Dead Rising 2 is just one of those games that never tires even after a repeated playthrough. At writing, I am currently starting into my second run and I am still finding new things to do within the game! There are multiple gameplay choices and even more crazy and whacky ways to cull the gen pop of zombies. Despite taking my time to discover as many weapon combinations as possible in the first run, I realized that I had only barely scratched the surface of possible weapon combinations after checking the web. Furthermore, almost everything you get your hands on can be used to fend off the zombie horde. Obviously guns do better than most weapons, but where’s the fun in that?

I’ve never played the first Dead Rising but the unique aspect of the game would be a timer that counts down for various objectives in game. While the macro objective would be to save your daughter and clearing your name, you do not really need to adhere to the story in order to complete the game. There is no real game over to the game, except succumbing to zombies, just that the ending you receive may be less than ideal. The timed aspect may be a downer for some but as you progress in the game, you realize that the opportunity of explore presents itself from the second time round. So, the fun really gets to start from the second run onwards.

The most quirky feature of Dead Rising 2 would be the weapon crafting system. Ever wondered how well a blade attached at the end of a broom does against zombies? Dead Rising 2 gives you the opportunity to test various weapons out on the poor zombies. While some weapons fare better than other and some are in game just for pure comic entertainment, an element of strategy appears when you have limited inventory space which curbs the urge to stock pile various weapons at the same time. Each weapon has a limited amount of uses as well. So, it is equally important to scavenge for weapon parts along the way before you end up having to melee zombies with your fists. Thankfully, over the course of the game, as you level up more inventory slots open up, giving the player to rain down even more pain to bust zombie brains.

Like many zombie games, the bulk of the enemies would be the grey matter gobbling risen but in most part, the evil masters and the hands at work are devious humans. All the ‘bosses’ that you would meet in game are not some form of zombie brethren but a crazy sapien who took the opportunity of the apocalypse to wreck some havoc on their own. I’ll have to say that while each boss fight is avoidable, they are all unique and have varied attack mechanics. While some are really cheap, it brings an immense amount of satisfaction when you are able to figure out their attack pattern and finally down the boss. No doubt my love for such forms of boss fights hails from Mega Man, where no boss encounter is as simple as it seems and patience wins the day. As far as the generic variety of enemies go, all of the zombies are a push over. If you have played the earlier versions of Resident Evil, you will find it more of a chore to cull the population and would eventually prefer to rush past them as you navigate towards the in-game objectives.

My one and only gripe of this game would be the immense amount of load times to be found. As the game is split up into various zones of casino mall, you would have to encounter load screens in between. While games like Mafia II and GTA are able to preload each section before you come to it, the load screens found within Dead Rising 2 put a damper to gameplay sessions especially if you are unable to invest long stretches of gametime. Despite installing the game, the loads are too much for my liking.

Dead Rising 2 is one game that you have to pick up to try on the next generation console. Unlike the other zombie game (Left 4 Dead) you pretty much can take your own time to do things at your own leisure as compared to running from point A to B in a frenzied fashion, which is a good change. The high replay value and the ability to have a partner hop in and out in game makes an already hilarious session even more fun with an added player to wreck more havoc!

By the way, Chuck Green’s chin reminds me too much of Batman, anyone noticed?

The game is now out in store! Available for both PS3 and Xbox 360.

First game play took roughly 17 hours. Rank S ending achieved. Purchased copy from store for review purposes.

Contact the author of this post, Gerald Chan, at geraldchan@qisahn.com

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After blasting my way through Mafia II as if I had a Pitbull on my rear, I’ll have to say that it was a very ‘different’ kind of mob themed game. Being different has many connotations but the good thing is that Mafia II comes out on the right end of the stick and does almost everything right.

It’s easy to draw comparisons between this title, GTAIV or even Red Dead Redemption. 2K has a whole stable of 3rd person free roam titles in perhaps every setting imaginable that would work out. That being said, Mafia II does try very hard to stand out from the crowd and stand out it does.

