-GAMES- Call of Duty: Black Ops

Call of Duty is one of the most well-known First-Person-Shooter games, it is also known of being sold for over a million copies worldwide. If you've played Call of Duty, you know why this game rocks, but if you haven't played it yet, I'm forcing you to play it.

Call of Duty: Black Ops, an FPS, was developed by Treyarch and published by Activision for the PC, Xbox 360, PS3, and Wii. It also has a DS version which was developed by N-Space. Call of Duty: Black Ops is the third series of the game developed by Treyarch, just like Call of Duty: World at War.

Due to the sales, it breaks the record of its predecessor, Modern Warfare 2. Activision reported it has earned $1 billion in sales and on August 3, 2011, it had been confirmed to sell over 25 million copies worldwide.

Call of Duty: Black Ops is like any other FPS where you use guns; your primary weapons (AK-47, M16, DRAGUNOV), secondary weapons (Pistols and Launchers), and grenades. Oh, and yes, we can still use a knife. The player also has stances, like standing, crouch, and prone. Like other FPS games, you have your team which help you decrease the number of enemies. When the screen glows red, it means you're in low health, wherein other players do is to crouch or hide to regenerate your health back. When the enemies throw a grenade at you, it will show a grenade icon, and can be thrown back or you can just run away. There are new weapons in the game. They are the crossbows with bolts and explosives, Dragon Breath rounds and the ballistic knife.

The game also has a campaign which is the story of the game. It show the objectives of the game to move forward and checkpoints which lead the way. Each mission you can see troops which accompanied you throughout the mission, also you can use a helicopter which you're partner moves while you shoot enemies. The game also its best feature, Multiplayer. The online multiplayer mode have missions like Team Deathmatch which see who have the most kills on the team and Capture the Flag, which players take other flags and put it on their base. Additionally, there is Free For All which players don't have teams. Furthermore, the game has over 14 different maps. It has Combat Training which players fight AI alone or with friends. The game also have a split-screen for the multiplayer. For the first time you can record your clips from online games. Steam is an exclusive platform for the PC, and it is protected by Valve Anti-Cheat. The Wii version of the game includes voice chat which you can talk with other players online.

Online Multiplayer mode is cool.

The game is set during the Cold War. Missions take place in various locations in the world, such as the Ural Mountains, Russia, Cuba, Kazakhstan, Hong Kong, Laos, Vietnam, and the Artic Circle. The player controls an SAD/SOG operative, Alex Mason, who is strapped on a chair in an interrogation room. Most of the missions played are flashbacks of Mason. Black Ops features several historical figures like John F. Kennedy, Robert McNamara, and Fidel Castro.

The graphics of the game are more realistic. The soundtrack is good too; it features 'Sympathy for the Devil' by The Rolling Stones, which is played during a gameplay sequence and also in the credits. Eminem's 'Won't Back Down' featuting Pink is used for the credits as well.

Are you coming or what?

For me Call of Duty: Black Ops is the real deal. Though the story is very short, the gameplay makes up for it. For me, this the best FPS. You might feel dizzy sometimes, but you'll get along. Playing online may give a bit of a challenge. Also there are zombies here. Call of Duty fans have played this game, why not you try it too? You'll love this game. THIS. IS. THE. BEST. GAME.

OVERALL RATING: 10/10

-musicgamer

*edited by Red Hood 02/26/12

-GAMES (MMORPG)- MapleStory Review

Hey guys! Here comes another review, which is about a game called MapleStory!

MapleStory is a Free-to-Play MMORPG published by Nexon. It is a fun, 2D side-scrolling with cute cartoony graphics, which are chibby/anime-ish. It is also one of the most popular Free-to-Play MMORPGs because of it's massive community!

Players start in Maple Island, which is the tutorial area of the game, and you start as a classless novice learning the aspects of the game and its "feel". The only downside of the game is that it is a grindfest, where you must kill monsters again and again to gain experience. But for you to have a fun grinding, try playing with a friend. It is also fun to grind alone.

The quests in MapleStory are also fun because of it's side-scrolling genre, like a platform game that involves jumping from platform to platform. Another thing about the quests are the Party Quests or commonly known as PQs, which commonly have a series of puzzles that the party must solve by cooperating with one another or sometimes by killing as many monsters in a certain amount of time. PQs probably changed the 'grindfest' concept of the game.

