For ten hours I was in awe, slack jawed at the utter brutality on parade, wowed by the scale and unimaginably carnage. God of War III stands as a true spectacle, one incredible set-up after another, visually stunning, near perfect gameplay, God of War III is overwhelming.

Beginning at the very moment that the previous game ended; with Kratos riding the Titan Gaia as she leads her kind against the Gods of Olympus, the narrative really never attains the level of adventure of previous entries, there is no sense of grand quest, no exploration of antiquity and myth. It is much more self-contained, a more straight forward continuation of Kratos’s revenge drama. Nothing will stand in his way; he seeks Zeus with a rage of unheard of proportions, nothing but bloodlust toward his estranged father.

Kratos’s adventure is on a much more personal level than the first 2 games, he is not on a quest for some ancient powerful artifact, but is simply out for blood, his loathing for everything godly is unshakable. Systematically murdering the Greek godhood on at a time, there deaths have far reaching effect. The world of antiquity begins to succumb to the each god’s demise, Kratos has no compassion, no mercy, he will leave an entire world in ruin to complete he goal.

Even Kratos himself seems to forget why he harbors so much animosity for the gods, at this point his motivations have been clouded, the deaths of his family still weight on his soul, but this loss is seemingly fading from his memory, he lives now with nothing but hate. A hate so powerful that he seems to despise the very thought of existence, in a way he is tearing down the very mythology itself, at the end of his journey their is nothing left to slaughter, every god and mythological creature that’s stood in his way destroyed, the very nature of the world shattered by his need for vengeance.
I have always loved the fighting in the series, and the incredible speed and visceral nature of combat return in all their glory. Very fast and always challenging, combat has been polishes to perfection, their is not much new, a few addition moves and weapons, but most remains the same great blend of speedy evasion and effortless combos as always.

In addition to his signature chained blades, Kratos gains access to three new armaments: The Nemean Cestus, a pair of lion encrusted fist weapons, The Claws of Hades; a viscous looking set of scythes attached by chain, and finally the Nemesis Whip; a whip ending in three deadly daggers. To be perfectly honest I found myself using the Cestus and the chained blades almost elusively, the other weapons are nice to look at but control extremely similarly to the standard blades. The Cestus on the other hand, has a great powerful feeling; a heavy, weighty up close and personal, bludgeoning device.
What made the combat so exhilarating for me is its intuitiveness. A breeze to unleash impressive combos, and string actions together, dodging and countering work remarkable smoothly; the battle is in a constant state of motion. A great variety of moves for every tactical situation be it crowd control or quick dashing strikes, it all controls perfectly, every action is incredibly fast responsive and always at the ready, each have their place and are easy to remember and combined that with swift dodges and magic attacks make for a remarkably gratifying battle.

The enemies present a real challenge, especially after the opening hours, button mashing is all but impossible as they begin to dodge and counter with real efficiency, strategy must be used to survive the grander skirmishes, a good challenge without becoming frustrating. Cyclopes, Centaurs, and the always demanding Satyr’s appeared to test my skill, along with a cavalcade of exotic fabled monstrosities, striking in great numbers and wide variety, a great many exciting pitch battles to endure.

These very impressive set-piece battles and a great run of boss fights awaited Kratos on his quest. Epic is an understatement as each new area brought bigger and meaner foes. The spectacle of these encounters and bosses is on a scale of unheard of proportion. Enormous Titan’s rampage through a level leaving a trail of destruction in their wake, as Kratos fights an endless stream of skirmishes on arenas of grand scope.

A series of levels take place on the backs of the monstrous Titans themselves, with combat and puzzles on an ever changing plane, a shifting surface, one moment I was running across the forest laden arm of Gaia, the next she twists and moves causing the ground to fall out from under me leaving me hanging off her arm. It is incredible stunning to witness, and very exhilarating.

The bosses, where to begin, from Gods to Titans to Hercules himself the bosses are a triumph. Each one is a great fight, a visually impressive battle and a test of skill. Although all were notable, two stand out as particularly dramatic in a game filled with startling encounters.

The close quarters scrap with the legendary warrior Hercules; an unforgiving brawl of two brutal warriors and brothers, and the magnificently epic battle against the Titan Cronos; a long bloody war fought on top of the beast, moving across his enormous scale, slowly bringing down the giant one chunk of flesh at a time.

