STAT is in the House!

I admit, when it comes to the designing and drawings I've done for this site I haven't really put any real effort into them. Not as much as I now do with my comics.

Say hello to STAT, it is a mini mock company that me and a old friend of mine named Tyler Robb created, Shrew also gave input and even inspired various designs. The company is suppose to be a comic and graphic novel company similar to the likes of Marvel, DC, or even Dark Horse comics. The only difference being that it's not just superheroes and dark tales, but more comedic and filled with very colorful and original tales and even spoofs. Possibly the longest going series would be my TAD comics, which tell the tales of all of us here in our own misadventures.

Basically, the mock company was meant to be something or somewhere that anyone can go to and give their own inspirations and ideas, and they would be able to bring their ideas out into the world. We have had many artists and authors come about, quite a lot of weird ones mostly, and most of them have even inspired characters and locations, and especially good jokes.

Well now STAT will more than likely be moving in with its cousin GeekBeerz very soon! This is mostly to bring a completely New element into the website while also being able to have all things in one convenient place to work on. I can't personally say when this will officially happen. But I can assure you that it will be worth it!

Playstation All-Stars Battle Royale: a dream come true for Playstation fans / a curiosity for skeptics

The Smash Bros-style Playstation brawler is finally here. And word is coming in that it exactly what PS3 fans have been waiting for!

From what has been coming in from reviews and posts, the game is a legit physical combat game with, despite some little flaws, also has some big improvements from what other similar titles have tried to accomplish before. Playstation fans have been begged by those who have the game to go get it and at least try it once. However the main concern is those skeptics, preferably the Xbox and Nintendo dudes, that still believe this game to be nothing more than a knock off of smash bros, however since the game is finally out and key differences can be official we can finally have the answers we need.

Here is the biggest shocker coming in from IGN and commentors from other sites like Game Informer and Gamespot, this will be extremely difficult for skeptics to believe. This game is actually very different from smash bros in a lot of ways! The best way this was described was from a comment that said "Battle Royale is different from Smash Bros as much as Mortal Kombat is different from Street Fighter." Not only that, but all the 20 playable characters are absolutely not knock off characters of the smash bro gangs, so you don't have to worry about Sackboy having similar combat as Mario. The only real similarity between the roster is the choice between good or bad Cole Mcgrath, which is reminiscent to the Link and dark Link choice, or even the Link and toon Link. However, given that this is Playstation, the characters may seem newer and not as prodigy driven as Mario and Link is for Nintendo. At the same time, this is a new start for the series that will easily gain popularity over the course of future sequels, or even years of popularity to catch up with such game. In the end PS fans are sure to enjoy seeing a fight between Drake and Ratchet.

The game does something that it successfully does, the game makes the levels in the game more interactive than ever. The halfway mark of worlds colliding is both an interesting and strange surprise, why is Hades attacking the Patapons now? There is also multiple item pick ups that, by what has been said, never gets boring.

Some complaints were coming in about inbalance of the game from Demos and the Beta, now that the game's been out we can put that issue aside. Sure there is some differences between the different powers and abilities amongst the characters, bu there not really an inbalance between all of them. Keep in mind the Demos and Beta only consisted of 4-7 characters out of 20, and that they were only meant to be extreme enough to get you interested as a whole. It is good to also note that the super moves can be quite more difficult than you'd expect. Having to save up super moves and use them only to miss can be a pain, but at the same time it's nice to see something different and also incredibly challenging.

Despite all the cool new features that make the game awesome, there are flaws or differences that will make Skeptics use them to attack the game head on. For one, Playstation took the daring move of using lesser known and stranger characters like Fat Princess in their roster, instead of more classic characters like Crash or Spyro (however they may very much be DLC characters). The real big problem is that the game is so fun and chaotic playing with friends and family on multiplayer, the solo round is a different matter. While multiplayer is a blast, playing solo is said to get pretty boring for most and might even seem repetitive at times. However games like this are never really as fun to play alone anyways, if Smash Bros and Tekken were only solo campaign it would not be as compelling either.

