Bastion Review

Ever since I played the XBL Bastion Demo, I knew I would love it. Unfortunately it took 8 months to actually buy it, and I ended up buying it on Steam. So, this review will be for the PC version although the other versions are almost the same, the PC version being more favorable though.

Right from the start of the game you will be amazed by the visuals. The beautiful colors and details forming under your feet as you walk is simply stunning. The soundtrack is just as good; Bastion is one of the few games I actually downloaded the soundtrack after playing. So it looks good; it sounds good; but does it smell good? Err, I mean does it play good? Well the answer is yeah, it plays pretty well. The gameplay isn't necessarily revolutionary but it's pretty good. Once you get used to the mechanics of moving, shooting and what-not it'll feel just fine. There are plenty of weapons and abilities to unlock and upgrade, and some challenges to complete as well.

Not only the story but the storytelling is my favorite thing about Bastion. The story, while to too elaborate or original, is still a very good story by video-game standards and will keep you interested. The storytelling however is just superb and very innovative. Throughout the whole game there is a narrator telling the story as you play it, making the game feel like a visual novel a lot of the time. It should also be said that the voice acting is also great.

Besides that, there is good enemy variety the whole way through. The game is fairly linear, but there are hidden secrets, numerous weapon loadouts, a few choices to be made, etc.. It plays out like an RPG where you level up and get stronger as you play. You'll unlock tons of new things.

The game took me about 6 and a half hours to complete on normal, but I plan to do a New Game+ soon. This game earned a 9.5/10

Shank Review

Shank, a downloadable XBLA/PSN game about some guy who's wife is murdered and then he goes and gets his revenge. The story reminds me a lot of Kill Bill, or any other one of the thousands of revenge movies out there. But the story is still good, and it is very well delivered. The story isn't too complex or mind-bending or anything, but it's a fun ride, just like Action movies. The cutscenes are what makes it especially interesting, it feels almost as if you're watching an animated movie. Also, excellent voice-acting should be noted.

The plot isn't very innovative and neither is the gameplay. But that's okay because that's not the point of this game. The gameplay, which is comparable to Metal Slug, is still very good. You have numerous heavy and light melee weapons, numerous guns, grenades, and a pounce move, all of which will help you kill bad guy after bad guy. The single-player took only 3 hours to complete, which is good because I'm sure if it was longer it would have began to get boring and repetitious. Since the game is short (I actually beat it in one sitting) it never feels boring or stale. The boss fights, cutscenes, and new weapons keep it fresh. Plus the games beautiful graphical style is always a joy to look at.

The game also has a local co-op mode which I have yet to play. I'm pretty sure it serves as a prequel to the main story. I will update this as soon as I play the co-op.

My score for Shank: 8/10

Arcade Machines

I'm confident in saying that about half of my best gaming experiences were had in an Arcade room of some sorts. Unfortunately, arcades are slowly dwindling away and now the majority of places that do have arcades are big name place like Dave & Busters, Chucky Cheeses and what not. Here are some arcade machines that have provided me with fond memories.

Mario Kart Arcade GP 1 & 2

This game is some what newer (1st one released in 2005 NA) and it's somewhat harder to find in America, but I'll never forget the day that I stumbled upon an arcade room that had 6 Mario Kart machines lined up. Mario Kart 64 is one of my favorite games of all time, and I think that MKAGP is actually better. It's basically Mario Kart 64, but it has added 3 more awesome characters (Pac-man, Ms Pac-Man, Blinky), it added some cool tracks, including some Pac-Man themed ones. It added tons of new items and I think even a new game mode. The sequel, Mario Kart Arcade GP 2 (2008 NA), had less characters although it added that guy from Tamagotchi. It had some new tracks and it allowed you to customize your kart. Both 1 & 2 had Mario Cards, a magnetic card that you can print out from the arcade machine that serves as a save file you can insert again that keeps track of your stats, name, rank, VS wins, and what not. The stats were also displayed on the card itself. In the 2nd one there were Mario Coins you could collect and earn to buy more designs for your card. There is also a built in camera that takes a picture of you and customizes it as use for your avatar. I know, this is better than the Wii. Only problem was is how expensive it was to play, and since it is very addicting, you'd waste all your tokens on this one machine.

