Borderlands

Developer: Gearbox Software
Publisher: 2K Games
Systems: Xbox 360 (reviewed), PS3, PC
Release Date: Oct. 20, 2009
ESRB Rating: M
Official Web site

In a nutshell: Go shoot this! Go fix that! Go shoot this other thing!

0:00 I remember thinking this looked like a Fallout 3 clone, when I saw an E3 2008 demo. Not that that's a bad thing... but still.

0:01 A broken robot that looks like an orange cone whirs pathetically on a cracked cement road. In the background, windmills. In the foreground, what looks like an emergency roadside phone.

0:02 As I pick up the controller and go to the main menu, the robot gets up and skitters around on it's single wheel. SO CUTE!

0:03 During the loading screen, the game tells me "when your shield is depleted, take cover and it will recharge." Wow ... only three minutes for me to hit a major pet peeve.

0:04 Cut to the inside of a bus with four archetypes standing around and the desert rolling by outside. "Next stop, Firestone Depot," says an unseen bus driver. "Time to gather up your stuff. Who's getting off the bus?" I can choose from Soldier, Hunter, Siren and Berserker. The bus driver says a piece on each of them. To the Siren: "And you, pretty lady? What can you do? Perhaps bake us a delicious cake." I'm amazed the bad-ass-looking Siren doesn't slap him. Anyway, the driver advises us that we can't just kill anything. "Don't be afraid to spend what it takes to get the equipment you need." I'll remember that. Once the driver's spiel is done, the excellent song "Ain't No Rest for the Wicked" comes on the in-game radio. NICE!

***-->CONTINUE READING AT CRISPY GAMER<--***

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Samba De Amigo

Developer: Gearbox
Publisher: Sega
Release Date: Sept. 23, 2008
System: Wii
ESRB Rating: E

In a nutshell: Maraca shaking with shaky controls.

0:00 I really enjoyed liked the Dreamcast original until my cheap third-party maraca controllers gave out on me. Here's hoping the Wii remotes are both more accurate and less prone to breakage that those old things.

0:01 "AMIGO!" screams an unseen crowd on the preview screen, causing a big grin to spring across my face already. Island rhythms play over a high shot of an island. The sun is also grinning and wearing sunglasses. A monkey with maracas and an equally big grin jumps up and down on a parade float traveling through a crowded street. Cut to a spotlight in a dark room, where a bunch of trippy characters are generally jumping around like they're high on a potent mix of crystal meth and ecstasy. Cut to a sandy beach, where they continue to jump and be crazy. Finish on a dramatic edge of a cliff, as they look out into the middle distance. Weird...

0:04 On to the tutorial to learn how the Wii controls work. I'm asked to shake my left hand to determine which remote is which. Intuitive! Then there's a quick calibration where I have to point the Wii remote up, down, left and right. Seems to work pretty well so far.

0:06 "Samba de Amigo turns two of your Wii remotes into a pair of maracas!" The woman saying this sounds like she is on the same mix of meth and ecstasy as the characters. "Try to hit these balls." That's what she said! Really, it is!

Read the full review at Crispy Gamer