Castlevania: Lords of Shadow Review

Hello and welcome to another edition of The Doctor's Prognosis! It's been a few months but I'm done with finals and ready for Winter vacation! I'm still working a lot but at least I have some free time again.

Now back in October, where I usually spend my time watching horror films, I decided to play Castlevania games instead. So here is the first of three reviews I plan to do...

Castlevania: Lords of Shadow Review (XBox 360)

The Castlevania series has seen a lot of success as a 2D series on the older consoles and as modern handheld games. However, the acclaimed series has had a few fumbles when it comes to its 3D iterations. Now, from developer Mercury Steam and Kojima Productions, comes Konami's latest 3D Castlevania, Lords of Shadow. Does Lords of Shadow deliver where previous incarnations have failed? Yes and no.

LoS is a reimagining of the Castlevania series and is not related to the original series canon. Set in the year 1047, this Castlevania once again features a Belmont as the protagonist. Gabriel Belmont is on a journey to both expel the evil forces of the land, and resurrect his dead wife with an ominous relic known as the God Mask. Helping Gabriel accomplish his goals is his chosen weapon, the Combat Cross.

Lords of Shadow's hero, Gabriel Belmont, with the Combat Cross.

The game begins with a tussle with some lycans (werewolves for the uninitiated) in the rain. A basic tutorial to become acquainted with the controls. The Combat Cross is basically a big cross-shaped hilt with a retractable chain whip. Not too unlike the Vampire Killer whip from previous games in the series. Basic moves include attacking a single enemy, a wide attack for covering your back, dodging, blocking, and a grab attack. There is also a return of subweapons such as holy water and daggers, as well as a couple new ones (fairies and a crystal).

Killing enemies nets you experience points which you can use to purchase upgrades to your attacks including new moves, combos, and enhancements. As you progress, you also gain access to magic which will open up how you can fight. Light magic is generally for healing and defense, while Shadow magic is for offense and damage. Learning to use your magic and weapons effectively is fun and challenging.

Fortunately for Gabriel, the Combat Cross can be used as a stake!

Overall, the fighting feels a lot like God of War. This is not a bad thing since that fighting system is good. You wear down the enemy until you give the killing blow, usually a quick time event style deathblow like God of War employs. However, it takes a while for the game's fighting system to hit its stride. It can be pretty tedious for about the first third of the game. But even once you open up more skills and combos, you might find yourself relying on the same combos even later in the game. But the potential for fun is there if the player experiments with the magic system, combos, and subweapons.

Boss fights are particularly well done. The series has always had good boss fights and this iteration is no different. They range from easy to very difficult, and will test your wits and abilities. You have to be quick with the dodge to survive. In fact, many boss fights can be won by focusing on a couple quick strikes and then dodging. These fights can be very intense and will sometimes require the use of magic or abilities to win. Many also feature dramatic quick time events to win and help tell the story. Fortunately, these fights can be very fun, very challenging, and also very rewarding. Some bosses will even look familiar to long time Castlevania fans.

A very menacing vampire boss.

Enemies vary from lycans and giant spiders, to specters and animated armors. Many of the enemies are very much a part of previous Castlevania games, and defeating them unlocks information in the beastiary just like previous games. However, there are some new ones such as goblins and trolls. It seems the developers wanted to make something of a dark fairy tale as opposed to the straight-up horror-inspired iterations of the past. Even Pan, a mythological goat god of sorts, makes an appearance. While some may complain, these creatures are not too far from the Castlevania creature spectrum that they do not feel like they belong. And more importantly, they are fun to kill.

"Use the fo-" "The force?" "The fork! Use the fork!"

The only problem is that goblins, trolls and lycans are far too generic, and far too common for about one third of the game. This is what leads to some of the tediousness of the early game. But fortunately, it gets better as the game goes along.

