While you may have not have, I had heard quite a bit about NeverDead before it was released, and many of the concepts it was supposed to implement seemed unique and interesting. Since death has been handled in many different ways throughout the gaming timeline, I was intrigued to try a new take on a health system in which you technically could not die. The main character was supposed to be slowly ripped to pieces as enemies hurt him, forcing players to fight with whatever parts they had left in a method many had originally compared to Devil May Cry. Unfortunately, the game failed to deliver in all of these ways and many others as well, thus the sounding better than it actually wound up abstract. 

They actually tie together pretty nicely; in a metaphorical sense anyway. As I interpreted it, climbing the block mountain is purely symbolic of the real world struggle to work out a solution to a problem. In Vincent's case, his situation became increasingly more complicated and in turn, so did the puzzles. 

Usually I don't think that I analyze or feel a certain way about a game based on my gender, however I'd be lying if I said I don't think being female impacted my perception and overall judgment of the story.

Since the topics at hand are familiar territory for my age group as well, it was intially intriguing to see the topics presented bluntly. Two things bothered me though: the women were never really explored, leaving them both to seem like two extreme female stereotypes, and Vincent's character only evolved at the very end...after some really odd events. 

Indecisivness is a trait that irks me in my personal life, as is being unable to grow up and enter the world of adulthood, so Vincent couldn't have been more unnappealing as an individual to me. Every problem or crossroad that he encountered was a catastrophic situation, and the dramatization of everything was ridiculous.

On top of Vincent sweating and going into cardiac arrest every time he merely saw one of the Catherines, the women were also completely one dimensional. Catherine was apparently nothing more than a brain dead blonde bimbo with great T and A, and Katherine was the uptight bitch who wanted to lead around a man by a spiked collar. 

To me, none of the characters were properly explored, and the issue itself was greatly exxagerated. Because of this, it felt like the game squandered any potential it could have had at seriously discussing and effectively illustrating a very delicate and common issue that many people struggle with.

All these segments are making me even more impatient to get my night of spooky gaming going. Funny enough, I'll play through video games creepy enough to give someone nightmares, but I refuse to watch horror movies. Anyone else like that?

Penny Arcade did a funny comic on this two days ago, which sums up my initial thoughts about the news pretty well.

I'm not a big fighting game fan, but if i can take out TWO players at once, I just might be willing to give it a go.

That's actually a really good point. When I initially went back to play the first game to start the R&C recap, I popped the original into my PS3. Like you said, the lag was simply atrocious. Everything from turning the camera to jumping and attacking suffered from extreme slowdown thanks to the emulation. I was pretty sure that the original game didn't have slowdown like that so, sure enough, once I put it in the PS2, it played smoothly.

I'm surprised that the 60 GB PS3 would have issues like that though, since all I've ever heard is praise for its ability to emulate older games much better than the 80 GB PS3 (which is what I own), thanks to the Emotion Engine.

You're right. The point of a "sequel" is to stay true to the roots of its predecessor. Unfortunately, God of War: Ghost of Sparta is the fifth game in the series. That being said, I think you may be misunderstanding what myself, and perhaps plenty of other reviewers say when we state that we wish the series would evolve. By no means do I want someone to change the core genre or give Kratos a gigantic gun. What I do wish is that they'd make the puzzles more differed, add to the platforming, stray from the painful linearity a bit, and make the combat complicated enough that players actually HAVE to use some of the really awesome combos they unlock.

The first time I played the original God of War, I was captivated by the worlds, the characters, and the gameplay. As a person who has always deeply loved and read up on Greek mythology, I couldn't have asked for a better game. When the sequel released, I was excited to continue Kratos' quest, and was happy to see the core gameplay kept intact. But after yet another game exploring locations that looked very much the same and fighting the same types of enemies, I was ready for God of War to give me something new. When it didn't, I lost a bit of faith in the series that it could do new things while keeping the soul the same.

Evolution is a very important and critical component of good game design and is what drives this industry forward. If everyone thought like you, we'd all still be playing with our Ataris. You use Resident Evil 4 as an example of how evolving a series has harmed it, and I can't really understand how. Sure, it took Resident Evil in a new direction, and as someone who is a huge fan of survival horror, I was initially weary of the title. But no matter how much I loved the original Resident Evil formula, I wasn't going to convince myself that omitting the circular controls wasn't a good idea, or that creating enemies that dodged your aim and could figure out how to attack you wasn't cool just because I was annoyed that it strayed from the original formula.

I understand where, as a fan, you get upset when people criticize a title you love, but you are taking it way out of context. I'm actually a bit surprised by your flagrant reaction considering I scored the game 4/5 stars, and praised it for being fun throughout. As a reviewer, I can't ignore a game's flaws, and, whether you agree with it or not, never changing is a problem. Titles that don't ever evolve are destined to fade into obscurity.

Breaking News! Jason is planning on doing a special video review of the Gabrielle's Ghostly Groove title for WiiWare. Can't wait to see you show off some of those snazzy dance moves. :D

Great comic Matt!

Who knew me and a ReDead would have something in common.

I think the level you're referring to is the "boss" level with the spiked round objects. Unlike the earlier, similar levels, the later ones aren't very generous with the particular objects you need to eliminate. The only trick that may help you is to constantly reset the level until you get the right combination of power-ups. The hourglass one is great if you keep running out of time, as it will give you a decent time boost every time you fill it up. If you're running into a situation where all the matchable objects are segregated into an inconvenient area, then the bomb barrel power-up will allow you to blow away an unmatchable area and hopefully make matching a bit quicker and easier.

Also, not being able to pass a level in this game most certainly has nothing to do with a lack of intelligence, so don't feel bad. Sometimes success in games like this boil down to mere luck; the pieces being in the right places at the right time.

