Rockstar Games has done it again. Max Payne 3 has been released for the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 this past Tuesday (with the PC version set for a release of May 29th) and is already receiving great reviews. So here is mine…

Getting right down to it, Max Payne 3 makes for fun gameplay and an overall fantastic cinematic experience. The events of this game take place several years after the death of the wife and daughter of the protagonist, er… what’s his name again? Forgetting names is totally a payne to the max…

Moving on, Max Payne (that’s it!) is a down-on-your-luck kind of guy battling a plague of demons with the help of liquid medication (as well as actual meds considering that pain killers heal your character when in game). The style of play follows a first person narrative style that is reminiscent of a 1930′s private investigative noir flick, but set in modern times.

As stated before, Max has lost his family and has now fallen on tougher times. He has recently taken up work as a bodyguard, adhering to the “once-a-cop-always-a-cop” motif. This brings our hero to the dangerous streets of Sao Paulo, Brazil where he provides private security to a very wealthy family. The irony is subtle in that Max must provide protection to the very people that he cannot stand, while he is still defeated by the deceased wife and daughter that he couldn’t keep safe. This emotional pull makes you really feel for the guy, even though the whole “avenging the dead family” has been done so many times.

We get the opportunity to know Max in more detail by his constant barrage of intelligently witty, and very metaphoric, monologue driven quips that Max blurts out throughout the game in his intrinsic narrative. These poetic descriptions give us, as the gamers and controllers, a look into the mental state of our hero. Some of these fantastically written quotes include: “All this unfinished business and all I could think about is my unfinished scotch”, “A drinker eats when he is loaded, a real drunk eats when he is not”, and my favorite “This town had more smoke and mirrors than a strip club locker room”. These narrations fill in the empty air that other video games fall victim to.

The story to Max Payne is not just another ransom, gun-for-hire experience. We see the game dig deeper than just keeping a wealthy man’s daughter safe. It soon take a turn into a “dog-chase-cat-chase-mouse” adventure. However, you have to find out who has the dog and cat on a leash, while providing protection to the mouse.

Now that the story is laid out, the next most important feature to a video game is gameplay. Max Payne 3 is a third-person shooter that gives the opportunity for gamers to be a little more proactive. Bullet slow down/speed up has returned as per Max Payne style. Bullet-time gives the gamer a chance to debut their directorial skills with a feature that never seems to get old and provides a newer feel to an otherwise traditional third-person shooter format.

Furthermore, lighting and sound provide another aesthetic to the dark and grungy environment. Subtle differences in light and sound make the gamer aware of other features of the environment, such as an upcoming cutscene or possible dangers that lie ahead. Dialogue is rich with scrolling, on-screen text for emphasis.

Lastly, if you are one of those people that try to Trophy/Achievement horde, take heed. Most of Max Payne 3′s trophies/achievements are harder than the population of a World of Warcraft convention when a female is present. This is also indicative of the overall difficulty of the gameplay. While playing on the normal setting, Max Payne 3 provided many challenging situations the required a few replays. However, I did not come across impossible situations. Although sometimes frustrating, I never got the feeling that I couldn’t beat a certain chapter. It would have been nice to have more frequent checkpoints, but that is still not a big enough issue to be considered a deal breaker. Also, controls can seem a little stuck when getting into heated battles and cover can get sticky. I would sometimes find my fingers scrambling for the right button when face-to-face with an on-screen enemy. Rockstar does combat this problem with providing aiming features such as Auto-Aim, which is reminiscent of Red Dead Redemption.

Max Payne 3 does provide a multiplayer feature including Deathmatch, Team Deathmatch, Payne Killer, and Gang Wars. These matches provided some amount of fun, but still seemed like just a small bonus to purchasing the game. Lets be honest, the majority of the game focuses on the rich single player gameplay.

In conclusion, Max Payne 3 is a great game for anyone to purchase or rent. Although controls can get clunky when in a sticky situation, the intuitive auto-aiming helps combat this problem immensely. This is a very well written and well directed game that provides for an amazing cinematic experience. Furthermore, it would not be Rockstar’s style if the game didn’t have equal blends of action, drama, sex, and violence that mix together for a fantastic story-telling play-through. Since we don’t have a formal rating system here, I give Rockstar’s Max Payne 3 a gold star, smiley face sticker, and three thumbs up…

Juliet Starling cares about three things in the post-apocalyptic world: saving her bodiless boyfriend Nick, keeping her trusty chainsaw running and sporting a spicy wardrobe while she obliterates the zombie onslaught. In Lollipop Chainsaw, Juliet will, of course, be in her signature cheerleader get-up, but a girl can never have too many outfits in her closet.  All of these threads are included in the full retail version of Lollipop Chainsaw for free and can be unlocked throughout the campaign.

