IPHONE 4 REVIEW HULK SMASH! If you can’t make the leap The Green One gets to 5, the 4 is just as good. the character highlight treatment, 24 TECH GEEKS, 15 YEAR 05, NO. 20 WWW.GAMINGINSURRECTION.COM Fourth Quarter 2012 Borderlands 2 New day New crew New Pandora Welcome back Welcome 21 11 26, 27, 28 Kingdoms of Amalur The Avengers review Pokémon times three contents Despite the loss of developer 38 Studios and Big Huge Assembled to make millions, nay, billions at the box Moving right along in the quest to review ’em all, Games, Kingdoms of Amalur managed to capture the at- office, The Avengers came screaming into theaters in GI takes a look at two Normal-type beasts and the tention and play time of a lot of gamers. GI’s Daniel Gibbs the summer of 2012. Its mission: Make comic book lovers franchise electric mouse itself: Pikachu. These aren’t give the lowdown on whether it’s OK to pick up the start squeal with delight. Was GI as impressed as the world your most flashy Pokémon, but they may just have a to an already-fallen franchise. seems to be with Joss Whedon’s ink tale? place in your arsenal. the usual suspects 22 otaku corner 22 anime lounge 30 torture of the quarter This quarter, Brandon Beatty pulls out an interesting-yet-cliché GI’s first review of anime from the head woman in charge We’re going to say in the kindest way that Mega Man has had his team tale in Mezzo. What’s it about, you say? Well, if we told you features romance, comedy, love triangles and several hilarious at- share of problems in the past. He might star in ridiculously hard that, you wouldn’t necessarily read his review, now would you? tempts to confess feelings. All while in high school. Nope, it can’t games that inspire diatribes, but the little blue man of charged-shot Head on over to The Strip and read about technology meeting gun get any better than school romance with comedic trappings. School fame does not deserve the raw deal he’s gotten at Capcom. We still play galore. Rumble is a shoujo fan’s dream. love you, Mega Man. We still love you. GAMING INSURRECTION Editor-in-chief Website Lyndsey Hicks Mosley www.gaminginsurrection. com Editor-at-large Brandon Beatty YouTube User: GamingInsurrection Contributing Editors Daniel Gibbs Twitter William Harrison @GamingInsurrect LYNDSEY HICKS MOSLEY BRANDON BEATTY WILLIAM HARRISON DANIEL GIBBS GI REVIEW POLICY editor in chief contributing editor contributing editor contributing editor Scale is from 1 to 5 as follows: staff 1 — Broken. Absolutely do not play this game. A broken mess LYNDSEY HICKS MOSLEY is co- BRANDON BEATTY is WILLIAM HARRISON is DANIEL GIBBS is a from start to finish. Game is unplayable and irredeemable in all founder and editor-in-chief of GI. editor-at-large for GI. a contributing editor for contributing editor for GI. areas. She enjoys watching boxing and Brandon writes reviews, GI. William writes reviews, Daniel, like everyone else 2 — Substandard. The game isn’t for everyone. Some mechan- NBA and a few TV shows such as watches a lot of movies at Gaming Insurrection, ics work; others need work. Overall design is questionable in makes random podcast some areas. Mad Men, Modern Family, Com- appearances and produces and enjoys the fighting is an anime and manga munity, Parks and Rec and various game scene. If it involves connoisseur and mostly 3 — Average and meets expectations. Mechanics work the quarterly Otaku column and it’s a decent package overall. It’s playable, and you’ll come anime. Lyndsey is a newspaper Final Round in Atlanta, contributes game reviews for The Strip. Brandon back to the game. copy editor and page designer and count William in. William for PC. Daniel resides in resides in Columbia, S.C. 4 — Above average. Exceeds expectations. Overall, a great resides in North Carolina. resides in Anderson, S.C. Greenville, N.C. game worth keeping in a gamer’s library. Presentation and me- chanics all work as expected and add to or enhance the gaming experience. CONTACT: CONTACT: CONTACT: CONTACT: brandonb@ 5 — Masterpiece. Everyone should play this title at least once lyndseym@ editor@ editor@ to experience what it has to offer. gaminginsurrection.com gaminginsurrection.com gaminginsurrection.com gaminginsurrection.com 2 staff editorial Consider me ready Hey there, stranger! to return to Pandora We’ve been waiting Lyndsey Hicks Mosley for you on Pandora! CRY OF WAR y gaming calendar doesn’t probably ever, next to Smash Bros. with my gentlemen and lady friends fill