Watchmen The End is Nigh – Quick Review

I’ve got to say..I’ve never heard of the Watchmen series before new of the upcoming movie came out. Not to say I didn’t enjoy the movie, and you can read Sidd’s review if you haven’t watched the movie or read the comic book series to learn a few things about it, the series just seemed to come out of left field for me. I wasn’t sure what to expect out of Watchmen The End is Nigh..seeing as how most movie to videogame tie-ins have been god awful (I’m talking about you The Incredible Hulk!..That game was fucking terrible!) Thankfully this game isn’t a full release, it’s just another edition to the DLC set of games that are released of XBLA, PSN, and Steam for $20. Is it worth the money? Well I played it to find out.

Video:

As you can see from my video the player gets to choose between my favorite Watchmen, Rorschach, and that Batman reject Nite Owl. Most of the game’s cutscenes change between an old school comic style (with no moving lips) and using the game’s wonderfully detailed graphics. That’s probably one of the best thing in this game, it has that gritty feel of the comics and movie, and just lovely graphics. When it rains you can see the wet shine off of Rorschach’s leather jacket. The game focuses on pure beat-em-up action, I mean really…that’s all you’re doing. It’s not a bad thing it’s just makes me feel happy that they didn’t make a complete game out of this title. There are some puzzles..if you can call them that..where both players must both pull the same lever. Oh yes, there is co-op of course, since you do have two heroes to choose from. Really you need two players, this game throws you so many generic villains that it becomes ridiculous. Simple combos, the ability to throw enemies, use weapons, and doing finishing moves are the full set of tools for the Watchmen. The story is pretty much the past of the Watchmen before everyone retired, showing that preview of when Rorschach and Nite Owl actually worked together. Altogether it’s a fun brawler for someone who has seen the movie and wants to know a little more info about the series, but for all those regular gamers..you may want to stay away from this game. (But..a regular gamer and a fan of Watchmen might just be the same person..so enjoy?)

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Rating 3/5

Pros: Added story elements, beat-em-up action, Rorschach playability, great visuals, great voice work.

Cons: Simple linear gameplay, buggy fighting at times, short.

If you liked the movie you will like this simple game. :3

Battlefield Heroes Beta

I signed up for the Battlefield Heroes beta back when they were accepting emails, and to be truthful…I had forgotten I did, until a week ago when I finally received my beta key n_n. If I can be a bit more honest…I’ve never really enjoyed the Battlefield series. I was always the Call of Duty gamer ever since I played Call of Duty 2 on PC, but the introduction of this new cartoony, Team Fortress 2 style, has really peaked my interest…oh also it’s free.

EA Games: Oh sure~! You guys can play for free!
Gamers: REALLY?! NO WAI!
EA Games: *chuckles* Of course! You know papa EA loves you at heart!
Gamers: We always knew you had a warm spot in your heart..even after all that DLC crap on the 360..<3
EA Games: Yeah, those were good times. But this game is completely free, except for you know..the guns.
Gamers: What?..-_-
EA Games: Oh you know the guns?..The actual gameplay? Costumes? Level ups? We’re just going to charge you for that n_n. It’s a small fee.
Gamers: …
EA Games: What?…
Gamers: Fuck you.

Putting that aside…I’ll try to give as much detail about it and see if EA really is trying to screw over the cheap gamer. Maybe even get some gameplay footage.

Notes:

So far, I’ve used my beta key to sign into the locked website. This caused the download page to start and it’s been installing ever since. So while the installing goes on with it’s business I thought I would create my hero. Through the beta I’m allowed 4 characters, all with features that barely make them distinct (saving that for the paying customers.) Like any good war game (or obvious one) there must be two factions fighting, the good guys are in blue and yellow in the Royal Army, and the bad guys in red and black for the National Army. Both factions contain three types of soldiers. The basic Soldier who looks like the starter for an average fps gamer, the Gunner who seems to take heavier damage while using bigger guns (most likely for taking out vehicles) and finally the stealthy Commando who will most likely play out like the spy from TF2.

