Busy Gamer News

Busy Gamer Review - Blur

2010-07-28T19:46:33Z

Too busy to devote 12+ hours a day to your gaming habit? Here's a review that's sensitive to your needs: Short and focused on just the things that a busy gamer like you really needs to know.

Reviewed On: Xbox 360. Also available for PC and PS3.

In a Nutshell: Aggressive driving game from the folks who made Project Gotham Racing in the spirit of Burnout with a touch of Mario Kart - but with a grown-up edge to it. This is not for the really small kids. Driving skills are important, but it's your willing- and ableness to mine, shoot, bash and generally beat the crap out of your competitors that will help you win. If this is your bag - and it is most certainly mine! - you'll have a terrific time. You'll also get to know the tracks very well, as you'll be running the same loops over... and over... and over as you attempt to garner at least a third-place finish.

Learning Curve: Experienced drivers should have no problems picking up the game. Learning to distinguish between some weapon icons can take time, as they may look similar at first glance. Once you have it down, you're solid. Then, it becomes a matter of positioning yourself to pick up the items you need to succeed. Opponents (both real and AI!) will aggressively bump you out of the way to get to items, meaning you either have to fall back long enough to let the desired item regenerate or risk getting rammed and losing it entirely. So, yeah, there's some minor strategy.

The Save Game: As with most racing games, Blur autosaves after every completed race. Keep an eye on the corner and watch your button mashing - you don't want to lose fans by exiting prematurely. You'll also miss out on unlockables if you exit before the game has finished announcing all of your wins. Pro tip: If you "fail" a race, DON'T retry it. Instead, select Continue so you get credit for any fans earned (even a few fans is better than none!). Then restart from the menu. A pain, yes - but as you hit harder levels, you'll need every fan you can get to level up, unlock cars and finally have what you need to take down the increasingly difficult challenges.

Family Factor: I've let our 7-year-old watch me play, and so far, he hasn't crashed any cars in real life. We have had many discussions about why it's a fantasy and we don't drive like this around the neighborhood. He does not play the game; he's relegated to Mario Kart for his own vehicle destruction thrills. There is no language in the game, but online players sometimes get salty. I'm looking at you, prepubescent griefer in the Ferrari. There's a reason we threw you out of the game!

Buy, Rent or Skip? An absolute buy for racing fans. Even with the frustrations, this is a great game with solid replay value. Due to the wide range of power-ups and vehicle choices, every race is unique. I've even greatly enjoyed playing online; except for the aforementioned booted pre-teen, people are friendly, play nice (they'll even apologize when they run you off the road!) and are generally well behaved.

On a Personal Note: I have to admit, I wasn't particularly excited about Blur when I first saw the videos earlier this year. I entered the beta for the same reason I enter most betas - for Busy Gamer News. I fully expected to play long enough to be able to speak intelligently about it and then be done. Instead, it became my nightly obsession, and I quickly hit the level cap implemented for the beta. I couldn't wait to get my hands on the game for reals, and have been greatly enjoying it ever since.

Online racing is mostly done right with drivers matched within a level range. There's one problem, however. Your online ranking is based on online driving - so drivers can master the courses for days/weeks/months in career before going online and smoking the newbies. Your best defense, unless you really just want to race real people online, is to work on your career first - even though your offline career in no way levels your multiplayer one and the car unlocks are separate as well.

The basic single-player challenges are: 1) placing in races, 2) "fan runs" that require you to zip between slalom-style gates in the midst of regular race (AND place to get credit for it) and 3) scoring a certain number fans within the race, primarily by being a jerk to your fellow drivers. There are also destruction mode challenges that amount to chasing down cars and shooting them to gain more time and a beat-the-clock mode that requires you to boost and collect stopwatches for a few bonus seconds as you race through timed checkpoints.

The single-player career mode has you beating a set of challenges and special requirements (e.g., "evade 3 lightning attacks") staged by your various AI opponents so you can finally race them and take their cars. Your fan base contributes to your level and unlocks new vehicles. Every run will earn you fans as long as you cross the finish line (or time out in timed modes) and DON'T select retry.

If you run into trouble when the difficulty ramps up (as it does rather quickly after your first one-on-one win), be sure to collect every fan you can and match off-road vehicles to races with long stretches of dirt track. Don't worry about fan runs - they can distract you from the win and only count if you place in the race. Always try to keep at least one defensive power-up handy to protect against attacks from behind. And if you're the leader, save a shunt attack in case someone passes you right before the finish line!

My all-time favorite attack is the barge - it's a purple power-up that lets you blast away enemies on either side of you. Wedge yourself between two aggressive drivers (or anyone approaching that next power-up you want to collect) and watch them fly away and then roll off in your rearview mirror!

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Busy Gamer Review - Alan Wake

2010-07-07T16:48:20Z

Too busy to devote 12+ hours a day to your gaming habit? Here's a review that's sensitive to your needs: Short and focused on just the things that a busy gamer like you really needs to know.

Reviewed On: Xbox 360

In a Nutshell: Conquer your fear of the dark and bad writing with a flashlight, pistol and seemingly endless supply of flares. You're an author whose writer's block has a body count in a psychological thriller aimed at fans of interactive storytelling and survival horror. It's like Silent Hill set in Twin Peaks - with both the extraneous locked doors and mind games to make the comparison complete. There's even a mysterious and strange agent who appears in Bright Falls without explanation, though as far as we know he's not obsessed with the local diner's pie and coffee. There are six episodes (complete with "Previously On" recaps to help it resemble a TV show) and more are promised as downloadable content to extend the series indefinitely - at least until cancellation when ratings inevitably plummet.

Learning Curve: You can pick up the game pretty quickly thanks to a short but engaging nightmare prologue/tutorial, but the difficult ramps abruptly in Episode 2. Be prepared for some frustrating times until you master the controls (review our tips) and then finally reach the part of the game where flares become plentiful. Light protects you from the darkness, get it? You'll spend a lot of time "burning the darkness away," which will either become fun or endlessly repetitive depending on how you feel about the flashlight, shoot, rinse and repeat game mechanics or the story's ability to intrigue you enough to carry on despite them.

The Save Game: Your progress is saved at frequent checkpoints, usually when you step under a lamppost in the middle of a dark forest or park. Listen for the musical sting and visual indicator to be sure it's saved successfully before quitting for the night.

Family Factor: It's T for Teen. We know parents frequently bend this, but we suggest you stick to the recommended age range in this case. You shoot a lot of human enemies (at least they look and sound human) though clearly the Taken, as they're called, are more spectral in nature. Younger kids won't understand the distinction. Also, the horror element might induce nightmares with the young'uns (and possibly the older'uns though they'd never admit it!).

Buy, Rent or Skip? You can beat the game in 10-15 hours, so rent it unless you are a survival horror junkie or you find a cheap used copy. It remains to be seen whether the downloadable content episodes will make it worth holding onto the game after you beat it.

On a Personal Note: As a writer myself, I really wanted to love Alan Wake. Alas, the most I can muster is a grudging "like." The descent into chaos is abrupt, you don't get nearly as much freedom to explore what could be a very fun and chilling world, and busy gamers will quickly abandon the quest to collect every manuscript page and coffee thermos. Your primary "enemy," the Taken, endlessly respawn - in part to keep you from finding the boundaries of what should have been a giant sandbox with deep exploration potential but ends up being only a slight improvement on the rail shooter genre. There's a fairly linear path; step off of it at your own peril.

Here's an example of the disconnect between reality and what the game expects you to figure out. In the first chapter, I was directed by some mysterious yellow paint (which appears only when you shine your flashlight on it) to a flare gun. So I did what you would expect to do with a flare gun - I fired it into the air to attract the attention of someone who might help! Waste of ammo. Then I found a strange box with what appeared to be flames on it. So I shot it with another flare thinking I was being directed to burn it open. Another wasted shot. Flareguns are only used to decimate large hordes of Taken, which - incidentally - is different from what you use standalone flares for (and the ammo can't be interchanged). I think this illustrates what a muddled mess Alan Wake rises above to become a good though definitely not great game.

In between relentless bouts with dark enemies are boring stretches where you drive around in daylight or visit past events in the protagonist's life. These latter segments should be deep and fascinating but end up being short and shallow side trips. The good news is that persistance pays off - the last three chapters are quite fun if you enjoy a bit of mindless repetition (as I do). You'll get into a rhythm of taking down the Taken and may even get a little sad when it all comes to a somewhat predictable end.

