Hump Day Music: Mass Effect Theme

It has been a couple of weeks since we had a new edition of Hump Day Music.  With the launch of the PlayStation Vita, the last two Wednesdays were dedicated to previewing the most interesting games in the Vita's launch line-up from both first and third-party developers than getting over the hump with some video game music.  Hump Day Music came at the right time as it is almost the day I have been waiting months for, Mass Effect 3 launch day.  I will fully explain my love for the series next week, which I have deemed Mass Effect week here on Silver Bit, but to keep things short for right now Mass Effect is my Star Wars in a way.  To get everybody ready for all the Mass Effect loving that will be going on next week with the Mass Effect Theme.

Not as synonymous as the Legend of Zelda Theme or the Super Mario Bros. Theme or even the Halo Theme, the Main Theme music for Mass Effect is just as great.  Those who have played either games in the series will immediately recognize it and the subtle more ambient tone of the piece.  My favourite part of the piece starts at the 20 second mark as things start the ramp up.  The electronic vibration sound just starts to get louder and louder and more lively until the boom of the percussion where all the other instruments come and the piece really comes alive.  It is a great piece of music that I did not fully respect until I heard it played by the Video Games Live orchestra.  It is at least worth a listen considering Mass Effect 3 is less than a week away.

Launch Station: SSX

Well it is the calm before the storm.  This week has quite a few big releases such as Binary Domain, Mortal Kombat Komplete Edition and the game featured in this Launch Station, SSX, but next Tuesday will be insane.  We got Mass Effect 3, Street Fighter X Tekken, MLB 2K12, MLB 12: The Show, Unit 13 for PSV and few more that I can't remember at the moment.  Next Tuesday will see the release of close to ten games.  Gamers better get ready March 6th, 2012 will be a day to remember.  We are still a week away so let us stay in the here and now and take a look at the high-anticipated return of SSX.

It has been close to five years since SSX has graced a video game console.  Originally EA introduced SSX's first foray into the current-gen consoles as the gritty looking SSX: Deadly Descents (or SSX: Black Ops as fans named it).  After a lot of backlash from fans, EA changed the name to simply SSX and got rid of the dark grittier direction in favour of a lighter tone more in line with past entries of the SSX series.  For returning fans, the gameplay is the same as previous entries in the series.  Take control of one of many snowboarders as you snowboard down a mountain successfully preforming tricks, which builds build your Tricky meter that allows you to perform more intricate tricks, that all builds your score and earns you more money to buy gear and other characters.  For the new SSX, EA Canada has pulled all the stops as they have used geotagging data from NASA to create 27 realistic mountains and 9 realistic peaks from the Canadian Rockies to the Himalayans for the game.  SSX offers a rather simple single player mode as you take the role of a member on Team SSX having to compete in snowboard events in order to earn respect and money for your team.  The Deadly Descents that were mentioned in the original subtitle for SSX are actually in the game.  These Deadly Descents serve as boss battles testing your different snowboarding abilities.  For those not into snowboarding solo, you can play SSX online or asynchronously with friends through SSX's version of Need for Speed's Autolog called RiderNet.  Much like in the recent Need for Speed games, when you post a high score or any other achievement in the game it is sent to all your friends as a challenge.  If they beat your high score, you are sent challenges from them, but if they do not, you will receive money to be used on unlockables for your game.

Being a fan of SSX 3 from the last generation of consoles, I have been looking forward to SSX since EA showed off the new lighter tone back at last year's E3.  After playing the demo, I am very much excited to play SSX as it looks like the series has not skipped a beat since it last showed up on home consoles.  The snowboarding is smooth, the tricks are easy to pull of, the animation is fluid and overall it looks to be one fun ride.  For those who have waited to get there hands on a new SSX game for a long time or fans of sports games in general, SSX looks to be the game for you.  For everybody else, download the demo and see what you think.  You might be surprised how SSX's cartoony graphics and polished gameplay pulls you in.

Off the Newsstand: Game Informer Issue 227

Between all the games coming out, the Vita launch, the normal weekly posts like On the Download and Bit by Bit and reviews, there has not been many times when yours truly has time to give his insight on the magazines he is reading.  Since the last Off the Newsstand, I have read issue 235 of Electronic Gaming Monthly (the only supposedly monthly magazine that is bi-monthly) and issue 226 of Game Informer.  So I have been busily reading away don't you worry.

While the last Game Informer I analyzed on Off the Newsstand I did not think highly of, Game Informer bounced back with a surprisingly pleasing February issue that had XCOM: Enemy Unknown as the cover story.  So I was interested to see if the March issue would be just as pleasing when I heard that Naughty Dog's newest IP, The Last of Us would be gracing the cover.  Other than the interesting VGA trailer, Naughty Dog has been tight-lipped on The Last of Us.  I thought this cover story would do what the VGA trailer failed to do, get me at least interested in The Last of Us.  Long story short, Game Informer's cover story failed.  Do not get me wrong if you love anything Naughty Dog touches or are already excited for The Last of Us, this cover story will wet your appetite for a bit.  If you did not care beforehand, this cover story will not give you anything to get excited for.  I was more interested in the sidebar about how Naughty Dog was so close to working on a new Jak & Daxter before The Last of Us or the fact that after Uncharted 2, Naughty Dog split into two separate teams (the Uncharted team and the now Last of Us team) than anything about The Last of Us.  I learned more about Darksiders II's gameplay, mechanics and other features in Game Informer's four-page preview than I did about The Last of Us in the ten-page cover story. At least The Last of Us cover story was better than the South Park RPG cover story.  While The Last of Us cover story might have been a little lacklustre, there were plenty of great articles in this issue of Game Informer from the article on the Interactive Achievement Awards (an awards show that actually honours video games unlike a specific Spike-produced awards show) to the return of My First Game this time with Naughty Dog co-founder Evan Wells.

Overall, the March issue of Game Informer is more or less your average issue.  Much like the January issue, the cover story brought could have been a stellar issue down a notch.  Those interested in The Last of Us, this issue is six dollars well spent.  For those not interested, this issue will not convert you into a Last of Us fan, but does warrant at least a read either by signing out of from your local library or reading it at your local Chapters.

Bit by Bit: February 19-25

From playing games to writing this blog to work to hanging with friends off for Reading Week, it was truly a busy week.  If you missed out on all the posts this week, there is a lot of content for you to check out.  The final edition of Vita Wednesday, two Launch Stations (one for Asura's Wrath, one for Syndicate), On the Download and my review of Run Roo Run for iOS.  Also if you didn't notice, I finally figured out how to put up a Like Box for Silver Bit's fan page on Facebook.  So please like the fan page, it will make it easier to find out when I put up each post.  For those who don't like using Facebook, you can follow me on Twitter at @AJSilver22.

Game of the Week
I would love to say the Mass Effect 3 Demo because I have been playing a whole lot of the multiplayer and loving it, but I want to save my opinions on the demo until sometime this following week when I put up my demo impressions.  So my Game of the Week goes to Valkryia Chronicles for the PS3.  Ever since it released, I heard good things from this mix of turn-based strategy and real-time combat and I wanted to get a PS3 just to play it.  Finally I found it for 20 dollars over at Microplay and I could not just miss out on this great opportunity to pick it up.  It has a slow start and having to individually select each scene to play out is a little annoying, but once I started playing the missions I was entranced.  Valkryia Chronicles reminds a lot of Fire Emblem in the way each mission plays out like a chess match between two commanders.  Also Valkryia Chronicles has a way of wrapping me into the story and world, like Fire Emblem does, to the point that I can waste most of my afternoon and not even notice it until I put down the controller.  If you ever find a copy of this game sitting on a store shelf, do not hesitate to pick it up.  Great gameplay, great story and I only just started.  I cannot wait to see where this game takes me each and every playthrough.

