Voter's Choice: Game of the Year

The fans have chosen! This year's Fan Choice BAMF for Game of the Year goes to Batman: Arkham Asylum! The vote was again very close between Batman and Assassin's Creed 2, but Batman pulled ahead with 57% of the vote.

Rate us!

You can now find us on several different blog directories. As we add more, little buttons will start to appear in the sidebar. The main one at the moment is Blogged. Go visit our page and give us a review to boost our rating!

February is Music Month

Why? Because I've been told we need more music coverage (personally, I think it's more the tv/movie aspect we should beef up) so I'm making more music posts, effective immediately, by officially kicking off Music Month here at Installation 04. For February we'll be doing all sorts of music-related stuff, but let us know what kind of regular musical features you all want to see in the comments below. Besides that, makes sure to check out the poll on in the sidebar.

THE 600TH POST

Well, this is interesting...



And what a 600th post that was...

Star Wars Druken Jedi Master

This is one of the funniest clips I've seen in a while. Enjoy!

Review: Borderlands

Having played Borderlands with all four characters for quite a good number of hours, I finally feel I can properly review it. The last game developed by Gearbox Software was Brothers in Arms: Hell's Highway, the series the company is known for. Like Obsidian, Gearbox is more known for its ports of games such as Halo for the PC, Half Life for some consoles, and for sequels to series nobody wants to continue such as Counter-Strike. Frankly, I wasn't expecting too much from Borderlands, but if you haven't gotten the idea from us giving Borderlands our Best Offering Of The Year award, it's pretty good.

The BAMF Awards!

A brief note - the BAMF Awards apply only to game that I have had ample hands on experience with. This year the only notable exception is Uncharted 2. Before the PS3 Fanboys flame up the site, you wouldn't want me to include Uncharted 2 anyway, because friends tell me it's the same-old same-old as the first game but with better visuals.

Here are the winners:

Best Shooter - Borderlands

Some might consider this an upset considering Modern Warfare 2 and Halo 3 ODST both came out this year; however, neither game presented anything new or groundbreaking. Borderlands, on the other hand, took massive leaps forward in the shooting world. It created a fast-pace frenzy of firing filled with gun lust and gore galore. It has redefined the RPG and Shooter. Modern Warfare 2 comes in second place, largely because Modern Warfare 2 is short. Unlike Halo 3 ODST, Modern Warfare 2's short length isn't a problem because the game is non-stop action and well-made the entire way.

Best Graphics - Batman: Arkham Asylum

On the PS3, the Graphics for this game blew my mind. It was Batman come to life, and unlike Uncharted 2 where graphics are the game, in Batman the creators made graphics a fantastic complement to the game. I also love attention to small details, and in Batman everything is done right. Every chair has the wood marks/lines, every floor has each square perfectly detailed, and even Batman's suit retains any battle scars you get throughout the game. All I can say is...WOW!

Best RPG (games like Borderlands don't count) - Dragon Age: Origins

I didn't play this game too much since I only rented it, but it reminded me of KOTOR 1 and 2. No surprise given the maker. Head to head against Borderlands, Borderlands wins out, but I feel that Dragon Age: Origins is a true return to the lore-filled RPG. As an aside, if you want a fun RPG, check out Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2 (it's along the lines of a Baldur's Gate type game).

Best Music - Guitar Hero: Greatest Hits

Is it cheap giving best music to a music game? Why yes, yes it is. If I was a massive Beetles fan the Rockband game would have won.

Most Addicting - Ratchet Clank Future: A Crack in Time

It's predecessor (Ratchet Clank Future 1) returned my attention to the series, and while this game is more of the same as the first future, it still rocks. The crazy weapon names, humor, and massive destruction keep you entertained for hours. Honorable mentions in this category go to the juggernauts (Assassin's Creed 2, Batman: Arkham Asylum, and Borderlands).

Best Co-Op - Borderlands

This is the Co-Op from my dreams! You play the actual game, but with other people! It is like World of Warcraft collides with Halo 1 and Call of Duty into a massively fun adventure.