The two factions in this war is the Royal Army and the National Army. If it’s not obvious who the good or bad guys are…you’re an idiot.

The three classes for the game include, the Soldier, the Gunner, and the Commando. The soldier follows the middle road between the Gunner and Commando. Using a machine gun and a shotgun, the Soldier can play the midrange perfectly while staying as speedy as a Commando. They only really lack the ability to take out tanks. This is where the Gunner comes in. Gunner’s carry larger machine guns then the Soldier and can use a Rocket Launcher which makes them completely destructive forces. The Commandoes are left for those players who are just sneaky bastards. They have control over snipers and knives, making them the strongest when it comes to long distance or close combat. Commandoes also have the ability to cloak which helps their chances of sneaking up on their enemies.

Once the installer is finally finished you can start your game. Oddly enough the game opens up in the browser in a window only to full screen the game when you actually connect. Graphics are subpar for this stage in beta. They don’t look bad, but don’t follow the polish of TF2, but I’m sure EA was looking for completely playable vs. stylish. You control your soldier from a 3rd person, which seems odd coming from the Battlefield series, but you still have the same vehicles and that terrifically difficult plane/helicopter controls. I mean really EA, realism for those controls are just way too hard! How many people flipped over their helicopter in Battlefield 2 just trying to get it to lift off? x_x I know I did. I also just happened to do the same to the plane in this game. Though I have to say…the people who really have command of the planes have some real style. You’ll often seem them doing a flyby shooting at flag areas, and circling around in style. Even see a few dogfights. After the tutorial I’m allowed to buy some items from the store, EA thankfully gave beta players some start up cash to to explore the options. This is of course were the real customization comes in.

My guy looks like a nazi. n_n

Gameplay Footage:

Beta News:

Well it seems that the game is getting closer to it’s last stage. A new rolled out update closed the website for a day or two and reopened it with a few changes. All levels and character designs have been rolled back to stage 1, BUT, these new characters are the final designs. So when the game is finally out of beta, these will be the soldiers you use against the world. Sadly, all the free Battlefunds that EA was offering are gone, and in place a new “credit card friendly” store. This is what I was talking about people! EA has finally taken microtransactions to the next level! Ok…so other online games have been doing this for years…but they were never this addictive! Battlefunds come in three packages, 700 ($5 + tax), 1400 ($10 + tax), or the “beefy” 2800 BF ($20 + tax). Now that would be fine and dandy if the value for the items bought matched this price range…but they don’t!

That’s a fucking expensive bird. o_o

Let’s start with the clothing, a pirate hat that costs 420 BF. 420?! That’s already three fucking dollars! An eye patch that costs 420 as well?! Jackets costing around 280-340 BF?! Let’s not forget the promotional pets! Yes, for all those beta players out there, you have a chance to buy the Patton Parrot or Monty McMonkey pet item thing! These worthless items sit on your shoulder and likely crap on your hard earned virtual clothes for just 665 BF! Yes sir! For a cool five, you can have your own virtual pet that no one else will have besides every other beta player stupid enough to waste that much money! I mean really EA? At most the only items I see worth the money is the XP and Valor up, but even those cost an arm or a leg.

Now thankfully you can avoid all these payments, like most smart players will, and just opt with the default model for your team and since weapons and half of the emotes use Valor Points, you won’t be missing out on much. Oh, almost forgot to mention, the pretty upgraded weapons now only last a month. It evens up the gameplay for newcomers, but might also be annoying to switch between the average and the superior guns.

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Rating: 5/5 (for gameplay! I can’t stress that enough.)

Pros: The core gameplay is very simplistic and yet so completely enjoyable. Free to play. Call specific abilities. Great visuals.

