If this were my little sister, yeah, I'd harvest her.

Few years ago Xbox 360 owners were treated to a game that pushed storytelling in a First Person Shooter to a new level of success. PS3 owners wouldn’t get a hold of Bioshock for quite some time after that, and PC owners are just now getting a chance to see what everyone else was talking about (except Wii-exclusive owners. They’re too busy playing Smash Bros to cry much). It didn’t take long after the release of Bioshock for us to find out that a sequel was on its way. That sequel is Bioshock 2 (catchy title), and is currently scheduled for a February 2010 release (though the release has already been pushed back once, so don’t be surprised when more occur).

But wait, those of you who played Bioshock to a conclusion may be wondering, “What’s left to do?” Apparently a whole heck of a lot.

What’s New?

Bioshock 2’s story takes place 10 years after the ending of the first Bioshock (though I’m not certain which ending is considered canon. Probably the “Good” ending). During the year 1970, little girls start to go missing all over the world with the only common thread being a red light spotted at the kidnappings. Turns out the one responsible is a Little Sister all grown up, which would actually make her a Big Sister. She looks terrifying from screenshots, even more so than the Big Daddies, and those suckers made me freak out on multiple occasions.

This is a Big Sister. I'm glad my sister isn't growing up to be one of these things.

That’s about the gist of the plot that we know thus far. Oh, and for some reason you’re back in Rapture, except this time you aren’t Jack. This time you’re a Big Daddy; you’re just not the same breed of Big Daddy from the first game. Instead, somehow you retain higher mental capacities, are a good deal faster, and you can use Plasmids, the special abilities from the first game. This doesn’t mean you won’t get to use the drill or the rivet gun the Big Daddies were famous for. You’ll have those, plus some other abilities unlockable throughout the game as you proceed. Also, you can walk underwater, so prepare to explore new parts of Rapture.

The previous hook of the first game revolved around whether you would harvest the Little Sisters for Adam or if you’d save them. The same sort of deal applies here, though there is a bit of a twist. You can still harvest them, but now you’re given the chance to adopt them for a while as they harvest Adam from dead Splicers and such. Eventually you’ll be able to save them like the previous installment, but that comes later. And don’t worry, this isn’t an escort mission since the Little Sisters are indestructible. Eventually though the Big Sister will catch on to you adopting a Little Sister and decide she must now come kill you, leading to one heck of ...

Master Chief, eat your heart out.

Okay, is anyone really wondering if the sequel to Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare is any good? I almost feel worthless here trying to talk about Modern Warfare 2 as anything I say is basically irrelevant (a stark contrast to how things usually work with me). But the bottom line is that Modern Warfare 2 is a good game for both the Xbox 360 and the PS3 and makes a good holiday gift. So what more should I cover?

First off, should kids be playing this: No they should not. Kids, you have years and years ahead of you to enjoy life and not worry about wars and being told you’re a newb by someone that’s obviously better than you. The game contains adult themes and only people over 18 are immature enough to grasp such themes. Plus, no one wants to hear you on Xbox Live and your poor playing is making strangers dislike you. Unless you’re totally a cool guy and you know how to play well.

The Best Game FPS of The Season

Well, for starters I can give some pointers at how best to enjoy the game. For those of you playing MW2 for the story, you’re in luck, though I highly suggest you play through the first Modern Warfare before tackling the sequel. MW2 picks up five years after the events of the first game and it really shows. You’ll have a hard time following all the finer details if you aren’t already caught up to speed, plus you’ll miss out on the drama the story intends to create.

Still, Some Caution

I’d like to talk about the mild controversy surrounding the game for a second and then I promise I’ll get right back into the review. There is a point where you play as a group of terrorists and it can get extremely uncomfortable, to the point where you may not wish to play this part of the single player campaign again. However, this isn’t a bad thing.

This means Infinity Ward (the game’s developer), is doing a good job on a story level of creating aspects of the plot that hit on a gut-level and cause discomfort. That’s a good thing as any competent writer will tell you that the best thing you can do is force the audience to become uncomfortable with an aspect of the story because it feels too real or hits too hard (such as killing off a well-loved character and keeping them dead). Still, don’t let impressionable young gamers play this one. I’ll talk about that more later, but here’s the first warning.

Graphics Are At Their Best

Good, back to the review. You’ll notice that MW2 is graphically amazing. I get bored talking about graphics and I’m sure you get bored hearing about them but just take a look at some of the screenshots I have posted around here. Wait, let me get one for you.

Savor it for a moment.

See the amount of detail going into this game? Levels are extremely detailed to the point that you don’t just think, “Oh, this is the snow level,” but rather you get ...

Boy, I'm torn between wishing my life as a writer was like this or wishing it definitely was not.

You know something? I haven’t done a real review for a new game in quite a while. That’s just odd, but then again we haven’t had all that many new and exciting titles release recently. However, there’s something about this Alan Wake that makes me suspect I should probably give it a review toot sweet. So let’s do that, eh?

Surprisingly, a New Independent Property

I’ll be completely honest with you about something: I had heard about Alan Wake for the past few years, but I didn’t even care enough to look up the most basic concept synopses for the game until last week. Why? Because a title like “Alan Wake” doesn’t inspire anything in me whatsoever other than, “Oh, that’s a guy’s name, right?” Well, now that I’ve done my research, what is this game about?

Alan Wake is about a writer named Alan Wake. Cool. It is a survival horror game. Cool. Well, that about does it for me since I’m sold just enough. But to elaborate, Mr. Wake goes with his wife to some strange town in the wilderness because he’s been having writer’s block and wants to fix that condition. During the day everything seems perfectly fine, but at night crazy things pop out of the darkness and make Silent Hill wet itself. The game takes place in six episodic chapters and resolves the plot without ending the series, meaning we’ll most certainly see more of Alan.

Like a lightsaber, except it's just a flashlight. So nothing like a lightsaber.

It’s probably impossible to avoid thinking Alan Wake is Silent Hill meets Resident Evil. Please don’t though. Alan Wake is definitely its own thing, which is enough to give it a thumbs up since it manages to be a new IP without sucking. Good job Alan!

What I find pretty cool about the game is the way the combat functions. While you’ll get standard evil-fighting weapons like pistols and shotguns, your most useful weapon is a flashlight since enemies can be destroyed by light. Flash bangs are now super weapons. Most of the game leads you through dark environments that many critics feel are excellent with only your flashlight to guide you, meaning the atmosphere the game builds is frequently utilized. Even better, your flashlight uses batteries, so you can’t just use it to attack every enemy you see if you want to use it to find your way around later. This is simple but effective as a game premise. No faults there.

There have been some gripes about characters, though. While the gameplay is solid, characters seem fairly flat, especially Alan and his wife, two characters we expect to be dynamic and fleshed out. I can neither confirm nor deny this, partly because things like that are always relative to the player, not the game. If you thought Resident Evil 5 had great character interactions, Alan Wake will seem awesome. If you judge every game off of the Uncharted 2 interaction scale, Alan Wake may disappoint you. But as I said, i...