The Outlaw's Favorite Game Moments: Freedom Fighters

Yes, I know it is Tuesday, but my charger died yesterday. Thus, you are getting this a day late. I'M SORRY!!!! There, now that we've gotten that out of the way and we can be friends again.

Anyway, It's that time again (shut uuuuup) and this time I want to talk about a little scene from Freedom Fighters. If you never played it, you are indeed the fool. Ya see, Freedom Fighters was a last gen game about alternate reality. Instead of America winning the Cold War, the nasty Soviets did. Bring us up to modern day, and they decide to invade the good ole U. S. of A. Your character, Christopher Stone, was once a plumber (you were in fact going to a job with your co-worker and brother when the invasion happens) but he is then thrown into fighting for the resistance. The game was awesome in that the levels were areas with sections. You could travel between sections via the sewer and what you did in one section effected the rest of the area. Need explosives? Go to the section with an ammo dump. Want that pesky chopper to stop bothing you? Take out the landing pad and the Russians will lack air support in the rest of the area. This kind of stops when you get later into the game when your forces are scattered and the goals become more specific, and it is then when my favorite moment happens.

Throughout the course of the game, there is a Russian newscaster spewing propaganda about your recent activites. They give you the awesome title of Freedom Phantom by the way. You should go watch all of theose segments if you can find them. The ticker that playes on the bottom of the cast has some humorous things written on it, such as red, white, and blue coats being outlawed and brown ones being handed out.

In the latter part of the game you decide to take out the propaganda spreading *censored* by taking over the news station. First you have to fight your way through a poster ridden Times Square, though. The game had awesome atmosphere. After you did, Christopher gets in front of the camera and makes a little broadcast of his own.


The fact that I was super patriotic in middle school only made this cooler.

Seriously, I still get chills... and the strange urge to kill Russians. Anyway, I could go on and on about this game, but I won't. Instead, I'll leave you with a bonus video from the game that takes place after your brother is captured and forced to read a prepared speech.


By Stalin's beard!!!!

Violent video games. lol. Love me some satire.

That's all for tonight folks!!!

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Least Favorite Video Game Moments: Number 2

    First, allow me to formally apologize for our huge amount of lame the last week and a half. We have both just moved back to A&M for school, and have been settling in, unpacking, buying books, and attending many many housewarming parties. (The latter may be the primary reason....) But, with school starting up on Monday, we decided that it would also be a great time to get back on the schedule. So, with that, I bring to you my second least favorite video game moment.

     When I realized that this need to be written in less than 48 hours I then also realized that I had not actually come up with anything to write about. Sort of a problem. My quandary was quickly solved when my roommate decided to buy an older game, just for the sake of dicking around and making fun of it. When he showed me what game he had purchased, terrible repressed memories of laggy gameplay, shit-tastic voice acting and lamelamelame combat flooded back into my injured and (until then) healing psyche. He had purchased Two Worlds. I knew what I would write about. Typically this is meant to address one moment in an otherwise decent/great game. The thing is, there is not just one moment in this game that is. It is all rotten stinky Statan's armpit bad. So, I have opted instead to just whine and cry about the whole game. Enjoy.
     The first thing that is most obvious flaw for Two Worlds is its lack of real voice acting, reality Pump thought it would be a cool idea to not use Professional voice actors and instead use the Reality Pump staff. Bad idea. The voices are real hammed up, slow and very robotic, almost as if they didn't read the script before recording.. reminds of class reading in middle school. This is all not to mention how awful the script itself is. They tried to go with this old-style medieval dialogue, throwing all kinds of "forsooths" "payhaps" and "prithies" into the speech, but it is so cheesy that it just comes off annoying, albeit hilarious. A reaction I don't believe they were looking for.

     Going along with character flaws, the next major problem I had was the character models. My word I have never seen such craptastic meshing. The faces are blocky, almost original xbox bad, and in some cases worse. Ever person I encountered have a face that looked as though it was melting from radiation. With a console that has thrown out games as pretty as Mass Effect and Assassins Creed, there is no excuse the enormous amount of...just bad.. that Two Worlds brought to the 360.

This picture is actually a pretty good picture, for Two Worlds.                                                                                                                                         
     Moving right along, let me whine about the graphics some more. Let's start with an example. The beginning of the game shows some farmers reaping wheat, problem is, as the scythes are being swung through the wheat, non of it is being cut. So the farmers keep obliviously cutting away and the same spot of wheat over and over again. Again, the console is more than capable of processing the physics to remove the wheat from its stalk, and let it fall. Not that hard. Laziness and carelessness shows itself over and over again in this tragic game. The environment is clumsy and glitchy. It looks pretty from far away, but as you get close, the blur starts to become quite apparent.

I am pretty sure the original xbox could run this game. Especially with how low the framrate is. The game is choppy, jumping allot and never really running smoothly (which cause horrid horrid lag in multiplayer, but I am not even going to start with that). Combat, should be relatively easy coming from a game that was branded as being Oblivion's little brother, because let us face it, Oblivions combat is ridiculously simple. I don't really believe you can mess it up. Two Worlds manges to take a button mashing combat style and make it suck. How many button masher hack and slash games have we played that have really awesome fighting animations? Plenty. (Dynasty Warriors comes to mind). I realize that it would have taken work but I wish that the weapon swinging choreography was better, it just looks so freakin lame the way it is. I could go on, but I really think I need to stop before I go into cardiac arrest due to how angry this game makes me. Some brave and courageous soul is playing Two Worlds, recording it, and is posting it on YouTube, I suggest you go watch it and see for yourself Two Worlds in all of its tremendous horror. This is what he has so far.

