Pokemon Black/White 2 Review (DS)

Pokemon is back for another romp in the Unova region. The first numbered sequels ever to grace the Pokemon world bring with them a number of changes that makes an experience in a world you've probably already played through seem new and exciting. There are enough changes made to these games to make a playthrough very worthwhile.

The first major change was that the map has been added to. There are quite a few new areas to discover and explore through. Players are given the option to pick from the same set of starters as the first Black and White games. Black 2/White 2 are set two years after the first games, so the world has changed a bit. Some areas have been altered or new places to visit have been added to them, such as the Castelia Sewers in Castelia City. Two new gyms have been added, and two have been removed, with the other ones receiving a makeover in order to keep familiar players from getting through them too easily.

The Pokedex has been updated as well. There are now 300 monsters to catch right from the start, making Black 2/White 2 (Hereby referred to as BW2) the games with the largest regional Pokedex ever. The online features are very functional. The Global Trade System is a fantastic way to get Pokemon from all over the world that may not be available in the games.

Graphically speaking, BW2 look amazing for DS games. Nintendo really pulled out the stops to make the environments pull the players in. The camera angle adjusts from time to time to bring some focus to the environments or to emphasize the scope of wherever you may be. Offering an occasional sweeping vista, or a zoomed out shot while crossing a bridge. Everything runs smoothly, and the sprites look just like they should. Sprites look like they should, and move very well through the environments. The various Pokemon look fantastic and really pop on the screen. The added environments and modifications to familiar places help to keep the sense of exploration fresh. Route Four for instance, used to be a desert wasteland, now it's a semi-developed suburb between Nimbasa City and Castelia City. There are quite a few new cities and caves to visit through too, so make sure you're exploring everywhere.

The sound design is exactly what you would expect for a Pokemon game. Digitized audio tracks that are a couple minutes long and loop endlessly until you leave the area, Digitized monster cries during battle and interaction with them. No voice acting, just beeps and simplicity.

When playing a main series Pokemon most players know what they're getting into. Get a starter, go to different areas of the map, catch and train various monsters, beat the area gym and move on to the next one. Players end at the Elite Four and the Pokemon League Champion and upon victory become the champion themselves and are free to explore the world. There is a new starting area, which helps to really drive home the point that BW2 are not the same as the original games. Some areas are locked off until you become the League Champion, which is great, and allows you something to do after you beat the game. The story is pretty standard fare, nothing really remarkable comes from it. The expanded map and Pokedex allow the player a LOT more catching and exploring opportunities than in previous games.

Other than the standard catch/train/battle mechanics, there are some new additions to the formula. Pokestar Studios allows you to make short movies with your monsters and see how you do with an "audience". The Battle Subway returns, as does the music theater. There are a few more new additions like Join Avenue that allow the construction of shops and upgrade them depending on how social of a Pokemon player you may be.

All in all, Pokemon Black and White 2 are a fully realized version of what Pokemon should be on the DS. The developers put in a lot of work to make sure that these games keep the same mechanics in a similar land, but offered enough changes to make adopters not feel like they've played this exact game before with a few mild adjustments. Pokemon Black and White 2 have earned a perfect 10/10. See You Online.

NBA 2k13 Review (PS3)

NBA 2K13 Review (Sorry it's a little late guys, been having some issues)

2K Sports is back with the newest installment of their critically acclaimed NBA simulation series, NBA 2K13.  Widely considered the top franchise for sports simulation, NBA 2K is sure not to disappoint.  This year’s installment includes a very special guest on the creative staff, Brooklyn Nets partial owner and hip-hop mogul Jay-Z, who takes on the role of Executive Producer.  For the first time in 2 years, “His Airness” himself, Michael Jordan is not featured on the cover, but the Chicago Bulls are still represented with former MVP Derrick Rose sharing cover duty with Los Angeles Clippers’ forward Blake Griffin and the 2 time reigning NBA Scoring Champion Kevin Durant of the Oklahoma City Thunder.  This changing of the cover coupled with Jay-Z’s involvement points to a game that takes a step away from the tradition of your father’s NBA and into the modern day league.  However, if you are a basketball purist who longs for the days before “super teams,” there are more than 30 classic NBA teams to choose from in addition to the 1992 Team USA squad, more commonly known as “The Dream Team.”  Also included is the 2012 Team USA version of the Olympics from the London Games so you can settle once and for all which team was truly the better group of stars.

