Welcome to Pandora, a wasteland planet full of hostile bandits, mercenaries, and alien wildlife. It is also home to a legendary wellspring of wealth and alien technology known only as “The Vault,” something that many people believe is a myth…and something many desire to find. This is the setting to 2K Games and Gearbox Software’s First-Person Role Playing Shooter, Borderlands. Having had the chance to play it at PAX 2009, albeit very briefly, I had a few vague ideas about what the gameplay would be like. First-Person Shooters are a dime a dozen these days, but I was under the impression that Borderlands would be a whole different experience. And, I am glad to report, it didn’t disappoint. I spent a good 20+ hours taking on the main story and I enjoyed every minute of it. (more…)

LoL. No, I’m not laughing.  That’s the abbreviation for the highly addictive game, League of Legends.  I was able to do a closed beta review of this game when I got a closed beta key back in September. A lot has changed since then and Riot Games was nice enough to give me a copy of their collectors edition to review now that their game has officially launched. I will go over what has been changed and my opinion on each change.

Btw, you can get this game by downloading it at LeagueOfLegends.com and judge it for yourself. It’s free to download and play. (more…)

A new in depth look into the world of Dragon Age Origin. I’m sure you heard us talking about the game on the last Pixelated Podcast. In short the game is solid. A kinda cross between KOTR and Oblivion. A full review will be live next week. Until then enjoy the video.

Yup, he'll fit right in.

Eddie Riggs has the kind of luck that leads you to suspect he must have helped a lot of old ladies cross the street.

Cast backwards through time into the glorious “Age of Metal” by a metallic fire-beast summoned accidentally during a hideously awful tween/nu-metal band’s concert, our intrepid hero discovers a world where his roadie’s and musical skills are the stuff of legends, and, unlike nearly every other fictional time traveler, has no interest in going home. Armed with a powerful rock guitar and a razor-sharp battle axe, and accompanied by an ever-growing retinue of heroes and allies, he embarks upon an odyssey as cheerfully insane as it is metal. (more…)

At 12.01 midnight GMT on the 10th November, HMV, Game and select supermarkets opened their doors to the hordes of eager fans aching to get their hands on Activision’s latest block buster Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2. Sam Gibbs, representing Pixelated Geek, was on hand at HMV in London’s Trocadero to cover the carnage. With just under 1000 people expected, security was tight with a full team of door men were there to keep the piece. Competition winners were also on hand to collect their swag and of course get their hands on the game.

HMV laid on a full squad of military personnel complete with two army Land Rovers with which people, including myself, posed for shots (sorry again I just couldn’t resist).

First in the door was Chris from Surrey who had been queuing there since 1.30 am and managed to get his hands on MW2 at about 12.30 meaning he was one dedicated fan having queued a full 23 hours on the streets of central London. His hearty devotion to the game won him some favour with HMV who took care of him shipping him out with no less than three Prestige kits (a total sum of £360’s worth).

Shout out to Mr. Lai and Mr. Wood for braving the cold with me

[View with PicLens]

 

Rhythm games seem to have the spotlight at the moment. First DJ Hero hit at the end of October, followed last week by Band Hero and, of course, Lego Rock Band. I got a chance to play the game at E3, similarly to The Beatles: Rock Band. However, unlike with Beatles, I questioned the necessity of a Lego version of Rock Band. After all, where as The Beatles: Rock Band was a game centered around The Beatles’ music and the story of their career, Lego Rock Band appeared to be nothing more than a reskinned version of Rock Band with a new soundtrack. I don’t have a problem with the Rock Band series at all; in fact, I’m rather fond of it. But is Lego Rock Band really necessary? Sure, Lego games are interesting and popular, but is a merger between two popular franchises really necessary. The answer is a resounding “meh”. It’s not bad, with new game modes that add a little flavor to the game as a whole. But overall, the game just falls flat thanks to the more family friendly soundtrack. (more…)

For the past six days, I’ve been playing DJ Hero a lot.  Not non-stop, but a lot.  Anytime I’ve had a chance between my busy work schedule and the two Halloween parties, I would be playing DJ Hero.  For the people that are still on the fence on this new music rhythm game, go past the break for my review.

(more…)

I wish I could have been a fly on the wall to the discussion at Universal that lead to the formation of the Aliens Vs Predator movie. Here’s how I think it would have gone:

Ideas guy: ‘Dude, what about Aliens and Predators in one movie?’

Producer: ‘Man, that would be sick! But they’re not even in the same story universe’

ID: ‘Meh, so what? They did it in games in the 90s. Two of the best and biggest monsters in one movie, it would be epic!’

P: ‘Yeah but we can’t make a movie without a story can we?’

ID: ‘What about: Predators breed Xenomorph Aliens for sport hunting? Make it some sort of Right of Passage or something’

P: ‘Yep, that’d probably work. Game on, I’ll put a writing team together’

And so, the Aliens Vs Predator movie was born and a reboot to the series was initiated. Two of Universal’s biggest monster franchises, combined together into an all out action fest. Yeah, there was a story, well kind of, but the original AVP movie and it’s subsequent sequels have all been about glorious action. I think of them as the balance to all those period dramas and romcoms, which helps me come to terms with spending money to see a film with basically no narrative.

Of course, both Aliens and Predator have seen game-movie tie-ins that predictably have been a little weak. Probably the best of the lot was Alien 3 back in the 16bit era, but the latest in the long list of  franchise game spin offs, Sega’s new Aliens Vs Predator (AvP) is attempting to change that and it’s multiplayer was on show at the Eurogamer Expo in London for hands on. (more…)

The follow up to the wildly popular Xbox 360 and PC game Mass Effect is set to hit the streets in January 26th in America and 29th 2010 in Europe. Mass Effect 2  is set two years after the conclusion of the original having stopped the Reaper invasion, Commander Shepard must join forces with Cerberus, recruiting some of the galaxy’s most dangerous operatives in a bid to find out what’s causing the miraculous vanishing of entire human colonies. (more…)

So you’ve heard that the God of War 3 collectors edition is going to steam roll you wallet ($100 for the privaledge) and you’ve noted that the demo will be available on the District 9 Blu-Ray (available 29th December) if you’re not too keen on buying the first two games again on Blu-Ray with the God of War Collection, but what does God of War 3 handle like? Should it have been an FPS? Is it more of the same? Does it deserve your hard earned rent money? Well Pixelated Geek is on hand to find out.
(more…)