Logic & Sanity

Tekken 6 - meh

I was looking forward to the release of  Tekken 6 for months, unfortunately I've been nothing but disappointed from the moment my copy arrived. First disappointment came from reading the box - the game is 720p. How in the world did Namco decide to downgrade the graphics after giving us Tekken 5: Dark Resurrection which ran at silky smooth rates @ 1080p? Unfortunately, the resolution downgrade, is not the only issue. Soul Calibur 4 runs at 720p and has great graphics and audio, Tekken 6 does not. The textures and the backgrounds are poor and are highly compressed - you won't have to pixel peep to see this. Same goes for the sound effects and music. Tekken 6's audio, both music and effects, comes out muffled due to, probably, high compression. 

On its own, Tekken 6 is not a horrible game - it's an OK game, but when compared to the previous entry in the series it's one big disappointment. Namco has failed here. They gave us an amazing 1080p game in 2007, with amazing sound track/effects - truly arcade quality production values, only to come back two years later with a game that's worse in every aspect. Bottom line, you should only get this game if you are a diehard Tekken fan and absolutely must have everything that's Tekken related.

 Otherwise, if you already have a game in this genre and are on a budget - skip this one.

Shame on Sony!

I've been a fan of the Fallout series ever since I played Fallout Tactics back in 2001, so the release of Fallout 3 was something I was looking forward to. Unfortunately (or as it turned out to be - fortunately), I haven't gotten the chance to try it out until friday.  Am I glad it's a borrowed copy, cause man, what a disappointment. The game is buggy as hell and the frame rate is super chopppy. There's absolutely no reason why this game shouldn't run smooth as silk on a hardware platform as strong as PS3. We have seen a great line up on the PS3, games like Call of Duty 4 & 5, Unchartered: Dranke's Fortune, and, ofcourse, Metal Gear Solid 4, so obvoiusly it is not the hardware. I am absolutely not buying anything from Bethesda (Fallout 3's publisher) in the near future and I am not too happy with Sony, either. Sony is a premium brand and generally make a good product, so why would they push this one through the door and certify it with it being way less than perfect? The game is virtually unplayable on the PS3 and if SONY starts to dilute the reputation of their brand with antics like these, their loyal customers will start wondering why they are shelling out the extra $ for a SONY.

Call of Duty: World At War

 I've been a huge fan of the Call of Duty series ever since the very first one came out. It had superceded Medal of Honor as my favorite WW2 shooter. The second installment caused me to upgrade my video card. The third one made me cry, as I've switched my gaming platform from PC to a PS3, and the PS3 version had technical issues, so I didn't even bother getting it.  Call of Duty 4 is definately an amazing game with awesome graphics, sound, and gameplay. I didn't even bother finishing up the single player mode until over a year after I got it (though it is super!) - I am all about the multiplayer. I could only hope that Call of Duty 5: World At War would be at least 80% as good as the Call of Duty 4. Anyway, the latest installment is awesome. I only played the single player for about 2 hours, and the multiplayer for about as much, and I can already tell you that the game beats the previous one. Multiplayer has a more tactical feel to it, probably because the maps are bigger and are very sniper friendly, with a lot of places to hide. The fact that WW2 era weapons are not as accurate as the modern ones in COD4, decrease the chance of you pwning 2-3 n00bz with a single burst. Anyway, this one is definately worth the $60 I shelled out for it. And in this economy, if you decide to spend the night at home killing nazis, instead of going out and killing your liver -it's money (and liver) saved.

Fanboy

I like my PS3 and all, but this guy is taking it too far!

Doom 3

If you have a pulse then you've been hearing about Doom 3 for the past couple of years. One of the most awaited games of all time is finally out. The graphics are amazing, the sound is great, and the whole mood is very scary. There's a lot of suspense in the air, in fact, when the very first zombie attacked me - I almost soiled myself :).
Very intense!
 
  

Call of Duty

Just when you thought of changing your anti-social life style, Activision announces a release date for Call of Duty: United Offensive - an expansion pack for Call of Duty a WW2 shooter. Who cares about the fact that Doom 3 is coming out in 2 weeks? Mutants/Monsters and sci-fi weapons make me yawn. There's nothing like playing with realistic weapons and killing enemies who look real.
New stuff to watch for in this upcoming expansion pack, besides the new maps/missions, are weapons (ie, flamethrower) and vehicles (apparently you can drive a trank in this one).