Battlefield 2: Modern Combat Review (Xbox 360)

Title: Battlefield 2: Modern Combat
System: Xbox360, PS2, Xbox
Players: 1
ESRB: T

Summary:
Based on the blockbuster online multiplayer war Battlefield franchise, EA and developer Digital Illusions are taking the battle to another realm with a modern-war era edition somewhat similar to Battlefield 2 for PCs but developed exclusively for console gamers. Players from the United States, China and the Middle East Coalition will all be represented in harrowing 24-player battles. Command tanks, choppers and any other of more than 30 military vehicles, and make use of more than 70 kinds of weapons (including heat-seaking missles, laser designated bombs and other modern military hardware.)

Review:
While the game is a port from the PC version, which ported to PS2 and Xbox, is it really all that different? Answer is no, not really. I would say get the PC version, but I love my achievements and I love combat games, so I got this. Which I must say I do like the game, it is enjoyable, and at times does get frustrating. But still, I love it. I would buy it, but lets get an unbiased as we can.

Using the same content from the original current-gen versions, DICE has focused on improving four major areas: graphics, the immersive experience, cohesiveness, and the single-player game, and the results are mixed. For fans of the Xbox and PS2 versions, the subtle game alterations will be apparent. For casual observers, they’re almost non-existent. Visually, you should notice the enhancements over its current-gen brethren. Textures are sharp and crisp, even if the object wasn’t all that detailed in the beginning. Vehicle explosions prompt a physical dropping of the jaw, especially the booming destruction of the helicopter and tanks, each of which shower the landscape with burning shards of metal. Rag-doll physics are improved and little things such as dozens of arching bullet casings, or bullet-hole decals, will catch your eye. The framerate is relatively steady in both the offline and online experiences. And you may not know it, but all of the objects — from bridges, roads, radio towers, and buildings — received polygonal enhancements, along with remapped textures. You’ll notice the effects best on vehicles and buildings and less on the dull landscapes.

Character classes follow a distinct archetype style, so snipers will look distinctly different than say, engineers or riflemen. You’ll also see heat blurs, excellent long-range sniper views, good-looking smoke, mathematically proficient looking waves and water behavior, and a range of animations. The animations for all characters look distinctly better when up close than from a medium range. You’ll clearly see in both the single-player and online modes than once you’re about 40 feet away, character animations often drag or skate. Admittedly, this doesn’t ruin the game’s believability much, but it’s noticeable. The helicopter and tank animations, however, have improved. In short, M2: MC looks like an enhanced Xbox game. It’s good looking, but clearly not designed as an Xbox 360 game.

While the single player campaign has got some meat and does fantastic, the heart and soul of the game is in the online. EA has improved the servers, they aren’t laggy. They support up to 24 players, but I rarely encountered over 15, with Gears of War out as I was playing this the first time, just so lonely. But the game is great, I enjoy it. While if given the option, I would say go for the PC version, this version is able to stand firmly on its own.

6/10

Guitar Hero II Review (Xbox 360)

Title: Guitar Hero II
System: Xbox360, PS2, Xbox
Players: 2
ESRB: E

Summary:
RedOctane’s follow-up to the critically acclaimed rhythm game. Guitar Hero II features a brand-new and expanded track list, more venues and new play modes, and aims to rock longer and harder than its predecessor. RedOctane has once again teamed up with veteran music game developer Harmonix for the sequel, and is using famed recording studio WaveGroup for its music production, who also recorded the covers for the licensed tracks in the original Guitar Hero. The Xbox 360 version also adds 10 new songs, downloadable content features, leaderboards and online features, plus support for the Guitar Hero X-Plorer guitar controller.

Review:
If you have never played a Guitar Hero game, you have no idea what you are missing. Everything about the game rocks. The controller, the music, the presentation. Even if you own Guitar Hero II for the PS2, you still have reasons for the 360 version, new songs, downloadable content, achievements.

While this is the first time that the game has been ported to Microsofts console, the game is a huge hit on the PS2, and it is very easy to see why. The game is hard, depending on your skill level, you can adjust the difficulty of the game. Choose Rookie to Expert.

