Wednesday, November 19, 2008

Gears of War 2

In November of 2006, Epic Studios released Gears of War. This third-person shooter immediatley captured the hearts of gamers across the nation. The developed characters, challenging campaign, and fun multiplayer mode combined to form one awesome video game, in my opinion game of the year (2006). After a successful Gears of War, Gears of War 2 hit the shelves in November of 2008. Gamers everywhere were anxiously awaiting its release. However, a big question arose: Would Gears of War 2 be able to fill the shoes of the original?

It only took a little bit of time to confirm that Gears of War 2 delivers in all categories. First, the story line is way more developed, incorporating a tragic love story between Dominic Santiago and his wife Maria. Second, the campaign is a lot more fun. Epic Games really made an effort to give the gamer opportunities to try something that they didn't get to do in the first game. For example, one gets to ride a reaver, control a brumak, defeat a gianst sea monster, drive a centaur, kill a massive worm from the inside, invade locust cities, and much more. Third, the multiplayer mode offers many new game types and maps. These new game types include: wingman, guardian, horde, and more. Not to mention the new maps of security, jacinto, avalanche, blood drive, river, day one, and more. The new COG characters include the new Carmine, Dizzy, and Tai. The new locust enemies inlcude brumaks, reavers, tickers, grinders, sires, scorges, and more. Fourth, the new weapons and execution styles cause the gameplay to be very gory, graphic, very cool, and very fun. All of this is delivered with great graphics. Gears of War 2 should easily be game of the year.

Sunday, November 2, 2008

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

"Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" was originally expected to premiere in November of 2008 (this month). After much anticipation and hype, Warner Bros. pushed back the movie's debut until summer of 2009. They reasoned that they would make more money if Harry Potter 6 became a "summer movie". Personally, I am disappointed. I was very excited for the new movie to air in November. This is Harry Potter 6, a movie that is being closely monitored worldwide. Warner Bros. would have made plenty of money. Even if they had to push back the movie, why couldn't they push the movie back until the holidays? Lots of families go to the movies during winter vacations, not to mention the fact that kids don't have school. I cannot understand this harsh move and find myself feeling disappointed in the Harry Potter franchise. Although this feeling of disappointment will fade as soon as the movie comes out, I still strongly disagree with Warner Bros. on this issue.

(movie)- courtesy of mugglenet.com