The truth is that I found the story more trite than the pulpiest Stephen King novel I've read, and I've read (and enjoyed) more than a few. Once you get into the groove, the action is solid but ultimately not fulfilling. So while I'm glad that I played through it, I'm not eager to return for another visit. Since there was a code for a free a DLC episode included with the retail copy we bought, I'll give it one more chance and then most likely send its remains floating down the river.

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Busy Gamer Review - Doom II

2010-06-09T22:48:59Z

Too busy to devote 12+ hours a day to your gaming habit? Here's a review that's sensitive to your needs: Short and focused on just the things that a busy gamer like you really needs to know.

Reviewed On: Xbox 360 via Xbox Live Arcade; also available for PC, Mac and many other platforms in various incarnations.

In a Nutshell: Shoot demon spawn and zombie soldiers. There are puzzles, mostly involving keys and switches, but it really just boils down to: Kill enemies and find the exit. Rinse and repeat. That's basically it.

Oh, but there's so much more. Doom was the granddaddy of the modern first-person shooter. Building on the slick Nazi slaying of Wolfenstein 3D, Doom added grit, texture and some impressive enemies and level design. Then Doom II took things to new heights and helped foster a new generation of level designers. Many of the people who build the maps for the FPS games you play today cut their teeth making Doom WADs and Total Conversions.

Doom II for Xbox Live Arcade isn't necessarily the definitive version of the game, but for $10 it packs in a lot of value: the original 32 levels of Doom II, 9 exceedingly well-crafted bonus maps, split-screen and Xbox Live co-op and deathmatch and a pair of avatar items you can unlock including a black Doom II avatar t-shirt.

The No Rest for the Living bonus maps added by Nerve Software (which ported the classic id Software game for Bethesda Softworks) are masterful - if you take the time to enjoy them. Most are designed to provide relatively quick access to the exit, but if you notice any areas that are not accessible, hear the distant sounds of imps or see a key you can’t reach, you haven't extracted full enjoyment from them.

Spend some time finding the secrets and you will be rewarded with some great gaming moments: thoughtfully sprung traps, intricate mixes of enemies and bonus weapons to help make the experience stimulating and rewarding. The puzzles are so well done, I had a big grin on my face for almost the full time I played these levels. When I realized with horror on one of the later levels that an Arch-Vile was resurrecting a slew of dangerous enemies I had carefully dispatched - and then, a few minutes later, I heard another Arch-Vile lurking nearby ready to do the same - I tipped my virtual hat to the level designer.

Learning Curve: If you've never played Doom before, you'll need to adjust to its old-school ways. You can't look up and down so your weapon auto-aims to hit any enemy directly in front of where you're pointing. You'll have to learn which weapons work best against different enemies, though this is pretty easy and part of the fun of the game. Due to the way the console version cycles through your weapons (X and Y buttons), you will need to practice switching until you can do it quickly while under fire. The D-pad does offer your most common choices (shotgun, chaingun, rockets and plasma), but it would have been nice if they made it user remappable.

The Save Game: Save anywhere at any time. You do have a limited number of save slots (10) per storage device, and there's no quick save but otherwise this works really well.

Family Factor: In retrospect, this is not the most violent videogame ever (despite what some parents seemed to think in the '90s!) but it does have blood, rocket launchers, humanoid soldier enemies, scary-looking demons and some vaguely satanic looking symbols. Mature teens can probably handle it (especially if they've already experienced Call of Duty or Halo), but keep the little ones away while you play.

Buy or Skip? Hit the free demo to see if you enjoy it, but we'd rate this a buy at $10 for single-player and co-op alone. Xbox Live connectivity is hit or miss, and there's no system link (LAN) play so you may want to skip it if these things are vital to your enjoyment.

On a Personal Note: In the mid-1990s, GrrlGotGame and I were avid Macintosh gamers. There weren't a lot of games available on the Mac back then (oh how things have changed, right?!) - mostly shareware and the occasional BIG GAME RELEASE. When Doom II arrived on Mac a couple years behind the PC version, we were skeptical but gave it a try - and were instantly hooked!

It's not that we were against violent videogames per se, but the media reports had painted Doom as... well, you know the drill by now, a murder simulator. (Oh how things have changed!) I'm a pacifist and have never fired a gun in real life (well, maybe once when my dad was holding it at a shooting range when I was 10). But Doom II was riveting, stress-relieving and just plain fun. Those shocks of adrenaline when a well-designed level tossed an unexpected trap (say, a demon attack in a dark room) proved addictive. And we enjoyed the novelty of new community-made level downloads, including a replica of the Atari corporate offices, a total conversion that turned Doom into an Aliens game and a truly inspired set of maps called Memento Mori. (If you played them, you remember the name.)

We became so passionate about Doom, we launched a niche interest e-zine, MacDoom Review. (Oh how things have changed! Now we write a niche interest gaming blog and podcast!) MDR, as we called it, had a small but deeply devoted following. It was published monthly using a Mac tool called DocMaker so you couldn't even read it on a PC! We had interviews, tutorials for homebrew tools to make your own levels, tips and tricks and lots and lots of WAD reviews. Oh, and poetry. GrrlGotGame put her creative talents to work writing verses, lyrics and even recipes to entertain a lost generation of Doom-lovin' frat boys (we'll include a sample in Busy Gamer Podcast 35).

Doom II was actually the first Doom game to be released on Mac, followed by Ultimate Doom (which included the original Doom with bonus maps) and several map pack compendiums. Doom II remains the gold standard for us. It introduced some of the best enemies: the plodding but powerful Mancubi, rocket-firing Revenants and flaming Arch-Viles.

One of my favorite pastimes in Doom II was (and remains) slowly taking down a Mancubus with a shotgun. It takes a while and requires careful strafing to avoid his fire attack, but it's so satisfying to hear the creature's plaintive "Bwaa" with each impact that I could do this all day. Revenant rockets actually track you, so dodging them is a similarly rewarding challenge, along with the sound their bones make when they eventually crumble. And the menacing murmur of a nearby Arch-Vile still chills me, especially when I'm walking through a room of dead demons that I know it will bring back to life if it gets half a chance.

If you only pick up one Doom game for Xbox Live Arcade, make it Doom II - it's rich, deep and still loads of fun.

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Busy Gamer Review - Batman: Arkham Asylum

2010-04-27T21:42:21Z

Too busy to devote 12+ hours a day to your gaming habit? Here's a review that's sensitive to your needs: Short and focused on just the things that a busy gamer like you really needs to know.

Reviewed On: Xbox 360. Also available for PlayStation 3 and PC.

In a Nutshell: This is a combination third-person brawler and action-adventure game. The brawler mechanics tend to dominate, particularly at the beginning, but it eventually transcends them to deliver a rich interactive story with deep exploration. Most battles are settled with your fists, but there are options to play the game "your way" - by choosing stealth tactics to sneak up on an adversary to perform a silent takedown or using a well-placed batarang, grappler or explosive to surprise an enemy head on. Or just button mash, up to a point. (More on that in a minute.)

The game is initially frustrating as areas abound that you can see but not access. But as the story unfolds, so do your options to enter new areas and hiding spots. What truly salvages this game is "detective mode," which provides a special visor view that turns the world blue and makes it easy to spot bad guys (who appear as blue or red skeletons depending on whether they are packing "heat"), hiding places, secrets, etc. You'll use this mode to hunt specific clues to advance the story, but without it players like me would be lost much of the time.

Learning Curve: The basic brawler mechanics are easy to pick up, but hard to master. The basic moves serve you well for most of the game - but if you don't learn advanced moves and counter strategies, the end game will be intensely difficult. Fortunately, this doesn't interfere with your enjoyment of 90% of Arkham Asylum but it could lead to frustration as you're stuck with an almost complete experience that has little hope of a satisfying finish. Switch to the videogame equivalent of a cold shower (a little Bejeweled 2, perhaps?) and then jump back in and get the job done.

The Save Game: The save system isn't very busy gamer friendly. The game does perform background saves at checkpoints along the way, but it can be hard to tell when you've triggered one. There is no Save and Quit option; when you quit, you're warned of the potential for lost progress. And lose progress you probably will, at least some of the time. Be prepared to repeat some sections if you don't have large blocks of uninterrupted time at your disposal.

Family Factor: This game is rated T for teen. The beat-'em up aspect is pretty benign, but Batman does get knifed, shocked and shot up by armed goons, and there are some nightmare sequences that make this game not suited for younger eyes (at least if you don't want to risk giving them the night terrors, signing you up for those middle-of-the-night soothing sessions!). Pre-teens can probably handle it, especially if they've already been exposed to the darker of the Dark Knight comics.

