For five years now, the company that owned Animanga Nation, Comic Revolution and our gaming site has limited our creative juices and freedom to run the sites our way. Thankfully, we have moved past this and are now an official family run by the real owners of these sites … ourselves.

So this is goodbye to the site we have first called PS Frontline and then called Game Frontline to build a site that belongs to us.

We are now Game Revolver (http://gamerevolver.wordpress.com) and happy to be sharing a building with our big brother, Animanga Nation, and her sister Comic Revolution. We have a familiar crew as well as some new people but our passion for console and handheld gaming remains the same.

So farewell to you, Game Frontline. It was fun while it lasted but we are taking over from here as a bigger and better site. Thank you all for your support, kind words of encouragement and even fan letters. It meant a lot to us. We would also like to thank the gaming publishers and developers that became a part of our family. We will continue to be a part of your family in the new site.

Much love to you and see you on our new site!

Publisher: Rockstar Games
Developer: Rockstar San Diego
Platform: Xbox 360 (also available on PlayStation 3)
Genre: Action/Adventure
MSRP: $59.99 US
ESRB: Rated M
Release Date: May 18, 2010

Review By: Eduardo Zacarias

When it comes to games about the Wild West, there were some hits and there were plenty of misses but this hasn’t stopped Rockstar Games from trying their hand again in the Western genre and you will be more than please with the results. It will only take you five minutes of playing Red Dead Redemption to recognize that this is the Wild West game that sets the bar high for other Western-themed games to come but also a game that will impress even the Grand Theft Auto crowd that thinks they’ve seen it all.

The reason is simple: the world seen in Red Dead Redemption is expansive and there’s no shortage of things to see and do whether you like to ride into the setting sun as a good guy or a no good dirty killer. The game leaves it all up to you and with a world this big the possibilities are nearly endless. If you want to string up some poor stranded traveler, drag them across the flatlands then leave them so a cougar can maul him to death you can do just that. If you want to help a family fend off a group of rowdy bandits to become the hero you can do that as well.

There’s a story to this free-roaming, open-world game as well and it’s a good one filled with all the elements typical to a GTA game. You assume the role of John Marston, a man whose past as a member of a dangerous group of outlaws that betrayed and left him for dead during a botched robbery. Sure, he survived the incident and decided to leave that life behind by taking a wife and starting a family. Of course, a law enforcement group calling themselves the Agency brings up said past and now Marston must cooperate in taking arms against the very outlaws he once called friends.

From the very beginning you’ll be drawn into the era and your surroundings that will not fail to take your breath away. Do you remember that moment you first step out of your Vault in Fallout 3 or the minute our silent hero first got a hold of a car in Grand Theft Auto 3? That’s how breathtaking the moment is when you finally take control of Marston in this game.

The territory is a wide one that covers a massive range of land that makes up the U.S./Mexican border. It’s an open world with dusty flat plains, grassy hills and a few towns and cities. Like the GTA games, the environment is alive. Buzzards fly overhead as you’ll catch sight of a mountain lion or even a grizzly going about its business. The weather changes so one day you’re looking at a particularly sunny day and the next you see dark clouds and lightning flash in the horizon. Travel out into the wild and you’ll even find travelers making their way across the wild. See the billowing black smoke moving over yonder? Why, that’s a train traveling to the nearest big town.

With untamed land stretching before you much in the same way that the land of Tamriel did in The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, Marston’s first stop is the town of Armadillo and for there you are free to explore the territory or tackle the game’s main story mission or even the numerous side missions that await you. You are free to do whatever you like although you should consider one thing … your actions have consequences that have a somewhat lasting effect on your surroundings. Sure you can go on a GTA-styled killing spree and yes you can expect the local law to be gunning for you but raise too much hell and you find that townspeople won’t be so trusting and shopkeepers won’t be so quick to do business with you. In some cases, some side missions won’t be available because there’s a price on your head for the mayhem you caused.

