First Impressions | Zombie Apocalypse

For most, the zombie fascination has largely come and gone.  We had our huge outbreak of zombitis a little while back, and we all enjoyed the ride.  But now, the genre has pretty much tired itself out, save for prized exceptions like Call of Duty: World at War’s Nazi Zombie mode, or the always challenging Left 4 Dead.

Apparently, Konami/Nihilistic Studio’s Zombie Apocalypse did not get that memo.

To put it bluntly, the game seems to simply want to cash in on the zombie craze with as little effort as possible.  Instead of looking to the zombie games that are still fun and attract players, they decided to go in the opposite direction, presenting a very bare-bones play experience that is severely lacking.

First Impressions | Military Madness: Nectaris (Xbox 360)

New to Xbox Live Marketplace (as well as PSN and WiiWare) today is Hudson Soft’s newest arcade title, Military Madness: Nectaris. Poised as a remake of  the original 1989 version, this title offers up turn-based military warfare in a manner similar to modern titles like Advance Wars or Fire Emblem.

Unlike Advance Wars or Fire Emblem however, Military Madness: Nectaris just seemed to be bereft of charm.  Having ventured through some single player, there didn’t seem to be anything on offer here that those other two series weren’t doing better.  However, the ability to play in team-based multiplayer did seem attractive, given that other similar strategy games only seem to offer head-to-head multiplayer as of yet.

Halo 3: ODST | Review

Master Chief isn’t the only Covenant slaughtering machine out there.

Halo 3: ODST for the Xbox 360 puts you in the shoes of the titular Orbital Drop Shock Troopers.  The game’s campaign mode takes place right after the New Mombosa mission in Halo 2 – in fact, you are making your orbital drop right when the Covenant ship makes an inner-atmospheric jump, which unleashes pure chaos across the city.  As the shockwave blasts through the skies while you rapidly descend to earth, another drop pod gets blasted into yours, and you get sent flying off course.

Six hours later, you’ll wake up to find yourself very much alone in hostile territory.  Slipping past (or through) Covenant patrols, your task is now to find your teammates and figure out just what the hell is going on.

5 Gaming Franchises That Pissed All Over Their Loyal Fans

In the world of gaming, it’s all about franchises.  Any new, unknown title isn’t half as likely to sell as ‘FPS Shooter Part 2: The Reckoning’ or ‘Sports Game Roster Update 2010″, so it makes sense for developers to build on familiar grounds and expand on what players have already come to love.

But some times, sadly, even the best of series have gone horribly astray.  Take for instance…..

Left 4 Dead 2 Demo On The Way

For months now I’ve been regaling Trixie with tales of zombie slaughter – taunting her that I’ve played Left 4 Dead 2 now on multiple occasions and watching her squirm in jealousy that I’ve held the Hickory Stick of Justice ® in my hands and slaughter many new and awesome zombies.

Well no longer will she or anyone else have to suffer the agony of waiting to play Valve’s next entry into the Left 4 Dead series. Next month, October 27th, EA has announced that a demo will be making it’s way to rabid fans eager to see what all the moanin’ and groanin’ is all about (as in zombie moanin’ and groanin’).

Left 4 Dead DLC Dated/Priced

Valve’s incredibly popular zombie shooter Left 4 Dead is getting some DLC come September 29th for both the XBOX 360 and PC simultaneously. This comes a little over a month befor the release of Left 4 Dead 2.

The content, entitled “This Is Some Straight Bullshit, PC Gets It For Free But XBOX 360 Gold Subscibers Get It For $7”, includes a new campaign level called Crash Course. This level is meant to bridge the gap between the first and second levels of the Left 4 Dead  campaigns, No Mercy and Death Toll.

First Impressions | Halo 3: ODST

Man, how many more ‘First Impressions’ pieces can we do on one game?

Well folks, the fact is that today, the full release of Halo 3: ODST is out, and PowerAwesome.com wasted no time in getting copies.  So now, there’s more to discuss than just the Firefight mode that we’ve already covered here at E3 and PAX.  Today is all about the campaign mode.

The reviews for Halo 3: ODST have been all over the place.  Opposable Thumbs, CHUD, and other sites all came down on the game with little favor, lamenting the campaign mode thoroughly.  But having now played through the earlier sections of that mode firsthand, their complaints seem heavy handed or even deliberately deceitful.

The action at the start does seem a little sparing.  We’ll give them that.  But to read many of those reviews, you would think that the campaign mode consisted of little more than walking around an empty city on a treasure hunt, followed by brief episodes of combat.

That’s not entirely true.  When walking around as ‘the Rookie’, you are not in an empty city.  You are in a city that just has no friendlies.  That’s a big, big difference.

The Very First JRE Article!

Hey folks,

In honor of the release of Halo 3: ODST tomorrow, and the fact that I’m feeling incredibly lazy and can’t even pretend to care about this site at the moment, I’ve gone and dug up a little treasure for you all to read.

Okay, well, actually our very own Dr. Vankman dug it up.  And it’s not really in honor of Halo 3: ODST (which is sadly getting some pretty grim reviews).  It’s just because I’m lazy and don’t care.  But to facilitate my cop-out, here is the very first article ever written by the JRE, which used to be hosted on www.vankmans.com way back when.  Ah, memories.

So….yeah.  Here’s our vintage coverage on Halo 2, right after it released.

Enjoy!

A Better Splinter Cell

We’ve been fans of the Splinter Cell series since the original game released on the last generation XBOX. It was a game that brought something new to the table by putting players into the boots of one of the most lethal super spies we’ve ever known.

With ice water running through his veins Sam Fisher hesitates for nothing when it comes to doing whatever he must to complete missions for the National Security Agency. Incredibly acrobatic, cunning, and deadly are the main attributes that describe Sam Fisher.

He’s the sort of character that deserves a spot in the hall of super spy fame along with guys like Ian Flemming’s James Bond or Robert Ludlum’s Jason Bourne. These guys are the best at what they do and nothing is too below them to get the job done right.

Close Call for MechWarrior 4 Reboot

If you weren’t already aware there’s an outfit going by the name MekTekthat has been hard at work resuscitating a very well aged Mechwarrior 4: Vengeance. The development studio based in Canada has been putting in a good deal of time and effort in completely rebuilding the MechWarrior 4 series for a free (yes, FREE) re-release.

In addition to the total overhaul of the game itself they’ve worked out an entire matchmaking system with up to date network code which will let us play against each other online – again, all free.

But some recent developments in their efforts to release this freeware version of the beloved giant robot shooter almost hit a brick wall when many of the assets owned by the company WizKids we’re bought up by the National Entertainment Collectibles Association (NECA).