Video Game Review: Mass Effect 3

       Mass Effect 3 tends to get a bad rap from fans of the series.  Is this deserved? yes and no, While there is no denying by comparison 3 dropped the ball on important matters, but it also did a lot of things really well.  This review will have some spoilers, so if you haven't played the game yet I suggest doing so, but since it was released years ago I don't want comments about how I ruined the game for anyone.

What Worked

Controls

       The controls in this game are really well done, particularly with the Kinect integration.  This game managed to use the Kinect in a way that actually works, and I as a Kinect owner was really excited for more games following its example (but we all know how that went).  Like the previous games you had wheels that controlled powers and weapon selection, but this takes you out of the action, the Kinect made these also controllable through voice commands that actually increased the immersion into the game.  Another fun addition is the strong melee attacks, for most classes this uses an omni-tool to create a weapon, but for Adepts and Vangaurds like me it was a telekinetic blast.  This not only looks cool, but can dish out insane amounts of damage as well.

The Loadouts

       Unlike previous installments, in Mass Effect 3 you were no longer limited to weapons based on your class.  This is both a blessing and a curse however because yes you can carry one of each type of gun, but the amount of weight you are carrying affects your powers.  Because of this you must pick and choose the weapons that best fit your play style.  Then their is the armor, unlike most RPGs Mass Effect's armors don't progress in level, instead each armor piece affects different bonuses and the player makes an armor tailored to them, right down to the color, designs, and material of the armor.

The Story

       This is where I lose everyone, but lets be honest; up until the end Mass Effect's story is everything you expected it to be.  The plot is the Reapers finally made their move, and now you need to travel around the galaxy to gather forces to fight them.  There are some hard choices to make, parts that made me laugh, parts that made me almost cry, and parts that left me speechless.  We get to see what happened to everyone since the last time we saw them, and are introduced to new characters.  The ending however is going to get it's own section later.

What Kinda Works

Multiplayer

       I have mixed feelings about the multiplayer.  Yes it was fun, and it plays exactly like you would expect it to.  But I found the unlock system to be a bit broken.  Earning points takes longer than it should, and when you finally have the points to unlock something it is entirely random, I still only have one non-human character and one assault rifle.  It would have been better if it was more like the single player where you can choose what to use points on.  However the biggest problem with the multiplayer is that it is required for the singleplayer mode.  Meaning at some point you have to stop what you're doing in the story, and spend hours in the multiplayer, this simply takes away from the experience.

The Downloadable Content

       Because this is an EA game, their is a lot of DLC.  Personally I only bought the Citadel pack, and only quite recently when it was 50% off in Xbox Live.  However I have seen the other DLC sets and I have to admit they are all rather interesting.  All or them add to the story seamlessly and doesn't feel out of place.  However I personally am getting tired of games releasing DLC the day the game is released and charging obscene amounts of money for it.  The Prothean package was released on the day Mass Effect 3 was released, had a character that contributes a lot to the story, and cost $10.  This pack in particular felt like it should have been included as part of the main game.  

What Did Not Work

The Ending

       Everyone saw this coming, the ending to this game isn't necessarily bad, it's just that we were promised our choices meant something and in the end all the endings were relatively the same.  Not only that but the ending was simply ridiculous; SPOILERS: the Protheans created the Reapers to end all life and start everything over every few thousand years, you get to choose if you want to destroy them, control them, or merge with them.  Either way the result is the same.  What's worse is that in the game you find ways to destroy the reapers and even a creature stronger than the reapers (KALROS!!!), their should have been a fourth option where you drop kicked that stupid kid and continued the fight slowly pushing back and eventually defeating the Reapers...In fact until a new Mass Effect is released telling us otherwise I vote we all adopt this new ending and pretend the other never happened.

The Side Quests

       Shepard is nosy in this game.  Almost 100% of all side quests are given by listening in on random conversations or settling arguments between two strangers.  This makes you feel weird as you do them, but there are those few that do feel natural.  For example finding an item so a guy will sell guns to the police, or stopping a gang war before it even starts.

