What is This 'Teen' Rating That You Speak Of?

You know things just got real when a soldier is carrying four weapons at once!

Ah Call of Duty, a military shooter that is well known for the realistic yet fun approach found in just about every game in the franchise. You will never find gratuitous amounts of pew pew laser beams and portals to other worlds here, for CoD as it is called is all about using real life military hardware to dish out the carnage in actual to somewhat actual real world settings, where there is no such thing as energy shields saving your butt from a quick and painful death. There is also very little being held back in terms of violence, as there is plenty of blood, explosions, and dismembered limbs to be found in these series of games, and Call of Duty: Black Ops is no exception by any means. Taking place after World War 2, Black Ops takes everything about its predecessor (Modern Warfare 2) and seemingly ups the ante in all possible aspects, right down the sheer amount of 'M' rated violence that one can see and in some cases partake in. It should be noted, however, that I have not had the chance to play this game myself, for I have only seen it being played on You Tube videos as well as on campus, so the best that I can do is give you an idea on what you may expect from this thing.

The graphics, true to CoD form, scream of realism across the board, with plenty of details to be found in practically everything visible. Epic explosions, beautiful weather effects, incredibly well crafted vehicles and characters, the works! Heck even the guns that you utilize are very well done, as they seem to match their real life counter-parts quite well along with the previously mentioned vehicles. The audio aspect is top notch from what I can gather from the videos, as everything from the voices to the gun sound just about right to me, especially the guns and their realistic gunfire. Gameplay, from the on-looker's experiences, looks to be quite fun in terms of singleplayer, with plenty of action occurring in the one level that I got chance to witness for myself, though that alone probably says volumes for the rest of the campaign. Multiplayer on the other hand, I never got a chance to observe enough to give opinion, though I have heard that it is an nice upgrade from the previous game's offering.

Given what has been said above, I would recommend this game to you, though it would be wise to rent it if you are looking for any of the console versions (Xbox 360, PS3 to my knowledge), the PC version you would have either buy or borrow on the other hand. It would also be beneficial to look up videos and information of Black Ops, so that you would have far greater idea of to expect upon purchase/rent/borrow. When taking my previous experiences with the Modern Warfare series for example, I honestly think that you would find something to like about this game, though do NOT quote me on not, if you please!

WARNING TO ALL POTENTIAL ONLINE PLAYERS: There has been some serious issues regarding internet lag during release, and it is unknown to me AS OF THIS WRITING if it has been fixed in all versions yet, so please double and triple check to make sure that it is before considering Black Ops, for you may have to wait a little while before the lag is taken care before it hasn't been already!

Here is some singleplayer footage from IGN (mind the volume please):

Zombies Everywhere! (Or the Incredibly Late Blog of Lazyness)

I hope you brought a shotgun!

If i have ever enjoyed zombie movies or games involving a zombie apocalypse, then Resident Evil 5 is up your alley. Released for the Xbox 360, PC, and possibly the PS3, Resident Evil 5 is the latest installment of the series of zombie horror games, where you have to fight through countless numbers of infected, bloodthirsty maniacs. The game starts off in an fictional village in Africa, where agent Chris Redfield is investigating a possible virus outbreak, accompanied by his new partner, Sheva Alomar. The situation quickly turns horrifying, as the entire population suddenly goes senile and attacks the pair at practically every turn, apparently being infected by the virus that Chris was investigating in the first place. Now the two have to find the source of this catastrophe and take it out before the virus spreads any farther.

The first thing to notice about the game is that it is beautiful, especially with the lighting and shader effects having that realistic look. This is further enhanced by its ability to utilize DirectX 10 for better graphics processing and optimization. Combine all of that with incredibly well made models and textures everywhere you look (most specifically, Chris Redfield), and you got a game that is sure to please to eye. A major warning for you PC gamers out their: RE5 will require a pretty decent system in order to have every graphical setting set to max without causing slow downs, though won't have to break the bank too much to upgrade what you need.

The controls function in a similar vain to RE4's scheme, with an over-the-shoulder third person view and using both the left and mouse buttons to aim and fire for starters. One of my favorite things that can be done control wise is a context sensitive feature called Partner Actions, which can range from you helping Sheva up a broken ladder to find something, to both of you busting down a door at the same time. You can also use this ability to help your partner out a jam whenever the need arises and the button appears on the screen. A cool feature that can be used is the ability to open up your items menu and select what you want to use in just a couple keystrokes, all while playing in the game. Not only that, but you can also use the number keys to switch between each of your items without having to look at the menu first, which will come in handy during a fight when you need health in a hurry. You can also make a full 180 degree turn with the single press of a key, perfect for when you want to get a quick kill from behind. Granted, the controls may take some getting used to, as it was the case with me. But once you the hang of things, you'll be killing stuff in no time.

An interesting feature to note is that you can actually choose to play with someone else cooperatively via online or through a LAN (Local Area Network), which only doubles the amount of fun you can have with this game, especially when the partner you get is at least somewhat competent at killing zombies here. But as I've basically said in many of my previous blogs, your online experience can and will vary, so don't be surprised if you find yourself stuck with a jerk. All in all, Resident Evil 5 is a game I have enjoyed so far (though I have yet to beat it sadly), and I would recommend that you fans of action games ought to at least give this bad boy a shot.

Before I finish, I would like to apologize for not updating my blog for as long as I have, for I was being particularly lazy, sorry professor!

Game Trailer: