My Metal Gear Is Rising

Game Mechanics - 1.5/2

Storyline - 2/2

Graphics - 1.5/2

Soundtrack - 1.5/2

Replay Value - 1.5/2

 Total Score - 8/10

Hey there gamer guys and gamer girls; welcome to our first video game review of 2013. For those new to the page this will be nothing new but for returning veterans of my blog you should have noticed already. We have changed the grading scheme to make things a bit easier as most gamers have expressed a liking for an easy to understand scale of one to ten. We have also changed the rating pictures to better convey the final verdict on a game; they range from Approved (definitely get your hands on a copy of this game or watch someone play it if you can't), Give It A Shot (the game has it merits and is a reasonable source of entertainment but you should probably rent or borrow this game is you aren't a fan of it), and Denied (this game offers a wide range of faults and is more like a punishment than a reward for partaking of it in all its glory). We will still keep our regular format of breaking down the game with the good, bad, and improvements section. To top it all off we will try to provide video game-play with commentary for all our reviews as much as possible for those that may not have ready access to some of the games. So now that the explaining is over lets talk about Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance...

Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance is an upcoming action video game being developed by Platinum Games and produced by Kojima Productions, for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 consoles. It will be a spin-off of the Metal Gear series, with a self-contained plot. Set four years after the events of Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots, the story will focus on the cyborg ninja, Raiden, in a fight against a self-proclaimed private military company involved in terrorist activities, Desperado Enterprises. It is awaiting a worldwide release on February 2013. Although a Japanese release for the Xbox 360 platform was planned, that version was cancelled for unknown reasons. This is only the demo release of the game we are reviewing but I must say if I hadn't already put aside money to pre-order Tomb Raider in March I would so totally be buying this game. If you own a PS3 or XBOX 360 you should definitely get this game; and here's why...

What’s Good:

Everything is good as far as key components go. Soundtrack is good, graphics are on point, wide move-set and combo options for taking out your enemies, challenging but not insanely hard difficulty to deter even the most casual of gamers and an engaging story-line with beautiful cut scenes that keeps you involved and highly entertained.

What’s Bad:

Button configuration layout needs a bit of fine tuning to feel more intuitive, and the tutorial needs to be more in-depth as well, covering the full range of options available to the player.

What Should Have Been Added:

First and foremost I think a dedicated button for blocking would be a great thing to have, couple that with a RPG type leveling system for parts where you can customize your armor to suit your play-style best and you have a game that would be perfect if not near perfection.

Final Thoughts:

Let me just say this game is on point; for all the cynics that were bashing this game or skeptical about it because it doesn't stay true to the stealthy nature of the Metal Gear Solid franchise I say a pox on thee. You know not the wonders that you are missing out on and i'm sure it was made very clear that this was a spin-off game. Set entirely in its own plot timeline separate and apart from the original MGS series. Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance has fluid third-person action featuring slow-motion swordplay in place of the stealth style featured in the Metal Gear Solid series. Not to mention some really graphic in your face cinematic kills that will showcase the beauty of the graphics engine for this game. With that being said feel free to download the demo on PS3 or XBOX 360 and try it out yourself before the game is released on February 19th. If you can't we got you covered with our play-through of the demo with live commentary.

So Close Yet So Far Away

So first off I just want to say a word of thanks to all the people near and far that took the time to vote for me. We tried our best and you guys all surely showed your support and that's what kind makes me feel bad that I couldn't come through for y'all. However at the end of the day there must be winners and there must be losers. After all it was some stiff competition considering their were seventeen of us in the running for best lifestyle blog and I managed to come in 4th. Still a little depressed somewhat considering I had the most votes in my category I would have at least thought maybe I would have been second or at worst third if the Judges didn't like my blog much. I guess it wasn't good enough for what they consider to be a lifestyle blog; so I guess I can't be too upset since I primarily run a gaming blog and throw bits of lifestyle posts in for fun. I really think they need to rethink the grading scheme and maybe consider making it a 50/50 percent where online votes and judges votes are equally weighed instead of the 30/70 percent split that they did.

Now as you can clearly see from the picture above of the grading scheme they used I got screwed pretty hard because of that wide grading difference between online voting and personal judge scoring. Some how a blog that had the 5th lowest amount of votes won the award for best Lifestyle blog. Now i know this isn't politics and there is no guarantee that the most votes entitle you to winning but if they really are the best then why do they only have 20 votes in all? Shouldn't they have a large fan-base that supports them because they are a good and well known blog? If you think that's bad just wait cause there's more.

There is the grading scheme for my friend Shawn's category for best technology blog. Now I was almost certain this was a win for him because he had the most votes in his category and there were only five of them in that category. Surely with SEVEN HUNDRED AND SEVENTY SEVEN votes he can pull off a victory or at least an honorable finish right?

As you can see from the picture he placed fifth; out of five people, so that's last place with the most online votes. Yeah definitely think they need to rethink that grading scheme they gots going on there. I don't really want to drag this out so i'll just end that rant about the grading scheme with that. Moving right along...

Overall Event was pretty cool; considering I don't get out much. I enjoyed myself and wasn't thinking about my gaming too much so that was an interesting experience, you can check out some pictures I took on our Facebook page album. *(still carried my PSVITA as a backup plan just in case things went south)* Didnt  so much like the idea of having the event outdoors given the nature and unpredictability of the weather but the location was nice and classy. We were at the South Beach Cafe; home to Jamaica's only dedicated Daiquiri bar. I got a bit hungry and decided to try out the food there which I must say was pretty darn good but in Kingston that also translates to mean pretty damn expensive as well. Nevertheless our young gamer took it like a man and ordered some grub and swiped that company card like a boss to pay for his meal of Brompton Remoulade.

There were two booths present at the awards but I want to give a special mention to the Campus Clutter booth as they were very engaging and a service that needs to be highlighted. So essentially Campus Clutter is a hub for any and all university students that are in need of anything from books to housing to personal items. Campus Clutter is an online advertising platform that aims to improve and develop the campus environment and experience. They have a wide range of categories and features to suite your every campus need! If you’re interested in anything related to university life then simply click on the tab located on the dashboard and select your category of interest on their website http://www.campusclutter.com. they even have a Facebook page you can check out if you feel up to it. If you are in university or know someone who is you should definitely go check them out. Zalgo Cometh endorses this company...^_^

Well all in all I enjoyed the event and am glad to see an event of its caliber happening and growing year to year. They announced that for future Blog Awards they will be expanding it to include the entire Caribbean and not just Jamaica only. So that should be interesting to see maybe even host it in different islands every year and maybe fly out the top 3 finalists for each category to the respective island it is being held. Alas only time will tell what happens; for now i'm going back to what I do best, playing video games and...