So it’s been a while since I’ve written to you peeps for a while, and there’ve been a few reasons for that. First, I wanted to talk about E3, but I was a bit disappointed at what Nintendo brought to the table and wasn’t entirely sure how to phrase it well. Then I saw Jurassic World, but Mike already reviewed it, and a short paragraph from me definitely would not do it justice. And most recently, Satoru Iwata, President and CEO of Nintendo, passed away at the way too young age of 55. Even then, I don’t feel comfortable writing on his legacy because I don’t know enough about it. In all honesty, only in the last two or three years have I become interested in the politics and business side of video games; I also still have not played Earthbound, of which Iwata was a main programmer. But there’s somebody else in the video game industry whom I have respected for many years: 小島 秀夫. That’s um, that says Kojima Hideo. Or, you know, as English speakers would refer to him, Hideo Kojima. On to the stuff!

A few weeks ago, I watched a group of my favorite let’s-players go through the original Metal Gear (1987) game, and that prompted me to seriously figure out how I could get myself into the series, too, specifically with Metal Gear Solid. In one word, it is fantastic (adj. – 1. imaginative or fanciful, remote from reality; extraordinarily good or attractive). It does everything the original does, only better. The way to go through each area, aside from strategically and stealthily sneaking one’s way, is based on the use of specific items to overcome certain obstacles and puzzles.

The same goes for the bosses. Now, at this point, I realize it kinda sounds like a Zelda game. And I’ll admit the original NES games of the two series share some similarities in the ways of progression, but the major difference I’d say between the Zelda series and at least Metal Gear Solid (its sequels may be different) is that the different items found can generally be used throughout the game and different areas, not specifically to the location in which they’re found to beat one specific boss.

Definitely one of the things that has me floored is the fact that this was released back in 1998. Of course, I’m not trying to say great games weren’t made until recently (in fact, many would argue that the majority of the best games are older; that or it’s just nostalgia-goggles). I’m just floored by the well done voice acting for each character with multiple lines of dialogue, the music and overall sound design, the graphics, the gameplay that is both fun and challenging, and the fact that there are a plethora cutscenes which usually last at least four or five minutes; however, many go longer than that, too. And yet there are plenty of games that come out now-a-days that are published by big studios but are still flawed and broken as hell (see Sonic Boom: The Rise of Lyric).

Metal Gear Solid does, however, struggle with a major aspect of gameplay: explanation of how to proceed. The game constantly breaks the fourth wall by having characters tell the player, currently assuming the role as Solid Snake, what to do to overcome a certain obstacle. For me it just doesn’t work well. I find that this constantly reminds me that I am definitely playing a video game rather than being Solid Snake in the world, which is our own but based slightly in the future in each iteration, that Kojima has set up. I hate to use the cliché term immersion, but it really does ruin whatever immersion the game attempts to establish. And while I’m complaining, I might as well throw in that Snake controls like a person who can only move in eight directions, and needs to think about changing the direction before doing it, especially when crawling. Things are clunky, but for a first game in the modern Metal Gear series, I can deal with it.

Other than that, though, I really like it. I’m impressed by it. It’s fun and rewarding to make it through areas unseen by enemies and makes you feel badass when you manage to take down bosses that ordinary humans just would not be able to contend with. The game came out approximately seventeen years ago, and I would highly recommend it to anybody who has also waited until now to finally dive into it and the series as a whole. Metal Gear Solid is rad as heck.

PS – Fuck you, Konami. You’re shooting yourselves in the foot (at least in the eye of the western world) by neglecting your video games, dissolving Kojima Productions, canceling Silent Hills, and removing Hideo Kojima’s name from the upcoming Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain. I miss the old you. Here’s to hoping Nintendo or someone else buys your IPs!

It’s been about two weeks since I’ve logged onto IGN yet with Comic-Con starting this week I just can’t stay away anymore! But, what’s kept me away for this long?

