Soul Calibur IV

The never-ending quest to find the mythical uber-swords Soul Edge and Soul Calibur continues. Atop the Tower of Lost Souls, a warrior turned power-hungry maniac named Algol awakens from a slumber that lasted a few centuries long...
Soul Calibur 4

Dynasty Warriors: Strikeforce

Loosely based on the Three Kingdoms period of Chinese history, you choose your hero and plow through hundreds of nameless warriors...
Dynasty Warriors: Strikeforce

X-Men Origins: Wolverine

I was expecting a claw slashing frenzy of Wolverine being the best at what he does. What I got was the equivalent of...
X-Men Origins: Wolverine

Oblivion

“I don’t spread rumors, I create them.” – Lucian Lachance You’ll find Lucian and many other “colorful” characters in Bethesda’s The Elder Scrolls IV Oblivion. Oblivion is an open world western RPG available on the Xbox 360, PS3, and PC...
Oblivion

Soul Calibur IV

Character attacks and movements flow very well, and are still quite over the top; really, it’s NEVER tiring to watch your opponent fly head over heels about 20 feet in the air after a good upward slash....
Soul Calibur 4

Dynasty Warriors: Strikeforce

The game sticks to the same heroes and same time period and there are still lots of nameless drones to get through but its much more complex than the previous incarnations. Throwing in a bit of RPG flair...
Dynasty Warriors: Strikeforce

X-Men Origins: Wolverine

The graphics while nice are a real step down from games like God of War, Crisis Core, and other recent PSP games. This game seems to have dug an even deeper hole in the Uncanny Valley. If Wolverine really looked like that I’d recommend...
X-Men Origins: Wolverine

Avalon Code

The game takes the traditional “Save the World” RPG story and gives it a fresh new twist. Yes, the world is about to end in this game as well, the difference is that your task isn’t to save it, no one can, its been decided the world is too far gone. No, your task is to record anything of interest in a book...
Avalon Code

Oblivion

During the course of the game you’ll have the opportunity to join a few different factions. Whether you’re a warrior, a wizard, a thief or a cold-blooded assassin there’s a guild for you. Joining guilds not only gives you a variety of different quests it also offers quite a few perks...
Oblivion

Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2

I think I spent like 5 minutes smacking Nick Fury til I realized he wasn't an enemy but I don't consider those 5 minutes wasted though...
mua2

Avalon Code

As you scan people you’ll be able to read about their likes, their dislikes, and their ‘aspirations’. At first most people’s aspirations will show question marks but as you befriend them by talking to them, doing tasks for them...
Avalon Code

Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2

Not to mention that due to the Civil War story line I won't be able to be ANY of my usual characters since eventually you'll have to choose a side and its a given we'll be on Deadpool's side...
mua2

Oblivion

The game boasts beautiful and sufficiently “Next Gen” graphics. There really is nothing quite like standing high on a mountain and looking across rolling hills, valleys, and woods towards the walls of the Imperial City and the majestic white tower in its center...
Oblivion

Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2

If I ever play the game again, I DO NOT WANT to have to suffer through the opening again...
mua2

Lux Pain

I couldn't put it down and played it straight trough to the end over 2 days ...
lux pain

Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2 or "My Kingdom for a Save-Point"

Posted by Pasco County Library System



It's been a while since my last review and I apologize.  So to make up for it, I am posting a fairly recent game review but before I start thought I want to bore you a little with info about me and my game play habit (don't worry, it will be short and only slightly painful).  Games are a huge part of my life, my collection numbers over 1200 titles and spans consoles ranging from my very first Colecovision (which still works and I also think I just gave up how ancient I am) to my beloved XBox 360.  I don't have a PS3 just yet but it is coming.

With so many games, obviously I have not finished all of them, I'm a gaming "jack of all trades, master of none".  Especially these days when games drop 10-15 at a time over multiple consoles.  Sometimes, it can get overwhelming staring at all these titles.  And of course, no matter how great a game sounds, you won't know if it lives up to the hype 'til you try it.

Then there are those obscure titles that don't get the big budget ads and therefore, no one plays, and a lot of people miss out on a great gaming experience.  This is why starting today my reviews will come in pairs, featuring a popular game and the forgotten one.  So here's the first review:

Save point! Save point! My Kingdom for a SAVE POINT!!!!!

Sadly, that's how I've felt the past few days.

2 games I was looking forward to...2 games I couldn't wait to stop playing.

Which 2?

Bleach the 3rd Phantom....Pretty much 2 minutes after starting I wanted to end and go back to playing Theresia.

The second...well it came as a slight surprise...Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2.

My husband and LOVED the first MUA, we've played it on the PS2, we've played it on the 360 and I've played it on the PSP (We REALLY loved that game). Our team of awesome is always made up of Wolverine (That's me), Deadpool (Hubby), Blade (I swear his AI is ALWAYS on aggressive, he also hogs my kills and coins) and Johnny Storm (he's pretty awesome once I stopped giggling every time he said "flame on")

First, why a save point? Because if I ever play the game again, I DO NOT WANT to have to suffer through the opening again.

And why Ultimate Alliance 2....oh sadly....lots of reasons.

First, I was surprised and dissappointed to see the characters. Now, considering all the DS games I play and also the fact I still love Atari and Coleco games, I am not really a graphics whore; however, as if I didn't hate Nick Fury enough, every time he went off on one of his monologues he looked like his face was melting off. While I give props to the costume detailing, right down to the stitching and piping...WTH happened to the faces? I remember playing the 1st one (not so long ago) and finding the character models awesome and pretty realistic. So..sad face on looks.

Then, stripped down customization. I liked being able to tweak my characters attacks and change costume and all that jazz. Sure we're not too far in but so far, its kinda meh...

Character selection...I know I know, you unlock characters as you go along, but at the start, you really have no choices at all. Not to mention that due to the Civil War story line I won't be able to be ANY of my usual characters since eventually you'll have to choose a side and its a given we'll be on Deadpool's side (pro registration) *sigh*

And finally...fusions are cool, fusions are fun...I don't really care. I miss the screen pause and the voice crying out "Feral Rage" from the first game. Also, Yay more enemies...Boo more enemies. As if it wasn't hard enough to find my character on screen in the first game, now I'm constantly lost. I think I spent like 5 minutes smacking Nick Fury til I realized He wasn't an enemy (I don't consider those 5 minutes wasted though because smacking Nick Fury is always a good thing)

So...we got past the first section, made it to Stark Tower, decided to take a break. We spent our little break reminiscing about the good times we had playing MUA and we came back in and without saying a word to each other we both tried opening the menu at the same time in order to save and quit.

Will we finish it? Possibly.

Will we like it? Doubtful.

Will we go replay the first one? Definitely.

So many games for me to play and I decide to spend $60 and my time on this one...how sad...

Then again, its not like there are too many co-op games out there for us to play together so we gotta settle for this garbage.

Re-reading this I felt a little guilty about all the hate so I thought I'd say something nice about the game....Remy LeBeau.

Gambit has always been my favorite character from the X-men, followed by Wolverine (there I said it, I think he's cooler than Wolverine).   Ok, so he's in the game, even though his character model is fugly, that's ok because he kicks MASSIVE ass.

So there ya go....the one wonderful thing that MUA2 has that MUA didn't....the Ragin' Cajun....though I still don't think he's worth $60.