All of the music and fun of the PS2 version, has made it over to the 360, though it has gone through a little bit of a face lift, the game still rocks. Typically, ports of PS2 games don’t do well on the 360, the developers rarely do all the work required to make it work, rebuffing the graphics, add new features, luckily, Guitar Hero II does not fall into that trap. Textures, character models, everthing looks better, as an added bonus, it is even in HD!

New effects have been added, stage effects and lighting effects, which definately add to the feeling of being on stage rocking out, but some people do start to feel sick after a while, my sister did. But don’t let that throw you off, this game isn’t about the visuals, it is about the rocking sound track. While most of the music is done by a cover band, and you will notice, as a few songs sound off, it isn’t enough to make you upset and shut the game off.

One great new feature, is the multiplayer, you can now rock out with a buddy, one guitar and one bass. That definately adds to the playability of the game.

In closing, Guitar Hero II rocks, there isn’t much wrong with the game that I found, while a few features would have been nice, such as the ability to make your own song, or to import a song from a CD, hopefully with a new Guitar Hero that will happen, but for now, I am impressed with the way Guitar Hero II plays. 9/10

NHL 2K6 Review (Xbox 360_

Title: NHL 2k6
System: Xbox360, PS2, Xbox
Players: 2
ESRB: E

Summary:
NHL 2K6 continues its legacy on the ice with more control, more emotion and more detail than ever before. Take command of tape-to-tape passing, behind-the-net plays and precision give-and-go attacks. Dominate the ice with NHL caliber goaltending, skating, checking and puck handling with the deeply enhanced animation system.

Review:
NHL 2k6… I like hockey. I like the sport on TV, I like playing it in real life and video games. I have been playing a lot of NHL 08. So I decided to get this title in hopes it was similiar. But, it isn’t, you are lucky if it reminds you of Wayne Gretzkey 98 for the N64. Yes, the graphics and game play are that horrible.

The controls are clunky, the menus are poorly designed and the game is just boring. While it is more arcadey than EA’s take on it, but just doesn’t cut it. The ice looks good, it is shiney and reflective, looks like you’d expect ice to look like, too bad the same couldn’t be said for the character models on the ice… While the cutscenes, the players look good, there are odd reverse shadows, but the faces are more detailed and the clothings has great texture, just makes you sad that the actual game play graphics look like the 64 take.

One thing that I have heard, is that you need an HD tv that supports 720p. Or else the game looks the exact same as the xbox version. For those of you with your regular CRT TV’s, it is a huge difference that you will surely notice.

One neat aspect of the game that I did like, was that you could take over the goalie. But that got confusing, as the controls would reverse, and while you were trying to move right, your character was fish flopping out on the ice.

I did not like the game, and if this was the first Hockey game that I played, I can almost certainly say that I would never pick up another hockey game again.

I give NHL 2k6 a 1/10

Empire Entertainment’s Review of Quentin Tarentino’s “Deathproof”

Review By James L. Seagraves

Ever since I became interested in film, which was probably around 1996 or so, I have always been a huge fan of Quentin Tarentino’s work. From True Romance and Reservoir Dogs all the way up until Kill Bill Volumes 1 and 2, I don’t believe he has ever made a bad movie. Being a huge film buff, I also am familiar and appreciate the old-school slasher/exploitation movies of the mid to late seventies, which unfortunately I haven’t seen too many of the true classics, as I am only 25 years old, thus being too young to go and experience these masterpieces in theaters, and most of them have never been transferred to DVD. So when I heard about Tarentino and Robert Rodriguez’s idea for Grindhouse: a throwback to 70s-era exploitation movies, I knew I would be in for a treat.

Unfortunately, just as I couldn’t go see the movies they pay homage to in these films, I couldn’t go see Grindhouse at the theater either, which really angered me. I had a newborn baby at the time of the release, coupled with the fact that my lame city only had Grindhouse in the theaters for ONE week, meant I missed out on one of my most anticipated nights at the movies ever! Well, behind the Star Wars rerelease and Episode 1, but we all know how that one turned out.

