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Fun but heavily flawed game. Pros:
1. you can guide the ball and back shoulder throw in this game.
- I am a big fan of putting the ball where my player is. I back shoulder throw in this game as well as putting the ball in the zone coverages like no tommrrow.
- Other NCAA games do not have this at all. If you try to back shoulder throw, your IDIOT receiver just keeps running like a moron mean while the safety or Corner comes up to pick it off.
2. Some really good ideas. Unlike many other Madden or NCAA games you can actually design your play book. I wish the other feature was to allow you design your own plays. I would get crazy with this.
3. Overall the idea of the game and its concepts were good on recruiting and its animations. But it just misses and the quality and fun of the game goes down because of these problems. I wish they let me design the game.
Cons:
1. REALLY screwed up BLOCKING!!!
-Oh wow the blocking in this game is terrible. The blocking is all wrong and the option read is not a true option. The back side DE does not react correctly to the play.
- Pass blocking. PFFT you can forget about it. There is no pass blocking. And the rating of pass block does not matter. Your line still doesn't block.
2. Ratings DO NOT MATTER. I look at the ratings. I design a team to pass block. But my 99 rating Left Tackle doesn't just miss his block but he gets ran over by a 78 rating Safety. WTF!!! It's not once but many times (more than 10 a game). My left tackle weighs 333 lbs and the safety is 195 lbs. The pass block rating is 99 and his awareness is 92 with a strength of 95 and the safety pushes my Tackle in ground weighing almost 100 lbs less and then his strength rating is only 72 and Awareness of 78. WHAT!!!!
- I have receivers with 99 hands (catch rating) and yet they drop 3-4 passes a game that are wide open where no one is covering them. WHAT!!!!
- 76 rating running back with, and weighs 185 lbs. 85 speed and 56 strength, Break tackle rating of 65, stiff arms my Defensive TACKLE into the ground (with ONE ARM) that weighs 305 lbs. and has a rating of 99 and strength of 95. WHAT!!!
You get my point.
So I ask what is the point of recruiting players to fit your offensive system and defensive system when they don't matter?
3. Man coverage in this game is really terrible. It is the easiest thing to beat.
4. No passing option routes. Very strange. Wouldn't these routes increase the importance and usage of the receiver awareness stat???
5. Defensive coverage looks obvious. Bringing the safety down to cover a receiver means it's man coverage and a blitz to that side. That's really dumb to not cover up the defensive schemes.
Additional comments:
To those making NCAA. I just want to say that if you want to make a true game, you should also add this:
1. In Heisman mode (hardest game level) instead of making the game cheat by having line man jump 30 feet in the air to intercept a pass and be able to cover a 99 speed wideout, what you should do is to create smarter AI. I'll explain below. Instead of having the game cheat and slide its defense to the left or right of the running play you should create smarter AI. What do I mean?
a. I mean this. If the opponent is a lot throwing to one person. The game should scheme and double team that wide out and trying to blitz the opponent at the same time. There should be both man and zone coverages mixed together.
b. Also, the game should adapt to the types of routes run. IF a person is running a lot of crossing schemes the DB's should jump those. Then it makes the opponent use more double move routes.
c. I often see what a blitz is going to look like but I cannot assign blocking and ends up as one guy doing nothing and a free rusher to the QB. Needs to be corrected.
d. I wonder why my team has to line up a certain way. How come I cannot show bump and run or man to man and end up backing out and doing zone coverage instead.
e. Why does the other team always block so well and I need to bring extra rushers to sack the QB and meanwhile the CPU can bring 2 rushers and my 5 OL guys cannot block 2 guys and miss the blocks? | video-games_xbox |
Cerebral Horror. If you want a psychological horror story that forces you to pay attention to the details while unraveling a supernatural mystery, then this is a rare treat for you. If you just want to shoot zombies, then you'd probably have more fun playing Resident Evil 5 or Left 4 Dead 2.
Concept: 10/10
Alan Wake is a famous writer who is struggling with writer's block. He goes on a short vacation to the Pacific Northwest with his wife to relax and get some fresh air. Upon his arrival to the quaint little town of Bright Falls, something goes awry and he is sucked into an insane world of darkness. He quickly realizes that he is living in one of his stories. A thriller. But this thriller has been corrupted and is becoming a horror story.
Story: 9/10
The main draw to Alan Wake is the Stephen King style writing. This is a very deep and complex story and if you aren't paying attention, you may not understand the ending. There are plenty of discussions about it on youtube. The dialogue is very well written and there's some pretty good acting. I'm not going to spoil anything here, but the more you focus on the details, the more you will get out of the game.
Gameplay: 7/10
There are two types of gameplay: Exploration and Combat.
This is not an open world game like Skyrim or Red Dead Redemption. These are levels put together to create very wide areas where you are encouraged to explore and find collectibles. You can find pages of Alan's Manuscript, Thermoses of Coffee, weapons, ammo, and items. Most of these just unlock achievements or help Alan in combat.
The Combat is very simple and somewhat repetitive. After dark, the People of Bright Falls become criminally insane lunatics smothered in shadow. Armed with crude weapons, they try to kill Alan. To make matters worse, only light can harm them. Lucky for Alan, he's armed with flashlights (beam), flash bangs (grenade) , flares (timed area of effect), and small arsenal of common guns. When you see an enemy, you must first get light on them to remove the darkness. Once the darkness is banished, they're vulnerable to gunfire. Enemies will charge, throw weapons, and try to hack you to bits and you can dodge or sprint for a short time to escape. Light in the game represents a safe haven for Alan Wake.
There are times when the darkness corrupts objects or flocks of ravens, too. They become possessed and fly at Alan. He must dodge, escape, or use light to neutralize the darkness in the objects. That's pretty much it. But most people will be playing this game for the story and atmosphere.
Graphics: 9/10
The graphics are very good. The Seattle-esque town of Bright Falls looks pretty amazing in the day. There are snow capped mountains, dense forests, and all of the things you'd expect to see in a small town. The characters could look better, but they aren't bad. The art direction did take a Stephen King (realistic and familiar) approach. What is more scary to you? A gigantic demon or your maniacally grinning uncle trying to cut your face off with a kitchen knife while he quotes the Bible? The enemies in the game are not wicked demons sporting curved horns and fanged maws. They're people who could be your friendly neighbors... except now they're possessed.
Sound: 8/10
The sound is very good and contributes to the atmosphere. It does a great job at setting the mood and providing audio cues for gameplay. The voice acting is pretty good overall.
Maturity: Teen
This is a horror game and is very much like a Stephen King movie. It's not overly gory and there isn't any nudity. It is more like an interactive horror novel.
Replay Value: 5/10
There are 3 difficulty modes and some DLC. You may also want to play some areas over again to explore and get achievements. But there is no multiplayer or branching story arcs.
Overall: 8.5/10
To some people, this game will be a masterpiece. A perfect blend of psychological horror and action that hasn't been seen since Silent Hill 2. To others, it may seem like a mediocre action game with a confusing story. If you're willing to search for clues in the story and pay attention to details, then you will enjoy this game. If you just want to blow through an action game, then you probably won't like Alan Wake.
Buy it if you love complex horror stories.
Buy it if you like horror novels.
Rent it if you have 7-9 hours to finish the campaign.
Avoid it if you just want to shoot bad guys.
Avoid it if you like simple stories. | video-games_xbox |
Disappointing. Did not live up to expectations after Fable 1. I absolutely loved Fable 1 and eagerly awaited Fable 2 and am disappointed. I was hoping they would make it even deeper more open ended than Fable 1 and improve upon the features that made Fable such a great game. But sadly they didn't.
First off, the story is weak and full of holes. I can appreciate a light-hearted RPG but the story was just poorly written and didn't tie together. Lucien (the villain) was a boring, weak, uninteresting villain. Jack of Blades was far better. The ending is sure to disappoint.
Secondly, it really isn't open-ended. The choices you make have very little impact on the game and it really doesn't matter if you're good or evil, boy or girl. The main storyline was short and easy, and the sidequests weren't very deep. For instance, the assassin's guild quests: I was hoping doing their quests would lead to more interesting quests (similar to the "Dark Brotherhood" from Oblivion) but it was merely "rinse and repeat"-kill unimportant NPC and collect reward, over and over. Same with the Bounty Hounter quests and Slave Rescue.
Most irritating feature for me, the new combat system! In Fable 1 there were far more spells and skills you could use to develop a truly unique, fun character. Fable 2, they did away with a lot of the spells and made the remaining spells very similar to one another; no more chain lightning, warrior rage, and protect spells etc... But the most annoying feature of the magic is that you can only use 1 spell per level and you have to *charge up* through all levels (1-5) in order to cast a powerful level 5 spell. I really wanted to play my character as a magic user but it became so inconvenient and boring that I ended up just shooting and slashing my way through enemies and using magic as secondary.
Finally, player immortality has got to go. When you die you should go back to where you last saved it, that's the RPG formula. In Fable 2, you're immortal, you only receive scars when knocked unconscious.
I liked the dog.
Don't get me wrong, Fable 2 is very fun and kept me busy for about a week. But after waiting 4 years since Fable 1 and having high expectations Fable 2 assuredly falls short. Rent it, don't buy it. | video-games_xbox |
Ghost Recon: Future Soldier, Wait I mean Rainbow Six: Future Soldier. Let me start by saying that most of the campaign's negatives have been hit on in nearly every other review. The campaign is linear, not particularly imaginative, and fails to create a relationship between the gamer and his character. That being said I did not purchase this game for its campaign. I do not purchase any Ghost Recon, Rainbow Six, Call of Duty, etc for the campaign. I have been pleasantly surprised once or twice, but if you want an imaginative and engrossing campaign none of these franchises are probably what you are looking for.
If you buy this game expecting GRAW 3 then you will likely be sorely disappointed. Several of the multiplayer hallmarks of the Ghost Recon franchise up to this point were either ignored or thrown out the window during Future Soldier's development:
The maps are universally smaller, unless you consider the maps included in the 2 DLC packs Arctic Strike and Khyber Strike (which I don't as it can be very difficult to find a lobby playing either).
With smaller maps long range sniping is pretty much gone, most engagements take place at short to medium range.
Team Deathmatch has been dropped in favor of objective based game play (unless you include Stockade and Takeover game modes which are included in the two DLC packs).
Server customization is gone, like most games released in the last few years you are no longer playing truly custom games. You choose a gametype and matchmaking throws you into the game with the best connection.
Basically, do not buy this game for the campaign or because you want to play GRAW 3. If you are willing to look at this game with fresh eyes, and are purchasing it solely for the multiplayer, than you may possibly have tons and tons of fun.
This game would have been more aptly titled Rainbow Six: Future Soldier. The cover system is nearly flawless. Moving into cover, out of cover, and from cover to cover is seamless and simple unlike pretty much every other cover based shooter up to this point. Shooting from cover works great as well, but is not over-powered if the person you are shooting at is aware of your position (as it should be). This combined with the patented shoulder-swapping 3rd person perspective we have come to love in Ghost Recon makes for a game where objects and cover actually have meaning, and you are not purposely avoiding going into cover. Some may say this lends itself to a game where everyone camps, but that could not be further from the truth. All of the best players combine moving from cover to cover, methodical pushes, high-speed flanking maneuvers, head on rushes, and just about any other method you can imagine. The best tactic is dictated by the exact situation you find yourself in, where there is no "right way" to move through an area or take an objective.
Intelligence is King. This is where the Ghost Recon aspect comes into play. There are many different ways to gain "Intel" on an enemy or the whole enemy team. UAV drones, sensor grenades, decoy grenades, emp grenades, thermal cameras, jammers and hacking the enemy team's data feed are all different ways to either gain Intel or disable the opposing teams ability to gain or use Intel. A single intelligent player with Intel can wipe out the entire enemy squad, while two squads who are both effectively using Intel can enter into a complex match of cat and mouse to see who comes out on top.
Now to address a few common complaints with the multiplayer:
Some of the weapons can be difficult to wrap your head around to start, especially if you are coming from Call of Duty or similar games. Fine tuning weapon setups is only half the battle, you must also fine tune your shooting technique from weapon to weapon. If you are willing to think for a few seconds before blowing up in frustration you will find that nearly every weapon in the arsenal has its place, and that the game is in fact balanced as well or better than just about any other without having what is basically the same gun repeated X times with a different skin.
I cannot ignore that there have been serious problems with the servers, especially right after release. This game uses a new hosting technique, sharing hosting duties across all players in a match. As with any pilot program there have been rough patches. At this point the servers work as well as they likely ever will, and are no longer a source of frustration for the community at large. This would have been the only area to drop my review to 4 stars, but since it has been pretty much resolved for some time now my 5 star review stands.
20,000+ kills later I am still enjoying myself in multiplayer, and having played basically every shooter ever released for the Xbox/Xbox360 consider this to be the best released to date. | video-games_xbox |
Am I playing a new game. The first word that comes to mind when I think of this game is "sellout".
Modern Warfare 2 and Black Ops, while not the FPS perfection that was COD4, were still very fun and felt like new products that contributed to a fledgling FPS genre. When firing up this game for the first time, I felt the instant placing of the COD franchise on life support. Maybe it's the nail in the coffin it needs. MW3, more than anything, feels like a giant, overpriced MW2 expansion pack. If Activision is willing to put out this LAZY, OUTDATED excuse of a game on the market and sell it full price as if it's a new title, hopefully it will wake people up to the fact that the COD games are now beating a dead horse.
Nothing about this game feels inspired. It reeks of laziness, and it ultimately feels like a cash cow more than anything else. The fact that more than one company developed this game shows its embarrassing lack of central vision and connived to put out a half-assed game to make a quick buck. They literally took the same engine and design source from MW2 and added a couple new modes and uninspired maps and called it a new game. Everything is the same: the fonts, the menus, the load screens, the graphics, and I swear some of the voices sounded recycled. Actually, the graphics look worse than MW2's.
The multiplayer is a huge disappointment. Multiplayer map design has always been the pride of the COD franchise. However, the variety and creativity of the maps in MW3 are lacking. They're just not that fun. The multiplayer maps in the previous COD games made me continue to play. That means that the maps are designed in a way where you can never play the same way twice. In MW3, all the maps are tight, messy, and ugly. Most of the time you're limited to run-and-gunning and looking for hiding people (ironic for such small maps). While the little tweaks to the killstreak system are a fresh welcome, they don't feel like they have an impact on the match.
This game still has its fun moments, if only because of the familiarity; you know what to expect. But it only goes so far with this dinosaur of a game. With the previous COD games, I wanted to come back for more. I don't feel that vibe with this game. It feels like a tired old man trying to still feel relevant. Perhaps it's time for Call of Duty to hang it up and pass the torch. | video-games_xbox |
Nearly Perfect and the best Xbox One to date. I have had every console since the original Atari. Several themed ones as well. This is a great console and tied with the white and gold PS4 destiny bundle for best looking ever.
I like that this console looks great without being flashy. With any themed console it is bonded forever with the game it's themed after. Not much chance Halo Guardians is a disappointment to most fans and even still it's Halo. So you can look on this Xbox One with great memories of whichever game you liked the best -even if you hate Guardians.
It has Halo themed sounds and it's hard to imagine any Halo fan being disappointed with this bundle. They sound great and really adds to the theme. I promise the people who say the console they ordered didn't come with the codes are simply not knowing where to look in the box. Human error. You have to open the steel Guardians case and both codes are found in there and blend in with the other items if you are a clueless person.
Only three negatives. I would have liked to have seen this bundle come with a physical copy of the game instead. Because it is a huge download and not all of us have the fastest internet. Especially for launch night. But I understand. I get they gave us about a week to download. But what about the customer that purchases this after launch?
Another issue is I don't think the Xbox One's UI is as good as it could be. It's not as good as the Ps4. I am not brand loyal either. I consider myself a PC gamer first and own all systems. So in my unbiased opinion the UI feels very constricted, overly complicated, reminds me of Windows 8 and as not as user friendly as I would like. It's probably the Xbox One's first or second biggest weakness.
I also don't like how this doesn't come with the collectors edition Halo 5. We get the deluxe game only. Not the limit non statue option. I would have gladly paid 100 dollars more for it to be included. So if you are a hardcore Halo fan you miss out. The statue I can buy it on eBay if I want but I would have liked the option to buy through Microsoft through the bundle. With a code or something.
4.5 stars overall so I have to go with five stars rounding up. | video-games_xbox |
RECENT UPDATE is really is the worst - Went back to MW3. FIrst off I've played enough of this to be knowledgeable. I'm a Prestige 10 and now with the recent patch I refuse to play anymore.
FIRST THE GOOD:
Everything is buttery smooth, from the (xbox 360) textures to the lighting to the movement it all makes the Modern Warfare titles look and feel like a jagged and jittery mess.
SPAWNING is a lot more predicable than MW3....yes it means you can be spawn camped easily, but you most of the time you will spawn safley away from the action in a safe pocket of the enviroment and there's only a few select spots instead of all over the map. Often in MW3 you spawn a few yards away from who just killed you.
THE BAD:
HIT DETECTION is terrible, along with the lag compensation. If you have a fast internet connection you will lose every draw down because you are shooting where someone WAS, not where they ARE.
TERRIBLE WEAPON BALANCING, damage ratios and flinch. People are constantly sniping you with SMG's because even if you see them with your long range weapon, they are already spamming you with bullets and the flinching patterns make it impossible to fire back before you're dead. If you are lucky enough to fire back, good luck because where your bullets land is not going to be where you're aiming.
SNIPING was the last straw for me, I have a combined 7000+ kills with sniper rifles and have all unlocks/camos/prestiges/challenges/ect. for them and after a certain point I just couldn't take it anymore. The lag/hit detection is feels like it's 50/50 at best and SO MANY TIMES will I see the bullet trail literally center mass through an enemy and not even a hit marker. I trained myself to shoot a few inches away from the target and that was a pretty good way to get kills but it was really annoying.
NOW, WITH THE RECENT MATCHMAKING UPDATE, team death match is completely borked. The teams are always 1 sided. I just played for a few hours with my search preferences set to normal and a good internet connection. EVERY SINGLE GAME was decided by a %50 margin with me always on the losing side because apparently my level and 1.41 KD ratio would "balance" out my team. But every match had the opposite team with twice as many kills after about 2 minutes. This was true with both games I was placed in before they started and while they were in progress.
I WENT BACK and played MW3 for a few hours and dominated like never before because all the sudden my gun did what I told it to and hit where it was supposed to. Tomorrow I'm probably going to trade in Black Ops and continue to play MW3 until the next IW game comes out.
TD:LR - This is a great LOOKING game that's ruined by balancing issues, server issues, lag issues, hit detection issues, and matchmaking issues. It was fun for a few months but after the recent update it's completely unplayable. The top reviews are all true, do yourself a favor and get/stick with MW3 instead. | video-games_xbox |
Stands solid on its own, but disappointing for those who moved on to XB1/PS4 FIFA. 2014 FIFA World Cup is a difficult game to properly assess. It offers up a compelling experience, something the every-four-years edition has become known for, but one that will feel notably old-gen to those who played FIFA 14 on Xbox One or PlayStation 4.
Ive long been vocal in my appreciation of 2010 FIFA World Cup which was one of my favorite games of the last generation and up there for many others as evidenced by its strong run in the Best of tournament late last year. It offered accessibility acting as a bridge to the yearly FIFA series and the ability to be a part of a shared worldwide event involving every nation (all of which were licensed). Presentation and atmosphere were outstanding and among the modes included was what would later become known as the popular Online Seasons.
Anticipation was high for what many expected to be a launch on the Xbox One and PS4 (even EA Sports initially stated it would be out for those consoles). Unfortunately that wouldnt come to fruition and EA released it only on the Xbox 360 and PS3. Hype was significantly dampened but the product being offered remained strong.
Theres an unavoidable conflict in trying to evaluate the merits of 2014 FIFA World Cup. Once again the presentation and atmosphere are excellent and unique, and the modes deliver sufficient content. Theres no avoiding comparisons to late last years FIFA 14 however on XB1/PS4. In that regard, technical limitations are obvious, and gameplay takes a step back returning numerous frustrations that had been addressed.
The depth of content is certainly there. The modes are well executed and compelling. Whether its playing through the entire qualifying process, only the World Cup tournament, Captain Your Country (essentially a version of Be a Pro), or the Story of Qualifying/Finals which brings in scenarios to play through based on the real happenings offline there is plenty to do. There is no Ultimate Team here but World Cup content will be coming to FIFA 14s UT later this spring. Online once again features a spin on the Online Seasons with Road to Rio De Janeiro and a World Cup tournament.
Gameplay is fast, and turning it down may be one of the first things that should be done with the game, but its also part of the charm. World Cup isn't attempting to be as faithful to simulation as the yearly FIFA franchise. Its higher paced leading to more opportunities to score. That doesnt mean scores get out of hand but novices will feel like they have a better chance at least to get on the board and have some level of success and have fun doing it.
Still, falling back onto the old consoles has only magnified the advancements seen in FIFA 14. Though FIFA 14 on XB1/PS4 was not perceived as a huge jump in graphics it certainly appears more dramatic having gone from that one to World Cup. Aspects such as framerate suffer as well. Gameplay is hampered by long-running issues like a lack of aggressiveness to the ball by AI controlled teammates. Theyll just stand there and let opposing players capture possession. Thats an area improved upon significantly with the game on the new systems.
The presentation is great, and the atmosphere and audio once again wrap you up in the moment in a way most other sports games can not. Touches like the cuts to the fans in their home countries and the crowd reaction shots in cut scenes (or simply seeing them in the background) has quite the impact. The new talk radio may not get super specific but its a fantastic listen during time spent in the menus and contributes to the narrative as the modes progress.
Online play has been nothing short of perfect. In no match has any lag been experienced even when playing opponents in countries half way around the world. Unfortunately this World Cup game favors the ultra-aggressive. Opponents give no room to breathe and its difficult if not even possible to make them pay for it consistently. As soon as your player receives the ball he gets molested and its difficult to keep possession because of it with far too few fouls called.
The value is definitely there for 2014 FIFA World Cup particularly for those who have not moved on to the new systems or haven't played the FIFA series recently however its a tough sell for everyone else. Theres no way to avoid that sense of disappointment for anyone going backwards to play it but for those that can get past that theres a great game to enjoy. Its just especially unfortunate that the new generation will be waiting another four years that same experience. | video-games_xbox |
The good, the bad, the....sequel. The good:
Anyone who gets even the slightest pleasure from watching the cheezy 60s and 70s Japanese movies about giant intergalactic monsters wreaking havok on Tokyo will enjoy this game. You get to crush cities as Godzilla or your favorite Godzilla foe. The monsters look like you remember them (probably better) and sound good too.
As an added bonus you get to fight in melee mode - four monsters, one city - it's chaos! YES!
I appreciate the strange way the action in this game works - your monster is trying to save the earth by battling the other monsters but sometimes the military starts trying to kill you. There's also some weird flying saucer hovering around. Stuff like that, which adds to the feel that you are playing an updated version of the movies, just makes it more fun.
The bad:
In order to play as any of the monsters other than Godzilla, Anguirus, Megalon or Gigan, you have to beat adventure mode, which is an eight battle game. Every time you defeat adventure mode you unlock another monster. The problem is there is no saving during a game so you either play all the way through or give up and start all over again next time. Same things with cities. It can be frustrating.
The damage to cities and buildings is pretty unrealistic - sometimes you fall right on a building and nothing happens. Sometimes you walk over a building and it turns to dust.
The controls are a little tough especially with the camera angles - you can't always see where you're going or what you're doing.
The sequel?
If they could fix those things that are "bad", and maybe add a couple of other monsters - King Kong, maybe Gamera the flying space turtle, and some of the more obscure monsters - that would make a game well worth buying.
Bottom line: this does what Rampage, a fun game in its own right, tried so hard to do - captures the feeling of those cheezy 60s monster movies with class. | video-games_xbox |
XBox Live Makes This Game A Winner- Partial Song List. I've just purchased this game, and I want to provide any potential buyers of this game with a partial list of what songs can be found in this game. There aren't as many songs as I'd like but with X-Box Live you can download both additional song packs and play online against other people. As of this writing, November 18, 2003, there has been one song pack released on XBox Live
Licensed Songs
Ian Van Dahl feat. Marsha - Castles In The Sky
Paul Oakenfold - Ready Steady Go
Who Da Funk - Shiny Disco Balls
Masai - Do That Thang (Mash Radio Edit)
Konami Originals
dj. TAKA - 0.59
NPD3 - AFTER THE GAME OF LOVE
Riyu Kosaka - Candy Heart (vocal version)
BeForU - DIVE
TaQ - DXY!
RevenG - exotic ethnic
BLUE DESTROYERS - Hypnotic Crisis
L.E.D. LIGHT feat Goro - INFINITE PRAYER
N.M.R-typeG - KEEP ON MOVIN' (DMX Mix)
OKUYATOS - Kind Kady
STONE BROS. - Let the Beat Hit 'Em (Classic R&B Style)
SySF feat. Anna - Look To The Sky (True Color Mix)
Jonny Dynamite! - On The Jazz
STM200 - PARANOiA ETERNAL
Togo Project feat Sana - Sana Mollete ne Ente
Crystal Aliens - SEXY PLANET
D.J. RICH feat Tail Bros. - Superstar
L.E.D. LIGHT - The Earth Light
2MB - TRIP MACHINE (LuvMIX)
Thuggie D. - ABSOLUTE (Cuff-N-Stuff it Mix)
NM feat Thomas Howard - Ballad For You
NAOKI - CAN'T STOP FALLIN' IN LOVE (SPEED MIX)
Scotty D. - DROP THE BOMB - System S.F. mix
TaQ - Electro Tuned (the SubS Mix)
DE-SIRE - Healing Vision
NAOKI 190 - Hysteria
Thuggie D. - INSERTION (Machine Gun Kelly Mix)
Thuggie D. - Keep ya body movin'
2MB - La Senorita Virtual
SHIN Murayama feat Argoe Phine - Let's talk it over
tiger YAMATO - Luv To ME
L.E.D. LIGHT - Overblast!!
dj. TAKA - Quickening
DIVAS - Secret Rendezvous
Caramel. S - So In Love
jun - Sweet Sweet Magic
Thuggie D. - There 4 You
RevenG vs DE-SIRE - Tsugaru
Song Pack 1
dj TAKA - Abyss
Naoki - Burnin' the Floor
Tomosuke - Mind Parasite
Mr. T with Motoaki. F - Burning Heat (3 Option Mix)
ric - in my eyes
There are also 9 unlockable songs.
A lot of these songs can be found on the PS2 versions of DDR. On its own, there aren't enough new songs to warrant purchase from someone that already has the two PS2 DDR games.
However, this game is XBox Live enabled, allowing the download of new songs. That feature alone is worth the price of admission. With other versions of the games, you are limited to what songs the game had. Not so here. Theres already been one song pack released, and inevitably there will be more.
Other interesting features include the ability to play with four people at once, and you can also compete over the internet via XBox Live.
On its own this game would rate four stars for someone new to DDR. It would rate three for someone that already has the PS2 versions of the game. However, the sheer expandability that XBox Live offers the game makes this a five star game. | video-games_xbox |
Fancy box to get the Direct TV code. UPDATE: Direct TV is down on gameday... This ended up being a complete rip off.
While I was kind of excited for this years madden it ended up being a bug filled mess. If you are familiar with SimCity you know that EA server problems are not new, Madden 25 isn't that bad but disconnects from the server even while playing in single player modes. So much of the game requires server interaction that the fact that connection to them is spotty at best well that is just a flat out failure.
There are so many bugs and problems its hard to list them all but one of my favorites is after uploading a Gameface for career mode, well your player won't have eyes. Some will probably say well it is a bad picture, etc. Nope same image used that looked amazing in Madden 13, now without eyes. Franchise mode is back in theory but it is massively scaled down and to be honest is no where near as fun and all encompassing as the older PS2/Xbox days. How does a game backtrack so far?
Gameplay -
Has the typical Madden issues but overall I still think it is solid. Like the runner modifier but it can feel overpowered at times especially with top tier backs like Adrien Peterson or Arian Foster. Still I like the updates to the audible system and the ability to change formation pre-snap all very good additions. Again, the polish is lacking. Often even in offline games against the CPU you will get random in game slow downs (some people have reported outright game freezing - see the EA forums). If there are issues when you are playing the CPU then you know a game has serious problems.
Graphics -
I think Madden 25 once again takes a step back. While the facial models are quiet good and I think the game does a better job at distinguishing between various body types. Still the game looks inferior to Madden 13, one example I can give is Victor Cruz and Hakeem Nicks look to be the same skin color (dark brown) in this year's Madden. A quick google image search will show you that they aren't anywhere close to that in real life.
Overall -
Still worth the purchase because of the Direct TV code that is included which lets you watch on your computer, tablet, or phone can run as much as $299.95 (Direct TV MAX package, the regular package does not include streaming options). So even if you buy the game and throw it out you still come out ahead.
The gameplay is improved over prior years but the lack of polish and attention to detail really cripple the game. If the game isn't fun right out of the box or if it is a few patches and server updates from being actually playable then I cannot consider it good. Unfortunately, Madden 25 falls into that category but perhaps after several updates the game may be fun to play but as of now it is merely a fancy box for the NFL Sunday Ticket code. | video-games_xbox |
Fight Night Round 4 -Review. This new addition to the boxing gaming world seems to have everybody in aw however aside from the outstanding visuals; the new inside fighting doesn't honestly offer anything completely different than the previous fight night. The animation is still stiff and while they kind of offer boxing styles similar to the actually fighters the looks of the styles still resemble fight night round 3. And while the boxers can get closer than before the animation is still stiff and rigid and I'm hoping that Fight Night Round 5 (if they are making one) will be the ticket. So that the animation are smooth and not so fixed and rigid when punching and so when for example Smokin joe frazier is bouncing on his toes bobbing and weaving toward his opponent it is smooth and you think hey that really looks like an old Joe Frazier vs. Ali tape. And while the graphics are visually pleasing most of the time, some of the character models look plane odd. Pacquiao for example looks different than in reality. The most impressive visuals are the close ups, the facial expressions are great and the facial details is great. I am impressed however with how Tyson appears, well he is part of the cover so it makes sense that they take more time with his character model it is just nice to see how well he looks given this is his first appearance in the Fight Night series. Overall, regardless of the addition of the inside fighting system, the game is still very similar to fight night round 3, and the fighting styles leave a lot to be desired. Stunning visuals will provide a boxing fan with a similar sensation as to fight night round 3 but the new fighting system is not all it is cracked up to be, because of stiff animations, set punches.
Presentation: 9.8/10 -graphics and most player models and facial expressions look great.
Game play: 7.5/10- new fighting system makes the game a bit different than previous fight nights however still doesn't deliver that realistic of a simulation of boxing. Animations still stiff and rigid with set punches.
Value: 5/10-While larger roster and great graphics, doesn't seem to be worth the 59.99 price tag that most retailers charge. Very similar to fight night round 3. Seems to be overpriced.
Overall: 7.0/10- good but not great.
Overall fight night round 4 offers many new characters, and an inside fighting system that sort of works, it is generally very similar to fight night round 3 and if you are an avid boxing fan and want something a bit different it might work for you, but the players fighting styles and stiff animation leave a sour taste in my mouth and hopefully someday gamers will be able to look at an Ali Frazier fight and be able to see smooth moving and clean smooth punches being thrown and fighting styles not only represented but the way each individual fighter truly thought. That to me is a true boxing game.
Maybe I'm thinking next next generation graphics such as the rumored x box 720, but I think we have the capabilities now to make a much more realistic boxing game, that not only involves boxer styles but puts each fighter into a class and look of its own. | video-games_xbox |
This is Halloween. When I was very little, I wasn't allowed to watch TNBC, for fear it would spook me. When I was twelve I finally dusted off the VHS and watched it for myself, and became yet another child hooked on the catchy songs and endearingly spooky characters. When I got an Xbox for Christmas one year, I had to have this game!
Jack is once again bored, but this time isn't seeking a new holiday. He wants to improve upon Halloween, and takes it upon himself to seek out new scares and discover new improvements he can make to the holiday. Dr. Finklestein gifts Jack with the Soul Robber, the main weapon of the game which is a rubber-like green substance Jack can make change shape. He sets off on another journey, but unfortunately all is not well in his absence. Lock, Shock, and Barrel sew Oogie Boogie back together and he seizes control of Halloweentown. He convinces the citizens to make traps (claiming Jack left because the town was not dangerous enough) and captures Sally before she can attempt to put an end to his treachery. Oogie plans to become the "Seven Holiday King", and after conquering the other holidays (and nearly Halloween) all that is left is Christmas Town. Luckily Jack gets back just in time to begin saving the holidays before Oogie takes over!
Jack's main attacks depend on what skin he is wearing. As normal Jack, he exclusively uses the Soul Robber, which acts as both a weapon and a means of transportation. As the Pumpkin King, Jack can breathe fire at his enemies, but it is a limited supply and usually not enough to take down more than a couple (it is usually more useful for taking out obstacles.) As Santa Jack, Jack can throw three different types of presents to defeat his enemies, depending on which he currently has equipped. These skins can be swapped at any time during gameplay once unlocked.
After ever level you are given a grade based on your performance. How much damage Jack took, the time it took to complete the level, your combos, and how many enemies you managed to scare. The one you will want to focus most on is scaring enemies. This not only counts towards the exclamation mark count, but also has the ability to knock enemies down a difficulty (red skeletons will become yellow skeletons, who can in turn become blue skeletons.) You are given a grade of either S, A, B, C, or D. S is the highest grade one can get, and getting an S will unlock a collectible figurine of one of the game's characters. If you don't finish the level with a good or desired grade, you have the option to replay it once you have finished it.
I only have four problems with this game:
1) Sometimes, depending on the enemy count, it is hard to get both a decent time and a decent exclamation mark count.
2) The penultimate battle against the train is SO DIFFICULT. I have actually never beaten it, despite having owned this game since its release.
3) Some of the more difficult parts can be quite tedious. For example, when you finally get to open the gates to the residential area of Halloweentown, one of your first tasks is to stop the out of control unicycle of the Clown With The Tear Away Face. I had to throw so many presents in front of that thing I was just about sick of the phrase "Merry Christmas!" In the same area, you must find four bats, which are actually the spooked Vampire Brothers who need to be returned to their coffins. If you do not perfectly strike the bat with your Soul Robber, they will fly off, forcing you to chase them all over the place. It's just rather infuriating.
4) THE HINTERLANDS. That is all I will say, you'll find out on your own.
Other than these small flaws, this game is amazing! You get to explore parts of Halloweentown that were previously unseen in the film, such as the pumpkin patch Behemoth cares for and the previously mentioned residential area of town. Any fan of the movie will adore this game, so don't pass up on it; everyone hail to the Pumpkin King now! | video-games_xbox |
Do Not Hesitate- Buy One. I expected my PS4 to be my main console. I thought my Xbox One would serve as a back-up for exclusives only- things like Halo and Crackdown. I was wrong.
I love my PS4 and all. I hated the initial Microsoft announcement about the DRM, no disk sharing, online requirements, Kinect requirements, etc. And I purposely did not support Microsoft because of this. (In the end, I purchased a used Xbox One because I was still annoyed they even tried that garbage).
But this Xbox One console is fantastic. The 360 was my "main" console last generation and for good reasons: games, online connectivity, achievements, friends online, easy voice chat, parties, etc. In a way, I'm used to Microsoft. This one delivers much the way the 360 did, if you get past the initial garbage I talked about.