Part One, Part Two, Part Three.

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Mafia II Review (Move over stupid Facebook app. The real Mafia game is here)

Last night Mafia II was vanquished. Thus, I have opinions to write about. I believe these things are called reviews. I suppose I should just get on with it.

I'm not going to lie. I've never been more excited for a game with an awful predecessor. Maybe it's because I love Mafia related things. Maybe it's because I love the time period (1940's-1950's) for video games. Maybe it's because the game started looking great as more and more came out about it. In any case, I will tell you right now, it is.

Let us get the usual stuff out of the way shall we? The core mechanics simply work. There was never a time when the controls screwed me over. I cannot say that for the original. Cover is tight and moving around it is simple. I know that's not a complete rarity these days, but I honestly never had one issue with it. Enemy AI is intelligent. If you overextend yourself, you will get rushed, and they will kill you. Trust me... It happened more than once. Driving is fun and cars handle differently. You can even tune them for better performance and fix an engine on the road if you crash too much. That comes in handy for car chases. Oh, and speaking of cars, you are given handy lock picks that make stealing them a bit more discreet. Are there cops around that would make smashing the window a bad idea? Just use a lockpick. they won't notice. And on the topic of cops, the old system is back. Basically this means you can be punished in different ways. Do something reckless, you will get a ticket. Do something violent, you will be arrested (which you can resist). However, if you do something something horrible, you will be shot on sight. Oh and yes, speeding is an offense. I wan't ever pulled over for running a red light though, although passengers chastised me for doing so.

The escape system is also a bit interesting, although it makes getting away a bit too easy sometimes. It is the 40's and 50's, though. They didn't have police choppers and advanced ways of keeping tabs on you. You can be wanted in two different ways. One is based on appearance. The other is based on your license plate. You become wanted differently depending on whether you are on foot or in a car when you do something illegal. If the cops get a good look at you in your car, they'll report your appearance. Also, if you are wanted based on appearance and you are in an unknown vehicle, you can pretty much get around just fine, unless you drive next to a cop for too long. Getting rid of these marks is simple enough. Either change clothes, change cars unseen, or drive to an auto shop and get your plates changed.

Now on to some things I absolutely adored. The details in the game were incredible. Everything from subtle nuances to cinematic moments were terrific. I suppose we should start with subtle and move our way up.

While running at normal speed in combat with a gun drawn felt a bit stiff due to lack of Euphoria, other things made up for it. When you sprint the camera shakes slightly giving that added feeling of weight. Vito's animations in combat also caught my notice. If he is near the edge of cover and a stray bullet hits the edge he rears back. It looks something like this:

A similar thing happens when you run from one point to another under fire. Vito ducks a little and puts his hands up as if his reflex is to get lower and protect his face. It makes him feel more real. Just as you don't want to have to replay a segment, he doesn't want to get shot and die. I also have a lot of love for the reloading animations and gunshot sounds. Anyone who has seen the Dirty Harry movies will love how the Magnum sounds. The destructibility that I mentioned in the demo impressions is also here. Having a shootout definitely takes its toll on a location with pillars chipping and doors falling apart. The best example of this is when you shoot up a gang hideout from the outside in classic fashion. This scene is pictured below:

Seriously... There isn't much left of this place when you get finished with it.


This next opinion seems to go against the grain of most other reviews, but here is goes anyway. A lot of reviewers seem the think that the city isn't what it could have been. Some have even said that, based on how linearly the game plays, it wasn't even necessary. I disagree. I believe the city serves it's purpose by just giving you a place to travel in. It's populated enough to give the appearance that it is living ( I really liked the newspaper vendors yelling your recent escepades to the puplic) and I feel like it's just big enough to not feel underwhelming. No, it isn't Liberty City and it doesn't have the awesome dynamic event system that Red Dead had, but I feel like the city has its merits in the way that it was handled. For one, it allows for cinematic moments that you can watch or interact with. In the return home at the beggining, you can help a woman fix her car for example. Yes, it will only happen this once, but it makes it more meaningful because it won't get repetative and it doesn't just happen with random people. You can also converse with an old shopkeeper you knew that is being forced to shut his business down. On the way up the stairs you can see a cat jump out a window and at later points in the game you'll even see police knocking on the doors of your neighbors. It is in these moments that I feel the city comes to life.

Are there better open world games? Yes. But they are all made by a little company called Rockstar. Do not let that fool you, though. It is still an extremely engaging game with great characters and a terrific story. Do yourself a favor and pick this one up.

9 out of 10 shell casings.

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Monday

Monday Monday Monday

Things will be posted Monday

Monday Monday Monday

Features up on Monday

Monday Monday Monday

I will most likely write things in class on Monday...

That was dumb. I will now sleep to my roommate playing Twilight Princess. Then, more work on Mafia II.
Monday Monkey lives for the weekend.

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Sowwy Part 2

Remember when I said we would have things back on track by Monday? Turns out I am a filthy liar and cannot be trusted (also, I cannot use contractions because my internet is acting screwy.) I am such a horrible human being that baby Mario would cry in my presence. I am not ugly, I just resonate evil that can be sensed by the innocent and wildlife.

Enough self-loathing... for now. I know our main features go up on Monday, but we decided to see Scott Pilgrim instead. Do not judge us, though, as we are probably going to write a feature on all the gaming goodness it contained (See, technically we were working). We were going to end the night with some epic Starcraft playing, but my co-writer had computer problems. That gives him a better excuse, though as I spent the rest of my night failing to set up a router.

