The Fall of a Prince

One of my favorite genres of games has got to be platform/adventure and puzzle solving. For years, Ubisoft and the Prince of Persia franchise has been at the top of that genre and have never disappointed me... until now. I have had Prince of Persia for the PS3 for some time now and I have beaten it and its exclusive downloadable content. This Prince of Persia is a new installment that has a new prince, a new world, and a new enemy. You start playing the game as the no-named Prince who runs into a princess that is running away from some persuers. This leads you into a quick tutorial on movement and combat and leads you directly into the story line, the princess, Elika, is a survivor of a group of people who believe in a god named Ormazd and defeated a dark god named Ahriman. Now Ahriman is getting revenge and its up to the Prince and Elika to stop him. The story is pretty basic and easy to understand, but the background of the first war and everything else is given in the game pamphlet and not in the actual game. There is an option during game play to speak to Elika to get new information on the story and on the background of both the Prince and her, but its gets redundent at some points and annoying at others. Actual gameplay is fun, you can still wall run and climb, and the new combat system had great potential but I believe was squandered on this game. Combat was very boring with high emphasis on counters and button timing, hard to do when you are blocking attacks and trying to counter right when a button press side mission comes up. As the game progresses, there are no upgrades or new weapons as in other installments, which leads to a lack of accomplishment during the game. Elika is actually very helpful during game play because everytime the Prince makes a mistake as like jumping to no where or getting knocked off of a platform, she rescues him with her magic and can also give hints on where to go next. The new team aspect of the game is actaully nice, during combat Elika can attack and help the Prince defeat the enemy. She can also provide a double jump move which allows the Prince to reach far away areas, as as mentioned before she protects the Prince from dying just like the Sands of Time did for the other titles. Now don't get me wrong, this game was pretty fun at the beginning and half way through the story, but it never gave that extra effort like other Prince of Persia titles. The actual story ends in a to be continued fashion, which left me on the edge of my seat and imediatly shelling out the 10 bucks for the downloadable content. Playing the extra level added to the story and was more of a prelude and didn't close the story, but instead left you with more questions. Graphics were by far one of the most compelling I have ever seen on the PS3, but all in all this game was more as a casual rent than a must own. I want to play the sequel to see how the story ends, but unless Ubisoft can step up the franchise, I will probably rent it then actually buy it. This game had great potential, but I think Ubisoft wanted to branch so far away from the first three installments of the title that they lost what made the franchise great. Here are some screen shots of the game courtesy of ign.com.

Assasin's Creed 2 Preview

I have read many reviews about Assasin's Creed 2, from Gameinformer Magazine to 1up.com, and I have to say that if it lives up to the hype, this should be a shoe in for game of the year. I have played Assasin's Creed 1, it was actually one of the first games I owned when I got my PS3. At first it was a great game. It had a very original story, interesting characters, and a combat system I personally never have seen before. After a couple of hours though, the game did become very repetative having very limited mission types to do. I enjoyed the total freedom the game gave you being able to climb anything and go anywhere, which added a new demension to the game that allowed you to aproach the same mission at many different angles. Still having to do the same 6 missions over and over prevented me from finishing the game ... yet. With all that I have read about the sequel, I may have to finish the original before the late November release date. The developers seem to have kept all the things that made the game great and dumped everything that sucked. They added many more mission types that are free for you to do at any time, new movement controls like swimming and gliding, more weapons and attacks, and a new setting that takes you to Italy during the Renaissance. I am already excited about this one and can't wait for it to come out. Read the review and watch actual gameplay footage at 1up.com.

The Beginning

As I stated in my intro blog, I will not only review games but ask for feed back on old school games as well. Today I want to talk about what got you into gaming. I remember my first gaming experience was with my older sisters who were playing the original NES (Nintendo Entertainment System) with Super Mario Bros. / Duck Hunt game. I enjoyed both those games a lot even though on Super Mario Bros. I never beat the game and Duck Hunt I rarely got more than 10 ducks! (you got to give me a break though, I was only 5). As I got older and the sequels came for Mario Brothers, I decided that I wanted to see a game all the way through. Super Mario Bros. 2, was in my opinion, a great improvement on the original. Everything was revamped, the graphics, controls, and the story. Once again I was defeated my Super Mario Bros. 2, but I did not let it get me down. Super Mario Bros. 3 came out with a bang and I had my mind set on beating this one. It probably took me a good 3 months but I saw it to the end and defeated Bowser and his kids. I had such as sense of accomplishment, no matter how nerdy it sounds but I felt like I single handily brought about world peace. This one simple task (looking back on the game and playing it later in life, I realized how simple it actually was to beat this game) propelled me to continue to play and beat every game in my path.

