On the Console - Road Rage, Demi-God Anger and Shanks

Oh the ps3, its my mistress and like any good girlfriend on the side I have to constantly shower her with new things. The last couple of weeks she has been getting a-lot attention.

Twisted Metal

I have been waiting 11 years since Twisted Metal Black dropped and I am happy to report that this 2012 version of Twisted Metal kicks some serious ass. I am currently running through the Campaign/Story mode (normal) 3 things jump out at you.

1.- These cut scenes are AMAZING. Great storylines, sadistic subject matter, and Calypso is a twisted dude. Eat Sleep Play did a wonderful job meshing live action with special effects to create a unique visual storyline experience. According to the almighty internet they are making a movie out of Twisted Metal which in all honesty does not need to happen, just look at these cinematic scenes. I force my human girlfriend to sit down and watch the "The Twisted Fate of Sweet Tooth" She was thoroughly disturbed by the imagery and asked me if what we were watching was a movie. She shook her head and proceeded to make my dinner. (perks of a human gf).

2. THIS GAME IS HARD!!!!! As stated earlier I am playing on Normal and this game is not for the faint of heart. This adds to the gameplay plus I love challenging games but the main reason I am having so much difficulty is that you use every single button on the controller. The learning curve is a bit steep, but I am sure once my muscle memory kicks in I will be ready for playing the game on Twisted. Currently I am stuck on the dollface race, so HARD.

3. These levels are huge. Twisted Metal shines when it comes to level construction. One of my favorite moments in gaming was in TM2 when you got to blow up the Eiffel Tower and it crumbled right before you, no cut scene, no camera redirect, it just blew up in real time wherever you were in the game. The same can be said about the level construction for the most recent Twisted Metal, only this time there is a lot going on, stages are HUGE, moveable parts, lava pits, electric fences, and break away buildings only scratch the surface of the level madness. Eat Sleep Play better have held on to those programming cats who put some serious love into each and every level.

Truth be told I havent gone online just yet, have to beat the game first. I did set up a clan, but again havent been able to bust that feature open just yet. Wanna be part of my TM clan? Friend me on the PSN, name is MenglerMeng, in the body put "theroamingronin" and mention that you read this and boom, we will get down!

Totally get your road rage one and pick it UP

Asura's Wrath

Finally a game with a brown dude who is not a terrorist! Well sort of, but I'll take it. Far to long have Pakistani's, Indians' and people of Middle Eastern decent have watch as every other race's gets some serious shine while we make up side characters or villains. Sure you have Dhalsim , but no one plays with Dhalsim (fuck that noise) Rikku (FFX) Zasalamel (Soul Calibur) and Altai ibn-la'ahad (Assasins Creed) to name a few. That my seem like a substantial amount of representation, but its not. No one I know, especially the Pakistani's and Indians will even play with Dhalsim, Rikku was amazing in FFX/FFX-2 a few appearances in Kingdom Hearts but never the main character. Surprise, surprise Zasalamel is not in the latest Soul Calibur and dont get me started on Assassins Creed. How are you gonna steer away from a bad ass like Altir? I know we will make an even more bad ass version of this dude, but this time make him white from France, and we will base all of our future sequels on this, WHITE character. Ok, time to climb off my political horse, thanks for bearing with me.

Asura's Wrath is the best non video game video game I have ever played. The buzz on all the gaming blogs is how much of a non game it is, and for the most part they are all right, Asura's Wrath is much more than a game, its an experience to behold. Sure its riddled with quick time events, but oh these quick-time events are god of war epic. Each level is broken down into a T.V. episode format, with intro credits and a too be continued messages tagged at the end of every episode. Even the fill-in single picture anime sequences with subtitles had a old school film feel to it giving it an almost 8mm look. The gameplay is pretty fun, to bad there is not enough of it, not nearly enough. Have I beat the game yet? Nope, but when I do I'll tell ya.

This game is great for the people who like to watch video games, its got humor along with some serious action and a whole lot of yelling in the narrative, at times I though Asura was going to go super saiyan, but instead of getting all blue eyed and blonde (racism is killing me inside) you grow some extra arms, try doing that Vageta....

I am not going to ruin any of Ashura's Wrath with any spoiler alerts but I will say this, the story-line is all over the place, drawing a-lot of their lore from Hinduism and Buddhism yet there are references to western divinity as well (Mithra is Asura's daughter, Mithra is a god in ancient Rome {technically Mithra started out as a Persian/Hindu god but was incorporated into the roman god system}) Whoa I just dropped double parentheses, word.

As far as gameplay goes its like this, there are a lot of qte's. Though it does not make the game extremely challenging it makes the experience very dynamic. Throw in the fact that it is done "episode to episode" format instead of traditional level by level and each episodes gameplay is totally different from the last you have a very unique and FUN experience. For example the opening sequence I am flying through space killing Zerg-like starships, then by the next episode I am action platforming, etc etc.

