Welcome Listeners !  Join us as we discuss Deus Ex: Human Revolution !  Human Revolution is the third entry in the legendary franchise (released roughly a decade later) and promises to bring true "choice" into the first person shooter.  Broadcasting live from an apartment in 2027 Detroit the crew of secondplaythrough travels through time to set the mood and discuss the last great game of summer 2011.  We are thankful the publishers of deus ex decided to keep human revolution out of the FALL 2011 release date massacre.  A smart move that will hopefully allow many gamers to experience this excellent game before their wallets take a hit starting in september.  The glorious glow of the city makes for a nice back drop as the crew discuss their feelings on this highly anticipated (and highly ambitious) first person shooter.  Although morgan and shea both believe it is a top tier experience for gamers, human revolution really hit a sweet spot for josh.  As a gamer that always looks for the "stealthy" approach, human revolution really appeals to Josh's "rogue like" sensibilities.  The crew does unanimously agree that the narrative could have been fleshed out better.  Especially when dealing with a game that brings to light a lot of interesting themes like bio mechanical engineering and augmenting human beings, its a shame that the game lacks any sort of emotional impact.  We hope you enjoy the show, and join us next week as we discuss the zombie game to end all zombie games, Dead island. Send us an email, or drop us a line in the comments we love to use them on the show! have a great one , SPT out.

Who says the summer is a terrible time to be a gamer?  As this weeks show proves, summers are becoming an important part of the gaming calendar.  Most of this is due in part to the Xbox live "summer of arcade". The first game released in this years summer of arcade was the highly buzzed and critically acclaimed BASTION.  Bastion is a throwback rpg with tons of charm and personality and the crew really enjoyed their time with the game.  After throwing down the verdict on this years biggest Summer of Arcade game the crew tackles the polarizing romantic horror game from the persona team, Catherine.  Shea goes to battle against morgan and josh as the crew debate the quality of Catherine. Reviews across the net have been fairly divisive.  Critics either love the game, or loathe it...and the crew of SPT had similar reactions.  You dont want to miss this exciting conversation as we delve deep into one of the years most talked about games.  The crew rounds up the show with some quick hitters concerning the rest of the summer of arcade including Insanely twisted shadow planet, and from dust. We love to hear from you, drop us an email (address is below in the post) or leave us a comment on the post as well.  Have a great one!  SPT out!

Our 51st podcast kicks off summer with a bang!  Morgan, josh and shea run through a gauntlet of games including: Child of Eden, Infamous 2, Mortal Kombat, Trenched, and much more.  Summer is usually a slower time of year for gamers so it was refreshing to have almost too many games to cover in one show. We get the ball rolling with the trippy rythm shooter "child of eden" from the legendary creator of rez.  The crew felt like the game was worthy a rental for sure, but the final product is a far cry for the game we were hoping it would be.  Infamous 2 made for an interesting topic of discussion, as new blood shea lost his infamous virginity with this sequel,and he enjoyed himself quite a bit. josh and morgan however were left feeling a bit under whelmed for a series that still has so much untapped potential.  Morgan and shea finally weigh in on the new Mortal Kombat reboot,and come away surprisingly impressed with their time spent in the game. Josh and morgan lay down the final verdict on trenched, the tower defense shooter from Double fine that has been garnering alot of attention as of late.  The show concludes with some brief verbal sparring over the likes of "plants vs zombies" in regards to sheas time spent with the game as of recently.  All in all the final show ended up running about an hour and a half, but it felt great to have so many topics for a summer show.  We hope you enjoyed the podcast,and stay tuned next week for an epic show were the crew of SPT delves into the sexy Catherine (oh..yeah..), and the epic Bastion.  Have a great one!  SPT out!