Most Anticipated Game of the Week
So many great announcements this week.  The Last Story is coming to North America this summer, Mario Tennis Open for the 3DS will land on store shelves this coming May and Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode II gameplay trailer was released (if you haven't checked it out yet, do so after reading Bit by Bit).  It is so hard to choose just one game, but I have to.  So my Most Anticipated Game of the Week is The Last Story.  From the mind Hironobu Sakaguchi and his team at Mistwalker, The Last Story is an action RPG for the Wii with a lot of promise.  With Xenoblade Chronicles and The Last Story finally coming to North America this year, all those hardcore Wii owners better put their money where their mouth is and show their support.  I have Xenoblade Chronicles pre-ordered and The Last Story will be soon enough.

Video of the Week
If you do not know by now, I love Mass Effect.  I cannot wait until Mass Effect 3 comes out in about a week.  All I will say about this video is epic CG goodness.  I am pumped as ever to Take Back Earth!

Run Roo Run Review

In the annals of portable gaming, 5th Cell has made a name for themselves for their innovative creations like Drawn to Life and Scribblenauts.  As time has gone on, the team at 5th Cell has looked to expand their horizon to the iOS platform.  Their first game made for just for iOS, Run Roo Run captures the creative, simplistic yet extremely satisfying nature of their previous games for other platforms.

In Run Roo Run, you play as a kangaroo by the name of Roo.  Roo is on a trek across Australia from Perth to Sydney in order to her kidnapped joey.  Each level in Run Roo Run is one screen long.  Before you roll your eyes, each level will put your hand-eye coordination and problem-solving skills to the test as you try to get Roo to the checkered flag at the opposite end of the screen without hitting any of the obstacles in your way.  In the entire game, there are 420 levels broken up into 20 destinations between Perth and Sydney.  Each destination includes 15 normal levels and 6 extreme levels.  Also each destination adds a new mechanic to the game that changes how Roo traverses each level.

Run Roo Run is an extremely simple game.  There is only one way to control Roo that is by touching the screen to make Roo jump.  The game’s difficulty comes from timing Roo’s jumps in order to make it to the end of the level unscathed.  Run Roo Run’s simplistic one-touch controls make this iOS game approachable anybody no matter their age or skill.   Among Run Roo Run’s strengths is the amount of content you get for the dollar or two you pay for the game.  You get the 420 main levels and on top of that, every week since the games’ release 5th Cell has been adding 10 new levels for those of us that crave more Run Roo Run.  Run Roo Run also has a very charming 2D art style that complements the simplistic gameplay and plot.  The music is good too, but loops far too often that it more grating than memorable.

The extreme levels in Run Roo Run are extreme in every sense of the word as they will take plenty of tries to find the correct way of completing them.  While most of the extreme levels offer a fair challenge that is satisfying upon completion, there are a few where the difficulty spikes to the point that it is more frustrating than satisfying.  Completing these levels relies more on luck rather than actual skill and timing your jumps.  Other than that big problem, there are a couple little annoyances in the game such as the items in the game being mostly useless and having to watch the opening cutscene every time you start the game, but they do not detract much from this already great game.

With charming graphics, simplistic yet intuitive controls, satisfying gameplay and a plethora of great levels, Run Roo Run is one of the best games you can download from the App Store.  While the difficulty spikes might make some turn off their iDevice in frustration, it is a game that gamers hardcore or casual, young or old can pick up and play.  Sadly Run Roo Run is not a universal app, but one dollar for the iPhone version or two dollars for the iPad version (I have it for my iPad) is a steal considering all the content and great gameplay you get with this amazing app.

On the Download: February 19-25

We are only two months into 2012 and the games are just coming at both retail and in the downloadable space.  It is truly incredible and there are more coming very soon.  As I eagerly wait for more 3DS Virtual Console games and Mass Effect: Infiltrator, more downloadable games have just been announced.  Nintendo just announced that Game Gear games are coming to the 3DS Virtual Console in the coming months, Sega just released the first gameplay trailer for Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode II and also announced Dreamcast classic Jet Set Radio for XBLA and PSN.  While last week's edition of On the Download was full, not so much this week, but there are two big games to talk about.  So let us get going.

As the second game in Microsoft's XBLA House Party, Alan Wake's American Nightmare looks to bring in fans of the original 2010 Xbox 360 release.  Before you start thinking that American Nightmare is basically Alan Wake 2, it is not.  American Nightmare is it's own independent story set in the Alan Wake universe.  Our titular character, Alan Wake is trapped in an episode of Night Springs that he wrote.  Alan must figure out what in this world is reality and what is fiction while fighting against the forces of the dark and searching for his evil doppelganger, Mr. Scratch.  Other than the story, not much has been changed with the gameplay for American Nightmare.  American Nightmare also includes a multiplayer mode called Fight Till Dawn, which is a wave defense mode much like Gears of War's Horde mode where you have to survive 10 minutes fighting off waves of enemies.  For those interested in Alan Wake's American Nightmare, you can pick it up for 1200 Microsoft Points.

After the critical success of Pushmo and Sakura Samurai, many are looking to Dillion's Rolling Western, Nintendo's newest 3DS download, to keep the Big N on a roll.  Part action-adventure, part tower defense, you play as the Dillion, a mysterious armadillo ranger, who must defend frontier villages from ferocious rock monsters known as Grocks, who look to feed on the livestock of each village.  Dillion can attack the Grocks by rolling into them, but sometimes the Grocks widely outnumber this one armadillo.  So to even the odds, the villagers have made towers to help Dillion out.  To stop stronger Grocks, Dillion must collect materials by exploring the land and defeating Grocks in order to upgrade the towers. From the sound of things, Dillion's Rolling Western looks to be another unique game from Nintendo available only on the Nintendo eShop for 10 dollars.

Vita Wednesday: Third-Party Launch Titles

Welcome the second and final Vita Wednesday.  Last week, we took a look at Sony's three biggest offerings for their new handheld.  This week we are taking a look at the three biggest offerings from the third party publishers like Ubisoft, Capcom and EA.  If you look at the majority of the games launching with the Vita from third-party publishers land in one of two categories.  They are either a port of a recently released console game or a portable entry of an existing franchise that does not do much to make itself stand out from other entries in the series much like Dynasty Warriors Next and Touch My Katamari.  While I personally wanted to stay away from highlighting one of these two categories in this Vita Wednesday post, I will have to due to the lack of anything relatively new released at launch for the Vita.

Just as Street Fighter launched with the Nintendo 3DS, another Capcom fighter launches with the PlayStation Vita.  This time around Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 gets the portable treatment.  As the definitive version of Marvel vs. Capcom 3, Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 includes 12 new characters, new modes, new stages, re-balanced gameplay and a more robust online mode.  Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 for the Vita has all the modes and features that the console game has with one new mode exclusive to the Vita.  This mode is Touch Mode.  In Touch Mode, you control your fighter through tapping and swiping the touch screen.  If you are looking for a great fighting game for your Vita, no doubt Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 is your game.

From the ever-creative mind of Michel Ancel, Rayman Origins landed on consoles with not much of a splash.  Released in the middle of the insane holiday season, this great platformer was fed to the dogs as juggernauts like Modern Warfare 3, Skyrim and Assassin's Creed dominated the last quarter of 2011.  Sad considering Rayman Origins is in my opinion much better game than those just listed.  If you missed out on Rayman Origins back during the holidays, Ubisoft has brought the lovably limbless hero to the launch of the PS Vita.  This Vita version of Rayman Origins has all the features of its big console brother with a few additions exclusive to Sony's next generation handheld.  Rayman Origins for the Vita has a Ghost Mode, which uses the Vita's Near functionality to receive ghost data from friends and race them in game.  Also Rayman Origins for the Vita features touch controls for the game.  With Rayman Origins coming to a handheld near you, it would be foolish to miss out on this excellent platformer yet again.