NBA 2K13 keeps gameplay relatively the same as in previous installations with a few minor tweaks.  This year not only does the right analog stick control shooting, but it can also control dribbling at the same time.  This is a major change in the gameplay experience because in previous years the stick could dribble or shoot.  Now you still have a wide range of dribble moves and fake outs that can be performed with various gyrations of the stick but once you hold down L2, the shot stick is activated allowing the user to execute many advanced shots not available by simply pressing square (although that is still an option).  Another addition to gameplay is “Signature Abilities” that certain stars and role players can posses.  These are things such as Kendrick Perkins being a “brick wall” and making it tougher for the opposition to drive to the hoop when he is in the paint or “floor general” that is attributed to many point guards that increases the offensive skills of teammates in the game with him.  There is even an ability possessed by players like Paul Pierce and Kobe Bryant that allows their game to become elevated in the fourth quarter.  These abilities are a welcomed addition to the way the game plays as it gives a more authentic feel to what you are accustomed to watching.

The popular My Player Mode from years past remains but is vastly different.  In addition to My Player, there is now a My Career that goes hand in hand with it.  These modes no longer focus simply on your player’s career on the court, but off the court as well.  Money has been replaced with Virtual Currency, or VC for short, which takes away some from the authenticity of the mode.  VC can also be earned from playing exhibition mode games and can be used in My Player, which again makes the whole experience less realistic.  The VC is used to purchase things such as game arrival suits, clothes to wear during Blacktop Mode, and gameday accessories (yes, if you want something as small as a headband you are going to have to fork out VC for it).  New features in this mode include having to choose between a sponsorship from Nike or Air Jordan (granted this happens after a mere 5 games) as well as meetings with the organization’s General Manager as frequently as you would like to discuss an array of topics.  This adds a sense of realism to the mode that it desperately needs.  The realism of the mode has sadly not been improved on otherwise.  As a mid-first round pick you are still gracing the cover of magazines and billboards before you even rack up time as a starter and you are idolized as the savior of a franchise even though you are a rookie bench player (think if Tim Tebow played basketball).  In keeping with EA Sports’ Madden NFL 13 which has Twitter in its career mode, NBA 2K13 has “social media,” an off brand Twitter that allows you to accrue a plethora of followers from current NBA players and legends to celebrities such as Pauly D and Justin Bieber (yes, the Beibs found a way into the game and can even be played as on the Celebrity Team).  These followers are gained by performing various tasks during your career.  For instance, if you nail a certain number of 3 pointers in a single game, Steve Kerr will follow you or if you dish out enough dimes, Magic Johnson will become a fan.  Overall the My Player/ My Career experience is fun, if not completely realistic.

I had an open mind about presentation going in with Jay-Z on board.  The 2K series is well known as one of the best, if not the best, sports simulation game available.  I was curious as to what Jay-Z would bring to the table.  The presentation definitely has a hip-hop flair to it with the visual designs that include volume bars and speakers.  There are stylistic lines during the Sprint Halftime Report and even on the score in the lower right hand of the games.  While this gives the game a more modern, youthful feel, it takes away from the authenticity of the experience.  It has no effect on the gameplay, but the television style graphics were a nice touch in years past.  The commentating crew returns this year and is once again top-notch.  If you were to close your eyes (while someone else is playing, I wouldn’t suggest doing this during one of your games) it sounds as if the game is a television broadcast with the laughter and jokes as well as statistics that are spewed out when necessary.  The in game audio is arguably the best for any sports game out.  The soundtrack has a definite Brooklyn feel to it with many songs referencing the borough and the numerous Jay-Z tracks present.  The soundtrack is not bad, but it is not what I expect with a basketball game.  One minute you are listening to Run This Town by Jay-Z and the next you are hit with Viva La Vida by Coldplay.  Some of the tracks left me scratching my head, but overall, you get used to it.

