The NiMH rechargeable battery fits perfectly on the Xbox controller, as it locks in place. What more can you ask for? You get to two charge packs, say two Xbox controllers can recharge. Already, you’re saving money, instead of having to go out and purchase another charging unit to charge two controllers.

One small issue is that the controllers have to be on the charge base to charge. The charge base is a great place to store your controller or controllers when not in use too, as the controller fits securely in its charge base. Also, the lights in front of the charge base light up to a color red when it’s charging, when it’s charging the light turns green, to indicate that’s it’s working, then finally when the pack is fully charged, the light turns off.

Extremely fast charging, I’ve left the battery almost completely depleted, and its been able to fully charge within 1.5 – 2 hours, but if you’re in a hurry, and don’t want to wait, a quick 30 minutes or so to charge will have sufficient enough battery life for a couple hours.

Overall, the Xbox 360 Charge Base made by Nyko is simply the best battery charger on the market, as it’s Charge base also holds two controllers in place, giving you a nice place to put your controllers when not in use. The batteries charge fully and last long. You can’t go wrong with this purchase as you’ll save money, from having to buy batteries every week or so. -Product reviewed by Mario Diaz, So Hood Magazine, SoHood.com

About: Charge Base 360 comes with two custom NiMH rechargeable batteries and a charge base. It was developed and produced by Nyko for Microsoft’s Xbox 360 Console. It retails for $29.99 USD

The Wand is about the same size as a standard Wii Remote, but upon close, a closer look, you’ll notice some visual differences, like the changes of the buttons including the Menu button to a square shape on the Wand.

The nunchuck, which Nyko calls Kama, is considerably larger than the standard Nintendo Wii nunchuck, as you’ll notice once you firmly hold it in your hands. A great addition is that the back portion is coated in a non-slip surface, a rubber that makes it easier to hold the controller when you hands get sweaty .The buttons on the Kama also have larger buttons then the Wii nunchuck version, making it easier to press them.

The controller buttons feel like Nintendo Wii version, as it isn’t any less or more responsive, the overall quality of the buttons do feel as if it will last the normal amount of mashing a normal person will inflict on it.

Overall, the Nyko Core Pak is a great option for those looking for a cheaper alternate then buying the Nintendo Wii controllers, but it won’t feel cheap, as you’ll be getting a great wand and Kama worth it’s value. -Product reviewed by Mario Diaz, So Hood Magazine, SoHood.com

About: Wand Core Pak Includes a Wand Controller and Wired Kama with Rumble for Wii. It was developed and produced by Nyko for the Nintendo Wii System. It retails for $39.99 USD

Grand Theft Auto: Episodes from Liberty City Game Review
SoHood.com Reviewed by: Mario Diaz
Format: Xbox 360
Game Rating: 4.5/5.0

Rockstar Games has released a standalone disk version of their DLC games called Episodes from Liberty City, allowing gamers to play the stories without needing to have or put a copy of Grand Theft Auto IV into the Xbox 360 disk drive. The game focuses on the Lost & Damned and The Ballad of Gay Tony, which are stories of Luis Lopez and Johnny Klebitz, both make the GTA a must have. I’ll focus more on the newer story, The Ballad of Gay Tony, cause obvious, it’s new game in the GTA series.

In The Ballad of Gay Tony, you take on the role of Luis Lopez who works for Tony Prince AKA “Gay Tony”. Tony is an owner of the biggest straight and gay nightclubs in Liberty City, he’s like a father figure to Luis, which he has also taken him under his wing and made him in something in his life. As Luis, you’ll not a guy trying to come up in the world as previous GTA titles, but as a guy trying to keep his world in order and stay legit, and kill anyone who threatens it by protecting Gay Tony.

New side mission and stuff to do, as the cage fighting and base-jumping. Both are fun in there own ways, as Base-jumping to great to parachute off high up off buildings or from moving helicopters. The fighting aspect is hand-to-hand combat, which really shows off how far GTA has come, from just the regular punch from the Vice City era, as you got a regular punch, block and more stronger punch, not that great compare to other games, but it’s a step in the right direction.

A great addition to both games is the inclusion of mid-mission checkpoints. We all been there, driving for more than a few minutes to a location only to die without finishing a mission, and then to replay the whole mission again, becoming very tedious. Now you can use your cell phone to replay any mission you’ve beating before and also if you happen to die in a mission and you made it past a checkpoint, you can continue where you left off, and try to finish the mission. Pretty handy and it very assessable, with all the over the top mission you’ll be ask to do, you bet your ass you’ll be wasting cellphone minutes.

The biggest dilemma I had was the driving, I don’t know why, but I can get use to these damn controls, the cars handed like a shopping cart, no smooth turns, GTA has gone with a more realistic driving system, but I miss the good old days, where driving in high speeds was a cake walk. Luckily, when available using  a motorcycle seems to handle better, though it’s probably easier to move around tight places, around trucks, cars and overall with a motorcycle.

