Corsair M90 Review

How many times have you been playing World of Warcraft, RIFT or maybe even Aion, attempted to tank that final raid boss but confused yourself with your own myriad of keyboard macros and got your team killed? That’s why we’re being overrun by mice – the computer kind. We’ve tested and rated two so far, and today we have our third, the Corsair M90.

Silent Hill: Downpour Review

There are many franchises out there that focus on horror in some way shape or form, may it be Resident Evil, Fatal Frame, Clock Tower, Deadly Premonition or Alan Wake to name a few. One of the more recognisable titles of the genre would have to be Silent Hill. Mainly focusing on engaging the player with their great and excellently told stories while providing an alone and frightening experience of the unknown. Now it’s time for the second major entry of this generation’s platforms in Silent Hill: Downpour. So does Silent Hill: Downpour offers players the same experience as previous iterations or will it be forgotten within the thick fog of the town?

The story follows a prisoner named Murphy Pendleton. After a few foreshadowing events, Murphy enters a prison transport bus to be transferred. Riding through Silent Hill, the bus  soon takes a turn for the worst and veers off a cliff. Murphy being the only survivor of the smash up he must escape Silent Hill and uncover his unfortunate past amidst the horrors of the mysterious town.

Silent Hill: Downpour offers a more engaging story than its predecessor, Silent Hill: Homecoming. Players will have to uncover Murphy Pendleton’s past and reveal what covictions landed him in the slammer to begin with. Themes have been a reoccurring focus on the Silent Hill series like; Silent Hill: Homecoming‘s family theme or the focus of love in Silent Hill 2. Silent Hill: Downpour follows the same formula with its water and imprisonment themes, but ultimately focusing on Murphy’s unfortunate past.  Overall the story is greatly told with emotion, despair, and creativity as the player guides Murphy in this unforgettable venture through the gastly town.

As good as the story is, the gameplay for Silent Hill: Downpour can be a hit or miss. As a survival horror game, players will have to explore, solve challenging puzzles, and fight the monsters to survive and escape the nightmarish place and the standard exploration of previous Silent Hill games has expanded again to include trawls for items or lore. Players can undergo side quest during the course of the story to hopefully gain access to better items, secrets weapons, lore, and even alternate endings. These side quests can easily range from unlocking safes to gathering items for ghostly kids.

Exploration and puzzles go hand in hand. Most of these side quests are giant puzzles that can be quite challenging to figure out. While the puzzles that are related to the story progression can be somewhat of a bump on the road. Most of these puzzles are creative and make quite a distraction from the main storyline. Players can set the difficulty of the puzzles and combat ranging from easy to hard.

The combat in Silent Hill: Downpour is quite a mess. Silent Hill has a terrible history with combat as being the weakness link in gameplay. Silent Hill: Downpour is no different and possibly the worst in the series. It feels clunky to move Murphy. The controls are somewhat poorly mapped , and the targeting doesn’t work at all making brawls against multiple monsters extremly combersome. On top of frsutrating combat, Murphy can only carry one firearm or melee weapon with those limited melee weapons gradually deteriorating and shattering after prolonged use. Weapon durabilty is usually a great mechanic but instead suffers from the the fact that there are no signs of physical wear or tear in a weapon. You can be swinging away in a life-threatening fight thinking that the weapon is still capable of saving your ass only for it to break at a crucial moment. Murphy vitality signs are shown though the physical damage that he has taken during combat, so why this couldn’t be applied to weapons is beyond us.

Silent Hill: Downpour also features a real time weather cycle. Cycling between no rain, light rain, and heavy rain, the environment will change and so will the amount of enemies. Players can fight the danger, run away, or seek haven inside a house. There are also key moments in the story progression where the player must run around from the “Void”. This void is a unknown force that will drain Murphy’s vitality away and soon consume and kill him. This offers the most intense moments in gameplay. For the horror aspect, Silent Hill: Downpour still offers a good mix of unexpected scares and intense moments of fighting and running. Gameplay remains good for the most part, but the combat easily remains the weakest link here.

The presentation for Silent Hill: Downpour is quite a disappointment. The graphics offer some nice detail from both characters and monsters with the ability to have water pour off of their figures. Monsters on the other hand are more human than horrific mutants, but have variety no less. Sadly the game suffers from framerate issues when too much action goes on in one place. Screen tearing from fast paced movements, and slow down which can lead to freezing on the odd occasion. The voicing acting is passable with believability and emotion. The soundtrack which was composed Daniel Licht is great and still offers that Silent Hill eerie feel.

Silent Hill: Downpour is good for the most part. The story is well told and still has that eerie Silent Hill feel mixed with foreshadowing, and emotion to drive the player in this unforgettable adventure story-wise. The same old gameplay remains offering a nice cocktail of couch-jumping scares around every corner, whether that’s because of the constant fear of loosing the fight at the fault of mediocre controls or performence issues is a worthwhile mention, but nontheless game brings the scares you expect from the genre, and indeed, the series. If it wasn’t for the niggling performence issues and a few quick refinements to the combat elements, Silent Hill: Downpour could have been so much more. For now, it remains a good tale of misfortune and scares, but not much else.

Final Score: 3.5/5

Dynasty Warriors Next Review

Dynasty Warriors is ready to take the battlefield of ancient China, but this time on the go. Dynasty Warriors Next is the newest installment in the long running franchise. Designed with the Playstation Vita in mind, Dynasty Warriors Next provides features unlike any previous Dynasty Warriors games. Does this installment give players a fresh take on the series, or will it be just another body on the battlefield?

Set before, during, and after the three kingdoms period. Dynasty Warriors Next does gameplay differently this time around. Combining the traditional gameplay of the original and the Empire series this feels much more like a hybrid than any previous entry. There are a total of five game modes with campaign, conquest, and coalition make up the bulk of it, while Gala mode uses all the functionality of the Playstation Vita, and Edit mode allows you to customize your character.

Once you start playing any of the three major modes, you’ll see a map of China’s provinces. After selecting a province to attack, you’ll then be able to select a character to play as and set ‘stratagems’. Stratagems are basically a different ability set for each officer, some stratagems include increasing your armies attack or it’s defense, even their character speed or attack; there are a staggering 65 plus stratagems you can use. Once you’ve chosen your weapon of choice you can start hack’n slashing your way through the battlefield.

Campaign mode will play out the acts from Romance of The Three Kingdoms. Here you’ll play across different acts, with each act having a different objective and map layout. Conquest mode is completely different from its console counterpart. This time around you must conquer China so it’s all under one rule; there are multiple layouts to choose from that include a 2 faction conquest mode to a 5 faction conquest mode. Coalition mode is the ad-hoc multiplayer portion of the game where you can team up with friends on four different modes: race, defend, capture, and death match. Edit mode finally comes back, where players can create their own warrior to use in conquest or coalition mode, you can have up to 100 different customized characters.

As mentioned before, Gala mode uses all the functionality of the Playstation Vita. Musou Snapshots uses the camera to take pictures with your favorite Dynasty Warrior character, whilst Steeplechase uses the six-axis motion sensor to steer the horse. Bastion uses the front touch pad to slash all foes charging at you and Marksman sees you using the rear touch pad to fire arrows and the six-axis to move the camera. Finally Calligrapher uses the rear touch pad to find Chinese symbols. Duelling also utilises the vita’s front touch pad; during campaign or conquest, you’ll randomly be put into duels on both the battlefield and map screen. Everything in dueling involves the front touch pad, swiping the attacks, while pressing the touchpad charges at your opponent. When clashes occur you’ll have to quickly touch inputs on screen as fast as you can to overpower the enemy. All of these features appear in both campaign and conquest mode.

Gameplay in Dynasty Warrriors Next is big in scope, offering much variety and depth in its gameplay. There are some issues, such as not having a visible health bar – which is instead dealt with via a change in the screen edges - and some of the touch pad mini-games do fail to respond from time to time. Dynasty Warriors Next does however offer the best of both Empires and traditional DW gameplay at the palm of your hand.

Visually Tecmo Koei have done a wonderful job, graphics are crisp, nice, and detailed. Character models stand out the most on officers, while the environments can remain a bit bland. The Playstation Vita can easily take some punishment from Dynasty Warrriors Next, offering 100+ characters on screen with little technical issues such as slowdown. The CG movies come back to explain most of the narrative during campaign mode and although the voicing acting isn’t the greatest, it gets the job done. Nicely the soundtrack is still your typical Dynasty Warriors rock tunes.

As the title says “Next”, Dynasty Warriors Next offers more than its previous entrants. Gameplay is a mix of the classics, while offering new variety and depth unlike any other. There are some issues with gameplay, but are essentially just minor. The touch screen mini-games are a great distraction and fun to play. On the Vita, the presentation of Dynasty Warriors Next gives great detail and animation. The voicing acting isn’t the greatest and the soundtracks are much similar or remixed rock tunes. Dynasty Warriors Next will easily eat up an hour of time for the gamer on the go. Combining the great narrative and storytelling in Dynasty Warriors 7 and offering as much variety and depth in Dynasty Warriors Next, this could be a stepping stone for the evolution of this franchise.

Final Score: 4/5

Ninja Gaiden Sigma Plus Review

Ninja Gaiden is a long running franchise that has found a home across a variety of consoles. Now Ninja Gaiden sets its sights on the newly released Playstation Vita. As another enhanced port of  the 2004 version, Ninja Gaiden Sigma Plus hopes to give Vita owners another chance to relive a classic on the go. So was this port necessary for the Vita, or is it just another nick from Ryu’s Katana?