On June 26, 2015 the United States made the historic decision to legalize same-sex marriage and social media exploded with fabulous rainbows. Friends, family, complete strangers, corporations (including IGN) changed their profile picture to include a rainbow filter to show their support. I’m not gay but even I was overwhelmed with the excitement at the support our nation seemed to be showing. That is, until I started reading the comments under the IGN profile picture.

For privacy I won’t broadcast names but the following are just some of the comments I read on IGN’s Facebook/Instagram:

 You gotta be shitting me (1660 Likes)

This is too much...I can't even get on my gaming website without politics getting shoved down my throat. (239 Likes)

Gays mess everything up (46 Likes)

Great. You guys too with this garbage? You couldn't just stick to talking about games? You had to shove a phucking political agenda up our a.ss too? (226 Likes)

IGN just post game stuff, not gay shit

Im unlinking da page because of this BS propaganda. (24 Likes)

wtf, this place is supposed to be about games, not ass sex. (36 Likes)

Negative comment after negative comment I was no longer overwhelmed with excitement. What’s sad is as a gamer I’ve had my own experiences with members of the gaming community putting me down, simply because I’m a female, so at this point nothing should surprise me. Yet my mind was blown when I read the reactions from the IGN community.

They changed their profile picture. That’s it. They didn’t blast their site with political statements, or propaganda, or host videos to tell us what we should believe in. They didn’t stop posting game updates, reviews, or stop Beyond! or other Podcasts from recording. They simply showed support for gay members within it's community.

Wait.. Gay people play video games?! Yes. Yes they do.

Three days later, on June 29, IGN changed their picture back to the traditional logo. And the gaming community responded again:

Finally took down the other one.

As it should be

Oh now I can take you seriously again

cool, that fruit loop logo was enraging me

I just couldn’t understand how a profile picture that is aimed to support members of the gaming community could be so offensive to anyone. For a community that is already on the chopping block by outsiders, how we can turn against our own?  While I support same-sex marriage I accept that other gamers may not, but why ostracize other members of your own gaming community because of what their sexual preference is? I love being a part of this community but sometimes it takes a few bad eggs to ruin it.

Now with all of that said we can’t ignore those people from the IGN community who supported the court’s decision, IGN’s profile picture, and tried to set a good example in the comments section. Luckily, it’s THOSE people who restore my faith in the IGN community:

Thanks IGN.com for your support of your LGBT readers!! We love you guys lots!!!    

 IGN is never political.... This is a monumental and historical moment! Happy to see IGN is on the right side of this. -Proud to be a fan! Thanks IGN.

 Hell yeah IGN. Hell yeah.

Good for you guys! I'm sure your employees and the thousands and thousands of readers that support this appreciate it. And to every one asking "Oh video games are political now?" you should probably play a video game...they've had political/social issue stories for a long ass time.

I’m white. I’m straight. I’m a female. But most importantly, I’m a gamer. At the end of the day, despite those few bad eggs, I'm proud to be a part of the gaming community.  It is filled with such incredible, brilliant, and exceptional people... who I look forward to destroying in Mario Kart...even if you're super gay.

It’s a yearly tradition of mine to stream the live E3 press conferences, and inevitably get up from my seat, start pacing back and forth, my eyes wild with excitement as they’re glued to the screen, hands waving in the air, and shouting something to the effect of “Holy f*cking shit!” This year was no different. Between Microsoft, Sony, and Nintendo there were some memorable moments to be had all around.  While I can’t possibly cover it all in one weekly update I do want to share my favorite “Holy f*cking shit!” moments. 

Microsoft revealed that the Xbox One will be backwards compatible to support Xbox 360 games. Admittedly I lean more towards Playstation than Xbox but heck, Playstation isn’t even backwards compatible yet so I can imagine the sheer joy on fanboy’s faces when they heard this news. Currently Xbox Preview members are able to utilize the Xbox One backwards compatibility and by this holiday season everyone will gain access to hundreds of titles. Holy f*cking shit!

