Batman: Arkham Asylum game update and review

So I have been holding off playing the game for a few days, but I played it today and I finished the game!
I thought it would take me longer, but I finished ahead of schedule!
So let me tell you my experience with the Killer Croc level.
I was terrified of this part and that's why I was kind of holding back playing it.
But I toughed it out and turned on the game to get through the level. Yeah, it was really scary.
I screamed a lot of times when Croc popped out of the water. The level was quicker than I expected it to be.
I fell into the water once, but I went the wrong way plenty of times. Batman said it was like a maze down there and I completely agree, you don't know where to go and if you do go the wrong way, there is a better chance that Croc will pop out of the water more times than if you went the right way.
I fell into the water once, but I had to repeat another part of the level because I didn't explode the trap in enough time for Croc to fall in.
Here's some advice, when you are running away from Croc, put on Detective Mode so you know how big the weak wall is so when he comes towards it you can explode it at the right time.
I was so relived when I finished that part, I would say that is one of the scariest and hardest levels in the game, next to the morgue part.

So being done with that, the next major boss fight is Poison Ivy. That level was fine, I never died.
I played on Easy just to let you know. All I really did was dodge and throw a lot of batarangs.
Another tip, even though Ivy's shell doesn't open up, keep hitting it. It still damages her.
I kept getting caught in the vines, but it wasn't a big deal.
So after I defeated Ivy, I have to go to the party.
Just to let you know, that part is the last time you can pick up Riddler trophies and solve his riddles. So if you care about finding all of them, that is your last chance.
So when you get to the party there are goons standing all outside and they don't attack you, actually they look for Batman's name on the guest list. It's pretty funny. When you're allowed to go inside, there are more goons on both sides of you and they are clapping for you. You don't have to fight any of them, but if you want to you can. I didn't feel like it. I don't want to tell every detail, but you fight Joker and then the game is over.
Make sure to skip the credits and still watch, there are alternative scenes at the end.
It shows a box of Titan floating in the water and either Croc, Bane or Scarecrow's hand comes up and grabs it. I got Bane's hand.

So now that you know what parts I had to play, I am going to review the game overall.

Batman: Arkham Asylum is one of the best games I've ever played. It's exciting, it makes you think and the graphics are amazing! I am really glad that a lot of the cast from Batman: The Animated Series came and did their character's voices. Kevin Conroy is probably my favorite Batman,  Christian Bale is a close second. Mark Hamill is a tie as my favorite Joker next to Heath Ledger. Arleen Sorkin came back to voice Harley Quinn. It's a great long game and it's the longest game I have ever played (I think).
I want to really applaud the character designers. The way all of the characters looked were great! Batman's suit resembles the comics and Animated Series. Also, I loved the way Joker looked. I think it looks a lot like the comics. Scarecrow looks amazing. I love that he has the syringes on one of his hand in the style of Freddy Krueger. In the game you can clearly tell that his mask resembles a gas mask and his mask is suppose to be one, but you can see the two air things (I don't know what it's called) poking out. Bane was pretty much the same as in the comics, nothing really new, but I like that look so I was fine with it. I loved the way Croc looked, he was very intimidating and his voice was too. I wish that they had designed him like that in the Animated Series, I hated the way he looked in there. For Harley and Ivy, their outfits were pretty revealing. It's kind of obvious a lot of guys probably designed them.
The design of Arkham on the outside was great! I loved the way it looked.