A superb graphical feat, another crown in Sony’s polygonal crown, like Heavy Rain and Uncharted 2 before it, God of War III proves that developers have finally grasped the PS3s considerable power. The character model for Kratos may be the single most impressive figure I have ever seen, his scared visage and chiseled muscular structure is rendered in jaw dropping detail, his face is miraculously constructed, his constant emotional hatred, and endless grimacing is expressed on a scary level, his screams of rage are truly terrifying, a true achievement in facial technology.

Environments look superb; a very cinematic camera shows off the grand statues and massive vistas of a tortured mythological world, from the former majesty of Olympia, to the tormented hellscapes of the underworld with its rain of screaming corpses. A wonderfully dark atmosphere throughout, a gloomy twisted take on classic mythology; it taints the legendary realm of ancient Greece, transforming its majesty into horror.

Upon finishing the game a very large series of making of videos is unlocked, from a general documentary to a great many smaller videos detailing each element of the games design and construction. They are very interesting and thorough, with great insight into the complex nature of the games design. It is very nice to see such a deep look into the workings of the game, and I am glad to see developers including these videos without the need to sell a collector’s edition or as a per order bonus.

Violence has always followed Kratos, and the brutality in God of War III has been super-sized, given a next gen HD polish. Blood showers during combat; Kratos is coated in red as he dices and skewers his foes. More threatening opponents required a quick time killing blow; the buttons now appear onscreen in the same location as on the ps3 controller, this lets the action and violence take center stage, rather than being obscured by indicators.

It’s a good thing too, because you don’t want to miss one second of the vicious gore and bloodletting. Kratos displays a new level of carnage, the bashing of skulls, the ripping of every imaginable body part, disemboweling of each mythological creature he comes across. The slaughter comes with such strength and speed it is almost beautiful in its passion for raw butchery.

The narrative is simple and when compared with the previous games, does not have the great adventure spirit. It is a much more focused bloodletting, the genocide of Greek mythos. It wraps up the sad ferocious tale of Kratos and leads to an unknown future, a world destroyed by one man’s quest for vengeance. In its conclusion it reveals much of the mysteries of the saga, Kratos is forced to face the heartbreaking events of his life, to accept his own hand in the destruction, not only of his family but of the land itself, to see the great suffering that he has caused, and a great weight is placed on his back. As a whole the chronicle of Kratos is a tragedy, a fascinating vision of a fable being reimagined and then violently butchered.

The future of the series lies in question, the story is concluded. I doubt that this is the last we will see of Kratos, I am not ready to see his particular brand of ultra-violence retired, Sony has a great chance to take the series into unknown territory, to explore a brand new mythology.

God of War III is a rush of adrenalin, a spectacle of great visuals and exhilarating, intuitive combat, A never ending string of extraordinary clashes each more mind-blowing and visceral than the last.

The first 20 hours of Final Fantasy XIII were a drag, I was confused and let down, my spirits sagged and I nearly gave up. But then it clicked, everything came together and the world made sense again. Final Fantasy 13 is very slow at revealing itself, every aspect develops painfully slow, taking time to form an exceptional game; the story takes forever to be explained, the characters themselves fight with their fate, struggling with meaning and direction, the combat is so methodically established that when it finally blossomed into genius I was left wondering what game I had previously been playing. The question that lingers for me is: is it a great game for its methodical build-up or despite it? My answer is yes, well it’s not that easy but I do feel that it was a great experience because of its meticulous nature.

A lot of things I came to expect from a Final Fantasy are gone, no more towns to explore, or NPCs to speak with, no overworld or grand airship, no Chocobos to raise or card game to learn, practically nothing gets in the way of the main quest. It is a driven experience from beginning to end, a straight path of tightly focused narrative and combat.

A story of six unlikely heroes touched by fate to save the world, its not that the story eventually becomes about saving the world from impending doom, its expected from a Final Fantasy and 13 delivers, it is in the nature of its reveal that things diverge. These six characters are suddenly forced along a path they do not understand and did not want. They spend most of the game struggling with the fate they have been assigned, their next move an illusive mystery. By spending such a great deal of time fleshing out each personality and individuals motivation, or lack their of, I was given a greater insight into their own peril. Each one suffers a number of extraordinary events that rocks their life and eventually places them all on a singular path together.