Cons: Everything outside of actually playing the game. EA’s greed! Vehicles can sometimes be annoying. Plane controls take getting use to.

Rear Windows (1954) - Time Blogger

Here I am in front of the movie theater as I see a news paper dating the year 1954. I look up to see many people in fancy clothing entering the theater so I thought I check it out. The feature film was Rear Windows by Alfred Hitchcock. I saw the ticket price and was stunned by how cheap it was compared to what year I am actually from. The price of a fucking hotdog, just one, (1), uno, and a small drink is 14.99 plus tax. What the fucking bullshit. I'd rather stop at Tommy's Hotdogs to get 8 hotdogs and a large soda for that kind of money. AMC is a failure when it comes to reasonable pricing. FUCK YOU AMC!

Attention people, it is better to sneak in food then to pay bullshit to retard prices for just food. Although, it is 1954, the prices for everything is CHEAP!!! And I brung 5 bucks with me!!! I'm the richest man alive.

(Sidd goes in and watches, shortly after the film he goes back to his own time and gets on the
computer to type a blog post about the film.)

Rear Windows, a 1954 suspense film by the amazing director, Alfred Hitchcock. The film was created solely in Paramount Pictures’ Studio. The screen writers are Cornell Woolrich and John Michael Hayes who work with Robert Burks, the cinemato-grapher, and George Tomasini, the film editor.

The story is about Jeffries, played by James Stewart, recovering from a severe injury to nearly half his body. He is wheel chair bound living in an apartment called Greenwich Village. He really has nowhere to go and thus spends his time looking outside the window. It was his television of entertainment to view a hot young lady dancing in her underwear who he calls Miss Torso, a woman who lives alone who he calls Miss Lonely-Hearts, a songwriter who plays the piano, married couples, a mysterious salesman with a in home wife.

He sees their life and their many actions as days go by, however one night, he sees the salesman making late night trips. He tells Stella, the home care nurse who is played by Thelm Ritter, about the odd trips and then later tells Lisa Fremont, who is played by Grace Kelly. At first the thought it was nothing to be troubled by, but after careful spying, all three characters soon to give interest and wonder what happen to the salesman’s wife.

Jeffries calls a detective, who also happens to be his friend, Doyle, played by Wendel Corey, about it and asks if he can do an investigation. There wasn’t much he can work from considering there was a long process before a warrant to search the salesmen’s apartment was signed and made. With no help from proper authorities, they decide to take action and solve the mystery themselves.

The music is pretty dynamic with the movie. From the beginning to the end, all the major background music smoothly transitions between each other to create a setting that is understandable when the time arrives. The music composer is Franz Waxman.

The scene work is really creative among the little space they used in creating the apartments. The way they set up all the apartments is to give our main character, as well as the audience, a chance to see every character in their living style through large windows which are sometimes covered with curtains.

The costume design is by Edith Head. The costumes are really just ordinary everyday clothing that is used in a day by day basis. Lisa was the only one who had somewhat of the high class clothing during the time with wide variety of fancy and unique style of dresses.

The pace of the movie lives up the title of suspense. It was slow enough to understand the film and fast enough to grasp the desire of all the characters needs and wants.

Overall, I enjoyed watching this movie. I’ve never actually seen Alfred Hitchcock’s work, only heard of him, but now I am interested in what other films he has created. The story was believable and the acting was perfect. Finally, it’s funny how a hunch can go so far into solving a murder mystery.

