gears of war 3

Unraveling the Mystery of the Ps3 Exclusive Title ‘The Last of Us’

Thursday is finally upon us. This has been an extremely busy week for me thus far, but I’m looking forward to finishing up my classes on Friday and enjoying my break. I don’t really have much planned for my break except for continuing to hit the gym like crazy, finalize and publish my book, and of course chill out and play video games. At the end of the day, I’m an artist, a writer, and a gamer.

I will always been a fanatic when it comes to video games, so it shouldn’t be a surprise that I’m anxious to watch the 2011 Spike Video Game Awards on Saturday. I usually watch the awards show every year because I love video games, I love badass geeks that create the games I love so much, and it’s spectacular seeing what games are in the running for the Best Game of the Year. I’m not really sure which title will win game of the year, but I’m anxious to see which title will take the award home for best multi-player game. On the website you can vote for your favorite game, and the choices for best multi-player are: Battlefield 3, Gears of War 3, and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3. Notice a pattern there? Everything seems to be the third game in series (well not for the entire COD franchise, but in the Modern Warfare division it’s the third game.) I happen to own all three of those games and I’d have to say that Gears of War 3 would be my top choice, but I play my Ps3 online all the time and not my 360, so then I’d have to go with Battlefield 3. The ending sucked, but the graphics are insane!

A lot of great games came out this year, so we will just have to wait and see what games take home awards this Saturday. This year will be Spike TV’s ninth annual celebration of all things video games, but it will also be the day in which the mystery behind “The Last of Us” will be revealed. Have you heard about this upcoming title? If you’ve got a baffled look on your face, then fret not. Honestly, there isn’t much about information surroudning this game. The only thing we know so far is that the game is a PS3 exclusive title, it’s rumored to have an amazing engine, and it has something to do with ants, an outbreak, and a quarantine. That’s really not much information to work with, but the game is still creating quite the buzz. Oh, did I forget to mention that even the developer is a mystery. Yeah, we have no idea who is even developing this game.

The lack of information and the “hush, hush” tactics involved in marketing this game are what make it such a big deal. It’s like a striptease (a good one, not a cheap drunk one.) The website keeps taking off one piece of clothing at a time, which will hopefully lead to the full exposé on Saturday at the 2011 Spike Video Game Awards. It’s exciting not knowing what this game is about, but the screenshot below does look quite promising. Believe it or not, that’s actually a screenshot from the game. Mind-blowing….seriously, my mind was just blown. That shot indicates that these ants and quarantine must take place somewhere sunny and pleasant, but then it’s immediately turned into hell by gigantic mutant ants. That could be the story, right?

Ugh…I want to know what this game is about! People have been rambling back and forth on message boards that it could be zombies, but eh doubt it. “The Last of Us” doesn’t feel like a zombie first-person game, it just doesn’t. I’m not going to sit here and assume because my mom always taught me when you assume you make an ass out of u+me, but I will say that ants and zombies don’t go together. It goes against the rules of horror tactics. Giant ants and zombies? Nope, that’s not allowed, it’s just not right, especially for a game. But I have no idea what this game is about, but I tell you what, the entire world will hopefully know on Saturday December 10th, 2011. So if you are curious about this uber mysterious title in the works, then be sure to check out the 2011 Spike Video Game Awards. And if there is any chance this ends up being a lame game (I highly doubt it) then at least you can see if some of your favorite titles of the year take home any awards.

Winning an award is always good I suppose. Yet at the end of the day it’s really about each individual gamers preference and not the industry leaders. So don’t be upset if you thought a game was totally epic and it doesn’t even get nominated. Sometimes all you can do is just hold your own video game awards with your buddies and nominate it your damn self. Yup, that works. But remember it should be in all fun and games, so don’t get all nerdy and upset over the games chosen. Anyways, the best thing about the VGA’s is the World Premieres. Now that’s is what it’s all about! I can’t wait to see what they have in store this year. It’s going to be epic! *fingers crossed*

©Jasmine McGee.ThinkSoul25. http://thinksoul25.com

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Battlefield 3: The Epic Showdown Is About to Begin!

