Terminator Salvation--The Resistance Goes Live Tomorrow

Now that you've played some version of the game on Facebook, iPhone and Twitter, we know you'll want to check out this Terminator Salvation launch trailer to get really psyched for tomorrow's console release!

Chronicles of Riddick: Dark Athena (Xbox 360)

does this tattoo make me look fat?

We really wish we didn't have to post this review of the new Riddick game, because that means we have to stop playing it.

This is one addictive shooter. We have two Xbox 360's set up here for reviews, and we keep sneaking the game out and swapping it into whichever one has OUR saved progress on it.

We're all, "Oh, man, you HAVE to play this part!"

and

"DON'T TELL ME WHAT HAPPENS NEXT!"

and

"Are you done yet? My turn. Dude? Dude! DUDE, my turn."

Awesome.

me so scary
Chronicles of Riddick: Dark Athena consists of a hi–definition re-imagined version of The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay and also adds on an entirely new chapter in the Riddick Saga.

And, on top of all that new hotness, for the first time, players can take part in intense online multiplayer combat.

The Chronicles of Riddick series of games takes the player deeper into the universe of Universal Pictures' films The Chronicles of Riddick and cult classic Pitch Black, which first introduced Vin Diesel as enigmatic anti-hero Riddick. In The Chronicles of Riddick: Assault on Dark Athena the player takes the role of Riddick using stealth and action to overcome the merciless crew of the predatory Merc-ship Dark Athena which awaits its prey in the dark reaches of space. Cheating death through a series of spectacular battles and events, Riddick will fight for his life amid a storm of malevolence and horror. via

In the original (but now HD re-mastered) game, although darkness is your friend because of your stealthy ninja skills, you don't start out with the super eyes that glow, and so it's worth playing just to go through that whole metamorphosis when Riddick becomes godly.

Or schizophrenic. Dude hears voices.

As Riddick himself notes at the time his vision changes, "I thought it was the pain talking. But then, it always knew its place before..."

That's another great thing about the Dark Athena game, by the way: the voice talent. Vin Diesel again lends his voice to the role of Riddick, and I don't think anyone else could have given that same gritty intensity to the character. It's really pivotal to the game, that dry, ultimately chill tone of utter badass.

just chillin'

In the new Dark Athena chapter, you are once again the prime target for bounty hunters, who want to pick you up and lock you away for good, yada yada yada. When will they ever learn?

The Dark Athena prison is seriously rough, though. It's really a step abobe Butcher Bay in that regard.

You're down in the mines, there's cage fighting, it's typical cut-throat Riddick material.

As in Butcher Bay, you can't use the DNA-coded weapons--but there is a loophole in that prisoners have uncoded stun guns they wrestle from others. Getting one as soon as possible, as well as the iconic prison shiv, is a wise tactical move in the game.

A couple additional hints as you go along the game:


If you've never played the original Butcher Bay campaign:

Remember that not only are you at your best in the dark, sometimes you have to actively bring on the darkness to gain that extra advantage--shoot out lights and even look for light switches to turn them off in some levels.

In what seems counter-intuitive, the guards in the big robotic suits are NOT weakest in the tiny face mask. Think backpack.

For the new chapter, Assault on Dark Athena:

Yes, weapons are frowned upon in the cage fights. But since when have you worried about what people think? And shivs are easily concealed...

Good luck playing Chronicles of Riddick: Dark Athena. Obviously, the game is highly recommended, and we haven't even tapped into the online play yet.

Now we have to go back to kicking some Dark Athena ass.

Fuel the Rebellion is Konami Coded!

Remember the old Konami code? Type it in while you're on Fuel the Rebellion, and see what happens!

More Konami Code Sites!

Thanks to Paul Irish for the Cornify coding secret, and to sciurus, who posted the Konami Code Sites to Metafilter, where we promptly stole the hell out of it.

Coming Soon--Chronicles of Riddick: Dark Athena Review

Stay tuned for our review of the new Riddick shooter. In the meantime, play the game demo yourself on Xbox Live or the PS3 Marketplace or check out the videos below.

Terminator Salvation

X-Men, Series 1 and 2, Now on DVD!

Just in time for the movie release of X-Men Origins: Wolverine comes the DVD release of the animated television series, Marvel's X-Men.

The Engineer and I used to put these on when the kids were little, as much for us as for them, as we really enjoyed the series.

In addition to the fiercely independent Wolverine ("I go where I want to go"), the cast includes better-known characters Cyclone, Storm and Rogue, Professor Xavier and his protege, Jean Grey, plus Morph and (my personal favorites) Gambit and Beast.

In the first episode we are also introduced to young X-man-to-be Jubilee, a teen who wreaks havoc with electricity, who the other mutants refer to as "child" (or in the case of charming Cajun Gambit, "petite").

The series allows us the chance to get to know each of the X-Men better than the movie franchise has.

Storm, for example, is prone to flamboyant gestures and over-the-top prose: "Storm, Mistress of the Elements, commands you to stop!"