(Sidd heads to school on a sunday to do homework D:)

Capcom Fighting Evolution – Quick Review

So I understand this game is a good 5 years old, but I can’t help but enjoy old school 2D fighting games. Something about ol’ sprites just gives it that classic arcade feel and GOD do these graphics give you that nostalgia feel. CFE gives you a weak selection of characters from five genres starting with Street Fighter 2, 3 and Alpha, and ending up with Darkstalkers and Red Earth. While the Street Fighter characters look amazing (in fact I wish they would have used these sprites for the HD version of SF2), Red Earth and Darkstalkers look completely aged. I mean seriously..just go stare at Dimitri..he looks terrible! But on to the actual fighting! The complete mix of characters gives you a range of those blazing fast characters..and those sluggish Red Earth guys..I mean seriously..do they really think a gigantic T-rex is going to beat Ryu? You pick between two characters which you can switch between during the start and end of rounds and if you want you never need to choose your secondary character at all. Which is a good thing since the character they should have added..KEN!..isn’t here. I mean come on really?! Zangief gets a slot but no love for Ken? Er..sorry about that back to gameplay. Character models don’t really effect the fights, you can knock down enemies 10x your size just as if they were in your characters respective game. Something about the AI just brings out the cheapness of each character. It’s understandable for a computer controlled character to have certain characteristics, but it’s completely different when the AI is just bouncing the same 8-hit combo on me over and over again. Sadly the last boss is Pyron from the Darkstalkers series, the cheapest character of them all. Seriously this guy and his vanishing act makes Seth look like a complete douche (oh wait he is..) But he’s not difficult at all. Last but not least, Akuma is unlockable after a few tasks are completed in arcade mode.

Altogether, this isn’t the greatest of fighting games, and it’s really no contender compared to the likes of Marvel vs. Capcom or SNK vs. Capcom, but it gets the point across..Capcom shouldn’t fight amongst itself..just against others.

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Rating: 2/5

Pros: It’s another Capcom fighting game? SF characters look great. Might be someones dream matches?..Just not mine.

Cons: Terrible integration of characters. Cheap AI. Weak boss. Lack of GOOD characters.

Note: Kenji from Red Earth is awesome!..For some reason he can do Ryu’s Hurricane Kick! :3

Watchmen Review (2009)

“Watchmen” (2009) is a superhero sci-fi thriller film directed by Zack Snyder, who also directed the film “300”, who works with producers Lawrence Gordon, Lloyd Levin, and Deborah Snyder. The screen writers are David Hayter, Alex Tse, and Dave Gibbons. Alan Moore was not credited however was involved.

The story is about a group of superheroes and their lives in the world set in an alternative 1985 era where Richard Nixon is elected for a 3^rd term as president of the United States. Masked superheroes have become outlawed as most of our crime fighting heroes retire from their roles as the tension between the US and the USSR (Russia) are heated up in a threat that their maybe a nuclear war.

The superheroes in Watchmen date back all the way into the 1940s. In the beginning of the movie, while the opening credits were being presented, the film showed us a brief history of the “MinuteMen”.

Like all superheroes, they wanted to save the world however, as we all learned in life, we can only save and intervene for a portion of time until something goes wrong. The intro showed us the timeline of superheroes from 1940 to 1985, where one particular superhero, Edward Blake by the alias “The Comedian”, has been an active hero throughout the entire time.

The story continues as mysterious person breaks into Blake’s place and successfully kills him by throwing him out the window. Well not be into the point, there was a big fight scene. The masked vigilante, Walter Kovacs with the alias “Rorschach”, begins to investigate the murder and discovers that the man who died was “The Comedian”.

He proceeds to warn his ex-partners about the murder and that someone is out to kill the group of ex-superheroes. He investigates further to find out why and visits Blake’s retired arch villain, Moloch the Mystic, but finds that he has nothing to do with it and explains about his last encounter with Blake and reveals that he was on his bedside crying and explaining that everything was “One big joke.”

Dr. Jon Osterman is a scientist who took part in the research and experiment in a nuclear research center, however was accidently locked in the test chamber and was disintegrated into thin air. His co-workers saw his body disappear as he screamed in pain.

They pronounced him dead, however came back as a God-like man with abnormal powers in the cafeteria of the facility, he names himself Dr. Manhattan. A scientist with a genius mind and God-like powers, this was the being of perfection. Dr. Manhattan has powers beyond your wildest dream, he can make himself tall, melt objects, and even duplicate himself.