We will post out articles when we get a chance. Tomorrow, I will start work on my Mafia II review.

Because I have failed you miserably, I am going to let all of you wonderful readers in on some news. If you have been following the last couple of articles, I have been teasing some special news. We are about to add another writer to our team!!! He has yet to set up his account, but he already has some ideas in mind for his first articles. I will post again when that comes up. In other news, we are discussing starting a podcast. If this works out, you will be able to hear our awesome voices discuss, argue, yell, and bitch about recent news and posts. So while things are a tad slow for now, we do have a lot of plans for the near future. I will keep you all updated to the best of my abilities.

It is now 5 in the morning (The time the blog claims we post at is a lie). I must sleep. Do me a favor and imagine a funny picture below.




[Insert Picture Here]





[Insert witty comment over picture here]



Goodnight!

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Sowwy :-(

We apologize for the lack of updates over the past few days. We have both been moving back to our college abodes and one of us is without internet. We will do our best to get things back up and running with more consistent updates by Monday at the latest. Check back for updates and a special announcement.

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Metroid: Other M Trailer: Metroid and Me

          So, today has been really exciting for me, a new look at Portal 2 (just scroll on down and check it out!), and now a pretty sweet plot description for Metroid: Other M. What Nintendo released today was a look at the Metroid universe's time line from the original NES Metroid to where Other M fits in, excluding the 3D Metroids and Metroid Fusion (Fusion is actually speculated to come after Other M), which is okay with me, because well I never beat any of the 3D ones which you should know, or else Satan will will burn you with his fingernail. To save your soul, go read my other Metroid article Without further adieu.



           The thing that I like most about this is that it puts a place for the new game. Really before today there was just allot of speculation about what the story was about, we have a starting point. It's a lot more fun to imagine that the distress calls that Samus receives at the end of the video is a directed message from the Baby Metroid that saved Samus' life at the end of Super Metroid. It also allows gamers who have not played any of those, admittedly really old, Metroid games to jump into this really really epic series. The story of older games tends to be a little convoluted due to the lack of voice acting and what-not, and Metroid and Me sets straight any confusion or memory loss you may have suffered in the years since you played the old Metroid games. 
         
         The voice actress for Samus Aran is the lovely Jessica Martin. Although Team Ninja has received some criticism for choosing Miss Martin, claiming that she is too soft spoken to be Samus. I honestly believe that Samus is probably a soft spoken woman, why else would it have taken her till now to finally speak? It adds dynamic to the woman. To imagine that under the awesome upgrades armor and weapons, the beautiful Samus Aran is a shy and rather quite girl, to me, that's a lot more diverse, and a lot more interesting.  I might have a thing for Samus...
What do you think of Jessica Martin's voice?

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Mafia II Demo Impressions

I have never been more excited for a sequel to a game that was, to put it bluntly, a bit shit. Playing through Mafia was one of the worst experiences in my gaming life, especially because I played the console version which was even worse than the horrible PC one. It was an open world game with barely populated streets, horrible shooting mechanics, and terrible AI. For one of the first times ever, I could blame not finishing a game on it rather than myself. It wasn't hard because it was challenging, it was hard because it was broken. However, the one thing it did right was story.

The developers have had years to make the sequel, though, and it seems to be paying off. Even before the demo was released the game looked pretty good, and now that I've had my hands on said demo, I can say with all honesty that it will be.


This is normally where a video would go, but all the footage of the demo level was obviously done before it was released... also, there were gross censors. Lame.

Everything, and I mean everything is better. I could go on about the better shooting, the gorgeous animation (reloading itself made me drool a tad), or the addition of cover to the series, but the thing I really want to bring attention to is destructibility. The environments you have shoot-outs in are heavily effected by gunfire. Wood chips, columns crack and break. Items on shelves fly off when hit by gunfire. When you look back at a room you just had a gun-fight in, it really shows. It brings the situations to life. However, the destructibility isn't just limited to areas that were meant to have gun-fights in. I'm not going to compare the whole game to Grand Theft Auto, but seeing as it is the leader in the land of open world games I find that this comparison is fair. Driving away from cops in GTA can sometimes be a pain, because running into a gate will stop you dead. Sure, there are some fences you can drive, through, but you know what I mean. When fleeing the cops in Mafia II i drove, through fences without issue, but then I found myself driving full-speed-ahead into a street barrier. I thought this would be the end for me, but then I smashed right through it. Pure awesome. I continued my escape which led to the demo's end.

The one and only issue I had was movement. It is in no way bad, but after being spoiled by the Euphoria Engine, it felt a little stiff. It will in no way detract from the gameplay, though. I know a demo is not the final product, but I expect Mafia II will prove to be a great game come the end of August.

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Mass Effect 2 Comes to the PS3

Let's get a few things straight as early as possible. I love the PS3, I have a PS3, but I HATE (and I mean more than most things) PS3 fanboys. They are the reason that I waited so long to get one, they are the reason that I wanted the 360 to win the console war (Even though Nintendo games are my favorite), and they are the reason why I almost didn't cover this at all. and speaking of reason, they rarely use it. Now that we've gotten that out of the way, I can talk about the actual news.