The story missions take about 20 or so hours to complete if you decide to simply stick to the story and it’s a brilliant story filled with colorful characters that are hard to forget. Anyone who has ever played a GTA game will know what to expect from the characters and smart dialogue. You’ll also know what to expect from the missions, which have you performing the usual set of tasks minus the vehicles of the modern sandbox game. While some tasks start to feel the same, you can’t deny how fun it is to complete each mission your own way with a good guy/outlaw mentality this time. That means you can either help the nice lady by saving her from a bandit or save her just to hog tie her and leave her out in the wild.

There are side missions aplenty as well, many of them found by exploring the large stretch of territory. You can spend your time collecting bounties by hunting down no good killers and bandits. You can lasso them and drag them along on horseback or gun them down in cold blood. You can participate in card games with the option to cheat if you like and yes you will even be called out by a gunslinger trying to make a name for himself, which will lead to a duel out in the streets.

The shooting mechanics is similar to that of Grand Theft Auto IV and so is the cover system but Marston does things his own way and this is mainly because of the weaponry of the times. You can even targets specific body parts with a variety of realistic outcomes. Shoot somebody in the leg and watch them hobble their way to cover. Shoot their shoulder and they’ll spin in the direction of your shot or fall off their horse in true rag doll fashion. Marston has a cool slo-mo “deadeye” targeting feature that slows down time for you to target various body parts before you pull the trigger in a better way than what was seen in Red Dead Revolver.

Riding on horseback is also handled well, although it takes some practice. Still, it’s surprisingly better than the horseback riding in games like Assassin’s Creed II. This is good news since you’ll often find yourself traveling across the land on horseback. You’ll need a horse to chase down enemies, escaping a tough scrape or for herding cattle when you decide to take on a cow herding side missions.

When you’re tired of playing solo, there’s the online multiplayer experience that is basically like a separate game altogether. We’re talking a whole new social network where you create an avatar (options are limited, though) and freely explore the entire massive map while encountering other players. You can participate in duels or go nuts in a deathmatch-like free-for-all. You can even level up your character so the more you play the more you can move from a pistol-wielding gunman to a rifle-slinging desperado.

My only real complaint is that there are a number of glitches that pop up while playing the game and most of them are cosmetic. Parts of the environment pop up during conversations so instead of looking at a character speak you’ll be looking at dry weeds. Sometimes you’ll have a conversation with characters that appear almost see-through as if you were speaking to a ghost. Of course, we’re expecting Rockstar Games to fix these problems with an update.

Visually speaking, Red Dead Redemption looks amazing on the Xbox 360 and not bad on the PS3. The environments is the main visual attraction, of course, because the open territory is alive in ways that even overshadow places like Liberty City. The character design is also excellent, especially during cut scenes. The music is true to its Western theme and the dialogue is among the best thanks to the great voice acting in the game.

Red Dead Redemption for the Xbox 360 not only sets the bar high for Western-themed action games but it also pushes the gameplay elements that made Rockstar’s other franchise such a fan favorite. There are a few bugs here and there but I’m certain these will be remedied with an update soon. The multiplayer aspect is like a second game rolled into one hell of a ride. Really, there’s no reason you should miss out on a grand epic like this unless you’re allergic to fun or horses.

GAME FRONTLINE RATING

Gameplay: 9.5
Graphics: 9.0
Sound: 9.5
Appeal: 10
Overall: 9.5

Review copy provided by Rockstar Games

During our rather lengthy break, the others have been excitedly working on articles, reviews and other goodies for this blog site. They looked like they were having a blast looking at all the cool new games and the number of titles they meant to review before our office was being renovated. It must be fun to play a game you are dying to play and I could see it in their faces.

As for me, I was stuck with box after box of games that gave me nightmares at night or – in some cases – drove me to near madness. See that babbling idiot of a girl running down the street yelling “Pokemon should be banned forever!” or “BMX XXX will lead mankind into a new Dark Age?” That girl is me!

So have your laughs and fun, editors of Game Frontline, just know that I’m sticking you all with the bill for my psycho-therapy. Electric shock therapy isn’t cheap, you know?

