Amazing Drake

One word that simply describes Uncharted: Drakes Fortune has got to be amazing. This is not to imply that it is the best game, game-play wise, of all time. It is not to imply that it is even worth the average gamers time. But this is what it does imply. Drake has managed to do something that I haven't seen another video game do. It has incredible detailed graphics, no hiccups in the game-play, a detailed interactive environment, and my personal favorite, EXCELLENT voice acting. Though an argument could be made that other games have done other things that I have mentioned, none of them come close to the voice acting that Naughty Dog was able to implement with Drakes Fortune. It surprised me from the very first time I played this game how real it felt that the game was. I felt as if I was playing a movie because of the fact that the voice acting was so believable and so, normal. Other games have had terrific voice acting, such as Metal Gear Solid, but none of them come close to the believability of Drake, well done Naughty Dog.
Now, as far as the game-play itself. I like the climbing aspect of Nathan Drake, and the fact that when he does climb it looks believable. The motion control scheme was not forced, they did just enough to make you remember this is a PS3 exclusive game, but they did not try to go overboard. Here are two things that upset me while playing this gorgeous, well put together game. First of all, the gun-fights get repetitive. There aren't many times that you will be able to just go in and shoot. If you try to make this game a Stranglehold you will absolutely, without a doubt, fail. Duck and cover is the name of this game, and that can get monotonous at times. In accordance with that, sometimes it gets throw-your-controller-against-the-wall frustrating, and at other times it's just a matter of patience.
Overall thought, the game is well put together, has a treasure hunt feel story line, nothing extreme, but nothing boring, and I really enjoyed having one other, or at times two other supporting characters running along with me through the jungle. Bottom line, if you have an appreciation for gaming, and all that goes into it, you will enjoy Drake.

New Street Fighter Screen

Check this out....that is all.

Back then Assassins

I just finished playing an excellently produced, written, and all around meshed well type of game. Assassins Creed managed to do something that most history-type games do not do for me. It managed to engulf me and make me keep playing. It made me keep playing to the point where I bought it on a Wednesday and finished it on that following Saturday.
AC is in it's essence a stealth game. But the stealth part isn't as strict as a Splinter Cell might be. Granted there are times where it is best not to be seen at all, but to do that, with no map of where enemies are, is tough, but it is challenging in a good way. As I went through this game I thought to myself that the production team did a good job in that it made AC a stealth game, but also had pretty well-to-do fighting moves as well. It wasnt just, mash one button and be done with it, you actually have to be aware of your surroundings a bit.
The one big knock I have on this game is the fact that the dialogue could have been a lot more varied. Every time i would save a woman she would say one of two pre-determined dialogue lines. The men were the same. Honestly, that's the only thing I noticed that really bugged me. At times it can be a bit frustrating when you are trying to climb up a wall only to jump off of it back toward the opposite way you did not want to go, but that isn't major.
One of the great thinks about this game is the chatter that you hear from people when you are walking amongst them. If you start climbing a building people may say, "What is that man doing? He's going to hurt himself." Or they may say, "What a strange man." Or my personal favorite, "Wow he's going to hurt himself. And if he does I'M NOT going to HELP him!" As if to say that I wanted help.
I thought that the regeneration of life is extremely forgiving as you do not have to walk around looking for health. In the whole scheme of things this would have been extremely unnecessary and would have slowed the game down quite a bit.
What I do admire about this game is how it stuck to the subtle theme of a bird of prey. The tip of your character's hoody looks like the edge of a beak of a bird. When you jump from tall buildings after getting a birds eye view of the city, you hear the screech of a hawk. And most importantly, you are acting as a bird of prey while roaming through the city looking for your targets. All of the "side-quests" if you will are not a burden and actually help you in the game (climbing tall structures helps you get an understanding of where things are in the city, helping strangers from soldiers will allow you to have allies in the area). The only thing that is a burden, if you choose to do it, is looking for all the different flags in the area. Something I did not choose to do, and if I did, it would probably take me a month or so to find all of the flags. There seem to be about 250 or more in the game. And with such wide open spaces, that is a little more than I want to try and accomplish.
Overall this is a highly addictive game. The story line isn't something that you will drop your jaw on, but it does stay compelling. As far as the replay value, I am not sure because I just finished the game and am not looking to playing it all over again. But definitely, if you own an XBox 360 or a PS3, get this game.

-Jeremy

Usually when a game is pushed back, part of me is let down. When a game is pushed back it's as if the developer is toying with me. They are reeling me in, only to shoot me when I get close. I feel lied to because they told me it would be out a certain day, and then it isn't. But GTAIV is going to be worth it. I just saw another trailer for it, with more speaking from the characters, and I have made an observation. What is it with so many Russian video game characters. Maybe it's just me because the movie Hitman had a lot of Russians in it, and then that made me think of Metal Gear Solid 2 with Russians in it. Ok, it's probably just me. To the point though, this game looks as if it is going to be unbelievable deep and fun. I can't wait...actually...yes I can because I have already waited.

-Jeremy