Now I told the things I loved, it's time for the things I didn't really like.
I know a lot of people also complained about this and they will fix it in Arkham City, but you had to use Detective Mode a lot in this game. It was pretty cool, but you don't get to see the beautiful graphics.
Also, I know that when I was watching a walkthrough with commentary on this game, that the person got really annoyed with how Joker overused the PA system. It didn't really annoy me, I love the Joker, but for others they might've not liked it.
For the inside of Arkham, some parts were nice, but a lot of the Asylum looked like it wasn't all that friendly to people who are mentally sick. People are trying to be curing you and the place looks like it's a torture house. Also, for the Medical Facility, if you go down stairs in a part of an area, there are skeletons  chained up in this cage. I doubt Joker did that in the short amount of time he took over the place, so who would leave those there? And there were a lot of torture chairs and equipment. I highly doubt they really want to cure the insane.
Also, I thought that they didn't really do anything with Bane, only a fight that is exactly the same with the goons on Titan. Also, the way he was in the game resembled a teeny bit the way he was in Batman & Robin. Bane is a very intellectual character, and I know he get's a bad rep because of Batman & Robin, but I was hoping that the game would've spent more time with him like the other villains and gave him more to say.
Also, after a while, the lunatics were pretty annoying, but it didn't really bother me.
I think that's all I have to complain about, I really did love this game. And I absolutely loved the interview tapes. You really get a better idea of how the characters are, I would love to see or hear more interview tapes in the future. My favorites were probably Scarecrow, Riddler and Joker's.

Now that I'm done with this game, I am really pumped for Arkham City, so many more villains and that probably means that the game will be longer than Arkham Asylum. I cannot wait! Only 15 more days left!

Batman: Arkham Asylum and City

So Batman: Arkham City is one of the most anticipated games and it looks amazing. I am really getting into the video games now (since I have a PS3, why now use it!) The more and more I look at the trailers for the new Batman game, the more I want to play the first one so that's exactly what I'm doing now.

It was game of the year and everyone loved it! I have to admit that it seemed pretty scary when I looked more into it,  so I watched the walkthrough of it. Yeah, I was right it was scary, but it looked like so much fun so I decided to play it myself. 

Right now, I just defeated Scarecrow for the last time and I have to follow him into Killer Croc's Lair. That part I am not looking forward to, but I am going to tough it out and get through it.
I started it on Wednesday, the 21st, and played just a little bit.
Unfortunately, a few days ago, the PS3 deleted my progress, I didn't get far though so I was able to get all the way to where I am now, but that slowed me down.  I have 3 weeks to finish the game before Arkham City comes out, I have also other things I have to do so I'm feeling the pressure a little bit, but I think I should be done before the release.

I am super excited for Arkham City, it looks unbelievable! It seems like they have almost all of the major villains from the comic.

For maybe the second or third trailer, it showed that Hugo Strange will be in the game. I am not sure if he is the main villain, or if it's Joker, but he will definitely be in the game and I don't know a lot about him, but I know that he knows that Batman is Bruce Wayne. I am really looking forward to seeing The Riddler as a more involved character in the game, in Arkham Asylum he wasn't physically in the game, you had to collect his hidden trophies all over the Asylum and solve riddles, and then he would gloat about how he's better and more intelligent than you. But I am really happy that he will physically be in Arkham City. Also, I can't wait to see Two-Face. It looks like he is like Gollum, where Harvey talks and than his other personality, Big Bad Harv talks back. I think that's a great idea. Mr. Freeze is also in the game, it looks like those levels will be hard. I will probably die a couple of times before I progress. Ha! But he looks great in the game. Penguin is also in it and he looks equally as good. I don't really care for him, he's not my favorite Batman villain, he's okay to me. Of course Joker is in it and Harley. Harley is now voiced by a different actor, Arleen Sorkin is the original voice actor from the animated series and she did Harley's voice in Arkham Asylum, but now she is voiced by Tara Strong. From what I've seen in the trailer, it seems like she's doing a good job. I could tell it was someone different, but there isn't much of a difference. Batman is voiced still by Kevin Conroy, who also is the voice in Arkham Asylum and the animated series and Joker is still voiced by Mark Hamill, who also did Arkham Asylum and was the voice in the animated series as well. Mark, unfortunately, will be retiring being the Joker after this game. This really makes me sad because he is equally my favorite Joker along with Heath Ledger. I will definitely miss him as the clown and I don't know who they will replace him with. That will be a real challenge, he does the voice so well. 