Best Online/Multiplayer - Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2

While Modern Warfare 1's online play was waaayyyy better, Modern Warfare 2 lucks out in that it is the only real online game to have come out. Game-wise, this game has received a lot of hatred that I don't find justified. The single-player is very intense and you will love it. The Challenges are also fun. The integration of cutscenes with gameplay is also an innovation, but one that was out-shadowed by Assassin's Creed 2 similar interwinding.

Best Action - Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2

For me, an action game is about non-stop killing. Borderlands won Best Shooter so I won't give it best Action, and I consider Batman more of a detective/stealth with combat mixed in. Assassin's Creed 2 is a game where the combat is a bit repetitive and focuses more on cool acrobatics. That left me with few choices I considered as a true action game. Then it hit me: Modern Warfare 2. The game isn't all shooting; it is a suspense ride with plot twists and cool cinematic scenes built into the story. It even has a few surprises in game.

Best Adventure (TIE) - Assassin's Creed 2, Batman: Arkham Asylum

Are these games adventure games? Well, they each take you on a journey. They each involve puzzle challenges and learning more about yourself on the journey. Each has an arch-foe, and each has an internal struggle. If it sounds like an Odyssey it's an adventure game in my book, and both of these take the cake.

Best Fighting (TIE)- Street Fighter IV, Punch-Out!!!

While Street Fighter IV is a fun game, it is very challenging and the controls are hard to learn for an American Boy. So, I give it a tie with a game that is often over-looked and doesn't get the loving it needs: Punch-Out for the Wii. Punch-Out is plain fun. Using the Wii-Fit Board, I get to dodge, dip, punch, jab, jump, everything. It captured what drew me to Fight Night Round 3 as well as the soul and animation of Mike Tyson's original. You'll have a hell of a good time with Punch-Out.

Best Sports Game - Madden NFL 10

As a sports guru I take this category very seriously. While the new FIFA game gave Madden a run for it's money, Madden 10 wins the award because it saved the series. Since 2005, Madden games have been getting worse and worse. Madden '09 was an atrocity. Nay, it was an abomination. 10 saves the series and takes it back to the best in the series, Madden 2005. While not as good as Madden 2005, 10 is a sign that the series is back on the right path.

Most Challenging - Demon's Souls

I did not play it, but tales of its difficulty are legendary. It ranks up there with the first Xbox Ninja Gaiden.

Best Strategy - Halo Wars

Another one I didn't play, but given the Age of Empires history and high reviews, I can sit back and agree.

Best Cutscenes - Halo Wars [and Uncharted 2]

Again, I said Uncharted 2 wouldn't be mentioned, but I have heard that when it comes to cutscenes this game blows everyone out of the water. I'd also like to mention Assassin's Creed 2, because cutscenes fit flawlessly into the game and created a narrative that seemed to continue without pause. All in all, after youtubing the cutscenes, the Halo Wars cutscenes were epic. To win this BAMF, epicness is a req.

Most Underrated - The Conduit

Asking youself what is this game? A Wii Shooter that rivals Halo 1. Yes, it rivals Halo 1. For more info, check the archives over at Installation 04.

Best Wii Game - Madworld

Alright, so everyone loved Mario Brothers Wii. I found it boring alone. It's the same exact thing as the DS one, only now with Yoshi's. Oh, and the Koopa Kids return. Big Whoop. I still don't get their relation to Bowser. Anyway, the game is boring. Madworld, on the other hand, is just plain crazy. I only rented this game and was blown away by the sheer insanity of this game. It's like the Gears of War Chainsaw meets, well, whatever goes on in Rorshach's head.

Best Sequel - Assassin's Creed 2

Some sequels were solid and did more of the same, like Modern Warfare 2 or Ratchet Clank Future 2. Assassin's Creed 2, on the other hand, did what X-Men 2 did and it raised the bar. Not only did it fix all the flaws of the first game, but it also took the game to new depths and combined Ubisoft's best work (Prince of Persia, Splinter Cell) into a game for the ages. The storyline is also one that keeps you on edge.

Best Game Based on a Movie (TIE) - Ghostbusters, X-Men Origins: Wolverine

Oh noes! Games based on movies! Well, both games are among the 20 best games this year in my book. Both are fun and highly entertaining. Both are solid 8s and are cheap now given the infamous nature of movie games. Wolverine is a BAMF after all, so he was also due for a BAMF Award.

