GameNinjaX is a blog that reviews the newest video games and my personal favorites to inform gamers about what games not to waste their money on. I also encourage viewers to comment and add my Xbox live Gamertag ASG Bilbo to create a community of gamers
Yes its finally here! (well almost). I just pre-ordered my copy of Star Wars the Old Republic last week and all I have to say is.. about damn time! I have been waiting for this game to come out for over 2 years now and I was beginning to think it was going to be another Star Craft 2 launch fail (took over a decade).
Don't forget to pre-order this game asap because not only to you get some cool in game items such as a color stone (for your lightsaber) but early in game access as well. This is your chance to save your favorite character name before you have to be xShadowkillerx32. Trust me this game is going to be big and has the highest probability of being a Wow killer. (did I mention it broke pre-order records already?)
Star Wars the Old Republic is a mmorpg based in the Star Wars era thousands of years before Darth Vaders' story, when the Galactic Republic and Sith Empire waged war. Your character can be anything between a smuggler to a Sith Warrior. This game is going to seriously going to add 10 pounds to nerds everywhere, get a couple people fired, and destroy a few relationships.
I for one hope this game follows through and releases in January just a couple weeks after I graduate where I'm in that weird "just graduated but can't find a good job phase." My job til March will be kicking some Sith Lords ass and saving the digital world one planet at a time ;)
Do you guys think this game will be better than Wow? How badly do you think Blizzard is biting their nails right now hoping that this game doesn't take away from their 7 million (formerly 12 million) subscribers and dropping?
And with that I will leave you all with this video from this years Comic Con
I have always been a fan of the Castlevania series since the super nintendo, but this one puts the icing on the cake. Castlevania Lords of Shadow takes a different spin on the original games by combining castle wall climbing, and using your whip to swing through the forest like in Ninja Gaiden and Assassins Creed. The creators of this game did an excellent job staying true to the Castlevania game play, while adding new the wall scaling features.
The castle climbing isn't as intricate as Assassins Creed but it does add a lot of fun to the game. I mean seriously, haven't you ever had the feeling of staring at a giant castle and just wanted to strap on a harness and spider man that shit?! I know I have.
Anyways, Castlevania Lords of Shadow also did a great job on the storyline for this game. I felt like I was watching a movie during the cut scenes and did I mention that Christopher Lee (Saruman) does the narrating?
Freakin sweet, who else would you want to read you a bed time story about devils, demons, vampires, and chasing after a fallen love rather than Saruman himself? (maybe Morgan Freeman but I don't think they had that kind of budget).
In Castlevania Lords of Shadow you play as Gabriel, one of the earliest members of the Belmont family. The story takes you through forests, swamps, cliffs, and castles searching for answers about the death of Marie. Throughout the campaign you gain artifacts from defeating bosses such as Lycans, Vampires, Necromancers, and giant Golems, which aid Gabriel in defeating the devil. The fighting controls in this game are seamless and integrated well. Of course one of Gabriel's main weapons is the whip which is quite fun to use, as well as some artifacts he obtains along the way. The graphics in this game are amazing! I would spend a couple minutes staring at waterfalls and castles trying to figure out if I will ever be able to draw that well one day.
Castlevania Lords of Shadow is a great addition to the Castlevania series and I definitely recommend playing this game. I hope Konami keeps up with this style of game play for the series and makes a few sequels.
What do you guys think about this game?
Do you like the new style or the 2-D side scrolling better?
Castlevania Lords of Shadow rates:
Gameplay 8/10 This game switches back and forth between action, solving puzzles, and castle climbing all the while integrating an epic storyline. What more can you ask for?
Graphics 9/10 Lords of Shadow did an excellent job on the graphics. I had to give this game a 9 out of 10 when I realized that I stopped playing just to admire the background.
Audio 7/10 If the soundtrack would have been as epic as the other Castlevania games then this game would have been easily a 9 out of 10 overall, but the music was pretty average.