One long dungeon, those are the words that popped into my head as I progressed, a long series of battles followed by a story sequence filling in a tiny gap in backstory, but usually asking more questions then it answers. From very early on the heroes are split into small groups, some times even venturing alone. Endeavouring into the unfamiliar, at times they at odds with each other, their decision on a future goal conflicting and often times placing them on opposite sides of the greater conflict. Some simply wander off into the wilderness, not knowing where to go or what to do, they simple run away.

For a game as heavy on combat as this it is a good thing that the new battle mechanics work so well. Directly controlling only a single party member, and even then given the option of automatically selecting the appropriate command, the game allowed me to focus on the bigger strategic picture, switching between my party members pre determined roles via the paradigm shift command. Feeling much like a World of Warcraft dungeon, classes come in the familiar shapes; melee, white and black magic, buff and debuff, and even a tank class, something rarely seen in Japanese RPGs.

The genius of the system is in the speed and fluidity of shifting formations, enemies require a constant changing of roles, moving from heavy damage dealing to defensive paradigms with split second timing. Everything about the combat moves at a ferocious speed, time is the currency of battle and not a second can be wasted, when all the many elements are finally put in place, and the difficulty rapidly increased, seemingly routine random battles become intense exciting struggles, every enemy has a set of strengths and weaknesses, ones that must be over come to succeed, attacking in unison, creatures each requiring totally different tactics, forcing my strategies to change on the fly.

I loved practically every moment of combat, and despite a heavy focus on it, never became a grind for me, its speed and the constant need for attention kept me gripped in every seemingly insignificant battle. It didn’t hurt that it was visually stunning, characters animate with wonderful over the top moves. The screen is filled with impressive special effects, bright explosions of light, wisps of energy and gorgeous partial effects galore. With all of this onscreen carnage and the ever present damage numbers popping up, it becomes a pure visual overload, a stunning graphical achievement.

Although woefully few and far between, their were a series of profoundly impressive boss battles awaiting me, it did take 20 hours for the first serious foe to appear, but it was worth the wait. Titanic in size and strength they challenged my every skill, and my patience, fights that became the thing of legend, long arduous battles of attrition, some seeming to last forever. Many times I fought for ages only to be suddenly and shockingly vanquished mere seconds from striking the killing blow. Somehow this never frustrated me, I was constantly ready for the challenge, I knew it was always with in my grasp, only a second faster in shifting roles and I could snatch victory.

At the thirty hour mark I reached a point where the game opens, arriving at a literal sweeping grassy field, filled with impressive monsters and numerous side quests. Having fallen in love with the fighting at this point, I relished the thought of spending many hours in vicious warfare, and it did not disappoint. Even though never opening up to the degree that most Final Fantasy’s do, I was given no airship and no vast world map, only an expansive countryside, filled with what can best be described as wanted posters for various mini boss encounters. I spend a silly amount of time hunting down these foes, and enjoyed nearly every second of the fast highly tactical hostilities.

Stunningly beautiful in both a technical and artistic sense, characters are incredibly highly detailed with great animations; their skin, hair, clothes and all manner of advanced crazy looking weapons are rendered fantastically. Some of the most impressive lighting effects I have ever seen; extraordinarily bright sunsets casting long dark shadows, sun flairs and glistening reflections, a beauty to behold. Environments astound with their vastness and elegance; from the huge shining technologically impressive cities of Cocoon to the majestic wilderness of the prehistoric . The world has a duality about it; every creature has two sides, a primitive animal form on Pulse and an enhanced cyborg version in Cocoon.


This duality of worlds is the focus of the games epic tale, a long history of warfare and conflict between two conflicting societies. A race of demigod like creatures known as fal'Cie rule over the floating human world of Cocoon, spreading fear of the eternal threat of Pulse: the larger world below, full of dangerous creatures and its own powerful fal'Cie. Our heroes are caught up in this struggle between civilizations, in the fear mongering and tyrannical rule of the fal'Cie.

Following a recent trend in RPGs, most of the juicy details of this fascinating mythology and its bizarre inhabitants, are hidden away in written data logs. Like Dragon Age and Mass Effect 2 before it, their seems to be a level of fear on the developer’s part worried about bombarding casual player with an information overload. I do appreciate that for the dedicated their is still a treasure trove of lore, but feel like this is only the first step in the slimming down of RPGs. First we are forced to seek out a world mythology in written form, how long before it is no longer important to feed the devoted?