The Byestander (aka Most Overrated) - Halo 3 ODST

You can read my review on this, but it's time that Bungie stops getting a pass. Halo 1 was years ago, and since Halo 1 each Halo game gets worse and worse. 3 was slightly better, but still fit along with the downward trend. Halo 3: ODST was very short, not at all challenging for a Halo Vet, the graphics sucked, and the game wasn't even fun until the end. It was rather boring watching your team-mates do everything. The only good point was that the game had massive potential and a very creative story. Never again will I let Microsoft rob me blind.

The Pussy Dishonor Award for Worst Game - Watchmen: The End is Nigh

What a shitty game. Not only is it an outdated street fighter type game from the SNES days, but it is also bad at it. The combat is lame. The enemies are lame. And the graphics are too dark to see anything. Epic Fail!

The Pussy Dishonor Award for Worst Sequel - Resident Evil 5

Huh? I can't run AND shoot like in every game in existence since the PS2 hit? WTF! FAIL!

The Pussy Dishonor for Outdated Cutscene Graphics - Halo 3: ODST

Besides the very strange facial expressions, the cutscenes looked 4 years in the past. In fact, it looks worse than Halo 3's cutscene graphics. Even Watchmen had way better graphics. C'mon Bungie, get with the program here.

3rd Place Game of the Year BAMF - Borderlands

Let me be clear: in terms of fun and replay value Borderlands is, without a doubt, game of the year. The game could have won well over 75% of the BAMFs on this page. This is a game I will still be playing years to come. My only problem is that for Game of the Year, I look towards fun, but more importantly a game that you will remember years to come (even if you don't play it again). For example, I still remember Bioshock and hold it dearly. When the dust settles, I will remember this game as fun, but there is nothing story-wise to latch on to.

The Dirty Harold's Assistant (2nd Place) - Batman: Arkham Asylum

Honestly, this and Assassin's Creed 2 are equal. Both games are nearly perfect. The only flaws are the boss battles against Killer Croc, and especially irritating, the last boss battle against Joker. What lame boss fights. Anyway, the Scarecrow fights in this game will give me chills for years, and the storyline was the best story-line of any game since Bioshock.

The Dirty Harold (Game of the Year) - Assassin's Creed 2

So why did Assassin's Creed 2 win over Batman? I'm a history guy, and I loved the historical fictions and truths weaved into the game. The Truth segment was also the most incredible moment of any game this year. Like I said, this and Batman are on even footing.

BAMF Awards: Coming Soon!

Our partner site, Installation 04, gives out the BOOTY Awards every year. It is a compilation of the best games the past year. To honor them, and because every video game review site needs them, we now unveil the Cutting Edge's BAMF Awards!!!!

For those of you who don't know, a BAMF in slang is a bad-ass mother f%*#er! For example, see Shaft. A BAMF can also refer to a female who kicks some ass, like the fictional Kasumi (Dead or Alive IV) or the real-life Torrie Wilson.

Anyway, for the purposes of this website (for those of you who are still reading instead of looking at the picture), a BAMF Award goes to the game that is the best in a category. The categories are: Best Shooter, Best Graphics, Best Music, Most Addicting, Best Co-Op, Best Online, Best RPG, Best Action (includes stealth games), Best Adventure, Most Under-rated Game, and lastly, Best Cutscenes. Then, a special BAMF, called The Dirty Harold, is given to the Game of the Year (the Super BAMF Award!). 2nd and 3rd place Games of the Year will also be announced; they receive 2nd Best BAMF and 3rd Best BAMF.

Like everything in life, for every positive there is a negative. So what is the opposite of a BAMF? A pussy [cat]. The pussy [cat] dishonors go to the Worst Game of the Year and Worst Sequel of the year. The Byestander Award goes to the 1 game who doesn't fit in with the BAMFs or pussies (err I mean pussy cats). It is the byestander; the byestander award goes to the Most Overrated Game of the Year! Enjoy!!!