Area 51

A very popular light gun arcade machine that I see everywhere I go. I usually see the 2-player version but I'm pretty sure I saw a 3 or even 4-player version. Either way this game is what I would play when I was running low on quarters, because it was much cheaper than Time Crisis or even House of the Dead. There's nothing really great about this game, it's fairly generic as far as I'm concerned. I'm not sure how long it is because I never beat it (because I never had enough quarters). One think I will never forget though is the voice that says "Reload" every time you need to shoot off screen to reload. Every time I'm reloading in a different game I hear that voice in my head.

Time Crisis

Time Crisis follows closely behind House of the Dead as my favorite light gun arcade shooter. I spent most of my time with Crisis Zone and Time Crisis 3. From what I remember Time Crisis was always the most expensive out of all the other light gun games, so playing it was a privilege. Crisis Zone was cool because it had a sub machine gun instead of the pistols. Now this was cool but because of this it lost the 2-player from that all the other pistol Time Crisis games had. It was still awesome anyway because the plastic machine gun model was cool to just hold and pretend to shoot other people in the arcade room instead of actually playing the game (it was too expensive anyway!). Time Crisis 3 brought back the 2-player pistols, which I guess overall was a good thing. I actually loved Time Crisis 3 so much I went out and bought the PS2 version with the light gun accessory. 

The House of the Dead

The last light gun shooter on this list. Probably one of my first experiences with horror in a video game. It was on-rails like all other light gun games. I spent most of my time playing The House of the Dead 2 and I actually managed to beat it with a friend. The first thing you'll notice about THotD2 is the plastic gun models. They're pistols but are very well made and actually felt heavy in your hand, favoring more of a revolver style than an automatic. I can't quite remember the THotD3 guns but I know you can find THotD4 machines that have 2-player Uzis (awesome). THotD2 had a lot of different machines, from really big fancy ones to small generic looking ones. I would usually find the small ones. The cabinet art is also very engaging and off the top I can't think of any cabinet art better than THotD. The game was fun, bosses and enemies were cool, even the story was cool. I'd always shoot the person when you're supposed to save them though because I'm a hateful bastard.

Mortal Kombat

Most people would probably list Street Fighter as their favorite arcade fighting game. Not me. Though when I was younger MK wasn't my favorite fighting game (we'll get into my favorite soon enough), but I never really liked SF as a kid because the visual style and cabinet art weren't engaging. I still prefer MK though, because it's fucking cooler. Plus what kid didn't want to get to see all that blood and gore! I was never good at MK or any fighting game, and the only person I really ever beat was my younger brother, but it was still fun. Not really sure which Mortal Kombat I played mostly though, probably either 2 or Ultimate.

Marvel Vs. Capcom: Clash of Super Heroes

Fuck yeah. This game was so awesome. Cool ass music, bad-ass cabinet art, amazing characters. It had everything. When I was a kid I loved comic books (still do) so seeing all these comic book characters was just awesome to me. I'll be honest, when I was younger I had absolutely no idea what Capcom was or who the capcom characters were (until I played Street Fighter), so I would ALWAYS play as a Marvel character. God this game was awesome, even the single player. I also had the Playstation version of this game. ANother awesome game was X-Men vs Street Fighter, but I never played that much.

The Simpsons Arcade

I loved all games that had basically the same beat-em-up format (Streets of Rage, X-Men, TMNT), but I had the most fun with The Simpsons. Don't get me wrong, I loved TMNT and X-Men, but The Simpsons was the first one that I actually completed and it holds a special memory because I actually beat it in Las Vegas (long story). Anyway, it was a 4-player game, I beat it with 3 players and only a few tokens. It's awesome and the Simpsons are awesome. Also, they've ported TMNT, Streets of Rage and X-Men to console, where the hell is The Simpsons! Best co-op arcade game I've played. 