Buy, Rent or Skip? This game is a solid rental unless you're a completist who needs to collect every Riddler pick-up and best all of the bonus challenge modes you start unlocking late in the main story. If you find it for less $20 or less, you'll get your money's worth.

On a Personal Note: I went into this game with a lot of Batman baggage. Having suffered through so many bad Batman games over the years, I stopped paying attention to them. When I started hearing good buzz about Arkham Asylum, I decided to give it a try and downloaded the demo. The interactive title sequence (somewhat reminiscent of Half-Life) where you walk Batman around while bits of story unfold was interesting. But, alas, the brawler mechanics just didn't grab me and I ended up putting it into the "no thanks" pile.

But the praise for Arkham Asylum continued, so I tossed it into my Gamefly queue. I decided to play on Easy so I could focus on the story and not worry about having to repeat a bunch of boring beat-'em-up sessions. About half an hour in, I started to get why people love this game.

Arkham Asylum itself is a huge sprawling campus on an island with lots of areas to root out and secrets to find. I played with detective mode turned on for most of the story.

Zipping around armed enemies from one stone gargoyle to the next never seems to get old. Lose the enemies, and then sneak up and trap them with an upside-down stealth takedown or glide into them, finish them with a knock-out punch and then zip to safety before the remaining henchmen spot you.

Most of the boss battles are Zelda-like concoctions - once you find the weak spot or pattern, you'll just do what's required, rinse and repeat until the enemy falls. The game is generous with the hints if you get stuck. A few nightmare sequences play with your expectations and change the gameplay in a significant way; these are fun little side trips that extend the game and help it transcend its brawler roots.

The final battle is another story all together. If you haven't studied your moves and learned how to take down henchmen armed with knives and shock sticks, you are in for a world of hurt. I had to re-learn how to fight, with emphasis on maneuvers that stun or perform unblockable takedowns, to finally complete the game - which was, on the whole, enjoyable and ultimately worth the effort.

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Busy Gamer Review - Solitaire Siege

2010-04-08T07:13:45Z

Too busy to devote 12+ hours a day to your gaming habit? Here's a review that's sensitive to your needs: Short and focused on just the things that a busy gamer like you really needs to know.

Reviewed On: iPhone. Also plays on iPod Touch and iPad.

In a Nutshell: Solitaire with a militaristic touch. There are three card games included: Pyramid, Siege Mode and the creatively named Mini Game. The Siege and Pyramid games both focus on removing cards, or "enemies," from a pre-set board. The Mini Game is a tapping game that asks players to hit falling grenades before they blow up. (It bored me to tears.)

But back to the good games. In both Pyramid and Siege, players start with a stack of cards, one card facing up. You may remove any adjacent card from the board, regardless of suit. If you miss a move, the enemy "attacks," depleting your health. The enemy also attacks periodically, just for the helluva it. It is war, after all.

Learning Curve: Even with directions, it still took me some time to figure out Solitaire Siege. After a bit of trial and error (a lot of error!), I figured out both the moves and the strategy. As an experienced Pyramid player, it was easy to pick up - but I'm still bewildered by how, exactly, it's deciding if I win or lose a level. A little more work in the support area would be beneficial.

The Save Game: This threw me for a loop. The game saves your progress when you exit (or when it crashes, which has happened to me a lot). It never says that it's saving, however - nor is there a save option. Also, it just saves the level you've reached, not your game in progress. This is particularly frustrating because the game does crash - and it's usually when I'm doing particularly well. When you boot the game, it will ask if you want to proceed with your game in progress or start fresh. There doesn't seem to be an option C, leave and play something else. (Or is that the square button on the bottom of my iPhone?) So once you're in a game, you're in it.

Family Factor: Mild. Certain power-ups will create very small explosions that consist mostly of dust. The sounds, including gunshots and screaming, are comical, but could also be disturbing to small kids.

Buy or Skip? It's a fun little game, but the tendency to crash every so often should be factored in to your decision. Then again, Gamewatcher may not have updated this app for me. Regardless, I found it engaging enough to move to my second screen, and have been playing it nightly for a couple weeks now. It's only $1, and there's a free Lite version so you can try before you buy.

On a Personal This has been on my iPhone forever, in the very last screen with other stuff that I never looked at. A few weeks ago, I decide to go allll thhheee wwaaayyy dooowwnnn to the last screen and just play with EVERYTHING long enough to decide if it stays or goes. Out of 12 apps, this was the sole survivor.

The Pyramid cards, or "enemies," are presented in rows resembling the traditional Pyramid solitaire game. Your goal is to eliminate as enemies as possible, working your way up the board. I've won sieges with a few cards on the board, and lost with fewer cards - I still haven't figured out what the magic number is, or if it's based on hit points. And yes, I did RTFM. I have since abandoned it for Siege Mode, which is quite engaging and - dare I say it - fun.

Siege boards vary from level to level, but are basically different riffs on the horizontal solitaire layout. It's the same basic remove cards game, but with militaristic touches. Barrier cards ranging from a forest to a solid cement wall randomly block your progress, but can be blown up with specialty cards such as grenades and fire. Those are also randomly placed in the deck. The barriers add a level of strategy to the game, as some targets are more vulnerable than others (Hint: Don't use your grenade on ANYTHING but the wall. Trust me.)

The game uses sound effects, including guns and explosions, to enhance the war theme. Attacking a face card will result in an appropriate screech - the Queen's death rattle is particularly disturbing. The little victory song at the end of the level is, however, kinda groovy. Plus you get stats and rankings (military stars) and level up after each successful siege. Once you get your groove, you can keep leveling up for a good long time.

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Busy Gamer Review - BioShock 2

2010-03-17T07:41:02Z

Too busy to devote 12+ hours a day to your gaming habit? Here's a review that's sensitive to your needs: Short and focused on just the things that a busy gamer like you really needs to know.

Reviewed On: Xbox 360. Also available for PC and PlayStation 3.

In a Nutshell: At its most basic level, BioShock 2 is a first-person shooter set in a dystopian steampunk aquarium under the sea. The game builds and improves on the original in some ways, introducing duel-wielding (plasmids such as telekinesis in one hand, weapons in the other) and some new goodies courtesy of your status as a prototype Big Daddy.

The world itself is essentially the same, but with new locations to visit and ponder. You're still faced with the occasional moral choice that will impact the remainder of your game, and finding/playing tape recorders remains the main way that the backstory unfolds. You can also be assured that your favorite (and most loathed) enemies are all here, with some notable additions in the form of a fat-but-still-bad-ass splicer and the much-touted Big Sister, who does NOT play well with others. She's mean even if you play nice!

The game also introduces a sort of escort mission that, thankfully, doesn't involve walking for hours protecting someone who's important/wounded/profoundly stupid - which is why the words "escort mission" no doubt made your stomach churn a few seconds ago. In this case, Mr. Bubbles, you shoulder the burden - which makes it an easy thing to do, most of the time.

There's no denying the scenery is still gorgeous - and if you skipped the first one (shame on you!), you're likely to have the same sense of awe it inspired. The downside: The story also feels somewhat familiar, even though it deals with a completely different set of Ayn Rand-esque wackos.

On the plus side, BioShock 2 introduces multiplayer - and does it right. It takes favorite online gaming staples and improves them. For instance, a "Capture the Little Sister," which takes old-school CTF and adds a screaming, bitchy twist: "Just WAIT until my DADDY gets his HANDS ON YOU!" Frag fests are easy to find online as well, although your weapon/plasmid choices are severely limited until you level up. Alas, what happened to split-screen?! I'd love to take on Gamewatcher in the multiplayer games, but not enough to drop another $60 on a second copy.

Learning Curve: First-person shooter vets will have no problems picking up the game controls. The in-game tutorials do an excellent job of explaining the basics, and plasmids are introduced gradually enough that even newbies will be able to catch on. BioShock fans will enjoy some of the new plasmids and game dynamics with expanded environments available for destruction. The hacking scheme has been changed to a simple but eventually challenging stop-the-needle game that is a welcome change from the game-interrupting build-a-pipeline project of the original.

The Save Game: You can save anywhere, which I recommend doing early and often. You'll have unlimited save slots (well, at least until you run out of hard drive or memory card space), so use them! In addition, you'll find Vita Chamber checkpoints throughout the game. If you die, you respawn at the nearest one with the world in the same shape as you left it. Enemies retain damage done, although Splicers do have the ability to heal themselves at any health stations that you failed to hack or destroy.

