Oh yes, I decided to spend the rainy day on the next game in my backlog, Lost: Via Domus (360). Since I'm such a huge Lost fan, I didn't mind picking up this game in the bargain bin. Considering the reviews I've read, I wasn't gonna expect much from it. So here goes my review...

What really got me about the game was the presentation. It's actually done pretty well. They modeled the story in the same way like the regular TV show where you have the "Previously on Lost" intros and the Lost title sequence. Pretty cool. I also enjoyed the semi-cliffhangers. They even made the subtitles for the game look like the close-captioning on the TV show which was a nice touch. Overall, I liked the way they presented the game. Alone in the Dark ain't the first game to take advantage of this TV show motif in a game.

The graphics are quite lush and look pretty good. Some of the characters from the TV show look a bit janky but the main character that you play is highly detailed. The Island itself is well modeled as well. The beach has some beautiful graphics while the grass and trees are also quite pretty as they sway and move. I was also quite surprised with the amount of detail for all the various hatches and other locations from the TV show that were put into the game. I thought it was very cool for the devs to allow us to travel and look around the same locations that we remember from the first two seasons of Lost. But the graphics aren't perfect. There is some minor slowdown in spots and I found plenty of screen-tearing in plenty of outdoor areas. Oh well.

The best part of the game is the music. They used all the music from the TV show in the game so it actually felt like the show. The voice actors are good but I felt some of the posers for the TV characters were bad and didn't sound like the real actors at all. The worst one was the actress for Juliet. She sounds NOTHING like the real thing. The rest were meh with some blahs.

The story is actually quite compelling even though it doesn't really add anything to the TV show. I liked the main character that you play and I also liked his flashbacks which were done really well. It's not bad and I'm sure the writers from the show had a hand in creating the scenarios. I wish they added something to the main canon though. I feel it's a missed opportunity by the writers to inject some important info to connect the game to the TV show. There was one moment where I thought they were gonna do that but it didn't happen. Oh well. The ending was quite weird and ended on a rather vague note. I'm not sure how I feel about it.

The gameplay is fairly boring and not that interesting. The best part were the flashbacks. They were REALLY well done and I liked the way they presented it. The rest is your usual boring third person action game. The puzzles are lame and not fun and there were some sections where traveling from point A to point B were annoying as well. It's not a fun game to play. If it weren't for the compelling story, I would've bailed out.

Overall, the game is medicore but the story is great and well told. If you're a fan of Lost, it's worth playing just for the story alone. Everyone else can probably skip it.

What? Yep, I continued catching up on my backlog of games and Conan (360) was next on the list. I felt like playing something violent for some reason during Labor Day weekend. Anyways, what I discovered from this supposed God of War clone was that it was actually good! I'm right before the final level but I felt like talking about the game so here goes...

So yea, Conan really surprised me. The game is actually quite fun and the combat was deeply satisfying. For all the naysayers out there, I actually found the combat system deeper than the God of War series. Controlling Kratos was always a bit of a buttonmasher and made the game too easy. On the other hand, Conan features a surprisingly deep and very enjoyable combat system which requires more precise attacks and blocks. It became more and more fun when you unlock more moves for Conan and they look pretty great. Conan can take out enemies in a wide variety of ways (depending on the weapon) which added some variety to your arsenal. I was also quite pleased with the parry attacks function which made the game more tactical against certain enemies and bosses. As for the enemies, they are quite tough in the later stages and block quite a bit. I actually had to learn to use various tactics to take them out. While most are dumb, some of the shielded guys and honor guards are very defensive and won't let you take them out so easily. Fun fun.

The downside of the game are the graphics. While the animations for Conan and all the enemies look super smooth and animate really well, the textures are blurry and lack detail. There's a slight gloss look to some characters and the level environments could've benefited from more detail and special effects. It looked a lot like a high res last gen game which is a shame. I didn't really mind it after a few levels in, but this game would've or should've had more work done on the visuals. The concept art during the loading screens look great and it's a shame that the final game didn't live up to it. But like I said, the animation for the characters looks great. The various finishers and parry kills look especially amazing in action.

The music is alright and added a good amount of epicness to the game. It's not quite as memorable as the God of War series, but it sounds good. The voice acting is good and sounds acceptable. Even the enemies sound decent enough that you won't be disappointed with it. It's pretty good overall.

The story is not anything amazing but it works for the Conan world. You won't find any major twists or revelations but there's just enough to the plot to keep you going. One thing I really liked were the cinematics with the 2D and 3D art. They are really well directed and looked interesting. They actually made me more interested in the story just because they're so well presented.

In any case, I actually like the game quite well. Even with the flaws in the visuals, the combat system is what made the game fun. Like I said, it's surprisingly deep and satisfying. If you're a fan of the God of War series, this is a very good alternative. I wouldn't mind a sequel if they improved the visuals and made the story bigger and better. This game is worth checking out.

So after beating another level in Tomb Raider: Legend last night, I decided to get the long awaited Castle Crashers (360). It seems like everyone in my friends list was playing it. Anyways, just as I started the single player, I get an invite from Jeff of Totally Rad Show fame. I jumped into his game and played with Steve who is also from TRS. As we were playing, Dan and Alex from the TRS crew jumped in as well (not at the same time obviously) and we had a BLAST!

The game's signature quirky cartoony s7yle looks awesome and animates really well. There are some really fun designs and the levels are simple and easy to navigate. The music for some levels are also excellent and really adds to the light-hearted atmosphere of the game. I was quite pleased with the overall look and feel of the game. Alien Hominid fans will not be disappointed with the art s7yle.

The gameplay is the old school hack and slash in the tradition of Golden Axe and other similar beat 'em ups. In fact, there are actually a few levels where they parody such levels and that was terrific. I also really like the ability to upgrade your characters and have an ability to use magic and wield different weapons. It adds some depth to what would've been a typical beat 'em up. You actually get stronger and stronger the more you play so you'll eventually master the game which is a good incentive to play this game a lot. Very cool.

Anyways, back to my story: The TRS guys and I had a blast trying to figure out how to defeat certain bosses. Some of the them require quite a bit of strategy to defeat. I guess the proudest moment was when Jeff and Alex died during a boss fight against a giant cat creature. Only Steve and I were left to take him out which was quite scary at first since we failed miserably the first time against it. But on our second try, we figured out how to take it out and we beat the level which was awesome and very satisfying. It was also quite fun when everyone was chatting and trying to give each other advice during these climatic battles. It was a very enjoyable experience and surprisingly NOT frustrating.

Even though the multiplayer is full of win, we experienced some major Live issues. We were constantly getting dropped from the game which was uber annoying. We also experienced some minor slowdown in one level in the game although we weren't sure if it was lag or not. I hope these Live issues are the result of a lot of people playing online last night since that would be a major problem down the line. Hopefully, the Live issues will be resolved once the initial surge dies down.

Anyways, great game from what I played so far. If it weren't for the fact that I had to go to work the next day, I would've played more. Highly recommended, check it out!