Street Fighter IV Game Review

I am not a fan of the Street Fighter Series. I played Street Fighter II, arguably the best one, many times at a friend's house back in the day. Every round went the same: I picked Blanka, got my ass kicked as I aimlessly mashed controls, and stopped playing after a few rounds. So what compelled me to get Street Fighter IV given my hatred of the Japanese Fighting game? It was on sale at a Blockbuster going out of business. And so we come to the fabled bad news, good news scenario. The bad news is I still suck; the Japanese have a way of making very complicated fighting games with no tutorials. The good news is that, partially thanks to extremely very very easy mode (that's not the actual name but you get it), I love this game! Now for the review:

First, the fighting mechanics. The fighting mechanics are awesome and still complicated, by now with the 360's dual-axis set-up, a lot less complicated than the time I played Street Fighter II. I play as Ryu who is fairly easy to learn, and my only complaint is that every time I try to do an Ultimate Attack, my character jumps in the air or shoots the same fireball out. Alas, this is a noob problem, but, the fighting is fast pace and fun enough that it got this noob to play for hours and even look at some tutorials online to get better!

Second, the difficulty. Even playing on very easy the last two opponents in the "classic" mode are hard and very cheap. The last both, Seth, is the cheapest I have seen in all my 14+ years of gaming. He has one attack that sucks you on and is instant death. So why even bother? Well, when bashing buttons leads to victory you feel very accomplished. In fact, I can proudly say I now win 3 of 4 matches. There is joy in the struggle, but it's one that would be less difficult if the game had a tutorial in it (or my game's manual wasn't missing)

Third, the graphics. Love them. Fantastic! Brilliant! It is cartoony and serious, bringing the street fighter game to life in a dazzling way. If any IGN'ers are reading this, they probably give the game a 9 or 10 on this section alone.

Fourth (and last) characters, arenas, and modes. The game offers many modes from do-it yourself training, to classic, to online, death match, etc. The campaign (or classic) also has cool anime cutscenes that make no sense, but are nice anyway. The characters are all quirky, unique, and I'm drawn to them. There are also many characters to unlock so you can get a solid amount of gametime out of this baby. The fighting arenas are all over the world and each have their own cool thing (one arena is a drive-in movie and teenagers are flipping cars and going wild over the fight). the music is sweet too.

Outside of the Super Smash Brothers Series, the only fighting game I was ever able to get into was Dead or Alive 4. Well folks, add Street Fighter IV to the list. Maybe it's a coincidence that both end in IV, or maybe I'm just older, but I thoroughly enjoy this game besides sucking tremendously.

Final Score: 8

The game gets an 8 because it is in dire need of a meaningful tutorial or else noobs like me will stay noobs and play this game once in a while once all the flare leaves.

Game of the Year Poll

The poll results are in and a run-off is required:

Batman Arkham Asylum and Assassin's Creed 2 tied in most votes, with Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 in 3rd. A run-off between Batman and Assassin has been posted up so start voting!

Resident Evil 5: Among the Worst Games Ever

After I review a game I usually see where IGN places the game. Just like Uncharted 1, IGN gives this game a 9.5.....WTF? A 9.5 FOR A GAME WHERE YOU CAN'T SHOOT AND MOVE?! So I scanned for the reason. Oh wait, hmm, so awesome graphics now give a game a 9.5. They must have given Transformers 2 a 10 for the robots while the rest of the world cringed in horror. Horror leads us to this review of a horror game, which was horrifying to play. Yes, the graphics are pretty but the train stops there. My guy moves to slowly and my knife doesn't extend out far enough to kill anyone. Then, when I manage to run away and start shooting, in about 5 seconds enemies swarm me again because I can't move while shooting. Oh, and forget about cover; zombies come up from behind you to. To top it off, headshots don't kill zombies......they messed up the lore on that one.

Basically you spend the entire game seeing a well-done cutscene, being swarmed by at least 20 zombies and maybe a boss, running away from them, shooting for 5 seconds, and repeating until you die or run out of ammo. If you run out of ammo the fun begins: staying in place knifing; but wait, your knife extends about 2 inches from you so is ineffective at killing enemies until they are close enough to kill you.

While graphics are nice substance counts; the combat mechanics are a fail like this game.

Final Rank: 4.5

This game gets a 4.5 only because story, characters, and the game itself look nice; everything else is a doomsday scenario. Well, at least this Resident Evil 5 truly does horrify the player because it sucks.