Other noteworthy mentions:

Crazy Taxi - I was really bad at this game but I loved the music. 

Rampage World Tour - I love Godzilla so I love this. 

Pac-Man - Of course I had to mention Pac-Man! I actually had the privilege of playing on a sit-down Pac-Man table (very rare) at a pizza place I went to. 

Cyber Troopers Virtual-On - Okay I never actually got to play this in an arcade, but it's still awesome.

Galaga, Space Invaders, TMNT, X-Men.

Oh, and in case you're wondering I still haven't built up the courage to actually play Dance Dance Revolution, but I spent a lot of time watching people.

There's so many games I've played in the arcade that i didn't mention and probably so many I can't even remember.

PC Games

Steam:
18 Wheels of Steel: American Long Haul
A.R.E.S.
Action Half-Life
Adrenaline Gamer
Age of Chivalry
Alien Breed 2: Assault
Alien Shooter
Alien Shooter 2: Reloaded
Alien Shooter: Revisited
Alien vs Predator Classic 2000
Aliens vs. Predator
Alien Swarm
Alliance of Valiant Arms
Alpha Protocol
America's Army 3
Amnesia: The Dark Descent
Anomaly Warzone Earth
APB Reloaded
ARMA 2
ARMA: Cold War Assault
Armed and Dangerous
Arx Fatalis
Atom Zombie Smasher
Audiosurf
Bastion
Batman: Arkham Asylum
Battlefield 2
Battlefield: Bad Company 2
BC Kings
BioShock
BIT.TRIP RUNNER
Blood Bowl
Bloodline Champions
Bloody Good Time
Braid
Breath of Death VII
Brothers in Arms: Earned in Blood
Brothers in Arms: Hell's Highway
Brothers in Arms: Road to Hill 30
Bunch of Heroes
Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth
Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare
Capsized
Cargo! The Quest for Gravity
Caster
Chains
Champions Online
Chatelise
Clive Barker's Jericho
Cloning Clyde
Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3
Commandos 2: Men of Courage
Commandos 3: Destination Berlin
Commandos: Behind Enemy Lines
Commandos: Beyond the Call of Duty
Company of Heroes
Company of Heroes: Opposing Fronts
Costume Quest
Counter-Strike
Counter-Strike: Condition Zero
Counter-Strike: Condition Zero Deleted Scenes
Counter-Strike: Source
Counter-Strike: Source Beta
Crazy Taxi
CrimeCraft BleedOut
CrimeCraft GangWars
Cthulhu Saves the World
Dangerous High School Girls in Trouble!
Dark Messiah Might and Magic
Darksiders
Dark Void Zero
Day of Defeat
Day of Defeat: Source
DC Universe Online
Dear Ester
Deathmatch Classic
DeathSpank
Death to Spies
Death to Spies: Moment of Truth
Defense Grid: The Awakening
Delve Deeper
Demigod
Deus Ex
Devil May Cry 4
Dinner Date
Doom Rails
Driver: Parallel Lines
Duke Nukem Forever
Dungeon Defenders
Dungeons of Dredmor
Dwarfs!?
Dystopia
E.Y.E: Divine Cybermancy
Earth Defense Force: Insect Armageddon
Elven Legacy
Elven Legacy: Magic
Elven Legacy: Ranger
Elven Legacy: Siege
EverQuest 2
Evil Genius
F.E.A.R.
F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin
F.E.A.R.: Extraction Point
F.E.A.R.: Perseus Mandate
Fable
Fable 3
Fallout
Fallout 3 GOTY
Fantasy Wars
Far Cry
Foreign Legion: Buckets of Blood
Forsaken World
Fortress Forever
Freedom Force
Garry's Mod
Ghost Master
Global Agenda
Gothic
Gothic 2
Gothic 3
Grand Theft Auto
GTA 2
GTA: Episodes from Liberty City
GTA: San Andreas
GTA: Vice City
GTA 3
GTA 4
Guild Wars
Guild Wars: Trilogy
Gumboy: Crazy Adventures
Gundemonium Recollection
Half-Life
Half-Life 2
Half-Life 2: Deathmatch
Half-Life 2: Episode One
Half-Life 2: Episode Two
Half-Life 2: Lost Coast
Half-Life: Blue Shift
Half-Life: Opposing Force
Half-Life: Source
Half-Life Deathmatch: Source
Hard Reset
Heretic: Shadow of the Serpent Riders
Heroes of Might and Magic V