Fugitive Hunter: War on Terror (PlayStation 2)

Finally, a cool action game I could sink my teeth into and there’s a surprise villain that will curl your toes at the end of the game. This is what I thought but 5 minutes into this first-person shooter where it takes about an entire clip to take down one terrorist I knew I was in for a long trip into heartbreak territory. Why do I have to start all over from the very beginning when I die? Why is my pistol able to take down a jeep but not a dude behind a gun emplacement?

Why is the final boss battle – with Osama Bin Laden, no less – play out like a Tekken game? Sure, I would love to beat Bin Laden to death with my fists but I didn’t know this terrorist scum was trained in the fine art of karate and can leap back on his feet when knocked down as if he were Jet Li and Jackie Chan rolled into one bearded freak.

This one gets points for most obscure final boss battle but the rest of the game is so aggravating that your PS2 will hate you. Machines have feelings too, you know.

Mad Dog McCree: Gunslinger Pack (Wii)

I’m in hell and it’s all Mad Dog McCrae’s fault.

Long ago, in arcades everywhere, there were light gun games that featured live actors instead of digitized characters. Back in the late 1980s and early 1990s it must have been so totally rad to point a plastic gun at a live actor playing the role of a Mexican bandit or shifty gunslinger. Now, thanks to the Wii Remote, we can do the same at home.

"Welcome to Burrito Express! May I-OW! Why'd you shoot me?"

Guess what? It sucks just as bad as it did back then and even with cool new technology the hit detection and response time of your gunshot is slower than an inbred Texan cousin (sorry, Cousin Ned). Sure, the actors are at their cheesy best but the gameplay will wear you down until you think you have gone to hell. Why, Devil, have you given us such an irritating game?

BMX XXX (Xbox)

Imagine the early Tony Hawk Pro Skater games of yesteryear in your mind. Do you have it? Now imagine an early Tony Hawk Pro Skater game only with BMX bikes and a sense of humor that only my slow inbred Texan cousin Ned would find funny and controls so erratic that popping a wheelie and failing means instant death. Oh, your reward for completing objectives are clips of the skankiest Scores girls going topless. Apparently, these girls must have come from a Scores – a gentlemen’s club in New York City – near the airport where the quality is questionable.

Pictured Above: When Hannah Montana "jumped the shark."

Oh, BMX XXX, you wound me with cheap frat boy tricks and your “brilliant” scheme to try to lure in the boys with your awful siren call that might have tricked guys into buying the horrible The Guy Game. If you only knew that this game is being used in game design schools as an example of games that actually kill.

On our long break we did get a chance to see a few interesting titles and yes we have been keeping track of all the news such as Bungie and Activision in bed together. We hope the children they’ll have together are awesome.

Oh, you won’t believe this but I got a look at the sequel to one of the best RPGs ever made. I’m talking about the follow-up to Fallout 3 … Fallout: New Vegas. Expect more news when we get it.

Anyway, thank you for sticking with us and I promise that we will have bigger things in store for all of you.

Happy Gaming!

The Editor-in-Chief

Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment
Developer: Zipper Interactive
Platform: PlayStation 3
Genre: Online First-Person Shooter
MSRP: $59.99 US
ESRB: Rated T
Release Date: January 26, 2010

Those looking for a lone one-man army experience should skip this game altogether because MAG is an online-only first-person shooter with tactical warfare in mind. That means you will feel like you’re part of a team once you log on to the servers and pick a side and with so many players on the field at once it is clear that there’s no room for individual Achievement-hogging in a game that supports up to 256 players.

Of course, there’s some lag issues that pop up frequently but it doesn’t get too bad considering the large scale battles with so many players lighting up the various battlegrounds. MAG makes SOCOM Confrontation look like a Tupperware party in comparison and in this game you earn your stripes by doing and not just being there. That means you are rewarded for contributing to the objective-based battles whether you pick the Raven side, the Valor folk or become a member of the more guerilla-like S.V.E.R.

