Dan Murphy's Blog

I was really excited to see a new version of Mortal Kombat come out for the PS3 as that is one of my all time favorite games to play.  Great part about this game is no skill is required and everyone can play without it being too difficult.  Combinations are greatly simplified in this version compared to that of the last version as there is no more idea of ‘fighting styles’  The DC comic characters are a nice addition to the game as they add in some new moves and some pretty entertaining animation.  As expected the joker seems to have the best tricks and the best combinations.

One thing that was kind of new in this version was the story mode.  I managed to play though this and as the reviews say about 3-4 hours later I was done.  Basically you choose a side (MK or DC) and then you fight against everyone else.  As the levels change you rotate through characters and get a very good feel for all of the characters actions.  The only thing I didn’t like is there is no way to save your progress basically its an all or nothing shot.  But that’s alright as I did not buy this for the storyline mode I bought it just for 2 player Kombat.  I we saw with Laura’s parents this past weekend anyone can take the controller and beat the crap out of anyone else occasionally throwing a bomb or doing a special move which they have no idea how they did but loved it.

This is one that I am glad I bought and will get played a lot as it never really gets old.  I am still trying to track down a site that lists the fatalities but because the game is still so new I haven’t had any luck finding anything yet.

So this game came to me highly rated and the graphics looked like the would be fun.  The storyline was definitely there and was entertaining.  The characters were dynamic and easy to follow.  The moves in the game were relatively easy to accomplish and it was fun.

The issue with this game is it wasn’t very hard.  You could go in any room and just stand in the middle and mash the keypad and see people being thrown around.  There really was not skill to this game but it was fun to play.  At least for a short time.

This game was one I never completed because I sort of lost interest in the game after a while and just like LEGO Indiana Jones I wanted to trade up for the new games that just came out.  Maybe thats the problem playing older games right before the holiday’s when the release all the new games.

This game was a lot of fun and very similar to Ratchet in Clank in the fact that you need to kill everything from enemies to the plants in the background to get points so that you can stay alive.  The storyline was really fun and follows the movies very closely.  Obviously there was some ad-lib to the story lines to make a game out of it but for the most part everything was there.

In this game you have the option to be one of two players, Indiana or whoever is with him at that time.  Indiana’s abilities stay the same throughout the game while the second character changes.  Sometimes they can jump higher or further or they can scream and break glass to get something like a key.

The game was entertaining but after about 5 days of playing it I kind of lost motivation to complete the game.  This was also during my transition time to my new job and all my school work still going on.  I played through the first movie but did not make it through the other two.  This would be a great game to pass the time with but I was getting tired of it and wanted the next game in my queue so I traded up.

After watching the trailers of this game on PSN I decided I had to bump this up to the top of my game queue.  The thing that made me laugh the most is in college I had an ex-marine friend from the mid west who sounded exactly like one of the ‘smart’ guys in this game!

The game was as expected pretty funny and a blast to play.  Nothing like being able to run out in the middle of a street with a rocket launcher and just blow some stuff up.  I like the radio communications person you worked with that would tell you your missions that they refer to as “Ms July”

Along with running around and shooting people you can drive tanks, buggies, armored cars, golf carts, and helicopters this made for a nice little change up and made getting from map to map a lot quicker as you didn’t have to run.  Although I found myself pretty pinned down when I ran across a tank as they are almost impossible to get rid of.

Except for about 4 times where I really got stuck in the game the game moves very quickly.  With each map there are things to collect ie. gold and weapons.  You are only allowed to carry a primary and a secondary weapon so this forces you to choose which ones you want to carry.  If you have the wrong gun you find out very quickly when you are moed down by the 50 cal automatic rifle shooting at you.  Finding the gold was tricky because in each of the houses they have 3 floors and to go to all 3 floors takes a lot of time and is kinda boring.  After trying to find gold in the first 2 maps and running into every house and going into the attack I was kind of turned off from looking anymore.  So I didn’t pick up too much gold.

I thought the ending was a little abrupt and I wasn’t sure if the game was over or not till the next screen where it said The End.  Storyline is light and quick allowing you maximum shooting time.  A great game all around!

