Posted in: Game Reviews by Michael Durr on June 29th, 2011
“Hail to the King, baby.” That phrase through the years has escaped my lips on plenty of occasions. Most of the time, it has also ended by me being pushed onto the floor with a blanket and pillow and/or the eruption of laughter. Since Duke Nukem 3d debuted in 1996, I have always found new and not so appropriate situations to spew his catchphrases. Fifteen years later, nothing has changed, I still speak the Duke and I am still waiting for Duke Nukem Forever. Well today I shall wait no more.
When development for Duke Nukem Forever largely came about, the Playstation 2 and Xbox combination were ruling the console airways. As a result, this game looks straight out of that era with dated graphics that at best could be labeled as an early Xbox 360 first person shooter. The video is fairly rudimentary and detail can be found to be severely lacking or blurry.
Posted in: Game Reviews by Michael Durr on April 18th, 2011
Most people my age grew up watching tennis with the likes of John McEnroe, Jimmy Connors or those who went for female competition went with Anna Kournikova and the Williams sisters. Maybe with the later, competition isn’t the right word. Needless to say, tennis can be a very entertaining sport to watch. For the most part, the video game world really hasn’t made too many tennis games that are entertaining to play. Hopefully that changes with 2k’s latest game: Top Spin 4.
After the cut scenes with a bevy of tennis action, we are introduced to a rather bland looking menu screen. Once one selects a mode and then the opponents along with the location, the court is opened. There, we are witness to some wonderful sights. There are forty different locations included and they can each stand on their own as fun places to play. All of the different surfaces show up brilliantly and even ones like clay show the tiniest of details including footprints and areas where you had to slide.
Posted in: Game Reviews by Michael Durr on April 14th, 2011
Baseball has always been a passion for me. I played the game as a first baseman until my sophomore year in high school and have watched the sport as long as I was able to see it. I still have fond memories of my dad taking me to tons of games where the Charlotte O’s would play (an AA farm team for the Orioles). My favorite team? The Phillies (since the early 80’s). So naturally, I was pretty excited to see Roy Halladay grace the cover of MLB 2k11 for the Xbox 360. Here is hoping to another great year.
(*Please note, the following review will have a heavy dose of Philly fanboyism. If you object to this sort of thing, feel free to go watch reruns of Gilligan’s Island or NYPD Blue. I’m not sure why a pansy who roots for the Braves or Yankees would want to read this review anyhow*)
Posted in: Game Reviews by Michael Durr on November 14th, 2010
My relationship with Fable is a mostly satisfactory experience. When I first bought my Xbox 360, the first game I actually purchased on the backwards compatible list was Fable: The Lost Chapters. Delighted by the gameplay and fantastic story, I quickly pre-ordered a limited edition copy of Fable 2 which in turn became my favorite game ever on the Xbox 360. Now, with the third one released, I decided to follow the same itinerary by purchasing a LE copy. It’s time to lead a revolution.
The video for this game is widescreen and capable of 1080p resolution. If you have played Fable II, you will notice a lot of similarities in the video presentation. Colors are lush here and there is a whole lot going on whether you are in the woods or in the thick of the city. Scenery really will catch you by surprise and even though a quest might lead you one way, you could find yourself easily going off the beaten path.
Posted in: 1 - 8 players, 2k Games, First Person Shooter, News and Opinions, Random Fun, Xbox 360 by Michael Durr on October 29th, 2010
Hopefully most of you enjoyed my experience of the first Bioshock game a couple of weeks back. Truth is, I’m still playing the first Bioshock, it is getting regular rotation with NBA 2k11 and Lego Rock Band. But, in an attempt to completely confuse myself, I decided to go ahead and tackle the sequel with only paper knowledge of the ending. This should go over as well as my first marriage. With only slightly less bloodshed.
Posted in: Game Reviews by Michael Durr on October 18th, 2010
Back in the 1980’s and 90’s, there was no player that I despised more than Michael Jordan. I openly wished for the Bulls to lose every year in the playoffs but I usually never got my wish. Perhaps it was part envy, perhaps it was part of my underdog mentality. No matter what, Jordan always seemed to succeed. It is with much regret, that I do agree with the sentiment that he is the greatest of all time. Perhaps now, I can actually play a NBA game that has him as their cornerstone for the 2k11 edition.