Unfortunately, like all online-only matches, not everyone is on the same page in terms of tactics and there are more than enough goofballs that ruin the experience by getting in the way rather than helping out. I can’t count how many times myself and a number of players who thought about carrying out the missions tactically get killed because some cowboy comes running into the line of fire and get in the way of the objective. We don’t mind if you play for the fun of it but do you have to ruin it for those who want to play to win?

"I seriously think we made a wrong turn."

The mission objectives aren’t anything new to those online shooter fans and the action gets repetitive really quickly to the point that you won’t be playing this game for very long stretches of time. MAG is the kind of game you do want to play if you’re a hardcore online multiplayer fan but if you’re just a casual player you will find that MAG doesn’t do anything particularly new.

Rent this game and enjoy it over a long holiday weekend and if you’re a dedicated fan it might be worth the purchase price but don’t expect to be blown away by a unique multiplayer experience even though the impressive number of players on the field do add to a really fun time.

GAME FRONTLINE RATING

Gameplay: 7.5
Graphics: 7.0
Sound: 8.0
Appeal: 7.5
Overall: 7.5

Instead of working the red carpet during this year’s Academy Awards (the offer came up thanks to a journalist friend of mine), I decided to instead join cinema fanatics in a Hollywood hotel I will not mention in a viewing lengthy viewing party of all the nominated Best Picture selections. As I watched Avatar, I wondered why the game of said movie gave me heartburn.

Yes, you read that right. A game gave me heartburn. Sitting down to play the game I expected the world of Pandora to wow me and instead I felt the discomfort that only went away after I broke open a bottle of Pepto Bismol and chugged the sucker down. It was nothing I ate, mind you. It was playing five minutes of a game based on a film with a budget that could have fed a small country for a year. Why do games based on movies suck so much?

Anyway, our cruel Editor-in-Chief must have been reading my mind because he sent over another box filled with games based on film properties. He was kind enough to leave out Avatar and even nicer to include a fresh new bottle of Pepto Bismol just in case. Guess what? It actually did come in handy.

Total Recall (NES)

Based on a movie that stars California’s Governator, Total Recall recreates the movie’s many memorable moments such as when our hero gets dragged into an alley to battle angry little people that aren’t afraid to jump kick a big guy like Arnold. Oh wait, when did that happen in the movie?

Where’s the cool car chases or the three-breasted prostitute? Why can’t my character punch like a normal person does and what’s wrong with the boss battles that feel like they were programmed by a team of chimps?

A warning: playing Total Recall will result in the death of many a brain cell, nausea and diarrhea. Thank God for Pepto Bismol.

Catwoman (Xbox)

Oh my God, I get to play one of the most gorgeous women in Hollywood and she’s actually an action hero that looks so damn good she made me question my sexuality. It’s just too bad that this is a bad game based on a bad movie.

EA what were you thinking when you regurgitated this hairball? Ok, it has Halle Barry but did you think that was enough to sell the game that makes fighting security guards and armed thugs feel so sluggishly irritating? On top of that, the levels are so boring that – if given the choice – I’d happily sit through the awful movie again.

Michael Jackson’s Moonwalker (Sega Genesis)

I just had to take out my older brother’s Sega Genesis for this one and after I dusted it off I slapped the cartridge in and laughed at the white sprite that is Michael Jackson in a white suit and white fedora moving like he was sliding on ice. Kick your feet and stars would glide out of Michael’s feet and when he would stop “moonwalking” he would tilt his hat and give us his signature crotch grab.

Michael’s dancing is but one of the highlights of the game as 16-bit versions of his music plays on and you can’t help but laugh at the retro weirdness of the game. Then comes the horror when you discover that the game is about Michael attempting to save children from the nefarious Mister Big … who might actually be doing the kids a favor. It’s not that I believe the allegations but there’s something kind of creepy about being rescued by a magical man-child that grabs his crotch way too much.

Actually, of the bad games I got this month, Moonwalker had its bizarre-yet-fun moments that are mixed in with super creepy and mind-boggling moments that make you wonder what kind of person bought this or what kind of kid begged their parents to buy it. What other game features a chimp named Bubbles who guides our hero to the big dance off against a level boss?