For the umpteenth time..... *yawn*

However, I would be remiss not to mention the worst enemy in the game, the chupacabra. First of all, it does not make any sense why it is even called that. Chupacabras are usually known as "goat suckers." They are most often depicted to be odd spined creatures that are quick and drain the blood of their prey. In this game, the chupacabra is a mysterious, magical little man-creature-thing that wears a hooded robe and steals your magic and relics, making the game tedious and annoying for a while until you catch it. How someone would confuse this annoying creature with a blood sucking creature is a mystery. They are nothing alike. Chupacabras are extremely annoying and mostly serve to artificially lengthen the game for a short amount of time.

"My name makes no sense."

Also of note are Titans. If you have played Shadow of the Colossus, then you have an idea about these enemies. Titans are large enemies you must climb in order to attack the magical runes that make them work. Using your platforming skills is essential in defeating these enemies. They can be tough and require a lot of good timing to make your way from rune to rune.

"Pfft..... that's not so big."

Now, aside from all the fighting, thankfully, platforming breaks up the monotony. You must jump across large chasms, as well as shimmy along steep cliffs. The Combat Cross doubles as a grappling hook to help you traverse the levels as well.

"Wee!"

If Lords of Shadow had to be compared to a previous game, Super Castevania IV would be it. Both feature open landscapes mostly outside a castle. In fact, both feature a similar map screen showing its Belmont's path to the end of the game. Thus, LoS eschews the popular Metroidvania style for a more classic, linear adventure. However, there are plenty of secrets to uncover, such as hidden gems that lengthen your life and magic bars, as well as upgrades to the amount of subweapons you can carry. You have to explore the levels thoroughly to find them. The map screen even shows your completion percentage and what you have left to do. Completionists will also want to beat each level on the hardest difficulty as well as complete extra challenges that unlock after finishing the levels. Fortunately, you can go back to any level at any time you wish.

Maybe a bit un-Castlevania-like.

While lush green landscapes may not sound right in the Castlevania series, there are plenty in LoS that do. Ancient ruins, burning villages, underground caverns, and desert wastelands are some of the great settings in this game. The only downside is that it takes a while to build up to these settings. In fact, going back to the first third of the game feeling somewhat tedious, the first third also somewhat feels like a different game. As mentioned, it is almost like they were going for something more fairy-tale like. And after a third of the way through, Konami came in and made them go a different direction. As if they came in and said, "This is a Castlevania game now." And it gets better after that first third because of it. In fact, there are some great staples from the series here such as a library, clocktower (complete with lots of platforming), and of course, a castle full of vampires.

Now THIS is very Castlevania-like.

The game also has plenty of puzzles for further variety. Unfortunately, the puzzles are hit or miss. Some are just environmental puzzles where you figure out what to push or pull and where in order to advance. Others are a bit obtuse. Overall, they are welcome to help with pacing, variety, and fun. But some could have just been left out.

So...... what the $@#% am I supposed to do now?!

Further dragging this game down are the technical issues. First, the camera is static. There are no camera controls. This is not too bad as for the most part the camera does not get in the way. But it is a bit archaic compared to most games today. Furthermore, the camera is shaky a lot. Sometimes it seems like this is done for effect. Giving an ominous feeling to what is going on. Other times, it feels like they just did not know how to make it steady.

However, the biggest flaw is that when you are confronted with multiple enemies there is considerable slowdown. The game even came to a complete stop when swarmed with a myriad of specters at once during the third act of the game. It should be noted, that this happened only a few times (maybe 3 or 4) during gameplay for me and during the final third of the game. However, it seems this can vary from person to person from some research I did. It is a shame because the game actually looks great both graphically and artistically. Unlocking game design pieces is definitely one of the highlights of this game.

My game looked a lot like this photo.... completely still for several seconds!

While this review has been nitpicking, there is also plenty of positive in this game. In particular, the voice acting and story are superb. The narrative is interesting and keeps you playing to find out Gabriel's fate. Throughout the game, each level is narrated by Gabriel's comrade Zobek, played by Patrick Stewart. The best part of these narrations is that they throw in a lot of winks towards long-time Castlevania fans. Furthermore, while I will not spoil anything, the ending is quite good. And it definitely makes one wonder where Konami will go with this new series.