Those who are familiar with Ninja Gaiden story from 2004 will find nothing new or different in this port. Everyone’s favorite ninja, Ryu Hayabusa, seeks revenge after the destruction of his village, and then to add insult to injury, the dark dragon blade that the Hayabusa village was protecting also gets stolen by the antagonist Doku. Ryu must now find the dark dragon blade and avenge this fallen clan. For those who haven’t played the original, or the multiple enhanced ports, this is the perfect time to enjoy the story.

As for the gameplay, Sigma veterans will find all the  features present in the original in this remake, along with more ninja trials which are best suited for the more on-the-go shinobi amongst us. The insane difficulty curve of the original is there, whilst the option of that newly introduced easy mode is in place for those incapable of standing up to the traditional, and infamous, Ninja Gaiden challenge. Combat is the same mix of button based attacks and combos, along with a good variety of weapons to defeat every foe that walks into Ryu’s path. Most of the features in Sigma Plus are nothing overly special or helpful; ninpo attacks can be charged via the rear touchpad and the first-person view, as well as using the bow and arrow, comes via the front touch screen and motion sensors. There are still sensitivity issues, along with camera issues that plagued previous versions too. Ninja Gaiden Sigma Plus gameplay elements and it’s mechanics add very little to the already rewarding gameplay.

On the bright side, presentation for Sigma Plus is quite impressive with the OLED screen offering graphics that are crisp and vibrant. The overall graphical appeal does show its age, but always finds new life on each enhanced port. Voice acting remains untouched, along with the great soundtrack. It seems that Team Ninja and Tecmo Koei have left what made the game a classic untouched, yet enhanced the elements to take advantage of the extra Vita hardware.

Overall, Ninja Gaiden Sigma Plus is another great revamps of the Xbox original, and is perfect for gamers on the go. The story remains the same epic tale of betryal and suffering, even when shrunk down to the palm of your hand. The new difficulty options actually offer a smoother curve, and leave you less likely to throw your Vita at your television or through a window/under a bus/into a lake, practically anywhere dangerous when you’re playing the Vita. For those who have yet to play Ninja Gaiden, be the 2004 version or the various enhanced ports, this may be the time to check out this timeless classic or, for those who know their way around Ryu, it’s a great time to revisit it before the launch of Ninja Gaiden 3

Final Score: 4/5

FIFA Street Review

FIFA Soccer has become a staple of the EA Sports lineup and an integral part of many gamer’s lineups. The yearly iteration has seen consistent improvement to which many fans have praised the series for its ball control and trueness to the sport. Touted by EA as the number one selling sports franchise in the world, FIFA looks to take players back to the street, a place where they have not been since 2008. FIFA Street is a complete reboot to the franchise adding realism and real life street venues from around the globe to take players into the life of a street soccer rookie playing in small time court games and moving up to high intensity 6v6 championship tournaments. Can this breathe new life into the street series or does it belong on the curb?

FIFA Street offers fans of the FIFA Soccer franchise a chance to transfer their created ‘Virtual Pro’ from FIFA 12 right from the start, enabling them to build a street team around him. Players will be able to customize their team and create more players than just their import in the ’World Tour’ mode. Customization of individual clothing, team name, logo, attributes, play style, and various other in depth team options. Throughout the World Tour mode you’ll travel the globe facing off in a variety of game types from 2v2 to full on 5v5 or 6v6 tournaments made up of three qualifiers and then bracket play. Events also range from ‘freestyle’ - where you gain points to your bank by doing tricks and pannas while scoring goals to reduce the opposing teams bank to nothing. Last man standing requires teamwork and great solo effort to win, as each time you score a goal, your team loses a member until one man is left and you score the final finishing goal. Another great mode is ‘First To Five’ where you simply have unlimited time and it requires you to be the first to five goals. The World Tour mode is littered with modes like these aside from the 5v5 and 6v6 solid street ball or Futsal - which is like regular FIFA but with dribbling and street mechanics.

Each event in World Tour will put you to the test and allow you to choose one of three difficulties; bronze (easy), silver (medium) or gold (hard) with each giving you a different reward for the win while unlocking the lower tiered rewards. For example, if you beat an event on gold, you unlock the silver and bronze rewards which range from clothing, street teams, or even new arenas to play in. World Tour also gives you the option to play the events online against other players but sticks the AI at a set gold difficulty. In order for you to progress and be eligible to compete in the variety of game types in Street you should have at least six players on your created team, but you can have a maximum of ten. Through online connectivity you can take the Virtual Pro from your friend’s FIFA Street team and use him as your own. World Tour will throw players on a lengthy ride through four tiers covering regional, national, European and global street ball. Each tier requires you to place in the top three in the finals to progress. Tournaments play an integral part in advancement giving you points in the current tier on your teams rankings. Another great element is that your opponents during World Tour are gathered by the EA Online servers and are actual teams created by players around the world. It assures that no two players will ever have the same opponents at a given time.

The controls are one thing that FIFA Street take to heart, and players will agree when they pick it up. FIFA fans will be familiar with the control layout and take to it almost immediately. Dribbling and juggling will become a key attribute with many players as it will be your easy way to deke around defenders and even fake or trick them so you can kick home the goal which is simple and done by holding down the R1/RB while pressing a direction the left stick to kick the ball up or juggle it over the defender. Dribbling is done in what is referred to as street ball control by pressing L2/LT and utilizing the left stick to confuse the defender. Players who get a little over confident can show off some flair with the L1/LB button while passing (X/A) or shooting (O/B) to do some over the top techniques; like kicking it with the back of your foot or a behind-the-back shot. Skill shots can be done by toying with the right stick against a defender and deking them in a variety of true to street, stylish ways where the ball passes through your opponents legs - s0mething known as a ‘panna’ or ‘nutmeg’. As you progress with each player, you can use attribute points to purchase more skill moves to use. On defense your job is simply to regain the ball by either square/X or O/B while doing your best to defend your ground. The game also usually auto selects the player closet to the ball when the ball changes hands to the opposite team or chosen manually by choice with L1/LB on defense.

The more you play in FIFA Street with your team, the more experience you will gain by competing in events by doing tasks such as scoring, pannas or simply deking around defenders. Players will be notified after every event regarding level progress via a progress bar by each character who participated in the event. Players on the bench or not participating will also gain experience albeit at a lowered rate. Once you level up you’ll earn a smaller little ‘level up’ symbol - a green ‘^’ sign by the players name. Every time you level up you will gain ten (10) attribute points to distribute throughout your player’s various seven attribute categories (athleticism, defense, dribbling, goalkeeping, passing, shooting and speed). Depending on how you choose to distribute these points throughout your players progression, they will earn various specialization roles. Starting out at ‘balanced’ and branching out into varying types that sort of mark their importance to the team such as power finisher, keeper, playmaker and so on. You can also choose to spend attribute points on styles as well as new tricks for the player to learn, but it isn’t necessary. To say the least, the character and team development are some of the deepest in any sports game  to date. And that is a plus for any FIFA fan. As you progress and defeate licensed teams from FIFA, or real street teams you’ll unlock the ability to have a key player join your team if you choose to. They’ll be unable to level up but will retain the base stats they were created with.

Online takes to the streets as you would expect and allows the usual ‘play now’/'quick play’ type of modes. But the bread and butter is the online head-to-head seasons where you can compete online in seasons with your team where ten games are equal to a season in fifteen different divisions for you to engorge in either 5v5 or 6v6 game types. Also available for online play are cup matches which reset every few days with a new game type to keep things fresh for players. Leaderboards are apparent in World Tour events and even in the online modes. Players can capture video at any point to show off tricks or incredible feats and upload them online on the fly. EA Sports Football Club makes a return and will contribute to your identity across all FIFA titles.

FIFA Street manages to hit all the notes on the gameplay side of things. Solid controls, addictive gameplay and a deep team creation system as well as a diverse World Tour mode makes for at least 8-10 hours of main mode football, and even more if you plan to level your team and take on the Gold standard. Graphically it is on par with FIFA 12, which is great, however the crowds seem to suffer and for the most part appear lackluster. The soundtrack is engaging and upbeat as you would expect any street title would be, something that makes you move your feet in tune with the almost graceful action of the players. All in all, FIFA Street stays true to the sport and crafts a near perfect street soccer title. FIFA Street as a reboot is better than any fan could have hoped for and one for gamers to enjoy for some time.

Final Score: 4.5/5

Hyperdimension Neptunia Mk2 Review

Hyperdimenision Neptunia was one of those games that people either adored or despised. It wasn’t the greatest compile heart/idea factory game – but it had potential to be. Now the sequel, Hyperdimension Neptunia mk2, hopes to achieve more than its predecessor. Where Hyperdimenision Neptunia failed, Hyperdimension Neptunia Mk2 wants to improve. So does this second attempt save the Hyper Dimension name or will it show corruption yet again?

The story of Hyperdimenision Neptunia Mk2 continues where the first left off. Set in the world of Gamindustri, the CPUs and comrades have defeated Arfoire, the antagonist of the first game. After the defeat of Arfoire and new force know as the ASIC – Arfoire Syndicate of International Crime – rises and defeats all the CPUs. Set three years later after that event, It’s up to the new CPU candidate, NepGear, to save her sister (Neptune) and the other CPUs, along with the protection of the whole Gamindustri world.

It’s the classic JRPG scenario; defeat the evil darkness and save the inhabitants and world from ultimate destruction.  Hyperdimenision Neptunia Mk2 trends on familiar ground, but what sets the story apart is the weird, questionable and hilarious dialog. The story might be familiar, but the dialog is always fresh. Hyperdimenision Neptunia Mk2 is no different. It may be a familiar told story, but the dialog helps the story to stay fresh. In the end, Hyperdimenision Neptunia Mk2 offers a better story than its predecessor.