- Valentina del Toro

PlayStation 3 owners are already aware of the problem that occured not too long ago when they got the PSN error message that affected all of the older and fatter PS3 models. The problem, according to Sony, was a glitch in the console’s internal clock that couldn’t handle the February/March switch. There could have been other factors but we’ve yet to know what exactly happened.

What we do know is that it made games like Heavy Rain unplayable (so no tossing the game in the trash, folks) and corrupted all the Trophies you might have earned for all your games. What that means is your Trophies are now worth squat. Meanwhile, the PlayStation Network is back in working order as of today.

While the newer PS3 models were not affects (the ones in our office didn’t suffer one bit), this incident will not be forgotten anytime soon. PlayStation 3 has had a good track record so far but you can’t help but wonder if owners of the older models will have to go through something like this again. We certainly hope not.

Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment of America
Developer: Quantic Dream
Platform: PlayStation 3
Genre: Adventure
MSRP: $59.99
ESRB: M
Release Date: February 23, 2010

Review By: Eduardo Zacarias

There are very few games that not only pull you into its universe but rather grab you by the neck and doesn’t let you go until you’re either too tired to continue or until you see final credits roll. Heavy Rain for the PlayStation 3 is one of those games that stops feeling like a game and more like interactive cinema or even a social experiment. Either way, it makes for one compelling gaming experience that you will not soon forget.

If this seems like high praise than you probably missed out on a little Xbox game called Indigo Prophesy that – while it had its few problems – was nothing short of brilliant. If you did play it, then know that Quantic Dream has taken the same concept and revolutionized it in ways that it pushes the adventure genre to ambitious new heights. In short, this game is original and absolutely mesmerizing.

I will not spoil many of the surprises the game throws at you nor will I dive too deep into the story or its many colorful characters because doing so would take the fun out of exploring that rich characterization that is one of the many attractions the game showcases. What I will say is that the story is shaped by your every action because even the most mundane action has a consequence that – like rain falling on a puddle – sends ripples throughout.

Heavy Rain follows a few lives that are touched by a single connecting factor … the Origami Killer who leaves a carefully folded Origami crane near the bodies of the killer’s victims. Each chapter is seen through the eyes of each key character as his or her life is played out in a slow and sometimes excruciatingly detailed manner. At first you’ll wonder what shaving your stubble or microwaving a pizza for your kid has to do with the plot but these actions define who your character is and what will become of him or her in the end.

As I mentioned, your every action is critical to how the story progresses and even what you say determines the outcome if your characters’ fate. There is no right or wrong in Heavy Rain and no win or fail either so if your character meets an untimely demise the story will still continue either way. You will find that your characters have conversational options floating around their heads so you’re not limited to just a few topics and you can also listen to their thoughts as well with the push of the L2 button.

Movement can be really awkward at first seeing as you move said character with the left stick while pressing the R2 button. As awkward as it is, though, the scheme works and so does interacting with everything around you. Interacting with things around you requires a few timed flicks of an analog stick or even a shake or two of the SIXAXIS controller as well. All of this goes for performing simple tasks like fixing somebody’s tie to taking on a thug in a fistfight.

Here’s the bad news, Heavy Rain is relatively short. You can play through the game in eight hours but there’s a flipside to this coin. You see, Heavy Rain is the type of game with high replay value seeing as the game has multiple endings and different ways to see a character through a situation. I can get into the many things you can do differently in the game to get something different every time but I would be doing you all a great disservice. Heavy Rain was meant for gamers to experiment with the story and believe me when I say that playing it more than once pays off big time.

As far as the graphics are concerned, Heavy Rain is simply stunning and oftentimes it is breathtaking in the way it conveys human emotion in ways that seems so surreal. There are graphical glitches aplenty, though, so all is not perfect. I hate to see a gorgeous game ruined by clipping issues but the game more than makes up for it by displaying some gorgeous detailed environments and characters.

The sound fairs even better with a stellar voice acting cast and background noise that turns up the realism dial even further. It’s a blast looking at the beautiful set design of a street in motion but it’s another thing to hear it come to life as well. There’s also a rich cinematic score as well that makes this game feel more like an interactive movie.