Rogue, (a fiery redhead with a killer body in the animated series) doesn't so much drain other mutant's powers as she does their strength; like Storm, she has the ability to fly. She's prone to colloquial allusions like, "Nervous as a cat in a room full of rocking chairs."

Gambit, who for reasons unknown never made it to the movies (a helluva shame, in my opinion), is a card-carrying Cajun who has the ability to transfer kinetic energy to inanimate objects (in other words, he charges up playing cards and shoots them, like exploding grenades, at enemies), while simultaneously charming all the ladies he meets. Watch for some heat between Gambit and Rogue later in the series.

Adorably blue Beast is fond of Shakespeare and the classics (in one rescue, he disparages a less-than-worthy opponent with, "A minor quote from a minor poet"), while also having the agility to bounce from wall to wall, swing 'round posts and hang from ceilings.

Cyclone, the leader of the group (though Wolverine flouts his authority at every possible opportunity), frets over his command decisions all the while he is shooting solar-powered beams from his behind his specially-designed visor.

And Morph, as the name suggests, changes his shape (and voice) at will to confound friends and enemies alike. His jarring, cackling laughter sounds more villainous than heroic.(Spoiler alert: he doesn't get the last laugh after the first episode).

Surprisingly, Morph is Wolverine's best friend...for a while. (Even bigger spoiler alert: don't count Morph out too soon).


Which brings us to the villains*. There's a whole host of great opponents, from human to mechanical to fellow mutants, for the amazing X-Men to dispatch. You've got Juggernaut, Siren and Magneto, just to name a few.

MARVEL'S X-MEN (Vol. 1 & 2), with 32 episodes in all, comes out today on DVD.

*I'd go into detail about Professor Xavier and Jean Grey, but to be honest, they always annoyed me in the cartoons. Patrick Stewart finally won me over in the movie, but I couldn't wait until Jean imploded into Phoenixey ashes (second movie and second season of the animated series).

Blue Dragon Plus (DS): RTS/RPG Strategy at its best

We're big-time strategy fans, and it's nice to see a DS game that's as dedicated to those of us who enjoy a good RPG as Blue Dragon Plus is. One of the reasons for this little game's appeal is the work put into it by Final Fantasy vets Hironobu Sakaguchi (who wrote the storyline) and Nobuo Uematsu (who composed the music). They've stuffed 30 good solid hours of gameplay into a well-paced single-player campaign.

If you aren't familiar with the earlier Blue Dragon game (and we weren't), it's probably because the original didn't do so well in the North American market when it was released for the Xbox 360 in Fall of 2007. A quick search on Wikipedia brought this up:

Blue Dragon follows the story of five friends: Shu, Jiro, Kluke, Zola, and Marumaro, as they travel across the world to confront the evil King of the Grand Kingdom, Nene.

The reason the original was not so popular, from what we can gather, is that it was turn-based rather than a true RTS, an error that is corrected to good effect in Blue Dragon Plus.

Blue Dragon Plus, btw, is not (thank god) a card-swapping game, or a Pokemon clone, though it does have traditional Japanese anime characters. The gameplay is pretty straightforward if you are used to RTS strategy games (if not, you're going to want to use the tutorial to get the basics down). The game does a good job incorporating some really pretty cut scenes into the game to get you up to speed on the storyline, which goes something like this:

You are Shu, who apparently triumphed over Nene, that evil king sorceror guy who was causing trouble in the original, only now some new stuff is stirring up (there is a long cinematic intro to the game to give you that, "Wow, the world is in real trouble if we don't do something," feeling of foreboding). It seems that, just for starters, a huge, three-headed dragon has it in for you.

Luckily, you've got your gang hanging with you, ready to fight alongside with their "blue shadow monsters".

Blue Shadows

A lot of the early game is just pure fighting, without a lot of exploring or treasures or even puzzles to figure out until you get past the initial battles. When you do get the chance to explore, you'll want to take the loot you've earned and split it up among your characters. Besides just being common sense (you'll have a more balanced team), you will end up splitting into smaller groups before the game is done, so it is to your advantage to gear everybody up and balance out their abilities as best you can.

There is no spoken audio in the game, though you have narrative in the form of text cut-scenes, like the one pictured at the left).

Blue Dragon Plus run-down:

The Good Stuff

Cut scenes and cinematic artwork are first-rate. Gorgeous.

Each character is unique, with different skill sets.

RTS rather than turn turn-based play.

Lots of gameplay, including battles galore and tons of loot to re-distribute among your characters (approximately 30 hours).

The not-so-good Stuff:

There's a lot happening on-screen, which makes it hard to zero in with your stylus.

All the action on the little screen means that, despite their unique abilities, it's hard to discern which character is which, so that you can pick out the right one(s) to help you win your battles.


Blue Dragon Plus (DS) released on Feb. 24th, and it retails for $29.99. Right now, you can catch it at Amazon for 27.99.