Here are some brand spankin’ new screens and a trailer from the upcoming “Harley Quinn’s Revenge”. For those that have already completed “Batman: Arkham City”, you will have over 2 hours of new content which will allow you to alternate between Batman and Robin. This content will be available on May 29th as either a DLC or on the Game of the Year edition of BAC.

Payback’s a bitch, especially when dealing with The Joker’s most psychotic sidekick, Harley Quinn. Harley is the new boss of Arkham City and is determined to make Batman pay for what he’s done to The Joker. Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment and DC Entertainment bring to you today a new trailer and screenshots from Harley Quinn’s Revenge Pack, the final chapter of Batman: Arkham City saga that adds more than two hours of fresh single-player gameplay to the critically-acclaimed title from Rocksteady Studios. The Harley Quinn’s Revenge mission sends players back into Arkham City to face their final challenge as they interchange between playing as both Batman and Robin.

In 2011, we saw an abundance of outstanding console games. Skyrim, Portal 2, Skyward Sword, and Arkham City are among the list of many. Certainly more than enough to have satisfied the console-gamers…

Not this console gamer. I was quite the opposite. I was what you might call: unsatisfied. There was one game in particular that remained out of reach. A PC exclusive that seemed to be appearing on everyone’s best-of lists. One that made my PC’s capabilities feel pretty inadequate. This illusive game promised fine tuned action/RPG elements, gore, a mature storyline, and most notably: full frontal nudity… that game was The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings. A game I would never get to play, because my only request for PC system requirements were, regrettably, to “make sure it can run porn real good.”

Sure, you could argue that PC gamers regularly get the shaft in this gaming generation, that exclusive titles have positive impact on the PC software business (or something), and that the devoted PC gamer deserves the occasional limited release… But then I could make the strong argument that: “me want to play this game.”

Months and months filled with bitterness and envy would pass, but my selfish expectations and behavior would be justly rewarded. “Justly”, as in just last month, The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings  was released for the Xbox 360, allowing me to play it with vigor. Here’s my synopsis:

If you’ve even glanced at anything in the gaming media last year, you have seen raving reviews for this game. Those reviews are well-deserved. As much as I would like to stylishly end the review right there, I’ll get into a few more details you might find interesting.

The true highlight of this game is within the narrative. It begins with the game’s protagonist, Geralt. While it seems he’s presented as the anti-hero, Geralt turns out to be quite the humanitarian. Although his methods can be somewhat brutal and his past is a bit on the shady side, he imparts good where he can even if the player takes him along a more violent path. What was interesting to me is how Geralt is essentially a pawn in the events that are unfolding. You can merely influence this corrupt circle of lords and politicians that are all conspiring against each other to either climb the ranks or rule the kingdom altogether. Sometimes this requires you to assist the men you might otherwise oppose, whether it’s for self-preservation, the safety of your friends, or what you believe is the greater good of the realm. The ambiguity of it all gives a significant weight of realism and drama to the story as well as the role that you play within it. With no obvious side of good or evil to take and no clear cut right or wrong decision, the realistic decision-making leaves you feeling just as your character Geralt does: you want no part in all of this, but concurrently, you are given no choice.

As strongly as the main character is written, the supporting cast is even better. Quality voice acting brings that feeling of grit and raunchiness in the middle ages all the more authentic and engrossing. From the lower rabble to the oppressive royalty, from the common townsfolk to the hardened warrior, it’s all spot on. With an amazing stand-out performance you have to hear for yourself by first-time voice actor, David Annen, as the subtly disturbing and sinister Dethmold. (A role a certain academy would have their eye on if this was a different form of entertainment, but that’s a whole other topic.)

The harsh and unforgiving nature of the world is captured in a fully realized and cohesive art-design that spans villages stricken with poverty, war-torn cities, lush forests, and dank dungeons and caves. The danger of mercenaries, bounty hunters, and imaginatively conceived creatures are looming throughout the game, encapsulating the player in a world of danger and unease. It’s a seamless blend of the corrupted modern day politics, the savagery of the medieval age, and the classic lore of fantasy that rivals the book series “Songs of Fire and Ice” (now the television series, “Game of Thrones”). It especially holds up in the gratuitous sex-scene department, delivering many bonus boobs!