Email: contact@secondplaythrough

Big 3 you ask ? Yes its that time again listeners!  Time for a wonderful little traditional show here at the site.  Time for an epic SPT BIG 3 !  A show format that allows the crew of SPT to sound off on some of the biggest gaming topics running through our heads as of late.  This week we explore the depths of sex appeal and sexuality in gaming for morgans topic.  Inspired by last weeks tomb raider discussion and the upcoming puzzler "Catherine" that has been gaining a lot of buzz for its strong sexuality.  Morgan asks the crew what games have used sex appeal in a way that left a strong impression on their gaming souls.  Shea brings the topic of Collectors Edition packages to the table, as he asks the crew "what does it take to sell you on the collectors edition" of your favorite games?  A great question indeed, so stay tuned to see what factors cause us to open our wallets and pour out all our hard earned cash for special edition games.  Josh rounds up the show with some interesting discussion involving gaming "vices".  Asking the crew to flip the switch and admit some of the more negative aspects of being a gamer.  Addiction?  Financial investment? Sacrificing of ones social life?  Just a few of the interesting discussions we run-through when discussing joshes doozey of a topic. Stay tuned next week as we have a HUGE show (already recorded and ready to post in just a few days) where we discuss Child of Eden, Infamous 2, Mortal Kombat, Trenched, Plants vs Zombies and more!  Have a great one!  SPT OUT!

E3 2011 has arrived and SPT turns 50.  Celebrations are abound in our 50th official podcast, but of course the electronic entertainment expo is front and center.  E3 in many ways is the industries finest cock tease for gamers.  E3 is all about excitement,build up,and showcasing what technology in our industry is capable of at this point in time.  Whether its revealing and showcasing a new system (like the wii u this year) or teasing gamers with glimpses of games we will be playing this fall (skyrim) E3 is always an important etch in the gaming timeline.

Instead of running through every single game announced at this years e3, we decided to have a little fun with the event and countdown each of our "top 5 moments/games" of e3.  Count-downs are always fun and it was cool to see what surprises slipped onto our hype lists. A host of exciting games were discussed including Tomb raider, deus ex, bio shock infinite, halo4, battlefield 3 and many many more.  We wrap up the show with some hilarious gaming stories from our nerdy pasts (in honor of spt turning 50) and some quick discussion involving heavy rain as shea has finally finished the ps3 classic.  Drop us a line on the SPT facebook or leave us a comment on the site we would love to use them on future shows!  Have a great one SPT out !

Rockstar has a habit as of late of not disappointing their fans... whether newbies or die hard fanatics of the company.  The creators boasted that the facial capture for the people in L.A. Noire would be unlike anything a gamer has seen to date.  Whether you enjoy L.A. Noire or not, we think that it was fairly ambitious and enticing.  L.A. Noire has already had a definite impact on the gaming world.

While the much lauded visuals initially turned SPT’s sights on this game... the prospect of being a 1940’s detective (a story that has not been re-hashed to death in the gaming world) is what kept us playing.

Overall, we enjoyed L.A. Noire here at the site.  S, P, and T unanimously agreed that while the visuals of Noire were very impressive, there were still some kinks to work out.  The gameplay was a blast, although some of the missions left us a tad befuddled.  And though the time period did not quite work for Morgan, he did enjoy the game as a whole.

We also discussed Shea’s excitement to finally getting a 100% on Super Meat Boy, as well as the obligatory Pokemon discussion, and Josh’s unabashed love for Bit.Trip.  Any questions or comments?  Send us an e-mail, or leave a comment on the site or the Facebook.  We would love to use any thoughts on the show as listener feedback.  Thanks for listening!  SPT out!

Email: contact@secondplaythrough

Unless you have been living under a rock, you are probably aware Portal 2 is the most critically acclaimed game released this year thus far.  Valves first person/puzzler is averaging a staggering 95% over at metacritic.  Portal 2 is being heralded as one of the finest gaming experiences available. We live for games that receive this much buzz here at the site,as they provide the fuel for some of our most heated debates.  Puzzle games in particular are quite interesting because they tend to be critical darlings by nature(LIMBO,BRAID). So where does Spt stand within the portal 2 critical mass? Check out the podcast for the full breakdown!

Morgan and Shea Also found time to explore one of the best downloadable games released this year with Outland.  Seemingly coming out of nowhere, outland provides the breakneck creativity of IKARUGA with a 2d platformer that is very much in the same vain as metroid or castlevania.  Wrap up the package in an aesthetic that reminded the crew of TRON meets LIMBO meets AVATAR and you have one gorgeous downloadable game. Morgan and Shea both heartily bestowed platinum medals on Outland and encourage every gamer to give it a shot.  Also the crew had some long overdue crysis 2 discussion before we round up the show with josh laying down his final medal verdict on OKAMIDEN. Okamiden has a charming style but sacrifices many of the originals finest qualities for the sake of portability.  Being a huge fan of the original Okami josh had high hopes for the DS follow-up,but the final product fails to leave a lasting impression. The show concludes with some quick hitters from the SPT FACEBOOK page. As usual send us an email or drop us a comment here at the site or on the facebook page, we would love to use them on the show ! We hope you enjoyed the podcast and stay tuned for the LA NOIRE podcast coming soon! SPT OUT!