The story for Hyperdimenision Neptunia Mk2 has improved, but what about the gameplay elements? Dungeon, battles, and other elements have changed greatly. Let’s begin with most of the basics stuff. The world is big in Hyperdimenision Neptunia Mk2. There are many inhabitants both good and bad. When a player goes into town, there is a new element called Chirper. This is a main communication system on each landmass allowing players to talk to NPCs and look at certain events. If you feel like earning some rewards, head to the Guild and partake in their gathering and slaying quests for a break from the story.

The ‘Lily’ system allows the player to attain each character’s affection level toward Nepgear. something which aides item synthesis and can come with some questionable events. Finally, Nepgear’s HDD outfit can be edited by uploading pictures from the PS3 hard drive to the game to make templates based on them.

Once players are done looking around town; shopping, accepting quests and more, the dungeons will soon come into play. Many features that were once in Hyperdimenision Neptunia are long gone and now simple features like treasure search, gathering, symbol attack and roaming encounters come into play. ‘Treasure search’ is essetially what is implies, ‘Gathering’ can reward you with the materials required for quest and item synthesis and dwelling monsters in the dungeons now roam the area rather than springing up out of nowhere. If the players attack the monster from behind, it starts a symbol attack – essentially a pre-emptive strike.

Now once a battle starts, players will notice the dramatically changed combat system, one similar to Eternal Sonata. Players will move their character and attack with a set of moves and chain them to make combos and unique powerful attacks. These attacks can only be executed if that character has any amount of AP (Action Points) left. If the AP runs out, that character’s turn ends. Whereby Skill Points (SP) can be used for more powerful attacks or activate the CPUs/CPUs candidate’s HDD mode (Hard Drive Divinity). This mode will turn them into the goddesses that protect Gameindustri, which will improve combat performance greatly. The only drawback will be the decreasing amount of SP per turn. Monsters can also freely move during combat and have GP (Guard Points). If the GP is depleted, that monster defense will be reduced greatly for you to dish out the high damage.

Hyperdimension Neptunia mk2 offer a more defined RPG gameplay. Most of the elements that were not in the first game are here or have been improved or changed. Most of the basic elements like the world map, chirper, and such offer a more streamline adventure. Those who hated the high encounter rate in the first game will love the new and improved dungeon features. The most important part of the game is the battle system. The battle system in the first one was a complete and utter bore. Now that has been improved and change with more variety and flexibility.

As the story and gameplay improve, the presentation does fail to impress. The in-game graphics are anime looking with colorful worlds, characters, and enemies. Sadly though, they have some issues with slow-down and framerate drops. The visual novel graphics during conversation are minimal with the replacement of 3D character animations during conversation feeling misplaced and unnecessary. The voice work uses standard voice actors who have been in previous anime and games. Just like any other Idea Factory or Compile Heart title, there is the option to use Japanese VOs. The soundtrack on the other hand is better this time around using remixed techno tunes that can easily get stuck in your head.

Hyperdimension Neptunia Mk2 is a vastly improve title than its predecessor. The story might be the same old JRPG tale or destruction and cutesy heriones, but the dialog brings some uniqueness to the story at hand. The gameplay has been expanded for a more streamline adventure with dungeons being not nearly as annoying as before tied together with a greatly improved battle system of more variety and flexibility. The presentation offers a mixture of poor quality graphics and an unnecessary change of art. Other than the poor choices in graphics and art, the VO are standard to this genre and the soundtrack has improved with techno themed tunes. Hyperdimension Neptunia Mk2 is a great parody on the gaming industry of today. Overall, we see it as the sequel that people wanted from the get-go.

Final Score: 4/5

Escape Plan Review

Few games can drive you to the brink of insanity, tease you about your inability to perform the tasks asked of you, mock your failures on every screen, and then still be truly entertaining, enjoyable and addictive. It seems though that Fun Bits Interactive’s first game, Escape Plan, has managed to fit right into that aforementioned space.

What you’ll notice straight away about Escape Plan is its superb visual sheen. Stylised like a mixture of Tim Burton’s macabre drawings, a minimalist approach to design, and a monochrome pallet, it’s a simple yet powerful look. Each area you progress through looks brilliant, the cold steel, the traps and dried blood, it all tells a story though environmental visual clues. The hand drawn cut-scenes are also noteworthy as they look absolutely fantastic, the sketchy chalk and charcoal lines really bring in a tactile, handmade, feel to the title – something which is prevalent throughout the game thanks to the hands on approach to gameplay.

Not other title, except maybe Froibisher Says!, really shows off what the Vita’s functionality can do. Gameplay is broken down into touch and tilt based puzzles across separate rooms that make up the sprawling complex you are attempting to break the two protagonists – Lil and Laarg – out from. Whilst at first glance the puzzles can seem daunting and incredibly impossible, thanks to the impressive features of the Vita itself, they rarely amount to more than timing and a steady hand. Don’t let this deceive you though, every puzzle feels different and not once is there a single moment where you feel bored of working your way through each room. Understandably though, you may tire of doing the same puzzle over and over again because you died thousands of times in a row – and usually on the same tricky bit. The rooms, and puzzles, themselves are elaborate deathtraps you have to navigate through. Utilising the touchscreen controls you’ll have to utilise the levels features to your advantage; turbine blades, bubbles, gas pipes, electric grids etc, there are so many booby traps just waiting to kill you. One way in which the frustration of dying endlessly is alleviated is though the incredible death animation, it’s like something right out of a macabre Saturday morning cartoon.

Death, and it’s bed-partner frustration, will be a key feature on your first play-though of Escape Plan; if you manage to finish it first time through dying less than 20 times combined, like Fun Bits Interactive have challenged you to accomplish, then you are a god among men. Your death toll is also plastered across the chests of Lil and Laarg, so you’ll never forget just how many times you’ve failed at a level. Unsurprisingly the death toll clocks up faster and faster as the levels progress. Frustration and death however aren’t enough to put you off playing it, if anything it’s more of a motivational technique to make you best the challenge put in front of you. It’s been designed straight into the gameplay itself as each room teases you by being deceptively small and simple in appearance, even if in reality it takes a while to work your way through.

If the games visuals and genius gameplay weren’t enough, Escape Plan has absolutely fantastic audio to compliment it all. In the background of every level soft elevator music plays, it makes the dark situations that are presented before you somewhat more palatable and less intimidating. Even the cold grey environments come to life through the audio score. The buzz of an electrified grid, the drips and hisses from a leaking pipe, the shuffles of anxiety from the henchmen, it all adds up and creates an audio tapestry that weaves wonderfully into the entirety of the game. The one standout sound has to go to the delightfully pleasant popping sound when you die; it makes the repetition of death somewhat joyful amongst the rage.

Out of the Vita titles you can pick up from launch, you’d be doing yourself a great disservice if you avoided Escape Plan. Sure, it can be incredibly frustrating to play; sure, it continually gives you a feeling of inadequacy when you fail; sure, you’ll be cursing at how fiddly some of it’s puzzles are (literally requiring you to have some sixth sense about where your fingers are on the rear touchpad), but ultimately you just wont care. Every moment of this game will keep you entertained, and when you’ve finished you’ll want to dive right back in and prove to yourself that you can do it much better a second time around. For a studio’s first title, and for a launch title on a brand new console with an unprecedented level of interactivity, this is definitely a must buy game, even if you might end up pulling your hair out playing it.

Final Score: 4.5/5

Alan Wake’s American Nightmare Review

Back in 2010, Remedy Entertainment created a third-person psychological thriller unlike anything before. That game was Alan Wake. It has now been two years since that game released and now it’s time for Remedy to continue the story of Mr. Wake in Alan Wake’s American Nightmare. As an Xbox Live Arcade title, does Alan Wake’s American Nightmare retain the feel of the original, or is this a complete nightmare?

Set a few years after Alan Wake’s first adventure. American Nightmare sends Alan Wake to a deserted town somewhere in Arizona. The darkness has taken over the town and it’s up to the guardian of light, Alan Wake, to stop this threat and return the light once again. As Alan continues his new adventure in American Nightmare, he must battle between light and dark and defeat his dark self. Those who are familiar with the Twilight Zone, the story American Nightmare basically plays out in the same narrative way. Players will likely feel that the story isn’t quite on par with the quality of the original, but it does play out well in the end. As a downloadable title, the story is long and well told, but will often feel corny.

Those who are familiar with the gameplay of the first Alan Wake game will feel right at home. As a third-person shooter with psychological thriller elements, Alan Wake’s American Nightmare keeps suspense levels high like the original. The set pieces may not be as grand, but for a downloadable title the game offers some quality gameplay. Control mechanics remain exactly the same, with more guns being present thoughout such as a nail gun and fully a automatic machine pistol. Light is the only way to release the darkness from the enemies to get in a few good shots. Even going to point A to point B to progress the story is the same. Basically, what you found in Alan Wake is here in American Nightmare but what really took a hit was the exploration from the original title. severely limited, exploration seems restricted on the three maps that Alan must explore with the only purpose to stroll the maps being to find the manuscripts, TVs and radios that are dotted around the area – though they are quite easy to find.

Making its American Nightmare debut it a new mode to work your way through – ‘Fight Till Dawn’. Gameplay for “Fight Till Dawn” is basically single-player horde/firefight modes seen in the Gears of War and Halo games. Players will face off against increasing numbers of ‘Taken’ and have to survive 10 minutes of dusk until the sun raises across the 5 maps. This mode is a great distraction from the single story. It may be single-player itself, but players will find enjoyment as they climb though the online leaderboards.