New weapons and cars are included as well as the tank, well it’s not the shell shooting type, just a machine gun shooting tank. The newer weapons are more explosive this time around, as sticky bombs and a more powerful shotgun are all at your disposal, making for some pretty big explosions.

You won’t be disappointed with Grand Theft Auto liberty stories; it finally cast a Spanish character as the main protagonist, Luis Lopez, who is of Dominican Republic decent, it’s undoubtedly a change of pace, as far a storyline goes. Unlike previous titles, Luis the main character isn’t as controversial as many would have thought, when the title of the game was announced. Yeah, there are a bunch of gay jokes aimed at Gay Tony, but none of them come out of Luis’s mouth, indicating that Luis has total respect for Tony, it just happen to be that Tony is gay, and Luis is fine with that. So you get this buddies lethal weapon like storyline that has both of them risking there lives for each other, making the whole experience that much more richer and interesting to continue to play to the finish.

About the Game:
Published by: Rockstar Games
Developed by: Rockstar North
Genre: Action
Release Date: US: October 29, 2009
MSRP: $39.99

DJ Hero Review Game Review
SoHood.com Reviewed by: Mario Diaz
Format: Xbox 360
Game Rating: 4.5/5.0

Thinking out side the box, as far as music games go, Activison has jumped into the DJ’s world of music where many genres of music are mixed together. You’re equipped with a unique peripheral that emulates a real DJ’s equipment, with a scratch pad and mixer. Luckily, for lefties the DJ controller is adjustable for right-handed people or left-handed.

On the scratch pad where a real record would be playing, are three colored buttons located on a turntable that fit perfectly to your fingers. The scratch pad has grooves and lines just like a real vinyl, giving it a more authentic feel. The whole DJ peripheral is a cool rendition of a real Turntable; it’s small, compact and lightweight with smooth buttons, yet it feels very durable.

One thing that is flawed with the scratch pad, is the lack of resistance, while having the buttons press down making a scratch like motion that feels awkward at first, as it just glides with no resistance. It really takes some time to get use to the controls.

On the other side of the DJ controller is the mixer, fader, pitch modulator, and Euphoria activator. The fader has three options in that is needed in gameplay, as you can position the lever at its set position at centered, all the way left, and all the way right. Sometimes the fader won’t register, cause there’s a small switch that one can fell when you move it to posit directs, but for some reason when playing on a higher difficulty and all of the movements going on it may be have to be moved harder or slower.

The pitch dial is more of tuning the pitch to add your favor to a track, but it’s more of custom thing, no penalties, as there isn’t a right or wrong way of doing. You’ll notice that opportunity when an orange indicator will appear over a track lane, and you have the option of tuning the pitch to modify the sound.

The Euphoria activator is simply a soft large round button above the fader that lights up red when you’ve earned the ability to use it during a song, It’s DJ Hero’s version of Star Power, as the outline of the land glows blue and the vocal or track is amplified.

The single player career starts up with a tutorial that teaches you the basics of scratching, cross fading, Euphoria, Rewind and changing the pitch. The Rewind feature is one that is assessable once you’ve played great enough on a song, once you do to activate its as simple as spinning the turntable backwards, like you’ve seen DJ do in videos, allowing you to rerun a short section of the song. It’s not a recurring thing, as it really is fun spinning the turntable, and being able to replay as section of a song, but it’s way to limited and you don’t experience enough times to enjoy it.

The presentation, taken as a whole, is excellent. Playable characters are adequately rendered, and come with a multitude of different looks And it is all blended together by the unique soundtrack, which combines many different genres, artists, and eras together to make many interesting track to play to.

Though, I must warn you that some of these mixes may not be for everyone, plus the fact that many of the songs are repeated but with different mixes, some of the songs won’t seem enjoyable if you pop it in your IPod, but they fit the game perfectly and present a very entertaining experience when combined with the actual gameplay.

About the Game:
Published by: Activision
Developed by: FreeStyleGames
Genre: Music
Release Date: US: October 27, 2009
MSRP: $119.99

LEGO Rock Band Game Review
SoHood.com Reviewed by: Mario Diaz
Format: Xbox 360
Game Rating: 3.5/5.0

Lego Rock band is basically Rock Band but with a Lego theme to it. The franchise has seen some very success games come out with a Lego theme to them such as Lego Star Wars, Lego Indiana Jones and LEGO Batman. All those games have one thing in common, there’s a lot spoofing and comedy bunched up with very recognizable characters that everyone loves. This time around Lego has all of the generic rock characters and stage venues constructed with LEGO bricks but with a Rock theme to it, including some famous rock artists in LEGO form.

The gameplay hasn’t changed from Rock Band, you’ll still strum along as notes pour down from the top of the screen, but now all of the characters are LEGO-ized, the notes coming down the fret board are LEGO blocks, and instead of paying you in dollars, you’re paid in LEGO studs.

