Gears of War 3 new modes review

i would like to do a review of the Gears of War series in depth sometime, but for now i'm just going to talk about the new multiplayer modes in Gears 3: Horde 2.0 and Beast.

Horde 2.0

Horde 2.0 expands upon the Horde mode first implemented in Gears 2, then copied in many a game ever since. the original Horde pits players against 50 waves of Locust enemies, increasing their strength as the game goes on. if a player dies, they respawn at the start of the next wave (if his teammates survive, that is). Horde 2.0 adds in more strategic elements to the original; you still respawn at the next wave if you die and there's still 50 waves of Locust to fight. however, players earn cash as they progress through the waves, to spend on ammo crates, new weapons, and defenses such as barriers and turrets to help combat the enemies, as long as they have enough cash. the defenses can only be built or repaired in-between waves; the ammo crates can be bought whenever needed. another new feature are the boss waves. these come up every 10 waves, and include some large enemy in addition to smaller enemies.

this mode is just as addicting as the original, but later waves either take a very experienced Gears player or a whole team to keep going through the waves. a quick tip is that during the earlier waves, treat them as moneymaking times; racking up melee kills or kills with the Lancer's chainsaw and Retro Lancer's bayonet. when players make it through the first 10 waves, they get the 10-point achievement "Welcome to Horde Mode" and the Horde t-shirt for their avatar:

Beast Mode

Beast mode is essentially Horde from Gears 2 in reverse; you spawn as a Locust creature and fight Stranded and COG heroes while on a timer. the timer starts when the first player chooses their Locust. as the picture shows, you can actually play as a Berserker, but only in the later waves once you unlock her. when players either kill enemies or dismantle their defenses, they get a few more seconds added to the timer. when the waves are reached that have the COG heroes in them, the heroes can only be killed by execution or by an instant kill weapon such as the Boomshot. 

Beast is a fun addition to the series, but it's somewhat complicated when playing solo. one good tip would be to start as the Savage Drone, because they're equipped with Retro Lancers and can not worry so much about the barriers and just shoot the enemies right over them. then, once enough progress is made to unlock the Berserker, one can just keep spawning as Berserkers and completely demolish the Stranded. when the player finishes all 12 waves, they get the achievement "Welcome to Beast Mode", worth 10 points. they also get the Drone mask for their avatar.

there is also a new Team Deathmatch mode for versus multiplayer, but there's nothing really special about it to get its own review. it's your standard Team Deathmatch mode, just in Gears now.

Welcome 2 My Nightmare - Alice Cooper review

the media did not lie: Ol' Black Eyes is definitely back; it's been a long 35 years since the original Welcome To My Nightmare. however, it's not totally the Alice we know. the album starts off with a track that has Alice's vocals autotuned. he also collaborates with Ke$ha on a song. Rob Zombie also makes an appearance, albeit a very small one (just one verse of one song). mixed in with all the "experimental" tracks are a few that have that good old Alice Cooper sound to them; tracks such as "I'll Bite Your Face Off", "Ghouls Gone Wild", and "The Congregation" (which features Rob Zombie's verse).

the 4 bonus tracks that you get when buying from Best Buy are good as well. they've all got that classic Alice sound, and the live tracks are 3 of his classics performed at the 2011 Download Festival. also, the back cover of the booklet has the photo of Alice from the cover of Welcome To My Nightmare, which was a nice touch.

all in all, it's an okay album. if you were expecting a classic Alice Cooper rock album, you won't find it here. but if you're willing to try something new, give it a go.

***RATING***- 3.8/5

Worship Music - Anthrax review

okay, so no more track-by-track album reviews. those kinda suck to do. :\ anyway, here's Anthrax's newest album: Worship Music. i find it kinda funny that if you just Google "worship music" you have to pick through results that link to churches and Christian music and that sort of thing before you find what you're looking for.