The very first thing that I noticed upon firing up the game was that every character was supported by a top notch voice actor. There is much emphasis on how well a game should look these days but when you are trying to set out to craft the perfect story, you do need to have the powerful backing of a solid voice acting cast, and Mafia II is not skinny on this department. Every character has a distinctive vibe to himself and the cast allows their personality to shine through. Anyone who has watched a mob movie or tv series knows that it takes hard work to create the characters that have made the Italian gangster a compelling character to portray and the benchmark is there to be met. The voice actors behind Vito and gang have easily met the mark and surpassed it. It took me a rather long time to realize that in video games, the voice actors pretty much carry the weight of the entire game other than the gameplay itself. Although a more complete package would ultimately do better, it’s memorable lines that gives players something more to carry on. Remember how the mannerisms of Duke Nukem have done so well to last through the years?

Graphically, I didn’t notice any grass missing as I was too busy zipping around in my car most of the time but apart from the greenery, the game does dusk beautifully. The weird thing is that I noticed the sunset after it’s rays shone out from behind the buildings and made driving during such set pieces a chore. As I was on turbo mode pretty much for most of the game, maybe you could tell me if there are actual night-day cycles within the game. If not, take your foot off the accelerator and take the time to enjoy seeing the sun set. Overall, this game is very pretty and with no noticeable frame rate drops or clipping which plagues many of these games. The attention to detail in Mafia II is top notch as every locale that you visit throughout the game is filled with every imaginable possibility. The streets and stairways have litter giving Empire Bay the semblance of a real functioning city. No wall is just a wall, and for that I guess it’s a hats off to GTA for that.

Other than dialogue and graphics, it all boils down to how easy it is to put a trigger to someone’s head. If GTA was the wild west, I’d say Empire Bay is pretty much the safest city in video games. The whole damn city is crawling with cops and it is as if the city has a sixth sense to know if you are about to commit a crime. In certain set pieces in which you would need to jack a car to get away, there would be a copper lurking around the corner just to catch you in the action to make matters worse. Give me a break already! On the flip side, the law enforcement is also not the brightest AI to be found in the game. They see speeding as a bigger crime and when someone rear ends you, the blame falls on your head; weird! Beating a red light however, is forgivable. All the brains must really have gone to the families than into law enforcement.

Gunplay in Mafia II is the most enjoyable that I’ve ever had in a long time. Weapons and ammo are supremely abundant. If you find yourself running out of bullets, you probably are a terrible shot. The game allows you to focus on gunning wiseguys down rather than holding up stores to fund the ammo that is used during missions. The biggest gripe that I have with combat sequences is that the AI has the uncanny ability to shoot at you despite the player being behind cover. On many occasions, I’ve been shot on while taking cover behind a wall and the enemies are on the same level as I am with no clear line of sight. I’m not expecting Gears of War kind of cover but this is absurd. Overall, not much complaints though as the shotgun is one overpowered weapon in your arsenal with it’s accuracy and power even at very long distances. A minus point for realism purists.

Like many reviews before this, many of you might have noticed that the strong selling point of this game would be it’s powerful narrative. It’s true, this game is one of better ones that I have tried of all the games that have come out this year. In comparison to Heavy Rain, Mafia II is right about there. The only problem is that there is a lack of character development and the amount of time you spend with each cast member is rather short. This aspect could have easily been fleshed out with more side missions but the devs decided that a more linear path would serve the game better, which I have to agree to a certain extent. Many games these days seem to want to add plenty of value to extend the playtime but usually at the expense of the main story. Even GTA IV suffered from this (btw I’ve never completed GTA). With so much to do and so little time, you do get a sensation of aspects of the game being tacked on and long drawn which adds to the fatigue that obstructs you from completion.