Family Factor: This game is strictly for grown-ups. As with the original, even adults may have nightmares. It's nothing you can't handle - probably.

Buy, Rent or Skip? The game is worth playing - the question is whether or not it deserves a slot in your collection. The single-player story is relatively short and can be beat in about 15-20 hours, depending on your level of expertise and OCD. Explorers and completists chasing the game's three different endings will take longer (and can justify the purchase), but those who want to beat it and street it can tear through the game in a rental period.

If you're a multiplayer fan, it's a buy. Multiplayer is a blast, and goes far beyond the typical dump-me-in-a-game-with-a-weapon approach to online deathmatching. It's worth noting that there BioShock 2 downloadable content coming out, which will enhance both online and single-player - though it remains to be seen whether this will improve the "buy" factor. If anything, it may be a reason to wait for the inevitable Game of the Year edition.

On a Personal Note: I was absolutely floored by BioShock, and therefore approached the sequel cautiously. I think that may have enhanced the experience for me since lowered expectations are easier to meet. This game did touch me in ways that the first one did not. To explain how would be to give away core surprises and the few story points that were enjoying. However, suffice it to say I will be building a Little Sister costume for PAX West this summer.

Sadly, overall the story itself does not live up to original. While I applaud the attempt to make an entirely new, standalone adventure, it still somehow feels like a poorly executed rehash. The final battle is repetitive, and the so-called "good" ending left me wondering how bad it was going to turn out for me when I play again for the dark side. For the record, there are three endings this time: good, not so evil, and just plain satanic. Oddly, there is little difference between the "bad endings" given what you must do to get one versus the other.

If you do pick up BioShock 2 and need a little help getting through it, here are some tips:

Desperate for health but don't have cash? Bash (melee) a health machine to quickly access a full health pack - but you won't be able to pay to get better. This trick doesn't work with the ammo machines. Hacking the health machine and hitting the blue zone will also generate a health pack, and it will make the machine zap wounded enemies who try to use it. You can still bash it later for an extra pack, if you need it.
Do a final sweep before entering any mode of transportation (i.e., leaving the level). This is a prime time to beat the hell out of far-flung health dispensers (check your map) to stock up on health packs, re-check corpses for loot you couldn't pick up previously and leisurely look for any major stuff you missed (tape recordings and tonics).
Focus on upgrading one weapon at a time. The rewards are exponential. There's some debate on which ones are best, but I found the shotgun and rocket launcher the most helpful in the long run.
Each Little Sister can visit two "angels" max, so be sure you get both gathers in before "taking her home." You have a limited number of Little Sister per level, which means missing a gather equals a permanently lost Adam opportunity.
Achievement hounds should show mercy whenever the opportunity presents itself. As far as I can tell, there is no reward for being wicked this go round.
Before returning your last little darling home, stock up on health and ammo - even if it means hacking or destroying those health machines. Also, try to save some cash. When you do take her home, look for the nearest (unbusted) health machine. Run like hell to it as soon as you can. Bonus points if there's a friendly camera around. Trust me.
Use caution when picking up stray tonics in the wild. Press the standard action button and it will replace something in your active inventory. Take the time to consider what it does versus what you have, and then decide if it's going into rotation or storage. Can't figure out how to get to a tonic you can see? Use the map to find areas that you haven't visited, even if it's far away from the tonic.
This game is made for people who like to mess with the environment. See oil? Use fire. Near water? Electricity. Something that goes boom? Shoot it or send it flying.

And finally: Explore, explore, explore. Take time to press every button, search every nook and, again, check your map for areas you missed. Because, despite its flaws, this is just one cool game.

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Busy Gamer Review - The Maw

2010-03-03T16:29:15Z

Too busy to devote 12+ hours a day to your gaming habit? Here's a review that's sensitive to your needs: Short and focused on just the things that a busy gamer like you really needs to know.

Reviewed On: Xbox 360. Also available for PC via Steam, Greenhouse and Direct2Drive.

In a Nutshell: The titular Maw is a giant purple blob with a big, hungry mouth (get it?) and the brain of a dog. A sweet, stupid, really hungry dog. The game's opening scenes imply - but do not show - Maw in a laboratory, presumably about to get sliced and diced. He escapes with his buddy Frank, an adorable yet slightly creepy bug-like alien dude. That would be you.

Frank slaps a collar on Maw and off they go trotting around the globe in search of... well, I'm really not sure, but I assume it's to avoid Maw vivisection. As you journey, Maw eats everything in sight, allowing him to grow and eat even larger things. This isn't a Katamari knock-off, though. Maw gains special powers by eating certain wildlife. These vary by level, but include fire eyes (you heard me!), rhino-nose and flying.

The Maw is all about puzzles, starting with how you acquire those powers. Many delicacies require some preparation before Maw can chow down. If you feed him something prematurely, he'll spit it out faster than you can say Tom Colichio. But once Maw has the power du level, watch out.

Learning Curve: Mastering the moves is very easy. Nothing requires more than one button push, and most similar tasks are assigned to the same button. There are a few platformer moments that consist primarily of Frank jumping from one spot to another. Platforms are always spaced mercifully close together, meaning players don't have to spend long periods of time mastering the jump moves.

The more difficult aspect, for me, anyway, was keeping track of Maw's powers. It seemed like new wildlife appeared every level, requiring me to figure out a new process (how do I catch/cook/whatever it) and then determining what Maw could do after he ate the crispy critter. Some creatures/powers re-appeared late in the game, by which time I had forgotten what to do.

Certain puzzles were also insanely hard to me. That said our 7-year-old, Pikachu Fan, was able to guide me through them without breaking a sweat.

The Save Game: Very tough for busy gamers - the game only saves at the end of a level. No interim saves.

Family Factor: Subjective. The game is rated E for everyone and is mostly harmless. Some creatures, including Maw himself, might be scary to very small children. Also, note that there are guns (turrets and spaceships) used against Frank/Maw throughout the game. If Frank or Maw get hit, they just fall back and see stars - no blood, no deaths. Your heros never die, but copious authority figures (presumably security guys) do go down - and are promptly eaten by Maw. Some creatures are bonked on the head/see stars.

Buy or Skip? This one is not available for rent (though there is a free trial on Xbox Live Marketplace), so it comes down to buy or skip. I thoroughly enjoyed the game, although it is incredibly short. I beat it in two Saturday sessions totaling about 6 hours. I can easily see playing through it again to try to beat my best time and pick up a few achievements I missed the first go round. It's also a perennial Pikachu Fan favorite, so it will be in rotation for some time to come for that reason. There are three bonus levels (so called "deleted scenes") available for purchase if it leaves you wanting more, but they total $3.75 which is 37% of the total $10 game cost. So far, we've passed on them.

Overall, the game is a solid "buy" for anyone looking for an inexpensive puzzle game you can play with your kids.

On a Personal Note: Our 7-year-old discovered The Maw last year, and immediately started mimicking Frank's call (Maw? MAAA-AWWW!), even adapting it to call one of our cats, Mal. (Listen to our next Sunday podcast for an audio sample!)

I had no idea TwistedPixel was selling stuffed Maw dolls at PAX '09 until a friend mentioned it on Twitter. I went on a frenzied search for their booth, only to find out they had just sold the last one a short time before. They were planning to get some overnighted from Austin, however.

Long story short, the FedEx shipment did not come through - but TwistedPixel ultimately did. We gave them cash (with somewhat overestimated shipping) and a business card, and the following Monday received e-mail saying Maw was on his way.

He now resides in Pikachu Fan's room, where he scares the wits out of our cats.

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Busy Gamer Review - Assassin’s Creed II: Battle of Forli DLC

2010-02-04T00:33:06Z

As the title implies, this missing memory takes place in Forli: the less developed, less fun area of the game. It compensates by bringing back everyone's favorite homicidal hottie, Catarina Sforza. While she's clearly burning for Ezio to show her his big sword, she also has kind of a bad track record with the menfolk. (Good night, Ezio. Sleep well. I'll most likely kill you in the morning...)

You'll spend a fun-filled hour (or two, if you fall a lot, which I do) running around doing favors for Catarina, by which I mean killing guards, then killing more guards and then just to break things up, running across a field and then, yes, you guessed it - killing some guards. There's also more flying.

Oh, there are no new achievements or trophies, so don't get excited.

Learning Curve: Game play is exactly the same as ACII - if you've played the game, you'll be fine. Unless you've been playing a lot of another game (say, Borderlands) in which case you might want to fast travel home and brush up in the training area.