This is great for PS3 owners who have been dying to play Mass Effect. It is one of my own top contenders for Game of the Year. However, I will say this, only buy it if this is your only option. If you have enough money for a 360, go with that instead. This is NOT bias, and I will tell you why. The good news is that the PS3 version will come with all the downloadable content that you have to buy for the 360 version. Unfortunately, there is something important that doesn't come with it and that is Mass Effect 1. There were so many choices in the first game to only viable option would be to load your save game file from ME1 to ME2. That way, the universe starts off the way you left it, and old characters return differently depending on whether you helped them, hurt them, or if they are still alive.

If you never played ME1, the default world you start off in in ME2 is rather bleak. The original council is dead and one of the best characters is as well. If they don't find a way around this in the PS3 version, I almost wouldn't find it worth it. Part of what makes ME2 so great is seeing how your past decisions effect the world and having past characters show up to thank you or offer you missions. if it's your only choice, buy the Ps3 version. Otherwise, stick with the 360.

The PS3 version is due out early next year.

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Gamescom 2010: Portal 2

          Having played through Portal multiple times myself I became as a giddy as a school girl when I found out a 10minute game play video had been released during Gamescom. A teaser trailer was released several months ago and that was enough to get me all riled up, as it portrayed ridiculously complicated and ever changing environments that will make the puzzle solving quest that is Portal so much more difficult and therefore, so fantastic. This video shows that my speculations on the complexity of Portal 2's new environments were correct. Take a gander. 




         So to continue my, at this point, mostly unnecessary blather about the thing you just watched and already know; what we just watched is a sample of the new factors and beautifully busy environments that will come into play whilst you shoot portals, incinerate companions, launch baddies, and destroy tyrant AI bent on completing her experiments with no regard for the precious sanctity of life embodied through Chell.*pant* (Also, I giggled every time one of the turret robots was sent flying by either the Aerial Plates or the Repulsion Gel, classic comedy). The first part of the trailer is simply meant to show the beautiful new surroundings Chell will have to navigate. The little robot who speaks at you in this part is Wheatley, a charming and amusing little skamp (and by skamp I mean Personality Core that has gained sentience in the 100 years since GLaDOS was destroyed and Chell was put into stasis) voiced by one Stephen Merchant, the co-writer and director for The Office and Extras. The video then goes more in depth showing us new features such as the Excursion Funnel the Aerial Faith Plates(whose name I find particularly hilarious) the Repulsion and Propulsion Gel, all of whose affects you saw in the video. Aren't those little animations with stick figure Chell just the cutest? I personally am hoping that this was just a taste and the new awesomeness that is to be unveiled with Portal 2's release in 2011. Time alone will tell.

We also get to see GLaDOS, who clearly was not completely destroyed. Although, it is my personal opinion that GLaDOS may not to be the primary antagonist, but I could be wrong. (I love GLaDOS quote "I think we can put our differences behind us... for science... you monster.")
Needless to say I am about to explode rainbows and fairy dust because I am so freaking happy/excited/angry-that-I-have-to-wait-until-February-9-2011 for the game. Let me know what you think about the video in the comments!

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Halo: Reach- A Spartan Will Rise

We recently took a look at the new Halo: Reach trailer (and by look I mean we've watched the whole thing) and it's become apparent that Bungie has decided to pay more attention to character in their final two Halo games. The other one being last year's ODST. I say this because the newest Reach trailer is all about introducing you to the Spartan team that was present during the fall of Reach. Watch below.



The new engine is still looking great and I still love how the graphics have improved without taking away from how colorful the series has been. In fact, it's one of the reasons I love Halo. The series has taken a lot of heat from people who hate it just because it's an Xbox exclusive or because it's so popular, but i still think the games are damn fine shooters. Sure, there might be "better" shooters, but none of them are as colorful or as imaginative. I haven't read the books, but I am still in love with the Halo universe.

Anyway, back to the trailer. I do enjoy the improved focus on character. Each Spartan seems to have a specific skill that sets him or her apart, but also a specific quirk that might take its toll on the team. Having said that, though, I do not feel that Master Chief is a weak character. He might be quiet, but he is loyal and you can sense a real connection between him and Cortana, who happens to be the only AI construct I could see myself falling in love with. I really hope they show up at some point in the game. As it stands though, Reach is shaping up to be a great last hurrah for Bungie's work on the Halo franchise. This one is just around the corner!

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Gamescom 2010: Dragon Age 2 Trailer

Gamescom 2010 is here! You know what that means! Lots of new awesome trailers. It's a little difficult for two people to keep up with all of them (this might lead to a special announcement sometime soon), so we will do our best to cover as many as we can. Of course, we have to cover our favorites first, so when I saw the new trailer for Dragon Age 2 I jumped all over it (We here at The Outlaw and The Elitist loved the first one). Watch in awe now!



Now I know that you should take trailers that are completely cinematic with a grain of salt (as awesome as the E3 Old Republic trailer was we all know it won't play anything like that), but sometimes things can be inferred from them. The only thing I know about the game so far is that it's going to be more console friendly, which is great. An Executive at BioWare also says that the game will feature "faster, more responsive combat". The thing that struck me was that the hero was fighting alone, as the first game (and the first game's trailer) featured party based combat. Also, the hero showed proficiency with both fighter class abilities and magic class abilities, which were awesome by the way. Maybe that hints at some kind of cross-over abilities.

We won't know for sure until more information comes out as we inch closer to the March 8, 2011 release, but we'll let you know as soon as we do!

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Gamescom 2010: Star Wars: The Old Republic. Space Combat Gameplay Trailer

          For those of you who care at all for MMO's, you should be really, really, stoked for The Old Republic. Why? It's going to be awesome for many reasons, one is, well.. just watch.