Anyway, so I would have to wait for the DVD to come out in order to view Quentin’s latest work. Having the two movies come out on DVD seperatly was good I think, because I could spend quality time with each movie. First up, released on DVD on September 18th, 2007: Grindhouse.

Grindhouse is, in it’s purest form, an homage to classic 70s exploitation. It features established Hollywood stars such as Kurt Russell, Rosario Dawson, and Rose McGowan, but it also features a very strong cast of up and coming actresses like Mary Elizabeth Windstead (Black Christmas), Vanessa Ferlito (TV’s 24), and the extremely beautiful Sidney Tamiia Poiter (TV’s Joan of Arcadia, etc.).

Kurt Russell plays “Stuntman Mike,” a Hollywood Stunt Driver who drives a modified stunt car which he claims to be “death proof.” Russell was the perfect cast as stuntman Mike, his mannerisms, voice, and just overall creepiness are top-notch for the role.

The girls in the movie do an exceptional job delivering Tarentino’s finely-crafted dialogue, which some reviewers out there I have read have had a problem with the fact that there’s just too much of. Not me. I’ve had to sit through horrendous movies like National Lampoon’s Pledge This, The Marine, and many other crapola movies, so when I get the rare chance to listen to an intelligent and well-crafted script, I appreciate every last word of it.

Sidney Poitier as “Jungle Julia”

In particular, I was impressed by Poitier, Ferlito, and Windstead. Poitier plays “Jungle Julia,” Austin, Texas’ local disc-jockey. She’s cool and collected, and amazingly easy on the eyes. Her performance loosely reminds me of a collaboration of former Tarentino vixen Uma Thurman’s roles, but nevertheless, I couldn’t watch the screen and not be in awe of Poitier’s beauty.

Ferlito turns in a great performance as well, and she is responsible for what I believe to be the second best scene in the movie…but you’ll have to watch and see it for yourself.

While some people may have a problem with this film being “too wordy,” one thing that every critic I’ve read has said is that the film’s action sequences are “top-notch.” I couldn’t agree more. Even though it may take awhile to get from one action sequence to another, when they finally arrive, they’re brilliant.

Overall, I’d say that “Deathproof” is probably Tarentino’s weakest outing in terms of a film, but we’re talking about some of Hollywood’s most prized pieces of work in his filmography. I defineatly appreciated the overall tone and feel of this movie, and in THAT regard, I give this film a definite five star rating. In terms of overall movie, however, I’m going to give “Deathproof” a 3.5 out of 5 stars.

Empire Entertainment’s Magic Results – September 19th, 2007 – Tony Ames Retains Title & More!

Tonight at Empire Entertainment, we had a massive night in Magic the Gathering! The first thing that happened was the General Manager made an announcement, finally making an official choice as to what was going to happen with Jason Foreman’s share of the tag-team championship: there would be a massive chaos game, and whoever won would take Foreman’s spot as champion. The players in attendance were: James Seagraves, Magic-Man, Wolf-Man, Poofy Head Paul, and Jason Sharp. Since the Sharp Dressed Man always works on Saturdays, thus he would not be able to ever defend his title, he wasn’t allowed in the choas game. So it broke down into a four way chaos game of such:

Magic-Man – Using his newly constructed blue and black deck. A total nightmare, albeit not entirely original.

Wolf-Man – Yadda yadda yadda, white “gays of justice” deck, what else is new.

Poofy-Head Paul – Slivers of lameness.

James – Red firebreathing Deck.

Seeing as how Wolf-Man and Magic-Man have some kind of quasi-man crush on each other in the form of the “Shake and Bake” tag-team, James tried to persuade Paul into teaming up against them, but alas, he wouldn’t listen. So James was victimized by the epic rivalry between he and Magic, and thus was eliminated first.

After that, Paul took out Magic, who had enchanted one of Wolf-Man’s fliers with “Snake Cult Initiation,” thus Paul was receiving three poision counters per turn.

