My good friend CheapyD has a problem. His Xbox 360 is busted. If that’s not bad enough, the whole fiasco has upset his 4 month old baby Tai.

After a Holiday 2007 that was filled with games like Halo 3, Mass Effect, Uncharted and others, the games of early 2008 have a large shoe to fill. Turok is one of those games that’s reception could change depending on the time of year it’s released. Turok itself isn’t a bad game…but it isn’t a great game either. There are times when the game shows a truly awesome moment. And there are times when it’s simply downright frustrating and annoying.

Turok is the 4th game in the franchise. While the first title in the series was fairly well received, the latter titles left much to be desired. The story puts you in the role of Turok trying to track down is old teacher Kane for some unknown reason. Suddenly the space ship Turok is on comes under attack and crash lands onto a planet filled with dinosaurs and other creatures. The original Turok was subtitled “The Dinosaur Hunter” and the latest game is no exception to the rule. There’s a good variety of dinos to hunt, though not all of them necessarily need to be massacred. In fact, by utilizing flares you can use the dinosaurs as weapon to attack an enemy. The other neat thing about the dinosaurs in the world is they will stalk and hunt you. You won’t necessarily see them, but you can hear them, and before you know it you’ll be knocked on your ass fending off the dino attack. There’s a button press mini game that is played to survive every attack, as well as during a few cutscenes in the game. There’s a good variety of animations and differences in the mini games that keep it interesting.

Like I said before, there are several scenes and moments in the game that will simply put a smile on your face. Sneaking up behind enemy soldiers and knifing them in the back is one. Launching explosive arrows into groups of unsuspecting enemies is another. But there are times in the game where things are simply so unbalanced that it’s just downright frustrating. Part of the problem is the screen shake in the game. When you take hits from gunfire your viewport is skewed a bit. The bigger problem is when an explosion goes off near you and knocks you off your feet. You become disoriented, and can’t shoot or move for a few seconds. The even bigger problem here is most times an enemy will be able to get off another rocket or grenade before you even get back to your feet, thereby knocking you back down before you really get back up. Before you know it your screen is a blurry red mess and suddenly you are dead.
The single player campaign was mildly entertaining, as was the story. There’s a solid voice acting cast with the likes of Ron Perlman as the cynical sidekick Slade. The game features a pretty indepth multiplayer mode complete with dinosaurs that roam the playing field. There’s also a small co-op campaign online which consists of 3 short missions. It would have been nice if the actual campaign was co-op, but what we get is pretty solid.

Turok is a game that many people will overlook, and while it’s not something everyone should play, fans of shooters or the previous titles will enjoy what the game has to offer.

Score: 3 out of 5

As you can see after 2 years or so I’ve finally spruced things up around here. The theme is changed, it’s a bit simpler, but it’s also a bit classier. The chatroom and webcam should now work together quite nicely during EvAv Radio nights!

Things have been busy as Co-Optimus has really started to do well, and I’ve been trying to promote and tweak the hell out of it to give it some serious exposure. It’s amazing what you have to do to get yourself a decent search ranking. What’s especially interesting is if you search for co-op games the results you find aren’t nearly as useful as the content available on Co-Optimus.

My gaming is finally starting to pick up again, having just completed Turok for a review that I’ll be posting in the next few days. I also started Devil May Cry 4 on the 360. I had received the PS3 version, but after hearing about the 25 minute install time I figured I might as well stick it to the man and show support for the game that you play on an actual console. Ya know, the one that doesn’t require PC like functionality.

I’ve been looking at the upcoming months and it’s going to be another insane year for trips with the Microsoft MVP Conference, a Disney Vacation, E3, a trip to Colorado and finally PAX in August. I’m gonna be racking up some serious airline miles!

Finally it looks like I’m going to enter the world of Macs soon, and I think I’ll be snagging either a Macbook or a MacBook Pro before the end of the month. Anyone have any tips for a newbie?