Replay Value 8/10 Normally in these kind of action adventure games you will be satisfied playing them through once. Not true for this game, I haven't played since last December but I'm dying to pick it up again.
If your a fan of Castlevania or this kind of genre of gaming, then I would definitely buy this one.
After Batman Arkham Asylums success the sequel to this game is well on its way to retail stores. Coming out on October 18th this game comes with a couple new yet familiar characters.
Arkham City: Batman Robin and Catwoman
Robin will be a playable character on challenge maps if you pre-order the game from Best Buy. I heard it was exclusive to Best Buy pre-orders only so I would recommend purchasing the game from Best Buy just in case (Robin looks pretty badass in this game if you ask me).
You are also able to play as Catwoman for a rumored 10% of the game during the single player campaign (not a great amount of time but better than Robins exclusivity). Catwoman is reportedly a fun character to play as because her fighting style stays true to her feline abilities and swiftness. She doesn't receive new gadgets throughout the campaign like Batman does but she is equipped with cat claws and a whip (don't all women come equipped with these?)
The main focus of the game is still centered around Batman and his progression through the campaign. Batman's controls in this game are still said to be impressive and stay true to Arkham Asylum. In this game Batman's cape comes with a new gadget that allows him to glide over Arkham City.
This new feature might make me waste a few minutes flying around Arkham City aimlessly like a pissed off drunken Batman looking to beat up some thugs.
As far as the villain goes in this game the Riddler is the main attraction this time. Of course the Riddler will provide Batman with a few new challenges and puzzles throughout the game such as hostage situations and more.
This game looks promising and I will definitely be purchasing and reviewing this game when it comes out on October 18th. Let me know what you guys think about this game, and be sure to follow me on my blog/twitter for updates!
Transformers War for Cybertron beat my expectations for how fun this game could possibly be. If your a fan of the Transformers series/movies or like to blow $h1t up then this game is for you. The storyline is pretty interesting because it goes through a Decepticon and Autobot campaign about the War for Cybertron which shows you how Cybertron became so devastated. This game gets really fun when you start blasting away at other transformers and then transforming into tanks to really starting blowing them all to hell. Did I mention that you can also be Starscream and turn into a jet and fly through parts of Cybertron while being shot at by Autobots. Also, the graphics are done quite nicely because even though they are not the best details I have ever seen they still make you feel like you're in a different mechanical world.
Overall I was very surprised how well High Moon Studio (the developers) made this game. It is fun to pick between different Autobots and Decepticons while changing back and forth between forms.
There is also a release date set for 2012, for Transformers War for Cybertron 2.
Transformers War for Cybertron rates:
Gameplay 7/10 - This game is a great buy for Transformer fans, but I would say rent it otherwise. Lots of action and high speed vehicle chasing (just how Michael Bay likes it) makes it fun game to play.
Graphics 7/10 - The graphics are detailed just enough to make you feel like you are set in a different world, but I would like to see even better graphics in the sequel.
Audio 8/10 - All you need to do to make a transformers sound track is have the original Transforming sound which it does.
Replay Value 7/10 - This game may only be fun the first time around for the campaign but there is a really fun multiplayer to add replay value.
I will definitely check out and review Transformers Dark of the Moon and The War for Cybertron 2 so be sure to check back!
What do you guys think about this game?
What about the actual Transformers movie that just came out? (I thought it was a lot better than the second movie)
Warning! This post is going to be very long. Those whose eyes strain from gathering to much information beware!
Here is a list of my top 5 must play games that have been released within the past year. These games all come on different platforms (consoles, PC) and are definitely worth buying (in my opinion)!
Lets start off with my favorite game of all time.. Better yet favorite series, Halo Reach. This game brought my hopes back for the Halo franchise. The last two Halo releases before this really left a bad taste in my mouth. Although Halo O.D.S.T. was fun, it was honestly worth a rent and that's it. Halo 3 on the other hand, not so much. Halo 3 was a fail in my opinion, because the game lost its fun factor and didn't have the same feeling as the other Halo games. The game required no skill. You could be 5 years old, find the hammer, and run around smashing people off the map as if you were playing S.S. Bros. Not to mention, was it just me or were the graphics a little to intense and laggy? Every time I played Halo 3 my eyes would start to burn after about half an hour of playing.