I know it’s a cliché to say this but Heavy Rain really is the type of game you don’t play but experience. It really is one of the more brilliantly conceived titles of this year that offers so much that one playthrough just isn’t enough to paint the full picture this game displays. While it has a slow pace, it will still not fail to unnerve you, surprise you and even haunt you every step of the way.

GAME FRONTLINE RATING

Gameplay: 9.0
Graphics: 9.0
Sound: 9.5
Appeal: 9.0
Overall: 9.0

I am currently having a torrid, passionate and romance novel-sized love affair with the downloadable PS3 demo of Sega’s recent Aliens Versus Predator game for the Xbox 360 (Ed – review coming up). I can already smell the bargain bin stink on this one as I play as the Predator and the funny thing is that I had thought the game was cool when I checked it out during E3 2009. Yet as I play the demo I can already tell that this one will end up in one of the boxes of crap I get from this office every month.

As I said the first time we met, I do love the bad games so you can imagine that this love affair I have with bad games is being fueled by more games just like this. I just can’t say no to a game that’s so awful that stores like Game Stop feel embarrassed to carry them. The kind of game that ends up in the bargain bin, collecting a funky green mold. The kind of game a Jewish kid would get in Hanukah by their elderly Uncle Irvin who thinks “Call of Duty” means “time to go to the toilet.”

So, Happy Late Valentine’s Day, bad games. I’ll be waiting for you with scented candles, a lacy negligee and a bottle of tequila. I know I’ll be needing it.

Chicago Enforcer (Xbox)

Ever since I was a kid I always wanted to be a wise girl. You know the kind I’m talking about, right? The kind that loves Mama’s spaghetti with the homemade sauce and work in waste management by busting a guy’s kneecaps or, better yet, sending them to the bottom of a lake with cement shoes. Yeah, I thought Chicago Enforcer would do it for me but I was wrong.

If Chicago mobsters acted like they do in this game then La Cosa Nostra would be the clowns of disorganized crime. We’re talking armed gunmen who run for cover behind a chain link fence or run right out in the open thinking Saint Linguine has their back. Worst yet, my gangster has to spend an entire clip to take down one guy. Oh wow, I didn’t know Chicago gangsters blink out of existence after they die. Now I know what happened to Jimmy Hoffa.

Aquaman: Battle for Atlantis (Xbox)

Can you believe that Aquaman finally got his own game? It’s about time seeing he’s the only Super Friend or Justice League of America member that didn’t get one. I mean, why are Superman and Batman the only ones that get to have all the fun, right?

Well, that’s fine and dandy but Aquaman is the butt of every superhero joke and now he’ll even be despised if you ever get your hands on this game. Visually, this is a different kind of Aquaman who looks like an even more grizzled version of Kenny Rogers and he even talks like a dork. I spend the entire game questioning Aquaman’s sexuality. He can’t possibly be straight!

Bad Boys: Miami Takedown (PlayStation 2)

Oh my God, my nightmare has finally come true. A game based on a Martin Lawrence movie is something I have been fearing for a long time and now that fear has become a digital reality. Based on the second Bad Boys movie, Miami Takedown has you playing as Martin Lawrence or Will Smith and yes it plays just as bad as it sounds. When you can’t even aim right you know you’re in for a bad time.

One good thing can be said about the game and that is that they captured Will Smith’s funny ears just right. I imagine the people responsible for rendering each character watching DVD after DVD of “Fresh Prince of Bel Air” just to get those ears right. As for Martin Lawrence, nobody really cared how he looks and you can tell by the awful way they modeled the character.

This game is simply so bad I had to run out screaming. Thank you for the extra nightmares, Crave.