The game’s Story mode is basically the career mode that you’re find in the Rock Band series, as you go on the road, play gigs, gain fans, which in turn unlocks new venues and songs for you to play. The studs you earn can be used to buy new gear and outfits for the band, as well as hire new members to aid you in your career.

The set list is filled with family friendly songs, aimed at a younger audience. There are music from classic rock and modern hits, including some rock songs that many fans might know, from Queen “We Will Rock You”, and “We Are the Champions” to Europe ‘s “The Final Countdown”. The funnies and more entertaining of the songs goes to Ray Parker Jr. ‘s “Ghostbusters” song that has many Lego ghosts running around.

Like the other games in the Rock Band series, Lego Rock Band can be played with up to three friends, and a full band is composed of a bassist, guitarist, singer, and drummer. Younger players will defiantly enjoy this game, its fun and colorful, it’s fun for the whole family.

About the Game:
Published by: Warner Bros. Interactive
Developed by: TT Games / Harmonix
Genre: Music
Release Date: US: November 3, 2009
MSRP: $49.99

Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars Game Review
SoHood.com Reviewed by: Mario Diaz
Format: PSP
Game Rating: 4.5/5.0

Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars centers around a young man named Huang Lee. Lee was a rich kid that had his life turn upside-down once his Pop was murdered. Huang Lee must return to Liberty City to give his uncle Wu ‘Kenny’ Lee a sword, so that the leadership of the Triads stay in his family, cause his was the leader of the Triads in Liberty City.

Chinatown Wars view is from the top-down perspective, as many veterans of the earlier GTA games will remember. It actually fits well on the PSP, making traversing in the city easy. The GPS system is still useful, as it helps you get around with ease.

A lot of the missions are center on driving missions, making you go from one place to the next also escort missions and drive-bys. There aren’t any voice works, but your treated to some nice stylish comic book style cut-scenes.

Driving is still fun, with solid control mechanics, it’s a smooth and enjoyable ride. Each car handles differently, some more smoother and faster and others handles with less control leading to some interesting chases, but all look great zipping through the town.

One awesome new feature in the series is that normally, in all GTA games, getting away from the police is no easy task, it involves laying low in a spot where the helicopters might not see you, rushing into a Pay ‘n Spray auto shop to change the color of your car. In Chinatown Wars, it was made easier, if you have three stars wanted on screen, destroying three Cop cars will bump it down to a two-star wanted, as destroying Cop cars erases your wanted stars. Destroying the Cop cars can be done by many ways, crashing into them head to head, or making them crash into obstacles or into themselves. One interesting fact is that the wanted stars won’t go back down if you kill the Cop cars by using weapons, only while your inside of the vehicle can the wanted stars come down.

About the Game:
Published by: Take-Two Interactive
Developed by: Rockstar Leeds
Genre: Action
Release Date: US: October 20, 2009
MSRP: $39.99

Marvel Super Hero Squad Game Review
SoHood.com Reviewed by: Mario Diaz
Format: Wii
Game Rating: 3.0/5.0

Marvel Super Hero Squad game is based on the cartoon The Super Hero Squad Show, which is tailored to a younger audience and it’s based on the Hasbro toyline. Just like the show, the toys and the series feature small exaggerated/cartoonish versions of all the popular Marvel characters and the show takes them all and combines them into The Super Hero Squad to fight a combination of villains from all of the different Marvel books.

Marvel Super Hero Squad is a two-player beat-em-up, a massive button-masher with big-name Marvel characters attached. Sadly, the game doesn’t offer anything new to the genre. You’ll be button mashing the hell out of your Wii controller. You’ve got a basic attack, heavy attack, jump, grab, and finisher assigned to Wii remote waggle or simple button press.

In addition to the campaign, Marvel Super Hero Squad features a battle mode, it’s four-players can duke it out in an arena. To access most of the mode you’ll have to unlock most of it by playing the campaign.

The younger players will defiantly enjoy this game, its fun and colorful. As it does a great job of recreating the feel and look of what made The Super Hero Squad Show, so great for fans. The voice acting is great and some of the cut-scenes have that quirky of the cartoon show.

About the Game:
Published by: THQ
Developed by: Blue Tongue
Genre: Action
Release Date: US: October 20, 2009
MSRP: $39.99

Lips: Number One Hits Game Review
SoHood.com Reviewed by: Mario Diaz
Format: Xbox 360
Game Rating: 3.5/5.0

In Lips you can decrease the original vocals, as well as watch the artist’s music video while you sing or have a visualization style look with colors and themes instead. This time around there are a few new things on screen, if you’re connected to the Internet, you’ll notice your current rank throughout the entire song, and your rank will increase or decrease as you continue to sing.

The presentation and menus are easy to navigate, you can also sort the songs from past titles and downloads with a press of a button, by artists name, title of songs and by album name. Though there are a large number of songs, you never felt overwhelmed or lost to find your favorite track.

Based on your singing performance, you receive points based on how well you sang the song. Trophies that one can obtain, range from bronze, silver, gold and diamond, which is base on placement to the leader boards.