For Mafia II, it’s pretty much the same story with other 3rd person free roams – dude asks your PC to do something and you get things done. Sadly, not much change here, but I’d like to see PCs have a bigger decision factor in the main storyline which is why Heavy Rain did very well with it’s multiple paths. Anyway, in Empire Bay it’s very much you getting Vito to do his task in the fastest manner possible to move forward the story which thankfully does not make the player spend too much time commuting from one end of the city to another. A big problem with games of such nature.  I’d have to commend Mafia II for getting the right mix of action, commuting and dialogue  at a perfectly measured amount.

Trust me, the entire storyline is really different from what we have been fed on by the media and it’s a real step apart.

Review copy for the PS3 was provided courtesy of Take2Asia.

Contact the author of this post, Gerald Chan, at geraldchan@qisahn.com

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A month back the above mentioned title was the biggest shit the world had ever known and there was a mega huge launch event at Funan Centre. Totally missed it? Where were you all these years?!

Anyway, I was perhaps the only sane person at the event, I had no plans whatsoever to purchase the game. But having the game thrust into my hands (over exaggeration) and deliberating for a good 2 days I finally opened the box and started playing. By then, reviews of the game was all over the net and there was little point in me rushing through the game just to squeeze out my thoughts of the game and chuck it aside.

And a month later, I’ve completed it. Yay!

I’ve got a friend who’s doing a Phd drop all his work and sat in front of the computer screen for 2 straight days just to complete the game.

“Was it fun?” I asked.

“Of course! I’ve been waiting for years for this to happen! Best money I’ve spent in a long time,” was the reply.

Fun, is a relative term. Well, I would say that Starcraft II has opened my eyes to the joy of playing games at your own leisurely pace. I replayed many stages at least twice to earn achievements and on the Hard difficulty to test out my chops. Something I rarely do on my PS3. It’s usually turbo mode and sell.

I would say Blizzard is pretty devious in their story-mode. Talent trees? Multiple story paths? Wow. They really do want the player to play the game at least another time through. Not that it would be a drag, I would have to commend them for being able to craft an experience that is this well paced and continually refreshes the playing experience mission after mission. You never really quite do the same repeated base building, mass troops and wipe the AI action over and over again. There always is a twist to each mission that lends a different flavour. And I LOVE turtle missions, really glad Starcraft II had those. Starship Troopers anyone?

While the gameplay was good, I’d have to put my foot down on the storyline. After interviewing Brian Kindregan, there was a great ball of hype rolling inside of me, and maybe that’s why the ending and it’s story progression fell a bit flat. Perhaps it’s just the space western that I can’t quite subscribe to. I loved Red Dead Redemption so why didn’t this go down well with me? Then again, I didn’t like Firefly – There we have it. I’m just not a fan to the mash-up genre. My preference of Sci-Fi is more Warhammer 40k so I guess Tychus Findlay is more my kind of character. Jim Raynor? Too much of a goody and I felt that the other supporting characters could have been able to show more dimension in the game. Perhaps that tale would be told in the next 2 expansions.

Starcraft II is incredibly phenomenal in the graphics department both in gameplay and cutscenes. Final Fantasy XIII? Pfft, please. I’m pushing it rather far here but the amount of gameplay relative to cutscenes to move the story forward is just about right. But being a piece of graphical beauty does not come without a price. The load times in between missions and for me just to get back into the Hyperion were just horrendous. I would shake my mouse just to make sure my computer didn’t go to sleep. Performance wise everything is just fine in game but I hate to imagine other players having to experience the game on older hardware. Load times were an epic turnoff.

So with single player done, it’s time to jump into multiplayer. I cannot really comment on this aspect as I suck at it. Nerf Protoss! But there is a glaring issue that may have been under the radar, In-game voice chat is pretty bad. I would think that after implementing voice chat into WoW, Blizzard would have taken this opportunity to improve on it but it’s clearly not the case. Pros and the pros-to-be pretty much have this aspect covered with their own Ventrilo servers which is why playing pickup matches are rather challenging and thankfully on a different league compared to organized match-ups. For the moment, I’ll just be sticking to Nexus Wars tyvm.