The video for this game is widescreen and capable of 1080p resolution. Most sports video game companies are at the point where they are only interested in providing ultra realism in their presentation. The best example of this new realism can be seen in their poster child, Michael Jordan. Michael is featured at different stages of his basketball career and from what I can tell, they are pretty accurate. Whether it is fresh out of college with hair Michael or slick bald guy Michael, it has really good detail.
Posted in: 1 player, 2k Games, First Person Shooter, News and Opinions, Random Fun, Xbox 360 by Michael Durr on October 15th, 2010
Most people have figured out by reading my reviews, columns and other assorted passages of bloggery that I'm wired a little bit different. Most people wouldn't have the guts (or foolishness) to write a gaming column for four years on a site that is dominated by movie reviews. Contrary to many other review writers, I am interested in the story rather than the technical specs. It's no wonder that last year's 31 days of Horror, I wrote a rather long review on The Thing without even touching any information about the dvd or blu-ray release.
This Halloween spectacular I decided to go back to my gaming roots. As one might expect, I have a long list of games that I've bought and never touched. Two of those games were Bioshock 1 and 2. Games that are known for their attention to detail and deliver a frightening punch in the storyline. However, I knew in my heart after playing the first Bioshock for about twenty minutes that there was no way I could write a traditional review.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on September 3rd, 2010
The sandbox style of games is a rather recent genre when compared to many of the old standbys. We could argue that the idea started as far back as Metroid or Legend of Zelda from the mid 1980’s. However, it was not popularized as a grand concept until the birth of Grand Theft Auto III. Since then, it seems that every time you turn around, you are presented with a new game in the open world. Enter Mafia II, a gritty game set in the 1940’s showing the ugly side of the mafia underworld. Can Vito and Joe set their sandbox apart?
The video for this game is widescreen and capable of 1080p resolution. Empire Bay is a dark place reminiscent of major cities in the time period. It is alive and full of people and there is much to see. Many of the buildings appear to be in bad shape and you can see details of the decomposition. You recognize life is brutal every which way you turn as the snow covers the landscape. The landscape is truly gorgeous and feels authentic.
Posted in: Game Reviews by Michael Durr on May 12th, 2010
Back in the day, I had a passion for side-scrolling beat em ups. Whether I was fighting with my bare knuckles, super powers or sword and sorcery, I liked them all. There were so many good ones: Double Dragon, X-Men Arcade, Knights of the Round and more. Apparently Capcom wants me to channel my gaming self from the early nineties and bring me two awesome games of the genre: Final Fight and Magic Sword, better known as Final Fight: Double Impact.
True to the Xbox Live Arcade format, there are actually a lot of options here for the graphics. You can choose to have the game in classic mode harking back to when these games were in the arcade. Capcom goes one step farther with this and includes the look and feel of an actual arcade curved CRT monitor. This is retro style at its absolute best. More arcade titles should employ this method of preserving old school graphics.
Posted in: Game Reviews by Michael Durr on March 5th, 2010
Data East was a great video game company that lasted from 1976 to 2003 when it declared bankruptcy. It had an arcade & pinball heyday for most of the eighties with many fantastic titles. Luckily, most of the assets were bought up by a single company called G-Mode when Data East was forced to sell them off. Recently, Majesco worked with G-Mode and re-released fifteen of them in a very nice retro collection for the Nintendo Wii. With fingers crossed, we hope that this collection has aged well.
It's really hard to sit here and rate graphics on games that range from 15 to nearly 30 years ago. One has to rate it in the context of the era. Most of the games are emulated perfectly. Heavy Barrel looks amazing (the NES really got an inferior version) as does Crude Buster or Caveman Ninja. However, I think we can safely say that Lock n Chase or Burnin Rubber are still pretty ugly. The colors are sharp and they don't need an HD presentation to stand up on their own two legs. The only complaint would be that the menus were really rather dull.