Publisher: 2K Games
Developer: 2K Marin
Platform: Xbox 360 (also available on PC, PlayStation 3)
Genre: First-Person Shooter
MSRP: $59.99 US
ESRB: Rated M
Release Date: February 9, 2010

Review By: Jerry Zacarias

It’s been awhile since we’ve found ourselves in the underwater paradise that has gone horribly wrong and yes we’ve missed taking down the Big Daddies protecting the twisted Little Sisters of a so-called paradise created by Rapture’s founder, Andrew Ryan. BioShock 2 for the Xbox 360 feels more like a lost chapter than a new game but – if you loved the first game – that might not be such as bad thing considering the fact that there’s very little that has truly changed about this hauntingly disturbing place.

A good 10 years has passed since the events of the first game when Jack finally confronted his hidden adversary and discovered the truth behind his existence. With Andrew Ryan gone, Rapture has found a new ward in Sophia Lamb. Lacking Ryan’s charm, Lamb is equally misguided in her view and she holds a vice-like grip on Rapture and her daughter who your character, a Big Daddy, is compelled to find. Your return to Rapture might not be as impressive as the first game and the story isn’t as compelling either but the action is still just as intense.

Even though you’re playing as a Big Daddy, you still have the freedom to make moral choices and this time these choices make more of an impact than the first time around so you still have the choice between harvesting the Adam out of each Little Sister you encounter or freeing them by adopting them. This, of course, means you’ll go up against their guardian but it another Big Daddy or the feminine counterpart called Big Sisters. Big Sisters are actually more vicious, faster and use Plasmids just like you do.

You’ll still go up against familiar foes like Splicers and the lunatics that have gotten more crazier and even more deformed than the last time. Thankfully, you’ll have an assortment of weapons at your disposal, many of which can be upgraded in ways that make them even more effective so that sub-machine gun can be upgrades to do more damage to Big Daddies. Tonics are also back so you can upgrade yourself by becoming faster, more quieter and even have the ability to become immune to certain attacks.

Of course, you still have the ability to use powers such as electricity, fire, ice and telekinesis. You also have the ability to summon bees and shoot them out of your hand. The hacking mini-game is back again but it’s now a toned down version of the pipe mini-game. It’s still a blast reprogramming mechanized gun turrets to turn on the enemy instead of you. You can even hack cameras again only this time you can use the video feed to learn about your opponent’s weaknesses.

The single-player experience is lengthy enough for the first-person shooter but the problem is that the game feels too much like the first despite the few new changes and enemies. The fact is that the game really gets interesting rather late into the game as BioShock 2 pushes the action envelope quite wonderfully. Then there’s the multiplayer game that has up to 10 players participating in a number of game match types that actually have a story. The premise behind the multiplayer matches is that your character is chosen to participate in Andrew Ryan’s Consumer Rewards Program that basically shows how Rapture turned from an utopia to a disaster. The matches are fun and they’re the reason you’ll be playing the game long after you finish the single-player mode.

Rapture is still a stunningly surreal and visually striking place that will still not fail to creep you out as you explore the more darker corners of place. The haunting atmosphere is what makes your return trip to Rapture a truly memorable one as shadows still hold a sense of dread. The various Plasmid-based abilities are also a visual treat, especially turning an enemy into a human ice sculpture before you bash it to pieces. Other than the beautiful art design and Plasmid abilities, the visuals have taken a step back in quality especially when it comes to the hallways.

The sound is what will really pull you into this world as you hear the creaking structure that is Rapture from the pressure of the ocean water or the heavy footsteps of a Big Daddy or Big Sister. You just have to love the nearly incoherent babbling of the lunatics and the distant shrieks that will not fail to make your skin crawl. The game’s original score is still exciting and the added music of the era works beautifully together. Add some decent voice acting and you have a game with a great audio presentation.

If anything, BioShock 2 is a very familiar romp that loses some of the charm the first game had but, make no mistake, there’s a lot of fun to be had back in the murky depths in the madhouse that is Rapture. It’s hard to ignore a game that gets progressively better towards the end to the point that you’ll be glad you picked up this game anyway despite the fact that the first half seemed like a return to the more familiar pace of the first game. It’s a sequel alright, but not as amazing as it could have been.

GAME FRONTLINE RATING

Gameplay: 8.5
Graphics: 9.0
Sound: 9.0
Appeal: 8.5
Overall: 8.5