The graphics are great. Netflix looks much better on this than the 360. Titanfall, Madden, and all other cross-gen games look better. Next-gen exclusives like Forza 5 show how great the system really is. It's beautiful. It's not the leap we had last gen, but it's not really about that anymore.
The dashboard isn't as great, however. It feels cluttered. I can't press the Xbox button and see my friends and achievements without minimizing the game. But they're working on that.
The Kinect isn't necessary. I don't video chat or use the hand gestures much, but it's still cool. The only downside is I have a projector and it faces away from me so I use it only for voice chat. It's nice not having a microphone plugged in at all times when you feel like saying something to someone. However, your profile only logs in automatically when it reads your face unlike the 360, which you could set to log in to your account automatically.
The controller is great. I thought the PS4 controller was good, but this is much better. Even better than the 360, which is universally accepted as a great controller. The sticks are easier to grip and more precise. It fits better in your hand. The Xbox button is now located more north on the controller to avoid accidental pressings.
In terms of value, I find it to be great. One: deals with Gold. Titanfall was on sale for $25. Good deal. EA access allows you to play Madden 25, Fifa 14, Battlefield 4, and Need for Speed Rivals for only $5 a month. I'm not going to push EA Access on you, but I bought this console a month ago and have not purchased a game yet because of this great deal.
And, of course, games. Sure, the library is currently lacking and it may for some time. However, Halo Collection, new sports games, Call of Duty, Crackdown, and future Gears of War games will be coming. Expect a lot of exclusives in the future.
I love my new Xbox.
However, in terms of value, I find this to be amazing. | video-games_xbox |
Compared to All the Other Turtle Beach Headsets, I Found the Balance I Was Looking For. When the Turtle Beach x12 set my brother and I were using for our Xbox 360 was on its final legs, I decided it was time to buy a new headset. I went shopping knowing a few things: I wanted surround sound, I wanted a more comfortable set than the x12's, I didn't want to spend a whole lot, and I wanted the earcups to fit over my ears completely. The DXL1 set did all of these things.
For some reason, on the x12 line of headsets, (yes, there are multiple types of the x12 headset, look them up) the insides of the earcups would actually rest on the inside of my ears. It was pretty uncomfortable, and it made me nostalgic of my old awesome x11s that I grew up with that didn't have such a problem thanks to the thick ear cup padding.
Before continuing on, it's worth noting that some people who have reviewed this headset think the x12s are comfortable, and they think this set is uncomfortable. Know this: everyone has different heads and different ears. You never know if a certain headset will fit you comfortably or not until you try it. For me, it works awesome. For you, it might not. So, see if you can try on any type of headset you can get your hands on to get an idea of what fits and what doesn't before you buy. If you ever tried on the x12s and didn't like them, I think you will like this type of headset.
I settled on this particular headset because I didn't want to spend a whole lot of money, to be honest. But, I did want surround sound. After doing the research, Astro A40s are the way to go - I didn't want to drop $250 on a headset I would ultimately be sharing from time to time, switching from the PC to the Xbox with a brother potentially asking for it. Especially when I already bought a whole different set for my PC. This set is used exclusively for my 360, so it doesn't go anywhere. My PC headset, the Logitech G35's is what I use on my computer and I love them. Obviously I can't use them for my Xbox, so I had to find something else. I also had a px21 headset in the past - these were great, because they worked on my PC and my Xbox, the volume was loud when I wanted it to be loud, the mic was very easy to maneuver - however the build quality wasn't the best. I would buy those again, but I'd like to see how these turn out. Now, honestly, this set isn't built much better than those, but I was putting my px21 through h*ll. This is being taken care of, and I'll be happy if my brother and I could get 3 years out of them.
I'm giving this product 5 stars because it does what I wanted it to do - satisfy my craving for surround sound (albeit 5.1, simulated of course) on the Xbox 360 with a very nice price tag, while also fitting my head/ears comfortably. | video-games_xbox |
Conductor Hero. <div id="video-block-R1KETIK9E3ZHW2" class="a-section a-spacing-small a-spacing-top-mini video-block"></div><input type="hidden" name="" value="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/C129nyNkEFS.mp4" class="video-url"><input type="hidden" name="" value="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/61Uxh4eGXOS.png" class="video-slate-img-url"> Small disclaimer: I haven't played the full version yet, only the demo. But I was suitably impressed by it to write a review. Please don't down-vote me based on that, because the demo is so rich and detailed (it's an ENORMOUS download, and seems to be just the tiniest tip of the iceberg) that it gives you an excellent feel for the game. I will definitely update when I get the whole thing, but I want to get the word out there.
I'm a big fan of all the Rock Band and Guitar Hero games, although I am running out of space to store all the guitar controllers between my PS2 and Wii. For this reason I haven't even considered this type of game on Xbox. I'm also a big fan of the Kinect, which has spoiled me for games that require sitting on your butt pushing buttons mindlessly.
This game brings these two loves together. The concept is the same -- you hit cues on time to keep the music going. Only here you're the conductor rather than the musician. It also expands on the creativity by letting you change music styles within a song, as well as compose your own riff that becomes incorporated into the song (not nearly as difficult as it sounds).
Just like Rock Band and Guitar Hero, the joy of the game comes not from striving for the highest score but participating in the music itself. And there seems to be an eclectic enough choice to satisfy any taste (just like in RB/GH though, I find myself trying songs I don't even really like just because it's so much fun to play). I never had aspirations to be a conductor (have played in plenty of school bands though), but I'll admit there's something deeply fulfilling in raising your arms triumphantly during a swelling powerful crescendo.
It's also easy to see why the download is so huge -- the graphics are top notch and immersive, a real feast for the eyes as well as the ears.
The game reminds me a little of Child of Eden, my first and favorite Kinect game (although way too short), with the hand movements and gorgeous graphics and not trying to kill things.
The demo only gives you four songs to try (not even full songs -- they cut off just as the remixing possibilities start to get exciting), just a tantalizing taste. I immediately put this game at the top of my Christmas wishlist, highest priority.
As excited as I am for this game, reading reviews for it has put fear in my heart that we might be in the last days of Kinect (360, at least). It feels like they gave us Kinect, made a handful of good games (and a whole lot of mediocre/frustrating ones), and are now giving up on it like an ADD sufferer. I say this because on the Xbox site, the Xbox One version has several expansion packs available; the 360, none. Obviously this can change in the future, but only if the developer sees any kind of success in sales. For this reason, I had to write a review prematurely because I have real hopes for this game, and for Kinect in general. I sincerely hope they don't let it die in favor of Xbox One or, worse, to return to a world of sitting on our couches mindlessly mashing buttons.
UPDATE: I received the game for Christmas, and if I could add a star to my review I would. Even more fun than I hoped. I have to force myself to stop playing for fear of finishing it too quickly (also my shoulders were killing me after the first day -- unexpected exercise benefit!)
It seems that Microsoft has updated their website, as there are now expansion packs available for the 360. This is a little bittersweet, as they want two bucks a pop for new songs, a little rich for me. However there are three style packs that add new remix options to songs already in the game. I will probably try those, as the greatest appeal of the game is hearing old classics played in exciting contemporary versions (for instance, a dubstep version of Night on Bald Mountain).
The full version adds mini games which, honestly, are more appealing to younger players; but they are easily avoidable and not required to unlock other content.
Harmonix hit it out of the stratosphere with this one, and I hope there are more like this in the future. Hands down my new favorite Kinect game! | video-games_xbox |
So much fun...you can keep playing. I think that this game is so much fun and it shows that Treyarch really knows that they had to step it up to keep up with Infinity Ward on these games. What I would have recommended is that this came before Modern Warfare because there wouldn't have been the disappointment that Call of Duty was going back to WWII. Although it was a disappointment that Call of Duty went back to WWII, they did not disappoint with the quality of the game.
They made the missions continuous with 2 different views of the war fighting as either a Russian fighting the Germans or an American fighting the Japanese. Each mission had various stories and different guns and objectives. Whether the mission was hiding and playing "cat and mouse" trying to use a sniper to kill a person in another building, or going full out force with tanks, each mission keeps you wanting more. It took me a little while to finish the game, but not as long as some other games (which is known for the Call of Duty series.)
The thing about this game that really gets me is the multiplayer modes. In this game, there is cooperative and competitive campaigns so you can play all the missions from the game with up to 3 other people so instead of making someone watch you play, they can play alongside with you. You can also do that online with 3 other people (its an xbox achievement...hint, hint!) What I thought was very creative about this game is the Nazi Zombies mode, which is when you are trapped and it is the zombie apocalypse and you try to fight off the zombies while getting points for killing nazi zombies and boarding windows. You can then get weapons to kill them faster. As levels get higher, the more zombies there are and the harder it is to kill them. There are also things that pop up after killing zombies, like a bomb or nuke that destroys all of the zombies, insta-kill which kills zombies in one shot or stab, and max-ammo which is self-explanatory.
The online experience is just like Modern Warfare, which is different game modes like Team Deathmatch, Free-for-all, Search and Destroy, Headquarters, and Domination. Then there are also new modes like War and the return of Capture the Flag. There are also many new maps that are included with the game that have many different environments and is meant for different types of people (snipers, attack, defense). There are perks again, levels up to 65 this time, 10 prestiges again, all different guns based to the time period, kill streak perks are there again but with 7 kills dogs come and kill the other team. Long story short, the online experience is almost identical to Modern Warfare with a few extra things.
If you want to spend a little more money on this game, there is now downloadable content that Treyarch has made available. Currently, there are 3 new map packs available for $10 each and each of them include 3 new multiplayer maps and a new nazi zombies map. In my opinion, they are definitely worth the money especially if you like nazi zombies. The new nazi zombie maps include many new places with new features to each. They include even better "futuristic" guns, actual perks like juggernaut, slight of hand, quick revive, and double tap. You can even upgrade weapons to make them better and easier to kill enemies. Transporters and large maps are the new pieces of the new nazi zombies. They new maps for the most part are very open spaced and very interesting to play when you go online. I would definitely go for these maps if you want the continuous new experiences that World At War can give you. I believe that there is supposed to be one more map mack to be available later this year.
If you don't want to go back to World War II, this is very interesting and only the weapons would really give away the time period. If you don't want this game and you are reading this review, Modern Warfare 2 comes out in November and you should wait for this, but I would definitely pick this game up if you enjoy the Call of Duty series. | video-games_xbox |
Not as comfortable as I'd hoped. I just received this headset last night, and while the audio is great, I've come across some problems that I have no idea how to troubleshoot.
To start, let me say that when I first put them on, they didn't even seem to fit. I put them on my head, and the ear cups immediately sat at an angle instead, leaving the bottom portion of my ears uncovered and the top portion uncomfortably pressed into the side of my head. The strap that rests on my head was so tight that it was pulling the headphones back up, and nothing I did seemed to loosen it or adjust it. After I rotated the ear cups so the opening was vertical instead of horizontal, it seemed to help a lot. But there's more.
My main issue is, I wear glasses. I can't wear contacts (more like I refuse to wear contacts bc I have a phobia about touching my eyes), so the ear cups, like every other headset ever, drive the temple arms of my glasses into the sides of my head, which results in seriously excruciating headaches the day after using them. I had hoped that, given the padding on these bad boys, that wouldn't be the case here, but it is. And my ears are so small that earbuds bruise the insides of my ears, too, (if they even fit in; most of the time, they fall out) so I suppose I'm SOL with that. My only option that seems to work in any capacity is resting the temple arms of my glasses above the ear cups . . . but that sets the lenses at such an angle that everything is warped and depth perception is off, giving me nausea and a headache from THAT.
In an effort to make it a little more comfortable, I actually wrapped rubber bands around the clear plastic band and the headstrap, pulling it up away from my head. It helped a LOT, actually. The ear cups fit perfectly around my ears and there's a certain level of comfort that had been lacking last night. The comfort level during extended use of this 'quick fix' has yet to be determined.
Another problem I had is that, while in PS3 chat during a multiplayer game, those listening heard me very choppily, or I sometimes cut out. This could have very well been a PSN problem, or an internet connectivity problem. I have no idea. When we used Skype, however, I came in crystal clear, and the audio on my end was great. The easy access mute and audio controls are pretty nice, and the wireless was what I wanted after my kitten had chewed through my other two (much more comfortable and inexpensive) wired headsets. I can't exactly see the glowing around my head, since it's behind my periphery, but that's pretty cool in concept, as well.
I don't think I'll be returning these, but I may not utilize them as much as I had initially intended, until I can find a more comfortable way to wear them, at least. I may have to resign myself to never wearing a headset for extended periods of gaming, though. | video-games_xbox |
I have to be a little fair. Being a hardcore Aliens fan, and a mediocre Predator fan i really wanted to like this game. While all 3 of the campaigns seem to make it well worth the price, what leaves something to be desired is the controls, which is something that seems to plague all Sega games in the last 7 years or so. I'll admit there Genesis days were awesome and even the DS sonic games are good, but look at how bad all the Sonics and some of there sports game have been in the last few years, its always about controls. The Marine campaign was really my only interest, i've gotten a lot of the way through it but really dread going back because of accuracy shooting, and movement issues. The graphics are top notch, the atmosphere is totally spot on, and the feel is that they really did take the time to get into the movies and get it right. As i tried to play the other two campaigns i found myself wanting to toss the stick across the room, especially being the alien, which wasn't my cup of tea anyways. Climbing around on walls is just a mess, sometimes you can sometimes you can't and it moves so fast even when adjusted that you just get fed up and want to quit. The same goes for the predator campaign which i didn't care about in the first place, tried it, realized that jumping was sloppy, as was the shooting and i had so much vertigo i had to readjust my eyes and head. So while the game isn't a total loss its a enough for me to only give it 2 stars because i wanted so much more from the game, and just didn't get it. I payed 60 bucks for one mediocre campaign, when i should have only had to pay about 30. I use to think awesome visuals could overshadow cruddy controls, i was wrong. If you have a gaming rig, download it for free on a torrent site, then you won't waste a trip to the game store, and your money.
Another note: Even Condemned 1 & 2 had control issues but were much more stable than this game. Also try Sonic Unleashed, wow talk about a train wreck. | video-games_xbox |
not impressed. I bought this cooler because I wanted a unit that didn't go through the XBox 360's power supply. Instead the Pelican cooler connects to the 360 through a USB port and your XBox 360 either rests on top of it (if you keep the unit in the vertical position) or...well, I'm not sure how it's supposed to mount if you keep your 360 horizontal.
That, in fact, is my biggest problem with this product. I keep my 360 horizontal, and using this cooler with it is awkward at best. Let me explain. This cooler doesn't mount or actually connect to your 360 in any way--instead your XBox rests on top of it and gravity keeps it in place. Not so if you lay the 360 on its side. There are a couple of plastic tabs, and you can rest your 360 on one of them and keep the cooler more or less attached to the unit, but I didn't want to do this because my 360 didn't quite lie flat with the plastic tab underneath it. It may seem unreasonable to complain about this since it seems to work okay if the 360 is upright, but the box claims that it can be mounted to the XBox either standing up or lying on its side.
My solution, which doesn't quite do the job, is to put the fan as close to the XBox as I can get it and let the cool air blow into the vent as best it can. I haven't had any overheating issues yet, but I also have a room fan blowing in the direction of the 360 and haven't played for more than about 4 straight hours (I also never had an issue before I got the cooler, so I can't say it's actually preventing anything). It's nice to use a USB port to power the unit, and it does have a pass through USB port so you don't lose your back port on the 360, but there's no switch to turn it off so you've got to actually unplug it if you plug it into something other than your 360 (say a wall port or the 360 HD DVD player).
I much prefer this solution to using a cooler that runs through the 360's power supply, but there has to be a more effective solution than this. | video-games_xbox |
Lies all around. I just got this in the mail today, and it's not what it was supposed to be. First off, it says on the page that it is made by Microsoft. It is not. In the Q&A section, it says it works with windows 8 with no problems, and no extra driver installation. Uh, no sir, it does require extra driver installation. The set-up disc doesn't even open properly on Windows 8. The easiest way for me to explain the problems with this device is to list what I did. So, I got home and my package was waiting for me. I opened it up with excitement. I pull the device out of the wrapping, and I notice it doesn't look like the picture. I am very upset, as I believed I ordered an official Microsoft product, but I didn't get an official product (turns out I didn't buy an official product, as this is not one). I decide it's not worth the headache to return it as long as it works, so I go to my computer to try it out. The disc won't open the set-up wizard, so I plug it in, it says it's installing drivers. Alright, cool, time to connect my controller. My controller won't connect. I figure I probably have to reset my PC, so I do. Still nothing. So I google the problem. Lots of people having this problem, but no one has a solution. I keep looking and finally find the solution. I have to FORCE install drivers from Microsoft's website onto the device. Let me say that again. The product I bought that said it work perfect with Windows 8 had to have drivers FORCEFULLY installed on it. That's ridiculous. This product is a lie through and through. The ONLY reason it's getting two stars is because it actually works if you put the effort in. But considering the lies, I would recommend buying the actual Microsoft brand. The link below should be the right one, and as of now, it's $5 cheaper than this knock off.
http://www.amazon.com/ORIGINAL-MICROSOFT-WIRELESS-RECEIVER-CONTROLLER-Windows/dp/B00H2PUQW8/ref=sr_1_15?ie=UTF8&qid=1404184294&sr=8-15&keywords=microsoft+360+wireless+receiver | video-games_xbox |
Batman Arkham Knight. have always been a fan of the Arkham games, in fact I am an absolute crazy Batman fan in general, but even as much as I have loved the Arkham games (yes, including Arkham Origins) none of them have ever been able to replace my number one game of all time, Max Payne...Until now.
"Be the Batman." has been part of the marketing of this game, and for good reason, you definitely feel like you ARE the Batman. The basic gameplay from the past games are still there, but with some excellent improvements. The combat is excellent as always and feels even better now, with a much tighter mechanic and some excellent new moves and different enemy types to make this already perfect combat system even better. To get through the city you have your grapple gun and glide mechanics from the previous games and just like the combat it has been improved to bring you a better experience, with a faster grapple boost, and faster gliding which makes soaring over Gotham City such a fun and enjoyable Batman experience.
The popular predator mode has returned and gone are the gargoyle hopping days, granted they are still there, but during the predator sections the design of these areas are a lot more open giving it a more natural and fluid way of going about the situations. With your gadgets and a nice vantage point you truly feel like Batman, planning on how you want to go about getting things done and taking out the bad guys, and with the newly added enemy turret guns in some situations, you are in for some awesome strategic predator modes!
Now lets talk about the big new addition to the Arkham games, the Batmobile. With a push of a button the Batmobile comes roaring through the streets towards Batman who hops into the air and lands right into the seat of the vehicle, and this never gets old. The Batmobile takes some getting used to when driving but when you get a hang of it it is an absolute blast. Burning out and blasting your after burner while chasing a vehicle through streets and alleys, taking out corners in beautiful destruction is a site to behold. You feel powerful, you feel like Batman (also, the awesome ejection that sends you soaring into the air at fast speeds is brilliant and fun!). The batmobile is also used in some of Riddler's challenges as a puzzle device or in some of Riddler's underground race tracks, and I enjoyed these uses (see below review for some small tips).
The Batmobile also has a second mode known as battle mode in which the Batmobile transforms into a tank and you battle it out with unmanned tanks. A lot of people have been divided on this aspect of the game, you either hate it, or love it...and I love it. I found it to be fun and a challenge. It becomes very arcade-ish in the way the tank controls and plays, it also becomes almost like a puzzle as each enemy tank will have a line of fire line that is visible to you as you try to maneuver through the lines to avoid fire. Sometimes you can just boost out of the way but sometimes you have to maneuver into open spaces between the line of fire as you have tanks surrounding you, and I truly enjoyed this. Tank mode was a blast. SIDE NOTE: Some people question why Batman would have a tank armed with guns, but this is not the first time he has had a tank like vehicle (The Dark Knight Returns comic, and even in the Nolan films).
The side quest are excellent as well and although I really didn't always enjoy having to fly throughout the city to even get them to appear it was still an absolute blast and each side quest was varied, with some great highlights, such as finding bodies around Gotham tied up and having to use detective mode to find certain aspects on the body to identify the victim, and leading to the murderer who is doing this violent crime.
Arkham Knights story is a great Batman tale but the weakest in the series (Still think Origins had the best story). It had great moments and great voice acting (as usual). Arkham Knight was a fun villain, if not a bit underplayed in some aspects, but Scarecrow, Scarecrow was absolutely amazing. Scarecrow is a personal favorite Batman villain of mine and I loved that he was the main villain in this game and he got a chance to shine in such an epic creepy way. Although the story was a fun ride it did fall victim to some unfortunate writing and some situations just didn't play out as well as they should of (Sorry, no spoilers!). There are definitely great moments in this story that will take you by surprise , but also moments that should take you by surprise but end up failing at doing so. During the story mode there was also some excellent gameplay moments as well (outside of the normal gameplay), such as going through security footage and analyzing each frame to piece events together.
The sound effects are great, from the thumping punches, and roaring engine of the Batmobile, to the crumble of buildings as you smash into them. The score is dark and brooding as you expect from a Batman game (or Batman anything really), and almost sounds like a mix of Danny Elfman's Batman score and Hanz Zimmer's The Dark Knight score. I loved the score and even bought the soundtrack so I could enjoy it outside of playing the game. The voice acting is excellent, but what do you expect from the ACTUAL Batman, Kevin Conroy? My only issue was Tara Strong as Harley Quinn, don't get me wrong, she does a decent Harley Quinn, and I enjoyed her in Arkham City, but in Arkham Knight she seemed too high pitched and kind of annoying, overall though the voice acting is excellent as always.
Arkham Knight is far and beyond the best looking game on this new generation of consoles. Gotham City is a site to behold. I have never been so taken back from an open world city as I have with Rocksteady's Gotham City. Every inch of Gotham is beautifully detailed, from the dark alleyways, to the wet roads littered with puddles of neon reflections. Gliding through the city and tearing through the roads on Gotham City is an even better experience due the outstanding city design and beautiful details. Every nook and cranny there is always something to view and take in. The character designs are also just as beautifully detailed as the city and the batmobile is a beast to look at. You won't find a more beautiful gorgeous game on this generation outside of Arkham Knight. I did have some technical issues throughout my 30 hour game, the game froze on me about 10 times and although it was a pain in the ass it didn't take away from the game for me, I am a pretty patient guy.
OVERALL
Max Payne has always been my number one game, and although I am one of the biggest Batman fans and love Arkham Asylum, Arkham City, and Arkham Origins, it never knocked Max Payne off my number one spot. Along came Arkham Knight and it absolutely blew my mind and blew Max Payne off my number one spot (sorry Max, just take some pain killers and relax as number two). Arkham Knight is everything I have wanted in a Batman game, it improves on the already amazing combat from the other three games, introduces the Batmobile as a great extension of Batman himself, Gotham City is a huge and absolutely beautiful city to be Batman in, and it truly lets you be the Batman, and a badass one at that. | video-games_xbox |
Not as good as Top Spin but worth the price. So the gang from the Outlaw series are back with Outlaw tennis. I am a huge tennis fan playing everything from Top Spin (XBox) to Mario Tennis (Gamecube) to Super Smash Court (PS2) so this was definatley a game I was looking forward to. I was somewhat hesitant as I found the controls for other Outlaw games (specifially Golf) to be far too sensitive and difficult to control at times. First let me talk about the positives. This was an easy game to pick up as the controls are very basic. During some of the load screens it gives you an overview of the controls so there is no need to pickup the manual. Where the physics of the game are nowhere near as realistic as Top Spin the game flow is much smoother than say Mario Tennis despite the similarities in cartoon/arcade like graphics. There are lots of unlockables from charachters to wardrobe to courts to accesories so it makes gameplay great and something to look forward to. Another great plus is the price of this game and the online play which is a plus for any of these types of games.
The negatives are that after each point there is a brief animation of the characters that I really wish you didn't have to push "A" to skip everytime. The fighting ability, while true to the Outlaw series, offers little to no real tennis help and is something more of a fun side feature. Again, the controls, while easy, are not the best as getting the ball to slice in the exact direction (say a hard left) is not always accomplished. My same complaint about Mario Tennis comes back in the sense that during character modes some of the games such as Hot Potato take away from being able to have a true tennis game with volleys back and forth.
Overall though what saves the game is the price. I would have given this game 3 stars but the fact that it is the price of renting it a couple times makes up for the gameplay. Obviously if you were looking for a true tennis game you should stick with Top Spin but for something with a little more fun (for a maturer audience btw) that does incorporate tennis and the fact that this is Pong glorified, I would recommend Outlaw Tennis | video-games_xbox |
Go away Sweaty palms. most other reviews have been spot on. Just to point things out and clear up a few questions that i had.
- controller is much smaller. having to get adjusted to it will take you a small amount of time. This would be great for kids or teens.
- is wired. not a big deal to me, cord is plenty long.
- the area where the battery pack on a wireless controller normally is, is where the fan is located on this one.
- lights up. its either on or off.
- fan has 2 speeds and the air seems to flow nicely to the intended areas of your palms.
- the back and start buttons seem to feel a little funny.
- controller build feels solid. The thumb sticks haven't had any issues, feels nice and responsive if not better than a regular microsoft controller.
-Noticed 1 review said something about the mic plug not working well....it works perfectly fine with my astros a30's and wireless mix amp set up....people hear me just fine and i hear then the same as normal.
*only con that ive found*
- since this is smaller than a standard controller, the "chat pad" that mircosoft sells to make sending text messages on xbox live, does NOT fit on the bottom of this controller.
It would have gotten 5 stars from me if it fit the "chat pad". Other than that its an awesome product that does exactly what it says it does and does it perfectly.
If the fan or any other parts stop working (due to normal wear and tear) ill be sure to come back and edit the review to describe any issues and how long ive had it till they appeared.
***********Update 12/2/2011*********
seems as though the complaints about the chat port not working are correctly. It seems to have messed up my wire from my mix amp to my controller. totally mad about it and it had to have done it cause ive used the same setup for over a year with no problems.
**********Update 1/10/2012*********
well i purchased another chat cord from Ebay and the controller seems to be functioning fine again. There does seem to be some buzz in the headset though, might be from the cable (hey i got it on ebay for cheap :) ) Either way i barley notice it. Controller is still working great.
Noticed it also has a power saving feature, if you leave the controller alone for a min or so it will turn off the lights and fan. As soon as you hit any buttons or joystick it will turn back on automatically.
*************Update 2/3/2012***********
The buzz is gone, it was the cable. It wasn't seated in the port properly cause the buzz/static.
************Update 10/29/2012***********
Still works great. Only things I've noticed since last update is if I turn the xbox off and back on really fast the system won't recognize it has a controller plugged in. Simple fix is to unplug and re-plug in. The other thing is the fan can get a little noisy when set to high. Forgot to mention that the cord has a break-away cable on the end of it....think original Xbox controller cord style. | video-games_xbox |
Rent this game, save your money. Resident Evil 4 was a revolutionary game that changed not just survival horror, but action/adventure games in general. The over-the-shoulder perspective is now a staple in the action genre, plus the game was so well designed, it is one of the few games that keeps bringing me back after the initial sparkle wears off.
Resident Evil 5 borrows heavily from Resident Evil 4. Having said that, comparison is inevitable. And initially, it seems like more of the same good stuff. But is it really?
The first difference that's gonna hit you in the graphics. Yes. They're gorgeous. You will find yourself spending time in each level just marveling at the details and effects.
Along with the improved graphics, the combat is also sped up a little bit and the game is perfectly paced. The action is fast and fun, and brings back the Resident Evil 4 feel pretty well. The gameplay alone makes it worthy of a rental. Resident Evil 5 also introduces Co-op gameplay where a friend assumes the role of Sheva Alomar, partner to the main character, Chris Redfield. Co-op is implemented well and is fun to play with a friend online or on the same screen. But that's where the good ends.
The game is short. It'll take you 10 hours to beat the game, maybe 12 if you are the exploring type. The game is not designed as well as Resident Evil 4; without going into too much detail, you will only have reason to play the game through twice before its just no fun anymore. Besides the combat, you will partake is some excruciatingly easy puzzles, in which you are basically hand-fed the solutions to. Bosses are easy as well. Everything feels very dumbed down compared to Resident Evil 4. Even the inventory system has been re-designed to make it simpler for the player.
One of the things that made Resident Evil 4 so intense was the fact that the player was always low on ammo and tight on space. Battles had to be meticulously planned in the inventory and since ammo was sparse, the player had to be crafty. That was fun. But in Resident Evil 5, you are never really strapped for ammo, and you can almost always use your partner as a pack mule. It changes the game mechanic, making it much less interesting.
Speaking of intense, one of the things about Resident Evil 4 that made it so intense was the fact that it was truly scary and maintained a sense of horror and suspense. It made the game immursive; you really felt like you were alone in the dark. In Resident Evil 5, you are neither. Thanks to your partner and the sunny African setting, you'll never be alone or in the dark. Horror has left the game in Resident Evil 5, and with it went an undeniable sense of charm and excitement that is woefully missed.
Because that sense of Horror is absent and the game is more action oriented now, it seems kind of strange that the developers stuck with the setup where the player cannot walk and shoot at the same time. I know other reviewers address this all too often and to be honest, it is the most minor of my complaints in my opinion. Nevertheless, it is still worth noting.
This is not to say it is impossible to have fun in Resident Evil 5. It is a perfect rental, because it can be beaten quickly and once it is beaten, there is not much worth-while to return to. I'd say definitely find a way to play it, like co-op-ing it at a friends house, because the first time is a blast. Otherwise, I'd stick to Resident Evil 4. But trust me, you don't want to be the loser who actually paid full admission while the disc sits on the shelf collecting dust for years to come.
RENT IT. 3 stars out of 5. | video-games_xbox |
Does Darkwatch Deliver. Darkwatch : Curse Of The West combines both the horror and western genre with a first person shooter aspect to gives players some very intense eye catching gaming action. The fast paced gameplay offered in Darkwatch is a fresh and crisp appeal, quickly bringing the player into the feel of a true western environment .
You take on the role of Jericho Cross, an outlaw train robber who makes the mistake of trying to rob the wrong train, a Darkwatch train. His actions release all hell and havok as he blows open the safe releasing the son of Satan, Lazarus. Lazarus in turn curses Jericho as a vampire and unleashes an army of the undead. You now must journey into the west trying to win back your soul in a battle against yourself and the diminions of hell along with the spirit of the former regulator Cassidy by your side guiding you thru the different western terrains as you venture to the Darkwatch headquarters. Darkwatch is a secret mysterious society that has been protecting all of civilization from the evil's of hell since the dawn of time. Clay Cartwright rushes you in as you endure some physical battles to prove yourself worthy in order to become the newest Darkwatch agent. It is up to you to now stop Lazarus & his hoard of evil undead, if you fail then you must walk the earth as another one of Lazarus's damned, however if you succeed then you will win back your soul.
You will come across such enemies as; scythe and gun-wielding skeletons, floating banshees, shadow hiding vipers, blood-spitting oozers and many more evil monsters that will try to stop you in your path. However you will have a variety of weapons available for your access. The weapons provided for your disposal are ; 'The Redeemer' a modified revolver, 'The Carbine' a rapid firing musket, 'The Argus' a four barreled shotgun with plenty of stopping power, 'The Range Rifle' a sniper rifle, 'The Rail Rocket' a mortar hand canon, 'Dynamite' great for clearing out a hoard of the undead. At some point in time you will need to use every one of these weapons to clear out the hoards enemies & pass a mission. Each gun also offers you the opportunity to use it as a melee attack, allowing you to take down many of your enemies with a few butts from your weapon, saving you your ammo for situations in which you may need it more. You will also find yourself capable of taking up position in stabilized turrets and tearing down your enemies with a rain of bullets, however if you are wanting to keep your accuracy rating high then don't just shoot nonstop. You cannot carry all of the weapons so be sure to make your tactical decision upon which weapon to drop & which to pick up. My favorite thing to do is to take and melee attack on the enemies, by doing this you can save on your ammo, which you don't have any trouble finding ammo as you can pick some up from enemies you kill & along with a few other outlets, but it also helps you to keep your accuracy percentage from going so low.
Guns are not the only thing that Jericho will have to rely on in order to take out the undead, but there is an impressive array of vampiric powers that can be earned & used to take out the undead. These powers are earned by releasing tormented souls & sucking the blood of those you come across. There are two sets of powers, good powers & evil powers, both have a set of 4 powers, however you can earn more than just four powers during your journey as you fill up your power meter. Your good powers are; Silver Bullet, Fear, Mystic Armor & Vindicator; the evil powers are; Blood Frenzy, Turn, Black Shroud and Soul Stealer. Depending upon whether you suck blood for the fun of it or for saving the poor condemned people, will decide whether you have a good or bad reputation, it is best to stick with one or the other until you fill up your power meter & unlock all of the powers for the side that you have chosen. You are definitely going to need the vampiric powers in order to beat the boss's , so make sure to check in every place to find any chained tormented souls. So you must choose, will you follow your inner dark side or choose the path of good and righteousness ?
As the vampire curse takes starts to take its course upon you, you will soon find that you have powers such as the blood eye vision & vampire jump. By using the blood eye vision, it will allow you to see enemies, weapons and other key items, as they glow white when you view them with your blood eye. I found that the blood eye is very good to use in order to see snipers. Vampire jump allows you to jump higher in order to reach high ledges and other areas of the game.
The missions are varied, with some allowing you to ride on your trusty steed shadow, trying to take down skeletons on horseback or trying to get close enough to jump on a train. You also ride a steam wagon & can mow down a line of the undead as you go on your way. It is really fun to have the steam wagon and run down the enemies as they rise from the ground. Mostly though you are journeying through different terrains in the west, which are very detailed with the graphics and makes you feel like you have been dropped right in the middle of the west.
My opinions of the game overall are that the game play is fun and can be slightly challenging depending on what difficulty level you play it on. I also like how the controls are very easily set up and it isn't hard to follow or get the hang of them. My complaint is that the game play does seem quite short, I have played and beat Darkwatch on Greenhorn, Cowboy & Shootist level, taking me just 315 minutes to be it on the second hardest level, to me it should take more than five hours to beat a game and when I sit down to play a game I want it to take days to beat & for the story to completely pull me in. With the shortness of game play, there is a bit of loss of the story, it just is not very in depth and to me just leaves a bit of a gap, I love games that can just pull me in & that I can truly feel for the characters & just I overall become consumed by the story. I feel a lot more could have been done story wise. However the cut scenes are nice and short, not drawn out like on some games in which you could run to the bathroom or leave the room for a few minutes , then come back and the cut scene will still be running. There does seem to be somewhat of a lack of some truly satisfying multiplayer gaming. In my honest opinion I say pick up a copy of this game, you will not regret it and you will enjoy a few good hours of intense game play. | video-games_xbox |
Great Fun Gameplay with Gorgeous Graphics. Now THIS is the type of game I was expecting to get on the XBox 360's graphics! It is simply gorgeous. Hundreds of distinct characters, each acting individually and with his or her own look.
You start by playing a cocky female fighter. I liked this a lot - the character, while a bit revealing in the chest area, actually wears armor and her moves are *great*. The sword trails and combos are visual artistry.
This is of course very similar to both the Dynasty Warriors series and the Kingdom Under Fire series. That's not bad at all, it's a genre of gameplay that I enjoy. If you haven't seen these games, think of the opening scene of Lord of the Rings. When Sauron is swinging his weapon, blowing away tons of elf and human soldiers on each sweep, that's what you get to recreate here.
