BioShock (PS3) review

Do you keep what you make, or does someone take it from you? Government, religion, regulation, morality... these are all just tools that hold back the true potential of mankind. Imagine a place where these elements don't exist. A place where you can pursue science, art, and industry without the naysayers trying to tear you down. Rapture was built as an underwater eden; a place where the elite could elevate themselves above the common man and accomplish the impossible. Though they might have to sacrifice their humanity to attain it.

BioShock is a piece of art and the visual design of Rapture is the most obvious element. Totally gorgeous graphics, great water effects that I often stop for a few seconds just to look at. It's cool that you can look out and see the sea outside, you really feel that you're under water in a huge underwater city. Great architecture all over Rapture, it has an art deco style that is really nice. Blood on the walls, debris on the ground, cracks in the sealing and windows that leak water, it's a city that's falling apart.

It's not only the graphics that's good the sound is really great too. Classic songs from the fifties and earlier, really sets the tone, the world of BioShock truly comes to life. Sound effects such as dripping water and the sporadic public service announcements over the loudspeakers make you pause to listen. Great stunners that makes you believe that something creepy is coming and it doesn't, and when you're not ready an enemy will come out and scare the shit out of you.

What I like about this game is that you can upgrade both your weapons and yourself. Your weapons can get more powerful among other upgrades. The ammo to your weapons can also be changed, you can choose between three kinds of ammo. To upgrade yourself you can buy different plasmids using Adam, you get Adam from harvesting or rescuing a Little Sister. But before you can get the Adam from the Little Sister you have to kill her guardian the Big Daddy. This is not easy but during the game you will learn its weaknesses and your weapons will get more powerful, that will make it easier to kill it.

Raptures citizens discovered a compound called Adam that allows almost limitless genetic manipulation in human beings. To light fires with the snap of your fingers, lift objects with telekinesis or become invisible when not moving proved too compelling for the citizens. Residents began using themselves as "Splicers" to see how far they could genetically “improve” themselves. These improvements, called plasmids, are your main weapons in the game. As you explore Rapture, you must modify and improve your plasmids in order to survive. You can focus on specific powers that you use more often, shaping your gameplay experience. In order to do that, you need Adam. When you run out of power after using the plasmids you inject yourself with Eve.

In addition to the combat, you can learn to both hack computers and research your enemies. Research is done by taking pictures of your enemies to analyze both their plasmids and their weaknesses, taking pictures improves your stats and may also uncover new upgrades that are unavailable anywhere else in the game, accomplishing the research makes the game much easier as you progress. All over Rapture are vending machines that you can get First Aid kits, Eve and ammo among other things. These can be hacked so the price is reduced or you can buy special items that's not available before the hacking. The same thing can be done to security cameras and bots, safes and doors that you don't know the combination to. The hacking works like the old puzzle game Pipe Dreams, you have to direct the water pass traps so the water can run freely to the other side before it fills up. The hacking part was funs in the beginning but it gets boring after you done it a few hundred times.

Overall: BioShock is a video game at its very best, it can create amazing alternative worlds for us to explore, doing those things we can't do in real life. This games has a great atmosphere that comes from everything you see and experiencing in Rapture, everything from the graphics and sound to the RPG elements. This games is a masterpiece and one of the best video games I've ever played. I hope BioShock 2 will be as good as this one, and I will definitely buy it good or bad, they can't fail?

Review: BioShock (PS3) XXXXX [5/5].

Dead By Sunrise: "Let Down" (music video) review

The seconds single from "Out Of Ashes" is a song called "Let Down", which I love, and the music video has just been leaked to the Internet. I like this video much better than the "Crawl Back In" music video. I like it because it's simple and shows great shots of Chester and the band.

The video has great visual effects also. The entire video is black and white with a red filter that gets brighter and that looks really great, it makes the video very dark and moody. The red represents the sun and you can see a circle in the background sometimes the same one from the DBS logo. Chester is also surrounded by the black fabric that you can see on the album cover and it's trying to suck the life out of him. Bits off the logo is also visible through out the video in different ways. You can also see a cameo from Chester's wife Talinda.