Sihaya

Lux Pain: A Rollercoaster

Posted by Pasco County Library System



Long ago I read about Lux-Pain in Nintendo Power. The premise seemed pretty inteersting. People are being infected by some sort of negative parasitic emotion named "Silent". My character (your average quiet, kinda broody, dreamy looking grey haired guy) Saijo Atsuki is part of an anti-Silent group named FORT and has the power to see people's emotions and purge them of evil ones. Awesomesauce, I thought. So as soon as the game came out I got it... I could barely stay awake through the first 2 chapters it seemed likea total snooze fest and I quickly set it aside to play everything and anything except it. However Everytime I went to get another game I'd see it there and much like the little emotional wormy-things that infect people in the game, it kept trying to worm its way back into my DS.

So I finally gave in and started playing it again. This time I stuck through the dull parts and I was rewarded. Twenty Two and a half hours later (I take my time when I play games, I don't like rushing) The credits were rolling and I was spent.

The game is divided into Episodes and up til about episode 5 or 6 its not that great but stick through it and it picks up and sucks you in.

Now I'm not going to lie, in order to get through this game you have to have a few qualifications.

First, the ability to sit through massively long and pointless exchanges between high school students and their angst and/or love of food.

Two, The ability to look at a nonsense sentence and turn it into sense (previous experience with bad subtitles prefferred)

And there you go point, 2 is the greatest downfall of this game.

The game is mostly text, an interacticve novel along the lines of Phoenix Wright (withtout the spiky hair the "OBJECTION"s and Edgeworth's awesome cravat) and Time Hollow (another underappreciated game, more on that later).

There is quite a bit of voice acting throught the game and its well done, VERY well done. I think only one character didn't speak quite like I thought he would based on looks but aside from the that, the voices suited the characters, the emotions were well done, no over acting or "phoning it in". However, The volume is really low even with it up all the way and what the characters say does NOT match what is written at all...like 99% of the time.

The Localisation of this game is what kills it. The text goes from being misspelled to being ridiculous and undecipherable. Its pretty bad. example a female cop is consistantly reffered to as "he". either they screwed up or she's a trap! lol

If you can get past this HUGE blemish in the game its got a good story with a few surprises and twists. I don't want to give spoilers or anything so I'll just say that just when you think you've figured something or someone out, the game throws you for a crazy loop (crazy in a good way)

The story is full of a wide range of emotions, sad moments, funny moments, touching moments and the characters are pretty well fleshed out personality-wise.

Once I picked it up the second time I couldn't put it down and played it straight trough to the end over 2 days and since I did miss a few things here and there I've actually restarted it again.

My biggest problem (aside from the localisation which I got used to after a while) is a problem I've had with quite a few games lately...the ending. (don't worry I'm not going into spoilerific detail) I'll just say that this game suffers from the "I spun this story and now have no idea how to wrap it up" syndrome.

And that's why I call it a rollercoaster.

Starts out bad, picks up, localisation drags it down, story brings it up, ending drags it down again.

Could it have been better? Yes.

Does it deserve the awful reviews it got? yes and no.

Would I recommend this game to others? Most definitely, if you get past the rough spots its really great.

Would I buy a remake of it with good localisation? Day one purchase.



Sihaya

Director's Chair Video Contest - Win a Video Camera and More!

Posted by Pasco County Library System

Winter break perfect time for students to prepare for video contest
Ask a Librarian sponsors video contest for high schoolers

TAMPA, Fla. (December 15, 2009) — Wondering what to do with your aspiring young director over the winter break? Tell your high school students about The Third Annual Director’s Chair, a contest in which Florida students submit commercials to promote Ask a Librarian.  Ask a Librarian is a free online service that allows the public to chat with a librarian for help with homework or general questions

Floridians in ninth through 12th grade are invited to submit a 30-second video promoting Ask a Librarian by January 24, 2010, for the chance to win a digital video camera, a digital camera or a MP3 player.

“We hope students will be using their holiday vacations to put the finishing touches on their entries,” said Diana Silveira, virtual reference manager of Ask a Librarian. “We know teens are incredibly creative, especially after seeing past entries, and we can’t wait to see what they come up with this year.”

After a panel of judges picks the top five videos, it will be up to the public to vote for their favorite video from Feb. 8- 20, 2010. 

Visit www.askalibrarian.org/thedirectorschair for more information about the contest, including submission instructions, prizes, official contest rules, release forms and more.  Previous winning videos are on the page for viewing. 

Visit www.askalibrarian.org for more information about the Ask a Librarian service.

Ask a Librarian is managed by the Tampa Bay Library Consortium (TBLC) and is a collaboration of over 103 Florida libraries.  Ask a Librarian is funded under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act, from the Institute of Museum and Library Services, administered by the Florida Department of State, State Library and Archives of Florida.   Ask a Librarian is a service of the Florida Electronic Library.

The Tampa Bay Library Consortium, Inc. (TBLC) is a nonprofit multi-type library cooperative that assists and empowers libraries. Since 1979, TBLC has worked with member libraries to provide better, faster service and resource sharing to the residents of Florida. For more information, call (813) 622-8252 or visit www.tblc.org.

Enter Battle of the Bands XIII: Rockus Maximus Now!!

Posted by Pasco County Library System



Entries are now being accepted at any Pasco Library or by e-mail to pauls@pascolibraries.org.  Bands ages 13-20 from any Florida county are eligible to enter! CLICK HERE TO ACCESS THE ENTRY FORM AND COMPETITION INFORMATION. (pdf file)

This year's competition will involve 6 weeks of online videos in February and March of 2010, with viewers voting for their favorite band each week via our MySpace page, following by a live band battle at Crews Lake Park (16739 Crews Lake Dr, Shady Hills, FL 34610) on March 26th, 2010.  Two different prize categories will be available this year.  The top two bands of the online voting will receive $500 and $250 music store gift cards to buy instruments, repairs, etc.  The winners of the live battle will get a recording package worth $3500 for first, $1750 for second, and $1000 for third at a local recording studio.

CLICK HERE to view past videos from previous Rockus Maximus events.

CLICK HERE to visit our main MySpace page.

For more information, contact Paul Stonebridge, Teen Services Manager, at 813-929-1214 or 727-861-3040 or e-mail pauls@pascolibraries.org.

12/18@7PM:LOL Winter Dance in the Dark

Posted by Pasco County Library System

Yes! After hours events have returned to Land O' Lakes and its high time we had another dance event...this time to celebrate the winter break from school and the end of the year, with all its holidays. A professional DJ will spin some of the best dance music and all your requests with the lights off.  The dance is free and free glow sticks, food, and drinks, including our famous Monster Spiked Punch, will be available for everyone. Friday, December 18th from 7:00-10:00pm. Bring your friends, bring your requests, and bring your desire to dance!

12/5@12:30PM - LOL Charity Car Wash

Posted by Pasco County Library System

Help raise money for the Battle of the Bands by participating in our Charity Car Wash at LOL.  We know you want to rock, but first you have to clean!  Sign-up now to volunteer.  Saturday, December 5th, 12:30-4:30pm.

LOL Talent Show Winners!

Posted by Pasco County Library System

Who knew the Land O' Lakes area had so much talent?  Wow!  We had 10 acts and over 50 people in the audience for the Third Annual Teen Talent Show held on Saturday, November 14th.  Here's our winners:  Palmer won 1st place and $100 for the second year in a row for her singing, guitar playing, and original music.  Dominick won 2nd place and $50 for his Broadway song from Jekyll & Hyde.  And 3rd place and $25 went to Amanda who performed a Broadway song from Wicked.  Congratulations again and thanks to all who participated.  See you next year!

