Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2 - Another Christmas gift, Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2 is like a comic book lover's dream come true. The best of the best collide with some of the most memorable super villains to ever exist. Basically, a beat-em-up arcade game, MUA2 adds in character combinations as an RPG element, a progressive leveling system, and amazingly cool combo special attacks. If you were a fan of the first game, you'll enjoy this sequel. Double the fun, double the characters, and double the players. With a better co-op system, the game becomes even more enjoyable when playing with some friends.Tekken 6 - The arrival of Tekken 6 to the new generation of gaming consoles felt late and very lackluster. A solid fighting title, it seemed to lack some of the elements I loved about the previous titles in this major fighting cannon. A (somewhat) new arcade style that allows you to free-run around levels beating up baddies seems to take up a majority of the game when it should have only been an added bonus. Online play was very broken but a recent patch has seemed to touch it up. With a ton of characters and new arenas, Tekken 6 still doesn't feel as fully fleshed out as games like SoulCalibur IV. As a longtime Tekken fan, I have to admit I was very disappointed with this release. Namco Bandai needs to go back to Tekken 2 and re-examine what made that game one of the best fighters of all time.
Demon's Souls - Another Christmas gift, I will admit I haven't even finished the tutorial on this game. But what I've seen so far, it's very . . . big. Everything is large from bosses to levels, the scale of the game will remind you of something out of Shadow of the Colossus. While and RPG at heart, the real time combat will have you wonder if you're not playing a hack-n-slasher instead. And yes it is very hard, this game will test both your patience and your mettle as a gamer . . . often.
Borderlands - I thought I was done with the first-person shooters for a while until I got talked into picking this game by a friend. What I found was a fast paced, RPG styled shooter that is amazingly enjoyable - with friends that is. A very boring and bleak game if you plan on going it solo, this game was meant for friends and lots of 'em. While there are no competitive modes, everything is co-op up to four players, you'll find that you won't have the time or the ammo to fight your friends because the baddies are tough and the bosses are tougher.
The shining gem for Borderlands is their fresh new revamp of character classes. The Solider has a special attack that lays down a turret gun which also acts as a shield, healing and replenishing ammo for anyone who stands near it. The Sniper's special attack is a bird that can attack multiple targets at a time and as you level up, he gets really really powerful. There's the berserker dude who basically smashes anything and everything in his way. You can think of him as your own personal tank. Then there's the Phasewalker (my choice of class) who has the ability to turn invisible and run super fast. Sounds a bit pointless at first until you start leveling up and find that you can light enemies on fire, shock them with electricity, spray them with acid, heal yourself, replenish your shield, and still have time to eat a cookie in the process. If you're tired of your average FPS games and want something fresh, definitely turn towards Borderlands. With the fun RPG leveling style and colorful cast of characters and enemies, this game will sure to help refresh this already crowded genre. And if you get tired of seeing deserts all the time, pick up the DLC "Dr. Ned's Zombie Island" it is well worth it.
Ratchet & Clank Future: A Crack in Time - What can I say? I'm an R&C fan and will always be. I was excited about this game but I knew it was going to be good so it really wasn't on my "oh wow!" list of games. But when I popped this sucker in and continued my journey to find Clank, I found not only a solid R&C title but one of the best since the original. Ten times, no maybe a hundred times better than Tools of Destruction, the story, the guns, the puzzles, the levels - they all had me craving more and more. Don't get me wrong, I loved ToD and was excited to finally see Ratchet and Clank make it to the HD era but there was something about the game that just seemed missing. Whether it was the time puzzles, the new set of boots, upgrading Aphelion, the return of the moon levels, open space combat, or getting to fight Dr. Nefarious once again - A Crack in Time has become one of my favorite R&C games among all of the great iterations of the series.
While the story got a little cliche at the end, I couldn't have asked for a better ending. Finding out more about Clank's story was a joy and duking it out with Dr. Nefarious again, who is one of my favorite villains, was enjoyable. The comedy was all there, the one-liners and inside jokes, and none of it was stale or old. The addition of all the hidden items to find added hours and re-playability to the game. Exploring the various planets wasn't a bore at all, the colorful and well designed planets with their wide variety of sights made it worthwhile trekking back over old territory. The revelations in the game also have me wondering what will become of Ratchet and Clank in the next game, because I am sure there will be a next game. The Future arc might be through but there were too many stones left unturned and too many questions left without answers to end the adventure here. Definitely one of my favorite pick ups for 2009.