That said, I got the "No Hitter" achievement for taking down a bunch of guards without getting hit within the first 10 minutes of booting the game. An achievement I couldn't get when I was actually playing the main game. And trying. Hard. Guess button mashing can have its benefits.

The Save Game: Same as before. You'll get periodic mid-mission saves, and a save after every completed mission. Quit to the main menu before shutting down to ensure your progress is saved.

Family Factor: Lots of killing but little blood, a few bad words and you will definitely see London and France courtesy of Catarina, albeit swathed in the finest cotton available in the 1400s. It's a very brief flash, so to speak.

Buy or Skip? It really depends on how much you enjoy the game. The missions are easy, but it doesn't really fill in any major storylines. It's just a way to extend the game for a few bucks. Did I mention there aren't any new achievements or trophies?

On a Personal Note: I was excited about the DLC when it was first announced as I was still steeped in the game. Having beat and walked away from AC II at the end of 2009, I was less rabid when it actually arrived. I'm glad I played it, and I certainly enjoyed the opportunity to revisit the world. Having two people in the house who will (eventually) play through made the (admittedly inexpensive) $4 cost easier to swallow.

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Busy Gamer Review - Borderlands [BGN Game of the Year 2009]

2010-01-28T02:38:08Z

Too busy to devote 12+ hours a day to your gaming habit? Here's a review that's sensitive to your needs: Short and focused on just the things that a busy gamer like you really needs to know.

Reviewed On: Xbox 360. Also available for PC and PlayStation 3.

In a Nutshell: A cel-shaded "role-playing shooter" with a post-apocalyptic sci-fi slant. The opening credit sequence (accompanied by the excellent "Ain't No Rest for the Wicked" by Cage the Elephant) introduces you to your four playable characters, each with a unique unlockable special skill. There's Mordecai (Hunter), whose pet bird Bloodwing rips apart foes; Lilith (Siren), who can temporarily walk through another dimension and damage enemies as she phase shifts; Roland (Soldier), who tosses out a turret gun that delivers cover, hurt and eventually healing and ammo; and Brick as himself (a tank of a man with Hulk-smash skills).

Once you pick your character, you're booted off the bus and onto the arid desert wastelands of Pandora (no, a different one!) near the aptly named Fyrestone. Here you'll meet the first of many dancin' robots to guide you through your first labyrinth, giving you ample opportunity to search anything shiny, dank and green for weapons, ammo and other goodies. Oh, and you start killing folks about 30 seconds into the game. (The FPS element is strong with this one.)

The main quest line (if you can call it that) is... um... wait, don't tell me... well, there was this vault. Or something. And, according to legend - oh, hell, forget it. This game is about killing things and collecting loot. There are occasional allusions to what happened to researchers and other settlers. Sometimes, I even pay attention. But then a really big guy with a bigger gun starts yelling at me, or the "local wildlife" decides to play, and my trigger-finger starts getting itchy.

Once you've opened up the world a bit and leveled up (2-3 hours for even novice players), the game becomes what you make of it. There are mission boards across the land, but missions only appear as you progress. Each offers a "Level" and "Difficulty" ranking, which makes choosing your own adventure much, much easier. (The difficulty drops as your character level rises since the mission level stays the same.)

It's a great single-player experience, but where this title really shines is co-op. More about that below.

Learning Curve: The game, hampered by confusing UI (particularly on split-screen co-op, where you have to horizontally scroll your dialog boxes), can take awhile to suck you in, and it's easy to get discouraged if you start going up against higher level enemies before you're ready. Fortunately for you, we've compiled our best getting started tips.

The training is well-done and elementary for anyone who has played both an FPS and RPG. My biggest issue has been retraining my brain to use a completely different set of buttons than most games I've played. Also, my finger occasionally grazes the front left bumper, triggering my special skill unintentionally. The wait time for the skill to "cool off" and return makes that a painful accident.

Your early training missions, all a short distance from Fyrestone, open up some critical elements: namely, a source for paid health and ammo. It's worth noting that you can find both all over the game for free, but don't count on getting exactly what you need when you need it - buy a few back-ups or plan to do a lot of walking back to your mission when you respawn.

But I digress. Once you have access to health and weapons, you can start to venture out on your own or take on work - it's up to you. It's worth taking missions for a couple reasons, however. The first, and most obvious, is leveling up. You won't get the option to spend any skill points until you hit Level 5, when you open up your special skill. Plus - listen up kids, this is important - your enemies have levels as well, and they are already out in the badlands. My poor little Level 3 character was slaughtered by the Level 11 NPC next door in about 2 hits. I returned the favor later, after leveling up to 15, when his bullets damaged my higher-level hide much less.

The learning curve for starting a co-op game without making a mistake is actually a little steep. Good luck with that. Be prepared to quit and restart a bit until you've worked out how to get in the right slot with the right character and ensure that everybody is ready at the same time.

The Save Game: The game offers a local respawn point whenever you pass a Nu-U station, though it doesn't technically save your game as far as we can tell. When you're done playing, you should quit to the main menu to ensure your actual mission progress is saved. When you quit and come back, any enemies you defeated will likely have returned (heck, newcomers appear in places you've cleared while you're playing if you're gone for more than a couple minutes!) though any checkmarks you've made toward completing missions are preserved.

If you load an existing game in co-op, you should always let the lowest level player host - otherwise, low level players will make no progress in their game. We just keep separate characters for our co-op game, and they always play together.

Family Factor: This is for the grown-ups and high teens only - very violent, very bloody. Plan on saving and quitting quickly when younger children wake from nap, or play late at night (as we do!).

Buy, Rent or Skip? Unequivocal buy. This is a fantastic game with lots of replay value, plus DLC to keep you going once you crack Level 50 and beat all of the missions. It's our Busy Gamer News game of the year for 2009 based on depth, staying power and just how much fun it is to run around and shoot stuff after a long, hard day slaving over the Interwebz.

On a Personal Note: I'm thrilled to finally have a co-op game that I can play with Gamewatcher. This has become our nightly ritual, and I truly look forward to it. Gamewatcher and I have never been big co-op players. It isn't for lack of desire - we're just not into the realistic war games, and haven't found a title that we truly enjoyed playing together in some time. Now, we can't wait to get Pikachu Fan tucked into bed ("Hey! It's 4 p.m.! Wow, you must be tired...") and head downstairs to kick some Pandoran ass.

It's also the first game in awhile that has convinced me to start over so I could try out the various character choices. Each character has a unique set of skills, from weapon mastery to how fast they can haul across the desert. I've played all but Lilith (who is Gamewatcher's co-op character, now and forever!) and settled firmly on Team Roland for one very good reason: His turret. As we say around the Busy Gamer News labs, it's like having another soldier on the field.

Mordecai comes in a close second. In fact, I prefer him in pretty much every way except for the all-too-critical special weapon. He has the best voice acting (outside of Lilith), moves like the wind and comes equipped with some superb sniper skills - a must in this game. But his bird just doesn't cut it for me. If Mordecai had a turret, he'd be perfect.

I found Brick to be the weakest of all the characters, despite his clear physical strength. He doesn't run, he lumbers. His weapon skills are difficult to master, and his Hulk-smash special was extremely difficult use. Being a major melee fan, I expected this man-tank to be my long-lost FPS love. Instead, I dumped him like a ton of Brick.

We've been playing a Roland/Lilith combo that has worked out surprising well, other than our vastly different gaming styles. Gamewatcher is a hang-back and snipe kinda guy, whereas me... well, let's just say patience is not my virtue. But I'm learning. Because the most critical thing you can do in this co-op game is heal your teammate, assuming you can get to him/her before they respawn. (You pay for the Nu-U each time, and it gets EXPENSIVE.) Duck and cover, recharge your shields, and holla for help, kids!

Best of all, this game has remarkable replay value. I know, as I have now played some missions three times (two solo characters and co-op with Gamewatcher) and I'm about to start solo again with Roland. While these missions have gotten easier with each replay (knowledge is power), even the new missions I'm encountering with Gamewatcher as we progress into our Level 30s continue to entice and enthrall me.

I haven't enjoyed a game this much in general since Fallout 3, which is still my fallback title when I don't feel like playing the game du jour. I can see Borderlands competing with Fallout 3 for that fallback position for a long time to come. And I haven't even bought any of the Borderlands DLC yet.

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Busy Gamer Review - Lego Rock Band

2010-01-21T04:11:28Z

Too busy to devote 12+ hours a day to your gaming habit? Here's a review that's sensitive to your needs: Short and focused on just the things that a busy gamer like you really needs to know.