Win a free acoustic guitar and help Battle of the Bands!

Posted by Pasco County Library System

Check out the graphic below for all the info.  For just $1, donated at your local library branch, you can own a piece of Rockus Maximus: Battle of the Bands XIII and have a chance (or more) to win a custom decorated acoustic guitar, courtesy of Gretsch Guitars.


Rockus Maximus: Battle of the Bands XIII Launching Now!!

Posted by Pasco County Library System



Pasco County Library System's original Battle of the Bands ain't dead yet!  That's right, Rockus Maximus is coming back for another year with another round of live concerts and hilarious online competitions.

We need 8 bands once again to take the Rockus Maximus challenge.  Beginning December 11th and until December 29th, bands can register at any Pasco County Library location or online.  Entry forms and all the other Battle of the Bands information are available now.  Bands must have a minimum of 3 members with the majority of members under 21,  must play their own instruments, must have at least 2 original songs on CD, DVD, or online, and must have an online presence such as MySpace, Facebook, YouTube, etc.


A free kickoff concert will be held on December 11, 2009 at Land O Lakes Branch Library (2818 Collier Parkway, Land O Lakes, FL 34639) from 6:00-10:30pm, featuring 4 local acts including past Battle winner Variance and Shallow Waters.  Entry forms will be accepted from bands at this event.

This year's competition will involve 6 weeks of online videos in February and March of 2010, with viewers voting for their favorite band each week via our MySpace page, following by a live band battle at Crews Lake Park (16739 Crews Lake Dr, Shady Hills, FL 34610) on March 26th, 2010.  Two different prize categories will be available this year.  The top two bands of the online voting will receive $500 and $250 music store gift cards to buy instruments, repairs, etc.  The winners of the live battle will get a recording package worth $3500 for first, $1750 for second, and $1000 for third at a local recording studio.

CLICK HERE to view past videos from previous Rockus Maximus events.

CLICK HERE to visit the Pasco County Library System MySpace page.

For more information, contact Paul Stonebridge, Teen Services Manager, at 813-929-1214 or 727-861-3040 or e-mail pauls@pascolibraries.org.

Free streaming TV & Anime now on the library website!

Posted by Pasco County Library System

That's right, we now offer free full-length episodes of many of your favorite TV & anime shows directly from the Teen Page of the library website!  Just go to http://www.pascolibraries.org, click on Teens, then click on New! TV & Anime Series at the top of the screen.

Feeling lazy?  Just CLICK THIS LINK to go directly there.  New shows are being added weekly.  Leave a comment here with suggestions for new shows.


Free New Moon Tickets and Special Events!

Posted by Pasco County Library System


Borders Books is going to be hosting a live webcast streaming from a Los Angeles store Sunday evening, 11/15, at 5:00pm (Florida Time).  You can watch for free online and post comments and questions on the official Twilight Facebook Fan Page and have them answered live on the webcast.  For more info on the event, go to http://www.bordersmedia.com/newmoonlive or http://www.facebook.com/twilight.

Want to win free tickets to see New Moon?  You have two possibilities coming up...

Friday, 11/13, at Blockbuster Video in Clearwater (2045A Gulf to Bay Blvd, Clearwater, FL 33765) you can win one of hundreds of tickets to a special pre-screening of New Moon on 11/19, a day before release!  Trivia contests and other games will be held from 7:00-9:00pm to give away the tickets, followed by a special screening of Twilight at 10:00pm.  There will be free food, prize wheels, and a howling contest, plus costumes are allowed (though shoes and shirts are required, even for werewolf characters).

For something a bit closer to home, the Hudson Library will be hosting a Twilight in Transylvania event on Friday, 11/20, in celebration of the release of New Moon.  You can see digital presentation on Transylvania, Dracula, and real vampires, taste some Romanian food, and win tickets to see New Moon at a local theater.  The event is free and runs from 3:00-5:00pm.

11/14@2PM-LOL Talent Show

Posted by Pasco County Library System


Registrations are going on now!  Only 7 spaces left.  Call 813-929-1214 or visit the Land O Lakes library to sign up.


Think you've got an usual, unique, or highly skilled talent?  Want to perform in front of people for a chance to win cash?  Then sign up for our Third Annual Teen Talent Show here at Land O' Lakes!  Single and group acts are welcome (up to 5 people), with just about any type of talent being accepted for judging...just keep it clean.  Registration will be limited to a maximum of 15 acts, so get your name in early.  Winners will receive $100 for first place, $50 for second, and $25 for third.  If you don't have a talent and you just want to watch the show, spectators are more than welcome.  Free snacks and drinks will be available.

Saturday, November 14, 2:00-4:00pm.

LOL Costume Contest Winners

Posted by Pasco County Library System


Thanks to all of you who turned out for our Costume Contest & Monster Movie event at LOL on Saturday. We had 18 entrants in our Costume Contest and over 40 people attended the event.


1st Place/Scariest $40 and 5 pounds of candy went to Adam who was well, just plain scary!



2nd Place/Scariest $20 and 3 pounds of candy went to Kaitlyn who was a Psycho Surgeon.



1st Place/Most Unique $40 and 5 pounds of candy went to Amy who was a Fireman Smurf.



2nd Place/Most Unique $20 and 3 pounds of candy went to Luc who was a Ramen-eating Ninja.


Congratulations to all our winners!

Send Us Your Song Requests!

Posted by Pasco County Library System

Hey!  Have you listened to the music playlist on the Teen page?  Do you like the song selection?  Is there anything you'd like to hear?  We want to play all your favorites: rock, dance, country, hiphop, old school, or whatever you like (just keep it clean).  Send us your song requests in the "Post a Comment" box below and let us know what you want to hear.  Happy Listening!

11/18@6PM-SH Mario Kart Tourney

Posted by Pasco County Library System


Test your road and combat skills against your peers in our fast-paced Wii Mario Kart tournament at the South Holiday Library. This will be an elimination event, so come prepared to win it if you want to stay in it!   Prizes will be awarded to the top finishers. Those who get knocked out early can enjoy watching the remaining contenders or partake of some of the other non-competition game offerings, like Rock Band 2, Wii Sports, and Guitar Hero. Free snacks and drinks will be provided.  Registration for the tournament is recommended to ensure a space.  This event is open to anyone ages 11 to 18. You're welcome to bring and sync your own Wii controller or racing wheel, so long as it has not been modified from the purchased condition.  Call 727-834-3331 to register.

11/19@6PM-RP Make Your Own Duct Tape Wallet

Posted by Pasco County Library System

Ok, why spend $15.00 or $20.00 on a wallet when you can make your own out of duct tape!



At the Regency Park Library, we will be offering a class to help you create your own duct tape wallet.  Now if only we could create money out of duct tape...   See you on Thursday, November 19, 2009 at 6:00 PM.