I did find it annoying that you have to play all the way through as a character to get to start another - I'd much rather be able to choose from a roster of characters right from the beginning. Also, I found many of the names of the characters to be quite silly. It unnecessarily drew away from the game's world.
Finally, although I don't really need a huge, complex plot for games like this, at least *some* plot would have been nice. Some strategy would have been nice too. Organizing methods of attack, or who to attack first, is usually a fun part of games like this. Here, it was more just attack all, then attack all, then attack all again.
To make it worse, there's no mid-level saves. So you could have racked up incredible points, and be at minute 29.5 of a 30 minute level, and one slight distraction like "Lisa, pick up that ringing phone!" and POOF you have to start all over again.
Still, I can deal with that. The game is fun enough that I don't mind replaying a level. Getting to more characters is certainly the incentive of playing through the levels as a set. The character models are gorgeous. The animation of the actions is gorgeous.
Sure, if you're not into this style of gameplay, then there are other games you can buy. But if you're a fan of the sweeping attacks and gorgeous graphics displayed here, you'll be up for a great experience!
Highly recommended. | video-games_xbox |
Even if you have a girlfriend, you can't get her to do this. The game plays like a dumbed down Smackdown, as Yuke's helped Konami in the development. There are your head grapples, leg grapples, and side grapples, but the movesets are really small. While there is the occaisonal slam and dropkick, a lot of moves are very acrobatic and high-flying, ala Lucho Libra or Ultimate Muscle, and submission holds usually consist of what would appear to be an intercourse position, complete with the ability to choose your camera angle.
This is the first Xbox 360 game I purchased. I didn't even rent it. I played the first on PS, and I said, "if you could create someone, that would make this complete." Well, it still isn't complete. This "create-a-wrestler" is the simplest thing since what came on WWF Smackdown for the PS, which consisted of switching heads, bodies, and legs, between superstars to make some bizarre creation. I liked to put Chyna's head on Debra's torso and legs and make her really tall. But that's beside the point. The thing is, it's barely more detailed than that, consisting of changing skin, hair, eye and lip colors, and hair style (anime friendly). You can change costumes(just like with the default characters), or put on swimsuits. But they only come in sets rather than a top piece, a waist piece and shoes like I expected, which hampers possibility.
Which brings us to how to unlock them. There's no story this time around...simply pick a person and beat all comers for an opportunity for the title. It's easy, but rather tedious with strange conditions it doesn't tell you about, forcing you to unknowingly fight redundant matches. Unless you're the kind of person who likes those Namco fighters where half the roster is locked and you have to play like a million fights to unlock everyone.
As you win, you get RR (currency) to buy the extras; however to me they seem expensive. At least in that aspect I guess the game has tons of replay value. There's also live, but I don't have that so I can't comment.
At least it looks nice. The girls are um...very "realistic," and all your standard wrestling staples (ring, arena, entrance) all look great in their Xbox 360 glory. The textures and lighting are amazing, as I don't think this was possible in the first version. Though the entrances are a little over dramatic and oversexed...more like cutscenes than entrances. The game sounds okay, the wrestlers having J-Pop themes which to me are kind of catchy. If you disagree, this is what custom soundtracks are for.
In summary, it's a simple and fun wrestling game, and if you like to watch women fight, it's worth a purchase. Though it may make some people feel uncomfortable or you may just be too righteous to play it. | video-games_xbox |
It worked for me. Hi all,
First off, I've never owned an XBOX 360 or even an XBOX. Always been a PS3 guy. Brother-in-law had this 360 sitting for over a year because it got the RROD. So after doing some reading online. Finding out how to understand the error codes. Figuring out how to open up the xbox. I found that the solution (though it may not be permanent) is to remove the xclamps (from what I read, doesn't produce enough pressure between the heatsinks and the chips. So I came across this product. It was my own fault for not reading what I was getting thoroughly, but definitely look into getting the repair kit with the cleaning solutions. Luckily I had googone (which is safe for electronics) and rubbing alcohol. GooGone got the existing thermal paste off. Watched a buttload of youtube videos and techniques on how to apply the arctic silver 5 and the new bolts for the heat sinks. At first it didn't work. Probably because I didn't follow directions to the T. After you've removed the xclamps, after you've removed the existing thermal paste, after you've put the new bolts, washers, THEN nylon washers and gently tighten. DO NOT PLUG THE FAN IN when "baking" the sink to the chips. I did everything that was directed. Turned on the xbox with the fans on and still had the 3 rings and GOT REALLY UPSET. So out of frustrated I reapplied the paste, redid the bolts. Then remembered to turn on the xbox without the fan plugged in. Got the two flashing red lights which was a good sign after 5 minutes of letting the xbox run. Tightened the bolts a little more snug, plugged the fan in, and got a solid green light. Tested it out for an hour and it worked perfectly. We'll see how long it works. But thanks to this kit, I was able to get the xbox up and running again. :) The product is great. But I recommend getting the kit with the xbox opening tool and the cleaning solutions. Thank you! | video-games_xbox |
Fun Spyro game. To me this game was very Super Mario Galaxy meets Pokemon. It's a great kids game, though I am 25 and my husband and I play it together. You travel to different little worlds and each world/area has multiple levels. At the end of each level there is a checklist of things you have accomplished in the level (i.e. found all area, found all treasure chests, beat the level in a certain amount of time, etc). You don't have to get all of them in one try, you can play a level multiple times and keep trying to get the things you missed. You use the Skylanders characters (plastic figurines) to play the game, and there are tons of them, so it would be a fun collection for little kids. You can level up your characters (highest level is 10) and you can upgrade their fighting abilities with the "money" you collect in the game from finding treasures and breaking open crates/jars. You can play at least 2 players, not sure if you can play more than that at once. You place your Skylander on the Portal of Power (platform that comes with the game) and whichever one you choose is the one you play as in the game. You can take off your character at any time and switch to another one that you have.
CONS:
First of all, right now the Skylanders individual characters are pretty difficult to find. Nearly every time I go to Best Buy/Target/GameStop/Toys r US, the shelves are completely empty. Also, people are selling the characters on Amazon for way more than they are worth-- sorry, I would never even pay $20 for a character that would cost me $8 in the stores. You just have to keep calling the stores and just randomly check them. However, we have heard that come July 2012 (I know, so far away) that the company is going to start mass producing more of them (I don't think they anticipated these to be so popular, but after Christmas you couldn't find them anywhere). To go hand in hand with the unavailability, there are a lot of parts of the game (within-level areas) that you cannot get to unless you have at least 1 character from each element (fire, earth, tech, air, life, undead, magic, water). For example, in a level there might be an area that you cannot get to unless you have a Skylander from the Life element. Once they are easier to find, it won't be so bad and this will no longer be a con.
Another CON is that in the end if you want to be able to do everything you possibly can in this game, you are probably spending well over $100 for it, though it can increase the longevity of being able to play the game. It is fun to level up new characters and see their abilities, though, so it is sort of worth it (in the stores, the individual characters are between $7.99 and $9.99-- Target and Best Buy are $7.99).
A third CON is that a couple of the characters we have have issues communicating with the Portal of Power. It doesn't happen with all of them, but one or two of them have trouble. When we place the character on the portal, it will act like it is getting ready to let you play as the character, then it will say "please put a skylander on the portal of power" even though it is already on there. Sometimes we have to try several times or hold the character hovering above the portal until it actually puts that character in the game, and then set it down. I'm guessing there is some kind of issue with the character itself (maybe something happened to the chip inside it) where it isn't connecting right.
PROS:
This game is a fun, kid-friendly game. It has a pretty good replay value (meaning you can beat the game, but still go back and replay to either complete each level 100% or use new characters you acquire over time to replay the game). It is also a great 2 player game.
Skylanders are "portable." What I mean is that if you level up your character and have all these abilities, you can take your Skylander to a friend's who has the game and play it on their console (no matter which console it is) and your stats will remain with that character. For example, if you have the game on Xbox and you are Spyro and you are level 6 and you have upgraded your fighting abilities, you can take your Spyro Skylander to a friend's house who plays it on the Wii and you can use your character with all stats remaining.
The Skylanders are fun to collect without being ridiculously overpriced. I think $8 is a fair price to pay for a new character.
Overall, I'd recommend this game. I think it's really fun and a break from the usual types of games I play.
Favorite Skylanders I have played with so far: Bash, Trigger Happy, and my husband got Drobot and likes him a lot. | video-games_xbox |
How long do we have. The Darkness isn't perfect. Like any game it has its weaknesses, and its downright flaws (and in one case, a game ending bug). However, I would be remiss if I let this game get away with things that I ding other games for, no matter how much I loved this game. However, the problems with this game are far outweighed by the successes of, and since that is the case, it is much easier to be lenient. Many more people have talked about why this game works (or why they think it doesn't) on a technical level, but this review is dedicated to the emotional one.
Unlike virtually every other game being released these days, The Darkness actually has a very, very good story. I won't say it has a good plot, because it's really nothing we haven't seen before (Darkness powers aside). When you break it down, it really is a simple betrayal and revenge story.
One of the things I've noticed I really hate is when the plot is sort of an afterthought. And the prime example of this kind of game is the Bioshock franchise. Now, both Bioshock games are fantastic shooters, two of my favorites, actually. But there really is no plot to either one of them. The plot is much more "Find the audio recordings and find out why Rapture failed," as opposed to whatever half-brained plot they came up with so they could have awesome gun and plasmid battles.
So that is the main reason why I love The Darkness. Because the action is built around the story, and not the other way around. You know exactly why you are doing the things you are doing, and there is no wasted motion. There are side missions you can do for certain NPC's, but you don't have to, meaning that you aren't forced to do pointless filler missions to extend the gameplay length. Every story arc in this game is deliberate.
One of the other positive things about this game is the scale. The game doesn't try to overextend itself. It exists in its own self-contained universe. Even though you know it takes place in a small corner of New York City, the game feels big enough that you don't feel stifled, but large and varied enough that you can do some exploring if you want to.
Now, like I said before, the story is really nothing new aside from the Darkness powers you gain. But it the characters in that story are rich and well-defined, if at time a bit stereotypical. The characters in the story aren't manic and insane like in the Grand Theft Auto games, or boring and one-dimensional like in Mass Effect (even though there is a lot of inter-character dialog, the NPC's don't ever do anything unexpected). The characters feel (and look!) real. The Darkness also has what is possibly the greatest conveyance of real romance in any video game ever made.
All of these things, the gritty New York streets and subway system, the characters that seem to come alive, and emotionally gripping backstory really engage you in the story, and make you care about what is going to happen to all of these characters. The game rips your heart out, and leaves you to put your character back together, if there is a together to go back to.
One last thing: The cover art for the game, while obviously keeping in line with the look and style of the comics by Top Cow, are an unfortunate side effect. Maybe people who read the comics appreciate it, but it is the one single thing that almost kept me from buying this game. It looked too cheesy, that coupled with the description (Darklings? That doesn't sound fun at all!) made it seem to me to be a light and simple game where you just use your darkness powers for anything you want. The game is anything but simple, so don't let the cover art fool you. Search the web for in-game stills and videos to see what a visually stunning game this is. | video-games_xbox |
Flashy and sexy, but not very deep. Dead or Alive 3 is a fast paced and graphically outstanding fighting game. The game is three dimensional and the comabt is based on a mix of punches, kicks, throws, and counters - moves that catch punches and kicks and reverse them, usually damaging the opponent.
The standard mix of modes are available: story or arcade mode, versus mode, a practice mode, team battles, a timed attack mode (beat eight enemies as fast as you can), and a survival mode (beat as many enemies as you can before you fall). There are "tag battle" modes available in the versus mode, which allows you to control two characters and tag them in and out during a fight. You can even get them both on the screen at once for special combo attacks.
Graphically, Dead or Alive 3 is one of the ost stunning games made thus far. The visuals are absolutely breathtaking.
Dead or Alive 3 has one, major flaw: it is not very deep. Well, actually, that isn't fair, the depth is there, but it is nearly inaccessible. Good fighting games are built on strategies that go several layers deep and we have that in DOA3. Counters can defeat punches and kicks, throws can defeat counters, and strikes can defeat throws. The different characters all have a huge assortment of moves in each category and each move does varying amounts of damage and works at varying ranges. Furthermore, none of the characters are broken or unfair, so all the elements are there for an outstanding fighting system. Unfortunately, the game is too bloody fast and the moves are too hard to do. This observation may just be a reflection on my skill as a gamer, but I don't believe it is. The pace of the combat is simply too fast and the number of options is simply too large to allow combat to evolve very far from button mashing.
DOA3 is still a lot of fun to play with your friends, and its lack of real depth actually keeps the game balanced between veterans and beginners. Veterans will definitely have the edge as they will be able to get at some the depth that should be there and exploit strategies the beginners can't, but anyone can still fall sometimes to some wild button mashing.
All in all, if you really have to have a fighter, you'll be able to enjoy DOA3 as a quick fix for your addiction, but it won't provide the sort of lasting satisfaction and near infinite replay value that some of the classic fighting games have given us. | video-games_xbox |
Monotomous & boring = nothing like Fallout 3. Fallout 3 is a great game, one that I've sunk probably 100+ hours into. Some of the DLC content is really good as well (Point Lookout, Broken Steel) but this one is a total flop. The premise is not terrible: the lone wanderer is abducted from the Wasteland by an alien ship and must find a way to escape. However, it's basically a stripped down gaming experience that is nothing like the original game.
First off the game play is just repetitive. Unlike usual offerings from Bethesda (including Oblivion) all the roll playing elements have been minimized in favor of running-and-gunning. Gameplay consists of walking down endless corridors and shooting aliens in the head (with VATS making it even more repetitive) without any of the charm or grit of a game like <a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/Prey/dp/B000BHQZAQ/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">Prey</a> (which had faults but was a hell of a lot more fun than MOTHERSHIP ZETA).
There are few to no characters to interact with, no locations to scout, very little storyline to follow, and none of the glorious little trivialities that make Bethesda games so much fun to play: random encounters, notes, journals, unique items and locations, funny dialogue. All the stuff that puts you in the drivers seat of HOW you want to play the game.
Another brutal element of MOTHERSHIP ZETA is that once started, you cannot quit and go back to the wasteland until you've completed it! This especially sucks if you realize you don't like it part way through. You pretty much have to load up a saved game before you got on board.
My experience with Bethesda in both Oblivion and Fallout 3 is that the games themselves are GREAT, and the DLC content is only average. There are free MODS that do more to make the game better than all the DLCs combined (for Fallout 3 check out MARTS MONSTER MOD; it is truly awesome--best of all, it doesn't cost a dime).
This is a DLC to skip unless you just have to have all of them. Otherwise keep your money and get a mod instead.
1.5/5 Stars. | video-games_xbox |
Buy another game! Sloooow and stoopid. This game has some major issues. 1a. This is the SLOWEST loading game I've ever played. 1. There is an "interviewer" constantly asking the main characters. Not needed, and annoying. The same could be accomplished simply by having that character narrate. 2. There are "choices" in the game which allow two different outcomes. Most are - one choice is very dumb. Then they show you how smart you are since you picked the obvious correct one. 3. The ending is rediculous on many levels. 4. Much time is taken by the game while loading the next Act, Scene or whatever. Several minutes in some cases. Same when your character is killed and you have to restart that scene. 5. The main context, time travel, changes its own rules during the game - inconsistent. Shooting scenes are inconsistent. In some cases, you can kill all the bad guys in seconds. In others, it's almost impossible without being 'killed' a few times until you figure a workaround. 6. I found the controls to be lagging, depending on the scene, for no apparent reason. Replay the scene a few times, suddenly they're perfect. 7. I play on Xbox One. There is sometimes a menu insert showing the buttons to use for various actions (slow time, etc). The icons on those buttons are just plain weird. I never did figure them out, just Googled and got a good list someone had posted. 8. The characters were attractive, believable, and well-acted. Yet for some reason several had to be killed off, no matter which options you choose. That added nothing to the main story in my opinion. 9. Did I mention the ending? It takes many tries to play thru the final fight, even on the Easy setting. In my case, probably a couple dozen tries. And if you fail, you get no credit for the successes, you start the whole fight over. I've read where some players took a hundred times. What's up with that? It leaves a sour taste in your mouth - hence my one star. Did I mention that this game is unbelievably SLOW? | video-games_xbox |
Freedom, depth, great AI, solid visuals - and a lot of fun. I should preface this review by coming right out and admitting that I am a new Thief, not having played either of the earlier titles in the franchise. Sure, I had heard all the hype, the various glowing reviews and ravings of die-hard fans, but something kept me away. Not this time, feeling hungry for a new game, I saw that Thief: Deadly Shadows hit the store(s), and decided to take a chance. I'm quite happy to report that I'm entirely glad that I did.
I did have some concerns at first. For the first few minutes of play, I found myself thinking that it should have been a rental instead of a purchase. But I played on, gradually getting drawn deeper into the plot, into the city, and into the joy of slipping quietly in where you haven't been invited, and plucking some valuable trinket off a table, from inside a chest, or even off the very person of an unfortunate homeowner or passerby. But this isn't what really got me into the game. How smart my victims were did. Sure, I was a little over-confident at first. I'd boldly sneak around behind marks wandering through their own homes, I'd skulk in the shadows, or creep slowly and quietly behind them, lifting items that caught my eye as I went. But this person lives here, and when they pass through a room and a candlestick is gone, or a chair is slightly out of place from when you less cautious than you should have been and bumped into it, or when a door has been left ajar - they realize it. And they often realize they aren't alone. So you could imagine my surprise, not yet having an appreciation for the depth of AI, when my helpless victim became decidedly non-helpless, and started actively searching for me. But I'm Garrett the Thief, and when backed into a corner, I can put up a fight. So when the owner found me after I knocked a barrel on its side trying to quickly duck into a nearby shadow, and when he drew a weapon with the intent to cause me harm, I quickly dispatched him with my dagger. He was in the light, I was in the shadow, he knew roughly where I was, but I still had the advantage. I stood over my victim, enjoying the moment when I heard a scream. The scuffle had alerted someone else in the house who came rushing in, and upon seeing me standing over the body, shot straight out of the house. She hadn't just fled through, she had gone to get the town guards. So imagine my surprise as I'm casually walking towards the open door to leave, and in burst two guards with weapons drawn. They came right at me, and while I put up a good fight, they took me down. The last thing I saw was the `terrified' woman standing in her doorway again, watching the guards beat me down.
I really enjoyed Splinter Cell, and SC: Pandora Tomorrow. I think it was how much I enjoyed those that led me to finally give Thief a shot. But one thing always bugged me about those titles, as terrific as they are and were. Your enemies had the attention span and short-term memory of mentally disabled goldfish. If two terrorists are in one room together, and you snatch one up and drag him away, the other never notices that he's suddenly alone. Leave doors open, move things, do anything but show yourself or leave a corpse around, and they have no clue anything is amiss. Not so here. Guards have areas of responsibility. And when one is no longer at his post because you've clobbered him over the head with your trusty blackjack, and dumped him unconscious behind some bushes, his captain who may well be wandering around and checking up on his men will notice, and he'll investigate.
The game is outstanding, I am really enjoying it. I'm nearly done, and I've already decided that I will be playing it through again. There's so much to do beyond the main storyline, that there's really no way to get into all the little side plots and scenarios, no way to hit every house and business in your first go. Graphically the game is quite good. Not jaw-droppingly impressive, I would have liked to have seen this in 720p and widescreen, but still a solid visual presentation. The Dolby Digital sound is terrific. The depth of play, and the AI, are really what give this title legs though.
This game, in my opinion, is worth a purchase. Unless of course the idea of sneaking around just bores you to tears. If you're looking for a hack'n'slash, this isn't it. If you're looking for an intriguing storyline, exciting action, and even a few moments where you literally jump at your own shadow, then this is going to be a good time for you. Why 4 out of 5? I would have liked to have seen at least a minimal tie-in to XBLive. Not online play perhaps, given the scope of the game, but maybe expansion and bonus content (new missions, new equipment, etc.) that could have been added over time. I think that really would have gone a long way to put this title over the top in terms of re-playability. Also, I've been trapped (bug) inside or against objects a few too many times. An annoyance, and perhaps a minor one, but a piece of the puzzle when I had to decide upon a rating. To be fair, if we could give fractions of stars in our ratings, I'd give this as high a 4 as possible.
The cover art says it best. "Tension-fueled stealth, variety of gameplay, advanced AI, dynamic lighting and shadow system." Yes, yes, yes, and yes. Pick this one up, you'll be glad you did. | video-games_xbox |
Medal of Honor is not in the Same League as the Call of Duty Series. This review is based on the Single Player Campaign. I really wanted to like this new Medal of Honor game. I heard so much about it. It was suppose to be one of best video games to come out this year. I preordered this game so I could play it on the first day it came out. Well guess what? After playing the Single Player Campaign, I can honestly say it is not as good as the Call of Duty Series.
This game will definitely be coming down in price in the next few weeks. First of all, the graphics are just okay. I noticed right away the graphics are not as sharp and crisp as the Call of Duty graphics are. There is one mission where you play through an airplane graveyard like in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. You see planes lying around on the ground like in Call of Duty. I noticed right away the planes are not as detail inside or out as in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. In fact, I could tell right away that Medal of Honor is trying real hard to be almost like the Call of Duty Series.
The story in the Single Player Campaign is heavily scripted. You don't have a lot of freedom to do whatever you want throughout the campaign. For instance, if I wanted to kick in a door to a building I want to enter, I can't do anything until my fellow teammates come up to the door. Then I am allowed to kick in the door. Another time I was with a group of Army Rangers assaulting a machine gun nest in a Afghan village up in the mountains and I actually went by myself all the way up to the machine gun nest without my fellow Army Rangers teammates tagging along and threw a grenade into the nest and shot up the machine gunner with my weapon. Well guess what? Nothing happened. I went ahead of the script in the game. I was yelled and screamed at by my fellow Army Rangers to go all the way back to where they were hiding behind some stone walls and I was suppose to give them cover fire so they could assault the machine gun nest themselves. I kept wondering why couldn't I assault the machine gun nest on my own?
In Medal of Honor, you are not allowed to make decisions on your own. I was in an Apache Helicopter assaulting some enemy mortar positions on a mountain side and I use a machine gun instead of a cannon on the Apache to take out the mortar positions. Well I kill the enemy mortar crews with the machine gun and I knocked out the mortar positions but the game would not advance unless I used the Apache cannon on the mortar positions. Why can't I make up my own decision on what weapon to use and how to complete the mission? Another mission I was on a cliff above some anti-aircraft guns. I wanted to use a sniper rifle to take out the enemy anti-aircraft crews and the game forces you to call in air strikes to take out the anti-aircraft guns. The game gives you no choice. Why can't we have the freedom to make our choices and decisions in the game? We are not babies that have to be held by the hand on how to play a game.
At least with Call of Duty: Black Ops you have the freedom to pretty much do whatever you want. I can't wait until that game comes out on November 9, 2010. Call of Duty: Black Ops is already setting records before it even comes out has being one of the bestselling video games in gaming history. Medal of Honor had a chance to be right up there with Call of Duty: Black Ops and the game developer and game publisher for Medal of Honor blew it. What a shame. | video-games_xbox |
SceneIt XBox360 Bundle - Different From The Original, But In Some Ways Better. As a long-time fan of the Scene-It series, I was pleasantly surprised wtih the Xbox360 version <a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/SceneIt-with-4-Big-Button-GamePads/dp/B000W6TFRG/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">SceneIt?, with 4 Big Button GamePads</a>. I play several DVD travel versions on my own when I'm on the road, just to pass the time. And I've played several of the home versions plenty. But I just didn't think I would make much use of this version of the game, since few people I know are into trivia as much as I am. Well, I should have gotten this game long ago. This is great fun, especially as a party game. Even people who are not trivia junkies will love this.
For starters, the controllers that are included with this game are the same basic design that is included with various other games, such as <a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/Buzz/dp/B0018BELN2/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">Buzz</a> and <a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/BUZZ-Jr-Jungle-Party/dp/B0002Y5XGU/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">BUZZ Jr.! Jungle Party</a>, both of which are sold on the Playstation platform. So these are not Microsoft specific controllers. I'm not certain who this design is licensed from, but they did an excellent job with it. These are very well designed controllers, and at the cost of the bundle are basically free throw-ins. It's very easy to click the buttons and selectors, and having the wireless option makes these even a little better than the wired version that ships with the <a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/BUZZ-Jr-Jungle-Party-Bundle/dp/B000UH5C5Q/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">BUZZ Jr.! Jungle Party Bundle</a> for the PS2.
Now as far as games are concerned, there is a nice variety of games that will keep a group of four occupied. The best thing about the trivia games aren't even the questions themselves, but rather the question memory. Basically, the system keeps track of questions so there are few repeats, which is a great feature for video trivia games.
The "Credit Roll" game lets you guess the movie based on the character and cast listing. This is somewhat like a video game version of "Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon" and can be very challenging. But the "Child's Play" game shows you a slowly developing drawing of a scene and you have to guess the name of the movie before the others. It's a little bit easier but perhaps more fun for a group. There are also plenty of cool puzzles and nice high quality clips to enhance the game.
There are only a few reservations I have with this game. I feel like the game is different enough from the original home version that fans of the DVD format may not be universally satisfied. Also, the difficulty of the questions is probably less, which makes this less fun as a solo game. The real fun comes in group play. You really need somebody to play with, and having 4 people would make this even better. Of course, that's not a con at all, but just something to be aware of if you're buying this.
I highly recommend this game. Check it out.
Enjoy!!! | video-games_xbox |
One of the best story driven open world games in the last 15 years 9.5/10. I'm in awe how many people are being over critical of this particular title
But, I'm sure these are the same Internet hipster that will blindly donate to crowdfunding games
Then when those games are released they'll c/o about the investment
Gamers in 2016 are bloody stupid and only wear the consumer "hat"
When a big bad Publisher does them wrong
But, small shady developers get a pass at screwing them
I've been playing video games very long (My first home console wasn't the PS2 and I actually went to arcades and put quarters in Arcade cabinets to play games
Mafia III is simply phenomenal in every sense of the word
Is it perfect? no but, it's minor short comings can be over looked
When i first learned of the setting I didn't think I'd like it But, then when more info came out
I was all in
One thing I'm calling out 2K Games on is the stupid apology the game has before you can even sign in
I understand we live in a phony outrage society
But, you want to show a portrait of a real time you can't apology for language and images
Them doing this just bothers me
You never see any type of warning or apology on the nighty news!
One other negative towards Mafia III would be the interface it's so confusing
going into settings is a massive pain everything is split up into 4 different section
you can either chose lethal take down, or a non kill take downs (You can only switch that in the settings which will drive anyone mad
It interrupts the flow! I could be wrong on this
The interface is so blah and outdated.... If you play it you'll know what I'm talking about its very hard to try and explain
(I would've gave the game a solid 10/10 if the interface wasn't so confusing it takes a chunk out of the enjoyment level
Story: Is the major selling point
It does was Call of Duty: Black Ops should have done
It tells a smart story during one of the modern eras most darkest times
Between the racial tension, and anti-war
It's 1968 and you are in the south and you are a man of color
I don't want to ruin the story for anyone it's really smart and enjoyable with slick twist and turns
The prologue settings up "how" to play is long and super enjoyable
Maybe one of the best prologues I've ever played to a game
Graphics: Are a mixed bag (All the cut scenes look fantastic the facial animation/capture is on par with L.A. Noire
the game itself runs very smooth I've put a good 40+ hrs into it the game itself crashed on me one time
There's a lot of saves spots that will help trust me
For a open world game it's solid (No open world game to date has been flawless don't be fooled Even if you have a $15,000 high end gaming PC it's not going to be flawless so much going on screen there are minor bugs, in all these games even the Golden child GTA5
Could this game run on the previous generation hardware????
I doubt it.... it would've crashed or flat out killed any XBox 360 or PS3
Controls: after maybe 20minutes tops you'll be good to go everything becomes second nature
The driving at first is a bit hinky (It's not Sim style driving it reminds me of Sega's Crazy Taxi)
Different vehicles handle differently.... But, you can chose Sim style driving if that's your thing
If you drive a 18 Wheeler you have to use some logic unless you drop the back end, the sea crafts handle ok (more or less mimicking Sleeping Dogs) Breaking into building is balanced and easy
using weapons is easy, the hand to hand combat is "there" it's not terrible but, it's not perfect it's above average
Audio/Licensed music: The audio is really good DTS 5.1
the games score fits, every voice over cast members fits in this world
(There's all types of smart written dialogue even by the back ground characters
the radio stations are awesome with great 1960's music from R&B, Country, and Rock & Roll
almost all the licensed music is gold
Game play: It's a open world set in 1968 Louisiana
The world itself is crazy huge (made up of a factory district, middle class, down town, slums, swamps, then more of a higher society
Depending on where you are you'll be talked to differently depending on where you are
In the High Class area of the city the people talk down to you, cops watch you more and will also say crazy racist remarks to you
some buildings/stores have signs that say whites only (If you walk in there the owner will walk at you very fast and try and kick you out and threaten to call the police!
The AI of the Police is a mixed bag sometimes they are a bit thick and easy to outsmart
But, if you get to many of them on you they will shoot you up like Bonnie and Clyde
The AI of the enemy gangs on the other hand are very relentless and smart if you encounter them the wrong way
You can play the game two ways run and gun
or be smart and go in stealth
Stealth is the smart way until you get a idea of patterns and how different AI think
The Stealth is streamlined and easy to pick up it's like Manhunt or the first couple of Assassin's Creed games
I'm not a fan of pure stealth games this isn't one of those
The gun play is balanced not arcade but, it's not completely stiff
The open world itself is very much a live with a day/night cycle and a weather cycle
Plenty of items to Collected for all those people out there with OCD
You collect Playboy Magazines, Auto Magazines, Pin-up Art, Propaganda Posters, Classic vinyl records, and religious paintings
you can also come across these green cylinders
Once you have enough and you get to a point in the main story campaign you can plant wire taps (A Easter egg aiming at Watergate)
Which gives you icons where the collectables are
I've put at least 35hrs into the game I've barely scratched the surface
Check out all the images I've posted
If you love American History/the underdog open world games like Just Cause, Mafia II, Mad Max, Saints Row, Sunset Overdrive you'll love this game
It's one of the best games of the Year I've played 9.5/10
MS Gamertag: Duckman 1979 (Look at all the still images and videos I've made on this game) I really enjoy it | video-games_xbox |
I was on the fence about buying this...UPDATED. I debated purchasing this game altogether due to my disappointment with FF12. I kept reading reviews that the game was very linear and different. Well, it is but it's not bad. God of War is linear but people still adore the games for their story and just being plain fun. I wouldn't call FF13 a straight up RPG. In my opinion, it is an action, light RPG, and strategy game all rolled into one, so far. My rational for this is that the story itself is RPG-ish. The game play itself is more like an "action" game rather than an open RPG setting. The battle system is very strategic as you are offered many different options during battle. The battle system has been the most fun aspect of the game for me thus far.
My thoughts related to the game so far are that the story is a bit confusing at first but slowly becomes clear as time goes on. The voice acting is annoying to me. I just don't understand how a giant title such as Final Fantasy could have such mediocre voice acting. GoW, Half-Life 2, Uncharted, and countless other games have great voice acting. It's not a game destroying flaw, just obnoxious at times.
There is a LOT of cut scenes so far. I'm roughly 9 hours into the game and agree with others that the amount of cut scenes makes it feel less like a game at times and more like a movie, at times, not always.
Graphics: Great on the PS3 and great on the Xbox. Fan boys will be fan boys but the level of detail on both systems is pure eye candy regardless of which is technically better. I have both a PS3 and an XBOX and purely bought it for the XBOX for the gamer score and XBOX Live.
Music: Acceptable. It is clear that Nobuo Uematsu didn't bless this game with his talents. The music to me is forgettable but not intrusive or obnoxious. Gamers who enjoyed Nobuo's past work will almost definitely notice the difference. Purely opinion though.
Characters: Cool for the most part. Vanille and Hope get on my nerves but that is mostly due to their voice acting and some cheesy dialogue.
As I said, the game so far is very linear but still fun. The environments are detailed and straight forward. No secret islands with Knights of the Round, etc. (So far).
My favorite aspect of the game is the battle system. It is extremely flexible and unlike any other FF. There is no mana to worry about, which is actually a nice change, in my opinion. The paradigm shift idea is fun and effective. I like that you have the option to execute a command as soon as you have the ATB to do so. You are not bound to wait until the entire ATB meter fills up; this rules for fights where you just need one more shot.
The Crystarium system is also pretty cool. It is considerably better than the FF10 sphere grid of doom. It is very straight forward and so far hasn't required tons of fighting to max out.
Is FF13 the best game ever? Not in my opinion.
Is FF13 like FF12? No.
Is FF13 fun? So far, very.
Is FF13 worth the money? Yes.
Should Square remake FF7? Yes :0) (yes, i've been a fanboy since 7th grade)
After only nine hours, a lot of apprehension, and an open mind I can say I am truly enjoying this game and do not regret getting it. I hope this helps with other people who are debating and just cannot decide. My advice, if you have the cash to spare, go for it!
******* UPDATE 3/31/10 ************
OK, I got half way into Chapter 7 and couldn't take anymore. I respect that some people like/love this game, I do not.
The linearity got to me. At first it was fun, upbeat, and different. After many hours it became mundane, boring, and essentially a colorful world of nothing to do. I understand that many people say the game opens up around Chapter 10 but that is too little, too late, for me.
For me it has been many hours of battles, button mashing, running on one path, pointless cut scenes, annoying voice acting, and slightly annoying camera controls.
I miss exploring the world, even if it was slow at first and built up to greater mobility and access to optional challenges. This may sound contradictory to what I've said about FF13 but there is NOTHING to explore until WAY later in the game (and that is just based upon what I've read/heard).
Overall, after what I feel is a reasonable time investment into the game has proven fruitless. I enjoyed the beginning and high hopes with what I saw but ended up quickly fizzling into boredom.
For those of you who enjoy the game and disagree with me, I am happy you enjoyed it!
For those of you who have enjoyed the older FF's, you should know (as I'm sure you already do), it should not be compared. In my humble opinion, the FF franchise has morphed into something completely different than it started out as.
Best Regards. | video-games_xbox |
The only thing it's missing is Reznov. First off, I'm really only going to review the multiplayer for MW3. This is only fair since I prefer Treyarchs' WWII & Cold War era campaigns as oppossed to Infinity Wards Modern era. That being said, the multiplayer is STELLAR. I don't know how they're gonna top it, they removed everything people didn't like in MW2 & added practically everything you wish you had or could do in MW2. I was very skeptical at first having grown tired of the annual CoD releases & poor handleing of the CoD4 & WaW hackers & modders, BUT as with every CoD I just had to try it. I was concerned, like so many others, that MW3 would be a recycled MW2. Now they are alike, which isn't a bad thing, because if you took all the lowsy stuff out of MW2, you would have one of the best multiplayers for CoD so far... which is MW3. Granted, my preference for this games multiplayer could be enhanced do to Black Ops' sub-par multi. Blops guns: Don't work without stopping power, MW3s guns: Work as good as a gun with stopping power. I could go on, anyway MW3s multiplayer sounded great reading up on info before its release & did not disappoint. Now, if only Infinity Ward could put out a CoD with this multiplayer & a story & character driven campaign with, dare I say it, CO-OP. I hold MW3 up there with WaW. 50/50 agree with me that WaW is the best CoD overall. I won't get into why here, you can read my review of that here on Amazon if you want to possibly see where I'm coming from more. Lastly, if like me you're not a huge fan of the IW single or just prefer to kill A.I., they included a survival mode much like Treyarchs zombie mode & it is AWESOME. Just as good & better in it's own way. Really, the only thing that MW3 is missing is Viktor Reznov. And if he were to play MW3, he would like it. Hmmm...maybe that's the next step, a Treyarch/Infinity Ward crossover story?? We'll see. | video-games_xbox |
Are we there yet. I got this because I was looking for a game like Myst - which I thoroughly enjoyed. I probably should give Syberia two stars, but I really want to like it and I hope that others might enjoy it more than I do.
