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Skylander fatigue sets in - game is ok, but the magic is gone. Skylanders 3 is finally here, and my 7 year old was a huge fan of the first two so saved money all summer to get this right when it came out. And he bought it with the expansion pack and a couple of the Swap-able guys on day 1 (total cost ~$150), and by about 15 hours in we had once again defeated Kaos. We played a little bit more to get some of the additional content (arenas, bonus missions, etc), but after a couple of days we were bored and he went back to playing Minecraft and now this hasn't been played for over a month. And unlike last year, the Christmas list is devoid of all the extra guys (though he still wants the expansion pack and a swappable Stealth figure). So he rates it as a 3, but let's face it - he rates a lot of the free apps of the day on the Kindle higher, and got more playtime out of them too.
As a parent/older gamer, I am also hopeful that this will be our last Skylander. Too many design decisions that just reek of greed and get annoying - character can no longer switch paths so either you buy two of a character or reset + level grind to try out the different powers, many of the levels can't be fully completed without buying additional characters (some that are still not even released), the new characters get better powers+stats and so the old ones rarely get used, the same characters keep coming out with improved stats + powers so you get the honor of buying Trigger Happy again and again or live with playing an inferior version, it takes up a lot more space than just a normal game like Lego Star Wars for the "fun" of having figures, the amount of excess garbage for the packaging is pretty wasteful especially since you are really just unlocking on-disc content, the swapping of figures/powers breaks the flow of the game, etc etc.
Not to mention how expensive it really is: Minecraft + a Kindle costs less than buying just the minimal set that will allow you to play all the game (ie game + both expansions + all elements + all swap powers + 1 giant)! Wish we would have gotten sick of this earlier - there is already a flood of other gamers who came to the same conclusions as there are a lot of used collections on sale and I imagine the resale values will tank :( | video-games_xbox |
A Tremendous Disappointment All Around. Hard to beleive we've hit the number Five when it comes to the Soul Calibur series...though technically it is the 6th game in the series. Funny how it clearly shows that not everything will age gracefully...Soul Calibur 5 is easily one of the most dreadfully disappointing releases in years.
I have fond, wonderful memories of firing up Soul Blade (or Soul Edge) on my Playstation back in 1996. It immediately impressed me with its stunning visuals, epic weapon-based combat and interesting characters...and on top of it all, it had individual story modes for each character where you could collect weapons for use in all game modes. How cool was that? It was a model that very few fighting games would ever adopt. When Soul Calibur was released a few years later in arcades, it would become one of the greatest home console releases ever with a quality of animation and gameplay that still has yet to be replicated...and on the ill-fated Dreamcast to boot (a system way ahead of its time). Sadly, the deterioration of quality rings true for the series' own offspring as the years go by.
I grimaced when later incarnations of the series introduced out-of-place, super-exaggerated anime style characters (Tira). I cringed when Lucas got his Star Wars in my Soul Calibur. But Soul Calibur 5 proves to be the ultimate disappointment...a crowning failure for the series as a whole.
Story:
...or lack thereof. Soul Calibur features a Story Mode, a method of gameplay that builds up a character or two, defining their reason for fighting and taking the player through a journey that spans Europe and Asia. You follow irritating and reprehensible Patrokolos, son of Sophitia who is the new "chosen one" to wield Soul Calibur. He seeks to find his sister, Pyrrha, who evidently was kidnapped 17 years earlier...?
The story makes little sense, and to make matters worse...it is told through frame-by-frame concept art drawings with atrocious dialog. Sure, there's some nicely animated cut scenes, but the majority of the story is represented by sepia colored rough drawings. Ultimately...very lazy. Especially when other releases such as Mortal Kombat redefined story telling in the fighter genre with it's amazing 2011 reboot.
Ultimately you mix up play between Patrokolos and Pyrrha. Both characters remain largely unlikeable throughout the majority of the game as you are forced to play them.
Gameplay:
Little has changed. Only a few of the classic characters return, and those that do not are, again, represented by younger "apprentice" types who are for the most part unlikeable. However, their reasons for being in the game are completely unexplained, as are the reasons for the returning characters since there is NO STORY for them! Arcade mode consists of 6 battles that reveal no story or cutscenes...they're simply "beat your best time" battle treadmills.
Notable changes include the revamping of Critical Edge - no longer a Death Move or "Fatality" for characters, they exist now as super moves which can considerably deplete an opponent's lifebar (sometimes by up to 40%).
AI seems completely dumbed down...for years Soul Calibur has been accused of being a mindless button masher by its critics, and I feel that it now lives up to that previously unfair assessment. AI characters will repeat the same moves over and over, "cheaply" abusing moves that can exploit non-stop juggles. The only modicum of intelligence I've seen from the AI thus far is the fact that it makes a conscious effort to steer clear of a ring out loss, and on the flip side, tries desperately to "ring out" the player at all times. I've even seen the AI miraculously change the direction of its fall as it went over the side, landing back ontot he arena floor. Hmmm...
Modes:
Be warned - this is NOT meant to be a Single Player game at all. Where previous iterations of Soul Calibur always included extensive gameplay modes to keep players enticed, Namco appears to have adopted the Electronic Arts mantra of "Multiplayer Gaming is the Only Way of Gaming" and completely eliminated all regular Single Player modes in favor of emphasizing online play. Aside from Story Mode, Single Player modes only include Arcade, a harder version of Arcade, and Vs. mode where you can fight against various created characters designed by players around the world. Admittedly, that's the most intriguing aspect. Otherwise, the game isn't much of a gameplay experience unless you prefer online fighting.
I don't much care for competetive online play, but from what I've seen of SCV's online, it's pretty much the same as in previous iterations. Expect considerable latency for even the slightest dip in your signal. Otherwise, that's it.
Bells and Whistles:
Nothing to write home about. The soundtrack to the Soul Calibur series has not been impressive since the first Soul Calibur. Character voices are typical anime style exaggerations...either sickeningly irritating or over-the-top macho. The only VA I liked was Siegfried and Nightmare.
Extras:
As always, Character Creation is intriguing, and in the case of SCV, probably the ONLY feature worth keeping the game for. The character creation mode is pretty in-depth but you are still subject to severe limitations (especially when designing new looks for existing characters). You also have virtually nothing to work with, forcing you to play through the lacking single player modes, or online modes to "level up" your player profile which may unlock more items.
OVerall:
A tremendous disappointment. Soul Calibur was once my favorite fighting game series, but it has fallen to the wayside since Soul Calibur 2, and even with new features being released with each new game, Soul Calibur continues to dig it's own grave. Sadly, Soul Calibur V represents the coffin of that dug grave.
Pros:
- Robust Character Creation mode
- Gorgeous Visuals
Cons:
- Abysmal, lazy story mode with annoying, unlikeable characters
- Lack of any sort of story beyond Story Mode - no endings or background for ANY character...who the hell are these guys?
- Simplistic, almost dumb AI that repeatedly abuses the same moves
- Lack of gameplay modes
- Forgettable and bland soundtrack
- Atrocious voice acting
- Clearly not meant for a single player experience
Lifespan/Replay Value: Lowest possible
Single Player: 3 - 8 hours
Multiplayer: 1 - 2 weeks.
Most Valuable Mode: Character Creation
In the end, Soul Calibur V is an example of a series that has run its course. It either needs to be put to rest forever, or rebooted in such a way that it warrants a release of another game bearing that title. I've personally never been so turned off by a Soul Calibur game, but this is one of the most disappointing releases in years. | video-games_xbox |
Bought for Closure. I initially bought this for a sense of closure. I owned a handful of the titles in the collection with my Genesis growing up, and never got around to beating some of them. After about 15-20 hours, I had wrapped up my personal vendettas, and got around to looking at the rest of the collection, and was amazed at the wealth of gaming here. To anyone who can appreciate older games, and especially those who didn't have the money to get all of these when they were younger, this is a wonderful way to spend (upwards of) $20.
To gaming historians, this is an invaluable resource, showing just how far we've come, but also what we've come dangerously close to losing with the new generations of hardware. There is a simplicity here that, even amid the fracas of the action titles, and particularly in the RPGs, can be sort of calming. What's more, the online communities for these games have had more than a decade to develop, so it's very easy to find help for those hitting a snag.
Fans of puzzle games will be disappointed, but that's one of the few areas where the games truly have only been getting better. Columns is fun, and so is Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine, but they are more or less the same game. Also, while games like Flicky and Alex Kidd are a nice look at where gaming was at that point, they aren't particularly fun, and there are a handful of others that probably won't hold you attention. Snob that I am, I still have nearly 30 games here that I gladly played.
For people interested in easy gamer points, getting a full 1,000 shouldn't take you too much time, especially if you're willing to cheat. Only one game (Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine) requires that you beat it; all others have fairly easy achievements, many attainable within the first 30 minutes of gaming. But seriously, if you're playing just for points, there are prettier places to go.
If you need to scratch that "vintage gaming" itch, or if you want to see the genesis (ahem) of a few big franchises and gaming standards, this is a great place to go. There are literally well over 100 hours of gaming here... And did I mention you can save any game at any time? | video-games_xbox |
Region-free shmup greatness. Yes, this game is region free and will work on a North American or PAL console.
Dodonpachi Saidaioujou is a port of the arcade game by the same name, and a sequel to Dodonpachi Daifukkatsu (sometimes called Dodonpachi Resurrection).
If you're new to the Donpachi series, it's a shmup from the arcade developer CAVE. Playing from a top-down perspective, you blast enemies with a space ship while dodging enemy fire.
If you thought Resurrection was colorful, just wait till you see this game! Bright neon signs everywhere, eye-popping shiny enemies, and candy-colored bullets galore. As a nice touch, when a bullet crosses into a background of similar color, it gets an aura of the opposite color to give it extra visibility. The backgrounds can be quite busy at times, so every bit of extra visibility is a nice feature.
Gameplay is similar to the previous Donpachi games. Chaining enemy kills together raises your multiplier, and collecting bee icons helps recharge hypers faster for even more destructive capabilities. Hypers and bombs are on the same button, similar to Daioujou. Autobomb (using a bomb automatically when hit) is optional on the character select screen, although selecting this feature gives less bombs to balance it out.
This is one of the harder CAVE games to date. Jumping straight into the arcade mode will be a serious wake-up call, as even early bosses have some nasty attack patterns. Even the novice mode will be a sizable challenge to new players.
Several game modes are included with Saidaioujou. First there's the arcade mode, which is a reasonable approximation of the original arcade game. Next is the version 1.5 mode, which is a tweaked arcade mode with bug fixes and rebalanced game play. 360 mode is a more story-oriented version of the game, with character portraits that talk non-stop as you play through the game. Finally there's a novice mode with is a bit easier than the main game (although not as easy as some of the previous CAVE novice modes).
As you play, you get coins uses to unlock artwork and gameplay mods. These are pretty cool optional extras, and most of the useful ones are quick to unlock. Also included are "challenges" with specific goals, giving more stuff to do when taking a break from the main game.
With lots of modes to try, ship and shot types to experiment with, and an in-game shop system that unlocks new features as you play more (not DLC), this is one of the more expansive shmups on the 360. I can definitely recommend this game to shmup players, or anyone looking for a colorful action game to show off their 360. | video-games_xbox |
A Mixture of Good and Bad [Contains Useful Information for Buyers. [IMPORTANT - READ THIS!]
