Pads & Panels

Title: God of War: Ghost of Sparta

Platform: PSP

ESRB: M

Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment

Developer: Ready at Dawn, SCE Santa Monica Studio

Rating:

Review by: Bill Jones

God of War is a series that was never meant for the PlayStation Portable. The series’ characters, stories and environments were all epic in scope from the very start, meant for a big screen, preferably in high-definition, on which Kratos can scale the sides of monstrous beasts, tearing them to shreds to the tune of gallons of blood. That said, despite the handicap of a smaller screen, less disc space and inferior specs, Ready at Dawn has just proven twice in a row that they can use what the PlayStation Portable has got to make a pretty darn good adaptation of God of War on the go. (more…)

Title: Fallout: New Vegas

Platform: 360 (PS3, PC)

ESRB: M

Publisher: Bethesda Softworks

Developer: Obsidian Entertainment

Rating:

Review By: Eric Stuckart

There has been much talk of whether or not Fallout: New Vegas is really worth the time, effort and, most importantly, money. It’s been labeled little more than an ‘expansion pack’ by its detractors, and much has been said about Obsidian Entertainment’s inability to get rid of many of Fallout 3’s bugs and glitches in this installment. (more…)

Title: Alan Wake: Original Score

Format: CD

Publisher: Sumthing Else Music Works

Review by: Bill Jones

Alan Wake is a fantastic game, in large part due to its atmosphere. And a large part of creating that atmosphere is a solid soundtrack to complement the environments, characters, story and mood. The original score by Petri Alanko is a great one, but owning it on compact disc out of context is a mixed affair. At times, Alanko’s beautiful melodies, such as those in “Welcome to Bright Falls,” fill the speakers to great enjoyment. But a lot of it is mood music, damn near perfect in the context of the game. But for someone listening to this recreationally, that means tracks that mostly sound silent at normal volume levels, accented by heavy tones. It’s a mixed bag over the 73-minute running time. It’s no discredit to Alanko’s work, but fans might want to think twice about whether they purchase the music, or just hear it as they play the game again.

For more info, www.sumthing.com

Pads & Panels received a copy of the soundtrack courtesy of the label for review purposes.

Title: Doctor Voodoo: Avenger of the Supernatural

Publisher: Marvel

Writers: Rick Remender

Artist: Jefte Palo

Rating:

Review by: Eric Stuckart

Brother Voodoo is one of Marvel’s characters that had come and go despite having a great back story and a refreshing angle on the typical superhero aesthetic. With the comic publisher’s recent foray into darker themes, it seemed like a shrewd decision to bring the character back to the forefront. Unfortunately, this isn’t exactly the best starting block for a new era of Voodoo tales. The story starts off with Doctor Strange, the Sorcerer Supreme, passing off the torch to Voodoo. The story quickly disintegrates into little more than an excuse to throw Dr. Doom, Dracula, the Son of Satan and two of the Ghost Riders, among others, into an end-of-the-world story arc involving nightmares being brought to life by none other than Nightmare, ruler of a dream dimension. The story is hackneyed at best, making for one New Avengers tie-in that failed to really spark much interest despite having so much potential to work with. The book also features a number of older comics featuring the character when he was still referred to as Brother Voodoo, all of which are more interesting than the feature story. (more…)

Title: Cyber Clean Electronics Cleaning Putty

Company: ThinkGeek

Price: $6.99 (4.94 oz), $7.99 (5.11 oz)

Review by: Bill Jones

Electronics have made our lives easier (and more fun) for the most part, but let’s face it – they’re a pain in the ass to keep clean. They attract dust and collect the grime from our fingertips, and seemingly out of nowhere they go from a beautiful piano black to disgusting. Things like keyboards and cell phones also have tons of crevices, and they don’t play well with water or other cleaning products. So options for cleaning them are limited. (more…)

Title: Disney Guilty Party

Platform: Wii

ESRB: E

Publisher: Disney Interactive Studios

Developer: Wideload Games

Rating: Rating:

Review By: Archie Easter

Quality titles on the Wii that aren’t made by Nintendo can be few and far between. So it’s refreshing to see that the Wideload Games developed Disney Guilty Party stands out as a generally well-designed and family-oriented party game that is both entertaining and filled with humor that will appeal to both children and adults. Unfortunately, there are a few minor missteps preventing it from reaching super-sleuth status. (more…)

Title: The Authority: The Lost Year (Book 1)

Publisher: Wildstorm

Writers: Grant Morrison, Keith Giffen

Artists: Gene Ha, Darick Robertson, Trevor Scott, Jonathan Wayshak, Brian Stelfreeze, Joel Gomez

Rating:

Review by: Eric Stuckart

The story behind The Authority: The Lost Year, is a colorful one. Grant Morrison wrote the first two issues, originally planned to be a bi-monthly, in the timely fashion of nearly half a year, and then promptly moved on to greener pastures, mainly those of the DC Universe. This allowed Keith Giffen to step in, fleshing out the storyline outlined by Morrison, but putting his own twist on it. What readers will get is the tale of how The Authority, a group of superheroes, get shipwrecked on a parallel Earth that’s not quite up to their technological level, encounter Cthulu, and escape, only to get stranded on yet another parallel Earth, one where America is in the midst of a massive civil war, where that Earth’s Authority are the ones leading the splintered factions. The story, while typical in Morrison’s propensity for piling on the crazy ideas without mercy, redeems itself towards the end, but it’s the mixed bag of artwork that really kills the book. Out of the seven issues that comprise this trade, there are six different artists, and while Gene Ha and Darick Robertson knock it out of the park, Jonathan Wayshak’s style makes it quite difficult to take the third chapter seriously. (more…)

Title: The Incident

Platform: iTouch (iPhone)

Publisher: Big Bucket Software

Developer: Big Bucket Software

Rating:

Review by: Bill Jones

Ever have a day that feels like the sky is falling? The protagonist of The Incident has…literally. The businessman-looking character is just standing around one day when everything from road signs to cars start falling from the sky. The only thing to do is avoid getting hit and try to climb the ever-growing collection of items to get to the top and discover the source of The Incident. (more…)

.

It is not uncommon for FedEx and UPS to be dropping packages off at my house in the early afternoon, with all the gaming and comics materials we cover at the site and with AMP Magazine. It is rather unusual, though, for one of those packages to come from PepsiCo. But it was a nice surprise to hear the doorbell yesterday and find a Halo: Reach-branded box with Mountain Dew and Doritos logos also adorning the outside of it. I was intrigued. (more…)