I compared the game to a better one that I've actually played before. It's kind of hard to recommend something that I've never played, a fact I made crystal clear in my opening paragraph.

"Although the Bust-A-Move series has been around for seventeen years, I had never played a single game until yesterday, with the release of Bust-A-Move Universe. "

What I learned from playing through Dragon's Lair Trilogy: Don Bluth really liked drawing women with REALLY pointy nipples.

*wipes away tears of joy*

I say we host a charity PlayBit to raise money for the project.

*hands over piggy bank to Tim Schaffer*

After playing the game thoroughly myself, I can agree that the controls work just fine, they simply require some time and patience in order to become accustomed to them. The only times I ran into problems with Zip not responding to my inputted commands were when I waved the controller around like mad. In these situations the game even tells you something to the effect of "you don't have it to wave it that fast" encouraging you to make precise timed decisions.

As Nick stated in his review, the 1-1 commands may be throwing a lot of people off too. Initially I had a hard time trying to fling Zip in the direction I swore I was swinging in, until I paid attention to the on-screen display that shows exactly which direction I was pointing the wii remote. By looking at that and then watching the way I swung my hand, I realized that I actually wasn't pointing exactly up, down, left, or right. I liken it to a real game of bowling for the unexperienced; even though you think you threw the ball exactly straight, considering it's rolling crookedly down the lane, you actually didn't.

Best Introductory Post Ever!

I was quite literally enraged when I read this article on Kotaku. Not because I care even a little bit about A2M changing their name, but because I've now been sentenced to playing another round of Naughty Bear...blech.

I had the opportunity to play Lost in Shadow at E3 and was anything but impressed. The level was comprised of an intricate weave of pipes, with few other objects existing in the background. Not only was the level visually boring, but the color scheme was atrocious, comprised of blues, greys, and blacks that easily blended together. On top of that, the character, as well as background objects and shadows, were in great need of anti-aliasing. The level itself was far from easy, containing complicated puzzles and enemies that weren't conducive to introducing a beginner to the gameplay concept.

Fortunately, the recent demo sent to us has completely changed my opinion of the game, and truly goes to show how a bad demo can reflect so poorly on a title. While being eased into the gameplay and understanding how to manipulate the environment and collect certain objects enhances the gameplay experience, the visual complaints I originally had seem to be fixed.

I no longer notice the choppy pixelated look to the character or environments; though I'm completely unsure whether this is because the problem was actively fixed, or whether the original issue can simply be blamed on video connections at the expo. Either way, after playing the demo I'm once again excited for the release of this game.

As a side note, I wanted to comment on a strange issue Nick and I encountered while playing the game. There are several official cheat codes that players can enter in order to do things such as, in our case, let two players choose the same character. While the code seemingly worked fine initially, much to my dismay, I later discovered that by using it and being logged in as two different users, my original character tied to my account had been erased and replaced by Nick's character from his account. While this may only have been a one-time, random occurrence, I find it frustrating and a bit disappointing to have an official code overwrite a player's profile.

I'm not sure if they deliberately tossed those specific elements out, or if they just completely underestimated their significance to fans of the series. Either way, it's hard not to feel a sting of disappointment when encountering both of the situations you quoted from my review.

As for enemies, they aren't present in every single room. Some rooms are more like connecting corridors and are completely void of any conflict.

I honestly didn't pay very close attention to the specific moments when previously explored areas became blocked off, but they don't lock immediately. It isn't as though you walk into a new room and the door behind you immediately locks. I think the areas with power-ups just get blocked off gradually, and since there is no backtracking needed for the main quest, players won't even notice unless they intentionally try to go back and get the power-ups.

Besides the new ability to charge and restore health/missiles I can't think of any power-ups that haven't been seen in a Metroid title before. There is the super high jump from Super Metroid, and a version of the long jump as well, and the familiar Screw Attack makes a return.

In Other M, players aren't able to switch between the different beams acquired. Unlike other Metroid games, Samus doesn't find any of her different beams or morph ball abilities. Instead, players are given permission by Captain Adam Malkovich (who directs Samus where to go and what to do throughout the game) to use these abilities when the need arises. Unlike the morph ball powers, as the beams unlock the newest one stacks upon the last.

As for the name Other M, I honestly can't explain that without giving up plot details. In fact, I'm not even sure my theory is correct, but we can argue that point at a later time.

Finally, her mole does not play a part in the plot, even though her face is rarely turned so players cannot see it. Individuals with a mole fetish will not be disappointed.

Even in the email sent by the publisher along with the DS images they referred to the Wii version as an exclusive.

Considering the DS version is its own entity I'd assume that it would become Goldeneye 007:(insert name here) at some point.

SHHHHH Zap, geez!

A game company promising something that gamers have never seen before, yea lots of people say that. But it's the "releasing on a video game system not currently released" that has my attention. Unless they are simply referring to the Nintendo 3DS, but then a game with a bigger scale then has ever been done before on a DS? Hmm...

Well Amazon does have a tendency to be right, however the press release received today did state unannounced Q2 date.

If Amazon is right though...well then Naughty Bear will be a good early birthday present :)

Anyone else getting a huge Conker vibe from this game?

Not that I really care, since cuteness + carnage seems like a great combination.

Oh 505, won't you tell me the release date of this game already?

@ Sam

If that game had a swivel camera I honestly would have rated it higher. And while the subplot is cool, it doesn't really affect the core of a review, which basically focuses on gameplay.

I'm just tired of the repetition at this point, and what they did with the story. Because while everyone may think this is the end of God of War, Sony isn't gonna let the series die like this. I cringe to think of what lame storyline they are going to develop for IV...or if they are going to take Kratos out of it altogether.