ZOMG!!!!!

STOP THE PRESSES!!!

BUNGIE signs a publishing deal with videogames giant ACTIVISION!!!

Whats this mean for Halo lovers? What crazy stories will unfold? DO you even give a shit???!!!

Hell if I know.

15 Minutes of Fun

Earlier this year, Xbox Live Arcade had a sale on Turtles in Time Re-Shelled. Being a huge Ninja Turtles fan (Please check out the comics!) I decided to jump on the opportunity and pick it up. 5 dollars, or 400 Microsoft points, later I lost interest. I didn't even play the game. Those of you who are following this blog may have noticed a trend in my gaming habits. Often times I buy games and let them sit there until I have nothing else to do and since comics come out every week, I always have something else to do. This weekend I had nothing to do, so I decided to go on and play Turtles in Time Re-Shelled. 10 minutes later, I was done. Ok, well maybe not 10 minutes but it must have been a few hours, very few hours. I had beaten the story mode the whole way through and was sitting in front of my tv wondering what to do next. Well of course! Write a review!

The game itself is not bad. It has a weak storyline, that's almost not there but the gameplay is good. I had fun playing it but like all older games, it suffers from certain pitfalls. I breezed through the first 6 levels and then the difficuly kicked up ridiculously. I did not die until level 6 where I died once. Then three times on seven and twice fighting the final boss. There are also certain points in the game where enemies tend to corner you and take a good amount of your life. Here's an example: One guy knocks me down, then another throws a shuriken and as I get up the first knocks me down again. Rinse and repeat. This gets frustrating at times but the game is an older game that has gotten a facelift. I remember older games having problems like these so I expected it.

I am going to assume that the fun lies in the multiplayer aspect of if. The problem however is that I was unable to find and online quick match. I do have a few friends who own the game and I will try it with them, but until then I have not been able to play the multiplayer. Overall this game is not bad. It isn't great, but for the price I paid it's well worth it. Playing online with friends and at home with family may provide additional hours of gameplay and hopefully add to the value of the game.

Let's Go To War!

A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away...ok so maybe it's a long time in the future but humanity goes to war. We face an opponent that will decimate us and crush our hopes but thanks to one man, Spartan Sierra 117, we wil perservere and we will win...all in one convenient trilogy available for the Xbox (Halo 1 and Halo 2) and Xbox 360 (Halo 3). But for those of us who are geeks and wanna know more there is another part to the story. No, I don't mean Halo 3: ODST, which wasn't a bad game but was somewhat of a disappointment to many. I mean Halo Wars by Ensemble Studios.
Now I played part of this game when it came out and it received pretty good scores, if memory serves me right. But somewhere along the line I lost interest in it. Maybe it was the real time strategy instead of a shooter or maybe it was because Master Chief was nowhere in sight, but I dropped the game like my New Year's resolution to lose weight. Recently I decided to be more disciplined and decided to pick up those things I had left behind. Realizing that my New Year's resolution would be alot of work, I went back to Halo Wars, and wow was I surprised. I really enjoyed this game. The main story is a combination of different mission goals such as survive until reinforcements arrive or protect an item until you reach the end. But the best part of the game is the multiplayer/co-op. Doing missions with your friends changes the way the level is played. Different tactics are employed and you can even feel like a real General by assigning jobs to each player. The multiplayer offers many maps that you can battle your friends on and gain achievements through. As with most other games, there are things to collect. Like all Halo games you can collect skulls that will alter the way the game is played. Of course there are achievements doing so. one for your first time (aww how sweet) and one for collecting them all (Pokemon!). There are also Halo timeline events that are unlocked by retrieving black boxes during the missions and by playing a skirmish game on each skirmish map. Halo Wars also features dosnloadable content which adds a different dimension to gameplay with different modes of gameplay and different maps to play them on. As of today, two DLC packs have been released.

Finally, my favorite moment of this game is the cut scene before the final mission. This scene shows 3 Spartans taking on a small army of Elites and killing every single one of them. It also features Forge, the main character in the game, taking on the Arbiter successfully. Just watching this cutscene brought a smile to my face and made everything worth the gaming. I really enjoyed this game and would recommend it to everyone. You can find it at your local game shop for around $20 or you can even download it via Xbox Live's "Games On Demand" for $29.99. In this situation, do yourselves a favor and pick it at your local game shop. So until next time, that has been your game review for the moment!

RAIN CON 2010 (it was really Wondercon...shhh!)