Lips, by far has the best Microphones on the market, on any console. The microphones are motion-sensitive, it knows how you’re holding the mic, when and how you’re moving it around. Let’s not forget the lights, the colors of the microphone match the color bars you sing to, and so you can easily see what you’re doing on-screen, and colors range from blue, yellow, white, red and purple.

The nice thing about owning the game Lips, is that it’s like having your very own karaoke machine in your very own house, no waiting in line behind bad singers, now you can play with friends, and you won’t have to worry if you suck at a song and feel embarrassed. It’s more of a dance around as you watch the TV for the lyrics, while holding the microphone, also someone else not singing can interact with the controller. By pressing the buttons for a cowbell, hand clap or feet stomp.

About the Game:
Published by: Microsoft
Developed by: iNiS
Genre: Music
Release Date: US: October 20, 2009
MSRP: $59.99

FIFA Soccer 10 Game Review
SoHood.com Reviewed by: Mario Diaz
Format: PS3
Game Rating: 4.0/5.0

This year’s FIFA Soccer 10 has remarkably improved, with added new features that are sure to make this year’s game, the best in the series. The 360 dribbling system, the ability to upload your face and the chance to play against hundreds of virtual pros players online.

360 degree dribbling system is an amazing feature added to this year’s game. With the left analogue stick you’re able to move your player in 360 degrees, move the ball around with ease, around tough situations that were impossible in previous years.

The commentators: Andy Gray and Clive Tilsley, do a naturally magnificent job, I’m not a soccer follower, so I was surprise on how these two try to liven up the game, with funny chit-chats, observations and nice, play by play.

The online aspect offers up plenty to do. From the typical ranked head-to-head matches, you can also join up with nine other players for team play and you can even link up with nine other Virtual Pros and form your own club. I didn’t notice any lag during online games when I played.

Graphic wise: the game looks great, with nice detail to some huge soccer stadiums, and conditions, including some very realistic looking rain. Many of the kicks, and movement’s of the players on the field all look great and fluid. It’s a combination of factors that go into making the current FIFA feel: realistic passing animations, smooth ball physics, convincing shooting.

This year ‘Be a Pro’ mode allows you to create your own player and play entire seasons with your favorite team. You can even upload your face and download it to your console. Basically implementing your height and weight and style, ultimately making you feel as if you’re playing the game, or rather how you’ll look as a player on the field.

About the Game:
Published by: Electronic Arts
Developed by: EA Canada
Genre: Sports
Release Date: US: October 20, 2009
MSRP: $59.99

Forza Motorsport 3 Game Review
SoHood.com Reviewed by: Mario Diaz
Format: Xbox 360
Game Rating: 4.5/5.0

Forza Motorsport 3 has more than 400 vehicles you can take for a ride and the nicest part is, they’re all unlocked from the get-go. Not that many games offer this, but the cars aren’t free, you’ll still have to earn them by accumulating points, by winning races and qualifying. The tracks include 22 locations, each with a Variety of layouts. Include a race around New York’s time square.

The driving in Forza aims to please all types of players, those looking for help winning and turning corners, then there are some assists, that one can turn on- to help you . There is also a guideline of arrows that help steer you into the right direction on the track.

The career mode is played out through calendar seasons, with many of the events focusing on specific cars and models. There are a ton of events to fill out the year.

The rewind feature can make players become to reliant on it, helping you make more dangerous maneuvers, knowing that you can press a button to rewind the game from before you made that mistake that cost you the race when you veered to the side or crashed.

Many of the higher end model cars coast million of points, making many players play-out some events that they may or may-not have entered just to gain some added points, it gives you a goal to reach for, as that faster and smoother car might be worth it.

One can also purchase parts to upgrade your vehicles for optimum performance. Ranging from the fuel system, rims, fine tune parts and reduced the weight of your vehicle for a faster car.

The game has lots of different shapes, colors and letters to help you customize your own very design of your car. It’s all up to your imagination, as the possibilities are end-less. As you’ll notice on the games store –front, a place were users sell their cars, designs and tune-ups, all for a price.

About the Game:
Published by: Microsoft
Developed by: Turn 10 Studios
Genre: Racing
Release Date: US: October 27, 2009
MSRP: $59.99

NBA Live 10

This year’s NBA Live 10 has remarkably improved, it’s more smoother and realistic, it’s moving towards a more simulation sports title then the arcade like basketball game in the past years. Don’t get it twisted, it’s still about making those amazing dunks, nail in the coffin threes, but it’s just not as easy this time around.

Shooting is much easier now, as you’ll only need to press a single button, to shoot and dunk. When in the lane you’ll need to hold the right trigger, to dunk and to lay it up under the basket. The timing jump shot is back, for better or worse, holding and releasing at the right moment gives your player a higher percent of accuracy.

The defense has been stepped up, from previous years as it adds more realism. Gone are those times when just a couple of dribbles here and there opened the lane for an easy score. You’ll quickly notice that you’re going to get stripped a lot of times while driving in the paint, and those kick-outs might get interesting as well, with the AI intercepting and deflecting many bad passes. I’ll make the player focus more on the fundamentals of basketball, rather then the highlight driven mentality many are a customized to.

Dynasty mode is still where you’ll use up most of your time. You’ll have to trade, sign and train players all in the quest to win the championship. Luckily, you’ll have many years to complete that goal, as year to year players will either progress in a good way or decline in many attributes.

The Multiplayer aspect is still strong online, with a wide selection of games to be found as well as variation of players skill levels. No lag issues or weak connections were experienced while playing online on the PS3. The voice work of Marv Albert and Steve Kerr do a pleasant job of doing what commentators do, chitchat, play by play and try to sound excited, while the musical score of tracks are decent.

About the Game:
Published by: Electronic Arts
Developed by: EA Canada
Genre: Sports
Release Date: US: October 6, 2009
MSRP: $59.99

Brutal Legend

Brutal legend is a homage to heavy metal, filled with some of the most recognizable rock stars in music, the game is infused with the style and presentation of metal, just everything a rock fan would love. You follow the adventures of Eddie Riggs (voiced by Jack Black), the greatest roadie in the world, as you help the hopeless humans defeat evil in a rock universe through metal theme weapons and music.

Brutal legend features a number of great characters, Ozzy Osbourne does a great performance as the Keeper of Metal, where you get to upgrade your Deuce, guitar and attacks. Motorhead’s lead singer Lemmy, plays The Kill master, which basically functions as a bass player who heals Eddie’s Riggs army. Even The evil General Lionwhyte, which screams hair metal, in his overdone hairstyle, is a fun character to go against. Brian Posehn who many will recognize his voice, plays the character of the hunter, which as a side mission will have you defeating numerous amount of animals that roam the world, in a effort to beat the hunters record.

Eddie Riggs has relying only on his axe for close combat and his guitar for long-range lightning and flaming strikes. His guitar dubbed “Clementine” can kill enemies just by playing a few chords; bring down lighting from the heavens, send a zeppelin crashing down and burning everyone in sight.

Eddie has to control and lead his army while in battle, You can command many units in a mixture of ways, either by using various commands on the D pad (defend, attack, and move). Mid-way in the solo campaign Eddie grows wings after being shot, which lets him fly and survey the combat zone, giving you an eye bird’s view of any incoming forces as well as a faster way to move around. Sadly, you’ll still have to be sensibly near to your units to issue commands.

The voice acting is top notch, just real quality stuff, with humor and nice animations mixed in. The creatures, environments and besides some of the lack of variations in side missions, Brutal legends is a game that I’ve never played before, with so many different aspect of genres mixed in I’m really  hoping that a sequel is in the works. It really seemed that Jack Black was completely devoted to his role as Eddie Riggs, at times it made me forget that Jack black is voicing Eddie, as Jack Black didn’t go for the over the top characters he’s known for in his movies, wisely he chose a more mellow character.

About the Game:
Published by: Electronic Arts
Developed by: Double Fine Productions
Genre: Action
Release Date: US: October 13, 2009
MSRP: $59.99

Beaterator

Beaterator is very similar to a very popular PC music/loops program called Fruity loops. Beaterator is more of a music creation tool, then a game, as there are no goals or challenges to accomplish. Instead you’ll be dealing with many premium-sounding loops, many from Hip-hop producer Timbaland and from Rockstar. You’re here to make music, ideally for dance and hip-hop, as for Rock fans they need to look else were. Though I’m a hip-hop fan, I won’t kid myself into thinking, I’m some sort of music producer, but the great thing about Beaterator is, it’s surprisingly astonishing array of tools to help even the most novice in music producer make a decent beat.

Beaterator features a few modes: Studio Session, Live Play and Song Crafter. Live Play seems the easy mode for those starting out, mixing effects and backing tracks and instruments. Song Crafter is where it gets a little tough, as you’ll actually construct a song note by note, modifying, incorporating, and harmonizing sounds to hopefully making the final product sound good.

Headphones, I repeat, are to be a requirement in Beaterator. God forgive the PSP, but the darn speakers don’t do justice to this game, get you some good Headphones to fully immerse yourself into the music.

As much as it tries to be easy for those non-music experts the Menus at times can be very confusing and it will take some figuring out to fully use the potential in the game.

Thankfully, Beaterator has a general tutorial, reference guide to steer the user through all of the different features. At first glance it can seem overwhelming for a user to think that they can actually make something even sound remotely passable as a beat, but if you work hard enough, you can deliver some good enough beats.

In all honesty, Beaterator won’t substitute a real recording studio or a PC program of this natural, but don’t fool yourself, as this is a great tool, for its size and portability. If you have a desire to create music, then but all means buy Beaterator, as it defiantly will aid you. I could defiantly see Beaterator appeal, easy to make beats and most of all accessible for anyone on the go, on your lunchtime, after work on the ride home.