At the launch of the PSP, there was one game that caught the eyes and ears of all who played it.  It proved to many the potential of the PSP and quickly became it's killer app.  This game was called Lumines, a puzzle game similar to Tetris that perfectly blended music and rhythm with addictive block-dropping action.  Seven years later, Lumines graces the launch of the Sony's newest handheld with Lumines: Electronic Symphony.  Playing with the title, Electronic Symphony features a soundtrack filled with great electronic music.  Electronic Symphony is more focused on straight arcade puzzle action as you vie for the high score and then upload to online leaderboards.  New to Lumines, Electronic Symphony includes avatars that can gain experience, level up and has abilities that can be used to improve your score.   If you are looking to play with others, Electronic Symphony has online multiplayer.  Like every Vita game, Electronic Symphony has touch controls that can be used instead of the d-pad and face buttons.  For all the puzzle game fans out there, Lumines: Electronic Symphony is a game you should not miss if you pick up a Vita.

Launch Station: Syndicate

Yesterday, we took a look at one of the underdogs that release today, Asura's Wrath.  Today, we take a look at the other underdog.  Published by EA Games and developed by Starbreeze (the developers who made Escape for Butcher Bay and the Darkness), Syndicate has talent behind it, but has not made much of a smash among the gaming community.  Maybe it is that the cyberpunk setting is not as familiar with shooter fans or that hardcore gamers just sick and tired of first-person shooters.  It is sad considering Syndicate looks to be a very unique first-person shooter.

Starbreeze's Syndicate is a reboot of the 1993 strategy game of the same name.  In the year 2069, the world as we know it is no more.  Governments and politicians have become a thing of the past as mega-corporations known as syndicates have taken over and divided the world up as they pleased.  As greed and power have now become the main goal among these syndicates, business has become war.  You take control of Miles Kilos, EuroCorp's super-agent.  Equipped with EuroCorp's new DART 6 chip, Miles embarks on an adventure filled with corruption and revenge.  Syndicate offers players a more visceral first-person shooter experience as you are not limited to just guns.  You can take down foes with some brutal takedowns.  Through the DART 6 chip implanted in the player, you can manipulate the world in different ways.  You can slow down time, see through walls and other solid objects and hack computers, terminals, turrets and even other "chipped" humans (friend or foe).  The idea that you can hack into a "chipped" individual and either persuade them to join your side or take out others before committing suicide is crazy yet extremely dark.  Syndicate also offers online co-op for up to four people.  In the online co-op, you and up to three other people join forces to complete one of nine missions.  Earn experience points through killing enemies, healing squad mates and completing mission objectives, collect new weapons from fallen enemies and acquire research points that can be used to upgrade weapons and enhance your Agent's powers.

Ever since EA released the first trailer for the Syndicate reboot, I personally have been excited to play this unique first-person shooter.  The first-person shooter genre is filled to the brim with mindlessly shallow experiences like Call of Duty that focus on more grander set pieces and bigger explosions with each sequel than push the genre forward like a Half-Life or a Bioshock that I do not get that excited for FPS games.  The guys and gals at Starbreeze look to add a something new to this genre with Syndicate and I commend them for that.  From what I played of the co-op demo, I am very impressed.  It focuses more on actual strategy than twitch-based run-and-spray tactics that a usual Call of Duty game devolves into.  While I do not think gamers will jump to Syndicate like they would a Call of Duty or Battlefield game, those who actually give Syndicate a try they will be in for a much different and unique experience unlike your average first-person shooter.

Launch Station: Asura's Wrath

With all the popular names coming out in this packed first quarter of 2012, there are a few games with little to no name recognition that are also fighting for the money of us gamer's.  The two big console releases this Tuesday are at the top of that list, Capcom and CyberConnect2's Asura's Wrath and EA and Starbreeze's Syndicate.  This week's editions of Launch Station will preview these two underdogs.  Today, we will take a look at Asura's Wrath, tomorrow Syndicate.

Asura's Wrath follows Asura as he seeks revenge on the "Seven Deities", who framed Asura with the crime of killing the Emperor and also killed Asura's wife and kidnapped his daughter.  Asura's Wrath is broken up into 18 chapters that run just like an episode from a Japanese anime complete with a "To Be Continued" cliffhanger to conclude each chapter.  The focus of Asura's Wrath is its cinematic story, which means the gameplay is just as cinematic and varied.  One moment, Asura may be fighting multiple enemies in an beat 'em up like segment, the next Asura may be shooting down enemy forces in a shoot 'em up segment, the next he may be performing quick time events to dodge enemy attacks.  The varied gameplay will give you and your controller one crazy workout.

After my time with the demo, I am personally looking forward to Asura's Wrath.  The signature Japanese-style of insanity oozes out of the pores of Asura's Wrath that it is hard not to love.  The one thing I am worried about is the 18 chapters that may last close to 20 minutes each may not be enough to justify the full 60 dollar price.  Gamers want to feel they are getting the most for their money when they are spending 60 dollars for a brand new game and might look past all the great stuff about Asura's Wrath if the game's length feels too short for them.  In this packed market, I could honestly see Asura's Wrath turning out to be a diamond in the rough, a hidden gem that most gamers sadly overlook.

Bit by Bit: February 12-18

It has been a busy week for games and this blog.  Covering the launch of the PlayStation Vita, its biggest first-party titles, Twisted Metal for the PS3 and three big downloadable games.  This blog is not just all about previews as my review of Golden Sun: Dark Dawn went live in the wee hours of the morning.  So I hope you enjoy all the content up on Silver Bit after reading this edition of Bit by Bit.

Game of the Week
Considering I completed it last Sunday in one hell of a six hour play session, my Game of the Week goes to Golden Sun: Dark Dawn.  You can find most of my opinions of the game in the review I just put up much earlier today.  I have to say that run to the end of the game was really intense and fun especially the mountain leading up to the Apollo Lens.  It put your puzzle-solving and psynergy skills to the ultimate test, which made for one of the most intense levels in the game.  While the ending and final boss are a bit lackluster, everything leading up to them is very compelling and makes you want to continue playing to see what is going to happen next.  You see now why I played this game for close to six hours on Sunday.

Most Anticipated Game of the Week
I would be lying if I did not pick Mass Effect 3 as my Most Anticipated Game of the Week or more likely the Year.  With only a few weeks until it is released, my anticipation for this game is getting unbearable especially after playing the demo.  Expect a full demo impressions for the Mass Effect 3 demo once I get a chance to play a few rounds of multi-player.  Speaking of the demo, the single-player missions are really good.  They will not surprise anybody who has been following the game since BioWare announced it as the missions are exactly what BioWare showed off at E3 last year.  All-in-all, Mass Effect 3 looks awesome and I cannot wait until March 6th to finally play it.

Video of the Week
Pop Fiction is a show on Gametrailers that looks at gaming myths and tries either to prove them right or wrong.  This series has looked many big gaming myths from reviving Aeris in Final Fantasy VII to catching Mew in Pokemon Red, Blue and Yellow.  Yesterday, Gametrailers put up a new episode looking at Totaka's Song, a 19-note song which is said to be in every Nintendo product that composer Kazumi Totaka has worked on.  The Gametrailers team get a tip from two Argentinian gamers about possibly finding Totaka's Song in Wii Sports.  So they investigate and the results are fascinating to say the least.

Get More: GameTrailers.com, Pop-Fiction - Epsiode 21: Totaka's Song, PC Games, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360

Golden Sun: Dark Dawn Review

As the third entry in Camelot’s acclaimed RPG series and the first for the Nintendo DS, Golden Sun: Dark Dawn looks to continue the story from the first two entries in the series while also bringing in newcomers with it’s easy-to learn mechanics and generous difficulty level. As the last Nintendo release for the Nintendo DS, Golden Sun: Dark Dawn serves as worthwhile swan song for Nintendo’s dual screen behemoth and a very approachable RPG for those looking to get into this genre of games.