Edit: Because of that HTML sorcery that I could not cure, the video would play on it's own and was pissing me off, watch the video here instead. 

       

          Like? Some people may watch this and think this is the game itself (and upon reading some of the silly comments on TOR's website, I think some people did) but in reality this is little more that a mini-game. A really awesome and probably very important mini-game, but a mini-game nonetheless. The game itself is obviously the whole, ya know,  MMO part. It is quite obviously a rail shooter set-up. Feels very... Star Fox meets Rogue Squadron, but it looks very pretty. The rocks exploding, the laser animations, the explosions, the ambient space environment. Very cool. Also, from what I can tell, you can also design you own spaceship. I can only imagine how many Millennium Falcons Tie Fighter and X-wings are going to be out there..
Hope you enjoyed it, let me know what you think in the comments!

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Gamescom 2010: Dead Space 2 Zero G Gameplay Trailer.

    Dead Space 2's terrify and curious environment just got a little more interesting as seen in the video. The Zero G moments in the game have apparently received a tune-up. Not to mention the new bad-ass armor, new weapons, and AWESOME flight sequence at the end. I am so pumped for this game

Video Games | Dead Space 2 | GC 10: Space Walk Demo (Stream)

XBox 360 | Playstation 3 | Nintendo Wii

Side note: I'm really excited to hear Isaac's voice, I'm glad they are making him more of his own character. The faceless hero is kind of cool, because if you are a nerd like me, you imagine yourself there, but I am really interested in getting to see how the events of the first Dead Space effected the man, EA obviously wants us to get to know.  


The old Zero G combat wasn't really different from non Zero G combat, except monsters could ambush you more readily. With this new jet-pack thing Isaac has, showing these (new!) baddies whats for will actually be different then your run of the mill, killing enraged and mutated people whilst being bound by that pesky gravity. Thanks to GamesTrailers for the video!

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The Outlaw's Least Favorite Game Moments 1: Bionic Commando

Warning: Major (stupid) Spoilers await you.


Bionic Commando was a game that had a lot of questions surrounding it. Why did they wait until 2009 to release a direct sequel to a game made in 1987? Why did they make a character with an awesome bionic arm that could grapple onto almost anything follow a usually linear path (sometimes the fighting would take place in a more open playground of destruction)? Why did they put so much cursing in it? Why did they make the main character emo all of a sudden? Why won’t they just call the “fascists” Nazis? However, the twist that takes place at the end of the game raises the biggest question of all: “Why… The f**k… Did they put that in there?”

The game starts out with our hero Nathan Spencer being let out of prison because the world turned on bionics for no apparent reason. The weird thing was that technically, he had both arms intact in the first game and he used a grappling hook. That’s what I’ve heard at least; I wasn’t exactly alive in 1987. Anyway, he now emerges years later missing an arm. In its place is a giant socket for the bionic one he is eventually given back. The people he used to work for, whom also put him in prison due to public outcry, have let him out to stop an attack from the old fascist enemies from the first game. One of the people who is actually sent to keep in contact with Nathan was the man he saved in the first game, Super Joe (Dumb name, right?). By the way, he turns out not to be so super as you later find out he is a traitor. Side note: The appropriate response for being saved by someone isn’t to turn on them years later. It’s not nice.

Anyway, the first question Nathan has on his mind upon being released involves the whereabouts of his wife. She disappeared around the same time he had his bionic arm put in place. The last memory he has of her is her telling him that, “[she'll] always be by his side.” Thus, he spends a great majority of the game asking about her. When he does ask, he is usually told that he won’t like what he finds out. From that, it is really easy to guess she is just dead. However, the truth is much stupider. When you pursue Super Joe in the last act of the game, his voice comes over the PA system to tell you the ugly truth about what happened to Nathan's wife. Watch in the video below.


^GET IT?!

THAT’S RIGHT! THE ARM IS HIS WIFE!!! This plot twist puts M. Night. Shyamalan to shame. I don’t know what script writer came up with that idea, but I wouldn’t be surprised if he doesn’t work at Capcom anymore. Of course, they had to approve it so maybe I’m wrong, but it’s still one of the most ridiculous things I’ve ever heard. I mean, how does that even work? Is her spirit in there? Her brain? Did they shrink her down and she operates it on a hamster wheel? For some reason I doubt we’ll ever know the answer as the game undersold, but I honestly don’t see how it can be explained reasonably anyway. The tragedy is that the ending fight is actually really cool, but I was so stupefied by how absurd the twist was I didn’t have a chance to appreciate it. The game really shot itself in the foot on that one.

Before I wrap this up, however; I would like to leave you with two things. One; there is a link between this and my last article as Mike Patton, lead singer of Faith No More, was the voice of Nathan Spencer and of the Darkness from, well, The Darkness. Two; Take a look at this picture


^ Notice her bionic legs? You know what that means! CHILDREN LEGS! Awful, is it not?

Am I wrong? Is this not as stupid as I think it is? Maybe you just want to vent about this or other video game moments you hate? Let me know in the comments!

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The Elitist's Favorite Video Game Moments.