So to die hard fans of Capcom and anime buy this game. Hardcore fanatics of game play should check this game out as well, the story is really REALLY good. Hopefully Capcom will make this into a Franchise Series and with a bit more actual game play this game could be a game changer.

Fuel your anger Asura Style and if your brave enough young gamer, go for it.

Shank

YES!!!!! The sequel to one of my favorite games ever. If you haven't played with the first Shank go out and download a copy. From the storyline to the cartoonish graphics to the voice acting kudos to Klie for making a truly kick ass true sequel.

The story picks up right where the last Shank ended. Only this time you just don't play as Shank, on certain levels you play with the female protagonist, Corina. There are some differences between the 2 Shank games, but for the most part Klie has improved this game hand over fist. This is not to say that its perfect, far from it. Klie took out the Story driven Co-Op (which was my favorite) and messed with the pick ups that you get in the game. Instead of Co-Op story mode Klie decide to make the survival mode Co-Op (both local and online) and the survival modes are crazy fun and get crazy hard. The furthest I have gone is to level 28, and after every10 levels or so there is a bonus Zombie round. Currently am working on beating the game on hard mode and have yet to hit level 30 in survival.

The game is only 9.99, so pull out the homemade shank and force your peoples to BUY IT!!!!! Best investment in gaming right now. Hopefully they will support remote play on the PS Vita, it would be the perfect game to play on that handheld.

Check out my picks and leave a comment. Let the trolling begin!!!!

Digital Downloading Freeze

So I am gearing to go up north, like 9 hours up north with the girl friend. So in keeping with proper preparation educate I went on a virtual spending spree. To bad the PS Vita didn't come out sooner, it would have been the perfect senario to break in the new tech. So what did I get?

Reactable Mobile

First on the list was Reactable Mobile. I wanted this dj set up ever since Bjork used it in Coachella performance in 2007, then I found it it was something like 8,000 Euro's. Luckily for me and every other broke ass wanna be dj Reactable has made a mobile app, and its pretty robust. Its $9.99 and have just scratched the surface of how effective of a tool this really is. I will say this, the learining curve is pretty steep. This maybe due to the fact that I have no idea what I am doing when it comes to using this interface and yet Reactable was smart enough to include both a quick guide and an in depth online instructional manual right into the App. Full review is coming, but check it out in action: You can see the shit get real at minute 4:47

also check out their site: http://www.reactable.com/

and buy it here: http://itunes.apple.com/app/reactable-mobile/id381127666?mt=8

Tapper World Tour HD

Whoever was a kid in the 80's and remembers arcades will remember this game. I consider it one of the first "tower defense" game I ever laid my hands on. The concept is simple, your a bar tender and you serve drinks by sliding them to thirst patrons as the start piling into your bar. If the patron gets to close to your edge of the bar, you lose a single life. The patrons also slide back empty glasses, lost a glass lose a life. You lose all your life its game over. I bough this 2.99 gem for nostalgia purposes only, and I had to TEAR myself away with the fear I was going to play it all night.

Check it: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/tapper-world-tour-hd/id421477146?mt=8

Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective

Capcom makes great handheld games, the only problem is that I really don't have a handheld gaming device. I do, however have an iPhone and when I hear Ghost Trick was coming out I had to check it out, plus the first 2 levels are free! It was like a mature ghostwriter (all the kids from the 90's chime in). You play a ghost of a recently murdered by this blue faced dude, and there is another ghost helping you with your new found powers (called tricks) as you shadow your killer shadowing and trying to murder a witness to your murder, a nosey redhead. How will this mystery unravel? I'll let you know in a review. One more thing to note, the music is FANTASTIC. Currently looking to download it all over the internet, throw me a comment if you know where to get it.

Check out the first 2 levels for free, then spend 9.99 on this sweet game: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/ghost-trick-phantom-detective/id489113377?mt=8

And the whole reason I stayed up all night is:

Shank 2

The sequel to one of my favorite games on the psn (Sooned to be named "SOE"), Shank is back in the aptly named Shank 2. Klei cleaned up the animation, switched up the controls and messed with how you roll with weapons. Again, I just started playing the game but already I know every time I fire up my ps3 this is what I am playing, that is until the new Twisted Metal drops on Valentines day. The only reason I stopped playing the first Shank was I got all the unlockables and trophies, and I am not an achievement whore by any stretch. It still in heavy rotation when I have friends come over. The new one is harder, but that's not a bad thing. Ill let you know all the bloody details in an a review, but for now just download it so later I dont have to tell ya, "I told you so" Plus its only $9.99 Now if only I had a vita and could download it there as well.

There you have, stimulating the economy 1 digital download at a time. I'll hook you up with reviews once I have logged in some "real" game time.