 Email: contact@secondplaythrough.com

Game Freak has brought the Beloved pokemon series back to its origins with Pokemon Black and White,so it felt appropriate that the crew of secondplaythrough would take the podcast back to its roots as well.  Our lengthy 47th podcast was recorded mid afternoon(unlike our usual late night recording schedule)much like the first few shows we ever recorded back in 2009. Don't think the early recording time deterred us from celebrating though,as you will see morgans long awaited drunken pokemon celebration was in full swing.  Whether you were once a fan of this classic series, or still play the games religiously you don't want to miss this epic pokemon podcast!

This podcast also marks the first time in SPT history that our entire crew unanimously agreed on our medal verdicts! Earning our prestigious platinum medal, pokemon black and white have become the highest rated games here at SPT in 2011 so far.  Who would have thought that pokemon of all games would have had the crew on exactly the same page?  We round up this hilarious drunken poke-fest with a quick run through of the Original Prince of Persia.  A secondplaythrough section recommendation from our gaming sadist, josh fowler.We love you josh..and we love you listeners !  Did you enjoy the show ?  Did the earlier recording time seem to benefit the crew? We would love your feedback on these topics and so much more! Drop us an email , or leave a comment on the SPT FACEBOOK, we would love to use it on the show! SPT OUT !

 Email: contact@secondplaythrough

Dragon age:origins was a huge hit when it was released back in 2009.  Two years later we have bioware's latest fantasy epic Dragon age 2, in which bioware bravely decides to "start from scratch"with the dragon age formula.  The end result is an enjoyable sequel that truly does feel more like a re-imagining of the franchise.

  The dragon age faithful may be up in arms over some of the choices the designers took to streamline  the entire experience,but for gamers who appreciate a more focused experience dragon age 2 has you in mind.  The entire games story and quest progression tends to have a much more "intimate" feel  rather than the "epic save the world" tale that  the original game spun. The crew was a bit divided on how engrossing the story was,regardless of scale.  Morgan was left longing for the personalities of the original game,while josh enjoyed the more "family" oriented storyline. After we lay down our dragon age 2 medallions, shea gives us a brief rundown on the highly buzzed first person shooter homefront. Although home front may not have recieved as much face time as "bulletstorm" shea ended up giving the game a higher medal overall.  Thanks for listening, and stay tuned for our Epic Pokemon show next week.  We  love to hear from you, drop us an email, or a comment on the SPT FACEBOOk, we love to use the comments on the show! Pokemon is nigh!SPT OUT !

 Email us at contact@secondplaythrough

What was in the forecast for February here at SPT ? Extreme violence apparently. First dead space , and now the game fox news dubbed possibly the most "violent game of all time" BULLETSTORM. If decapitations and exploding limbs isnt your cup of tea, don't fret! We also dissect sheas favorite game off all time "Shining Force" a classic turn based strategy game originally released back in 1993 for the genesis.

Bulletstorm didn't absorb too much of our lives when all was said and done, however we were all fairly impressed by just how fun the game actually ended up being. Hell even the cynical one, josh, finished the game in one sitting! In some ways a cheap comparison would be Borderlands minus the cel shading, dipped in gears of war sauce.Tasty huh ?  We thought so!  Although these bulletstorm nuggets were injected with a bit to much testosterone for our liking, it didn't detract too much from the overall enjoyment of the experience. Nugget Flex!

We round up the show paying our respects to "shining force" in honor of shea losing his "spiritual gaming virginity" at an early age to this turn based strategy classic. The conversation ended up spiraling out in a myriad of different ways, touching on many of the biggest turn based strategy games available on the market. See you next week for our Dragon Age 2 show!  Drop us a line in the comments, or an email; we would love to use the feedback on the show.   Have a great one!  SPT out!