My Must Have Game of 2013: The Last of Us (PS3)

With such a simple yet elegant title "The Last of Us" grabs your interest and never lets go. I have been excited about this game for a while now and with graphics and game-play like what I have seen so far I cannot imagine any other game that would surpass my pick for "Must have game of 2013."

In the game you play as Joel, a sort of post-apocalyptic courier between controlled safe zones. He is a hardened survivor and has been tasked with smuggling Ellie out of Boston for a reason that all of us will have to wait to find out. Joel and Ellie must be mindful of the bandits that are scattered about the wasteland of our fair country however, as the setting might suggest, this land of ours was decimated by something we could not control...que the zombies. Well sort of. They are zombies in the sense that they are homicidal maniacs with no regard for human life, but the infection in this game is fungal...as in the mushroom kingdom type. This fungus infects the host and transforms them through stages and that is what gives you a variety of enemies to watch for. Don't take my word for it though. Check out some of these screen shots (taken from around the web) and then play the the videos below for a sneak peak at this incredible looking game. Then go pre-order it! The release date is June 14th.

Video



There are a host of other vids out there. Check out the footage from PAX east for the most recent.

Obama vs. Romney - Round 2

Tonight our eyes and ears will be treated to a political battle between two men trying to convince a nation  that they are the right man for the top job in our government. The format is going to be a Town Hall debate with members of the audience asking the candidates questions in front of the country. Should be entertaining and hopefully educational. No scripts here or teleprompters. Romney has enjoyed a boost from the last debate and will be looking to continue that momentum. I hope we hear more specifics on his tax & deficit plan as well as his energy plan. Obama is going to be more aggressive in his rhetoric and much more assertive with Romney. I hope to hear more about Obama's plan for the next 4 years because so far he has only defended his last 4 years and said that he needs more time. America needs some concrete answers. Alas, these are politicians we are talking about where exaggerations, omissions, and ambiguity are the norm. My advice might be to simply cover your ears and see who 'acts' better. All stone throwing aside, this is another important moment in a string of important moments for this country and we all have to do what we think is best for us and our families. Just voting says you care.

One quote I came across a few weeks ago keeps me thinking: "In this election its feels like you have to choose between a better job or a better world."

What do you think? Which ideal would you pick? Or do the two go hand in hand?

Biden-Ryan VP Debate - Who won?

Let me first say that I did not watch the debate in its entirety. Why? Well because they are veeps, not presidential candidates. They are just stumping as usual. The only difference is that they have a national audience to woo one way or the other. The clips I saw were actually humorous to me! In short, neither of them did anything positive or negative to sway polls. Typical of a veep debate. It just primes us for Tuesday's showdown between Barack and Mitt. So here are my questions to you all....

Was there a clear winner?

Would Ryan or Biden make a good Prez if he had to step in?

Does either candidate help undecided voters decide?

Where to stream The Walking Dead Season 3 episodes

This is gonna be good

If you are like me and decided to buck the Cable TV giants off your pocketbook by dropping tv programming from your bill and keep the internet only, then this post is for you. I was trolling the interwebs this week trying to find a 'good' way to watch this season and stumbled across Amazon's Instant Video service. Essentially this works like Hulu where you log in and pick your episode to stream. There is a charge per episode or you can buy a season TV pass where you get all the episodes for a slight discount. Where the pay off really comes in is for the owners of a Roku player. A Roku box is a basically an internet TV device that hooks to your HD tv and they have an Amazon channel that gives you your fix on the big screen instead of your PC or laptop. Here is the link to the Amazon site http://amzn.to/PsueJR and if you want to check out Roku (I have 2 and they rock) just visit www.roku.com.

It's Zombie season people!

Blog Name Change

Oh yeah that blog title says what you think it says. We are going to go where no blog has gone before...I think! Couple that with the realization that I have never seen a blog title with zombie and politics in the same line and it becomes clear that his is going to be a fun change of pace. So that's it for this post. Let's get some commentary going on any new posts. Including this one... :)

Played: Left 4 Dead 2 Cold Stream

I recently held a little 4 person Xbox game night at my house and the game of choice for 4 player co-op is obviously Left 4 Dead. In preparation for a night of slaying zombies my friends and I noticed Cold Stream DLC was released on Xbox Live and thought it would be perfect for all of us to try out. After a 1.4GB download we were treated not only to a new campaign (PC community created), but we also got ALL of the original L4D maps along with ALL of the mutations available to play at any time. w00t! Needless to say our night of Xbox playing ended around 4am the next morning and a big chunk of that time was playing the new Cold Stream campaign on Expert with the Gib Fest mutation. Sadly, after repeated attempts we couldn't make it to the chopper without getting smashed by the tank and his friends. With the amount of content added on in this DLC it is money well spent for any zombie fan with co-op in their blood.