With the price tag sitting pretty at triple digits at many other places, the average joe in the street might be a tad reluctant. Not to worry, the price is always better if you did some snooping around and I have a hunch that it would be one of the hottest gifted items for Christmas 2010. Do a check before buying gals!

[Image Credit]

Contact the author of this post, Gerald Chan, at geraldchan@qisahn.com

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Let’s start with Kinect.

Kinect promises a lot but sadly, it under delivers. If you have played the Wii, you would know what I mean. If you like the Wii, then yes you will love this.

Let’s move on to the best game for Kinect.. Dance Central =]

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I do hope to make this a mainstay in our site, user reviews are the best form of critique. Why? Cos you paid for the damn game from your own pocket money!

No sponsors, no advertising driven reviews. Just pure, honest opinions of the games you love and hate.

This week I am proud to introduce and thank Aegis, for his passionate review of the game Final Fantasy XIII.

By Aegis

The newest installment in the Final Fantasy series has finally arrived! I am pretty sure most of the FF fanatics out there have given this game a try. Yours truly, bought the FF13 R1 edition purely due to the chance of being in the FF14 beta for PS3 and an in-game item for FF14 when it is out! As you can tell, I am pretty much a FF fanatic too.

First of all, this is not a typical FF title that we all come to be familiar with – There is no game over in FF13.

Yes, there will be a “retry” option should you happen to lose the battle. I personally like this feature loads (some might disagree here). Gone were the days of fighting straight for 3 hours, not saving your game, dying in an epic boss fight and you need to replay the WHOLE 3 hours … *Though soon you will cultivate the habits of saving every save point you come across (one of the habits of a FF gamer lol)! *

FF13 has a story line and play style straighter than any arrow. It is purely linear until much later into the game. You basically move from point A to point B, cut scene, point B to point C, cut scene, ……. Point K to Point L, MORE cut scenes …. – you get the point.

It wasn’t as huge as a shock to me since I knew about this before getting FF13. I still prefer the open exploration system though which I am pretty sure most of FF fans will agree with me on this one.

There are 6 roles in FF13 namely commando (melee), medic (healer), ravager (mage), synergist (buffer), saboteur (debuffer) and sentinel (tank). Most of the roles should be familiar to RPG fans except for sentinel. For those that haven’t play FF13, sentinel basically is a role that reduce damage on your party massively. And when I mean massively, I meant MASSIVELY! While a character is in that role, he will just defend against attacks and taunts targets to make him the primary targets. Some of you might think defending is for sissies! Attacking is more my style! Sad to burst your bubble, but some of the harder missions force you to defend or else you face a total defeat before you even realized what hit you!

Another huge change (personally, it is huge!) is that the item Ribbon we all come to love in almost every final fantasy game is no longer the same awesome item . In FF13, Ribbon now is a 30% CHANCE to resist enemy debuffs instead of 100% immunity.

You are only able to control your lead character (changeable at one point of game) while the other 2 party members will be controlled by the AI. The AI control is what I would call …… SHINGZ which will make most gamers goes BOOMZ (pun fully intended ). Imagine yourself in a huge boss battle and knowing that the boss is about to make a huge magical attack. You immediately switch one of your character roles to synergist, expecting him to cast “Shell” spell on your characters to reduce the magical damage. However, the AI somehow feels that other useless buffs are more important than “Shell”, and ONLY chooses to cast “Shell” after the huge magical attack … (/facepalm)

However, despite these flaws, if you are a FF fan, this is still one of the must-have game on your list. Being a Square Enix game, it never fails to amaze you with its stunning graphics. I highly recommend playing FF13 on a HDTV! The difference between the non HD version and the HD version is just …. worlds apart!

