” Bioshock on the brain” continues….. Just as now Bungie employee Luke Smith and EGM Editor in Chief Dan Shu have hailed from the great state (boring to some) of Michigan at some time and/or in some form (UofM) or fashion, I to find myself in a similar situation. Not having much to do with that, the local (for me) Detroit Free Press has thrown there grubby little hands into the Bioshock fire with a short and sweet suggestion to its readers. Rent Bioshock, but buy Brain Age 2. WTF?

Buy it: “Brain Age 2″ for Nintendo DS. There’s a reason these mind-benders have been best-sellers; they’re addictive — and good for you. This won’t break much new ground, but I’ll settle for more of the same.

Rent it: “BioShock” for Xbox 360 and PC. The graphics are beautiful, the world has its own twisty internal logic, and there are lots of interesting things to blow up. What more do you want from a rental?

Fully understanding that this isn’t a review, I can’t seem to rap my head around the fact that Heather Newman would recommend buying Brain Age 2 over Bioshock.  I have nothing against Brain Age 2 or the DS, but buy it over Bioshock? You can blame Major Nelson for making me use this phrase, but “Lets be clear”. In her little blurb about Brain Age 2 she states herself that “This won’t break much new ground, but I’ll settle for more of the same.” Sounds like she’s much more of what many would call a casual gamer, versus someone looking for a new experience (still a shooter at heart though) from a videogame.

Nevertheless, renting Bioshock maybe all that some need or ever want from Bioshock. A shame it is, but that grand old game killing term called re-playability seems to be at the top of most players list now a days. Multiplayer seems to be hiding in Ken Levine’s pocket. Great games are great games though, but mediocre done over and over is much less enjoyable. Agree?

Picks and Clicks [Freep] 

-William “thewilleffect” Bell- 

In what seems( actually it 100% is) like a whole lot of loving going Bioshocks way, the last group of gamers that you would think to be joining in on the love fest have decided to do just as expected, the opposite. Platform wars aside, the 5/10 that is given to Bioshock by Sony Defense Force is in a short word, despicable.

We all know fanboys of any kind can be harsh, but this review is down right laughable at its best. Who knows if they actually have played the game, but that’s beside the point. The whole review is found after the break to save yourself from actually going to there site, but if you must, reading some of the reactions in the comments to this “review” are comedy gold.

SDF Reviews Bioshock [Sony Defense Force]

-William “thewilleffect” Bell-

After many months of anticipation I finally got my copy of Bioshock and played through it over the past few days. There are many things to like about Bioshock such as the graphics (not animation), parts of the story and the water effects. That’s about where the good stuff ends.

First let me say how excited I was for the game after playing the demo on the 360. While the animation seemed stiff and you could tell the 360 was being pushed too hard it still looked like it had a lot of potential. So imagine my disappointment when I got the final version only to find none of the animation hitches, shooting glitches and AI was cleaned up. I also wonder how much better the graphics would’ve been had they not been compressed to fit on a DVD. Now I do not fault the developers for this, they only had so much system power to work with so maybe this will all be addressed with the PS3 version when it comes out.

To conclude, let this game cook in the oven just a little bit longer and wait for the superior PS3 version. Cleaned up textures, animations, AI, extra weapons, Home space, standard HDD and Blu-ray will make this flawed game into a perfect gem.

SDF Score: 5/10

Coming shortly: A review of the hit tile/board game Carcassonne. For those of you don’t know if this game can keep pace with your gaming habits I will be writing a review shortly to help some of you make up your minds. The game goes quite a bit quicker then Catan but there is a lot more strategy involved especially depending on the number of players in the game at one time. So far I am fairly pleased with this game but the traditional, style of a board game, might have some turning away before they have even given the game a chance. Whether you interested or not stay tuned for the full review.

-Brandon “Hoosierdaddy812″ Petesch-

It’s been a while now since the last great racing game was created. Some would say the last one would be forza or Project Gotham Racing and with Gran Turismo trailing far behind. There been a pattern in the games though. Forza and PGR have been catering to the more hardcore racing fans, import tuner fans pick up on Need for Speed series and light hearted racers are left with nothing to play. I as well as many have taken the time to DL the Forza2 demo and noticed that the game has taken the next step into next-gen racing simulation. The game will release in a couple days and with its seemingly limitless available settings on a vehicle, many have felt its the closest a racing game has gotten to real life. Even Japanese gaming publication Famitsu has given Forza 2 the rare platinum rating. Which is great, but with so many customizations and options it often frightens the light hearted gamers.