10/24@2PM-LOL Monster Masquerade Costume Contest & Movie Day

Posted by Pasco County Library System


We did the mash, the monster mash... Join us for our Monster Masquerade Costume Contest & Movie Day at Land O' Lakes.  Come in your best costume and try to win cash prizes.  The Costume Contest will start promptly at 2:15 and we'll have two categories for judging:  "Most Unique" and "Scariest."  The first place winners will get $40 and 5 pounds of candy, and the second place winners will get $20 and 3 pounds of candy.  Full masks may be worn during the contest only, but face paint is allowed all day.  Afterwards, enjoy a monster movie with free candy, popcorn and soda.  You don't need to register to enter the costume contest, just show up!

Saturday, October 24th at 2:00pm.

Anime Clubs at all Pasco Libraries!

Posted by Pasco County Library System

Fans of anime, manga, and Japanese culture… this club is for you!  The Anime & Manga Club meets each month in most of our libraries.  In the meetings, we discuss all aspects of Japanese culture and life, taste foods from Japan, and watch the latest and greatest offerings from the anime world.  New members and discussion topic ideas are always welcome.  Parental permission slips are required for members under 18.

Here are the remaining meeting dates for all libraries:

Centennial Park:
Saturday, October 17, 2009 - 2:00 PM
Saturday, November 21, 2009 - 2:00 PM

Hudson:
Tuesday, October 6, 2009 - 5:00 PM
Tuesday, November 3, 2009 - 5:00 PM

Hugh Embry:
Tuesday, October 15, 2009 - 4:00 PM
Tuesday, November 19, 2009 - 4:00 PM

Land O'Lakes
Tuesday, October 6, 2009 - 6:00 PM
Tuesday, November 3, 2009 - 6:00 PM

New River
Thursday, November 5, 2009  - 6:30 PM

Regency Park
Wednesday, October 14, 2009 - 4:00 PM
Wednesday, November 18, 2009 - 4:00 PM

South Holiday
Saturday, November 7, 2009 - 2:00 PM

Just to be clear, there's no rule saying you only have to attend the Anime Club meeting at only one branch...

10/22@6:30PM-NR Transylvania: Fact or Fiction

Posted by Pasco County Library System


Like vampires? We do at New River! Journey into the world of real vampires as we explore Transylvania through digital pictures and food on Thursday, October 22nd, at 6:30pm.  Find out about the real Vlad Dracula and how he inspired so many of the modern vampire stories, from Bram Stoker's Dracula to Twilight.  Be here, if you dare...

Game Impressions: Soul Calibur IV

Posted by Pasco County Library System



Reviewer: Diego Hernandez-Calabria

Game Title: Soul Calibur IV

Platform(s) Available: Xbox 360, Playstation 3

Platform(s) played on: Xbox 360

ESRB: T

Genre: Fighting

Concept: Premier of the popular weapon-based fighting game series on the next-generation consoles… with Star Wars characters now thrown into the fray.

Storyline: The never-ending quest to find the mythical uber-swords Soul Edge and Soul Calibur continues. Atop the Tower of Lost Souls, a warrior turned power-hungry maniac named Algol awakens from a slumber that lasted a few centuries long, and controlling the power of both the swords, seeks the power of the universe’s strongest warriors, so that he may become all-powerful… or something along those lines; really, it’s kind of difficult to discern a plot from this game when there seems to be one for EVERY SINGLE CHARACTER, and the fact that the opening movie gives barely any backdrop whatsoever. Its pretty damn convoluted, to be blunt. But as stated earlier, every character has an individual storyline, all of which revolving around the two swords. Some want to claim the swords to become unstoppable, others wish to destroy them to prevent such power from being set upon the world. For example, one of the series’ main protagonists, Siegfried, strives to repent for the sins he committed as Nightmare by destroying Soul Edge, Soul Calibur, and, to complete his repentance, himself. Like Siegfried’s, many of the other characters have a plotline just as clear cut, and some generally bad dialogue just adds to it. To top it all off, the character endings can go from anticlimactic to nonsensical and to just plain crappy. A nonsensical ending would be Lizardman’s, in which he and a couple of other Lizardmen claim Soul Edge, do nothing but babble at each other for about 30 seconds, and then run off in an idiotic fashion… yeah, makes a lot of sense. There are a few good endings, though: the Apprentice’s ending projects him as a substantial badass, and that’s as satisfying as it comes. Really, if Soul Calibur IV is meant to be anything, it’s not entirely story-driven. The fighting system takes full priority in that respect… but more on that later.

Graphics: In moving to the next-generation consoles, SCIV boasts great graphics, which has already been a major part of the series to begin with. The battlefields contain a great amount of detail, clearly visible as you hack and slash away. As well as just looking pretty, they also breathe constant life. Whether it’s a couple of dodos roaming aimlessly, spectral waves coursing through the air, or even a TIE Fighter screeching past at high speeds, the environment around you is, for all intents and purposes, alive. It’s hard not to take notice of the area your first time playing in it, especially since it can also provide tactical advantage in combat: breakable walls, pits of death… a well-organized line of knights slowly advancing with spiked shields… laser walls constantly closing in and then expanding… it makes battles a good deal more interesting.

    Not only do the environments look great, but also so do the characters, which the series has also been very good at capturing. Greatly differentiated appearances make the characters stand out from each other, and detail on the clothing, armor, and weapons makes them exceedingly pleasant to look at, in the CG cutscenes, especially. It’s rare that you see character faces that can look so expressive! Character attacks and movements flow very well, and are still quite over the top; really, it’s NEVER tiring to watch your opponent fly head over heels about 20 feet in the air after a good upward slash. Every executed attack has a movement blur that, in many situations, is unique to the character you’re using. For example, Nightmare’s sword attacks are complemented by a demonic red/black swing effect that makes his attacks look even more badass than they already are, while The Apprentice and Yoda have lightsaber-swing blurs to complement their specific saber colors.

    While I’m not going to overly complain about this next part… why, why, why… why must the women in SC have ridiculously large breasts? Seriously, the devs over at Konami must be extremely perverted, or they look at too many skin magazines than what some would consider “healthy”, because when you look at characters like Ivy and Taki… first of all, how Ivy manages to stay inside her already skimpy main outfit is beyond me. In Taki’s case… I would think that having those things bouncing as rampantly as they do would impede any attempt at stealth that she might have to perform as a ninja. Character customization even allows for unrealistic physical alterations, and because of the armor-break system, the in-game animations for a large-chested female character just border on sinful (more on character customization later). Even as a male, I can’t help but shake my head disapprovingly at just how chauvinistic the devs at Konami are. At this point, though, it’s too late to change anything like that; such design physics will appear in the next game in the series, and the next after that, etc. No sense complaining.

    Either way, the graphics displayed in Soul Calibur IV are simply amazing: great environments that never appear flat and dull that simply bustle with interactivity, and character models that move fluently and overall look amazing, this is one of the better looking games I’ve ever seen, let alone the best-looking fighting game I’ve ever seen.