As for the presentation, Alan Wake’s American Nightmare demonstrates great production value as a downloadable title. The graphics have taken a minor hit, but still have great looking locations and character models. The voicing acting is somewhat questionable on the support character side. The voice actor for Alan Wake performs fantastically, but the supporting characters never really give it their all and feel somewhat bored from time to time. The soundtrack for Alan Wake’s American Nightmare is nothing special. Most of the time it’s just quiet, but when does action picks up there will be some tunes to listen to and do well to keep you in the feel of it all.

As a downloadable title, Alan Wake’s American Nightmare gives players what they want. The story still continues Alan Wake’s journey to defeat the darkness in a long and well told tale set in a Twilight Zone locale. Gameplay employs the same mechanics and controls from the original Alan Wake game while the “Fight Till Dawn” mode offers an addictive distraction from the campaign only let down by its lack of co-op. Presentation wise, Alan Wake’s American Nightmare took a minor hit in graphics, but nothing too substantial. So long as you’re not looking for anything drastically different to stir up the feel of Alan Wake’s story and don’t mind a few boring voices, Alan Wake’s American Nightmare is an adventure well worth your time.

Final Score: 4/5

OrbitSound T12 v3 Review

This is my introduction to the reviewing world, and what an introduction it was. The Orbitsound T12 is a speaker system developed by the good people at Orbitsound. I travelled to Muswell Hill, North London to collect it, carted it to Portsmouth through 2 tubes, 2 trains and a Bus, and it was well worth it.

Bar and Subwoofer

This speaker needed a proper review, and I drafted in my fellow flatmates for this. Within 2 minutes of me setting the speakers up, which was surprisingly simple even to someone like me, they were sitting on a table, volume almost maximised and the subwoofer making the very floor shake beneath my feet. My flatmates love the club scene of music, and even to someone like me the sound quality was crystal clear. The bass coming from the subwoofer made the experience even better. The only problem we found on the club-test was that songs without a definitive bass line were heavily distorted when the bass was turned up, but on normal settings was just as clear as normal.

I decided to step away from music for the second test, and plugged the system into my humble 19 inch TV. This took slightly longer than before, but more to do with my lack of knowledge of my own TV (and the fact that I plugged the jack connector into a screw slot, not the actual jack socket). However, once plugged in, I simply pressed ‘source’ button on the remote, and my TV burst into life. The sound quality from the sound bar was even better than the sound from my TV, and actually seemed to travel better through the room. On the occasional moment that a bass part came onto the program, the subwoofer burst into life and really let me feel the experience more than I’d have felt before, but without being intrusive.

Speaker and Subwoofer in a living room

Dead Island – Ryder White Campaign Review

Back in September of 2011 Techland released their most anticipated title, Dead Island. As the game launched, it was a bloody mess. After a few patches later, the game finally worked and the DLC train could start to roll in. Following the launch of the Blood Bath Arena, Techland have finally released the next Dead Island campaign titled ‘Ryder White’s Campaign’. Should players fork over their money for this DLC, or should it be forgotten with the rest of Banoi?

Set during the events of the main Dead Island story. Colonel of the Australian Defense Force, Ryder White, is given the task to be deployed on Banoi to contain the outbreak. When Ryder White and his team arrive the whole island has already been taken over by the infected. During the course of the story, players will explore the city of Moresby once more, along with the entire prison level to uncover the secrets of the island. Unlike the main campaign, Ryder White has more of a motivated and superior story than the main campaign. This story basically tells how Ryder isn’t really a bad guy, but just a big tool in the end. It’ll make you feel quite sorry for the poor fellow.

As good as the story is, the core gameplay has been untouched, bar a few reductions in the overall mechanics. The core gameplay of using melee, guns, kicks, survival, and modification of weapons is still there. Sadly, other mechanics have been completely removed. This would include leveling up, co-op campaign, the skill tree, and the open-world of Banoi. Stripping most of the gameplay for a more streamlined and linear adventure is good and bad for this campaign. It may offer a more narrative tale, but it tears apart most of the core gameplay. The bad news is that it will feel restrictive by eliminating most of the features listed above.

The overall presentation of Dead Island is good, but still suffers from technical issues. The graphics of the island are basically the same gorgeous looks with a lot of variety thrown in, but the issue of screen tearing still persists. voice work however has been improved, Ryder’s scripting and dramatic quality stands above the work featured in the original campaign. Ryder doesn’t sound like a stereotypical person, he actually gives life and emotion to the story at hand. Audiophiles will find nothing distinguishably different here though as sound effects and music are all reused from the on-disc sound banks.

Dead Island has grown over the months of being released. Techland has addressed all problems that plagued the game from the start and have finally released all the DLC needed for the game. The Ryder White Campaign is a good addition to the Dead Island storyline. It offers a good immersive tale from beginning to end. The core gameplay is still there, but with reduction in most of the elements that were found in the main campaign. The presentation hasn’t changed, the same gorgeous graphics remain as do the same niggling technical issues. Though the voice work for Ryder is better than the original characters, the soundtrack has simply been reused with nothing that wasn’t already on the disc being present. Overall, the Ryder White Campaign is a good, but is still has a long way to go to be great. If you want to uncover most of the hidden truths within the Dead Island storyline, then this DLC is for you.

Final Score: 3.5/5

Shank 2 Review

Shank is back again to rip everyone a new one. This time with a lot more weapons at his disposal. The original Shank set a new standard for downloadable gore and violence woven intricately through gameplay that was easy to pick up and play as well as it would take time and skill to master. Can Shank 2 manage to build on its predecessor and create the definitive downloadable experience or does it need sharpening?

Shank starts by cutting into the story where the first title left off. He’s looking for some sort of peace or redemption after all the killing he has done to extract his revenge, and so he goes to see Elena. Elena is soon kidnapped, which means that Shank is dragged back to killing to save a group of rebels from the clutches of an evil tyrant, Magnus, with the help of Corina, the rebel leader. The story will take you through various locales in South America, from jungles to docks, small shanty towns, and even temples. Each having a unique and utterly awesome boss battle at the end. Just like its predecessor, the boss battles are spectacles themselves with their own unique backstories which is almost a tragedy as they are brutally mutilated by Shank soon after they meet. These battles also have special moves that become available once a boss has become weakened, at a press of a button you’ll get a short scene where you beat the pulp out of them. Most bosses require some strategy with dodging as well as combo attacks between light (shanks) heavy weapons (like a machete or a chainsaw) and projectiles (guns or throwing knives). You can also use explosives such as trip mines, grenades and molotovs, but are limited to carrying just three at a time.

Controls have been reworked to deliver the most fluid gameplay in an action side-scroller since the original. Attack buttons are mapped to the top three face buttons, lunge is mapped to the left trigger and grab to the right which also acts as your counter button to use the enemies weapons against them once they have a red exclamation point over their head. Shank 2 offers you the ability to pick up enemy weapons and use them against your assailants as well as environmental objects like a crock pot, heavy box and maybe even a propane tank here and there. If you come across an attack that cannot be countered by the aforementioned right trigger than they can simply dodge-roll using the right stick in any direction, simple as that. The controls are some of the easiest to learn in quite some time, it was a joy to pick up the controller and just get right into the game.

As you are slicing and dicing your way through the hordes of enemies, mercenaries and cannibals you’ll sometimes come across boxes that have the interact button on them. These are in-game collectibles and are strewn throughout the place with some being  hidden away from you. There are a bevy of unlockable costumes, not just for Shank himself but for his cohort as well. The developers learned that Shank was a game that lent itself to online and, for the sequel, have utilized it for online co-op as well as retaining the offline co-op option in the new Survival Mode. You’ll be guarding supply crates from bombers whilst fending off thirty waves of enemies. You can revive your partner and earn cash to purchase power-ups in the store, which are accessed seamlessly via the select button. Mini-bosses periodically appear and can be taken down by using teamwork and environmental traps. It often requires both players to possess cat-like reflexes and have a knack for awesome teamwork, so it’s definitely not easy.

Only two characters will be available at the start, Shank and Corina; more are unlocked through earning medals obtained through game accomplishments like beating 100 enemies with objects or various other small goals. Only the best and most versatile players will unlock everyone and their costumes. Shank 2 offers a lot of replay value but sort of veers off with the co-op by only offering three stages whereas the story has eight levels.

Shank 2 has one-upped its predecessor in many ways but seems to have fallen short only slightly in with the co-op, it could have – and should have – offered more. At this moment in time no DLC has been announced, but don’t rule it out just yet. Three levels is small considering they were already present in the single player, and each co-op map is only one screen large. Also thrown out of the window is the co-op story mode, replaced with the co-op survival mode (which is puzzling as to why they cannot offer both). No matter, Shank 2 is a great title and a must buy for any fan, especially if you loved the first. Hopefully in Shank 3, they can offer everything and maybe even make it a retail title.

Final Score: 4/5 

NeverDead Review

When NeverDead burst onto the scene in 2010 it had a lot of people interested for its unique trailer and the fact that Shinta Nojiri serves as the games director and producer. He has had numerous Konami titles under his belt over the years such as scripting for several Metal Gear Solid titles as well as Game Director on both Metal Gear Ac!d titles. Can his success be transferred into a whole new original IP or is this title better off staying dead?

NeverDead follows immortal demon hunter Bryce and his companion Arcadia as they do work for an Agency of demon hunters. Bryce, cursed centuries ago with immortality by Demon King Astaroth whom also murdered his wife. The plot follows the basic demon hunter who hates his job but has to do it to save humanity and pegs Bryce as a drunkard and a horrible partner with a reckless attitude. Pretty expected for the genre and barely brings anything unique. The voice acting is near horrible as many of the lines delivered are droll and at best B-movie quality. The lip sync is also off key and takes away from the focus of many of the cutscenes that are not CG. The graphics are for the most-part great during CG and cutscenes but in game they can be rigid and have pop in.