Overall: This is a awesome and cool video that I really love watching and the song makes a great seconds single from "Out Of Ashes" and a great second music video from Chester Bennington's Dead By Sunrise.

Review: "Let Down" (music video) XXXXX [5/5].

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 only days left!

It's only 4 days left until Modern Warfare 2 is released on PlayStation 3! I really love the first Modern Warfare game both single player campaign and online, it's one of the best games to PS3 that I have, I said one of them.

I have many games that I consider one of the best I've ever played! I'm still busy with BioShock ,that I love, and is also one of the best games I've played, after I'm finished with it I'm going to play Batman: Arkham Asylum. So I'll wait until I'm done with the games I have until I buy Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 and Uncharted 2: Among Thieves and next year Heavy Rain and many other PlayStation 3 games and games to other platforms.

I'm really looking forward to Modern Warfare 2 due out November 10th. Watch the new trailer below!

Dead By Sunrise: Out Of Ashes review

01. "Fire" XXXXX [5/5]

A beautiful song that touched me from the first time I heard it. This song has a great melody with a nice verse and chorus. The bridge is very melodic, Chester is singing very softly first then screams the same phrases again, I felt goosebumps on my arms. One of the best songs on the album.

02. "Crawl Back In" XXXX [4/5]
This is the first single from Out Of Ashes and it's a good one. A very good punk and rock song and one of the best heavier songs on the album. Good chorus and verse with great vocals and music.

03. "Too Late" XXXX [4/5]
This song has a great intro, then you hear Chester's soft vocals both in the verse and chorus. Overall a beautiful song with soft vocals, great music and a good intro and outro.

04. "Inside Of Me" XXXX [4/5]
The song starts fast with good scream vocals, then comes the chorus which is great and catchy. The song is pretty short, only 2:18 but it doesn't matter because the song has a great tempo from beginning to end.

05. "Let Down" XXXXX [5/5]
The best song on the album. This song is so beautiful, melodic and this song also touched me from the first time I heard it. This song has a great electronica sound with a synth lead and a more rock and upbeat chorus. A great second single!

06. "Give Me Your Name" XXXX [4/5]
A really great love song which has a 80's style music to it. Chester sings very soft in this song and shows what a great singer he is. He continues to sing like that in the verse and chorus. Later in the bridge he sings the chorus with more power which is great. Their's also a great guitar solo and the song ends with a acoustic guitar with chilling vocals over it, a beautiful outro.

07. "My Suffering" XXX [3/5]
"My Suffering" is a song that has grown on me, I didn't feel it was good at first. But after I listen to it a few times I discovered a really cool song. With good verses with a catchy chorus and powerful screams makes this a cool heavy song.

08. "Condemned" XXXXX [5/5]
This is a really heavy song, real bad ass song! This is a grunge song with powerful screams from Chester, the heaviest song I've heard him sing/scream, more of those please! I think this is the best heavy song on the album.

09. "Into You" XXXXX [5/5]
This is also one of my favorite songs on the album. I like how it starts with soft beautiful vocals and then comes a beautiful chorus. The bridge in this song is what makes this a perfect song, when Chester sings the chorus with his powerful vocals it's just awesome. I got goosebumps on my arms from this song, it really touched me.

10. "End Of The World" XXX [3/5]
Sounds little like Nine Inch Nails in the intro with electronica sound. I think the verse is good but the chorus is much better. I also like the bridge very much and a great guitar solo comes right after, the outro is also good which sounds like a radio tuning.

11. "Walking In Circles" XXXX [4/5]
The song starts with acoustic music during the verses which is cool and a great chorus with good dark music and awesome backing vocals. A very dark song with powerful vibes and great lyrics.

12. "In The Darkness" XXX [3/5]
Starts with a cool humming beat over a acoustic guitar. Chester then starts singing very softly during the verses which has great backing vocals. It has a good chorus but I like the verses better. Later a beautiful synth solo is also played which I like. The song ends with a cool outro, a great ending.