It's a whole lot like Myst, but in these kinds of games, there's a fine line between challenge and tedium. Like Riven, (in my opinion) Syberia seems way on the side of tedium.
There's also a fine line between addiction and compulsion. I find that I'm compelled to finish the game, but I'm not really enjoying it. The scenery is very nice, and the artistry is impressive, but it's 2-dimensional and I must admit that Myst-level graphics simply aren't awe-inspiring anymore.
I keep thinking that I should be cleaning the basement instead of playing the game and think occasionally that cleaning the basement would be less work and more satisfying.
You'll see the graphics a lot as you are running back and forth and back and forth and back and forth trying to solve the simple (good) and tedious (not so good) puzzles. When frustrated, the graphics don't seem so charming anymore.
There's also way too much boring dialog. You'll get interrupted by cell phone calls and hear long, dumb conversations from the main character's husband, mother and friend. You can skip through them, but it's hard to know what's important to the game and what's not.
It's the same with various characters that you run across in your travels. Many of them are useless to either the story or the game, which isn't too bad, but they're not entertaining and talk too long.
Moving around is also a problem. Syberia was obviously adapted from a mouse setup to the Xbox gamepad, and it doesn't work very well. It's harder to find things and the direction of travel changes from scene to scene. If you're not careful, you'll find yourself going back into the scene you just left.
The character also just got stuck so that it can't move. Since I hadn't saved the game in a while, I now have to go back and redo a lot of tedious stuff. It will take a good half hour to get through what I've lost, even though I know what to do.
If you have a LOT of time and REALLY like Myst, you'll probably enjoy this game. The creators obviously put a lot into it. I think these kinds of games should be reviewed and edited by a lot of real people before they go to market. A healthy bit of editing would have probably made a huge difference.
Recommendations: 1) Get hints from the web 2) In the game, ask all the questions of everybody 3) Get familiar with the X button and the B button - the first will make you run instead of walk and the second will skip through dialog. | video-games_xbox |
A must have SW game. What happends when you bring Star Wars and Bioware together? This awesome game!!! KOTOR is a great game and a must have for both Star Wars fans and Bioware fans. I believe this was the first SW game to use RPG elements rather than action/ FPS like before. It was also the first SW game to balance a choice system with a "Light side/ Dark side" system. For it's time, it was a major step forward for games. Although I think this game is fantasic, it has a ton of flaws that nobody ever seems to notice. He is my thoughts.
The Good
The story is greatly written like any of Bioware's games. It's fun, emotional, and unpredictable. It's supported by a great cast of characters with their own goals and personalites. A fan favorite is HK-47, he is an "anti" C3-PO. He is rude and funny. But my favorite character is Jolee, he is like the Obi-Wan of this game with some well done voice work by Kevin Michael Richardson. Speaking of which, the voice acting is top notch. The voices sound realistic and powerful. The game also has a very good sense of humor. I found myself lauging plenty of times while playing. The music is actually original rather than just recycled tracks from the films. The graphics were good for the time, however they feel pretty out dated by today's standard. There is a strong theme of expolration, by going to different planets and places on the planets. It makes our beloved SW universe a blast to futher explore. The choice system wasn't perfect, but it gave us more reason to replay the game. The combat system was interesting and has a very rpg feel to it. There are also some space shooter parts which add a little bit of variety to gameplay. It was also awesome to change the color of your lightsaber, as well as the type. I usually tried being a single blue saber, but I end up using two sabers because they have a better chance of actually hitting the target. But for a chance to change your saber and custom level your character was great and it almost made me feel like a Jedi.
The Bad
The combat was interesting, but VERY VERY flawed! It always seemed that no matter what weapon I had equiped, I always missed the target. It's common in rpgs for some attacks to miss a target. But in this game, it seemed VERY common for me to miss and it was only a gamble if I actually hit the target. With bosses, it was even worse because I almost always never hit them. I'd only beat them out of luck. When you meet different extra characters, you would always see the same head models reused for other characers. It was like talking to the same character but with a different voice. The game has a lot of dialogue which is common in Bioware games. At times, the dialogue drags and it can get boring at times. But it's worse when you talk to an alien that speaks a different lang. It requires reading the dialogue to understand what they are saying. I found myself reading more dragging dialogue than listening to it. But when I actually listened to the alien's lang., I noticed they kept repeating certain phrases which began to annoy me. This is what I think fans refer to as "talking heads". I also didn't like the fact that the main character (your character) was silent while everyone else spoke. I know this was pre Mass Effect, but silent main heroes arn't interesting and they feel like robots.
Overall, this is still a great game despite it's flaws. It was mostly the flawed combat and repetitive alien lang. that kept me from rating this game higher. But that doesn't stop me from replaying this game when I'm up for it. But to me, it's not the best SW game (I still think <a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/Star-Wars-Jedi-Knight-Dark-Forces-2-Jewel-Case/dp/B000063LK3/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">Star Wars Jedi Knight: Dark Forces 2 Jewel Case)</a> was the best!) and nether is it the best Bioware game (I'm still in a debate between Mass Effect or Dragon Age Origins). But if you are in a mood for a Star Wars game where you can bend story to your will, then this is your game. | video-games_xbox |
Agent 47 is back, and thatsa good thing. Agent 47 is back in Blood Money, and like always, he is contracted to assassinate certain people for a variety of reasons. However, as the story progresses, 47's contract firm called The Agency is being killed one by one by a rival firm. So, if you couldn't guess, the last few missions revolve around unveiling and taking down this rouge group.
Your main arsenal consists of a variety of customizable guns such as a handgun, shotgun, sniper rifle, SMG, and assault rifle which, like I said, can be customized by the money you earn throughout your missions. You can also pick up enemy guns and tools laying around and add that to your inventory if you wish. Besides the typical guns, you get to use 47's trusty fiber wire for strangling people, sedatives, poisions, remote mines and other nifty gadgets. You can also do some hand to hand which includes punching and headbutting your victims. Oh, and you can climb things and hop railings.
In the spirit of the Hitman series, after you knock out/kill just about anyone, you can steal their uniforms. Most of the time you'll need a certain disguise to get close to one of your targets. So for instance lets say you have to get close to a secured wedding and the grrom, first you would need an invitation then from there kill a high ranking guard and take his outfit while disposing of his body. Disposing their bodies can include throwing them off a rail and out of sight, or hiding them in a dumpster of sorts.
Now you would think with all these options you are basically forced to be stealthy. Think again. In Blood Money, IO Interactive decided to take a different approach and allow you to determine how to snag your targets in your own way.. be it sneak up and poision a cake so you kill them indirectly, or walk right up to them and plant a slug between their eyes. Its completley up to you, the only thing you have to worry about is armed security personell that will attack you.
Which brings me to the next part of the review. There is a "suspiscion meter" in which people will see through your disguises. If your in the green, your okay, in the yellow your treading thin ice, and if your in the red... well then your probably not playing too stealthy anyway and enemies are firing upon you. What dissapointed me a little about this is the fact that it seems if you even breathe wrong the AI gets suspiscious.
There aren't many flaws to be honest with the exception of the one I just mentioned. Actually I lied, there is one really annoying one and that is the save system. You have your actual saved game, then you have in-game saves which saves your progress in that particular mission. If you were to turn off the system or in some other way quit that mission, then your in-game is erased and you have to start that mission from scratch. Besides those two, the game runs really good...
The graphics are pretty good for a multiplatform game. The enviroments look crisp and each character has their own identity, but there is one flaw. Why is everyone jacked out of their minds? I mean I killed a clown and stole his outfit to find out that he had harder abs then I do in real life... ITS A CLOWN FOR CRYING OUT LOUD! Haha, but yeah the graphics are pretty solid though certainly not the best the 360 can offer.
The soundtrack is brilliant. Its mainly just classical music with some chorus chimes thrown in for good measure. It actually helps create mood and atmosphere for your entertainment. The guns sound appropriate (ex: handguns sound like handguns) but they sound far too weak. The Desert Eagle, a very powerful magnum, sounds like a 9mm which enraged me.
The ending was ultimatley satisfying. Agent 47 is backstabbed by a woman named Diana (she was the lady who gives you all of your mission briefings on the laptop), and it is revealed that she is working for The Franchise - otherwise known as the "other rival agency". Anyway, skip ahead a bit and you see 47 laying on a bed of sorts about to be lowered into the ground when Diana comes and lays two Silverballer handguns on your chest and kiss you. She then turns and begins talking to the head of The Franchise. As the credits roll, a heartbeat is repeated and it appears 47 is about to wake up and basically millhouse The Franchise, so what must you do? If you swirl the analog stick a few times Agent 47 wakes up and begins wiping the floor with everyone around him. It was great.
Overall, Hitman: Blood Money was a surprisingly fun game with alot of violent thrills and spills. I highly recommend it, though it would have been kind of cool if there was some sort of multiplayer on it... imagine a bunch of cloned 47's working together to pull of a HUGE assasination.. maybe even against The Franchise..hm.. anyway, buy this game if you haven't played it. | video-games_xbox |
A Little Something For Everyone. I'll admitt that Ive never been a huge Gears fan, and I have never(and probably will never) be one of those guys who are just amazing in the multiplayer, but this game is still great. The story mode is great, and you'll have tons of fun playing with your friends. But if that doesnt do it for you, they have a completely revamped Hoard mode, which is what I mainly play. The new hoard mode actually lets you purchase upgrades and different things, and you can actually build a command center/base to work out of. In Gears 2 you usually had to find a camping spot on a map and set up shields, but this allows you to buy turrets, fences, decoys,etc....all of which are upgradable. The hoard also has join in progress now, which is great. There is also a beast mode which is almost a reverse hoard mode, but I feel as If they somewhat dropped the ball there. For starters the maximum wave you can get up too in beast mode is around 10 or something like that. And characters are unlocked as you earn points in the rounds. Plus there is hardly anyone even on the mode anyone, its always somehwere around +/- 600 people worldwide. The multiplayer is usually the bread and butter for most people. Well first off, the default maps are pretty good. This time around roud though they have maps of varying sizes. Huge maps(like one called Sandbar), and then small ones(like Gridlock which they brought back). They have added a few more weapons like the Digger, incendiary grenades,etc...which change the battle a little bit. But Im still dissapointed in the team balancing. Too many times, a noob like me ends up in a lobby vs a bunch of guys who have already gone past level 100 once or twice, and your team gets completely eviscerated. They do have dedicated servers now though, which is pretty great. The multiplayer does still seem as if the team with the connection advantage, almost always has the edge though. And this is true for the most part. But overall the game as a whole is great. Definetly something to get for cheap though. | video-games_xbox |
Finally, an Olympics game that's worth buying. I was definitely apprehensive about buying this game given my prior experiences with officially licensed Olympics games in the past. But in this particular case I was glad I bought the game. Here's why:
1. The game has a nice assortment of events. As with many of these types of games, much of the game favors track & field events and swimming. But there's also a nice variety of other events that keep things interesting, including diving, gymnastics, weightlifting, beach volleyball, cycling and even table tennis
2. HERE'S WHAT'S GOOD - The game does not favor ridiculous button mashing. Thank goodness for that. Many previous games make the mistake of using the old-school Konami Track & Field mechanics of ridiculous mashing with a bit of timing & finesse thrown in. Here is it all about timing and rhythm. Sure there are cases where you need to jam on the buttons, but it is only in short bursts. Most of the time, it's all about keeping your rhythm, finding the right pace and also getting specific timing events down. That's what makes this game great. It caters to both the hardcore gamers who want to get the perfect timing down to break world records (that is shared on global leader boards if you play on Xbox live), and also to the newbies who just want to have fun and pick up & play.
3. Controls are VERY solid. For each specific event, the controls make sense. They are intuitive and logical. For example, freestyle swimming events require rhythmic motion of the L & R sticks (alternating) where as butterfly swimming events use synchronized L & R stick motions. Skeet shooting uses the L stick to aim and R trigger to fire. Any type of running event requires steady presses of the A button, and for gymnastics you use the A button to run and then use other buttons do specific tricks in the air. Bottom line, it all makes good sense.
4. The graphics are very good. I had no problems with it, and the venues are beautifully recreated. The sound is solid, with lots of crowd noises and announcers. The play-by-play is nice, but after awhile it does get annoying. However it did not ruin my experience in any way. Also the load times between events are okay. Not that short, but not so long that it becomes annoying. Once the event loads you can just play it to your heart's content without worrying about reload screens. It just moves quickly from there.
5. MULTIPLAYER - the game runs smoothly on Xbox live and it is actually quite fun to compete against other players and try to get your place on the leader boards. The events are divided based on style (or you can just join quick play) and there are no hiccups so far based on my experience. It's actually very fun to compete against other players online and this is definitely another big plus for me.
MINOR GRIPES
1. I liked the variety of events in the game, but personally I would have liked to see more gymnastics events given how popular it is in the realm of things. There is only trampoline and vaulting, and I wish they would have had more things like pommel horse, floor exercises or uneven bars. I just don't see why they couldn't add this.
2. Some of the events are just variations of the same thing (i.e. diving on higher platforms). I would have liked to see more events rather than similar variations of the same event.
3. The difficulty curve is a bit odd. Some events take a lot of effort to master. Others are just simple. It doesn't make sense for me to break the world record on shot-put in my second attempt. The same thing happened when I made my second try at the 100 meter hurdles. But this is just minor.
CONCLUSION
It's a great game and definitely one of the best in this category. I know games like these literally come once every four years and they are few and far between. For all you fans out there, casual gamers or folks who are just plain curious, this game is definitely a solid addition to your library thanks to the (relatively) easy and sensible controls and the excellent presentation.
CLIFFS NOTES:
PROS
- Easy to pick up & play
- Great/logical controls
- Fun with other players and on Xbox live
- Decent graphics, excellent presentation
CONS
- Some events are repetitive, could use more variety
- A lot of load times between events (though they are fortunately not too long) | video-games_xbox |
Review after compliting Vanilla vesion 100. I can honestly say I am impressed, the game world is huge and there is so many weapons and vehicles to use that you can go in guns blazing and remake any Rambo movie, or you can stealth it and remake any splinter cell game. Some weapons are just so useful, like the grenade launcher, the Buzzsaw, the ripper, the A-50 sniper rifle ( I might be forgetting the real name), and of course the crossbow or the Rebel, you can't loose with any of these guns and they all feel unique. Word of advise if you do play, invest in takedowns early on makes the game so much easier, as some heavies take so much ammo from early game weapons its no a good idea to try and take down a large group of them with just your guns.
but now on to the story, its short and the pay off might not be all that great no matter what your ending might be (btw there are multiple endings). I can honestly say that some of the side stories where way better than the actual main story line, like the sangri'la missions and the Kyrat Fashion week missions. Some of the other side quest are just that side quest, having you do a lot of fetch quest or races and they can get old really quick.
I can honestly say that once you finish the main story line there is no real reason to 100% the game, for example you may need to collect some mask that you missed and if you do finish what do you get? unlimited hired gun tokens (which I never even used at all thought the game!) just junk, what about all the races and collecting every propaganda poster gets you nothing, not even an in game recognition.
now on to the multiplayer and map editor, Map editor is great you can dump hours playing maps or making your own, my only con with this is that you can't really use some of the unique weapons from the game here, A+++ here. Multiplayer is interesting as you play rebels or super natural controlled hunters with special abilities an there are still people playing these modes as of the time of this writhing all modes are unique and interesting and are a must try.
In conclusion if you get this game consider getting the expansion packs because you might be over with this game really fast but man will it be a fun ride while it last, just not a ride you might come back later again. | video-games_xbox |
Wait for a bargain bin. I wish I had more good things to say about this game, but there really aren't any to be said. I have devoured each Borderlands game put out and had thoroughly enjoyed each one of them, including the DLC's, until this one.
Cons: Anti-Gravity is fickle. There are times where you're able to soar into the air as high as can be, but then there are other times where it just doesn't work like it does in other areas. Example: How am I able to achieve the same jump height indoors as I do outdoors, yet the running is completely different? I also can't stand anti-gravity features unless there is a way to disable them once you're done (Dead Space did this perfectly in my opinion; turn it on for a bit, and then turn it the hell off). One explosion can send you reeling into the vastness of space, and then you have to start over at the New-U. Also melee attacks will send you sprawling...not as far, but far enough to be a nuisance. Not to mention that everyone who has the __ same equipment you do __ seem to have a MUCH better version of it. I.e.- they can fly with their "double jump kits" and you can barely manage a boost to get you up to the point of qualifying as a "double jump".
Weapons and leveling. There are times where you ask yourself "How is this even a challenge? These morons are a joke to kill!" And then there are times when you ask yourself "How is this even fair? These morons are a joke to try to kill!" If you go do the side quests, it's a decent challenge most of the time, but if you're just wanting to breeze through the main story line, then you're screwed. The weapon drops are so infrequent when it comes to upgrades, you will probably have a weapon 5-11 levels lower than what you're equipped with before you get a substantial upgrade.
Story. Is there one? I'm assuming that there is a point in this game where it makes a point, but there are so many convoluted back alley quests that do nothing but try and shove completely unfunny and verbose Australian jargon down your throat, you will scratch your head and ask yourself what the hell you just heard. The worst part about this? You can't even skip ahead, the checkpoints don't appear until after their done with their rants, so you have to suffer through them over and over again. Pickle is easily the worst NPC character in the game's franchise to date. SO thick with a cockney accent (sorry Aussies) and jargon that I can't understand anything this She/him is saying (not trying to be rude, but I think "he" sounds and looks like a woman, but is clearly defined as a man in several occasions). There is no warming up to how all of this jargon is translated at all...well, except Janey Springs tries to educate you by defining "meat hunks" at the beginning of the game, but that's as far as it goes. I really didn't like the "Let's see how Jack became the antagonist that we all knew and loved" and how it was delivered. Yes, you knew from the start of the game that that is what you were going to be doing, but the ride just felt bland and unfunny from the first 5 minutes. There were too many quests that treated you as if you were a moron (dragging out how to play, stopping the game for EVERY TIME the game added something...just in case you hadn't played any of them....even though THE GAME GIVES YOU EXTRA STUFF FOR HAVING PLAYED THE OTHER 2 TITLES!!! SKIP THIS PART AND JUST LET ME PLAY THE STUPID GAME!!!! /rant ) and none of the NPC's really stood out as "I like this one". Not. A. Single. One. hearing claptrap's banter through various parts of the game was actually a welcomed blessing this time around, instead of being the "oh god, just shut up claptrap" from the last 2 games (I personally enjoyed his banter in all of them, but there was always a resounding 'sign' from gamers when his voice box was activated). Also, the entire game revolves around Athena being interrogated by the original 4 Vault Hunters, so why have the other 3 to play from? Every time there is a section of "the interrogation story" that pops through, it's always Athena speaking...even though she's not currently being played. None of the other 3, that apparently were supposed to be helping her, were even present during the opening sequence. Why? Are you trying to make Athena seem badass, or important this way?
Gameplay. The same as Borderlands 2...but broken. I had more frame rate issues, lag, frame drops (Once in Vorago Solitude I had an entire 10 seconds of "nope. Not going to run anything for the game during this segment" happen, and I ended up nowhere near where I was when it happened, AND was stuck in a rock) Not to mention that, as a game that is supposed to encourage, if not flat out demand, cooperative game play, it punishes you for playing it with others. Yes, you read that right: It punishes you for playing with others. I learned, the hard way, that if you are the guest in a friends game, and you play through THE ENTIRE GAME as the guest, and meticulously complete EVERY quest (including the horrible quest of collecting 50 white weapons...seriously. 50?! And then you stop us after every 10 to do something else completely unrelated to what is going on in another area? Trying to stretch out game play time, eh? ) You will NOT be rewarded with the achievement (not sure about the trophy) for your hard work and dedication. Yes, you heard me correctly. You. Do. Not. Get. The. Achievement. I'm not the first person to have this issue, and I doubt I will be the last until this gets patched.
On another note, most of the skill trees for each character seem to be lackluster at best. I was REALLY hoping to be able to dual wield pistols with Nisha from the start, after all it was in the opening cinematic that introduced her, right? Nope. You have to wait until at least level 25 to get this ability, and then it is only added as part of your special attack. Boring. Totally boring. She is, in my opinion, the worst character in the series, with Athena coming right before her, then Wilhelm, and finally Claptrap. Only because the insanity that is Claptrap's activated ability is too entertaining to dismiss as not being the top ability in the game. Period.
Also, why is it that once you're off the moon, and back onto the space station (spoiler alert???) does everyone no speak Australian? Are they indigenous to the moon in the future? Did Earth suck so bad that only the Aussie's took to the moon and the rest of the planet said "Well hell, I guess we have to live on a space station, instead of the moon; they have an embargo on anyone not Australian."? None of this makes any sense to me.
Pros: Claptrap.
Overall. My opinion overall is that Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel is nothing more than a "fan made, extended DLC". That is all it should have been. Nothing more, nothing less. Shorten the play time to cover 15 levels instead of 30. Tack it into Borderlands 2, and I would have enjoyed the hell out of it for $10 instead of this $60 monstrosity that doesn't deserve the over-glorification that it is receiving. | video-games_xbox |
Useful info about DLC and cross-title reward items here for you. It's a few years old (2015 as I write this) but still totally fun to play. Not as "open" as Elder Scrolls, not as linear as The Diablo games. Engaging story, interesting characters, decent fight mechanics, really a solid action-RPG. Choose your own character's race, class, and upbringing. Get recruited by the Grey Wardens. Feel the bitter sting of betrayal. Rebuild your reputation and regain your honor. Slay demons. Save the kingdom.
Instead of writing a full review, since there are so many of those already, I'm just posting some info that some of you may find useful after you purchase the game.
This version is ONLY the Dragon Age Origins game, without any DLC items or expansions. If you want a combo-pack of Origins with the major expansion set Dragon Age Awakenings, then look for the "Ultimate Edition" instead.
Bioware, in their infinite wisdom, has a habit of removing accessibility to various "reward" content for playing their cross-over games. For example there is a flash game called Dragon Age Journeys that unlocks three useful items in DA: Origins. But access to Journeys and those items expired several years ago. So they collected most of that sort of stuff for this game and are offering it for a bundle download at this site:
social.bioware.com/da2/dlc_bundle/
but you have to register for an account with Bioware first. Their online profile site will keep track of your Dragon Age heroes and choices throughout the series, as well as some aspects of your Mass Effect series progress if you also play that one. The reward items are available for PS3, Xbox 360, and PC (certain ones are only on PC) but YOU WILL NEED TO REGISTER YOUR GAME'S UPC CODE on the site to get access to the items. Remember that the UPC code is the same for every copy of the same game on the same system so you can use a friend's UPC if you buy it used without the original box, or if you're like me and you throw away your boxes immediately because they are too bulky to keep around the house so you put your games in a CD sleeve storage binder. They have items available for DA: Origins, the Awakening expansion, and DA 2.
Now a quick note about the expansion pack in case you are also going to look at some DLC stuff. The expansions are mainly designed to be played AFTER you beat the main game. Certain items from each DLC mission pack do not transfer into certain other expansions when you transfer your character! So you should probably do Origins, then Awakening, then return to Origins to finish up the other DLC expansions. Some of the "reward" items you might get from the Bioware site also don't transfer properly so be sure to un-equip them before you import your character into the Awakenings expansion.
And if you wish to continue the series, Dragon Age 2 allows you to import your character from either Origins or the Awakenings expansion. Some of your choices in this first game and its expansion will have lasting effects into the second game; some will not. I recommend exploring the Dragon Age wiki site or finding a decent walkthru guide for more information if you are a perfectionist about your gaming experience. Some of the Bioware site's "reward" items are specifically intended for use in Dragon Age 2. | video-games_xbox |
Intense fun. I'm new to the franchise, I don't even listen to a lot of rock & roll but I just haven't been able to put the guitar down. This is a great and interactive way to enjoy music that you normally might not listen to and put your concentration and dexterity through testing quite unlike any other video game experience.
Although I have never touched a guitar before I am accomplished pianist so I already had good finger discipline, however I definitely wasn't prepared for just how hard this could be. I had seen videos on Youtube published by thirteen year old kids with 100% accuracy on expert mode and thought 'How hard can this be?', well let me tell you, REALLY hard. I've just about got the hang of playing on Normal mode (>90% accuracy in most songs) and the fingertips of my left hand are currently tingling and slightly numb, and I haven't played for 12 hours now.
On the plus side the difficulty makes it extremely rewarding, when you pull of an unexpected flurry or climax to finale or hit a signature band moment in a song you love it's hard to resist the urge to get carried away in the moment and do something crazy like attempt to take a stage dive on your living room rug. This game rewards you for ramping up the difficulty not with additional score (although most bonuses do require you to play on the more difficult settings), but by simply making you feel really good about yourself for accomplishing it. I found having my wife nearby to witness my new found guitar hero brilliance helped with the good feeling of showing off, so I bought her a microphone so she could do the vocals and feel like she was part of the band.
On the negative side, there are some minor technical issues with the game. Sometimes the sound track will stutter and thus become out of sync with the highways which basically completely ruins the experience, forces you to pause and restart to get things back in sync. This only happened three times during the entire career though, so definitely not a show stopper. The learning curve is super-steep, and my wife had one go at the guitar and will not dare touch it again, the gap between the difficulty levels is extreme to say the least (you go from mastering one level to not being able to play a single song at the next level up), and there is also a lot of variance in difficulty between the songs themselves even at the same difficulty level. If you know the songs, great, if you don't you will struggle with the rhythm on the harder modes because you simply can't do it by reading the highway, the gems are too close together you have to just know the music. | video-games_xbox |
Well done Lionhead. Huh. Well, I'm posting this on February 7th, 2018 and the game came out nearly ten years ago. And it's STILL worth $60? I don't think so. Buy from a reputable seller here on Amazon, not new. 'Cause holy damn! I mean, the game is good, don't get me wrong. However, the first Fable was released way back in 2005, if I remember correctly, so we had been waiting a while for another and the sequel game looked stunning and worth the wait. And, for the most part, it was. I just don't see anyone paying $60 for a game that came out ten years ago if it's not some special collector's edition, which this isn't. That's just lunacy.
Anywho, on to the actual review of the game. Fable II is a continuation of sorts from the original Fable. It's set in the same world, Albion, with some of the same characters hinted at, but hundreds of years later. Oakvale, our favorite small-town home from the first game, is a shadow of what it once was and heroes have fallen into the stuff of legends. In fact, the main city of Bowerstone is the new hub of action. A madman named Lucien is your antagonist, ready to purge the world of its inhabitants due to the fact that he can't handle the chaos that comes with living. Instead of offing himself like a weaker human, he attempts to destroy the whole world with magic using a foreboding magical structure called The Spire. Ooh. Aah.
Typical of the Fable games is the issue of choice. The first Fable was one of the first games that kept a running record of your actions and how it affected how people viewed you. The same stands true for its sequel. Every action has a reaction in the world and how people view you. Some new doodads include a faithful dog, who is often my favorite part of the game, the ability to choose your gender (restricted only to Ms and Fs, but with the ability to cross-dress in the game), and more varied quests.
I am quite blown away, even still, by the graphics of the game, so that's a plus. The music is lulling, soft, and lovely. Combat is very similar to the first, but features charged spells for more ouchies. Another thing I kind of appreciate is that the game developers did away with Physical Shield from the first game. It, literally, made you invincible and, therefore, the game became incessantly easy if you just put all your upgrades to Physical Shield. There's less Will/Spell options in Fable II, but they are effective all the same. The monsters/human enemies are of a decent range, but nothing to write home about. Your dog, also, is of help, attacking after enemies who are knocked down, helping you to find treasure, and being an all around goofball while you use your expressions and "converse" with the people of Albion.
Like most Lionhead games, the comical relief is rampant and hysterical. The game is definitely for mature audiences for its lewd humor. Whether it comes from listening in on drunken rambles, reading a book, watching a drunk give over his dinner to the sidewalk, or being hit on by a homosexual, the game is obviously rather liberal with its humor and makes light of the story line. People will insult or love your appearance, run away screaming or come to gaze upon the sexiest wo/man alive. It's just plain fun. Your expressions are more varied and your dog chimes in once you teach him tricks and some of them are downright funny.
So what's so bad about this game? Why give it four stars?!!! THE MASSES MUST KNOW!!
Well, I played through it twice, with the intention of playing it three times as there are three, count 'em, three options at the end of the game to choose from. I just couldn't do it. It got boring, fast. Some of the BEST equipment you can only get after the completion of the game and it's, honestly, useless at that point. All that's left is time after defeating Lucien to get some achievement points. If that's your thing, then great, but I'm not one to put in an extra 8 hours into a game for 15 points to an achievement score that does nothing but portray how much or how little games dictate your life. Just not my thing. Again, it also bothers me that some of the best equipment is after the end of the game when the biggest, hardest boss is already defeated. Why do that? Why bother? And so, I stole a star away from that five star option.
However, the game IS fun and IS a blast to play through and you WILL love your dog and enjoy the lewd humor if you like that sort of thing. It's just not worth $60 ten years after its release. | video-games_xbox |
It's Okay, Nothing Profound. I think I originally began playing Bioshock several years ago, but wasn't leveled up enough or didn't have enough ammo. I remember reaching a point where I was battling a Big Daddy and only had a wrench to fight him with when all my ammo was exhausted. Being a few hours into the game, I didn't want to go back and never played it again.
I gave it another chance with the Bioshock Collection. Knowing how the first one played, I was stingy with my ammo and my magic, and that was sufficient in order to get me through the game, but this is my first criticism of the game. Imagine you are watching a movie and the main character spends ten minutes in each scene searching through drawers. It would mess with the flow of the movie, and in the same way for me, it messes with the flow of the game.
That's why I like straight shooters. You fight your way through a scene, pick up all the ammo that you need and you move on. It's fun and not work. Bioshock 2 was especially stingy on the ammo. I would finally kill a Big Daddy and use up all my ammo. For some reason, suddenly enemies would respawn, and I'd have to kill them too. It wouldn't be such a big deal except for the fact that I'd use 200 bullets and collect 20. It was a losing proposition which made me scrounge for large parts of the game. Bioshock 2 also had the pleasant experience of sending Big Sisters your way when there was virtually no ammo left in the level.
I will say, in some ways, this made me use all of the weapons in the game, like the turrets and hacking the cameras, but there were several times in Bioshock 2 when I wondered if I would be able to move on. The abundance of weapons is okay, but it can be a bit annoying to constantly have to switch, especially during battle. Sometimes, because of low ammo, I had to go to almost every weapon to finish a battle.
With that being said, they had a cool concept. The underwater environment and the 1920's theme were interesting. I would laugh when the characters in Bioshock 2 would speak in 1940's Hollywood style and say, "Why you ruffian, I should give you a good thrashing." The storyline in Bioshock 2 was a little weak, but it was your standard video game plot. (Get some stern warnings from the bad guy throughout the game, and at the end finally face them down).
Both Bioshock 1 and 2 were very difficult to begin the game, and then got almost too easy toward the end. In Bioshock 2, I didn't even use hardly any of my plasmids. I just had electricity 1, telekinesis 1, and leveled up my fire.
Bioshock Infinite - I'm currently in the middle of playing. At first I thought I'd like it more. It definitely has nicer graphics and I really enjoyed the carnival at the beginning of the game, where they teach you game concepts in the form of carnival games. The environments are really nice. The gameplay and story, however are a bit confusing. Whereas Bioshock 1 & 2 were super difficult, this one is almost a walk through the park. It's pretty easy to gun your way through a level, and if you die, there's really no penalty, as you will keep respawining while you enemies keep the same damage. The female character that follows you around reminds me of Fable or some sort of Disney movie. It seems like a very different game. Also, I have the strange, uneasy sense of not knowing what the heck is going on half of the time. I'm just kind of going from level to level, with half bits of half-baked story lines, and I have a feel for what is going on, but feel disconnected from the game in a way too.
With that being said, for the price you get three decent games, the updated graphics look good, and it will give you several hours of gaming time. Bioshock 1 &2 will make you search every last corner of the game in order to get through it, while Infinite can be played through in a hurry. For me, there are some major detractions to all of these games, but there are some enjoyable and challenging bright spots to them too. If you like more a traditional shooter, you might not like all the resource gathering, but if you're familiar with RPG's that make you work, then you should be okay. | video-games_xbox |
more than a little disappointing. After officially playing this game, I can say that it was a little more disappointing than anyhting. I haven't actually played the Live multiplayer, since my friend doesn't have a Live connection, but the single player was only 'alright'. I played the original on co-op with my friend when X-Box first hit the streets and at the time I thought the game was pretty cool. I didn't think it was groundbreaking or revolutionary or anything, but it was kinda fun nonetheless. This time around, it' pretty much more of the same thing. Enter hallway A and fight bad-guys. Proceed to room B and do the same. It gets REALLY repetetive REALLY fast. Do I really need a room with eight doors when you can only really go through one of them? Do I need the smae bland textures over and over for three hours straight. I guess there's not a lot more to expect from a FPS, but other games have done it way better in the past, even if not as flashy. I must admit that the graphics are superb and the enemies are kind of neat, but even the new weapons were uninspiring. Basically you get the 'bad-guys' version of sniper rifles and a few others to round out the selection, but they're nothing to drop your jaw at. I think my biggest qualm with the game is that, despite all of their focus and attention supposedly going into the single player campaign, Bungie seemed to skip everything which has made past games good. Shorter, more varied levels would have been welcomed, but instead I'm forced to tread through room after room of extremely similar surroundings and extremely similar enemies and firefights. The A.I. was always a cut above your run-of-the-mill fps', but it is still flaky at times. Enemies, while having more options and more strategies, still run into the same patterns and reactions most of the time. You'd expect a big berzerker guy (those big guys who have the alien version of the plasma rifle - essentially the same thing, only red...whoopdee doo.) who's running top speed at you to at least stop once a plasma grenade it thrown and sticks to his head, but apparently not. Don't even bother trying, because he'll just run after you full-speed without a flinch and you'll both end up dying. Since there is no such thing as 'true' A.I., this is to be expected, but you'd assume a game being toted as the 'ultimate' in A.I. and battle tactics to fare better than that. Another point that was a little frustrating was more often than not, me and my friend were in situations where we had no idea what to do next. With no mission objectives or goals, there were too many times where gameplay would halt to a stop simply because we had no clue where to go next. Now, we're not the smartest lot around, but when the entire game literally consists of shooting enemies, they could have tried harder to at least make it a bit more obvious as to where the next batch of enemies were. The story is weak, but so are all stories found in games such as these.
