The Dallas Stars are off to a decent start in the 2014-15 NHL season, with some games in which they played an excellent game throughout (Chicago, Columbus) and games in which they had trouble either offensively (Nashville) or defensively (Philadelphia). Still though, there are a lot of positives to take out of the first couple of weeks. Tyler Seguin and Jamie Benn have really taken off, with Seguin earning the honor of being the 1st star of the week in the NHL with all of his 8 points (4 goals, 4 assists) coming all in one week. Benn may not have the flashy stats that Seguin has, but he's contributed 6 points (3 goals, 3 assists) and he showed how far he has come as a captain against Columbus. All that being said though, let's turn our attention to tonight's game, in which Dallas will look to get their first home win of the young season.
Dallas Stars
The Stars, as stated above, are coming off an overtime loss to the Philadelphia Flyers on Saturday, in which it was a show offensively but they could not get out of their own way defensively. Unfortunate bounces, lapses in their own zone, and bad penalties plagued this team and forced them to cough up a 4-2 lead in the final half of the third period against Philadelphia. They will look to shore up defensively tonight. Here is the projected lineup for Dallas.
Forwards
Jamie Benn - Jason Spezza - Tyler Seguin
Antoine Roussel - Cody Eakin - Ryan Garbutt
Curtis McKenzie - Vernon Fiddler - Ales Hemsky
Erik Cole - Shawn Horcoff - Colton Sceviour
Defensemen
Alex Goligoski - Trevor Daley
Jordie Benn - Brenden Dillon
Jamie Oleksiak - Kevin Connauton
Goalies
Kari Lehtonen
Anders Lindback
The fans have not responded positively to the first line when it was used at practice on Monday. It will be interesting to see how coach Lindy Ruff adjusts these going forward, especially when Val Nichushkin gets back into the lineup and if secondary scoring becomes a big problem once again. The defense lost a key cog on Saturday when Patrik Nemeth suffered a severe arm laceration from the skates of Flyers forward R.J. Umberger. Now with Jamie Oleksiak being drawn into the lineup, Sergei Gonchar skating again, and Jyrki Jokipakka being recently called up on Sunday, the defense should be very intriguing to look at in the coming weeks. Kari Lehtonen is expected to start in between the pipes for the Stars.
Vancouver Canucks
The Canucks have had a good start to the season under new coach (and former Texas Stars coach) Willie Desjardins. They are undefeated on the road so far, with their only loss coming at the hands of the Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday. It seems as if they will be a threat to make the playoffs when this April rolls around. Their top line of the Sedin twins and Radim Vrbata have gotten off to a hot start, collectively having 18 points in the four games the club has played so far. They have good two-way defensemen in Dan Hamhuis, Kevin Bieksa, and Alex Edler, who could pose a threat to the Stars forwards. Ryan Miller, who was acquired by the Canucks in free agency this past July, is expected to get the start in net for Vancouver. Here is their projected lineup.
Forwards
Daniel Sedin - Henrik Sedin - Radim Vrbata
Chris Higgins - Nick Bonino - Alex Burrows
Shawn Matthias - Brad Richardson - Zack Kassian
Derek Dorsett - Linden Vey - Jannik Hansen
Defensemen
Dan Hamhuis - Kevin Bieksa
Alex Edler - Chris Tanev
Yannick Weber - Luca Sbisa
Goalies
Ryan Miller
Eddie Lack
Key Storylines
1. How will Dallas respond to Ruff's harsh criticisms on Saturday?
2. Will the Stars have enough secondary scoring to pull off the win?
3. Follow-up to #2 - Will Ruff balance out the forward lines during the game?
4. Can Kari Lehtonen make clutch saves for the Stars?
5. How will Willie Desjardins be treated in his return to the Stars organization? Can he pull out a win amongst high emotions?
Prediction
This will be a very interesting tilt tonight. Both clubs are off to good starts, and look to be prime contenders in the Western Conference. This could very well go past 60 minutes, much like the Stars have in their first two games at the American Airlines Center. And similarly to those games, I believe the visitors will get the extra point. Vancouver has much more balanced lines than the Stars and a more clutch goalie in Ryan Miller, who will make those key saves to give the Canucks a win in the shootout.