Sound: The sound in SCIV goes as thus: horrible voice acting, great music, and pretty good sound effects. Let’s start first with the horrible voice acting… it’s a step backwards in the series. Sure, the V.A. work has never really been all that good for the series, but hell, SCII’s voice work was a lot better than what’s presented in SCIV. Probably one of the worst perpetrators is whoever voiced Raphael. Ok, he got some pretty crappy translated dialogue to begin with (at least twice in his final cutscene he’s forced to say, “now I will make a new world for Amy and ME!!! >: D”, which is so grammatically incorrect even I would purposefully suck at acting because of it), but seriously, he could’ve tried. Some of his lines are so badly uttered that I gagged. There is one who is worse, though: the prepubescent annoyance that is the voice actor of Tira. WHO GAVE THIS WOMAN A MIC?! Seriously, Tira is without a doubt one of the most nauseatingly inappropriately voiced characters I have ever heard in my life! It doesn’t help that the character is schizophrenic and has multiple personality issues; she’s basically the Gollum of Soul Calibur, except less decayed and girlier. It’s hard to take her ending cutscene seriously because the clashing of her childlike normal voice and her chain-smoker other voice just makes the scene unintentionally hilarious. Not to mention, her constant yelling in battle gives me such an earache I almost want to quit the fight, regardless of the reward I may receive. She’s not the end of it, though; character creation offers equaling annoying voices, male or female. Such voices make me cringe whenever I hear them. Simply put, listening to a lot of the V.A. work in Japanese is much less painful than the American trash… except in the cases of Yoda and the Apprentice. The same person who voiced The Apprentice in The Force Unleashed voices him here, and Yoda sounds enough like the original to not suck outright. Just take my advice: change the language settings to Japanese; you’ll thank me for it.

    Next we have the music in the game, which has only gotten better and better as the games have gone on. The original score for SCIV is simply epic; the pieces used in each stage complement the stages perfectly, and make fighting in these stages even more fun. I take my hat off to whoever leads the orchestra that performs these songs; they’re damn good, simply put. An awesome addition musically has been the Star Wars music that accompanies the Star Wars-based stages: if Yoda is present on one of these stages, a remix of the “A New Hope” theme will play; it sounds very good, and is reliantly reminiscent of the original. If The Apprentice is on one of the stages, “The Duel of Fates” will play; I absolutely love this track, it was probably the best thing about “The Phantom Menace”, but I digress, it’s fun to fight to. With Darth Vader (those with a PS3 or paid $5 to download Vader) on the field, you get to hear the ever-classic “Imperial March” theme; simply put, “Imperial March” equals epic win, and those who disagree should be burned at the stake. One issue I have with the soundtrack, however, is the unbelievably incessant main screen music: it sounds awesome the first few times, but from that point on, you just want it to stop. Same with the character customization music; it gets grating after a while. Sadly, this is actually the issue with EVERY piece of music: as amazing as they all are, the longevity of them is very thin; you’ll eventually want to listen to your own music rather than the music in the game, which I have done on many occasions. Let’s just say that I’ve played a lot of Muse to this game and leave it at that. Music is awesome, but loses its charm after a while, simply put.

Lastly we have the sound effects, which are standard fare for a game of this type. You’ll hear swords clanging, steel hitting ground, punches and kicks connecting, nothing you really haven’t heard before, especially from this series. From what I could hear, a good amount of the sound effects are recycled from previous; not a major problem, it is a series after all, and you need to have some sense of consistency. It just sounds like too much of the same, though. This isn’t to say that they sound terrible; they aren’t, by any means. Getting in a good strike on an enemy yields a very satisfying reverberation that accompanies the strength of the attack. Force attacks by Yoda and The Apprentice, especially, are extremely gratifying; I never get tired of frying my enemy with Force Lightning as The Apprentice. The SFX are good, but they’re not extraordinary.

Sound, as a whole, is very good: an awesome musical score, as tiring as it gets sometimes, makes up for painful voice acting and the most mediocre of sound effects, but hey, you could do a lot worse. SCIV manages to stay out of that range.

Control: The control scheme in Soul Calibur IV is easy to get used to, but difficult to master. Let us begin with the overall game controls (Xbox 360) which, even though the console has changed, the general location of each action is left relatively unchanged: left control stick and control pad controls your movements while the right stick… kinda has no role whatsoever. A is the guard button, B is a kick/punch attack, Y is a vertical weapon attack, and X is a horizontal weapon attack. The triggers and bumpers get more special functions, however: the left trigger acts a substitute for the A+Y combination, which is an alternate grab attack. The left bumper is a substitute for A+B+X+Y (thank God), which acts as the Soul Crush activator (more on that later). Right trigger substitutes K+G, which is the taunt button, but can sometimes act as an activator for a manual skill if your character has it (later in gameplay). Lastly, the right bumper is your button for switching fighters of your party when you have a party. Simple enough, eh?

    Anybody can go into a fight pressing random buttons or using the same button combinations to win a fight. However, it takes a virtuoso to be able to counter these attacks and essentially screw the n00b over. By using certain controls in conjunction (for example, pressing forward and A simultaneously), your character can execute actions that could easily change the tide of an entire battle (the previous example being an Impact, which breaks an enemy’s attack and leaves them open for a pounding; a great game changer when used correctly). Complex attack chains can unleash massive damage on the opponent when performed fully. Actions like these, however, are sometimes very difficult, if not nearly impossible, to pull off because of the control settings; I don’t think anybody would have an easy time switching quickly and consistently from X+B to X, X, XY, and Y. Although that probably was not an actual button combination, so moves require you to contort your hand into doing such strenuous motions. When in the middle of a fight, this sucks to try to pull off for the first time, especially if it is a powerful combo/attack. The game does allow for customization of the control scheme (mapping certain actions to certain controls), but there seems to be a delay in the time that you press a button and the time it is executed, and if you press too quickly or too slowly, then your combo is as good as gone. Frustrating as this is, it’s not much of a major problem if you can effectively use simpler moves, but for more complex actions, not so much.

    There’s always room for improvement, but Soul Calibur IV, for switching to the next-gen consoles, seems to be going in the right direction control-wise. At least they tried.

Gameplay: I shall begin with the basics of the game. You have 4 modes of play: Arcade Mode (battle through seven stages of enemies and be graded based on each fight; final score gets placed on the leaderboards), Story Mode (play through five stages with a very loose storyline shoved in to the mix; begins with LONG narrative of your character’s background and ends with a CG cutscene), Tower of Lost Souls (upper floors present repeated challenges with which you can earn more money and items to use in customization by fulfilling certain conditions within each fight; lower floors are a survival game, in which you fight until you finally lose), and Practice (get used to everything). Each mode uses the same fighting engine: traditional viewpoint of two characters facing each other on different sides of the arena in their respective fighting stances, and the entire fight plays out like this, with slight camera changes based on the movements made by each combatant. The loser is the combatant whose health bar is either depleted or is the least of the two if time is called. As far as fighting itself goes, each attack has a different purpose: horizontal attacks are especially effective on standing or jumping enemies and are usually starters for combos; if an enemy is sidestepping, this is the perfect attack to hit them with to cut them off. Vertical attacks are effective on crouching enemies and can break through the guards of crouching enemies; if the vertical attack is a thrust, it works well on retreating enemies; these are also the more powerful weapon attacks, and usually finish off combos. Melee attacks like punches and kicks are primarily very short range attacks and can transition into combos for certain combatants; many of them are good knockdown attacks as well. Any of these attacks, however, are susceptible to a special action performable by any and all characters: the Impact. When an Impact is performed, the attack is repelled and the original attacker is left open to a counterattack. There is the middle Impact (useful for middle and high attacks, and simply repels the force of the attack back at the opponent, leaving them susceptible to attacks) and the low Impact (useful for middle or low attacks, and repels the force of the attack to the defender’s side, knocking the attacker to the ground next to the defender; if an enemy is in this position, they’re very much screwed, as their backs are wide open to attacks). There is a very rare type of Impact that is very hard to execute (I don’t even know how one does it; it just happens): the True Impact, signified by a red clash effect, that damages the enemy’s health as it repels the damage done to them. A True Impact in battle can be a lifesaver or a life-ender. Attacks that can sometimes escape Impacts are Crippling attacks and Unblockable attacks. Crippling attacks are signified by a blue, electrical aura around your character’s weapon, and stun the opponent upon impact (after a small charge period), leaving them open to more attacks; if they block the attack, their block is either broken or weakened, once again leaving them open. Unblockable attacks, easily noticed by the presence of flames around the character’s weapon and the blackening of the screen, take longer to charge than Crippling attacks, but immediately pass an enemy’s defense and damage them extensively; if one of these attacks hit, he who was stricken will be in a very bad position health-wise.

