So now that I'm probably halfway into the game I can see why GS gave the game a 8.0. While the game does look fantastic, it's just way too silly the way your companions can stand right in front of the enemy (even bumping into them) and they won't do a damn thing.

It's also annoying how many times you have to go and fetch wooden planks and other stuff to to walk across obstacles. I guess that without all the climbing you had to do in UNCHARTED the programmers had to think of another way to extend the length of the game.

What's disappointing me the most though it's how the game has practically 0 story, at least as far as I've played. I still can't believe the plot of the game is to bring the mircale cure kid to the safe zone. Man, that has been done countless times before in the media. I thought the programmers were going to be more clever than this.

I don't understand how could any serious reviewer give this game a 10 with issues like these. I mean, the game is great and all, but it's not without its flaws.

Just got this for PS3. It turned out better than I was anticipating, though the low production values with only character portrait conversations are exactly just as I feared.

They're labeling this action RPG, though it's more action than anything. You roam about these mid-sized maps with your valkyrie and wingmen doing quests, fighting bandits and picking up items.

Personally I hate anything MACROSS after the original series and movie, so I just can't stomach this anime style and its ridiculous looking characters.

Still, I'm curious to see how the original characters are going to fit in this new nonsensic MACROSS plot.

Just started playing it. Man, it looks fantastic, even on the PS3.

I haven't been impressed with a TOMB RAIDER game since... I don't even remember.

METAL GEAR RISING was a tad disappointing because although it was a good game, it didn't made me want to replay it. Hopefully this game will make it up for it.

So I just started playing METAL GEAR RISING. Not a bad game so far, yet for a ninja-type game Raiden doesn't move around as verstaile as say, Ryu Hayabusa.

The lock on system is a bit messy, and the sub-weapons are a sort of a pain in the ass to use since all the aiming and switching takes you out of the otherwise fast-paced gameplay.

There's also some running segments that makes the game feel like SONIC THE HEDGEHOG at times.

I'm playing the game on the Hard difficulty setting and thankfully the game is challenging, though parrying and zandatsu greatly help you to deal with damage.

The support cast is pretty generic and fogettable, but the codec conversations are surprisingly interesting.

Raiden also looks very different from how awesome he looked on METAL GEAR SOLID 4. I really dislike how pointy his nose and chin look. His voice acting has substantially improved however.

Overall, not a bad game, but just so not METAL GEAR. In my opnion they should've named the game differently.

So I finally went and started playing the PS3 (borrowed one from a friend, indefinitely). Truth be told, the system doesn't have that many exclusive games that look interesting to me. In fact, after taking a look at the Japanese exclusive library, it definitely feel short of my expectations.

Still, there's a few fantastic games in there for sure.

Here's what I can play right now :

• NI NO KUNI : WRATH OF THE WHITE WITCH (Awesome game)
• JOURNEY
• MS GUNDAM EXTREME VS (Great, though not as good as the PSP NEXT PLUS in my opinion. I also get owned up the wazoo online...)
• MS GUNDAM BATTLE OPERATIONS (Average-sih at best, and a big pain in the ass to play online when you actually find enough people)
• RYU GA GOTOKU : DEAD SOULS (Pretty cool, I can't believe critics bashed it)
• TOKYO JUNGLE
• METAL GEAR SOLID 4 (Hands down still the best stealth game of this generation)
• AFTER BURNER CLIMAX
• OUTRUN ARCADE
• DAYTONA USA
  
• THE CAVE
• EX TROOPERS : (Sort of a hip manga spin-off on LOST PLANET, though not quite as good and very easy)
• SAINT SEIYA : SANCTUARY BATTLE ( I hated this series when I was younger, but the game is not that bad actually)
• SHIN HOKUTO MUSOU (BIG improvement over the first game, though you need an online pass to play online which is BS)

Plus lots of PSN games I haven't bothered to check out.

Overall, not a bad system, just not as good as the XBOX 360, really.