Score - Vancouver 3, Dallas 2 (Shootout)
Tuesday, October 21, 2014
Tuesday, July 24, 2012
Avatar: The Last Airbender - The Burning Earth (Xbox 360) Review
Avatar: The Last Airbender - The Burning Earth is a video game that is based off of season two in the famous animated show on Nickelodeon called Avatar: The Last Airbender. It was released on the Xbox 360, Nintendo Wii, PlayStation 2, Nintendo DS, and the Game Boy Advance between October and November 2007. The game has some minor setbacks and unavoidable glitches, but I think that it's a pretty fun game.
Story / Game Modes - As I said before, the game's story is centralized on book two of the Avatar series. There are seven chapters that are based off of episodes of the show, which are "The Avatar State",
"Return to Omashu", "The Swamp", "The Blind Bandit", "The Library", "City of Walls and Secrets", and "The Drill". While the chapters are long, the game is pretty short. Once you get the hang of it, don't be surprised if you beat it by nightfall. Besides the main story, you can do boss battles that you've unlocked, play in Appa levels, and there is a 2-player mode. You fight in Earth Rumble 6 where you can fight a friend or against the computer. You can play as Aang, Katara, Sokka, Toph, Momo, Jet, Zuko, and Iroh. There's also a chapter select where you can play in any chapter after you've beaten the game for the first time. The game modes will keep you busy, particularly the 2-player mode. If you put some time into it with a sibling or friend, you'll be just as addicted as my brother and I are. There are not many modes in the game, but the ones that are there help the game quite a bit.
Overall (Story) - 6 / 10
Overall (Game Modes) - 8 / 10
Graphics - The graphics are decent, but not what you would expect from a console as powerful as the Xbox 360. The characters look accurate for the most part, and the environments are pretty good as well. Not much else to say other then they're subpar.
Overall - 6 / 10
Sound - The game does a good job with keeping some sound effects from the show, which boosts the presentation well. Most of the voice actors from the show return for this game. The only one who doesn't have his respective voice actor (as far as I know) is Long Feng. The music is also pretty good. It takes the same path as the sound effects.
Overall - 9 / 10
Gameplay - The game is a mix of platforming and combat. I can't really say anything about the platforming, but the combat gives you different combos and stuns that you can pull off with the X and B buttons. When talking about the surroundings, items are scattered throughout the levels in treasure chests, which contain things such as health potions & health upgrades. Secrets are also scattered throughout the levels, which can unlock bonus content in the gallery at the main menu. Anyway, getting back on to the gameplay itself. In the seven chapters, you are given two select characters to play as (Aang and Katara, Aang and Sokka, Sokka and Toph, etc.) Each character has their own different hit and stun combinations. To be honest, the gameplay works really well in this game. The combos are easy to learn but take time to master. I think that it's very underrated and it works great. There are some glitches that take place, such as the camera shifting to an unseeable view and characters frozen in place during an in-game cutscene. It doesn't completely derail the gameplay, but I think it could have been handled so much better
Overall - 8 / 10
Overall - Just like the 2003 SpongeBob game, Battle for Bikini Bottom, I think that this game is underrated. The story may be short and the game is glitchy at times, but the gameplay itself works really well and it is quite an addictive game to play. I would highly recommend this game to fans of the series looking for a good game based on the story of the show. I'm not sure if I'd recommend it to those looking to increase their gamerscore (because the achievements in the game are known as the easiest to get ever), but you wouldn't understand what's going on if you haven't seen the show.
Overall - 8 / 10
I hope you enjoyed my review of Avatar: The Last Airbender - The Burning Earth on the Xbox 360. Expect some more game reviews coming soon. I've been thinking of making another post about this game, too.
Story / Game Modes - As I said before, the game's story is centralized on book two of the Avatar series. There are seven chapters that are based off of episodes of the show, which are "The Avatar State",
"Return to Omashu", "The Swamp", "The Blind Bandit", "The Library", "City of Walls and Secrets", and "The Drill". While the chapters are long, the game is pretty short. Once you get the hang of it, don't be surprised if you beat it by nightfall. Besides the main story, you can do boss battles that you've unlocked, play in Appa levels, and there is a 2-player mode. You fight in Earth Rumble 6 where you can fight a friend or against the computer. You can play as Aang, Katara, Sokka, Toph, Momo, Jet, Zuko, and Iroh. There's also a chapter select where you can play in any chapter after you've beaten the game for the first time. The game modes will keep you busy, particularly the 2-player mode. If you put some time into it with a sibling or friend, you'll be just as addicted as my brother and I are. There are not many modes in the game, but the ones that are there help the game quite a bit.