Golden Sun: Dark Dawn picks up 30 years after the climactic Golden Sun event at the end of The Lost Age.  You control Matthew, Tyrell and Karis, the children of the Warriors of Vale (the heroes from the first two games).  After a brief introduction dungeon, Matthew and his friends are sent on a quest to retrieve the mystical Roc’s Feather in order to fix the Soarwing that Tyrell destroyed.  Things escalate from this one simple task as Matthew and company get sucked into an evil plot to cover the world of Weyard in darkness.  Matthew and his friends must travel to distant lands, meet up with new party members and activate the Alchemy machines in order to save the world from utter destruction.  As a whole, the story can be dismissed as your regular RPG story, though it does pick up in the latter stages of the game.  For those who have not played the first two Golden Sun games much like yours truly, there are some allusions to those games that might go over your heads, but Camelot does a great job of getting players up to speed with the important plot points.  This makes Dark Dawn a great jumping on point for those interested in giving this series a chance.

Over the years, there has been one aspect of the game that has made the Golden Sun series stand out from your average Japanese RPG.  That aspect is the puzzles.  As all the characters in your party are Adepts, people who can use Psynergy (Golden Sun’s equivalent to magic), they can interact with the game environment in different ways to reach unreachable areas and solve some head scratching puzzles.  These puzzles make the trudge through dungeons and towns that much more bearable as there are more things to outside of battling random enemies.  Also in your travels you will be collect djinn, elemental creatures that can boost a character’s stats and offer different uses in battle from reviving a party member to boosting each party member’s defense to unleashing devastating attacks.  Golden Sun: Dark Dawn’s battle system is very similar to battle systems found in other turn-based RPGs.  You select from a menu of attacks, psynergy abilities, djinn, summons and defense, target an enemy and repeat.  With Dark Dawn, Camelot has improved on a complaint about the battle system from the first two Golden Sun games.  Camelot has included smart combat, so if an enemy is killed before other party members can attack it, now they intelligently attack one of the remaining enemies instead of just switching to defense.  This improvement makes combat much more faster and fluid experience than its predecessors and make going back to that battle system a little harder on some.

For longtime RPG fans, Golden Sun: Dark Dawn will be a walk in the park.  The easier difficulty makes for a more approachable game to RPG newcomers, but Dark Dawn is easy to a fault.  Personally I only died once in the entire game and that was at the final boss, which had an insane difficulty spike.  Speaking of the final boss and the ending, they were both a bit lackluster to say the least.  It felt as you reached the halfway point of the game, the big twist that would lead into the final hours of the game and the true finale.  That does not happen and you are left feeling like Dark Dawn is the first part of a much bigger story.  Camelot does wrap up the majority of mysteries brought up during the course of the game, but there are some big plot points left open for the inevitable 3DS sequel.  Personally, I did not mind as much, but it will bum a lot of people that after 30 hours you will have to wait a few more years for the actual conclusion to this story.

At the end of the day, Golden Sun: Dark Dawn is an entertaining RPG that any gamer no matter age or experience can pick up and play.  The lackluster final boss and ending and the difficulty will turn some people off, but those who stick with the game will be treated to a worthwhile RPG with a cool story, simple yet fun battle system and some excellent puzzles.

On the Download: February 12-18

Finally after weeks of begging, Nintendo has delivered what I have wanted for a while.  We got a new game for the 3DS Virtual Console.  It is not a Game Boy or Game Boy Color game as Nintendo released Super Mario Bros., which the Nintendo Ambassadors received a while back, to those who did not pick up the 3DS at launch.  For those who already have Super Mario Bros. for their 3DS, you can download the update that adds the save system that can be found in all 3DS Virtual Console games.  Also the Metal Gear Solid: Snake Eater 3D demo landed on the Nintendo eShop this week.  In short, the demo gives a nice small slice of the game's opening level, but nothing substantial enough to convince undecided gamers to go out and buy it this coming Tuesday.  If you are wondering why I talked about all the Nintendo downloadable stuff in the intro?  It is because I have a full order of downloadable games to talk about in this week's edition of On the Download from the new PS Vita to XBLA and PSN to the iOS.  On the Download is packed to capacity, so let us not waste anymore time.

Released alongside the release of the First Edition Vita Bundle, Super Stardust Delta can only be downloaded on the Vita's PlayStation Store.  Super Stardust Delta is the newest entry in a series of twin-stick shooters made by Housemarque and published by Sony.  In Super Stardust Delta, you control a ship orbiting a planet, which is the game's play area.  While in said planet's orbit, you must dodge and/or destroy incoming asteroids and enemies in order to earn the highest score, which you can then upload to the online leaderboard.  At it's core, Super Stardust Delta is an arcade shooter in the vein of Geometry Wars.  It includes game modes such as Arcade and Planets and mini-games like Crush and Disc Slide, which use the Vita's other features to the best of their abilities.  For those itching for more Super Stardust Delta, there already is a DLC that adds a additional four game modes for you to download.  For those interested, Super Stardust Delta will set you back 10 dollars, which should not be much trouble to Vita owners who are sick of playing Little Deviants (the game that came in the First Edition Bundle).

As the first game to release in Microsoft's XBLA House Party, Warp is a unique, cute yet extremely gory puzzle game.  You play as Zero, a cute looking creature who has the cool ability to warp through and even into animate and inanimate objects.  Zero's warping powers play into the game as you try to escape your captors' laboratory. That means tons and tons of animated blood and gore as you can warp into enemies be it scientists or armed guards and cause them to explode from the inside out.  Even though it is a Mature game, Warp looks like a very promising puzzle game.  You can buy it now on XBLA for 800 Microsoft Points or wait until the game releases on PSN and PC for 10 dollars on March 13th.

Back last summer, I downloaded the best platformer you can find for the iOS in League of Evil.  So I was surprised and excited when I saw a trailer for League of Evil 2 last week.  The biggest upgrade with League of Evil 2 is with the new hand-drawn graphics, which does not carry over the 8-bit aesthetic from the first game, but still look very good.  League of Evil 2 also adds over 100 new bit-sized levels to play, boss battles to beat and costumes to wear.  At 1 dollar, it is very hard not to pass up League of Evil 2, but be warned there are quite a few bugs with the game.  In my experience playing League of Evil 2, I have run into some problems with the touch controls not responding at times and a severe stability problem.  In the forty minutes I played League of Evil 2, my game crashed close to 10 times, which made me lose all my saved data.  Actually if you completely close down the app to free some memory on your iDevice, you lose all your saved data.  That is unacceptable Ravenous Games and I refuse play League of Evil 2 until these huge problems are fixed.  So download at your own peril, but at 1 dollar grab League of Evil 2 now before it goes up to 3 dollars and wait for the inevitable update to make this game playable.

Vita Wednesday: First-Party Launch Titles

With the launch of the PlayStation Vita, welcome to the first of two Vita Wednesdays.  This week's edition of Vita Wednesday coincides with the release of the First Edition Bundle while next week's edition will coincide with the release of the base model.  For the next two Wednesdays, I am going preview three of the biggest launch games for the new PS Vita.  This week, we will be taking a look at big first-party launch titles.  So without further ado, let us jump into the very first Vita Wednesday.

Naughty Dog hands over the reins to the Uncharted franchise to Sony Bend for Nathan Drake's debut on a handheld.  Uncharted: Golden Abyss is set before the events of Uncharted: Drake's Fortune.  You follow a much younger Nathan Drake on an adventure to uncover the dark secret behind the 400-year old massacre of a Spanish expedition.  For those looking for the multi-player from the last two Uncharted games, you are out of luck as Golden Abyss is just a solo affair.  Sony Bend looks to use the Vita to it's fullest as Golden Abyss uses each of the Vita's core features to offer a new variety of puzzles to Uncharted.  Those who are picking the Vita day one will most likely make Uncharted: Golden Abyss their first game purchase for their new system.  With the caliber of all the other entries in the series, that would be a very wise decision.