Oh, and another thing about the game is that it is always updated ever since it was released; compared to the early days of MapleStory, the world was very small with only one landmass called Victoria Island. Today, MapleStory already has new classes with a more massive world. If you like games which are always updated and never gets old, this is a game for you!

-BlueRose

*edited by Red Hood 02/24/12

Happy birthday, Batman!

It's Bruce Wayne's special day today. Happy birthday, Batman! :)

-Mikey McMike

-GAMES- StarCraft Review

Hey guys! I am back for another game review, and it's about StarCraft for the PC.

StarCraft is a science fiction real-time strategy game developed by Blizzard Entertainment and was released released in 1998. It is one of the best RTS games of all time.

Starcraft is set in the 26th century, with the game having three races; Terran, Protoss, and Zerg.
The Terran is the Human race of StarCraft where they are trying to adapt into the situation. They use technology from Earth. They serve as the middle ground between the two other races. They have access on good military weapons, such as tanks and nuclear weapons.
The Protoss is the Humanoid race of StarCraft with advance technology and psionic abilities. Their psionic abilities have the advantage over their structures such as the unit's fire psy-like beams.
The Zerg is the insect-like alien race of StarCraft which is somewhat weaker. They rely on numbers and speed to overwhelm enemies.

The great thing about its gameplay is how the races are well-balanced, for example is how one race could counter the other or even counter its own when controlled properly. The balance of the game makes it strategically fun, using endless combinations of units to make endless strategies to defeat your opponent. If you've played games like Warcraft and Yuri, you'll be able to use your abilities here because you'll be building your base, conquer other places, and destroy bases of the enemy.

Each race has 10 missions on the single player Campaign Mode, for a total of 30 missions to complete. The great thing about the missions is that it could give you information about the units you are using which could help you make a good combination for good strategy.

Playing on Battle.Net, a gaming online service provided by Blizzard, or even playing via local area network, also known as LAN, are one of the greatest ways to play with friends using your personalized strategy and your friend's strategy to defeat one another.

Starcraft is an amazing RTS game because of its balanced gameplay, great multiplayer features, endless strategies to use, and with a great storyline mixed with great cinematics!

-BlueRose

*edited by musicgamer
*edited by Red Hood 02/19/12

Prom Night '11-'12

Hey guys. I'd just like to make an announcement that two of our admins won awards last night in our Prom. Ruich is part of the Top 10 Finalists on the other hand admin Klyne (name is not yet official) is Prom King! PROM KING. PROM. KING. Congratulations, guys! We're proud of you!

-Mikey McMike

-ANIME- Death Note Review

"The human whose name is written in this note shall die."
The very first and the most influential rule of this anime. Yes, it is unbelievable, but that person shall truly die (well, in the show, of course).

'Death Note'. Hmm, what is 'Death Note'? It's anime about Light Yagami, a high school honor student with good looks and charm, who picks up a notebook that suddenly appeared out of nowhere. Yup, you guessed it, it's the Death Note. The Death Note has the ability to kill a person any way you want, as long as you know the name and face. There are always a few rules and exceptions though. But wait, the notebook can't appear out of nowhere, can't it? It actually came from the Shinigami (god of death) Realm. One Shinigami got "bored" and decided to drop his notebook to the human world so that a human could pick it up and ease up his "boredom", and that Shinigami's name is Ryuk. The two meet, but weird enough, Light seems casual about meeting a Shinigami and doesn't even fret. Light tests the notebook and is astounded by its effect, and continues using it... but only on criminals. Society notices this after a while and government officials start finding a way to fix it, and they dub Light with the name 'Kira'. After the government loses hope of finding 'Kira', they hire 'L', a professional detective who has solved every case he has worked on, to find 'Kira'. Thus, the battle of logic begins as Light and L fight for justice and for what is right.

The story keeps you preoccupied pretty well. One minute you may know what's going on, the next, you don't know what the hell is happening. It's pretty Grant Morrison-ish, if you ask me. The thing that kept me going on in this anime, is the strategies that both Light and L use. It's like both of them are one step ahead of each other, which is practically impossible. The twists were a bit predictable, in my opinion of course. Maybe it's just due to all the stories that I've heard and read. Ever since Light met L, his main goal was practically kill L and all those who support him. Light's obsessed with this, and he would do anything just to get him out of the way. I remember in the penultimate episode, my heart was beating really fast due to the suspense. Yeah, that's how the story grabs people in. It really captures anyone's interest. There will be constant addition of characters, but all will be vital to the storyline, as lots of people hate addition of characters. Pretty much, the story's excellent.

