***WARNING***
This show contains some…actually, a lot of EXPLICIT language.
Topics Include: Call of Duty 5: World at War. Are they stuck in the past? Spiderman: Web of Shadows. Will this one be any better? EA Battlefield: Bad Company poking fun at Gears of War and Rainbow Six. Sporn! There goes the spores! This week’s movie review: Hulk! We also touch on other Marvel games coming out in the next few years. Also, special guest KingL3pr3chaun! All this and more! Thanks for listening, Please leave us a comment on the show or send us an e-mail at: xblradio@platformnation.com
Hey everybody, it is X3R0 9 here giving you another review and hopefully better than the last one. This is the second one I have done, so bear with me if it is a little rough. The more of these I do, the better they should get. Just to let you all know I will be attending a journalism class to help myself out with some techniques so that I can share quality news and reviews with all of you. Enough of the chit-chat, how about we get to the good stuff, shall we?
As some of you gamers know, the PS3 world experienced a huge release a week and a half ago. Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots released last Thursday (June 12, 2008). Of course, I was there to pick it up when the store opened. Some find this an awesome game, but to others it is completely unplayable. I am writing this review after I have completed the game so that you, the gamers, can understand why there is so much controversy and why it is considered a blockbuster hit. Without further adieu, let us get right into the review.
To me, this is almost the best Metal Gear Solid game in the series, just behind the first Metal Gear Solid (MGS). Hideo Kojima does it again as he brings two decades of Metal Gear history together while enthralling the audience in this epic and mysterious tale. Not only does he bring twenty years of Metal Gear into this game, but he also throws in a touch of his other works that Metal Gear fans have seen in past games. Many characters make repeat appearances, although some are only in flashback form.
Story (A-): Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots tells the story of Old Snake. Snake, the protagonist, is a covert agent that is prematurely aging and terminally ill from a virus he was injected with prior to the first MGS. Snake’s ultimate goal is to hunt down his twin brother and nemesis, Liquid Snake. Liquid’s goal is to destroy the ruling faction known as the Patriots and bring the world into chaos. Well that’s what we were told upfront.
The opening two acts are almost identical with a little bit of scenery change. In the first act you are in a war-torn Middle Eastern city that is being occupied by Liquid’s personal guards and bio-mechs. The second act…well, it’s pretty much the same except you are in South America. In addition to the Liquid’s army, you’re also a part of battle-zones with several factions waring with each other; which adds a terrific atmosphere to the Metal Gear experience. You have the choice to either help the rebels or be an enemy to both sides. There is a real shock at the end of act one, but act two also has a great twist to it.
MGS4 is basically your typical good versus evil stealth game, but that is only part of the plot. Any MGS fan will know that there is so much more to it than that. The subplots and locations add a lot to this game and they also add to Snake’s problem, disillusionment. Throughout the story Snake’s mind gets twisted and contorted and by the time you complete this game, you are left wondering “what just happened?” Which adds to the replay value, but I will get to that later.
The reason I gave it the score I did is because there is just so much information to gather in, they don’t give you the time to digest it. You are told so much through the lengthy cut scenes and codec calls you will need to pause it just to figure out what you were told. Roughly 90% of the story is told through the cut scenes that almost total up to eight hours long, if not longer.
Sound (A): As in any stealth game, sound plays a huge factor, not only for you but for the enemy. All the sound-effects sounded excellent. Everything almost sounds like it would in the real world. The major downfall that I noticed while playing the game was the sound variance on the cut scenes. I could play this game on a normal audio level for the playable parts, but when the cut scenes came on I had to crank up the volume just to hear what was being said. The downfall to cranking up the volume was when the action scenes came on, the explosions and gunfire would almost blow out the speakers. As far as the music score; it was great! The score adds just the right amount of excitement and drama to the situations that make them just that much more intense or emotional. Harry Gregson Williams did an excellent job with the soundtrack. His work is probably the best I’ve heard yet.
