Sports and Entertainment

Let’s talk about video games based on comic book characters.  There were games in each generational system that I had to have just because it was Superman or Spider-Man or Batman.  All of those games were well below par.  Extremely below par.  Dismal.  Every once in a while you would get a game like The Incredible Hulk where it showed some promise or the Spider-Man movie games that were playable and fun.  Still, the day never came where you could honestly say, “This game is awesome.”

Today is that day.  Batman:  Arkham Asylum is the greatest superhero game of all time, I would also say, the best licensed game period.

Here’s the story:  Batman captures the Joker in the beginning of the game, brings him back to Arkham, Joker planned it the whole time and busts loose in the crazy house, and you have to put an end to his menace before it’s too late.  Pretty simple concept, but unbelievably played out to perfection.

You encounter tons of Batman’s rouges gallery from the likes of Joker, Harley Quinn, Bane, Killer Croc, Scarecrow, and Poison Ivy.  (There are also Easter eggs thrown in everywhere for the casual and addicted Batman fan.)

The graphics are sweet, the sound is phenomenal, you never get sick of playing it, and it has tons of surprises.

If you haven’t already played this game (I know this is a very late post. I have been super busy at work — Welcome back S&E!! hehe) go out and buy the thing today.

I have awoken from my hibernation.  It has been almost 2 weeks since my last post.  During this time, I have been playing Resident Evil 5 for Xbox 360.  It has been a long slumber.  I have a full beard.  I have not eaten in 12 days.  I have not seen my dog or my girlfriend.  What the heck happened?

Resident Evil 5.  My God.  So I bought it the day it came out, put it in my system and finally have come out of the world.  It is an engrossing, terrific game.  It is graphically amazing, the sound it fantastic, and the story is phenomenal.

You start in Africa as Chris Redfield, with new partner Sheva.  Together you go through 6 levels of horror, of zombies, of crazy bat creatures, of huge whale/shark/Lochness Monster hyribs, of crazy bugs, crazier zombies, huge executioners, and crazier zombies.

The controls are great.  Like Resident Evil 4, you are armed with your personal arsenal throughout the game.  Unlike RE4, there isn’t a shop.  You simply switch in and out of your inventory between levels and unfortunate deaths.  The weapons are awesome in this, and the zombies are harder to defeat with them.

The graphics are great.  You are engulfed into the world of RE5.  The sound is amazing you hear every scream every bullet and every smashed skull.  Everything in this game is phenomenal.

The greatest addition to RE5 is the co-op.  You can go online with a friend and each of you can blast away zombies together.  It is so much fun.  I cannot get over how awesome RE5 was.

Well, I am back to S&E so hopefully you will get your much needed movie news.  Hopefully you don’t pick up RE5 and forget to visit my site. 

OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG….Sorry.  I just finished watching this.  OMG it looks glorious.  Do we FINALLY have an awesome Batman video game?  The voice work sounds great, the graphics are really coming along, and the story is just brilliant.  I simply cannot wait for this game to hit the local Gamestop.  Check out the awesome trailer below.

Tim Falletti

Let me start by saying that I had no backstory on this game.  I didn’t read any reviews, I didn’t see any screenshots, I didn’t even know the game was out.  I went to the local Gamestop to trade in a few older games and I asked the clerk what he recommended for a fun game.  The first game out of his mouth was Dead Space.  I asked him what it was, and the only thing he could tell me was that it was a survival horror game in the likes of Resident Evil and Bioshock.  He said it was third person, and was absolutely amazing.  I have taken recommendations on his word before, and he was usually right so I figured to give it a shot and picked up the game.  He was not only right, but he was too modest when he said it was simply amazing.

The story goes something like this:  You (Isaac) are an engineer who is on this spaceship that receives a distress call from another spaceship named the Ishimura.  The Ishimura is a “mining” ship that basically goes from planet to planet and destroys them to get all their natural resources.  So, you dock with this spaceship and realize that something fishy is going on because no crew can be found.  The action starts right then and there and you must fight his way through this broken down ship infested with these crazy zombie/alien creatures that used to be the crew.   Twist and turns and screams ensue. 

 The game features an ‘over the shoulder’ third-person perspective,  similar to games like Resident Evil 4 and Gears of War.  The interface does not feature a traditional heads up display (HUD).   Instead, information is relayed to the player via these cool holographic projections, which hover over Isaac’s weapons and armor.   It makes the game seem much more terrifying without any distractions away from the main character.  And trust me you don’t need distractions because instead of simply shooting the monsters, you have to dismember them.  A simple shot to the head of body won’t stop them.  Shoot out their legs, and they crawl to get you.  Shoot of their arms, and the will try to bite you.  You have to start from the bottom, and make your way to the top, shooting off limb by limb by bloody limb.

The visuals on this game are so good, I can say that it might have been the best looking game I have ever played.  The design team over at EA really paid attention to minor details and it shows in the final product.  Whether it be writing on the walls, to magazines thrown all around, the environment seems very real.  The sound of this game is best in the dark, all alone, with a bathroom nearby.  Hearing scratching and screaming in the distance and not knowing what or when something will attack you has never been done better.  I highly recommend this game to any game fan.  10/10

It’s been three months since Activision decided that the Ghostbusters video game wasn’t cool enough to be released by their company.  Considering the game was just about completed, and the hype was making fan boys foam at the mouth, it wasn’t matter of who would pick it up but when.  Well according to an interview by Dallas radio station 105.3 KLLI with Dan Akroyd himself (who along with the other original cast members provide voices), Atari has picked up the rights to distribute the anticipated game.  He also mentioned that it’s about a year away from hitting shelves.  How that is possible, I have no clue.