"Gabriel Belmont will make those vampires cry bloody tears with that cross of his. You could call it a real vampire killer. Hang in there dear friend. Vanquish the symphony of the night with your iron blue intention you tragic prince. Soon we will dance of pales to the moonlight nocturne....." *wink*

The sound department also did an amazing job in this game. You feel like you really are in the environments. The music is also fantastic which is reassuring due to the series' pedigree in that department. Unfortunately the soundtrack is missing classic songs from previous games. There is one classic song that pops up in a surprising format which is a nice touch. While not necessary, it would have been great if they could have worked in some more of the classic music. But what they have is great already.

Castlevania fans have long been dreaming of that great 3D game to finally hook them in and this game definitely has a lot going for it. Despite the slow start, the game slowly gets better the more you dig into it. The player is rewarded with experimenting with combat and exploring previously visited levels. And the game definitely gets going upon completion of the first act, only getting better with the second and third act. And the truth is, that while Lords of Shadows does borrow elements from God of War and Shadow of the Colossus, it borrows the best parts, while mostly staying true to what Castlevania is about. What we have is a flawed, but very good start for Castlevania in the next-gen. If Konami can address the issues with the first game, Lords of Shadow can spawn a really great 3D series to complement the original 2D one. Unfortunately, the technical flaws and slow beginning bring this otherwise enjoyable game down a notch. Thus, Castlevania: Lords of Shadow earns a 7.5 out of 10.

"Where do you go Belmont's theme?" *wink*
"Quiet you!"

Talk about dissection! Don't let my nitpicking deter you from checking this game out. If you are a Castlevania fan, this game is worth a playthrough. I was hoping to do reviews for Order of Ecclesia and Harmony of Despair so keep an eye out for one of those soon.

Happy holidays to you all and happy gaming!

See you again soon!

Super Mario Galaxy 2 Review

Hello and welcome to a long overdue edition of the Doctor's Prognosis! I am your humble host, Dr. C-LOS. Been very busy with work and school but everything is going really well. In the spirit of the month of Halloween, I have been playing both Castlevania: Lords of Shadow on the 360, and Castlevania: Harmony of Despair for XBox Live. My friend pointed out that Castlevania: Lords of Shadow abbreviated is C-LOS. :P

Now on to the main event!

SUPER MARIO GALAXY 2 REVIEW

Super Mario Galaxy won the coveted Doctor's Prognosis' Game of the Year award back in 2007. So this sequel had a lot to live up to. Would Nintendo simply rest on their laurels and churn out the same old kind of stuff we saw last time? Fortunately, they did not.

The whole game could have looked like this and we all would have still bought it.

While SMG2 does indeed have many similarities to the first game (collecting stars, crazy gravity, etc.), the developers went out of their way to inject fresh challenges throughout. For example, Nintendo could have relied heavily on the old power-ups such as Ghost Mario and Bee Mario. Instead, while still present, these power-ups are scarce. Thus making room for the new power-ups such as the boulder-like Rock Mario, and the platform-creating Cloud Mario. Such new power-ups create new challenges for Mario to overcome.

My favorite new power-up, Cloud Mario, can create up to 3 platforms anywhere!

One of the best new power-ups, is also an old friend: the return of Yoshi! Point the Wii remote at enemies on screen to help Yoshi gobble them up and earn you star bits. Yoshi, just like the other power-ups, presents new challenges to overcome such as using Yoshi's tongue to swing around the levels, or eating certain fruits to gain even more abilities. One such fruit is the blue fruit which turns Yoshi blue, fills him with air, and allows him to float around for a bit. Red fruits make Yoshi red and give him the ability to run really fast for a while. Learning to use Yoshi will get you very far in the game and is a big part of the fun and challenge.

Yoshi changes color and gains special abilities when he eats certain fruits.

Of course with all the new power-ups comes some great new level designs creating new challenges whether it is tailored to using the power-ups, or simply testing your timing and patience. Nintendo got very wicked with their level designs and present a game even more challenging than the previous one. Difficulty will range from very easy, to extremely hard.

Awesome boss fights are another part of the fun and challenge.