The Crew

       This is the end of the Shepard Trilogy, so why then is everyone you ever fought side by side with cannot be recruited?  Some of them make sense, like Mordin dedicating his time to curing the Krogans and then dieing, or Thane's medical condition making him unable to travel.  But the others are in the game as well, however they refuse to join in, they even hang out in the Normandy so it's kind of a slap in the face.

The Dreams

       There is no way around it, these were bad.  The dream sequences had you running in slow motion after a kid you watched die on Earth, why? Because, that's why.  Sure watching the kid die was hard, even I was moved by it, but Shepard has seen many die, why must this one affect him more?  Plus thanks to the ending I lost all compassion for the kid.

How It Should Have Been

       I basically already covered this in the individual sections, but to recap fix the Multiplayer, it could have been still tied to single player, but making it required was just a bad idea.  Next bringing back the entire crew, it's the last stand so why break up the band?  Third lower the DLC prices, I'm okay with paying for it, but if you add up the prices for all of the DLC it actually comes out to more than the game itself now, so a discount would be greatly appreciated.  Lastly, and possibly most important, change the ending...Seriously guys adopt my 4th option and pretend the other ending never happened, I for one intend to.

The Final Verdict

       Despite its flaws Mass Effect 3 manages to be almost the game we all wanted.  Sure it isn't as good as Mass Effect 2, but it still is a fantastic game that deserves your money.  If you don't own this game then you should go out and buy it right now, the whole trilogy is only $40 now.  I give this game a solid B+...an A with my new ending I made up above.

Video Game Review: Batman Arkham Origins

Ah Batman, the most overrated superhero ever.  Of course he does earn it by being such a badass, and the Arkham franchise has been one of the greatest in the genre, and the newest installment is no exception.  However the game does suffer from issues that a lot of franchises are lately, they are switching developers and the new guys need a little time to adjust before truly expanding.  As a result the game feels more like more of the same rather than a full sequel.

The story is this; Batman has been operating in Gothom for about 2 years now and most of the city believe him to be an urban myth.  But on Christmas Eve a criminal named Black Mask hires 8 of the world's deadliest assassins to kill the bat, and the one who succeeds will be paid $50,000,000.  The story is dark, maybe even darker than the previous installments; the police under Commissioner Loeb are corrupt, many civilians are killed in the killers pursuit of Batman, and even some major characters are offed by the end of the game.  There are some major plot twists as well that I will cover in the spoiler section.  Other than that the game feels a lot like Arkham City, which isn't exactly a bad thing.  I have heard some people are experiencing some major bugs and glitches, and I have as well, but so far none of mine have ruined the gameplay.

Plot (Spoiler Section)

I covered a lot of the main plot above, so here I'm going to go into detail on it a bit.  As mentioned before Black Mask hires 8 killers to go after you, but strangely only 6 are a part of the main story, in fact I actually finished the game before realizing I never even saw Shiva.  In fact there are a lot of optional villains, some of which are interesting.  Riddler of course returns with more hidden items, this time he is called Enigma and he hid data packets that reveal proof of crimes committed by the GCPD and other "outstanding citizens".

Now onto the true spoilers.  I was really excited when I heard that the game would feature a new mastermind from the previous games, but part way through the game there is a murder scene you investigate at Black Mask's safe house.  Turns out he was terrified of some new player in town, The Joker, and retreated to his safe house with his girlfriend to wait until he was taken care of.  when you arrive Black Mask's girlfriend is dead and strung up on display, a second body is there presumed to be Black Mask himself, meaning the Black Mask that hired the killers is not the real Black Mask.  Later on it is revealed Joker has the real Black Mask captive to get at his funds and has been pretending to be him the whole time.  It is a great twist but I still would have wanted to see someone other than Joker as the main villain.

