by John Carle, Dec 6 2013 // 9:00 AM

XBox One has been out for about two weeks now and I know I haven’t posted any reviews yet, but I am sorry I’ve been busy… playing XBox One. It’s not that I didn’t want to share my experiences with you all but between XBox One, work and shooting for Whiskey and Waffles, it has definitely eaten into my review time.
But as is the policy here on The Flickcast, if anyone sends us a copy of something we review it and I am holding up to that end of the bargain as the team over at Twisted Pixel have sent me a download code for Lococycle.
The Long
The guys from Twisted Pixel Games have done a great job of creating compelling characters even with limited time to get the story across because of the average length of a XBox Live Arcade game being shorter than your standard fair in their past titles. The most interesting aspect of Lococycle is that they are able to do this with a character who doesn’t even speak English as one of the main protagonists.
A sentient motorcycle named I.R.I.S. accidentally hooks her Spanish speaking mechanic and makes a run across borders to the Freedom Rally while being chased by “her” creator Big Arms. While I did love ‘Splosion Man and Ms. ‘Splosion Man, the repeated quips did quickly grow repetitive. In Lococycle though, there were only a few very rare occurrences that it felt like a line was repeated. The entire time, I.R.I.S.’s personality just kept building.
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Posted in: Game Reviews · Games · News · Reviews · Video Games · XBox One
Tagged: 'Splosion Man, Freddie Rodriguez, Games, LocoCycle, Reviews, The Maw, Twisted Pixel, TwistedPixel, Video Game Reviews, Video Games, XBox One
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by John Carle, Nov 11 2013 // 9:00 AM

One billion dollars in merchandise shipped to retailers on day one. Quite the ambitious feat and though Grand Theft Auto V set the record for the fastest entertainment property to hit a billion dollars in actual sales in three days, Call of Duty: Ghosts is in a unique position in how they will reach it. This is the first Call of Duty since Call of Duty 2 to be released on a crossover year with a new console launch.
Not all gamers who are planning on purchasing the PlayStation 4 later this week or the XBox One next week are going to be able to afford a double purchase and considering what we’ve seen with the next gen graphics, it is certainly splitting the sales. And considering it is also a yearly franchise, there isn’t that same gigantic level of hype for a new Call of Duty the way there is for a new Grand Theft Auto. That said, Call of Duty: Ghosts is a game you are going to want to play.
The Long
Call of Duty: Ghosts is the first entry into the Call of Duty franchise from Infinity Ward since the conclusion of the Modern Warfare trilogy two years ago. They not only needed to introduce an entirely new set of characters but a new status quo as well. Set in a world similar to that of Modern Warfare and Black Ops, this version has a group of allied forces fending off an attack from the Federation.
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Posted in: Activision · Call of Duty · Game Reviews · Games · News · PC Games · Playstation 3 · PlayStation 4 · Reviews · Video Games · Wii U · Xbox 360 · XBox One
Tagged: Activision, Call of Duty, Call of Duty: Ghosts, Call of Duty: Ghosts FPS, Game Reviews, Games, Infinity Ward, Launch Trailer, Multiplayer, PC, PC Games, Playstation 3, PlayStation 4, PS3, Reviews, Treyarch, Video Game Reviews, Video Games, Wii U, Xbox 360, XBox One
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by John Carle, Jul 9 2013 // 11:00 AM

Last year, players got to experience a Walking Dead experience that rivaled the comics with Telltale’s The Walking Dead. Sticking to a traditional point and click adventure style of storytelling rather than an action game or shooter (like AMC’s The Walking Dead: Survival Instinct).
Last week on Tuesday for PSN users and Friday for XBLA users, Telltale released a special episode for The Walking Dead. Meant to act as a bridge between season 1 and the upcoming season 2, there is a departure from part of what people loved so much of the first season for. But, the new aspects of the game and its storytelling keeps the hook there for players for the next season.
The Long
The first thing players will note in The Walking Dead: 400 Days is the separation from the main characters in the first season. Where there is an appearance from some periphery characters, the majority of those seen in the game are new to both the game and the comics. There is also a group of six characters players take the role of (five characters with their own chapter and then one epilogue) as opposed to only playing for Lee in the previous title.
This is where things start to feel starkly different. Part of what was so addictive in the first season of The Walking Dead was following the relationship between Lee and Clementine. In 400 Days though, before you can get too invested in a single character, you move onto the next. The long term results of these actions also remain to be seen as to how these characters will play a role in the second season alongside those who made it through the first.
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Posted in: Comic Book Games · Comics · Game Reviews · Games · iOS · News · Playstation 3 · PlayStationNetwork · Reviews · Video Games · XBLA · Xbox 360 · Zombies
Tagged: 400 Days, Comic Book Games, Comics, Image Comics, iOS, Mac Games, Mobile Games, PC Games, PlayStation Network, Reviews, Robert Kirkman, TellTale Games, The Walking Dead, The Walking Dead: 400 Days, Video Game Reviews, Video Games, XBLA, Xbox 360, Zombies
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by John Carle, Jan 9 2013 // 10:00 AM