There might be more villains in the game, Catwoman will be a playable character but she's not really a villain, she's anti-hero. But Bane, Killer Croc and Scarecrow are still alive so I hope they return. I have to say that I love the way they designed Croc in Asylum. That's the way he is suppose to be. They really should've designed him like that in the animated series. I hated they way he looked in the show.

Also, I was glad that they didn't make Scarecrow a B-list villain in Asylum because he definitely is not. I just hope they won't recycle the Scarecrow levels with Mr. Freeze. In the trailer with him, it looked like Batman had to hide from Freeze's gaze just like how Batman had to hide from Scarecrow's. But we won't know until the game comes out. But I am definitely looking forward to it and I will update this section with my progress on Arkham Asylum and how far I am in the game. 

If you want to see the trailer for both games here they are:

Heads up, these trailers won't show all of the villains or characters in the games. There are separate trailers for different characters, there are a lot for Arkham City.

Arkham Asylum

Arkham City

You might be wondering why Joker looks the way he does at the end, you have to play Arkham Asylum to know what's going on there.

Arkham Asylum is in stores now and Arkham City comes out October 18, 2011. 

                                 

Beats by Dr. Dre (Solo HD)

So I needed new over the ear headphones because I use them for recording and they're better when using the computer. I walked around the headphones section in Best Buy. Just for curiosity I tried out the Beats by Dr. Dre headphones to see how the sound was. The sound was so clear and great! I really liked them! The price is pretty steep, they are the cheapest in the over the ear headphones range, retailing at Best Buy for $199, which is cheaper than what they say on the website, which is $229.95. The red ones are a good ones to buy though because the money goes to the Global Fund to fight AIDS in Africa.

First of all I noticed that it comes in a huge box, well it isn't huge, just big for a pair of headphones. So when I opened them, there was a nice case for the headphones. I was glad about that because they are expensive, they should have a case with it! It's really nice. Also they give you extra wires, which was neat, and they give you a cloth to clean the headphones. But I can use it for my iPod Touch too. But other than manuals, that was all that was in the box. 

Now for the actual product review.

I really like the headphones! They are comfortable and have outstanding sound. I like that on the wire there's a control where you can adjust the volume, and if you are using a phone, you can talk with the microphone that's on it. The cool thing is that when you're not using the headphones, you can fold them up! So it won't take up as much room in a bag as a normal pair of over the ear headphones would. Also, you can disconnect the wire from the headphones which I thought that was cool. 

The headphones feel very sturdy. It doesn't feel like they are going to break from being too flimsy. They feel like they will last a long time. But just in case something happens, I would highly recommend that you get a protection plan in case you break them.

The noise isolation is great! You can hardly hear anything on the outside. It's not 100% noise canceling, but I think that's a good thing just in case something happens where you need to hear. Also, if you take off the headphones and the music is still playing, people still can't hear it. I think that's really nice! 

But what might bother people is that the earphones themselves, the cushions, are smaller than the average over the ear headphones. Some people might like them to go completely over the ears. Beats do have others that the cushions are bigger, but they are more expensive. 

For the type of music played, I listen to a lot of movie scores. Like from John Williams or Hans Zimmer. And I have to say that the music sounds great even with that type of music! Really brings out the drums and a lot of the unique sounds that Hans Zimmer have in his scores like 'Inception', 'Pirates of the Caribbean' or the Nolan Batman films. Also, I listen to mostly Alternative and older Pop music. All sound great and clear.

So overall they are comfortable, great clear sound, sturdy, noise isolating and not a pain to transport. Every single genre sounds great on it and you can use it for hands free phone calling. The only negatives are that some people might not like the slightly smaller ear cushions and they are pretty expensive. But they are really brilliant headphones. If you are willing to splurge a little extra on headphones, these are the ones to get. 

Apple's OS X Lion

I know that the software has been out for a few weeks, but I didn't have this Blog then so I'm going to talk about it now.
Apple has released their new software from the Mac as an upgrade from Snow Leopard. It isn't a whole different software, a lot of it are the same, but there are new features.

