Lok-Regar!

"Lok'tar friend! What is it you wish?" - Thrall




The Run Down:
With more than 11.5 monthly subscribers, World of Warcraft is currently the world's largest MMORPG in those terms, and holds the Guinness World Record for the most popular MMORPG. Developed by Blizzard, World of Warcraft is the fourth released game set in the fantasy warcraft universe. World of Warcraft was estimated to hold 62% of the Multi-Mass Online Role Paying Game market on April 2, 2008.

Just like other MMORPGS, you control a character avatar within the game in third person view, exploring the landscape, fighting various monsters, completing quests, and interacting with NPCs or other players. The unique aspect of this game that sets its self different from other MMORPGS is the war between the Alliance and Horde. This ties towards the original storyline towards the ongoing war between the union of races. Alliance, composed of Humans, Dwarf, Gnomes, and Night Elves. The Horde is composed of Orcs, Trolls, Taurens and The Forsaken (Undead). Two new races were introduced in the second expansion, The Burning Crusade. Draenais had joined the Alliance and Blood Elves had joined the Horde. As with other MMORPGS, the player is required to pay for a subscription, either by buying game cards for a pre-slected amount of playing time, or by using a credit or debit card to pay on a regular basis.

Wrath of Lich King is based on the battle that takes place in Northrend, in battle with Arthas and his undead army. It the third expansion of World of Warcraft, introducing new aspects to the game. The new level cap is 80 and players are can explore the land of Northrend of Azeroth, to combat against Arthas's minions. Along with the introduction of Northrend, a new "hero" class is also introduced to players. Players with a level 55 or higher character in server is allowed to make a Death Knight hero class which is introduced as a unique Warrior mixxed with Paladin type of class. Multiple new PvP zones such as Wintergraps, where players must either defend the Vault of Archavon, or capture it. Along with new PvP zones, new raid instances and group instances were introduced, being more difficult than the previous expansion, Burning Crusade.

The Review:

I've never been into the Warcraft series until the release of World of Warcraft. Since its release, I've been intrigued with the storyline, and absorbed in the gameplay. World of Warcraft is the most popular MMORPG to date and it very much lives up to its hype. Starting new, the player must create a character between either the Horde faction or Alliance. From then, the player will level his character up to level 80. At level 80 is where the fun begins. At this point, you are able to do "end game instances with your guild. This is called raids. From raids, you defeat multiple enemies and bosses which have the opportunity to drop high-rate items that will make your character stronger. Although this game can seem unending, the very purpose of this game is to create a fantasy for your character to be "the best" amongst other players.


The Raters:
Mark Galura:
It's fun.

10/10

Raph Sanchez:
World of Warcraft is a very addicting game. The reason for this is because you want to play it and be better at it with your character. It gives a fun atmosphere to players who are into the whole fantasy world scene.

9/10

Justin Tan:
World of Warcraft is the very reason why I'm into gaming, and also the very reason why I'm behind. The best part of this game is that I get to play with my friends.

9/10

The Rant:
My issue with this game is also the same issue that parents has over kids who play too much. It's too addicting! Players will definitely become absorbed into the game as they continue their fantasy world play. And the worst part is that players have control over their limits but choose to go against their limits. The good thing about Blizzard is that it introduced a parental control like function where they can set a time limit when the player has to finish. The other issue I have with this game is that it becomes very repetative and meaningless. Once you become level 80 and have good gear, what else is there to do? Make another character? Too time consuming for my part... And for what reason?

The Recap:
Overall, World of Warcraft lives up to its very name being the best MMORPG game to this day. Being a former player myself, I've witnessed the addicting gameplay of this game. For people who are willing to introduce themself to this game, I warn them to limit themself with it. For players already playing the game, Lok'tar!

Classic Tribute: Super Mario World

"It's-a-me! Mario!" - Mario



The Run Down:
Super Mario is a highly popular acclaimed video game series made by Nintendo. Mario has been featured as Nintendo's mascot countless times due to his well known popularity. Gameplay in the series often centers around jumping and defeating enemies. The games usually feature simple plots; the most common theme is that of Bowser, the main antagonist, kidnapping Princess Peach, whom Mario saves.

