Video Game Freaks

Last Rebellion sends you to fight against a world of zombies with only a predictable story and weak fight mechanics to fend them off.  You take control of two characters, Nine and Aisha, as you, and only you, proceed through 15 hours of forced plot and unimpressive landscapes.

This may seem a little too harsh of a review, but the game, overall, is truly unimpressive.  If you’ve played one bad rpg, then you’ve played this one.  Putting this game into your PS3, you’ll wonder what you spent all that money on.  The graphics are reminiscent of yesterday’s consoles, and seems like it was rushed out into stores.

Sometimes a game that lacks graphics or playability can be saved if it includes a unique fighting system, or has stories that you’ll wish were made into movies.  But these are both marks that Last Rebellion missed out on.   The gameplay does introduce a new concept; the two main characters share a soul and health points and kill targets by working together to “mark” and banish them back to whence they came.

But, this is often as confusing as it is frustrating.  One false move, and you’ve send a zombie into a rage that is inescapable.  As you near the end of the game, you’ll figure out how to predictably kill the monsters every time, which turns Last Rebellion from hopeless hard to tedious.

The reviewers at GameSpot have it right when they said that this game simply doesn’t need to exist.  There are too many outdated and boring features of this game to give it any value.  The landscapes would have been outdated if this had come out on a PS2, the story is bland, and the fighting is either frustrating or way too simple.  Last Rebellion is a game way behind it’s time.  Way, way behind.

The open world genre of games is exciting and always offers great replay value.  You can choose to do a mission, or just drive a motorcycle off a cliff and parachute into an enemy stronghold, slaughtering everyone inside, such as in Just Cause 2.

If you’re looking for a fun game to play, that doesn’t take itself too serious, you’ll want to check out Just Cause 2.  Out in stores in late March, it offers miles of free roaming and plenty of explosions that keep you entertained for a long time.  Though the story doesn’t take too long to complete, 20 hours according to GameSpot, there’s so much to do in game that you’ll still be playing it after you’ve ran through the story.

A few notable things about Just Cause 2 are the graphics and gameplay.  The action is always going, and the landscapes are amazing themselves.  The main character, Rico Rodriguez, is equipped with two things you shouldn’t go without when causing mayhem on an island in southeast Asia; a grappling hook and a parachute.

With these two things, you can pretty much do anything in game.  Grappling between walls and helicopters is a snap, and if you find yourself miles in the air, sending a helicopter to crash into propane tanks, you can parachute out to safety.  The whole island is an absolute blast to explore, since you’re not constrained to anywhere, really.

There are a few hiccups with the game, however.  The story is on the weak side.  The voice acting doesn’t help it much either.  You shouldn’t boot up your PS3 to play Just Cause 2 expecting a riveting, in-depth story.  Expect to have too much fun, however, spending hours hijacking helicopters, dragging snipers off of ledges with your grappling hook, and generally causing exorbitant, wanton destruction.

You may not have heard of the Yakuza series before, but if you’re in the market for a gory brawl in Japan, rush over to your game store.  Yakuza 3 (GAMESPOT Review) is the game’s first installment on the PS3, and is a marked improvement over the previous two.

If you played any of the GTA series, you’ll feel right at home playing Yakuza 3.  It has similar gameplay elements, such as allowing the player to choose between going from mission to mission, or branching out and starting a few brawls in karaoke bars.  You’re free to influence the main character, Kazuma, to either progress the story, or complete side missions and gain experience.

The graphics are pretty good for the game.  If you’re looking for jaw dropping, drool all over yourself, landscapes, you may want to move on.  But overall, the fighting is exciting (though there are a few bugs), and the whole game looks pretty good, overall.

Some people have problems with the progression and direction of the story, such as reviews at GameSpot.  I have to agree with them to a point, because there were times it seemed like story dragged you between different plot initiators.  But overall, going from mission to mission was smooth and exciting.  And with all of the extra side missions you can do, you’ll sit and play for hours

There is another unique aspect to this game that deserves mention; weapon/armor crafting.  With materials you pick up throughout Yakuza 3, you can craft and upgrade weapons and armor.  This is one aspect where the game misses completely.  Though it can be fun to do, the whole thing is pointless, as none of it is necessary to complete the game.

Overall, Yakuza 3 is a fun game to play that gives you hours of entertaining brawling across the streets of Tokyo.