And what does former GT racer Takeshi Tsuchiya think of the game? he loves it according to an interview he did with Turn 10 studios:

Q: You adjusted your settings a lot – how was that aspect of it?

TT: I just can’t race smoothly or enjoyably without the car being set up properly. In an actual race, I make little adjustments on every lap. You have to use your head in exactly the same way as you would in real life – you might want to set it up so that you don’t lose it on the curves, but if you overdo it, you might not be able to turn fast enough, things like that. Today, I just did enough tuning to be able to take the last corner at full throttle, but it was very close to the set-up I actually use in practice with the real car. I’m sure if I spent more time on it, I could get a better time with some fine-tuning.

On the 24th a demo for Colin McRae: DiRT was released for download on the marketplace. Those who took the time to try out the usually uninteresting rally racing games, found themselves having some old fashion fun. DiRT is scheduled to release on Jun 19th will give light hearted racers reason to pick up a wireless racing wheel that have recently dropped in price. Which Microsoft would gladly take your wallets as a price for one of these beautifully crafted race wheel. With DiRT’s simple pick-up-and-play controls and easier handling allows any type of racing fan to be able to pick up a controller and get into the game. Not too many fancy meters or didgeridoos, just damage meters for parts when you pause a game. But who pauses during a race? probably only drag racing fans. Who cares about drag racing sims anyways!?
If you haven’t tried out the demo, i personally suggest you try it once. You may have a lot more fun than you think.

That leaves us with import tuner types. The gamers that sit next to a bottle of NOS next to them. Ok with all joking aside, the fans of import games are left with nothing but a teaser video of Need for Speed: Next. With no sight of any gameplay videos or even a demo, lots are wondering whats in store in the next entry of NFS. Although the trailers seems to have stepped into the more serious side of racing, showing off a damaged vehicle, hinting maybe a next-gen damage system. The past games have attracted the more light hearted gamers. The game also has no official release date, but at NeedForSpeed.com a countdown clock is shown with the date MAY 31. With every day that passes a new screengrabs of the trailer is released. Maybe a surprise release? probably not, but my bet is on another teaser trailer or a surprise release of a demo. Enthusiasts will have to wait..

[via Major Nelson, Tavdogg]

- Jerome “the360loop” Francisco -

So says Deacon over @ Unscripted360.com.

Deek wrote a good review on Bullet Witch and if you’re still on the fence about buying it then hit the link below. Deacon said if you look past the flaws you could have a good time with BWitch.

Click Here for the review(Unscripted360]

-Michael “Thrills Killa” Pacheco-

For those of us in the so called “western world” we take for granted what the Xbox 360 has to offer without ever blinking twice. As being one of those westerners I feel that some of us need a reality check every once in a while. Raghuveer Malik has just that perspective that most of us never would think about without reading his thoughts on the 360 after it’s release in India.

It became very apparent that he isn’t the hardest of the hardcore when he mentions GenNext whether than NextGen, but everything else he has to say is very interesting. It’s a very nice read none the less.

[via Rediff]

-thewilleffect-

1.Do you have Dead Rising?

2.Like to write reviews?

3.Want to have your review read by people from across the globe?

Well send me an e-mail to thrills_killa@yahoo.com and the best dead rising review will be posted up on the blog. And of course all credit will be given to you.

You can read the other ones I have posted Here

This Gamer Review was done by Zach(Gamertag=TW Pwnage) and he had the time to write a review for Rockstar’s next-gen debut in Rockstar Table Tennis.

Here it is.

Zach– Game Type: Sports/Action
Release Date: 05/22/06
Game Website: Table Tennis Link
Grade: B

Learning Curve:9/10

Once I first picked up this game the first thing I did was the tutorial for the training and also the easy 5 gamerscore. The Tutorial was really good, solid, and quick and should only take a few minutes.

Gameplay:8.5/10
 

The gameplay and controls are very solid and fairly simple. You can control the spin of your shot with the A,B,X,Y buttons. You can then aim your shots with the left thumbstick. The gameplay most reminded me of TopSpin for the original Xbox, Why? Because it is a smaller version with basically the same controls. That is not a bad thing though. I enjoyed TopSpin but it became rather repetitive and it felt like I was doing the same thing over and over again.

