Review: The Walking Dead (Episode 1: A New Day)

Rating: M (for Mature) Genre: Action, Adventure, RPG Publisher: Telltale Games Developer:  Telltale Games Release Date: April 25th, 2012 BUY The Walking Dead.  If you’ve read the Graphic Novels or watched the television show, I’m sure you have a pretty good idea what you might be in for.  Even still, the name gives a lot away.  Zombies. This is a game about zombies.  But what you might not know that those of us more familiar with the comic or the show are familiar with already, is that it’s also a game about choices.  Hard choices.  These are the quick on your feet, nail-biting, choose it or lose it sort of moments that kind of define the zombie genre and that The Walking Dead is already known for. (That and if anyone ever asks where Carl is? He’s not in the house.  Most especially if he’s been told to stay there.)

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Review: Binary Domain

Rating: M Genre: Shooter Publisher: SEGA Developer: Criware Release Date: February 28, 2012 BUY Not many people have heard of Binary Domain. This third-person shooter from SEGA completely slipped under the radar for March. With titles like Mass Effect 3 and Syndicate, it’s easy to see why, but it’s a downright SHAME. I had no idea what to expect whenI received Binary Domain, and I have to say it was the most pleasant surprise this year so far. Binary Domain has everything I would want in a shooter: fun gameplay, explosions, funny dialogue, great story, and a bit of romance. If you’re a fan of these things, do yourself a favor and stop reading this review to go pick up a copy. You need more than that? Well, okay. Binary Domain is the tale of Dan Marshall, a Spec Ops member of the International Robotics Technology Association (IRTA), as he joins with a Rust Crew of various nationalities to investigate

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Review – Kinect Rush: A Disney Pixar Adventure

Release Date: March 20, 2012 Rating: E for Everyone US MSRP: $49.99 Publisher: Microsoft Studios Developer: Asobo Studio BUY Kinect Rush: A Disney Pixar Adventure is one of those games that you will enjoy with the whole family. I love games that keep my kids and I active and you forget that you are burning calories in the process! It’s a game for all ages to enjoy. My 4 year old son, 10 year old daughter and I have played this daily over the last couple weeks. The Kinect Rush: Disney Pixar Adventure scans you into the game creating your own childlike avatar so you can interact with other children on the playground. You are able to jump in five worlds: The Incredibles, Ratatouille, UP, Toy Story and Cars in a unique adventure. Each of the worlds have different challenges and excitement. I love that you aren’t just reliving the

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Name Our Podcast, Please! (Mass Effect 3 Discussion Special)

  Elizabeth, Keri, Stephanie and Summer talk about their Mass Effect 3 experiences. What kind of Shepard did we play, who we “did” and what ending we got (and how well we liked them). We also touch briefly on the “Take Mass Effect Back” and the Child’s Play charity debacle. (We started having some Skype issues about halfway into the discussion, so apologies for the quality and extra noises.)

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Review: Mass Effect 3

Rating: M (Mild Language, Violence, Simulated Gambling, Mild Suggestive Themes, Drug Reference) Genre: Action-RPG Publisher: EA Developer: BioWare Release Date: March 6, 2012 BUY BioWare would be so lucky if they ever created a series that had the fanbase and anticipation for the final game as they had with Mass Effect 3. The Mass Effect series has made a major impact upon RPG and shooter fans alike, effectively bringing them together in a delicious Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup of sci-fi/RPG/shootery greatness. And sadly, like all good things, Mass Effect had to come to an end. Mass Effect 3 tells the story of your Shepard’s final battle against the Reapers, taking into account all of the decisions your Shepard made from the first two games and crafting an undoubtedly massive and masterful Choose Your Own Adventure tale. I have always said that if a Mass Effect game could have the story and RPG-elements of the first game and the

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First Look: Zumba Fitness Rush

I’ve been interested in fitness video games since Wii Fit came out and I brought that home to try out. I quickly lost interest due to the more restrictive movement and having to hold on to a controller and replace batteries often in the balance board. But with the Kinect coming out, it’s piqued my interest to check out the newer fitness games that are using the full body recognition for workouts, and I think I found a fitness game that could make me go out and snag a Kninect: Zumba Fitness Rush. I had the chance to play this game at a private showing not too long ago. I’ve heard of Zumba and knew that it was quickly rising to the top of fitness classes that people were signing up to take. Plus with the popularity of other dance games like Dance Central, I was interested to see what

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Preview – Mass Effect 3

Not to sound like a fangirl or anything (which I’m totally about to sound like), but holy wow this was fantastic and it was just the demo! I can’t wait for the actual game! Space! Reapers! The Normandy! SUBMACHINE GUN! Queue hysterical Beatles fans screaming and subsequent passing out. Now that I got that out of the way, let’s talk about the demo for Mass Effect 3 that BioWare released for fans as possibly the best Valentine’s Day gift I know I’ve ever gotten/will ever get (let’s not go into the implication of that statement here). If ever there was a perfect example of a demo and the purpose of a demo, it would be this one in my opinion. It showed off the goods as far as what the game will look like, how it will run and the new features without giving away everything about the game. That

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Preview – Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning

Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning was the furthest thing from my mind for 2012. Yeah, it looks like a pretty RPG, but I don’t have time for that. I’ve barely scratched the surface of Skyrim, Final Fantasy XIII-2 releases in a couple of weeks, and don’t forget, Mass Effect 3 drops in about six weeks. I have my RPG fix, thank you. But of course, the developers just have to cross streams with Mass Effect 3 by offering weapons and armor that you can only get by completing the demo. So yeah, I downloaded it and played the entire thing, including the 45 minutes of additional exploration just for the ME3 goodies. The things I do for Mass Effect…almost shameful. But then something unexpected happened: I LIKED Kingdoms of Amalur. If Dragon Age: Origins and Dungeon Siege III had a love child, this game would be it. It has all of the character creation and depth of

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Review: Scene It? Movie Night

Publisher: Screenlife Players: 4 player vs Genre: Trivia Release Date: November 30, 2011 BUY The Scene It? Series is always a great game to play with friends at a party. Gamers or not, the controls have always been easy to understand and the quizzes are fun to play. Besides, who doesn’t love proving they know more than their friends about Movies? My Scene It? controllers from Box Office Smash and Lights Camera Action, have been sitting in our controller bin for quite some while. I was surprised and ecstatic when Screenlife PR contacted us with a chance to try their newest title for XBLA and PSN, Scene It? Movie Night. The game is a downloadable for 800 MS Points or $9.99 on Playstation Network. My husband is a movie know-it-all, so I love playing the previous Scene It trivia games with him. But what he enjoyed most about Scene It? Movie

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Review – Earth Defense Force: Insect Armageddon

Rated: T for Teen Genre: Third-person shooter Publisher: D3 Publisher Developer: Vicious Cycle Software Release Date: July 5, 2011 RENT The sequel to Earth Defense Force 2017, Earth Defense Force: Insect Armageddon takes place on an Earth that is once again devastated and infested by giant alien insects. Naturally, only Earth Defense Force can stop them. it’s up to you and your team, Strike Force Lightning, to defend the city of New Detroit against the otherwordly invasion by deestroying the hordes any way you can (even if that means using a building to crush them into an alien insect version of crunchy peanut butter).  I’ll be honest: I’ve never even heard of the  Earth Defense Force series of games so I didn’t have any expectations when I loaded this up on my Steam account. The game is a third-person shooter, and you can play through a Campaign, Survival  or Co-op mode, each consisting of your generic

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