          Intense firefights, plot twists, photo realistic cut-scenes, and revolutionary game play; these are the things that made Call of Duty Modern Warfare 1 & 2 two of the best First Person Shooters on the market. Both CoD4 games had campaigns that did what really no other FPS campaign, save for maybe Halo, has ever done (for me anyway). It connected me to characters and settings that truly tapped into my emotions. When characters died, I was angry at the man who killed them, when civilians were killed, I was shocked and appalled, when cities were destroyed, I watched the mushroom cloud caused by the detonated nuclear missile from my crash-landed helicopter and wondered how such a thing could happen. I was completely immersed into these games, but there are two specific moments I wish to highlight.

This is just a really cool picture, and I needed to share. 

           

          Because the plot line the CoD MW1 and 2 is fairly… involved, I will just have to assume that every single one of you has played both games all the way on the hardest difficulty!!! Maybe not… but I will assume that you know the story (if not, here.) Now that we are all caught up and happy, let us continue. As you obviously know, because I gave you a wiki article, Shepard betrays Task Force 141, killing Sergeant Gary "Roach" Sanderson and Lieutenant Simon "Ghost" Riley. Both are characters who have given all they have to stop this crisis in the world, and are... well... heroes! These are characters that you interact with (or control) throughout the entirety of the game, and then to watch one of the few men you knew you could trust, slaughter these men after they put their very lives in danger to help this dirt-bag, made me absolutely livid. The guys not even real, and I wanted him brought to justice, my way.

Skip to about 1:40 to actually see the betrayal (cause the guy playing is trash, probably on purpose)



          The human in me is sick and angry every single time I watch this, but the gamer in my realizes just how perfectly done this cut scene is. The music is absolutely perfect, the way Ghost's, your friends', your partner's, lifeless body is thrown carelessly into your face (cause Roach apparently is a resilient little tike) adds more layers to the drama. In the background, as the music reaches its climax, you can hear Price yelling not to trust the man to whom you pledged your life, because he has betrayed you all. The fire engulfs Roach and Ghost, and Shepherd's walk just announces how little he cares for the atrocities he has just committed.  It is all is so meticulously done to cut straight to the players heart. And it works, brilliantly.

          So, Shepherd is in league with those psycho Ultranationalists for who knows why.. so people will, admittedly still die... but at least the world will notice they die... I suppose (he's a loon). This is bad. So you, now you are controlling the one and only John "Soap" MacTavish and, being the loyal lad that he is, he teams up with Captain John Price once again to avenge your brothers in arms, and deal with that low-down-dirty-no-good-murderin-son-of-     you get the idea. He is not a nice man, we don't like bad men. You chase him down (if you are on the hardest difficulty, that boat chase scene is stupidly difficult) and as he tries to escape, Blam-o! Thought you could escape in a helicopter eh? Well too bad Price blew it out of the sky! Luckily there are RPG's in these rafts! He crash lands, and you fall down a waterfall. This is my favorite part. I chase him down, I watch the dirty bastard run, and think “run, but you will not leave here alive.” I line up my knife to end this decrepit scum’s life.. BAM! A façade, he is not injured, he beats the snot out of Soap, and then, before I know what to think…!!



          He knifes Soap MacTavish, your remaining HERO, the one character left to whom the player relates, right in the heart. he Then pulls a gun, and at the last possible moment, WHAM Captain Price comes out of nowhere to initially beat the devil out of Shepherd. Then, well, Shepherd starts winning.... You have goosebumps now don't you? Awesome, am I right? Of course I am right. Soap is such a freaking bad-ass that he tries to crawl for the gun (with a knife still in his CHEST), and when that fails, and as he watches his friend, mentor, and father-figure get the ever-livin-hell beat out of him; he pulls a the knife out of his chest and throws it into Shepherds worthless skull... straight in his eye. You cannot make a more epic cut scene, I don't believe it can be done. The ambiance, the environment, it's chilling, your are in this dusty, cloudy wasteland seemingly devoid of anything pleasant or resembling life. The sound effects of the scuffle, of Soaps heart beating, of his breathing, and his screaming put you into this emotional trance like I couldn't believe. The way the screen turns read and shakes so violently as Soap rips the knife from his chest; and the first person view putting you as close to being inside Soap's head as a gamer can be. All of these things made this moment the most intense interactive cut-scene I have ever seen or experienced. It was truly a perfect climax to a simply stellar game, and that, was one of my favorite video game moments.

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Metroid: Other M New Game Play Trailer.

Killing Aliens, Liberating Worlds, Saving the Galaxy. These things are-all-in-a-days work for the beautiful and powerful Samus Aran; and it would seem that her skills are being called upon once again. Team Ninja, the renowned creators of Ninja Gaiden, have teamed up with Nintendo to create the next installment to the Metroid franchise. Metroid: Other M. So far all we have really seen are a few cinematic trailers and a short game play trailer. However, on Saturday, a new game play trailer was released! and it looks really, really awesome.

Video Games | Metroid: Other M | E3 09: Debut Trailer

XBox 360 | Playstation 3 | Nintendo Wii

^ I wish to know what that visor flash is every time she enters combat.

So damn cool. This trailer gives us a dose of the old weapons and power-ups that are iconic to Metroid, as well as the new style of outlandishly awesome acrobatics that Team Ninja is so good at creating. In my opinion this just screams: Great Freaking Game.

The combos and awesome that Samus acts out are just.... well... awesome.