Ask Us Anything!

So there's this website called formspring.me. It's so new, it doesn't even have a wiki page yet! The concept seems simple enough: you type a question and the user responds. So I figured since our e-mail never gets any hits, I would remove it and add up one of these instead. Now you can use the handy box in the sidebar under "Questions or Comments?" (colored brightly to catch your attention) to ask us a question or leave a comment. You don't even need a formspring account to do so! If it catches on, we'll pick our favorites every so often and publish them on the site here. I realize that it's my account and not the site's, but it'll do for now. So, ask us anything!

UPDATE: Fixed it. Now it belongs to the site.

Resident Evil 5 Preview

Alright so I got this game at a Blockbuster's out of business sale. This post is completely useless except for some foreshadow: the game sucks. I have been known to jump the gun on games, but I understand that games tend to start out slowly. This game is different, the shooting mechanics are all screwed up. I hated Fallout 3 because of VATs but I could at least play the game how I wanted; I had a love/hate relationship with Uncharted 1 but hated it because the shooting was bizarre (the enemies could dodge point blank bullets!), but again, at least I could play how I wanted. This game is completely different. I can't play how I want. Why? Well.........I CAN'T KILL 10 zombies, a sub-boss, and a boss at the same time if:
A) Headshots don't kill them, hence I waste the 10 ammo rounds I get
[MOST IMPORTANTLY] B) I HAVE TO STAND STILL TO SHOOT! WTF?!
C) My guy moves slower than a dead person (pun intended)

Review, or more like slaughter, to come soon (if I can bear to play this game again).

Installation04 BOOTYs '09 Edition

Welcome to the Installation 04 BOOTYs '09 (in '10)! The reason we're posting this 21 days into the new year is that, well, it took me a while to play all those games from last year and once I did it took me a while to decide what game was deserving enough to be the Golden BOOTY of '09. (For those of you who are new, BOOTY doesn't come from nowhere. It stands for Best Offering(s) Of The Year.) This year was a hard fought battle between Borderlands and Arkham Asylum. Nothing else I played last year came close to the excellence of those two. But who will come out on top? Read on to find out.

Welcome to the World of the Plastic Beach

The long awaited and much anticipated third album from "fictional" band Gorillaz is finally due out March 8th and the band is finally delivering the goods. First and foremost is the track list:

• "Orchestral Intro"
• "Welcome to the World of the Plastic Beach" (featuring Snoop Dogg) 
• "White Flag" (featuring Kano and Bashy) 
• "Rhinestone Eyes"
• "Stylo" (featuring Bobby Womack and Mos Def) 
• "Superfast Jellyfish" (featuring Gruff Rhys and De La Soul) 
• "Empire Ants" (featuring Little Dragon) 
• "Glitter Freeze" (featuring Mark E Smith) 
• "Some Kind of Nature" (featuring Lou Reed) 
• "On Melancholy Hill"
• "Broken"
• "Sweepstakes" (featuring Mos Def and Hypnotic Brass Ensemble) 
• "Plastic Beach" (featuring Mick Jones and Paul Simonon) 
• "To Binge" (featuring Little Dragon) 
• "Cloud of Unknowing" (featuring Bobby Womack) 
• "Pirate Jet"

A very interesting list of collaborates this time around. I've been following the album's progress and am wondering a few things, namely where some of the guests have disappeared to that had been working on songs for the album. Cut I suppose? Perhaps we'll see them on another "B-Sides" or "D-Sides" type album after the release of Plastic Beach. My biggest question is what happened to 'Electric Shock'? De La Soul was to be featured on it. We do know that the other two demos released way back will be featured on the final CD. For the album version of 'Stylo' released today, hit the break.

Ghostbusters: Game Review

I know it's a couple of months dated but I just had a chance to play through the game. So here we go:

Ghostbusters (PS3 / Xbox 360)

Disclaimer: If you are a huge Ghostbusters fan like myself, stop reading the review and buy it right now! As a huge fan of the movies, I loved the story, laughed a lot, and enjoyed every minute of this game!!!!