Sony's answer to Mario Kart, ModNation Racers has made its way into the Vita launch line-up with ModNation Racers: Road Trip.  Much like Mario Kart, ModNation Racers offers a solid single-player circuit to play through, but that is not the core of this series.  The core of ModNation Racers is the huge suite of creation tools.  You can create anything in the game from the racers to the karts to the tracks themselves.  These creation tools are made easier to use with the Vita's touch controls.  With just a few swipes of your finger, you can create a whole track.  One you are done creating your masterpieces, share them with your friends online.  Also you can enjoy all user-created content from the PS3 game on the go with Road Trip.

It would not be a launch of a Sony handheld without this iconic anti-gravity racing series.  WipeOut Pure launched alongside the PSP, now seven years later WipeOut 2048 launches alongside the PS Vita.  Unlike other entries in the WipeOut series, WipeOut 2048 does not take in the long distant future.  It takes place in the year 2048 in the dawn of the anti-gravity racing scene.  This new setting allows for a nice mix between modern and futuristic track designs.  WipeOut 2048 offers players 10 tracks that can be played both solo and with people online.  Also you can play anybody who has a copy of WipeOut HD with the multi-payer crossover feature.  With both ModNation Racers and WipeOut, Sony has racing fans of all ages covered at the launch of the their new handheld.

Launch Station: PlayStation Vita

After a lot of anticipation and hype, the PlayStation Vita has finally been released for the public.  On this Vita Wednesday, those who pre-ordered the Vita First Edition Bundle will be able to pick up their new handheld.  For those who did not pre-order will have to wait until next Wednesday when Sony releases the Vita on its own.  The First Edition Bundle comes with the Vita, a 4 GB memory stick, a hard carrying case and Little Deviants for 300 dollars.  When the system drops next week, the Wi-Fi Vita (the only one available in Canada) will run you 250 dollars and the games will run you as low as 30 dollars to as high as 50 dollars.

The PlayStation Vita serves as Sony's successor to the ultimately failed PSP.  The Vita addresses many of the complaints gamers had with the PSP.  The biggest complaint was the PSP's lack of a second analog, which made certain action and first-person games cumbersome to play on the handheld.  After a good seven years, Sony finally listened and made the dual analog sticks one of the main features of the PS Vita.  While the Vita has the more traditional tactile controls, Sony has added other control options to the machine in a front and rear touch screens and tilt controls.  These controls are made to make the Vita appeal to more casual gamers and to directly compete with Apple.  The Vita also sports the best graphics a handheld can pump out.  They are not PS3 or Xbox 360 quality, but they are pretty close.  Sony has ditched the UMD format for games, going for cartridges for retail games.  That means you will not be able to play any of your PSP games on the Vita unless you download them off of the PSN Store.  You are able to purchase games at retail or like old PSP games you can download them from the PSN Store.  I order to play games or download games, you will need one of Sony's proprietary memory sticks, which is not included with the base model of the Vita.  Included with the Vita are some applications such as Near, Sony's equivalent the the StreetPass, and Welcome Park, a tutorial for the Vita, you can also download apps to the system.  At launch, Facebook, Twitter and foursquare apps will be available to download.

Having grown up playing handhelds, I have a more invested interest in handheld gaming than most gamers.  Having played the PS Vita myself, I will say it is an incredible piece of technology and a great achievement for Sony.  The system is a little bigger than the PSP, but deceptively light.  The touch screens are responsive, but it is hard to judge exactly where your fingers are on the rear touch, which did hurt games that need you to hit the rear touch screen at a precise point.  The dual analog sticks nicely fit your thumbs, but they are just a little close to the other buttons that it feels a little cramped.  While my issues with the machine itself are very minor, I still think Sony did throw too much into this one machine.  It is nice to have multiple control schemes, but when they are made to be optional rather than work together that can confuse certain people especially newcomers or casual gamers.  It will ultimately depend on how developers use the system.  My biggest problem with the Vita is it's memory storage.  While the less powerful 3DS has 2 GB of internal memory and comes with a 2 GB SD Card, the more powerful PS Vita has no internal memory and the base model does not even come with memory stick, which is needed to play games.  This decision alone is one of the dumbest Sony has made ever.  You will have to pay another 20 to possibly 100 dollars on top of the 250 dollars for the Vita, to actually play games on the machine.  While the blinded fans just overlook it, Sony's refusal to include a memory stick is just unacceptable is this day and age where every game includes some sort of save system.  Other than that we will just have to wait and see if Sony will support the PS Vita through thick and thin.  Looking at Japan and lack of regular consumer interest, it might be sooner than Sony thinks.

Launch Station: Twisted Metal

This week is one busy week for Sony.  On Wednesday, the company releases the PlayStation Vita to those who pre-ordered the First Edition Bundle.  A release of a new handheld might trump any other game that comes out this week, but Sony has the new Twisted Metal for the PS3 dropping on store shelves tomorrow.  Show your special someone you love them on Valentine's Day by popping in Sony's new extremely violent car-combat game to play.

It has been a very long time since Twisted Metal graced a Sony console.  Remembered for it's crazy characters and fun multi-player, the new Twisted Metal for the PS3 looks to have that it spades.  The game focuses heavily on multi-player combat, but there will still be a story mode for those who like to pay their car combat game solo.  There are four storylines, one for each faction in the game, that you can play through.  Each storyline has three different endings depending on your actions throughout that storyline.  As there is a big focus on the multi-player in Twisted Metal, that is where you will spend the majority of your time in the game.  You can play with four people locally via splits screen or play with 16 people online.  In multi-player, you will be able to select from many modes such as death match, hunted and last man standing.  For the new game, Eat Sleep Play developed a new mode for Twisted Metal.  This new mode is called Nuke.  In Nuke, you play as a member of one of the factions in the game (the Clowns, the Dolls, the Skulls or the Holy Men).  Each faction has giant metal statue of their leader and your sole purpose is to destroy the opposing factions giant metal statue by abducting their leader and sacrificing them to launch a rocket at the huge statue.  Also as a bonus for those who pick up a copy of the first batch of Twisted Metal games to be released by Sony, you will receive Twisted Metal Black, originally released for the PS2.

I used to play the first three Twisted Metal a lot at my friend's house so I have fond memories of this series.  After playing the demo, personally I am not as excited for Twisted Metal than I was before.  When you are younger, you can overlook a lot of things while playing a game, but I remember it being much easier to figure out what is going on in the game.  Trying to play Twisted Metal online was a mess.  Bullets are flying left, right and center that it is too hard to keep track of what is actually going on.  In the span of one online match, I went from last to first to third with only a few kills and a couple assists.  I guess I was doing something right, but all I remember is getting pummelled with bullets nonstop.  Do not get me wrong, Twisted Metal could turn out to be a great game.  There are people that love absolute chaos to the point of being overwhelmingly distracting.  This new Twisted Metal just does not feel like a game this gamer would enjoy.  Maybe with four friends split-screen, but 16 people online might be too much.

Bit by Bit: February 5-11

Anticipation, it grows the closer you get to the game, movie or event you are waiting for.  Right now, my anticipation meter is almost about to explode.  Between my anticipation for Mass Effect 3 and WrestleMania 28 (I am a huge wrestling fan), the goosebumps are never going to go away.  With everything that is going on in the next few months, it is not hard to see why gamers (and also wrestling fans) are excited.  So let us take a look at the bests of the week.

