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News: Tom Morello stars in Guitar Hero III
Activision has announced that Tom Morello, from Rage Against the Machine and Audioslave, will guest star as a boss character in Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock. Click here to read the article.
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Deathrow
Where to begin? Well let's start with the following statement. Finally a game developer wasn't afraid to try something completely different! It is good to see some rule breaking of the classic genres with something so unique it deserves its own genre. Something like "Fantasy Sport Simulation" Yeah thats it, FSS. Ok, let's move onto the story and what's it all about.
Deathrow is set in the future, around 2219, where Blitz has become a sport. Blitz is a non-stop action sport where the object of the game is to score points by throwing a frisbee like object through a small hole, all while kicking your opponents' asses from here to mars and back. Teams are made up of 4 members who may play any position they choose to since there really are no official positions. Its just get the disk, pass it, and try to score!
Deathrow has many modes including Conquest which is basically the 'season' mode where you'll challenge teams and move up in rankings in order to become the Blitz Champion. Other modes include single match where you pick a team and duke it out without having to worry about keeping your undefeated record from the Conquest mode and there is also a tutorial and a network option that will allow the xbox freak in all of us to connect up to 8 Xboxes (each with a copy of Deathrow) and 8 TVs to play the ultimate 8 player game, although I doubt anyone will do this considering everything that is required. A plus for Deathrow is the amount of things to unlock. You can unlock a total of 146 players, 32 arenas, 17 teams, among others.
When you start a game you will have the option to choose Sports or Hardcore mode which are options on how you will see the game while playing. Sports mode shows the action from a high angle while Hardcore mode is low and close allowing you to enjoy all the action. Sports mode is more for the strategy geeks in all of us who want to see the entire playing field from a top down view while for the 'I eat candy for breakfast' person in all of us you can choose to play in Hardcore mode which is really where the fun starts. Trust me on this one, go for hardcore. You will thank me later.
The controls in Deathrow are as follow:
A = Pass/Kick
B = Shoot/Punch
X = Dodge
Y = Jump
White = Taunt
Black = Change Character
Left Trigger, A, and B = Slide Tackle or Dive
Right Trigger = Face the Disk
The graphics in Deathrow are top notch and for some reason I was reminded of Fuzion Frenzy when I first played it but that quickly faded away because Deathrow's graphics blow it out of the water! With a TV like presentation (complete with funny ads) the player gets immersed in the sport that is Blitz. The arenas all have a nice amount of detail and polish while each maintaining its own unique look. Characters are nicely rendered and animated aswell as motion blurs a la Matrix (what? haven't you heard? It's a requirement to rip off the matrix) help put the stamp "Caution: Extreme Graphics" on the package!
Now onto the audio section of this review. F*** you ass**** is just one of the many naughty words you will hear in Deathrow and I am not kidding you folks, there are tons more, all nicely strung together in perfect harmony to make even the best 'cusser' shun in disbelief. As for the music side of it, the music is normal 'techno beats' with no singing but thankfully you can play your own music from your Xbox hard drive! Nothing like kickin' ass to the rhymes of Vanilla Ice or to the sweet tunes of Avril Lavigne! I just kiddin' on that one folks! Rock music would definitely suit this game best.
Overall Deathrow is a unique, fun, and exciting game that should be on your Christmas list (if you're planning on getting it as a gift) Don't pass up on this one folks. There is plenty of fun to be had unlocking extras and just winning match after match. Don't forget to invite over some of your friends after you've mastered Deathrow and tell them the classic lie, "Hey let's play this new game I just got, Deathrow." Enjoy!
Report Card:
Gameplay = 9
Graphics = 9
Audio = 9
Replay Value = 9
Overall: 9/10
Click here for the Deathrow screenshots gallery!
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