    While all of this is going on, there is an ongoing event that some people may not notice: a colored orb next to the health meter may be changing colors as attacks are landed and blocked. This orb is the Soul Gauge, and shows the power of your character’s Soul. As you land attacks or Impact enemy attacks, your Soul Gauge will gradually change to a dark blue color, meaning your Soul Gauge is charged, allowing for special abilities (if applicable) to be unleashed; when fully charged, the Gauge is blue and flashing white. If you block attacks or have your attacks Impacted, your Soul Gauge will begin to deplete to black; when fully depleted, the Gauge is black and flashing red. If your Soul Gauge is depleted, you had best start attacking; if vice versa, be ruthless in your attack. If one too many attacks are blocked or Impacted, the combatant’s guard will entirely break, signified by a loud breaking sound and knockback animation called a Soul Crush. If you experience a Soul Crush but are lucky, nothing will happen and your Soul Gauge will instantly recharge to half. However, if you aren’t so lucky, the enemy will take immediate advantage of this, and what happens next is a little thing called the Critical Finish. In the same style as the Mortal Kombat Fatality, the Critical Finish is an instant K.O. cinematic that flashily ends the fight in the favor of the character who used it. It’s these attacks that show just how great the animations in SCIV really are, allowing characters to perform actions you couldn’t otherwise perform in battle, and, overall, show their badass side. These attacks can be anywhere from awesome (The Apprentice: uses Force to knock opponent into the air, stunning them, then leaps into the air and uses Force Repulse as the killing blow, unleashing a large shockwave that sends the opponent flying) to brutal (Yoda: re-enacts scene from Episode III, in which Yoda throws his lightsaber through the opponent, and as they crouch, leaps on top of them and pulls his saber out) to ridiculous (Cassandra: beats her opponent into submission… with her buttocks… I could not make this up). Either way, these moves are always very fun to watch, whether you’re receiving or delivering.

    Arcade Mode and Story Mode are pretty self-explanatory, and play out generally the same: just fight the enemies ahead of you until you reach the final enemy (in Arcade, Algol, and in Story Mode, Algol, Siegfried, or Nightmare). Tower of Souls, however, takes a different route… by making you choose a route when you open it: you can take the ascend the Tower, which basically involves challenges with set conditions to receive bonuses, or descend the Tower, and basically fight until you’re finally taken down. Every mode is easy enough to play, but here’s where one of the game’s biggest problems comes into play: disjointed A.I. For Arcade Mode, this becomes prevalent around stage 4; every enemy up until this point is weak sauce that either uses weak attacks or doesn’t attack at all, and then stage 4 comes along, usually involving Taki or Astaroth, and wipes your ass up and down the floor… WHAT?! When did the A.I. actually decide to fight… and with a strategy?! Trust me, it gets worse… although stage 5, which usually involves Siegfried or rarely Nightmare, is an odd break, as the enemy will either not attack or up and beat you down. If you thought that was difficult, here comes the spectacle of the broken difficulty heightening: The Apprentice. If you’re playing as The Apprentice, you fight Yoda (or in the PS3 version, Vader) here, but otherwise, you’ll always fight The Apprentice… and this jerk is CHEAP! Usually the moment the round starts, he’ll already be juggling your character through the air with ridiculous Force combos you would dream of using on him! To make things worse, he grabs you as your attacks start to get through, does his damndest to make sure you’ll never stay standing, and will stun you into submission. He especially loves using Force Grip to stop any attack you may dare to use on him, and can easily Impact ANY attack you throw at him if you get overzealous. Without a doubt, this is one of the most annoyingly unfair enemies I have ever fought in any fighting game… EVER! HE’S WORSE THAN JINPACHI IN TEKKEN: DARK RESSURECTION… AND HE HAD INSTANT KILL ATTACKS! If you manage to scrape by The Apprentice, you’ll either be faced with your easiest battle yet or a battle more frustrating than The Apprentice: Algol. He can teleport around the arena, hit you with range attacks, and do major damage to you with unblockable grab attacks that last as long as 5 seconds! If you get past him, congratulations: YOU JUST SPENT OVER 10 MINUTES BEATING WHAT SHOULD’VE BEEN A MUCH EASIER ARCADE MODE! What’s worse is you can’t adjust the difficulty specifically for this mode, meaning that The Apprentice will always be your record killer when you play!

    Next we have Story Mode. After choosing a character, you’re given a long and in-depth background of your character and their path through the Soul Calibur universe to this point. It’s unnecessary and you can just skip right over it; it lasts over 2-3 minutes on average, too, so you might as well. Story differs from Arcade in that many of your battles will be against two parties rather than two opponents; you may begin with a full party or have to grow it through the course of each battle; some people will join you or leave you. They’re generally scripted events, although in the case of custom characters, player parties can be randomized. You play through five stages, and then you’re done. You receive less money than from Arcade, but you can unlock more characters only through Story Mode. It’s still not much fun to play however, the reason tying back to the disjointed A.I. thing: THE TWO DIFFICULTIES SUCK! You can go through a Normal difficulty, which is so easy it’s a joke, and a Hard difficulty, which makes you feel like you’re fighting a dozen Apprentices each stage! Thankfully, there’s no detriment to losing battles here, rather than in Arcade, but your score becomes considerably less if party members are KO’d or lose a lot of health. It’s extremely difficulty to attain a decent rating on Hard because of it!