(CLICK ON PICTURES FOR FULL VIEW)

Wonder con 2010. We came, we saw, we conquered....

Then this SHIT happened on the way home.

Worst...Game...Ever...

In our time here at Game Raptor we have gone back and looked at games that people may have looked over. We picked games that we thought were great and have recommended them to the people who read this blog. Today, I want to go down a different route. I want to talk about a game that I hope everybody stays as far away from as possible. Bullet Witch. This review will be short and sweet. This game is horrible. Its super short (tooke me about 4 hours on normal), has revolting dialogue, ("Take two of these and call me in the morning" from a soldier shooting some sort of monster), and finally, for us achievement hunters, beating it on normal only gets you about 300 GS. And to get the rest? You wil have to replay the game several times and put 15 hours into it, Something nobody will want to do. The aiming in this game is a problem. A very slight movement hardly adjusts the reticle. Move it a little bit more and the reticle jumps from spot to spot. There is one moment where I was surprised, a plot twist that I did not see coming. Also, there are a few visuals that are neat but neither of these two save the game. Please people, don't waste your time on this game. For this price (I paid 8 bucks for it) you can get Dark Sector, a far superior game which you might actually enjoy.

This is Why We Bring Up Old Shit!

So earlier in our blog history, my dear comrade fernandope asked "why you gotta bring up old shit?" He went on to review an old game that was well made and was glanced over by most people. Today I want to follow his lead and talk about an old game that received average/below average reviews but due to its content and origin, found a place in my heart. Like all those people who buy Dragonball Z fighting games despite how repetitive and horrible they are because they are fans of it, I enjoyed Wanted: Weapons of Fate.

Like most shooters, the game comes with three difficulty settings: "Pussy", "Assassin", "The Killer". There are a total of 9 acts with 3 tutorials at the beginning of the game and an achievement for each act under each difficulty setting. This may not seem super important but for you achievement hunters, myself included, this is a secondary motivation to play this super short game. Completing this 6 hour game on "The Killer" difficulty awards you 620 gamerscore points. This brings me to my next point about this comic book inspired-movie inspired game. Yeah, its a game based on a movie thats based on a damn fine comic book, or as those elitist jackasses would call it now that it's been collected, a "graphic novel".

This game is a super short game that moves quickly. The action is fast paced and there are very few game mechanics so that getting into the game starts quickly. There are only two weapons in the game. A pistol and a pair of submachine guns. so there is no fiddling around with weapons for the most part. There are two sections where you will use a mounted machine gun turret and two others where you will use a sniper rifle. These sections however, end quickly when done right and provide a much needed change of pace. The game also features the movie inspired "curving" of the bullet and the very "Matrixy" bullet time named the EQM. Again, the game is short but for the price of under $20 the game is well worth it.

There are also some reason to replay the game. There are also "Reward Items" spread throughout the levels which unlock things such as pictures, comic book covers and photos. The game also rewards the player with Headshot mode and Close Combat Mode once the game is completed. These modes require the player to eliminate a certain amount of enemies with headshots or close combat attacks accordingly. Finally the game has other unlockables which are obtained by using numeric codes found in the game and the movie. Personally, I skipped the work of looking for them and used the internet to find the codes. These codes unlock alternate suits and charaters which are usable to get more achievements.

So to tie things up, Wanted: Weapons of Fate is a decent game that was overlooked by many. It's nothing special but for under $20 this game is well worth it. If your ot in the market to buy it, then try a rental or get it used from Gamestop and return before seven days. Just go out there and try it.

A Better Top Ten List!! BOOYAH!

Ok so I might not be as adept at spotting a good game when I see one as my partner is, (case in point, I thought Fallout 3 was boring) but I know what I like. When I play games I don't look for possibilities or dozens of choices. I look for a few things. Those things are the same things I look for when I read comics. A pretty picture, an interesting story, and a good time. So here's my list of favorite games ever in the history of the whole wide world!

1. Borderlands XBox 360 (Soo many things to do with so much action)

2.Halo 3 XBox 360(Multiplayer...need I say more?)
3. Final Fantasy Tactics PSone & PSP (Well...over 100 hours into it)

4. Legend of Zelda: The Ocarina of Time N64 (Just blew my mind when it came out. I still prefer it over any other Legend of Zelda game)

5.Goldeneye N64(Looking back it was not that great. But at that time it was the reason I made friends)

6. Skies of Arcadia Dreamcast(I remember hunting for this game and being so happy when I actually got to play it) 7. Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2 PSone (Not sure why, but I loved this game for the longest time)

8. Power Stone Arcade and PSP(This game is one of the few fighting games I like and I can play for a long time)

9. Mario Kart SNES (Its probably the fond memories of a time that I will never ever get back...fuck this game makes me sad. Maybe I should take it off this list.)