The beauty about SMG2 is that it can appeal to anyone of any age and of any ability in playing games. There are many ways to go throughout the game and collect stars that new gamers can avoid the more difficult levels and challenges. Meanwhile, hardcore gamers will relish the difficulty of obtaining every star (this reviewer lost about 50 men, and the feeling in his arms, just to get the final star).

You might feel like this after getting all the stars. I did.

Also worth mentioning, the music is just as good as the previous game. Once again, Nintendo did not rest on their laurels and composed a lot of new music. Of course, there are some from the last game, but those are used sparingly. And of course, there are still arrangements of Mario games of yore. But they always seem to be used where it seems most appropriate as opposed to just being thrown in for nostalgia sake. And more importantly, purple coins are back (in both the level and musical sense)!



As has been the focus of this review, Nintendo could have indeed been lazy and churned out a game very similar to what we had in the first Super Mario Galaxy and it would still have been a great game. But instead we have an incredible game with some imaginative level design, and some wicked difficulty. The game is also much more streamlined, eschewing the giant spaceship world hub for a Mario-shaped spacecraft that will quickly take you to the level you want. And while it would be pushing it to say they raised the bar as much as they did with the first SMG, it would also be extremely difficult to find anything objectively wrong with the game. This is a game where if you die, it is your own fault. Not because the camera was in the way, or because the game was unfair, but because you timed your jump incorrectly, or pushed the analog stick too far to the right. There are not many games like that out there but Mario usually seems to fit into this category. And this Mario game definitely fits into that category. And that is why, with some hesitation, and still unable to come up with any good reason to the contrary, Super Mario Galaxy 2 gets a 10 out of 10.

"Yahoo!" "Yoshi!"

I hope you enjoyed my review! I almost did not give the game a 10 because of the motion controlled levels. It was my least favorite part but I realized I still could not put my controller down and had fun doing them. And they were really challenging. Nintendo is diabolical I tell you!

And yes I really did get every single star. And yes it did take me about 50 lives to get the last one. My arm was in terrible condition by the time I got it. If you want to know, the last star takes place in the most difficult level in the game, and you have to finish it without getting hit a single time! You must be masochistic to attempt it! Or stupid...... Oh wait! :P

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the latest edition of The Doctor's Prognosis! Hopefully the next one won't be so far off. Don't forget to make another appointment! See you soon!

Come On Over (All I Want is You)

I just got tagged by a friend on another site, and I haven't done a blog in a while so here goes:

• 1. Put Your iTunes (or other music player) on Shuffle.
• 2. For each question, press the next button to get your answer.
• 3. You must write down the name of the song no matter how silly it sounds!
• 4. Put any comments in brackets after the song name.
• 5. Tag at least 10 friends.
• 6. Anyone tagged has to do the same, because fun pointlessness spreads like a virus

Just so you know, these songs were limited by being on my Macbook, which is only a fraction of the music I own. Most of my music is rock music like Tool, STP, Nirvana, etc. But none of that is on my Macbook.

1. If someone says, "Is This Okay?" You Say:
Alma, Corazon, y Vida - Los Panchos (An old Ecuadorian song. Title means "Soul, Heart, and Life.")



2. How would you describe yourself?
Just One Thing - Morning Jacket (actually have not listened to this song before but not bad at all)



3. What do you like in a guy/girl?
Laugh About It - N.E.R.D. (I love a girl with a good sense of humor)



4. How do you feel today?
Damaged - Danity Kane (LOL)



5. What Is Your Life's Purpose?
I'm Yours - Jason Mraz (I guess I just need to find the girl I belong too)



6. What is your motto?
Details in the Fabric - Jason Mraz (a song about being strong on your own)



7. What do your friends think of you?
Violet Hill - Coldplay (Not sure what that means. It is a great song open to interpretation. Might be about love or war or love in war?)



8. What do you think of your parents?
Sleeping Lessons - The Shin (They could teach me about how to go to bed earlier I guess. I'm a night owl.)



9. What do you think about very often?
Last Night a Passenger - Brandon Boyd (Great new song by the lead singer of Incubus. Very dreamlike, I feel that I do daydream a lot so I think it fits.)