    Ok, lastly there’s the Tower of Lost Souls mode. Let’s start by ascending the tower. You start with the first three floors of the Tower, all under a single option. You choose a character (or party), and then proceed with the battle. The first time you play the particular floor, the battle starts as normal and progresses as normal. If you win, you move to the next floor; if you lose, you restart FROM THE BEGINNING FLOOR! Early on, this isn’t too bad, but when battles become increasingly more IMPOSSIBLE, this gets excruciatingly tedious. So you complete the set of floors and unlock the next one, but you discover that you’ve unlocked only one chest from all three floors and are missing two! So you go back to play through them again and the game gives you a message stating a condition that will give you the chest, and thus, an item for use in customization. This would be all well and good, except for the conditions are sometimes extremely cryptic and stupid: for example, “unleash your most powerful attack” basically tells you to use a critical finish, or “master the art of the never-ending attack” (I think that’s what it says) implies to use combos that hit 5-10 times. These are the easy ones, even; some of the conditions are so vague I had to look them up on GameFaqs to find out what the frak they meant! Even so, some of the conditions are just RIDICULOUS! There are several conditions that tell you to jump off a ledge AND KILL YOURSELF! I AM DEAD SERIOUS! Konami… YOU DON’T ASK A PLAYER TO KILL THEMSELVES WHEN THEY’RE ON THE LAST FLOOR OF THE SET! As the conditions get more demanding, the enemies begin to border on invincible; I’m stuck on a room right now where attacks barely take off a millimeter of health from an enemy, and they have skills that keep them from being knocked off the edge! Way to make a mode unbeatable, Team Soul! Ok, let’s descend the Tower now, and enter in the throngs of a survival test. You choose a pair of characters and then fight round after round of enemies without any chance to heal yourself. Every 5 rounds is a special enemy that can beat you down without a problem, while everyone up until then basically stands around and looks pretty; it’s probably worth mentioning that most everyone you fight in this mode (as well as in Story Mode and Tower: Ascend) is a character made by the game, but that’s extraneous to an extent. On the fifth round you will fight… a girl wearing a giant cat suit. Yes, a girl wearing a giant cat suit, using the joke weapon of whatever style she uses. However, these cat-girls (who appear in later rounds divisible by 5) will take you down in seconds if you let them; it’s because of these characters that your run will end quickly. Once again, this goes back to broken A.I.: you spend 4 rounds fighting enemies who would much rather stand around and pick their noses than throw a punch at you, and then you fight some kitty cosplayer holding a giant paint brush who shoves it painfully up your arse in an instant! IS THERE NO END TO THIS CRAP?! The highest I’ve gotten on this mode is round 35; getting farther is possible… but fighting fairly is most certainly not the way to do it; you have to spam attack and load your characters with cheap skills.

    … So now, I think, is the perfect time to talk about character customization/creation, which is easily the best part about Soul Calibur IV! You immediately have the option to customize the 30+ characters at your disposal (all but Yoda, Algol, The Apprentice, Vader, and the bonus characters can have their alternate clothes changed), but if you choose to, you can make up to 50 custom characters (the 50 includes customized main characters) using the surprisingly in-depth system! When you first choose a slot to make a character, you’re given the choice of what fighting style you wish the character to have (all but Yoda, Algol, The Apprentice, and Vader styles may be used). Then you are to choose their specifications: do you want an offensive character or a defensive character? Do you want them to have a lot of health over the damage they can dole or vice-versa? However, you don’t have to abide by these specs; it’s just so the game can make you a base character based off what you chose. If you like the stats of the character the game made you, you can keep it, then name it and save. However, if you’re like me, you think that what the game made could be a lot better… and then you change it completely. This is where the most fun comes out of the system, primarily from its complexity. At the far right of the screen you have a box. In descending order, the box states: the amount of money you have; the style being edited; the level of the style (style level determines what strength skills you can use; you can increase your style level by playing as the specific style in the Story and Tower of Lost Souls modes); the specific weapon the style has equipped at the moment; the character’s current percentages on attack, defense, and HP; the skill points open and remaining for each attribute: Power (refers to attack-based skills), Impact (offers guard-based skills), Boost (refers to stat-based skills), Gauge (refers to Soul Gauge/health-based skills), and Special (extra skills that can provide a special advantage in battle). Every weapon and piece of equipment offers a specific amount of attack, defense, and HP (it can sometimes lower it, even), and points to any of the above listed attributes; this leads to an almost endless amount of equipment combinations to satisfy how you would like the character to look and for what attribute they would major (have the most available points) in. The next tab allows you to change the individual colors of all of your equipment, or the color scheme of every piece at once. Weapon color, however, cannot be changed. The next step is editing the physical appearance of your character: here you may choose the gender of your character, the face of the character, the height or depth of their voice, the kind of voice they will have, their physical stature (muscularity, physique [on a woman, physique can affect the size of her… yeah), skin color, eye color, hairstyle and hair color. Yes, there is that many options based just on how your characters themselves look! When all of your equipment is chosen, you may then choose skills for your character: if you have achieved the needed style level and have enough skill points in the attributes needed for the skill, you may set the skill to be used in Story Mode, Tower of Lost Souls, and Versus modes. Some weapons come automatically with skills; so plan out your other skills accordingly, or you may suffer in the end! Lastly, you can test play your character to make sure they’re exactly how you want them, and if you like them, then you can save. And then you can repeat the process to attain different results every time! Out of the 50 possible, I’ve made over 40 characters, each different and unique… and I still wish I could make more! I’ve almost spent more time creating and testing new characters than I have been fighting! THAT’S HOW MUCH FUN IT IS! If Team Soul did anything perfectly, it’s the character customization system!

    That’s really it with gameplay: an amazing customization system and extremely disjointed A.I… thankfully, the customization more than makes up for the broken difficulty, if only slightly. It’s still enough to have caused me major anger issues at the game, and therefore majorly affect my final score.

My Say: I’m caught at an impasse with this game. The character creation mode is easily some of the most fun I’ve had with the game, but the unmercifully disjointed A.I. has at many times killed that fun. Being the small-tempered sod I frequently am, this game has made me yell and scream obscenities at my TV and almost caused me to throw my controller at it (I had to restrain myself by throwing the controller at the couch, instead). Never have I been so mad at a game since Tekken: Dark Resurrection… something I find miraculous in itself! If I may conclude something, Konami really has a way with pissing people off, whether it’s programming unmercifully difficult A.I. or, if I may reference a more recent failure of a release, attempting to murder a genre entirely! *Cough* Rock Revolution *cough*… where was I? Oh yes, the verdict…

Overall Score [0-100%]: 80%. No matter how well the fighting engine runs or the character creation is, having A.I. than can totally abuse that engine is just unforgivable. I still enjoy playing this game, and it’s fast-paced and fun online (with minor lag issues every now and then), but otherwise it just angers me too much for me to give it a higher rating, as much as I really want to. If somehow somebody from Konami reads this: FIX THE BLOODY A.I.!!! It’s kind of difficult to play a game when you don’t get a chance to do anything because someone in a full suit of armor with fruity blond long hair has you up against a small corner and is perpetually raping you with their 7-foot tall two-handed magical broadsword!!!

But aside from that… keep the guest appearances coming: I greatly enjoyed Link in Soul Calibur II, and The Apprentice and Yoda were pretty fun here in IV. But on that subject, don’t be such cheap-asses: if Darth Vader and an extra stage are already in the 360 version (vice-versa with Yoda on the PS3), WHY THE HELL DO WE HAVE TO PAY 5 DOLLARS TO UNLOCK THEM!? I believe that the purpose of “console-exclusive characters” is totally butchered if they’re already inserted in both versions of the game! Konami, if you’re going to swindle your fan-base out of their money, at least TRY to cover it up; seriously, you can play the buyable stage IN YODA’S CHARACTER CREATION MODE… AND IT’S NOT EVEN THAT GOOD A STAGE! Every Star Wars stage takes place in the EXACT SAME STAR DESTROYER, just different sections of it! TRY FOR SOME CREATIVITY, WHY DON’T YOU!?

But now I’m getting further off track… I’m ending this review now. Hope you all enjoyed; look forward to more from me!

-- Diego

Game Impressions: Dynasty Warriors, Wolverine, & yes, Hanna Montana

Posted by Pasco County Library System

Impressions – three for the Price of One (Dynasty Warriors:  Strikeforce, X-men Origins:  Wolverine, Hannah Montana)

Clawing someone has never been so satisfying.







  
No, I’m not talking about the latest Wolverine game, I’m talking about Dynasty Warriors:  StrikeForce.  If you’ve played one Dynasty Warriors game, you’ve played them all.  Loosely based on the Three Kingdoms period of Chinese history, you choose your hero and plow through hundreds of nameless warriors. 

