Escape from Butcher Bay
I never truly enjoyed Escape from Butcher Bay when it was released for the Xbox mainly because I wasn't really into gaming at the time. When I first got into gaming ala Xbox 360 about 2 years ago, one of my good friends recommended the game but I could never play it because I got rid of my Xbox to get a 360 so I was pretty hyped when they announced a remake with additional content.

Escape from Butcher Bay definitely doesn't feel like it was an Xbox release. It definitely could hold its own with the games of today. The controls and combat are not stale and don't really get old or repetitive. There are many sequences throughout the game that make the game awesome including controlling mechs and other large robots to destroy enemies.

One of the pitfalls of the game were the times that I was left at a checkpoint with 1 health and a screwdriver to fight a freaking mech. The game saves at weird times, I wish they would have allowed a Bioshock save system as cheap as it sounds but I would have been well equipped for the battles against these mechs. Another pitfall was the side quests, I couldn't get some of the events to trigger for the side quests for some reason. After about an hour and a half of roaming around Tower 17 unable to finish a couple side quests I said screw it and moved on. I even resorted to reading some guides on how to complete two in particular and the events that were supposed to happen simply wouldn't trigger. I'm not sure if it was my game or what but maybe they should have made the side quests a bit less complex or made sure the events would trigger properly. Of course this pitfall was probably due to a user error.

All in all, Escape from Butcher Bay was a great experience with some minor kinks that left me frustrated often times and almost made me put the game up for a bit.

Assault on Dark Athena
The beginning parts of Dark Athena are very, very fun. The game feels very stealthy throughout the beginning and killing hordes of enemies in dark places is very satisfying. A bit further into the game it seems to have turned into an all out war on the ship and you must resort to using a gun for most of the battle sequences and the stealth aspect totally disappears. While this is disappointing the gun combat is pretty good and doesn't really disappoint but I was really enjoying stabbing folks with the ulaks.

One downfall of Dark Athena would be the Droids, they seem to be able to spot you from a mile away in many situations but they are easy prey once you get them in the dark so I think it kind of counteracts their laser vision. In the beginning of Dark Athena, Lynn, a little girl, warns you that the Droids with white lights have flashlights and can find you. The Droids with white lights are still easy prey in the dark, I wish they would have beefed them up a bit and made them a little more challenging to kill or stalk.

Although I have not completed Dark Athena, I think I am very close.. the game is pretty good although a little less challenging than Escape from Butcher Bay. The game's "side quests" are pretty straight forward and linear in comparison to Escape from Butcher Bay where you might have to find someone's lost glasses or something. The side quests kind of incorporate themselves into the main story so I'm not sure that you could really even refer to them as side quests.



Other Comments
The multiplayer of the game was really disappointing it feels like a terrible version of Unreal Tournament. There is no party system so it isn't very easy to play with friends. I haven't had a chance to play Pitch Black mode which I was looking forward to the most. I will give that a shot after I complete the Dark Athena campaign and maybe report back then.

The graphics in both of the games look very good although Dark Athena seems to edge out Escape from Butcher Bay probably because they just retextured EFBB. The story seems to be lacking from all angles though. The developer's seemed to try and incorporate more of a story in Dark Athena then they did in Butcher Bay. I guess you can't really take a story too far when all Riddick is trying to do is be a badass and escape from a prison while slaughtering as many enemies as possible.The controls of the game are simple and great. Killing enemies never lost its flare throughout both of the campaigns. I enjoyed the Ulaks most of all because you can trigger some pretty awesome counter kills and normal kills. One thing that Riddick definitely got right was the hit detection system. Finally a head shot is recognized as a head shot,these days there are so many games that have terrible hit detection. Riddick captures hit detection almost impeccably.

With the amount of games that are coming out these days with tons of content and features. Riddick simply doesn't live up to what it hyped. The game has adequate single player content but you also have to consider the fact that Escape from Butcher Bay is a game that was already made. If you have no intentions of playing Escape from Butcher Bay don't bother purchasing the game at the full 60. Hell, don't bother buying it at that price in general because it simply isn't worth it. Look at the games you could get for 60... Gears of War 2, a game with amazing multiplayer, a solid single player campaign that can be played several times or perhaps Fallout 3 which now has 2 episodes of DLC along with a good 50-75 hours of content in the main game itself. Simply put, Riddick doesn't add up to a solid title that is worth $60. If you find the game in the 30-40 range I would say pick it up for sure. If you've played EFBB, rent the game. If you were teetering on the game, rent it because it can be beaten very quickly.

I know many people here at Destructoid are looking to get in on FEAR 2. Well today you can go cancel those silly Gamestop preorders.

http://whv.warnerbros.com/WHVPORTAL/Portal/product.jsp?OID=73443 PS3 Version
http://whv.warnerbros.com/WHVPORTAL/Portal/product.jsp?OID=73444 Xbox 360 Version

Also, if you spend more than $50 you get free shipping. I just added a blu-ray to get me over 50 to get free shipping instead of paying the 7.95 shipping for just the game. Shellshock 2 is also on there on the cheap but I haven't seen much on that yet. You could combo those two together for around 65. Also when you go to check out use the coupon code WBSURVYJ9

...or how I've never played survival horror.



