Fourth Quarter 2009- My Reviews at a Glance

It's been a another busy holiday season. I have played the majority of all new titles to hit both the Playstation 3 and Xbox 360 with the exception of only a few. Here are my reviews at a glance.

5 Star Review
1-WTF!?
2-Working
3-Good. Worth a play via rent from gamefly or blockbuster etc.
4-Amazing! A must play. Vast improvement over the first (if series or sequel). Few flaws but nothing that holds the game back from being great. Decent replay value. Buy to own or to sell on eBay when finished.
5-Epic! Shadow of the Colossus caliber, one for the collection, enough said.

Xbox 360
-Assassin's Creed II ***
-Left 4 Dead 2 ****
-Borderlands ****
-Modern Warfare 2 ***
-Batman: Arkham Asylum ****
-Forza Motorsport III ***
-Halo 3: ODST *
-Dragon Age- Yet to play

Playstation 3
-BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger ***
-Uncharted 2: Among Thieves *****
-Infamous- Yet to play
-God of War Collection- Yet to play

At a glance what's first to notice? Hardly any exclusives. Most titles are cross platform... this is madness and needs to be stopped. And why are we still waiting for God of War III????

The Recipe for Survival- Bioshock PS3

In the midst of another crazy holiday gaming season I managed to pull off a complete runthrough of Bioshock Survivor difficulty on the Playstation 3. I cannot express my love enough for Bioshock. It has to be the best game since Shadow of the Colossus IMO and will go to the grave with me in my "Top 10" of all time.
Just guesstimating here, but I've probably played through it 30 times between Xbox 360 and Playstation 3. And if I had a good PC, you could add another 20x to that. Less than an hour ago I finally netted my Platinum Trophy for completion of Survivor Mode. Giving me 100% on both consoles (achievements/trophies). The timing on this playthrough has been planned with the sequel just around the corner. I'm crackin' out over Bioshock 2... I cannot wait!

Thoughts on Bioshock- Survivor Mode. Tips and tricks.
The hardest part of this mode is Medical Pavilion and getting past the first Big Daddy. Things start to get easier in Neptune's Bounty. Right after you get the camera, get researching and battle Peach Wilkins.

-Save often! I think I was saving every time I turned a corner up until Arcadia. Make sure to save just before and after a fight that you know is coming up or whenever handling a BD.

-Hack and loot everything! The reinforcements help and with Hacker's Delight you can gain Health and EVE everytime you hack something. Helps out alot! Ammo like Electric Gel, Explosive Buck and Heat-seeking RPG's work wonders against BD's. I would hack some camera's and turrets only to destroy them immediately for ammo.

-Health Upgrades at the Gatherer's Garden come first. In Medical Pavilion when you first receive ADAM and when reaching any new level. Some may find this hard to believe but EVE Upgrades are unnecessary. I never upgraded once through the entire game on Survival.

-Research, research, research! As soon as you get the camera get to work!

-Best Plasmids. They give them to you- Electro Bolt and Telekinesis. You will take these to the end. You can opt to skip Electro Bolt 2 if you want and get 3 as soon as you see it. Another must have is Target Dummy. It's cheap and the only plasmid you'll need for the final boss fight with Fontaine. Throughout the game you will get rushed by several enemies at the same time. They also like to rush you during a battle with a BD. This is where Target Dummy is a lifesaver! It helps you deal constructively with each enemy, picking them off one by one in a less stressful manner. Alot of people say that Hypnotize Big Daddy is one of the best... I highly disagree. Hypnotize BD uses too much EVE, it never seems to last that long and you almost always end up attacking BD by mistake, causing him to rip you a new one! Also, it forces you to rescue the Little Sisters for HBD and HBD2. This restricts the gameplay and makes things all that much harder in the beginning of the game. On top of that it's kind of annoying to get around BD when he's by your side. He's always blocking a doorway, shooting turrets that I intend to hack or triggering canisters to explode that either hurt me or prevent me from using them on BD in a more strategic fashion. Go with Enrage over HBD. I feel you can have alot more fun with it as you can throw it at either BD or enemies, it costs alot less EVE which is really important in this difficulty and it wont restrict your game. So Electro Bolt, Telekinesis, Target Dummy, Enrage and Incinerate just for melting ice. Most ADAM spent on health upgrades, tonics and slot upgrades for tonics.

-Camera research is vital and will lower the difficulty immensely the sooner you max it out.

-Don't forget about your wrench! I think you'd be surprised at how powerful it is. Even in the later levels. Wrench Jockey 2 coupled with SportBoost 2... can't go wrong. Ammo and money is sparse in this mode, and your wrench is here to help.

-Power to the People/Weapon Upgrade Stations: I did them in this order: Shotgun Damage, Grenade Launcher Damage, Machine Gun Damage, Grenade Launcher Immunity, Shotgun Rate of Fire, Crossbow Damage, Machine Gun Kickback. Pistol was last as I didn't really use it throughout the game other to get a BD's attention from afar.

-Dealing with Big Daddy's: First, save before attempting. Plan ahead. Aim for the back if you can. This is a very vulnerable spot on a BD. Look around for explosive canisters and plant a few Proximity Mines around them (without hitting them of course). Fire at BD and lure him over. Hopefully you been working on camera research as this would oppose the only threat for not being able to take them down with ease. Electro Bolt to stun, Frags, Heat-seeking RPG's, and the incredible power of Electric Buck and Shotgun rate of fire equals pawn-age!

-Final Boss fight with Fontaine: Ready up Target Dummy and the Chemical Thrower. Round 1: Stand still and use Electric Gel, dance and reload, Electric Gel. Round 2: Electric Gel, Target Dummy, dance, spam Proximity and or Frags, Target Dummy. Round 3: Target Dummy, dance, Proximity, Frags, Heat-seeking RPG's, Target Dummy, RPG, Trophy!

I harvested the first little sister for max ADAM so I could buy the Health Upgrade and Armored Shell. I then rescued the next 3 Little Sisters so I could get Hypnotize Big Daddy. Only to find out it wasn't working all that well for me on Survivor difficulty. Harvested the remaining Little Sisters. I sacrificed gifts for saving LS's like Armored Shell 2 and Prolific Inventor for an easier game earlier on and I'm glad I did. I was never low on ADAM. I was able to purchase health and track upgrades quickly. The last two BD's I brought down were so easy one would think I had changed the difficulty. They couldn't even get a shot on me. Five frags and a few pumps of Electric Buck and they were toast. I ended with $462.00 and 650 ADAM left over. Here are the Plasmids and Tonics I ended up with for end game and what I ultimately would recommend for anyone playing on a harder difficulty.

-Plasmid Track: Electro Bolt 3, Telekinesis, Incinerate! 3, Target Dummy, Enrage, Hypnotize Big Daddy.
-Physical Tonics Track: EVE Link 2, Medical Expert 3, EVE Saver, Sportbooster 2, Security Evasion 2 (replaced Natural Camouflage), Hacker's Delight 3
-Engineering Tonics Track: Security Expert 2, Speedy Hacker 2, Vending Expert 2, Hacking Expert 2, Clever Inventor, Alarm Expert 2
-Combat Tonics Track: Armored Shell, Static Discharge 2, Wrench Jockey 2, Damage Research 2, Electric Flesh 2, Human Inferno 2 (replaced Photographer's Eye 2 when research was maxed)