impressions

Mario Kart 7 Impressions

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There once was a time when I thought that the Mario Kart franchise would always be the king of kart racing video games. Some of its entries are all-time classics, while the rest were still better than any of its contemporaries. But then Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing Transformed happened. Featuring crazy tracks, a deep single player campaign and transforming vehicles that fundamentally changed this kart racer into a jet and hover boat racer too, that game took the genre to new heights.

Mario Kart 7‘s big new feature is also air and water racing…sort of. You can glide off of specific jumps and drive under water, though the implementation of it here pales in comparison to Sonic’s latest outing. Unfortunately, besides that, there isn’t much here that you haven’t experienced upwards of six times before.

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Early El Shaddai: Ascension of the Metatron Impressions

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El Shaddai: Ascension of the Metatron has been a game I’ve been meaning to play for quite some time. It first caught my eye with its arresting visual flair, though the mixed reviews kept me at bay until I could grab it on the cheap. A few months back, it hit rock bottom on Xbox Live, as it was on sale for a paltry $3. Having played a little bit of it now, I’m not sure if the game was worth the wait.

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Early Red Dead Redemption Impressions

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Of the big titles this generation that I had on my to-do list, Red Dead Redemption has stuck out like a sore thumb. Having won over 160 game of the year awards (according to the cover art of my game of the year edition), it’s one of those must-play titles that I just never made time for. Why? Well, partly because of my general aversion to long games, and partly because of my general aversion to anything western-themed. If it weren’t so critically acclaimed, I probably wouldn’t have made any time for it at all. Better late than never, right?

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Initial Ninja Gaiden II Impressions

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Save for the most recent installment, the modern-day Ninja Gaiden series has been held in high regard among critics and the gaming populous. Despite the positive word-of-mouth, I hadn’t played a Ninja Gaiden game since the Ninja Gaiden II on the NES. I’ll never forget how brutally hard the NES games were, and I heard the new games were equally challenging. As someone who isn’t much of a masochist when it comes to video games, this just didn’t sound like something up my alley.

However, when I came across Ninja Gaiden II for dirt cheap at a Blockbuster closing down sale, I decided to outside of my comfort zone to give this one a shot.

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Metro 2033 Impressions

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Up until now, I’ve been fairly impressed with the games I’ve picked up at many Blockbuster closing-down sales. Split/Second, Vanquish and Enslaved have all been quality products that I enjoyed greatly. I was hoping that I’d find another surprisingly fun experience Metro 2033. Would this game win me over like the other ones did?

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Split/Second Impressions

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Split/Second was one of two high-profile arcade racing games to hit the market in May 2010. The other was Blur. Both Disney and Activision had high hopes for their respective racing games, with visions of turning them into the next big racing franchises. However, despite positive reviews for both, neither game sold very well, which led to the demise of both studios that made Split/Second and Blur. Despite my issues with Blur, I thought it was a shame that game and its’ creators suffered the fate that they did, as Blur was a pretty good game. I’d say the similar things about Black Rock Studio and Split/Second. This is a pretty good racing game that, unfortunately, a lot of people overlooked.

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Early Impressions of God of War II

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Even though I was many years late to the party, once I started playing the first God of War, I finished it in relatively short order. That first God of War game was pretty awesome and I was excited to jump into God of War II. However, I thought it would be best for me to take a break from the series and take care of some other games before I jump back into it.

Though I’ve been picking at God of War II for at least a month now, I don’t have much to show for my time. I’m not very far into it, but I’m already considering skipping it for God of War III. What’s happening?

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Pick-Up Post: The Nintendo 3DS

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The next generation of hand-held gaming has arrived. I picked up my Nintendo 3DS first thing this morning at my local Wal-Mart, which was rather uneventful. Maybe it was the fact that my brother and I were the first two people to buy Nintendo 3DS consoles at our store at 7am, and maybe it was because we were at Wal-Mart, but there were only a total of four people when the store opened looking to buy one. My brother and I both picked up the blue 3DS as well as our own copies of Super Street Fighter IV: 3D Edition.

We’ll talk about the game later. For now, let’s focus on the package and the hardware itself.

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