10. What is 2+2?
Everybody Get Dangerous - Weezer (lolwut)



11. What do you think of your best friend?
Crimson Red - The Rapture (I don't mean any harm to my best friend despite this title)



12. What do you think of the person you like?
Dirrty - Christina Aguilera (LOL! I got this song for a friend. Never knew it could come in handy with a question like this.)



13. What is your life story?
Picture This - Danity Kane (Once again, I like to daydream and imagine the new. Picture This shows my creative side.)



14. What do you want to be when you grow up?
End of the Road - Boyz II Men (To reach my goals fo sho! Well I am a grown up, but there's always more to accomplish.)



15. What do you think of when you see the person you like?
Light Powered - Deastro (Crushin' on a girl gives me energy? Feel like I'm powered by the cosmos! lol)



16. What will you dance to at your wedding?
Dynamo of Volition - Jason Mraz (This is actually a really cool song. Danceable fo sho. Especially the Kid Icarus part.)



17. What will they play at your funeral?
Here Comes Everyone - Brandon Boyd (A song about the bad we do to this world. I warned ye! Now I'm dead! lol)



18. What is your hobby/interest?
Are We In This Together - Day26 (Well I love being with my friends and family so this works.)



19. What is your biggest fear?
Only Human - Jason Mraz (Another song about the weaknesses of man. I guess I'm afraid of always letting myself fall into line and making the same mistakes others do. I want to be able to say I rose above expectations.)



20. What is your biggest secret?
A Night Without Cars - Brandon Boyd (A song that I believe is about rising above human trappings and living life to its fullest. Definitely something I want to feel I can achieve.)



21. What do you think of your friends?
Canada vs America - Broken Social Scene (Not sure what to think about this one. The song doesn't make too much sense but the artist name does LOL. Maybe my friends are all trying to fight against something much bigger than they can handle? Haha jk.)



22. What will you put as the title?
Come On Over (All I Want is You) - Christina Aguilera (LMAO this will get me some hits for sure... Or scare them off lol.)



And I shall tag....

Nobody! This ends here.

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed my little list. I'll try to do a real blog soon. But I got a bachelor party to run next week and a wedding to be a part of. Maybe I'll let you guys know about that. Or maybe I can do a Mario Galaxy 2 review? Or an Inception review? Or be lazy about blogging and go out instead? Stay tuned. :P

My Newest Short Films

Hello and welcome to The Doctor's Prognosis!

Well it was a long time between my last two posts but with good reason. As mentioned in my last post, I was hard at work on a couple of films, among other projects. So it only makes sense to present you now with my newest films!

Now my films are very short. I find that most people don't want to spend a half hour watching a film from a nobody on the Internet. So I make it a point to keep them as short as possible. And when editing, I try to "cut out the fat" in the footage. Sometimes, it's easy to fall into a trap of wanting to get all the footage you like into the film. But this only hurts the film. You have to take a step back and ask yourself, "Does this really fit? Is it already said elsewhere in the film?" This prevents the film from dragging and keeps it entertaining. So I really hope you enjoy my films because I put a lot of work into them.

THE ENTERTAINER

This is a very short narrative film. It stars my brother, Luis, and his girlfriend, Jackie, as the leads. Can the dorky magician win the heart of the young lady? Find out now.....




ABUELITA

This is a very short documentary and tribute to my abuelita, my grandmother. Features interviews with my immediate family and some old Ecuadorian music (which my grandma loves).

I really hope you enjoyed my films. Let me know what you think. I am always open to feedback.

I have two older films I have posted online as well. One is a short chase film, and the other a short documentary on magic. You can reach them on my YouTube page. I hope to make more films in the future so please look forward to those projects.

Thanks for making another appointment with The Doctor's Prognosis! See you next time!

E3 Musings

Welcome to another edition of The Doctor's Prognosis! It has been months since I have had the time to do one of these things. I created a couple of short films I would like to share with you, but today I'm focusing on my thoughts on E3.