In the end, Playstation fanatics are assured to have the time of their lives with this new beginning of Sony's version of an annual smash bros. It is also a nice way to celebrate Playstation as a whole. Skeptics can either continue being skeptic or they can at least spend valuable time with the actual game, they'll either end up enjoying it or be uneasy to accept it, we can't make up peoples minds for them. I see a great future for this new idea of a, finally good enough, Playstation brawler and expect good things to come from it.

Now if we can just get Microsoft to make an Xbox brawler...

[NOTE: This is in no way a review, but I was able to have a two hour go at it with some friends who bought the game and hooked it up to a television in our College library, I also played the beta a month ago. But I want to actually own the game and put more hours into it before I write a full fledged review]

the Wolverine and Man of Steel trailers to be unleashed with the Hobbit! [UPDATE]

The Hobbit is coming out in just four weeks to make us nerds jizz our pants with joy. But now even better things our coming our way, for both Marvel and DC fans!

While we still originally expect to have the trailer for the J. J. Abrams Star Trek sequel, Star Trek into Darkness, it has now been revealed that we're actually getting not only the first trailer for the new Wolverine movie but also a new trailer for the Man of Steel too! We're not sure the time length and expectations with these trailers (like we do with the Star Trek sequel), but we expect to be fully satisfied.

The Wolverine is a new take on the ongoing X men character and tells his story AFTER the events of X Men: the Last Stand. Where he is to travel to Japan and learn the ways of the samurai, much like it is in his comic book lore. The film comes out July 27th 2013.

Man of Steel is the new take on Superman, which also goes into a more serious tale and Nolan's Batman style to it. It is also said to have a stronger alien influence too. Their goal is to make sure fans of the hero get the full and well deserved treat they deserve. This film comes out the 14th of June 2013.

And just because it was mentioned, J. J. Abrams Star Trek sequel brings back the original cast from his first Star Trek reboot, as they go off on a new adventure that is sadly undisclosed at this time. This film comes out the 17th of May 2013.

Does anyone else realize that we have four superhero films coming out next year? We got Superman, Wolverine, Iron Man, and Thor in 2013! Wow!

Until next time...

[UPDATE] Turns out there will not be a trailer for Wolverine until early 2013, as confirmed by the films director. But we can still look forward to a new Man of Steel trailer and even Star Trek 2...

Members page updated

We also took the liberty of updating the members page to detail our current status. This may be the last page that we'll update for a good while.

Introducing Mini Reviews!

I told you there were going to be changes, starting with the small ones. However this one is just to see how well we can all manage upon it.

Instead of doing small reviews for big brand titles for the PS3, 360, and Wii systems, we will be doing small reviews for games that are essentially smaller titles. This would include app games like Angry Birds or free pc games like Slender. It will work with the four of us here giving our own personal rating decisions per game and leaving you readers to determine if getting this small title is even worth it. (for example, if three out of four of the ratings have ratings below a 7 out of 10, you probably should not get).

Four games are already on the page titled Mini Reviews, with only ratings currently from me and Bergy (one technically by Geoff which was pretty much determined by him in one of our podcast episodes, but he can change it if he wishes to do so in the future).

The four of us will have the chance to put on as many games and place as many of our own personal ratings as we wish to, but you guys also have some say! Is there a smaller under the radar game that you would love for us to both play and give our personal opinions about? Feel free to throw one out in the comments whenever you want! We will gladly play any app, hindie, or free pc game that you all request, considering that our laptops and mobile devices are capable of playing them XD.

Until next time...

Dishonored review

When it comes to the final quarter of the year, we are met by a great multitude of sequels, and the likes of sequels, from the much larger franchises. This year we were met up with the much anticipated Assassins Creed III game, the highly anticipated new trilogy start with Halo 4, and the always expected return of the Call of Duty franchise in the form of Black Ops 2. But I am happy to admit that I am glad to have waited on getting those sequels for a rather new and unexpected entry amongst all those others. One that definitely proves that a new beginning can ALWAYS be welcomed into the crowd.

