CHARTED!

While I did play and finish Uncharted: Drake's Fortune, I was not one of the people that thought it was the best game on PS3. I enjoyed the first game, but I felt that it did drag on towards the end. Uncharted 2: Among Thieves, does not have that problem. The game is a roller coaster ride from start to finish, even taking a cue from Halo at the very end of the game. The character development and voice acting are superb, allowing a story that would normally be "OK" to really shine.

The gameplay is more of a refinement than an innovation, although I still feel that the gunplay doesn't really compare to games like Call of Duty or Halo. Naughty Dog did a great job of taking the best things from CoD and Halo multiplayer, and putting their own unique spin on it. The multiplayer, I think, is probably going to draw in more Socom/ Gears of War fans than, say, Call of Duty or Halo mainly because of the perspective. That's not to say that CoD and Halo fans just won't like it, it's just that there are fundamental differences in the gameplay between first and third person perspectives that go beyond just the view point. With that said the multiplayer is very well done and should help extend the game's life for years to come.

As someone who really enjoyed Assassin's Creed, I sometimes find myself feeling limited by the climbing in Uncharted. I understand that there are decisions that have to be made to keep the continuity of the game, but I still find myself longing to be able to climb everything. I really like all of the "extra stuff" that Naughty Dog put into the game, things like that really help to give the single player mode plenty of replayablity. I thought the love interest was also exceptionally done and something that has not been successful in alot of games thus far.

In the end Naughty Dog has, in my opinion, created their finest game yet, showing their versatility and obsession with
pushing boundaries. Uncharted 2: Among Thieves is a game that any PS3 owner should experience.

Today saw the release of Halo Wars, Ensemble Studioslast hoorah as a game company.If you were one of those people willing to drop almost $90 on the Limited Edition (like me) then you also received a redeemable code to download Halo 3's latest trio of maps,the Mythic Map Pack.It consists of three brand new maps named Assembly,Orbital,and Sandbox.The interesting thing about these new maps is that they are the first multiplayer maps to have skulls hidden in them.

So I decided to put together a little guide showing exactly where you can find the skulls on each map.They are as follows:

Assembly

The skull on Assembly is located on one the two main "arms" coming off of the side of the main structure in the middle of the map.The area circled in the first pic is where you'll find the skull.You'll need to go into forge and fly up there as the monitor and then turn back into a spartan to pick up the skull.

Orbital

Orbital's skull is slightly trickier to find only because the map is not as wide open as Assembly.The area shown in the first screen shot is where you'll need to go to find the skull.The sniper rifle propped up in the hallway to the left is a good indicator that your in the right spot.There is also a pit directly behind where I took this pic.The wall where I've drawn the arrow (the one with the half-octagon shaped window) is housing the skull only you'll need to fly straight up.

As you fly up you'll see structures sticking off of the wall,each one with a blue light on the right side.The skull is located on the 4th structure with a blue light.Fly up over the right side and turn back into a spartan,from here you'll need to crouch walk over to the skull.You can see the skull on the ledge across from me in the 2nd pic.

Sandbox

*Note that the skull is located right up against the wall in the lowest point of the "v shape" that the sand makes in the area circled in the first pic*

The skull on Sandbox is by far the hardest to acquire.Sandbox has four giant towers that act as prison guard snipers,try to leave the map and watch as they destroy you with giant laser beams.Unfortunately Bungie thought it would be funny to put the skull up against the wall that surrounds the map at the base of the towers.So the trick is to make it all the way to the skull with out getting obliterated before you can pick it up.

So what I did was open up my forge item menu,scroll over to teleporters and select the two way node.With the two way node dangling in the air in front of you,head straight for where the skull is located while holding down the left trigger for maximum speed.You'll also want fly up and down with the left and right bumbers while moving left or right (or even a circular motion) with the left stick.Don't fly in one direction for too long as the towers are relentless and have an excellent aim.

If you manage to get close enough to the skull,drop the teleporter as near to the skull as possible.You'll probably die in the process,but as long as you get that teleporter close to the skull then it doesn't matter.Next,place another two way node anywhere in the safe part of the map (I put it right on the edge of the "safe zone") and pass through to try and grab the skull.It may take a few tries depending on how close you dropped the teleporter to the skull but you should be able to get it.