Then there was Nintendo’s press conference. Microsoft and Sony consistently blow our minds every E3, so Nintendo generally has to bring it. But like most years they just weren’t able to compete. It’s interesting to note however, my general attitude towards the Wii U has changed significantly since it’s initial debut. I vowed I would never even own one and now I probably play it more than my PlayStation. Despite the overall lackluster forum, there were some titles that are worth noting. In fact, many of the titles are for the 3DS, which never interested me…until now. Hyrule Warriors Legends, Metroid Prime Federation Force, and Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam to name a few. And as far as the Wii U goes there was Super Mario Maker, Yoshi’s Woolly World, and Star Fox Zero had some interesting new game play. Star Fox utilizes the control pad so you can now fly around using the pad as your cockpit while the TV screen shows your surroundings.  Though I’ve never got into the Star Fox, I can get behind this new wave of gameplay. Holy f*cking shit!

Now is when my arms start flailing around as I grow giddy with excitement. My most “Holy f*cking shit!” moments came out of the Sony Playstation press conference.  Since 2007 we’ve all been waiting for the release of The Last Guardian. Delay after delay turned into E3 after E3 of teasing us that this game will eventually make its debut. At this point it’s become the running joke that THIS is the year The Last Guardian comes out. Well jokes over my friends. Sony started their press conference with the mic drop heard round the world.  When I heard Shawn Layden, (President and CEO of Sony Computer Entertainment America) announce, “Our first game tonight has long been anticipated by the gaming community,”  I was like, “Wait..no..no he doesn’t mean…” He continued, “it is conceived as a poetic story of adventure and friendship, heroism and companionship,” … “Does he mean what I think he means?” I thought.  And then cue the trailer… with the words The Last Guardian appearing before my very eyes. Mind. Blown. While no exact date has been given we can FINALLY expect to see the game in 2016. Holy f*cking shit!

Other memorable titles to come out of the Sony conference was No Man’s Sky, an open world exploration and survival game.  This was seen at last year’s E3 but what was cool this time around was that they showed live gameplay.  A massive screen was filled with small bright lights, each representing a sun. Each sun has it’s own solar system for you to explore. And while pulling back and falling deeper and deeper into the galaxy you realize there’s no way one person could ever visit it all.  In fact they noted there are some planets that may never be discovered in the game because of its expansiveness.  Holy f*cking shit!

Even more titles include Uncharted 4: A Theif’s End, Dreams (seriously the concept and gameplay for this is so sick), Tearaway, Unravel  … FINAL FANTASY VII! When I heard that familiar opening song and saw that yellow spikey hair my heart wanted to explode. Holy f*cking shit!

And my final “Holy f*cking shit!” moment to come out of E3 is the overwhelming amount of girl power. This is the first time, in ever really, that so many games are to be released with playable female protagonists.  In addition to the OG of badass video game chicks herself, Lara Croft, we will see some new seriously badass chicks in ReCore, Mirror's Edge Catalyst, Horizon: Zero Dawn, Nier, Beyond Eyes, Dishonored 2, and Assassin’s Creed Syndicate.  I couldn’t be more stoked to see the gaming community begin to introduce more heroines to their games and open the door to what’s been known for a very long time as the boy’s club. Holy f*cking shit!

For complete E3 coverage check out: http://www.e3expo.com/takeover

What were your “Holy f*cking shit!” moments from this year’s E3 conference? Let us know in the comments below! 

There are spoilers here, but nothing that will ruin your experience of the main story arch or the many fun surprises along the way. Enjoy!

Allow me to start by saying that Alien: Isolation is the game I have been dreaming of since I was nine years old. (Yes, that’s when I first saw Alien & Aliens) The people over at Creative Assembly have done a fantastic job crafting an experience that looks and feels like the original film. For decades, the trend has always been to follow the action heavy sequel Aliens. This is not in and of itself a horrible idea, but has certainly cheapened the creature we have come to know and love. By stripping back the use of machine guns and hundreds of Aliens, they have managed to make the xenomorph scary again. This game has not only managed to break the mold, but obliterate it.