Overall (Story) - 6 / 10
Overall (Game Modes) - 8 / 10
Graphics - The graphics are decent, but not what you would expect from a console as powerful as the Xbox 360. The characters look accurate for the most part, and the environments are pretty good as well. Not much else to say other then they're subpar.
Overall - 6 / 10
Sound - The game does a good job with keeping some sound effects from the show, which boosts the presentation well. Most of the voice actors from the show return for this game. The only one who doesn't have his respective voice actor (as far as I know) is Long Feng. The music is also pretty good. It takes the same path as the sound effects.
Overall - 9 / 10
Gameplay - The game is a mix of platforming and combat. I can't really say anything about the platforming, but the combat gives you different combos and stuns that you can pull off with the X and B buttons. When talking about the surroundings, items are scattered throughout the levels in treasure chests, which contain things such as health potions & health upgrades. Secrets are also scattered throughout the levels, which can unlock bonus content in the gallery at the main menu. Anyway, getting back on to the gameplay itself. In the seven chapters, you are given two select characters to play as (Aang and Katara, Aang and Sokka, Sokka and Toph, etc.) Each character has their own different hit and stun combinations. To be honest, the gameplay works really well in this game. The combos are easy to learn but take time to master. I think that it's very underrated and it works great. There are some glitches that take place, such as the camera shifting to an unseeable view and characters frozen in place during an in-game cutscene. It doesn't completely derail the gameplay, but I think it could have been handled so much better
Overall - 8 / 10
Overall - Just like the 2003 SpongeBob game, Battle for Bikini Bottom, I think that this game is underrated. The story may be short and the game is glitchy at times, but the gameplay itself works really well and it is quite an addictive game to play. I would highly recommend this game to fans of the series looking for a good game based on the story of the show. I'm not sure if I'd recommend it to those looking to increase their gamerscore (because the achievements in the game are known as the easiest to get ever), but you wouldn't understand what's going on if you haven't seen the show.
Overall - 8 / 10
I hope you enjoyed my review of Avatar: The Last Airbender - The Burning Earth on the Xbox 360. Expect some more game reviews coming soon. I've been thinking of making another post about this game, too.
Tuesday, June 5, 2012
Our History of NHL Video Games
Ever since I got Madden NFL 2003 & NCAA Football 2003 as well as a Nintendo GameCube in Christmas of 2002, video games have been a real big part of my life. I've always loved to play them, from sports games to Sonic games. This begins a series of my history of certain video game series. First, the NHL games. (Note - I'm doing the games by which order we got them, not by the year in which it came out)
NHL 2K3
System - Nintendo GameCube
Owned From - 2002-2007
Story - We went to the Northbrooks Mall in South Carolina on one hot day. We went to a video game store and we found this game on the shelves. We decided to get it and dub it as our first NHL video game.
Opinion - This was a finely built NHL game. However, I didn't like it when I played it, probably because scoring was too hard for me. It was probably because I didn't pass to other players. I also loved to do simulations in playoff mode by putting certain teams in certain seeds to see who would win the coveted Stanley Cup.
NHL Hitz 2003
System - Nintendo GameCube
Owned From - 2003-2007
Story - None
Opinion - This was one entertaining game. It was very unique and it really had its own league compared to EA and 2K. It was fun to play this crazy game. I loved the gameplay and playing in really odd arenas (Disco, jungle, etc). I did drive myself nuts getting the Stars throwback jerseys, though (I wanted some variety and the funny thing is, it only took five games to unlock one jersey. It just showed off my impatience).
NHL 2004
System - PC
Owned From - 2004-2007
Story - A few weeks or so after moving into our new townhouse, we went to my grandmother's condo. We went into the room where her computer was and our cousin Kevin was playing NHL 2004 on her computer. I was really entertained by him playing and I thought that Denver and I could have fun playing it as well. So shortly after that, we went to a store where it was carried and we got it. We got the one that had Dany Heatley on it, and I remember that Denver really wanted to get a copy with Joe Sakic on the cover.