I could not be more excited for this game. The First-Person-Shooter Metroid additions were a novelty at first, but I was never able to make it through one of the games, they were simply too.. big. They had the basic Metroid principles of running around, killing bosses, getting weapons and finding secrets. The problem in the 3D FPS versions is that, a 3D environment means a allot more space to find secrets. Where as with the 2D worlds, provided a admittedly less interactive world, but a world easier to handle. I was always able finfish one of the 2D games (the original game, and the remake on the GBA, Metroid Fusion etc) and I enjoyed the hell out of them . This game looks like a beautiful hybrid of the two. It has the aspect of the FPS's that made them unique as well as the nostalgic 2D feel from the old Metroid games that captured our imaginations back in the day. The weapons are just the same, and the new features that Team Ninja brought to the table make this seem like an awesome addition to an already brilliantly successful franchise. The game is set to release August 31, 2010.



I said awesome a lot....

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Bioshock Infinite Debut Trailer

Originally, 2012 meant two things for me. 1. I am going to graduate college and 2. We are all going to die a horrible, firey death, and not necessarily in that order. However, now I can add another thing to that list; the Release of Bioshock Infinite.

If you don't know anything about Irrational Games, they are the ones that made the original (and fantastic) Bioshock. Trust me, that game will be featured in an article at one point or another. After a related company took care of the equally great Bioshock 2, Irrational recently released a new trailer for their new contribution to the series, Bioshock Infinite. Click the link to watch.


Bioshock Infinite - 2K Games - GamesCom 2010
Uploaded by jeuxvideoandco. - Watch game reviews, trailers, and walkthrough videos.
^oooooooooh. Colors.

The original was famous for many reasons. One such reason was how claustrophobic and creepy it felt. Oh, it also took place under the ocean in a delapidated fallen society. A dystopia if you will. The new one takes to the skies in a brillant looking city afloat on hot air bags. Needless to say, it looks gorgeous. The patriotic atmosphere also screams xenophobia. In contrast with the typical "Give us your huddled masses" image that America tries to present, you now have signs that discourage the taking in and taking care of foreigners. It seems to take on the whole idea that the outside world is not to be trusted, which was a common view in the original Bioshock.Uncle Sam wants you... TO DIE!!!

We'll continue to update the blog with information over Bioshock Infinite as it becomes available. We are very exited for this one!

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The Outlaw's Favorite Game Moments 1: The Darkness

Warning! Spoilers, violence, and naughty words!!! Also, sorry that you have to copy and paste the URLs! But they are important.

Not many people know this, but The Darkness was one of my favorite games of early current generation. Every time I revisit it, I always find I've forgotten the few problems I have with it. It has everything most people who don’t actually play a lot of games would expect it to have; guns, demons, the mob, and so on and so forth. However, it is the things you don’t expect that make it great. Now, I could go on forever about how the great the voice acting is, how awesomely realized all the characters are (The villain is so bad he blows up the orphanage your character, Jackie, was raised in… Yes… He kills children), but the character I want to focus on is the love interest, Jenny.

Jackie is a man with a lot of problems. When he was young, a mob boss, “Uncle” Paulie, adopted him, taking him from the orphanage where he could have been with his sweetheart, Jenny, and forced him to be an enforcer. Jenny never knows what kind of work Jackie does for Paulie of course. On the eve of his 21st birthday, he finds out his “Uncle” wants him dead for something he didn’t do and he is forced to go on the run. He is then semi-possessed by a demon that his ancestor brought into the family. It’s good in a fight, but not so good for the whole “free-will” thing. However, all these problems seem to drift away when you find a chance to visit Jenny, who you have only talked to on the phone up until now, in her new apartment.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=InYpnU-dt-k
^I was in love the second I saw she had gotten me cake (Also, yes, that is To Kill a Mockingbird, and it is watchable in its entirety.)

Anyone who has ever just sat down to watch TV with a significant other late at night can attest to how real this feels. Some games, movies, and books utterly fail at making you feel attached to a character and the ones that succeed might take hours or even sequels to accomplish it. The Darkness achieves this with Jenny right away and this is extremely important for what happens later.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rW0tmdQnszE
^I posted the whole orphanage level because seeing Jackie’s memories can only add to the moment.

Yes, unfortunately, Jenny is murdered in front of you. Don’t worry, you see her again in a sense. However, I had never felt my gut drop out like it did when I saw this for the first time. I couldn’t believe they would kill off the most innocent character in the game. The point is, though, that when they did, it registered. Games kill off characters all the time. I’ve never stood agape at seeing my characters die in Modern Warfare 2. It made me hate the villain even more and I detested the darkness that made me watch it happen. The very thing that had empowered me now infuriated me. I’m no stranger to becoming emotionally connected to the characters I play as and interact with in games, but the Darkness was one of the first that made me feel it on the level I did. That is why it is one of my favorite moments.

Anything I forgot to mention? Have any suggestions for future articles? TELL ME IN THE COMMENTS!!!

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LEAST Favorite Game Moments, From The Elitist.

It didn't take me long to come up with this idea. It’s a little cliché and literally anyone and everyone who has played this game, will agree. It’s unanimously agreed upon that this moment in an otherwise fantastic franchise is possibly the most frustratingly annoying piece of crap level one will ever play. I’m referring to The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time’s…. Water Temple.

            I know, it’s almost a cop-out, but I suppose first one has to understand how much I love the Legend of Zelda, especially Ocarina of Time, but that will have to be a story for another day. So why do I loathe the Water Temple so? Well, that question has 3 answers: Awkward Underwater Combat, Butthole Dungeon design, and Bosses Who Are Annoying as Hell.