Finally, I've cleared XCOM : ENEMY UNKNOWN on CLASSIC IRON MAN mode. Took me a while since I had to restart several times, but it was worth it.

Overall, it was a decent strategy game, the field battles were fantastic, but in my opinion the programmers dropped the ball on the base management aspect. It was too simplistic and lacking in customization and detail.

At first when you can barely afford anything the game gives you the impression that there'll be lots of stuff to research and lots of facilities to build, but by the mid game you realize that isn't quite the case. And for me at least, it didn't mattered how much I lagged behind in research and facilities in the beginning, by the mid to late game, I had a lot of money but there was nothing exciting left to buy.

Actually, the game gets sort of boring once you start taking things under control, and at one point in my original CLASSIC difficulty run, I lost the desire to keep playing. Thus I decided to give IRON MAN difficulty a try, and it did serve to renew my interest.

I think they should've stretched the research trees a bit more. For example, there's only two higher weapon tiers : lasers and plasma, (and you can skip lasers altogether). And once you've got the plasma guns, that's it for the weapons, there's nothing beyond that.

The ending was pretty cool (not to mention surprising), yet it was too short and lacked more exposure.

What's wrong with game endings nowadays? A lot of games I've played recently (XCOM, DISHONORED, HALO 4 etc.) only have these lousy 5 minute endings.

With nowadays game developing costs, long developing times, huge developing teams, and that's what we get? A lot of these games have longer cut-scenes in between, I can't believe they won't pay the same attention to the ending.

Also, I started playing FAR CRY 3 again. I actually got the game a few days ago, but I stopped playing since I couldn't stand the main character being this dumb-looking rich kid who's turned RAMBO overnight. However, after reading the IGN review (where's the GameSpot one?), I was glad to hear that the character actually changes throughout the course of the game, so I'll be giving it another chance.

So I finally brought myself to complete BIOHAZARD 6. Honestly, I still don't know what was CASHCOM thinking while making this title. I mean, ever since the 4th entry (my least favourite of the series by the way) they made it clear that they were leaving the survival horror aspect behind, but still. Even for a full action shooting game, BIOHAZARD 6 clearly suffers from an identity crisis.

So it's ACE COMBAT in one part, SONIC THE HEDGEHOG in another. Oh, and those lame stealth wanna-be sequences were just flat-out terrible.

The storyline was also pretty lousy in my opinion, and the main antagonist SIMMONS was a rather weak and uninteresting villain.

The characters were ok for the most part, except for two that rubbed me the wrong way : SHERRY BIRKIN and ADA WONG. SHERRY felt like a clueless environmentalist group member. "Hey look at me, I don't know what I'm doing but I'm saving the world!".

The schizophrenic ADA in turn just wouldn't stop talking to herself. Personally, I found it competely irritating how she described everything she was doing or was about to do. It was like, " to who the hell are you talking to?"

Also, I'm not 100% sure but I think she was voiced by the same person that did the voice acting for the first prostitute you come across in FALLOUT 3.

One thing I can't agree with though, is the way most reviews say the game is riddled with quick time events. Sure, the game has tons of QTE's, but they make it sound like it's in the same range of NINJA BLADE (which received more favorable scores by the way), and it's just not quite the case.

I do agree however that the whole rotating stick QTE's were abused. I mean, I can dig having to rotate it when turning a handle or something like that, but why do I have to rotate the stick to avoid falling from a ledge?

Finally, the gun-wielding human infected enemies (the J'avo) were completely dumb and inconsistent. I really liked the way they would mutate depending on where you shot them, but it was a drag to fight them whilst in human form.

So, for those of you that have cleared the game, what were you thoughts?

I tried the Wii U today, and I have to say that I'm far from being impressed by NINTENDO's new system.

I mostly agree with the GameSpot article about the technical limitations of the system. I just don't see how it can be worth its price tag.

No wonder why NINTENDO is the only game company who makes a profit from selling hardware.

Also, I wouldn't be surprised if some time later they come up with an improved, redesigned console model, screwing early adopters.