Opinion - Even though we didn't actually play any games, we had a lot of fun playing it. Watching certain teams engage in a computer match was very entertaining. I particularly liked watching the Flyers vs Stars. I also adored creating my own teams with their own jumbotron, goal horn, and players. Overall, this game was plenty of fun for me.
NHL 06
System - Nintendo GameCube
Owned From - 2005 or 2006-present
Story - On a cloudy day at Best Buy, I found a copy of NHL 06 on the shelves, and I thought that I really should get it considering that I wanted a roster update to the console games I had, so why not?
Opinion - Like NHL 2004, I only enjoyed this game for the computer matches that I made. I really did not play any games because I did not like the current generation EA games as much as the next generation games. I may start playing this game in the future, but we'll see.
NHL 07
System - PlayStation Portable
Owned From - 2006 or 2007-present
Story - I'm pretty sure that my brother Denver got this game at Toys R' Us, so that's pretty much it.
Opinion - This game was okay. I really did not put a whole lot of time into this game, probably because it's on the PSP. I did the like the game when I played it. I did play it more and enjoy it more than 06 for some odd reason.
NHL 08
System - Xbox 360
Owned From - 2007-2008
Story - It was a few days after we have gotten our new Xbox 360. We already have a good selection of games - Madden NFL 08, Sonic the Hedgehog (2006), Forza Motorsport 2, Marvel: Ultimate Alliance, NASCAR 08, and NCAA Football 08. So I thought, "I think we need the newest NHL game. I really want to try it out." So we went to GameStop and got it. I remember memorizing the jersey code, which is a pretty interesting memory.
Opinion - I really didn't enjoy this game that much, probably for the same reason as any other NHL game that we have owned. I didn't pass often, and as a result, didn't score often. I found myself really frustrated and gave it away within the year we had it. I should have given this game a better chance and actually should have practiced instead of giving up.
NHL 09
System - Xbox 360
Owned From - 2008; 2013-present
Story - I really don't remember getting this game. I only remember giving it away. I also remember playing it a lot at my cousin's house and even borrowed it for a time. Then, at the Concord Mall in 2013, I saw this game and it came really cheap ($3). I decided to get it so we could play as legends such as Joe Sakic, since this was his last NHL video game.
Opinion - When we had this game, I really didn't remember that much. I do remember the AI schooling me, even on the Rookie difficulty. It was probably because of a lack of passing (surprise) and a lack of defense. So, instead of being patient and not practicing, I gave this game away along with its predecessor sometime in late 2008 or early 2009. Maybe later than that. However, now that I have my own copy, I think this is a solid title. It captures the game of hockey perfectly. Sure the AI is tough, but this game delivers a realistic experience that you won't find in many other NHL games.
NHL 2K10
System - Xbox 360
Owned From - 2010-present
Story - It was around Denver's 13th birthday and I was waiting for him to return from his last day of school. Then the phone rang. It was our grandmother. She said that she got a game at GameStop called NHL 2K10. She was wondering if it was good for Denver. I agreed, and she ended up giving it to Denver that same evening. I remember our friends' Jonathan & Ashley Hartwell coming over for a small party. Despite not liking hockey as much as we did, Jonathan decided to play against Denver. Jonathan won the first game, 6-5, and Denver won the second game, 4-2.
Opinion - This was when we really started to take off in NHL games. This was probably the first NHL game in which I thoroughly enjoyed playing games rather than watching AI matches. While this game is about average, I really like it. It has some elements that the EA games don't have (or didn't have but have now), such as getting kicked out of the faceoff circle, the net coming off its moorings, and more. I enjoyed this game so much and still do. Maybe not as much anymore because of my likings of the EA games, but it's still fun to play.
ESPN NHL 2K5
System - Xbox (played on 360)
Owned From - 2010-present
Story - I put this on my Christmas list in 2010. On Christmas morning, I got it, but I actually got two copies on accident. It was a pretty weird story.