Audio:6/10

The audio in this game does not make that much of a deal. My favorite part though is when Lui Ping grunts whenever he does a focus shot, nothing like seeing a Chinese person do that. The crowd noise is pretty cool also. Still the audio didn’t do much for me so that is why it is getting six grunts out of ten.

Graphics:8.5/10

Yes these screenshots are what it is like in game.

http://my.1up.com/media?id=2786597&type=lg

http://my.1up.com/media?id=2885388&type=lg

http://my.1up.com/media?id=2786599&type=lg

http://my.1up.com/media?id=2770568&type=lg

 The lighting effects are amazing and the physics are very nice also. The HUD is nice and yes I said is nice because there really isn’t one. I like this because it doesn’t clutter up your screen. It is also really nice how they tell what spin is on the ball by its color. I don’t know why but I’m a sucker for colored balls hehe. Overall though I was pretty impressed with the graphics of this game.

Replayability:7.5/10

This game’s replayability is all right if you haven’t play a tennis game before. Since I have played a tennis game before it was lowered. As you move on through the campaign it gets harder and harder which then in return gets frustrating. Xbox Live is a whole new side of it too. With the ability to play with your friends it extends the gameplay a lot.
 

Overall:8.5/10

This is a pretty inexpensive game so if you have an extra $40 pick it up. I have really enjoyed this one. Gameplay is solid and challenging. You ever want to play on Xbox Live just send me a friend’s request at TW Pwnage. That’s if for me, so see ya and happy gaming!!

Thanks Zach!

This Review was written by a fan of the blog Nick aka DRW_KrazyNick(he wrote the last gamer review for Battlefield 2) And he was nice enough to write us another one about the next Installment in the Hitman Series.

By the Way I’m looking for someone to write a review for Rockstar Table Tennis. So if you have the game and like writing and it’s good,  I will post it up on the blog. E-mail me @ thrills_killa@yahoo.com

Here is the Hitman: Blood Money Review.

Nick– Another Hitman game has been brought to us by Io Interactive and Eidos Interactive, and it is on fire. You take the place of Agent 47 again, and he is sharper than ever. Hitman Blood Money takes place mostly in the United States. You will travel many places, from Paris to Las Vegas, and many stops in between the way.

 GAMEPLAY– Agent 47 is back and is better than ever, he now has all new moves, that will help you throughout missions. You can Head butt people to stun them, and you can push them down to the ground(or push them off cliffs). The new blood money system is also a great new feature. You earn money for each mission you complete, and the more cleaner you do your missions the more money you get. For Example if you go in shooting, and leave a lot of witnesses you might not get as much money if you sneak in fiberwire your target and sneak out with no witnesses, you might earn twice as much. With the money you earn you can upgrade your basic weapons to very deadly weapons.

GRAPHICS– The 360 version of Hitman Blood Money is extra nice. The stunning visuals are lovely to look at. The graphics are awesome, but it’s not using 100% of what the 360 could do. The blood looks decent but not excellent.

SOUND–Jesper Kyd returns to compose the music for Hitman Blood Money and he does a terrific job. The music in Hitman Blood Money is one of the best parts of the game, the sound is overly amazing. The music might even give you chills.

ACHEIVEMENTS– The achievements for this game aren’t very hard, but not all that easy. They will take some time. Most of them require you to be extra stealthy for silent assassin awards. If you beat the game on Rookie, Normal, Expert, and Pro, you will get probably get about 600 GS. Some of the Secret Achievements include accumulating 5 million smackers, another one is becoming the world’s most wanted.

OVERALL–Hitman Blood Money is a very great game for all Hitman fans, but if you haven’t liked any of the previous Hitman games, you probably won’t like this one because the core of the game is still the same. The Xbox version is 39.99 and the 360 version is 59.99 which is a big difference for almost the same Game Play. I love this game and I bought because I’m a huge hitman fan, but for most people who haven’t played it I recommend renting it first. At least give it a shot.

Game Play- 8.9/10

Graphics- 7.9/10

Sound- 9.6/10

Achievements- 8/10

Overall- 8.6/10

Thanks Nick!