In under two months, more than 427 million hours have been logged into Call of Duty: Black Ops II multiplayer and zombie modes. At this point, it is reasonable for players to be clamoring for some new content. Treyarch has responded with a resounding, “It’s coming!” with the the Revolution DLC pack (which had some tidbits leaked late last week). The Revloution DLC pack will be coming out first to XBox 360 on January 29.
The Revolution DLC pack will include four new multiplayer maps, a new zombie map, the first new zombie DLC mode and the first ever DLC weapon. Check out the level descriptions below as well as the full preview trailer after the jump.
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Posted in: Activision · Announcements · Game Trailers · Games · News · PC Games · Playstation 3 · Trailers · Video Games · Wii U · XBLA · Xbox 360 · Zombies
Tagged: Activision, Call of Duty, Call of Duty Black Ops II, Call of Duty: Black Ops, Die Rise, DLC, Downhill, Grind, Hydro, Mirage, PC, Peacekeeper, Playstation 3, Reviews, Revolution, Treyarch, Turned, Video Game Reviews, Video Games, Wii U, Xbox 360, Zombies
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by John Carle, Dec 26 2012 // 11:00 AM

Epic franchises have been doing crossovers for years. It was only a matter of time before the team behind The Lord of the Rings movie franchise took notice of the success of other film blockbusters like Star Wars, Harry Potter and Indiana Jones and how well they all did when they met the LEGO world. Not only did the toys sell, but their video games were all certified hits. LEGO The Lord of the Rings promised to again do something never before done in a LEGO crossover.
The Long
Unlike LEGO Batman and its sequel which were original stories, LEGO The Lord of the Rings took the path of Star Wars and put the entire film trilogy and its most epic encounters into LEGO form. Unlike Star Wars though, LEGO The Lord of the Rings included actual voiceover taken directly from the film. That means the most iconic scenes, though given LEGO twists and humor in many cases, have the authentic audio from the movies. Hearing LEGO Gandalf utter, “You shall not pass” to the Balrog is unexpectedly still incredibly powerful even though, for all intensive purposes, it’s a toy saying it.
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Posted in: Game Reviews · News · Reviews · The Hobbit · Video Games · Warner Bros · Xbox 360
Tagged: Game Reviews, Games, J.R.R. Tolkien, Lego, LEGO The Lord of the Rings, Nintendo 3DS, Nintendo DS, Nintendo Wii, Playstation 3, PlayStation Vita, Reviews, The Lord of the Rings, Toys, Traveller's Tales, Video Game Reviews, Video Games, Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment, Xbox 360
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by John Carle, Nov 23 2012 // 9:00 AM

The Call of Duty series is the gaming industry’s equivelent of a Michael Bay summer blockbuster film. While the story might be slightly convoluted, millions of people flock to it and spend their hard earned money on a explosion filled, high octane, testosterone laced good time. In addition to the campaign, Call of Duty: Black Ops II includes both the standard mutliplayer and the Zombie mode from Treyarch which has given the studio something for people to remember them by.
It’s no surprise that Black Ops II had huge midnight launches at over a thousand locations across the country but lines of people don’t necessarily ensure a game will live up to the hype. But, Treyarch continues to prove why they are trusted with such a franchise.
The Long
First and foremost, regardless of anything else in the game, Call of Duty: Black Ops II captures shooter gameplay and control on a console at its finest. Everything from movement to aiming and shooting to damage detection all feel perfect in Black Ops II. The default control scheme is perfect for the genre and everything really just fits perfectly into place (at least on the XBox 360 controller) for the FPS experience. If you stripped down the graphics and setting, the engine behind Call of Duty: Black Ops II would still be an ideal shooter.
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Posted in: Activision · Game Reviews · Games · News · PC Games · Playstation 3 · Reviews · Trailers · Video Games · Wii U · Xbox 360 · Zombies
Tagged: Activision, Call of Duty, Call of Duty Black Ops II, Call of Duty: Black Ops, PC, Playstation 3, Reviews, Treyarch, Video Game Reviews, Video Games, Wii U, Xbox 360, Zombies
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by John Carle, Nov 12 2012 // 10:30 AM