Super Mario World has gone on to become a tremendous critical and commercial success, becoming the best seller for the platform, with 20 million copies sold worldwide. Like in previous games, the story involves Mario on a quest to save Princess Peach from Bowser, encountering multiple enemies and bosses known as Koopalings. Mario goes on from level to level as he reaches closer towards Bowser's castle. Along the way, Mario must reach the level's castle and defeat its boss. There is a 2-player system where each player takes turns upon losing a life with either Mario or Luigi. Super Mario World introduces a dinosaur companion that Mario can ride on. The Yoshi appear in four different colours (green, yellow, red, and blue), each with unique abilitiy. A Star Road and Special Zone is also introduced where there are secret exits in some levels to one of the five portales to Star Road, an otherwise secret realm.

The Review:

Super Mario World has been a treamendous success and a personal favourite of my own. The reason for this is because I practically grew up on this game. Mario's face has become so familiar to me that even my parents know who he is. I favour Super Mario World over the other franchise games because it presents a familiar stomp on your enemies, 2D graphics. But the unique aspect I like most about this is the different stages that offer difficult challengs. I also like the different kinds of Yoshi as it was a unique aspect of the whole series.


The Raters:
Mark Galura:
It's fun.

8/10

Raph Sanchez:
Super Mario World was a classic. I really liked the game. Its new release for the Gameboy Advance has been a "handful" of fun.

9/10

Justin Tan:
The Mario series is really popular in the whole gaming scene. It's not really my type of game but Super Mario World is pretty fun.

7.5/10

The Rant:
My only rant about this game is the fact that my brothers always hogged the Super Nintendo system which never gave me the chance to play a lot when I was a kid. Other than that, there wasn't really anything wrong about this game.

The Recap:
Being released on one of the early systems, Super Nintendo, Super Mario World has been a fan favourite and a huge success. Its simple gameplay with difficult stages defines the very simplicity, yet fun meaning of Super Nintendo. A lot of snes games were simple and easy and provided some entertainment but nothing topped Super Mario World. This game will always be a personal favourite in the whole Mario series.

Hadouken!

"Tell you what. After I've crushed my enemies, we'll see about you getting published. That should cheer you up, hmm?"- M. Bison, 1994 Street Fighter the movie



The Run Down:
After 10 years since the first Street Fighter, Street Fighter IV was released in North America in February 17, 2009. Upon its release, it has been of huge success, selling 86, 000 copies on its first day within Japan. There has been a total of 2.5 million copies sold worldwide.

Developed by Capcom, The Street Fighter franchise has known to be of huge success since Street Fighter II. Street Fighter has been the face of fighting style games and is widely popular within arcade systems. Multiple spin-offs have been made based on Street Fighter such as Marvel VS Capcom. Street Fighter IV presents a familiar feel with new 3D models and backgrounds. The unique aspect introduced in this game is the Ultra Combo. In addition to the familiar Super Combo, the Ultra Combo gauge (known as the revenge gauge) builds up based on how many times the player has been hit. Upon reaching the full gauge, the player is able to unleashe a cinematic combo composed of multiple hits. The characters include the same cast as Street Fighter II with four new characters. Akuma from Super Street Fighter II Turbo also appears as a hidden playable character, as well as a secret opponent, for a total 17 playable characters. Additionally, the game includes two CPU-only characters: Seth as the game's standard final boss, and Gouken as a secret opponent, which makes for a total of 19 characters. Also, players are now able to choose from English or Japanese audio voices! Also introduced is the online gameplay where you're able to play against other people, even your friends, online!


The Review:
Ahh Street Fighter. Memories, memories. I've been a huge Street Fighter fan since Street Fighter II on the Super Nintendo System. Having the same characters brought to this game brings back memories. Street Fighter IV has always been the most favoued fighting style game, next to Tekken. The greatest part about this game is the online play. You get polish your skills and face others who has great skill in the game. Most of all, its fun pounding your friend's character!

The Raters:
Mark Galura:
Add my XBL tag: Mark Galura

10/10

Raph Sanchez:
Street Fighter IV is definitely a game you should get if you're into fighting style games. If not, then it's still a game you should get.

9/10

Justin Tan:
There's not a day where I don't play.

10/10

Jan

This game does not live up to it's hype. The gameplay is fine but not stellar.

10/10


The Rant:
My only rant about this game is the last boss. He's so damn cheap! Oh and also the lack of other modes. You can only play single, versus, trials and online.

The Recap:
The Street Fighter franchise has been of huge success for Capcom and Street Fighter IV shows exactly why. With its new 3D models and familiarity, I can only look forward on Street Fighter V. Until then, HADOUKEN!