Gameplay is a complete mixed bag as players will go through levels which are basically made of areas where enemies must be defeated to progress over and over with a few puzzles here and there and buttons to press. All of that topped off with an occasional boss battle that is actually great fun when the camera is not fighting against you with its clunky nature and will to move where it wants. The cool aspect of getting your body flung around and mutilated into many different pieces instead of your typical health bar is pretty great and the ability to regenerate the same parts after a meter fills up or you collect them by dodge rolling over them is also sort of cool in a unique way. However, wouldn’t it make sense to use a ‘pick up’ button or maybe even just allow him to walk over it not having to roll over it which sometimes can be unresponsive and requires a second roll in the opposite direction. Bryce also uses his removable body parts (head, arms and legs) to solve a few puzzles throughout the game, like using his head to traverse a dark air vent to get on the other side of a locked door. Sometimes he even uses his entire body to light paths by setting himself on fire, or to power switches by conducting electricity and moving to a switch with no power to open a locked door. Anyone see the pattern and somewhat lack of creativity in all of this?

Somewhere within this game there is fun to be had and if you manage to scour it and find it you will gain experience points by defeating demons and collection golden collectibles hidden in the level as well as red collectibles which only serve as XP collection. There are a lot of abilities able to be bought in the select menu and more become available throughout the progression of the game. The downside to it all is that only a set amount of abilities can be selected at a time and the rest are just wasted experience purchases. Players can go through the game switching between dual wielding guns (which you can switch guns as you collect them by pressing left or right on the d-pad) or a butterfly blade (sword) by hitting Y/triangle on the controller. Some enemies are only susceptible to sword attacks and for the most part the sword is the best weapon in the game especially once you find one of the hidden alternate blades that replaces it. Boss battles require you to switch between the two weapons for maximum efficiency. Enemy diversity is there but by the third level you pretty much have seen all the game has to offer, flying enemies, chopping ones, annoying ones that lunge at you and a few others. One main pain are the little white rolling nuisances that are the only thing in the game (besides epic falls from great heights and not reviving Arcadia in time) that can kill Bryce. Once your head or body part is on the floor these little enemies will suck them up and if they get your head and you do not hit X/A when the stopper is on the bar you will be forced to an eternity of being digested. Annoying but it will happen quite often as the mix of the camera and the simple barrage of enemies that is thrown at you on higher levels and difficulties is almost impossible. On one occasion while playing the game it required Arcadia to open doors for me to progress, she got caught on stairs and I could not progress so I reloaded the checkpoint. Then past that, I had to clear the room so she could open another door she was somehow glitched to where she would not move from her default position in the middle of the room and I tried this area multiple times via ‘reload checkpoint’ and in the end in order to progress I had to restart the entire chapter. These little annoyance show a possible lack of playtesting and bug testing.

Someone thought it was necessary for NeverDead to have a multiplayer mode which is sadly one of the best parts of the game, it was not advertised through all the media that was shown prior to the launch but it features four player co-op and versus. Co-op challenges are Onslaught where players go through levels room by room fighting off hordes of enemies culminating in a boss. Arena Onslaught where players are thrown into a large room with enemies coming at them in waves including a boss wave. There is also two competitive co-op modes, Fragile Alliance which players capture points for score. Then there is Egg Hunt where players search for Golden Eggs and bring them back to the capture point for score, one with the most points wins. Abilities earned in single player can be assigned in the online mode as well which is great and the experience earned online transfers to the single player as well. Surprisingly the voice chat on the Playstation 3 is some of the best in any online game we have seen with clear and great connection to boot. If only this effort was put into the rest of the game.

NeverDead has potential with its hardcore rock soundtrack and crazy comic like art style mixed with a hint of over the top crazy demon hunting antics. The gameplay is a complete mixed bag with glitches and annoyances to hinder the enjoyment. We wanted to enjoy it so much but the lack of polish in nearly every aspect of the game is discerning. It is not a game we can recommending spending full retail value on, if this title was maybe $30 or less it could be worth it but being a full priced title this is near crazy to recommend. Maybe someday this title will be a cult classic and looked upon with smiles, but that day is not today.

Final Score: 2/5

SoulCalibur V Fight Stick (Soul Edition) Review

SoulCalibur V was one of the most anticipated fighters of this year, and MadCatz decided to get in on the action by partnering with Namco Bandai to release the SoulCalibur V Soul Edition Fight stick. This is the first time MadCatz have partnered with Namco, and this stick is retailing for $160, which is actually $10 more expensive then previous MadCatz sticks. So is it worth the purchase, or for people looking for a fight stick, is it worth the extra $10? Read on to find out.

The Soul Edition Fight Stick is the latest stick by MadCatz, and follows in the footsteps of some impressive peripherals for games such as, Street Fighter IV, Marvel Vs Capcom 3, and Super Street Fighter IV. Straight away what will stand out to you about this stick is its looks. The stick is gorgeous looking, and the background art is some of the nicest I have seen on a fight stick.

First off, just like all MadCatz sticks, it comes in great packaging. This is packaging you are going to want to hang onto to store your stick. The packaging, is bright and colourful and features images of some characters from the game, and is definitely worth keeping for storage. The art on the stick is actually an image of Soulcalibur, and Souledge swords. Soulcalibur is surrounded by a bright and colourful icy blue, whilst the other half of the stick, Souledge, is surrounded by a fiery red colour. Either side of the stick is coloured in too, the Soulcalibur side being blue to match the sword, and the Souledge side being red to match it’s fiery evil glow. It’s really great looking, and it’s much more appealing then past sticks, of course if you don’t like it you can always customize it which is one of the best things about Madcatz fight sticks. One nice touch is that the blue and red sides, are actually see through, so you are able to see all these components that actually make the stick work. The PS3 version of the stick, are all completely black, whilst the 360 one has 4 colored buttons, and 4 black ones.

Like past sticks, the buttons are made from real quality arcade components, from the legendary arcade manufacturer Sanwa Denshi. The buttons feel great, just like they have on past sticks, and they worked so well. Of course, the stick also features a Japanese style ball handed joystick, which like the buttons works great, and we had no problems with either. For inputs, such as delayed attacks, it was all very responsive and worked just as it should. On the back of the stick there is a compartment which can open up, this is to hold your 13′ USB cable, in which you use to connect your fight stick to your system. Although some people may be happy that the cable is so long, others might not, and personally it was a bit to long for our liking. Sometimes it was awkward to get the cable to go back into it’s compartment, but it’s only a small problem.

Of course various button lock switches, turbo buttons, and such are all present and correct, just like they are on all Madcatz sticks. Seeing as this stick is for SoulCalibur V, and not MVC3, or SFIV, like past Madcatz sticks, the button layout has been re-done to suit the SoulCalibur series more comfortably. It was expected that they would to this from the start as it makes the game much easier with the buttons in the right place, and so we’re happy that they followed through on their decision.

Overall this is quite a fight stick, the price may be a bit steep, and some people may not be able to afford it no matter how much they want it. If you are looking for a fight stick, for any fighting games in general and are willing to pay the money, go with this stick. It may be $10 extra then the SFIV and MVC3 sticks, but if your willing to pay $10, then definitely go for this stick. It’s worth the extra $10 just because the art and design is great, and really is much nicer than any of MadCatz previous sticks. So if your looking for a new fight stick this is the one for you.

Final Score: 4/5

Carnival Island Review

Carnival Island is the latest Playstation Move title directed at family fun. It’s made with family in mind as well as earning a ‘Family Friendly Favorite’ seal of approval from videogames.com. The title sets to bring the Carnival into your living room for everyone to enjoy. But does it set out and successfully accomplish its goals, or does it fall short and become another group of mini-games that are sub-par at best?

Carnival Island is literally just that, an island that is a complete carnival that a little boy and his sister are whisked away to. Broken up into four separate sections, with each having a few main games that are basic to many carnivals, each game has various modes that can be unlocked through playing the previous mode, also for every mode you can unlock a pet. Pets will inhabit the island as you progress and your ultimate goal is to restore joy and fun to the island as well as free all the pets who’ve been ballooned by a spell. The Boardwalk is home to ‘Mini-bowl’ (skeeball) and ‘Ringers’ (ring toss). Tree House Way has ‘Perfect Pitch’ (that game where you throw the baseball and knock the bottles over) and ‘Shooting Gallery’. Ferris Park houses ‘Coin Toss’ and ‘Magic Mirror’, which is basically a funhouse mirror that you move around and take pictures with using the Playstation Move controller. Finally, Shell Beach houses ‘Hoops’ (basketball) and ‘Frog Bog’ which sees you using a mallet to launch frogs. Throughout all these events you’ll earn tickets which are used as currency on the island. These can be spent via the balloon cart to buy balloons for your character to carry, or at ‘Granny’s Prize Booth’ to unlock items for your character to carry as well but are more fun, like a fake sword or an ice cream cone. These have no bearing on the gameplay but serve as fun little unlocks for the player, however it would have been nice to see them be more meaningful like multiplier bonuses depending on what you have in your hand. Another place to spend your tickets on is the Magic Mirror to unlock new modes within the mirror.

