Serious Sam HD: The Second Encounter: Legend of The Beast DLC Review

Serious Sam HD: The Second Encounter: Legend of The Beast DLC
Developed By: Croteam
Published By: Devolver Digital
Date of Release: May 15, 2012
Price: $4.99

May 15, 2012. This was a day for the history books. The latest entry in a very much beloved franchise has seen release, and let me tell you, it is GLORIOUS! I speak of course of the latest DLC for Serious Sam HD: The Second Encounter. Titled "The Legend of The Beast", this adventure sees our here "Serious" Sam Stone facing off with a massive horde of Mental's minions in a quest to find the sign of Amon-Ra.




Of course it wouldn't be a Serious Sam experience if it didn't offer a serious challenge. And that it does. These three levels are some of the ass-kickingest hardcorest balls-to-the-wall freaking badass fragfests that I have ever seen. I tell you mate, if you have an appetite for carnage you won't go hungry. The screaming hordes of nasties that have been laid out for you in these sprawling levels will give you plenty to chew up, just don;t bite off more than you can chew.




On top of the 3 meaty campaign levels there are 3 new versus maps and an extra survival mission. Considering the active online community for SSHD:TSE, it makes perfect sense to keep adding new ways to kick ass. All of these additions to the game alone are more than worth the paltry admission of $4.99, and when combined make a super-combo that will sate anyone's hunger for glorious ultraviolence. What are you waiting for? It's time to get Serious all over again!

Street Fighter X Tekken Review

Street Fighter X Tekken (PC)
Developed by: Capcom/Namco Bandai
Published By: Capcom
Date of Release: May 11, 2012
Price: $49.99

If there is one team of fighters out there who can stand like a rock in the face of all other franchises, it's the crew from Street Fighter. Over the years they have tackled the likes of the Uncanny X-Men, SNK, and then later the entire Marvel Universe. And now, the latest crossover battle has begun, with Street Fighter X Tekken! Pitting friends and foes from both universes against one another, the ultimate prize of Pandora's Box awaits!




Fans of both franchises are in for a treat, as the characters from their respective series play exactly as you would expect, which is an amazing feat considering the two distinctly different gameplay styles meshed together here. If you have the button inputs memorized for your favorite characters, then it will really help you out here! There are plenty of options for customization with unlockable gems that boost different attributes of your character, collect them all!




Unfortunately not everything here is coming up roses. The controller settings for one thing is quite frankly abhorrent. With my tried and true Sega Saturn USB pad I had two options: either accept the severely botched default button layout, or have the game glitch out and tell me that my "mapping is incomplete" if I tried to customize the layout. Same thing happened with my PS3 Mad Catz tournament stick. It seems only official Microsoft products are fully supported here, let's hope that Capcom will patch in some proper button mapping support. Other than that, this is a decent game, and I'd recommend trying it out if you're curious.

Offspring Fling Review

Offspring Fling
Developed and Published By: KPULV
Date of Release: May 11, 2012
Price: $7.99

Ahhh motherhood. I learned all that I know of it from a videogame. Specifically KPULV's Offapring Fling. This amazing parenting course has taught me that the maternal duties of small furry forest creatures include dispatching their foes by hurling their own babies as projectile weapons. This shining example of motherly love forms the basics of the gameplay mechanic in Offspring Fling. Now before you cry foul with your imagined instances of splattered carcasses littering the ground, fear not! Strict cartoon physics are at play here, ensuring that the baby fluffballs can absorb massive amounts of blunt-force trauma with nary a disheveled whisker. This is a fortunate situation, because to win the game you will need to hurl them about with reckless abandon.



Offspring Fling looks and feels like a SNES-Era Nintendo title, and that is quite apparent from the hilariously cheesy trailer on the game's website. The object of the game is to rescue all of the forest creature's babies who have been scattered as a result of an attack by the main antagonist, the Dino-Boss. You will have to solve many physical puzzles by flinging the critters across the screen, through gaps, and into the doorway at the end of each stage.