Reviewed On: Xbox 360. Also available for PlayStation 3 and Wii. Different version available for Nintendo DS.

In a Nutshell: The Rock Band "pretend music" rhythm game experience, ported to a more family-friendly format filled with those familiar interlocking bricks. Unlike past Lego-branded console outings, this isn't a smash-'em-up puzzle adventure. You do still collect studs to spend on costumes, characters, and instruments - including a rad octopus mike, dinosaur drum set and lightning bolt guitar (to name a few). And the scenes that introduce challenges are pure Traveller's Tales silliness (bring down a building with the power of rock?), right down to their trademark Lego character reactions throughout.

At first glance, it looks more or less like Rock Band with lego bricks traveling down the note highway instead of the solid glowing rectangles. But there have been some tweaks and new features added, most notably Rock Challenges. As your progress through your band's career, you open up vehicles which lead to new, exotic venues such as a skyscraper, pirate ship and coral reef.

Each area is punctuated by a challenge that begins with a lengthy intro scene and then brings up a special play mode where all players are scored as a team rather than individually and the guitar and drum parts drop in and out (the vocalist doesn't get a break, unless the song has an instrumental stretch). Do well, and you'll escape a pursuing T-Rex or defeat a giant octopus intent on wreaking his vengeance on the band.

The game offers the widest range of difficulties to date, from Super Easy to Expert. But it lacks refinements seen in recent outings such as the long overdue 3-second countdown when returning from pause that Harmonix introduced in The Beatles: Rock Band. Our little drummer has a habit of hitting the Guide button on the drumset during his exuberant fills; it always takes him a few seconds to get us back in the game (since only the pausing player can unpause) and we always miss notes/vocal phrases when we launch back into the song without warning.

Learning Curve: If you're played Rock Band or Guitar Hero: World Tour, you'll feel mostly at home here. If you're new to the genre, you'll need at least a plastic guitar peripheral or two and maybe a microphone and drums to complete the set. Then run through the tutorials and stick with it until you get the hang of things. As with learning a real instrument, it may take some practice - but you'll eventually get it. (Here are some starter tips from the original Rock Band; these are generally applicable here too.)

The game does include several nods to the younger fans it hopes to ensnare. There's Super Easy mode where hitting any note counts, as long as it's more or less timed right, and you can't fail out. Alas, there's no separate No Fail Mode, so younger/novice players may hit a steep difficulty curve when they attempt Easy. This is lessened slightly for budding drummers (like our own) who can turn on the automatic bass pedal option that is hidden away in the Extras section (instead of Options).

The Save Game: The game saves after every set list and when you quit or buy something for your character. The save screen actually comes up a lot, though it's usually pretty quick. If you quit in the middle of a gig, you may lose fans (a small penalty) - but that's pretty much standard issue for these types of games. Expect to set aside 5-15 minutes for each play session, and you can always go longer.

Family Factor: The game is reasonably family friendly, though this depends a little on your taste in music and what you consider appropriate. The musical choices (and any Rock Band DLC that you are permitted to pull in) have been vetted by Harmonix, so you won't be shredding to "El Scorcho" or that Serj Tankian song (you know the one). Some of the included tracks are a bit obscure, though there are some crowd pleasers such as "Ghostbusters," "Accidentally in Love" (from Shrek 2), "Life is a Highway" (from Cars) and "Crocodile Rock." There's also some Foo Fighters, Iggy Pop, Spinal Tap and Jimi Hendrix, no doubt to try to pacify the grownups. Kudos for not going with all kids' songs, but the resulting mish mash is all over the map (full song list).

Buy, Rent or Skip? Since Lego Rock Band is expandable via qualifying DLC for the other Rock Band games, this is a buy if you love Rock Band and yearn for a version that's designed specifically to rock out with your kids on. If you just want to play the songs and challenges but don't expect to be jamming, family-style, into 2011, make it a rental. You can export the songs from Lego Rock Band to your other Rock Band games, but it'll cost you $10 (using a single-use code that it's included in new copies; don't expect to get the code from Gamefly or Blockbuster!). And it's not nearly as useful as a code to export the songs from Rock Band 2 to Lego Rock Band would be; why can't we have "Nine in the Afternoon," "Everlong," "Float On," "Hungry Like the Wolf" and "Livin' on a Prayer" (to name a few) in our family game?! Can somebody get on that, please?

On a Personal Note: This was our 6-year-old's big request for Christmas. He adores all things Lego, and a chance to join his parents on their musical outings (after years of mostly watching us play the first two Rock Band games) seemed nothing short of awesome to him. The game has exceeded his expectations (you can hear his mini-review in our Dec. 27 podcast; it's adorable!).

The unexpected highlight came several days into the game when we unlocked a challenge that began with our band crashing the tour vehicle into a hotel swimming pool. The manager called in a Securi-T-Rex dinosaur rent-a-cop to chase us away, and we were off - racing (and rocking) to safety while playing "Monster" by The Automatic. We'd never heard the song before, but it instantly resonated with our son. The chorus ("What's that coming over the hill?") has become a common catch phrase around our house, and we bought the track from iTunes and have a new favorite song on our iPod playlist.

Our son has begin to master the drums more successfully than he did with the original Rock Band games, in no small part to Super Easy Mode coupled with the Auto Kick Drum (we were prompted to use this latter feature on first play, possibly because our modded drum pedal was unplugged at the time). Again, we'd love if No Fail Mode were available as an option for Easy, just to ease the transition. He's really eager to make the move up the difficulty scale, and probably will in the next week or so - at least for songs that he's practiced. We'll probably still suggest Super Easy for new songs since some of them have quite fast drum parts and might scare him off if things get too difficult too fast.

This won't serve as a replacement for regular Rock Band for us grownups, particular since a large portion of our DLC library is off-limits - including the full 5-pack of Alice in Chains we picked up recently. Is it the band name, or do all of those songs have some naughty lyrics I've forgotten?

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Busy Gamer Review - Assassin's Creed II

2010-01-14T01:42:13Z

Too busy to devote 12+ hours a day to your gaming habit? Here's a review that's sensitive to your needs: Short and focused on just the things that a busy gamer like you really needs to know.

Reviewed On: Xbox 360. Also available for PlayStation 3 and PC. Alternate versions with different gameplay available for DS and PSP, and coming soon to iPhone.

In a Nutshell: Basic sandbox game with a main quest line, side mission opportunities and the chance to wreak general havoc if you are so inclined. You play an assassin in training running around Italy in the 1400s (the game bounces around years). Your primary weapons are blade-based (knives, swords, throwing knives, etc.) or big heavy hammers. You will not be sniping or going rogue with a sub-machine gun in this one. You also won't be seeing well in some areas, as light sources are kept strictly period (windows and torches on the wall). You will defy gravity on a regular basis, climbing and leaping across rooftops and reaching the tallest buildings in multiple-bounds.

In many ways, Assassin's Creed II reminded me of the Grand Theft Auto series. From the convenient map to the "find the hidden object" task (in this case, feathers) and the ability to just generally go rogue, there is very little difference. Even the storyline progression greatly resembles many of the GTA games. I mean that as a compliment.

The story itself is compelling once you get past the first hour or so of training/setup, and the visuals - particularly Venice - are stunning. It's just too bad that The Truth™ you work so hard to seek is... asinine. While the game does strive to keep certain elements "period," there are plenty of unrealistic/anachronistic touches to be seen. For example, I seriously doubt diving 40 stories into a bale of hay would end well. It is awfully fun to do, but kids, don't try this at home.

Note: Characters speak a mixture of Italian and English. To see full-conversations in English, turn on sub-titles. You'll see the Italian followed by a translation. If you've always dreamed of cussing in another language, this is the game for you!

Learning Curve: Gamers with sandbox experience will get more out of the game faster, but anyone can pick the game up and make good progress quickly. Combat can be achieved through button mashing, with those who have the patience and time to train picking up more stylish ways to finish missions. You are allowed to have one active item in your primary hand at all times, selected by going to a special screen.

One notable issue I encountered time and again: my mapped target changing when I didn't change it. This led to unintentional assassinations of innocent people, which in turn lead to the game resetting my life. I also encountered one move that I simply can't master, and at this point, will not even try. That prevented me from doing a few side missions (and missing out on an achievement), but it did not stop me from beating the game.

Oh, and pick pocketing is totally easy now, unlike the first time. Get rich or die tryin'!

The Save Game: The game auto-saves early and often, which is the good news. If your character so much as sneezes, it saves. My only complaint is that you are constantly saving over the same game. In other words, if your game becomes corrupted, you don't have a backup to load.