I read every single addition to the data logs, seeking out as much info on this wildly creative world as possible. The design work that went in to its creation is nothing short of astounding. Every creature, vehicle, or object possesses a level of wild artistic freedom. Calling the design over the top is an understatement, from the fantastical shapely airships of Cocoon, to the brutal twisted animal life of Pulse, a flood of unadulterated creativity and unrelenting imagination.

At its core this is a deeply character driven game. Despite appearing to be the usual cast of a Japanese RPG, the heroes soon develop real emotions. Their struggles with identity and purpose were insightful and moving. Each has suffered a great loss; they each seek their own goals, all growing into a true character, developing slowly over the course of events.

Summons represent another interesting aspect for each individual, unique to a character, they appear to challenge them in a moment of personal self-doubt, representing a symbolic relationship, the Summon challenges the individual to step up to the plate, to soldier on in the face of absolute impossibility. Become their true selves and wield the great power a Summon affords.

With deep themes of challenging fate, in not accepting your lot in life, the narrative impressed me with its raw emotion. These six people endured great hardships, but continued to fight, they challenged themselves to overcome their pain and loss, to forge ahead into a new future. A personal passionate journey of six individuals and the ones they love, as much as an epic quest to save the world from oblivion. Final Fantasy 13 is a truly memorable game, I eventually fell in love with is oddball cast, leant to appreciate and enjoy its fast tactical combat, and was awed by its pure graphical overload of light and colour.

It was a long and strange journey to say the least, but give it patience and the genius of Final Fantasy 13 will be evident. A wholly original RPG experience, focused storytelling and exceptional combat, all surrounded by cutting edge graphics and years of intricate design work. It’s a rough start but in hindsight its all becomes clear, this is an outstanding experience.

The recent announcement of Money Island 2 receiving a special edition did not come as a surprise; the success of the first special edition had led to many rumors of the sequel getting a similar treatment. I have been waiting for this day for a long time, secretly I hoped it was coming but did not let myself get excited, on the chance it did not happen. But is it true, Monkey Island 2 is returning in all its glory.

LeChuck's Revenge has a very special place in my heart. I played it during a very influential point in my life; and it left a deep impact on my sense of comedy, storytelling, and forever cemented my love of gaming. That may be a bit hard to swallow; it is after all just another adventure game, although I consider it to be the greatest adventure game ever made. There was a spark, a strange pull it had over me as a kid, I had never even heard of Monkey Island before, let alone played it. My little mind was blown away by the absurdity of its characters, the deviously ridiculous puzzles, and its surprisingly deep narrative. The richly visual world sprung to life, a truly brilliant amount of detail is found in what was at the time impressive graphics. I have such found memories of my quest for Big Whoop; every puzzle, every moment is engrained into my mind. The jokes are still with me, and they still make me smile just thinking about them.

The illogical quality, the utter disregard for good taste and proper storytelling conventions impacted me, I was Guybrush Threepwood, and yes I was a might pirate. So many timeless moments that have remained with me, as I forgot most of my childhood Monkey Island 2 has remained. Visions of Wally the cartographer, the morbidly obese Governor L. Phatt, or the voodoo doll of Largo LaGrande still live in my imagination.

A few scenes sickout in my mind; one in witch Guybrush picks up a dog, placing it eloquently in his pants, the look on his tiny pixelated face is pure gold, it may have been only a few pixels but the hilarity in his face was priceless. Another was the spitting contest, experimenting with different combinations of grog to achieve the perfect spittle. Or the absolute geniuses of the final battle with LeChuck, reusing the voodoo spell from the opening chapter. And who could forget Stan and his previously owned coffins, convincing him to enter a coffin giving me a demonstration of its roominess, only to have Guybrush nail him in, the dark humor and absurdity left me slack jawed. The act of nailing the coffin shut may be the single funniest think I have ever encountered.

My quest for the treasure Big Whoop stands a one of my greatest entertainment experiences as a child, it meant a lot to my young self and still does. The sudden shock ending, making me question the reality of the adventure left me in utter amazement. It was a truly epic quest, sending me throughout the Caribbean on a grand comedic adventure. Going back to play it in recent years, I was stunned to find there was no voice acting, in my mind Guybrush had a voice, he spoke in my imagination and in my memories. My fantasy of the game will surely never live up to the reality, but that will not change my reverence for the experience.