Overall, it's a good game, but I was more than dissappointed in it, mostly due to the fact that it was hyped up to ridiculous proportions. | video-games_xbox |
Just like old times! The best Sonic game since the Sega Genesis era. I remember full-well the magic and feel of the original 1991 Second the Hedgehog Classic. Much of my leisure time was invested in that game and the music, bright colours, and adventurous levels, along with entertaining characters made for a game that more than 20 years later, remains among my all-time favorite video games. I would eventually go onto "Sonic The Hedgehog 2", "3", "Knuckles" and even "Sonic Spinball" all of which carved their own niche in my universe.
"Sonic 3D Blast" though, while good, I thought was where to a greater or lesser degree the series began to show some cracks in consistancy.
Eventually, as all consoles did, the Genesis Era came to an end around 1997 or early 1998 and I tuned out for years afterward. In 2003, I went on to the Gameboy Advance "Sonic Advance" games and the newer appearance for Sonic came about. It took me some time but those games were fun to play, although they fell a bit short of the originals.
Then there were some duds like the 2006 game that for some reason was missing some magic, and that god-awful 'remake' of the original classic that was released on Gameboy Advance was virtually unplayable. I was become worried that the franchise was about to fade into the history book.
Fast-forward to 2011 and low and behold! We have a game called "Sonic Generations" and WOW! This game is fantastic and pays a marvelous tribute to the original classic version of our beloved Blue Hedgehog, while also maintaining the current-day version of him.
In this game, the 'classic' Sonic found his universe intermingling with the 'future' Sonic as they encounter mysterious 'time holes' caused by a mysterious force of evil that has the ability to travel between universes. As in previous games battle 'their' hated archnemesis Dr. Robotnik/Dr. Eggman who aims to utilize this mysterious evil force to establish domination across these universes after all colour is stripped from their respective 'realms' leaving them lifeless 'white spaces'. Now the two 'Sonics' must team up to stop Robotnik/Eggman and restore their 'realities' back to normal again.
With the two Sonics, the very best of both worlds are brought together onto the Xbox 360 with the ability to alternate between the 2D Classic Sonic with 2D style platform gameplay, and the 3D 'Current' version of Sonic and utilizing 3D gameplay, both of which are required in order to beat Robotnik. The graphics are gorgeous and must I say it, the music is FANTASTIC! Not since "Spinball" or "Sonic and Knuckles" did I deliberate let Sonic lose lives just to dance to the background music. The music for some of the Bonus Challenges rank right up there with the best of the Sega Genesis-era music.
Some of the levels are a bit ludicrious, especially some of the challenge stages but overall, the plot is great, the gameplay is also great, and the overall magic of Sonic The Hedgehog is back with a vengeance. Sega has definately created a lot of stinkers in the last few years of gaming but with "Sonic Generations", this is Sega's redemption and overall, I rank this game as my favorite Sonic game since "Sonic & Knuckles".
My only major gripe is that Sonic, in his 2 and 3D versions is the only playable character. Perhaps a future sequel, if there ever is one, can utilize the other characters down the road. Anyway, for what it is, "Sonic Generations" is hands down the best Sonic game in the last decade, and is right up there with the Genesis-era games. Highly recommended!
On a side note, I rank Dr. Eggman/Robotnik as the greatest archvillain ever created. | video-games_xbox |
I wanted to rate this game lower. ..but my mind was blown.
Like many of you, I was truly excited to get my hands on BSI when it released. After sitting down for my first play through which lasted about 3 hours, I wanted to rate the game a 7/10. Reasonable right? It's only the start after all... 50% of the way through.. 7.5/10. 75% of the way through, 8/10. After completing it, words cannot express enough. I want to curse a lot in my review here because that is how I felt after beating it. And I mean that in a good way.. 10/10.
What makes this game so great is that you have very little clue of what you're doing, what you're getting involved in, and why it is important. I guess a lot of games are like that, but I felt that way through the majority of the game. My whole idea of the game was that I had to save a girl, kill the bad guy, and write off the main character's problems after it is done. Well, without spoiling it, because I feel like I will if I continue with the review, I will just end it with "wow, what a phenomenal experience."
The Good:
- Story
- Setting
- The way the pieces were molded together (character, story, etc)
- Some exploration
- Fun combos to use
- Elizabeth
- Gear choice
- Voice acting was fantastic
- I am now going to buy BS1 again and start BS2 since I've hardly played any of it
The so-so:
- Some weapons weren't all that great, but not terrible. I managed to complete all the weapon achievements in my first play through.
- Crosshairs. I've created better crosshairs for Team Fortress Classic (old HL mod), but still not terrible.
- Some dips in FPS at times, but only once did it happen during combat which was very short.
Replay value? It is there. I may do so via 1999, but I don't know if I will be able to handle a few moments. But, I may replay it just to walk through the story again to see how many times it hinted things without me knowing.
In conclusion, personally did not care for the first 50% of it because of what I imagined the game to be. However, after diving more into what I was experiencing, and respecting the artists' choices of how they drew out the game.. I found myself to have finished one of the best games I have played in a long while. | video-games_xbox |
Deep, bloody, funny. In 1992 I was forbidden to play a game I had never heard of called Mortal Kombat. Apparently my mom saw it on the news and instinctively forbade that I even touch the controversial game. Needless to say that my brother, father and I, perhaps through some act of defiance, all sought this game out... more or less to find out what the big deal was. What we discovered is how frighteningly deadly the combination of Daniel Moir behind the controls of Scorpion were. To this day I have gone completely undefeated in the original Mortal Kombat, not even the computer stood a chance.
Mortal Kombat 2 followed, and while the computer would get the best of me only one human opponent was able to beat me. My reign as Tooele's champion or Mortal Kombat ended with the third installment of the series, and when Mortal Kombat trilogy and Ultimate MK3 came out I was burnt out. The fatalities were cheesy, the fighting redundant and cheap, and the babalities, friendships, and animalities were just so over done I gave up. Needless to say I was there for Mortal Kombat Mythologies, but like most people ignored Special Forces all together. MK 4 came and went, as did MK Gold, which was fun for a while, but the fatalities were just too complicated to pull off on the Dreamcast controller.
Despite having out grown Mortal Kombat, for some reason the title called my name when I went to buy Metroid Prime and Fusion. "Daniel... master me!" I couldn't resist and I succumbed to the temptation.
The game is completely different in terms of game play, and the story surprisingly refreshing. Liu Kang is dead... now what? New Tournament, new characters, a deep fighting engine, the return of some old favorites, and Scorpion is still as deadly as ever.
Like Super Smash Bros Melee there is a ton of stuff to unlock, everything from hidden characters, to production art, and much more. In addition the fatalities are now much easier to do, which is nice. The game no longer requires the perfect distance to execute a fatality, as MK 4 did, which was a pain. The downside is that the fatalities, for the most part, are still cheesy, and while they are bloody they still don't have that horror element that the first two had. There was something scary about those fatalities, but ever since MK 3, they have been outlandish and silly, but they are at least so outlandish that the sick minded (such as myself) will get a genuine chuckle out of the ridiculousness of it all.
Graphics are very good, but still could have been better. Sound effects are great, but the music isn't as good as past Mortal Kombat games. All in all this is the best thing to happen to the series since MK 2, but its still not as good as the first two games were. I recommend the XBox version, as the game seems to be optimized for this system, if not go with the GameCube version as its almost just as good, with only subtle differences graphically. The PS 2 version's a bit too slow for my taste. | video-games_xbox |
ALMOST)perfect. Nowadays it seems that the only sports games to buy are from EA sports, an industry giant that has made some amazingly fun and realistic games. So when you ask me what game to buy for NCAA football action, of course this game is the first thing to come to mind. However, there ARE some flaws with this otherwise steller game.
The biggest thing that I find irritating is how there really is no setting for the A.I. if you're an average gamer. When I switched in between Junior Varsity and Varsity, for instance (approximately novice and normal settings) I found that the game went from boringly easy to (sometimes) impossibly hard. Generally speaking, the things that made the difference where situations that only annoyed, not really challenged. For instance, i found that in several key plays, I would suddenly, even with a hurried play, not be able to get the play off before Delay of Game was called. Other times, my linemen would, upon inspection, simply let the deffense past them to sack my QB or stuff a well designed running play. Once, even, in a crutial last minute touchdown attempt, the game called a Timeout [FOR ME], just two seconds before i was about to start a play. The end result? I got down to the two yard line and ran out of time. If only I had an extra TO, i wonder where that went? Oh, yes, that's right, the game felt it nccessary for me to use it earlier...
The deffensive scheme wasn't exactly air-tight either. If I played the D-Line i found that my CB's and Safeties would often stand around and not cover the reciever. When i would play CB or Safety, the Linemen wouldn't put any pressure on the QB, and he would often run for a first down. This wouldn't be so bad if the controls really allowed for the player selection to be consistent. I often found that, jsut when I was getting used to switching to the player closest to the ball, the game would sometimes switch me to a player in a very awkward position much further from the ball than other players. The result? A way off tackle and TD for the other team.
These are really all my gripes from renting the game several times, then buying it, going through four seasons all the while. If it's your first time playing the game, its going to be a blast for your. Cool features like Sports Illustrated covers, create a school (and stadium), and Mascot grudge matches make the game worthwhile, and I definately recommend the game to anyone who's not really picky about playing an absolute realistic game of college ball (most people aren't). The game gets 4 stars from me, but add another star if you're a college fan. All players are sure to find some enjoyment here. | video-games_xbox |
A great free-for-all for Mortal Kombat fans. Mortal Kombat has fixed a lot of problems with their latest release, Mortal Kombat Armageddon. There are trillions of characters and some fun mini-games too.
The basic plot - as if this blood-drenched game really needed a plot - is that the Gods are sick of all the fighting going on. They send their two sons down to try to get things under control. In the meantime, there's a gigantic pyramid in which the various Kombatants can duke it out to see who reins supreme.
There are many ways to play in Mortal Kombat Armageddon. There is a story mode where you do have a plot - you walk along paths in jungles, explore spaceships, have random fights as you go, gathering up coins and treasures. In arcade mode, you have instant access to about 60 different characters in a series of fights. If you get stuck with one character, you can try again with a new one.
The characters are drawn from all of the Mortal Kombat games. Some only showed up briefly in previous games. If you've been following up on the Mortal Kombat saga, you'll see all sorts of references to previous situations and feuds.
All the coins you earn in the various stages can be used to unlock items - new skills, new outfits, and more. They actually tell you what you're going to unlock, too! That's a nice change. Also, there's only one type of coin - so everything you earn goes into one bank account for you to spend however you wish.
There is a REALLY cool character creating system where you can set up a character, male or female, with exactly the hair, eyes, body shape and costume you want. The tweaking is pretty impressive with eye color, nose shape and more. You expect this level of detail from a RPG - but from a fighting game it's a great bonus.
Speaking of bonusses, if you like games like Super Bombad Racing, you're in for a treat. They include an entire racing game as a bonus, with little cartooney versions of Mortal Kombat characters zipping around on a track.
Are there downsides to the game? Well, while the arenas you fight in are destructable, have the ability to go from one area to the other and have interactive items, they are not as "lushly gorgeous" as a few other XBox fighting games.
Also, while it's pretty tame now compared to other mature games, it's worth noting that Mortal Kombat is very bloody. When this series first came out, a lot of people were in an uproar over it. Now the blood spurting out seems almost normal. Still, not a game for little kids.
It also seems a bit silly that you have fully detailed cinematics - sometimes VERY long cinematics - setting up situations ... but when you end an important battle you often get a text message saying "And then [insert important boss name here] decided to stop fighting and run away". It's a bit anticlimactic.
Still, these are minor complaints in a game that is really quite stellar. They let you play tons of characters right from the beginning, so you can easily get to your favorites. They have a ton of things to unlock, and the coin system is very easy. You know WHAT you're going to unlock.
And, to be honest, I *love* that they have male and female characters, side by side, kicking butt. I've seen male and female players choosing both male and female characters without any problem, knowing that both can be equally strong and skilled. That really makes me happy, that we've reached this point.
Highly recommend for mature fighting game fans. | video-games_xbox |
Fallout 3: What it is, and what it isn't. There have been many assertions made that Fallout 3 is nothing more than Oblivion with guns. These assertions are largely accurate. If you liked Oblivion (or, given the color palette, Morrowind), you will like Fallout 3, as it is better executed than Oblivion was. If you didn't care for Oblivion (I don't like FPS RPG hybrids - they typically don't do either genre justice), then Fallout 3 may leave you cold. As a fan of the original Fallouts, I think the Oblivionesque take on the game destroys a lot of the fun of the original game design. Others may disagree.
What I like about the game:
Some really good quests - involved, and more than fetch this object here (there are a number of Fedex type quests, but there are also some real gems).
V.A.T.S. combat- of of the few things that got quasi carried over from the original turn-based roots, V.A.T.S. is a lot of fun to use, and the death animations are fantastic.
What I don't like about the game - Outside of V.A.T.S., the combat is that of a generic FPS. When are developers going to realize that that playstyle has absolutely been flogged to death? If you want an FPS, play Farcry or F.E.A.R.
The Boxes full of junk- if you have played the Elder Scrolls games, you know what I am talking about. Millions of boxes full of absolute crap. Somebody at Bethesda needs to be told that this isn't any fun AT ALL.
The Perks seems to be an afterthought, as many of them are nothing more than skill Boosters. Tagging skills no longer affects the rate at which they advance. Voice acting - some of the Oblivion voice actors have been reused, and there is not enough actors to go around. This kills immersion.
I guess my final thoughts are that I discovered that you can change the setting of a game, but if you keep the playstyle, you haven't changed much at all. I had flashbacks where for a split second, I thought I was playing an Elder scrolls game. The use of some of the same mechanics and the same voice actors really contributed to this effect. Some people may like this sense of deja vu. I hated it. Overall, Fallout 3 is a decent game. It's just not the kind of game I wanted from the Fallout franchise. | video-games_xbox |
Titanfall stops short of being all that it could be. As many now have heard, the game has no campaign mode. While that is a problem for some, perhaps many, of the consumers who bought this game, my focus is on the multiplayer and the marks it hits, but also where it falls short. The campaign, for the sake of mention, is basically a very light coating of story, that is at times incomprehensible, that is added in the form of short cutscenes before a few missions and some dialog while the missions are ongoing. The campaign lasts about 9 missions, but now that few people play the game, its nearly impossible to complete any campaign missions.
The multiplayer is classic call of duty style FPS, it is fast paced and often frantic. Instead of "kill streaks" you get giant titans, which as some other reviews have mentioned, often go down with relative (and disappointing) ease. Long story short, titans are somewhat of a disappointment and you require a great degree above average skill to use them to great effect. Essentially, charging into battle with your titan is a waste of a titan, because it WILL go down sooner than you'd expect. You have to be smart about how you use titans or they're rendered utterly useless gimmicks. That said, getting in and out of the titans, when it works properly, is pretty cool and they can be used to great effect, just under limited circumstances and when using appropriate strategy.
The gameplay was smooth when the game was first released, I find it is a tad more sluggish now that a few months have passed and less people play, but it may be my imagination. Unless my eyes deceive me, I'm seeing everyone's latency bars at 3-4 bars instead of 5 bars, this has become the new norm. What it means is that most players are now experiencing some degree of lag while playing. There are only a few guns in the game and many of them are utterly useless. Like in many of the call of duties of years past, most players use the same 2-4 guns, but with the majority playing with the standard automatic assault rifle (for some reason, theres only one.) There are just enough types of guns, but not nearly enough going on here to keep you playing. Frankly, I only play this game because COD:Ghosts is downright awful and lets be real here, there are not many next-gen online FPS options available right now, you can count them on half of one hand. Further, how many online FPS games that are out are worth playing? Well, I would argue this game isn't a terrible place to settle, but it stands to reason that the game would have seen limited success if COD:Ghosts had been better, or if another FPS like Halo or Destiny had been released at the same time.
The game could have been great, but what you're getting, as many other reviewers have alluded, is merely an unfinished beta of a game that you paid full price for. The titans are cool, but there isn't much replay value here. My primary issue with the "regen system" which is this games version of call of duty's prestige system, is that it forces you to complete certain "challenges" before you may complete a regen. Each regen is different and has different challenges. What this was likely meant to do, is to encourage players to use different weapons and experience the game more fully, what it ends up doing however, is forcing the few players who play to use weapons that are down-right awful if they want to get any sense of progression from the game. Lastly, all I can do is express disappointment at the new trend for developers: releasing half-finished games to the general public at full price and expecting us to play and enjoy them. We are essentially paying for the anguish of discovering all the games positives and shortcomings. The latest update did make some positive changes to the matchmaking and the balancing of weapons, which was much needed, but many weapons are still down-right terrible, and I am often stuck on losing teams. Frankly, most games are decided not by the skill of the team, not by the success of the matchmaking, but by an excellent performance by one or two individual players. There are still many bugs in the game and lots to be fixed or improved upon, but if you like online FPS, you basically don't have too many choices, so you may as well try this game out. I'd like to close by saying that this game could have been great, and is great in some respects, but is lacking in many of the details.
Update:
I'm lowering the score of the game from 3/5 to 2/5 stars, although I considered lowering it to one star. Frankly, this game is an overpriced social experiment, like most of the terrible games released for next gen consoles. It is unacceptable for developers to release unfinished games with no features, a bunch of unpleasant drawbacks and force consumers to do things they just flat out dislike. The prestige system, as discussed above, is terrible. While the way they have it set up is genius from a development standpoint, thats irrelevant because this isn't a game for developers, its for consumers to enjoy. In other words, we did not pay money to be Guinea pigs for some unpleasant digital social experiment. And where that experiment leads to negative feedback as to some of the features, you remove them, period. The regeneration system makes a game I would otherwise enjoy much more, all the less enjoyable. The only reason they are getting away with this, is because there is literally no other FPS worth playing because COD and BF were flops this year (which is the subject of multiple lawsuits and I think is a great example of how unacceptable it is to release junk.) So if you purchase this game, you may enjoy the first one or two prestige, but I promise you, every single prestige after that will be unpleasant. Also, if you happen to be a good player, prepare to be teamed up with the worst players imaginable 80% of the time, which just adds to the frustration that the prestige system requires you to complete challenges that are either stupidly difficult, or just down-right annoying. The worst part about it, is that you can play this game quite a bit, but because of the design flaws, you get sick of it and end up hating it, only to maybe pick it up later, but only because there is literally no other FPS available. So as said in my earlier review, if you want to have some fun with big robots and don't care about prestige, your rank, your scores, or any of the things that most FPS players care about, this game may still be of some value to you. If you are a "completionist," perfectionist, or competitive gamer, you will likely dislike this game as much or more than I do.
Playing this game is like living in a midevil land, ruled by a faceless tyrant, you are told what weapons to use, what to do with them, and how you will play. If you follow the prestige system, you are required to do the challenges, which usually amount to using really terrible weapons and doing a lot of really difficult stuff (if only because you have to do it with terrible weapons.) Am I complaining about challenges? Nope, I'm complaining about being forced to complete specific challenges that make the game less fun. These challenges are mandatory. If you want to progress YOU HAVE TO COMPLETE THEM! If that were all, it would be fine, but when you add that to the fact that you get matched with people who suck, in a game with terrible spawns and lots of stupid little bugs or design defects, you end up hating the game and rage quitting a lot. Selling video games is not unlike running a business, you want your customers to be happy, you want them to enjoy their experience, you do it for the customers. I feel like this is the love child of Respawn and its development team, but they didn't think at all about what sorts of people would enjoy playing or about the long-term success of the franchise. Long story short, unless the developers really put some effort into releasing a proper game next time, they will likely go bankrupt, because as the game is now, they cannot compete with other FPS. I expect no one will play once the new FPS come out in Fall of 2014. | video-games_xbox |
I don't get the hate for this game. I don't get the hate for this game. It is not perfect (Ill get to that in a bit) but I think its great. For years everyone complained about the tank controls for Resident Evil. So they switched things up for Resident Evil 4, which debuted to great reviews and sales. Resident Evil 5 was a continuation of the style of 4 with 360/PS3 era graphics, and this game is an even more pumped up version of 5. There are 4 separate campaigns in this game, each with their own style. Leon's has crowds of zombies in an urban area, reminiscent of RE2. Chris's starts to introduce you to different morphing enemies, but is really more of a military type shooter more in line with RE5. Jake's campaign is more like Resident Evil 3 with a Nemesis type creature that you have to deal with the entire campaign. I must confess I haven't made it through Ada's campaign but from what I hear it has more puzzle solving. The result is that what you get 4 games in one in what amounts to a greatest hits version of Resident Evil.
The graphics are the best the series has seen yet, and probably rank among the best of the 360/PS3 generation. The lighting effects in particular are outstanding. The fluid animations for the various grotesque enemies are an accomplishment as well.
The controls are the same as Resident Evil 4 and 5. I do have a few complaints here. First, there are a few times where the game takes control of the camera when it wants you to look at something while you are still in control of a character. This is a mistake on the part of the developers. A game should NEVER do this. It creates a sense of nausea, because your body is expecting the camera to do one thing while you are pressing the stick but the game does another. This could have been easily fixed by taking control completely away from the player, letterboxing the screen (a visual cue that this is a cutscene), and showing what the dev wanted the player to look at. Fortunately these times are few and far between. Second niggle: In Chris's campaign there are a number of tight corridors, with many turns that do not fit well with the field of view of the camera, I hear that there is a title update where you can change the field of view of the camera. This is only an annoyance for one or two areas. Third niggle: I did not use the new cover system at all, and I found it to be a minor annoyance.
Finally, this is not a traditional survival horror game. This is not a complaint of mine, but it seems to be a complaint of many RE fans out there. It is a action/horror game with an emphasis on the action. Lots of gunplay. There are a few vehicle/turret stages which are not the best parts of the game, but serve as a breather to break up the walk and shoot sections. Personally I recognize that these sections are there to give a little variety and found the change of pace welcome, even if the quality isn't as good as the shooting sections.
I am giving this game 5 stars. I have been playing through the Resident Evil games that I had never played before lately. I played Resident Evil 2 on my Vita just before starting 6, and prior to that I played RE4, and the Revelations games. I enjoy them all and appreciate what they each brought to the table without having expectations on any of them. If you take this game on its merits and what is done well it is a great game. Not a perfect game, but a great one nonetheless. | video-games_xbox |
What every gamer wants is the XBOX system. The X Box is not Microsoft's first step into the world of video gaming. In the 1990's, Microsoft made their Microsoft PC games which didn't really do well compared to other Pc Companies like Sierra, IdSoftware, and Blizzard. So failing at PC Games , Microsoft went back to what they do best, develop Windows Applications and Software and making money. Microsoft planned out their XBOX strategy well: They delayed the XBOX several days to ensure that there were enough units available.
Setting up the Xbox
Just like old and new game systems like the Sega Master System to the Playstation setting up the XBOX is no big deal :All you basically need is a tv or vcr with and audio and video ports (the yellow and red holes) and connect them with the
AV cables. Then plug into the power cord into the electric jack and you should be ready to rock.
The Powerful Capabilities and Features of The Xbox
The XBOX comes with Ethernet port for fast access to the internet, but the drawback is that you have to dsl , a cable modem, or isdn to take advantage of this. The XBOX also comes with an 8 gigabyte hard drive (8 billion bytes in Computer Terms) and a powerful NVIDIA Graphics chip.
The 8 gb drive can be used for connecting online to Microsoft games site, saving game data (thus allowing you to play the game for a long time without it having to load)., downloading updates to your games and putting your own music in it.
The music capabilities of the XBOX are impressive: You can customize music mixes that can be played instead of a games standard soundtrack. You can also copy several cd music tracks at once. The NVIDIA chip delivers stunning 3d graphics mixed with fantastic dynamic polygons that give shapes a great digital look
The Control:
Critics of the XBox controller says it's too big and uncomfortable. For the most part, their right, but after playing with the control you get used to it and begin to enjoy it. It has slots for memory cards, a rumble features (like the Dreamcast), analog sticks and the regular diagonal pad that all game developers use.
In a way it's very like the PS and PS2 controller. You have the standard start and select button , 6 buttons and an L and R button. If you don't like the control that came with original XBOX, don't fret, you can buy the MadCatz Control Pad Pro for $35.00 This controller is really cool, the control is much smaller and fits into you're hands nicely.
You get 2 buttons for start and select, then 4 buttons on the side for easy placement. I guess what makes this control really cool, is that it feels just a PC Gamepad. It has a nice feel, isn't big, and everything is layed very nicely.
The Games on the XBOX:
Halo: Halo is without a doubt the best of the X-Box launch titles. I read all the reviews of Halo, but most of the reviews left out important and interesting details. So being a hardcore gamer myself I present all the details to you:
Halo was originally conceived as third person shooter and not
a first person shooter.
A First person shooter is the type of game where you actually see you're character from head to toe, combat all the enemies of the game. Games like Playstation's ''Tommorow Never Dies'' to ''Spiderman'' to Pc Games like ''Rainbow Six'' are first person perspective games. Jason Jones, lead designer of Halo and co-founder of Bungie Studios furthermore added, that Halo was at one time a real-time strategy game like ''StarCraft'' or ''Command and Conquer''.
Games involving killing aliens aren't new, ''Aliens'', ''Duke Nukem'', ''Metal Slug'' are several games that use this premise. However, Halo manages to breathe new life into this storyline. Starting with the amazing, artificial intelligence.
You received several teammaters to help fight the aliens, but the teammates aren't you're ordinary Cpu clones that just stand and shoot, then get shot by the enemy and die stupidly.
They act and think like real humans. Very Impressive Indeed.
Adding to the realism of the AI is that several of you're marine teammates have their own personalities some of which will have you laughing very hard. For example, one of you're friends might take down a bad guy and say ''I would have been you're daddy , but that dog beat me over the fence''. But the good stuff doesn't end there. You can play Halo online via multiplayer with up to 4 of you're buddies (Let the good times roll).
Multiplayer Featuers of Halo
Online you pick which arena you want to play in, which
weapons you want to use,and what type of gameplay you want.
Other Great Games on The XBOX
Lord of the Rings, FellowShip Of The Ring by Universal Interactive!!! Tony Hawk Pro Skater, Blood Wake, Night Caster , Ninja Gaiden, Star Wars Jedi Academy, Robocop, Jet Fusion and many more.
The Bottom Line:
Microsoft has been a force in the software world for some time, but now Microsoft will now also been as a force in the Gaming World as well. There are hundreds of games that are available for the XBOX.
The oppurtunities are endless into the potential of the system. | video-games_xbox |
Not like Ghost Recon at all, and a terrible experience in it's own right. As many others have said, this game is nothing like the previous Ghost Recon games. Don't try to compare it.
The experience as it's own game is awful. The interface is confusing and clunky. At certain points of character progression, you're offered choices between attachments, but since your characters are split between factions and their items are completely different, you are shown the choices for the faction you're currently in. I've been playing for a bit hoping the game gets better, and I still don't know if I make a choice if it affects the other faction, because when I go into a new room and get placed on the other faction, I try to set up that faction's weapons to match the one I was just using so I can sortof know what to expect, which takes up all of the lobby time so I don't remember to go see what happened with the progression choice.
If that paragraph didn't make sense, then I got my point across. The UI is too bloated with flashy/glitchy menu options and graphics to give it the futuristic technological feel, it doesn't get you right into the game like UI should.
The Game Modes:
Campaign - The only part you'll probably have fun with. If you have 4 people or not, some of the mechanics you encounter are pretty neat (synchronized kills, hostage-guarding formations). Some of the reviews mentioned that it's on rails - and that's exactly what it is. This game should stop trying to copy Call of Duty.
Guerilla - Where Terrorist Hunt should be, you have defense against waves. This can be fun but just becomes tiresome. Lots of games have wave defense, but only Ghost Recon and Rainbow Six have had really good terrorist hunt modes.
Multiplayer - The real crap. Where Ghost Recon used to have sprawling maps with cover for snipers as well as close quarters, this version of the game has more Call of Duty-esque run 'n' gun. It's also ironic that it only has objective-based multiplayer because they "didn't want to make it run 'n' gun". So what happens when you have an objective across the map that you have to take and defend in 60-120 seconds? Definitely not strategic combat, not with match-made strangers. In previous Ghost Recons, if you rushed a match you got to sit and wait until the next one. Sure that may not be for everyone, but just because Call of Duty recycles the same old crap and sells out doesn't mean you should copy them.
Wrap-up:
I've had the game since launch and given it multiple tries, and only a few brief nights of fun where the rest are just frustrating. You're going to run into better players and not win every match, but when everything changes one night to the next, there's definitely something weird going on. Some of the bullet/hit recognition is actually worse than Call of Duty Black Ops (in Black Ops, for me, it was easier to hit people with a crossbow half a block away than with an automatic weapon 4 feet away from behind). Last night in Ghost Recon, I had run off someone's screen - literally the kill cam evaluation showed me run straight past someone and they fired three times with a sniper rifle (not even scoped, just aimed down the sights) up some steps where I came from and somehow killed me. That was the kicker - that's not even lag, that's just garbage. I've already gone to GameStop and canceled my preorder for the upcoming expansion. | video-games_xbox |
Saint's Row 2. I bought the CE of this game at launch (Major waste of money, very cheap extras) and lost interest within a few days of playing for reasons I will note below. I'm writing this "review" now as I'm 'bout to start playing it again to just get through the game and feel I must get off my chest the problems. Not a review so much as a rant as I'm sure everyone has a fair idea of what this game is.
For starters, GTA IV lacks in comparison to GTA:SA. IV was a major step backwards in comparison to SA. Saint's Row I was a huge fan of as it was the same concept of GTA but taken to a higher level in terms of customization. Of course much of the praise for SR could be attributed to the fact the last GTA wasn't on a current-gen system but considering how GTA IV was a major setback, not valid. After the release of GTA IV, as hyped as I was for it, I was really looking forward to SR2 even more which sadly was a greater let down than GTA IV.
SR2 is the exact same game as SR. From the start I knew it was going to be set in the same city some years later. Very nice idea as opposed to GTA that goes from city to city, especially the larger map size and claimed underground areas. The game itself failed to deliver on this. At the start of the game I was wondering what changes were made to the city as it felt and looked exactly the same until I seen the new college area. Okay, and there are a few other new areas but for the most part the entire city is pretty much the same thing and it doesn't feel too much larger at all. The underground areas are very limited and nothing as it was said to be in interviews before the release.
So basically this is the same game from controls to graphics to location to everything as the first. The only difference I noticed was the music wasn't as good as there is absolutely no Chat Radio. Since GTA 3, a staple of this "genre" of game has been the chat radio station as it really bring the city to life and immerses the player into the virtual world. In SR2 there is no chat radio. In fact, out of the few stations there are I really don't care for a single. Upon this revelation of there being no chat radio station was when I stopped playing the game as I just couldn't tolerate this overpriced, lesser repeat of SR. (Yes, it took me a good number missions before I realized the lack of a chat station as I just couldn't believe it)
Another issue is how short the game is. My brother played through the game in a few days and was done, another reason I didn't care to finish. Was really disappointing.
Overall this game is an immensely disappointing sequel. As I said, SR in comparison to GTA had so much more going on especially in comparison to IV but SR2 totally dropped the ball. This game could've probably been released a week after the first SR considering the very, very little things done to it. The only really noticeable change is the character customization at the start which is far more robust but it feels that is the only improvement other than the numerous de-provements. On that, I don't care for the voice overs either.
You have three voices to choose from and for the male character you have one that sounds black, one that sounds Hispanic, and one that sounds British. The Hispanic voice is the most annoying as it sounds totally "white" except for certain phrases that suddenly sound Hispanic. Very, very poor job from the "white" guy feigning a Hispanic gangster.
Overall I must urge you to rent this. Obviously I regret buying the CE due to the extreme cheapness of the extras made in China but even the standard edition, with what I knew moments after playing it I wouldn't have bought this title whatsoever.
You may find this a fun game, which it is, but do yourself a favor and save the money. You can easily run through this within a week. As for me, I didn't find this game fun at all as I was looking forward to the sequel and this just totally takes the cake at worse, least-done, cheapest sequel.
Another thing, aside from the lack of a chat station the radio advertisements are nearly non-existent. Aside from the chat station it is fun to listen to the ads inbetween songs and the DJs chatter (True in both GTA AND SR), in SR2 you have no chat station and you have barely any commercials and almost no DJ chatter.
Very, very weak sequel. | video-games_xbox |
Spectacular. Grand Theft Auto IV is one of the few games not completely put to shame by Zelda: Ocarina of Time which was released over ten years ago. There are so many aspects to this game that are so well done. The game in itself is very funny but in the sense that it makes fun of minorities a lot. There are many fun missions in this game, but a few that are just filler. In this game you can: rob a bank, kill strip club managers, fly helicopters through the city, gun down everyone, snipe people from the rooftops, kill many drug dealers, become a drug messenger, drive drunk, give a homeless man some money, play pool, did I say kill people?, blow up cars with car bombs, get private dances in a Gentleman's club, pick up a prostitute and do what you do with prostitutes, kill her, take your money back, get into street races, meet a very funny and creepy serial killer, and SO much more. Yes, this game should be rated "M" in every sense possible and it doesn't make you violent as much as it gives you ideas. I mean that in the best sense possible.
The Special Edition is worth getting as it includes:
-A CD of some of the music in the game (probably the biggest reason to get it)
-A lock case that isn't enormous but may come in handy
-An art book that is sort of interesting
-A very small duffel bag which can fit inside the lock case to give you an idea
-A free month of Xbox Live Gold Subscription, though those trials would not be valid anymore as of 2/2/09
-The game in no different cover or anything different about it (same as the store bought version)
-2 Rockstar key chains that open the lock case
That's pretty much it, I highly recommend getting this game if your over about 11. It's very violent, is relentless on the cursing, has extremely strong sexual content, and strong drug/alcohol content. This may seem terrible but your kids are going to learn this at a public school anyway. As I said before, this game is really offensive against minorities, the radio talk programs are very funny but are part of the reason that this game is so notorious. | video-games_xbox |
2k Is Back- EA-Tiburan time to wake up. First off-
This Game is 100% better than anything EA/Tiburon/Madden has produced the past 3 years. Matter of fact, Madden should remove his credentials from EA.
Graphics are Killer, even on my TV which is not HiDef.
Game play is very realistic-
I struggled at 1st, but then realized this is not madden and I really can't throw a 100 yard bomb while running in circles. You need to play this game like Football and not an arcade game.
Player AI is tuff. You can't run the ball up the gut for 5 yards each time on FB fake left as you can in madden.
Create a player is cool, and very detailed. My fiancee was wondering how I uploaded my picture, of which I didn't.
The game does lack some depth, however I'm optimistic that this is sorta like a Beta 2k9 football and they will add onto it for furture releases.
I should point out,this is my 1st 2k football game.
That being said, I've been a madden die hard since the begining. As anyone who has been a Madden Fan, you know the disappointment from the past 3 years.
I was worried when 1st read EA got exclusive rights to produce NFL football games. My worries become truth when EA released a much scaled down versoin on the 360, then followed that up with another crappy release.
I thank the boys/gals in 2k for bypassing the NFL and Players Union and putting some creative thinking together to stay "in the game". A slogan of which EA should drop.
If you like football, and don't mind your team being called something other than vikings, packers etc, then this game is for you. Keep in mind, you can create all your NFL superstars on this game, as well as rename stadiums etc. I do hope 2K will add some depth to the game, such as Dynasty, Hall of Fame Games, etc for Future Release.