Now it yours turn, let me know what was your defining moment that made you love video games, or maybe share the most memorable game you have ever played.

I also found this video on YouTube, it someone beating Super Mario Bros. 3 in 11 minutes. I have a feeling though that its a speed run of the game (they altered the game some how), but I thought it was still pretty cool.

Becoming InFamous ...

I have just recently played one of PS3 biggest games of the year InFamous. This is a one player action game that makes you delivery man, Cole, who opens a fatal package that destroys six city blocks and blacks out the entire city of Empire City and gives him growing electrical powers. As the game begins you wake up after the blast and are told to leave the area, which provides the backdrop for a basic tutorial for the controls of movement. Later you meet up with your friend, Zeke, and your girlfriend before a powerful lightning storm surges and zaps you. The game goes to a comic style cut scene giving you the background on the main characters and what happened during the blast. When the game returns you participate in another tutorial on how to use your powers. After that you are provided with your first mission, your first battle, and what could be the best part of the game, your first moral dilemma. As this powerful entity, should you allow the other survivors of the blast get the rations the military has dropped, or use your powers to keep the rations for yourself and your friends. The choice you make determines your karma gauge, if you are seen either as a hero or a villain. After this the game is yours, you can do side missions which help you build your karma gauge, or continue the main mission and complete the game. This game has everything you could ask for, a great and original story, a lot of action, and a feeling of progress and accomplishment as you are able to upgrade your abilities and make Cole stronger. As you chose to be a hero or a villain, the side missions change depending on your stance on the karma guage and also you have access to different powers. Evil powers are more destructive and intense, whereas good powers are more precise and controlled. The side missions can get redundant after a while, but playing the story mission for a while and then switching back to side missions keep them somewhat fresh. I have played both as good and bad viewing the different cut scenes and endings for each. Its really great to see a game that puts so much detail into itself. Posters are placed around this destroyed and now runned down city, and depending on your status, they either portray you as a hero or a thug. Police officers either applaud or try to take you in, and even the relationships with the people close to you changes with the choices that you make. The story keeps you guessing to the very end and blows your mind with a devastating discovery, but at the same time leaves things wide open for a sequel. Graphics are very detailed and comic book like, the whole background of the game changes as the story progresses from either dark and gloomy or bright with light of hope. Cole is able to climb, jump, drop, and run around the entire city with little limitations, but controls are a little touchy and frustrating especially when you are falling close to a building which draws you near it to climb. All in all, I enjoyed this game both times that I played it and recommend it to anyone that has a PS3.





Pictures taken from www.ign.com

Intro to All Game Review

Hello Everyone,

This is my first ever post, not only for this site, but anywhere on the world wide web. As I add to this blog I hope you can find information that is enjoyable and a little helpful to you about the world of video games. I have played a lot over the years, but no more than any casual gamer. I don't have much professional knowledge, so don't expect to hear about games here first that no one else has heard about, but instead I will post about games that are out now, that are coming out in the near future and that I have either played a demo of or can't wait for it to come out. Also about games of old that many have played and maybe have a funny or interesting story to tell. Please feel free to post whenever you like, but I will edit post for content if they get out of line. The major console I have is a PS3 and I also have a PS2. I have played every console from the original NES, to Super NES, all the way to the Wii, and the XBOX. I have family members that play computer games, but that isn't really my thing so there probably won't be a lot of posts on them unless there is a great demand. As we go along with this project, hopefully I can help people at least share their interest of games and even maybe help people with getting a significant loved one to join in on the fun of gaming (Lord knows I have tried with mine and I have come a long way!). Well anyway, enough of me ranting and let the games begin. Thanks for the interest.

P.S. I have added links to two game websites that I use when I am looking for help on games, hopefully they can help you out too. I will add more as I find/ remember them.