HeXen: Beyond Heretic
HeXen: Deathkings of the Dark Citadel
HeXen 2
Hitman: Codename 47
Hitman 2: Silent Assassin
Hitman: Blood Money
Homefront
Insecticide Part 1
Insurgency: Modern Infantry Combat
Iron Grip: Marauders
Judge Dredd: Dredd vs Death
Kane & Lynch: Dead Men
Kane & Lynch 2: Dog Days
Killing Floor
Killing Floor: Defence Alliance 2
King's Bounty: Armored Princess
King's Bounty: Crossworlds
King's Bounty: The Legend
Larva Mortus
Lead and Gold: Gangs of the Wild West
Left 4 Dead
Left 4 Dead 2
Loom
Lugaru HD
Machinarium
Magic: The Gathering - Duels of the Planeswalkers 2012
Magicka
Majesty 2
Manhunt
Max Payne
Max Payne 2
Medal of Honor: Airborne
Metro 2033
Moonbase Alpha
Mount & Blade
Mount & Blade: Warband
Mount & Blade: With Fire and Sword
Multiwinia
MX vs ATV Reflex
Natural Selection
Need for Speed: Undercover
Nightmare House 2
NightSky
Nikopol: Secrets of the Immortals
Nuclear Dawn
Numen: Contest of Heroes
NyxQuest
Obulis
Oddworld: Abe's Exoddus
Oddworld: Abe's Oddysee
Oddworld: Munch's Oddysee
Oddworld: Stranger's Wrath
Orcs Must Die!
Overlord
Overlord: Raising Hell
Overlord 2
Painkiller: Black
Painkiller: Redemption
Painkiller: Resurrection
Painkiller Overdose
Patrician 3
Peggle Extreme
Penguins Arena: Sedna's World
Penumbra: Black Plague
Penumbra: Overture
Penumbra: Requiem
Pirates, Vikings, and Knights 2
Plants vs Zombies
Portal
Portal 2
Pound of Ground
PoxNora
Psychonauts
Puzzle Agent
Puzzle Pirates
Puzzle Quest
Quake
Quake 2
Quake 2: Ground Zero
Quake 2: The Reckoning
Quake III: Team Arena
Quake III Arena
Quake Mission Pack 1
Quake Mission Pack 2
Red Faction
Red Faction 2
Red Faction: Guerrilla
Red Faction: Armageddon
Return to Castle Wolfenstein
Revenge of the Titans
Ricochet
RIP
RIP 2: Strike Back
RIP 3: The Last Hero
Rise of Immortals
Rome: Total War
Runaway: A Road Adventure
Runaway: A Twist of Fate
Runaway: The Dream of the Turtle
Rusty Hearts
S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl
Sacred
Sacred 2
Saints Row 2
Sam & Max Season 1
Sam & Max Season 2
Sam & Max Season 3
Samorost 2
Sanctum
Scratches
Secret of the Magic Crystal
Streets of Rage
Sequence
Serious Sam 3: BFE
Serious Sam: The Random Encounter
Serious Sam Classic: TFE
Serious Sam Classic: TSE
Serious Sam: Double D
Serious Sam HD: TFE
Serious Sam HD: TSE
Singularity
Smashball
Sol Survivor
Space Channel 5
Space Trader: Merchant Marine
Spiral Knights
Star Wars Battlefront 2
Star Wars Jedi Knight: Mysteries of the Sith
Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic
Star Wars Republic Commando
Sven
Swords and Soldiers HD
Syberia
Tales of Monkey Island
Tank Universal
Team Fortress 2
Team Fortress 2 Beta
Team Fortress Classic
Terraria
The Binding of Isaac
The Cat and the Coup
The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
The Graveyard
The Longest Journey
The Next BIG Thing
The Path
The Ship
The Whispered World
The Witcher
The Wonderful End of the World
Titan Quest
Toki Tori
Tomb Raider: Anniversary
Tomb Raider: Legend
Tomb Raider: Underworld
Ghost Recon
Rainbow Six 3
Rainbow Six Vegas 2
Splinter Cell
Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory
Splinter Cell: Double Agent
Splinter Cell: Conviction
Torchlight
Transformers: War for Cybertron
Trine
Two Worlds
Universe Sandbox
Unreal
Unreal 2
Unreal Tournament 3
Unreal Tournament 2004
Unreal Tournament
Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines
Vigil: Blood Bitterness
War Inc. Battlezone
Warhammer 40K: Dawn of War 2
World of Goo
Worms
Worms Ultimate Mayhem
X-COM: UFO Defense
Zen Bound 2
Zombie Panic Source
Zombie Shooter

