Topics: Aliens VS Predator, Fret Nice, Crap of Defense, Puzzlegeddon, & P.B Winterbottom

Intro music performed by “Incubus” off their album “Make yourself”
Outro music performed by “Bilithic” off their album “empire”

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Not only has Fret Nice developer Pieces Interactive prove they can put together an inventive and fun platforming title, they’ve also proved they aren’t afraid of trying something different. Busting out the ol’ plastic guitar to play a platforming game sounds like a lot more fun than it really is, but that doesn’t mean the game falls short of being “purchase-worthy”.

Publisher: Tecmo
Developer: Pieces Interactive
Genre: Musical platforming
Platform: XBLA – PSN

Unlike your favorite Italian plumber platforming games, Fret Nice doesn’t rely on head-stomping as its primary attack maneuver. Instead you’re instructed to play riffs on your guitar in accordance with specific enemy attributes; a simple premise that is fairly intuitive and quite an interesting mechanic. When using a standard game-pad, Fret Nice is reminiscent of the Patapon or Loco Roco games; and controls just as well as it should be expected to. On the other hand when using a guitar peripheral the control scheme throws all intuitiveness out the window, and leaves you with confusing – and often broken – controls.

Looking past Fret Nice’s controller woes won’t be hard for anyone looking to jump into a bright, colorful, and competent platforming game which looks and feels like nothing you’ve ever seen this side of next-gen. Each of FN’s levels, and bonus stages, are well crafted and full of surprises down to the great boss encounters. The only thing holding back consumers from jumping into the world of Fret Nice is its aesthetics. While I’m a fan of the art design Pieces Interactive have chosen to roll with here, its bright, acid-trip appearance will most definitely scare off anyone who can’t open up to another’s approach. Those same people will be missing out on an enjoyable experience.

Not everything is grey and brown. Not everything is something before it. Fret Nice is a step forward in the right direction of music-based platforming games. And as disappointed as I was to see the idea of controlling my in-game avatar via plastic-axe fall short, it opened my eyes to how much fun Fret Nice is on the merits of its mechanics alone.  [A-]

-Jeffrey deMelo

Today we have both Cory Grimes and Drew “FrustratedFury” giving their impressions of the PS3 exclusive Heavy Rain. This noir crime drama is brought to us by Quantic Dreams, developers of Indigo Prophecy. This is more an interactive story then a game. Told through the lives of four people; their actions all trying to answer the question: ‘How far would you go to save someone you love?’

First we have Cory Grime’s impressions:

Heavy Rain is a game that should be experienced by anyone who is a fan of games. It shows how completely different from the norm a game can be and be brilliant at the same time.
The gameplay is similar to that of Quantic Dream’s previous title Indigo Prophecy – using the controller in ways to complete motions, but is done much better than it was in Indigo Prophecy. The things you do with the joysticks range from the mundane – like shaving or setting a table, to the intense – like a car chase or a fight. The gameplay may be hard to comprehend at the beginning, but soon becomes easy and intuitive. This gameplay is innovative and could totally be a new wave in gaming, to be used in games of the future.
The plot is complex and reminiscent of the Saw films, only good. In the game, you are tested to see how far you are willing to go to save someone you love. Each character in the game has a different story, and their stories often intertwine. The story has a branching narrative based on what you do, so each playthrough could have a different outcome based on your actions. The story is also gripping, and you can bet to experience a ton of different emotions to the game.
The characters are fully developed and seem real, unlike stereotypical video game characters. Each character’s story is interesting and different in its own way.
The graphics are mind blowing and showcase what the PS3 is capable of; not only in cutscenes but in gameplay as well. There are several jaw dropping moments caused by the graphics.
I think Heavy Rain is possibly one of the best games ever made. It is new and innovative in a time where gamers are given sequels and mediocre titles. It is definitely my game of the year and I doubt it will be topped. If you own a PS3, you must own this game!

and now Drew’s “FrustratedFury” impressions of Heavy Rain

So, I sit down with a Dual Shock 3 controller in hand. I have an audience with me consisting of Rage Quit Radio’s Joel and Alan (and special guest, Montay.) After the origami folding installation process, we begin. Right away, I’m hooked. What I didn’t know was that my viewers were hooked as well. It felt like we were in a movie theater watching the newest summer blockbuster. The crazy thing is that the things I were doing were everyday mundane things: taking a shower, drinking some OJ, setting out dinner plates. That’s how powerful Heavy Rain really is! Anyone in the room will be glued to the screen to see what happens next.
Then, after brief introduction to all the characters, the real drama begins.
Heavy Rain will keep you guessing the entire time you’re playing. At one time, I thought everyone could possibly be the Origami Killer. The story telling is so top notch I actually started to feel emotional for some of the more tragic characters. Everything from button presses to moving the controller in a direction makes you feel like you’re trying to do it will all you might just to get the point across. Knowing that your characters can die at any moment really does put you in distress mode. There were many times I shouted out loud, as well as my audience, when a close call happened.

The tone is very impactful as well, you really feel depressed during the beginning of the game due to what the main characters are experiencing. You really feel flustered and panicky during one of the moments where your character could die. This is all conveyed through the music, dialog, and settings. Even the button responses that flash up on the screen get shaky and blurry during stressful moments. The developers know how to keep you entranced in the game and story.