LeChuck's Revenge stands among giants; it lives with games such as Super Mario Brothers, Final Fantasy 6, Xenogears, Super Metroid, ICO, among others that defined my love of games as a medium. The games that meant something personal to me, the experiences that remained despite time.
I am literally giddy with anticipation. There is little worry of my found memories being destroyed. After the superb respect paid in the first special edition, though some have complained about the controls, and perhaps I am blinded my nostalgia but I never encountered any such issues. I have all the faith in Lucas Arts ability to remake my youth. Forget Halo Reach, forget Super Mario Galaxy 2, and forget StarCraft 2. Monkey Island 2 special edition: LeChuck's Revenge is my most anticipated game of 2010 bar none. Finally hearing the voices of characters so dear to me will be an important moment to me, nailing Stan into his coffin, and listening to his cries for help.

For me Monkey Island 2 was a seminal moment, it was my star wars, it defined my taste in videogames, it placed me on my path to being a gamer. My original journey to the treasure of Big Whoop will never be forgotten, I am ready to reimaging my youth.

I’m exhausted, my heart is still racing. Heavy Rain is a punishing experience, both physically and emotionally. The roller-coaster of events, shocking twists and riveting action kept me very literally on the edge of my seat. This is a new form of narrative, an entirely different way to experience a story, to be drawn into its mystery have impact on its events.

Forgoing traditional controls, every action is performed with a context sensitive movement or timed button press. Every option from opening a door to starting a car is done with a twist or turn of the right analog stick. For every mundane routine there is a different input required, from holding multiple buttons down, to slowly, gently lowering the analog stick.

Motion control is finally being put to good use; I was smashing and heaving my controller in moments of intense pressure, exerting great force in my movements to produce the desired result.

Heavy Rain asked me to perform a lot of strange actions, things that are not scene in videogames; from slowly swinging the analog stick gently rocking a child to sleep. Brushing my teeth and shaving before dressing for work. By making me perform these commands for even mundane actions, I was brought inside the character, it was not a man running from the cops, it was me, I was running, panting, trying to catch my breath, I was dodging punches and talking opponents. I was responsible for these
characters lives; from there every day functions to the life and death situations they were faced with.
The more elaborate routines required more fingers than I had available.

Holding down what appears to be 73 buttons at one time, and then propelling the controller to the right, it does a great deal to make the deed tangible. A build up in input, slowly letting the gravity of a certain undertaking grow, a slow windup questioning my choice.

Movement can be slight cumbersome at times, occasionally the walking animation will get stuck on a piece of geometry and the models spin and move a bit awkwardly when cornered. But generally the animations are great, during action they really come to life. The onscreen indicators are placed at the center of a given movement, to draw your eye to the fist needing to be dodged, or the obstacle to be avoided.

Dialog options spin around, representing the responsive path of dialog rather than a specific phrase, with no HUD or guiding arrow to speak of, the clever use of an inner voiceover moves everything forward. Hold down R2 at nearly any time and a serious of options rotate round my head, choices and inner questions, thoughts on the particular question or goal of the moment. Control options bounce shakily if my character is nervous; they sway and jump during difficult decisions, fogging my choices.

An extremely impressive technical feat to say the least, human faces and expressions are very highly detailed and communicative. Rain obvious looks great as well; it drips from faces, soaks clothing and characters. Overall a very realistic graphical presentation, some slight awkwardness in a few characters, noticeably in the children, can be overlooked in the grand picture, as most faces appear incredibly life like.

Heavy Rain lives by it narrative, not only the focus, point but the entire point of the experience. Revealing any of its illusions would make the game entirely pointless. I will attempt to give a spoiler free look into this world, but that may be impossible. It may be better to know nothing of the world, and its characters, before entering it.

It’s a great serial killer mystery, taking cues from some of Hollywood’s great crime films. A remarkably tense and suspenseful story. As the four protagonists slowly uncover pieces of the puzzle, the larger picture is left up to me to discover. Each character finds signs and insight into the killer, but with my knowledge of other events I can see things in the larger scope. There are times when one character is investigating the actions I previously acted out. Do I find the clues that I myself left? Where does my loyalty lie? I can see both sides and yet cannot decide who is right and who is wrong.