Q4 (quarter four) is shaping up to probably be the best quarter for game releases. In Q3 (quarter 3) big name games such as Dead Island, Gears of War 3 (duh, you already know,) and RAGE brought their A game. Of course Dead Island had major slip ups with launching, patch issues, and just a bunch of annoying problems, but it still satisfied a lot of gamers need to slash zombies. Following Dead Island, you’ve got the Gears of War 3 craze (still haven’t played it) and RAGE, but now Q4 is here and it’s time for the epic gaming showdown to begin; Battlefield 3 vs. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3.

The anticipation surrounding the release of Battlefield 3 and Modern Warfare 3 is driving us gamers crazy! Well it might not be driving all the gamers, but for a die hard first-person shooter fanatic like me, it’s driving me bonkers! Every gamer has their preference in regards to gaming, which explains why some gamers are crazy excited about Skyrim and other gamers are in chiming in on the B3 vs. MW3 debate. I personally have never been a fan of Elder Scrolls, MMORPGs, and other fantasy driven RPGs. I love the fast-paced high octane vibe of playing first-person shooters, but I think Battlefield 3 is going to seriously pump up the adrenaline.For the past year the game industry has been slowly building up the debate on how Battlefield 3 will compare to Modern Warfare 3. I’ve always been more of a Call of Duty gamer, but Battlefield 2 wasn’t that bad and the graphics in Battlefield 3 look insane! It’s hard to say that I will take sides in this overall debate because both games bring something unique to the table. While MW3 takes us into World World III and the question of who will dominate the globe, Battlefield 3 gives us a realistic-looking military setting that could give MW3 a run for it’s money.

The October 25th release for Battlefield 3 is only a few days away, and I’ve already placed my pre-order through Amazon. I got sick of Gamestop and them telling me I hadn’t pre-ordered stuff in store, even though I did; so now I just pre-order through Amazon and it shows up at my doorstep the day of the release. But anyways, like I was saying, Battlefield 3 is about to be released and the new “Mission Launch” trailer is reminding us why Battlefield 3 is a must for gamers to get. The Multiplayer Beta had already sold me, but the latest trailers and screenshots are the reason why I went ahead and placed my order; this game has some killer graphics that you can’t pass up!

The game is built with the Frostbite 2 engine, an engine that is better in rendering superior animation, realistic lighting and special effects, and incredible sound design. The engine upgrade is what makes this game stand out in comparison to Modern Warfare 3, but I think MW3 will still be able to wow fans with some graphic upgrades and a compelling story line. MW2 was pretty great in my opinion, but I think the 3rd one might be a pleasant surprise and also be a big competitor for Battlefield 3.  For me, it’s not too much of a big debate or decision to make because I’m getting both games. But the fact that Battlefield 3 is getting released in a few days and Modern Warfare 3 isn’t getting released until Nov. 8th does make me more anxious to get my hands on Battlefield 3.

This rivalry between Battlefield 3 and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 is probably going to be a big epic showdown this holiday season. It’s hard to decide which one is better, so it’s probably wise to just admit that both of them are good in their own ways. But of course once both of these games are on the market at the same time, the debate is just going to grow and professional gamers and reviewers are bound to chime in; so I’ll be keeping my eyes open and looking forward to hearing some more professional critics on which game is the better contender. But for now, it’s looking like Battlefield 3 is going to wow the fans with it’s killer graphics.

http://www.battlefield.com/battlefield3

©Jasmine McGee.ThinkSoul25. http://thinksoul25.com

Zombies & Chimera

The countdown to the first two major releases of the anticipated Fall 2011 game lineup is only one day away. I’ve been obsessing over zombies and closely following the news surrounding Dead Island, but I’m also looking forward Resistance 3. I know I’ve been blogging about my excitement about the impending release of Dead Island, but Resistance 3 is going to be one of those must-have games in my collection.