Anyways, Halo Reach fixed all the issues I had with Halo 3 and turned this game into another classic. Not only does it remind me of Halo 2, based on skill required to play online, and the fun factor, but this game has better graphics too. The Halo Reach campaign is done very well because it immerses you into the story and reveals what happened to all the Spartans before Halo 1. The co-op campaign is also really fun to play online because you can play with your friends (up to 4) and each be a member of noble team. I played co-op campaign the second time around and it felt like I was doing a whole new campaign. It's also really fun to hear people talking and saying things while you are playing like "Shoot the sniper on the upper right of the mountain."
Once you are done playing the campaign, I highly suggest playing on Xbox Live because this is where the real fun begins. Not only do you have an immense amount of different game styles to choose from such as; Swat, Team Slayer, Headhunter, Zombie, Firefight and much more, but they also implement a play list for classic maps that were on all the previous Halo games (brought back memories for me). You can literally spend countless hours playing this game just by changing game modes, playing split screen with friends, achievement hunting, and leveling up your online rank. I can't wait to see what kind of changes they make for the the remade Halo Combat Evolved Anniversary Edition. I will definitely have a review the day that game comes out, so check back to see if it's worth the cash.
Halo Reach rates as:
Gameplay 9/10 This game has a great balance between just having fun and actually wanting a challenge.
Graphics 8/10 The graphics were quite normal for an Xbox 360 fps. Some parts of the campaign will make you stop and spend a few minutes staring off a cliff though.
Audio 9/10 The music in this game always gets me pumped up to blow the head off a few grunts
Replay Value 9/10 This game is a classic and can very easily keep you interested.
P.S. Did you know Julia Roberts plays Halo rather obsessively? Kudos on that one. I also read that Dave Chappelle plays Wow. I would love to be running around Orgrimmar and see Rick James playing as a troll with dreads.
My next game that is a must buy is also a first person shooter game. Call of Duty: Black Ops made me a fan of the COD series. I never liked to play older COD games because I was always a Halo fan and felt like a traitor if I played these games. That all changed when my girl friend played Black Ops avidly and said that she was better at this game than I was. (Is that a challenge?) So as any good boy friend would do, I made her stop what she was doing and play split screen with me. She won the first two games, but by the next hour I got the hang of the controls and was already beating her. Next thing you know I am online scoring in the top 3 (even though it was only prestige level 1). Needless to say, she bought Black Ops for me so that I wouldn't borrow her game and never give it back lol.
The campaign is actually amazing! I played the entire campaign in one night because I couldn't go to sleep knowing that there was more Russians to be slayed. If you run through the campaign quickly, you will feel like you just starred in the number one action movie.
The online play is also very fun, and somewhat frustrating at first because you die very easily in these games (your not a spartan = no shields). Once you get the hang of it though, it can be very fun going on kill streaks and piloting a Chopper Gunner, or driving an RC car with bombs attached to it. Some of the maps are classics, while others I will literally get pissed that I have to play on them again. There are also 3 map packs out for Black Ops, but so far I have heard negative things about all 3 of them (so don't waste your money). The zombie mode in Black Ops is really fun. You can even be John F Kennedy, Fidel Castro, and Richard Nixon killing countless Zombies from the White House. The only problem I have with zombie mode is that it can get very repetitive and boring just running around shooting, finding ammo and then you have more shooting and more running. There needs to be more elements involved such as boss zombies or different types of zombies that have special abilities.
I got sucked in and now I am a fan of the Call of Duty series. So come back and check out my review of Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3, which is set to release on November 8th of this year.
Call of Duty Black Ops rates:
Gameplay 8/10 This game is very fun to play and can give you an adrenaline rush, but its also frustrating at times.