Worship Music is a solid album. (keep in mind, this review is coming from someone who hasn't been a very big Anthrax fan for a while now.) Joey Belladonna returns to the vocalist position, which definitely works in their favor for this album. the other original members were still here, so it's pretty much the old school Anthrax again. one high point for me was the song "Fight 'Em 'Till You Can't", which is about the zombie apocalypse.

overall, Worship Music is definitely one you should pick up if you're a fan of this genre. i was pretty skeptical at first, but now i'm kicking myself saying "why didn't you get this earlier?"

***RATING*** -  5/5

Neighborhoods (Deluxe Edition) - Blink-182 review

well, here it is. Blink-182's first album in eight years. it's pretty cool to see the original lineup returning to record this, unlike Guns N' Roses with Chinese Democracy. anyway, as somewhat of a newish Blink fan i won't be able to compare this to much of their previous works, so please bear with me on this. as the title says, i will be reviewing the deluxe edition of the album which includes 4 bonus tracks.

1) Ghost On the Dance Floor


this track starts the album off with a catchy riff, which is almost always a good sign for the rest of the tracks. the lyrics sound like someone who got ditched by their date for a dance or something.
RATING: 3/5


2) Natives


the track starts off at somewhat of a fast pace, which i liked. the intro transitions into heavy guitar and drum work, coupled with some very nicely done vocals. lyric-wise i can't easily pick a meaning out of them.
RATING: 3.5/5


3) Up All Night


the first single off the album, thus the first song off it i ever heard. from start to finish, an extremely well-done song. it sounds like it's about a terrible nightmare that keeps someone "up all night".
RATING: 4/5


4) After Midnight


the second single released, i wasn't able to get my hands on it to hear before i did the album. the track starts with a pretty catchy beat, and goes into a melodic guitar bit. the song sounds like another generic "love song".
RATING: 2.8/5


5) Snake Charmer


this track starts with a very nice beat coupled with a smooth baseline, then the guitar jumps in; a very, very good intro. the lyrics are like Natives in the sense i can't pull a meaning from them.
RATING: 3.8/5


6) Heart's all Gone Interlude


well, this is somewhat self-explanatory; it's an interlude track. it has somewhat of a haunting feel to it, which sounds awesome.
RATING: 4/5


7) Heart's all Gone


the intro to this continues the flow from the previous interlude track, much like Asylum did with Remnants from Disturbed's newest release Asylum. it quickly speeds up, however. if i had to guess a meaning, it'd be about someone who tries to speak from the heart about something but their "heart's all gone".
RATING: 3.8/5


8) Wishing Well


everything about this song reminds me of what i've heard from a previous release of theirs, Enema of the State. a song like this is always a treat. the lyrics, however, are about those old wishing superstitions everyone has; throwing coins into wishing wells, shooting stars, etc.
RATING: 4/5


9) Kaleidoscope


a nice, mellow intro which leads into another fast-paced Blink song. not my favorite one here, but not one i absolutely hate.
RATING: 3/5


-----BONUS TRACKS-----


10) This Is Home


a very smooth track from the moment it starts. everything about it is just amazing. definitely goes down as one of my favorites off the album.
RATING: 4/5


11) MH 4.18.2011


definitely one of the strangest song names in my iTunes library (maybe a more hardcore Blink fan could explain the title?). overall, a good addition to the album.
RATING: 3.5/5


12) Love is Dangerous


this song is kinda meh. not great, but not horrible. not sure what else to say about it.
RATING: 2.5/5


13) Fighting the Gravity


i really dig the vocal effects on this song. for sure, one of my favorites off the album.
RATING: 4/5


14) Even If She Falls


a fine way to finish up the album. everything about it sounds right. not much else to say here.
RATING: 3.7/5

-----------------------------------CONCLUSION-----------------------------------

Neighborhoods is a solid release by a great band. i wouldn't go so far as to say it was worth waiting eight years for, but it's still one i'll be listening to every now and again.