Opinion - This game is one of the most fine NHL games that I"ve ever played. They have a ton of game modes to choose from, and the jersey selection for most teams is amazing. Since I'm a jersey fanatic, that's really important! Anyway, the gameplay is amazing. It's a game that was way ahead of its time.
NHL 11
System - Xbox 360
Owned From - 2011-present
Story - A few days after Christmas, I was looking up some videos having to do with NHL 11. Then, I was thinking to myself, "Hey, why don't I give the EA games another shot?" So, as soon as my dad got home, I asked him if we could go to GameStop. I wanted NHL 11 and Denver wanted to get Sonic 06 back (we had lost it about a year ago). So we went, with Denver completing in his mission, but mine was not a success. They didn't have the game, so I ordered it online, and it came the day we came back to school from Winter Break. We couldn't play video games during the week at the time (now we do), so our parents allowed us to play it just for that night (until the weekend).
Opinion - At first, I didn't really like it. I felt like the AI was kicking my butt just like 08 and 09. However, unlike those two games, I didn't give up. I got better and the more I played it, the more I liked it. It was fun and I spent a lot of time playing it. This is basically the starting point of where I started to love the EA hockey games. It set the stage for these next two games.
NHL 12
System - Xbox 360
Owned From - 2011-present
Story - This would be the first NHL game where we would get it close to its release date. We ended up getting it the Friday it came out. We didn't get it on Tuesday since we didn't play video games during the week. We got it after I came back from our annual school retreat.
Opinion - This game was so much better than NHL 11. The additions of physicality into the gameplay was a major step. The Winter Classic was a fine addition as well. Just wish you could use more than just NHL teams when playing this mode. Anyway, I've played this is much as 11. It was fun and the gameplay was fantastic. It is simply a great game and can't wait for NHL 13 to come out!
NHL 10
System - Xbox 360
Owned From - 2012-present
Story - On Memorial Day weekend of 2012, I felt a growing desire to get this game. I wanted to use the Flyers old Edge jerseys and use the Flyers and Stars teams from 2009-10. Great players on each team. I got it on Memorial Day at GameStop, which was a pretty interesting story.
Opinion - I thought that this game would be pretty similar to NHL 11 and 12, but boy was I wrong. This game is much more fast-paced then the next two installments. The AI is also much more aggressive on the pro difficulty. They will snatch the puck away from you and the goalies are very good. Their rating doesn't matter in the slightest. However, I happen to really like this game with its fluent gameplay and presentation that's been good from 08 to 12.
So, expect more articles like this to come up. With our histories in games relating to the NFL, NASCAR, Sonic the Hedgehog, and Dragon Ball Z, I'm really looking forward to writing these. Should be a lot of fun reminiscing my history in video games through these articles.
NHL 2K3
System - Nintendo GameCube
Owned From - 2002-2007
Story - We went to the Northbrooks Mall in South Carolina on one hot day. We went to a video game store and we found this game on the shelves. We decided to get it and dub it as our first NHL video game.
Opinion - This was a finely built NHL game. However, I didn't like it when I played it, probably because scoring was too hard for me. It was probably because I didn't pass to other players. I also loved to do simulations in playoff mode by putting certain teams in certain seeds to see who would win the coveted Stanley Cup.
NHL Hitz 2003
System - Nintendo GameCube
Owned From - 2003-2007
Story - None
Opinion - This was one entertaining game. It was very unique and it really had its own league compared to EA and 2K. It was fun to play this crazy game. I loved the gameplay and playing in really odd arenas (Disco, jungle, etc). I did drive myself nuts getting the Stars throwback jerseys, though (I wanted some variety and the funny thing is, it only took five games to unlock one jersey. It just showed off my impatience).
NHL 2004
System - PC
Owned From - 2004-2007
Story - A few weeks or so after moving into our new townhouse, we went to my grandmother's condo. We went into the room where her computer was and our cousin Kevin was playing NHL 2004 on her computer. I was really entertained by him playing and I thought that Denver and I could have fun playing it as well. So shortly after that, we went to a store where it was carried and we got it. We got the one that had Dany Heatley on it, and I remember that Denver really wanted to get a copy with Joe Sakic on the cover.
Opinion - Even though we didn't actually play any games, we had a lot of fun playing it. Watching certain teams engage in a computer match was very entertaining. I particularly liked watching the Flyers vs Stars. I also adored creating my own teams with their own jumbotron, goal horn, and players. Overall, this game was plenty of fun for me.