Highly Recommend!

- beegzz

This *might* cool your jets until Battlefield 3 releases tonight.

OK since this is the last 16 hours (in the eastern time zone) or so that you will have on this earth until Battlefield 3 hits stores for the official US release, I aim to keep my hunger for all things BF3 satisfied until then. To do so I read the following articles from various game sites with different takes to get a broader sense of what to expect. Let's be honest though, seeing the pictures and reading the words is nothing like getting to experience the pure joy it will be to play out these moments yourself. So read on my gaming brothers and sisters...and prepare yourselves for...well...you know. WAR!

IGN posted their PC Review of the game early this morning - Read here
Destructoid has a great preview by Casey Baker - Read it here
Joystiq has posted their PC review as well - Read here

I will say this, the reviews in Joystiq and IGN are fair and critical as they should be. Each outfit gives BF3 a great score mainly on the merits of multi-player (but we already expected that to some degree) and while they discount single-player somewhat I am not akin to just believing the reviewer all the time. Often times my view of certain parts of a game differs greatly and I think that possibly it is because these journalists are playing so many similar games all the time that their expectations become jaded and their experiences muted. 


Finally, here is a new vid by the superb Freddie W. Enjoy!

Battlefield 3 Open Beta Impressions

Ok instead of posting a bunch of screenshots or videos that we have all seen already I wanted to share my thoughts on the BF3 beta that is in gamers hands around the world until Oct. 10th. So here goes....

I love it despite its obvious flaws. This is a BETA release people and its an old build to boot. The primary reason for the beta was to test their net code and get a large amount of feedback on the core mechanics of gameplay and weapons. There is a lot of work that needs to be and probably has been done already on the matchmaking, joining games as a squad, launching and exiting, team balancing, and map textures. I can't imagine that these huge things will not be polished in the retail release. It's funny because at first a seasoned FPS gamer will jump into this with a lot of concerns but after getting some games under the belt those things take a back seat to the addicting and rewarding gameplay elements present in this limited beta.

The Operation Metro map is laid out in a superb manner to allow each side to have multiple avenues (not too many) of attack and defense. From the open park atmosphere in the first section to the corridors of the subway all the way to the streets of Paris itself. The guns are well balanced with maybe some slight modifications needed but they sound friggin amazing. My favorite part of this beta was getting a taste of what it was like to play with friends (when it worked) in a 4 player squad. It obvious a lot of thought went into making sure the classes to choose from worked in a 4 man squad. It is a blast to spot enemies for your buddies and then provide suppressing fire on the target while they head for the objective.

This beta is not a very polished presentation of what is surely to come but it does feed the fire. The real excitement comes when vehicles get introduced on the battlefield. Last but not least, EA's stat tracking site battlelog.battlefield.com (which is free compared to CoD Elite) is awesome. I love being able to logon and see what my progress is and what I need to work on to get that next unlock. Very well put together and it even supports clans called Platoons on the site. I created the Zombie Squad. :)

Don't forget 10/25/11 is the release date for Battlefield 3! Reserve your copy!

beegzz

Battlefield 3 "99 Problems" Trailer

Can I get an amen? ;)

Epic warfare starts on October 25th 2011! Oh and for those who can't wait (most of us) an open beta across all platforms starts September 29th. Be ready!

Battlefield 3 Videos with Actual Gameplay = Drooling from the mouth

These vids are just making people salivate. I think marketing for this game has been stellar and letting the action speak for itself just works. Props to the team at EA/DICE. Enjoy these sweet snippets. Are you getting BF3? What about MW3? Comment below!

Saints Row: The Third - Exclusive Gameplay Trailer

O M G

E3: Ghost Recon Future Solider - Finally some decent footage

This rocks.

GZ News: LA Noire, Portal 2 Reviews, Twisted Metal Preview, GZ Homefront Mini-Review, and More.