Hello, I will explain why I both enjoy and get frustrated with this game. I will break this down into multiple sections so you can easily navigate through it to find the parts you are looking for. If you're in a rush, just look at the summary for the part of the game that you are trying to learn about. It's around the holiday time, so I thought I'd write this review to help those holiday buyers looking to purchase a new game.
[CAMPAIGN]
From what I have both played and heard, the Campaign is pretty good. Like previous Call of Duty games, it is a little redundant but has some fun features. First of all, you can create your own class and unlock new weapons for your Campaign character, a feature that many gamers enjoy. As more and more Call of Duty games are being released, players are looking for something other than the average "shoot this person, clear out that base." Although they have done a better job with more interesting features, I'd say they've only scratched the surface with possible fun campaign objectives/activities. Once again, I'm not much of a pro on the campaign, and you could probably find a better detailed campaign review on a different rating.
SUMMARY:
+Custom Classes for campaign
+More interesting and fun features that change it up a little
+More realistic warfare in campaign
+Some characters from Black Ops 1 return
-Not as long as some of the other games
-A little redundant...
[MULTIPLAYER]
Probably one of more well-known aspect of the game, multiplayer has improved and gotten worse at the same time.
ONLINE MULTIPLAYER:
The spawning is decent; you will only spawn in a bad area every now and again. Many people suspect that this is due to the smaller maps that they have made. Like many other Call of Duty games, they still have the "Unlockables" that give a motive to the player, a goal that they try to achieve. I personally enjoy this feature because it keeps the player interested in the game. The maps are decent, and the voting system is useful to give the players a say in which map they want. The scorestreaks are a little unbalanced. For example, the care package now requires more points than usual, and some scorestreaks require not many points but get a lot of kills. The scorestreaks are similar to those in other Call of Duty games, but they do have some new ones. Lag is a somewhat large issue in this game. However, changing the settings so that you are matched up with nearby matches really help.
OFFLINE LOCAL MULTIPLAYER:
Sharing many same aspects of the Online Multiplayer (see above), Offline Local allows up to four people to play. Playing with the bots can be fun, but they sometimes have problems spawning. One useful tip is to set the map, gamemode, and any other custom setting first, then add the bots after you have sorted all that out. All "Unlockables" are available to players, with any attachment and camo.
KNOWN GLITCHES:
There are more glitches in this game than some of the others; some of them are minor, and some are almost life-changing.
One glitch that absolutely threw me off was the rank/stat reset. The most common reason for this is when a player goes from Offline Local to Online Multiplayer. To prevent this annoying glitch, just load up a quick game of zombies, go to the back to the console's main menu, or anything that will separate the loading from Local to Online Multiplayer. After this glitch happened to me (everything reset including rank, stats, calling cards, custom classes), I just wanted to never touch this game again. To fix it after it has happened, contact customer support or a Dev, but that could take days to fix. Also, this Glitch is sometimes unfixable. My rank reset is still (hopefully) being fixed. I don't know if they can fix it or not.
Another annoying glitch is where the game just crashes for no reason. There is no cause for this, and it happens mostly in Offline Local Multiplayer. To prevent this small yet annoying glitch, just quickly start the game before it happens. It doesn't matter if you have your settings for the game yet, just start the game and quit.
Those are the only glitches that I purely hate but, there are other small glitches (such as the bots resetting after setting a gamemode to play in for Offline Local Multiplayer). Although I bet there are other glitches out there, those are the only ones that I can't stand.
SUMMARY:
+New Scoresteaks
+New Guns (but same concept)
+Same fun game modes (Demolition, Gun-game, and more!)
+Matches you up with people near your skill
+/-Decent Spawning
+/-Decent Maps
+/-Some Lag problems
-Horrible Glitches
-Campers often
-Some guns are cheap
[ZOMBIES]
I don't know very much about Zombies. I will Update this later to give you guys some more info about Zombies, but here are some things I do know:
+New Game Mode: TranZit
+New Game Mode: Grief
+Ranks in Zombies
+Brought fun things back (Pack-A-Punch)
+Perks to help
+Can turn Hellhounds off
+Can set a starting round
-Added fire which can annoy players
-A Rare Glitch: Round will never end (No Zombies will Spawn)
[MISC.]
Customer Support for Treyarch is pretty good. Calling them is the most direct way of helping your problems (the wait can be bad sometimes). I called them and was able to get some good answers on how to fix my problem, and after about 15-20 minutes, they said a Dev may be able to get my stats back. Call Of Duty Elite is really good, because it lets you track all of your stats and compare them with friends and stuff like that. I don't use it too much, but from what I hear, it's innovative and fun. Also, it can track stats from other Call of Duty games.
[FINAL WORD FROM THE AUTHOR]
Thanks for reading my review, I hope you found it helpful. I will keep updating it to make sure you guys know what you are buying before you get it. I honestly think that for 50 dollars (plus shipping), it is pretty worth it. I enjoy this game. Although I've been through some rough patches with it, I enjoy playing with my friends and have a good time. Well, that's about it, happy holidays and I hope you read this review and got some good information out of it. | video-games_xbox |
Well Made Game with Individually Designed Quests, Easily Playable for 200+ Hours. Game of the Year Worthy. This will be one of the best if not the best game of 2015. I want to start by saying I usually do not get into RPGs or fantasy games, this game however has me hooked and I think I will be playing for several hundred hours without getting bored. It does not suffer from the dungeon boredom that you experienced in Elder Scrolls in my opinion. I am still trying to get the hang of potions and all the magic etc. in the game but the fun of just exploring and finding adventures around every corner followed up by a solid story and relateable characters make it well worth it.
The main mission is enjoyable and mature. The side missions also aid in the overall understanding of the story while also helping you be better prepared. I did not play The Witcher 1 or 2 however I do not feel lost in the story when playing this game. Nearly every other quest leaves you in a position where you have to make a decision which may alter the entire game and adds to a more dynamic experience. Theres enough fast travel locations so once you have been there once you can go back quickly, saving you form the boredom of riding a horse for endless amounts of time.
There is some nudity and some cursing in the game. Needless to say there is violence as well so the nudity shouldnt matter. If you are worried about the nudity you should be playing or letting children play a game where heads get cut off. The nudity is not excessive and feels like we are being treated like adults in the game and not children.
Game play is fluid and over all the mechanics are easy to get the hang of. Fighting feels fluid and controls are appropriate. The only issue with mechanics and frankly the only issue I have with the whole game after about 30 hours is swimming. It is difficult to swim underwater in tight locations. I haven't died underwater yet but I get tangled up often where I cant get Geralt to go in the direction I want at the depth I want.
I have the Xbox One version. Yes the graphics have been slightly downgraded but the only reason I noticed is from the other reviewers who care so intensely about the graphics that they actually rated this game one star. This is exceptionally unfair to the game as it is very well made and by a company that actually cares about games (reference the thank you card included with the game). CD Project Red also addressed these concerns saying that they did knowingly downgrade the graphics slightly to make the game better optimized for multiple platforms which gave them a larger budget to concentrate on the development (5000 working doors in Novigrad alone).
I HIGHLY recommend this game and you truly cannot go wrong with the purchase. I recommend during a full restart of your system before playing this for the first time as some experience a lag in frame rate in the beginning and its due to other things being open for the Xbox One. If you have any questions ask and I will respond. | video-games_xbox |
So, so close to gaming perfection. Dragon Age, or as I've referred to it the last 6 months, fantasy Mass Effect, is about as close as one can come to a perfect fantasy RPG. That being said, there are several glaring and not so glaring nits that make this game needlessly frustrating and difficult.
You play a Grey Warden, recruited from one of 6 backgrounds, making this a game you at least have to play 6 times to even see every opening. What follows is a somewhat linear war story before reaching the main game, becoming like a game of Neverwinter Nights writ large.
Graphics suck. Plain and simple. Compared to Mass Effect, one wonders if they didn't fire the entire staff. Backgrounds are seemingly interchangable, long distance vistas, which some games make the biggest bang on, appear to be made of legos. The blood splatter effect, while nifty, loses its appeal after you realize it has two settings: blood and no-blood. The bloom on the target identifiers obscures lots of fine detail. Lighting is weird and poorly placed, making ruins and night seem like a photo shoot and certain stretches of the woods in the day seem like lightless caves. However, the graphics are not anywhere close to bad enough to really detract from the game overall.
Audio makes up for the large part of the graphics, except for one glaring, infuriating, unforgivable sin: you're a mute. After Mass Effect, I was expecting long diatribe arguments with wizards and kings, riddling with dragons, and wooing tavern wenches. Alas, I get to push myself closer to glasses by trying to read minuscule text that spells out my conversation. If ME2 goes this way as well, I may send Bioware a thank-you bomb.
Gameplay is basically Neverwinter Nights. A swirling melee, including you and several party members, against knots of level scaled opponents. Special attacks and leveled skills compliment your character class, but the laurels go to the warriors as usual. The controls make it a sight better, as your characters excel at their classes. Rogues circle to opponents backs and then begin to stab like they're driving nails. Archers hold fighting retreats. Tactics and behaviors are extremely customizable, with if-then commands and general postures, making strategy fairly useful apart from charge and hack everything until it all stops moving.
Now the nits. Text is impossible to read at times, even on my wide-screen, and can not be resized. After this has driven up blood pressure from Prototype, Dead Rising, and numerous others, EA and every other publisher should realize they need a way for these games to play subtitles on less than 1000 dollar TV's. And certain text is glossed over. One next feature of Morrowing has been to open a letter immediately when its picked up. DA treats them like any other item, and buries the text in the Codex, rather than list it in the items, making it seem like its a quest item with no text, meaning you're easily glossing over fluff and potential side quests.
Overall, the game is great. Some points missed polish, and graphics suffered badly, but hopefully we're feeling the pain now as opposed to only getting mediocre results with later releases. | video-games_xbox |
The Stealth Game That Defined a Generation. Dishonored was hands down my favorite game of 2012, so it was a no-brainer to purchase the Game of the Year Edition with all of the downloadable add-ons that were released individually on Xbox Live. I originally posted a review for Dishonored last year but I felt the need to give a review on this release since there aren't many up on Amazon. Needless to say, if you're a Dishonored fan already or interested in this game for the first time, this is the version you want. For people who still own Dishonored, this version isn't compatible with your old save, however that's par for the course for Game of the Year Editions.
As for the game itself, this is the same game many people have come to know and love, but now it's just more of it. The stealth gameplay is still best in class, offering old school Thief style gameplay with tremendous art direction from the art director of Half-Life 2's City 17. Both stealth and combat feel fluid, allowing you to play without feeling like the controls are fighting against you, which is important in a game that relies so heavily on the controls during tense stealth segments. This game is totally doable and enjoyable as a stealth and action game, so I'd honestly recommend playing through at least twice.
Since I hinted at the art direction earlier, this game is simply stunning to look at. Not only is it beautiful, it's also very atmospheric. While it has an atmosphere all its own, I haven't been this immersed in a game world since Bioshock's Rapture, Half-Life 2's City 17, and the most recent, Bioshock Infinite's Columbia. It's not only a beautifully constructed game environment, but one that immerses you in it and makes you want to stay in it for as long as possible.