About the Game:
Published by: Rockstar Games
Developed by: Rockstar Leeds
Genre: Strategy Music
Release Date: US: September 29, 2009
MSRP: $39.99

Halo 3: ODST Game Review
SoHood.com Reviewed by: Mario Diaz
Format: Xbox 360
Game Rating: 4.5/5.0

It all begins high above Earth. A group of the fabled ODSTs are preparing to burn through the atmosphere and enter the battle for New Mombasa in tiny one-man pods. You’ll find yourself in the shoes of a trooper dubbed “The Rookie”, a calm, and not so experience.

Halo 3: Orbital Drop Shock Trooper’s aren’t as strong as Master Chief, as far as his Healing capability. In ODST you’ll have a health bar that requires health packs to restore its overshield, which can be a pain, as you can’t just run away to heal. You’ll hear a beeping sound when your bar is low as well as the screen turn red-ish to indicate damage.

The VISR, itself is both are a good thing and a bad thing, you’ll need it when its night, as it’ll be easier to see enemies, as their bodies will outlined red. The VISR becomes something that when playing in the night levels, a must, be it’s something that after a while isn’t very pleasant to play with. It’s odd that one may become very depended on the VISR when it should have been something that one can flip on and off.

The campaign mode will last about 5 to 10 hours depending on your skill level, its a far cry from Halo 3 length. The campaign mode at times gets boring, dull and repetitive, mostly the night sequences, as you’ll ask to walk around the abandoned city looking for beacons, though you’ll encounter enemies at times, its too far apart to help move the action along. Luckily, the day missions are filled with enough action to balance itself out.

Presentation wise, Halo 3: ODST looks better than Halo 3. The Halo 3 engine is starting to show its age, but the designers decided to liven up the game with brighter colors, and grander visuals then the previous titles. Its voice acting is superb, as it doesn’t miss a beat, normally you’ll get your cheesy over the top acting, but it’s been tone-down a bit this time around. The sounds are also on par with what you’ll expect from a Halo game, as the weapons, covenant force’s voices, screams and explosions all sounds perfect.

The Firefight mode is what makes ODST fun, as theirs 10 Firefight levels, its very similar to Gears Of Wars horde mode. Every level forces players to work collectively in sync, as one slip-up in strategy means a quick death. Because the ammunition at your disposal is very limited, it adds more excitement to the levels.

About the Game:
Published by: Microsoft Game Studios
Developed by: Bungie Software
Genre: First-Person Shooter
Release Date: US: September 22, 2009
MSRP: $59.99

NHL 2k10

Fans of last year’s NHL 2k9 game will notice that many of the same features have returned, quick game, franchise, pond hockey, mini rink and shootout hockey. NHL 2K10 is really similar to last year’s release, the graphics, gameplay and the player’s movement on ice feels all seem to not have been upgraded or altered.

The online features are enormous, you could play full tournaments to leagues. The tournaments allow 40 teams, that are able to duke it out online to be crown champions or in hockey terms win the Stanley Cup. It seems that the main focus this time around, was to sure up the online mode, both for smoother interface and a quicker way to play a game.

Signing a free agent early in the season or negotiating contracts after the season is very enjoyable. The negotiating screen presents you with all the information you would need to figure out what the players want. The players interest in years, salary, you could also see the counter offer. There is nothing like negotiating a contract with a player who has aged and lost a step, but still wants all-star money, only to release him, via the salary cap restrictions, then watching him sit the whole season out on the Free agent market cause of his over the top salary.

NHL 2k10 is a great hockey game that is fun for both the die-hard hockey fan and those that just enjoy the thrill of checking and scoring without knowing too much about the sport.

About the Game:
Published by: 2K Sports
Developed by: Visual Concepts
Genre: Sports
Release Date: US: September 15, 2009
MSRP: $49.99

Heroes Over Europe Game Review
SoHood.com Reviewed by: Mario Diaz
Format: Xbox 360, PS3
Game Rating: 3.0/5.0

Heroes Over Europe is based during the World War II era, so if you like you army games that center around killing Nazi’s, your in luck. The gameplay is of an arcade natural, as you won’t have to deal with conserving your regular ammo, as the bombs are limited, or deal with running out of gas.

In terms of presentation, Heroes Over Europe is a simply game, with not too many over the top cut-scenes, but it has nice war-themed illustrations, old-style footage. The graphics aren’t as polished as many of the other flight Sims out there. The foreground objects aren’t very detail, as from a far, it not noticeable, but once up close it’s not very detailed. Though you won’t really be getting close enough to to really notice, if so, your probably going to crash.

The playable planes are very detailed, all resembling old school dogfighting aircraft. As many have different styles of how it looks like when firing your main weapon, with some shooting six bullets at a time, and others with only four holes to shoot from. Getting shot numerous times, will cause your plane to churn out fire when damaged. As smoke will also come out the engine as you increasing take more and more damage.