Well it has indeed been too long since my last post here. I have plenty to post about though. Lots of good stuff out there in Gamedom of late and while I don't have my head buried deep in the games that would consume most gaming journalists I do keep up with what's out there and from what I have seen the gaming market just picked up a bit with the release of Portal 2, Mortal Kombat, and the upcoming LA Noire in May, the latter of which I am clamoring to get my hands on. There is also a great deal of hype surrounding Battlefield 3 and a few other titles that launch later this year and are providing many drool inducing trailers for the masses. Without further adeiu lets dive into some of the news that I have been tagging.

Da' News

Portal 2 has been released and reviewed many times over. It has made all the gamers and critics swoon with 9's and 10's across the board. I am not surprised by this. The first Portal was an instant classic and more of the same with new puzzles, co-op, and Valve's twisted humor makes for another $ maker. I haven't gone out of my way to get any time with it. Why? Well it's just not in my cycle of gaming right now and that's as real as I can put it. I knew it would be a great game that I will eventually want to play, but all the hype and in-depth previews kinda spoiled me and I feel like I have already played this game in my head.

L.A. Noire (screen above) on the other hand sounds just the kind of game I been waiting for. Substance, style, depth, amazing graphics, Rockstar Studios' incredible attention to detail, and real actors doing real performances. Yes this one is going to garner some of my attention...nay ALOT of my attention. I read a preview and it just got me even more pumped to play it. I elected to go with the PS3 version on my pre-order for this and for right now that's what I am sticking with. PS3 exclusive content is rumored and it's a single player game. That's why I can't think of any reason to have it on my Xbox 360. Comments? Well check out this latest trailer while you type.



Do you remember playing Twisted Metal on Playstation back in the day? Oh man I do. That game kept me and my friends busy on rainy summer days during high-school. Screw Mario-Kart lets cause mayhem! Below is a pic from the latest Twisted Metal that's in development. David Jaffe, the creator, is totally keeping that old school feel and look while simultaneously bringing the classic title into the latest fold of technology and such. Joystiq has a great preview here. Release date is set for October 4th.

The last bit of game news I would like to mention is Battlefield 3. Oh yes this one is going to find a home on my console this year. I really like what EA and DICE are doing with this title and while it may end up being more of the same old FPS modern combat that we are all use to by now it has never looked better than this and that's enough for my pre-order! Get schooled on this bad boy by watching the Full 12-minute Fault-Line trailer below. BOOM!



GZ Mini-Review

Homefront: Xbox 360 version
$59.99
GZ Rating 7.0 - Good

Ok so I was really excited to get this title in my hands last month. After a solid 17+ hours in online and 5 hours in campaign I decided it was time to pony up the opinion to my readers. Bottom line, if you are tired of the other modern shooter in your disc tray and want a great online experience with a bit of CoD and Battlefield 2 meshed together then Homefront will keep you happy until the holiday season. It has a surprising amount of customization and the vehicles and drones are all alot of fun to use. All of the weapons feel right but the damage could be improved slightly. In fact a 'Hardcore' mode on this title would be a fantastic addition. Maybe in some DLC. The single-player was just ok. It was a bit difficult, but nothing taxing. In fact, don't buy it for anything but online play because Homefront's signature game mode called Ground Control is just addicting and fun. If you were on the fence, I hope this little review helped.

Cool Shiznit

This is all just a bunch of stuff I found that I had to share because its so awesome. Enjoy!

The live-action Mortal Kombay web series has two episodes out now. 
The Ghost Recon: Future Soldier dev team went to the gun range! That's progress right?

The cool stuff you can do in Just Cause 2. I should pick this one up in a bargain bin one day.


A great vid of the game deaths we all remember from the 8-bit days.


Finally, a new kind of Super Mario Bros. movie. Funny!



Oh and check out Dead Frontier for free online web-based zombie slaying with an RPG feel. :)

Now Playing: Homefront (Multi-Player)

I been online with Homefront for the past two weeks since the game's release and now that the dedicated servers and what not have been ramped up to meet demand I can honestly say that I like this game as much as I liked CoD: Black Ops and possibly even more so. I have only gotten to level 28 so far in my gaming so I have more goodies to unlock still and pass judgement on. Not to mention, there is a title update on the way for Xbox360 which aims to fix some glaring issues. The game modes are insanely fun and keeps things interesting without feeling like your repeating the same task over and over. It's just enough variation to not be stale (so far).