My experience with NBA 2K13 was overall positive.  The gameplay and commentating are once again this year unrivaled for any sports game on the market and are improving with every new installation.   My Player and My Career are enjoyable if not entirely realistic.  And with Jay-Z on board the 2K Team swaps out television style visuals for a more modern look and a soundtrack that could be slightly biased towards the new look Nets.  Overall the game was well worth the buy.  I gave it an 8.5/10.

Borderlands 2 (ps3) review

First off, let me say that I am typing this up on my phone so bear with me for spelling errors and such.

Borderlands was a good game. Solid gameplay and good graphics, minus some issues with the graphics engine and a story that might as well have not been there kept the game from living up to my hopes. Borderlands 2 fixes most of these issues and leaves the players with a more complete game that feels a lot like what the first one should have been.

The graphics are an upgraded version of the previous game's engine. There are major texture loading issues, especially while driving or changing chracter skins. With this being the.second game in the series with these issues, I'm beginning to think that it's an engine issue, not a programmer issue. The art style fits the game very well, with characters popping out a bit more in the environments. There are also some very sharp looking environments and sections of the.world to look at and explore through.

The sounds don't really need much said about them. The characters are voiced well, and there is a good bit of dialogue to listen too. It is well written and moderately funny. I particularly enjoyed the lead villain in the early game, he had several very good lines. Guns have a nice pop when fired, though jumping more than once or twice in a row makes your character sound a bit like they're in an adult situation if you get my drift.

 Short bit about the story. There actually is one this time, complete with double crosses, twists, turns, and predictability. The story is fun and does have a good group of characters involved, including some familiar faces from the first game. I won't give away any spoilers, but I will say that this story line will not be winning any awards, but it's still way better than the last one.

 The gameplay is identical to the last game. Get a gun, kill things/complete missions and get shiny new equipment. This game focuses heavily on what loot is dropped by the enemies. There are millions of weapons to choose from and a major satisfaction is finding the gun that fits you. I have found a sniper rifle that I.absolutely love, outside of Borderlands 2 I do not use snipers so it's an interesting change of pace for myself. The enemy AI has been upgraded making your enemies much smarter than they used to be. I noticed quite a few times where the enemies would take cover while I was aiming at them, or split off into smaller groups to try and flank me during a firefight. There have been some moderate tweaks to the level up system and a persistent challenge system that helps give you goals to work towards while playing. The skill trees are still broken up into three parts, however each one is considerably different than the others, offering more options for things to spend skill points on. Focusing your points into one tree can make your character a specialized badass, while spreading them out over two or three trees can make them into an average murder machine. I found with my Commando that I was leaning towards spending points in the column for my turret, giving it more time on the field, rocket pods, and specialized ammo. Other options would have given me more health, more ammo capacity, faster reloads, and things along those lines. So, the game helps you tailor your character to your play style a little bit more. The persistent challenge, or Badass Ranking is a system that carries over all of your characters. As you complete challenges which range from dealing X damage with this type of weapon to kill X number of a certain enemy, you gain Badass Ranks, which convert to coins. You spend these coins on very small upgrades, 1% or less than 1% to various stats, such as Max Health and Gun Damage. These carry over all of your characters on your profile and help give you a little boost in online multiplayer. The online game is just like the single player, except with friends or strangers helping you. The difficulty scales depending on how many players there are, and the more people that are playing, the better the loot that drops. That said, the loot is not for everyone, it's first come first served, so if you are playing with strangers this can be a serious problem.

All in all, I've heartily enjoyed Borderlands 2. I played through some of the first one and felt no need to try and make it to the end to see what happened, because there wasn't any kind of pull for me to get there. Borderlands 2 has fixed that, and brought the series a little farther in terms of what can be done with a game like this. I'm awarding an 8.5/10 to Borderlands 2. See You Online.