As for the add ons, they come on a separate disc, so no lousy download codes here. Kudos to developers/publishers that do this! The best reason to get this version of the game is for the add-on content, but you'll want it the most for The Knife of Dunwall and The Brigmore Witches, which are the two premiere pieces of content for the game. Both are story-driven and give you more of what any Dishonored fan wants out of Dishonored. The other content is what it is, but the two I just mentioned are the showstoppers.
I bought this again simply because I like to own all of the content on discs, because I never know what'll happen with digital content years down the road. This game is so good that it deserves to be on disc for preservation. | video-games_xbox |
Such a let down. The first Darksiders told a great story and had fantastic gameplay to accompany. Darksiders 2 continues the great story, but the gameplay is an enormous let down. There's much more of an RPG feel, as you can level up and explore a skill tree to develop your own style of play unlike the first game. You can collect random items dropped by monsters and "feed" normal items to "possessed" items in order to power them up.
This is where the fun ends.
The game is mostly played through combat, and the combat is poorly executed. Because of the random quality of the items that enemies drop, the attributes you take into combat are a grab bag at any given time and they rarely work for whatever monster you happen to come across. Pausing gameplay to switch your equipment to make up for this is just a disaster. It takes the pure adrenaline right out of the gameplay and just dumbs it down to... I don't even know. You have to stop, go through an equipment menu that's a pain to navigate because of how long it takes the game to actually frickin' respond to your input, and then find something that will work against your current opponent. It's just a disaster.
Then there's the controls themselves. I've never played a game before that makes me constantly use the entire controller. I have had my hands contorted into some bizarre physical structures just trying to enter all the commands necessary to dodge, strike, use potions and/or use special skills, all of which have to be done pretty much at the same time or Death gets killed. You can dodge quickly, but you can't use it to cancel your current action (a SERIOUS disappointment given the utter non-ending frequency of enemy attacks). You can also only dodge three times in a row before Death decides to stop and catch his... breath? Really? The Nephilim called Death who is known for killing his entire kindred who are supposed to be the most powerful beings in existence needs to catch his breath because he did a few backflips? What? How DID this whimpy gasbag kill all his brethren?
Then there's the fact that enemies attack almost constantly. Death - the aforementioned supremist of the supreme - has to stop regularly to catch his breath. Enemies? No so much. Most enemies in the game just keep on attacking, rarely doing anything that exposes them that doesn't result in an almost immediate counter attack that will catch Death before he can get back out of the way. They also don't stagger when you hit them - even with the most powerful weapons - if they're already in the middle of an attack. No so for death: no, mysteriously the supremist of the supreme gets interrupted very easily when attacking supposedly inferior enemies that don't share this flaw. A lot of the larger enemies attack in a series that not only follows Death, but outlasts and outstretches his ability to triple-dodge. Because combat is reduced to glorified button mashing, you'll frequently get stuck in one of the stupidly-long animations where Death throws his scythes in some spin out in front of him (seriously, if they magically come back, why can't they magically return to him wherever he dodges away to?) or does something else that leaves him vulnerable for an asinine amount of time.
Combine the facts that the large track-you-down-and-hit-you-no-matter-what enemies almost ALWAYS appear in groups with other smaller wall-of-never-ending-attack type minions, and that Death can't cancel actions to dodge and can't block at all and you're guaranteed one thing: Death is going to take damage, and he's going to take a lot of it.
Combat also takes a lot of time. Enemies just absorb ridiculous amounts of damage. It doesn't matter if you have the most powerful weapons you've seen so far. You have to hit even the most basic enemies a truly absurd number of times. Even if you go back to the very first stage when you're level 20 with Super Powerful Weapons, you still don't have one-hit kills because the enemies just have a ridiculous amount of health at all points in the game. The Crucible is a nightmare because it's just wave after wave of groups of enemies that take serious punishment while each being able to kill Death in a mere couple of hits.
Seriously. Combat in this game is just horrible. It's like it's designed to piss off the player. I wouldn't have minded CHALLENGING. But this isn't challenging. It's just purely frustrating. And it's a huge part of the game, because it's an action game. And that makes the whole game suck.
Moving on from combat, the controls suck just as bad when doing puzzle solving and platforming. When wall jumping, timing is everything, but you often have to jump around corners or through bizarre camera-shifts that change the meaning of the direction you're pushing on the controller. However, when the screen shifts like this and you haven't taken a moment to let go of the directional stick, the controls will not update to the new camera context. So the direction Death moves in on-screen makes NO sense from any context, and he usually ends up falling to his death. Despite the fact that he takes no damage from long falls, he still falls to his death... When the camera switches, you have to take this bizarre moment out of your critical timing to completley let go of the directional stick and start from scratch, or the controls just end up being completely random when the screen finishes moving.
This is also true of jumping from hand hold to hand hold. If you know the exact direction you have to move next and push the jump button the moment you land on the new handhold, it's a completely random event as to whether Death will continue to jump in the same direction or will - for unknown reasons - jump straight up from the hand hold you're on. But it's almost NEVER the direction you intended him to move in. It's like he just ignores the directional pad altogether and does what he feels like. And since there's no often a very robust choice of directions to move in, this random-but-not-what-you-told-me approach means he jumps to a non-existent handhold and falls to his doom. You HAVE to pause, even briefly, on each ledge and let the controls catch up before proceeding to the next. This. Is. Stupid. Especially when you can see and know exactly where you need to go. Why make me artificially wait? Why?
Also, you're supposed to be able to push a button to automatically drop from your current handhold to one below it: whether or not this works as advertised is a crap shoot. Most of the time, you have to hold up - but only AFTER you drop from your initial perch, otherwise what Death does is completely random! He may just decide to jump from the wall altogether rather than just drop down even though you didn't push the button to jump! - or he won't grab the ledge below. And even then, whether or not he Actually Does What You Tell Him is another random event. Sometimes, no matter what you do, Death just sails right on by that lower ledge and falls straight to his doom.
Sometimes you have to swing along a series of hoops like Gabriel Belmont does in Castlevania. In Castlevania, if you were in mid-jump the grapple points would always take precedence over any other available target because the game designers knew that if it didn't, Gabriel would fall to his death and that would be that. No so much in this game. There are a few places where there will be enemies near Deathgrip points. Even if the enemy is behind that point, Death will grab the enemy instead of the grapple point, which usually results in him pulling the enemy to himself. So great. Now you're in mid-air and have a pulled an enemy up to yourself so that it can die along with you as you both fall. Awesome.
These crappy, unpredictable controls make a nightmare out of one particular scene in which the developers torture you with a camera-swinging climb up a tower that involves dropping to a lower ledge as a floor of fire rises to chase you, but is almost always right behind you no matter where you are and how fast you've moved. The controls are just awful in this scene. Half the time, Death will do something random despite the fact that you're pressing the direcitonal pad in the correct direction - which you determine to be the correct one by taking a moment out of your precious little available time to let go of the controls and try from scratch. Sometimes, Death will need to go to the left, and you'll be holding left, but when you press the jump button he goes straight up the wall for some unknown reason. This wastes a lot of precious time as this stupidity CANNOT be cancelled once started and ends with some bizarre, useless move where Death just hangs on the wall for an extra super-long moment at the height of his jump. Sometimes, despite the fact that you would never, ever push the controls in any direction to cause this, Death just jumps straight out from the wall and into the middle of the tower and thus unto the firey floor and thus to his end. And because of how fast the floor moves, and the fact that the camera in the game CONSTANTLY fights against you, you can't get a good look to know the whole stage. You have to play through it repeatedly, dying becuase Death won't do the right thing and you're afraid to take the time to pause to make him. I hate scenes like this. Just a fraction of a second more on each hand hold would have made it a comfortable, challenging experience, but the way it was done made it frustrating because it's just too friggin' easy to makes mistakes and it's all due to the crappy controls. I had to replay this scene more times than any other in the game because the platforming is just so poorly done.
This game just lacks the polish that made the first one great. It's almost unplayable at times. I'm no longer looking forward to the rest of this series. I might still play them if Darksders 2 wows me with its end, which I haven't gotten to yet because the gameplay is so horribly "That's Not What I Friggin' Told You To Do" frustrating. But right now, I feel like I wasted my money. This game is just a serious disappointment on the heels of its predecessor, which made it to my favorites shelf.
EDIT:
I've beaten the game, and as such I decided to add some detail.
The game forces two playthroughs to get all the achievements, as one achievement is level-based but there's a level cap on the first playthrough. However, if you played through the first time on Apopacalyptic, the second time through will be much easier. There's no achievement for the Nightmare setting you unlock after the first go, which is great because Nightmare just makes Death's death permanent should you fall in battle. That would be controller-chucking frustrating since, as I've stated earlier, the controls are horrible and you WILL experience the game-over screen more than once no matter what you do.
When you start New Game+, you get to keep all of Death's items, which means you start the game over with your end-game gear and thus a huge advantage. Toward the end of the first playthrough, you'll be offered weapons with health and wrath steal, which are pretty much required weapon attributes to make it through the end of the game because of the sheer amount of damage Death takes. The wimpy little heal-over-time health potions - and the fact that you can only carry 5 - just don't heal like weapons with health steal. Like I said earlier, enemies absorb ridiculous amounts of damage, often only losing a fraction of their health bars when Death hits them with a critical for nearly 3 times his own full health. So even a 10% health steal will usually replenish at least 20% if not nearly 50% of Death's health with a single attack, and it does so instantly. By the end of the second playthrough, that health steal will max out at 30%, which is insane life-granting ability for Death. You can stand among the waves of enemies, not even bothering to use the crappy dodge because your attacks will almost always heal back what enemies dish out. It really does take a huge edge off the combat, even if it absolutely incredibly stupid that the combat is set up in such a way as to require it.
This leads me to talk more about the items themselves. Throughout the game, you'll find or be awarded "legendary" weapons. Most of the time, these weapons are many levels below the level Death had to be just to get to them. They also tend to have very limited attributes, and their "special ability" effects are laughable compared to the effects you can create with a possessed weapon. Most "special abilities" don't really do anything that you can tell is happening, rendering the weapon less apparently effective than even the most basic current-level random enemy-dropped weapon. There is exactly ONE in the game that you'll ever find useful: Achidna's Fangs. These have the only health-steal ability you'll get that's worth anything until really late in the game, and they also have an increased critical chance. On your first playthrough, you'll find yourself leaving them equipped until you can make your own more effective health-steal weapons because they really are a life-saver. Aside from that, every other "legendary" weapon hits for less damage, has incredibly weak attributes if any, and has a neglible and ineffective "special ability" compared to the possessed weapon you probably had to make to get through the quest or area to get to said "legendary" weapon. I tried every single one I could find, and usually reverted almost instantly to my existing weapon because it was always considerably more effective.
Even with these vastly superior weapons and armor, Death can still be interrupted by just about anything while almost every enemy has some attack sequence that is really, really hard to stop once it starts. Even in the middle of the second playthrough, I was hitting enemies with criticals so high it was taking 1/3 of their health, and they would still just drop back and begin charging up some attack and let it loose as though I didn't exist and wasn't laying into them. Meanwhile, the supposed supremist-of-the-supreme hero of the story gets interrupted by the smallest of enemies dealing so little damage you can't even tell his health bar changed. This makes combat in the first playthrough just excruciating and annoying, but doesn't really come into effect in the second playthrough since enemies aren't really any more powerful but Death is both a higher level and has even better equipment. However, because Death is so much more powerful, it's just a gnawing annoyance and an asinine "feature" of combat that even basic enemies can't be interrupted without actually being killed because, well, eff you that's why.