The best change from the previous games Origins did was Bane.  a simple Google search will reveal just how different he is.  The Bane in Origins is a mercenary with his own private army, he is methodical, cunning, and highly trained.  Personally I prefer this Bane to the giant brute we usually get but what really makes him stand out is towards the end of the game when Batman finally finds Bane's secret base it is empty, but worse than that there is a board where he is trying to find out Batman's secret identity...and he knows Bruce Wayne is Batman.  This Bane is addicted to the substance Venom, which amplifies his strength but oddly doesn't affect his physical appearance.  However if he were to stop using the drug the resulting withdrawals would more than likely kill him.  As a result he is working on a new drug, TN-1, that would have a permanent effect and end his dependency on of Venom, the downside is that currently it does some major damage on the subjects brain (This plays in later).  So later on in the game Bane pays the Batcave a visit while Bruce is out looking for him and destroys it, and just to make things worse he even kills Alfred, you heard right Alfred dies in this game...sort of.  Batman revives him with a new gadget he uses to restart his heart.  To bring Bane full circle at the end of the game Bane is forced to used the unfinished TN-1 on himself in an attempt to kill Batman, this turns him into the hulk-like creature he is in the other Arkham games and destroying much of his memories, including Batman's identity.

What Works (End of Spoiler Section)

Like the previous game all of the main bosses are unique and require a different strategy to bring down.  For example Deathstroke is a one-on-one match where he can counter-attack anything you throw at him and vise versa, which requires you to time every move you make just right.  Another is Copperhead who poisons you so you hallucinate, thus you must fight her and her many duplicates.  Then their is my personal favorite Electrocutioner, the only villain I didn't recognize in the game.  His fight has a fair amount of build up, but when you go to punch him once he is knocked unconscious, to put that into perspective the random henchmen take more than that to bring down, it is freakin' hilarious.

Another thing I like is the large amount of content, between the main story, the optional enemies, and all the collectables the game keeps you invested for quite a while.  And the size of the map is perfect for this type of game, big enough to move around a lot, yet small enough you aren't spending large amounts of time moving from point A to B.

Gameplay wise it is almost identical to Arkham City, which works very well; you fight, level up buy an upgrade, and repeat.  The only problem here is that some upgrades require you to preform feats of skill, in a specific order.  Which doesn't affect the game too much, but it would be nice for those who cannot preform some of there tasks to be able to get the upgrades as well.

My favorite part of the game however has got to be the characters themselves, I went into detail on Bane in the spoiler section, but the others are great as well, especially the costumes.  I have always been a fan of Arkham's character designs, and Origins may have the best yet, fixing minor annoyances I had like Penguin's bottle eye and Batman's underpants.  And the complete overhaul they gave Bane and Deadshot make them better than before.

One thing I didn't expect to like was the voice changes.  Conroy and Hamill have been the voices of Batman and Joker since I was a child, and have been regarded as the best portrayals of the characters by just about everyone.  But with Hamill's retirement from the Joker and the need for a younger Batman it makes sense they needed replacements.  The new Batman is a mix of Christian Bale and Conroy, gruff enough to hide his identity, but not enough to make him unintelligible.  Joker on the other hand is phenomenal.  Troy Baker manages to mimic Hamill's voice perfectly, and his range also allows him to play Black Mask and have them be two separate characters.

But of course what good are great characters without an equally great story.  Arkham Origins is another well written chapter in the Arkham franchise.  In may not be as good as Arkham City, but in my opinion it is better than Asylum, if you liked the other two games, you will more than likely like this one as well.

An welcome addition is the inclusion of unlockable suits, Arkham City introduced the idea of alternate costumes that can be used in story and challenge mode, but they were all DLC.  Origins gives players a few suits that can be unlocked without paying, and then there are a lot of DLC suits as well.

What Doesn't Work

As I mentioned before there are reports of the game having serious bugs/glitches, and even not working all together.  While I personally have yet to have any major problems, I have notices it takes a while to load an area, and it also takes forever to save your progress.  The biggest issue I've had so far is that my WBID despite being entered and linked still denies me my 1 Million suit.  But this is a small problem since the Noel suit you unlock is way cooler anyway.

