-by BigRob
Time Played: 11+ hours via http://raptr.com/bigrob029/wall
System: Xbox Live Arcade
Price: 800ms

There isnt much I can say about Fez that hasn’t already been said. Fez is an awesome game that must be experienced. Its a beautiful as it is fun, and its evokes a level of nostalgia for classic 8bit or 16bit old school games in me that I haven’t had in a long time.

Polytron Corporation's "FEZ"

-by BigRob

Time played: 8+ hours via http://raptr.com/bigrob029/wall
System: Xbox 360

After hours of playtime frustration, I finally took the advice of the enthuscrew and gave up on Assassins Creed and moved onto Assassin’s Creed 2. I’m glad I attempted to get through, but sadly, I wish I had moved on sooner. Assassins Creed 2 is better in just about every way over AC1, from the controls to the storytelling it is just a pleasure to play. As with most Level 2 Reviews we take a look at older games and give you our quick synopsis and a “score.”  With AC3 buzz in full effect, what better time to take a look back into the series.

Altair and Ezio

I purchased Assassins Creed 1 & 2 together with intentions of playing them back to back. After playing for a little over 11 hours and not making any progress in the story I was convinced to move on to a better experience. My problem with AC1 was that the story was fairly slow moving, which was compounded by gameplay mechanics that were hard to control and remember. The story, despite dragging a bit, was quite interesting and not at all what you would expect from a game that appears to take place in the 14th-15th century. It lays the groundwork for what turns out to be a sci fi series that dabbles in historical references focusing on a feud between the templars and assassins. Assassins Creed 2 is left to continue the series with the background story already told. AC2 puts the story in the forefront and keeps the player engaged as new twists and plot pieces unfold at a pretty even pace.

BigRob’s Rundown:
I haven’t played for as long as the original and I have already done more, learned more, and experienced more plot points. A more focused and engaging story has gone a long way to solidifying the series. The overall mechanics and gameplay controls have been streamlined and simplified for the better. Controlling Altair required the player to learn and remember complicated button combinations for various situations that made some sense in the universe but tended to detract from everything else.

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If you have ever liked a Mario Bros. game and/or fun in general, feel free to enjoy both of them from anywhere.

Ups

It’s a 3D-esque Mario game that plays and sounds incredible.

It’s Mario!

Downs

Camera can be an issue from time to time.

Has anyone seen the Koopa kids? …..Nevermind I found them.

Bottom Line…so far

A must buy if you own or have regular access to a 3DS. Almost justifies getting a 3DS. The first real 3DS game is here.

-by BigRob

I suck at Role Playing Games.  I like leveling, stats, and story as much as the next guy but games like Fallout 3 and Borderlands don’t really appeal to me.  Crimson Alliance takes a more simplistic approach to the genre.  It is actually an arcade styled action-rpg.  It has weapons, hacking and slashing, and it even has multiplayer co-op (couch and online) complete with leaderboards.  But, let me start at the beginning…

Boom! ...Killstreak!

Crimson Alliance, from Certain Affinity, is a hack and slash style dungeon crawler that pits your crew against a slew of creatures of the underworld who have taken over the city of Byzan.  Your crew consists of a Wizard, a Mercenary and an Assassin.  You can take on the world alone or with friends to traverse the lands and defeat the evil chick that took over…. disclaimer: as a “Level 2 Review”, I have not finished the game and am kinda fuzzy on the exact game details.

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By BigRob

​As mentioned in Episode 58, I jumped into the world of controller modding and purchased a set of Evil Sticks from Evilcontrollers.com.  Disclaimer: BigRob games hard and games in style but is not a fan of modding specifically to cheat the system.  Xbox live polices itself, so i guess the system eventually works.  Whatever.  Morality aside… in addition to modding, evilcontrollers provides gamers with high quality custom parts, replacements and upgrades.  These visual upgrades provide a nice aesthetic and certain flair that definitely has appeal.

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Now with more Mustache!

I loved the original Bionic Commando for the NES. It was the first game that I played, beat, and played again. When I heard that the game I loved as a teen was getting a new coat of paint, I had to give it a shot. It appealed both to the old school in me (Giggling at the references) and the new school in me (Whoa, that looks awesome!). I found Bionic Commando Rearmed to be a great retelling of the game with new graphics and slight tweaking to the formula that I dug the most.

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TNT Racers for the Xbox Live Arcade is a light-hearted game that offers a bit of a break from the more serious or hardcore games within the racing genre. This cartoonish racer manages to pack in a bit of racing depth while being simple enough to pick up and play.

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Meet Jack Slate, the most hypocritical cop you’re likely to see in a video game.

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Genre: class/team based FPS(up to 16, online only)

Developer: Atomic Games

Platforms: PC and Xbox 360(XBLA)

Release Date: Jan 26, 2011

Price: 1200 Allards/$20 on PC

Breach is a class and team-based FPS(first person shooter) developed by Atomic Games, utilizing the Hydrogen engine. Breach made gaming blog/site headlines last year during Pax East 2010 when there was a foiled attempt to steal the game from a computer on the show floor. Nevertheless Atomic spent the rest of 2010 working on and polishing Breach.

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When just one genre won’t feed your gaming appetite.

What would happen if you took a side-scroller like Sonic, added racing like Wipeout, toss in random power ups from Mario Kart, build in block clearing action from Super Puzzle Fighter 2 Turbo, paid homage to Mr. Driller and then wrapped it all up with a nice $10 (well, 800 Microsoft Points) bow? You’d have Raskulls, an awesomely enjoyable and readily accessible action platformer developed by Halfbrick and published by Microsoft Game Studios. Rarely does a game that takes flavors from other games successfully blend them together but Raskulls combined them with a nice helping of fun, humor and challenging gameplay.

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