NHL 06
System - Nintendo GameCube
Owned From - 2005 or 2006-present
Story - On a cloudy day at Best Buy, I found a copy of NHL 06 on the shelves, and I thought that I really should get it considering that I wanted a roster update to the console games I had, so why not?
Opinion - Like NHL 2004, I only enjoyed this game for the computer matches that I made. I really did not play any games because I did not like the current generation EA games as much as the next generation games. I may start playing this game in the future, but we'll see.
NHL 07
System - PlayStation Portable
Owned From - 2006 or 2007-present
Story - I'm pretty sure that my brother Denver got this game at Toys R' Us, so that's pretty much it.
Opinion - This game was okay. I really did not put a whole lot of time into this game, probably because it's on the PSP. I did the like the game when I played it. I did play it more and enjoy it more than 06 for some odd reason.
NHL 08
System - Xbox 360
Owned From - 2007-2008
Story - It was a few days after we have gotten our new Xbox 360. We already have a good selection of games - Madden NFL 08, Sonic the Hedgehog (2006), Forza Motorsport 2, Marvel: Ultimate Alliance, NASCAR 08, and NCAA Football 08. So I thought, "I think we need the newest NHL game. I really want to try it out." So we went to GameStop and got it. I remember memorizing the jersey code, which is a pretty interesting memory.
Opinion - I really didn't enjoy this game that much, probably for the same reason as any other NHL game that we have owned. I didn't pass often, and as a result, didn't score often. I found myself really frustrated and gave it away within the year we had it. I should have given this game a better chance and actually should have practiced instead of giving up.
NHL 09
System - Xbox 360
Owned From - 2008; 2013-present
Story - I really don't remember getting this game. I only remember giving it away. I also remember playing it a lot at my cousin's house and even borrowed it for a time. Then, at the Concord Mall in 2013, I saw this game and it came really cheap ($3). I decided to get it so we could play as legends such as Joe Sakic, since this was his last NHL video game.
Opinion - When we had this game, I really didn't remember that much. I do remember the AI schooling me, even on the Rookie difficulty. It was probably because of a lack of passing (surprise) and a lack of defense. So, instead of being patient and not practicing, I gave this game away along with its predecessor sometime in late 2008 or early 2009. Maybe later than that. However, now that I have my own copy, I think this is a solid title. It captures the game of hockey perfectly. Sure the AI is tough, but this game delivers a realistic experience that you won't find in many other NHL games.
NHL 2K10
System - Xbox 360
Owned From - 2010-present
Story - It was around Denver's 13th birthday and I was waiting for him to return from his last day of school. Then the phone rang. It was our grandmother. She said that she got a game at GameStop called NHL 2K10. She was wondering if it was good for Denver. I agreed, and she ended up giving it to Denver that same evening. I remember our friends' Jonathan & Ashley Hartwell coming over for a small party. Despite not liking hockey as much as we did, Jonathan decided to play against Denver. Jonathan won the first game, 6-5, and Denver won the second game, 4-2.
Opinion - This was when we really started to take off in NHL games. This was probably the first NHL game in which I thoroughly enjoyed playing games rather than watching AI matches. While this game is about average, I really like it. It has some elements that the EA games don't have (or didn't have but have now), such as getting kicked out of the faceoff circle, the net coming off its moorings, and more. I enjoyed this game so much and still do. Maybe not as much anymore because of my likings of the EA games, but it's still fun to play.
ESPN NHL 2K5
System - Xbox (played on 360)
Owned From - 2010-present
Story - I put this on my Christmas list in 2010. On Christmas morning, I got it, but I actually got two copies on accident. It was a pretty weird story.
Opinion - This game is one of the most fine NHL games that I"ve ever played. They have a ton of game modes to choose from, and the jersey selection for most teams is amazing. Since I'm a jersey fanatic, that's really important! Anyway, the gameplay is amazing. It's a game that was way ahead of its time.