The art is in the simple ways of anime style. It is drawn traditionally. It still has impossible hair-styled guys, with the over-reacted expressions of some characters, so on and so forth. One example would be that you can sometimes see Light completely insane with red eyes and a very eerie smile. It only lacks those "chibi" styled characters, but it's only natural since this is a very serious show. I'm short for words on this one since I'm not much of an "art" guy, for as long as the story's good, I can overlook the art easily.

Now, the soundtrack. WOW. I completely fell in love with it. It is extremely beautiful, and I'm not being biased or even lying about it. Notable ones would be "L's Theme" and "Light's Theme". Most of them brings about a mysterious aura around it. It is creepy and baffling at the same time. Seeming to fit the mood every time. It has the same effect when you're having an adrenaline rush and listening to 'Eye of the Tiger'. The show also has two opening themes and two closing themes, which changes right around the middle of the show's run. The first closing theme seems to be everyone's ringtone in the show, is named 'Alumina'. When the second opening and closing comes to the show, it changes from emo-ish/mysterious to heavy/angry. It stresses you out, but in an appropriate way. It usually uses a choir and stringed instruments, such as violins. When it comes to certain situations, you can hear electric guitars switching from clean to distortion, and acoustic guitars serving as the momentum; building up the intensity of the electric guitars. I am completely amazed by the soundtrack, and is one the best that I have heard.

'Death Note'. I heard of this about 5 years ago, if I remember correctly. I was astounded by it, but I never had the chance back then to watch it or even read the manga. But recently, I had, and I'm grateful that I was given a chance. I have never seen characters so well-made as this one. To be honest, me and Kira have the same ideals, so I guess that's one of the factors that has drawn me to this show. If I was given a chance, I would watch it all over again without knowing what would happen. I'm just sad that this show is a bit underrated and hasn't reached many people that much.

Always remember, 'Death Note' is just an ideal to show the world what we are today, and what we need. It is the never-ending battle between Justified Crime and Moral Justice.

-Mikey McMike

-GAMES- Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective

Hey guys, I'm gonna do another game review, this time it's 'Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective' for the DS and iOS.

'Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective' is an adventure game developed by Capcom. It was developed by Shu Takumi, creator of the Ace Attorney Series. The game won awards from GameSpot for 'Best Handheld Game' and 'Best Game No One Played'. It has been nominated for 'Best Puzzle Game' and 'Game of the Year' categories. The game also won awards for 'Best Nintendo DS Game' on GameTrailers. It is also nominated for the 'Best Story' award from the same site.

Do you believe that ghosts are real? Well in this game, ghosts are real. If you think this game is all about ghosts who scare you, you're wrong. Is it about finding ghosts and putting it in jars or just a plain detective who can solve "ghostly" cases? Well, you're close enough. You play a ghost who brings the dead back to life. That's right, you bring the dead back to life.

In this game, you play as Sissel, the main protagonist of the series who is dead from begining of the game. From the very start of the game Sissel is a ghost who has extraordinary powers which are called 'Ghost Tricks'. As a spirit, you can switch between the Land of the Living, where time runs normally, and the Ghost world where time stands till. Sissel can travel through various objects, which is represented by blue cores, as well as talk to spirits who have died which represents yellow cores. Sissel can only travel through objects with certain lengths, which means that the player will have to connect through multiple objects in order to move forward. Sissel can also possess telephones which let you listen through conversations and travel through communication lines to other areas. By interacting with a dead body, Sissel can rewind four minutes before the death of that character. The player must use 'Ghost Tricks' in order to change the victim's fate. Later in the game, you'll be able to have a partner who is also ghost with extraordinary powers which has different powers.

In the Ghost World where Sissel is using his Ghost Tricks.

What I can say about this game, the game truly deserves to be the 'Best Game'. The game gave an amusing story to gamers which, of course, they enjoyed. The story, in fact, is overwhelming and full of twists. If you manage to finish the game but didn't understand the whole story, why not repeat it again? Every chapter you finish, puzzles get harder, that is why I love this game. The story and gameplay are the main things here. Why not try and play it? You'll love the game.

OVERALL RATING: 9/10

'Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective' out now on iOS wherein two chapters are free.