Heroes Over Europe’s best feature is the “ace kill,” which when activated slows down time, zooms in on your target, and highlights places of interest on the enemy aircraft, where it’s most vulnerable, allowing you to take an enemy down in a single shot. It’s very effective when a large number of planes need to be shot down in a hurry.

The campaign is very straight forward, as missions become unlocked once you complete the available missions. Each mission has airplanes to fly with, and you can unlock more as you progress. There are only 14 missions, so it’s kind of short, and a higher difficulty you’ll unlock more planes.

Each mission takes place in a different location, but it all revolves around you dogfighting and bombing locations, which over a time become repetitive. Now there are some fun objectives, like shooting mines off the water, before it closing in on a warship and blow it up. Any fans of flight simulation will surly enjoy the WW II feel that Heroes Over Europe has.

About the Game:
Published by: Ubisoft
Developed by: Transmission Games
Genre: Flight Action
Release Date: US: September 15, 2009
MSRP: $59.99

NHL 10 Game Review
SoHood.com Reviewed by: Mario Diaz
Format: PS3
Game Rating: 4.0/5.0

Fresh off NHL 09, who was awarded the best hockey last year, EA looks to up itself this year with NHL 10, but does it have enough new features to separate itself from last years release? Well, there isn’t any new upgrade to the gameplay, just new modes.

The new modes are Playoff mode, which is basically just skipping the regular season, and just playing in the playoffs. Battle for the cup, is playing for the Stanley cup, as two teams go head to head. The season mode is playing through a season to win the cup, but sadly it’s only for one year, unlike the franchise mode which can go on for many years.

The fighting in the game is awesome, as it beats other hockey games in the past, as it feels just right. The punching and pulling the jersey for leverage and ducking punches. Though you won’t really gain anything from fighting, as both players involved, get their penalty minutes. It’s still satisfying to knock someone ass on the cold hard ice.

NHL 10 graphics seemed to have altered just a bit this time around to really notice, the gameplay is crisp and the player’s movement on ice feels actually how it should with smooth animations.

If you’re someone who did not buy last year’s game, then this year’s title is strongly recommended. But if you’re a fan of the series whom has brought last year’s release, then it really falls on how much of a hockey fan you really are, as it pretty much is the same game, with just a bit of an upgrade and newer modes, and a new roster.

About the Game:
Published by: Electronic Arts
Developed by: EA Canada
Genre: Sports
Release Date: US: September 15, 2009
MSRP: $59.99

Guitar Hero 5 Game Review
SoHood.com Reviewed by: Mario Diaz
Format: Xbox 360
Game Rating: 4.5/5.0

Guitar Hero veterans can rest assure that Guitar Hero 5 isn’t just a sequel with new songs added, it’s a new game in its own rights, new modes, better graphics and new playable rock stars.

Career mode is still the staple in the the game, next to multi-player, as Career mode once again has you progressing through different venues, playing songs and unlocking new gigs. It’s simple 5 the more stars you collect, the more gigs you unlock.

Each song has a bonus challenge connected with it that allows you to earn up stars per song, eight stars in total. Some of these challenges vary in difficulty, easy to expert only challenges. Aside from earning stars in challenges, you can also earn unlockables, as in new playable characters, new outfits, sponsored equipment and cheats.

Guitar Hero 5 features the likenesses of a handful of real rock stars that you may be familiar with. Many of these stars are unlocked by playing through their songs successfully in Career mode, while other stars become available only after you complete one of the bonus challenges. The neat thing is these stars can join Guitar Hero characters and alongside your user-created character.

Guitar Hero 5 delivers better-quality visuals that you’ll easily notice when you first pop the game in. Character animations are more fluid, and lip-synching looks improved. There is an overall more sharper and smoother presentation, it’s not a dramatic overhaul, but enough for anyone whom play GH World Tour to notice.

There is a number of other various tweaks in Guitar Hero 5, but for the most part the core gameplay remains fundamentally the same as World Tour. Rockfest multiplayer, a new mode is a challenges mode type, like trying to hit the most notes, or the longest streak.

Guitar Hero 5 improves in roughly every category against GH: World Tour. Except maybe the vocal star power, which can no longer be activated by tapping the microphone, you’ll need to keep a controller near by if they want to use star power. Fans Of Guitar Hero won’t be disappointed, as GH: 5 features enough notable songs and new playable characters to keep you rocking.

About the Game:
Published by: Activision
Developed by: Neversoft
Genre: Music
Release Date: US: September 1, 2009
MSRP: $59.99

Disgaea 2: Dark Hero Days Game Review
SoHood.com Reviewed by: Mario Diaz
Format: PSP
Game Rating: 4.5/5.0

Disgaea 2: Dark Hero Days is very similar from the previous Disgaea game, as it’s filled with fun and wise cracking characters mixed with a saving the world storyline, that doesn’t take itself too seriously. Also fans maybe delighted to know that some of their favorite characters are back in this sequel.

