Star Wars: Battlefront 2

Woot. Another Star Wars game. This ones unlike the last. Battlefront is more of a shooter. A little different than Halo or Call of Duty.

      This Star Wars doesn't have much of a story. More just getting to play in the game the same you would multiplayer or just skirmishes. Basically you pick a role. There are different kinds. You could be a Blaster which is like the grunts up in the front. A sniper; stay back and hang low. Demolition; blow stuff up. And other types. But the point is to either destroy all your opponents enemies OR capture all their bases. It's an all out war from there. You can use different vehicles to blow them up or try to use it as a shield as you capture their base. If you die don't worry, you respawn at one of your captured bases and that plays a key role in winning the matches. While your dead you can choose a different person to be too. Eventually you may have the opputunity to play as one of the heros. I like Darth Maul. But the fun in this game is that even though the action is quick, you still need strategy to win it or else if is just a stalemate most of the match. Its not like it is the most interesting game in the world or the most challenging, but it does offer you some quick fun without having to complete missions or anything. That is why I love it so much. That and because its Star Wars.

   

Kingdom Hearts the series

So this is one of my all time favorite games ever. Kingdom Hearts. Probably Disney's best selling game to date.

          The main story is of a boy living on an island with his friends and seemingly no adults. One day these shadow beasts start appearing and Sora (the main character) uses a wooden stick to fight them off. Well that does nothing but at one point his stick turns into a giant key. This you later learn is a key blade and can open up portals to different worlds. Sora is then thrown around in space and lands on a different planet than his own. Who should be meet there? None other than Donald and Goofy. From then on out your mission is clear. Rescue and save your friends, and save the different worlds of Disney from destruction.

         Seems pretty dumb or childish right? NO! This game has such a emotional story line and ties it in with Disney. From Atlantis to the Beast's Castle, all the way to the 100 acre woods, and even back in time to King Mickey's first show. You get to travel through these Disney characters home lands and help them defeat the evil that is trying to take over. All the while looking for clue on how to save your friends. This isn't like your typically happy friendly Disney either. It's a twisted universe of what Disney is. Mickey is a badass who can basically beat the crap out of anyone. It's awesome to be able to fight along side your favorite characters. Its sort of like reliving your childhood in an adult way.

       They have two main games in the series. Most agree Kingdom Hearts 2 is better than one. It is just easier to use and the enemies aren't as hard to kill. I like the second one better just for its story really. The games are fun and challenging. The story is funny and emotional. What really gets me is that I love Disney and here I am fighting enemies with the greatest Disney characters around. Its an awesome experience and everyone should try it out. Might seem somewhat dumb at first but it draws you in and you'll want to keep playing.

Resistance

  

          No one knows why they are here or where they came from but one thing is clear; they do not want us around. Based in eastern Europe (mostly England) right before WWII, the story is that of aliens showing up out of no where and attacking all of Asia and Europe. Over a couple of years the humans have basically been wiped out except for pockets of them hiding. Just as in WWII the Americans decide to step in and thats where you come in.
 
                                                                    Pros

• The game is simple  to learn and easy to beat. Took me and my roommate less then 4 hours total to beat. 
• The story throws in there and you become connected with the main character. 
• Its fun to play with your friends in co-op because some of the levels require a lot of thinking to make it through

                                                                   Cons

• A little too easy if you ask me.
• Repetitive and simple
• You've probably played like 100s of other games just like it
• The shortness of simplicity of it made it lack in what made other games like Halo a big hit. 

Over all it was an easy game. Fun to play just the shortness of it made it something I'll put on my shelf and forget about. The good news is there is a second game and a third one coming out soon. The second one is supposed to kick ass so odds are I'll check that out soon and get back to you on that one. I'd give this game a 7/10

      

Star Wars: Forced Unleashed review

I LOVE STAR WARS! YEAH.

THE STORY:
      Anyway, Forced Unleashed is an awesome twist on the the star wars games. It takes place between episodes 3 and 4 in the movie series. Darth Vader and the emperor are taking over and the rebel army has yet to be made. You start off as Vader and you are on the planet of the wookies (whatever its called) hunter down one of the last jedi. You find him and and kill him but come into contact with his son. You sense the power coming from him so you decide to take him as an apprentice without the knowledge of the emperor. Fast forward many years and your roughly somewhere in your twenties and have taken on Vaders job of hunting down the rest of the jedi. Through most the story you remain Vader's slave and do his biding even after he nearly kills you.  At some point Vader instructs you to leave and start the rebel alliance to draw out the remaining forces and kill them. Of course when you do you start to view the darkside as bad and slowing turn good. In the end it is still however your choice to be good or bad though.
 