Unfortunately, the gameplay itself was not without its faults. I felt the highly regarded battle system was flawed. While it was responsive and offered many tactical options, there were very few instances where you had the ability to employ them. There were some shining moments. One moment in particular occurred when I was squaring off with a mage that would teleport just before I could get within reach to attack. The mage thwarted any magic attacks that I attempted with a barrier. Stumped, I finally had an idea as I ran through my arsenal of spells, one of which being a trap that hinders movement. I had to first pay attention to his teleportation patterns, and then set the magic trap at one of the spawning points. Then after it snared him, I was able to approach and satisfyingly land my attacks against the coward. Unfortunately, there weren’t many more scenarios to explore or encourage strategies like these, even at the highest difficulty setting, leaving the combat a bit shallow. The tried and true tactic of attack-and-dodge was all too effective throughout the course of the game, leaving very little challenge to be made.

In conclusion, the pros highly outweigh the cons for The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings. The game offers a wide spectrum of character customization: Weapons, armor, crafting options, potion brewing, ability trees, experience points. A fusion of the good stuff we have come to expect of character development in the western RPG. The Witcher 2 fell profoundly short of being inventive on the gameplay front. Furthermore, it did not deliver on the “full frontal” promise (“Dante’s Inferno” remains the lone warrior in the industry for penis rendering). Aside from that gleaming flaw, this game is amazing. (And on a serious note: Is it too much to ask that you take me seriously despite that last comment?).

The developer, CD Projekt Red, has done everything right. They delivered a PC-to-console port that bared no differences or shortcomings from the original, (they even went and added exclusive content to this console release). They join the ranks of developers like Bioware, Irrational, and Bethesda in strengthening the reputation of the gaming medium as a viable and respected form of art.

CD Projekt Red worked hard to bring this outstanding game to the masses of the console gaming market, so we have to show our appreciation and support by purchasing this fantastic piece of work. It shows the publishers that it is worth the time and money to port these amazing PC titles. As of this posting, The Witcher 2 has reached the 200,000 unit sales mark. I’m no game-sales rocket scientist, (it’s real, Google it) but those figures might not convince more publishers to port. With our combined strength (of money) we can end this destructive conflict and bring order (no PC exclusives) to the gaming galaxy! Join us, and we may be crawling the dungeons of Sanctuary on consoles sooner than later. A worthy and unselfish cause, I think.

After a long, strenuous day of decapitating zombies and eating strawberry lollipops, the last thing Juliet wants to worry about is her dirty wardrobe. Getting rid of the bits of decaying zombie flesh, massive amounts of blood and that putrid undead smell from her cheerleader outfit is no easy task.

Enter ZOM-BE-GONE, the latest in detergent technology from Lollipop Chainsaw. With ZOM-BE-GONE, Juliet’s clothes transform from “caked on spleen to totally clean!”

Check out the how the real-life Juliet gets rid of her toughest clothing stains with ZOM-BE-GONE.

Check out the video below and see how Lollipop Chainsaw transformed an ordinary school bus into a vicious vehicle of sex, blood and rock ‘n’ roll.

It’s easy for fans of the “Resident Evil” series to get excited for any title that bears the name of the popular franchise. We got our first look at ORC last year at E3 in Los Angeles and this week Capcom released “Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City” on the PlayStation 3, XBOX 360 and PC and the toxic reviews are hitting the internet hard as the media has voiced its distaste for ORC.

As someone who feels he can look at things pretty objectively as a gamer and not as critical as many in the media world, I’ll try to be short and to the point and let you decide if “Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City” is for you.

Before I even popped the game into my XBOX, I decided to look into the story a bit to find out what exactly was happening in the series as I hadn’t played a RE since 4 released on the Nintendo GameCube. This is what I found:

It is September 1998 and the action centers on the ill-fated Raccoon City. When the Umbrella Corporation learns that one of its top scientists, Dr. William Birkin, plans to sell the experimental G-Virus to the US Government they order an elite team of Umbrella Security Service (U.S.S.) soldiers led by Hunk into their secret research facility to secure the only known sample of the virus. The operation takes a turn for the worse when Dr. Birkin injects himself with the last vial, mutating into a deadly creature, G-Birkin and over powering the team. During the battle the deadly T-Virus is leaked into the sewers and spread through Raccoon City, infecting the entire population.