I mentioned earlier how all the main bosses are unique and interesting, sadly the same cannot be said about the optional ones.  All of them have the same strategy they attack you with a number of thugs that continue until their boss is defeated.  The only exception to this is the Mad Hatter, he messes with your brain and sends you to Wonderland, this is pretty cool as it changes the game a bit.

One of the biggest letdown is in no way the game fault, there is a multiplayer mode, however every attempt I've made to play it has been met with a message that I can't find a game.  But it kinda looks like it will be your standard 3rd person shooter so whatever.

Another problem I had with this game is the challenge mode.  While still a fun mode the challenge mode this time falls a little flat of its predecessor.  in Arkham City Challenge mode had 4 playable characters, and a crapload of maps.  Origins so far has 2 playable characters, more may be on the way but for now it sort of feels like a step back.  Honestly this is a minor complaint though.

Final Verdict

Arkham Origins may not be the best of the franchise, but it is still a very good game.  I for one look forward to seeing what the new studio has in store for us in the future and I am proud to give Batman Arkham Origins a B+.

What I Want In The Future

Keeping with my new way of doing reviews, in this section I will list some things I want in future installments of the franchise.  With Arkham Origins there is now a second timeline for the franchise to follow, allowing for stories like the introduction of members of the Bat family, or tying up loose ends created in Arkham City like the Hush sub-story.  Another big thing I want a new mastermind, as great as the Joker is the Arkham games have really overplayed him.  I don't mind if he has a sub plot, but making him the main villain for every game kinda ruins him.

Another big thing I want to see is the return of different playable characters in the story.  In Arkham City we are allowed to take control of Catwoman, which sometimes felt awkward, but other times helped progress the story.  Later they added a Robin story that was really well done.  I want more like that, maybe Batman gets injured for part of a game, or Nightwing happens to be closer to a crime, basically mix it up a bit.

More multiplayer options.  I stated earlier that multiplayer is giving me some problems, but why not make some more options?  Imagine a mutliplayer challenge mode where players team up to take down enemies, or a mode where some players take control of villains and others try to take them down, or even a campaign unique to multiplayer that would be episodic and have character selection, something like Halo's Spartan Ops.  This goes into the next item on my wishlist.

I want more playable characters and costumes.  Over the course of the series there has been 7 playable characters, a relatively decent amount, but with the dawn of new consoles the possibility to expand is realistic goal.  Besides, Arkham City has Nightwing and Tim Drake as Robin, meaning there was a Batgirl and my personal favorite former Robin...Red Hood.  If nothing else I would love just the inclusion of Red Hood, honestly I thought Arkham City would have been perfect for him; a large walled off city full of criminals the city doesn't care if they kill each other off, Red Hood could have cleaned up.  Plus adding in playable female characters like Batgirl or Huntress would open the franchise up to a wider audience.

As for costumes, I like how Origins had some you could unlock, but I would like more options, why not give us one for each sub-plot you finish, but make them related to the challenge.  For example a Bane based subplot could give you the Knightfall costume, or take down Mr. Freeze to get a thermal suit and so forth.  Or maybe even have a shop in the Batcave where players can trade points for a suit of their choosing.  Or imagine if the suits had perks that altered gameplay, perhaps add this to a tailor system and choose the perks for the suits yourself.  If you haven't noticed I'm a sucker for alternate costumes, and having to buy them seems a bit unfair, especially if they are announced before the game is even released.  Giving players a large amount of costumes would allow for more individuality that would on turn make the game more immersive for players.

Video Game Reviews: Injustice Gods Among Us

       It has been quite some time since I did a proper review.  So I want to get back to it with the game that has been taking a lot of my time lately.  Injustice is a game from Netherrealm studios that follows their classic Mortal Kombat format with one major difference, instead of their trademark characters we get DC comic's finest.