Story

The story of Dishonored is a simplistic one. It is also one that sadly lacks a bit of the shocking moments that games nowadays are expected to have, but perhaps that is a good thing. We will always have a need to be surprised in many games if it involves something like an unexpected character death or a major cliffhanger of the sort. But when it comes to a game like Dishonored, it is nice to bring back a game with a classic feeling of a basic story that gives you all the information you need to know or care about straight off the bat. Much like a Mario game, where you know you need to save the princess and that's that, Dishonored is somewhat behind similar lines despite being a bit more detailed.

The story revolves around the character Corvo Attano, who lives within the city of Dunwall as the legendary bodyguard of the Empress. But when the Empress is murdered, Corvo gets falsely accused for it and thrown into prison. He soon gets the help of escaping by a rag tag team called the loyalists and becomes one of their most trusted allies. Now Corvo must disguise himself behind a mask and hunt down all who were responsible for his imprisonment and assassinate them.

While the story does seem like it would be sprinkled with major shockers and revealing twists, there really isn't any. Sure there is one surprising moment and one certain twist, but it's really not enough to surprise you all too much, especially for those who have played the likes of Bioshock or Batman Arkham City. And other than what was mentioned, there is really no other thing to say that wouldn't be considered a spoiler.

Gameplay

Here is where the game DEFINITELY wins the prize! But one must also understand that this game is pretty much the first legit title to come from Arkane studios, a studio whom only made two actual other games (Arx Fatalis (2002), Dark Messiah of Might and Magic (2006), and they technically helped a bit with Bioshock 2 (2010) on the animation and art, but never really got the clear credit they deserved). I'm glad to say that Arkane can finally get well deserved credit though, well I guess Bethesda gets some credit too.

Being a newly inspired game, it still does take on ideas from a great multitude of other excellent games, but Dishonored manages to blend it all in nicely. The gameplay is visibly similar and plays similar to that of Bioshock due to double wielding capabilities ad using a variety of magic powers as well. It also has an Assassins Creed inspiration obviously due to the fact that you play as an assassin, but also because of the ability to be super stealthy which can also be reminiscent to the likes of Splinter Cell and perhaps a Hitman game for the excellent multiple possibilities for assassinating. What do I mean by that? There is an earlier moment in the game (without spoiling the reasonings behind it) where you can either a. poison the targets drink, b. poison the targets and the targets guests drink, c. don't poison the drink and attack the target when entering the room, or d. sneak behind him and silent kill when he is alone. As you can tell, the replay value to try out all the other ways of killing targets is quite impressive. The game also has loot that is very similar to the Elder Scrolls games, preferably Skyrim to be best example, and many others also relate it to Borderlands even though the loot is very limited.

The game has many ways for you to go at it, you are able to beat the game in just six hours if you are one to attack everything at will with no mercy, or you can go for a more stealthier route which introduces another aspect of the game that makes it literally feel like a fresh new game with no feeling of repetition. Going a stealthier route will also make the game 20-40 hours long (when I finished it I played for 68 hours!). You can also play throughout the entire thing without any one noticing you ever! There is even a ghost mode that requires you to not even have anyone sense your presence whatsoever, which is really cool. Attacking targets and getting bodies noticed will actually bring in more security and tougher enemies if you are not careful. Best example would be the Tall Boys, soldiers with tall mechanical legs that shoot explosive arrows and are protected by shield arms. However you go at the game, in the end, will affect which ending you get, and apparently there are at least three endings I know of and proabably more.