Overall I am having a blast with it and it has a TON of potential for DLC down the road. If you are a CoD player or Battlefield player this title will certainly be worth a spin. Game renters be warned: THQ's online pass code is in effect on this one. So unless you are ok with only getting to level 5 in MP it might be time to trade in some old games and put some cash down to buy this one.

A million people can't be wrong. Oh and this just in...DLC is on the way and Homefront 2 is in the planning stages. w00t!

GZ News: Homefront Midnight Release, LA Noire, Alice Returns, and more.

Got your copy of Homefront on Pre-Order? I do. Select Gamestop locations around the country will be doing midnight releases and I will be at my local store picking up my copy tonight. The pre-order bonus they have for this game is actually pretty good for us multi-player freaks. We get a couple of advanced unlocks like the SCAR-L assault rifle, and an Air Recon Drone. Nice.

With gas prices going up this will give me a reason to stay home and save my hard-earned cash for other things. It's funny how that statement sort of parallels the background story in Homefront where gas prices skyrocket and contribute to the US economic meltdown. In fact a few websites that normally aren't known for throwing in their two cents when it comes to worldly affairs have breached that silence and spoke out on the Homefront story and its real world possibilities. Unanimously they all agree that, while being highly unlikely, the events are Homefront are plausible. This kind of drama and controversial approach is more common these days in our mature gaming world.

The trailer for Dead Island is one example of how mature games and modern developers are encroaching on uncomfortable territory (a young girl turns zombie and dies). Rewind 10 years ago and you would see what I mean. A stark difference.

Da News

Here is the launch trailer for Homefront releasing tomorrow 3/15


Joystiq was impressed with the Single-player preview they got. Look for full reviews from the major sites tomrrow. I will post here.

LA Noire is the next game on my list to acquire this year. Release date is 5/17/11. I am a huge Rockstar fan and love the games they put out (mostly). This one is looking stellar and quite frankly I could use a break from all of the FPS games out there. There are a ton of videos out there for you to watch, but the one that I find most impressive is the one below that details the investigations themselves and really lets that new motionscan technology shine. Check it out. Are you getting LA Noire? What do you think about it?



A while back I did a short blog post on the new Alice: Madness Returns game that is in development. American Mcgee is back in the saddle and the press got a fresh look at the latest build. I don't why this game intrigues me but it does. I think the imagery is what shocks my mind.

Alice Returns Dtoid Preview here

Probably the 3rd game I will acquire later this year is Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception. A new villain for the game was revealed check the video below.



Every play Serious Sam? I did. Played the original and loved it. Never played the sequel, but now they are developing Serious Sam 3. Some screens and stuff here.

Saints Row 3 was officially announced on March 3rd and developer Volition is changing things up this time around and putting in drop-in/drop-out full campaign co-op. Wikipedia (I know) actually has a great write up on it here. I just hope they keep the insurance fraud mini-game in there!

Two last tidbits of fun stuff....

Ever see Super Mario Bros. updated with sound effects from today? Watch.



Have you watched "The King of Kong: A fistful of quarters" documentary? If not I recommend you rent it and give it a whirl. For those that have watched, you would be interested to know that Billy Mitchell ponied up the dough and built an arcade at Orlando Airport. He is yet to be seen there. Ha!

That's it peeps! Keep gaming.

Dead Island Trailer is Epic

This game is the newest Zombie saga to be announced this year. Reports from other sites say they caught wind of it a few years back but then nothing for a long time until this fantastic trailer. When something as awesome as this trailer is put in front of me I am instantly driven to know more about it. I will read more and more until my eyes bleed. With that in mind I will just say that while this trailer is not actual in-game footage it certainly earns a spot on two lists. 1) It is in my top 5 games for this year 2) Probably the best game trailer I have EVER seen.

I did the research for ya, but I won't be long winded about it. Instead I will mention that this game is essentially a mash up of elements from the best games out there now. It will have the 4 player drop-in/drop-out Co-Op and some special infected like Left 4 Dead. It will have the melee weapon customization of Dead Rising 2. Lastly it will throw in a helping of RPG-like elements like Fallout 3. While I go watch the trailer again and then once more in forward mode, here are some links to previews of Dead Island.

Dead Island Previews - Link Link2 Link3

Beegzz out.