It wouldn't feel like NINTENDO if they didn't.

So I just started playing THE WITCHER II, which is pretty much the best RPG I've played since DRAGON AGE : ORIGINS. However, I found the combat to be a bit lackluster.

I'm playing the game in the 'Dark' difficulty setting (the highest setting) and yeah, the enemies hit very hard, but they're dumbasses, really.

Sometimes they will just stand there doing nothing, others they will get stuck with each other. Archers will continue to shoot their arrows in a pattern regardless if you're in their sights or not, and a whole lot of lame stuff like this that makes the game feel second-rate in this aspect.

I also hate how you can't walk backwards if you lock on an enemy.

The game is great in storyline and character interaction, but the fighting and enemy A.I. plain sucks.

After nearly 60 hrs and three straight consecutive playthroughs, I've finally completed NINJA GAIDEN II on 'Master Ninja' difficulty setting.

In my opinion the game is plain awesome. I really can't believe I never bothered playing it until now, specially since I've had the game for a long time.

I also can't believe the game only received average scores at the time. The action and fighting system is faster, deeper, and just a lot better than NINJA GAIDEN BLACK.

The de-limbering mechanic isn't just for cool looks as it adds a whole new dimension to the battle system.

Sure, the game is rough around the edges, but so was the original game, if you ask me. That one had a lot more of annoying platforming action, and underdeveloped arrow shooting mechanics which really contrasted with the more polished battle system. Lousy saving/continuing system, annoying never-ending respawning enemies etc.

I think the fact that you could drown yourself in elixirs made the annoyances of the original game more bearable for most people.

I also can't understand the complaints about the environments. Yeah, I guess they weren't the best for 2008 standards, but do people actually like the generic looking city, military complex/warehouses and TOMB RIDER-esque ruins of the original better?

It's really a shame ITAKAGI left TECMO before he could release an updated and reworked version of the game like he did with BLACK. But still - all in all, I think NINJA GAIDEN II is a great game and definitely one of the best action games of this generation.

After like 15 years of rehashing the same gameplay concept over and over AND over again, developer OMEGA FORCE finally did something to improve (at least slightly so) their way too worn out, yet for some strange reason, extremelly successful MUSOU game series.

I'm talking about the latest entry in the series : "MUSOU OROCHI 2" (called "WARRIORS OROCHI 3" overseas).

Most notably in recent years the MUSOU series began implementing a "tag team" feature like the one in fighting games in hopes of making the otherwise simplistic and overly repetitive gameplay mechanics a little more interesting.

While this feature has been alright so far, MUSOU OROCHI 2 brings it to next level by making it a whole lot more versatile and also *SHOCK* a lot of fun to use. And this is definitely good news because the game pretty much revolves entirely around its tag team mechanics.

An all-bishoujo dream team? Sign me up.

Basically after successfully landing a hit on an enemy you can push the LT or RT buttons to swap characters and continue the attack. If done correctly you can keep attacking and swapping characters non-stop, which as you can imagine is pretty awesome.

Tearing through the enemy's ranks whilst chaining tag team attacks is a LOT more fun than anything you could possibly do in any of the past MUSOU games, period. And personally I found it hilariously fun how you can now juggle enemy generals to oblivion like if you were playing MARVEL VS CAPCOM or a DEAD OR ALIVE game.

This wouldn't be a proper Japanese game without stuff like this.

Don't get me wrong though. Nearly all of the design and gameplay flaws that series are well known for are also present in WARRIORS OROCHI 2. The game doesn't re-invent the series, it's just that the improved tag team mechanics go a long way in making fun what before seemed more like a chore.

On the downside WARRIORS OROCHI 2 feels significantly more low-budget in comparison to the likes of SHIN SANGOKU MUSOU 6 (aka "DYNASTY WARRIORS 7"). The CGI movies are blurry and not very impressive, and there's a lot more still pictures than real-time cut-scenes this time around.

But on a postive note, it seems TECMO-KOEI have finally learned their lesson and settled for a default Japanese voice track.

