Leveling Down

Band Hero still has the elements that made Guitar Hero 5 enjoyable, but with a more female friendly soundtrack.

I think I’m pretty much done with Band Hero on the 360, so I’m ready to share my review. For those that don’t know, Band Hero was released by Activision last November and is basically Guitar Hero but with a more family friendly and female friendly tracklist. The game is headlined by Taylor Swift as a playable character, and is pretty much a carbon copy of Guitar Hero 5′s engine and features except for its Achievement design and tracklist. I never got around to reviewing Guitar Hero 5, so please consider this review as one that is most likely applicable to both games – they really just come down to whether you like the tracklist of either game.
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Lightning bolts coming out of my hands? This is insane!

I wrote the title of this post about three hours ago. I was planning to say how Insanity Mode in Mass Effect 2 started out rough, but then got progressively easier and that I was blowing through the game, but then I just spent the last three hours on ONE mission, so I think I will back off of those plans for now.

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BioShock 2′s multiplayer is about to take a turn for the worst.

Earlier this week, Take-Two announced that the first of several DLC packs for BioShock 2 would be released starting in March. I’ve been digging BioShock 2′s campaign so far, even if it does feel a bit unnecessary, but multiplayer is still up in the air for me. If you’ve read my initial impressions on the game, you’ll remember that I thought the multiplayer was playable as it’s set up just like Modern Warfare’s rank progression and unlock system, but it still doesn’t compare with Modern Warfare 2. Take-Two’s recent announcement of DLC has sort of infuriated me in a way, on two counts. Read on to to see what gets me to proclaim that this series has sold out.

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For XBLA, ‘Splosion Man looks great. Plus, it’s tons of fun

When I was a kid, I was super into competitive multiplayer games. The sound of the modem buzz became an all too familiar sound as I went head to head with my friends in Doom, Heretic, and even Descent. These days, I don’t have the time to play super competitively, so although I still enjoy a good deathmatch, I’m much more interested in cooperative games these days. In a perfect storm of gaming nirvana, a good friend from the other side of the modem was in town visiting the week after I downloaded ‘Splosion Man, the latest Twisted Pixel offering on XBLA. Over the course of three days, we managed to finish the cooperative version of the game without alienating our wife and girlfriend, and partook in one of the most enjoyable cooperative experiences out there.

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If you want to tackle all of the missions in Burnout Paradise, you will have to drive to them.

I’m still in the middle of BioShock 2, so I’m going to kick this week’s gaming entries off with a gaming topic that I’ve been wrestling with for a while now: “open-world” sandbox gameplay design. It seems like it’s getting more and more popular these days, and while I may be in the minority for this, I don’t think I am a fan. Grand Theft Auto III made sandbox gameplay popular, and ever since then, we’ve seen several games in the last few years implement this “feature’ from Burnout to Halo. The addition of basically being forced to travel everywhere to actually start a mission certainly makes a game longer, but does it make a game more enjoyable?

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In BioShock 2, you get to play the role of a Big Daddy

I finally got to spend several hours with BioShock 2 these last few days, so I’m ready to share my impressions. If you’ve been following Leveling Down for a while, you’re probably aware that my Game of the Year in 2007 was BioShock. That was a crazy good year in gaming, so for it to beat out Halo 3, The Orange Box, Mass Effect and Call of Duty 4 for me that meant it was ridiculously good. The sequel has been handed off to 4 different developers, and there’s even multiplayer now which has learned a thing or two from Modern Warfare. Does the sequel look to carry the quality of the first or even surpass it? Read on for my impressions of BioShock 2 after playing through about a quarter of the campaign and an hour of the multiplayer.
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The 360 and PS3 track gaming accomplishments. But are both methods just as good?

The last time I played the PS3 was when Metal Gear Solid 4 was released. Since then, Sony has released Trophy support: PS3′s answer to Xbox’s Achievements. Back at the old site, espion4ge and I discussed whether the achievement system could be improved. Now that I’ve experienced Trophies, I’m finally able to compare and contrast the two systems. I think it’s awesome that Sony has gotten on board with Trophy support, but I still prefer Microsoft’s Achievement system.

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A Kingdom For Keflings provides for a relaxing, yet short, base-building experience.

I finally received BioShock 2 yesterday! Unfortunately, I didn’t have enough play time with it to put together some initial impressions on it, so you patient readers will have to wait until Friday. For today, I’m going to share my review on the Live Arcade game, A Kingdom for Keflings – an older title that I bought and played through recently.
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Flower boasts amazing graphics – especially for a downloadable game

I downloaded Flower for the PS3 over the weekend, and was pleasantly surprised for a number of reasons. After about 5 minutes, the wife said that Flower was “the most relaxing looking game you’ve ever played.” It’s not as relaxing as it looks, but for the most part, she’s right. It’s nice to have a gaming experience that doesn’t revolve around guns and violence.

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Today is President’s Day in the United States, so we’re off (and I just woke up). I’ll use today as a short entry to recommend you gamers see the film Zombieland – especially if you’re a fan of the Left 4 Dead games. Zombies seem to be popular in both films and video games, but they’ve become very popular in video games as of late and it looks like they’re also seeing a “resurgence” in film as well.

The movie is a little on the short side, but it has a lot of humor and it’s done quite well. It’s surprising that the people who created Zombieland did not mention taking any influence from the Left 4 Dead games, since it has so many things that we’ve experienced in both Left 4 Dead games. One thing that we’ve experienced in the Left 4 Dead games that seems to also occur in Zombieland is the lack of a plot. The plot for the film is not much better than the plot for either of the Left 4 Dead games. Well – maybe a tiny bit better. But all you need to really know is that these 4 survivors are trying to make their way across the United States, which is now basically Zombieland since everyone has pretty much turned into zombies.

Zombieland really is for us gamers, as the main character is the young guy on the left in the shot above and his narration is what guides us through the film. His thoughts and mannerisms are easily identifiable for gamers, as he comes up with all sorts of rules to survive such as always checking the backseat when entering a new vehicle. We even see him spending time playing World of Warcraft in his apartment before the zombie infection begins, which is a nice little touch for fans of the game.

This honestly feels like a Left 4 Dead movie. 4 survivors come together and team up to take on a zombie horde that has ravaged America, all with their own distinct personalities and traits. I don’t want to give too much of the film away, but definitely check it out if you enjoy Left 4 Dead!