I’m a Sony kid at heart, so I try to support PS3 titles that aren’t multi-platform, which is why there isn’t a doubt in my mind I will be picking up Resistance 3 on Tuesday. While I’m still a fan of Xbox 360 and plan on getting Gears of War 3 for my 360, I tend to spend 85% of my gaming time on the Ps3. All the games I pre-ordered this fall (Battlefield 3, COD:MW3, and Dead Island) are all on Ps3. The only game I will be getting on 360 this fall will be Gears of War 3. Everything else will be strictly on Ps3, especially Uncharted 3 since it’s strictly PS3.

The first Resistance was pretty awesome and the second one was good (had flaws of course) but the third installment is a major graphical improvement. As a gamer, geek, and artist, I can be very picky when it comes to the graphic superiority of game. They have the capability to push a game to the limit, so why not? Even with the limited budgets and/or the lack of funding, I’m sure if the concept was great and a big developer got behind it, then a game can push that limit and provide us gamers with stunning visuals that aren’t just cut-scenes.

I used to get so upset when a game had breathtaking cut-scenes, but then gameplay visuals were nowhere in comparison to the vivid cut-scene that provoked me to play the game. I felt as though it was false advertising, sort of like wearing butt pads or layers of weaves hiding super short hair underneath, it just didn’t seem right to me. The game developers and engineers seemed to place more emphasis on the cut-scene in order to sell the game, but then the gameplay was lacking in epic proportions. Some games are still like that, but with so much next-gen technology, it’s a bad idea to focus on visually stunning cut-scenes and not implement that technology into real-time gameplay. Resistance 3 is one of those games that realized it’s flaws in the past and decided to step up the pace with a whole new look.

The graphics are visually stunning! I was playing the Online Multiplayer Beta yesterday and was blown away by the noticeable difference between the second and third installment in the Resistance franchise.  The Chimera don’t look as cheesy as they often did in the second game and the environment is consistent. I’m not if they used a different engine (sort of how Mass Effect 3 is on a different engine than Mass Effect 2,) but whatever they did worked. I wasn’t too sure if I was going to buy Resistance 3 on the day it came out, but how could I not? Great graphics, a great story line, online multiplayer, and a few laughs while playing around with the pronunciation of Chimera.

Final Thoughts: Basically, I can’t wait to get my hands on Dead Island and Resistance 3. I’ve already read IGN’s review of Dead Island and even though it has some faults (all games do,) it promises to be an action packed game of zombie dismemberment and tactical survival skills. Zombies are always a good concept for a game, but I can’t leave out the classic concept of aliens, that’s where the Chimera come in. Dead Island + Resistance 3= Zombie & Alien madness!

©Jasmine McGee

ThinkSoul25

http://thinksoul25.com

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• Dead Island Introduces a Black Female Character (thinksoul25.com)
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L.A. Noire: An Innovative 40s Thriller

The past two weeks I’ve been playing WWE All Stars and the usual Black Ops team death match and domination circuits. I used to own a lot of games but over time many of them lost my interest and their replay value diminished, so I traded them in. I know you don’t get much for trading in some games, but when I went to game stop two weeks ago I got 74 bucks for trading in two Little Big Planet Game of the Year Editions, some singing game for Ps3, and Resistance 2. I was able to get WWE All Stars and still have money left on my GameStop card. While I was there I asked about the release date of the new Mortal Kombat, which I had pre-ordered the week before. I can’t wait for that game to come out! I played the demo and was literally about to pass out from excitement. That game is sick! I’m going to get to GameStop early that morning and pick it up. I spend a lot of time at GameStop and Micro Center as well. What can I say? I’m kind of a geek!

So while I was having my geeky conversation with the guy behind the counter, the black guy who works there came in and dabbed me up. He’s mad cool and since I just moved to the area, I’m starting to get to know the guys who work there. One of them is nice sometimes but he always has this smug attitude I can’t stand. Eh, whatever. He does help out sometimes though and last time I was in there he told me if I pre-ordered “L.A. Noire” I’d get a bonus stand alone case. How could I resist?! So put five bucks down and since then have been playing WWE All Stars and Black Ops, while reading the latest in gaming news.

