Andy ^{(65 Posts)}

I am not fond of swimming in the ocean for one pure reason, I have the fear of not knowing what is at the bottom that can potentially bite me. I can't say that helps in my relating to Hydrophobia, a new XBLA title from Dark Energy Digital in which the games main attraction is the water physics and the fear of drowning. Sadly, the game just leaves you soggy like a bowl of Cap'n Crunch.

Sonic The Hedgehog series was amazing to play on the Sega Genesis. The level designs, music, and how fast paced the action was made for many fun filled nights. I never played a Sonic game that was made after the Genesis since I thought it couldn't get much better than that. Having people tell me that I missed out on Sonic Adventure since I never owned a Dreamcast and how amazing the game was, I said to myself "maybe I was wrong?". With Sonic Adventure now released on XBLA and PSN, this was my chance to play what people tell me is one of the best Sonic games ever. Once again, I was right all along.

With Halo: Reach being the finale to a most beloved series, many wonder if it holds up as the perfect send off for Bungie. Not being privy to sitting down and playing Halo and Halo 2, I never understood why people loved Halo so much. Then again, the same can be said about the millions (including me) who love the Call of Duty franchise. Halo 3, for me, was my introduction and I had mixed emotions about it. On one hand I loved the level design and climatic music at the right moments. Also 4 player co-op was a joy to be a part of. I disliked the pacing of the story and lack of engagement the overall game gave me.

Like some of you, I didn't play Starcraft back in 1998. I don't have a long history with the series so I wasn't expecting to get caught up in the immense hype that is Starcraft II. I mean besides the hardcore competitive online play that would take too much dedication for me to get to a decent level of play, what does this series have to offer anyone on the outside of Real Time Strategy games? Simple, as I discovered: one hell of a great story.

Here is a novel idea. Let's make a game called Naughty Bear about a psychopathic stuffed Teddy Bear that is socially inept and pissed off cause he did not get invited to the birthday party (among other events throughout the story) thus with the help of a poorly British accent narrator, kills everyone. Another idea that was great on paper but the implementation fell way short.

Agent! We have a new threat to Pacific City: Mutated humans, or "Freaks" as we at the Agency like to call them, have taken over. Our efforts to contain the Freaks are being thwarted by Cell, a terrorist group bent on destroying the city. So Agent, it is your job to rid the city of trash and bring peace to the citizens once again. Are you up to the job at hand?