chapter 6 came along. After Bastion’s plan to stop all teleporters and killing Nightcrawler in the process, the X-team is stuck on the island from fast travel. We see a very emotional funereal for Kurt that takes about 5 pages with a long Hymn read by Warren aka Angel. We see that inside the X-nation that Donald Pierce is aligned with Bastion to help destroy mutant kind, by lending his inside hand to disrupt cerebra the X-Men were lost in the field. Pierce’s next mission is to take out the jets leaving most of the muties stuck on the island.

Also Hope meets Magneto and Beast returns for the funeral. Overall I believe this chapter didn’t do much but to get Chapter 7 started. I know Kurt Wagner was a huge icon to the X-Men fans but not me, I have no feelings for Nightcrawler’s death. Also from sources everywhere about Second Coming is that many deaths are to come in the future. I hope we don’t have a comics dedicated to all the passing X-Men, I might pass on the issue then. I’m really enjoying Second Coming so keep’em coming.

Freddy 2.0

This past weekend the new Nightmare On Elm St. was released staring Rorschach or Jackie Earle Haley as his peers call him, and some hot actresses. I loved the original Elm Street movies so naturally I was lined up with excitement to see this remake. Sadly like all remakes these days it doesn’t come anywhere close to how great the original was. I could go on and on about the pros-cons about the remake versus the original but I don’t feel like typing a lot.

Jackie plays a good Freddy, but growing up watching Robert Englund play the nightmare of all nightmares it was hard putting my head around it. The story was the same, kids were sexually abused by Freddy, and then the parents burn him alive inside a factory, years later he comes back and starts haunting and killing the children 1 by 1. Which of course leads to the attack on Freddy and rekilling him in the real world. The in-between parts of the story is what makes it different but adds a good new age spin on things. One thing that I really enjoyed was that it stuck to mind warping instead of the new horror movies labeled under torture-porn, simple, no detached ligaments, no real punishment other than claws and quick kills. Overall this was a good adaptation towards to original and a nice way to give new life to Krueger. In a future adaptation I would like to see Jackie vs Englund as a Freddy free for all.

Unfortunately the worst part of the movie was that this horror movie had no nude scenes, I mean what kind of horror movie doesn’t even show some ass.

Doomwar

With most of the Marvel U faced against The Void and the X-men dealing with Second Coming what is everyone else doing? Also who is left out of Siege? The Black Panther, that’s who. O and Victor Von Doom, and the Fantastic Four. (But they may be there in Oklahoma I just don’t remember them.) Anyways into it’s 3rd issue out of 6 I thought I give us a 1-up.

SPOILER ALERT SPOILER ALERT.

Doom being Doom wants nothing more than the usual, to rule the world. Victor planned for months to concur the lands of Wakanda by infecting almost all the Royal Family and anyone within the inner circle with nanites. T’Challa was able to avoid the nanites as well as his closest family, Ororo and Shuri the current Black Panther were saved from the infection. With the help of the former CEO of Damage Control The Broker, Doom lead a massive attack on Wakanda with renegade group of terrorists called the Desturi. The plan started swinging for the fences and into play when Doom ordered for Storm to put on trial and charged for treason and slated to be killed. Doom forced Ororo down to the location of the vault in order to help him gain access after he caught her trying to pick pocket her way out of the mutant nullifying jail cell.

Under attack by half of his people T’Challa gained help from an all female tribe of warriors called Dora Milaje. In grave danger the former panther went to Utopia for the help of the X-men. Only 3 were aligned to help, Wolverine, Nightcrawler, and Colossus. With the help of the Dora Milaje and the X-men, T’Challa and his people held back the Desturi.

At the vault full of ten thousand tons of Vibranium Doom was able to use his sorcery to hack all eleven gates and gain access to the twelfth door were he shed his armor and entered the lair of purity. T”Challa made sure that no one impure would be able to gain access to the rare metal. A white panther of Wakanda is at words with Von Doom over his purity. By speaking of how the people who built this chamber are impure and that no man is impure Doom is able to chat his way into the lair. By seeing into the future Doom has told the panther that he has seem many and many futures and that after millions he found one that would be peaceful and cured of all diseases, law is law and anyone that breaks the law will be persecuted on the spot. Doomworld would be a Utopian for the world. Sadly the cat has also seen into the future and allowed Doom to have all the Vibranium. With the help of Reed Richards, T’Challa was able to find the source of the rare metal, but it is to late, Doom found a way to manipulate the Shield building material to build a new army of Doombots.