10.Final Fantasy VII (An 50 hour rpg that did not bore me at all)

That's the list...what do you got?

Fernandope's Top Ten Games of All Time

Top ten games of all time? Okay, Okay maybe not of all time but definitely of the past 23 years. I have lived through most of the console age of video games and have had many different experiences through out my life span. But these "video games" that I am about to list all have had an impact in my life and will forever be a part of who I am. They are the reason why I still play games and why I am actively pursuing a career in video game development.

Let the cliche top ten listing of games commence!

1. Conker's Bad Fur Day (N64)

2. Super Smash Brothers (N64)








3. Final Fantasy X (PlayStation 2)











4. Kingdom Hearts (PlayStation 2)











5. Street Fighter 4 (Xbox 360)











6. Advance Wars: Dual Strike (NDS)









7. Dance Dance Revolution Extreme (Arcade)









8. Kirby's Adventure (NES)











9. Half-Life 2 (PC)












10. Golden Eye (N64)









Yeah. What are your top ten games of all time?

Why You Gotta Bring Up Old Shit?!

These past couple of years it seems like I have less and less free time for anything. I would like to think that the world revolves around me but that's not the case since developers are releasing games not according to my life schedule. There are too many great games out there that go overlooked and don't get the recognition they deserve. Try going back to some old releases and give them a shot. I try to do this every once in a while and have ended up with some winners and losers.
One game that I went back to check out was The Darkness. The Darkness is a game based off of the comic book published by Image Comics and is available on the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 consoles. The story follows the main character Jackie Estacado, a stereotypical guido donning a black trench coat and an evil spirit called (get ready for this one) The Darkness! In the game you utilize THE DARKNESS! to take down your enemies in multiple fashions, by tentacle, by darkness gun, by a snake attack, and by devouring their hearts. Sounds like fun right? It is.

You also get to command little minions called Darklings. There are 4 different types of Darklings and they all have their own special abilities. As far as the story goes its pretty throw away but it does get pretty intense at one point and you may catch yourself saying something like, "WHAT THE FUCK!!!???" in astonishment. At least I did anyway. I say go check it out. You can get for under $10 at any Game Stop or you can borrow it from a friend. Definitely a surprisingly fun game.

Why he gotta be black?

After reading Thor 606, I had a smile on my face. Sure, my favorite character whooped Dr. Doom's ass, but that's not what made me smile. In previous issues, Balder, King of Asgard (fucking Loki...), had moved Asgard to Latveria following Loki's advice. Of course, Doom was planning something and Loki was in on it In these last few issues we see the plan come to fruition with Doom gaining some of the Asgardian's powers at the cost of the lives of many Asgardians. After Balder, with the help of Thor, overcomes Doom's maniacal plan, he realizes how bad of an idea it was to listen to Loki and beats himself up over it. Here is Balder's direct quote:

"Is this how I am to be remembered? Balder the Good becomes Balder the Good-for-Nothing? Balder the Foolish? Even Balder the Black?"

This is the line that made me smile. Why the hell he gotta be black? Why is being black such a bad thing? Why such a negative connotation? I smiled as I read it, knowing that black makes reference to death and evil especially in religious conversation. However, I found myself thinking "This could be taken a totally different way!" Hopefully this won't turn away any African American readers from Thor. So far this book has been very good and the action has ramped up in the last few issues with this issue being very well done despite a few cheesy lines here and there.

Here is a link to the official Marvel site on this issue.

And thanks to marvel.com for the picture of this issue's cover.

Next week, Brutal Legend. Until then...comicgeek

Mission Statement

Are you tired of the boring, long, repetitive gaming/nerd culture websites and blogs out there? Yeah, so are we. This is Game Raptor. We aim to produce more than just the run of the mill game or comic review by delivering short-and-to-the-point content for people like us. If you do not know exactly what that is then check back and get a feel for it, because we don't fee like explaining it to you. Learn something.

We do:

-Short "conversation style" interview based game, comic, and movie reviews.
-Excitement Articles (use your imagination.)
-And top 10 lists!!!! (soo original.)
-and possibly some videos from various events or not.

Game Raptor is:

Fernandope

and

Comicgeek