Book of the Week
This week I did not really have a Game of the Week.  I enjoyed all the games I played, but nothing stood out and pulled me in.  Being a huge Mass Effect fan, I pre-ordered The Art of the Mass Effect Universe from Chapters last week.  To my surprise, the art book I pre-ordered just a week ago in my hands, a good two weeks it would be land on store shelves.  I was astonished and very happy.  Then I opened the packaging it came in and held this incredible hard book in my hand.  It was impressive, it was fantastic and it was only 27 dollars through Chapters.ca.  Skimming through the 184 pages of this art book made me so giddy as I saw how the amazing artists at BioWare created this incredibly rich and vast universe.  No game I played this week could compare to feeling I experienced looking through this art book for the first time.  That is why it is my Book of the Week.

Most Anticipated Game of the Week
I bet all of you reading think I am going to say that my most anticipated game of the week is Mass Effect 3.  Well you are sort of right.  I my anticipation for Mass Effect 3 is at a high, but it can only go higher.  Instead I would like to focus on a strategy game that might be under the radar of most except the hardcore gamers.  The true return of XCOM, XCOM: Enemy Unknown.  From Firaxis, the team lead by the wonderful mind of Sid Meier, Enemy Unknown brings the franchise back to its strategy roots.  In command of the secret XCOM organization, you will defend the Earth against all forms of alien threats.  You control every aspect of XCOM from the resource management and technological advancements to controlling units on the battlefield.  After reading the Game Informer cover story on Enemy Unknown, I am very impressed and will be looking forward to seeing and reading more about this strategy game.

Video of the Week
This week saw Tim Schafer's Double Fine, the studio behind Psychonauts and Brutal Legend, launch their Kickstarter project to raise money for their new unannounced adventure game to great success.  Double Fine's goal for the project was to raise 400 thousand dollars.  Well at the time of writing this post, Double Fine's project has raised a whopping 1,608,461 dollars and there is still over a month to go.  If you love Double Fine, Tim Schafer or just adventure games in general, put in a pledge.  I am definitely going to before the March 13th deadline, just want to save some money up for other payments first.  If you need just a little more convincing, here is Tim Schafer himself to explain it to you.

Remembering the PSP

We are less than a week away until Sony's newest venture in the portable space, the PlayStation Vita lands on store shelves.  As gamers look to the future, I would like to take a look at Sony's first foray into the portable gaming space, the PlayStation Portable (PSP for short).  Give my views on what the PSP did right and what went wrong considering the system has been dead in the water for years now.

Released on March of 2005, the PSP had a slow start with a decent number of games.  There were a few original games such as Lumines and Crush, but the majority of the games on the platform were either ports of console games or a portable entry in the well-established franchises.  All the games I personally own for the PSP are from the latter.  For the first few years, the PSP started to build a much bigger library with some pretty good exclusives, much of them later ported to PS2 and PS3.  Around 2008, many other video game publishers pulled their full support from the PSP and the library shrivelled to crazy small proportions. You can count on one hand the number of worthwhile exclusives (not re-releases or ports) released for the PSP between 2008 and now.  It is absolutely ridiculous.  Even Sony pushed the PSP to side by putting more emphasis on their better selling products, the PS2 and PS3.  Yes, Sony did release the PSP Go in 2009, but considering how bad that new iteration of the PSP plummeted Sony likes to believe it never existed.  There were many other problems with the PSP such as the dead-on arrival UMD disc format or how easy it is to hack the machine.  One of the biggest problems is the original design of the machine.  The PSP 1000 is one heavy handheld that will hurt anybody's hands after playing it for just 30 minutes to a hour.  The weight problem was addressed with future iterations of the PSP.  The other design flaw is with analog nub.  It was a small cumbersome thing that just did not feel good on your thumb and the lack of a second nub made it difficult to play certain games on the PSP such as action games or shooters.  While there is a lot wrong with the PSP, I will say there are some incredible games for the device.  The PSP is home to my top two favourite racing games, Ridge Racer and Burnout Legends.  Ridge Racer alone is reason enough for me to hold onto my PSP.  You will fall in love with its incredible arcade racing, infectious J-Pop soundtrack and numerous unlocks.  The PSP is the only system you will be able to find Castlevania: Rondo of Blood and Symphony of the Night and both Power Stone games on the same UMD.  It is also the only place to find the excellent Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops.

When all is said and done, the PSP will go down in video game history as a failure.  As the handheld that introduced me to Grand Theft Auto, Metal Gear Solid, Burnout, Ridge Racer and Tekken, the PSP does hold a special place in my heart, but you will never hear me say it was close to success.  Hopefully Sony used this seven year experience to not make the same mistakes with the PS Vita.  While Sony still has not proven to me that they will support this system if it doesn't sell well, we just have to wait and see as the Vita lands on store shelves in the coming weeks.

On the Download: February 5-11

While last week was pretty big for noteworthy games for download.  This week there are not as many games that I will highlight, but there was a lot of big downloadable news.  First, this week the Japanese Nintendo eShop saw the release of three new 3DS Virtual Console games (two more than the North American eShop got this week).  Japanese 3DS owners saw Kid Icarus: Myths & Monsters, Kirby Dream Land 2 and Wario Land grace their eShop.  Considering how the Japanese eShop gets games a few weeks ahead of the North American eShop, hopefully these great games are coming in the next month or so.  The other piece of news comes from my favourite franchise from this generation of consoles, Mass Effect.  In the next month, BioWare will be releasing two Mass Effect apps for the iOS.  Infiltrator is a third-person shooter where you infiltrate Cerberus bases to collect evidence of crimes Cerberus committed and freeing prisoners.  Datapad is a companion app to Mass Effect 3, which will allows players to check the galaxy map, receive messages from characters, play mini-games and search a codex filled with information on the Mass Effect universe.  Both of these apps will play into the Galaxy at War meta-game that will affect a player's galactic readiness rating, which will effect the ending of Mass Effect 3.  Enough with the news for this week, let us get down to the meat and potatoes of On the Download.  Let us take a look at the biggest downloadable games for this week.

Originally set to release early last month, Gotham City Impostors has landed on XBLA, PSN and PC.  Gotham City Impostors is a first-person shooter based off a story in the Batman comics where one group of vigilantes dressed as Batman battle another group of criminals dressed like the Joker with guns and other violent weapons across  Gotham City.   You play as either the Batmen or the Jokers in multiplayer-only team death match.  Gotham City Impostors gives players a plethora of customization options from weapons and gadgets to appearance and play style.  There are no set classes to be slotted into, you are given everything you need to play Gotham City Impostors exactly the way you want.  Much like other FPS games, Gotham City Impostors is overflowing with upgrades and unlocks for players to collect as the level up in the game.  Gotham City Impostors might seem like an extremely unorthodox Batman game, but if you are looking for another Batman game to fill the void after finishing Arkham Asylum and Arkham City at 15 dollars or 1200 Microsoft Points Gotham City Impostors is a very affordable Batman fix.

Hyper-stylized art and gory action of Klei Entertainment's 2010 downloadable action game, Shank is back in the sequel.  You play ex-mob hitman Shank on another adventure killing enemies left, right and centre on the way to reach your goal whatever it may be.  As you can probably deduce from the last sentence, Shank 2 is not about the story.  Shank 2 is about improving the main problem with the original game, the game's controls.  Klei made the controls much tighter and to better complement Shank 2's visceral combat system, which allows players to switch between guns, melee weapons and chainsaws on the fly in order to put together some crazy combos.  Apart from the regular single-player, Shank 2 also offers a survival mode, which can be played co-operatively either locally or online.  For those old enough to download it, Shank 2 for XBLA, PSN and PC should provide some mature fun for 10 dollars or 800 Microsoft Points.

Hump Day Music: Big Blue

Sorry about the not posting this Hump Day Music yesterday.  Had a long day at work and I did not get around to write anything.  To get over the hump this week, I decided to highlight a track with a whole lot of energy.  This track comes from the high-speed, extremely energizing racing of the F-Zero series.  The original track was from F-Zero X, but it also can be found in Super Smash Bros. Melee and Brawl.  I am speaking of Big Blue.