Carnival Island is a great game solo for kids but the game really shines when played with family. The Party Mode can be set up via the main menu and allows you to choose up to four players and how many Move controllers will be used. Of course choosing one means many of the games will involve passing of the controller. Then players are allowed to choose a pet to represent themselves and decide on ‘Party Time’, where five random games will be chosen, or ‘Pick & Play’ where the players are able to choose up to five games out of the available thirty-five to play. Points are awarded to each player based on position after each game and the one with the most points after all five games is the winner. Carnival Island is a great mix of many types of games which is perfect for a fun family night in or just a great game to mess around with when you have friends over.

Carnival Island excels at motion gaming, unlike many other party games for the Move. It really has a unique feel in comparison to other games and is one of the best and most responsive titles we have played for the Move. The game itself will only weigh in at around maybe eight hours or less depending on skill but as for fun it is everlasting. Trying to beat all the challenges in the game is going to be a pain itself as each mini-game holds nine challenges for players to surmount. The party modes are there for families and parties in mind. Carnival Island seems to deliver on all the promises of being a well-rounded and fun Playstation Move title so it is hard to look for faults at such a well put together title. The only thing we could wish for is that in a future iteration or sequel that an online mode is implemented as barely any Playstation Move centric titles have been given online support, which is sad and with a game like this,as it could be a very enjoyable online experience.

Final Score: 4/5

Astro Gaming A40s Audio System Review

Playing video games with the volume low puts a dampener on the experience. Playing video games with the volume high intensifies the experience, but unfortunately can easily annoy people. These issues can be remedied when DolbyDigital headphones come into play. There are many types of DD headphones, but one in particular will rival that of Turtle Beach or Tritton Technologies headphones. The Astro Gaming A40 audio system, by Astro Gaming, looks like a great competitor in gaming headphones. But does the Astro Gaming A40 audio system (Saints Row 3 Edition) give the player that immersive experience, or will it just fail to impress those surround sound professionals?

As the official headset of MLG, Astro gaming headsets have to be of high standard and quality. The A40 audio system comes boxed with the Astro Gaming headset, Mix Amp Pro, and all the cables needed to enjoy the headset. It also has a feature list as long as your arm, some of which being unparalleled quality of sound, noise canceling microphone, mixamp functionality, etc.

Sound is important to any video game, without it people have a less immersive experience. The quality of sound that the Astro headset provides is quite excellent, it works perfectly for almost any game, be it Deus Ex: Human Revolution, Battlefield 3, Final Fantasy XIII-2 or anything to give the player that edge, immersive, and quality experience. On top of that players who love playing multiplayer games like Call of Duty will find that the noise canceling microphone will have crystal clear voice communication and eliminates any background noise. The headset alone does more with the MixAmp pro.

The MixAmp pro has controls for volume and game or voice balancing. You’ll have to find the right sweet spot for each game and so experiment with both the volume and game/voice knob. As it is the controller for all volume levels, this device will have to be daisy-chained from the headset to the MixAmp to your choice hardware. Nicely this headset works on all devices, and so is packaged with every cable you need for the Playstation 3(USB and Optical), Xbox 360(USB, Optical and Xbox Chat Cable), PC (USB and Optical), and more for flexibility.

The construction of this headset also favors flexibility, comfort, and accessibility. It adjusts to any shaped head, along with being designed for long-term gameplay without any ear ache. Most headsets on the market are not even fully configurable, whereas the Astro Gaming Headset lets the user adjust the position of the mic so it can be on either side of the head, or be removed completely. Those who get the Saint’s Row 3 edition can even swap out the speaker tags with Saint’s Row 3 designed speaker tags. The cord of the headset shouldn’t even get in the way at all as it has been designed to be unobtrusive  and provides accessibility to the controls for mute and boom/incline mic volumes.

At the end of the day, the Astro Gaming A40 audio system is perfect in every way. The sound quality is top-notch by giving the players Dolby Digital and surround sound immersive experience. The MixAmp pro gives the user the controls they need to find the balance or sweet spot between game and voice, along with volume. The A40 audio system is even universal. The construction of the headset even tailors to everyone personal style, comfort, and accessibility. Overall, the Astro Gaming A40 audio system will tailor to the needs all. At the market price of $260, the complete universal set is well worth the money.

Final Score: 5/5

Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine Review

The Warhammer series has long been a favoured table-top game controlled by the ever wonderful Games Workshop. Eventually making its way to the high-calibre RTS series Dawn of War, the franchise has bolstered its fandom from the move and undoubtedly increased the money squirting out of their figurine game shops in the process. Now, to further feast on the increased market gain of selling out to the other genres in an attempt to reach out to another key player base, Relic Games and THQ turned its head to the popular-as-ever shooter genre to capitalize on the success of Gears of War.

The result – Space Marine. Long standing players of the Warhammer series have spent their days controlling the forces of the Xenos, Chaos and the varied armies of the Space Marine corps for well over a decade. Pushing their model armies against each other day after day, they soon got the chance to digitalize their armies and watch their play decisions animate in the PC real-time strategy games of the last few years. Thrusting the immersion a step further, Warhammer 40k: Space Marine allows those long-time players and anyone else witness the grotesque Xenos orcs up close as a Space Marine of the Emperor and fight 1-on-1 with them to fulfil the mission of the combat experts.

Telling the story of Captain Titus and his group of space marines, your mission is to obey the orders of the Emperor you serve. Leading you to peruse the distress call of the Inquisitor and protect the Forge World against the ever spawning legions of the Xenos. Along the way you’ll smash, gut, pound and shoot the living daylights out of literally thousands of enemies in some of the bloodiest brawls we’ve seen in recent video game memory all the while trying to figure out why the Captain is invulnerable to the powers of the Warp.

From a quick look at the gameplay many would simply shrug the game off as a clone of Gears of War. While it does handle very similarly, Space Marine brings about its own little charms. Did you think the Lancer’s chainsaw/gun combo opened up for violence? Try the Chainsword. Did you think the executions were bloody fun? Space Marine has them in drones, and they’re a lot more satisfying. Space Marine offers up a fine mix of close range melee and long ranged run n’ gun glory to keep you happy. You could spend around 80% of the game simply tearing your opponents to pieces with your assortment of melee combos and ridiculously gory finishing moves while reserving a sniper for those hiding a bit to far from your reach. If shooting is more your thing, feel free to put that sword away and blow them all to bits in a sea of metal. The sheer amount of enemies you’ll face on regular intervals will undoubtedly result in some of the biggest virtual bloodbaths you’ve ever seen.

Space Marine offers the standard 8 hours of campaign play seen in most modern day shooters. Through those 8 hours you’ll be introduced to a plethora of exotic weaponry for you to mix and match often to get the job done any way you want. Head popping sniper rifles, bolt rifles, sticky bomb vengeance launchers, napalm induced shotguns, rapid fire twin barrel sub machine guns and a whole lot more. They’re all a blast to use and all come to their own in every brawl. You’ll never get tired of coming across a weapon stash. Fact. While the level design won’t have you aimlessly spinning your camera around to take in the scenery, the Forge World easy shows itself as a place ravaged by war. Outdoor areas are all rocky, desolate and dusty while indoor areas are cold and dark. Your time saving the Forge World won’t necessarily be a pretty one, but it will be a damn satisfying battle.

Captain Titus and his squad will endlessly announce their loyalty to the emperor throughout the script. Cutscenes are short and do well to push the plot forward and together in a simple way that can be easily followed but the characters never really develop into those you would remember further down the line. The British voice over work is an odd but refreshing change of pace yet not particularly strong. Something we’re putting down to the fault of the self dubbed “nobleman script”. The sheer amount of combat seen throughout the game doesn’t change to much as time goes by. Slowly, you’ll be introduced to tougher enemies intertwined with the weaker ones useful to execute to regain some health should your shield be shot down in the heat, though the feat will eventually become a risk in itself as enemies can quickly smash you down during the dozens of execution animation sequences. So be sure to pick your targets beforehand remember the fact they must to whittled down and stunned for it to work.

In the closing chapters of the game, the brawls become evidently harder. Most of the easier melee-centric enemies get replaced by ranged counterparts while the tougher baddies get even beefier and more dangerous. The sheer lack of cover play here is the key difference between Space Marine and the game is so closely resembles. Boss fights are almost non-existent until late into the story and while the first is probably a harsh endeavour without the right gun, the final is essentially a battle of waves leading to a battle of button mashing. While the final fight seemed a tad lazy and unimaginative. It had a surprisingly satisfying end. Again, not short of blood.

As much as Space Marine isn’t short of blood and violence, it isn’t short of replay ability either. Aside from the achievements needed you to log much more than the 8 hours it takes to finish the story, the multiplayer aspects keep those blood brawls coming. While the is sadly a lack of co-op campaign both split-screen and online, 20 waves of Xenos invasions in the Exterminatus mode should keep anyone happy and offer a challenge even for 4-man Skype squads. Meanwhile the Versus mode and Challenge maps all give the chance to level up your online marine unlocking more weapons and armour customizations as you progress – something Space Marine really isn’t lacking.

Sure, Space Marine may not share the personality of Epic Games’ blockbuster series but ramping up the blood and fury of combat is something Space Marine does incredibly well. The story or the voice over work won’t win any the developers any awards but the sheer amount of satisfaction and adrenaline that comes from activating your fury power and slamming a chainsaw down the throat of an orc is something you don’t get to witness in many titles, And for that, Space Marine’s delicious gore filled gameplay, huge range of weapons and replay value make it a more than worthwhile entry into your shelf of less satisfying shooters.