The main character is a young man named Adell, who this time around is human. He’s the only one left in town that is still human, as every one has turn into a monster. It’s all because of Overlord Zenon, whose curse on the town, makes everyone human turn into a monster and lose their memories. So Adell sets off to try to find the Overlord Zenon with Zenon’s daughter Princess Rozalin after a failed attempt of summoning Zenon himself.

The neat thing about the game is it’s hub world, there you can shop for weapons and items, heal your wounds, go on quests. You can even go into The item world, it’s so you can build up your weapon’s level that in turn will make it more powerful. Any character in your party can create new fighters back in town, which become their apprentices and have a higher chance of performing team attacks and earning stat boosts.

One of the more unique features, is the Dark Assembly, where  players can suggest various bills that might help them in their quest. It almost a game onto itself, as one has to convince the Assembly to approve the harder bills. You can always bribe senators to vote in your favor. It’s like your a politician, in fact you can pass a bill to become a senators,  making your voice stronger. Then there is the item world, which is basically an entire game in itself.

For anyone not familiar with Disgaea, the game is a turn-based strategy game, where one moves, attacks or defends itself, and the computer will do the same in a 3d grid-based arena until one of you emerges victories. Teammates and enemies can be thrown, and one can even pile on oneself numerous of teammates for a stronger attack,  in a tower-like attack.  And the always present Geo Symbols, that can alter a match either in your benefit or the most likely the enemies way, rest a sure that the geo symbols can always be destroyed.

There is also a new form of attack, Magichange, which allows a humanoid character and a monster character to fight as one. It turns the monster on your team into a special weapon, which you can use in battle. It’s a pretty great addition, as it adds another weapon in your arsenal.

The game has replay value, thanks to the part that one can replay the game after beating it for the first time, and choose to play as a different character named Axel, whom storyline, characters and scenario are completely different.

Fans of the series will not be disappointed, as everything you’ve come to loved about the original Disgaea has returned, the characters, storyline, and it’s always not take itself too seriously comedy that one comes to enjoy.

About the Game:
Published by: NIS
Developed by: NIS
Genre: Strategy RPG
Release Date: US: September 8, 2009
MSRP: $29.99

Darkest Of Days

In Darkest of Days, you take on the role of Alexander Morris, a soldier who is trying to repeal the enemies forces, under General Custer’s regiment in the Battle of Little Bighorn. You may already heard about that battle and it doesn’t end good, as you stand on a hill shooting your six shooter helplessly, minutes before his death, a futuristic time traveler warps in a bubble like shape to save you and transports you to the future.

After your life is saved, your transported into a metallic room and introduced to Mother, who you can only see her set of female eyes that appear on a large computer monitor. She goes through the whole story on why you’re here, and why you’re going back in history to find the person who invented the technology to time travel.

Your primary object is to not mess with history, as you’ll notice that some soldiers on the field have this blue aura around them, indicting that this is someone  important in life and in history, so killing them is wrong. Luckily, you’ll have these magic and futuristic balls that you throw in the direct of one of those important soldiers, and it will knock them out, not kill them. Oddly, if you do kill one too many of those important soldiers, a group of time agents with high tech weapons appear to stop you, with force.

Dexter, is the one who saved you from your death, and is basically your guide, who supplies you with powerful weapons, ideas and strategy and some times a little backup. At times, he’ll be very hands on, almost a captain/general of shorts, guiding other time agents on the fly, with tactically orders.

You’ll spend a majority of your time in two eras – World War I and the American Civil War, battle it out in large maps filled with large amount of enemies and allies. One nice aspect to this is, when it comes to large amount of soldiers on screen at once, I didn’t experience any  slow-downs, that’s pretty respectable.

All of the weapons utilizes the Gears of War-style active reload system, which is both good and bad, as the futuristic weapons load great, but the old- civil war ones,  take too long for it to do any real effect. The old civil weapons were very strange  to use at first, but in time you’ll get comfortable with it, as with the musket rifle, only capable of  shooting one shot per round, really made you think about every potential shot as it takes forever to reload.

The game is a little unbalanced, in that even though your weapon is superior, you’ll still get killed a bunch of times, because your allies don’t have great A.I, they are straight bullet-catchers on the field, no sense of team work. Another thing that really got to me, was the no cover system in place, you’ll just squat down, behind a rock or object, only to have someone shoot you as if you’re not in cover. In a game with hundreds of soldiers shooting, fighting, one would think that covering yourself would have been a priority.

Overall, the game’s storyline was really something, I was looking forward to play in. Unfortunately, the end result is just disappointing, with such a huge possibility of what it could have been, with matching your more powerful and stronger weapon verses the Civil War armies, it’s a shame that the shooting mechanics and missions with long walking weren’t fine-tuned enough before it was released. But with all it’s glitches, and faults, I still managed to finish the game, because I felt that Darkest Of Days still had the right idea, and at times can be a fun and interesting  game to play.

About the Game:
Published by: Phantom EFX
Developed by: 8monkey Labs
Genre: First-Person Shooter
Release Date: US: September 8, 2009
MSRP: $49.99