TOTAL RATING: 3.9/5

Bioshock series review (spoiler-free)

the Bioshock (sometimes typed as BioShock) video game series is one that takes place in the undersea city of Rapture and grants the players powers not often found in modern First-Person Shooter games: genetic modifications to allow for thawing frozen doors with a fireball, stunning enemies with a bolt of lightning, or even sending a swarm of bees after enemies. the games also have somewhat of an RPG aspect to them, as the player can level up their genetic mods (AKA Plasmids) and weapons, craft custom ammunition from items found in the city, and hack machines for various purposes.

one recurring element between the games is a material called ADAM. ADAM is used as a type of currency for the player to buy new Plasmids, more slots to hold additional Plasmids, gene tonics (which give the player a boost in certain areas; i.e. easier hacking) and slots to put more of them in. ADAM isn't just found lying around (that is, until Bioshock 2) so one must seek out the Little Sisters to get more. the Little Sisters are always escorted by a Big Daddy, which are like if someone were to put a small tank inside a diving suit. the player must kill the Big Daddy to get to the Sister, which they can either choose to rescue (breaking them from their trance-like state, restoring their humanity, and gaining a small amount of ADAM in the process) or harvesting them (outright killing the Sister, but gaining a larger amount of ADAM). this being said, onto the games themselves:

Bioshock


the first game in the series, taking place in 1960. the player takes on the role of Jack, a plane passenger onboard a plane flying over Rapture which crashes just outside the gates. throughout the story, it is revealed that Jack is the son of Rapture's founder Andrew Ryan. Ryan has been able to control Jack throughout the story by using the phrase "Would you kindly," even using it to commit suicide by his son. the ending of the game varies depending on how many Little Sisters the player rescued or harvested.


MY REVIEW: upon first playing the demo for this game, i was instantly hooked. i later went and picked up a copy, and was not disappointed. the game is a dark, gritty thriller from start to finish that will always have you looking around and readying your weapon at every bump in the dark. a wild ride from start to finish, but left some room for the sequel to improve on. RATING: 3.5/5

Bioshock 2


the obvious second game, taking place in 1968. this time, you play as a Big Daddy (unlike the portion in the first game, you're the real deal). but not just any Big Daddy, one of the first ones ever made, codenamed Subject Delta. this game improves on the first in many areas, one being that since you're a Big Daddy you can recruit Little Sisters to gather ADAM with you. however, you're limited to 2 gathers per Sister and can still choose to rescue or harvest them. also, you get the Big Daddy's signature weapons (the drill and rivet gun) for your own and they can be upgraded like any other weapon. additionally, you can dual wield Plasmids in one hand and a regular weapon in the other. another new addition are the new types of Big Daddies; in the beginning of the game, it is revealed that the Little Sister you see with you in the opening cutscene is actually your daughter, Eleanor Lamb. Eleanor has been kidnapped by the new ruler of Rapture, who is also her mother, Sofia Lamb. your goal is to find her before your body shuts down. like the first game, the ending depends on how many Sisters you rescued/harvested, but also whether or not you chose to kill certain characters.

MY REVIEW: after first reading about this, i knew i had to play it. the gathering sequences were a good addition (i'd have been very sad if they didn't let you gather ADAM with a Little Sister, you're a Big Daddy now!). however, my favorite part of the game was the fact that you can have your Plasmid out at the same time as your regular weapon. this made battles oh-so-much smoother, especially against the new Big Daddy breeds. much like the first this game is a wild ride, albeit somewhat of a short one. since i don't have a Gold Xbox Live subscription, i was unable to review the new multiplayer aspect but i imagine it's similar to most FPS's but with Plasmids. RATING: 4/5

Bioshock Infinite


i don't know very much about this game yet, but i do know that it takes place in the early 1900's in the city of Colombia, which floats above the United States. Infinite seems to be taking the franchise in a completely new direction, as well as adding a steampunk element to the games. i'm still skeptical on whether or not i'll be picking this one up when it comes out.