The four individuals at the core of the story slow become intertwined, connections between them branch out as everyone is impacted by the killing. At times I suspected nearly every character, the drama unfolds with a remarkably cleaver reveal, a genuinely interesting twist on the previous events. My story ended in ways I could not for see.

I say my story because I cannot see how another play though could result in the same conclusions. There were thousands of small decisions that shaped the narrative; it really did become my story. The spirals and shocking conclusions left me breathless, unwilling to accept my own fate. My actions brought about great things, but at what cost?

I have never felt as connected with a group of characters before, the way I controlled the action lead me to form a link with them. I did not make choices as me but as them, I could hear their inner dialog, influence their thoughts and actions, but I didn’t feel like I was playing a role, more like I was living someone else’s life. Maybe it says a lot about me, but the chance at being inside another person’s head, seeing the world through different eyes, has always intrigued me. I fell in love with Heavy Rain, and that was not easy, it is a hard game to love. The situations so disturbing, the decisions heart wrenching, but I loved it none the less. This is a new form of narrative, I became Ethan Mars, his thoughts were mine, the incredible choices he faced were put to me, and I felt for him and very nearly weep for him.

A moody and impactful orchestral score intensifies the already gloomy nature of the drama. It swells and rises with the action; ramps up the force of high stress scenes, slows and lingers on emotional dialog. The soundtrack is very well inserted into the game, not distracting but influencing every scene.
Heavy Rain asked a question, what are you willing to do to save someone you love? How you answer that question is the key to the experience. I became these characters, through the simplicities I shared with them, eating their lunch, playing with their kids I became responsible for their lives. The onus of their decisions are mine, I would be lying if I said I had no regrets. If only I could have a second chance, things might have turned out different, but the blood is own my hands. I won’t forget the story I told, it was far too impactful, far too intense an experience.

Upon finishing the story, I was compelled to begin again. I stopped myself thinking about how many things would change, knowing what I know now. Much of the magic would be gone, in knowing the results I would make decision so very differently, they would be made as a means to an end, not as an emotional response to a situation. The split second responsive decisions are paramount to the experience, I would not have done the twisted things I had done were it not for the pressure, having time to think it out would have led to an entirely different and less involving tale.

I must give a lot of credit to director David Cage. This is a very impressive amalgamation of narrative and gameplay, the game design and filmmaking is of a top class. A pulse pounding adventure, I was riveted from the opening moment, I was responsible for my choices like no game before. The memories of my deeds will not be forgotten, they were too insane to be believed, and I will be haunted by my regretful rash choices, the things I did the heat of the moment will not be forgotten. David Cage’s dream of interactive narrative is realized.

There is no denying Torchlight’s lineage, developed by member of Diablo’s original team, Torchlight takes the classic gameplay of Diablo and doesn’t mess with it. It is a small utterly addicting game and one of the best values of the year.

The narrative begins simply enough, the mining town of Torchlight has come under the sway of dark forces; the magic ember uncovered deep in the earth has tainted the mines, unleashing untold evil. A single enormously deep, randomly generated dungeon and a single hub town; this is the extent of Torchlights world.

The main quest has you delving deeper and deeper searching for the source of the taint. Besides a few small side quests; hunting down sides bosses or uncovering more potent ember for a local mage, there is not much to do other than persistently descending deeper into the abyss.
Torchlight does not share Diablo’s dark demonic style, instead presenting a much brighter more colorful art style. It is very nice looking, characters and enemies have a rich vibrant almost cartoon flair. Animations are expressive and with the large number of diverse foes and environments the wealth of visual range is very appealing. I do miss the dark, grim, at times depressing atmosphere of Diablo. But Torchlight’s more expressive animation and energetic designs look great.

The labyrinth changes constantly, becoming more visually striking the further down I journeyed, from the mines I progressed through dank caves and underground fortresses. Passing subterranean jungles and castles built on lava flows. The surroundings are very nicely styled keeping a light fantasy vibe throughout. A very cool almost illustrated approach, with ladders and stairs giving a bit of verticality to the backdrops.

A tremendous number of unique foes populate the depths, giant rats litter the mines, midget tribesmen and lizard people threated my path in the caves. Each new location brought entirely new opponents, each looking and animating very attractively and fluidly.

