Epic Steam sale is epic

It's steam, see, and it says Valve underneath it so it's cleaver. Right? Anyway, Steam is having this really epic summer sale. Nearly everything has been marked down to ridiculously low prices until July 4th. Hell, even I have a Mac and there's plenty to choose from. So get on over there to Steam right now and save!

Get that awesome Deus Ex music NOW!

Remember that super kickass trailer for Deus Ex: Human Revolution? Remember how awesome the music was? Well now you can download it for free from the official website. Awesome.

Lightning Reviews

I've been working on and off on a secret project so I don't have the time to write full reviews; however, for some guidance, here are a few fast reviews that I was planning on making large:

Bioshock 2: 8

Rapture comes to life again with beautiful coloration and an exciting adventure. The dual-wielding is a nice touch, but until the very end, the game lacks the emotion of the first game. While the first game is better, this is a welcome return to Rapture and a solid sequel. I also think the multiplayer is fantastic. The online is basically Modern Warfare 1 made Bioshocky.

Red Dead Redemption:

As a massive fan of the first game, I waited for this game since 8th grade. I was very let-down by the single-player. It was severely overhyped because of the "sand-box" aspect. Yes, the sand-box is brilliantly executed. Yes, a lot of work was put into the game. For me, however, singleplayer is about the missions and not your free-roam. Free-roam gets boring, so it's the missions that move you along. The missions were dull, too long, not enough shooting, and at times, very stupid. I recall at least 4 quests that involved herding cattle, and some that involved following dogs around for 10+ minutes to kill one guy. I spent more than 50% of this game riding my horse to different locations, and 30% frustrated at the repetitiveness of each quest. Instead of sticking to Red Dead Revolver's innovation, Rock Star took GTA's missions and forced them into the Wild West. I also hate the "bounty system" because it doesn't make sense. If someone insults me, takes a gun out, tries to shoot me but fails, and I attack back, why am I the criminal? Why should I have to escape from the police when the outlaw was trying to kill me? If I fight back, I lose honor and prices at shops go up. If I don't, I die, have to start over, lose all my money, and takes a smaller honor hit. Great choice.

The online, however, is different. The online takes the singleplayer and strips it of missions and honor-hit of , leaving you with a world where you are free to wreak mayhem without any fears. Even better, you do it with any player that wants to join your possee. The multiplayer games are boring because weapons are pre-set, and the locations are the same as singleplayer.

This game could have been a 10, but lack of innovation docks it to a 6.5 for me. The free-roam takes it up to a 7.5, and multiplayer to an 8. This one is tricky to review because the game has great and horrible aspects. So if you enjoy free-roam, you will love this game. If you are like me who wants solid-missions, wait for a price drop.

FIFA World Cup: 10

Granted that the ratings for sports games aren't the same as ratings for other games, but this game is perfect for a sports game. It has nothing wrong. I'm not a soccer fan and I love it.

Crackdown 2 impressions

Crackdown 2 suffers from something I like to call "next-gen disease." That is 1) it's darker and 2) it has zombies. Because everyone knows if your game isn't dark and zombie-ridden it isn't modern. The city, while the same, is almost unrecognizable at least in the area I played. Everything's decayed and run down, the color pallet is darker and even the Agency agents look like generic armored men. One of my favorite things about the first Crackdown was how your agent would physically evolve when your skills increased. While he certainly gets bigger now, the only other visual effect is more armor. You can choose a specific face for your agent, but you'll never see it, and the armor colors include blue, gray, light gray, and dark gray. Exciting. Even the HUD is transparent black rather than blue. Yes sir, this game certainly has next-gen disease. 

E3 Fail

So I was working on this epic E3 post and it seems to have disappeared. There's no way I'm going to rewrite all that, so I guess now you'll never know. Anyway, In case you weren't aware, here were my own grades for the Big 3 this E3:

• Sony: B
• Microsoft: C-
• Nintendo: A+

E3 Grade - Kromebear

I'm not going to ruin Fuzunga's up-coming post, but here are my grades for E3 (and ranking):

1. Nintendo = A+

2. Sony = B/B-

3. Microsoft = C-/D+

Yes, Microsoft sucked. They failed to surprise or do anything new. Plus, Nintendo was so good it made everyone else look worse.

Daily E3 Wrap: The End

Can you believe it's over? Yup, another whole year of E3 has passed us by, but we'll be feeling all the awesome shockwaves for a year to come. That doesn't mean all the awesome E3 coverage is over, though. Far from it! E3 is such a big event, that there will be media and info for quite a while to come. And, on the bright side, E3 '11 has already been dated for June 7-9. But for now, let's take a look at some more games that were shown or announced at this year's expo.

Merger!!!

So once we were one, then two, and now we shall be one again. The Cutting Edge will return to Installation4!!! The reason is simple: efficiency!

E3: Day 2 Trailers (and gameplay)

Holy fail, Batman! Looks like the last trailer post I did was somehow XCOM over and over again. So... no more GameTrailers.

Daily E3 wrap: Nintendo and Sony

Oh man. What a day it was! So yeah, Nintendo basically obliterated everyone and stole the show. They win. Is it possible to give a grade higher than A+? Because that's what they get. Seriously, it was perfect. This was the day Nintendo fans have been waiting for for years. I really don't know where to begin, but I must try!

E3: More Fallout Fun

Well readers here's the scoop: A new Fallout Vegas trailer has been released and just in time for E3...yeah. This is not a post about E3 or anything really relating to it besides this trailer, the fact that it is a video game and the timing. What we have here is a standard analysis post. First, let me give you the trailer...

