Topics: Super Street Fighter IV, Infinity Ward/Activision, Shiren the Wanderer, Sonic & SEGA All-Stars Racing, Heavy Rain, & Battlefield Bad Company 2.

Intro music performed by “In Flames” off their album “A Sense of Purpose”
Outro music performed by “Outkast” off their album “Idlewild”

Direct link [right-click, save as]

Part real-time strategy, part match-5 puzzler; Puzzlegeddon is undeniably fun and addictive.

What Pieces Interactive did to the simple game of match 5 colored cubes in a line (or row, or chain), is turn those simple colors into attack and defend resources for your in-game avatar. See, you are not alone on this playing field. Your enemies come in the form of alternate avatars that are also scrambling through their 6×6 grid collecting resources. Stay alive and win – it’s not at all that simple.

Developer: Pieces Interactive
Publisher: Tecmo
Platform: XBLA, PSN, PC, iPhone

When not in the mood for frantic battle-action, I spent my time playing the puzzle-focused Poison Peril. Both modes are tons of fun, with tons of reply value and un-matched game-type flexibility. And as expected, multiplayer is viciously nerve-wrecking and challenging, while still keeping you coming back for more.

If you like puzzle games, don’t skip on Puzzlegeddon. The same goes for fans of real-time strategy titles. It’s simply too much fun, at its price point, to not support. [A-]

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”

Direct link [right-click, save as]

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

Developer: Platinum Games

Publisher: Sega

Genre: 3rd Person Action

Price: $59.99

I’m not sure why I was initially excited about hands-on time with Borderlands.  Whatever it was is gone now.  Far from a bad game; Borderlands just struggles to keep my attention (post art-style).  Maybe it’s just me, but if I’m not playing Borderlands co-op, then I’m not playing Borderlands.

Developer: Gearbox
Publisher: 2K Games
Genre: FPS-RPG
Price: $59.99

Borderlands looks and controls like you would expect a well-crafted Unreal game to.  Gearbox’s late-decision to “stylize” the graphics has proven to be a good one, if you are the kind of person who appreciates that “comic-book” feel.  Its art sets it apart from the “rest” of the post-apocalyptic shooters coming (or past) and really gives Borderlands an appealing “edge”.

Gunning down enemies feels familiar and, ultimately, the game is a competent FPS.  Much of the RPG in “B-lands” comes from character development, upgrading skills after “leveling-up”, and “loot”.  Don’t expect much in the “decision-making” department of RPGs; aside from deciding which quest to go out on and which guns to keep, game-changing decisions don’t exist.  Borderlands is much more an FPS than RPG.

The opening hours of Borderlands does a great job of pulling players into the games universe; the problem is keeping them in.  Once you’ve gotten over the “case-opening” excitement, Borderlands simmers down from its boil.  What you are left with is a “sandbox world” of “fetch-quests” at your disposal.  Un-inventive and tedious mission structure really dragged me down with boredom.  Much of the time I spent playing Borderlands was free-roaming the world, killing everything that came my way, and collecting anything that dropped.  While many of the NPC characters of B-lands are light-hearted, cliché, and like-able, their stories don’t run deep enough.  I knew then, that Borderlands was going to be much more open-world and story-less.

Granted you are introduced to a plot-line in the opening minutes of B-lands but, aside from understanding that you’re after a “vault” containing alien-tech, much of the game plays exempt from intriguing story-line.

All the guns, action, & vehicle-roaming just didn’t do it for me.  In all honesty, I don’t know why I’m not “head over heels” for Borderlands; I’m just not.  Everything Gearbox has crafted is strong and refined as far as control and game mechanics.  I like the aesthetics of the title and Borderlands sure has its moments.  The variation in guns and loot will have you spending hours in-menu, hard pressed on dropping a weapon to open up an inventory slot.  There is a lot of “game” to play.   Ultimately though, [it] struggles to keep my attention.  So much so, that I won’t reach my word quota for its review.

I’ll probably be “flamed” for this one, but that’s ok; everyone has a different opinion.  I like Borderlands, but I’m just not drawn to keep playing the title.  The open-structure of the game combined with its lack of plot-driven content is the exact reason I’ve never played WoW.  That doesn’t make the game bad, in fact I think the games great; its going to come down to how much online co-op your playing to decide.  It just so happens that I haven’t played enough co-op with buddies lately and running games with random online gamers is always 50/50 with me.  These things happen.

If aimless enemy killing, “loot” collecting, “fetch-questing”, stylized 4 player FPS action excites you, then Borderlands may be a game you should strongly consider purchasing.  Add the fact that 3 of your online buddies can drop in and out of your game at any given moment to help out, or be helped out, and B-lands is one of a kind.  On the other hand, if “fetch-questing” is a term you avoid, online co-op is something you rarely do, and a driving-plot is what keeps you coming back for more in video games; Borderlands may be a rental consideration.  It’s another one of 2009’s “Hate it / Love it” titles.

(A-)

-Jeffrey d