Portal 2 is out today, and I’m going to be all over it. If you’ve been following the blog, you know ps3 is my go to platform, but I generally prefer the digital download route of acquiring games. Portal 2 has created a big dilemma for me but I eventually settled on going out and getting the PS3 version, since it comes with a steam copy anyway, it would be silly of me not too.

I didn’t even finish the original portal in fact I was quite late to that game in general, and it did feel dated when I did get around to it. I loved the concept and the humor though in the parts I did see. Maybe I’ll hammer my way through it today before I get into the sequel.

I will be passing on Mortal Kombat as tempted as I am, fighting games just aren’t fun if you don’t have a rival and I really don’t have one at this point as I mentioned in my Tekken and Super Street Fighter IV articles.

Fight Night Champion really snuck up on me, I was literally scrambling the day it came it out to go get it. I absolutely loved Fight Night 4 despite its flaws, and sadly my review of this game will be very comparative to it’s predecessor.

First and foremost, holy crap this game has a story mode… or “Champion Mode” as they call it. Here’s the thing, the story is really good, and interesting. It’s told through cut scenes and by way of the play by play guys during the fights, and is chalk full of adversity. It’s done in such a way that creates variety of gameplay that otherwise wouldn’t have existed. For example, early on there is a match where you take a punch early on (unavoidable) that creates a cut. Through the course of the fight you need to protect that cut otherwise the ref calls the fight. Sure, that sounds like boxing, but for someone like me who hadn’t entirely figured out the best way to counter in this version of the game, it was really teaching me the mechanics, and forcing me down a road I likely wouldn’t have bothered with, without the incentive.  The Legacy Mode returns, and is pretty much unchanged, schedule your fights, become the champion, defend your title. I found the training games to be a little more fun this time around

The fighting in this game is much faster compared to round 4, and the increase in speed makes it significantly less counter punching focused. In round 4 I constantly found myself waiting for the counter punch, and that was effective. It also feels a little more balanced, when you hit with a counter, you still need to follow it up with at least a decent combo if you want to get anywhere, especially early on in a fight. This also means, players who choose to walk forward and throw you can win, if you want to play defensively you can win, very cool.

Everything about this game was a surprise to me, and it was all great.