Yes, It's true. I have never played a survival horror game before and now I know what it feels like. I am only through the first level and I am quite impressed with the game. I have jumped a couple times probably only because I'm not certain what to expect. With the amount of games coming out (i.e. LittleBigPlanet, Fable 2, and Fallout 3 just to note a few), I was really picky and choosy and really contemplated not picking this game up. The reasons I thought not to pick it up was because I scare easily and I have never played anything else in the genre. If you are weary of picking this up, I would definitely do it.. if not, rent it. I would have rented it but I couldn't find it anywhere and I had some extra store credit sitting around for GameStop seeing as I already have LBP, Fable 2, Fallout 3, and GoW 2 paid off.. I figured I might as well.



The shooting mechanics of the game work pretty well. They are extremely similar to that of Mass Effect. Simply put.. the mechanics work extremely well. I feel sort of unfulfilled by the melee combat. It is probably because you have to kind of time it correctly and most of the time I'm swinging at open air then getting eaten up by the crazy monsters. That is probably the only complaint I have thus far in the game would be the melee combat. The monsters are creepy as shit and when you back track through the level often times you think that there is a monster on the ground that you killed previously but it is one that is still living and pops up to scare the bejesus out of you.



I am very impressed by the inventory system thus far. That was one thing that Mass Effect made inexcusably difficult to maneuver through. The upgrades in Dead Space are easy to manage and seem to have a bit more meaning than that of Mass Effect. Personally, I felt as though I had to make a huge decision when upgrading in the store with my limited number of credits.

The graphics of this game are stunning, up there with the likes of Bioshock, Mass Effect, and other platinum titles. Personally, I know that Dead Space is getting a lot of recognition by the media but I still see it as a sleeper hit of this year. The monsters in the game are pretty messed up little guys. I have only encountered 2-3 different types of monsters so I don't know what to say about them quite yet but I am hoping that the variations of the monsters grow as I do with the game. I might add to this further as I get through the game more and more. I would definitely recommend this game to anyone who was on the edge about it like me. I am not quite sure that I am feeling the survival aspects of it yet with the amount of drops on items there are. I think there should be a bit less ammo. But, the opening scenes of the game definitely served as a reminder that this game is all about survival. I have a feeling this may become one of my favorite games ever.

Today is my birthday and so far its been pretty great. My girlfriend gave me my gift earlier today and I must say that it was full of win :D. My dad and I built a computer and paid for some of it so that was my other present. Anyways, what I did was build a crazy budget computer and it is awesome. Here are the specs:

Antec Sonata 3 Case
2.8Ghz AMD Dual Core Processor 5400+ BE
700GB in HDD
LG 20x DVD Burner
256MB GeForce 8600GT
2GB of RAM
ASUS Motherboard (Don't feel like finding the specific model right now)

Total Cost: $306

I'm planning on picking up a 22 inch HP monitor in the future when I get enough cash. Its currently connected to my 37 inch TV but I'm not a big fan of it being there becuase I have nowhere to put my mouse and keyboard so it becomes uncomfortable quickly.

Here are the pics!

Girlfriend Birthday Gift!



And the new gaming rig

Tonight, after a year hiatus, I am going to be playing Dungeon Runners. If anyone would like to join me that would be awesome. I am going to start a new character tonight to play the game so it would really be fun to have some people to play with.

The game has significantly improved since launch. I played for about 3 months after launch and leveled to 100. The game didn't have very much end game content so I quit considering you couldn't PVP at the time nor could you start another character. Anyways, I am back now that PVP has been put into the game and now that there seems to be a ton more content.

The game doesn't cost anything so you don't have to run out and buy it. The only thing it will cost you is some of your time to download it. This is why I am giving you guys a heads up. Pretty much any computer should be able to run this game on its lowest settings. But, join me for the fun tonight!

My account on Dungeon Runners is xMalachi and the character name is xxMalxx.

Download Dungeon Runners: http://http.dr.ncsoft.com/DungeonRunnersSetup.exe

The game supports voice chat so we can all talk to each other while we play. If you love Diablo 2 this game is a hybrid of it and WoW pretty much. It is less hardcore than most MMOs and great fun.. so come join me tonight!

As many of you who play FNF with me know.. I WAS an employee of the evil Corporate empire known as Gamestop. To be quite honest with you, I think I got lucky with the manager I got and the people I worked with. For the most part my manager didn't care too much about numbers as long as inventory and everything checked out. Most of the guys at my Gamestop weren't total retards but whatever.. I've seen and heard the many hate stories of Gamestop. I do, infact hate Gamestop though but that is for totally separate reasons. Gamestop gave me 8 hours a week. It sucked, I could have taken a job at Best Buy where I was guaranteed 20 hours per week and was getting paid more. But I opted for Gamestop because it was closer to home.. I was a moron. Don't hate me because I worked at Gamestop. I just want you guys to know that you aren't the only ones getting screwed when you walk in there with trades or they are annoying the shit outta you with reserves or subscription shit.





Anyways, what I am getting at is that I got a new job! I finally get to put my Cisco Certification to use. I got hired at the USDA and I am a Help Desk technician. It is a pretty sweet job as of now I don't really do much because not everything is in place in the network yet. The room I work in is pretty sweet too. Many of you in IT know what I'm talking about.. this room looks like something out of a zombie survival movie.. like the super high tech science lab. It's fuckin awesome. I just like to keep the fellow DToiders updated because I love all of you ever so much :D