New Homefront Trailer, Release Date, and more

Yeah I'm ready for the resistance. Bring it. Homefront is my most anticipated game right now. A lot of gamers are just glazing over it and not paying much attention or so they seem. I personally believe this game is getting alot more indirect attention from gamers who are just wondering how bad it will be while secretly hoping it kicks ass. I for one think this will be a fantastic game. FYI Homefront was pushed back to a March 15th release date. Why? Probably because a new Pokemon game releases the same day. Go figure.

Want to know more about Homefront's Battle Commander system? How about Battle Points? Want all the in-depth coverage? There is no other place besides http://community.homefront-game.com/home to go. GZ will always cover Homefront, but for a day's worth of news and videos check that link out.

Lastly, I bought and read the Homefront novel "The Voice of Freedom" which was a very enjoyable read. It paints a pretty bleak and believable picture of a dilapidated America and then keeps you turning pages to see what the main character is up against next. Great character development and a scary background of events. If you like fiction based in reality (Tom Clancy novels) you will like this one. Pick it up @ Amazon or Barnes & Noble for $10.

Dead Space 2 Tidbits + My mini-review

I just LOL'd at the title of this post! How appropriate that tidbits and Dead Space 2 be used in the same sentence? Ok so I have two posts today. This one just for EA's hit title. First up is my mini-review of the game's single player component. Click here for Destructoid's review including multi-player. 

GZ Review of Dead Space 2
by Beegzz

As some of you may already know, Dead Space 2 is the sequel to the beloved original that launched back in Oct 2008. It was well received by critics and gamers, however the latter group did not jump on the bandwagon of sales that was much deserved. Dead Space 2 has every bit of the original's mojo and the game's troubled hero Issac Clarke is very much in the center of it all. (Minor spoilers ahead) The necromorphs are back and badder than ever and dismembering them is the fastest way to dispatch them. The game even starts with one breathing down your neck, literally, in one of the best beginning cut-scenes in a survival horror game I have seen. You see Issac is a going a bit mad and wakes up in a straight jacket and necromorphs are wreaking havoc around him. When you finally get to the first store where you can buy your engineering suit its an epic moment as Issac dons the famous duds once again. Eventually you learn that this part of the saga is taking place on a space station called The Sprawl. This game world is filled with memorable new levels and challenges for you to make your way through. The whole campaign is a fantastic 10+ hour journey with Issac fighting his inner demons while trying to figure what he must do to save the day. Gameplay is largely the same as in the first title but improvements have been made all-around. Perhaps the best one is the ability to move around freely in the zero gravity portions of the game by utilizing the thrusters on Issac's suit. There are new weapons and suits for Issac this time around. The reliable plasma cutter, line gun, and pulse rifle all make a return as do others. The new weapons are extremely pleasing with the Javelin Gun being an early favorite and they can all be upgraded. Issac gets to try on cool new suits and some of them provide bonuses like armor, stasis regeneration, and more weapon damage. The floating menu/inventory screen is still one of the slickest interfaces I have seen yet. Dead Space 2 amps up the scare factor with ominous music and clever lighting and level design. You WILL whip around and check your six when you hear a noise. With a great story, the uber-disgusting necromorphs chasing you and popping out of the ceilings and, not to mention all the heat-thumping thrilling moments, you will be party to one of the most epic single-player experiences around. Plus your mom will hate it!

9 out of 10 - Game Zombie Editors Choice

Yup that picture above is of a life-size replica of the plasma cutter. Got money to blow? Go for it!

If you beat Dead Space 2 you will unlock Hardcore mode that only allows you 3 game saves for the entire campaign but if you invest the time you will get one of the coolest unlocks this side of the galaxy. Peep the video below to watch Issac's new toy go 'BANG BANG, PEW PEW PEW'



Dead Space movie? I vote yes. Rumors start here.

This is how you will die in Dead Space 2

It the thought that goes into the death animations that I appreciate the most. What a fun part of the development process! Ahhh yes...its the little things.

Now Playing: Dead Space 2

Dead Space 2 is every bit as entertaining as I hoped it would be. I am roughly 5 hours in and already I am looking forward to my next play through with my upgraded weapons and suit. Fighting these frightening monstrosities never gets old. I already have a handful of water cooler stories to tell you. I only wish I could show you instead of typing it out here in a post. I very much need a video capture device! My review of Dead Space 2 is forthcoming once I finish the campaign and give multi-player a whirl. Stay tuned!

-beegzz