The Plot

       The plot to this game....that's right I said plot for a fighting game, is really well done.  The game opens saying that there is more than one universe, and that some only differ than others by one major event.  In this case we have the regular Universe where Superman is helped by the Justice League and manages to stop the Joker from destroying Metropolis.  However in another universe Superman goes after him alone, s dosed with Scarecrow gas and tricked into thinking Lois is actually Doomsday, so he kills her and their unborn son.  To make things worse there was a detonator connected to Lois' heart, so when she died a nuclear bomb Joker planted in Metropolis went off killing millions.

       This event drastically changed Superman to the point where during Joker's interrogation Superman breaks into the prison and murders him.  Tired of letting supervillains live to kill another day he adopts a no tolerance policy and begins to recruit others, both heroes and villains, to his cause which becomes known as the Regime.  Somehow the heroes from the other universe are transported to this new more militant Earth (I know the reason, but I don't want to spoil it) and meet up with the Insurgency, another group of heroes and villains led by Batman trying to put a stop to Superman to end his reign of tyranny.  Most of the game is the visitors attempting to sway the members of the Regime, or at least stop them Guerrilla style.

       The insurgency has a plan in place to stop Superman, but it required more man power than they had, however with the visitors help they stand a chance of success.  The visitors however have a different plan, bring over their Superman and try to reason with the other one.  To avoid spoiling the ending I won't tell which plan ends up working, but simply keep in mind it's a fighting game and leave it at that.

       While this is going on, the Regime's leader: High Councilor Superman, is growing more violent after learning their is a world were Lois is still alive.  His methods are becoming more extreme, even developing a collar that can control Doomsday.  Eventually he goes too far, and characters end up switching sides.

       There is also a side story involving the visitor Joker, and the Insurgent Harley Quinn.  Harley was heartbroken when Joker died and even joined Batman's insurgency to fight back.  When the new Joker arrives she begins to mindlessly follow him in his attempt to add a third power to the game, but slowly begins to realize Joker was wrong for her the whole time, but is in too deep to swap sides again.

The Gameplay

       The gameplay is similar to Netherrealm's last game Mortal Kombat.  However this is the natural progression of it.  That being said it is still for a very specific audience.  If you were not a fan of Mortal Kombat, this probably won't change your mind.  It's a 2D fighting game disguised as 3D.  The game also takes advantage of the power of the characters, for example Superman can throw a car at opponents, you can knock each other through walls into new arenas and so forth.  Basically it's a more child friendly version of Mortal Kombat you can play with your kids.  There isn't much more to say here so lets move on.

The Flaws

       As much as I like this game, it still has problems.  The biggest one is the roster, the game has 26 characters if you include the DLC characters, and 9 of those are Batman characters.  Many of them add to the game and have a place, for example Joker and Harley are integral to the plot, same for the alternate Nightwing.  But Bane, Grundy, and Batgirl are simply there.  This is made worse when character like Aquaman don't even have a villain and end up as their own rival, Hawkgirl and Green Arrow don't even get that, only one of them is in the game's story.  Bane and Grundy are only there to serve as muscle for Superman, so they could easily be replaced, and Batgirl as a DLC is not necessary at all.  Plus its a game where you try to stop Superman, but none of the heroes are magic based?

       Another issue I found can easily be fixed through a patch, and for now is just an entertaining glitch, at the end of a fight the one who is defeated will stand up for a second and fall down again.

       The next problem I want to address is the unlockables.  As I said before the game is far more child friendly than Netherrealm's other games, however the unlockables are extremely difficult and time consuming to get.  For example in order to get a few of the suits you must put countless hours into challenges that are difficult for me, let alone a child.  Other suits take hours of grinding in the iOS version of the game.  But even more difficult than those, there is a suit that requires a win online, and for those like me, who aren't amazing at the game this is next to impossible.  As for the easy to unlock suits, as a nit pick I feel some of them should have been the default costumes.  Since most of the game is spent in the other reality it only stands to reason that the default costume is the one actually used in the story mode, but not here.