The original Big Blue has strong guitar riffs and makes for one of the most iconic tracks from the F-Zero series.  Like many video game tracks, Big Blue has been remixed and re-imagined a good number of times on sites such as OverClocked ReMix and Newgrounds in many different styles from caribbean island style to electronic sound.  I would like to share my favourite remix from artist ES5 Big Blue (Essi Hardcore Remix).  It is an electronic remix of the classic Big Blue track.  The crowd effect at the beginning of the song is really neat and even though it may be a little repetitive, the energy is high throughout the track.  It really gets the blood flowing and felling very energized after listening to it.  I hope you enjoy this track and I will be back much later tonight with the newest edition of On the Download.

Launch Station: Kingdoms of Amular: Reckoning

In a genre dominated by the Elder Scrolls, it is hard for a developer to crack into fantasy RPG space.  With an all-star ensemble, EA Games is looking to tackle another gaming juggernaut with the release of 38 Studios and Big Huge Games' Kingdoms of Amular: Reckoning.  In this day and age, publishers seem to be more accustom to trust a big franchise than a new IP, but EA has backed 38 Studios and Big Huge Games with a lot of money to make Reckoning worthy of taking on juggernaut known as The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim.

With Ken Rolston, lead designer on Elder Scrolls III and IV, as executive designer, acclaimed fantasy writer R.A. Salvatore working on creating the world and lore of Amular, Todd McFarlane, acclaimed comic book artist, working on the art and former Rare composer Grant Kirkhope composing the soundtrack, Kingdoms of Amular: Reckoning has a lot of excellent talent behind it.  The world of Amular revolves around pre-determined destinies known as fates.  From the day a person is born to the day they die, they are on a pre-determined path that cannot be changed.  When you start the game, you are tasked with creating your character.  Once you finish that task, you thrown right into the story.  Just resurrected by the Well of Souls, you are released from your pre-determined destiny due to the fact you have already died.  As no longer are bond by the chains of fate, you are given the chance to create your own destiny.  This clean slate plays right into the gameplay as you can customize your character, weapons and class any which way you want.  The combat is very customizable as well.  You can choose from many different play styles from picking off enemies one-by-one through stealth to charging head-first in with sword and shield. Reckoning's real-time combat system allows players fluidly chain together sword slashes with shots from a bow to firing off different spells and abilities.  After defeating numerous enemies, you will fill your Reckoning meter, which allows you to deal out huge amounts of damage to your foes including some spectacular finishing moves.  38 Studios and Big Huge Games looks to marry the brutal combat of God of War and the fantastical world of Elder Scrolls with Kingdoms of Amular.

For those looking for either another fantasy world to dive into after Skyrim or just a fresh new IP, should give Kingdoms of Amular: Reckoning a look.  Personally I think Kingdoms of Amular: Reckoning will be more of a cult hit in the gaming community.  The third-person action has impressed me as it allows me to get immersed in the game more than the first-person view of The Elder Scrolls series.  Keep your eyes on Reckoning, you just might be surprised in how good it turns out to be.

Launch Station: Resident Evil Revelations

2012 will be a big year for Capcom's big survival-horror franchise, Resident Evil.  While the big Japanese publisher is giving the cold shoulder to Mega Man fans, they are giving fans of Resident Evil everything they want with not one, not two, but three Resident Evil games in one year.  Operation Raccoon City releases next month and Resident Evil 6 releases all the way in November, while Resident Evil Revelations for the 3DS kicks off this big year for the franchise when it lands on store shelves tomorrow.

Resident Evil Revelations might not be a numbered entry in the series, but it's main focus is on the story of the series.  Revelations is set between Resident Evil 4 and 5.  You mainly play as Jill Valentine, one of the co-founders of the Bioterrorism Security Assessment Alliance (BSAA for short), as you search for Chris Redfield, the protagonist of Resident Evil 1 and 5, aboard a derelict cruise ship known as the S.S. Queen Zenobia.  The S.S. Queen Zenobia serves as the main setting for Revelations, but at certain points in the game you will take control of many different characters from Chris Redfield himself to new characters such as Jill's partner Parker Luciana in locations like the city of Terragrigia or the Mediterranean coast.  These sections are more action-focused and serve as a break from the extremely tense survival horror-focused segments on the ship.  With Revelations, Capcom is looking to bring back the tense survival horror gameplay from the first three Resident Evil games.  The segments on the ship with Jill will focus on elements like low ammunition and a bigger emphasis on exploration and puzzle solving.  Revelations also includes a multiplayer mode called Raid Mode.  In Raid Mode, you and a friend battle waves of enemies in order to earn points that can be used to upgrade your character and weapons.  Revelations will be fully compatible with the 3DS Circle Pad Pro, which also releases tomorrow, allowing players to use a control scheme common with most shooters today with one circle pad to move and the other to aim.

From what I played of the demo and seen of the game online, Resident Evil Revelations is shaping up to be a big third-party release for the 3DS.  The mix of elements from old and new Resident Evil games and the episodic nature of the game will be great for playing on the go.  Also with Capcom dropping the price of the game 10 dollars to the normal price of new 3DS games (40 dollars plus tax), Resident Evil fans should not pass up Revelations.

Bit by Bit: January 29-February 4

Earlier this week, I was looking at the line-up of games releasing this February and my jaw dropped.  For the next month or so, there will be a good two to three big game releases each Tuesday.  Don't forget the PlayStation Vita officially launches on the 15th of this month along with a line-up of five games from Sony.  Man, February is becoming the new November for video game releases.  February will be one busy month especially for Silver Bit as there will be a good two Launch Stations for the next few weeks until things start to settle down.  Before we start looking too far ahead, let us take a look at the best of the week.

Game of the Week
While I continued to play a whole lot of Golden Sun: Dark Dawn, one game beat it out as Game of the Week this time around.  Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective released for iOS this past Thursday and I immediately downloaded this gem from the mind of Shu Takumi, the creator of my favourite DS adventure series Ace Attorney.  When you download Ghost Trick to your iPhone, iPod or iPad, you get the first two chapters for free, but to unlock the rest of the game you have to pay 10 dollars.  Considering how rare the original DS game is and how great it translates to iOS, Ghost Trick is definitely worth it.  The first two chapters alone provide a lot of brain-teasing Rude Goldberg-like puzzles for you to solve and a very compelling story that will keep you wanting to play more.  As I am trying to conserve my money for the line-up of games I am getting in March and April (Mass Effect 3, Kid Icarus Uprising and Xenoblade: Chronicles), I am going to wait a little while until I unlock the rest of Ghost Trick for my iPad.  The time I had playing the first two chapters was just incredible that I slapped my wrist for not buying this game on the DS when I had the chance back in December.  If you have 10 dollars to spare, go pick up Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective for your iDevice, you will be in for a treat.

Most Anticipated Game of the Week
Speaking of Ace Attorney, this past weekend Capcom Japan officially announced Ace Attorney 5.  While this announcement was only for Japan, North American Ace Attorney fan such as yours truly is hoping that Capcom will bring the newest game in this excellent adventure series to our shores and hopefully on the 3DS.  There are many questions still left for Capcom to answer, but we will not likely hear anything until E3 or the Tokyo Game Show.

Video of the Week
There were not a lot of trailers or videos that caught my eye this week until yesterday when I stumbled upon the newest video from the Game Overthinker.  The Game Overthinker looks at certain topics in video games and gives his own spin on things in a very intelligent over thought out way.  I don't usually watch his show, but sometimes there are topics that caught my ear and his latest episode revolved around one.  The topic being "Should game companies open there vaults?"  It is a great episode that all gamers should take time to watch as it will get you to think about how the video game industry should perserve their history.