This didn't cause a problem for me, but it is a risk. As I have mentioned previously, Halo 3 did the same thing - and my game save did get wiped out. I abandoned that game rather than redo the 11 hours of lost game play. This is simply not acceptable. I have a hard drive and a memory card, please let me use them.

Family Factor: Not for the little ones. This game is all about stabbing folks and running them through with long blades. (I also found tossing them off the roof to be effective.) Your hands will literally have blood on them during the finale, and your outfit will look like it was used to wipe the floor of an abattoir. (Oddly, you stay relatively clean for most of the game.) Lots of cussing, most of it in Italian. (Again, turn on subtitles to see what they are saying in English.)

Buy, Rent or Skip? Buy. The sheer volume of missions and time required to really enjoy the game (and finish it) over a busy gamer's schedule would easily eat up $60 in rental or monthly subscription fees. If you can find it used, pick it up there - while it is a great game, it may not have a ton of replay value. (I'm done with it, myself.)

On a Personal Note: I started Assassin's Creed (the original) and barely made it to the second Holy Land before giving up and moving on to the next candidate. Early visuals from the sequel made it extremely attractive to me (I love Italy), but my previous experience left me hesitant. Everything that I hated about the first game has been fixed here, and the story is, at least in my opinion, much more compelling. I had a blast playing the game, and honestly thought I would be diving back in to Venice (so to speak) upon beating it. Alas, Borderlands caught my fancy, and Assassin's Creed II is heading to the bone yard.

For the record, stick with the game DURING the final credits (no running off for bathroom/snack breaks) to really, truly finish the game and get the final main story achievement. This will also open the main game lands back up for you, sans the finale location - so if you want to go back and collect every feather and treasure, you can.

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Busy Gamer Review - Zuma's Revenge

2009-12-16T04:29:38Z

Too busy to devote 12+ hours a day to your gaming habit? Here's a review that's sensitive to your needs: Short and focused on just the things that a busy gamer like you really needs to know.

Busy Gamer Review - Zuma's Revenge

Reviewed On: PC. Also available for Mac.

In a Nutshell: It's the famous match-3 shooter game featuring a frog and a vengeful tikki statue, with some welcome new twists. The basics: Your shooter is a stone frog, your targets are multi-colored marbles. Match 3 or more, you score and the meter fills. New balls stop coming when the meter is full. The game ends when you either clear the board or the balls reach the drain (i.e., you lose the level), whichever comes first. Balls periodically convert to power-ups that activate upon matching. Holdovers from the original Zuma include Reverse balls (the balls roll back away from the dreaded drain), Slow balls and Bombs.

Zuma's Revenge ups the ante with some spectacular new power-ups including one that shoots cannonballs in three directions (you choose the general trajectory), laser eyes that take out every ball you shoot as long as the frog looks radioactive and a nuke ball that takes out every ball of the same color. Another nice addition: The frog has been freed! Well, occasionally, anyway. He still stays planted dead center for many levels, but you get to move him side-to-side occasionally as well. My favorite new feature is the challenging and fun Boss Battle, complete with title card. Nice!

Some other notable new features: The game now has checkpoints (bless you, PopCap), meaning you no longer go all the way to the beginning if lose all your lives. (This is a major, major beef of mine. More on that shortly.) Zuma's Revenge also features a "colorblind assist" option that converts green balls to grey (it's not easy seeing green, at least for me) and support for 1920 x 1200 hi-resolution. I selected the hi-res option and got a firm but polite note that it wasn't a super-great idea, but if you really want to do it, your machine will reboot. I appreciate the game warning me that this might, you know, totally screw up my game and/or computer. And that I'd have to reboot.

The game includes the usual assortment of unlockables, including a hand-killing Challenge mode that is almost too difficult to actually be fun.

Learning Curve: Zuma vets will be able to jump in without problems. Even newbies will be able to pick up the game's basics quickly and enjoy early levels. Once the brain scrambling double-threads begin, the game gets significantly tougher.

The Save Game: Awesome save system. The game will auto-save for you whenever you finish a level, and it saves precisely where you are when you quit (balls frozen in mid-air). Why can't everyone do this?

Family Factor: Completely family friendly. Our 6-year-old loves to watch me play, and has taken a shot (so to speak) himself.

Buy, Try or Skip? If you love match-3 marble shooters, this is an easy decision: Buy! There's always the 60-minute trial if you're on the fence. Act fast and enter our PopCap giveaway this week, and you might just win it!

On a Personal Note:I have been playing the original Zuma on Xbox 360 since the day it came out. That's a lot of years, kids. It has come to be known as my nemesis (spoken in Hiro's accent from "Heroes") because I just can't seem to beat the very last round of levels. (I'm not alone in this, by the way. We should have our own support group!) Our son has seen me boot it many times over the years, and thoughtfully picked out Zuma's Revenge for me as a birthday present earlier this month. It has proven to be one of the best gifts anyone has given me!

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Busy Gamer Review - Halo 3: ODST

2009-12-02T01:22:39Z

"Mal, uh, Nathan, I mean Buck! Cover me!"

In a Nutshell: The latest - and shortest - entry in the Halo saga, but with a film noir stylistic twist. Oh, and you're not Master Chief anymore. Instead, you play a noob recruit who aspires to be as handy in battle as a Spartan. No more magical armor or healing powers; you're going to have to learn to duck and cover, search for health packs and pick your fights with greater caution if you want to get through this on anything higher than easy. Which, by the way, is the level I played - Easy. Something I never thought I would do, but given the save game (more on that shortly) and my desire to actually make progress in the brief times allotted to me, I decided to go for the version that "practically plays itself."

And yeah, for the most part, it kind of does. I mean, Easy doesn't have to mean "long stretches with absolutely NOTHING to do except ooh and aah at the scenery," does it? The difference between Easy and Normal is HUGE. There needs to be a smaller chasm between the two here. Send in some enemies, throw some firefights at me - but don't make it so insanely difficult that I can't make progress. Better yet, let me save anywhere. Because being forced to search for a checkpoint, rather than allowing me to just find a place to hide and save my game, had a lot more to do with me choosing Easy than my abilities as a Halo player. I'm fine with getting beat down - just let me save my progress so that I can leave when I need to, or just quit and come back later without having to start all over.

Learning Curve: Seasoned Halo players shouldn't have too much trouble picking this one up in terms of button mashing but, strategy-wise, it's a whole new game. No more running in guns ablazing with the option to duck and recover. When you get hurt, you stay hurt until you heal - which requires finding a healing station. (You can't take it with you!) The weapons are generally the same as in previous games, as is the two-weapon limit. The enemy list is also generally the same, with a few upgrades and design tweaks.

If you're new to the series, learning the moves should be relatively easy, especially for FPS vets. This is one game that does not require you to learn eighty different ways to pummel the enemy, nor do you need to master a weapon before you can pick it up. Point, shoot, rinse, repeat. You can also beat down enemies with most weapons. The Needler (aka pink death!) is particularly useful as a beat-down machine.

The Save Game: As I stated earlier, you can't save anywhere - you have to find a checkpoint. Fortunately, just crossing the threshold of a checkpoint (entering a building or new region, for instance) will give you a save. I shouldn't have to wander an extra 20 minutes, or worse, backtrack, just to save my game, though. I have a hard drive. I hazard to say most people do, or at least a memory unit. Let me save my game anywhere. Note that this ability did not hurt Fallout 3 sales one bit... and that is one big-ass game save.

Family Factor: Uh, no. Unless by family you mean allowing your teenagers to pwn you in multiplayer. This one is not for the kids, folks.

Buy, Rent or Skip? Depends on how you plan to use it. I beat the game in just under a month, and that was only playing every few days. (Albeit some rather long sessions.) The creators admit it's about 8-12 hours of gameplay, and it's less if you just plow through it. If you just want to beat the main mission and move on, I'd either plan on a long rental (or a weekend when the kids are away) or borrow it. If you are into multiplayer, by all means, buy.

If you act fast and enter here, you might just win it!

Personally, I've already moved on to Assassin's Creed II.

On a Personal Note: I started playing Halo back before I was a busy gamer (e.g., before I had a kid), managed to get into a Halo 2 multiplayer beta (the only time I've enjoyed playing deathmatch modes), and kind of dropped out midway through Halo 3 when my game got corrupted right after a checkpoint that took a week to finish. So I was rather ambivalent about ODST when I heard it was coming out. While I don't feel a strong need to go back to Halo 3, I did really like ODST. It just left me feeling a little nostalgic for the very first time I played Halo. You only experience the Flood for the first time once - and I can still remember the deep feelings of fear, horror and exhilaration it inspired. I didn't get that from ODST, but I did find it highly enjoyable.

