I Am Alive 7.5 out of 10

This year is 2012, and I'm not one of the people who believe in the whole world ending, but what would you do to survive a post apocalyptic event?  Would you only fend for yourself or would help others in need?  Will you be able to use your resources efficiently to survive?  Well, to get a good idea you can always play I Am Alive. 

Story - We don't get to much information on the main character or the catastrophic even that took place in I Am Alive.  The only things that were divuldged to us is that he was on the other side of the country when disaster hit, whether that be natural or foriegn, we can't really say.  The main character is burdened with guilt and is looking for forgivness from his family.  After walking for nearly a year, cross country, he finds that his family is missing from the apartment with no clue as to where they might have gone.

Gameplay -  To quickly break it down this game revolves around Survival, Climbing, Fighting.  When I say survival I am referring to your limited supplies, especially if you play on survival difficulty.  You have a Stamina Bar and a Health bar, by using certain items it will replenish one or the other, sometimes both.  Burning stamina is the worst thing you can do in this game, as it will surely cripple your abilities to perform anything that requires physical energy.  Which climbing is the next biggest part of the game.  You'll probably find yourself climbing through the city, A LOT!  Luckily for you it seems that every building has pipes on the outside that you can use to scale them.  If you don't use the items that replenish your stamina efficiently, you can find youself in a lot of trouble, even if you do make it to your next platform, if you don't have enough stamina to effectively fight off the thugs of the apocalyptic world, you're as good as dead!  Fighting off thugs is no easy task, most of the time you'll find yourself out numbered, 1 against 5.  If you play your cards right, you'll have more than enough resources to take all of them out with out breaking a sweat.  When you first start the game you'll be equipped with a pistol, which if you don't use your bullets wisely you'll have a much harder time, but early in the game you also obtain a machete ( which you'll notice everyone has one in the post apocalyptic world ).  You can't swing the machete freely though, it is a button activated right trigger button mashing event that you cause when performing a type of kill.  Later in the game you'll also obtain a bow and arrow which can immediately become your favorite.  Because you can pick up your arrow, you'll be able to kill and repeat, but don't think the arrow can bail you out of trouble as fast as a gun though, which everyone respects the gun!

Visuals - For an XBLA game priced at $15 they made sure this game looked great!  Now I'm not saying its the best, but seriously I can't get the fact out of my head that $15 gets you a detailed look into a post apocalyptic world.  From the desolate city streets barely visible due to the dust clouds, to the views you get from scaling tall buildings, the developers have done a great job.  Once you start the game you'll have a map that shows you different locations, you'll actually be traveling through that part of town and only that part which I found to be quite nice being able to navigate through familiar areas.

Problems -  The climbing can be a bit tideous at times, not to mention a little frustrating when you have to be exact at certain points.  Sometimes I'll have my character climb to the side when I just wanted to climb down!  And I'm not sure if this is a deal break and please tell me if I should never post this as a negative again, but the ending was horrible!  Mind you, that is just my opinion only!  They could have also added more ways to dispose of the enemies, maybe animation wise at least!

So overall I would definitely recommend this game, which I should mention that there is a demo out for it as well.  It offers some tense moments, satisfying visuals, and satisfying gameplay.  This game took me about a week to play through the whole game with out saving / helping most of the survivors scatter around the city. 

Well, do you think you have what it takes to survive?  I Am Alive gets a score of: 7.5 out of 10

seanizL

Lumines - PS Vita

Did you like tetris? or Bust A Move? Well you should check out Lumines for the Playstation Vita.

Story - None

Gameplay - Its very simple, match the colors into cubes and get as high of a score as you can or survive!  As you play you unlock power ups which can be used to help you out by changing colors of squares or if your playing Ad HOC you can play against others and have power ups which you use against your opponent!  This game is very simple and its what I call a time killer.  The game is simple yet fun and passes the time.

Visuals - This game has a lot of color in it, mix that in with some great music and you have, great visuals and music?  As you connect blocks together it adds sounds to the music as well as some color effects.

So for some simple game play, good visuals, and amazing music you get a great time killing experience.  Although I would recommend to wait until this game gets a little cheaper, or download it off the PSN store to get it a little cheaper.  It's not because it isn't great, but because it offers a small amount of greatness which can be picked up at a later time. 