FF13 has one of the most engaging storyline that I have ever seen in the FF series. It also has one of the most interesting characters cast in FF series imo (a super act-cute girl that gets on your nerves, a talk-big guy that you want to punch in the face whenever he talks and a whiny boy that makes you want to stab him over and over again). However, despite their character flaws, somewhere along the way, you start to feel connected to the same very characters that you hated initially!

In conclusion, FF13 is still one of the must-have titles that every PS3 owner should try and add to their library.

I still have loads of things to write about the flaws and merits of FF13 but it will probably turn into a huge wall of text!

Contact the author of this review, Aegis, at legion_aeon@hotmail.com

We love to hear from you! Share your thoughts, reviews, news tips at blog@qisahn.com

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In case you didn’t know we sent out a few demo discs to certain lucky individuals to give the game a go.

First up, we have ManLing who gives us a pretty detailed account on what to expect for Monster Hunter TRI which hits the stores in slightly over a week’s time!

By Au ManLing:

Before I had the Monster Hunter Demo for wii, I only played monster hunter on psp. I will mainly compare the differences between wii and psp. And perhaps some great features of wii monster hunter. It’s quite disappointing that there’s no multiplayer feature in the demo. There’s 2 quests in the demo version: a 2 star mission and a 3 star mission. I have only tried the sword so far.

Pros

• The graphics were definitely better than that of psp screens. The environment of the game is much clearer and more detailed.
• With the controls guide given with the demo, I find the controls for the remote and nunchuck are difficult than using a psp. Takes me around 20minutes to get used to the controls. Perhaps this gives an extra edge to the game. While, I think it’s sufficient, it’s better to have a pro controller. Gamecube controller will not work on this game, but the classic controller can though. The game feels much better with the classic controller.
• The monsters can run/escape from area to area. This is much better than the psp versions as I remembered that once the monster run to another, it seems to disappear.
• The monster gets harder to kill on the 3 star mission
• Besides from the usual monsters’ roar and the hunter’s sigh/grunts, the music changes as the difficulty level of monster one is fighting gets higher.

Cons

• Camera is controlled by the D pad on the remote. I feel it’s very difficult to locate the D pad especially when you’re fighting.
• The loading time when the player gets from 1 area to another is too long. As I move from 1 area to another, it gets quite irritating for me.
• The monsters aren’t responsive to player’s attacks.
• It’s more difficult to run and throw items at the monster at the same time.
• No tutorial, one would have been really useful especially for players who have never played the monster hunter series before.

I have a few more demo discs on hand as well. Anyone willing to rush out a demo review can email me for a copy!

Contact the author of this post, Au ManLing, at manling_sclub7@hotmail.com

Liked what you read? Love to contribute to the site? Email us at blog@qisahn.com

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After weeks of putting it off, I have just finished Uncharted 2. Yes, I do know it is rather late to post up a review but I am pretty sure there are many gamers out there who still have not tried this treasure of a game. Other than Metal Gear Solid 4, this is THE exclusive that gives one enough reason to go out and get a PS3!

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I’m now supposed to place orders for King of Fighter XII USB sticks. The catch? Price unknown, quality unknown, but once order is placed, cannot back out. Very standard terms and condition for retailers actually.

Anyway I need some advice from you guys. Do you think these will be any good?

King of Fighter XII USB Stick by Exar. Retail JPN¥ 6,279 ($96)

King of Fighters XII USB Stick

Neo Geo Stick 2 by Exar. Retail JPN¥ 5,229 ($80)

Neo Geo Stick 2 for PS3

I just checked Exar’s other product. The Tatsunoko vs Capcom Neo Geo Stick for Wii released in 2008.

Tatsunoko vs Capcom Neo Geo Stick for Wii

The reviews were plain bad. The buttons lacked feed back and it is too light for stability.

Unless I get any special request from you guys with deposits, I will not be preordering this.

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