Hearing of the outbreak, the U.S.S. team is given fresh orders to destroy all evidence of Umbrella’s involvement and silence anyone that might discover the truth. The Umbrella Biohazard Countermeasure Service (U.B.C.S.) are also deployed to help contain the situation. Meanwhile the US Government has quarantined the city and dispatched its own team of special operatives to determine the source of the mysterious outbreak. Caught up in the chaos are rookie police officer Leon S. Kennedy and Claire Redfield.

I immediately took interest as it sounded like a show JJ Abrams would have produced. You are part of a team who is sent in to clean up Umbrella’s mess and you have to do your job at any cost.

The first thing I noticed was that the controls were similar to those in the recent RE titles and much more user friendly. If you have played 3rd person (or even 1st person) shooters before, you probably won’t struggle much and will be able to jump right in and play.

Once you’re in the game, it doesn’t take long to pick out some of ORC’s flaws. The AI characters on your team lack “intelligence” and can be more of a hindrance than an asset. The level designs are a bit bland and though the framerates are smooth, even with a lot of detail going on, there just isn’t much visually that will blow away gamers. On top of that, the game is extremely dark. Not the fun dark that you could turn off the lights and get scared to, but rather dark to the point where you don’t even know if you are being attacked or not.

Another problem I had, is that this game is just tough. I don’t mind a decent challenge but I wanted to get the gist of this game in order to get a review up and even on the casual difficulty, I found myself running out of health and ammo way too fast and getting my ass handed to me by the very first creature that doesn’t resemble a human (though the glitching didn’t help much).

The reason it has taken a bit of time to get a review up is because I wanted to step away from the game and reexamine it with a fresh mind. Instead of trying to progress on my own, I called up a few friends and Co-Op’d it for a few hours.

This made me see the game in 2 different lights: either this is a horrible game that you should not even bother playing solo or this is a fun game that RE fans can play together Co-Op. Who doesn’t love the idea of plowing through zombies with some familiar “Resident Evil” content?

The bottom line is, don’t run out and buy this game with the full expectations of it being another installment of the “Resident Evil” series. It’s not, and fans will be able to get their hands on RE6 later this year. This is a game that won’t win game of the year but is pretty fun to play over PSN or XBOX with your buddies.

Tuesday March 6 marks a major milestone in the gaming community. No, I’m not talking about the much hyped release of Mass Effect 3. On March 6, 2012 MLB 2K12 hits stores and while there’s nothing especially significant about the title itself (in fact most MLB 2K games are more or less meh at best) it should be noted that this will officially be the final game released for the Playstation 2. Now you’re probably thinking to yourself, “They’re still making PS2 games?” Yea, I thought the same thing considering the PS3 has been on the market for about 5 and a half years, but this final release just goes to show what kind of legacy the PS2 is leaving behind.

So in honor of the bestselling video game console of all time, I thought I’d throw together a mini retrospective on how the PS2 forever changed the market.

Your PS2 as a DVD player:
With the Playstation 2, the days of blowing into cartridges was nearly at an end. Sony adopted the DVD format for their games which allowed manufacturers to put a huge amount of data onto a single disc. Whereas many blockbusters such as Metal Gear Solid and Final Fantasy VII were laid out over multiple discs on the original Playstation, the pain in the butt that was switching between disc 1 and 2 and 4 during a game was no longer an issue with the PS2.

More importantly, using the DVD format helped transition the Playstation 2 from just a video game console to a legitimate home entertainment system. In the eyes of many, consoles were merely overpriced kid’s toys. Yet utilizing the PS2 as a DVD player helped the video game community grow up quite a bit. Flash-forward to today’s generation and consoles are no longer marketed solely for gaming. The claim that “the Playstation 3 only does everything” helps justify the very high price tag that it has confidently carried since launch. Would you be willing to drop half a grand on a video game console? Probably not. But what about a console, blu ray player, internet browser, Netflix streamer, etc etc?

Your PS2 as an online gaming system:
Along with X-Box Live and to a lesser extent the Sega Dreamcast, the PS2 combined online gaming with mass market appeal. Whereas gamers had been connecting over the internet for many years via mega blockbusters like Starcraft and Quake, the community was made up of a very specific niche. Console games streamlined the experience. You didn’t have to worry about having to upgrade your rig to run the newest expansion pack; everyone had the same console with the same bells and whistles. Just plug in and play. This allowed literally millions of people to connect who couldn’t afford nor understand the complexities of a PC that could cost thousands of dollars.