With that said! Lumines gets a score of:  7 out of 10

seanizL

Asura's Wrath Review

Do you like anime?  Do you like button mashing?  How about some repetitive hack and slash gameplay?  If you said yes to any of those, then maybe you need to check out Asura's Wrath either on the Xbox 360 or PS3.

The story behind Asura's Wrath has you playing as, well of course, Asura!  You are a demi god with super powers that come from an energy source called Mantra a.k.a. human souls.  As a demi god you lead a force to fight the impure known as Ghoma.  To reward you with your services though, your leader betrays you killing your wife and kidnapping your daughter.  And that is where Asura's Wrath starts!

Gameplay - The gameplay in this game is very simple.  You have about 3 different attacks in which you will either be shooting, light combo punching, heavy punching, and then you have the special trigger attacks which happen when either countering, hitting the enemy on the ground, or its scripted.  You'll be fighting on ground, god of war style, or in the air ( don't know what to compare it to, but your shooting only ).  So other than those 2 things, the only other big part of the game is all the quick time events you have to play through.

Visuals - The game has its own visual art style, combining science fiction and Japanese mytholigy ( i think thats what they said ).  But it really works! the game looks very unique and good. The boss fights here are the highlight of the game, putting you against enemeies bigger than the planet, weapons bigger than 2 planets, and of course a girl with HUGE.. well yeah!  They really went for an Anime style game which for you anime fans, I'm sure you've noticed from the start of the game to the end.

So this game is very appealing at first, but with repetitive action, it makes me wish that it could have just been an Anime instead!  If the story doesn't do it for you guys, then the game has little hope past the half way point.  I should add that some of the quick time events are very cool!

So with its anime like over the top gameplay Asura's Wrath gets a score of: 6 out of 10

seanizL

PS Vita 3G / Wi-Fi Review

Are you on the fence on buying your own Playstation Vita?  It's been out for a while now and I can't be any happier with my purchase.  Before I get started on my own personal opinion let me get some of the details for you

The Vita Has:

5"OLED display featuring 960X544 resolution
Powered by the ARM Cortex-A9 CPU processor
multitouch front screen / multitouch touch pad in back
SixAxis motion sensing
Dual Analog Sticks
Front Face Camera / Rear Camera to enable Augmented Reality
PS Vita / PS3 Compatible Games
Get online using 3G / Wi-Fi connectivity
Chat with your friends and enemies with the built in Microphone or Bluetooth headset with 2.1+EDR
Built in Speakers

Ok so now you guys have idea of what the vita is equipped with let me tell you why I think it is worth buying.

OLED screen -  This screen looks sexy!  And with the power of the Vita to work with that, games all look amazing!  Although the screen is highly reflective at times, you'll be to distracted by the awesome images flashing all over your screen to really care.

Dual Thumb Sticks - It is about time a handheld puts on 2 sticks!  If you've had a PSP and played a shooter game, it was very annoying using the shoulder buttons for the camera angles.  Anyways another thumb sticks solves that problem and brings the feeling of console gaming to your handheld.

Ok so to be honest those 2 were the biggest reasons that I got the vita! Mind you, I was going to pass, but once I got it in my hands, I instantly changed my mind.  I'm sure it was the screen, I'm sure it was the dual sticks, but don't forget about the games.  Uncharted Golden Abyss, Lumines, Wipeout, UMvC, Shinobido, and so on!  Also take note that a lot of remakes or HD editions will be coming to the vita as well, bringing more console games to go ( some PS3 games are cross platform titles, letting PS Vita play against PS3 users, and letting you bring your PS3 saves into your vita ).

Another cool feature is the Near feature.  Adding a sense of social networking to your gaming.  When getting on Near, you can see people around you and what they're playing ( don't worry guys / girls there is a privacy setting )  Any way some games have "gifts" for the players to drop, this is for the 3G people, you can bring a gift to a location and drop it there.  If some one were to go Near that location they can pick it up! Gifts vary depending on what game your playing.  There is also cross game Chatting, just like the Xbox! 

So! That is why I love the PS Vita, I'm not sure if that changes your mind, but I hope it helped you make a decision.  One game I am really waiting for is called Gravity Rush! which to me will be the first GREAT vita game! I know there is Uncharted: GA, but we've already seen that before! don't hate me for saying that! I still like the game if that makes it any better!

Unlike game reviews guys I will do a Worth or Buy it Final Decision and of course reflects my own personal opinion! Any questions? Feel free to ask, but I have the say the Vita is Definitely A

BUY IT!