When Paul had nine poison counters, thus he would die the next turn, he had the most clutch draw in the world, and somehow configured it so that he won in one turn. I’m not certain exactly how it went down, all I know is that it did, and thus Paul was crowned one half of the tag-team champions.

After the chaos game, there was the standard round-robin tournament for the singles championship. Tony Ames and Sharp Dressed Man were both in this, and here’s how the games broke down.

Magic – went 4 and 1, losing only to Tony Ames

James – went 3 and 2, losing to both Magic and Wolf-Man…appropriately.

Paul – went 0 and 5, probably because he was using a non-sliver deck that featured 5 colors.

Sharp – went 1 and 4 – beating only Paul.

Wolf-Man – went 3 and 2 – losing to Tony Ames and Magic.

Tony Ames – went 4 and 1 – losing to James’ traumatize deck.

Thus, Tony Ames and Magic both finished at 4-1, and had to fight it out right then and there for the Empire Entertainment Magic Championship….

Tony Ames kicked Magic’s teeth in. It wasn’t even close. Leaving many fans to cry out “let Seagraves face the champ!” after the dissapointing title match of last week coupled with the fact that James’ traumatize deck mowed through Tony Ames white and green deck. Nevertheless, Seagraves was denied another shot at the title, meaning that he’ll have to earn it the hard way next week.

However, at the end of the night, as per usual with Empire Entertainment, there was controversy. Poofy Head Paul, after winning half of the tag-team championship, announced publicly that he would “hardly ever” be available to play on Saturdays, thus the General Manager stripped the belt from him for being an idiot, making his run as champion the shortest in history.

Now the big question is: what will happen to

Hitman: Blood Money Review (Xbox 360)

Title: Hitman: Blood Money
System: Xbox360
Players: 1
ESRB: M

Summary:
The fourth in the chilling Hitman series featuring the cold-blooded killer Agent 47. Finding that members of his contract agency, The ICA, are now being quietly (and mortally) eliminated, Agent 47 suspects a larger organization is moving in. Fearing he may be the next target, he heads to America. His jobs now will pay in straight-up cash — and how he spends the money will affect what weapons he has and what he does next. The developer added new gameplay systems, such as the concepts of notoriety and of blood money. The new Notoriety system means that anyone causing a bloodbath worthy of front page news is risking being recognised by civilians and guards in the future. Blood Money lets players spend their earnings on fully customisable precision weapons and specialist equipment, or they can buy additional information upon the targets and location at hand, to aid a successful and professional hit.

Review:
With the previous Hitman (Contracts) looming, and still haunting my memory. I decided to get Blood Money. To say the least, I wasn’t disappointed. The controls take a little getting used to, and the game requires patience. Both of which frustrated me at first, but once I got into it, it is really great.

There are several things IO improved upon, both from playability and performance. The results speak for themselves. The new notoriety systems works smoothly and the upgraded currency systems encourages wise spending. However, the newly added features, don’t alter the fundamental experience, so much more than Contracts. Fans of the series will notice the changes, but it is still the same as the previous games, which is good. IO built upon the game fundamentals, but still left 47’s core alone. It looks so much better on the 360 than other systems. Either way, it is well worth your money.

Story wise, the game is awesome. You are basically listening to an interview about 47, how the FBI or CIA almost catch him, and the reporter listening, and when they say, there was such and such case, queue the game play. You take over. Over the coarse of the game, you find that you are the only assassin left. You will want to watch all the cutscenes, as they reveal crutial information. The CG is refreashing and look drastically better than gameplay, the lighting and character models look phenominal.

There are many improvements, such as the 3 button system, where you can pick a lock, pick up a briefcase, and stow away a weapon at the same time. Which you will really appreciate in those tight situations. There are a few levels that you think would take 5-10 minutes, but because people move differently each time you replay it, it can take 20 minutes. All depends on your boldness and willingness to have the patience to get Silent Assassin.