NHL 11
System - Xbox 360
Owned From - 2011-present
Story - A few days after Christmas, I was looking up some videos having to do with NHL 11. Then, I was thinking to myself, "Hey, why don't I give the EA games another shot?" So, as soon as my dad got home, I asked him if we could go to GameStop. I wanted NHL 11 and Denver wanted to get Sonic 06 back (we had lost it about a year ago). So we went, with Denver completing in his mission, but mine was not a success. They didn't have the game, so I ordered it online, and it came the day we came back to school from Winter Break. We couldn't play video games during the week at the time (now we do), so our parents allowed us to play it just for that night (until the weekend).
Opinion - At first, I didn't really like it. I felt like the AI was kicking my butt just like 08 and 09. However, unlike those two games, I didn't give up. I got better and the more I played it, the more I liked it. It was fun and I spent a lot of time playing it. This is basically the starting point of where I started to love the EA hockey games. It set the stage for these next two games.
NHL 12
System - Xbox 360
Owned From - 2011-present
Story - This would be the first NHL game where we would get it close to its release date. We ended up getting it the Friday it came out. We didn't get it on Tuesday since we didn't play video games during the week. We got it after I came back from our annual school retreat.
Opinion - This game was so much better than NHL 11. The additions of physicality into the gameplay was a major step. The Winter Classic was a fine addition as well. Just wish you could use more than just NHL teams when playing this mode. Anyway, I've played this is much as 11. It was fun and the gameplay was fantastic. It is simply a great game and can't wait for NHL 13 to come out!
NHL 10
System - Xbox 360
Owned From - 2012-present
Story - On Memorial Day weekend of 2012, I felt a growing desire to get this game. I wanted to use the Flyers old Edge jerseys and use the Flyers and Stars teams from 2009-10. Great players on each team. I got it on Memorial Day at GameStop, which was a pretty interesting story.
Opinion - I thought that this game would be pretty similar to NHL 11 and 12, but boy was I wrong. This game is much more fast-paced then the next two installments. The AI is also much more aggressive on the pro difficulty. They will snatch the puck away from you and the goalies are very good. Their rating doesn't matter in the slightest. However, I happen to really like this game with its fluent gameplay and presentation that's been good from 08 to 12.
So, expect more articles like this to come up. With our histories in games relating to the NFL, NASCAR, Sonic the Hedgehog, and Dragon Ball Z, I'm really looking forward to writing these. Should be a lot of fun reminiscing my history in video games through these articles.
Saturday, April 23, 2011
Super Smash Bros Brawl (Wii) Review
I'm back! And I'm here to write a review on one of the greatest Wii games to have ever been made: Super Smash Bros Brawl! This is simply a great game.
Presentation: In this game, there's so much to do! Not only can you brawl with your buddies, but you can play in the new adventure mode, The Subspace Emissary! You can play mini-games, such as breaking targets, a home-run contest, and so much more! You can also collect trophies and stickers, listen to music, and watch videos! Simply put, there's so much to do in this game!
Overall: 10/10
Graphics: SSBB has one of THE greatest graphics that the Wii has ever seen! When you watch those beautiful CGI cutscenes during the Subspace Emissary, they look so realistic that it feels like you're actually there! This game is pleasant to look at and one of the best graphics that the Wii has ever offered.
Overall: 10/10
Sound: The sounds are amazing! The fighting sounds real, which in turn makes it look real! The sounds bring out their best when a character has used their Final Smash attack. The music is really awesome, too! I see myself playing it over and over again! Not only do they have music from the original Smash Bros and Melee, but they have music from the game series that are featured in Brawl. So, the sounds bring this game to life!
Overall: 10/10
Gameplay: This is where the game shines! First off, you've got so many new characters that come into the game, such as Pit, Wario, Meta Knight, Wolf, even third party characters Solid Snake and the most anticipated character to be in Brawl, none other than Sonic The Hedgehog. As for the fighting, it's flawless. The controls are easy to grasp because you can play it 4 different ways! You can have the Wii Remote by itself, with the Nunchuk, the Classic Controller, and the GameCube controller. Anyway, the controls were made to perfection and no fighting game can come close to Brawl. It's simply the best!
Overall: 10/10
Overall, Super Smash Bros Brawl is a perfect fighting game, and I recommend buying it! With the new Adventure mode, over 35 characters to choose from, and so many modes to choose from, Brawl is simply the greatest! Buy it now! 10/10
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