Bioshock: 9/10

Over the holiday break I was finally able to rent one of the “best games of the year.” I had downloaded the demo and found it rather entertaining…but it wasn’t long enough to get a good feel for it. So rent it I did and I was completely surprised. This game really is amazing. The visuals are very stylish and realistic. The whole world of Rapture is so detailed it’s just wonderful. I love the abilities that you get to use also, its a nice change from the average pistol, machine gun, sniper, etc. Regenerating enemies can be annoying at times, but can also be beneficial with gaining more money. Love the game, definitely worth buying.

Call of Duty 4: 9/10

This game is brilliant in many ways. First of all, the story is big. It is very new and creative and will set a new standard for FPS and WWII fighters especially. It doesn’t actually take place in WWII but it still has the feel of the previous CoD games with the added technology of the future. Now let’s move on to the multiplayer/online gameplay. One word: addicting. There are many acheivements that you can complete for added XP points to upgrade your arsenal. The more you play, the more you unlock. The gameplay itself is very smooth, fast paced and addicting. There are a variety of levels that are all created beautifully with a lot of detail which is nice to see in multiplayer levels. All I can say is go out and buy this game, especially if you love to play online.

Assassin’s Creed: 6/10

Ok, I know this game got all kinds of high reviews and praise for being so beautiful and inventive. But I got to say that I really didn’t like this game. It is beautiful, the graphics and magnitude are amazing, the controls are new and rather fun once you get used to them. But it jut wasn’t enough for me. Here’s why I didn’t like it: Repetitive, Repetitive gameplay-climb up buildings, kill people, gain intelligence, run from place to place, repeat. Sure a game can be beautiful, but it needs to have immersive gameplay that keeps you engaged. The story is the only thing that kept me playing, and then the ending came and I wanted to chuck it out the window. But back to the gameplay: it sucks. Once you have gotten in one fight, you have been in them all. The different weapons are pretty much worthless except the throwing knives are handy. Another thing, once you have played through the game once, it is over. There are no other difficulties, there is no online, there is nothing except the one story mission. Sure you can go back in and find all of the hidden flags (zzz…) or you can go and save all of the women being attacked by groups of bad guys (also zzz…) or you can sell it back for a portion of what you paid and go buy a real immersive game like the two above.

Burnout Paradise: 8.5/10

I have been waiting for the new Burnout game for a long time. I have loved Takedown and also Revenge, both are amazing games. Paradise is a sort of re-imagining of the series with the change from menus into complete gameplay. You roam around the city to find your challenges, races, etc. I am still not sure whether I like this a whole lot because it can be frustrating traveling around the city looking for the challenges, but it is also enjoyable because of the huge scale of the city, the beautiful graphics, and amazing physics involved with the crashing…its just beautiful all around. The only part of the controls i dont like is the changing from moving forward to moving backward or vice versa. It takes too long for me and can be frustrating when there is a wall in front and you need to turn to get away from it. But the controls are realistic to how a real car would handle…so its just a minor detail that I dont like personally. I love the ease of getting online and doing what you want there by using the d-pad. I actually enjoy roaming around the city looking for billboards or shortcuts that need smashing. All-in-all its a great game, I miss the offline multiplayer though, I always enjoyed playing with people on my own system, especially my younger nephew who loves these games because of the fast cars and the crashing…but I guess I will just have to go back and play the previous titles to do that…

Note: I will never give out a 10 bc a perfect game is impossible. I will add more game reviews when I play more new games.