There's also this annoying achievement for sending a gift to a friend. None of my XBLA friends play this game, or many of the same games I do for that matter. Fortunately, I have a handful of profiles on my box from times when friends have come over and played Halo, so I just loaded one up and started the game to give that "player" an inbox and then went back to my real profile and sent "them" an item just to get the achievement. Seriously? I don't like when games try to force multiplayer on you to get achievements because it usually results in time-wasting like this. I just don't like games that force some kind of multiplayer - or even replays - becuase I strongly believe that these things should stand on their own merits and your in-game achievements should be your own. You shouldn't have to rely on other people to get their lives in line with yours so you can fully enjoy a game you bought for yourself.
Overall, the second playthrough makes up for much of the furstration from the first. Thankfully, you don't have to play all the way through to mop up those final achievements: you just have to get to level 30 and beat Wicked K. Even so, it's a forced replay of an overall poorly executed game and it would have been better if I could have been one-and-out. | video-games_xbox |
Oblivion Review. Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion
I knew that as a reviewer I would have to get around to this some day- but that doesn't make it any easier. Oblivion isn't as much a game for me as it is a drug- it was the reason that I spent $ 500 on my Xbox 360. And while many games have graced my disc tray, some good, some bad, some outstanding, I find myself always returning to Tamriel to see what's going on.
Oblivion is epic in scope. Like all the Elder Scrolls games the developers have focused on creating a wholly believable world for the player to explore- and on the next-gen consoles that world has become freakin' gorgeous. Oblivion is a graphical powerhouse, on par with Gears of War, Halo 3, or any game on any console. Stone buildings look realistic, bushes and grass are done with amazing detail, and creatures look amazingly realistic.
Oblivion begins, as all Elder Scrolls games do, with the player being released from prison. This time, the player is released because the Emperor is trying to escape assassins by fleeing through an ancient escape route that leads through your cell. After a short dungeon that serves as a tutorial, the Emperor is murdered in front of you- but before dying he asks you to find his last son and save the world. After that, you're set loose and on your own time. You can go do what the Emperor told you to do, go join a guild, go explore ruins, or just chase after butterflies until you can't find it anymore (I've done this). The entire Imperial Province is open to you, and you can literally have a two hour play session, accomplish nothing, and still have a good time. There are ruins to explore, dungeons to delve, forts to raid, and shrines to both the Deadra lords and the Nine Divines to find. Optional side-quests are everywhere.
It is impossible to talk about Oblivion without talking about what has changed from the previous game Morrowind. The first big change is the map- the player now has Link's magic compass that allows the player to have markers on the map, allowing for more playtime and less trying to figure out where you are. The second welcome change is to the journal. Entries are now arranged by quest, and quests are arranged by date, making easier to find the entry you're looking for then the strictly by date system of Morrowind. Combat is much improved, no longer bound by the d20 system, and skills like lock-picking have gotten the same overhaul- now locks are a skill based minigame rather then a pass-fail hidden dice roll. Oblivion also feels shorter then Morrowind, and more focused. This is just an observation, not an indictment. It took me over a year to beat Morrowind's main quest (with massive side trips into Bloodmoon and Tribunal), I went through Oblivion's in a little over a month. But two years of downloadable content have filled Oblivion out nicely (including Shivering Isles, an expansion about the size of Bloodmoon) and I still don't think I've seen everything yet.
Now, there is no such thing as the perfect game, and Oblivion does have some flaws. The graphical density and beauty does cause the Xbox to chug or even freeze momentarily. It is disappointing that there are only about four voices in the game, so you encounter the same voice over and over again. Maybe the developers spent all their voice actor money on Patrick Stewart and Sean Bean. As for the downloadable content, aside from Knights of the Nine and Shivering Isles, it mainly consists of "money sinks"- basically, you find a place, then you spend thousands of gold pieces to bring the place back to life. While the places you find are interesting, and have some neat and unique stuff in them, the format of these quests gets repetitive fast. But in the overall scheme of things, these are minor complaints. I mean, you're still doing unique things- like fighting undead pirates to take over their underground lair. Oh, wait- the others are pretty much just find the lair, find the merchant that has the stuff for the lair, then hand over massive amounts of your hard earned gold. Not exactly riveting stuff. But Shivering Isles is a welcome change- introducing another massive area comparable to Morrowind's expansion Bloodmoon. | video-games_xbox |
A mediocre set of motion-controlled mini-games. Motion Explosion is a compilation of 12 mini-games that have you balancing things, juggling things, grabbing things, and dodging things. In other words, it's a game whose main purpose seems to be so you can tell people, "Hey, I have a Kinect. Isn't it cool?"
To get started, you can choose a guest avatar or use yours. You can play with up to 4 players; to say it's a "four player game" is a bit misleading because you're not competing against each other at once, you're taking turns.
There are 12 mini games and each game has 10 levels of play. Here are the games:
Balance Beam. In this game, you hold a board over your head while different-shaped blocks fall on it. You have to balance them as they fall on your board and dump them into buckets to collect points. The level of control and responsiveness is very good--you can move the board up or down or tilt it at any angle as you're collecting blocks. Overall, I'd say this game was the most fun out of the group (5 of 5)
Crank it Up - In this game you're cranking a shaft with your left hand. As balls fly down, you'll punch at the target with your right hand. Sounds like a promising idea, but it gets extremely frustrating when you punch and punch but can't connect because the game expects you to work within a 3D space on the screen, but it's hard to gauge 3D depth and distance on a 2D screen. This will be a recurring theme throughout these reviews (2 of 5)
Dodge Ball - Here, "robo cannons" move around the court and shoot balls at you. You can dodge them or you can punch them with the boxing gloves you have on. I really wanted to like this one (who doesn't love a good game of dodgeball), but the game suffered from the sluggishness that plagues many Kinect games, where you might move quickly but your on-screen character feels like it's stuck in molasses. (3 of 5).
Heavily Armed - This is a derivative of the "Balance Beam" game where you have a board strapped to your left arm and need to stack blocks in specific patterns as they fall. It's an interesting use of the Kinect, and may be fun in a group setting, but quickly gets tiring when you're playing alone (3 of 5).
Juggle Struggle - Like Dodge Ball, this concept is a real winner but simply suffers in the execution (ironically, the same concept is executed much better in Wii Fit). You use your hands to toss objects in the air and try to keep them in the air, stepping on stars on the ground and avoiding bombs from time to time that are thrown at you. This game suffers mightily from the aforementioned problem of trying to gauge 3D depth on a 2D screen. At times you'll be hitting the ball with precise timing but still completely miss it. This one could have been the star of the title, instead I found it quite mediocre (3 of 5).
Off the Grid - Here, you stand on the intersection of two conveyor belts, where blocks are moving toward you from two angles. You need to contort your body to avoid blocks. This one required at least 8 feet of space which I didn't have, so it was unplayable for me. (2 of 5)
Robo Control - This is an interesting game where you control a remote controlled robot to try to collect points. You pump with your left hand and steer left and right with the other. In all honesty, it felt kind of pointless. The "pumping and steering" actions didn't simulate anything at all like real life. Plus, this was a game that would have been infinitely more fun if two players could play simultaneously going after the same targets, but each player has to wait their turn. (2 of 5)
Sack Hack - This was a pretty fun game that was along the lines of juggling--you basically play a virtual game of "hacky sack" with multiple different-colored balls. The system will highlight which limb to use to hit the ball. I found this fun, but again a victim of the same problem as juggling, where you'd hit the balls with perfect timing, but the system would let the ball drop because you weren't in the precisely correct position on the 3D plain (3 of 5)
Shape Dodge - In this game, a number of shapes are coming at you on a conveyor belt, and you have to move out of the way. If this sounds like Off the Grid, that's because it is, the shapes are just coming at you from a different angle. 2 of 5)
Star Hop - This game is all about footwork. You collect stars coming at you on yet another conveyor belt by touching them with your feet, and avoid bombs by stepping or hopping over them. I found this pretty fun, but if you're someone whose Kinect is too close that it can't detect your feet, you will not enjoy this one, as it'll be impossible to jump out of the way (4 of 5)
Star Stream - This is a game where you reach up and grab stars as they come toward you. Again, this should have been a lot more fun than it turned out to be. As with other games, reaction was sluggish at best (2 of 5)
Tilt Board - This game is reminiscent of those old wooden maze games. You tilt a board to make a ball roll on it, and gather as many stars as you can while avoiding red holes and exiting the maze at a green hole. The controls are hardly intuitive--you move your left hand up and down to tilt the maze backward and forward, and move your right hand from side to side to tilt the board left and right. Probably would have been more fun if it just let you hold your hands in front of you and tilt your whole body. But as it was, it was disappointing (2 of 5)
You can either play a "Motion Mix" of three random games or play any of the game using "Free Play" mode. One cool feature of the game is that it'll give you in-depth statistics of how well you play each game and the progress you make.
You probably saw some recurring themes in my descriptions of the games. If you don't have at least 8-10 feet of space in front of your Kinect, it won't work for you. Many game suffer from sluggishness. The complexity of trying to figure out precise 3D space on a 2D screen can be frustrating. And even though there were 12 games, many of them felt monotonously similar to each other (there are more conveyor belts here than at an assembly plant).
There were a few other really annoying things about the game. The announcer throughout the game is a perky woman who's had about five cups of coffee too much, and there's no way to turn her off. Worse, when you fail to perform certain things, she'll get really snide and sarcastic. Now I don't mind this in games when the foul-up is my fault. But when it's the system fouling up and I get lambasted for it, that gets really, really annoying, enough where I want to punch the TV. Another little annoyance--after every game your avatar would celebrate wildly with a dance, even if he or she just scored no points. I wanted to slap my avatar and tell him to cut it out.
I should mention that this is a party game, and if you play all the games above in a party setting, I'm guessing it'll be a lot more fun simply because you're competing against each other and all are on a level playing field. But again, the inability for players to compete simultaneously is unfortunate.
I suppose if you practice enough times, eventually you'll learn how to adjust for idiosyncrasies like the depth perception and the sluggishness issues. But personally, I don't have the patience for that, not when there are plenty of other Kinect games (such as Kinect Sports and Dance Central) that you can just pop in and play out of the box.
Overall, I'd say that this would have been a great title a year ago, when the Kinect was first launched. In many ways, it feels like a demonstration title showing the capabilities of the Kinect. But I didn't really find it compelling as a stand-alone title. In fact, the impression I got from Motion Explosion is that it was very similar to those "shovelware" games we saw on the Wii, where a publisher would pack in a bunch of similar mediocre games on one title in hopes that people would snatch them up thinking they were getting a good deal. I'd say maybe it's worth $19.99 when it gets to the bargain bin. But for $39.99 there are plenty of other options. | video-games_xbox |
Looks good, sounds good, but utterly terrible handling. Want a game that is cool looking with a handful of really nice cars that sound awesome? Not a hardcore racer with lots of wheel and pedals experience? Then this might be the game for you. Others, you might be disappointed.