To you non-Ghostbusters fans, then more about the game. You play as a young ghostbuster and go around zapping ghosts and saving NYC. You even fight a few familiar foes from the movies! The graphics are awesome and it's a 3rd person shooter in disguise. The flaws are that the story, at times, gets hard to follow because they mess up at explaining in the beginning (this gets fixed later). The only other flaw that really ticked me off was that sometimes the Ghostbusters get stuck, and if you run ahead of them which I did all the time the game won't let you advance. So you sit around frustrated until you realize that maybe you should stick with the ghostbusters. Then you spend minutes hitting them with your lasers and everything you got so they move again. Despite that big flaw, the game provides a solid 4-6 hours of fun. Yes, the game is on the short-end, but I bought the game for $10 so considering that you can probably buy the game at a max of $30 that isn't a problem.


Conclusion: You can't go wrong if you like ghosts, shooters, comedy, or the movies. After playing blockbusters like Batman Arkham Asylum, Borderlands, and Assassin's Creed 2, I still found this game highly entertaining. It's a solid 8.

Final Score: 8

The Cutting Edge

Newsflash! Here's some changes you should be aware of:

• RaiderBear30 is now KromeBear30
• KromeBear30 now has his own corner: The Cutting Edge
• This site is an annex of our site
• It focuses on reviews and the like solely by KromeBear
• You can find his content there from now on
• There is now a feed from The Cutting Edge in the sidebar
  
• To get to The Cutting Edge, click on a news story in the feed, or on KromeBear's name in the sidebar
• The header I made for his page is nicer than the one for the main page

This brings me back to the days of Gameweb: Viewpoint, a Gameweb page dedicated only to reviews. Not that any of our readers will have any idea what I'm talking about... Anyway, hope you enjoy the new page! The two of us have a strange history of merging our sites together and separating them. Hopefully, this time it'll stick for good!

Breaking News!

This isn't that shocking for those of you who know me, but we've annexed ourselves to Installation4, a site that dedicates itself to video game news, previews, discussions, etc. The site is http://installation4.blogspot.com/ I will also add a link in the lower right corner

Metroid Mystery Solved

So, I'm sure you've played a little game called Smash Bros. Brawl by now and chances are you've probably also played on the Frigate Orpheon stage from Metroid Prime. And if you've played on that stage you've probably heard the awesome Metroid Prime theme that plays in the background. Well, awesome except for one thing: that incredibly lame narrator guy at the beginning. Since the game's release, fans have been wondering why Nintendo nerfed the song with with that incredibly unnecessary narrator. I have stumbled across the answer. Here is the song as it appears in Brawl:

Hit the break to see where that damned narration came from!

Lightning Round Reviews

In the "Lightning Round Review" section I will give a quick break-down of multiple games. In this first section I will quickly touch on the games I played over the break:

1.) Assassin's Creed 2 [Xbox 360] Rank: 9.5
Ubisoft hit a grandslam with this one; unlike its predecessor the game does not get repetitive. In fact, you are constantly moving. It's the same great action, fantastic story, and mind-blowing "The Truth". Well worth the money; only flaw is that the combat gets dull by the end, but the game makes up for it with the Assassin's Tombs missions which remind me a lot of Prince of Persia. This game is so good I've made Etzio, the hero, my new alter-ego

2.) Batman: Arkham Asylum [PS3] Rank: 9.5
I really wanted to give this game a 10, but the only flaw in the game is that while the boss fights are memorable, all but two are also meaningful. To be specific, I'm referring to the Joker and Killer Croc boss fights as the memorable but not meangingful battles (especially the final battle against the Joker, true to the name what a joke). They are fun and unique, but when you play through you'll see why the two fights let me down. Other than that Batman is a perfect game all around. A+ graphics, A+ flawless combat, A+ stealth and action mix, A+ everything. For you MGS fans, the Scarecrow fights will blow your mind and bring flashbacks to Psycho Mantis. A MUST BUY!!!

3.) Borderlands [Xbox 360] Rank: 9; Co-Op Rank: 9
This is how I imagined Fallout 3 was going to be! The game is a very fun RPG-shooter mix and the co-op is the best I've seen for any shooter since Halo (the original). In fact, it may be better. Towards the end the side-quests tend to be more like chores, but my favorite part of this game is traveling through Pandora raiding Bandit outposts and monster hovels.