So for Laura’s birthday I bought her Rock Band 2.  As expected it is awesome.  It has 80 new songs with 20 free songs available for download upon registering.  I registered but aparently they haven’t released the 20 free songs yet.  For $4.99 I was able to transfer all the Rock Band 1 songs to the new game.  A nice thing to notice was that all the songs I downloaded were already available to play on the new game.  We were a little bumbed to see other than the new songs and a new interface change to the song lists (so now it looks like the store) the game is pretty much the same.  But that isn’t a drawback, as we love the game and it is highly entertaining.  I was glad to see that copying the songs to the new version was so easy and that there were a ton of new songs to download.

Lets say I have spent a lot of money adding songs and whatnot to this game along with buying a second guitar.  I am glad to think that I am solely keeping the economy going!

I absolutely love this video! It goes to show you how far video game trailers/plots have come with the new generation of consoles!

So the basis of this game is a first person shooter.  You have multiple versions of the game that you can play.  You can play a game where you have a time trail and must make it through in a certain amount of time.  You can play a points game where you must hit a certain level of points to pass.  You have a scavenger hunt game where you have to shoot specific hidden targets.  And you have a death-match sort of game where you just try to stay alive for a certain time while confined to a small area.  This is a great game for polishing you aiming skills and quick reaction timing.

Bullets are plenty in this game and accuracy doesn’t count for anything so you can run around just shooting everything that moves.  The game is fun for a few hours but becomes very redundant after passing the first level as the other levels just repeat the skills with a slightly different backdrop.  Great shooter game for practicing for Call of Duty or Metal Gear Solid!

I was a little worried when this game and The Club came to me from Gamefly and the buy it now price was $13.99.  So I wasn’t expecting anything too crazy from either of these two games.  They did however provide enough entertainment that I would suggest both of them.  This game was very easy at some times and very difficult in others.  One of the hard parts in the game was to always keep your health level high.  This game is different then other games in the fact that you life runs down like a clock.  You have to keep it high for both fighting and staying alive.  There was one point in the game that I hit where I couldn’t pass because I couldn’t get my life high enough to finish the level and I would just drop dead in the same place.  This game provided a few hours of entertaining fun and then quickly an hour or two of high frustration which ended in me returning the game.

YES YES YES….its 1990 all over again, sitting in my bedroom with my dad playing this game, occasionally throwing a controller at the Nintendo because we kept dying!  When I heard that they released this game via PSN network download for $9.99 I was all over it.  The only thing I had to do was finish my final for school first before playing this game!

Graphics have obviously been updated and the weapons and the basis of the game stays the same, go back and forth and shoot everything without dying.  Once I realized there are a few other weapons other than just the guns I got a whole lot further.  Also love the ability to drop a bomb and kill everyone on the screen.  This game has lots of hours of play behind it and sticks to the arcade idea that when you die you have to start all over again regardless of the level you make it to.  That makes you hone in on your skills quickly so you can stay alive.  I would suggest this game to anyone who likes the arcade shooting style and something fun that lots of people can play with little skills required.

Well we finally got our hands on a golf game for the PS3 but it wasn’t Tiger Woods 08 it was Hot Shots Golf: Out of Bounds.  With all the updates to the PSN store and all the buzz about this game I figured it was work a try to check it out.  So Laura and I fired up the PS3 and put this game in.  I kinda knew what I was in for graphic wise but not so much game play wise.

My assessment of the game is that it is a dumbed down version of Tiger Woods.  After 18 holes that was a very good conclusion.  No more having to worry about flop shots or what angle to hit the ball at it’s basically a hit X to start swing hit X to stop and hit the ball.  As you are playing the other play can press and button on the controller and either shout confidence boosting comments or make the crowed boo and make fun of you.  We found this basically to be an annoying feature but something very addictive to do while waiting for your turn.

When it came to putting the game really gets simple compared with Tiger Woods and is a synch to master.  Once you figure out the power bar and how to use it the game is pretty easy.  Obviously this game is made for a younger generation of gamers.  Which is just fine, but nothing that interested me.

So in conclusion we were not impressed and only played 18 holes and returned the game back to Gamefly this week.  Still waiting on Tiger Woods 2008 as we are a little partial to that game, and we like being able to create our own players with their own looks and play actual golf courses with a little bit of challenge.