Also, the voice roster for this game is phenomenal, as usual. But this one is extra special for me, because three - count 'em, three - actors from the Firefly/Serenity 'Verse (Nathan "Mal" Fillion, Alan "Wash" Tudyk, and Adam "Not one of those Baldwins, but I am Jane" Baldwin) makes it extra special. Being a huge Firefly fan, it was both thrilling and somewhat apropos to hear these voices floating through space.

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Busy Gamer Review - Plants vs. Zombies

2009-11-19T19:54:14Z

Too busy to devote 12+ hours a day to your gaming habit? Here's a review that's sensitive to your needs: Short and focused on just the things that a busy gamer like you really needs to know.

Busy Gamer Review - Plants vs. Zombies

Reviewed On: PC. Also available for Mac and is expected to eventually be released on iPhone and Xbox 360.

All we want to do is eat your brains... and sear ourselves into your eyes.

In a Nutshell: Tower defense game that pits you against the titular zombies. All that stands between the brain-crazed monsters and your front door are five lawn mowers and the ability to sow a variety of weapon-y plants, including one that rather resembles a certain villain from Little Shop of Horrors. (Not Audrey II, please don't sue!) Plants perform a variety of "attacks," from shooting peas to hypnotizing zombies into attacking their little buddies.

Early zombies are dumber than a box of rocks, with later additions gaining specific advantages. For example, an undead athlete can pole-vault over certain plants that stop other zombies in their tracks. The game gets exponentially harder around level 10, when the sun goes down and the tombstones pop up. Players must up their strategic thinking, selecting the plants they think will best suit their needs in upcoming levels. The game automatically flags doomed decisions ("This level will be extremely difficult without..."), which can be a lifesaver in double-digit levels.

Zombie-flavored mini-games break up the tower defense monotony. Bowling for Zombies appears early enough in the game that most players should get to it in the average trial period. Whack-a-Zombie, a whack-a-mole inspired mini-game, appears much later - and is difficult enough to make users rethink their purchasing decision. Alas, you can't replay mini-games outside of adventure mode or gain access to survival mode until you complete the main campaign (15 levels in all).

Learning Curve: Ridiculously easy in the beginning, then turns it up to 11 around the 1 hour mark - or about the time your free trial period expires. (Coincidence? I think not.) Strategic thinkers will survive the zombie onslaught longer than those who just plant whatever looks cool. Good peripheral vision doesn't hurt in the later levels, either. Don't be fooled - after level 9, a very strong strategic mind and an itchy mouse finger will be required to survive the onslaught. Great for tower defense enthusiasts, bad for people looking for a relaxing solitaire replacement.

The Save Game: Save and exit at any time by clicking the menu button. All progress is saved. When returning to the game, you have the option to continue from where you left off or restart the level.

Family Factor: The zombies are very comical, but might freak out very small children. No blood, but some mild comic violence: Zombie arms and legs fall off when hit by certain plants. Zombie heads roll. One plant swallows zombies whole. When a zombie inevitably makes it into your house, the words "Zombies ate your brains" appears in big, drippy green letters. (You don't see the big event, however.)

Buy or Skip? A very solid purchase for tower defense fans who enjoy casual games. If you aren't sure - or just don't want to spend the dough - play online at popcap.com. The site retains your progress even after you leave. You will have to sit through the occasional ad as there's no such thing as a free game.

On a Personal Note: I avoided this game for a long time despite reading constant reports of friends losing entire afternoons to its charms. I finally went online to check out the game during some downtime and found it oddly captivating. That led to me downloading the trial so I could avoid the ads and, finally, shelling out for the full game.

Our 6-year-old has become obsessed it, choosing Plants vs. Zombies time over his much loved - and rare, during the school week - Pokemon Pearl time. He did report one zombie nightmare the day after seeing it for the first time, but said it was OK, he knew it wasn't real. He has started availing his fellow 1st graders with Plants vs. Zombies stories, just in time for parent-teacher conference time. Oh, goody.

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Busy Gamer Review - Fallout 3

2009-10-07T01:54:44Z

Your Pipboy is where you view maps, manage items and adjust stats

In a Nutshell: Set after a nuclear war has devastated the world and converted Washington, D.C., into a Capital Wasteland, you play a survivor from a vault where prescient people bought berths to protect them from just such an apocalypse. Restless and spurred to solve a mystery involving your father, you escape the vault and make your way across the radioactive, raider-laden landscape.

At its core, Fallout 3 is both a first-person shooter and an RPG - though more of the latter due to its dependence on stats over aim (also, you can trade first-person for a third-person view if you prefer). This is balanced by a unique turn-based targeting system that enables you to freeze time and select quadrants on enemies to aim your next attacks - as long as you have action points, which regenerate over time. The combination of action and strategy in an edgy sci-fi setting makes this a more of mainstream game than its spiritual predecessor, The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, and the actual earlier games in the series - which were more RPG than shooter, managed from an isometric view.

The targeting system balances the FPS and stat-controlled RPG elements

Learning Curve: Oblivion fans will be mostly at home, since Fallout 3 borrows liberally from that game's engine. Some button actions are different (and cannot be remapped!) and there are new twists and features such as the Vault-Tec Assisted Targeting System (VATS) and new lockpicking and computer hacking mini-games. Either way, the game's vault tutorial will ease you into how everything works and you'll soon find the controls second nature and, if you play as much as me, will find yourself tapping the button for VATS when you're playing other shooters.

The Save Game: By default, Fallout 3 autosaves when you fast travel to places you've been before or enter/exit buildings and towns. You can also save your exact place and status in the world at any time, which makes it perfect for the busy gamer.

Family Factor: Very mature for extreme, intense and sustained violence and some sexual situations (you can purchase the services of a prostitute, though all that happens is that you sleep and awaken refreshed). Keep this one away from kids and even younger teens until they are emotionally ready to handle Tarantino-level gore.

Buy, Rent or Skip? Buy. This is one of the best games of the past several years, and you will get your money's worth from it. The only real downside to this game is that you can easily spend 100+ hours enjoying it, which may seem antithetical to busy gaming. But, as a single-player title, there's absolutely no harm in taking as long as you want - spread your game play out over several years if you like (I'm on my second year now and working through the expansions and completing side quests I missed due to the sheer size of the world). At this point, you should wait for the Game of the Year Edition due next week (October 13) since it contains all of the expansions for the same price as the original game - and with none of the DRM hassles.

On a Personal Note: If you've followed this site for awhile, you know that I tend to choose the light side when playing morally ambiguous games such as Fallout 3, and GrrlGotGame chooses the dark side. Normally this puts me at a severe disadvantage as I end up with less loot, weapons and/or health packs. Not so in Fallout 3. The game is balanced to reward the goody-goody players and punish the wicked! This is due in part to the game's understandably deflated economy - there just aren’t a ton of caps (the game's currency is bottlecaps) to go around, so stealing really doesn't buy you much. You're better off helping people and reaping the often generous rewards they provide.

There are so many tales of the Wasteland I could spin, some of which would spoil major story points and surprises. So I'll keep my personal stories high level. Getting around the ruins of D.C. and suburban Maryland and Virginia (where, incidentally, I grew up for reals!) isn't always a matter of just picking a direction and walking. You'll often be forced underground, into the remains of the Metro subway tunnels, to reach your destination.

I particularly loved wandering these dark tunnels on my quest to find a radio host who mentioned talking to my absentee in-game dad on the air. Stepping out at various subway stops to mark them on my map (so I'd have a fast travel checkpoint for later) proved to be a dangerous game as there were often ambushes and traps waiting. I quickly learned to look out for mines on the ground (which I later developed the skills to disarm, keep and re-use) and dodge rocket blasts from well-armed enemies.

When I arrived at the Metro stop for the radio station, I was thrust into a firefight with some friendly soldiers helping out. I did my best to contribute to the downfall of a particularly large and intimidating foe. It was an epic battle, one that was made a tad easier thanks to the portable nuclear weapon I had acquired. There were casualties on our side, which became a topic of discussion among the NPCs - who don't seem to constantly hit on you the way they do in Oblivion! (Drat. And I was hoping to do a follow-up set in Fallout 3!).

The game is full of tantalizing side quests, such as finding a lost historical document, tracking down a lost violin and researching a survival guide. I won't say more except that I'm 130 hours in, have finished the main quest and I'm still finding plenty of fun things to do.

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