Graphics and Presentation

I'll admit the cinematic trailer kind of threw me off of what to expect from the actual game. It showed realistic looking characters while the game goes for a more realism-mix cartoonish look for the characters that are, again, similar to that of Bioshock but not ridiculous like that of the rocker dudes in Guitar Hero that look like primates. But after playing the game the character style really does fit.The casting is really good too, which has a many talented voice artists as well as the provided voice talents of Carrie Fisher and Gregg Berger.

The graphics and art style fits and and works for such a title. Some review sites have complained about some muddy looking graphics here and there but what do they expect? The game is suppose to look dirty and abstract. It takes place in a steam punk style universe! And it involves the Rat Plague! It's not suppose to be as shiny and detailed as Uncharted or Heavy Rain. It's also suppose to have inventions and machinery that looks like clunky prototypes because that's what they were going for. Take Corvo's mask for example, it looks like a skull while also looking like a pile of random bits and pieces put together. (p.s. the game is also surprisingly really gory and bloody with graphic results, you can decapitate people and slice them into many pieces!)

The Score

The music is important to point out, it is both beautifully presented and rather creepy. The theme for this game is a child singing Drunken Whaler with eerie background music that is as terrifying as the music for Michael Myers in Halloween, very Creepy! It also has a very cool song written and presented by Daniel Licht called Honor for All that they use for the end credits of the game. For anyone who doesn't know, Daniel Licht is the same guy who scored the seasons for the TV show Dexter and is the new composer for the upcoming releases of Silent Hill games, replacing Akira Yamaoka.

Verdict and Final Thoughts

Are you overwhelmed and sick of all the sequels from the same long running franchises, and in need of something that is new and actually a good new? Well the search is over! Dishonored is by far the most compelling and well presented title this year, especially amongst all the sequels from much bigger companies. The replay value is high and multiple options and possibilities that the game gives you is something to be desired for ages to come. While the story doesn't have those wow and holy crap moments, it is well presented and beautifully told from a studio that is finally getting the attention it deserves.

I don't really like giving scores cause sometimes I think they're dumb and pointless numbers, but if I had to I would definitely give this game a 9 out of 10! Actually perhaps even a 9.5 out of 10 cause of it's enjoyable replay value (I'm currently replaying it again as we speak!)

the "Quick reviews" page has been removed, Retro moving in!

Some minor changes are coming along, before the bigger changes do, but one has recently happened and it's one that needed to happen.

We will no longer have the quick review page anymore. We find that there is no need to have one since we already technically review games in our Podcast series, as well as occasionally a full-fledged detailed review on this site. But hey, at least we'll have a retro page on here! That way we don't have to work on two sites at once (which is now pretty clear that the retro site has been cancelled sadly, but retro ramblysodes are still happening!)

We hope that this news doesn't upset anyone, we doubt it will though...

the Wii U is finally upon us! Was it a Hit or Miss?

Nintendo is the first to unleash the next generation console of their own creation: the Wii U, while not all of us have gotten the pleasure to either buy or try it for ourselves yet, is it worth it?

Give us your input! Is the Wii U the next best thing that is worth the cash and attention, or is it not entirely as intriguing as it seems to be? Hopefully one of us here will give our own input soon...

New Video! Assassins Creed 3 unboxing!

Guess what? Shrew actually got the limited edition of Assassins Creed III! And we actually have a video to show that off!

Shrew pre ordered it way back around PAX 2012 on Amazon. The set comes with the game, a really neat statue, an actual legit sized flag, and a belt buckle. Check out the video below:

We hardly do videos on youtube (even though we should), but we plan to hopefully do an unboxing of the big Call of Duty Black Ops II collectors edition that Bergy's brother managed to get his hands on. And expect an unboxing of the Bioshock Infinite Ultimate Songbird edition in February! Until next time...

GeekBeerz Ramblysode 1 "stuff" available now!

Took long enough, dealing with a stupid upload site and everything, but it is now available! It is an hour and 41 minutes long and considered the pilot episode.

As for now, it's exclusive to itunes. But hey it's free! you can get it on itunes by clicking HERE, it will be seen as GBR 1 - Pilot.