Unfortunately, he lacks the understanding of emotion and cannot seem maintain a relationship with Laurie "Jupiter" Juspezyk, with the alias Silk Spectre II. They break up unfortunately after trying to have sex when Jupiter finds out that he was working on the Energy Reactor with one form of his body and trying to have sex with her at the same time. Shortly after the breakup between Jupiter and Dr. Manhattan, she goes to visit Daniel Dreiberg, as ex-superhero who calls himself Nite Owl II. She had nowhere to go considering she only knew superheroes in her life.

lol…

The Energy Reactor is made of the same particles and elements Dr. Manhattan is made out of. They call it Sub Quantum Unifying Intrinsic Devices (S.Q.U.I.D.s). It is funded by a successful business man and retired superhero, Adrian Veidt, who revealed to the world he was Ozymandias by going public and revealing his face from his mask. He aids Dr. Manhattan with the funds to create the energy reactor in order to provide free energy for everybody.

The mystery behind the death of the comedian continues on as the story explains the lives of our heroes in their past and present life.

How much does a previous generation of heroes influence the future outcomes?

Are we able to continue fighting evil forever?

What do you think society will do when time goes by, as you grow old, and make mistakes?

Is it really safe to call them our heroes?

Will we ever learn and understand society as a whole and in a personal level?

How much evil can a villain do to push a hero over the limit to actual commit murder?

Is our answer to global unity in the hands of global destruction?

Watchmen, a story of individual vigilantes fighting in the name of honor, justice, and righteousness from a personal level to save humanity.

This movie was long, but was perfectly done. It left no holes. A masterpiece and great original work. A must see. Seriously.

Yar..I had more to write about, but that's spoiling the movie, WATCH IT!

Sidd Rating: 10/10

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Now I noticed that people are giving it bad reps, but I don’t know why, however I come up with five facts why.

1.) You don’t think.

2.) You were doing something else then following the story or let alone watching the movie.

3.) You don’t know the history of the US past during the 1940s – 1980s (in-depth in all aspects).

4.) You never heard of these superhero characters and found it difficult.

5.) You can’t watch the whole movie through and lose focus.

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Trailer:

Prince of Persia – Quick Review

In 2003, a game was released by Ubisoft Montreal that brought the life to a dying series. That game was the Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time. With this release, Ubisoft was able to recreate the feeling of playing the nostalgic platformer with the new 3D elements of the time. Adding time effects and actual combat mechanics with a mix of wall leaping action and a fantastic story made it a must own, and even spawned two sequels. Sadly these two sequels just couldn’t capture the pure enjoyment that the first game did, and even started bringing the story to a darker place then it should have. (I’m talking to you Warrior Within!) Fast forward to present day. New systems bring a new Prince for the better.

Simply titled Prince of Persia, the new generation game brings a more warm hearted and enjoyable Prince (whose name is never told and reminds me of Drake from Uncharted..love that game) and a new female character, Elika, who the story revolves around. The plot is simple enough, the Prince is wandering the desert looking for his lost mule, when he is jumped by the lovely Elika; who continues to run away from guards chasing her. A tutorial begins in which you learn the movements of the Prince such as climbing up walls, running along walls, doing more things with walls, oh and fighting. You defeat Elika’s pursuers and with each one discover how to use the Prince’s sword, acrobatics, gauntlet and how to guard. Each element of fighting serves it’s own purpose, as certain enemies later in the game can only be defeated in certain ways, leading to quick time event battles (or button mashing frenzies..) Elika requests the Prince to follow her to the Temple in the center of the kingdom that acts as a prison for the dark god Ahriman (the obvious main boss of the game.) Once inside the temple the Prince faces off with Elika’s father who sent the pursuer's after her. After losing the battle Elika’s father destroys the tree of life, and in doing so, frees the dark god. Then begins the platforming joy of Prince of Persia.