MICROSOFT

I had been a little under the weather last week, but I was able to keep up with news thanks to Gamespot.com and G4TV. I watched all the big keynotes, and Microsoft disappointed me with their conference. I thought it focused just a little too much on casual gamers. From a business standpoint, it makes a lot of sense. The Wii did extremely well with this demographic, and both Sony and MS are looking to capitalize as well.

I have to say, nothing about Kinect excites me. But then again, I'm not the demographic for games like Kinectimals. Hopefully, they can come out with something core gamers will like as well.

Now despite this casual gamer showing, MS did show some quality games.

Gears of War 3 looked amazing. Not a revolutionary game by any means but it looks to improve on the formula we have come to expect. What has me excited is the ability to play as the different types of Locusts such as Tickers, Wretches, and Berserkers. This is called Beast Mode. It will be a lot like Horde Mode, except you are Locusts protecting yourselves from waves of humans. This should add a fun twist to gameplay.

I admit, Metal Gear Solid Uprising did not have my attention when it was first announced. But the trailer shown at E3 won me over. It just looks so awesome to be able to cut through just about anything in the game. And with so much precision too. I hope it turns out well. I will definitely be keeping my eye on this one.

SONY

I have to admit, I don't remember much about Sony's conference. Not much I liked anyway. That can't be a good thing.

Killzone 3 looked pretty good if you like that series. It will be in 3D, which is kind of cool. I still think 3D is a bad gimmick for TV and console gaming. The fact that it requires special glasses and an expensive new TV means very few people will be taking advantage of it.

Gran Turismo looked good too if you are into racing sims. I'm not but I can see the appeal. Maybe one day they will release it?

Oh wait! This was epic.....

NINTENDO

Here we have a company who seemingly forgot about the core gamer, to focus on the casual gamer. Even Sony and MS are shifting gears towards casual gamers to get a piece of that pie. But Nintendo came out full force and gave us all what we wanted: core games.

New Legend of Zelda? Sold! Seriously though, the new Zelda game looks great. The art style seems to mix both Wind Waker's cell-shaded/cartoony look with Twilight Princess' more adult look. The one thing I am a little worried about is the shift to making the Wii motion controls more involved with the gameplay. I was fine with the way it was with Twilight Princess. Let's hope it comes together well. But this is Nintendo, and I can't remember a bad Zelda game outside of the Philips CD-i. And Nintendo did not make those bad games anyway.

I was very surprised to see a new GoldenEye game. This was the first FPS I ever enjoyed. I always got motion sickness from games like Doom and Wolfenstein. But further than that, GoldenEye on the N64 introduced a great multiplayer game. I would say it set the bar at that time. I would have friends come over with their N64 controllers so we could have GoldenEye parties. Since there were always much more than four of us, we would alternate so everyone could have a turn. Needless to say, the new GoldenEye has huge shoes to fill. Here's hoping it turns out well.

THIS was what won E3 for Nintendo for me. Sure they had a lot of great games to show, but the 3DS is looking like a great little handheld. 3D without glasses? And a new Kid Icarus after so many years? Yes please! the graphics on the games are looking great so far. Can't wait to see what the 3D looks like. I need to get my hands on one of these. And I cannot wait for this new Kid Icarus. I just hope it ends up playing well after waiting all these years.

Nintendo also showed a new Donkey Kong Country for the Wii, as well as the new Metroid game from Team Ninja. They also announced several older games for the 3DS such as Star Fox and Zelda: Ocarina of Time. Let's hope Nintendo can keep it up with the good news. By focusing on the core gamer, Nintendo came out of E3 with the best buzz, and for me, the winner of E3.

I hope you all enjoyed the return of The Doctor's Prognosis. Hopefully I can keep it up more often than I have been this year so far. Don't forget to make a future appointment with the lady at the front desk on your way out. See you next time! :-)

Borderlands Review and my Games of the Year

Welcome to another Doctor's Prognosis! Today I will review Borderlands and give you my best games of 2009! Now I haven't played that many games this past year so it is a very short list. But quality over quantity my friends. First up is the review...