Let There Be Rock

"We're a rock group. We're noisy, rowdy, sensational and weird." - Angus Young




The Run Down:
After the first successful outcome of the first one, the developers of Rock Band have come out with yet anther successful game, Rock Band 2. This long awaited game received positive reviews from several publications.

Rock Band 2, just like Rock Band, is a music simulated game where players use peripherals modeled after musical instruments to simulate the performance of rock music. Rock Band 2 has a selection of 84 songs with famous rock groups such as AC/DC.

The unique aspect that this game introduces is the "No Fail Mode" where players are able to play rock songs without having to ever fail. This helps players develop their skills under easy, medium, hard or expert mode.

The Review:
Rock Band was awesome. Rock Band 2 is even more awesome! As a huge fan of rock, I am in huge favour of Rock Band 2. The first Rock Band had songs of which were more "mainstream". The new Rock Band 2 has notable classics such as AC/DC, Judas Priest, Megadeth and so on. The thing I love most about this game is the No Fail Mode. When you feel like practicing on a hard level or even just screwing around, this mode helps you in a lot of ways. Overall, this game lived up very well to its expectations.

The Raters:
Mark Galura:
It's fun.

9/10

Raph Sanchez:
It's a better turn out than the first one. The new one has better songs and you can play with it as much as you want. When you don't feel like doing units, play Rock Band 2.

9/10

Justin Tan:
I never really got into the whole Rock Band scene, but after trying this one, I just HAD to get it. It's an awesome game and it deserves a good rating.

8/10

The Rant:
The only problem this game has is the fact that it did not come out sooner!

The Recap:
The developing group Harmonix Music Systems has done it once again. Rock Band 2 has been such a huge success after its first Rock Band. I can only look forward towards what Rock Band 3 has in store. Maybe even a new instrument? You never know!

May the force blow your mind

"Fear is the path to the dark side. Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering." - Yoda



The Run Down:
Star Wars: The Force Unleashed was released in North America on September 16, 2008. It bridges the two Star Wars trilogies and introduces a new protagonist, Starkiller as Darth Vader's secret apprentice. The Force Unleashed is a third person action game in which the character's weapons are the Force and the lightsaber. As the player controls the main protagonist, Starkiller, he uncovers the storyline which eventually leads into the events in Star Wars: A New Hope. As the player progresses, they will encounter many familiar faces such as Darth Vader, Emperor Palpatine and even Darth Maul as well as familiar places such as the Felucia planet. Upon its release, The Force Unleashed has sold over one million copies in its debut month.


The Review:
Star Wars has always been a fan favourite. Many people has been so huge on the franchise that many cult groups and even religions have formed based on Star Wars! I myself am not that into the series but I am a fan of it.

The Force Unleashed is an awesome game as its first Star Wars game introduced to the new genration of systems. Its gameplay is very similar towards God of War. As Starkiller, you will see how the story develops into connection with the original storyline of the Star Wars movies. I found this game very entertaining as the dynamics of the game felt very much alike with the movie. As you continue to explore the planets, you will be able to experience what its like first hand controling your character. What I enjoyed most about it is the storyline. As the protagonist, you are also the antagonist in the beginning of the game. Darth Vader sends you on missions to kill Jedis who survived Order 66. Eventually, he sees the evils that the Sith causes and eventually objects it.

The Raters:
Mark Galura:
It's fun.

9/10

Raph Sanchez:
It's probably the best Star Wars game there is out there right now. I really enjoyed the graphics and gameplay.

8/10

Justin Tan:
Never been into Star Wars that much. It's just another action game to me but the Force is pretty cool.

7/10

The Rant:
I did expect more from the game. The gameplay is awesome along with the graphics but there wasnt much modes to play with. Also, it was a bit complicating trying to use the field as an advantage. The game was too easy once you caught on but when you play in Sith mode, the bosses are really hard.

The Recap:
Overall, the game was enjoyable. I played it straight for a week and got to finish it. But from there, it pretty much collected dust. The gameplay and storyline has probably been the best of the Star Wars gaming franchise but once you finish with these kinds of games, there's really no point in playing it anymore. But the best part of this game is to be able to use the Force and the lightsaber. Everyone wants to be a Jedi...or a Sith.

