Left 4 Dead

So i don't think this needs to be said but this game is amazing. Hey have you heard that yet from anyone out there in the gaming press... no, well let me elaborate. 

This game throws you in the shoes of one of four "survivors" after the Zombie Apocalypse has occurred. Your job is pretty simple, and the game lays it out for you right from the start, "Stay together to survive." Yeah that is pretty much it. Make it through 4 movies/missions/chapters and get rescued at the end of each. If you can keep all three of your friends alive in the process, even better.

Playing alone is fine, the bots can handle themselves, sometimes better than you can. They rarely miss and hardly ever get beat down so bad they need YOU to help them. However, you will rely on THEM quite a bit. You will be beaten, trampled, and dragged to almost certain Zombie doom over and over again, and you will love every minuet of it. 

Playing with three other friends is where this game becomes golden brown. You and your buddies take on the roles of the four zombie slayers on a mission to get the heck outta Dodge. Still you NEED to stick together. Run to far ahead, or lag to far behind, and you will be in serious trouble. Especially in the final stage of each movie when your rescue boat/plane/tank gets there and about eleventy billion zombies are all biting at your heels literally. 

Once you get tired of the story mode, you can play a versus match. This also is where the game shines. Now instead of playing as a survivor, you get to play as one of the "Special" infected. 

There is the "Smoker", who uses his extendo-tounge and drags people away from their buddies to their death. He sounds like a 3 pack a day smoker that has just run a marathon.

Then there is the "Hunter". Able to leap around, move very fast, and will pounce on unknowing civilians and attack them with lethal blows until they stop moving. Always lurking in the shadows... Sounds like someone that is having really bad night tremors. 

Next we have the "Boomer". He is just a big bloated, festering corpse. Full of god knows what, and ready to throw it up all over you. When he does yack on you, beware. The horde now smells you like a pregnant lady smells ... well anything really. Also if you get to be the unlucky one to shoot the Boomer in the wrong spot, he will explode all that foulness on you as well. This guy sounds much like every stereotypical fat man in every movie you have ever seen. 

Last but not least is the "Tank". Just like the name would suggest, he is a huge beast that is very strong and hard to take down. No need for finesse with him, just smash everything in your path until it is a bloody pulp. Moves slow, attacks slow, but packs a mean right AND left hand. He sounds like, well the Hulk™ I guess, minus the "Hulk Smash!" stuff. 

Bottom line is, this game is fun. I don't normally recommend that everyone get/play a game, however this would be the exception. This is a game not to miss. If you like first person shooters. If you enjoy horror movies, or at the very least just want to have fun with friends, get this game. I can't tell anyone to spend $60 on a game, but i think this one is worth a rent for sure. 

Wrath of the Lich King

I have avoided a post like this for a while now, but I guess I can no longer ignore it.

I... Have never and WILL never play WOW... There I said it. 

Here is the thing, I absolutely LOVE RPGs. I have owned every Final Fantasy game since the original NES version (including original Gameboy, and Mystic Quest versions). As well as countless other RPG's spanning several different systems.  I also have played all of Blizzards previous games like Diablo one and two, Warcraft, and it's sequels (excluding WOW). 

The reason I don't play is I think due to the fact that I have an addictive personality when it comes to games (no, really I do) and I know that should I try the game out, I may not return. It's like the alcoholic that has been sober for 15 years and doesn't go to parties or Bars where there is booze b/c he knows he may just slip and fall back into old habits. I don't play the game b/c I know that I may like it and not be able to stop myself. 

I have several friends that play WOW on a regular basis. They tell me how much fun it is, and how amazing the game as a whole is. I just agree, and sip my ginger ale. I only bring this up b/c of course the newest expansion for the game "Wrath of the Lich King" just dropped and most people that were sucked in before are back into it and talking about the game again. 

Also the more I think about it, the longer I go without playing the game the better. By this point i would be so far behind the rest of the herd that in order for me to try and close the level gap between myself and my friends i would have to "poop-sock" this game for about 2 months in order to get anywhere close. 

I don't talk down to my friends that play the game, they do what they want it is their own business. However when several of them talked about getting the new expansion, I did try to convince them that they didn't need it, and they were better off in their lives not having it. Much like a long sober friend tries to talk a buddy out of that shot of Jager they just got from some chick at the bar. 