The theme in the Water Temple that makes it unique is…well…filled with water. Surprised? I hope not. Doesn't sound too bad, but you soon realize that even though you have really freakin’ awesome Iron Boots and a suave n’ stylish Zora’s Tunic, which together allow you to walk underwater without dying, LINK CAN’T USE HIS BLOODY SWORD!! (No pun intended) So as soon as you jump underwater, you find these piece-of-crap Shell Blades and Spikes among other frustrating monsters. As it turns out, the ONLY item that you can use underwater is the one and only Hookshot. Coincidently it can kill the underwater monsters.  For the Spikes, this works fine, they do not move much while they are vulnerable, but for everything else, If the enemy moves out of the path of the Hookshot after you fire, it sails right on past them (Relatively slowly) and then will come all the way back to you (If your fast enough, you can actually press the Hookshot button while its mid flight and it will come back to you, for another shot, I’d still rather have my sword) Of course, all the enemies that you face underwater have some vulnerable point, which they only expose to you for a short amount of time, and then continue to attack you with their advance in their invulnerable form, leaving plenty of opportunity to corner you and violently and maliciously tear Link apart.  Awkward Underwater Combat.

            The Dungeon itself was often awful enough to make me stop a play through; I would just dread the thought to having to re-solve the stupid puzzles in this temple. I’m not one to complain about the difficulty of a puzzle, but the Water Temples “puzzles” bring a new light to annoying and completely stupid. So as you might guess the physical components and layout of the Temple are convoluted enough while you are playing the game, and are even more difficult to describe out side of it. Through out the whole dungeon as you are picking up keys, compasses, maps and weapons, you are having to constantly plan for, at some point, reaching one of three nodes that allow you to change the water level. Problem is, you don’t get to choose where the water goes. Each one has a set level that it applies when you play your Ocarina in front of it, and you can only get to each node, if the water level is at a certain height already, so there is allot of backtracking, and allot of trying to find alternate routes(unless of course you just have the dungeon memorized I suppose) Allot of the Temple goes something like this:

Got a key, go change the water level, open this door with that key, shit, another locked door, go change it to a different water level, well I can’t get to the water level node B I need unless I go the first water level node, A, ok, now I’ve got the right water level. Another locked door, ok, that’s fine, explore this level a little cool, another key, why not just use this one on that first locked door? Oh yea.. I can’t put the water back down until I find the last water level node, C. I bet it’s behind that first locked door, ok Ill just go this way, another puzzle, I have to time my Hookshot to jump through this closing gate while being thrown around in a circle by the water current into a very very small room of angry monsters? Ok, shouldn’t be a problem.. Oh crap the monsters are killing me, damnit I’m dead. Continue, the water level is back to where it was at the beginning…::turns off game::

            If you read all that, I applaud you, but that’s about the gist of the Water Temple itself, plus having to deal with the awkward underwater, all-things-besides-the-most-mechanically-complicated-weapon-you-have-are-rendered-completely-and-utterly-useless-upon-being-submerged-in-water, play style, that’s Butthole Dungeon Design.

            Last, but not least, the Bosses. Now admittedly bosses are supposed to be hard, they are bosses after all right? Right, to an extent. Up until this point, and really for the rest of the game, Including Gannondorf himself, the bosses have been quite manageable. You might die two or three times if you don’t know what you are doing, but they are pretty straightforward Zelda bosses. The boss of the Water Temple, Morpha, is not really my biggest beef. In the link I posted there is a video, and while that guy is clearly pretty good, you can see why it’s frustrating. As soon as you reel in the little bugger, he flops back in the water after one sword swing. He will grab you, squeeze you, which does damage, and then throw you into spikes, which hurt you. Amoeba asshole. The most annoying part of this Temple, the final culmination of douchebaggery from the designers, is the Mini-Boss; Dark Link. I don’t know if I have some mental handicap when I get to this boss, but I freaking hate it. The concept is that he mimics you, he essentially is Link, just… a little less colorful, and more of a bitch. So as you fight him, he parries all of your attacks by swinging his sword at the same time. If you do Spin Attack: he back-flips. Use the Megaton Hammer: he back-flips. Use Dins Fire: he will be hurt, twice maybe three times, before he catches on and back-flips to safety (although some guides claim that it will hurt him everytime). Bow and arrow: blocks it with his shield. Bombs: back-flips. Hookshot: blocks. My personal favorite is if you stab him, he jumps on your sword, stands there for a moment gloating over you, and then stabs you in the face. Bosses, who are annoying as hell.                                                                                                                 

So, there ya have it, one of my least favorite moments in my gaming lifetime. I just want to say, that even though I whined about the Water Temple for 2 pages, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time is hands down my most favorite game in the world, and remains one of the best games ever made. Truly a Crown Jewel dedicated to Nintendo’s brilliance.

Also, here she blows; Parts 35, 36, and 37 are video walkthroughs of the Water Temple, if you so desire to see the pure evil yourself.  http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=FF4130CB393BB87A&sort_field=original&page=2

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Welcome!

Welcome, everyone, to The Outlaw and The Elitist. It's a simple blog dedicated to our favorite things: Video Games. The Blog is run by Chris Smith (The Outlaw) and Stephen Dickson (The Elitist). If you are cool enough, you might find out how we got our pseudonyms. The goal here is really just to have an outlet for a thing we love. As it stands, one writer will write a "Most favorite...", and the other a "Least favorite video game moment" article each time we update, and as more ideas come to us, we will write more (if YOU have any idea, let us know!). 
Follow us, tell your friends, comment, criticize, email us with suggestions. Love us, hate us, care not about us, we are just having some fun and hope that you will too!  

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