One of my qualms about this game, is the difficulty. It is a hard game, even on rookie, where you have full agency support and no notoriety, the game still takes patience. I tried it on Expert, and if you follow to closely, you get peoples suspicions up. The AI in the game is incredibly intelligent. There are a few frustrations, such as if you are at a party and kill someone, only the local guards come, not a whole search party, and if you weren’t spotted, you can walk away pretty easily. The AI is also a lot more relaxed in some senses. You can walk up to a door with a guard, and he will put is hand up and warn you to back away, instead of just blasting you.

There are a few things, when you hid and go to snipe someone. You stand there and shoot, and instantly, your bar goes red, and everyone comes running, if your bar goes red, your best bet, is to restart the mission.

In closing, while the game looks incredible visually, the lighting, shadows, the textures. For those that are unsure, rent it. Give it a try, I can assure you that you will love it and go buy it, that is what I am going to do.

9/10

Empire Entertainment’s Magic The Gathering Results – September 15th, 2007: The Foreman Conspiracy!

Magic The Gathering Results – September 15^th, 2007

It was supposed to be a night of Magic the Gathering for the ages, as the challenge was put forth on the Empire Entertainment message board late last week that would pit the so called “Shake and Bake” team against James L. Seagraves and whoever was present at the store at the time. On top of that awesome match, there was supposed to be a clear cut winner of a round robin tournament that would challenge the current Empire Entertainment tag team champions (Tony Ames and Jason Foreman) in what would be their first ever tag team title defense match.

But things don’t always work out the way they’re supposed to. First of all, we saw a new group of competitors arrive at Empire last night, as two people from Clinton (Aaron and Jen) came in and entered the tag team tournament at the very last minute. They’re friend Nate (who has been at Empire before) came with them also, making an odd number of people showing up for Saturday night’s contest.

Since there was an odd number of players, James decided to sit the night out, as opposed to have a customer sit the night out…besides…there IS supposed to be work getting done at our store. Thus, Aaron and Jen entered the tournament together, Nate was paired with Giggles, then there was the “Shake and Bake” tag-team of Magic and Wolf-Man, and finally the current tag team champions – Jason Foreman and the one and only Tony Ames.

The first round of matches went off without a hitch, as Shake and Bake defeated Giggles and Nate, and the Tag Champs defeated the newcomers.

Then Giggles and Nate took on the Clinton Connection, and were defeated, while the tag team champs stomped the Shake N Bake tag-team.

It was about at this moment that two very interesting developments occurred: 1) Jake Eberhard showed up to play, and since there were an odd number of players leaving Seagraves out of the mix, James took Eberhard on as his new partner, and thus accepted the challenge of playing Shake and Bake. And 2) While the Seagraves / Eberhard vs. Shake and Bake was happening, Jason Foreman simply took off to parts unknown, leaving the other Tag team champion there with nobody to team with, thus ending the chance at having someone else face them for the tag-team championship.

The realquestion, however, is where exactly did Jason Foreman go? Why did he abandon his tag-team partner? There is a lot of talk around the town, and several conspiracy theories are being formed.

One such theory is that Foreman simply didn’t care about retaining the tag-team championship, and that he went to Morenci to go to a party on Saturday night. Seems like a likely scenario, but did he really just go to Morenci to go to a party, or did he have alternate plans in mind? Foreman was there on Friday night when Erik Mepham purchased not one, but TWO Platinum Angels from Empire Entertainment, including the one that had formerly been in Foreman’s elf deck. Was Foreman feeling loveloss at participating in the first tournament without his beloved angel? Perhaps. Did he plan on going to get her back on Saturday night? Perhaps. Where was the alleged party at? Morenci. Where does Mepham live? Morenci. Coincidence? Perhaps….perhaps not.

Another conspiracy theory floating around is that Foreman had inside information that he and Tony Ames were going to lose the belts on Saturday night, potentially to the team of Nate and Giggles. Did Foreman have this inside information, and where did he get such information? One thing’s for certain: if he did legitametly go to Morenci, was he going there to vandalize the house of the next would-be champion? It’s a proven fact that Nate is from Morenci, and if Foreman was heading that way…maybe he knew more than he let on, and decided to abandon the tournament in order to prevent Nate and Giggles from being crowned the new champs.