Prince of Persia is broken up into 4 sections with 4 bosses in each section that you must face numerous times. Each boss possesses a different fighting technique and each requires the duo to alternate their techniques to defeat them. The four bosses, known as The Corrupted, are given the names the Hunter, the Alchemist, the Concubine, and the Warrior, and each have a back story that is unique to them. Each section of the four sections that The Corrupted reside in are given there own life and puzzles that make getting to each new section so enjoyable. After defeating the boss in a section, the fertile ground becomes open to the Prince and Elika. Healing these fertile ground from The Corrupted brings the duo one step closer to sealing Ahriman. But to get to each section the Prince must collect light seeds, which are scattered around a healed fertile ground. After collecting enough light seeds, the Prince and Elika can unlock a new power that is given by the god Ormazd (don’t worry..you’ll hear a lot about him from Elika..x.x). The new powers give the Prince the ability to run up walls, launch from seal to seal, or even swing around as if he was Spiderman.

This game is just beautiful in both gameplay and visuals. With a nice coat of cel shading, and an expansive world that has the Prince defying gravity at every moment. Elika adds in as support for those moments when the Prince just can’t reach the next step and with her the Prince can never really die. A bit like Bioshock, just when you make that mistake of misjudging the next jump the screen begins to turn white with the Prince’s hand reaching out..only to be grabbed by Elika, who positions the Prince on the last piece of ground he touched. While this means you can never die it can also be annoying to have to restart a long set of jumps. This is the same with battles. Just when it looks like the Prince is about to die..here comes Elika to use her magic powers to save him (of course this means the enemy gains back all his health.) All around it’s a nice simplistic puzzle/action platform with a decent story, fun gameplay, and great visuals.

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Rating: 4/5

Pros: Great looking, amazingly fun platforming, enjoyable story, just what the Prince needed!

Cons: No real challenge, easy boss battles, lack luster ‘collect the orbs’ missions, weak combat.

Real Improvement: A good turnaround for the Prince of Persia series, can’t wait for the downloadable content.

F.E.A.R. 2 Project Origins – Game Review

That little bitch Alma is at it again. F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin takes place 30 minutes prior to the large atomic explosion at the end of the original game. You play as Michael Becket (who has no affiliation with the Point Man from the first game..who died..yes he died..DEAD..spoiler..sorry.) Becket is a Delta Force operator whose part of a squad that is sent to find Genevieve Aristide and put her under arrest. You may know her as the woman who started all of this. Aristide thought it would have been a good idea to restart the ORIGIN project, using the Point Man as her prototype (which details the entire first game). The game begins with Becket having a hallucinations of Alma in the ruins of the destroyed city, being lead to the swing set that plays a constant role in this game, all the while she is transforming between her younger form and older form. He awakens in the APC where he is debriefed about the Aristide mission. Before they can even reach Aristide though, Beckett and his squad are attacked by Armacham Technology Corporation Black Ops. You of course as Becket must handle the Black Ops and reach Aristide first, but before you are able to take her into Custody, the explosion from the first game comes crashing down on your character, leaving him unconscious. This is where the second game begins. Becket and his squad are taken to Auburn Memorial Hospital, where he is operated on (and has a nightmarish hallucination of Alma doing the same operation on him) to become more like the Point Man. Introducing the same SlowMo effects that were present in the previous title.