Once you've aquired all the skulls you'll have 3 shiny new achievements worth a total of 75 gamerpoints.

For larger,bright versions of the above pics click the applicable link below:

Assembly Pic 1

Assembly Pic 2

Orbital Pic 1

Orbital Pic 2

Sandbox Pic 1

Sandbox Pic 2

Sandbox Pic 3

Last night,after my curiosity finally got the best of me,I downloaded Flower.Flower is a game developed by ThatGameCompany (makers of PSN exclusive Flow) exclusively for the Playstation Network.The gameplay consists of you flying a flower pedal around using the SixAxis motion controls and controling wind by hitting any button on the controller.Holding a button down to make the wind blow causes your flower pedal to move faster.As you play you'll notice other flowers that will bloom once you fly into them,thus making your "tail" of flower pedals longer.

The game has quite possibly the "prettiest" graphics I've ever seen in a game.Rolling vistas with beautiful bright colors make for a visually arresting experience.The SixAxis controls are spot-on and make flying your pedals around feel second nature.Sometimes you'll notice areas where the grass appears to be dead,but it can be brought back to a lively green by simply flying into all the flowers surrounding it.

The sound also adds to the game's relaxing feel with it's slow and soft tones.Some games (think Braid) use classical music to achieve a calm, relaxing feel,but Flower enlists a more modern slow sound.While most of the tracks provide the same overall feel,they are all unique in their own right.

I instantly fell in love with this game the moment I started playing it.Flower is the very definition of a casual and relaxing game.Even my wife,who very rarely plays games,was able to pick it up and immediately have fun with it,which is a testiment to it's broad appeal.Although there is an underlying story in Flower,it never throws it in your face.

This is one the best downloadable games I've played on any system and deserves to be played by anyone who enjoys games.So if you have a PS3 connected to PSN and an extra $9.99 in the bank,then you owe it to yourself as a gamer to check it out.

Killzone 2 has given me a new perspective on the love/hate relationship.On the one hand it's one of the finest first person shooters to come along in quite some time,on the other hand it could've been so much more.

For alot of people,Killzone 2 will be their first foray into the ongoing war between the I.S.A. and the Helghast.Luckily, Killzone 2 doesn't require you to have played the previous games to understand what's going on.The game kicks off with the I.S.A. preparing a full on invasion of the Helghast homeworld of Helghan.You take control of Sergeant Tomas "Sev" Sevchenko as you prepare to take to the streets of Helghan to try and end this war for good.

Throughout the game you'll find your self partnered up with the three other members of your squad, Corporal Dante Garza, Corporal Shawn Natco, and Sergeant Rico Velasquez (Killzone veterans will remember Rico from the first game).You spend most of your time with Garza,which is fine as he's easily the most likable of the three.Natco is the kind of guy that seems to always have jokes,even if they are in poor taste, while Rico is the crap talking,trigger happy soldier that can form an entire sentence out of f - bombs.

Your mission is to invade the capital city of Pyrrhus and capture Scolar Vasari,leader of the Helghast.Along the way you'll visit many different locations ranging from city streets to desert wastelands.You'll also notice early on that Jan Templar,one of the characters you play in the first game,is now a Colonel and your commanding officer.Unlike the first game where you played several different characters throughout the course of the campaign,you play as Sev for the entirety of Killzone 2.

By now anyone who's seen this game knows that the graphics are amazing.Guerrilla uses things like motion blur,camera shake,physics, and darkening the four corners of the screen to achieve an very realistic look.Everything in the game from trash cans and forktrucks to the Helghan landscape and electricity charged sky look brilliant.The large amount of things happening on screen at once also help draw you further into the world.While I'm not willing to go as far as some and say that the game looks just as good as the infamous '05 E3 trailer,I will say that they came pretty darn close.The only oddity I found was in the camera placement.In most first person shooters the camera is placed on the character's chest so as to put the gun at the forefront of the screen.In this respect Killzone 2 is no different.Unfortuantely the side effect is that you end up feeling quite small when standing next to your comrades,a problem most fps games don't have.Nothing major,just weird.