Picking up fifteen years after the events of Alien, we follow Amanda Ripley on a quest to find her long lost mother. Her journey brings her to Sevastopol, a free port space station orbiting a gas giant reminiscent of Jupiter. Unbeknownst to Amanda and the crew of the Torrens, the courier ship she hitched a ride on, the station has an Alien loose on board. Once on the station, Amanda seeks answers and tries to survive against a whole host of enemies.

The first hour or so of the game I was both exhilarated and terrified. I stayed crouched most of the time, jumping at noises in the vents above and below me. After some exploring, some cut scenes, and a few small heart attacks, the Alien arrived and literally changed the game. Once this things comes into play, all bets are off and as anyone who has played it will tell you, you will die A LOT. Running won’t save you and neither will your weapons for that matter. Just like in the film, moving as quietly and quickly as you can is your best bet. Over the course of the game, I must have died upwards of 200 times, many of which were simply trying to get from one room to the next. Easily could have been more, I lost count.

The Alien is adaptable. No matter how many times you may replay the same level, it will never act quite the same. There is a general pattern to how it will hunt you, but let’s say for example you throw a flare hoping to distract it. The creature may indeed be briefly intrigued, but then it will hunt for the source of the flare. If you had just stayed hidden, then perhaps it would have just gone back in the vents. I can’t say I have ever played against anything quite like it. It can smell you, hear you, and sometimes will try to trick you out of hiding. It is ruthless.

Having seen the films countless times and having played many of the different Alien games over the years, I was surprised to find myself scared silly for the duration of the game. The immersive experience that has been created here truly pulled me onto Sevastopol. No matter how many times I heard the creature drop from the vents, my heart would pound endlessly. The fact that you can not simply kill it, let alone save your game often or even safely at times, forces you to think on your feet and make every move count.

The game itself looks beautiful. All of the different environments of the space station are heavily inspired by the first film. Some of the technology is updated, but still feels cohesive. The station feels endless and there are plenty of areas to explore. In case danger is close, hiding places are not scarce, but some are better than others. The game also features a crafting system that allows you to build MacGyver esque weapons in order to distract or defeat certain enemies. Hiding under tables, in cabinets or vents, is a great way to craft the weapons you need out of sight. Still you must always be careful of your surroundings because loud bangs, the sound of the motion tracker or even simply breathing can give you away.

Now other than the Alien, you’ll also face groups of scarred survivors throughout the station. Having lost contact with the outside world, they’ve become paranoid, sometimes shooting first and asking questions later. You’ll also have to face the working Joe’s, the droids of Sevastopol. With bald heads, pale white rubber skin and glowing eyes, they easily stick out amongst the humans. Each of whom present there own host of problems when trying to take down or just evade.

The different sections of the ship will give you access to the many computer terminals of Sevastopol. Not only will they allow you to turn on or off different systems and power grids, they will also help to paint a picture of the events before your arrival. Some have complained that the story is a bit dull and uninteresting, but I disagree. Sure it’s familiar, but that seems to be more of a function of how people respond to this immensely stressful experience.

Besides the main campaign, there have been several DLC missions added as well. The first two feature the crew of the Nostromo in ‘Crew Expendable’ and ‘Last Survivor.’ The first features most of the original cast of the film dealing with creature on board, and let me tell you, there is nothing quite like Veronica Cartwright screaming in your ear while you’re trapped in the vents with the Alien. The second plays out just the end of the film, with Ripley setting the self destruct and desperately trying to escape in time. Both of these play almost as demos for the main game. They are definitely not the strongest, but for fans, it is indeed a thrill to get to play the movie.

The other DLC missions expand upon the main campaign. New maps and characters will give you the chance to experience Sevastopol both before and during the main events of the story. The latest pack for example, ‘Safe Haven’ features ten different challenges with only one life. You’re rewarded for your efforts after each mission, but only if you can complete the objective and return to the safe room alive.