The Verdict

       Even with the flaws, this game has been incredibly enjoyable, and I was still able to get most of the suits, including the one I actually wanted.  The story was incredibly compelling, not only for a fighting game, but it is even comic book worthy.  The gameplay is also great, as a fan of fighting games this one definitely holds up on its own.  And with all things considered I have to give this game a B+.

Hopes for the Sequal

       Something new I want to do for my reviews is convey my hopes for the sequel, even if there isn't one being planned.  This will follow my wishlist format for the most part, and I want to point out right now it's my hopes for a sequel, so spoiler alerts are implied.

1) More of the other Universe

       With DC's vast collection of characters this doesn't seem like a hard thing to ask.  I want to see what happens after Superman's Regime.  Does a new power decided to step up? or does Superman simply embrace he's the villain now?  Both routes have potential.  Also the roster can be changed to accommodate all of Superman's followers being arrested, and other characters having a fatal case of being dead.  Or they could bring in replacements for some of the characters, like with Earth 2 or Marvel's Ultimate Universe, give us something so different that we don't complain about the treatment of characters.

2) Custom Characters

       I may be reaching here, but to me the best part of fighting games is having control over a character to tailor them to specific players.  Dragonball Z did this where you choose a characters attacks, and stat boosts.  Soulcalibur has you build a character from scratch.  What I really want is the later.  I want to create a new hero or villain that would play a key role in the plot, like he is destined to determine the fate of the Earth.  You choose the power set, if he is good or evil, and so forth.  However I would also enjoy a level up system tied to each character, kinda like how Dragonball Z did it on the PS2, and allow for multiple customs for the same character.

3) More...

       Because a sequel would more than likely be on the upcoming generation of console, than it clearly will be capable of simply more of everything.  A bigger story, possibly bringing in a 3rd reality, more characters, or even more hopefully a map for each character.  In Injustice most of the maps come from Batman and Superman, with a few others like Atlantis thrown in.  I want to see locations like Star, Central, and Coast cities; perhaps even Oa and Titan's Tower.  But the biggest increase I want is in costumes.  Most of Injustice's roster only has 2 costumes without utilizing the market, yet Superman and Batman have more than 4, and the DLC characters don't even get alternate costumes.  Another problem with the costumes is there is no classic suits, sure its understandable they want to establish their own series, but if you want to use the classic Superman you're out of luck.

4) Fix the flaws

       I mentioned above the flaws of the game, and I feel with a sequel they could address these and make the game more child friendly, a 7 year old could never beat an unemployed 25 year old who plays all day, so don't make it the only way to unlock something they want to use.

       That is my review, like the new format?  Have something else you want to tell me, then feel free to leave a comment below.

Video Game Review: DmC Devil May Cry

       I chose to do this one mostly because of the controversy surrounding it.  From the new Dante, to the ridiculous amount of swearing, and everything else fans have been complaining about.  The most important thing to remember is this is not Devil May Cry 5, but an alternate universe with the same characters, I like to think of it like the Ultimate Universe from Marvel.
     
       Lets get the Dante design out of the way shall we, I was a fan of the original series, and personally I prefer the original design.  However this design isn't as bad as everyone claims it is.  The original Dante was designed to be the embodiment of cool when he was created in 2001, thus the longer hair and trench coat.  The new Dante was meant to be the same, but created for the current definition of cool, which is a bit more lame, but lets face it in a world full of hipsters this could have been far worse.  As for the hair color, Team Ninja originally did want to give him white hair, but Capcom told them no and to make him more different so he could be distinguishable from the original series.  And as the game progresses he goes from an arrogant ass to a more recognizable version of himself, his hair even turns white after he embraces his heritage at the end of the game, which unlocks white hair Dante for replay.

       Next for the story, the Devil May Cry series isn't known for its incredible stories, and if you were to only play one of them you wouldn't learn much.  The new series is about a demon who controls the entirety of humanity through poisoned soda and heavily biased news.  This story is actually better at conveying the character dynamics and the character growth is far more noticeable in this game.  Honestly I think its the best plot in the franchise because of how much is going on, though the dialogue is something to be desired.