There is a lot of great games coming out in 2011 and I’m sure at E3 in June there will be a bunch of hidden surprises. There are games that are rumored to be in the makes but nobody knows for sure, such as GTA 5. Apparently a few weeks ago there was a casting call for voices for a few characters, one named James Pedeaston, who was a child molester in previous GTA games. There is also a need for some other characters that might have a connection to GTA 5, but nobody is quite sure yet. Well I’m sure those who work at Rockstar know but those geeks on the outside (including myself) are in the dark. Yet it is known for sure that Infamous 2, Uncharted 3, Gears of War 3,  and Deux Ex: Human Revolution all have release dates in 2011. I’m excited about all of those titles, especially Gears of War 3 and Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception. Both of those games are on my top favorites list, especially Uncharted. I have so many reasons why I love those games and my favorite games in history, that I will have to devote individual post to them.

Amongst the list of games I love, I’m sure L.A. Noire will become a favorite. I’m a huge fan of period pieces and especially have this fascination with the 1930s and 1940s. I’ve seen some great detective movies set on the 30s and 40s on TCM and I enjoy playing games set in that time. The Godfather was fun to play but it didn’t offer the perks that L.A. Noire promises to deliver. The game is set in Hollywood’s post-war 1947 Golden Era.  It’s not just another 40s gangster game in which you drive around town shooting people, exhorting business owners, and hang out with dames (ladies). This innovative game explores the meaning of being an LAPD detective in the 40s, a time filled with corruption, racketeering, murder, mafia, dirty cops, and other conspiracies.

Instead of playing as Nico Bellic with a dramatic Russian accent or CJ and kickin’ it with his homies over on Grove Street, we are introduced to Cole Phelps. He is a rookie cop in the LAPD force and is working his way up through the ranks of the LAPD. You get to experience his character growth and make or break his rise to higher ranks. The cool thing about L.A. Noire is it’s mixture of adventure, strategy, thriller, and action. It’s like watching a movie, except you get to control the actions and make decisions. This game relies on critical thinking and treats the gamer as if they actually are a real life decision. It’s like a 40s episode of Law Order, except with a rapper playing a cop.

The game isn’t mainly based on missions and levels, but more so a series of cases that you must solve through the usage of clue finding and interrogation. Each time you solve a case you unlock challenges and clues that will bring you closer to the ruthlessness of Hollywood’s Golden Era and organized crime. Every case involves intense blending of action and detective work, which makes for an innovative game that is bound to have replay value.

Yet the most innovative aspect of this game is Rockstar and Team Bondi’s usage of “Motion Scan.” This breakthrough technology is responsible for creating the level of realism scene in the facial expressions of L.A. Noire’s characters. Basically the actors sit in the middle of a circle, comprised of cameras capturing their every facial move and body movement. The camera’s are surrounding the actor and capture close ups from 360 degrees. While the actors deliver their lines, they are being recreated simultaneously in 3d. This results in realistic facial movement, which is key to discerning truths and lies in L.A. Noire detective work.

With it’s utilization of breakthrough technology “Motion Scan”, L.A. Noire is setting a new trend for next generation gaming. The combination of an old school 40s concept and the integration of futuristic technology, this game is going to be one of Rockstar Games most talked about products. I can’t wait to get my hands on L.A. Noire and the bonus content. If only May 17th 2011 was a few days away and not a month. Until then, I’ll have to keep watching 40s detective movies and mentally solve crimes on Law and Order: SVU. If Ice T gets to play a cop, then why shouldn’t  we?

L.A.Noire is 2011’s groundbreaking crime thriller and until it’s release date, we are being teased with breathtaking trailers and exclusive game footage. Check it out for yourself and be sure to place your order for L.A. Noire.