4.) Halo 3 ODST [Xbox 360] Rank: 6.5
A lot of people disagree with me on this one but here's the deal: I beat the game in 1 night playing for 4 hours, clocking this game shorter than the original Riddick (Butcher Bay). The story is very creative/innovative, but the fighting is boring same old same old until the very last combat action sequence of the game. At the time, I entered the last battle thinking "Wow, the game is starting to get really amazing; it reminds me of the first Halo!" only to learn that was the last battle. That's right folks, the only good part of the game is at the end. If this game were $30 or $40, I'd say go for it; but at $60, I feel like Microsoft and the B-Crew committed armed robbery.

5.) New Super Mario Brothers Wii [Wii] Rank: 7; Co-Op Rank: 8
Well here's the problem: it's exactly like the NDS game. Sure, the co-op is awesome. I love seeing Yoshi and the Koopa Kids return, but the game is boring. I find myself getting through three or four levels with extreme ease and getting bored. Once I hit five levels I'm done. Oh, and did I mention the levels are very short? The game itself is fun for those three levels, and I appreciate Nintendo extending the classic side-scroller remake once more; however, I find the game a lot more fun and challenging when I play it with my five year old sister. If you love Mario, like I do, or have someone to play it, then buy it. At $50, you'll break just about even as a solo player in satisfaction terms.

Jewels, Cheats, and Champions

Hey all! In this post I will briefly mention the 3 most under-rated, most over-rated, and then greatest games of all time. If you haven't checked them out I suggest you do.

3 Most Under-rated:

3rd Place = Klonoa 2 (PS2). This game is a classic adventure that brings back memories from child-hood games. The game relies on good old fashion side-scrolling platform fun. The game tested your wit, jumping/timing skills, and combat through over fifty whacky worlds. Loads of fun. My Rating: 8

2nd Place = MGS 2 (PS2). Maybe this game isn't really under-rated because everyone knows about it, but it doesn't get the credit it deserves because you play as Raiden. Regardless, the plot blew my mind and the gameplay was a big step up from MGS 1, as were the graphics. My Rating: 8

1st Place = Dragon Quest VIII (PS2). No one state side has heard of or played this game but me, but it is the best RPG I have ever played. Yes, better even than the fabled Final Fantasy VII. It is a world like DBZ (drawings are by Toriyama himself) filled with awesome creatures and very fast pace (despite turn-based) combat. The story is touching and orchestra music rivals Zelda: Ocarina of Time. My Rating: 10

3 most Over-Rated:

3rd Place: Half-Life 2 (PC / Xbox 360). It was good, but really guys? This game was given the best game of the decade award by pollsters. What makes it so special? To me it seems like an above average shooter. Yeah, it's fun, but I'd give it an 8, not over 9000.

2nd Place: Uncharted - Drake's Fortune (PS3). Graphics awesome, Story Line awesome, everything else...not so much. Enemies could dodge bullets at point blank, and the premise of the combat was fill a room with as many enemies as possible, give you shitty guns, and make enemies impossible to kill. I gave it a 6.5 (lasting impression), 7 first impression; boy was I surprised it got a 9 by Gameinformer. Honestly, play it. After the first few combat sequences you will see what I mean.

1st Place: Fallout 3 (Xbox 360/PC/PS3). Let me make this clear - I hated the VAT System. If I buy a game that looks like a shooter I want it to be a shooter. I don't want the game to punish me for making my own shots. This game could have been fantastic, but the inability to play without VATS (which I did and got a painful experience) drag this game down to a 7.

3 Best Games of All Time (these games need no build up except 3rd place)

3rd Place: Dragon Quest VIII (PS2)......I'm telling you, it's good! My Rating: 10

2nd Place: Metal Gear Solid 4 (PS3) My Rating: 10

1st Place: Legend of Zelda, Ocarina of Time (N64) My Rating: 10

Introduction

Welcome to The Cutting Edge! Today is our inaugural day, and those of you reading this have the honor of reading our very first post! As the URL suggests, this website is dedicated to video game reviews. I feel that many of the mainstream reviews like IGN and Gameinformer have sold out to some big companies; by this I mean that games whose companies advertise with the reviewer are given more favorable reviews and are over-hyped. The purpose of this website is to give an opinion from an outsider with no agenda but to share his thoughts.

