Saints Row: The Third Review

Saints Row: The Third did not win me over right away. Having only played the demo of the first game before and hating it, this from a gameplay mechanics perspective felt as derivative and janky as its predecessor. Having said that, it becomes readily apparent that gameplay is not the focus here. Instead, this is all about playing a Grand Theft Auto-like experience with the humor and ridiculousness pushed to extremes. Once the game heats up, it manages to dress up relatively unremarkable mechanics and turn them into a title that’s arguably more fun than it should be.
Continue reading

Check Out My Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 Combo Video

Assorted combos with assorted characters. These won’t make Justin Wong blush, but there’s a little swagger in my step (I think). Check it out!

Buy Ultimate Marvel Vs. Capcom 3 Now On Amazon.com

See More At The In Third Person Store

Universal Fighting Game Guide: Tier Lists

If you’ve ever played a fighting game with another person before, I’m sure you’ve discussed the hot-button topic of which character is best. You may have tried to rank these characters from best to worst. For a handful of seriously dedicated individuals, you may have even gone through the painstaking process of trying to mathematically calculate that pecking order.

Tier lists are a hotly-debated topic in any sort of competitive game. For better or worse, their presence in the competitive fighting games can’t be understated. In today’s world of online discussion and information transfer, you’re just a Google search away from finding dozens of different tier lists for any given fighting game written by players with various levels of understanding. Before you cling to a tier list written by a random message board user as fact, let’s take a moment to learn what tier lists are, how they work and what they’re good for.

Continue reading

Marvel vs. Capcom 3 and the Execution Barrier

Though I don’t talk about it much on this blog, I am no slouch in the Marvel vs. Capcom 3 series. Having invested hundreds of hours into it, I wreak havoc online and it’s generally the game I do best at in tournaments. Say what I will about having the #1 ranked Rose in Canada on Xbox Live and PlayStation Networkmy best tournament placing to-date across any game is 25th in MvC 3 at T12; a point that arguably holds more weight in my fighting game resume.

Having said that, I have a glaring hole in my skill-set that keeps me from ascending to the upper echelon of players: my inability to land the biggest combos.

Continue reading

Luigi’s Mansion: Dark Moon Single Player Review

A lot of people forget that the original Luigi’s Mansion on Gamecube wasn’t heralded as a premiere Nintendo experience when it first came out. Many knocked it for being too short and repetitive, which caused me to avoid it completely. Despite that, the game’s legacy grew with time to the point where we now have Luigi’s Mansion: Dark Moon on the 3DS more than a decade later. Was it worth the wait?

Continue reading

Tomb Raider Review

The Tomb Raider franchise means a lot of things to a lot of people. Some associate her with their original love of PlayStation. Others adore her for being a pioneer of girl power in video games. There might be one or two people for whom Lara was their first crush on a video game character. For me, she didn’t mean much. As a diehard Nintendo fanboy during her heyday, I wanted nothing to do with that series. Nor did I feel I was missing much, as the series never won me over during the few times I actually played a Tomb Raider title. This reboot may have rubbed some purists the wrong way, but this is definitely more up my alley.

Continue reading

Playing Capcom vs. SNK 2 For The First Time

Up until the creation of this post, I had never played Capcom vs. SNK 2 or any of the games in its lineage. By the time of its release, I was long gone from the scene. However, there was a brief moment in time where I wanted this game in the worst way. As an owner of a Gamecube, Capcom vs. SNK 2 EO was something I wanted to try. Unfortunately, lukewarm reviews and the thought of having to play it on that Gamecube pad ultimately drove me away.

Many years later, when I started taking fighting games seriously, I discovered that this a favourite among fighting game snobs. With it having come out recently on PS3 as a PlayStation 2 classic, I finally decided to see what the hype was all about.

Continue reading

Universal Fighting Game Guide: Understanding Frame Advantage As It Relates To Safe On Block

ken-hitstop-feature

Many moons ago, I wrote a post about how to read frame data. While this post is great on its own (and is one of the most popular on my site) I never got around to providing any practical applications of frame data. In this edition of the Universal Fighting Game Guide, I’ll provide an explanation for frame advantage and a practical use for it, which is crucial to grasp if you’re looking to elevate your game.

Before you read through this, I strongly recommend going back and reading my guide that explains how to read frame data. This particular edition of the guide won’t do you much good if you don’t understand the basics of frame data, so please check that out first. If you’ve already done that or already know the basics, then let’s move on with the show.

Continue reading

The Thing That Drives Me Nuts About Lugi’s Mansion: Dark Moon

Ever since I got it as a birthday present a few months back, Luigi’s Mansion: Dark Moon has been a part of my morning routine. Though the game isn’t terribly long, it’s taken me forever to work through it. The frustrating part of it all is that it really doesn’t have to be this way.

Continue reading

The Walking Dead: 400 Days Review

It’s been a few months since the final episode of The Walking Dead left me in tears. While Telltale Games isn’t quite ready to roll out the next full season, they’ve provided us with a special episode to bridge the gap between the two. Though The Walking Dead: 400 Days as an experience is rather short, it’s an interesting tease for what’s to come.

Continue reading