     Whats fun about this game is that it doesn't have to follow the well known story of star wars already. Its still true to the themes but has its own unique story in which you'll be drawn to keep playing. The controls are easy quick to learn and there are lots of unique force powers you can use such as force push, force lighting, blast wave and many others. You'll travel the universe and see many different planets. You'll fight in forests, on space ships and in junk yards. You will also get an opportunity to fight many different monsters and bosses. What makes this game even more fun is that the environment is destructible. Charging up my force push and using it on a group of peeps and having it destory trees, rocks, structures, is awesome. This is by far one of the best and interesting star wars games out there.

My Brother

     I don't remember much of my oldest brother Andrew living at home. He's 12 years older then me so he was in college before not long after I can remember. He was always my favorite brother, probably because I did not have to deal with him that much, but since coming to VCU I've gotten closer to him and his family. Andrew, Jonelle and their daughter, my niece, Reagan live in Charlottesville, Va which is only about 45min. from here. I really enjoy going there. It's kind of in the mountains/farmland area and its almost like a different world there from here. I can actually see the stars. All of them. Last time I was there I saw 2 shooting stars and I could see the milky way. Sure its kind of creepy up there at night, but I love it all. Except the ridiculous amount of stink bugs there.
     But Andrew has always been sort of a role model for me. He doesn't make a lot of money but he still seems happy. He does what he wants up there basically and has lots of friends. He has been places and experience things I've wanted to and did it without the need for a ton of money.
      Also last time I was there we made a big old fire and just sat outside for hours and talked. It was awesome. I just love it there. I feel stress free when Im there and with them

In Defense of the Rainforest

           Everyones probably tired of hearing it, but seriously, people need to stop with the cutting down of rainforest and trees in general. I mean its basically one of the most important parts of life here on Earth. The trees make oxygen here and last i checked we need that to live. So knowing that we need trees to live, companies continue to chop them down like its no big deal. And suuuure you can plant a tree to make up for the fact but that'll take what, like 30 years to get big enough. 

          Now I understand that people need places to live and expansion is inevitable but still, something needs to be done. Which is another point I believe. People are our own worst enemies. Over population will kill us, add in pollution and war and we are just a ticking time bomb. Back to the point though. We need to stop this mass chopping down of rainforest. Not only does it destroy the trees but also the animal and wildlife there. We are just killing thousands of trees and who knows how many animals. 

        I've already start planting my own little pine tree in my dorm. Started out from a seed. Everyone should try it. Plant some sort of plant and let it grow. Help out the earth here

Heavy Rain

        Another game because games are what I know so I actually like writing about them. This may contain spoilers. Not a lot but because I haven't played it in a couple of months I don't remember the order of events. Don't worry I won't give away the ending.

       Heavy Rain isn't like your typical game. Theres not much action. No gun shooting or face bashing. What it lacks in fast-paced action it makes up for in quick thinking and lots of suspense. It will test your own morals as a person also. The actions you choose could get your character killed off. I guess I would describe the game as a mystery game where you have to solve a mystery from the point of view of 4 different characters.
      The story in the beginning shows a happy family. Mom, dad and two sons. They are all well off and seem happy. From the beginning you play as the main character, the dad. In the first setting you are in your house. Everyone is gone and you are just waking up. As soon as your awake you take control of your character. You'll soon find that there is no run feature (unless the story calls for running), and simple actions such as opening your door or cabinet don't just require the quick push of the X button. You actually have to move the joystick in the fashion you would open the door. You have to rotate the joystick to turn on the shower. The game is not meant to be fast, but rather slow to let you pick up on all the details.
    So back to the story, basically one of the sons gets killed in the beginning and your family falls about and you start to care less and less about yourself. As this is all going on the Origami Killer in on the loose kidnapping children and killing them it seems. Well of course your only other child gets kidnapped and since you already lost one child you are determined to save this one. Thus begins the crazy stuff you would have to do to get him back. And that my friends is the moral of the story. DON'T TAKE YOUR CHILDREN OR YOUR OWN LIFE FOR GRANTED. Anyway at this point you've probably met the other characters. The mysterious private detective looking for the killer. The drug addict super FBI guy with some weird special glasses. And the sexy reporter trying to make a good story. You play as all these people and try to solve the mystery through there eyes.
       But its not all just looking for clues. There is some action to do. For instance the killer tells the day that he must drive in the rain on the opposite side of traffic for like a minute while going like over 50mph. This requires fast controlling and quick reflexes. There is also when the killer puts you in the room and requires that you cut off one of your fingers on video for him. There are multiple tools on the room to use. Knife, Saw, Fire. All sorts of crap. Theres also when you are forced to kill someone else too.
        Now I say forced to, but you actually don't have to. You can just give up on the first task if you wanted too. At any point in the game you can choose, as the dad, not to save your son. But thats the fun of the game. To see how far you would go. What would you do to save your son?