Gonna be messing with themes for a bit…bear with us.

I’ve just launched a new website dedicated to co-op gaming. Every game listed is a co-op game. Here’s the PR.

COOPERATIVE GAMING ON THE RISE, GAMERS STRIVE FOR INFORMATION

Announcing Co-Optimus.com, a Site Dedicated to Co-Op Video Gaming.

Easton, PA - January 28, 2008 - Nicholas Puleo, current Editor-in-Chief of EvilAvatar.com, has announced a new resource for Cooperative gaming aficionados, Co-Optimus.com. Co-Optimus.com is your prime source in the co-op gaming world. Co-op gaming allows 2 or more players to team up against the computer to achieve a goal. There was almost 100 games released in 2007 with a co-op mode as well as a growing trend continuing into 2008 of developers putting cooperative modes into their games. In fact, games like Electronic Arts’ Army of Two and Valve’s Left for Dead are being designed from the ground up as a co-op experience. This has created a need for gamers to find out exactly what games have the co-op features they want, and gamers want to know how those games will play.

With virtually no other websites dedicated to co-op games, gamers are having a hard time finding the information they need for their co-op experience. Co-Optimus.com fills this void by providing an extensive database of games that feature a co-op mode across nine platforms including the Xbox 360, Playstation 3 and Nintendo Wii. The site also features user reviews, ratings, and matchmaking as well as discussion forums to help find a buddy for all your co-op needs.

“Since Doom popularized cooperative play on the PC more almost 15 years ago, it’s been the absolute best way to enjoy a gaming experience,” says Puleo. “Until now it was difficult to find information on cooperative games for any system, Co-optimus.com solves that problem.”

To celebrate the launch of Co-Optimus.com the site is giving away codes and discs for many popular Co-Op titles, including the recently released Burnout Paradise from Electronic Arts and Omega 5 for Xbox Live Arcade.

About Co-Optimus.com
Co-Optimus.com was founded by Nick Puleo, Editor-in-Chief of Evil Avatar.com. He’s been in that role for four years and has covered the games industry for six. Puleo also manages TheWeeklyRelease.com, a website dedicated to video game, DVD, HD DVD, Blu-Ray, and movie release dates.

You may notice this blog is a bit faster now.  That’s because we are on a new dedicate box.  W00T!

Just got an email about a bunch of Anime episodes going live on their Unbox Video service. They offer quite a few free episodes and then each one is $2 a piece. You can view them here.

Continuing on the list…I give you the top 4 games of 2007 for me.

4. Halo 3 (360)

The game with the biggest hype of 2007 didn’t disappoint…most. The trilogy came to a solid conclusion, and it took you on some interesting twists and turns along the way. The beauty of Halo though can only be experienced by exploring the lore that surrounds it, which is masterfully expanded in books, comics and other literature. It’s especially well noted in the excellent advertising campaign for Halo 3 in which they depicted real life actors as veterans of the war in which the Master Chief fought in. The multiplayer modes are the richest and deepest we’ve ever seen on a console, and tools like Forge and the Replay Viewer are going to be new staples in console gaming. Did the game live up to the hype? No, of course not. No game could ever do that. But god damn was it a fun as hell ride.

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http://bap.myminicity.com/

Everytime someone visits the city it gets a new inhabitant and grows! Pretty neato. It’s kinda like a mini SimCity but with no user control.

Update:  Looks like I need industry now.

Welcome to part 1 of my top 10 games of 2007. I’m going to work my way backwards from #10 to #1.

10. Rockband (PS3/360)

Rock Band is a recent release of the year, but it’s one that should be on everyone’s list. Rock Band is the ultimate party game. Combine Karoke Revolution, Guitar Hero and drums and you’ve got something for everyone to play. The music selection is varied, and the presentation is absolutely top notch. I expect this game to have a lot of legs well into next year, especially with the weekly support of downloadable content.

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