I had the original NFS Most Wanted on PS2. I LOVED that game, everything about it was awesome (and granted, I had a long list of things that also bugged the sheisse out of me, but everything else really made up for it overall). In particular, the handling felt good (not necessarily "realistic", but sensible and controllable for what it was) when using a wheel and pedals. NOT SO ON THIS VERSION. I started up the game, and immediately noticed the steering (using a Fanatec CSR) was AWFUL. Also, it seems to have only an automatic transmission, so if you're used to a manual and having that control of the car using the paddle shifters, yeah you don't get that anymore. And, the brakes don't actually work all that well - they feel either on or off, plus you're supposed to "tap" the brake to make it toggle into some kind of drift mode. Combined with the lack of shifting or good steering, poor braking means an extremely sluggish and frustrating experience anytime you're not just going straight on full throttle.
Bad handling is even more irritating because this game only has two camera angles - either you use 3rd person "chase" cam (behind the car), or you use 1st person "bumper" cam (you see nothing but pavement in front of the car). Chase cam lets you see how incredibly laggy the inputs are, too. You know what makes the camera switch back and forth? The paddle shifters.
I did try to ignore the complete lack of any feeling of control of the car and just drove around for a while, and the city does look cool, but I got tired of crashing into things because there's no feel in the steering at all and you need three times the steering angle to make the front end point where you want it to go. Again, feels like it's either doing nothing, or it is halfway on, or it is all the way on. No subtleties that you need when driving at the high speeds this game was built for.
So incredibly glad I got this for only $15 and not its full $60 price. Even $15 is kind of a waste if you ask me. | video-games_xbox |
Be VERY CAREFUL when considering this product. I'll be brief:
First of all: out of the 81 reviews of this product currently on Amazon, 31 are 1-star. That should tell you something.
Pros:
When it actually works, it /does/ cool down your 360.
Cons:
1) Crashing
Caused more crashes than it prevented. Running without the Nyko instantly reduced the number of crashes and freezing problems I had.
2) Loud as hell
Turn on your 360. Put a hairdryer next to it, and turn it on, on low. Step back and sit where you normally play. That is how loud this product will make your 360.
3) Hard to set up, frequently stops working.
It took a lot of playing around just to get it to work the first time. It snap fits well to the back of the 360, but despite that, there's some impossible magic to the angles and tightness of the power connector... we're talking millimeter tolerances here. If you're off by just a tiny bit, it won't work at all, and the XBox won't even power on. This wouldn't be too bad if you only had to go through this headache once, but no: it's loose enough that you risk disconnecting it (and setting it up all over again) every time you touch the power cord or move the 360.
4) Many people have reported this unit causing actual damage to their 360s. You better have a replacement plan for your 360 handy, and never mention the Nyko when you try to RMA your box. If you let it slip, you probably won't be covered.
That's it for the Nyko. I returned mine within 2 weeks.
I've been searching for a good cooler for the 360 since I got one. Unfortunately, it is my opinion that there are NO GOOD COOLERS FOR THE 360 ON THE MARKET. The fan-stands (yes, I've bought and returned them) are decent coolers, but require you to run your 360 vertically, which is a big no-no. A number of websites have shown that the 360 DVD-rom drive will EAT your DVDs and games when it's vertical. I had hoped this was overexaggerated, but then the problems started happening to me... I'ver personally seen what appears to be damage on my /mint/ condition games when running the 360 vertically. I also experienced frequent game-loading problems (including hideous slowdowns) in games like Halo 2 (where you can actually see a progress bar) when played on a vertical 360 (it worked just fine with it horizontally). So, horizontal is the way to go.
In the end, I ended up building my own cooler out of some old (still loud, but MUCH QUIETER) computer fans and a 12 volt adapter, and slapped it on the side. Works well, probably cools as well as the Nyko, but without the noise or the crashing! Your best bet, if you can't do something like that, is to just buy a little clip fan (with its own power adapter) and have it blow into the right side/bottom (the vents away from the DVD drive) of your 360. | video-games_xbox |
Perfect night of horror. I won't go into to much detail story-wise cause if your are here then you are probably aware of it anyway.
I have been a horror fan since birth and im now old enough to not disclose my age on here :P. I feel that i have seen and experienced it all in horror and my fasniation with supernatural horror is quite intense. In the gaming arena i have played ALL the survial horrors and have had obessions with a few of them, primarily Silent Hill 2 and 3.
For the past 14 months i have read and followed the on-going development of The Suffering and went in expecting a great deal. I mean earth shattering horror that would effect me not just WOW that looks cool factor. I wanted a real feeling of un-ease and terror when i played a horror game and to date Silent Hill 3 was the closest i have had to this experience.
I love horror, both movies and games and i love it for the feelings of terror that sweep my body during an intense scene or moment in dialogue, i love vampires, ghost, aliens, serial killers, zombies(...), the whole lots. I watch it for sheer gore and blood and lots of it.
And im happy to say The Suffering quenched my thirst for a true horror experience that i ave soaked up for years.
The game is truely interactive and plays with a lot of in-game moments that are scripted. This is to provide both storyline and a visual terror while you actually play and though other games like Max Payne have utilsed this tool in a crime setting The Suffering uses the technigues to great effect. I mean ripped in half guards crawling along the floor gasping there last moments while there intestines follow like fresh spagetti and this isn't a cut scene...BRILLIANT !!!
As mentioned in other reviews the sound is crucial to the feelings experienced in the game and Midway have provided a flawless soundtrack that really penetrates your psyche on a level i haven't experienced from sound before. A simple example is this: you walk into a dark room and here a low deep growl, suddnely you here the BREAK OF GLASS and some unidentifiable creature with blades for hands hits the ground and screams at your, u defeat it and then turn to exit the room, then ANOTHER BREAK OF GLASS, you turn quickly ready to fight, AND(...).. nothing.....you search the room , your un ease slowly begins to build. Simple techingue but effective !!!
You can hear everything: your footsteps, breathing, heart, watter dripping, the sound of crys and screams around the corners, growls, blood spraying.
Deftinely, without question play this game in 1st person, it is the only way one should play this game to really allow yourself to feel the game. It is a good looking game and the graphics are certainly the best that can be churned out at the moment.
The game is a FPS with a few easy riddles, this isn't so much a challenging stratgic game like say Resident Evil. Its a game that allows you to play and enjoy without getting too frustrated and giving up a quater way through to never get around too again. You will want to play this for as long as possible and though short it provides a quality night in that will be well worth spent for horror fans. Though short its a game that you will play again especailly on a stormy night when yah got nuthin too do.
What i also appreciate about the game play is the modes of difficulity. It a game a novice or an expert shooter can play thanks to the actual working difficult level. I have played on all levels and found the difficulty steep to be well thought out. The easiest level will allow a novive or casual gamer to enjoy the experience without getting frustrated or bored. The experience of having to die all the time and attempt to get through a moment again and again,(well not much on this level) is not experienced . Its like a interactive movie on easy that will still immerse and scare the (...) out of the player. The hardest level is excately that and plays like a hard thump to the chest cavity, the knife penetrating yah heart. Furthermore, yah got 3 excellent endings to achieve.
So, if yah like horror and want a experience that will soak yah with sweat buy this. Deftinely not for young children to see due to the actual pyscological impact this delievers. Remember, this isn't a game your just play, its a game you experience emotionally too. Children won't handle some of the impact. It really is a mature gamers game and thus we should respect that. I think most teeenagers would handle the game well and some might even see it as weak, those jadded gamers :). But adult gamers will love this. As of May 2004 i would say this and Silent Hill 3 are the best horror games in the gaming market and i would also say that this game personally takes my number one because i just happen to love the FPS element added to this game more instead of the SURVIVAL elements of Silent Hill 3 or other horror games. Hey i like to shoot things :(
I believe if yah like the sound of the game you should buy it not rent it cause it a worthy entry to yah collection and a good game to show of to friends and is one you will play again.
Besides i think if yah love these sort of games you should buy them so that more quality horror titles are developed. Its worth the money on this title to just take the risk. Rent it if you are not sure but you will just want to buy it anyways :).
(I took one point of because i had a few freeze problems with my disc but that may be my xbox and not the disc.) | video-games_xbox |
Reviewing the product, not the shopping experience. The Xbox 360 is only as good as what you plan to use it for. That is, it's only as good as the games you decide to play, the movies and shows you decide to watch (via Netflix, perhaps), and the music you decide to listen to.
Well, that's not entirely true. The overwhelming majority of these machines were, at one point, very poorly made. Manufacturing processes have improved since those dark, dreadful times. Consider asking your seller for the manufacture date of his/her Xbox. This will save you a lot of trouble, anger and disappointment.
Many Xbox 360 games can also be purchased for the Playstation 3. The Playstation 3 is only as good as what you want to use it for. Except... well... some people think it has an inferior controller. I am one of them... the PS3 controller doesn't even vibrate (what is this, 1997?). This is a matter of preference; neophytes may consider testing each for themselves at a retailer. Control and comfort can be a dealbreaker.
Except when your console is so poorly built it's essentially designed to fail.
Some games look better on the Xbox 360 than they do on the PS3. The reverse is also true. This is of secondary importance. Before deciding to buy one or the other, the customer should know what kinds of games/subject matter he or she likes, and then buy the machine with the most suitable library of games. There are many very pretty games available which are no fun at all.
Especially if you aren't into them.
The Xbox 360 is less expensive than the PS3, because the PS3 plays Blu-Ray movies. Blu-Ray players aren't as expensive as they used to be, and in my opinion you shouldn't be putting extra 'miles' on an expensive gaming machine by watching movies on it, if you can help it.
These machines only last so long.
If you plan to play online (and you should, it's an absolute blast), the Xbox 360 requires membership fees and extra hardware, unless you have an ethernet hookup near your television. The PS3 does not. It has built in wireless internet support. Depending on your connection, wired may be more reliable than wireless.
Lag really sucks.
Online play on the Xbox 360 is hosted by players, so you can play your games online as long as you have people to play them with. Many PS3 games use dedicated servers which may be shut down once they become more trouble than they are worth to their corporate masters.
You should be the one to decide when to move on. Right?
In Sum:
Buy an X-Box 360 because it has lots of games you'd like to play. Not because it's cheaper, has a(n arguably) better controller, and has (arguably) better online play.
If your best friend has one, you might let that make the decision for you. Which may... or may not... be a good thing. | video-games_xbox |
Much deeper. I loved the original Darksiders, but I'm blown away by the improvements they've made in the sequel. Lots of RPG elements make the action feel deeper and give you a lot more control and options in combat. Looting weapons and armor from enemies was totally unexpected but I'm glad its in the game. Equipping and finding new secondary weapons from vanquished foes is really sweet. It seems that there are only 2 types of basic secondary weapons. Heavy weapons with slow attack speed and powerful damage, and gauntlet type with a fast attack speed and lower damage. There are a few different types of weapons in these 2 categories like axes, maces, hammers, gauntlets and wrist blades and glaives. Combos flow nicely between your scythe attacks and secondary attatcks. I like the skill tree and experience points so I feel like I"m making progress toward new moves and upgrades besides those acquired specifically through weapons and items. "Possessed" items are a nice touch too. Allowing you to level up an weapon by "feeding" it items from your inventory to help it gain experience.