Graphics 8/10 The graphics for this game or as good as I have seen for any military type shooting game. (Besides Crysis 2)
Audio 7/10 The soundtrack is adequate and does the job, but I think they need a better theme song.
Replay Value 8/10 This game can also be played for countless hours online, and maybe the campaign every now and then.
Do you guys like Infinity Ward better or Treyarch? I am a fan of Treyarch so far, but I keep hearing Infinity Ward is better and faster paced. Let me know your thoughts!
Finally a new genre of games! Marvel vs Capcom 3 is my next game on the list that you guys need to play. I love when fighting games clash like this and add their characters all in one fighting game! Sometimes the creators do it right, like Capcom vs SNK 2. Other times, they do it completely wrong like Mortal Kombat vs DC. However, Marvel vs Capcom 3 did most things right! First thing I love about this game is that I have been saying since 2002 that they should put Dante from the Devil May Cry series in Marvel vs Capcom games and they did! He is by far one of the most fun characters in all of fighting games. He has guns, a sword, and electric like punches and kicks. Oh yea, he can also turn into a Demon, to really start kicking ass. Marvel also threw in some fun characters such as Deadpool and Thor (not to mention my favorite map Asgard).
The one thing that really made me upset with this game is that there wasn't nearly enough characters as I had hoped. For one thing, Ken isn't even in this game, neither is Gambit... or many of the X-Men for that matter (at least they left Cyclops out). They also forgot about Strider and Captain Commando, which is no bueno.
The graphics in this game are not revolutionary for a 2-D fighting game made 3-D, but they are up to par and a flashing display of ass whooping. The graphics do make this game come to life and are definitely better than most fighting games while still making it the 2-D fighting style, which is legit. The balance and flow of this game was done really well because in previous titles, such as Marvel vs Capcom 2, it was just button mashing and an influx of character special abilities being tossed around hoping that you survive. This game does require knowledge of counter attacks and unique character special abilities, which make it challenging. All in all, if your a fan of Capcom or Marvel, and you want to play as your favorite super hero (well most) then give this game a shot.
Marvel Vs Capcom 3 rates:
Gameplay 8/10 The balance of super heroes and special abilities in this game make it a very fun fighting game.
Graphics 8/10 The shell shaded graphics that make a 2-D fighting game 3-D is amazing! This is the new style of gaming for these kinds of games.
Audio 7/10 This game makes you feel like your in the 90's again at a loud arcade.
Replay Value 7/10 This game is fun to play with friends, but single player can get boring after a while as do all fighting game single player modes.
If anyone from SNK or Capcom is reading this, will you please make a Capcom vs SNK 3?! It's been 11 years since Capcom vs SNK 2.
The next game on my list is from Blizzard and it is a PC game. Star Craft 2: Wings of Liberty has got to be one of the most anticipated RTS games from the past decade. I love RTS games. My brain is just wired to understand and play these kinds of games (I also won a few tournaments). Star Craft 2 really took real time strategy games to a whole new level. The graphics are quite detailed for so many little units and each one them is cool to zoom in and look at. I wish I was blogging about video games last year because I would have been able to provide a lot of details about this game before it went public from beta testing. Oh well, you snooze you lose right?
Blizzard pushed and pushed the release date back on this game until it literally reached perfection (and for good reason). There are still only the 3 races from the original Star Craft which are Zerg, Protoss, and Terran. Each army does come with new, or revamped units though. The online play is so well balanced and fun for everyone because of the skill ladder system. The battles in this game are so detailed that I often find myself just staring at my computer (I have to tell myself to stay focused and keep up my APM -actions per minute). The occasional patches keep the game interesting and creates different strategies, because units that used to be useless are now very key parts of a races army.
The campaign for Star Craft 2 was the only RTS campaign that I didn't cheat my way through. This was because the campaign wasn't boring! It was actually a well made campaign which immerses you into the storyline of outlaw Jim Raynor, and his fight to get his Zerg infested girlfriend (Sarah Kerrigan) back to normal ,or purge her through death. The one problem I had with the campaign is not the campaign itself, but the visuals of the loading screen. If I try to replay the campaign, the screen is covered in green lines and I can't see a damn thing. Anyways, hopefully they will fix that in their expansion for the Zerg and Protoss campaigns.