Killzone 2 also has amazing sound to go along with those graphics.The box says it supports Dobly Digital, but my receiver switches to DTS when I put the game.Not sure why they wouldn't put that the game has DTS support on the box as DTS is widely acknowlegded as sounding better than Dolby Digital.The orchestral score is amazing and kind of reminds me of some of the later Star Wars scores.Sound effects are spot on as shooting at and walking on different surfaces yields the correct sounds.Explosions sound great if you have a good subwoofer.Dialogue is also clear and easy to hear allowing you to turn off the subtitles if you want to.You definately want to crank it up while playing.

The guns of Killzone 2 are varied and fun to use,each with it's own purpose.You start out with your standard issue M82 assault rifle w/holographic sight,which bears a sriking resemblance to modern day M4's.This is a really great weapon and is effective in just about any situation.There's also the STA52,which is the helghast assualt rifle,it's less accurate than the M82 but has a higher rate of fire.The VC32 sniper rifle is really fun to use and foregoes the use of a button to steady your aim in lieu of holding the SixAxis really still.One thing I wasn't too fond of was being forced to always carry your pistol resulting in you only having one primary weapon at any given time.In contrast,Killzone 1 let you carry two primary weapons and your pistol.Not a real big deal, just annoying.Pressing right on the d-pad at any time will pull out your combat knife which is very effective.There are also a couple of special weapons you'll find through the course of the campaign that are very fun to use.Other weapons include the STA11 sub machine gun, the LS13 shotgun,the VC9 missile launcher and many more.

Enemy A.I. is also a high point for Killzone 2.Enemies will take cover while fighting but continue to move and find better cover as you move.They use tactics such as flanking or throwing grenades to flush you out.Get too close and they'll use melee attacks to take you out.The excellent A.I. makes each firefight leave you with a sense of accomplishment after you've won.The pacing is really well done and never lets you linger too long without something to do.The levels are linear enough that you never get lost, yet open enough to allow exploration.I was a little skeptical of the first person perspective cover system, but playing the game has put that to rest as it works beautifully.The only time I ever had problems with it are when I wanted to crouch near a wall and snipe without going into cover.This was a problem because the cover button and the crouch button are the same thus making it difficult to do one without the other.

The controls are the only area where I think the game stumbles.The best way I can describe them is "imprecise".They almost feel too responsive and not responsive enough all at the same time.Swinging your gun around to meet an attacker from behind seems to take too long while zooming in to get headshots seems too touchy.It's hard to put my finger on but they deninately feel off.This is the one thing that I think keeps Killzone 2 from being a genre defining game.The cover system,sprinting, jumping and throwing grenades all work great.I really liked the use of SixAxis controls on things like turning valves,setting charges, sniping and playing with the load screen.

I can't speak too much for the multiplayer as I've only played a handful of games.What I did play though was really fun.I really like the class system and the ability to unlock "badges" that give new abilities.I'm also pleased to see a real clan system,unlike Call of Duty's "type a word in front of your name and call yourself a clan" system.the skirmish mode is also a welcome addition,allowing you take on A.I. bots in multiplayer game modes acting as a sort of training ground before facing off against human opponents.I didn't notice any lag in the games that I played and teamwork seemed to be a must,much more so than in other games.I plan on playing alot more multiplayer in the near future and if my opinion changes I'll post it.

My last small gripe is with the final boss battle as I feel it's too long and not direct enough on what you need to do.I played through the game on veteran,which is the hardest difficulty available at the start,so it might not be that bad on easier difficulties.But I had to go online to find out what I was doing wrong, something I don't usually like to do.Through out the course of the game pressing up on the d-pad will bring up a waypoint showing your objective and it works really well,but the problem I had with the boss wasn't where I needed to go but what I needed to do.

Overall Killzone 2 is a fantastic game that should be played by any fan of first person shooters.I think it's one the very best games on the PS3 and deserves a spot in every PS3 owners collection.Between the gripping campaign and massive multiplayer mode Guerrilla has crafted a game that PS3 owners can play for a long time to come.