     Strikeforce breaks that trend.  The game sticks to the same heroes and same time period and there are still lots of nameless drones to get through but its much more complex than the previous incarnations.  Throwing in a bit of RPG flair, your character starts off in a town.  Here you can purchase upgrades for your character, weapons, miscellaneous items, combine materials for your upgrades, and store your loot.

As you go through the game, officers will show up at your town to give you their card.  These cards are used to upgrade the shops in town so they carry better items.  Another nice addition is secondary weapons.  For example, my favorite character uses a Bo staff.  His secondary weapon is a sword but I can purchase and equip my second favorite character’s claws.  Happy day for me!

As far as the weapons go, one the biggest complaints about the previous Dynasty Warriors game was that a lot of characters lost their unique weapons and styles ending up as re-skinned clones of a small pool of characters.  Strikeforce corrected a lot of this by giving these characters back their original weapons, plus, as mentioned, the ability to have a secondary weapon of your choosing.  This more than makes up for the clones in the previous incarnation of Dynasty Warriors.

Another new addition is the fury mode where your character glows, changes color, gets much bigger hair, and deals a lot more damage.  The game play itself is much more goal oriented and also has a bit of a steep learning curve.  Like the previous games, you have a story mode and a free mode.  Each scenario will give you a specific objective that must be achieved to clear the stage, a secondary objective for a bonus, and a time period in which to complete it.  You also get three lives per stage before it’s game over and believe me you will die.

I think that’s my biggest gripe, though I love the ramped up difficulty and the creative new additions to a franchise that while lots of fun is incredibly repetitive, some of the deaths are incredibly cheap.  Some maps can be difficult to understand, leaving you wondering where to go next and will lead to your very messy demise until you figure it all out.  There are also enemies that fly/float which are hard to kill and throw a mean energy curveball.

The game offers multiplayer and though I haven’t had a chance to try it yet, I do think that having some friends play with you would probably make it more fun and less frustrating.  In conclusion, expect an amped up Dynasty Warriors experience, keeping a lot of the old but plenty of new to make the game fresh, fun & exciting.  The graphics are sharp, beautiful, and about PS2 quality.  Now if only they would find a cure for “enemy pop up”.

Dynasty Warriors: Strikeforce is a PSP game by Koei.

X-Men Origins:  Wolverine






I was looking forward to this game, I really was…I was expecting a claw slashing frenzy of Wolverine being the best at what he does.  What I got was the equivalent of the kid who got a box of rocks instead of a DS for his birthday.

For the record, I played the PSP version and have yet to try the “uncaged’ console version which many claim is very good and superior to the handheld version (It wouldn’t take much to surpass the PSP version though, so that isn’t much of an endorsement).  Now I get that it’s a brawler and I love brawlers and beat’em ups as much as the next person but that doesn’t excuse this game for its lackluster presentation and dull combat.  If I had to summarize this game in one sentence I would say this game is the equivalent of taking God of War:  Chains of Olympus and Ninja Gaiden:  Dragon Sword, shaking vigorously and X-Men Origins:  Wolverine would be the defective, rejected offspring.

The graphics while nice are a real step down from games like God of War, Crisis Core, and other recent PSP games.  This game seems to have dug an even deeper hole in the Uncanny Valley.  If Wolverine really looked like that I’d recommend some sort of facial reconstructive surgery.  I won’t lie, I didn’t get too far into the story, wait, what story?  Story seems to be an alien concept to this game.

Wolverine spends his time strapped to an electric chair.  Stryker give you a bit of expository dialogue and then proceeds to zap Wolverine. A cutscene/ flashback ensues, and then you claw and beat your way through the stage.   As we know, Wolverine can regenerate any time he is injured.  Well that’s not entirely true in this game.  You’ll run into spots where poison, fire, and other status aliments will prevent Wolverine from regenerating for a while.

Boss fights are a study in frustration and twitchy reflexes.  Boss characters deal Wolverine plenty of damage while he pretty much tickles them unless you mash the circle button at just the right second.  They also can regenerate about ten times faster than Wolverine can.  These fights can drag on and get incredibly tedious.  There is a mechanic called “rage mode” where Wolverine races around doing major damage for a few seconds.  It’s a nice mechanic but it doesn’t last very long making it almost useless against the tons of faceless characters that appear.

In conclusion, skip this snore fest unless you are a huge Wolverine fan, only own a PSP, and need to waste some time, or have money to burn (in which case can I have a loan?).

If you really want to play a PSP game with Wolverine  in it that’s a lot of fun and a brawler, pick up Marvel Ultimate Alliance (which by the way has better graphics, an actual story, and includes Deadpool – being Deadpool).

X-Men Origins:  Wolverine is a PSP game released by Activision.

Hannah Montana the Movie:  The Game


Though this game is classified action, it’s more of a music/ rhythm game.

In the DS version, the top screen shows the action and the bottom screen is used to access Hannah’s cell phone, clothes, accessories, etc.  Controls are split with the touch screen being used for menu selections and the buttons being used to move around.  There really isn’t much to say about this game.  Clocking in at about three hours, there really isn’t much there.  The graphics are sub par even by DS standards and if the game didn’t actually say Hannah Montana, you’d never know who the characters are based on their in game looks.

There are no mode options and once you complete the short story, you can go back and play mini-games to justify your purchase.  What there is of the game is fun to play but it could have been better.  Rent it, buy it used at a discount, retail is too much for too little.

Hannah Montana the Movie:  the Game is a DS game by Disney Interactive.

$5000 Scholarship Opportunity!

Posted by Pasco County Library System

High school seniors... could you use $5000 for college?  If you are under 21, a high school senior, and plan to graduate in 2010 (yes, lots of rules), then you can apply for a scholarship prize through Random House, Inc. and their Dr. Suess "Oh, the Places You'll Go!" program.  Before you knock it, remember that just about everyone one of you read Dr. Seuss books as a kid and enjoyed them.  Now you can get something back for your childhood reading efforts.  All you need to do is submit an essay on the following topic, pulled from the scholarship web page:

ESSAY QUESTION:
Dr. Seuss’s Oh, the Places You’ll Go! delivers an important message about the chances and the troubles that life presents. Thinking about the book, Oh, The Places You’ll Go!, what kinds of opportunities and challenges do you think your education will present in the future?

CLICK HERE TO GO TO THE WEBSITE and read all the rules and submission guidelines.  You've got to turn this in by February 15, 2010.  It's a lot of money for just writing a one-page essay... get on it!

Need homework help at night? Ask a Librarian can help!

Posted by Pasco County Library System

Ask a Librarian (AaL), Florida's free online reference service, can help you get answers and research for school assignments from the comfort of your own home or a library computer. You can even use the service after most libraries are closed, as they have night hours. Live librarians are available any time AaL is operating. Check out their new PSA commercial below:

Ask a Librarian 2009 PSA

10/28@6PM-SH Scary Movie & Popcorn

Posted by Pasco County Library System

Join us at the South Holiday Library for a free horror movie screening just in time for the holiday. We'll be using our giant projector screen and speaker system, plus there will be free popcorn, soda, and candy (considering the season). Mmmmm, free movie.  Questions?  Give us a call at (727) 834-3331.  Be prepared to be scared!

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