The Dead Runs

"Yeah, I know I'm ugly...I said to a bartender, 'Make me a zombie.' He said 'God beat me to it."- Rodney Dangerfield

The Run Down:
Developed for both the Xbox 360 and the PC, Left 4 Dead is based on an apocalyptic setting where four survivors are pinned against hordes aggressive infected people; or zombies, as we might call it. There are three modes in which the player can choose to play: a single player mode where the allies are controlled by AI; a four player co-op campaign mode; and an eight player versus mode.

The main focus of this game is cooperation and team work. During gameplay, there are situations where players must help and depend on each other. When a player falls off a cliff, he or she will be automatically hanging on until another player rescues the player on time.

One of the unique aspects that this game presents is the dynamic AI system for the game which is also known as "The Director." The way this works is that instead of having fixed spawn points, (fixed places where the zombies will appear) The Direct places the zombies, and items in different positions based on the player's current situation. In addition, the second Director controls the music which keeps the music interesting through the game. This way, players will not get tired of the same gameplay over and over again when continuing their gaming experience.

The Review:
Initially, I thought this game would be boring. Although the whole theme of first person shooters and zombies are my favourite bunch, I thought it seemed too cliché to grasp my interest. Of course the simplicity that I had made out of it deceived my own perception, so I never took it serious. That is, until I tried it myself.

Left 4 Dead offers a very unique gaming experience for those who enjoy their first person shooter games. Normally when we think of first person shooters, we generally think of your typical “shoot em’ up” game. What makes this game different from other shooters? One thing I find unique about this is the AI. In your regular shooting games like Resident Evil, F.E.A.R or HALO, we can play the game until we finish, and decide to play again. But when we play again, we’re already aware of where the items are or where the ‘villains’ will appear. For Left 4 Dead, the way the AI works is that the results will always be different as you progress along the game. You can play the game over and over again and yet have a whole new experience again and again. This way, the game never gets repetative or predictable.

Another interesting thing I found about this game is the versus mode. When you’re play online in versus mode, you and three other people take control of the Infected. Each player is assigned a Special Infected where they may be able to go against the Survivors. During gameplay, both sides of players will be able to switch Survivors and Infected in turn base.

Lastly, the cooperation in this game is heavily depended on, which also offers a fantastic experience. In other shooter games, players usually tend to play for their own benefit. They just pick up a gun and shoot the other team until they die. In this game, if one person dies, that’s one person less to fend off the hordes of zombies. Players will see the need to keep each other alive as well as help each other. This offers a unique experience especially for players that play online. Being able to play with your friends with a headset offers the real game-life experience. If you really love the whole zombie scene but you can’t fend off in real life, this is as close as you’ll probably get.

The Raters:
Mark Galura:
It’s fun.

9/10

Raph Sanchez:
You get to kill zombies, hordes of them. The AI is very smart for knowing when to send hordes of zombies at you and when to send a special one to strike you. Another thing about the AI is that they cooperate with each other, the special zombies. They act like you're up against real people. The bad thing about this game is that during online play, it takes long to find people. And because there's no storyline, its just like playing Counter Strike with a zombie mod.

8.5/10

Justin Tan:
The game gets pretty boring after a while. When you don’t have any friends to play with, it gets pretty dull. It’s fun to play for the first few weeks but after a while it gets too boring.

7/10

The Rant:
The one thing that this game lacks in is the story. For many players, the story is one of the most important pieces as it helps give a meaning towards the game. As players continue to progress in this game, they may find it dull to finish a level, and then basically do the same thing over again that they previous have done. A story or a plot to the game would add some “spice” to the game as players would continue to enjoy their gaming experience even more.
Another downfall about this is the waiting time. If you don’t know anyone else who owns this game, it may take a while for you to get a game started with others online. Of course once the waiting is done, there won’t be anymore waiting throughout the gameplay…until you die.

Left 4 Dead truly offers a unique experience for those that enjoy online shooting. It may not have a well developed story like F.E.A.R or Half-Life but the well developed AI will definitely grasp your interest. If you’re a fan of fps games, this is definitely something you would want to add to your collection. For gamers that don’t normally play fps but enjoy the whole zombie scene, you may want try this particular game. Players will definitely feel the adrenalin rush as hordes of zombies will come at you from every side in super fast speed, just like in the movies. Being able to play online with other people offers the whole ‘survival’ theme. If you really love the whole zombie scene yet you can’t find any zombies in real life, this is as close as you’ll probably get. But don’t get me wrong, I think I’d rather stick with the gaming experience of hordes of zombies trying to eat you rather than the real thing.