The fighting is really fluid. This is not a button mashing game. You need to dodge and attack at the right time or you're probably going to get killed a lot. The platforming moments are much like prince of persia and provide a break from the fighting and puzzle solving to make a rounded out experience. With one of your companions, dust the crow, you can hold the left stick down for a hint on where to go. This is a blessing, unlike many open world games where you can forget what you're doing or get sidetracked on side quests. Like the original theres plenty of opportunities to go back to previously visited areas for treasure after you've upgraded your abilities. So far the music and and sound effects have fit the game perfectly and the voice acting is great. The music can be ethereal and dreamy at times or dark and dramatic and lends well to the layout of the world. The comic book styled artwork is also really great with many places having a ruined beauty kind of feel. Only been playing a few hours but I'm hooked and can't wait to play more. If you liked the original, definitely pick this one up. If you didn't play the first give this one a try. It's an amazing game. | video-games_xbox |
A Brilliant BioWare RPG with Sleep-Inducing Combat. Okay, let me say that when I first heard previews of this game, I thought it would be more action-centric. Its set in a westernized vision of asia, straight out of martial arts movies and folklore. I was dismayed, since the best part of Bioware/ Black Isle/ Obsidian Entertainment games are their engrossing stories and branching dialogue; they're almost like adventure games which had to change format due to the genre's death.
Anyway, thankfully to me, combat in the game is not a focus. It's lame as hell, with four different attacks assigne to the d-pad, and various easily dodgable martial and magic attacks to deal with. I played it on grand master the whole way through and didn't die once, mostly because you can just roll around and stun-lock enemies with storm dragon or the blind fist technique. Or just max out the jade golem, or spam the area attacks to do those insta-kill combos, etc. While this will put off most people who were looking for an action RPG, for the hardcore like myself, who worship the gospels of Fallout Baldur's Gate Planescape Torment and KOTOR 1 and 2, they won't be disappointed.
Finally, after two KOTOR games, Bioware is moving towards an "alignment" system which reflects an actual moral philosophy, instead of melodramatic "good" or "evil" categories. This time, the closed fist (dark side) has a thin philosophy of self-affirming social darwinism behind it, and the open palm (good) involves finding balance in all things in addition to not murdering peasants. Although there is no real "neutral" yet, there are often three solutions to problems (the game has three endings based upon this), one which is very evil, one which is good, and one which is highly debatable. The characters are rich and well-written (REMEMBER to talk to everyone to get their backstories like in Kotor), the ending is relatively complete and satisfying with character bios (Unlike Kotor's lame five second cut scene), and the quest is engrossing with a few genuinely unpredictable twists (though not even close to Kotor's). All in all, for an RPGer who wants the best in Western dialogue-based RPGs, this is where its at. The game is actually rather linear, with a few exceptions, and there is no world map from which you can travel. Though this is more constricted than KOTOR, it adds a more narrative focus to the game which I like (non-linearity is overrated). | video-games_xbox |
Short, Repetitive, but Relatively Fun. Call of Juarez joins other Western themed games in immersing you in shoot-outs, cacti, wood fences and tumbleweeds. You switch between the characters of Billy - the young half-Mexican lad, and Ray, his uncle, a gunslinger who is out to kill him.
The conflict is that Billy, coming home after several years of roaming, finds his mother and abusive stepfather are dead. Ray thinks Billy has done the deed. The story then plays out with Billy trying to clear his name and find a fortune, and Ray wanting revenge.
The story is extremely linear, as you might expect in this situation. If you're hopping between the two characters and, as Ray, you were able to Kill Bill, the game would be over. I definitely understand the linear gameplay. Heck, in pretty much any game you want to achieve their end objective, be it take over the town or destroy all the enemies. Still, it's nice to feel you have some control along the way. Entire roads are blocked because of a plot twist??
Also, as much as it is linear, it is very vague. You're told to do something, but then you have to stumble around for a while to figure out what exactly they want you to do in order to progress. It can get frustrating.
The graphics aren't that bad on a high def TV - the individual leaves on the trees are visible and the humans are reasonably detailed. We've taken several trips to the western US region and it really is pretty out there. They did a nice job on some of the cut scenes, with small reflections in metal surfaces, the dull rasp of leather, and other details. The clouds aren't solid objects that drift - they actually change shape as they go.
The voice work in the game is reasonable enough, but while I liked the soundtrack at the beginning, it got really repetitive REALLY quickly. In some games the soundtrack blends in really nicely and you enjoy it. That's not the case here. It's a shame too, because sometimes it's peaceful as you walk along beneath the drifting clouds, with the grasses slowly waving, the birds singing in the trees.
As much as I appreciate the differences of sneaky Billy with his whip vs shooting Ray with his guns, I just didn't like this game as much as some of the other westerns we own. It was too linear, the soundtrack was too maddening, and it was too short. A great game to rent for a week, and that way you can see if you adore it enough to keep it after that. | video-games_xbox |
Microsoft Fails. This review is for the Xbox One Wireless Controller + Wireless Adapter. The wireless adapter does not work with Windows 10 no matter what I do. The device is not recognized by Windows and also Windows will not install any driver automatically. I did a chat session with Microsoft support and it was totally useless; the rep pointed me to the support website. Which I already looked at.
Tried the workaround suggested on Reddit and this did not work for me, although the wireless adapter was recognized in device manager. Device manager gave me another error though that the controller had known problems with windows and would not enable the driver.
To make matters worse, it totally crippled gaming through Steam even after I went back to my old Xbox 360 wireless controller. Fired up Metal Gear Solid V and it was a stuttering and choppy mess, well under 60FPS. Prior to installing this thing I was happily playing the game as I always had. I had to uninstall the MS driver I tried from the "workaround" and also uninstalled + re-installed my nVidia drivers, then re-booted. All went back to normal.
The controller does not come with any USB cable to plug into your PC to use the controller in a wired setup. I happened to have an extra micro USB cable laying around. The good news is the controller works perfectly if you connect it using a micro USB cable directly to your USB port on your PC. Windows immediately installed the Xbox controller driver, but this is NOT the same as the wireless adapter driver. And it defeats the purpose of buying a wireless controller.
The last time I had issues this bad with a PC controller was back in the mid - late 1990's when I had a Gravis Gamepad Pro, haha. Despite all of this I am not returning the controller. It does work perfectly while using it wired (and doesn't require batteries either while wired) and it is much more comfortable to use than the Xbox 360 controller I've been using. And I have to believe, someday, Microsoft will address this major problem. Get it together Microsoft, this is totally unacceptable. | video-games_xbox |
Despite all the attention to detail still over priced. After 25+ years we (children of the 80's) get a proper classic Transformers game
in Transformer Devastation is it the game every child of the 80's has wanted
without a doubt yes! but, it does have a number of problems overall
I bought this game a day after the release
I really like the idea and concept behind it but, it should've never been sold out the gate for $50.00
It's not worth that
But, at least it's a Activision title that isn't doa on release like Tony Hawk
Graphically: The look is the biggest selling point it's close to flawless
This is the closest thing we've come to Dragon's Lair and that was back in 1983
Your pretty much playing a massive 1980's cartoon enhanced by HD
It's stunning this is one of the most impressive games I've played visually in a long time
Not sure why but, it reminds of Viewtiful Joe
Story: If there's a real story going on i missed something
the story is paper thin
Sound (Getting a number of the original v/o cast helps the overall feel) plus most of the music
One major thing they forgot to add or try to emulate was the announcer who talked at the start of every episode
The Controls: are better then some of the previous games
there strong maybe take 15 minutes to get use to
The Game play: Is average if you played any of the previous handful of Transformers games Activison/Hasbro has put out
It's rinse and repeat you can upgrade characters and use items you pick up
But, the menu interface is terrible
some characters feel super outdated (Optimus Prime) is so slow you'd think he was a tank playing as him will make you fall asleep
Thank God you can switch on the fly! the game play is also the thing that knocks this title down to be flawless
you might be able to put 45 minutes in and get board of it
My biggest gripe with this game was the altering/changing of Megatron now he changes to a bloody tank!
he transformed into a cool looking hand gun (I refused to watch the life action films) maybe this was done in the films but, this is meant to be the classic original Transformers i'd love to know why this major thing was changed even if you use the politically correct angle
A Tank does massive destruction if you compare it to a handgun
Activision puts out Call of Duty (which is a murder simulator) where you are using hands guns along with all types of over the top machine guns to kill people
The Transformers are fighting each other there robots I'm not even pro-guns but, you can't alter a major character like Megatron in this way!
whoever signed off on this and thought it was no big deal is either out of touch or a massive hypocrite
as crazy as it might sound this game wasn't made for kids......
Anyone who remembers watching the original Transformers on tv after G.I. Joe the animated series this is made for you Anyone who only considered the Transformers Animated Movie the only real film this is made for you
I'd wait for the price drop to hit $35.00 though 9.4/10 | video-games_xbox |
All packed up and ready to go! Amazing space in this case. After reading reviews on this case, I wasn't sure my stuff would all fit, but decided to try it anyways. Here is my rundown of how I packed the case to make it work for me. I placed the xbox in its designated side and strapped it in, placing the HDMI cable at the bottom and tv mount for the Kinect at it's side. Then came the Kinect pouch, I was able to put not only the Kinect in there, but also a chatpad, my external drive and the cord for the controller charging base. Games? Hmm, I prefer not to use the sleeves provided in the case, but rather bring the games in their cases. I was able to pack 12 games into the front flap pocket by consolidating and putting 2 discs in each case, with enough extra room for 2 more cases, if I were to decide to bring 2-4 more games. Now for packing the side with the Kinect pouch, the power brick and controllers. 2 controllers would fit in the stretch pockets inside, but I still have the charging base for my controllers to fit, predicament? No, zipping the case to the top allowed me to remove 1 controller from the pouch and place it atop the other controller and have room to add in the charging base, with still a little room to add maybe 1 more controller! Ok, its closed now and I can place the games in the front flap, 6 cases stacked in 3 side by side fit perfectly, with room for 2 more game cases! I'm amazed! There's still a small zippered pocket on the front of the flap! I could place 2 standard headsets in there, along with a cable for the controllers! Full with my stuff, it weighs roughly 20 some pounds, I don't have a scale so I based it off of the weight of my 21 pound cat. No, the description photographs do not lie, they are not photoshopped in any way, this case REALLY does hold pretty much everything you would need to bring with you minus a TV! Great purchase, I'm impressed with the amount of room for everything in this case! | video-games_xbox |
Not for everyone, sure. Homefront won't please the CoD crowd, period. This game requires team work and communication. I got so bored of Black Ops - don't get me started on MW2. I wasn't bad or great (2.2 K/D playing only TDM), but feeling in control of the overall population was really boring after a while. Homefront takes teamwork and it's actually really fun, both online and campaign. People complaining about the server issues have obviously never tried to play a new FPS online during the first week. MW2 and Black Ops had that issue, and so did Reach. Homefront isn't as fun as Halo is overall, in my opinion, but it's ceratinly a middle ground between CoD and Halo for me. I love the online. It's balanced and requires quick thinking and good strategy to counter snipers, attack helicopers, or tanks. There's nothing I've thought was too over powering in this game. Choppers and tanks are strong, but can be destroyed.
The campaign was short, but was still great. I don't expect the small group of resistance soilders to overthrow a super power invader. The campaign was really fun, and there are 61 collectible newspapers that give you some backstory on how the world of Homefront was shaped. If you've got a smart phone, you can also find 10 QR Codes hidden in the game, which give you cool wallpapers for your phone. They're not necessary to find, but it does add some replay value to the campaign (along with the achievements of course).