GOG:
Alone in the Dark
Alone in the Dark 2
Alone in the Dark 3
Another World
Beneath a Steel Sky
Blood
Dragonsphere
Dungeon Keeper
Dungeon Keeper 2
Giants: Citizen Kabuto
Gobliiins
Icewind Dale
Little Big Adventure
Lure of the Temptress
Neverwinter Knights
Outcast
Planescape: Torment
Postal 2
Redneck Rampage
Teen Agent
Tyrian 2000

Non-steam PC games:

BattleChess
Blue's ABC Time Activities
Dune II
Firefall
Golden Axe
Halo 2 Vista
Halo: CE PC
Jumpstart
League of Legends
Legions Overdrive
Lemmings
Lord of the Rings Online
Minecraft
Polarity
Quake: Team Fortress
Quake LIVE
Realm of the Mad God
SimCity 3000
The Sims
Tonka
Tonka Construction
Tribes
Tribes 2
Tribes: Ascend
Ultima
Warcraft 2
Warcraft: Orcs & Humans
World of Warcraft

Xbox Games

Xbox Original:
Area-51
Blinx 2: Masters of Time & Space
Blinx: The Time Sweeper
Codename: Kids Next Door - Operation V.I.D.E.O.G.A.M.E.
Dreamfall: The Longest Journey
Fantastic 4
GUN
Ghost Recon 2
Greg Hasting's Tournament Paintball Max'd
Halo 2
Halo Combat Evolved
Kung Fu Chaos
Marvel Ultimate Alliance
Metal Arms: Glitch in the System
Midtown Madness 3
NBA Inside Drive 2002
NBA Inside Drive 2003
NBA Live 06
NBA Live 2002
NBA Street Vol. 2
NHL 2K6
Ninja Gaiden
Oddworld Munch's Oddysee
Red Dead Revolver
Spiderman 2
Spongbob Squarepants: Battle for Bikini Bottom
Spy vs. Spy
Stubbs the Zombie in Rebel Without a Pulse
Unreal Championship
WWE Wrestlemania 21
X-Men: The Official Game

Xbox 360:

Afro Samurai
Alice: Madness Returns
Assassin's Creed
Assassin's Creed 2
Avatar: The Last Airbender: The Burning Earth
Battlefield: Bad Company
Battlefield: Bad Company 2
Battlefield: Modern Combat
Bayonetta
Big Bumpin'
Bioshock
Bioshock 2
Borderlands
Brink
Brutal Legend
Cabela's Big Game Hunter 2010
Call of Duty 2
Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare
Call of Duty 5: World at War
Call of Duty: Black Ops
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2
Darksiders
Dawn of War 2
Dead Island
Dead Rising 2
Deadly Premonition
Duke Nukem Forever
Earth Defense Force 2017
F.E.A.R.
Fable 2
Fallout 3
Fallout: New Vegas
Farcry 2
Frontlines: Fuel of War
GTA IV
Gears of War
Gears of War 2
Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter
Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter 2
Guitar Hero 2
Guitar Hero 3
Guitar Hero: Aerosmith
Halo 3
Halo: Reach
Halo ODST
Homefront
Hour of Victory
Jumper
Kameo
Kung Fu Panda
LEGO Indiana Jones
LEGO Star Wars 2
LEGO Star Wars: TCS
Left 4 Dead
Left 4 Dead 2
Mafia 2
Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2
Marvel vs. Capcom 3
Mass Effect
Mirror's Edge
Naughty Bear
PGR 4
Perfect Dark Zero
Pocketbike Racer
Portal 2
Quake 2
Quake 4
Rainbow Six Vegas
Rainbow Six Vegas 2
Red Dead Redemption
SBK
Saint's Row 2
Section 8
skate.
Sneak King
Sonic's Ultimate Genesis Collection
Soulcalibur IV
Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions
Spidey: Web of Shadows
Star Wars The Force Unleashed
Street Fighter 4
The Darkness
The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim
The Elder Scrolls: Oblivion
The Incredible Hulk
The Orange Box
Tomb Raider Underworld
Tony Hawk's Project 8
Tony Hawk's Proving Ground
Two Worlds
Two Worlds 2
UFC 2009 Undisputed
Unreal Tournament 3
Viking
Wolfenstein
X-Men Origins Wolverine

Xbox LIVE Arcade:

1 vs 100
Aegis Wing
Banjo-Kazooie
Banjo-Tooie
Battlefield 1943
Beyond Good & Evil HD
Bloody Good Time
Bomberman LIVE
Call of Duty Classic
Castle Crashers
Cloning Clyde
Comic Jumper
Crash of the Titans
Crimson Alliance
DOOM
Dash of Destruction
Dead Rising 2: Case Zero
Doritos Crash Course
Duke Nukem Manhattan Project
Earthworm Jim HD
Family Game Night
Frogger
Galaga Legions
Game Room
Geometry Wars Evolved
Geometry Wars Evolved 2
Harm's Way
Hexic HD
Hydrophobia
ilomilo
Limbo
Mad Tracks
Marathon: Durandal
Marble Blast Ultra
Marvel vs. Capcom 2
Mega Man 10
Metal Slug XX
Monday Night Combat
N+
NBA 2K10 Draft Combine
Nin2-Jump
Pac-Man Championship Edition DX
Peggle
Perfect Dark
Phantasy Star 2
Pinball FX
Pinball FX2
Plants vs. Zombies
Portal: Still Alive
Quake Arena Arcade
Raskulls
Rocky and Bullwinkle
Section 8: Prejudice
Serious Sam HD: The First Encounter
Serious Sam HD: The Second Encounter
Shadow Complex
Shank
Shinobi
Small Arms
Smash TV
Sonic The Hedgehog 2
South Park Let's Go Tower Defense Play!
Space Invaders: Infinity Gene
Splosion Man
Stacking
Street Fighter 2 Hyper Fighter
Super Meat Boy
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 1989
Tinker
TotemBall
Toy Soldiers
Trials HD
UNO
Ugly Americans
Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3
Undead Nightmare
Wolfenstein 3D
Worms
Worms 2: Armageddon
X-MEN
Zeno Clash UE

Xbox LIVE Indie Games:
A Madman's Guide to Happiness.
Aliens VS Aliens
Alpha Chimp: Episode 1
Avatar Massage Online
BloodyCheckers
Chester
Creed Arena
Cthulu Saves the World
Curse of the Crescent Isle
Cursed Loot
Epic Dungeon
FortressCraft
Garden Gnome Carnage
Gentlemacho
Hurdle Turtle
Johnny Platform's Biscuit Romp
Kobold's Quest
Lil' Demons: Splatter
Miner Dig Deep
Oh Noes!!1
Platformance: Castle Pain
Platformance: Temple Death
QuickDraw
Shoot 1UP
Shoot Your Self
Soulcaster
Soulcaster II
Square Off
The Deep Cave
Treasure Treasure: FFEE
Voice Changer 360
When Maidens Attack
Who is God
Zombie Estate
Zombies ruined my day
ZP2K9