The battle within finally begins. Final Fantasy XIII captures the true nature of story-telling in the pages of gameplay that make up the masterpiece of the narrative. Final Fantasy XIII ensorcells players into a world of action, heart-ache, and a contrasting dichotomy of good vs. evil which furthers the nurture and attention that an elegant storyline requires. The struggles make us forlorn to the protagonist, the themes make us feel alive within the world, and the form and mood of the storyline allow us to experience something on an entirely new level. Final Fantasy XIII uplifts the senses in its linear outline through encapsulating the audience in a RPG with lightning gameplay that shocks us into the reality, unforgettable storyline which grasps our hearts, a diverse cast with personalities that are a wonder to discover, and presenting a unique piece of art designed with Fabula Nova Crystallis in mind after a long wait which was well deserved. Final Fantasy XIII brings form of emotional tenacity that is tangible every minute within the world of Cocoon, and action that engages the audience through every plot-twist woven through drama.  Final Fantasy XIII acquiesces a form of gameplay that is both linear and exceptional, achieving a level of respect in the name of the Final Fantasy series.

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Battlefield: Bad Company was a premiere shooter that marked the entry of DICE into the first-person shooter series category designed for consoles exclusively on June 23^rd, 2008. Bad Company offered singleplayer, a decent online offering of 24 players from the native 64 from Battlefield’s 1 and 2, and provided a venue for console shooter fans to play if they did not fancy Call of Duty: Modern Warfare on Nov 7^th, 2007. Bad Company offered a markedly watered down version similar to elements of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare in terms of multiplayer minus the ranks and perks system.   Not surprisingly enough, Battlefield: Bad Company 2 is a sequel that uses the same formula and delivers on what the first title came close to doing itself: being a game with an unoriginal storyline of revenge and profit centered on repetitive gameplay and missions structure, while capitalizing on the online warfare craze with bland online elements revolving around statistic aficionados that find an all too endless joy in the clunky destruction engine of the environment’s flawed realistic scope.

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The world has evolved games into two categories that are both worth a closer reveal. The high budget ‘blockbuster’ titles can become very generic and live on an established name whereas smaller titles which are full of creativity just do not pack the punch compared to a bigger offering. Heavy Rain is a refreshing title that has the major themes of a large release yet has the innovation and creativeness within the storyline and production value needed to really make this stand out from the rest. Created by Quantic Dream’s inspiration from Indigo Prophecy and renewed sense of exploration and experiment, Heavy Rain takes psychological thrill with attention to details and dares to do things which other titles simply do not try. Unfortunately with such minutiae of details, Heavy Rain comes bundled with large errors such as generic voice acting, and a lack of combat interactivity for an action thriller that all take their toll.  Regardless of the issues, Heavy Rain provides a great sense of exploration and takes innovative steps to draw players into a fascinating story full of intrigue and mystery.

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Aliens vs. Predator showed a lot of promise during its creative façade with developer Rebellion. The balance between different characters seemed to be shaping up nicely and improving on the core concepts from the film, but ultimately Aliens vs. Predator has failed to deliver by providing a bland singleplayer campaign, and a decent multiplayer offering.  Aliens vs. Predator features three campaigns that give fans a look into all three types of species and thereby offers different types of play. Regardless, Aliens vs. Predator depends too much on the nostalgia of the previous titles to create a form of withstanding entertainment other than the sheer fact of controlling aliens of predators. While certain moments of the game are interesting, the game has too many prominent defects from gameplay design, to mission compatibility that is short-lived and receding fun. Miserably so, while gliding along the walls as an alien sees a short-lived joy, Rebellion’s newest addition in the franchise relies on recycled elements that disregard the game in its entirety.

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Look above you as hundreds of people are parachuting towards their objectives. MAG reveals player ipseity through central command and engaging 256-player online matches that are a sight for the eyes to see. MAG is another wonderful creation from Zipper Interactive and Sony Computer Entertainment  (SCEE) to delve players into the strife of combat and the grueling circumstances in which it revolves.  While skirmishes are close and personal on an objective-based scale, MAG provides the thrill of bullets flying through the air and teamwork at an apex that is hard to withstand. MAG is without its problems such as small repetitive elements throughout the overall tone of the game, but becomes completely exhilarating during the moment. MAG undoubtedly presents a prodigious look into warfare and combat through an immense venue of a lot of squads and too much action at the same time. MAG is filled with objectives for different teams, formidable enemy squads, incredible map design, and a lot of opportunities to use individual skills and teamwork along with objective coordination to earn a powerful reward: the feeling of being a soldier and fighting for a greater cause.