Homefront is very fun, and all a review is is an opinion. My opinion of Homefront after playing from launch to now, is that the game has gotten a bad rap for a short campagin and broken multiplayer. The multiplayer servers have been fixed for a long while now, and wihle the campaign is short, it's certainly fun and gives you a good sense of Korea being an invading force.
Five Stars because I have a lot of fun playing this game. Even more than CoD, which I find broken thanks to perks, too many guns, etc. I will also say that I feel good knowing a company not named Activision came out with an FPS, and it's actually fun. | video-games_xbox |
Borderlands with Zombies. Before you get excited thinking this is the Dr. Ned Zombie Island DLC fleshed out into a full modern day game, realize that this game suffers from four design flaws that prevents it from being as good as Borderlands.
The best way to describe this game is borderlands exclusively with zombies and an emphasis on melee. From the cardboard cutout quest handing NPCs, the quick travel, the "safe" zones, the re popping enemies, to loot grabbing, the fetch missions, to being built around coop, to allowing someone to jump into your game at any time, to the skill tree (1 skill point per level, three trees to put it in), the weapons all leveling up from rusty to devastating and beyond, dying causes a quick repop with some money missing, the enemies all leveling as you do, to the quest selection screen(you can pick up multiple quests at once)...well you get the idea. This game is everything borderlands is, plus it adds the occasional escort quest and has random junk like fallout 3, which you can use for weapon mods or selling for cash.
So for anyone who is a fan of Borderlands and the MMORPG style level and item grind, this is a great game right? Well, I haven't mentioned the four things that prevent this game from living up to its' potential.
1) No Local Coop: Some may disagree that this matters, but that's only because you happen to not live in a family of gamers. You can system link the game, or play on xbox live, but there is NO splitscreen, which is made more upsetting by the fact that the back of the case suggests splitscreen. The inability to play with my wife is frustrating beyond imagination, especially since "all the bits and pieces" are there to do it. If you base a game around coop, as dead island is (to the point several missions refer to you as several people), then they should actually have included coop, borderlands could handle it, so don't tell me it was a limitation of the hardware/software.
2) Rapid Weapon Degradation: Having any weapon degradation in a game where you are killing hundreds of zombies was stupid enough, but they ramped it up in this game. Quite literally, you will be able to kill maybe 5 or 6 zombies per weapon. Some weapons are "disposable" and you will simply drop them. Others will simply stop doing damage, and you need to be careful else you end up surrounded my zombies with a weapon that does no damage.
3) Rapid Zombie Repops: Very forgivable, as you'd expect a game like this to have repops. But where borderlands enemies only repopped when you left the area or quit and reloaded, dead island pops enemies at random, even in the same area you are in. The pops are sporadic, sometimes you can clear an area of zombies and come back 45 minutes later to find it still cleared, other times zombies will literally repop while your still in the same area. I remember killing a thug in a building, walking to my nearby car and walking back to find the thug repopped. If they cut the repopping down a bit, it would have made a big difference, especially with the rapid weapon degradation.
4) Gameplay: Gameplay is a loaded word, so I will simply say this game is clumsier than other games of it's caliber, maybe this was to add suspense and fear, I don't know. Hits don't always register, which is frustrating for a game based on melee. Guns have very limited ammo, so using them is especially frustrating. Some zombies will latch on to you, forcing you to beat them off, from an indecipherable distance that seems to change from zombie to zombie. All in all, things just don't run as smoothly in this game.
So, there is my opinion on dead island. This could have easily been a wonderful game, and certainly set itself up to be, but these four issues make the game fall flat on it's face. They took the general layout from borderlands, but made some choice decisions that prevented it from living up to potential. I didn't have any preconceived notions that this was a Fallout 3 with zombies or anything, so that doesn't effect my score. Still it just isn't as good as it could have been. | video-games_xbox |
The Batman, Finally Gets The Game He Deserves . First off, I have to say..im a Huge fan of The Batman. His comics, Movies, animated series, are always High quality and leave you coming back for more.(except batman forever and batman and robin that is )
Batman has always had a love/hate relationship with video games..some are hit or miss but they never capture the TRUE feeling of the dark knight detective.
That is Until Batman:Arkham Asylum came along ...this is THE Batman game!
this game is the most complete batman experience you can hope for.. Finally, the developers have listened to the fans, and it pays off big time!
the game is loosly based On the Arkham Asylum graphic novel from 1989..but tweaked here and there By batman writer Paul Dini (who also worked on the award winning batman the animated series )
the plot..pretty simple...or is it? After fighting and capturing the joker yet again..batman is en route back to Gotham city's infamous Nuthouse to return the joker. But, the Joker didn't put up much of a fight this time...and Batman dosent like it at all..he knows that something is waiting for him at the asylum...A HUGE TRAP! the joker and the inmates take over the asylum..and batman has to fight his way through all the assorted Lunatics and crazies..to get to the joker and his sexy gal pal harley quinn..
You, get to do everything batman does...from finding clues and using them to track down hostages, to using that awesome grappel gun and other various gadgets, to taking out the inmates..which is jaw dropping! batman has some intense combat moves.. Basically it plays like a hybrid of Sleeper cell (for the silent takedowns) god of war(for the non stop @SS kicking) and a great detective story. all rolled up in a awesome action/adventure game...
The controles move fluidly, the gameplay is top notch..you can tell that the developers are big time batman fans..because this game is so richly detailed. from the graphics ...which are INCREDIBLE and have to be seen to believe. to a engrosing storyline..arkham asylum has it all and much more for the batman fan. its a creepy, journey into the world of madness ..and your right there in the heart of it be prepared for some long gaming sessions with this one..(those scarcrow levels alone are chilling :) )
if you get tired of going on the story mode..you can always wander around and explore the asylum and the island..there are lots of surprises to be found..one is having that batman set up a secret batcave up on the island years ago..and you need to go there to unravel some clues... plus you can match with the various riddles from the riddler scattered all over the place... or if You have Xbox live..you can get exclusive dlc to add even more dimension to this blockbuster title...if you don't believe me...check out the other reviews here.
back to the graphics for a second..The characters look amazing and well detailed..Batman looks like he could scare the you know what out of you..this is what the batman is! No adam west stuff here!
the sound effects and music are spot on..and as a bonus if you are a fan of batman :the animated series..some of the cast came back to lend their voice..such as kevin conroy as batman..and mark hamil as the joker..he really hams it up in this game but make no mistake this is one seriously twisted joker..which to the fans is a real treat.
im only halfway through the game as i write this..but i can say that its worth it! if you buy one game this year make it this one..you won't be disapointed.
I have the Xbox 360 version...and i have to say this game really shines on the system! i almost got it for my ps3 im glad i didnt..the ps3 version looks a little unfinished in my opinion compared to the 360s's thats the benefit of having more than one system...you can choose and check out for yourself. Batman: Arkham asylum is a well made, solid game...ignore those people that rip on this game..they don't know whats good. this is a mature batman game...its made for the fans and rightfully so.
Bottom line...if your a batman fan, its a must own not rent. hmm i wonder if they will do a sequel to this..hope so. or mabey a take on another batman story one springs to mind Batman: Knightfall...lots of possibilities here.
also if you want more batman excitement..check out the graphic novel it was based on. | video-games_xbox |
Good deal for many reasons. This is a very good bundle for multiple reasons. Everyone who has ordered this knows the 250GB hardrive alone makes up for the fact it costs extra than the regular elite. But when you add the extra controller and the Modern Warfare 2 game, this is just the smartest thing anyone looking for an xbox for the first time, or a replacement, should do. The two wireless controllers that came with the system surprisingly had 2 batteries that were included, and when I unwrapped them I noticed they were Duracell and not some crappy off brand like normally is place into included batteries.
And maybe I just bought my first wired headset too long ago, but when I go this one out of the box I noticed that it had the mute and volume switch connected to the wire about three inches below the actual headphone portion, (sorry if that was a bad explanation.) And instead of the annoying clip that sometimes would freak out when trying to plug into the bottom of the controller it now looks like a simple headphone plugin. Again, maybe they have had these features on the headsets recently, but it is nice from the old one I had.
Now that I have talked about what are the initial percs of this bundle I would like to talk about the things that make it probably one of best things I have bought before.
The X-Box art has had mixed reviews, and I was wondering before I bought it if the art would look better or worse in person after unwrapping it. I can honestly say that it looks exactly the same, which was kind of a buzz kill, but I like the way the art looks, and for those looking to be different from all the other ole' Elites out there, is worth it.
Can't believe I forgot to mention that this bundle is also incredible for the single reason that it is based around the sequel to the best selling first person shooter of all time. And coming from a person that achieved 10th prestige and looked for new leaked videos of Modern Warfare 2 every single day, when this box came today I was so extremely excited.
Overall, I am very happy with my purchase, not only because of the monetary deal that this bundle has with the extra externals that are included, but also because the visuals on the case are sleek and stand out. The 250GB hard drive might be hard to fill, but I will finally get to install all of my games onto the hard drive without having to delete them every week or so to make room for DLC(downloadable content). I would recommend this limited edition for anyone who still needs an X Box, and please enjoy it for many years just like I will.
I haven't gotten to play Modern Warfare 2 to any extent yet, and will put that review under the Modern Warfare 2 game section. | video-games_xbox |
Dont buy for X Box 360 and Playstation 3. I had high hopes for WWE 2K15. I anticipated this would be a great game that surpasses the previous games. I got the X Box 360 version one day and put the game in. As the game loaded I wondered what kind of career mode would I get to play. I wondered would universe mode be different from the previous WWE 2K14 game with new scenes and storylines. Well 2 minutes into the game I became let down and then angry.
1. No career mode. It turns out that the last gen X Box 360 and PS3 versions of the game dosnt have a career mode. WTF. A WWE game without a career mode isn't a WWE game. A career mode is the backbone of any WWE game. Like the old Smackdown vs Raw games had. A good career mode with story telling to keep players interested. I was so let down by no career mode.
2. Universe Mode copied and pasted from the previous game. I thought well universe mode is in the game and it will be good. WRONG. It has the same layout screen listing matches, same cut scenes, same everything. Where is the originality. Why didn't we get anything new. And during universe mode I found out the game was buggy. At one point after I beat John Cena another John Cena came out indicating he wanted to fight me for my title. 2 John Cena's?
3. Then I tired who has NXT. Another let down because its just matches with the player trying to accomplish goals in a match. Again a let down.
4. WWE Showcase. Pointless. Why did they put 2 feuds in the game from the actual WWE programing? If I wanted to see these feuds again that's what the WWE network is for. Playing it in a game with no new outcome was pointless.
So I went online and I found out that the reason why we didn't get a story mode or new universe mode is they had to cut down on these because last gen cant support the career mode due to lack of memory. So why didn't they mention this sooner before the game hit stores?
So I got the game on next gen. My career mode started off with promise but ends up being boring. Match after match with new interesting storylines or outcomes.
The size of the roster is small so you better be ready to face the same WWE superstar more then 5 times over and over again Universe mode again on the next gen offers nothing new. Whos got NXT would have been better if they put more into it and not this accomplish goals crap during a match.