Daily E3 wrap: Microsoft, EA, and Ubisoft

That there is the new slimmer Xbox 360 which will be available, uh, tomorrow and which will replace all versions of the current system. Next to it is Kinect, which will be available this fall and will automatically connect up to the new, slimmer system. For older 360 models, Kinect will require its own power supply. In addition to that convenience, the new system will come with a 250 gig HD, which will be removable though presumably smaller, that you can transfer your data to from your current system via a $20 cable (not included) that was included with the old 120 gig drive. It's quieter, smaller, and has built in wifi. Oh, and it looks like the PS3 used to. Why would they go for the glossy look? And the random angle in the middle of the power button? Overall, it looks more like an Alienware computer to me and less like an Xbox. More shots here. Unfortunately for Microsoft, this was pretty much the best of their show today. The full day's summary after the break.

E3: Get over here for this new Mortal Kombat trailer

Turns out there is a new game. Looks like a reboot to me. And a return to form.

The pre-E3 Post

E3 will be upon us tomorrow. The question everyone wants to know is who will win? Because E3 is apparently some sort of a contest. So who will it be? Microsoft, Nintendo, or Sony? See my predictions of the show below.

How to make the best of a bad game

Tony Hawk: Ride was crap, but the board can be useful.

HELP WANTED!

Let me rephrase that: HELP NEEDED! Installation 04 needs your help, fine readers. It's common knowledge that I've been doing the majority of posting for over a year. The truth is, I can't do it alone. MonkeyLord and KromeBear have been helping out when they can and in the meantime I've lost Doegab. It's not enough. It's just not enough. Luckily, the more (dedicated) writers we have here, the more posts go up. That's where you come in. See, we need more people. A lot more people. With your help, we can make this place great. It's going to take a lot of dedication and work, but the payoff will be fantastic. Every dream of going to E3? Help I4 make it to the top and you might just have a shot. Suck at writing? It's not just writers we need either. Still interested? Inquire within.

New Look and Surprise Review

Yes, in honor of Installation 04's E3 inspired New Look, I have also chosen a new look. The look is temporary, unless y'all really like it. It's inspired by Super Mario Galaxy 2 because the colors of the game alone make me really happy. No, Galaxy 2 isn't the surprise review, but in the upcoming mega-review post there will be one added review!

New Look

It's E3 time and everybody's doing it! I went with green this time because why the hell not. Wanted a change of pace from the usual depressing shades of gray. Other new stuff includes a split sidebar, new Tetris header, and overall larger and easier to read page. Oh, and you no longer have to click on the post title to read the full post. Hooray!

P.S.- I'm still tweaking things.

Review: Super Mario Galaxy 2

*Note* Sorry this took so long to get up. It's been finished for a bit, but I spent the last day in the hospital.

Super Mario Galaxy 2 is, more or less, the definition of a great game. Don't call it Super Mario Galaxy 1.5 Everything about it is polished and executed perfectly. I'm not sure if any game has achieved this level of perfection before, but certainly no Mario game has. Since Mario is usually at the top of its class, I think it's safe to say that Galaxy 2 is one of Nintendo's finest games ever. Is it better than Mario 64? Most would say it's not because Mario 64 is classic. Honestly? Yes it is. It's the culmination of everything that worked in past Mario games. Even the 2D ones.

Coming Soon: Bioshock 2, Darksiders, FIFA World Cup

Well since I'm usually pressed for time I've found it most efficient to group up reviews. The next batch will be Bioshock 2, Darksiders, and (just in time for the real-deal) the FIFA World Cup game. My next 2 games will be 2 big-name titles: Red Dead Redemption and Super Mario Galaxy 2. Expect great reviews in the near future!

Mortal Kombat Rebirth

The following is apparently test footage made for WB by an unnamed director who wants to reboot the franchise (it is assumed) in movie form. I have to say, it looks pretty fantastic. I'd see it. Between this and Street Fighter Legacy, which may actually become a series (!), it looks like game-to-screen adaptations ar looking up!

The facts of life

Now that the evil fruit has gotten your attention, I'd like to make a statement. Lately, I've been the only one really doing crap around here I've got two other guys ( MonkeyLord and KromeBear- they deserve recognition) who help out when they can. Everyone else is useless. If that offends you, well, then try not being useless. In any case, I've been doing some thinking. Obviously, we're not going to continue on like this. We're all busy fellows who do this in their spare time. Thing is, we obviously don't have much of that these days. I'm not closing the place down, but I don't what such infrequent posting either. Therefore, don't be surprised if I you see a post up in the next few days trying to recruit people. We need more. More people= more available posting time= more posts. Just FYI, if you're interested. Details will be forthcoming.

If this game doesn't blow me away...

Few trailers have ever made me this excited. Many have come close, but I day say that this could be the single greatest game trailer ever. It's for Deus Ex: Human Revolution, and it don't take no shit. It's designed like, and feels like, a blockbuster movie trailer and if it was a movie I'd see it in a heartbeat. If this game doesn't absolutely blow me away as the best game of 2011, hell the best game EVER, I will be extremely disappointed. I haven't been this excited in a long, long time. And it feels great.

I'll chop your head off!

What is this extremely epic image you ask? Why it's from Axe Cop, the greatest comic ever created. You see, Axe Cop is a cop who uses an axe and is great a fighting. Together with his pals Flute Cop, Sockarang, his talking dog Ralph Wrinkles, and his pet dinosaur with machine guns for arms, Wrexer (and a lot more people) he is on a mission to wipe out all evil in the world. What's the best part? It's written by 5 year old Malachai Nicolle and edited and illustrated by his 29 year old brother Ethan. It's super awesome. Trust me. If you enjoy my nonsense stories, it's actually just like that but with pictures. Check out the first comic below and click here to see the rest.

'Net's back!

My internet is back and working at half capacity! Huzzah! Super Mario Galaxy 2 review here we come!