Star Craft 2 Wings of Liberty rates:
Gameplay 9/10 The strategy, balance, graphics, and fun factor all exceed well into this game.
Graphics 9/10 For an RTS game, the graphics here are hard to beat.
Audio 8/10 The theme song stays true to the feeling of the game. I will post a live version of the theme song played by Video Games Live below.
Replay Value 9/10 I remember playing the Beta version of this game at my friends house everyday from 9:00 p.m. until 6 or 7 in the morning for a month straight. Seeing the sunrise while playing Star Craft 2 was a feeling I won't forget.
My last but not least video game to make the cut is NBA 2k11. This has won many awards for best basketball video game and is the only game that has Michael Jordan in it. This is probably the hardest, yet rewarding, basketball video game around. It doesn't allow you to just run up to the basket and do a 360 flip in the air and dunk while Dwight Howard is standing right in front of you like NBA JAM does. I mean don't get me wrong I love Jam, but this game provides a challenge. The cool features about this game are during the season it would update the roster and players stats on a daily basis. It would also tell you which basketball games were being played that night.
As far as game play goes in this game; you have to learn plays, learn defense, and practice shooting a lot! Even if you make a perfect shot, it is only going to go in 60% of the time. The feeling of an intense game, and making a 3 pointer for the win, is probably just as fun as if you were playing basketball in real life (maybe not but close).
The one downside about this game is that the online play is not only very competitive, but you have to get used to a slight lag in the game. Other than that, I think 2K sports stole the basketball franchise away from EA when they "forgot" to release a basketball game this year.
NBA 2K11 rates:
Gameplay 8/10 This game is perhaps the most realistic video game for basketball.
Graphics 7/10 The graphics are average for a sports game, hopefully they will do better with future titles and get up to par with Madden.
Audio 9/10 The soundtrack on this game is amazing. I downloaded a few songs from this soundtrack because I couldn't get them out of my head.
Replay Value 8/10 This game will always be fun until the next season comes out. Until then, you can play this game all day.
Well that sums up my list of the Top 5 must play games. Let me know what your favorite games are in a comment. If you want to play with me online, message me with your Xbox Live Gamertag, or screen name on Star Craft.
X-Men: Destiny, which is set to hit stores this fall, is definitely going to be top on my list of games to buy. Not only was X-Men: First Class one of the best this summer, but it also made me realize that there haven't been any really good X-Men games out since the short lived X-Men Legends and Marvel Ultimate Alliance series. I dug into my GameInformer magazine and found an article that spills a few details of the upcoming game. It is a action/rpg (role playing game) that involves choosing and evolving your characters abilities and stats. The story line is a bit different than usual because the game is set in an alternate reality in which Professor X is dead and Cyclops (I honestly never could figure out why Cyclops is always the leader) has taken command. The game allows you to choose one of three brand new mutants to evolve during the game.
Aimi, who is a young teenager from Japan, has the power to control electricity.
Grant Alexander, who was a football player in Georgia, grew up ignorant about the human vs. mutant controversies until he discovered his own mutant abilities. He is much like a stereotypical jock, being ignorant about a lot of things in life and just dealing with problems when it matters to them. His mutant abilities seem like hulk hands but with steel around them from what I can tell.
Lastly, there is Adrian Luca. An activist raised to discriminate against mutants, only to find out that he himself is one (stuff like that can mess with your head).
Luckily for me, my favorite X-Men character, Gambit is in this game. As well as a host of other X-Men characters such as; Wolverine, Night Crawler, Cyclops, Colossus etc. Apparently, the X-Men characters will be intertwining with your characters throughout the game to get you to join them (as in every other X-Men related content). The brotherhood characters will also be showing up to try and get some new recruits. This game looks promising, and I'm excited for it to come out.
I know there is Marvel Ultimate Alliance 1 and 2 with X-Men characters, but does anyone know another decent X-Men Game?