Despite all of the things Creative Assembly got right, I do have a few criticisms. Now keep in mind that my thoughts are based on the Hard version of the game which is the recommended difficulty. The first is that the Alien is almost a  little too smart. There are times when you’re hiding, watching the motion tracker only to find the creature is just moving back and forth in the area you need to go. Sometimes it will eventually pop back into the vents, while other times it never leaves. This may not be too bad if you have a weapon of some kind, but items can be very scarce, leaving you without anything to defend yourself. In other sections of the game, items can be too abundant, forcing you to leave things behind. Now, this may seem a little nit picky, after all the game is certainly meant to be a challenge, but despite the realism of the environment, after hours of gameplay it can become annoying.

One general complaint I agreed with was with the length of the main story. For the first seventy five percent or so, I felt the game was progressing nicely, but once it reached this mark, it began to drag its heels. For me personally, I really love the universe of Alien and still enjoyed the rest of story, but the repetitiveness of gameplay really began to show.

Overall, I really enjoyed the experience of Alien: Isolation. The game is well crafted, plain and simple. Unlike so many of the sub par games that came before it, this one finally allows you to live the movie. If the sequel incorporates some kind of hologram or virtual reality into the game play, I will seriously have a heart attack or stroke from fear. It may not be the perfect game, but honestly, what is? All I can say, is that it was a ride well worth the price of admission.

Score: 4 Out of 5

Developer: The Creative Assembly

Publisher: SEGA

Platforms: Microsoft Windows, PS4, PS3, Xbox One, Xbox 360

Genre: Survival Horror/Stealth

Telltale Games has made a name for itself in two ways: successful adventure game sequels based on classic adventure/comedy computer games (Sam & Max, Tales on Monkey Island, Wallace & Gromit and Homestar Runner) and successful games based on movies or TV shows (CSI, Back to the Future, Jurassic Park and Law & Order).The Walking Dead is based on the comic book series of the same name and the series itself achieved mainstream popularity with the TV series. Released via Xbox Live Arcade, TWD will be released in five downloadable episodes. Each episode will be priced at $5 and are around 2-3 hours of gameplay.

Players control a new character named Lee Everett, who is thrown into the zombie apocalypse while traveling home. He'll meet plenty of characters, both alive and undead, including a little girl named Clementine, who takes seconds stage with Lee. Right off the bat, all of the characters Everett meets have their own histories and agendas. Clashing personalities and arguments were pretty key in TWD, which added to the drama.

Gameplay is a combination of adventure and action. Standard adventure gameplay fare include inventory/item management and interacting with characters. The former gets a gameplay twist where you may have a time limit to make decisions. The latter will affect the game's dialog and plot lines depending on who you talk to or who/how you help them. There's a lot of dialog and Lee's responses are given with four choices. TWD emphasises the idea of choices and consequences. Characters will remember what you said to them or specific actions you have done.Many zombie games usually are shooters so thankfully, TWD has its own spin on action set pieces and its gameplay. While you do your fair-share of beating up zombies (complete with brutal violence), some of the great action moments are done via conversations. During some dialog, Lee's responses are timed (reminded me of Alpha Protocol) so some major decisions have to be done with just seconds to spare. That really made your decisions worthwhile.

Presentation-wise, TWD is top-notch with its gritty visuals, appropriately-setting environments, excellent voice acting and soothing music. As stated, there's a lot of dialog, so you'll be staring at quite a few faces. Thanks to the game's graphics engine, lip synch is on-point and little nuances like facial expressions, smiles and nods extenuate scenes. You'll be meeting a wide-range of people from different parts of the U.S., so things like voice-acting and the quality of the writing made a huge difference. It's worthwhile to listen to all of the dialog -- future consequences and good writing.One minor gripe is the camera. When playing on the Xbox 360, during some set pieces, trying to pan the camera around sometimes took too long or was annoying to navigate with. But many areas are appropriately sized so many areas are compact.