Bottom line. It felt like I was cheating on a girlfriend by crossing the line from Madden to 2k. However Now I'm on this side and seeing the light-
Dump EA until they offer a 120 bones I blew on Madden 360 games. There should be a law suit to be honest. | video-games_xbox |
I Aint Afraid of No Ghost. I'm a big fan of the Ghostbusters movies and when this game came out i almost pooped my pants. The story was written by original movie creators, so the plot is true to the series.
Character animation is really close to movie quality in game and cut scenes, but their eyes go crazy sometimes when they talk.
Like many people pointed out this game does not have co-op mode, but you play with 3 other bots. They are helpful on occasion and may show which way to go if you're lost and even help capture ghosts.
I played on easy setting and did not die a alot but when you get knocked out other bots can revive you and you can do same for them. When everyone gets knocked out , you will have to restart from checkpoint.
There are many weapons to choose other than proton gun such as slime gun and you can upgrade all your weapons several times with the money you make from capturing ghost.
After the mission is completed you return to Ghostbusters HQ and are allowed to freely explore it. There are bunch of stuff from the movie and all the artifacts you collect in missions will be there. To go to next mission just go to Ecto 1.
Multiplayer part of the game is my favorite part. There are different jobs such as protection,survival(10 waves),slimer slam(slam slimer into traps),destruction and more. For every job you completed you receive money to level up your character and the higher the level the more weapons you get. Most jobs have power ups available in a level which you can use until out of ammo.
Some people complain the game is too short and i have to agree with them. It took me about 8 hours to complete the game because i wanted to explore and collect all artifacts and i played on easy. If you play on hardest diffuculty it will take you longer and give you some challenge. Also the boss fights were too easy except for the stone qupids on cemetery level were tough.
Overall i would recommend this game to anyone who is a big fan of Ghostbusters and enjoys action/comedy/horror games. | video-games_xbox |
More "Burnout" than "Need for Speed. Graphics: Most Wanted has plenty of pluses and minuses graphically. When I first saw this game for the first time I thought it looked outstanding. Once I got it, I was underwhelmed. It still looks good, but nothing like the videos. Edges of cars and the environment have a choppy appearance, and the city in the distance really looks like a PS1 or PS2/Xbox game. When it comes down to the races, sense of speed, and the cars themselves though, it looks fairly impressive... especially with how the framerate holds up -- for the most part -- when there are a bunch of cops and/or crashes on-screen. The temporary blindness when looking into the sunset or when coming out of a tunnel is also a nice effect. 4/5
Sound: Again, positives and negatives here. First, some positives: The cars sound awesome, especially if you have a pair of headphones for your 360 (Tritton, Turtle Beach, etc.). The way the cars echo in tunnels and in alleyways is great. It's nice to see Criterion add things like that to the game. The soundtrack, I think, is pretty good. It has a nice mix of dubstep and hard rock that only add the experience when in a race. The downside I have with the soundtrack already is that in just about 3 hours of playtime, I have heard some songs 5 times already. I'm not sure how many tracks are in the game, but my assumption is that it isn't many. If you don't like the song list, you can turn it off completely, or use your own playlist. The biggest downfall -- and it's not really a huge one -- with NFS:MW would have to be the police chatter. It's always the same routine ... "What make and model? What color? We need more cops. These guys aren't messing around. These guys are good." It's really rather redundant, and it's a shame, because it could have added a lot to the game. 4/5
Fun: My first impression of this game wasn't all that great. I was pretty underwhelmed. The more I explored the city, unlocked cars, completed races, and especially tried out the multiplayer, the more I enjoyed it. While the game only contains 41 cars, there is enough to do with each of them to keep you playing this game -- even on single player -- for quite a decent while. The biggest downfall of this game is probably the single player, surprisingly enough. It's been a lot of fun so far, but after just a few hours of playing the game, I'm almost halfway done with getting all of the Most Wanted cars. I really just wish Criterion/EA added more content to the disc. Thankfully, the multiplayer makes me forgive this lack of single player depth. The challenges in multiplayer are, for the most part, very entertaining. While the online isn't without flaws (They're rather minor things, but you'll pick up on them quite quickly if you decide to hop online), it's definitely entertaining, and playing this game without the Online Pass would take away a LOT of what Most Wanted has to offer. 4.5/5
If you have any interest in racing games, you have to get this game. After zipping through the city and thinking I had seen everything, I explored areas I had no idea existed. Fairhaven is a vast, fun city to race around in, and it's only better with friends or even randoms. It may not be without its problems, and it could use a bit more depth, but this exhilarating, essential sequel to Burnout Paradise makes Need for Speed: Most Wanted a must-buy for adrenaline junkies.
Pros: Multiplayer, variety of Fairhaven's landscapes, varied car list.
Cons: No cops in multiplayer, minor online bugs, 41 cars seems a bit low, short single-player experience.
4.25/5
EDIT 11/1/12: I've only had the game for two days, and while I'm still having fun with the game, I have a feeling it won't last much longer. Without trying to get all of the Most Wanted cars too quickly, I already have 9 of the 12. Not only is it easy to get the Speed Points to unlock the races, it's easy to unlock the cars as well. The city is pretty nice as I said in the original review, but I feel like it could get stale within just a few weeks because I find myself on the same major roads over and over again. The multiplayer is pretty fun, but only for about a half hour at a time. The upgrading the car thing and unlocking things for all of them the more you use them online and off is fun and all, but I'm really thinking this game ought to be about $35, and not $60. Super frantic races and events, but there just isn't enough depth, particularly in the single player.
(If you enjoyed this review, check out some others I've written at 47Reviews. BlogSpot.com) | video-games_xbox |
Great online RPG fun for the XBox. Phantasy Star Online is out for XBox Live. You can play single player and enjoy the challenges, or go online and play with up to four other players. The plot is pretty simple - refugees from a dying planet head out to join a colony on a distant planet. When they get there, the colony has been wiped out, and you have to figure out why.
To start with, this can be played like a single player RPG. You can choose to be human, newman, or a robot. You can be male or female, and of three classes - the 'hunter' swordfighter, the 'ranger' distance fighter, or the 'force' magic users. You've just begun to customize!
You can customize everything from face look, hair style and color, outfit, skin color, and body proportions. You can't actually choose clothing styles like in many other RPGs - you just change the color and look of it. Still, your character is pretty tweaked to your own style before you enter the world.
The aim in local play is to build up your character. You can play in "Episode 1" - where you roam the planet looking for clues as to what happened to the original colonists. You can also play "Episode 2" which is sort of a parallel timeline, where you work for the government and try to contact a hero from the original colony.
Like most RPGs, you build up experience by killing the enemies, and gather money ("meseta") so you can buy bigger weapons ... so you can go kill bigger things. You have a little robotic buddy, "mag", which also gains experience and power as you go.
Once you've gotten the hang of things, it's time to head on line and join up with a party! This is sort of a mini-MMORPG, a training ground for those not quite online yet. You go through the lobbies to find a group of people to play with. You can start a new group or join a group already questing. And then it gets fun!
The XBox live microphone makes it easy to coordinate attacks without the clumsy typing-while-fighting system that most MMORPGs require. Simply call out "I'm hurt!" to get healing, and coordinate attacks with ease. Since XBox Live is only for high speed connections, we haven't run into any lag while playing. Gather up experience, explore new worlds, and make fun friends in the process!
Highly recommended for XBox RPG fans who enjoy console-based RPGs and want to take it to the next level. | video-games_xbox |
Campaign Review. Crysis 3 is a first person shooter. So are about 80% of all video games right now, so Crysis 3 has a ton of competition, and thus has to do something really special to stand out from the crowd. Fortunately, Crysis 3 does enough right to make it worth your time and money.
STORY
You play as Prophet, a man wearing an experimental nanosuit made from Ceph (alien) technology. Prophet's nanosuit gives him super-human powers and abilities, making him humanity's only hope against the impending alien threat. Thrown into the mix are the evil C.E.L.L. agents who are humans trying to harness the alien tech for themselves. The concept isn't terribly original, but it's not poorly done either. The story picks up 30 years after the events of Crysis 2, but you don't have to have played the previous games to follow the story. The characters are fairly well written and interesting, and help to drive the story along. It was certainly easier to follow and more interesting than Crysis 2, anyway.
GAMEPLAY
The basic premise is to shoot enemies and not get shot. What makes Crysis 3 distinct is the nanosuit abilities. In addition to making you faster and stronger than a normal human, the suit also allows you to turn invisible or shield yourself from incoming fire. Added to the usual arsenal of human and alien weapons is a new bow, which can be fired while cloaked and is almost always an instant kill. Because you are so overpowered, this means the C.E.L.L. agents are barely any threat, and the only real challenge comes later in the game against the Ceph aliens. While killing C.E.L.L. agents is fun, they're so helpless against Prophet that I started to feel bad for them. It doesn't help matters that the AI isn't terribly creative. When you stealth kill an enemy, someone will eventually notice and go over to investigate the body, which you can then use to kill another guy. This in turn makes another guy investigate the bodies, and sometimes you can exploit this to kill 4 or 5 guys easy. The Ceph are more aggressive and agile, making them more formidable foes. Some Ceph are heavily armored, making them almost impossible to kill without explosives. Fighting the Ceph is a lot more fun than fighting humans, but sometimes the disparity between the two can be jarring.
The level design in Crysis 3 is a mixed bag. The levels are huge, but sometimes they feel unfocused. I got lost a few times trying to figure out how to get to the next waypoint marker. The path isn't always clear, but the gigantic playgrounds the game gives you allows for a lot of freedom in how you want to play. Nearly every situation has several options, be it sneak, run and gun, or whatever. The problem is that I found using a combo of stealth and bow was the fastest, easiest, and most efficient way to approach nearly every situation. Because of this, the game started to feel a little repetitious, however that was my choice to play that way.
In addition to shooting, there are some vehicle sections, but they weren't very good. The buggy and the tank you drive are really unwieldy, and the flying section only allowed you to control the gun, not the plane. I give them credit for trying to add variety to the gameplay, but the vehicle sections were certainly a low point for the game.
It's hard to describe the experience, because overall it was fun, but there were some minor issues that detracted from the fun and held Crysis 3 from being an incredible experience.
CONTROL
Crysis 3 is a busy game. Literally every button, stick, and pad on the Xbox controller has an important function, and some buttons have two functions, like the Y button which switches between guns, but double tapping Y switches to grenades, or the back button, which brings up the suit upgrade menu when tapped, but brings up the weapon mod menu when held. Having this many buttons to keep track of did get a tad confusing sometimes, usually during heated shootouts. Another minor problem was when the character would keep moving slowly after I let go of the left thumb stick. This is an issue with my controller, not necessarily the game, but since control sticks sometimes have these issues, most games program a "dead zone" when the stick is in the neutral position, and some games even allow you to change your controller's dead zone in the options menu. This feature would have been greatly appreciated in Crysis 3. Also, compared to some other FPS games on the X360, Crysis felt a little slippery. Games like CoD and Halo have very tight controls, and movement is very precise, which is something I really like in FPS games. In Crysis 3, however, when you let go of the sticks, your character will continue to move for a half second, seeming to have momentum, rather than coming to a quick stop. Again, this is minor, but when a half second means the difference between a head shot and a miss, it can be annoying. Besides this minor annoyances, though, the game's controls are very responsive. The guns feel heavy and powerful, the buttons respond consistently and accurately, and you can even change your button layout in the options menu.
GRAPHICS
By far the most impressive aspect of Crysis 3, the graphics are surely pushing the Xbox 360's seven year old hardware to it's limit. Crysis 3 runs on Crytek's CryEngine 3, and it can do nearly every trick in the book. Dynamic lighting and shadows, water, fire, lens flare, motion blur, aperture, normal mapping, particle effects, and on and on. The only thing it doesn't do is tesselation, but that's a limit of the X360, not the game's fault. Crysis 3 is by far the most technically impressive game to run on the X360. But all the cutting edge tech is no good without artistry, and fortunately Crytek's artists are amazing. The crumbling ruins of New York City overgrown with dense foliage look absolutely stunning. Equally stunning are the characters, who are dense with detail and animated superbly. There are scenes where Psycho (a friend of yours) is talking to you, getting emotional over the events that have led him here, and you can see the anger and sadness in his face, in his performance. The visuals in Crysis 3 are so good, they almost look next-gen.
SOUND
The sound in Crysis 3 is LOUD! Everything sounds aggressive, from the aliens and the guns to the vehicles and even the music. Every sound effect is good, it fits well in the context of the game and sounds appropriate to what it represents. Like a Hollywood movie, it may not be the real-life sound effect, but it's what we as an audience have come to expect a blockbuster to sound like. The music is fantastic, and fits the mood well. When all's quiet, the game plays some haunting piano music in the background, and when a firefight breaks out, the music becomes heart-pounding and frantic. The voice actor's performances are also very well done, with Prophet and Psycho being most notable. Some of the raw emotion that Psycho's VA does are really fantastic, and bring realism and weight to the character, even when his dialogue is somewhat cheesy. I did notice some strange SFX at some points in the game, like the sound of glass crunching beneath my feet when there was no glass there. It was rare, but there were some moments where I'd hear something and have no idea why.
OVERALL
Crysis 3 is a really great game, and I would recommend you buy it if you like FPS games. The experience isn't perfect (and I would have liked to see co-op and survival modes), but there are very few shooters better than this one, and from a graphics perspective, this is the best. If I could give 4.5 stars, I would. I haven't played the multiplayer, so I can't comment on that, but as for the single player experience, this is one of the best FPS games on the X360. | video-games_xbox |
over all a solid title. I have barely played any FF games before this one, XII was the first one of the numbered series I ever bought and I loved it. I'll start by saying it had a great combat system, some rpg's give me the feeling that the skill come's from character development rather then actually fighting but this game did a good job going the other way. The battle's were fast paced, frantic and tactical, the ability to change your characters jobs (classes if you prefer) on the fly was very cool and I actually liked how the characters stats were simple and minimized rather then having ten stats where half of them don't even effect some characters (i've seen that on other FF games). Also to me it felt like disk 1&2 (out of 3) were mostly training you to use all your skills and tactics, which did not feel like a bad thing. However I will note that I found the over all difficulty to be not very high, but i still had a few probloms with bosses.
Having said how much I liked the combat I will tell you that the game doesnt do anything else, no side quests or anything, at all, so the game relies on the the combat for the entire game, you will spend fifty hours doing that over and over.
As far as the story goes the cutscenes were fun to watch but plentiful, the story was based on six lack-luster hero's which brought down the over all naration, some of the characters had okay moments but i didn't get very attached. It also bugs me that the characters eventually learn most of the same skills reducing character veriety as the game goes on.
I don't tend to get upset about probloms (Unless they are tragic) but besides the excelent combat system, a few cool almost puzzle-like enemies like element swaping, changing battle forms and fighting edolens (which I would have liked to see more of through out the game), there's honestly not much else to the game, I just thought it was very good the way it is. | video-games_xbox |
Has room for improvement. I read Dante's Inferno in college so I decided to give the game a shot. The game has very beautiful graphics. The game uses a fixed camera which annoys some people but it did not bother me at all. The 2-D cinematic scenes were looked great. The story was compelling but altered a bit to suit a hack and slash game.
The main reason this game is not a 4 or 5 star game is because of the game play experience. There is little to no variation in the combos. A cross blast is your projectile. The throw maneuver was useless. As you fight enemies and encounter "the damned" from the story, you can choose to follow the holy path by absolving their sins or unholy by punishment. This doesn't affect the story but affects what you can skills you can upgrade or learn. I chose the holy path and upgraded the cross. The cross became so powerful so early, I had no use for melee attacks up until the 8th circle out of 9. However, when I fought the boss, the cross had almost no effect. Since my scythe was weak, I couldn't beat the final boss on the hardest level and had to resort to normal difficulty.
Magic was also disappointing. Only 2 spells were ever needed, health regeneration and "Sins of the father." There was a relic to refill magic without a using the mana fountain, but it was extremely slow to the point you could just find another fountain before a full recharge.
Lastly, I got the impression the developers either rushed or gave up on the game midway to the end stages. The ninth circle of hell should have been the most epic circle ever but consisted of mini game trials. Some of which were completely a waste of time, such as get 5 air kills. Also the relics and damned souls became extremely easy to find. One of the last souls you find is just sitting out in the open.
The game is good for $20 and under but is not for everyone. If you enjoy hack and slash games, this will seem like kids play.
...Also, the game has a lot of nudity and is not appropriate for everyone. | video-games_xbox |
Irrational chose the impossible. Or so it would seem. How can you top Bioshock? It would seem like an impossible task. But Ken Levine and Irrational thrive when being challenged. Similar to his days at Looking Glass and the critical success of System Shock 2, Ken Levine and Irrational floored people with Bioshock. When Bioshock released in 2007, its creativity made people notice the work of Irrational in a more mainstream capacity, giving Irrational a lot more credibility with publishers, which would ultimately lead to many, many years of developments on Infinite. Was the wait worth it? Two words: Hell yes!
Bioshock Infinite is a Bioshock game, period. I know it looks different and may seem different, but a lot of the things from Bioshock are in Bioshock Infinite. While Infinite has its own look and everything, which makes it feel new and fresh, this is a Shock game through and through, so you have a mix of the familiar with something entirely new. The combat is very similar to the first game, but guns have more of a kick this time around. Plasmids also make a comeback in the form of Vigors, which allow for a lot of variation and experimentation in combat. There's also the inclusion of sky-lines, which make some fights really exciting and frantic. I'd say the combat scenarios are an improvement from the first Bioshock. You'll also be looting the environment and corpses for money, food, salt (for Vigors), etc.
Bioshock's art direction is simply stunning. It takes a very talented art team to pull off something like Infinite, and the team at Irrational was definitely up to the task. The amount of detail in each and every environment is staggering. You'll definitely understand why this game was such an undertaking and took so many years to create when you see it in action. Then you have Elizabeth, which is one of the most realized characters in all of gaming. Elizabeth's animations and interactions are one of Infinite's many highlights.
But Bioshock Infinite is ultimately all about the narrative, which it delivers on from beginning to end. This game's story is hands down one of the best in the business, even going as far as surpassing the original Bioshock. While Bioshock was a masterpiece, its ending left a little something to be desired. But this isn't the case with Bioshock Infinite. This game has an ending that'll blow you away.
Irrational chose the impossible, they chose Infinite. Would you kindly buy this game immediately? | video-games_xbox |
Should have been called Forza 5 Prologue. I got this game and played after the update fixing the in game economy so this review is rated accordingly. Im having a hard time deciding what rating this game got and has really gotten a mixed feeling about it. I love Forza and have been loyal to the studio since the original Xbox days. Having played every installment of Forza, I found this one a little lackluster. I really want to give this game a higher rating and I know this is a launch title, but I do not think that should be an excuse for Turn 10 to make a lackluster game that in my opinion is a step down from Forza 4. One of the major gripes about the game is the lack of cars and tracks making racing a little repetitive because you're racing on the same track over and over again just with different cars. The number of events is also reduced from Forza 4. The number of cars offered is also much less, more like half of what Forza 4 offered and I get the feeling that this is a teaser for a full Forza game. I am not saying that I want Turn 10 to copy the old game like other companies, but I was hoping to have more content. And while all the extra such as the renamed Autovista (now Forzavista) for all cars is nice, it is an extra that does not add much to the game. The inclusion of the Top Gear hosts such, Clarkson, May and Hammond is a small but enjoyable part of the game. The core component which I greatly enjoyed about all the previous Forza such as tuning remains the same (yes I know Horizon did not have the tuning feature, but I still enjoyed Horizon). The graphics are amazing, stunning visually, and I still think that if you have an Xbox One, you should definitely give this one a go because it is one of the better launch titles in my opinion. The core gameplay is still amazing. Driving remains as fun as every as you experiment with cars to find one that suites your driving style and strive to shave milliseconds from your laptime. The new impulse triggers actually do play quite a useful role in the game, letting you know the status of the car and if you are pushing it past the limit of grip. Drivatar is a neat feature in the game because it makes each race feel like you're racing online against a live human opponent, the only downside to that is because you're racing a mirrored version of a live human opponent, there are lots of unpredictability involved, ie they will crash into you since damage is not penalized thus making a little difficult to have a clean race. I still have a gripe with the DLC because I wished they had just included all the cars in the first place instead of charging another 50 dollars for a season pass for 6 DLC which is another 50-60 cars. Also lastly, there are no Porsche in the game and since I love me some 911 action, I am sad that Porsche will not be making a return for the third straight installment, although Im sure there will be a DLC for all Porsche cars! It maybe too early, but I am eagerly waiting for the next FULL installment of Forza. | video-games_xbox |
Don't hinder yourself, choose the Xbox 360 version. If you happen to have an Xbox 360, go ahead and get the far superior version. I will explain how it is superior in both performance and content, as I do not want my fellow Amazonians hindering themselves needlessly:
1) Performance
Digital Foundry, as usual, does a good job at explaining it, with comparison videos and proof:
"Framebuffer measurements give us our first indication of the quality of this multi-platform project. The Xbox 360 version of Dead Rising 2 runs at native 720p resolution with the bonus addition of 2x multi-sampling anti-aliasing. The edge-smoothing is welcome: the engine concentrates on handling huge numbers of zombies with plenty of draw distance, so the actual levels of geometry in the environments are fairly basic. In short, there are plenty of large edges to smooth!
The PS3 version of the game shares the 2x MSAA of its 360 counterpart, but the unfortunate reality is that resolution has been compromised. There's little doubt that Dead Rising 2 on the Sony platform is running sub-HD, with 1024x576 appearing to be the game's native resolution."
"First up, there's some good news for Xbox 360 owners. Probably the most immediately apparent upgrade over the first game is that the developer is running with v-sync active, meaning that there is absolutely no screen-tear at all - so all tear graph indicators on the video refer to the PS3 version of the game."
"The PS3 rendition of Dead Rising 2 appears to be using an entirely different approach to the rendering. V-sync is disengaged completely, as is the 30FPS frame-rate cap. What this means is screen-tear is an ever-present element of the image, even when the game is exceeding 30FPS."
[...]
2) Content
As if performance issues weren't a reason alone to choose the 360 version instead, now there's content, too. The Xbox 360 got an XBLA game a few weeks back titles: Dead Rising 2: Case Zero. It's the prologue of Dead Rising 2 and shows how Chuck enters Fortune City with his daughter. The surprising thing is, although only an XBLA game, it plays and looks very much like the actual game. It broke XBLA week 1 sales records, too. ([...])
As if that wasn't enough, there is going to be an exclusive Dead Rising 2: Case West for the Xbox 360 (unknown yet if it's a retail game, XBLA or DLC addon) where, you guessed it, you can play co-op with FRANK WEST from Dead Rising 1! He "covered the war," y'know.
Lastly, Dead Rising 1 is only on Xbox 360, and although this isn't a reason really, it's just there. Capcom couldn't let DR2 stay exclusive since Resident Evil 5, Devil May Cry 4 and many others are now on Xbox 360, too. It just wouldn't be fair!
Enjoy your game guys; I know I am. Thanks, Amazon! | video-games_xbox |
TW13 Not Up to Par - Lost That Luv'n Feel'n. You should also read the posts from everyone complaining about TW13 under EA TW forum under tech help and feedback. Here is one of my posts that go more to the heart of the matter:
4/6/20
Playing TW 13 in Pro mode, offline, match play with the family really sucks compared to TW 11. EA - you folks have really ruined a very good game. I have spent $140 for the TW13 game and all the courses to upgrade from TW11 to TW13. After a week of playing TW13 every evening, my whole family is really disappointed in the play of the game. TW11's mechanics (and prior versions) in almost every area had a much better golf simulation experience for match play offline. When in the sand, you had to change the shot accordingly, same for rain, and deep rough, and you had a percentage gage to judge the effect. Not so with TW 13. Now everything is very much the same, no matter whether you are in the grass or sand - it is point and shoot arcade style game.
YOUR DEVELOPERS NEED TO STOP DEVELOPING AND PLAY TW11 AND THEN COMPARE THE GAME PLAY MECHANICS TO TW13. TW13 IS A HUGE STEP BACKWARDS IN MY FAMILY'S OPINION. WE LOVE THE NEW MAPS, AND A FEW OF THE ADDITIONAL FEATURES, BUT YOU MESSED WITH WHAT MADE TW11 (and prior versions) SO GOOD - THE GOLF SIMULATION MECHANICS - AND GOT THEM WRONG.
AND THE GAME IS REALLY BUGGY FOR AN XTH GENERATION ITERATION OF AN ESTABLISHED FRANCHISE (I HAVE POSTED NUMEROUS BUG REPORTS IN OTHER POSTS). IT IS LIKE YOU STARTED OVER FROM SCRATCH. MY WIFE COMMENTED LAST NIGHT THAT SHE FELT LIKE A BETA TESTER WITH ALL THE GOOFY BUGS WE SEE - AND HER FINAL COMMENT WAS, "DID THEY REALLY PLAY THIS GAME BEFORE PUTTING IT OUT THERE FOR US TO BUY?" THE FINAL NAIL IN THE COFFIN IS WHEN I WENT TO UPGRADE MY PLAYER'S SKILLS AFTER GAINING 1000 EXPERIENCE POINTS, AND THE GAME WIPED OUT MY EXPERIENCE POINTS AND GAVE ME NO ADDED SKILL LEVEL AS TO POWER!! NOW I'M MISMATCHED WITH ANOTHER MEMBER OF MY FAMILY.
. . .
Thanks for being open to constructive criticism, because that is the spirit in which I make this post.
The Moderator Responds:
While I respect your opinion, I could not disagree more. Seems the majority of the feedback so far disagrees with you as well. Sorry you do not like the game
Uncle* responds:
Although I like playing this game and in particular the swing mechanics and no more focus (screw) circle, I'd have to agree with the original poster in terms of the roughs, sand, and rain having absolutely no effect as lessening the experience. And it is full bugs, not only crashers, but easy simple visual bugs, not to mention bad design decisions. I often feel as I'm playing it that I'm beta testing it.
I've even thought that perhaps the reason rough, sand and rain have no effect is that you consciously turned off the effect to let us, the players, get use to the new swing mechanics, and you'd later release an update that turned them on. But that's just wishful thinking since in all the versions of TW that I've played as I remember it I'd see one update beyond the first update that occurs on the first day of the release.
There are a number of things in the game that I think you wasted developement time on that for the most part were fine in the previous versions. As examples I give online tournaments and scorecard/leaderboards. With the exception of the game often failing to submit a score to an online tournament, which seems to be fixed in this version, these were fine and in my opinion better in the previous versions. Really bad design decisions. I've seen a lot of people complaining about the scorecard/leaderboard stuff.
I reply:
Seems like I'm not the only one . . . I find it hard to believe you defend the mechanics of TW13 as to the matters set forth, infra, in this post. I play the game EVERY NIGHT with my family and have no vested interest in TW11 or 10 or 9. Infact, my whole family waited with baited breath for TW13 as we were a little tired of TW11 (particualarly looking for more courses). I preordered the Colletor's Edition. As soon as I received it I purchased all the course, no questions asked and happy to do it. But come on - TW13 sucks COMPARED to TW11 as to the matters I have set forth in the post.
And the bugginess of TW13 - you defend the bugginess of this thing? I have been playing games a long time - and have never seen a more buggy, established game franchise in my life. EA should be ashamed of itself for releasing TW13 with all the bugs.
By the way - I'm a 59 year old attorney - so I use "sucks" as a legal term of art : )
Uncle* responds and to which I concur:
I like the new swing mechanics and the removal of what ... calls the random landing circle and what I called the screw circle.
But not having rough, sand and rain effect play was one of many bad design decisions. And this is not finished product, again agreeing with (me), this is one of the buggest games I've ever seen.
And the moderator said: "you . . . have a point about play out of the rough and bunkers."
My concluding Thoughts:
Additionally, TW13 Collecter's Edition dropped Match Play Offline with Random Hole Selection - my family's favorite feature!!!!
So my bottomline - I'd still buy it, but EA - you should really be ashamed for putting out this trash.
EA - TW13 NEEDS:
1. ALL the bugs fixed (which I'm sure you are working on). I only say this because you never fixed a major bug in TW11, even though is was pointed out to you extensively - the DLC course that would not load - yeah remember that.
2. Keep the nice swing mechanics of TW13 but integrate TW11 and prior's sand, rough, rain, feet being/hilo, effect into the swing as to both the ability of the golfer to judge the effect of the course conditions on the swing and the conditions should effect the shot distance and direction. Consider Toggling on/off TW11 (and prior) visual guaging of these conditons - then eveyone is freaking happy!!!!!!
3. Return random hole selection and include all the purchased courses into the random mix. We play this game ALL YEAR LONG AND THE RANDOM MIX IS GREAT!
4. Stop emphasizing on-line play as the all and all, and realize there are a lot of us that play offline and compete in the home with each other, and we want all the badges and coins and experience points and brownie points and widgets and bright and shiny things too!!!! Maybe institute all the brownie points for an avatar that is designated to compete online and brownie points for an avatar that can compete offline. Quite frankly, you and the rest of the world don't care about the "fairness" of the brownie point system that occurs in my home, you just want to ensure that the brownie point system that is online is fair to everyone playing online. In your quest to make a fair online brownie point system - you've ruined the offline brownie point system. Again - making a rich brownie point system for on-line and a rich brownie point system for off-line play that makes everyone happy!! | video-games_xbox |
a True 5.1 surround sound headset. I purchased these to replace my Turtle beach x31's that i was having problems using when wifi was also in use, and the pair for Tritton GoW3 edition 7.1's i purchased and returned (they were terrible. No improvement over the x31's i had) So I have been testing the hell out of these things with various Blu ray movies, and video games. First thing.. These are an actual surround sound headset! Not the simulated BS that just hasn't cut it for me. I can actually sharply hear bullets wizzing past my head when watching saving private ryan, or playing MW3.
You can hear things at at different distances from behind you, in front of you, to your sides, and even identify incoming helicopters in the air all based on sound. So there is a depth of sound these produce that i have only heard on an extremely expensive Electrostat, 7.1 surround system, and similarly reproduced on an Astro A40 w/ Dolby mix amp setup ($150+ difference in setups). IMO These sound better than my brother's A40 setup. The thing i like most is that you can adjust the individual sound fields (Front,center,rear, and sub) to match what you are looking to get out of them.
I would say for the price range they cannot be beaten. I don't have access to other mix and match gaming sound setups to be able to tell you where they stand with sennheiser headphones and Astro mixamp setup, but i can say These accurately reproduce a True 5.1 surround sound. I've recommended them to friends already, one of whom was using a turtle beach x41, and he said there is no comparison, the Tritton Ax pro's blew the X41's out of the water. I HIGHLY Recommend these to anyone looking for a gaming headset.
2 week update :
Okay So the Headset is still working well. I have had some inconveniences with the communication through XBL 2x. So My friends have said that my mic was messing up, and the first time i just popped the battery off of my controller and fired it back up, and then it worked. The Second time was allot worse. Had to unplug the head set, communicator, and mic and power up multiple times. I had to try combinations and sequences of all three to get it to work. And after 20 minutes of fiddling it finally started working, and I havn't had any issues with it since.
I Contacted MadCats and they said they were sending me some replacement cables. I asked for an ETA and received no response. A week later I asked again and still no response. So Today (1/17/12) I called and am still on hold waiting for a rep to make sure my replacement Items are being shipped out (in case problems happen again, I'd like to be covered). I have been on hold for a rep for about 20 min now, and I'm not even sure if I am waiting for the correct department.
So I'm pretty un satisfied with the Customer service That i find myself in need of, however the headset is still working correctly, and going strong!
Update 3
1/25/2012
Okay So I still have not received my replacements parts. I had some issues again. This time i had no game sound, just chat. Quickly fixed by turning the decoder box off then back on, and sound immediately came back. I also, to add to the last update, waited on hold for a rep for about 50 min and then had to go back to work. Also sent another e-mail in regard to my ticket and received NO response again.... So I am bumping my rating down to a 4 star due to customer service issues.. additional note.. when the headset works, it still kicks serious @$$ !
Update 4
4/2/2014
Headset is still working, my replacement mic finally broke about a month ago, I bought a Kunai mic from Tritton, and it works! I also just purchased an xbox one, with stereo headset adapter. It was a pain to get everything working with this headset, so I thought I'd drop back on here and give another update for those who may have purchased, or commented to know. The Plug on the inline adjustment control is a 3.5mm jack, and the plug on the 360 controller puck is 2.5mm. The Stereo headset adapter connection port is a 3.5mm also, but comes with a 2.5mm female to 3.5mm male adapter, but do to the shape of the puck it would not fit. So as opposed to buying a new cable, simply clipped the 2 plastic posts next to the connector, and partially melted and sculpted the plastic around the 2.5mm connector so the adapter with a flathead so it would fit securely. After I got it all molded down, and the adapter fit, it works perfect! You can also buy a new cable if you don't want to mess with the 360 connector puck. You will need to buy a 3.5mm TRRS cable. You can tell by the 3 rings on the plug connectors. There's 3 rings, and 4 posts total, and it will work. | video-games_xbox |
Think that little SanAndreas game was big (I used to)? GET THIS. As far as jail-breaks go, you're about to have the opportunity to start again, everything set back to default with no-one the wiser. You owe your impending freedom to a man about to lose his own, the Emperor Uriel Septum, who for the last time peered into the well of destiny and found a stranger staring straight back at him, a stranger whose future is now bound with that of a nation. Whether through the alignment of the stars or just sheer dumb luck, you're as ordinary as they come and happen to be at the crossroads of history when forces combine to push ordinary individuals to great lengths and deeds. Yep, you guessed it, you're mister ordinary, about to embark on an adventure in which you decide how far depths are plummeted to find the information and experiences locked away inside Cyrodiil.
Stretching from Anvil on the Abecean Sea in the West to the shadow of the Valus Mountains in the east, then south down the Niben waterway to Leyawiin and Topal Bay, Cyrodiil is a vast green dogleg, the "Imperial Province" within the Tamrielic Empire and named for a dynasty that included three early emperors. Your adventure starts roughly in the centre, on an island in Lake Rumar on which sits Imperial City. Rather like a stone wheel, the entire city circles around the central and towering Imperial Palace, with huge walls separating the streets into districts. Outside the city walls lies a waste pipe from the sewers underneath, where you'll learn the basics of the game through escaping from jail and become entangled with Uriel Septums final moments, the consequences of which give you the starting step to the main quest.
There are many quests, adventures and experiences to find and accomplish within Oblivion, with plenty to do off the beaten track. Some have stories, though often they're written in gold, darkness and blood. Every dark hole in the ground is considered a new adventure, how you get to those new adventures is up to you. As you might have guessed, you can take life in Cyrodiil as you please. Either hit the floor running and gun up the levels, grab all the spells and beat back evil to save the Empire, or explore the vast world, find knowledge through interaction with the many residents and the books available. You won't find public transportation such as Silt Striders in Morrowind, instead players can buy horses and equip them with the optional download of armour to protect them from thieves and other animals, as well as fast-travelling to other cities via the in-game menu. You won't often ask for directions, thanks to the compass and GTA style map-markers, and knowing where to go is a help, because the world of Oblivion is constantly in motion, regardless of your status or whereabouts. Non player characters get up and go to work, go out for dinner afterwards before retiring home to bed. Others see neighbours or visit other cities. Some do things that are unexpected. Every person is a small mystery.