After three straight games following Ezio through the Renaissance, the Assassin’s Creed series moves on to a new and still somewhat unexpected timeframe of the American Revolution. Since the initial announcement of Assassin’s Creed III, the hype machine has turned out video preview after video preview to help bring back loyal assassins as well as recruit new ones to the franchise’s ranks. The result is one of the most anticipated titles of 2012 (coming out right before Halo 4 and Call of Duty: Black Ops II) which will most likely outsell its previous versions. But as we have seen in the past, just because a game has a triple A development budget and tons of marketing behind it, that doesn’t necessarily ensure it is going to live up to its potential.
The Long…
When I first stepped into Assassin’s Creed III, the first thing I noticed was how alive the world in front of me was. Being in a theater with hundreds of other guests made it feel like a real event going on around my character. It didn’t feel like just some instance created with a few background characters to fill up the space nor did it feel like the background of a sports game with a generic crowd with repetitive motions wallpapered in either. Instead it felt like my character was a part of a real and tactile world.
This feeling continues to hold true in many other areas of the game, especially the cities of Boston and New York. Constantly, you are surrounded by people all doing very different things. Some might be selling wares, others begging for coins and others just going about their daily business. What helps make this different though is the variety of animations and poses characters on screen go through as they go about their daily life. With a few exceptions (like the subway arrival in one of the game’s later present day scenes), you don’t often see two people on screen doing the same thing at the same time.
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Posted in: Game Reviews · Games · News · Reviews · Ubisoft · Video Games · Xbox 360
Tagged: Assassin's Creed, Assassin's Creed III, Reviews, Ubisoft, Ubisoft Montreal, Video Game Reviews, Video Games, Xbox 360
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by John Carle, Oct 19 2012 // 9:00 AM

If you have a Kinect, chances are that it isn’t the most used accessory of your XBox 360. Though tons have been sold, there hasn’t been great support of good games for it. In fact, many have been downright disappointing like Star Wars Kinect. The shining light for Kinect has been the Dance Central series.
With the first two titles, Dance Central has proven to be one of the best applications of the Kinect technology in terms of accurate recording of the player’s movements and giving a fun experience that actually utilizes the Kinect technology in a fun way. Now, for the third year in a row, the team at Harmonix brings back its dance craze inspired game with incredible results in the form of Dance Central 3.
The Long
If you’ve never played a Dance Central title before, the premise of the game is very simple. Players stand in front of the Kinect controller and mirror the movements they see of the characters on screen. The angle of their arms, legs and body are all monitored by the Kinect as a player follows the motions on screen. The accuracy of the player’s movements determines how well they score on each dance move. Higher scores mean more stars, which have been trend in Harmonix’s music games for some time now.
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Posted in: Game Reviews · Games · Music · News · Reviews · Video Games · Xbox 360
Tagged: Dance Central, Dance Central 2, Dance Central 3, Game Reviews, Harmonix, Harmonix Music Systems, Kinect, Music, Music Games, Video Game Reviews, Video Games, Xbox 360, XBox 360 Reviews, XBox Kinect
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by John Carle, Aug 17 2012 // 7:30 AM

Chances are even if you are a hardcore gamer, you probably haven’t heard about 10000000. And its understandable. With hundreds of apps getting put on the App Store daily, it’s easy to miss a game that isn’t an Angry Birds clone. But of any game recently released that should have mass appeal to gamers, 10000000 is it.
10000000 is the epitome of taking current trends, combining them and doing it right. First, the basic gameplay revolves around gem matching. Players drag rows and columns right and left or up and down to match either swords, magic staves, keys, chests, shields, wood and stone to accomplish various tasks. Swords and staves attack. Keys unlock doors and chests. Shields provide armor. Wood and stone provide resources for later. Chests grant gold and items.
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Posted in: Apple · Game Reviews · Games · Mobile · Mobile Apps · News · Reviews · Video Games
Tagged: 10000000, App Reviews, Apple, Apps, Game Reviews, iOS, iOS 5, Video Game Reviews
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by John Carle, Jul 31 2012 // 9:15 AM

Younger players may not understand why there is so much love for the Tony Hawk series. Their most recent memories involve a “skateboard” that was “filled with technology” that didn’t actually work right with Tony Hawk: Shred. But at the turn of the millennium, Tony Hawk Pro Skater was one of the hottest games on any platform.
It was the height of the extreme sports phenomenon and Tony Hawk Pro Skater and its early sequels helped make Tony Hawk a household name, something completely unheard of for an athlete who wasn’t playing one of the big four sports. Now, almost thirteen years later, the team at Robomodo wants to give players the chance again to relive their favorite moments from Tony Hawk Pro Skater and Tony Hawk Pro Skater 2 for the first time in Tony Hawk Pro Skater HD.
Gameplay
The first thing old school players of Tony Hawk Pro Skater will notice is that the HD remix holds up and ages well. It is still just as fun as it was years ago to hop on a rail, do a kickflip into a manual and then grab some big air with a 720 Superman off a vert ramp. What they will also notice though is the XBox 360 controller’s sensitivity makes it a little difficult at first to get used to the game’s multiple instances where they must balance. Whether it’s a grind, manual or lip trick, the analogs on the 360 are almost too responsive and once a player gets a little bit off the rails, they are going to need to bail or take a nasty fall.
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Posted in: Activision · Game Reviews · Games · News · Reviews · Video Games · Xbox 360
Tagged: Activision, Neversoft, Reviews, Robomodo, Tony Hawk, Tony Hawk Pro Skater, Tony Hawk Pro Skater 2, Tony Hawk Pro Skater HD, Video Game Reviews, Video Games, Xbox 360, XBox Live Arcade
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