After the NINJA GAIDEN 3 fiasco, I'm glad that this game was able to wash at least some of the terrible taste that unforgivable awful game left in me. Believe it or not, finally a MUSOU game worth recommending.

Just got the game, and boy do I miss these games. I do have SILENT HILL 2 for the PS2 (standard first edition Japanese version) and RESTLESS DREAMS for the Xbox. I also have SILENT HILL 3, but man playing in widescreen is something else.

My only complaints is the piss poor presentation and cheap looking menus. You'd think the team that handled the port would've taken the time to make two or three fancy looking menus at least. But no.

Secondly, SILENT HILL 2 seems to be missing the remove grainy filtrer option from the XBOX version (or did you had to clear the game once to unlock it? I forgot).

Anyway, these games are still fantastic even after all this time. Personally I would've taken the original over the third if I had the option for this collection, but still I'm looking forward to replaying the third since the heroine's hilarious outfits make the game a little lighter to play.

Finally, maybe it's just me, but I thought the games would look a bit better in 1080p, but the higher resolution doesn't do that much in this case. Of course I was sold on the widescreen aspect alone, anyway.

Now, I just have to decide if I should play with the new voice overs or the ****c ones.

EDIT : I've been reading some user feedback about the game and it seems they messed with SILENT HILL 3 big time. I've read that they even changed the rusty floors and toned down the overall creepyness.

If that's true then it'll be a massive disappointment, and it makes me wonder why IGN gave the game a 9.

Oh, well, at least there's SILENT HILL 2, which is my favourite game of the two.

Here's some of my favourite vocal tracks from popular anime of the 70s and 80s.

MOBILE SUIT Z GUNDAM (1985) - "星空のＢELIEVE"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GAmUuKEFoLU&feature=related

THE GALAXY EXPRESS 999 (1979) - "TAKING OFF!"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YyKkl7Ar9as

THE SUPER DIMENSION FORTRESS MACROSS (1984) - "ANGEL'S PAINT"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7412SLASif4&feature=related

PROJECT A-KO (1986) - "DANCE AWAY"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DI9OepKF3Ms

"FOLLOW YOUR DREAMS"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NjbT1aHBYB4

HEIDI, THE GIRL OF THE ALPS (1974) - "OSHIETE"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BXOENngYStg

So I got ARMORED CORE V, which I was highly anticipating since FOR ANSWER was pretty good.

But after drooling at the amazing OP movie, I got a message that without online access you cannot buy new AC parts.... I was WTF!?

So yeah, the biggest, hell, the core focus of the series, the AC customization is totally nerfed unless you have Xbox Live. And I wouldn't be surprised if they made you pay for them as if they were DLC.

I'd totally understand if online allowed you to get a lot more parts as long as the game had at least the same amount of parts than the previous game. But the offline AC part selection is meager at best.

I'm aware that you can get some new parts by defeating enemy AC units, but even so there can't be that many of them.

Anyway, it's BS like this why I hardly buy original current gen games. Ironically, the last original game I bought was the FROM SOFTWARE game DARK SOULS, which is one of the longest and most gratifying games I've played this generation. Nothing like this game.

FROM SOFTWARE should've released CHROME HOUNDS 2 instead, because they've ruined this AC entry. Too bad because the game does make a lot of things better, but poor customization is too much of a downer.

NAMCO and CAPCOM are really scaming their userbase this generation. It's despicable.

It turns out the game might not be as good as I thought it was gonna be. After playing the game a bit more some notable design flaws became pretty evident to me.

First, the level design is not that great. The levels are pretty linear and comprised mostly of a bunch of 'choke points' where the game throws way too many enemies at you at the same time. You practically spend more time dealing with the enemies on these parts than moving through the levels themselves.

Second, I wish the game had at least some minor customization like the other games. You can't select different weapons, power them up, or anything or that kind. So far I don't even have other Ninpo attack than the fire dragon that recovers your health bar.