My review system is fairly harsh and goes as follows:
10 = a perfect game; this are few and very rare
9.5 = a game this is nearly perfect but is missing that extra special something or has a minor flaw
9 = an excellent game; the best of the best. Not perfect but a must-buy.
8 = a very good game that will be loads of fun; still a must buy
7.5 = a game that is fun but has room for improvement; just at the cusp of must-buys.
7 = a decent game; some parts are fun and others have flaws. Wait for price-drop.
6 = an average game; you get what you pay for. Wait for price-drop or just rent.
5 = a below average game; the game may still be enjoyable but is frustrating. Rent first.
4 = the first category of bad games, these games are bad. A 4 has some parts that make it okay
1-3= not much separates these horrible games; 1s are the worst and 3s are slightly better

As you can see, with my review system you should buy anything within the 8 to 10 category A.S.A.P. If you have the money go for a 7.5 as well. A 5 - 7 game deserves waiting for a pice drop or renting first. If you want laughs, rent a 1 - 4 game but know that the game will suck.

Hope you all enjoy the first post. The next post will be the 3 games I view as the most over-rated of all time, the 3 most under-rated of all time (also known as jewels that you should check out), and the 3 best games of all time. After that I will move on to some game reviews from 2009s greatest hits!

Movie Review: Daybreakers

Daybreakers is a vampire movie with an interesting plot concept. In this film vampires are the prominent species on earth. Humans have nearly gone extinct, and are harvested for their blood in order to feed the large vampire population. However, a problem arises when the vampires start running out of humans to extract blood from. This long period of blood deprivation starts to cause vampires to transform into extremely violent feral monstrosities.

Now, faced with this dilemma, the main character of the story Edward Dolton tries to formulate a blood substitute which would satisfy the vampires blood cravings. In addition it is important to note Edward is different from most Vampires, and pities the humans. He ultimately hopes that his substitute will eliminate the need to hunt humans so that perhaps humans and vampires will be able to coexist peacefully. Edward later on encounters a group of humans which show him that there is in fact a cure for vampirism, despite what everyone else believes. The rest of the movie involves Edward trying to harness the cure and regain his humanity, while trying to hide from a group of elitist vampires who fear the idea of a cure.

Review: Monkey Island Special Edition

The Secret of Monkey Island: Special Edition is an enhanced remake of the old school adventure game from 1990. Unless you were a teenager in 1990, you've probably never played the game. But you might have heard of it. Monkey Island has been an extremely popular franchise since its launch and has spawned four sequels, the latest of which from Telltale Games concluded with its final episode last month. Monkey Island was also one of the earliest games Tim Schafer  worked on. As an old time adventure game, it's point and click, which may seem boring and archaic by today's standards, but the wit and charm of Monkey Island compels you to play on.

Games. Games! GAMES!

So the Blockbuster near my house decided to go out of business and I picked up stacks of games there for very little monies. So lately I've been playing through this pile of old games from last year and beyond... into the past... you know what I mean. Anyway, I've also got a pile of current games here (by current I mean the last couple of months) that I've yet to play. I'm in the process of attempting to do so so I can properly asses what game deserves what award for the BOOTYs. Speaking of booty, I just played through The Secret of Monkey Island, which, by the way, is twenty years old. Seems like I've been hearing about that game my whole life... I guess that makes sense, actually. So I suppose I'll review that soon. And Resistance. The first one. Random, I know. Borderlands is awesome of what I've played so far, and I was skeptical about Darksiders, but that one's pretty good thus far too. The road ahead of me is daunting. It's also quite fun. So many games... So many still to come...

Oh, and I'd avoid Dark Void. The game's rather awkward and nauseating from what I've played. Also, I don't think I can possibly stand another game with Nolan North staring as Everyman.

Random Video for Today

The First Post of the Decade

Well, it's now the second day of the new year, so happy new decade everyone! After seeing how far we've come, I wonder where the next ten years will take us. All I know is that I've spent the beginning of this new decade watching a show from 50 years ago that's just as good today as it was then. Real quality never ages. Just like us. Another decade and we'll really be old! Hopefully, we'll also be a bit more flashy by then.