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1968 has never been so cold and the water never this damp. Awaken as Subject Delta in 2K Marin’s BioShock 2, the sequel to BioShock that introduces the gaming world to an unraveling Dystopia in which philosophical individualism and seeping autocracy haunts the flooded corridors. BioShock 2 takes a very daring road to build upon the exotic backdrop of BioShock in which a plane crash lands the Protagonist Jack Ryan to the mysterious underwater world of Rapture. 2K Marin valiantly creates a new and recognizable atmosphere into a completely different storyline that evokes the responses through totalitarian dictatorship, improved gameplay based upon similar game interface as BioShock, and furthered incredible variety when it comes to the chills and haunting images that Rapture exudes. BioShock 2 furthers improvements and shooter mechanics beyond the first one and continues to up the par with a multiplayer mode from Digital Extremes. While something about the atmosphere, however, is not quite on par with the first title as things seem all too familiar and lose their substance that made the microscopicity of the original so daring, BioShock 2 still creates an atmosphere that is engaging and still very much provoking.  BioShock 2 incontestably creates an atmosphere that is prominent regardless of the familiarity that veteran players might feel and new players might not completely believe.

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Live long and prosper in a universe that is constantly expanding and providing exploration a new definition. Star Trek Online makes the emergence of the millennia that people will witness and recount for years to come.  The space-adventure odyssey Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing game by developer Cryptic Studios (City of Heroes/Villains, Champions Online) captures the excitement from the Star Trek television series and gives players a journey in which they are constantly cultivating their love for all things Science Fiction. Star Trek is definitively not like any other MMO out there that focuses too much on traditional grinding gameplay, leveling pride and lust, and special glowing items found in the pits of some exotic mountain or crafted by a rare animal. While using certain traditional aspects, Star Trek Online keeps the underlying backbone on a skill-based system in which players can rank up from Ensign to Admiral and max out skills respectively.  Core gameplay mechanic that is efficiently detailed within Star Trek Online creates an imperceptible and ingenious balance with skills, abilities, and the central team-based life of a Captain to create an unheralded atmosphere in Space that is not as bitter or bland as other MMO’s that rely too much on repetition, difficult controlling schemes, and furthermore an unbalanced interface and system. With an ingenious gameplay design, incredible variety in gameplay mechanics of space and ground adventure that relies on a cleverly crafted skill-system to advance players in the universe, and the key facet of exploration and adventure both in space and on a microuniversal planetary level, Star Trek Online is undoubtedly the precedent of what a MMO can transcend in an entirely new and unimaginable way.

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For years I have waited to save the galaxy once again. For years, I Commander Shepard, have been alone and now is the time to make my glorious return to the Intergalactic Stellar System. BioWare’s Mass Effect 2 might be another game in the trilogy of the saga, but it reminds us that beautifully superb video games are possible as part of a bigger adventure. BioWare’s Mass Effect 2 brings the space action back once again to allow players to experience a role-playing action-adventure title never before experienced since Mass Effect or Dragon Age: Origins. With beautiful overarching stories with multiple plotlines, a trenchant role-playing dialogue system, suitable combat gameplay, and moreover characters which are truly believable with voice acting to suite every colloquy in pure harmony. Mass Effect 2 redefines the space galaxy as Mass Effect did before it and incomparably changes the scale and customization by an even more magnificent sight.

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Aion’s world is simply effervescent, with lush landscapes that draw players in for a wide variety of fun and excitement. Aion is undoubtedly beautiful, while the first few hours of the game is simply wonderful through the CryEngine powered visuals and scenery. Unfortunately, after the first dozen or so levels, Aion’s grinding-scheme becomes all too lucid from the mission structures and gameplay design elements with relationship to the storyline.  Non-player characters with stories to tell open up a venue with others who have the persona of active boards, and quests that are slightly imaginative early on are replaced with a monotonous mix of fetch, deliver, kill, and collect objectives.

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When the words ‘game’ and ‘World War II’ are mentioned in the same sentence, everyone has a stock image of a first person shooter storming the beaches of Normandy. The Saboteur deviates from this redundant, tired look and lets you feel like a small part of a more rewarding cause. Rather than being a soldier, the gun-for-hire aspect gives the player a greater sense of accomplishment which works exceptionally well during the harrowing scene of one of the most brutal times in recent history.

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The dead have risen to seek the blood of those that precede their rotting flesh. On June 1, 2009, Valve Software officially announced the birth of Left 4 Dead 2, sequel to the premiere horror 28 Days Later inspired Left 4 Dead. Valve Software created an exceedingly decent title with Left 4 Dead despite the issues of repetition and no story arc back in November of 2008, and seeks to improve upon various aspects left unfinished. Left 4 Dead 2 is the aegis to Valve and their ambition to create an extremely unique experience that has never been accomplished prior to the Left 4 Dead series, bringing horror and survival together to form a whole new definition in the realm of cooperative gaming action. Uniting a mysterious player and three other unsuspecting and horrified friends together, Left 4 Dead 2 makes sure players are at the edge of their seats not knowing what to expect next, making sure players use their eyes and ears to their fullest degree in order to survive the horrific zombie onslaught. Try not to blink or it may be your last breath.

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