Now in my humble opinion Offspring Fling is a wonderful love letter to the puzzle gaming fans of the 16-bit past, and it has a metric fluffton of awesome gameplay value for its modest price. Adding to that value is a robust level editor site with a built in community to share your creations. Literally endless hours of critter tossing puzzles await. Just don't let PETA catch you, and you'll have a great time!

Minecraft Xbox 360 Edition Review

Minecraft Xbox 360 Edition
Developed By: Mojang
Ported By: 4J Studios
Published By: Microsoft Studios
Date of Release: May 9, 2012
Price: 1600 MSP

Minecraft. What was once heralded as the greatest indie title ever made has gone far beyond its original status to become a commercial hit, riding its own momentum on a nonstop rocket ride to the top. Having firmly planted creator Markus 'Notch' Perrson and his group at Mojang on the map, Minecraft continues to amaze day in and day out. With endless user created worlds to explore and fantastic creative options that harness the sheer joy of playing with Legos or building a sandcastle, Minecraft only limits players by their imagination. And now this wonderful dimension of fun (albeit slightly scaled down) is available for the Xbox 360.



The first thing you will notice about Minecraft Xbox 360 Edition is that the interface has been completely streamlined of use with the Xbox 360 controller. The crafting interface has been completely revamped, and contains all available recipes, all you need to do is select the item you want to craft, and press a button. No need to go hunting for FAQs or wiki entries, just make sure you have the required items and have at it! Another handy addition are tips that pop up the first time you see a block of each type, explaining it's use and how to harvest it. There is also a very helpful tutorial built into the game, which will certainly help players who are new to the Minecraft experience.



Now for those who are already accustomed to the Minecraft universe, the transition to the Xbox 360 Edition may be a bit jarring at first. As it is built on the 1.6 codebase, there are numerous items and features absent from the Xbox 360 Edition, though quite frankly the changes are nothing drastic, and easy to get used to. Mojang has however promised to bring the Xbox 360 Edition up to speed with the pc release, though it is unknown how long it will take before it actually happens. Again though, the missing features are quite easy to live without, and the excellent 8-player live multiplayer and 4-player splitscreen make up for it. It should be noted that the splitscreen modes are only available on HDTVs, as SD resolutions would render the crafting interface unreadable.



So if you have never played Minecraft before in any form, the question remains then: is Minecraft the right game for you? All you have to do is ask yourself: do you enjoy creating worlds in your own image? Do you enjoy working with friends to build an online utopia? Do you enjoy exploring vast untamed worlds? If so, Minecraft is definitely right for you. The only limit to your experience is how far you are willing to let your imagination soar. Of course if you are unsure, you can always try out the amazing demo on the Xbox live Marketplace, which includes the full tutorial. You won't regret it!

Cherry Tree High Comedy Club Review

Cherry Tree High Comedy Club
Developed By: 773
Localized By: NYU-Media
Published By: Capcom
Date of Release: April 27, 2012
Price: $7.99


If you were to skim through some of my other reviews, you may have already guessed that I quite enjoy playing unique and offbeat games. Cherry Tree High Comedy Club is no exception to this fact. The folks at 773 have crafted a fine story here, and NYU-Media has localized it perfectly for North American audiences. It's a shame that this style of RPG doesn't wash up too often on our shores, as it can present a masterfully woven story, while giving players a chance to make their own decisions and affect the plot to their liking.



Cherry Tree High Comedy Club is a perfect blend of story and adventure, and a shining example of what a story-driven adventure RPG can be. With its quirky colorful characters and upbeat aesthetic it is quite impossible to play through CTHCC without having a good time. On top of that the writing and humor are top notch, it's been quite a while since I've had such a good laugh. It of course helps that the main cast is genuinely likeable from the start.




The only thing I could possibly find to complain about with CTHCC is the lack of voices for the characters. It's not a major flaw, but after playing other fully voiced titles it's a minor annoyance. However when it comes right down to it the lack of voice actors/actresses to pay means the price stays nice and low! And when you can have an awesome story with decent replayability like this for the cost of a fast food combo, all complaints can quickly be forgotten. So if you're in the mood for a good story with a hearty helping of humor on the side, pick up Cherry Tree High Comedy Club today!