Online console gaming was just the beginning and gave a preview of where the market was heading. Connectivity would of course also fuel the transition to home entertainment system. Netflix, Hulu, YouTube, Facebook are just a few of the big names that run through your current gen console. The PS3 and X-Box 360 currently account for 30% and 25% of the Netflix’s streaming usage.

Your PS2 as a next gen console:
Before there was the Kinect or the Move or even the Wii, there was the EyeToy. (Of course before the EyeToy there was the Dreameye, but let’s not get into that). With a limited library and only so so functionality Sony still managed to push about 10.5 million units of their then futuristic piece of hardware that allowed players to use their bodies as controllers. While many categorize the current state of motion gaming as little more than gimmicky, there is little doubt that this is the next evolutionary step in gaming. The bold innovation behind the EyeToy set this cornerstone as it proved that 1. There is a market for this type of gaming and 2. Companies are ready to invest big bucks into thinking outside of the box.

Your PS2 as a PS1:
The idea of backwards compatibility is an ingenious one. Upon launch a console will already have hundreds if not thousands of titles ready to play. The PS2’s ability to play original Playstation games was a huge feature that helped boost early sales. It also shows that gamers are still so passionate enough about their classic titles that publishers have begun to put out HD remasters of these classics (though many will argue that this is not a good thing). While current models of consoles no longer allow you to play older discs, there has been an emerging market for downloadable software. If you want your fix of the original Resident Evil games, you can easily download them for only a few bucks instead of scouring eBay. The bigger impact that this trend alludes to shows that consumers are becoming increasingly willing to forego the purchase of physical copies by simply downloading games from online stores.

All in all, the Playstation 2 has been creating games for an astounding 12 years. While it cannot (and I definitely do not) claim that it was solely responsible for the state of gaming as stands now, there exists some credence that because it has sold over 5 times the amount units than its fellow 6th generation console peers combined, the finger prints of the Playstation 2 may show a little more noticeably. In the end, MLB 2K12 may turn out to be the worst game ever made, but it has been given the noteworthy distinction of being the swan song of one important pieces of technology of the past decade.

And in case you were wondering, Microsoft and Nintendo’s 6th generation consoles ended their life spans with a couple of Madden titles: Madden 09 back in August of 08 for the original X-Box and Madden 08 back in 2007 for the GameCube.

It’s time to party like it’s 1775! Ubisoft has released a new trailer for “Assassin’s Creed 3″ and the rumors were true, the game will be taking place in North America during the Revolutionary War.

We expect a playable demo sometime around E3. Until then, keep checking in and we’ll bring you the latest on any AC# news.

Last night in downtown Los Angeles, Capcom held the launch party for Street Fighter X Tekken. Tucked away in an abandoned bank vault, 1000 gamers played the new game on over 50 stations complete with Madcatz custom arcade sticks. A special appearance was also made by Street Fighter producer Yoshinori Ono, who signed posters and mingled with fans. After recently joining the large community of horrid Marvel Vs. Capcom players I was a little curious as to how the new Street Fighter X Tekken would play out. I was kind of surprised to see how Capcom took elements from both Street Fighter 4 and Marvel Vs. Capcom to make a more strategic fighting game.

The first thing you will notice in the menu screen is having to pick two primary characters as opposed to three in Marvel Vs. Capcom. However, you must alternate between your characters frequently for both combos and survival. My first fight ended with Ryu getting his ass handed to him by Akuma, not a big deal at the time since I had my partner, Major Bison, ready to takeover for him. WRONG. The moment one of your characters die it is round over, unlike Marvel Vs. Capcom that let’s you use all three fighters lives. So does this mean the end fighting games as we know it? No it sure doesn’t, in fact I actually really, really, really liked it.. A lot.

The user interface is not too different from what fans of Street Fighter IV or Marvel Vs. Capcom 3 have come to expect. Fans of these series will find this title familiar and should have no problem finding a match online easily or deciding to play through the story mode. Like the other titles, you can take advantage of the feature that allows you to be challenged while playing through the story mode.

With Street Fighter X Tekken leading the way for Capcom’s spring takeover with games like Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City and Dragon’s Dogma, the gaming season is off to a great start. Street Fighter X Tekken comes out next week on March 6 for both the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3. Recently announced was a portable version of the game with touch controls heading to the Playstation Vita this fall complete with 12 bonus characters. Last night at the event it was confirmed that the bonus characters from the Vita version of the game will be released for the consoles, but info on how will released later on.