Graphics (A-): Metal Gear Solid 4 is hands down the best looking game yet on the PS3! The superb art quality and attention to detail makes this game awe-inspiring. The characters are excellent looking and move flawlessly. Anytime Snake gets a cut or burn, it stays with him throughout the game…and the burn looks like a burn with the melting of the flesh visible; not only in the cut scenes, but also in the game play. As stated before, this attention to detail makes the environment that much better. In act one, you feel you are in a Middle Eastern city. In act two, you feel like you are in a South American vista that has secret passage ways.
The cut scenes will take your breath away! The CGI makes you think you are watching an animated movie like Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children. You can see the time spent developing the scenes from a technical aspect because of the sheer quality of work. There are some rough edges, but for the most part, everything is crisp and clean.
Replay Value (C): If you just play this game for the story, then there is no real reason to replay the game. But if you are a gamer that likes to get all the secret badges, extra camo or just likes to take pictures during the game, then the replay value is there. During my first run through, I only got a few items and badges that were story related. There are a total of 40 badges in MGS4 to unlock. Granted the badges don’t do anything for you, but I look at them like achievements for the Xbox 360.
Overall (B+): This game was a blast to play, but the cut scenes will drive some away. The actual game play is short, so if you are looking to play a full game with little cut scenes this is not it. The Metal Gear series is based on story and not much on game play. The frame rate is a little low, but with all that is going on, you will have a hard time noticing it.
If you are looking for a great story, extras that are at times funny and an interactive movie, then Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots will fill your craving. If you are a fan of the Metal Gear Solid series, then you need to pick this up. If you are new to the series, then this is a rental to see if you like this type of game.
I bid you farewell, Solid Snake.
Please leave comment here or submit feedback to xblradio@platformnation.com
Until next time, this is X3R0 9 signing off, and I will see you on Live or PSN.
For your viewing pleasures, here is the Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots trailer:
Topics Include: Madden 09! The onslaught of Music Games! Arby N The Cheif! (Youtube video NSFW! or the younger audience) We go through all of July’s Upcoming Releases! Achievements and point totals associated with them! Qore vs. Inside Xbox! All this and more! Thanks for listening, Please leave us a comment on the show or send us an e-mail at: xblradio@platformnation.com
After our hiatus after GTA IV, Keman returns with his favorite rants!
Topics Include: What games we’ve played the past few months! Demos we’ve played…Grid and Dragonball Z Burst Limit! GTA IV DLC content delayed…if you want to call it that. Bioshock movie and sequels, and how it is not as exclusive as we thought. Jack Thompson has really lost it this time! Star Wars Force Unleashed unleashes another character for Soul Caliber IV! All this and more! Thanks for listening, Please leave us a comment on the show or send us an e-mail at: xblradio@platformnation.com
Topics Include: No Spring Update and Delisting of XBLA games Bionic Commando What’s Steve been playing? Lost Planet, GRID, NG2! Madden 09 For Fatal45: Nascar 09 Saints Row 2, Wii Fit! Yeah! or Nah! and more! Thanks for listening, Please leave us a comment on the show or send us an e-mail at: xblradio@platformnation.com
Topics Include: Games we have been playing! This weeks game releases! Listener Mail All this and more! Thanks for listening, Please leave us a comment on the show or send us an e-mail at: xblradio@platformnation.com
Hello and greetings everybody, it is X3R0 9 bringing you a review about an arcade game for that Xbox 360 that came out last week. Hopefully this will be one of many reviews of video games that we can give to you from time to time. So without any further adieu, here is my review of Assault Heroes 2 for the Xbox LIVE Arcade.
Let us start off with the basics. The game is Assault Heroes 2, developed and published by Sierra Online. The game is rated T for Teen because of some blood and of course the violence. It has single player play, of course, while it also has local and online co-op play. This is the sequel to the 2006 IGN Game of the Year, Assault Heroes. This is a top-down arcade shooter that is not much different than the first when it comes to game play.
You fight to save the planet in your 4×4 vehicle on land, but you also get to save the planet from space. Yes, you read it right! We are taking this beyond our atmosphere. While you get to fight on land and in space in vehicles, the game also forces you to do some of the fighting on foot. Some of the additions to the game were hijackable vehicles, more powerful weapons, and interactivity with the environment.