The new main features are the following:
Multi-Touch Gestures
Full Screen Apps
Mission Control
The Mac App Store
Launchpad
Auto Save and Versions
and an improved Mail app

There are other small new features, but those are the major new ones. I myself have a Mac and I have Snow Leopard on mine. I love my computer to death and I've had almost no problems with it. The only really problem I've had was that I was typing up a paper for school and the computer froze on me and I had to force shut down the computer and bring it back up, and when I did the whole thing was gone. So I was really happy that they announced Auto Save, so I won't have that problem again. But that has been the only problem I've really had with my Mac, which is a huge difference from the multiple problems I've had with my Windows desktop (no hard feeling Microsoft). Also, I really was looking forward to the Full Screen feature. I think it's really awesome that we can now fill up the whole screen with the app we are using. For the other features I don't really care about, even though they are nice. I already have Multi-Touch Gestures on my MacBook Pro and the Mac App store, plus I'm fine with the Mail app that's already on my computer.
However, even though I find the new features exciting, I won't be getting the Lion software, at least right away. First before I say why, it is always smart to read reviews on a product before you buy it; and when I read the reviews on the Lion software, half loved it and half hated it.
A lot of people complained that their computers began to run slower and some features that they had with Snow Leopard were now gone. Obviously, Apple still has bugs and quirks to figure out so I understand that and when installing a new software, like Lion, it takes up a lot of power from the computer because it's a whole different software, then it returns to normal. So I understand that. But some of the features people have said that are not there any more bother me. Many people have said that the scroll bar is different, but you can change it back so it's not really all that serious,  Front Row gets taken away and I heard that they take Flash away.
The Flash really got me because Flash is used on almost every site. So I can't have that taken away from me, Flash is a part of the internet viewing experience. So after I heard that, I made up my mind to not get Lion. Now, Flash could still be there. So I think before I, or you, turn away Lion all together it's a good idea to go to the Apple Store and play around with a computer that has Lion installed on the computer. Also maybe ask a person who works there about the new software. After that, then I or you should make the decision to get it or not. Even though reading reviews helps tremendously on making a decision on buying a certain product, there's nothing better than actually going to the place where they have your product and playing around with it yourself. I hope this post has helped anyone in deciding whether or not to get the new OS X Lion and I hope that you are happy with your decision. I will update this page on what I decide to do.

Sony Cyber-Shot DSC-HX100

So I needed a camera that takes really good photos and I found this one. It's a classic camera, not a regular digital camera so it is on the professional side. I love taking photos and experimenting with the way a picture looks.
It is a
Sony Cyber-Shot DSC-HX100.

It takes 1080p photos and video, which the video is super important because I can use it to film if I wanted to and I want the highest quality possible. It takes 3D photos and 3D and regular swoop panorama, which lets you sweep the camera across and it will capture everything you swiped. It's a pretty cool feature. So far I am loving the camera and it takes really good photos and videos. It retails at $449.99, which is expensive but if you look at other cameras of this same style it's a good price. I would highly recommend this camera. I got mine at Best Buy, but Sony doesn't sell it on their site anymore so there is a chance that they might not sell it after so long. So I would try looking for it now. Also it is available on Amazon, here's the link:

http://www.amazon.com/Sony-Cyber-Shot-DSC-HX100-Vario-Tessar-Panorama/dp/B004H8FND0/ref=wl_it_dp_o?ie=UTF8&coliid=I2G9V9L0Q1BJ0W&colid=1VZ0T0TL7J9KJ

I will take some photos maybe and show you how well the pictures look when I find a stunning location and a good photo editing program. Right now I'm thinking of Aperture or Photoshop. But that's it and I need to go to bed because it is extremely late.

Welcome to the Technology page!

Hey everyone!
So this page is attached to my Home page, but it is technically a separate blog so if you already followed the Home, you will have to follow this and the other pages to be notified when I have new post. But this page will be for technology. I will talk about the latest gadgets announced or released, and this will include video games that I might be excited about. There's a chance that I might not use this page as much as the others, but I will try my best to update it as much as possible. Feel free to leave any questions or suggestions to what I should talk about. I hope you enjoy what is to come! :)