Batman: Arkham City Review

Arkham City starts not in the tights of the Caped Crusader of Gotham City, but in the pristine suit of Bruce Wayne as he holds a press conference to announce his opposition of the Arkham City prison.  Immediately following Wayne’s announcement, TYGER mercenaries arrest Mr. Wayne.  Wayne wakes up chained up.  Bruce tips over the chair and tries to escape, but the guard hears him.  The guard goes to kick Wayne, but he counters thus breaking the guard’s leg.  Another guard hits Bruce with the butt of his gun and pushes him out into the processing center as other inmates ridicule him and Hugo Strange’s voice booms over the intercom.  As Bruce Wayne enters Arkham City, Penguin and his thugs jump the millionaire and knock him out.  You wake up kneeling in front of the Penguin.  The diminutive crook starts wailing on Wayne with brass knuckles.  A well-timed counter and Wayne breaks the Penguin’s hand.  With the Penguin hurt, his goons jump into take Wayne out, but to no avail as the millionaire playboy of Gotham City takes them down with ease.  This series of events just described is the opening minutes of Arkham City.  In this opening, Rocksteady introduces the player to the story, the main villain, the core mechanics and the atmosphere of this new Arkham prison in one neat package.  It makes for one of the best openings for any video game as Rocksteady puts you in the shoes of the vulnerable Bruce Wayne before letting the player loose as Mr. Wayne’s alter-ego, Batman.

Once you get a hold of Batman’s suit and gadgets, you are dropped right in the thick of Arkham City.  Given the reins to do what you want when you want in this expansive setting with lots to do.  This amount of freedom is extremely refreshing considering how linear Arkham Asylum was even with the openness of Arkham Island.  You are free to go complete story missions, find side quests, collect Riddler Trophies (which you need to collect all of them to complete one of the side quests) or just beat up some inmates.  You can easily lose hours upon hours just exploring this incredibly rich setting without even touching the main story.  Speaking of Arkham City’s story, it is better paced and put together than Arkham Asylum’s plot.  Rocksteady has seamlessly woven a large gallery of iconic Batman villains like the Joker, Mr. Freeze Two-Face and many more into a one epic plot worthy of the Caped Crusader.

Along with fixing the flaws with Arkham Asylum, Rocksteady also made some improvements with the combat and upgrade system and one big addition in a playable Catwomen. Rocksteady did an incredible job making the combat in Arkham City more satisfying than its predecessor.  It is much easier to chain together strikes, counters, special takedowns and gadgets into one crazy combo, which makes even fighting lowly inmates that much more rewarding.  The upgrade system has been totally revamped.  Instead of just being long line of upgrades, you can choose from upgrading Batman’s batsuit, combat or gadgets.  The upgrade system gives players a little more freedom to build the Batman they want.  The biggest addition in Arkham City is Catwomen.  At certain points in the main story, you will get to play as Selina Kyle.  These segments are pretty short, but act as refreshing breathers from the World’s Greatest Detective.  Catwomen is much more agile than her burly counterpart allowing her to traverse corners of Arkham City that Batman just cannot reach.  After beating the main story, players are able to switch between Batman and Catwomen at certain locations around Arkham City.

With an epic story, excellent gameplay and a fully faceted open world setting, Arkham City is the ultimate superhero and ultimate Batman game.  Any gamer no matter if they are hardcore fans of the Dark Knight or know nothing about the Caped Crusader will enjoy the amazing experience Arkham City offers.  It puts you in the shoes of a superhero like no other game has ever done before and few could possibly do after.  In Arkham City, you are Batman.  You are the Dark Knight.  You are the World’s Greatest Detective.  You are a superhero.

On the Download: January 29-February 4

Booting up the Nintendo eShop today expecting some exciting new demo or possibly a new 3DS Virtual Console, sadly nothing.  For those looking something to download to their 3DS this week, I will be talking about the big new release on the eShop later in this post.  I was a little upset especially with the fact there has not been a new 3DS Virtual Console game in over a month.  Nintendo and other developers have a plethora of great games from the Game Boy, Game Boy Color and Game BoyAdvance systems that they can re-release for the 3DS such as Castlevania Adventure, The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages/Seasons and Mega Man Zero.  There are a good number of titles already on the 3DS Virtual Console, but for the huge library of games released on the Game Boy family of handhelds there should be a new 3DS Virtual Console game at least once or twice a month, even more.  Enough of my little rant, let us get down to business and take a look at some of the biggest downloadable games this week.

For those old enough to remember, there was a day and age when cartoon comedy shows such as Family Guy and South Park were actually good.  After what seems like endless seasons of brain-numbingly stupid jokes and absolute no plot, these shows are long over stayed their welcome.  Back twenty-some years ago, The Simpsons was the best show of them all and it got its own arcade beat-em up made by the great game developers at Konami.  Personally, I remember playing this arcade game at the hotel my family and I would go to each summer when I was younger and I had a ball dropping quarters into this fun beat-em up. Well this Friday on XBLA and next Monday on PSN, Konami will be re-releasing their classic licensed beat-em up with a few cool additions to the game.  These additions will be four player online co-op play, new modes and other bonuses such as the never-released Japanese version of the game, classic flyers and posters and a character guide.  For 10 dollars or 800 Microsoft Points, you could relive a classic beat-em up from the 90s with up to three friends.

For the last few years, Q Games have been making a bunch of unique games under the PixelJunk banner.  The PixelJunk series was exclusive to Sony consoles and handhelds as you could only find them for purchase on the PSN Store.  Now PixelJunk has come to the PC through Valve's Steam client with the release of PixelJunk Eden, the first game in the series.  The PC version of PixelJunk Eden has a number of new features the big feature is the newly re-imagined controls which are made especially for playing on the PC.  In each of the 15 levels, known as gardens, in Eden, you control the agile Grimp toward the Spectra that is hidden in the level.  Jump, swing, climb your way through vibrant plant-life solving puzzles, completing unique challenges and defeating enemies on your way to find Spectra.  Right now, PixelJunk Eden is on sale for 8 dollars or 12 dollars if you pick it up with the original techno soundtrack from indie artist Baiyon.  For those who have missed out on this series while on the PS3 and PSP, should check out this unique indie game that along with the the other installments in the PixelJunk series has received a vast amount of critical acclaim.

Speaking of former exclusive games jumping to other gaming platforms, Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective, which was originally exclusive for the Nintendo DS, was just released today on the App Store.  Ghost Trick follows the recently deceased Sissel as he tries to piece together the mystery surrounding his death.  As a ghost, Sissel can jump from inanimate object to inanimate object and perform tricks to solve puzzles and save others from meeting their demise.  If something goes wrong and a person you are trying to save dies, you can rewind four minutes before their death to get another chance at being the hero.  Currently, the first two chapters in Ghost Trick for the iOS are completely free, but to unlock the complete game you must shell 10 dollars.  It might seem steep for an iOS game, but considering finding the DS version is almost zero to none, there is no better deal for this great adventure-puzzler.

Other than disappointing me with the lack of support for the 3DS Virtual Console, Nintendo has been hitting it out of the park with these downloadable exclusives for the 3DS.  First Pushmo, now Sakura Samurai: Art of the Sword.  In Sakura Samurai, you play as a young samurai tasked with restoring peace to Japan by rescuing Princess Cherry Blossom, the daughter of the gods.  To complete your task, this young samurai must battle devious foes and bosses across feudal Japan.  The meat of this downloadable game is in the combat as you seamlessly transition from enemy to enemy dodging, parrying or blocking attacks while making attacks of your own.  In between battles, you can traverse villages in order to talk to NPCs, stock up on rice cakes, upgrade your sword and save your progress.  To say the least, Nintendo's downloadable offerings should get people excited as it looks like the Big N means business in the downloadable space.  Just like Pushmo, Sakura Samurai: Art of the Sword is only 7 dollars.  If you pick it up now or a little later in the year, Sakura Samurai looks to be another great downloadable game for Nintendo's 3D handheld.