Final Score:  4.5/5

Real Warfare 2: Northern Crusades Review

There are many people who revel in the hobby of war re-enactments of yesteryear, those who rent out fields and kit themselves out in medieval chain-mail, slam each other with maces (to an extent) and play dead for half the day, then there are those who tend to keep their limbs unharmed and out of the mud and enjoy historic combat from the comfort of their home, on a screen with lots of little pixel men. For those guys, you may want to take a look at Real Warfare 2. Or better yet, stay away from. Sold as a “realistic real-time strategy” game”, Real Warfare 2 enters an already crowded market housing many highly polished titles. Something this game brings to an all time low.

Taking control of an exiled ruler of a Kingdom you set out to work your way back up to regain the trust of your former home by working with your allied towns and your troops to run errands during the 13th century. Thrown into the playing field with very little in the way of gameplay tutorial, you can quickly see that the  “State-of-the-art graphics” proposed by the titles product listing was a huge overstatement unless 1C Company meant unique. The visuals of anything from the grass, trees, water and towns are something you could expect on older smartphones. Everything looks flat and lifeless and often times blurry, a look that can only be explained as if 3D vision was turned on without you wearing the glasses. 1C promised to “depict the 13th century in great detail” and if this is their best attempt, they should probably move onto a different time period.

The flare may be pretty but everything else is as bland as it comes

Developer, Unicorn Games Studio, used a Dual Core, nVidia 8800GT setup as their recommended specs while our own 4gb Quad Core Radeon 6870 setup had difficulty keeping the game running above 30 frames per second no matter what scenario we found ourselves in. Even with the bland visuals and lack of heavy overworld activity.

The playing field simply consists of little characters going about their lives with 1 model usually represents a boat load more; single buildings depicting towns and equally more boring, yet slightly bigger model structures representing cities. Hovering over each of these displays their relationship towards you along with their army’s difficulty, allowing you to pick your battles a little easier and not go strolling into towns that would like nothing better than to feed your head to their plague-ridden mice – for reasons we don’t know. Real Warfare 2 is as much of an RPG as it is RTS. You stand as the leader of an army that is awarded experience points after each successful battle. Army EXP then acts as currency used to upgrade the troops various stats. Your commanding general figure works in a slightly different manor as his own own experience accumulates to increase his level and allowing you to add a point to a choice of perks like permanent EXP bonuses to increased tax money from your allied towns along with increasing the amount of troops you can bring into battle. While the system certainly offers depth to the possible play styles available, it didn’t really serve as an incentive to continue like other experience based character progression systems do, the fact that most, if not all of the in-game enemies over power you with easy means grinding them for experience and troop money isn’t a viable option leaving the game extremely linear as you just click a town, accept a quest, click the quest enemy and fight them one after another.

Go to town - Get Quest - Defeat Quest Enemy - Restock Army - Repeat

Starting off with a merry band of men, we simply watched all of the other mounted characters run about the map as we seriously didn’t have much of an idea of what to do. The game does nothing to explain its inner workings leaving you to just experiment and hope you don’t get ambushed by the dozens of robber gangs riding around. Though even that doesn’t mean anything as you can simply close a bandit’s chat window after they bad mouth your medieval mother and be on your way without any consequence. The 13th century wasn’t nearly this forgiving.

Yes, Real Warfare 2 may be more suited to a medieval combat strategy game than it is an RPG. The character progression is boring and the story is no better, but in all honesty the combat isn’t anything special. Battles are initiated through the playing field by clicking on an enemy figure where you then choose from two lines of abuse to yell at them and organising your men before you reach a ridiculously lengthy loading screen just to be thrown into an up-scaled version of the playing field minus any of the knick-knacks that made it even remotely interesting to look at. A simple large patch of grass and trees is all you’ll see between you and your enemy. Their forces may look a little daunting at first, but rest assured, in the end you’ll just feel bored. From here the battles play out in a standard RTS fashion, albeit slower. You select your troops an issue movement, formation and attack commands while though the game does little in a way to explain the interface and procedure, leaving you to figure it out while the enemy walks toward you.

Real Warfare’s fighting mechanics seem to focus on the general rule of formation. Most of the UI and mouse commands are used to shift your troops into long lines, balls or wedges to counter your opponent. This is where a major issue arose. While troop selection worked as well as you would expect, commands had a noticeable lag between being issued and actually being carried out. Using the mouse to send troops toward a target worked fine but gesturing it to set the troops up in a certain formation was erratic and less than precise. Issues which make a whole lot of different when an army of thousands are heading your way. Camera movement fell victim to the same issues and just didn’t feel fluid making the switch between army control and actually enjoying the battle near impossible.

Zooming into the action would usually spell doom but was fun while it lasted

In the end we found the game to be more comical than fun. Losing a battle simply meant reloading a previous save, meaning you had to put up with the more annoying loading times after each botched attempt as you attempt to come to grips with the games controls. In the early battles we simply sped up the combat and ran our troops to their death and laughing hysterically as the last remaining few decided to throw in the towel and sprint over the mountains faster than the camera could pan across. Even attacking peasants who would surprise us with bigger armies than our own provided more fun than the game itself.

Real Warfare 2 suffers from a host of issues ranging from a large learning curve, disappointing visuals and typically boring gameplay. Surprising is the fact the game is a sequel, if this game has taken it’s predecessor and improved it’s formula like any sequel is meant to do, we shudder at the quality of the last. Real Warfare 2 is probably just as painful to play as the 13th century was for Soldiers to live in.

Final Score:  2/5

InMomentum Review

While the concept of free-running is relatively new as a sport, EA managed to bring the majestic art of the activity to the mainstream with the surprisingly vivid, motion-sickness inducing Mirror’s Edge three years ago. Now, with still no signs of a Mirror’s Edge 2, you can get a fairly decent fix of high-speed running and wall-bouncing with a little indie game known as InMomentum.

Developed by DigitalArrow – a new development studio, InMomentum slaps players into a completely story-less world reminiscent of virtual reality scenes of old sci-fi movies. Based around 12 stages, all varying in design and colour, players are simply tasked with racing against each another to the end of a map by utilizing – you guessed it – Momentum.

Each map employs countless walls and platforms to propel yourself ahead of your rivals

Each stage is comprised of hundreds of walls and platform blocks. Charging ahead, you use the standard WASD keys to move while using your mouse buttons to jump across platforms and bounce along walls. The idea of the game is to keep a steady stream of jumps and bounces enough to build your speed up to the maximum of 299Kmph, which if sustainable, will usually allow you to leap across huge sections of the stage at a time.

The beauty of InMomentum is easily the amount of paths available to complete a course. Players can generally opt to ride the stage on it’s lower levels across the platforms or they can decide to be adventurous, bouncing from one wall to another to eventually scale their way up to the top of the map to use the lack of walls as their advantage to gain more speed with less risk of collision along with the obvious birds-eye view. Currently two game-play modes are open to players – “Time Trial” and “Sphere Hunt” – one involves collecting orbs scattered around the stage – limiting players to a specific path, while the second gives runners more freedom with a small number of checkpoint gates to pass through before reaching the end of the level.

Players can either brave the platforms solo or race with players online. Solo play allows for uninterrupted attempts to gain a spot on the high-score board as you try to beat the times of other players while multi-player races allow you to give chase against your very rivals with the added chance to shoot them off the side of the map. The space-bar shoot button is something every player will sadly need to learn in order to have any chance of bragging rights. By launching a projectile, you can hope the force of the blast will be enough to push the rival at the receiving end of your laser will be enough to send them hurtling to their death, else you run the risk of your blast giving them a huge boost in speed and seeing your chances of winning disappear in the distance. Still, you can use a well timed laser shot-jump combo to propel yourself a little further and reap the benefits of a steady speed increase. The combo shot isn’t really hard to learn, yet I dislike the idea of such a heavy advantage meaning people who can’t quite get to grips with it have very little chance of success with the game, much like when you learn how to snake on Mario Kart while your friends watch as they are lapped in each race.

Each stage offers dozens of routes that can drastically alter your final times

Each map has 4 different difficulty settings to choose from, altering the selected map to less real estate to make traversing the stage that little bit more puzzling while certain levels employ barricades to stop you in your tracks. Most of these walls can be turned off by shooting nearby switches or can be avoided altogether by bouncing around them with the help of the surrounding obstacles. The switches can effectively allow you to close the walls in the faces of other racers should you become that confident in your skills.

While the slow-motion button of the single-player can help you to fine-tune a jump and perfect a time, such an option only comes into the multiplayer in the form of a pick-up. One of numerous pick-ups to be exact. Throughout a multiplayer race, obtainable pick-ups can be collected with a maximum of two at a time. These can range from an immediate speed boost, heightened acceleration, fixed distance teleport, single super jump, time freeze and again, periodic slow motion. All of these will affect just the user with the exception being the slow motion which generally helps the lead runner to maintain that speed more easily whilst leaving everyone else in no better or worse position.       

In terms of bugs or glitches, it is hard for such a simple game to really have a serious issue. It has been confirmed by the developers that certain AMD cards do have some trouble with the lighting effects used to create the game world, with my own card falling victim to the bug. A fix was promised but the blocky light reflections hardly deter away from the experience.  The game’s visuals are simple enough to allow most modern, store-bought laptops or desktops to run it with ease, with the system requirements reflecting my words. Because of the simplicity of this game’s style, don’t expect many graphical options aside from screen-resolution and Post Processed Anti Aliasing.  