BORDERLANDS REVIEW

If Call of Duty and Diablo had a baby, it would be called Borderlands. This game came out in October and I am still playing it. That's how fun it is. The story is unintelligible, but you aren't playing this for the story. This is what you call a "loot-hoarding" game. It's extremely addictive simply because you want to keep playing to see what you can find next. And every weapon plays and feels differently so you definitely want to try them all out before deciding to sell.

Each weapon is unique so pay attention to it's attributes and compare them to your current weapons.

You have 4 classes to choose from and each one can be customized with a skilltree based on how you want to play. So the game is very flexible for different playstyles. Also, leveling up feels satisfying because you can allocate a skill point on your skill tree. Plus new and stronger weapons and items become available to use that you couldn't at lower levels.

Playing with up to 3 friends makes this game even more fun. Just make sure you play with people you know. There are some jerks out there.

Also of note is the great art design. It looks like a graphic novel come to life. It really helps lend character to the game and makes it stand out among the myriad shooters out there.

Lilith (Siren Class) and Claptrap (yellow robot buddy) look great with the unique graphic novel look.

But if this game is so addicting and fun, why isn't it my Game of the Year? Well it has some serious flaws. The music isn't so great but that's not a big deal breaker. Also, you fight a lot of the same enemies throughout the game. But the biggest flaw is the myriad glitches in the game. And I don't mean just "weird stuff in midair" type glitches but "Holy crap I lost my awesome shield mod" type glitches.

Notice you can customize your character's name and color scheme. Weapon proficiencies will level up depending on what you use most.

Yes this game is lots of fun and you will always be finding cool equipment to use but when you have to be so careful not to lose your hard-earned items, well that's just too big of a flaw. Thankfully, developer Gearbox has fixed some of the glitches since launch. But one of the new DLC caused this reviewer to lose some really cool gear. That's just too big to overlook.

Mad Moxxi(from the new DLC) will give or take advantages between Waves such as taking your shield away. If you're not careful, you may lose your shield for good like this reviewer did.

So, it is due to these flaws that I make Borderlands one of my Game of the Year runner-ups, and give it an 8 out of 10.

STREET FIGHTER IV

Not in this game.

This is another Game of the Year runner-up! Fortunately there are no horrible Borderlands type glitches, and Street Fighter IV boasts an evolution in gameplay from both SF2 and SF3. However, it still lacks some features that have become common in fighting games. Specifically the online gameplay is missing a few features such as being able to mimic arcade play with spectators. Fortunately, many of these issues will be addressed for the upcoming SUPER Street Fighter IV.

Super Street Fighter IV sees the return of Guy, Cody, Adon, Dee Jay, T. Hawk....... is that a kunai Guy is deflecting? Hmmm.....

Street Fighter IV is a great reintroduction into the series after a long hiatus. I originally gave it a 9 out of 10. But it is difficult to make it GotY when an improved version with more stages and characters (such as the Korean Tae Kwon Do fighter Juri) is coming out in only a few months. But if you love fighting games, you can't go wrong with the new SF4 series. Maybe just wait for the new Super SF4 coming out in the Spring.

According to a rumored list of additions (which has been correct thus far), a new character will be Hakan, a Turkish oil wrestler which will probably look something like the preceding picture...... (O_o)

Expect Dudley, Ibuki, and Makoto to also be announced sometime soon for SSF4. In the meantime, brush up your skills players!

GAME OF THE YEAR

Is anyone really surprised by my choice?

Batman: Arkham Asylum had very little flaws. I gave it a 9 out of 10. But it had no game-breaking glitches like Borderlands, and you didn't have to worry about people disconnecting after a hard won fight like in Street Fighter IV. Instead you had a great game inspired by the likes of Metroid and Zelda. The only disappointment was that the boss fights could have been better. But this is a very small gripe as there is plenty to love about the game. With great stealth elements, a deep fighting system, great voice acting, and an awesome story, you can't go wrong with Arkham Asylum.

If you like Batman, or just action/adventure games, buy this game! And hurry up because the sequel was announced recently!

I hope you enjoyed my year in review of the best games of 2009. What was your Game of the Year? See you next time! :-)