       Virgil however is almost ruined in this game.  When you first meet him it isn't too bad, just a contemporary design that and a V for Vendetta feel to him.  but as the game goes on the Virgil turns into an unrecognizable monster.  He uses guns, something he's only done once in the original series.  He kills a child, which to be fair is a monster who tried to kill you one level ago, he screws up a hostage exchange by killing the hostage.  He has no honor like he did in the original.  Plus not spoiling anything, he does something at the end that the original Virgil would have never done.  However his abilities remain unchanged, and I'm looking forward to play as him next month because of this.

       Then there are the other characters, I can do a whole section on each, but since most of them are new and not recreations of old favorites, I won't.  First off is Kat, a witch that uses a spray can and stencils for spells, this is actually pretty cool, despite the ingredients she uses. Then there is Mundus, the big bad of the game, in the original Mundus was imprisoned by Dante and Virgil's father Sparda, which is why he returned seeking revenge on his children.  In this version Mundus controls humanity through the economy, Sparda was his second in command, but he betrayed him by taking an angel as his wife.  Thus Mundus killed Sparda's wife Eva and imprisoned Sparda for all eternity.  So ironically the revenge is sought by the children in this version.  This also opens up the possibility that Sparda could later return because he is still alive.  Then there is the bosses, one mimics the Slurm queen from Futurama, one resembles the MCP from Tron and is an obvious parody of Bill O'Reiley, and the third is Mundus' mistress.  That's really all there is to them.

       As for the gameplay, the weapons are easy to swap between mid combo leading to amazing combos.  The guns however are next to useless in this game forcing you to use close range weapons in order to do any real damage.  It also feels easier than the older games, not to say it can't be hard, but I beat every level with at least an A rank, and on some levels I even pulled a SSS rank, something I could never do before.  Sure it can be difficult on the higher difficulties, but the original three difficulties are very easy.  Also lets go over Limbo, I had a fear that it would be a gimmick forcing you to play the same area twice, once in Limbo and once normally, but I was wrong, Limbo was a way for the designers to have fun with the level designs so they weren't boring, and it made for the best levels I've played on in a long time.

       The last issue I want to go over is Devil Trigger.  The Devil Trigger has been a staple of the series since the beginning and is usually a way to amplify speed and strength.  It also transforms Dante into his true demon form with some influence  from whatever weapon he has equipped.  In this game it changes the world around him creating an amazing effect.  It also shoots all lesser enemies into the air while slowing down bosses and can be used to recover health.  It is meant to resemble the Quicksilver style from Devil May Cry 3.  Unfortunately I found it useless unless fighting a boss, and actually became a hindrance to big combos by launching enemies into the air forcing aerial attacks.  Virgil's Devil Trigger is more like the Doppelganger style creating a duplicate to add support.  Personally I would have preferred if they dived deeper into the new angel heritage of Dante, possibly an "Angel Trigger" to add variance and open up customization options.

       My final verdict is this, fans of the Devil May Cry series should not pass this up, get over  your grievances and play this game you won't be sorry.  If you've always wanted to play a Devil May Cry game this is a good starting point as it is forgiving to newcomers and is the first of a new storyline.  However if you are on the fence about it, the demo is free on Xbox Live Marketplace and the Playstation Store, and it includes a boss fight and standard level.  So try it out then make your judgement.  The game is short, so if you don't want to pay $60 for only 7-8 hours of gameplay, I sugest waiting until it has a price drop.  I enjoyed it, and if the original series was never released many of the problems I have with this game would go away.  So because of that I rate the game at a B.

Video Game Review: Halo The Covenant War

       I decided to do my first video game review on one of my favorite game series of all time, Halo.  And with the release of the new trilogy out now, I decided to review the series up until this point, the Bungie era, or as I like to call it the Covenant War.  These are the games that the humans are at war with the alien group named the Covenant.  I'm gonna do Halo 1-3, ODST, Reach, and Halo Wars, individually, then do an average.

