Johnos Reviews: Angry Video Game Nerd Adventures (PC)

**Warning: This review will feature some strong language, not of the choice of your humble writer, but because the game being reviewed is full of such language.**
Hello again empire! It has been four whole weeks since I've posted content, and it's about time I fixed that. Lets dive right in. But first, a little intro to the game. If you don't know who The Angry Video Game Nerd is, you have never seen an internet before somehow. He's a character created and played by James Rolf, founder of Cinemassacre.com. The Nerd character plays old video games that are terrible and spouts every obscene thing ever created at it, and many times destroys or defecates on the game or system. It's extremely funny, and massively popular. Many independent developers have made their own games based on the character, but this is the first officially endorsed game. Lets see how it stacks up with the legacy of the FUCKIN' NERD!

## Concept/Plot

A retro-themed adventure through the world of shitty video games. The Nerd is pulled through the TV screen by his balls (no joke that's what it says). But he's not alone. Also sucked into the game world is his friends Guitar Guy (Kyle Justin, who wrote and performs the Nerd theme song) Bullshit Man (Another character created and played by Rolf in a separate series call "You Know Whats Bullshit?") and Mike (Mike Matei, Rolf's sort of partner at Cinemassacre, he plays other characters on the show and works with Rolf in post production). Also are tons and tons of references to the show and cameos of random people that I don't even know.

## Sound/Graphics

The game has extremely amazing retro-style music. Every track is adrenaline pumping as well as old-school. The visuals are great, and compliment the music and overall theme perfectly, with enhanced 8-bit graphics. Looks and sounds amazing, that's just the long and short of it.

## Gameplay

The game plays like the sidescroller/platformer/shooter of the 8-bit era for the majority of the game, but it occasionally switches gears mid-stage for a portion to another retro-style game style. The keyboard controls suck pretty bad, but using an Xbox 360 controller is fantastic and comfortable. You can switch between any of the four characters at any time with a simple tap of the bumpers, except when you have the Super Scope, which only the Nerd can use. Speaking of the Super Scope reminds me of something: This game is FUCKING HARD!!!! The Super Scope reminds me of that because when you get hit once, you lose it and its impossible to get one and hold on to it for more than ten seconds. Hell, its hard to live for more than ten seconds without some cheap old-school bullshit killing you. Luckily easy mode gives you infinite lives. If I had tried normal mode, with limited lives and half as much health, I would have gotten my little white ass kicked. Speaking of the health bar, it seems a little pointless. Almost everything kills you in one hit. Only the things you can kill take away health. The game can only be beaten with trial and error, as well as memorizing patterns and thinking like a retro gamer. Its very frustrating and difficult, but through it all, I didn't get mad once. I found myself laughing most of the time, at all of the jokes I understood and felt in on, and at myself. The game is a way to put your skills to the test and have a good time all at once. That's rare. Most hard games make you angry and you don't want to play them anymore. This is a rare case when its hard but you still want to keep playing. It succeeds in bringing us back to the golden age of the video game.

## Afterword

Amazing game. I give it a 9/10, which lands it in the Firewalker Gold Collection. Now, lets get on to other business shall we? I will be coming back to a regular schedule. No more long breaks like this, unless severe technical difficulties were to arise. Then I would notify you as soon as possible in whatever way possible of the trouble. Anyway that's about it. Have a great day everyone!