Recently, I started playing League of Legends again. League of Legends was developed by Riot Games. The best thing about this game is that it is absolutely free to download and play! (Only problem is you have to either fork over cash to buy your favorite characters or play as much as an MMO to earn points..)
League of Legends is a remake from the creators of the widely popular Defense of the Ancients aka DOTA. DOTA is a famous custom map settings in Warcraft 3. This is probably one, if not the best, free game that you can download online for many reasons. Some being that the design of the game is addicting, loads of people play, and the graphics are visually appealing. Not to mention there are 78 customizable champions to choose from, but only 10 are available a week (unless you pay or spend a massive amount of influence points to unlock them).
The premise of the game is to control one of many champions all with unique strengths and abilities, to fight your way past hordes of spawning troops (called creep), and destroy the enemy base. Don't forget that all the while you will be attacked by enemy champions trying to gank your hero or destroy your base (almost like a video game version of chess). The part that makes League of Legends really interesting is during every game you buy various weapons or gear to increase the stats of your character such as mana, strength, health, etc. The only way to accumulate gold is by killing creep or enemy champions. So some gamers like to focus on leveling by killing massive amounts of creep and obtaining gold for better gear, while others like to focus on killing enemy champions. Usually because I am a greedy person and like Gold :) I like to focus on killing creep and buying better gear before I start focusing on killing champions to know I have the advantage. The game also keeps records of your wins and losses to give you experience points (gain permanent levels) and Influence points (unlocking characters/skins) which is also a rewarding feature that allows players to be matched up with their skill level.
My favorite Char Twisted Fate (reminds me of Gambit)
The only problem I have with this game is the lack of maps available. There are not that many maps to choose from and the only game types are 3v3 or 5v5, which are the fundamental game types but why not throw in a 1v1, 2v2, or 4v4? I don't have any more right to complain about a free game than a homeless man has to complain about only throwing him a nickle.
My ratings for League of Legends:
Graphics- 7/10 The visuals in this game are somewhat cartoonish looking like Wow, but hey I think it adds more appeal to this type of game.
Gameplay- 8/10 This game is extremely addicting! Also, these kinds of games have a great chance of being very intense and attention grabbing.
Audio- 7/10 The audio in this game is pretty typical
Replay Value- 9/10 The reason why I give League of Legends a 9 out of 10 is because not only is this game addicting and free, but it has 78DifferentCharacters to choose from with more being added.
If you would like to download and play this game click League of Legends
(this is not spam but a referral link) or if you already have an account my summoner name on LOL is Djlightning.
What do you guys think? Was this game worth creating even though it is a remake to DOTA and still technically "free"? Why would anyone pay to play Heroes of Newerth, when League of Legends is free?
I know it's a little late on the Crysis 2 review, but I felt like doing one because although this game literally brings the best out of Xbox 360's graphics and has a really attention grabbing storyline, the game play just wasn't quite as fun as normal shooters. I can't tell if it's because of the difficulty of the game or the fact that the game kind of strolls along and never gets to intense. This is partly because the enemies will just stop following you when you get out of firing range or cloak yourself. If you were a fan of the first Crysis, then I would definitely buy or rent this game. On the other hand if you're like me and just want to instantly have fun running around shooting people, then stick with Halo and Call of duty.
Crysis 2 overall rating:
Graphics- 10/10 I haven't seen a console game with this good of graphics ever.
Gameplay- 6/10 like I said kind of fun until you get over the detail of the game
Audio- 7/10 fairly average for a fps game
Replay Value- 6/10 I think if you like this kind of game style and graphics, then it will be fun and challenging to beat on another difficulty.
What do you guys think about this game? Was it just me that got bored quickly?
Yes its finally here! (well almost). I just pre-ordered my copy of Star Wars the Old Republic last week and all I have to say is.. about damn time! I have been waiting for this game to come out for over 2 years now and I was beginning to think it was going to be another Star Craft 2 launch fail (took over a decade). 