up all at once very Brawl and Super Mario Bros. 3. Why? who are also anticipating Border- often, and this year is Because it means I’ll finally be able lands 2. To celebrate the overwhelm- M no different. I rarely play to start on my own. ing need for BL2, we’re blowing out new games or even get hyped for You see, this year has been all about the sequel this quarter. Everything anything, solely because everything change for me. None of it has been we know, you will know. That means tends to be disappointing afterward. welcome, but it’s something that I in-depth looks at characters, locales, But this year is different. This year couldn’t have avoided no matter how story and a review of the game from is the return of one of my favorite hard I’ve tried. This year is one of yours truly. franchises: Borderlands. reflection and sacrifice, starting with Will I give all four characters a shot As we go to press, I’ll be running how I play games, what I’m looking this time around? Probably. Will I and gunning through new areas on for in a title and just what I spend still be hooked on the game and its Pandora with new characters, and my money on. I promise I won’t get parent next year this time? Probably. I’m salivating right now just thinking all sappy or bittersweet nostalgic on Will I ever grow tired of developing about it. At some point, my buddies anyone right now, but I’m looking a badass siren into a sharpshoot- and I will be gearing up to take on forward to Borderlands 2 because it’s ing machine capable of picking the the ruthless Handsome Jack, and I’ll the first time that I’ve started a cam- feathers off a Bloodwing from 1,000 be learning how to best utilize my paign on Pandora without my former yards out with a Fearsome Skulls- newest skills. Maybe I’ll have beaten spouse and co-op partner. When masher? Never. Pandora’s changed, the game by then, but if the com- things changed in my household, it but I’m ready. ments from the designers are any changed everywhere and Pandora Lyndsey Hicks Mosley is indication, I probably won’t. was the first to feel the effects. editor-in-chief of Gaming Insurrection. Borderlands 2 is easily my most- So, I’m getting back on the road, She can be reached by email at anticipated game of the year and and I’m ready to saddle up and ride [email protected] DuckTales’ soundtrack inspires explorer in us all he iconic Disney property received brain even if you didn’t want it to. Even its reminiscent of the start of many of Mc- an equally iconic video game 8-bit incarnation, stripped of vocals and Duck’s adventures, so in that respect, it’s adaptation and with it came a embellishment, retains its classic stature. done its job. T great soundtrack. Despite its 8-bit pedigree, DuckTales The Moon: Take your pick African Mines: The mines feature a fun, entertained with varied between the slow tempo of bluesy track that make me think of a no- gameplay and rocking mu- the beta version of the game nonsense journey through a dangerous sic. Here are my choices for or the fast tempo of the final place filled with deep caverns and untold traversing the world with release, but the Moon track is riches. It’s not hard to get excited about Scrooge McDuck in search one of the best uses of 8-bit getting that mine key from Transylvania of treasures. music technology ever. The and coming back to explore. music is brilliant with a focus DuckTales theme: The on technology and progressive The Amazon: While romping through Lyndsey Hicks Mosley the Amazon Jungle is no real picnic, theme of the show is one use of a synthesizer. I always traipsing through in DuckTales happens to of the most widely recog- BEAT.TRIP.GAME envision the future and prog- be fun. The comically designed apes and nized intros from ‘80s tele- ress whenever I’m hunting for other creatures that reside there make this vision, so it’s a no-brainer the Green Cheese of Longevity. a fun journey, and it needs this bouncy that it’s front and center for the game. The background to tie it all together. theme is representative of a time when Area Select: A simple tune, the area Disney was on a roll with brilliant show select theme is monotonous but inspires Lyndsey Hicks Mosley is introductions that stuck around in your Scrooge’s search for the treasures. It’s editor-in-chief of Gaming Insurrection editorial 3 Welcome to GI is 96.5% more about the sequel to the shoot & loot BORDERLANDSBORDERLANDS 22 favorite WORDS AND DESIGN BY LYNDSEY HICKS MOSLEY Fire.