Graphically the game looks like it was touched up on compared to the first one. The craziness of the game has been toned down, but enjoyment of destroying things has been ramped up. The only downfall to this game is the repetitiveness of it. It is a very linear game, but the enemies and the scenery changes often which makes up for it.
As far as the length of the game, my brother (Ultimate Kaz) and I completed it in less than 7 hours on the medium difficulty. So don’t expect this to be one of those long arcade games. If you enjoyed the first Assault Heroes, then you will most likely enjoy this game as well. So, go and check out the demo on the Marketplace or just read about the game here.
Until next time, this is X3R0 9 signing off, and I will see you on LIVE!
What’s up gamers, it’s X3R0 9 here giving you a quick low down of what’s been going on at the XBLRadio camp. No worries, nothing bad is going on, we just had to take a week off to take care of some personal things, recover from illnesses, and play some hot games that just came out. Last week we saw the releases of GTA IV and Mario Kart, which also meant that we were either busy playing them or trying to.
Well, enough beating around the bush, let me get to the information you’re all waiting to hear. Episode 66.5 The GTA IV Roundtable will be recording this weekend. INFECTEDPB503 will be getting a list of listeners ready, but if you would like to be on the show, please feel free to send us your Gamertag and Skype name to xblradio@platformnation.com. We will be recording Saturday May 10, 2008 around 7-8pm Pacific Time (10-11pm Eastern Time). As the title says, this will be a GTA IV roundtable, so brush up on your Russian survival skills ‘cause you’ll need them for this episode.
Also to add to this very special extended episode, Mr B4 will be doing his own roundtable. As stated earlier, last week we saw two great releases, the other one being Mario Kart! That’s right gamers, Mr B4 will be hosting a Mario Kart roundtable! So if you want to chat it up with regular gamers about throwing turtle shells and dropping banana peels while speeding around a race track in go-karts, contact Mr B4 at xblradio@platformnation.com.
Now to keep the excitement rolling, we have two codes for Rocketman: Axis of Evil to giveaway to a lucky listener. All you have to do is listen to XBLRadio version 66.5 to find out how to win. INFECTEDPB503 and Mr B4 will have all the details you need to know to find out how to win.
Until next time everybody, this is X3R0 9 and I will see you on Live.
By now, I’m sure you all have heard what EA was going to do with Battlefield: Bad Company, right? They were going to charge gamers that purchased the regular edition of the game to buy five more weapons that the Gold Edition got free with the purchase. Sound a little unfair? Well, EA has heard our outcries and our complaints.
In an interview with IGN, DICE’s Karl-Magnus Troedsson, senior producer of the game, announced yesterday (April 9, 2008) that EA will not charge us to unlock any of the weapons. This is a complete 180 from a couple of weeks ago. These five weapons will be unlockable once the gamer reaches the level cap at 25. This is for gamers that get the regular edition. For the gamers that get the Gold Edition, well, you still get to unlock the weapons as soon as you buy the game.
“We are not charging for any guns that are out there,” said Troedsson. “We read the forums, we read all of the articles and listening to the storm that is out there, we’re not going to charge for any of those guns.”
This is great news for us gamers. We all teamed up, and spoke out against this ridiculous decision to charge us for weapons and won. For that, I congratulate all of us for that, as far as EA, I salute you for listening to us and cutting us a break.
Oh the humanity, X3R0 and Keman recording way too late for your own good. These too are a little “punch drunk” and way to limber to spoil some games for you. This week they cover.
Platformnation’s own Cooper Hawkes gets his own game
Star Wars: The Force Unleashed
Sam and Max hit console
Alone in the Dark
Too Human updates
The Rundown
Rants and Raves
Leave us feed back at xblradio@platformnation.com
Leave reviews on iTunes and join INFECTEDPB503 and MrB4 on Live on Live ver 65.5
Call of Duty 5: World at War. Are they stuck in the past?
Thanks for listening, Please leave us a comment on the show or send us an e-mail at: xblradio@platformnation.com
