Arcade Shooters: Bulletstorm and Vanquish

Two more great shooters from the bargain bin, Bulletstorm and Vanquish offer an entertaining change of pace from your typical AAA fare. I call these "arcade shooters" because the focus is on fast, chaotic action and rewarding the player for creative and skillful kills. Indeed, each level wraps up with a score breakdown and provides leaderboards to compete with people on your friends list.

BioShock 2 is a bargain-bin gem

Hipster instinct would tell you that there is no way this game could possibly be any good. BioShock was a masterpiece, elevating the art of storytelling in games and becoming an instant classic. It did not beg for the franchise treatment. This, annecessary sequel, developed by a completely different studio without the involvement of Ken Levine or any of the original team, seems like a cynical cash-in on a beloved work of art. It’s The Phantom Menace. It’s those new Dune books. A wretched creature, shriveled and crying out for a merciful death.

But strip away all of those expectations, forget for a moment that this game is in any way connected to its beloved forerunner, and what you will find is an very competent shooter with its own voice and a fun bag of tricks.

Voiding Warranties: Modding the Tekken 6 Fightstick, Part 2

Ohhh what have I done...

Replacing the buttons was a wee bit trickier, as it involved a lot of circuit boards, solder, burnt flesh, and a minor demonic summoning.

Voiding Warranties: Modding the Tekken 6 Fightstick, Part 1

I picked up Super Street Fighter IV on sale at Kmart for $20. I was curious about the title, since it had ushered in something of a renaissance for the fighting game genre. Marvel vs. Capcom 3, a revamped Mortal Kombat, and SoulCalibur V all followed within a couple years, not to mention a slew 2D fighters both new and old. They're even making two separate Street Fighter/Tekken crossover games, just because they can.

Truth be told, I'm not much of a "fighting game guy." The last one I played with any regularity was Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance during my college days (on the GameCube, of all things), and before that it was Tekken 3 on the original PlayStation. This lack of practice was immediately apparent as soon as the disk hit the tray, as I proceeded to get my ass handed to me ten ways from Sunday. And I don't even mean by the 10-year-olds I usually face in Halo; I expect them to destroy me. No, here was the computer was kicking my ass. Even on normal difficulty, I couldn't even get past the third fight.

Bastion is beautiful

If you haven’t played Bastion yet, stop what you’re doing right now. Seriously. Drop it, and go play this beautiful downloadable game.

Mass Effect multiplayer: Surprisingly not awful!

I've been spending a lot, a lot, of time with the ME3 multiplayer demo. The title may sound like faint praise-- "It's not the complete shit-show that I expected"-- but the reality is that it's quite good, and I am super-psyched to play more when the full game drops this week. Psyched enough, in fact, to bring my blog out of hibernation so I can convince other people to play with me.

Halo Night Carnage Report: Holograms FTW!

Another solid outing this weekend, even though Dize couldn't join us. Hey Dize, next time you have a choice between solidifying your career and playing Halo with a bunch of rotten assholes, maybe next time try not to be so responsible, eh?

Our stalwarts of Vehicle King and Shotty Snipers made multiple showings, as well as Slayer and Rockets on the classics of yesteryear, Beaver Creek and Lockout. Infection led to some hilarious moments, and we found a new favorite armor ability for Hammers on Sword Base. Jet Packs are so last season; Hologram is the new black.

RPG Special: ExpectingCorky gets so amped up with the Rocket Launcher, he blows a hole straight through my chest.