Review: Saints Row The Third

this is actually the first time I've sat down and played a Saints Row game for more than a couple minutes, the first one was clunky to me so I never tried it again, but I heard a bunch of good reviews and so far it hasn't disappointed...game is lots of fun and it does a great job of setting environment, San Andreas was probably the last game like this that really impressed me this much with it's 'mood'

one of the biggest thing is the radio stations, just like San Andreas, it totally really is a nice addition to the setting, I especially liked the inclusion "Riot Rhythm" by Sleigh Bells, "CLUB" by MNDR, and "A City In Florida" by Deadmau5 .

Review: Skyrim

The Elder Scrolls: Skyrim offers an experience unexcelled from any form of competition. Bethesda has been able to capture what makes this series undeniable great, and tweak many of the gameplay mechanics to generate a timeless classic.

Let me start off with the overall presentation. The world around you is beautiful, and Skyrim offers many locales that will force you to stop what you are doing and soak it in. You can witness the sun glistening off the ice covered mountain peaks that merge into densely wooded forests. From high up, you can see the rivers cut through the landscape like blue veins. Upon closer inspection, one will find salmon jumping up waterfalls with bears gathered close by to feed on the slower fish (or wary traveller). The cities sprawl all throughout the landscape, places of interest and closely packed population, held together by beautiful architecture. Indeed, the newly touted graphics engine gives the land of Skyrim an unforgettable image that still will cause me to hesitate from time to time to just look out and watch the scenery.

Combat in The Elder Scrolls games has always been a necessity for progress, but tended to feel stiff, nothing fluid about the animations or hit boxes. Skyrim changes most of this with the new interface on dealing with enemies. Being able to control both hands, some rather uncanny combinations can arise for strategy. To look down the shaft of an arrow into the eyes of the marching undead brings a smile to the face of any veteran or newbie alike. Jump head first into a fight with a dragon while dual-wielding two swords, or simply staying back while simultaneously hurling fire and snow magicka are all possible now, as the player is given a plethora of options that is no where near underwhelming. Also, everything from enemy models to armor and weapons looks nothing short of impressive. The combat animations have been greatly improved to provide a more intense feeling of battle. The targeting can get sketchy at times, especially when your opponents vastly outnumber and out arm you. As always, combining the vast skill trees will yield remarkable results so as to not make you feel inadequate or underpowered.

The quests and objectives in Skyrim are captivating, often including ever-expanding mini-stories that can deter you from the main storyline with ease. Guilds and associations offer many tasks with exceptional rewards for the exploration-starved players. These quests will send you all over Skyrim, and rarely be centralized to one region. This allows you to explore other cities, camps or delve deep into the numerous dungeons. Often times, a dungeon will appear as just any regular dungeon until you stumble across a journal written by an unlucky previous adventurer that reveals a dark past about what (or who) might still be in the deep bowels. This along with many other quest-giving components generate an experience easy to lose yourself in for hours.

Skyrim offers a fresh experience that gives the player an overwhelming amount of content that is delivered in a very beautiful format. Menus are forgettable (this is a good thing, a very very good thing) and gameplay is much more streamlined. This game offers a gaming experience likely to be unrivaled until the next inevitable The Elder Scrolls title.

Review: Modern Warfare 3

The community has given what they believe is "realistic score", even when all they want to do is give the game a 0. What happened? Modern Warfare 2 was praised when it was released, Black Ops too. What happened in the time that made people turn on the franchise? Repeating itself? While I dislike the contstant helicopter crashes, they improve and do a different story. Graphics should have no effect on the review unless they look like a 6 year old made them.

Modern Warfare 3 does nothing different. It uses a forumla that works. If it didn't work, then why do people keep coming back each November to buy the latest installment? The story takes you on a Modern Day World War, and reveals peices of information that will blow you away. Remember when you thought how strange and outrageous nuking a city in Modern Warfare was? Well, those moments are back in this game, new and old.

This game is good. It's great. It has great multiplayer, great new features, and a great new story. People might be getting tired of the war game. But if you don't like playing it, then don't say anything. I guarantee more than half of the reviews on this site and any other review site is someone who played 5 minutes of it, then gave it a low review.

My words to Activision, Infinity Ward, and Treyarch? Keep them coming, try to mix somethings up, and just have fun. Because that's why you play video games.