Yet one more theory is that Foreman and Tony Ames have had bad blood brewing for the past week because of all the media hype surrounding Foreman’s departure from Michigan to go into the Army. The local media has been pushing the issue of “what’s going to happen” when Foreman leaves? How will the GM handle the situation? There has been talk in the locker rooms that Ames is having a hard time dealing with the media, and that maybe he paid some kid in Morenci to actually throw a party, just to lure Foreman away from Empire Entertainment, and to take the media with him. This theory seems pretty justified, since everybody is going to be talking about Foreman for the next week, and leave Tony Ames alone, for at least a little while.

Controversial, for sure. So, what’s next for the Empire Entertainment tag-team championship, since Foreman is leaving for the military this week? Well there have been a few rumors circulating around the area: one theory is that the general manager will hold a special individual tournament, and give the winner of the tournament the vacated championship spot. Another theory is that the GM will allow Tony Ames to CHOOSE his championship partner. Yet another theory circulating around the area is that since the cowardly acts of Jason Foreman on Saturday night, that Tony Ames will simply be stripped of his tag-team belt, forced to choose a new partner, and then have to enter a new tag-team tournament to see who truly owns the tag-team championship.

Nobody knows for sure what’s going to happen to the Empire Entertainment Tag-Team Championship, not even the general manager! He has released a public statement saying that he will reveal his decision this Wednesday night’s Magic the Gathering game at Empire.

Far Cry Instincts Predator Review (Xbox 360)

Title: Far Cry Instincts Predator
System: Xbox360
Players: 1
ESRB: M

Summary:
You’re Jack Carver, stranded on a remote tropical island. A legion of elite mercenaries equipped with a military stockpile is rapidly closing in. Outmanned and outgunned, your survival won’t come easy. Only with skill, instincts and ingenuity can you conquer the enemy and make it out alive.

This Xbox 360 version of the hit shooter, features both Far Cry Instincts Next Chapter and an enhanced version of the original Far Cry Instincts game. Gamers will experience advanced pathfinding and new enemy and vehicle artificial intelligence for improved chase scenes and more enemies on-screen at one time, allowing for more adrenaline-rushing fast-action sequences.

Review:
Looking at the box the game looks cool, but that is about it. Far Cry is HORRIBLE. I got it to review, as I am posting it here, I played it for about 5 minutes then shut it off, I restarted to review it, but man, I tell you. It is hard to get into the game. Firstly the controls are clunky and the graphics, well. I have seen better on PS2.

The game is actually 2 games in one, the original Instincts from Xbox and an enhanced version with more maps. You have to play through one to unlock the other, That is if you can last that long. The controls are clunky, and slow to respond. Think Doom 64. Once you complete the horribly inadequate single player, you can move on to the Evolution, there you start with all your abilities, not having to earn them. Seeing the scents, ferel punch, insane jump.

I can’t really say much about the game, the graphics are horrible, the AI is stupid, but have amazing aim, there isn’t much to say. Just that I hated the game. I think this is the shortest review I have ever written. I will never get this game again, you can’t pay me enough to sit and try to play through the whole thing. I am sorry for all those that were looking for my usual lengthy reviews. I just can’t continue with this one.

1/10

Ninety-nine Nights Review (Xbox 360)

Title: Ninety-nine Nights
System: Xbox360
Players: 1
ESRB: 12+

Summary:
In Over G Fighters, a terrorist organization threatens the world’s peace and security as players take to the skies in a united world air force. Players command more than 30 of the most powerful jet fighters ever conceived and battle for air superiority in massive dogfights in the skies above Europe, Asia, Africa and North America. Players combat enemies in the air and on the ground with challenging and dangerous strike missions against well defended targets deep in the heart of hostile territory.

Review:
Ninety-nine Nights…

If you have played Dynasty Warriors, you have played this game. It is the typical hack and slash title. While it has some things over dynasty warriors, such as the field of view is a lot larger. It still has the same feel, the same stories, the same characters, the same combos, the same million baddies on the screen. So really, why bother?