13. "Morning After" XXXX [4/5]
I heard this song live many years ago played with a acoustic guitar and a few years later Julien-K and Chester released a remix of it, I've loved it ever since, both the acoustic and the JK remix version. This version also has electronica influences but has much more rock which gives it a more powerful sound, a great bonus track.

Overall: Chester and Dead By Sunrise have made an awesome and cool album that doesn't sound like Linkin Park, because Out Of Ashes has a unique sound. I'm really impressed by the new sound, it's beautiful, heavy and has great music with electronica, rock, punk and pop influences. This album really shows how talented Chester Bennington is.

Review: Out Of Ashes XXXXX [5/5].

LPU 9.0 [Update!]

I think this years LPU9 CD is gonna be one of the best. We got new information from the yearly LPU newsletter which I downloaded from the Linkin Park Underground website. I liked the previous years LPU newsletter better, when it came printed on a paper in full color, but I guess this is better for the environment. I only wished that the digital .pdf file had better resolution, this one has very bad resolution, they could have released it on .jpeg files instead.

This years newsletter included some Q&A's and a inside look on Chester's Dead By Sunrise project. And a little information on the new Linkin Park Underground 9.0 package, their was a picture of the CD cover and the new LPU logo and some information of what the package would include: LP Underground 9 CD, LPU 9 T-Shrirt, LPU 9 Patch, LPU 9 Guitar Pick and Online Newsletter. This year you can also get the Premier Pass which includes the first ever LPU Vinyl, this pass cost a little more but no price information has been released yet.

This years LPU CD includes nine tracks which are demos from all Linkin Park's previous albums and a new song that no one has heard before. So I'm looking forward to renewing my LPU account this year! We haven't gotten the CD tracklist yet but it will eventually be released in a few weeks. And I wonder if the CD is gonna leak out on the Internet like it did last year? Because the LPU 9.0 package is also released in "Best Buy" stores in the US, so it will probably leak from that release and not the official LPU 9.0 release. Stay tuned for more information closer to the renewing date.

Zombieland trailer

First of all a cool trailer with those slow-motion effects and the movie looks really cool! It is both scary and gory with a sense of humour and it's a good mix. The movie reminds me of the movie Planet Terror which I also liked. I'm definitely going to see Zombieland. Watch the trailer below!

"IT ONLY DOES EVERYTHING" [Update!]

I haven't updated my Blog in awhile now, been busy with the new laptop that failed to work. So we went to the store and returned it and thank God that I could change it to another one! I picked a SONY VAIO that is actually faster than the PB and has a better 3D card. And of course it has Blu-ray, even though I didn't need it, I already have my PlayStation 3, but the "VAIO" supports full HD 1080p. My HDTV only supports 720p but I love it anyway, I payed for it myself, but in the future I will get a new HDTV with "Full HD 1080p" or more if it exists and I will pick the "Sony Bravia LED" HDTV. I will get the laptop in about two weeks and I really hope it will work great, I'm looking forward to it. And I will write more about what I think of it then.

I think SONY is the best, it's a really great company. Every Sony product I own have always worked great and that's what I love about them: Great quality in their products, the newest technology, great sense for the design and new ideas and the way they do all this is something all the Sony companies in the world do, it doesn't matter if it's in Japan or USA they have a special way of doing things and I like that. Sony has so many thing going on: Videogame consoles (Sony PlayStation 3), Electronics (Sony Bravia, Sony Vaio, Sony Ericsson, Sony Walkman, Sony Handycam, Sony Cyber-shot, Stereos and more...), Format (Blu-ray), Music label (Sony Music), Movie companies (Sony Pictures) and more... They have a lot going on "SONY ONLY DOES EVERYTHING".

Today I listened to "Out Of Ashes" and I think it's a great album and it doesn't sound like Linkin Park and that's cool because it sounds unique. I will listen to it even more tomorrow, because I know it will grow even more on me the second time around. A review of Dead By Sunrise's "Out Of Ashes" will be posted soon...