Gameplay:

F.E.A.R. 2 is true to the previous titles. You get the SlowMo effect, the smart A.I., the frightening Alma always hidden just in the corner of your eyes, as well as a few great add-ons. Since this is an FPS, let’s talk about gunplay first. Guns have been amplified in a few ways and deprived in other ways. For example, the new start up pistol is much weaker compared to the previous title’s version. You can no longer dual wield two pistols at the same time either. The new sub-machinegun is the default for this game, and for a good reason. Aiming is now centered on the screen with a lovely red-dot viewer (similar to the award winning Call of Duty 4) that makes targeting a breeze. Weapons like the combat shotgun, rifle, sniper, rocket launcher, are all similar to the previous titles, yet a favorite gun of mine, referred previously to as the nailgun (or railgun) has been renamed the Hammerhead and with that change seems to have affected it’s power. Gone are the days were you could rush a room full of Replica soldiers and leave them all completely nailed to the walls. It’s nice seeing the new spikes jutting out of an enemy’s helmet as they try to continue aiming only to have another blast against their face..but I enjoyed plastering the walls with ragdolls.

Level Design falls under the same linear p ath. Walk into a room, see Alma, shoot some soldiers, pick up ammo, repeat. It’s not a broken system so why fix it right? The hospital, the subway and the school all seem a bit familiar if you played the first title (and thankfully aren’t office buildings..) Once you reach the sections outside you get to experience a new part of the series..MECH BATTLES! Yep, while in the first title you would only see the smaller Mechs as hard enemies to challenge, in this game you get to pilot one of the larger machines. Destroying Replica soldiers here and there and facing off against other large Mechs. It’s a nice refreshment from the constant room hopping and simple puzzles. In addition, Becket will mount the APC turret a few times including a long section toward the end that becomes intense. They never feel like a complete alternative to the game like some turret scenes are and don’t last long enough to be a bother.

Moving on to enemies, you have the basic Black Ops from the start, the Replica Soldiers, the new spookier nightmares (they have amazing lighting effects and just looks realistic), these crawling creatures similar to the ones found in Uncharted Drake’s Fortune (also a great game), and the new [insert name of screaming creature] that revives dead Replica Soldiers (a key hint that one is around) and has tons of health. Alma even joins in from time to time to time to attack Becket, leading to a button mashing section until she’s shoved away.

Horror, horror, horror is the name of the game (literally.) There are moments in this game where the lights begin to flicker, leaving you in total darkness at times and you aren’t allowed to turn on the flashlight. (Like somehow Becket just..completely forgot how to do it.) During these times, blood begins to cover every inch of your surroundings. Nightmares spawn from walls and Alma comes out to spook you at every turn of these sections. This game was meant to be played with all the lights off and a good pair of headphones.

Controls:

Simple enough. If you're playing this with a mouse and keyboard, then good job! You're playing this game the right way! Playing it with a controller? Well..you'll still enjoy it..I'm not sure how you're doing it exactly but you will. Problem with the mouse though, no side button binding. =/

Graphics:

While this game may not break benchmarks like the first game did when it was first released, it still looks amazing. If anything this game is able to look amazing without giving graphical hiccups. Lighting, character designs, level designs..they all look amazing with the right video card. My console friends of course don't have to worry about this..they'll just have lack luster AA support and framerates. :3

Obsession:

From the start of the game, Alma just seems to have this weird love/hate relationship for Becket. At times she’ll attack the delta squad member, while other times she’ll deal with the Replica Soldiers. Often times she’ll even appear as a completely normal (yet still naked) human form. It gets even stranger when you reach the last chapter of the game. Locked in the seat of the psychic amplifier with Alma after the last actions of Genevieve Aristide, Becket is forced to take on a mutated version of his squad member Keegon (screaming “You’ll never have her!” and “Why does she only want you?”)..all the while scenes of Alma in the amplifier seems to be “beating” at Becket. I can’t really say what she was doing and the last scene because it’s just an amazing reason to play the game fully for yourself. (It is ridiculous..)

Spoiler below..you have been warned.

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Rating 5/5

Pros: Great fun. SlowMo effect, fun gunplay, frightening scenes, Mech loving. More Alma goodness and a good story. More enjoyable squad members.

Cons: Weak nailgun =[. No dual pistols. Simple puzzles (Key Card problems..) While you do get a great new middle sight..you can no longer lean around corners even though your enemies can.