Well, if you can get past the Dynasty Warriors copy, there is a lot to the game, such as leveling up your character, and that the game doesn’t freeze when there are more than 3 people on the screen. The story is about a war between humans and goblins, and it is told between the 7 characters. But don’t get your hopes up, it seems to be a LOTR clone and like the story was placed as an after thought. Not to mention, depending on what your character does during the game determins the outcome, completely smashing an story you have put together.

During the loading screens, you are shown some combos that the character you chose is capable of, however, this is a button masher, you will be pushing X and Y, there is a block button, but I beat 2 characters stories before I figured that out, mostly you will use it to center your character, or swing the camera around. One thing that is interesting, is the orbs, each enemy that you kill gives you one red orb, and when that fills up, you can do a pretty amazing attack, during that charged attack, your enemy will drop a blue orb, and that will charge a different meter. That is even better depending on your character. The only drawback that I have, is that it doesn’t evolve as your character levels up.

The beginning you can only choose one character. Inphyy, once you beat her story, you unlock her brother and a mercenary, these 3 are commanders. They lead squadrons into battle, but don’t get your hopes up, they are useless, most of the time you order them to stand in one spot while you do all the slaying. All you can tell them to do is to follow you or to stand still. The best to choose is the Archers, they stand a distance back and don’t get themselves killed. The remaining characters that you unlock, aren’t cursed like this. They are solitary. You can concentrate on yourself, which is mostly what you will be doing the entire game anyway.

Most of the guards become a hinderance, they don’t do any damage to the enemy, but can cause them not to be hurt by your attack. Protect your guards while eliminating the baddies. While that does sound fun, it is more of a headache.

The only items that you can store are those that can be equipped. If you’ve got a full health bar and find a HP restore potion, it will be wasted since they disappear a short while after being exposed. This, combined with the fact that you can’t save midway through a mission, means you’ll often wind up coming to the final boss without much in the HP gauge. The only solution is to go off in search of chests you may not have broken open yet in hopes of finding something to restore your health. It’s slow and tedious, but you’ll wind up doing it so that you don’t die and lose all of the experience you’ve gained.

The characters can get to level 7 pretty fast, though they cap out at level 9, if you get all the characters maxed, that is an achievement, while there are only 10 achievements in the game, they can be pretty challenging to get. But it does add fun to the game for those of you that HAVE to have the achievements.

Ninety-Nine Nights has struggled to find an identity since it was first revealed in trailer form. Unfortunately, it appears that it never decided on one. The first half of the game plays like the team was looking at adding some strategic elements, but the second half is pure action. Through it all, you have an attempt to cover up some of the shallowest gameplay around with slick animations and a weak story. The final product isn’t terrible, but it’s hardly memorable. I give it a 7/10

Tony Ames Successfully Defends Magic The Gathering Singles Championship!

Last night in a heated day of Magic the Gathering at Empire Entertainment, it was Tony Ames who, in his first title defense since taking it from Wolf-Man Friday, would ultimately defeat store owner James Seagraves in the finals.

Since there were only 6 players, a conventional tournament wasn’t possible. Instead, a round robin tournament was created. If Tony Ames won the tournament, it would be considered a title defense and a chaos game would be held to determine a number one contender for next week. If someone else won, they would get the title shot. While Tonyames went an impressive 4-1, James also went 4-1, rebounding after a mana-screwed loss to Wolf-Man in the first match. While the contest was much anticipated and highly hyped, Tonyames and his Real American theme music would triumph over James in a fairly quick match. Wolf-Man went 3-2, his championship hopes ending after a mana-screw loss to Foreman, who also was 3-2 and had his championship hopes dashed by a mana-screwed loss to James. Poofy-Haired Paul and the Magic Man would each go 1-4.

With this win, Tony Ames proves he is not a transitional champion, and has broken the record for most successful title defenses, with…1. However, will he be able to continue his streak of dominance Saturday when he must partially rely on Foreman in order to successfully defend their tag team titles? Stop in on Saturday to find out!