Honestly, if you have friends who don’t play games you should have them at least watch this game. Both Joel and Montay agreed that watching was more of an experience than playing it; and I couldn’t agree more. I haven’t finished the game as of yet but I can safely say the hunt for the Origami Killer is one NO ONE should have to miss.  

Well there you have it. Possible the “best game(s) ever made” and if you’re not a gamer just watching someone else play Heavy Rain may make you one quickly.
Are you picking up Heavy Rain and going after the Origami Killer? How far would you go for someone you loved? Let us know your experience with Heavy Rain in the comments below; and Happy Hunting!

Finished BioShock 2 and don’t feel like going back through to track down the few audio diaries you may have missed along the way? Well now you don’t have to, you can listen to them all right here. [Update] The 24 bonus diaries from cultofrapture.com have been added. If you still want to find the rest [...]

Available on March 4th, 2010 for PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and PC, the Just Cause 2 demo will feature a massive 35 square miles of the Lautan Lama Desert, a vast expanse of stunning, sun-scorched scenery taking up just one of the many islands in the 400 square miles of the Panau archipelago. Packed with [...]

Check out this Beaterator produced track by enigmatic artist Jay Electronica. Fresh from creating his groundbreaking track “Exhibit C,” Jay stopped by the Rockstar Beaterator House of Hype Lounge at the MTV Video Music Awards late last year to try out Beaterator for PSP. Created in mere minutes, his original track features a [...]

Next week on Rock Band expect some Disturbed, The Mother Hips, Silversun Pickups and Trustcompany. Track list below. Available on Xbox 360 and Wii (March 2) and PlayStation 3 system (March 4): · Disturbed – “Meaning of Life” · Disturbed – [...]

We were recently given the opportunity to sit in on a Developer call with 2K Sports MLB 2K10 developers. On the call were: * Ben Bishop, Producer, 2K Sports * Jonathan Rivera, Gameplay designer, 2K Sports * [...]

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We here at Evolved Gaming had the pleasure of participating in a conference call with some of the developers working on MLB 2K10. MLB 2K10 is set to release on 3/2/10. Take a listen and look at the screens below to help make up your mind if this is the baseball title for you to pickup this year!
On the call were: Read the rest of this entry »

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The video game market today seems to be filled with an abundance of tower defense games, with one not being too different from the other. Even though the concept is the same for the IPhone Game Crap of Defense, the style and simplicity in which is represented sets itself apart from the crowd. That, and the fact that the developers of it had a brilliant marketing idea by contradicting themselves by saying this is the “worst game ever” makes Crap of Defense one of the most unusual, and fun titles that I have ever played.

Developer/Publisher:IFun4All
Genre: Tower Defense
# of players: 1
Price: $1.99 in the App Store
Console: IPhone
Rating: 9+ for Frequent/Intense Cartoon or Fantasy Violence

The concept here is simple, you are a tank on the bottom left corner of the screen, and you have to defend yourself by destroying oncoming soldiers from the right side of the screen. All you have to do in order to accomplish this task is simply hold your finger on the area in which you wish to shoot your cannon, wait for your power gauge (top left) to fill up, and then release your finger form the screen in order to attack your enemies. You can also acquire powerups(by touching them onscreen) that can do many different things such as rockets that can destroy multiple enemies at a time, clocks that slow down time, bombs that can destroy large areas of enemies, etc. There’s nothing much more to it than that, the idea here is to make the control scheme as simple as possible, while putting more focus on making the game a challenging and fun experience, and trust me on this one, it is alot of fun.

Even though Crap of Defense’s main focus is on killing as many enemies as possible, the game changes things up on you every once in awhile to keep you guessing. There are times where you might be able to only kill one type of enemy, or you can only kill them by hitting them into a wall, or instead of just killing a certain amount of enemies to move on to the next stage, you might have to survive for a certain amount of time. And to add even more strategy to the experience, you can only allow a certain amount of enemies to pass before you lose the mission. I think that by adding these objectives to the game, the repetitive idea of killing enemy after enemy becomes an afterthought, as now you have multiple things to worry about, but in a good way.



The true essence of what sets this title apart from most games that I have seen is in it’s simple design. Everything you see here looks like a little kid drew some soldiers and tanks onto a piece of paper, colored in a solid color behind them, and someone turned it into a game. Even some of the words are spelled wrong, or flipped upside down to make it look like little or no effort was put into the design whatsoever. The music itself was great, and the sound effects were extremely powerful. Everything here is basically a background for all of the hectic action that takes place on screen, and in short, it works.

There are only two different modes to play(Survival and Mission), so the experience is over rather quickly if you are not interested in trying to beat the game on a higher difficulty setting. Keep one thing in mind though, each and every level becomes progressively harder and harder to beat, so the amount of time it will take to complete the game will depend solely on your skill level. For me, it took about three hours to beat on the easiest setting, and unless I want to try to get a better score in survival mode, there is really not much to do outside of the main quest.

There is replay value for those who choose to be completists. You can play each mode in one of three difficulty settings, and try to earn medals in the mission mode, so there is some incentive to play this game more than once. More often than not though, you will play Crap of Defense over and over again just because of how fun it is.



I applaud IFun4All for taking a interesting approach to game design, and for making a fun, yet challenging tower defense game that I will be killing time, and enemy soldiers with for months to come. (A+)

-Matt H.