Oblivion also moves internally, constantly adjusting challenges and rewards according to your characters level. Progression is performed in two ways; you can spend time boosting your skills to become more powerful, and then there's levelling up to face harder enemies. Low levels means weaker spells and potions, armour and weapons, whereas the higher ones unleash the cooler magical elements and stronger equipment and apparel. With progression comes harder enemies, and that's not in skill level. Out in the wild between cities, you'll encounter wolves at low levels. Go higher and you'll see packs of them, before they're replaced by tigers, and finally huge powerful bears. In dungeons you'll encounter zombies and skeletons at the start, with far more powerful enemies emerging as you climb the ladder. Besides the difficulty slider hidden away in the preferences menu, this presents players with the option to either breeze through a world populated by weak enemies, or take the time to level up and slay huge monsters, demons and all other types of unheard of foes. The choice, as they say, is yours.
So you've probably got the idea that Oblivion is one heck of a world. There's plenty going on, there's plenty to do and there's plenty to see. On the subject of seeing, Cyrodiil looks absolutely stunning. Everything is bright and wonderful in the sunshine, birds singing, pigeons flocking, butterflies dodging about in the shadows, and then environments look damp, cold and miserable when rain rolls into town. The level of detail is quite breathtaking, with brickwork incredibly convincing, foliage resembling plants and not just clumps of green material and landscapes that could kill. Everything just looks so detailed, rich and wonderful that you simply cannot help being lured into the world of Oblivion. Water ripples as water should; litter flies about in the wind and collects in bundles in streets. This really is something, and for once words cannot describe the absolute beauty Bethesda have created here.
The downside to Oblivion is if you're not an RPG fan, or someone looking to get into the genre, you're really being thrown into the deep end here. Besides the guiding arrow on the in-game compass, there's not a hand to lead you about or a massive tutorial to follow, so sometimes you can sit about confused and frustrated as what to do next. Luckily, if you have your wits about you, you'll realise that there is so much more to Oblivion than just mission beating. There are wild animals to guard against, of which you can sell their remains to make money. There's locations to explore and discover, books to read (thousands infact), a huge arena to fight in or bet wagers on, a mage university to gain access to and explore, amongst countless other things. We could literally sit here for days just explaining in vivid detail how much you can do and accomplish, but we'd rather simply skim he surface and leave the rest for you to discover.
There are niggly bugs and exploits uncovered during the course of gameplay, but handy downloads from Live seem to have fixed these up, as well as introducing horse armour into the game for your trusty stead on those long voyages, but otherwise you're looking at the prime example to own the Xbox 360. We love GRAW and we're mastering PGR3, but Oblivion beats them both to the coveted top spot of must-have 360 games. The lush and vast environments will simply blow you away, the opportunity to either charge on through missions or sit back and enjoy exploring and conjuring up new potions will please many, and the variety of side-missions, quests and factions will keep fans coming back for more, even creating new characters to take on the world with.
Let's stop it here before I uncover something revealing and spoil the plot. Just buy Oblivion and savour the moment, because next-next-gen gaming just got oh-so great. | video-games_xbox |
Disappointing. Doesn't live up to original games. First off, I was a HUGE fan of Kinect Sports Season 1 and 2 for Xbox 360. I purchased both when they were released and had a blast playing them alone and with friends! They were the best Kinect games and even friends of mine who were hardcore Playstation fans loved playing Kinect Sports. So, needless to say, I was excited when I learned they'd be making a new Kinect Sports for Xbox One.
However, after playing it, cue the major disappointment. They've really messed up this game.
1. The tracking is actually really bad! How is this possible! The camera and gaming system is way, way better than the original Kinect and Xbox 360, but somehow it doesn't work as well. And I have a well lit room with plenty of room to play in. In fact, I had no issues with the original Kinect.
2. The sports chosen are awful, boring, and have no replay value. On top of that, they really don't have any exercise value either! I thought the whole point was that we were supposed to get up and move.
- Tennis: Because of the tracking not working very well, you can't put any kind of slice on the ball. Talk about boring.
- Soccer: The original soccer on Season 1 was better than this! They added a lame element of passing the ball between moving, cardboard players. That's right, you're playing against moving pieces of cardboard!
- Bowling: It's buggy and easy! My first game I bowled a 270 and I was literally throwing the bowling ball like a baseball. If it's that easy, then it's no fun!
- Wake Racing: This actually works well, but doesn't take a whole lot of movement. Once you win, the race is pretty much the same, which means it gets boring.
- Target Shooting: Really, I mean, really!? All you do is point your figure around the screen. Definitely no exercise value at all. This could be done with a controller and I'd expend the same amount of energy. Plus, it's just really lame!
- Climbing: This is the only game that has any real exercise value, but it's extremely buggy. I had fun playing it, but sometimes the Kinect wouldn't recognize me closing my hand to grab a grip. Also, there are only 3 or 4 walls to climb on and computer players are easy to beat, which means no replay value.
- Conclusion on this point: They should have grabbed games that were awesome from the first two seasons to make an even better game on the Xbox One. I would have preferred soccer (it was good in Season 1), darts (a game anyone could play that was fun during a party), golf (required some movement, but not a ton, and it was fun with friends), boxing (tons of movement, great workout, and it was fun against a friend or the computer!), track and field (fun to play and a fantastic sweat!), volleyball (my most favorite game! Fun with friends, against the computer, against opponents on XBL, and a great workout).
3. The game model is goofy.
- Instead of just being able to play the games you want, you now have to go through a "storyline" that's extremely goofy and ridiculous. I was really annoyed that I had to play games I didn't want to try first, and I wasn't able to play games I wanted to try until later.
- The teams aspect is ridiculous. Often during the cut-scenes I would roll my eyes at how silly the teams were. It's not even B movie level. In fact, I didn't want to even join any of the teams! I couldn't stand any of them. I've already described it this way, but it was just goofy.
MAIN CONCLUSION:
This game would have been better if they hadn't changed the model of the original games. If it isn't broken, don't fix it! I don''t understand why people don't get that concept. And if you do change it, it better be way, way better! With Kinect Sports Rivals we have bad body tracking, a goofy storeline/team aspect, boring sports and no replay value.
I sold my copy of the game after a week and I felt kind of bad doing it, because now somebody else owns this awful game. | video-games_xbox |
Worst game in the BF series. If you've played BF3, you've played this one. I don't typically write reviews, but for this game I will make an exception in order to hopefully steer at least one individual from picking this game up.
I'll start by saying I was a fan of all previous incarnations of Battlefield, ever since 1942. It seems to get progressively worse through the iterations, but this game ruined any love I have left in the series. The moment I started playing the game, multiplayer or campaign, I noticed the lower graphic quality, even with the large CD install. Distant objects jarringly pop-up, textures change abruptly (and I'm not even zooming in long distances), and draw distance is generally shorter. Textures and edges are rough. It feels like a first generation 360 game. Multiplayer gameplay is disappointingly the same as the last one. Weapons, player advancements, all feel sadly familiar. OH WAIT, they introduced "LEVELUTION" which changes the multiplayer map during play. High-five yourselves for that one bit, EA.
The one good thing about singleplayer? I'll have to say the story so far is a definite step up from the last one. Well, I don't know how it ends. I say "so far" because THANKS TO THE LATE DECEMBER 2013 UPDATE, it has completely wiped my single player campaign progress. All my medals, points scored, etc. This has happened to many, if not all others. (You can verify this by a quick internet search.) I have no real desire to go through some of these lackluster, linear, boring missions. Shoot hordes of endlessly accurate, yet idiotic enemies? Check. Escort worthless VIPs? Check. Stupid scenes and dialogue you can't skip? Of course. Blow up tanks? Yup, but only with landmines! Whoopie! Operating numb vehicles? Oh, yeah...
Update: Here's a couple of major bugs I've seen: bad guy inside a box, therefore unable to be killed to progress the story. Load screens that seem to be loading something but nothing happens for 5 minutes, requiring quitting/restarting. (Occurring more than several times.) On top of that, it somehow lost my progress for the entire mission when I restarted, so I had to redo the mission. Checkpoint that occurred after I somehow fell down some scaffolding, thereby requiring a complete mission restart of this utter garbage. Objects that cannot be shot through, even though its clear straight across.
EA has disappointed me, yet again. Good job shooting yourselves in the foot with this unfinished "game." I essentially got this game free through a friend and, bottom line, I still regret the time I wasted on it. No wonder this curse was given to me. | video-games_xbox |
Great Racing Game - Wonderful Customization. Need for Speed Most Wanted is a street racing game where the graphics really shine. You see every detail in your Porshe, Mustang, or other racecar.
I've been playing a lot of this and also Project Gotham Racing 3. Both have quite highly detailed car models, with a nice selection to choose from. NFSMW shines in the area of customization. Where PGR3 gives you a few colors to choose from, in this game you can go through a giant range of color choices. Then you can customize the vinyl, and tons of stickers and other options.
You can go through a mission mode where you develop the storyline and learn the characters. You can also do time trial types of challenges, as well as quick races just to have some fun.
The graphics in this game are REALLY nice. First, the car models are great - from the detail of the body to the interior and lights. Next, the characters are really well done, far better than just about any other XBox 360 game I've played so far. The face textures, especially, are quite smooth and life-like. The backgrounds are also quite nice. I really like the mountains in the background, with the forest running down the sides.
The sounds are reasonably good, with the dialogue being OK. Some of it seems a little silly, from the cop deciding to key your car, and the girls acting like toys.
What it really comes down to, though, is having fun street racing, and customizing and choosing new cars. This game obviously isn't realistic. If you slam your car into gas station trash cans at 140mph, your car comes to an immediate stop without any damage at all to the car or the trash cans. You can drive your car down through street light after street light, leaving a trail behind you. The game's about fun fantasy. You have fun driving all of the super-expensive cars you've always wished you could buy - or perhaps you take a car you own and "test it out" in ways your local cops wouldn't approve of.
I do have to comment that some of the cars seem a little squirrley. I've owned Mustangs since I was 18, and have done a bit of high speed driving with them. I don't recall them spinning in circles quite as easily as in the game. Still, maybe the roads in the game are a bit slick :)
Well recommended for car racing lovers who are into customizing and detailing their cars! I do have to say that this game lets you race only against 3 others online, where PGR3 lets you go in a field of 8. So it might be worth it for you to get both games, as each has a different area it is truly great in. | video-games_xbox |
Absolutely Phenomenal. I picked these up on a flash Blackfriday early access sale as I couldn't resist the price. Original I had my eye on the A40s but with the sale price being cheaper than the A40s I wound up getting these. I purchased the Halo 5 version and it looks awesome, love the master chief green and gold. Anyway after reading the instructions and watching a couple setup videos I hooked everything up and fired up Titanfall 2 as a test. Wow these sound amazing and it was like I was playing an totally new game for the first time. The Dolby digital 7.1 surround really immersed me in the game more so that before, the explosions came to life and I could hear what direction gun fire was coming from. They are super comfortable to wear and you can feel that they are made from high quality materials. I had a cheaper pair of Turtle Beach headphones that always made my ears burn after not even playing that long. I haven't used the Mic yet but I have read many reviews that say it is quite good, I will be sure to test it out soon with some friends.
A few tips:
Before you start fully charge the headset and then hook these up to your PC and download the latest firmware updates. There is one for both the transmitter and the Headset. You can find them easily on Astro's website.
Make sure your xbox one controller has the latest update. Run the update utility from the xbox one settings menu.
Pair the headphones to the transmitter by pressing the power button on the receiver until it flashes white. Then press the power button on your headphones until it flashes white. Once they turn solid white and then back to solid red they are paired.
When I first connected them to my xbox one I couldn't get any sound to play in the head phones and I could hear only some static. Go to settings on your xbox one and switch the audio to bitstream out and be sure the output is set to Dolby Digital and NOT Dolby Digital Surround. Also make sure to turn off the audio to HDMI. | video-games_xbox |
Good graphics, fun gameplay, but not at home multiplayer. I bought this game largely under the idea that i could play it at home for two player (look at the case, it says players: 2, THEN online multiplayer 2-4) however, if you go to [...] and look up legacy Q @ A, you will find that it does NOT support at home multiplayer, a big dissapointment, that removes a lot of the gameplay ability. The dissapointing thing is, Encounters, a PS2 cd-rom game had 2 player, and legacy, a dual-layer DVD-rom couldn't manage that?? I live where they don't provide internet service, so thus i am doomed to single player legacy until i move away, or miracoulously am allowed the ability to purchase more than dial up. So i wouldn't recommend this game for anything more than $[...] if you have to pay that much, don't do it. Wait for it to drop in price, or get it used. A big letdown, considering that it SAID two player seperate from online play (hmm, isn't that the stuff that causes games to go belly up??) So, either get it cheap, or wait for a new one in the future. Hopefully we won't have to wait too long for a new Star trek game that sports high-def multiplayer.
Other than that, if you want it just for single player, then here's a bit about the story: I'm a huge star trek geek, i've got all but like a doezen episodes or so from all the series that were ever made, so story accuracy (i.e., the fact that James kirk's Enterprise can take on a galaxy class in encounters is just absurd) so that part is pretty accurate. The Quantum torpedoes are blue, not like standard photons in encounters, and they have at least twice the firepower. Borg cubes are not like the little things in encounters, they are massive, gargantuan, to-be-reckoned with ships. And last but not least, Defiant, unlike in some games, can paste warbirds and whatever other classes of ships if you use it right.
So in summary, for single player only, get it, for multiplayer, get it only if you have Xbox live and internet. | video-games_xbox |
A Perfect Conclusion to an Amazing Series. I still remember when the original Prince of Persia came out. Not the Sands of Time, but the two-dimensional PC version from the nineties. It was one of my favorite games. The series dragged for awhile, and then they began the current trilogy by releasing the Sands of Time, Warrior Within, and now, finally, The Two Thrones.
It's necessary to talk about the previous two games for a bit, because The Two Thrones takes a lot from both of them. In Sands of Time, what I felt was the real strength of the game was the storyline, along with superb voice acting and graphics that were ahead of their time. The prince was versatile and very easy to maneuver. Although the game was rather short, it was a fun ride. The major complaint about that game was its fighting engine, which was, admittedly, a bit bland and boring. With Warrior Within, they greatly improved the fighting engine, adding all sorts of maneuvers and combos and two-weapon fighting, which added another level of fun to the game. What Warrior Within seemed to lack from the first game, however, was the atmosphere. The prince didn't have Farrah (from the first game) as a companion to work with, and other than with boss fights, there was little dialogue. It was a much....darker game. Bloodier, gorier, and the music was laden with Godsmack and all sorts of heavy rock which, although during a few of the battles I thought it made it fun, seemed out of place.
The Two Thrones took what worked from both of the previous games in the trilogy, and dropped what didn't. The fighting engine from Warrior Within has returned, and has been improved. In Warrior Within it didn't really matter to me if I had two weapons or not; in this game the prince is MUCH deadlier with a second weapon (and also seems to lose it faster). I kept on finding I was looking to pick up a second weapon often, which is something I liked. They also added 'quick kills' to this game, where if you can sneak up on someone it gives you a sequence where you have to press the slash button as your blade lights up--and it's not extremely easy. The window you have to hit that button in is short enough to give you a challenge, but not too tough. Plus, they have quite a few different animations for it, so you can't just get used to one pattern for it. Boss battles have a level of difficulty, but aren't too tough.
The storyline of this game is also done very well. They lightened up the atmosphere that was so dark in Warrior Within. Although it's definitely not a light-hearted storyline, the voice acting and lighting in general seems to have made it much...cheerier. The prince (as you can tell by all of the previews and the artwork on the cover of the game) is now, well, schizophrenic. His darker side--I guess you could call it his warrior within--is now a voice in his head, and the prince banters with his darker half constantly. I found myself looking forward to the dialogue as much as anything else in the game, especially towards the end of the game.
A note of caution about the story: there were two endings to Warrior Within. The second ending could only be unlocked by acquiring all of the health upgrades. The story to The Two Thrones continues from the secret ending, not the normal one. If you didn't get the secret ending to Warrior Within, you may be confused as The Two Thrones begins.
The graphics to this game are essentially the same as Warrior Within. The cutscenes are incredible, but there aren't too many of them; there are far more in-game cutscenes using the regular character models than there are videos. The character models aren't bad, but they're not great, either. I don't think I can really complain, but the prince looks, well, lanky sometimes. I guess 'awkward' would describe him well. It's not that he looks stiff, or anything like that, but he just, well, bends in a strange way here and there. You can't really blame the game for that, though, because with all of his versatility he ends up in all sorts of positions, and so for some of them not to look completely natural is (in my book) easily forgiven.
The prince still moves in pretty much the same way from both of the previous games. He can run along walls, climb anything, jump unnaturally high--you get the picture. He certainly has some new things he can do in this game, but not very many. What I find neat about this game (and the previous two) is that although a lot of the things the prince can do are COMPLETELY impossible, the animation is done in such a way that you *almost* believe that it's possible. Almost. His moves are believable, which is a real credit to the animations he has.
Not only has the prince become schizophrenic in this game, but he has taken it one step further--his darker half takes over quite often, completely transforming his appearance. His dark side is MUCH more fierce of a warrior, holding a weapon in his off-hand that is essentially a giant chain, which he is very proficient with. You'll find it extremely easy to defeat enemies when you play as the dark side, but there's one catch: the prince's health drains over time. It replenishes fully when you get a sand tank. This may sound familiar from Warrior Within, where the prince was a sand wraith for some time, but there is quite a difference with the dark prince. The sand wraith had unlimited sand tanks; dark prince does not. The sand wraith would stop losing health at a certain point; the dark prince does not. If you don't improve your health, the dark prince will die, so it forces you to be quick as you go through certain puzzles trying to get back to being the normal prince. In general this doesn't become too much of a problem, as there are sand tanks in just about anything you smash while being the dark prince, but towards the end of the game it got pretty difficult, especially if you haven't gotten many health upgrades (which I didn't).
There were also some chariot races that they added. They weren't extremely fun, but I didn't find them to be a burden, either. One of them was pretty difficult, and ended with the most difficult boss battle in the game, so it's a good idea not to use up all of your sand tanks on the chariot race (which I did) because you'll need them in the boss battle, or else you'll play that battle QUITE a few times, especially if you haven't gotten many health upgrades (which I hadn't, and it took more than twenty attempts for me to win that battle). What makes the chariot races difficult is there's no health meter; if you crash you die. The chariot was maneuverable enough that the controls didn't cause you to crash, but sometimes it was difficult to see what was ahead, and the difficult race was a few minutes long--pretty tough if you don't want to use your sand tanks (which, believe me, you don't).
I already mentioned the voice acting. The music has changed from Warrior Within to be more...arabian. It fits well with the atmosphere. I found that oftentimes, especially with the Empress of Time (who narrates the story) it was difficult to hear her, so you'll want to turn voice sounds all the way up and sound effects and music down to be able to hear everything. Sometimes she would begin narrating JUST as I went to save my game, and it would cut her voice off, so that I didn't hear what she had to say. It's not a huge deal--nothing she said specifically had anything to do with any puzzles or anything, but with the story being as good as it is, it would have been nice to hear everything.
I also found that I relied on the sands MUCH less in this game than in the previous two. Some of the powers I got I never even used. Call it a credit to the well-programmed fighting engine, call it a credit to the game giving you a good clue as to where it is that you have to go, and the controls following what you tell it to do. But other than a few mistimed jumps, or poorly-executed 'quick kills,' I rarely needed to rely on the sands.
Overall, I think this game--and series in all--has been outstanding. All too often the sequel to a game becomes old hat, just a bland remake of the previous version. The Two Thrones is not bland. You may get sick of some of the puzzles here and there, but the superb storyline told through excellent voice acting makes you keep on wanting more. If you haven't played the previous games in the series, I'd suggest you do so before playing this game. Although you don't need any of the knowledge from previous games to be able to get through this one, they don't put much effort in brushing you up on what has happened in the previous games. Overall, The Two Thrones provides a satisfying conclusion to a series that has been outstanding throughout and constantly improving. It's a shame that the conclusion to this game is so final; I don't think I could ever get enough of this series, but alas, this is the finale. | video-games_xbox |
Visual feast- Rent don't buy. You could this game for the visuals alone! Beautifully rendered lighting and shadows with emense detail to texture and the like. There are cool mini-games to bet on and to play, like coin golf which is where you try and flick a coin around beer mugs placed on a bar table.
There are not alot of weapons and armour to choose from, but enough to change your players wardrobe to look a certain style (ex. criminal, good guy, naked, etc.). Since most people are going to gush all over this game, I feel I should voice the negatives....
I was anoyed so much at times with the 1) camera angles. At times you want to turn to your right and hit a enemy next to you if only you could get the CAMERA ANGLE to look in the direction you want!
My second peeve is when you charge up your hit meter you can't run because 2) both actions (hit and run) are allocated to the same button. So you will get struck by an enemy 4 or 5 times unnessasaily, IMO, and it's really aggravating.
3) Game is too short. You can easily beat it in about a week. Although the game is made to be played over and over I can't imagine playing it more than 2 or three time.
4) the controls are slow and at time you can find yourself forgetting what button does what. I think only hardcore gamers will be able to play this game smoothly, everyone else will probably have trouble. The menu are accessed by using the directional pad which can be tricky to operate and can sometimes make you use an item you don't want to.
One of my favorite things to do is get a whole town drunk and see people stumbling around adn you can do things like kick chickens, decapitated heads, fish for recharge items, but overall I thought the game was tryign to do TOO MUCH. I give credit for what seems like trying to combine elements from different games (Sims, Morrowind, GTAuto, Hearts, etc.) but overall, and ironically, I felt like the game was MISSING something.
The games has a nintendo game quality, in that it can seem cute at times but then becomes really violent. | video-games_xbox |
Save Your Money! Buy The Book Or Graphic Novel If You Want To Know The Story. WAAAY Less Frustrating. The fact that so many people have given this piece of Ca$h in Tra$h an 80% rating here?
That means that those of us who care, who are a little more discerning about what garbage is foisted on us, are screwed.
This title deserves maybe 30%.
Why?
Read On:
I realize this review is late but I avoided the game as reviews told me I'd be let down. I had now idea how down, or angry, it would make me.
I received it as a gift.
That person is off my gift list!
>;P
Firstly:
I've been a gamer since the Atari 2600 back in 1975.
Therefore, with the amount I've spent in nearly 4 decades on consoles and titles,, I'm very discerning about which games I buy.
I've rarely bought, or enjoy games that, (when I now check them on gamerankings.com), rate under 80%.
That said, this game, were it not for the Star Wars tie in, would DEFINITELY have been scored lower and made million$ le$$ in sales.
It's that weak.
I should note I started game on hardest difficulty, (well not THE hardest. Luca$#art$ won't allow you to select it till after you've suffered all the way thru this Sith Trial of Agony in it's entirety once), as always, but "cheap AI" and "poor quality control" shouldn't be part of the difficulty.
I've just traded my copy, (I nearly snapped it in half), after getting to the level in the Death Star, where one has to force push 7 mechanisms into their slots, in the massive Death Star laser collector array area. As with the whole game, the geniuses at Luca$art$ thought it would be WISE to put a cinematic at the start of each area that is difficult, where you are SURE to die at least a few times, if not more.
This means you get to sit through the intro cinematic, over, and over and over..
"Why not just click a button and skip it?!"
Ahh, but the money manager$ at Luca$art$ wouldn't allow for that.
"Make them spend HOURS re-watching cinematics and replaying cheap levels, and that'll make the VALUE of the game increase because it'll take sooo much longer to finish! (snicker)"
(rather than auto saving progress at intervals or giving the option to manually save- although there is a "save" option in the menu but it has no apparent affect whatsoever.)
And as for Load times?
WELCOME TO 1994 and the era of the first Playstation!
It's really that bad.
Actually worse!
Loading times for menus, and sub menu's is INSANE.
We're talking 5 to 8 seconds- and I'm playing the game off the hard drive!?
NO Excuse.
The AI?
It's cheap - killing you from off screen with no way to see, or target, some enemies.
Ahh targeting.
Listen Jedi: You're being clobbered by a AT-ST.
Will you?:
A: Direct your attack at the two legged terror or
B: Attack a tree or rock or piece of furniture?
In this piece of crap title: Odds are, more SIXTY percent of the time, it'll be the latter.
And you'll die.
Overandoverandover.
You can't select your targets!
Helen Kellar does it for you.
Basically, in the Farce Unleashed, your biggest enemy isn't time, or the Empire, or all the things that want you dead:
It's the camera and the Stevie Wonder based targeting system which, like the cinematics, Control Freak Luca$art$ won't allow you ANY input on.
I've heard from a number of people that the "QUICK!! GRAB THEIR CA$H!!" sequel improves some of this but is HELLA short.
1 step forward, 2 steps back.
Classic Luca$.
Do yourself a favour:
Gaming should be FUN.
A diversion.
The amount of frustration this game creates WILL lead you to the Dark Side.
Save your time, and do like I suggested in title:
Buy the book (Luca$art$ still gets paid), or better still:
Go on Yoot Ube and watch the cinematics.
(They're not that well done, in technical terms, compared to those in other contemporary games. Shocking I know).
After pulling the disc from the tray and nearly smashing it, I put Wolfenstein, for the 360, in as I set it aside when I was given this pile.
Wolfenstein got FAR less attention and sold FAR lower numbers.
It didn't do anything too innovative.
The story was pretty thin - doesn't compare to the intrigue in Farce Unleashed, but passable - BUT on every other level:
technical,
execution,
interface,
graphic flourishes,
AI:
It KICKS the Farce out of this drink coaster!
If Luca$art$ had allowed the Wolfenstein design team to do Farce Unleashed, it would have been a MASSIVE event.
Getting the kind of accolades that the new Batman titles, or GTA IV have got.
Not because it would have been better in all respects, but because it was an:
AMAZINGLY SOLID, GLITCH AND BUG FREE, UBER PLAY TESTED
STAR WARS GAME.
Because as we all know: THAT is the rarest thing of all, in gaming.
Instead?
Save your bux, and your sanity.
Skip this sub par title.
[...] | video-games_xbox |
The Room: most innovated SH game yet. For some fans of the series, this game will come to be a shock when you find out that there are two view points in this game, 1st and 3rd person. You see when your in The Room you have to be in 1st person for some odd reason but the only thing that bothered me about this setup was trying to get used to the somewhat clunky control scheme used there. Sometimes you might need to look at a certain thing, let's say looking out the window, well sometimes you'll get this message that says "I haven't been able to open the windows in 5 days..." when I was trying to look at the main glass part of the window.
Sometimes this 1st person can be a problem, but I started getting used to it and most of the problems stopped.
As for gameplay, it's your normal SH game but they've added some new features. Like you can only change weapons by using the D-pad in real time, meaning if you run out of ammo in the middle of the battle you can't pause it to save you so you have to plan ahead and bring melee weapons.
Also you iventory is no longer limitless, you have to return to your room and deposit your unneccessary objects in a chest, kind of like the boxes in RE.
They've added a special ability mode too where you hold down the A button while in combat position and wait for a bar to fill up, once it's full you unleash an attack that can either be more devastating or can hit more enemies.
The storyline of the game is great and has little tidbits from the other 3 games (which can easily missed so look carefully) but other than that this game is like the 2nd where it has no connection to the main storyline of the characters from the 1st and 3rd (want to know their names and plots? Well go buy the games and play them to learn the secrets of the cult based in the town).
The graphics in this game aren't bad some of the creatures in this game are creepy, and they've added ghosts, which cannot be harmed by normal weapons and are kinda like the Nemesis from RE3.
Buy this game if you like the series or if you like the whole survival horror genre. | video-games_xbox |
A Great Game, Not Just for Kids. In Viva Pinata you have inherited a garden in a fantasy world populated by living pinatas and an assortment of odd characters. Your mission is to build your garden to attract pinatas to live there. Everything you grow in your garden, including the pinatas, vegetables, flowers, and trees, can be sold for chocolate coins. You can use the coins to buy more seeds and grow more plants or to otherwise improve your garden. Viva Pinata is like a cross between Pokemon and The Sims and virtual pets, but I found that the result is greater than the sum of its parts!
This is a sandbox game of the best sort. You can make whatever decisions you want to and your garden can look however you want. You have the ability to dig ponds, grow grass, build houses for your pinatas, and all sorts of other activities that I am still discovering several hours into the experience. The decisions you make about how your garden develops will determine the kind of pinata who want to live there. The open-ended nature of the game is its best feature, and it really makes you feel like you are in control of the game's environment. The feeling of empowerment that kids receive playing Viva Pinata is enhanced by the excitement of constantly finding new things to do and play with.
I am impressed that a game that is so easy for kids to pick up is also so complex. My daughter is nine and was familiar with the controls and basic concepts within a half-hour. Yet the underlying concepts of the game are complicated. The skills I see her working on in this game primarily have to do with resource management, which as we adults know is critical for daily life. You have a limited amount of space for your garden (just like in real life), yet if you are not organized in your approach then the garden will quickly become a place of chaos. Kids will also learn the concepts of working to make money and how to budget for the next big item they need to improve their garden.
As other reviewers have stated, this looks like a game for kids, but it will suck an adult into its world just as easily. I couldn't wait for my kids to go to sleep the first night so I could start on my own garden. Time is greatly accelerated in the game, and the result is that you are very busy - you may suddenly look up from the game and see that a few hours have passed in the real world almost as quickly. The pinata are just the right amount of cute so that they are fun to watch, not annoying. There is no lull in the action for at least a few hours, at which time you may have been able to hire some helpers to take off some of the pressures of a big garden, such as watering and gathering your sellable items. This too is a good introduction to kids of the concept of people management. Lots of times you have to tell your helpers what to do, rather than just letting them do their own thing. Otherwise, their priority list is typically different from yours and those plants that you just planted may die because your helper was busy watering something less important.
Viva Pinata has way too much to offer to cover it all in such a short review. The environment is incredibly well done, from the sounds to the graphics. The game play is very addictive. Playing Viva Pinata actually got me excited to go out and do lawn work in the back yard! For parents wondering if this game is suitable for their kids, I will say that I am picky about what I let my kids watch and play and there is nothing here which offends me. There are all sorts of euphemisms around breeding pinatas (they call it "romancing") that sound very innocent but will make the adult chuckle. It is very tastefully done. And there is no doubt that your kids will be using their brains a lot more while playing this game than while playing the typical platform-style kids game. This is exactly the kind of game I was looking for to provide my kids with an enriching, non-violent video game experience. If Viva Pianta is an indication of the future of kids video games then the future is very promising. | video-games_xbox |
Mindless Time Waster. Imagine that you've just placed the Lost Planet 2 disc into your Xbox. Even though you've played the game several times before, you are greeted with a screen requiring you to choose a storage device. You select your hard drive, being that it's your only option. Are you sure? it asks. Yes, I'm sure.
Now wasn't that fun? I hope so, because you'll be doing it every time.
Anyway, next you are presented with an unnecessarily busy main menu. Once you figure out where the game is hidden amongst all this muck, you set up a lobby to start playing.
Hello boring cut scene where a bunch of generic characters stand around and babble some of the most painfully inane dialogue for what seems like hours in an attempt to fool you into thinking the game has a story.
Finally, you're playing the game.
No matter what level you're on, the progression is always the same: Run around killing hundreds of human enemies who each take entirely too much damage to put down. If a more powerful vehicular enemy shows up, you'll need a more powerful weapon. Occasionally you get blasted by a rocket from nowhere, sending you careening across the landscape for a few minutes. Once you recover, you get to mash your thumb down on the start button for a few more minutes to refill your life bar.
And all this time what are you after? Data Posts. That's right. They try their best to convince you that you're up to bigger and better things, but you're not. You're blindly searching for little posts in the ground so you can sit beside them and tap the red button for a minute or two to raise them up.
Time for a boss battle.
A giant alien monster called an "Akrid" rises from the ground. It may look kinda like a spider, it may look kinda like a worm or snake. Regardless, they all look like they're made out of rock and magma. Boy am I sick of looking at rock and magma.
That's when one of your AI teammates dies, using the last of your respawn reserves and ending the game.
So (Oh joy!) you start over at the beginning of the level.
This time, you turn off the AI teammates which makes replaying that level you already beat even more of a pain because every bullet and missile is aimed squarely at you and you alone. But you soldier through and make your way back to the lava spider.
There are two possible strategies for the boss battles:
1) If it has legs, shoot the legs.
1) If it has no legs, shoot the glowing dots on its sides.
Either way, you'll be shooting it a lot. Eventually, it will die.
And there you have it.
Revel in your victory. Prepare yourself to watch essentially the same cutscene and play essentially the same level. Repeat process as necessary.
Now let's talk about the "RPG elements"
You have five character models to choose from. Playing with each character will unlock alternate outfits for that character. Big deal. You can't use them in the campaign mode until you've beaten it once anyway.
Aside from that, everything else is handled based upon how many boxes you picked up during the game. The boxes are dropped by defeated enemies in-game. You'll be tempted to ignore the big, obnoxious things, but don't, because they're the only way to get any customization points. How do you use these points?
With a slot machine of course.
That's right. Every 2000 points you gather out of boxes gets you a spin of the slot machine.
You can unlock one of four things:
Weapons, Abilities, Emotes, and Noms de Guerre
The latter two are pointless fluff. Emotes are stupid poses or dances. Noms de Guerre are callsigns that appear over your character's head in-game.
Weapons and Abilities are what you want. Well, not abilities so much, they're insignificant.
But you'll hardly ever unlock a gun. And when you do, the possibilities are dull and limited.
My cousin played through this entire game and unlocked one firearm. He was less than thrilled.
And that's the bottom line.
This game is entirely too much work and virtually no reward. It feels like there's a good game buried deep down there somewhere, but if there is, it has been effectively ruined by tedious nonsense. | video-games_xbox |
The best Madden game ever, but. Let me start this review with some back ground. I have been playing video football games since the playstation one and have been a major Madden fan un until a few years ago. That changed when I bought the Dreamcast and the NFL 2K series was born. Even last year I chose to purchase NFL 2K3 over Madden. This year because of the attration I had with the owner mode and my 100% love for NCAA 2004, I decided to buy Madden 2004. To save you time I won't list all of the additions since you can read that on any gaming web site and on the box. Instead I will tell you what I like, what works and what doesn't.
Whats Great!!
--The owner mode, if you want to make the decisions to own your own team and make all of the decisions then this is worth the price by itself.
--The mini camp mode, which is inside the dynasty mode, which is inside the owner mode.
--The little things, for me I like the little things, when a player gets hurt they clutch the sore area and you see the grimace on his face, the new mode where even during the play calling part you can watch the field or replays. The uniforms getting dirty as the game goes one. The crowd changing its actions depending on the situation, on and on with the little things.
--The new play mode that allows you to change the play at the line of scrimmage this is not the same as an audible or a hot route, you can actually on the fly tell your running back to run left instead of right if you notice a blitzing line backer.
--Just playing the game is superb.
Whats good!!
--The commentary is better then the madden games that I remember, NFL 2K3 was really good. The main flaw is the emotion of Al Michaels, he counts down the yard lines when you make a long run like he is reading war and peace The 20, the 10, touchdown.
--The animation is good, gang tackles, side line views etc.
Whats not so good!!