As I reached the pits of the dungeon the pure numbers of enemies became very impressive. Literal hordes of monsters of every sort filled my screen almost becoming a visual overload. With masses of Trolls, Spiders and all manner of mythical monstrosities charging me, casting bright spirals of magic, it was very graphically attractive.

There are three classes to choose from: The Destroyer, The Vanquisher and finally the Alchemist. Each performs there own clichéd role, the Destroyer obviously being the barbarian warrior class, focusing on melee combat and brute strength. The Vanquisher takes the role of distance fighter, using a wide range of bows, crossbows and gunpowder weaponry, as well as the use of traps. The Alchemist would be your standard magic character, wielding the elements to his will, summoning mechanical bodyguards to his defense.

Each class sports three unique talent trees, providing further specialization. This with the discovery of magic scrolls in the caves adding a great amount of varied ability’s to each class. Controls stay simple and effective, left click attacks, right click can be bound to any number of skills. Potions, scrolls, and additional talents are mapped to both the number keys and the f keys. The interface is very clean, looking substantially like Diablo’s action bar.

This quest is not take alone, for each adventurer is accompanied by his faithful pet, be it either Dog or Lynx. The addition of a pet mechanic helps a great deal with easing the dungeon crawler into the 21st century. The pet provides a bit of additional damage output, but there real value lies in the ability to return to town alone. Load there invisible packs with all manner of goods and send them on there way, returning with piles of gold a few minutes later. This ability to continue to fight, without forcing a trip to town, unloading vender trash, helps to keep the action moving at a good pace, the endless loot grind is uninhibited.

Not stopping there, pets are also granted the same ability to use magic scrolls as the player. Your pet can spring fireballs from his paws, heal your wounds, or in my case summon forth an army of skeletal archers to fight by my side.

It became almost rhythmic, kill creatures, collect loot, identify said loot, send pet to town, there is almost nothing to distract from the mechanical loot grind. An obvious touch of repetitiveness presents itself, and there may be a slight over abundance of loot, weapons and items drop with such regularity they all seemed to blend together.

It lacks the great atmosphere of Diablo, or a more deeply involving story, but Torchlight is a great game none the less. It’s simple and effective at what it is, a classic dungeon crawl. Were the story to be more fleshed out and the quests expanded, the grind could have held more emotional pull. The lack of any multiplayer is a crying shame, Torchlight absolutely screams for a co-op mode. The forthcoming Torchlight MMO will give World of Warcraft a run for my MMO money.

A remarkable deal at only 20 bucks, Torchlight is a tribute to the ability of downloadable games to provide small, effective experiences, at a great price. Diablo fans take note; Torchlight is not to be missed.

Go Canada Go! Olympic gold medal! What a game, one of the best international hockey games ever, could not believe it when America tied it up with 30 seconds left, there goalie is incredible, the best player at the games.

Week 8 Twenty Ten

Torchlight

Finally got round to starting torchlight, and proceeded to become totally addicted. This is Diablo, right down to the music. If the style was less cartoony and colorful and more demonic, I would have to think twice about what game I was playing. Truly classic dungeon crawl gameplay, a serious addiction in growing, reached level 23 this week.

Mario & Luigi

Starting to become less enthralled, the gameplay is starting to get to me, there is so much trial and error in dodging enemies. I feel like I have to fail at it a few times before it is even possible to take down the bosses. This would not be a problem normal, but I am losing my love for the humor. Fawful had become very annoying, it has slipped in to absurdist, and I am not having as much fun.

Heavy Rain

Only played a few hours, but already I’m in love with this interactive fiction. The little choice, and actions have already made an impact on the world. It is so easy to perform a simply action without realizing the results of my choices. It has one of the best opening levels ever, playing with my kids, helping my wife with dinner; it sets the tone for the dark things to come. I can’t wait to explore more of this creepy, engrossing world.

Next!

Torchlight

Couldn’t quit this one if I tired, I think it is best played in small bit sized pieces, the repetitiveness of the genre does begin to wear during longer play sessions.

Mario & Luigi

Despite some misgivings and a waning interest in the story and humor. I’m going to try and put more hours in to Mario’s lasts RPG. I have become a bit less of a fan of the game. The humor has gone in to absurdest territory, and I for one am a bit put off

Heavy Rain

Not sure how much I’m going to get to dig into this one, it feels like a game more deserving of longer, more involving play sessions anyway, My wait until next weekend to really sink my teeth into it again.

Axellion, needs more loot