So play on my friends that have been sucked back into the Realm of Azeroth. Enjoy leveling up till you can't get any higher, Say hi to the Lich King for me, Have fun storming the castles. I shall never join your ranks on the hills of Northrend, but it is for the best, trust me.

Left 4 Dead

So I got Left 4 Dead in the mail on Friday of this past week, and was able to get to it finally on Sunday. A friend and I played about 3 hours of the Off-line Co-Op together. We played through the entire first section/movie/area... whatever you want to call it. 

This game is simply put, Fun! We both had so much fun running through the town blasting everything that limped, ran, and jumped our way. I have never in all my years of gaming played a game that created a more authentic feeling of fear. Not that fear like you have playing Resident Evil where you are waiting for the Zombie in the closet to get you, no. It's more the fear of if you see one zombie slowly walking your way, you are pretty confident there are about 100 behind him that are going to rush you very soon. There is also a very real feeling of being afraid of the dark. I was talking to my friend about how this game makes you afraid to be the one that is lagging a little behind. If you are the last one to leave a room or you wander too far off from the others, it could very well be the last mistake you make. The game warns you right from the beginning. "Stay Together To Survive!" So very very true in this game. 

I absolutely cannot wait to play more of Left 4 Dead. I haven't even scratched the surface of the regular sections, not to mention trying it out online as a Zombie. My only recommendation is to try this game on advanced. Sure it is a little harder but it makes it all the more realistic when that smoker starts dragging you away from your friends into the woods and they don't hear you screaming!

Bond is back... I sure hope so!

In honor of the release of the newest James Bond game AND movie; "Quantum Of Solace", I thought i would profess my love of the movies and (some) of the games. 

Though most fanboys would have you believe that the only game with the 007 moniker on it is "Goldeneye" for the Nintendo 64, it's sadly is not. Bond games date back all the way to the Atari 2600 (represent) and Apple II days. Originally just "James Bond 007" game was released back in 1983 by Parker Brothers. In the game the missions were based on three different Bond movies, Diamonds are Forever, Moonraker, For Your Eyes Only, and the Spy who Loved Me. Also the game is labeled as a "Role Playing Game" I didn't own this game but i am guessing that being it was on the 2600 (not known for wonderful RPG titles) it is labeled as such b/c you take on the "Role" of James Bond.

Fifteen years, and about 10+ games later, Goldeneye for Nintendo 64 hit. Instantly it was a classic. The game followed almost exactly the plot of the movie. Putting you in the shoes of Pierce Brosnan as Bond. The regular single player story was fun enough but where the game really shined was in the multi-player. 

Get four friends, four controllers (and a TV big enough to matter) and have fun for hours. I can't even count the number of times that my friends and i would go a full weekend of just playing this game. I can still remember each of the maps and could easily find each of my friends at any point in time just based on their screen. Despite what some people will tell you about the nostalgia for this game being better than the actual game, i still find it amusing to play.

So now nine years and many many bad Bond games (Including a rehash of Goldeneye, and a Racing game) later comes the latest attempt to put Bond back on the map. Enter 007 Quantum of Solace (movie and game). 

The movie picks up immediately after the end of the last flick (which is actually the first book by Ian Flemming) Casino Royale. Bond is pissed and on a mission of vengeance. Right on!

The game however is a bit of both worlds. You will complete missions based on Casino Royale AND QoS. Going back to a first person point of view the game already has scored major points with me, and with other excited fans of the series. Developed by Treyarch (the folks that did some of the COD games) and using the COD:4 engine, this game looks amazing in previews.

Accomplishing missions using stealth, gadgets, and down right brute force looks like it is a blast. The cover system borrows a bit from other First/Third person shooters, allowing you to suck up to a wall and the camera pulling back to give you a better vantage point. You can still pull of "007 Movie Moments" but they aren't labeled for you with a Giant neon sign that says "Shoot Here, It's What Jimmy Would Do!". You don't ever have to do them but when you figure out something that would make a great action moment you are rewarded. 

Being that i am a huge movie buff, and a total nerd when it comes to both Bond and the games, i for one can't wait to get this one in my hands. 

"007 Quantum of Solace" the game comes out this Tuesday on pretty much every system, and the movie will be in theaters this weekend. This IS however just a preview based on all that i have heard, seen and read second hand. So i will have more on this game as i am allowed to play it. Stay Tuned!

*Update*

Gamefly HAS sent me my 360 copy in the mail. I hope to have it by this weekend.