       Halo: Combat Evolved/Anniversary

       I'm combining the two here because all Anniversary is  is a rerendered copy of the original.  This is the game that got my into the Xbox, it was amazing, the story was engaging, the multiplayer for this game is solely responsible for starting the LAN party craze, at the time called "Halo parties".  Then ten years later the game was rereleased for the 360 with redone graphics, Kinect & Live support, and the ability to play the campaign with 4 players.  But the best part of this game however is how well it holds up, to this day my friends and I on occasion get together and play this particular game because of how fun it is.  However this game didn't have my personal best weapons in it, so it isn't my favorite, but because of how well it was made for the time I give it an A.

Halo 2

       Halo 2 is by far the biggest improvement of the series, this game added so much that it almost felt like a different series.  The weapon selection almost doubled, the graphics were upgraded to the point that it took a second for the renders to finish in cutscenes, and they added the ability to steal vehicles, which were able to be destroyed as well.  The campaign added a new character to play as, the Arbiter, the most sacred warrior of the Covenant army.  They also added boss fights, and is thus far the only game to do so (I haven't played 4 yet, I'm getting my hands on it tomorrow).  The multiplayer again was where the game shined, the maps were massive, they embraced the Halo Party crowd, but it made the maps a little too large for just a group  who got together.  The game also introduced duel-wielding small arms weapons, the greatest thing to happen to these games.  I give this installment an A.

       Next is Halo 3, the end of the Chief's story in this war.  The first Halo game to be released on the 360.  The game had an upgraded on graphics, but everything else felt the same here.  There were some new weapons, grenade types, and items are added.  The game did away with boss fights, and the multiplayer maps were fixed to have a balance of map sizes.  This game is also the first to make the skulls a major element, before they were simply Easter eggs.  This game was good, but since there wasn't much change I'm forced to give it a B+.

       Halo 3 ODST was an interesting idea, with some cool new features, and great characters.  The issue was that in this game you play as an ODST, the elite UNSC forces, which wouldn't be a problem if you didn't play as a super soldier for the last 3 games.  ODST took away duel wielding (presumably because ODSTs weren't strong enough to do so), and items were removed as well.  But this game added the Firefight gametype, a favorite of mine, and the VISR, which is a form of super vision that outlines your enemies and friends in different colors, which hasn't been done since.  The character you play as here never speaks, so it makes you feel like your awkwardly watching someone else's story, and compared to the other games the story is kinda watered down.  The shining point of this game is the voice cast, basically the cast of Firefly played their characters, but in the Halo universe.  I give this particular game a C+.

       Halo Wars

       Little known fact, Halo was originally intended to be an RTS, so I like to believe this game was the original vision made real.  This game takes place years before the others, the Spartans in this game are of an older generation, and there are more of them.  The graphics of this game were remarkable, the story was really good, the gameplay however is a different story.  I'm not a huge RTS fan, but I'll play them on occasion, and I do enjoy them.  But my brother who loves RTSs claims that it was a little easy.  Also for an RTS I felt kinda cheated with only two options for armies, especially since the flood, sentinels, and insurrectionists were in the game.  Also because of the RTS style, it became impossible to play multiplayer on one XBox.  S give this game a B.

Halo Reach

       The last of Bungie's Halo games.  Reach tells the story of a Spartan squad, so all new characters.  The game did away with half of the grenade types, and the multiplayer maps were all just carbon copies of campaign locations.  The major point of this game is that since the game centers around you, the player creates a custom Spartan that is used in both multiplayer and campaign.  The customization allowed players to change armor, add effects, and even change the voice of their Spartans.  Though still not the huge improvement 2 was, the game was way better than the previous couple of installments.  Because of that I give the game an A-.

Average

Halo     A

Halo 2     A

Halo 3     B+

Halo 3 ODST     C+

Halo Wars     B

Halo Reach     A-

Average     B+

Agree with me, disagree?  or if you simply have a comment, feel free to post it below.