-musicgamer

*Edited by Red Hood

-MUSIC- Beats & Broccoli review

ALBUM: Beats & Broccoli
ARTIST: JedLi
GENRE: Hip Hop

If you want an awesome, fresh day with lots of good vibes to lighten up the mood, then Beats & Broccoli is the right playlist for you. Wait let me rephrase that. Beats & Broccoli is the PERFECT playlist for you.


Beats & Broccoli is the first all-instrumental album by beatsmith and emcee Jed Caba aka. JedLi. The artist reps People's Future; an underground hip hop trio based in Manila, Philippines.


Beats & Broccoli boasts a collection of slick, cool beats with that light touch that doesn't make the instrumentals too heavy. Whether you're a hip hop head or not, JedLi's genius beat production skills make you feel like you're in a different world.


As I said, the beats are light, not making them too heavy or hardcore-ish or whatever. Whether you're sitting in a corner, freestyling, or just chilling, Beats & Broccoli is the thing for you. Super recommended for hip hop heads. For none hip hop heads, give it a try! For gamers, I play this on my stereo while playing video games. (Yeah it's awesome listening to music while playing video games)

-Ruich

-MUSIC- The Hearts of Lonely People Review

"Oh, as we share this simple night, do you understand that I could never tell a lie?"
That's the first line of the third track of the EP or Extended Play of Isles & Glaciers named 'The Hearts of Lonely People'. That song is called 'Clush' and one of my two personal favorites.

To start off, what is Isles & Glaciers? Well, it's one of the many "superbands" in the world. A "superband" is a musical group (or a band, obviously) that is composed of different musicians from other groups, and usually these groups are quite famous. This "superband" has a lineup of: Craig Owens and Jonny Craig on vocals from Chiodos and Dance Gavin Dance respectively, Brian Southall on guitars from The Receving End of Sirens, Matt Goddard on bass guitar, Nick Martin on guitars, and Vic Fuentes and Mike Fuentes on guitars/vocals and drums respectively from Pierce the Veil. They, though, have officially announced that this is just a one-time project.

To begin with, the lyrics have unique and varying themes. The titles are enough to make you think what the song is about! Let me give you an example; 'Clush'. What the hell is a 'Clush'?! How about 'Hills Like White Elephants'? The first thing that comes to my mind is about hills that look like white elephants, but it's not. But, as always people have said, don't judge a book by its cover, or in this case, don't judge a song by its title. I'll be honest here, the lyrics are so well-made, that it's so complicated, yet, it still maintains its elegance and beauty. The best line I've heard the whole EP is from the last track named 'Cemetery Weather', "I need somebody crazy enough to tell me "I will love you 'til we are buried.".". Hearing that song brings me back to the days before my problems weren't around. It manages to give me happiness and sadness at the same time... but let's try not be so personal on this one.

The music is beautifully made. You can hear both natural and techno/electro instruments at the same time. The guitar wouldn't sound like a guitar, and the drums would be morphed or natural. It's like a perfect mix of heavy and relaxing melodies, which is actually pretty nice. You can hear influences of post-hardcore, especially the screams, and electro/techno in each song. Think of it as 'Owl City Meets Asking Alexandria'. The perfect mix of heavy and soft. You are going to love the catchy guitar riffs with that blend of electro beats in the background. It's so beautifully mixed. You're gonna be headbanging all over the place, and emotional at some part, since this EP is so emotional. Not to mention that it's like you're listening to one song due to each track being "connected" to each other. The music you shall hear here is just one of a kind, and I doubt that you'll find something like this in the world.

All I have to say this is one of the best EPs (or an album as I like to call it) I have ever heard. You're going to be headbanging at one point, and be emotional at the other. Yeah, this is what this EP can do. I'm just disappointed that this is a one-time project, since this group has so much potential! With my favorite band, Pierce the Veil, here, I am blessed to have heard this group and all their songs. It's like a drug, but it also brings sadness with it. This group will forever be one of my favorites and I hope you guys have a chance to listen to their EP too. Ciao.

-Mikey McMike

-MUSIC- TAO LANG FT. QUEST by Loonie

For Filipino readers.
He's back. After a very long time of waiting, Loonie has finally released another track. This song, entitled Tao Lang is produced by Klumcee and was released last Jan. 31. Wait for Loonie's return on FlipTop @Ahon 3; to be uploaded soon.

-Ruich