Luckily for me it is only one thing. I am playing in Pro mode and as I have said I have been a major football fan in every way, I know the rules, the guidelines the formations the plays etc etc. Nothing is more annoying then when you have been making the right calls and doing what is right and then all of a sudden the game decides that it needs to win no matter what. Example, I was beating the Raiders by 10 points with about 4 minutes left in the game. At that point I was sacked twice in a row, my receiver who was wide open dropped the ball and then on my first down I was called for holding. Ok, that will happen, however the Raiders get the ball back, their running back breaks 5 or 6 tackles for a 20 yard run and then the next play their receiver catches a 60 yard touchdown with three guys covering him. Now the on side kick, they go for it and get it. Next play with no time left on the clock the receiver catches a 20 yard pass and breaks 5 or 6 tackles and streaks down the middle to score the winning touchdown. Now that is not cool. NFL 2K never did that. Yes there are always questionable catches and fumbles at opportune times but it is usually fair on both sides, this was completly one sided.
Overall!!
It is a five star game when you consider all that it offers and I would tell you to go out and buy this game if you like the kind of depth that this has. But I will also tell you if I encounter too many more games like the one described above on Sept 2nd I will once again be an ESPN Football owner (Formally NFL 2K) and Madden will be sold on Ebay. If not I will be playing Madden all football season long. | video-games_xbox |
Epic. Horrible puns aside, the Gears of War series is the Xbox 360's "other" AAA million selling franchise. Halo, however, this is not; developed by Epic Games, Gears of War 2 is a brutal, bloody third person shooter with an emphasis on finding cover and taking out your opponent by popping out from corners, concrete barriers and burned out cars. Beautiful graphics, wonderful sound and excellent, unique gameplay all combine to make Gears of War 2 one of the best games on the Xbox 360.
The graphics are the best on the system, bar none; fantastic looking character models, beautiful explosions and excellent lighting combine to make Gears of War 2 a treat to look at. It looks better than the first game and sounds better to boot. Technically, the folks at Epic have raised the bar for games to come. Voice acting is spot on, and the story this time even plays a bigger role. Don't go expecting anything of Final Fantasy melodrama or complexity, but the tale is well told, and it keeps the game moving along.
The main draw of the game is the gunfights, of which there are many. The controls are tight and perform exactly as you would like them to, although there are still problems with sliding into cover by accident or, say, executing a downed enemy instead of reviving a teammate. These are minor annoyances, but they can lead to some untimely deaths or losses (in the case of multiplayer rounds), so it's worth mentioning. If you've played the original game, you'll be right at home here; not much has changed (there's some new executions, the ability to plant grenades and use downed enemies as meatshields), asides from the levels, which are varied and fun to dash through. The Locust aren't particularly smart, but they put up a decent enough fight on Normal. The campaign only takes about 6 or 7 hours, which is too bad, although it is good enough that I want to play it through more than once. Replayability is enhanced by the fact that insane mode is unlocked AFTER beating the game. There are some terrible vehicle portions in the game, where you're required to either man the gunner seat, drive or both. The controls in these are almost universally horrible, and it's difficult to aim with your ride bouncing up and down all the time. Some segments are better than others, but none of them are particularly endearing. Thankfully, they're short, but please Epic, cut out these awful parts; the vehicle chapter in Gears of War 1 was terrible as well.
Multiplayer is the core of the title, in my opinion; there's only so many times one can finish the story mode, however good it may be. The hosting process of the first game has been replaced with a Halo 3 style matchmaking system that is hit or miss; it takes awhile to get into games sometimes, and it really shouldn't, considering how many people are playing. We're talking 4 or 5 minute load times here, although it usually finds a match within a minute or so. Also, sometimes the game will drop you mid-match, saying "connection to the host was lost." This is irritating, and although my internet is spotty (so some of the blame lies there), other Xbox Live games don't do this. The highlight of the multiplayer options is the new Horde mode, easily the best addition to the game. A team of 5 is pitted against a swarm of Locust that gets bigger and stronger every round; every ten rounds, they get a boost to their health, accuracy or damage. There are a total of fifty waves, and your high scores are tracked on the leaderboards. It's a great new feature, although not without its problems; it's a pain to hunt down the last Locust of a wave - oftentimes they'll be stuck on some object or hiding halfway across the map. The game essentially forces you out of position to go and hunt down these stray enemies, which can screw you for the next round. It'd be nice if the last few guys tried to kill you more often, instead of camping. Other multiplayer options from the original Gears are back, including Warzone, Execution and Annex. New multiplayer modes include Meatflag (capture the flag with a live person as the flag...) and Wingman (essentially Multi-Team). I highly dislike the versus multiplayer aspect of the game; it's very shotgun/power weapon centric, and latency ensures that if you're not host, you're at a severe disadvantage. There are some people who love it, though, and it's certainly not bad; I just prefer Halo 3's multiplayer. That, and Horde is so much fun that I can't tear away from it.
If you're a fan of shooters and you don't own this game, buy it immediately. Even if you don't have Live, playing through the campaign either solo or with a buddy is great fun. It's well polished, well designed, and has enough variety that it doesn't get stale. The singe player game is slightly short, but it has some decent replay value. The multiplayer aspect of the game is wonderful, matchmaking/lag issues not withstanding. Horde is a great addition to the game and adds a ton of replay value. Gears of War 2 builds upon the original's solid foundations, and the result is one of the best sequels in recent memory. One of the Xbox 360's marquee titles, and a game almost everyone will enjoy. | video-games_xbox |
Massively, Effectively Dissapointing. Let's get this out of the way first - I am one of the biggest Mass Effect fans in the Milky Way. I reserved this game in two different places just to get as much extra DLC as I could (more on that travesty later.) I have the Collectors Edition of both games, both novels, and 2 of the four Comic Books - the second volume just hit shelves today. I know the story like the back of my hand.
Maybe that's why Mass Effect 2 is such a major disappointment. BioWare allegedly spent a lot of time researching feedback from the first game, and "vastly improved" upon various aspects from Mass Effect 1. What they in-fact did was create an abstract, disjointed and frustrating combat experience, added in a slew of loading screens were there was once flow and connection between areas and missions, and used a revolutionary dialogue system on a lame excuse for a sci-fi adventure of galactic proportions.
I'm going to hit on the most important part first - combat. There has been so much discussion on the "excellent" and "much-improved" combat system. I don't know what these people are playing, but this combat system is laughable. For starters, we've lost the ability to crouch. You can no longer duck behind boxes and walls - unless you engage the cover system. In ME1, you simply pressed your character into a wall or crate and you would automatically take cover. Now you have to hit the 'A' button. This would work OK if the 'A' button didn't also control running. So imagine this scenario: you enter a large area where you're ambushed by enemies. You see a low wall to the side, so you run and take cover. You manage to pick off a few bad guys before catching sight of a few more baddies attempting to flank you. You turn to the side while switching guns, when suddenly your character stands up! You didn't want to stand up, but since you can't actively crouch, you stand up the moment you break cover. So now you're not only vulnerable to the enemies who have flanked you, but all the remaining enemies around you. This happens often, and kills you almost just as frequently.
To add to the frustration, you now have to manage ammo. Ammo is thoroughly covered in the first game, and also the Mass Effect novels. It doesn't exist in this timeframe. But because people whined about the combat system from ME1, they decided to give us "heat sinks" that have to be ejected from the guns - effectively acting as ammo. BioWare tells us that ammo is abundant, but it's anything but true. Often you'll kill entire groups of opponents only to find 2 or 3 ammo packs - not nearly enough to refill your stash. Furthermore many of your guns have extremely limited ammo quantities, such as the Sniper Rifle which only holds 10 shots. When playing as an Infiltrator, this could be very difficult to work with. Quite frankly, I don't know why they did it. It's no fun, and it can become incredibly frustrating to suddenly run out of ammo mid-fight.
Next up, the missions... I want to find out who convinced BioWare to get rid of my precious Mako. Everyone complains about the Mako - that thing was awesome! Certainly no more challenging to drive than a Warthog in Halo. With a little practice, it could dodge enemy fire in combat, and came with some pretty heavy artillery. People complain about how hard it was to get over some of the mountains on various planets. Did you ever try checking the map? The map would show you areas of transition between the elevations - showing you the clear and easy path to get to where you were going. The straight path from A to B wasn't always the quickest. So now we sit through uninspiring loading screens - some of which are quite long - and feel much less connected to the story. We also don't get to traverse loading docks anymore - exiting (and later reentering) the air lock of the new Normandy. What all this does is disconnect you from the story. Mass Effect 1 had a tremendous flow to it: select your destination, walk to the airlock, pick your crew, and exit the ship onto your mission. By the way, maps are all-but gone in ME2 as well - you get overly detailed maps while loitering in the various cities/space stations, but all you get during missions to help you find your way is a glitchy "go this way" objective arrow in the corner of the screen.
And the story... I've compared the first 40 hours of gameplay to an oversized grocery shopping list. "Go get this guy. Okay, now get this guy. Get this guy too. Okay now make this guy like you better. Okay, no this guy too..." You spend a massive amount of time recruiting people for your team, then fulfill completely pointless missions to make them "loyal" - stories like, "Oh help me find my sister" or "My daddy called me!" It's pandering, and pretty pathetic. The end warms up, but it tends to feel like too little too late. Are we saving the Galaxy here or playing some pickup B-ball...?
On top of all this is a relatively glitchy game. My character has gotten stuck a number of times already - even in some of the DLC missions. Clipping seems to be a frequent issue - in fact, the entire time you run around you'll see the guns on Shephard's back clipping with each other - the gun holsters from the previous game have not been resized to fit the new "heavy weapons" which have been crammed in the middle, so you end up looking like you're carrying around some kind of jetpack - you can't tell where one gun ends and the next begins. Does it affect gameplay? Not at all - but it's pretty pathetic for a game that BioWare has bragged as being "their best game ever." Some dialogue conversations don't flow properly, and sometimes just don't make sense. If you put your guns away in the middle of a fight, your teammates will shout out "All enemies clear!" even while you're still being shot at!
The game certainly isn't without merit. The new hack/bypass mini-games are a welcome change from the "Bop-It" button press challenges of the previous games. The diversity in weapons within a certain class (such as the Standard verses the Viper Sniper Rifles) is nice, even if you don't get to collect dozens of weapons as you did in the first game. The new Normandy is cool, though wandering around to carry on conversations with your oversized crew gets old kinda quick. One good aspect of combat is the quick ability to change ammo types quickly. I do still wish they'd use a hotkey system more similar to Fallout or Oblivion, but I recognize the challenge of incorporating crew commands as well. The dialogue has been ramped up even further - the new "interrupt" system added to conversations is just awesome - ESPECIALLY the Renegade moments. I'm following a Paragon path, but will often follow the Renegade interrupts and then reload to the last save point - they're worth watching THAT much. There is plenty of Nostalgia as well, both in the form of reappearing crew members from the first game (though I agree that some of these moments are underwhelming.) Still, they pull it off in a manner that waits until the last moment to surprise you. It's a nice touch. For those buying the game new, you can also visit the Normandy crash site. It's definitely an emotional scene - especially if you felt connected to the story and characters (of which the Normandy and Mako became their own characters) from the first game.
But it's hard to decide if these pros make up for the drastic oversights. The combat options have been stripped down, there's this MIND-numbingly boring planet-scan mini-game to gather resources... Not sure what they were thinking there. I was falling asleep scanning planets today...
I love Mass Effect - I love the story. This is the next Star Trek taking shape and it's a phenomenal opportunity to reintroduce the current generation to good quality sci-fi. But if companies like BioWare keep pandering to the straight and narrow (minded) first-person shooter games, then it'll never truly take hold. Mass Effect can be so much better than this, and it's frustrating to see such a great game in Mass Effect 1 get reduced to this because they listened to too many cry-babies. ME2 fixes things that didn't need fixed, overshadowing the handful of improvements overall.
If you're a die-hard fan well, you've probably bought it already, making this a moot point. The overall census seems to agree that if you REALLY enjoyed the first game, you'll be disappointed - even heartbroken - by this one. If you thought the first was too frustrating/challenging/boring, then this one has been effectively dumbed down for you. Personally I'll just have to keep my fingers crossed for Mass Effect 3, and look forward to the third and final novel arriving in July.
P.S. And because I forgot to mention it, allow me to say briefly that the new "Cerberus Network" from EA is a total scam. They have taken a simple, streamlined process of downloading extra content for video games and made it the singularly most frustrating experience ever. It took me over 3 hours to remedy the situation - eventually having to sit online for an hour waiting for chat-based tech support. It is maddening, and an insult to serious gamers the world over. EA needs to accept their position as a valid member of the gaming industry - not as a self-proclaimed leader. Get over yourselves. | video-games_xbox |
Still not really sure what to think. Full disclosure: I am a casual fighting game player. I used to consider myself hardcore when all the opponents I had were random friends and family members, but the advent of GGPO and Street Fighter IV quickly humbled me, and now my once-lofty aspirations of EVO championships have been reduced to the far more realistic aspiration of eking out a win now and then. As such, I doubt that this review will be very helpful to uber-passionate world-class fighting game players, and so instead I am targeting this review to players like me: those of us who play fighting games because we think they're kind of neat, and are okay with sucking at them (at least as a stepping stone towards getting better).
There's no denying that KoF XIII is a massive improvement over the previous game. There are a bunch more characters, and premade story teams have returned. The interface is much more polished. For players who need a bit of training, there are excellent tutorial and mission modes that allow you to practice your moves and techniques, and to learn new combos. And for casual folks and KoF story buffs, there's a story mode in addition to the regular arcade mode. All in all, it's much more of a "complete package" than the bare-bones KoF XII.
Alas, I just can't get past the fact that this is still "traditional" KoF 3-on-3, rather than building upon the tag system from 2003 and XI. It felt like a step backwards in KoF XII, and I was really hoping that XIII would restore tagging. The tag system in 2003 breathed new life into the series, and XI refined it. I was excited to see where the series would go next. This game feels sort of like KoF 2002 with better controls, and while that still means it's good (great, in fact), it does leave me wondering what might have been.
The "new" system this time around is the Drive Gauge, which allows you to do Drive Cancels (canceling a special move into another special move), and to go into Hyperdrive Mode, which allows you to cancel moves into each other that can't normally be canceled (at the cost of a bit of gauge). Fans of the series will recognize these as "anywhere cancels" and "MAX mode" from KoF 2002, the main difference being that they're powered by your Drive Gauge rather than your normal super gauge. I will say that stringing together combos is a great deal more fun here than it ever was in 2002, owing to more forgiving controls, much simpler cancel restrictions and (again) a solid set of in-game tutorials that allow you to get into the meat of the game much more quickly. Other than that, there's just the usual KoF stuff: rolling, dashing/running, hops and hyperhops, guard cancel evasions and attacks, and so on. While I can certainly appreciate this game's approach -- stick with what works, don't fix what's not broken, etc. -- and while I can understand the need to "get back to basics" after the small-scale disaster that was KoF XII, I really wish they had done more with this.
Mind you, this game looks and sounds a heck of a lot better than 2002 (either version) ever did. While it still has the somewhat wonky art style of KoF XII, the ugly pixelation and zooming is gone, and it's now possible to appreciate these high-resolution, gloriously-animated sprites for what they are. What is up with these backgrounds, though? The overly cartoony, appallingly racist caricatures in these stages really shouldn't be in a KoF game. The music is mostly listenable, but it's not terribly catchy or memorable or, y'know, good (with the sole exception of the main menu theme, which is classic KoF). I do appreciate the ability to switch to an alternate soundtrack with music from older games, mostly KoF XI (mind you, I'm not wild about that game's soundtrack either, but at least I can remember some of the songs).
And I'm afraid that those who play KoF for the story are going to be disappointed. Sure, there's lots of pre-fight dialogue and a full story mode, but the actual story sucks. It sucks really badly. I thought the conclusion of the NESTS saga in 2001 was bad; alas, the conclusion of the Ash saga is even worse. It makes me feel like I've wasted my time with single-player KoF -- and I suppose I have, but that doesn't mean the game needs to rub it in, you know?
Of course, like any fighting game, what KoF XIII is _really_ about is playing against other human opponents. And in that respect, it's as awesome as ever... at least in local versus mode. I am sad to report that, even after a patch from the developers, the game is basically unplayable online. Not only is there lag (even if you choose only to play against people with four bars), but it's the old kind of lag, the kind where the game responds to your input half a second after you make it. I know this is par for the course for SNK releases, but come on! This game was released in 2011, so there is just no excuse for netcode this bad!
I did have fun with this game -- the mechanics are as solid as ever, and the roster is nice and eclectic -- but I really can't recommend it, for all the reasons mentioned above. I think I enjoyed previous games in the series quite a bit more. | video-games_xbox |
Dead Island: Brilliance or Boring. <a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/Dead-Island/dp/B004PAGJOC/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">Dead Island</a>
Okay, so I've never reviewed a game and posted it online, but I couldn't resist reviewing this one. Dead Island is somewhat of an anomaly for me. It's not the worst game I've ever played and it's light years away from being the best game I've ever played. It has such potential yet falls painfully short.
The Good:
The game is huge. Again, it's not the biggest game I've played. There are different zones you travel to like the city and the jungle for example. With all the zones combined, it makes for a pretty large playing area. If you decide to do most of the quests as well as the main quest, you'll be busy for quite some time. I've been put a lot of hours in to this game. I have done ALL the quests though. Because of it's size and the length of time it takes from start to finish, it is an awesome game.
The Bad:
There are a lot of glitches. I'm not usually one to complain about glitches, but in this case some of these glitches are terrible. They are the difference between you dying and living in some cases. For example, you're in mid zombie-fighting and you're going up some stairs to evade the approaching horde, only when your reach the top you can't go any further. You get stuck and subsequently killed. This glitch is easy to overcome as it only takes a jump to get up the stairs, but when you're getting attacked by a group of zombies it only takes a second for them to kill you. There are other glitches in some quests that cause you to revert to your last checkpoint because an NPC stopped responding.
I know every game has it's flaws and glitches, but this is by the worst and most annoying glitches I have encountered.
The Ugly:
If you're buying this game because you think it's a zombie shooter, IT IS NOT A ZOMBIE SHOOTER! The majority of the game you use bats, knives, machetes and any other object to combat the zombies with. Granted, there are some pretty cool modifications you can do to these weapons. Modifications aside, it gets quite difficult later in the game to fend off groups of zombies with only a machete. You have other weapons at your disposal, such as molotov cocktails and makeshift grenades, but again you need to use sparingly as you have to collect the things needed to construct these things.
The guns that you do get and use feel very stiff and uncomfortable. It almost feels like they threw in some guns last minute. I end up using machetes more than guns because of this as well as the fact that ammo is almost impossible to get when you first acquire a gun. You have the option of making ammo, but first you have to find the schematic that goes with making ammo. You have some combat with human enemies which is not enjoyable at all because of how stiff and horribly the guns handle. The final ugly piece of this game is how freakin' easily you die. Now, for some this is a challenge, those people are probably hardcore gamers. I am not a hardcore gamer and I dislike the fact that with a couple hits from a zombie I can die. If you get overrun with zombies, the chances of survival are very slim. And believe me, those zombies will sneak up on you all the time. There are running zombie that literally appear out of thin air, run at you and beat the ever loving crap out of you before you even realize where they are. Again, this could be taken as a challenge, but I'm an average gamer and all of this just annoyed me. That's not to say I don't like challenge, but when you get killed because your character to stomping the head of a zombie, an action which you cannot escape from but can still die while doing, it starts to tick you off.
So there you have it, my major complaints. The thing that sucks is that Dead Island has the potential to be an awesome game. Too much of the game feel rushed and glitchy, which prevented me from really enjoying the game. I wouldn't even complain about the fact that there isn't much shooting involved if it weren't for the fact that when you watch a preview, you see guns and not much melee combat so you think it's a shooter. That's something I'd like to know before I purchase a game.
Also, the voice acting is TERRIBLE and a little racist. Plus, there are some cut scenes where it looks like they were trying to be dramatic but failed quite miserably.
In short: This game is not a zombie shooter. It has some pretty annoying glitches. It's pretty challenging in "normal" mode, be prepared to die, a lot. It is a long game though with a lot of quests that will take you some time. | video-games_xbox |
The Assassin's Creed Game That Won't Change the Series. Assassin's Creed Syndicate is a return to form but some continuous drawbacks keep it from being a huge hit. I am am Assassin's Creed fan but over the last couple years the repetitive features and gameplay have left the series feeling outdated. However, I have to commend the series for continuing to drive the Abstergo storyline with Templar's and Assassin's fighting over the pieces of Eden. No matter how you feel about the game, you can count on an even more elaborate telling of this crazy story every year.
I'm going to break down the Positives and Negatives in a list for a more comprehensive look at Syndicate.
Positives:
-Storytelling in unique and doesn't feel recycled. Two leading protagonists adds depth and choice to how you want to play through the story.
-The fluidity of the gameplay continues to be more and more refined every year
-The setting feels bigger and adding some vehicle support makes the world feel more rich
Negatives:
-Same Assassin's Creed formula (side quests to upgrade character, main story missions to progress story, Abstergo missions to fill in back story)
-Though they introduced the hook to move faster, get ready to keep climbing
-If you have started to get tired of the series, this isn't enough of a refresher to turn the series around
***I try to recommend a game in my reviews and if you want a good Assassin's Creed game to try, play <a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/Assassin-s-Creed-IV-Black-Flag/dp/B00CX8VYM0/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">Assassin's Creed IV Black Flag</a>. It is practically Pirates of the Caribbean but a video game. If you want something outside of this game, try the more recent Mafia 3. Though the world can be a little more bland, the story is great and gives you plenty of bang for your buck.
The reason for the 3-Stars that there are clear positives and negatives but this isn't the game that changes the Assassin's Creed series. If all you needed was a new setting and new characters, give it a try. If you were looking for a fundamental change to the series, this isn't it.
Let me know what you think! | video-games_xbox |
Stunning title that transcends the genre. First-person shooters excel on the PC (Quake, Unreal, Half-Life etc.), but haven't really worked well on a games console, partly for the de facto marriage of FPS + mouse and keyboard, and partly for the lack of online functionality. The developers of Halo for the Xbox (Bungie) don't seem to have worried about this a great deal. Rather, they have created a game which ranks among the best ever made, a truly sublime experience that manages to be more than just another videogame. Everyone knows how good the game looks and sounds (even three years on), but the key to understanding Halo's longevity and instant appeal is how beautifully the game plays, even in the 'limited' multiplayer mode (no WAN play). In the main this is due to only being able to carry two weapons at once, forcing the player to think strategically and assess each weapon's strong and weak points. This is a stroke of genius on Bungie's part. Far too many shooters are a case of find the big weapons and bludgeon your way through, akin to using an axe to spread your toast with butter - it works but it's messy and lacks a certain panache. Halo on the other hand has panache in spades. It rewards intelligence, creativity and patience. It punishes the reckless and the unskilled. The Xbox controller is at first awkward, then soon feels like it was purpose-designed for Halo. The filmic qualities of Halo are only matched by exemplary titles such as Half-Life, for which it shares the same brooding atmosphere, a haunting score, and a sense of grandeur. This is a game for those that appreciate the finer things in life, as well as a frenzied ruckus. There are perhaps only few things more satisfying than waiting until two enemies are in tandem, thus enabling you to kill them both with a single shot from the sniper rifle, having awareness of the weapon's armour pass-through abilities. The single-player game is worth the asking price alone, boasting superb level design (though occasionally monotonous), varied environments, and battle encounters to rival Lord Of The Rings. The inclusion of a range of vehicles is not just an afterthought either. It takes genuine skill to use each vehicle to its fullest capability. Sometimes it pays to use a vehicle to crush as many enemies as possible; at other times a vehicle is simply a means of getting from A to B, or hard to reach places - the Banshee can act as a virtual teleporter and advance you to stages of the game that would be half an hour later in normal play. One weakness is the tank, which is sometimes just a little too powerful, nuking everything in its wake. Only then does the game feel like its challenge has waned. But these are minor criticisms. This game redefines the FPS experience. Period. It is possible to go through life without having played it. But I wouldn't recommend it. | video-games_xbox |
They changed the name. They changed the name this year... but they hardly changed the rest of the game. I do appreciate that Sega didn't charge me $50 for basically the same game I bought last year. Why can't everyone charge $40 for a game? I bet they'd sell a lot more at that price.
The graphics are, dare I say, WORSE than last year. I'd never seen graphics actually decrease from year to year, but they seem to be worse.
There are horizontal glitches on the screen quite a bit. These blurry-bars remind me of the old Nintendo days.
The players faces often don't look anything like the real players.
Rex Huddle's color commentary is annoying and way too repetitive. Swings are rather choppy.
Another annoyance is the amount of bad throws you get throwing guys out at first on ground balls. Seriously it's at least two or three times a game that the throw from the shortstop/3B will pull the 1B off the bag and the runner will be safe. Again, very unrealistic.
Also, thankfully, you can change the rate at which pitchers tire, which is a must since all of my guys seem to be dead tired after throwing only 40-50 pitches in a start. I can't imagine what a normal 80/90/100 pitch start would be like. That's a definite problem with whoever programmed that portion of the game.
Also, it's darn near impossible to steal a base. I get thrown out more times than not. And that is with real basestealers, guys with good speed rating and good steal ratings. Completely unrealistic. Very Frustrating!
However, the gameplay is still very good. It's easy to pick up and play. The controls feel natural and don't require too much learning.
The franchise mode is a bit better this year as you can become the GM and roam from team to team if you choose. You have specific goals which you need to achieve to keep the owner happy. That new feature helps add a little something different and new to the franchise mode.
One complaint though with the new GM mode is that you can't load your custom roster. So if you go tinker with Sega's default rosters (Change "Joe Young" back to Barry Bonds, move guys who have switched teams, fix some starting lineups, etc) and save them, they won't import into the GM mode. Frustrating.
It seems odd that game makers have been able to master all the other sports (football, basketball, soccer) but really have yet to completely nail it on a baseball game. Overall though, this is a mixed bag. Good gameplay but a ton of things to annoy me. | video-games_xbox |
Better than Reach, but that's not saying much. having been playing since release day I feel I can now give this game a legit rating of 4 stars. The graphics are great, gameplay is good, although there needs to be some more tweaking on the multiplayer side, and the levels are great, but (and this is my personal opinion) I think 343 is going in the wrong direction with the franchise.
Halo:CE was simple, had great gameplay, was unique and new, just an amazing game. Halo 2 took that same formula, and added Xbox Live to multiplayer, making the replay value skyrocket. Halo 3 added a few new items, power ups such as the re-gen, flash(blinded me every time), and a few new (brute)weapons along with some great new maps(The Pit, one of my all time favorites). Then we got Reach. Armor abilities ran rampant. It seemed Halo was no longer about how good you were at aiming and strafing, team shooting and playing smart. The armor abilities were used far too much, and were severely unbalanced. Camo+sniper, rockets+jetpack. Nades raining down from jetpackers. Armor lock. Just ridiculous. Armor lock should have never been let into the game the way it was. You should not be 1 shot, armor lock, and be able to hold it, invincibly, until your shield is about to recharge. The maps were terrible(especially since they were used in campaign, I mean come on, really? You had to recycle maps?) and the remakes of great Halo:CE, 2 and 3 were never nearly as good because armor abilities broke the mechanics of every map. No need to practice that hard to do short cut jump when you could just jetpack right up there.
With Halo 4, the maps are better(but not as good as the first 3 Halos), god awful armor lock is gone, jetpacks have been nerfed so they cant just hover for as long, and Promethean vision helps find those a-hole camo snipers. It is still annoying how armor ability based the game is, but it seems like there is no going back now. At least we are getting the diet version of the games, no AAs, no drops, just good old run and gun. There are some new aspects of the game that I absolutely hate now. random drops and ordnance drops. I love getting a needler ordnance, only to get sniped or incinerated by the other teams drop. Yeah, that's fair. Or fighting over map control, and the second you get pushed back a power weapon spawns on the other teams side. The DMR still needs to be taken down a notch or two. And join in progress. Wow. What. The. F. Seriously, what the ___ were you thinking 343? Waiting for the game to start back up after some scrub quits was bad enough, but now you get to wait for it every time someone quits or joins and there is a host switch? And joining in the middle of a game in which your team is getting pummeled is great fun as well. Joining a game of Dominion and hearing the announcer say last stand as soon as you spawn is just amazing. And they ruined Living Dead. Flood is absolutely garbage.
Don't get me wrong, the game is good, and it is fun, it just gets very frustrating at times. Most of the things I hate about it are absent in certain playlists, and the rest could be fixed in future updates, I'll just have to keep my fingers crossed and play Minecraft in the meantime. | video-games_xbox |
Fun...But Not Without Frustration. Well, I bought this (like I do every sports game I buy) in the midst of some developing sports event that had just enthralled me and that I wanted to feel like having some sort of active role in (in this case, the 2010 World Cup). And whenever I first bought this back in June, I thought that it was fantastic. It was beautiful and had all of my favorite players and teams. I had previously owned the FIFA 2006 game, and this one had clearly improved the graphics and the game-play (which became very repetitive since the players always reacted in the same way to movement). I immediately played it through with the US team, and it was fun and still is.
But also like every other sports game I've played, the flaws in the game revealed themselves the more I played at it and the better I got. Certain things simply drive me crazy every game:
1. The passing controls aren't precise enough. I'm ok with players themselves making imprecise passes (I expect lesser-quality players, for instance, to not be perfect every time, even if I have, you know, pushed all the right buttons). That's not the problem. The problem is that I am always meaning to pass to a player, and the console will interpret my directions in an entirely illogical way. This is especially an issue when you're near the box trying to pass back to one of the midfielders just outside of it. You direct a soft pass to the open midfielder ten yards behind you, and the might computer sense that you were trying to direct a soft pass to a defender sixty yards behind you! The pass is, of course, intercepted an another scoring chance is broken.
2. The "radar" isn't clearly visible. In FIFA 2006, they actually did this better. The radar screen at the bottom of the page was bright enough to see where your own players and the defense were so that you could play through balls and make long passes. In this game, though, that radar screen is so dim that it's almost impossible to read, and whenever one of your players possesses the ball on the bottom half of the screen, the radar box disappears entirely. This is a huge problem whenever you're playing on difficult levels. The computer can make long passes and through balls, and you're only capable of making short passes to the computers on within the screen view that you can see.
3. The defenders are not agile enough. A human can move laterally, but oftentimes, your players can't. Whenever you're checking a player with the ball, that player can simply shift directions, and instead of simply moving right or left to adjust, your defender has to turn all the way around. This puts you at a huge disadvantage, especially against very good strikers. There's no way to defend them.
4. There are glitches. About one of every four games I play ends up stopped with the console unable to read the disc. It all makes horrible sounds, and I've noticed the disc emerging from the console with a lot of scratches on it. I play a lot of other games on my xbox (and I've definitely never moved it with this game inside), and these sorts of scratches have never appeared on any other game. Somehow, the console really struggles with this disc, and I expect that in a few months, the game will become unplayable as a result. Hopefully, this is not a problem that many other people have had with this game.
5. The home-team advantage is a little exaggerated. I can understand a strong home-country advantage for places like Bolivia (with its high altitude), but on the harder levels, it just gets ridiculous. I remember playing as Uruguay in Paraguay one time on the medium level (I had just beaten Brazil pretty easily at home), and even though these are evenly matched teams, I just got killed in absurd ways every match. I remember one match in which I had 25+ shots on goal without scoring once. Paraguay, meanwhile, had almost no possession and took six shots, but five of them went in. It took me seven or eight aborted tries before I finally survived the match with a draw.
-----
All those things said, I do keep playing it, and I haven't discovered a better soccer game. This one has been a lot of fun, but it is just growing to be an increasingly frustrating experience. I get the feeling, playing it, that EA is pretty close to producing a five star game (this one's between a 3.5 and a 4), but they've still got these glitches to eliminate. | video-games_xbox |
Why Wasn't This Game Made Into A Star Wars Movie. George Lucas had a chance to make more money out of "Star Wars: The Force Unleashed" and he blew it. I know he's going to make millions of dollars off this game now, but I think he could of easily made millions more by making this game into a Star Wars movie. When I was playing this game, I kept asking myself why wasn't this game made into a movie? This game has I think one of the best story lines out of all of the Star Wars plots and it should of been made into a movie. What was George Lucas thinking?
The game itself is pretty awesome. The graphics are great. Using the Force and my light saber are a lot of fun. Actually I wasn't sure if I would like playing the game. I'm used to playing FPS (First Person Shooters) and I like a weapon like a gun or a blaster in my hand. But it turns out once I got used to the controls this game turned out to be pretty fun.
It is so much fun to use the Force on different things especially Imperial Stormtroopers. I can't tell you how many times I've used the Force to pick up a Stormtrooper and toss him up into the air and then watch him grab a nearby Stormtrooper and pull him up into the air too and then toss both of them across a room or across the sky. Sometimes I would pick up a Stormtrooper with the Force and toss him into a group of Stormtroopers who were standing behind him. It sort of reminds me of bowling. If I came to a door I couldn't open, I would use the Force to force it open then I would slide through the opening. I would also use the Force to toss objects at Stormtroopers or creatures that were in my way.
All the great stuff from Star Wars is in this game. There were so many parts of the game where I just had to just stop and look at the surrounding scenery with awe. The music is just great throughout the game. It's typical Star Wars music. There are so many cool creatures and so many different environments to look at throughout the game.
I can already tell that the two new technologies, Digital Molecular Matter and euphoria combined with Havoc physics will definitely be used by a lot of new games in the future.
I think this game is awesome. I would highly recommend to go out and buy this game. The Force is strong with this game. | video-games_xbox |
Good graphics, decent gameplay and....... a great Sunday Ticket Deal. I will confirm what others are saying, the NFL Sunday Ticket deal is legit and works.
I got my first Madden game in 1996 as a Christmas present for the Sega genesis. I remember there were other football games, but somehow the gameplay was not as smooth as in Madden. Every year madden came up with new improvements which made me go back to it every year when a new edition was released. In 2001 Madden was the first football game to implement a franchise mode which put the game at a different level and gave me a lot of hours of play. Madden 2005 was perhaps the best madden till this day in terms of Features. After 2005, the game became repetitive and lost some of the features that made it great in the beginning.
Madden 25...
The GAMEPLAY...It is very smooth with a realistic feel, and the physical aspects of your players are reflected very well. One example is that my rookie QB has an arm strength of 74, and that plays an important part of my decision making when I try to pass since if I try to go very deep with my pass it will surely be underthrown which can result in an interception. However, my accuracy of 90 allows me to put the ball accurately in short to medium range passes.
The animations during "game day" are limited. The game introduction is ok, but that's it. I wish that they would make the stadium feel more "alive" with different crowd noises reacting to what is going on the field. One thing that bothered me is the commentators...They are there only to make you feel that you are playing a "real" game...EXCEPT that their comments do not reflect what is going on in the field. One example is that frequently after I have scored and when the game is almost over, they keep saying that "it must feel good for my rookie QB to get his 1st down".
The MENU...This can be a hit and miss for some people. The menu is organized in tiles(Windows 8 style) where you can select the usual career mode which includes offline and online franchise, play book creation, create your player, etc.
The GRAPHICS....very good, and more polished than previous versions. The players have a very "real life" look, the grass look nice, and the weather is well produced.
Slowly, the Madden series has been creating a bad reputation due to the removal of features that many gamers really enjoyed and loved. EA is partly responsible due to their well and justified perceived greediness. However, to be fair Madden 25 is good enough as an stand alone product, but with the NFL Sunday Ticket included it becomes a product that does not give me buyers remorse. | video-games_xbox |
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