Overall, TWD is a great Xbox Arcade game. Combining excellent voice acting, writing, set pieces and game choices, TWD is a recommendation of anyone who likes TWD (comics, TV series), zombie-stuff, adventure games or story-driven action games.

Score: 4.5 Wing-wangs out of 5

Developer: Telltale Games

Publisher: Telltale Games

Platforms: Windows, Xbox Live Arcade, PlayStation Network, Mac, iOS

Genre: Action/Adventure

Games about superheroes have always been a hard narrative to properly achieve and portray. A lot of past superhero games tanked because they failed to properly connect a fun experience with a good storyline and gameplay. Sure, you can play Superman and beat 10,000 enemies but that will get tiring after a while.

On the flip side, who would want to play a superhero with no powers!

With that said, Batman Arkham City finally achieved the mecca of pure video gaming bliss. Top notchpresentation, excellent voice acting, an engaging story, precise yet not difficult gameplay and an itemcollectible system that definitely rivals its predecessor. Right off the bat though, once you immediately get into Arkham City, the game is definitely going to assume you have played Arkham Asylum. With that said, a lot of established gameplay mechanics are carried over to the sequel with little explanation.

In the DC Universe, it’s claimed that Batman is the best pure martial artist. In Arkham City, unleashing his fury on foes and enemies alike comes so natural, thanks to the game's signature combo/counter melee combat system. Expanded in the sequel were the number of animations and fighting moves available to the Dark Knight. Even after submitting 25+ hours into the game and destroying countless foes, I still see a new takedown, face punch of a body thrown into a wall that makes me smile.

New combat additions include multiple/simultaneous counters, the ability to counter thrown objects and improved usage of gadgets during combat. One addition I really liked was the very powerful multi-strike beat-downs. It was an unlockable perk, which earning a combat multiplayer, you can pull-off an insanemulti-strike combo that would instantly incapacitate an enemy; very useful for taking out that tricky foe, compared to Arkham Asylum, Arkham City is around five times larger. You'll be traversing through a vast number of areas, many of which were designed to reflect the different gangs whom inhabit them -- thus creating new challenges to the player.

What's Batman without his gadgets? Players familiar with the first game will know that the deliberate passing of Arkham Asylum was necessary for the game's presentation. But in the sequel, you're given several gadgets right off the bat, including the batarangs, explosive gel and the hacking sequencer. Thanks to some good gameplay design, every time you're given a new gadget, there will be immediate gameplay areas to try them out on. The only gadget I had trouble fumbling with was the remote control Batarang; I must have thrown at least 10 of them before finally hitting my mark.

There are a wide number of classic villains and supporting characters from the vast Batman universe. All of your favorite major players are showcased in Arkham City, complete with awesome voice acting, excellent animations, stunning cinematics and great story telling. Every time a new villain appeared on screen, I was smiling. Lastly, many villains are incorporated within the game's number of side missions.

I have to say that The Mad Hatter's appearance was VERY memorable and pretty unexpected. Unfortunately while all of the featured characters were very cool to see on-screen, I feel that as a whole, there wasn't one character that stood out and was totally awesome, like the Scarecrow from the first game.

I would give Arkham City my game of the year. It's not overly difficult, yet there are a lot of challenges and extra gameplay modes to satisfy your hunger. At the same time, if you're not into completing all of the extra things or collecting every last trophy, there is still over 30 hours of gameplay for the game.

Arkham Asylum was a rare gem in the world of gaming. Arkham City successfully adhered to all of the reasons why Arkham Asylum was great and added plenty of its own. Not only is Arkham City a wonderful sequel in itself, it's also a fantastic and fabulous game; rivaling films or books.

Score: 5 Wing-wangs out of 5

Developer: Rocksteady Studios

Publisher: Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment
Platforms: Windows, Xbox, PlayStation, Wii U, OS X
Genre: Action/Adventure