I like that they made each level look completely different from each other, but the background graphics aren't that good really. They're pretty simplistic.

The game gave me an excellent first impression, but now it's sort of starting to vanish.

MASS EFFECT 3, BINARY DOMAIN, and SILENT HILL: DOWNPOUR (cleared all three already) are still the best games I've played lately.

I wanted Armored Core V and Silent Hill HD collection too, but they weren't available yet. Hope they'll have them by monday.

I just successfully installed RE: Raccon City, so that's what I'm gonna play right now.

I'm also in the middle (well 78% of progress, really) of Silent Hill : Downpour, but I only play that game at night.

I have to admit the game is a lot better than what I was expecting, with the exception of the limited amount of enemies that also just plain suck for the series standards.

I'm only 14hrs into the game and I already have 3 or 4 broken quests on my journal that cannot be completed . I've looked around for info, and its seems a lot of people are having the same issues on both the Xbox 360 and PS3.

In ME2 I only got 1 broken quest in the whole game, and fortunately I was able to fix it by going to a previous save and picking a difference choice.

It seems Bioware's quality tests are getting worse.

Also, the shooting sequences in this game are better, but the actual shooting gameplay feels very sloppy and innacurate at times. I know some would say that the game is not a proper shooting game, but you still have to deal with the bad guys in the same manner regardless.

Funny, but playing ME3 made me like BINARY DOMAIN even more.

I've got the game last saturday, but when I tried to import my character, something was not right.

Then I suddenly remembered I deleted my past ME2 clear save because I wanted to make a 'perfect' clear save, only that I never got to finish the game that one time.

Needless to say that was a HUGE drag, as I didn't want to play the third part without my past saves. It took me most all sunday of playing ME2 and painfully staring at my ME3 copy which I was itching to play, but now finally I can start playing it.

I hope it lives up to the hype. I noticed the graphcis look a lot darker than in ME2. I don't know why.

I just cleared the game on the "Survivor" difficulty setting and I have to say I'm quite impressed with it.

The storyline and overall plot progression is definitely one of the best I've seen in a shooting game as of late - Way better in my opinion than the plot of GEARS OF WAR series, which with 3 games already I still found it quite boring.

I have to adimit though that at first the game didn't gave me the best of first impressions. I think that the first 15 minutes or so into the game are the worst part of it. The rainy gray graphics and the small warehouse narrow corridors make the game feel like just another generic cover-based shooting game. However, once you get past that part, it all becomes an awesome non-stop shooting tour-de-force.

The game is also on the long side for a story-drive shooting game of this type, by the way. It took me more than 3 LONG nightly playing sessions to clear it, which is more than what it took me to clear most of the other shooting games I've played on the Xbox 360.

The only mayor complaint I have with the game is the main character DAN and his English voice overs are just HORRENDOUS. I actually grown to like most all of the character cast (BOATENG reminds a lot of COACH from LEFT 4 DEAD 2), but DAN is just a plain, one-dimetional (not to mention annoying) caricature of a character. And unfortunately he was made even worse thanks to one of the poorest and (ironically given the theme subject) artificially sounding voice acting performances I've heard in recent memory.

But because the plot doesn't revolve around DAN, and because the world and the rest of the characters in BINARY DOMAIN are strong enough on their own - DAN sucking comes more as a mayor annoyance rather than as a deal breaker.

I also want to note that the ending was just as awesomely satisfying as the rest of the game. While the plot remains open for a possible sequel, there's none of that cliffhanger BS we've seen in so many action games lately.

Of course by now I think most of us SEGA fans probably think this is YET another SEGA game that will never get a sequel. But even if it doesn't, the ending gives a good enough closure.

Overall, BINARY DOMAIN is a shooting game that shouldn't be overlooked. Sure, the game is really rough around the edges and doesn't have the awesome gameplay mechanics of VANQUISH, but it my opinion it does have a better, and longer campaign.

After clearing the game I unlocked a higher difficulty setting, so right now I'm really itching to play it again and round off some achievements.