We are half way through with this limited series and already Doom holds all the pieces. CHECK!

Fable Effect 3

Fable 3 is only a lot of month away, but every once in awhile we hear new details about this new installment. Just recently the OXM report on Xbox Live gave us a little douse of new information and new video.

Fable 3 takes place 50yrs after game 2, and are the grand daughter or grand son of the “your” previous character. Yes i said “your” character. Just like in Mass Effect 2 you can import your saves from the previous game and the choices you made will impact your new character. Like the real world Albion has changed into what we called the Victorian era. Basically the game will look like the Sherlock Holmes movie without Jude Law or Robert Downey Jr. Peter Molyneux told us about the newest feature in the game is the ability to Touch. That”s right Touch, you can walk around find some random person and reach out and grab there hand, what you do with this feature is all up to you. You could drag them into an old demonic church and sacrifice them to gain a bunch of evil points, or save them from an evil tyrant, or maybe just into some bedroom and make your way with them. An interesting part is that the character you hold hands with reacts to where you’re going, whether they try to pull away but to no avail or start skipping in happiness to be with you.

We all know that being Good or Evil changes you appearance with either a Halo or Demon Horns. From what I saw on the video these features are altered by Wings, that’s right i said Wings. So you can have your fable 3 charter look like Angel or Archangel pending on how you like to play the game. The battle system looks like they changed a little bit, a finishing move has been added were you jump over the enemy and stab them in the heart. Molyneux has also reported that Natal will be featured in some form but it has not been mentioned as of yet, but don’t get me wrong this is all about the controller. More importantly if you play with your significant other you can mate and make babies with each other while avoiding the real life hassle of really doing anything. Most importantly the DOG IS BACK! Not the same dog but a new dog nonetheless.

Can You Raptr It?

As an avid gamer such as myself I found a very interesting website known as Raptr. After following Agent M on twitter I saw these tweets from the site and decided to check it out and give it a try. Raptr is a video game site that follows your gamertag from Xbox, PSN, and the Wii, also the PC. In it’s beta stage now Raptr has proven a great source for following yourself and friends online without going to the console site.

Raptr does a great job at following everything you do, it tracks the time you play a game, the total achievements you have, total games played, charts your game preferences, and basically anything you could want a site like this to do. Also a fun fact that I enjoy is the twitter updates (also on facebook) you can add some fun words followed by %g and it adds the game to your tweets. Mine now says “you always save me from the monsters Mr. bubbles. playing (insert game name here.)You can also compare your games with each of your friends that have raptr not just Live friends, people must have raptr to compare using the site, but you can always compare using the console site of choices. Daily, weekly, and monthly charts are shown on the homepage that adds up the hours of every gamer and compiles the most played games.

This is a very cool site if you love playing video games and want to see what others are playing and whats the most popular game of the week.  As of know Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 is and has been leading the pack since it’s release, go figure. If you have or acquire Raptr friend me at patricktna.

360 TV.

Xbox 360 wants you, they want you to love your Xbox, they want you to spend money on everything labeled Xbox 360 and Microsoft.  Varies sites are reporting today that some brains at Microsoft are working on an exclusive 360 tv channel for Live. Shows would be triggered to adolescent males, so does that mean me or not? Also included in this hypothetical channel comes an extra $1-$2 price increase per month. I could care less about an extra dollar here and there only if I watch the content at least once a month. Word is they even talked to everyone’s favorite television reporter CoCo about doing a show.

If Microsoft goes ahead with this idea to the fullest and listens to what fans want and gives us a channel worth watching I’d be very happy. What I would wanna see is basically this, anything and everything video game related. I want reviews, I want more strategies, i want more achievement tips and tricks, Hell i want more show like Blue vs. Red. And if your with me give me a hell yeah! Every person on Xbox Live should get an email asking what they would like to see and Microsoft should do it’s best to air what we want. So far this is only talk, but if they talked to Conan about a show you can bet this is real, it’s damn real. Will it be good, who knows. Today is the first day I even heard of such a thing. Great Idea now lets wait and see how this goes shall we.