Players can alter certain visuals of their on-screen runner (no hats here folks)

While InMomentum does share a few similarities to Mirror’s Edge – such as the relatively solid colour pallet to the fine-tuned task of time trial speed runs, it really isn’t going to make that wait for a Mirror’s Edge 2 any easier. The ability to scale a tower without having to jump to another doesn’t leave much room to think about how to approach certain map sections, and, due to the game not having any sort of story whatsoever, you will be hard pressed to get more than a few hours out of it, but for the asking price it is a solid purchase for speed freaks and leader board junkies with 40 Steam achievements offering replay value to some.  Just be prepared for that vertigo feeling from classic platformers to return and make your hoping that much more of a challenge. InMomentum is available now on Steam (PC)

Final Score:  3/5

MX Offroad Review

Playing a game is what you most look forward to after a hard day of work. But when the bus driver decides reading a paper while you stand freezing your balls of on the kerb, it doesn’t always leave you in the best of moods. But these days, those situations are not half as bad. We can simply whip out our smartphones and get that gaming fix on the go. So is MX Offroad the game to do that?

MX Offroad is the next entry into the MX series of racers for iOS and Android devices. From 2XL Games, MX Offroad gives you the chance to not strap yourself into a classic dirt or quad bike and charge your way through the competitive gran prix events as you bounce around the narrow corners of dirt track courses. The game’s main menu has a knack for being decisive. On first look, it doesn’t seem like a whole lot content is there for the picking until you figure out it’s all-slide control scheme. Then you’ll find a surprisingly wealthy set of contests to win over and then perhaps some more. Just be sure to put your device’s music feature to go use. Unless you like the slow rock played during the opening and closing credits of American documentaries.

Running over your opponents isn't possible. Or is it? Sometimes it works, most times it doesn't

Jumping into the 3 difficulty choice career mode, you’ll cycle through multi-race grand prix competitions and Tony Hawk-esque trick challenges – Albeit those are watered down. For the most part you’ll be hoping to get back to the grand-prix events as soon they force you into the laborious trick contests. The untrustworthy accelerometer controls and simple “tap” stunts suck out all of the fun and creative skill chaining from the system. The only noteworthy joy from this mode comes from firing your driver over a cliff to see how much distance he can clear in the fetal position. Ragdoll is always a plus but not an option.

Racing in the other hand is, while not perfect, pretty enjoyable. The huge range in track lengths and curvy designs from FMX, MX and SX make eventually getting used to a track layout almost impossible leaving you to nail the suspension button timings on the bumps and hills to give you an edge over your opponents, it’s a strategy that effectively keeps you on the edge too. It’s a simple system, one that will really show a big difference between the pros and the novices in competitive play, something the social networking features of MX Offroad really seems to hint at. After each race you’ll be shown your results along with the recent achievements of other players connected to the OpenFeint network with the chance to challenge their accomplishments. But with the ease of exploiting the many corners of the tracks, it seems like a whole lot of foul play will eventually make it’s way onto the score boards.

If you could ride like that, the first-person camera would be a must

If track memorisation isn’t the game plan here, then you’d think choosing the right vehicle would be key, right? Well that isn’t the case either. Colour chances aside, even with the paid version we couldn’t find any additional vehicles or even any noticeable differences into the two given- a quad bike and a dirt bike (150cc or 300cc); two different types of vehicles. How the cornering on a machine with 2 extra wheels can feel the same as a bike, we’ll never know. And that’s another thing worth pointing out. If you came into MX expecting a realistic offroad racer, you’ll leave within the first 5 minutes. You won’t have to master the tight cornering mechanics or even any use of the brakes. You can effectively turn a sharp 180 degree U-bend with ease if you are willing to sharply twist your arms around to do it – and you should, it’s a race saver.

The crisp graphics are a highlight of the game, but questions were raised over the ability to distinguish corners as you turn out of another.

While if you were considering MX Offroad as your out-of-house racer you may be disappointed with the near non-existent handling and the mess of a score attack feature being nothing like what you’d expect at a real event. The core racing side of MX Offroad isn’t all that bad, however. Mistakes will see you fighting for a decent finish and mastering the suspension timings is the only sure-fire way to improve your lap times later on, but it’s potential exploits and unrealistic controls will raise some serious issues with scoreboards online play – If it had any. If you are looking for a burst of offroad fun on the go, then this is it, but those looking for a more full realistic racer should probably hold off on this one.

Final Score 2.5/5

AMY Review

As a downloadable title, AMY sets to achieve high standards. Since it was announced avid gamers across the globe have been waiting to download this survival horror title. AMY hopes to give players a full-length story, simple survival horror gameplay, and good graphics. Does AMY hit all this marks as a downloadable title, or is this a complete train wreck?

The story puts players in the role of Lana, who is responsible for an eight year old autistic girl named Amy. Whilst on a train, it’s revealed that Amy was in a hospital for quite a long time to treat her autism, and after drawing some disturbing pictures, the train takes a turn for the worst.  A nearby explosion causes a derailment, and soon Lana and Amy are fighting for their lives as they encounter monsters and the military to escape the town.

During the course of the game, you’ll uncover secrets that Amy holds. Sadly, these secrets, or even the story for that matter, are told rather dismally. No matter whom you are, AMY is poorly told from both the cut scenes and dialogue; from beginning to the very end, you’ll find it painful to finish this terrible story.

The gameplay itself mimics the abysmal story with its numerous terrifying woes. AMY is a third-person survival horror title consisting of your more traditional survival horror elements of combat, puzzles, and stealth. The combat sees you facing off against both humans and monsters alike, and your only means of defense is an iron pipe and Amy’s psychic abilities. Puzzles on the other hand have you finding DNA to unlock doors, poorly explained trigger puzzles, or just sending Amy through dangerous territory to push button. Finally the stealth sections are nothing but hiding in the shadows and waiting for the enemies to just pass by, pretty dull really. Other gameplay elements include an infection indictor and the protection of Amy;  the infection indictor tracks the progress of Lana’s infection by changing colours. Lana’s infection increases depending on various factors like running, using Amy’s powers, getting hit by enemies, etc.  On top of that, Amy is a defenceless girl, whereby Lana is the only protector, meaning that if a monster captures Amy, that monster will start to drain her vitality and kill her.

These gameplay elements could have worked, but ultimately fail in the end. Combat is simple, but has poor detection and repetitive, puzzles are quite boring and not as creative as other survival horror titles.  The stealth sections failed to see the meaning of stealth; by giving the enemies super human sight and hearing. The infection indictor even fails at its sole purpose  to indicate the infection and do not work at all. Finally, Amy can get stuck quite easily, and becomes quite a hassle babysit. The overall gameplay is quite frustrating and poorly executed. Those who are looking for a survival horror experience will just find more frustration then horror.

Presentation wise AMY is surprisingly actually ok for a downloadable title. That being said, it does suffer from frame rate drops and some screen tearing. The voicing acting is decent, but has no emotion to connect the player and Amy together. Even the soundtrack suffers from a poor score and the ambient noise fails to put the player in an immersive experience.

To put it bluntly, AMY is a terrible train wreck. The story is deplorable, and poorly explained from beginning to end. The gameplay is frustrating with its poor combat, uninspiring puzzles, and unnecessary stealth sections as well as other lacklustre gameplay mechanics. Its graphics suffer from frame rate drops and screen tearing, and the voice acting conveys no emotion and the sounds of AMY are the opposite of an immersive experience. Overall, AMY fails at being a survival horror game. This is probably the worst downloadable game of 2012 so far.

Final Score: 1/5

Cyborg Gaming R.A.T 7 Albino Edition Mouse Review

Mad Catz has been making hardware peripherals for the longest time. Those who have a budget and did not want to waste their money on the official products of Sony, Microsoft, or Nintendo, then their choice would be Mad Catz products. Be either be a controller, headset, or racing wheel, Mad Catz products were high in quality with reasonable price. Expanding more beyond the consoles, Mad Catz have acquired Cyborg gaming who makes hardware peripherals for PC. Their latest product R.A.T. 7 Albino is possibly the most advanced mouse to date. So should PC gamers consider this mouse to experience PC gaming like never before, or should they pass on this hardware peripheral?

The R.A.T 7 Albino is basically an improved version over the original R.A.T 7; The first and only improvement would be the DPI sensor. Unlike the first R.A.T. 7 which had 5600 DPI, the Albino has 6400 DPI which is a huge improvement over the original. Playing any first person shooter the movement will be precise, smooth, and fast without delay, even other games like RTSs, MMORPGs, also benefit from this increased accuracy. Sadly the DPI improvement is the only improvement that the Albino edition has to offer.

Even if that is the only improvement, the R.A.T 7 Albino edition is still fully customizable and programmable, it offers a perfect grip for any hand with 3 types of palm rest and pinkie grips. The R.A.T 7 Albino is even programmable with four custom DPI settings, five programmable buttons, and 3 cyborg modes that give access to 15 additional commands. These programmable settings can be accessed from the free download software that Cyborg Gaming has to offer. This software will update the mouse to the latest version and give players the ability to customizable the mouse’s buttons to their liking. This is the ultimate FPS gaming mouse for those who want full control of the battlefield on the fly.

The presentation of this mouse is quite appealing to the eye, even if it’s the same design that the original R.A.T 7 has with the only expectation being the colour. While the colour of the original R.A.T 7 was black, the Albino edition is, of course, white. The materials used are lightweight and the design has a nice, smooth futurist look.  Sadly, the only complaint about the mouse design is that the USB wire that connects to the computer is in front of the mouse which is quite a hassle to mess with. The presentation of this product is great, but the wire can be problematic.

Overall, the R.A.T 7 Albino edition is basically the same mouse with an improved DPI sensor and different color. This mouse houses the same customizable features and designs of the original, those who wish to upgrade their R.A.T 7 to the Albino will find little improvement. However if you want a better DPI, or a white colored mouse, then this is for you. If you’re not looking for these upgrades on your original R.A.T 7 we suggest you wait a little longer for a wireless R.A.T mouse.

Final Score: 3.5/5