WWE 2K15 is a lazy, unoriginal, watered down game with no imagination. It had the chance to be a epic game but failed. DONT BUY THIS GAME | video-games_xbox |
Highly Underrated Platformer with A Lot of Laughs. I didn't pick this game up until it dropped to $20, mainly because I had heard mixed reviews about it. After playing it, I'm beginning to think that many reviewers are just jaded from the surplus of platformers available on the market. The game is beautiful and easy to learn. Voodoo Vince is a very cute mascot with just enough personality to crack up even the most serious of players.
Story
The story is pretty entertaining. You are a voodoo doll named Vince. You are the "third best" doll of a woman by the name of Madame Charmaine, who has been kidnapped by Kosmo the Inscrutable. During the crime, Vince has zombie dust sprinkled on him, bringing him to life and allowing him to receive telepathic messages from Mme. Charmaine.
Characters
Vince is a very likable character, with his tongue in cheek disdain for all things platforming (e.g. "Another musical gate puzzle...hooray"). I can't decide if he has very low or very high self-esteem, because his character seems to waffle between the two. In any case, he is very entertaining. Mme. Charmaine's visual role is small after her abduction, but her voice haunts you throughout the game (think Cleo from the Psychic Friends network). The main "baddy", Kosmo, reminds me of Bert from Sesame Street. He is supposed to be quite comical, but I find it hard to believe that a Muppet could pull off such a heist!
Gameplay
The gameplay is standard 3D platforming at its best -- jump around and float/hover to drop more slowly and find secret areas. Your special attacks are one of the more novel I have seen. To harm a large number of enemies around you, you invoke a random special attack which involves...hurting yourself! You collect icons throughout the game that add to your portfolio of attacks, including my favorite: the shark attack.
WOW! Animation and Great Tunes
A few other reviewers have dissed the animation, saying it isn't XBox calibre, but I couldn't disagree more. The first time Vince looks in an old, worn out mirror in the first level, I was amazed at the attention to detail that the designers put into this game. The burlap on Vince looks so real that I expect to get a rash from touching its rough surface! Everything else is cartoony, but the lighting effects are excellent, as is the feeling of age in certain areas (e.g. inside an old drainpipe).
Jazz and blues tunes permeate this title, giving it a real Cajun feel. The Main Street level of The Quarter really feels like New Orleans, especially how the music speeds up when Vince catches on fire. (Don't ask...it's an important part of the story).
Will This Gather Dust?
It certainly won't in my collection. Vince is cool, and his antics are classic. I am still revisiting levels trying to get all of the pages and skulls that I missed the first time through.
At $20, this game is a steal.
Overall Recommendations:
You'll like this if:
* You grew up on platformers and still love them.
* You like Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga style humor.
* You like New Orleans. | video-games_xbox |
YSFE 2012 doesnt deliver the whole package....unless you are prepared to download the "extra" content. PROS:
-Kinect sensor is great at monitoring your movements and the game makes sure you give it your all
-a good variety of classes that work you abs, backs, arms, chest, glutes, etc
-good 4 week routine (that you must pay extra for)
-classes/exercises (especially 4 week routine) really push your body to the limit while being fun at the same time
-great variety of exercises that really target muscle groups all over your body, giving you the feeling of a total body workout
CONS
-NO 8 WEEK PROGRAM
-have to pay for a 4 week routine
-no way to turn off music
-no way to change personal trainer
-no support for avatars or the ability to make your own in game avatar
-no real strength training program, requiring users to supplement weight training on their own
Update 1/17/12
That plyo mat helped a ton! I ordered the harbinger 5/8 inch right here from Amazon and after doing two workouts on it, the pain is completely gone in my feet. Also today on xbla I noticed ubisoft released two new add ons for ysfe 2012: cool down and the 2 nd half of the 8 week program.
Cool down was exactly what I was looking for, some nice stretches to do before/ after a workout. The 2 nd part to the 8 week workout program was a most welcome sight since I only have two more workouts left from the first part of the program. My only gripe is that this second part has workouts that are less than 20 minutes long, whereas the first part had workouts at about 30 minutes. Going from an intense 30 minute sessions do 17 minute workouts like a downgrade to me. So ill probably double up and do two back to back. Also I have noticed the disclaimer about stopping the game if and when you feel injury but I still think it would be nice to have a reminder about playing with sneakers on or on a workout mat.
Nonetheless its good to see ubisoft adding more content even though i still think the 8 week program n cool down should have been included from the onset. But since these workouts have truly gotten me results in less than four weeks i really can't complain. Thank you ubisoft, I hope others will benefit from this game as much as I have!
UPDATE 1/13/12
rating updated: **** out of *****
I have been using YSFE 2012 for three straight weeks as my only workout routine and I have to say......this is one very well designed workout game. As mentioned before, once I got the 4 week program from the xbla marketplace, I was able to follow a disciplined, well thought out, an effective workout regimen that truly gave me results in ONLY 3 WEEKS! My waist has definitely shrunk (about 1 to 2") as I'm fitting into my older (slimmer) pants, my energy level is amazing (i can easily go 18 hour days with no coffee/energy drinks), and I can feel my body getting stronger. Now, I have to add that I ordered bowflex selecttech dumbells (from amazon of course while they were on sale for $299) and I've been supplementing my YSFE workouts with strength training. The "strength training" that YSFE provides is not the type that will help guys build serious muscle and I'll detail why on that later.
First, I have to say again, the 4 week program is GREAT! Ubisoft seems to have really done their homework and included a nice 30 min workout that gives you cardio and a whole plethora of plyometrics moves that keeps you moving while your having fun. I remember ea active sports 1 was just squats, squats, squats, and more squats and that seemed like it was due to the limitation of the wii's user interface. EA active sports 2 tried to throw dumbells in the mix, but the wii couldn't really sense dumbell moves and the whole routine ended being a repeat of the first game....squats. But YSFE 2012 has really gone above and beyond with the great variety of plyo moves, cardio, and they even throw in weights. You not only work your hamstrings, but you feel it in your glutes, calfs, even ankles and feet. I mean, i'm feeling soreness in muscles that I didn't even know existed! The game also seems to be working with the kinect very well and Ive notice that even if I start slacking thinking the game will still register my moves my half done moves, instead I see YSFE punishing me (by not registering the moves, losing my golden aura and points) and I have to push my body harder to make sure I keep up with the form. And the great part is, there are four total body workout classes and while the game suggests you do one class 3x for the first week then move one, it lets you switch it up so that you can do the 2nd, 3rd and 4th workout classes to your liking. All in all, not only have i seen and felt positive results from continuing the four week routine, but the routines stay fresh and fun that I keep coming back to them. Within the first week of workouts, my body had adjusted to the activity levels and I had gone from needing a 5 minute break in between (which the workout doesnt provide since the point is to keep your heart rate up) to no break needed after hitting the 5th/6th workout. And I haven't even finished my four weeks yet!
However, not everything is perfect, and after going through the majority of the four week workout routine, I have noticed not flaws of YSFE 2012 but in fact its hard coded limitations that essentially hold you back if your goal is to gain muscle and keep up your workout pace within even a short 1 month period. The first limitation is that the plyo moves have taken a toll on my feet. In my last two sessions, I noticed that while I was keeping up with the pace and form of the workouts, I started experiencing sharp pains around my feet. I realized that while I was ready to push my body to the next limit, my feet certainly were not ready to handle it and is making working out difficult not due to heavy breath but the sharp pains I've been feeling. Im even starting to feel sharp pains when doing normal walking and lifting around the office and home. I know enough about plyometrics to understand that clearly, I need a plyo mat that will put less stress on my feet but allow me to keep pushing myself. However, I think the casual exercise person who jumps into this may not know that and frankly, I did not see any notice, advice or warning that I should be using either sneakers or any kind of plyo mat when doing workouts. I think YSFE 2012 is great in terms of helping us reach our limits, but Ubisoft may have not realized how much their game can really push the human body, which could lead some users to possibly get hurt and upset. Hopefully Ubisoft releases an update to inform users about a proper workout space so that they can avoid trouble and users can workout safely. Along the same point, while the workout routines do have unspecified warmup exercises, there is no formal warmup, stretch routine, or cooldown. Including these routines would make it a much safer game for casual players to push themselves with the hopes of minimizing any possible pain.
The other gripe that I have now is that there is basically no strength training in the game. The loading screens do mention the methodology ubisoft took here, that is to focus on longer less intense workouts rather than short explosive routines which still help in boosting ones metabolism, however while this works great for cardio routines, it seems that ubisoft hoped to use this methodology to avoid casual players getting hurt while trying to reach their limits, (but their plan looks like its failed since the plyo moves are starting to kill my feet). Nonetheless, it would make sense that they would want to go for a low key weight training aspect in their game to avoid players hurting themselves but regardless of the "tips" they send you during the loading screen, i've learned from my high school/college (casual) lifting days that the tried, tested, and true method to build muscle is the reps-set method. You can build stronger muscle faster this way and not only that, it helps tremendously in weight loss without the "hardcore" dieting. Great thing about lifting (at least for guys) is that you just have to cut your sugar and fat down a bit, but you can still eat hearty meals with chicken, rice, pasta, etc and not get fat. Your body uses the energy from those foods to boost your metabolism and build muscle. So we get to eat the things we like and still get big! :D Of course, if your serious in getting big fast and cutting your body fat % then you'll need to go on a hardcore diet. For for most dudes who are don't need to shape a beach bod for themselves (aka your married/engaged and don't need to be an alpha male within 6 months to attract females) then strength training while keeping a normal hearty diet works. And to be honest, after working out with YSFE, my desire for fatty/sugary foods have gone to a low naturally, so it doesnt require much will power either.
In conclusion, YSFE 2012 has a great set of workout routines with unique exercises that will really help you get your ENTIRE body into shape. The only issue is that (at least for me) YSFE pushes your body to the limit up to a point where your body may not be able to take it any more. While individual research can help users understand what kind of workout environment to build for themselves at home that will help them safely and easily workout, casual first time users may have a hard time. That being said, I hope Ubisoft does not read this and think, ok lets remove all plyo moves from YFSE 2013 or the next download pack. These exercises are truly great and I can feel the difference in my health and well being. I just think ubisoft should at least advise players before hand that they should invest in a exercise mat, exercise in sneakers, and stretch before and after workouts. Maybe just a quick splash screen everytime the game boots up/during loading screens or something? Or have the personal trainer repeat it every so often. It will help greatly help users while at the same time protect ubisoft from potential litigation (although i do hope that never happens). But one thing I learned from YSFE 2012: I can understand the fine line that many developers are walking between providing a good user experience while understanding the how to adapt kinect controls with the physical limitations of the user.
My final recommendation for the game: Get this if you want a great workout and feel healthy. I was truly surprised to see such a dramatic change in my health, activity level, and well being and I've only been using this game for 3 weeks! Just make sure you exercise in sneakers or a plyomat. And to those wondering, I'm not exercising on bare concrete. I have a finished, plush carpeted basement where I workout but the activity level in these exercises put a toll on my feet even after working out on a carpeted area. Also, a clarification on the pains, this isn't chronic pain, but just sharp pain that comes once in a while and mostly during workouts. Plus, the 4 week workout routine states that each workout should be done three times once a week, but I've been doing 5-6 routines per week leaving only one day for recovery, so that may be another reason why im feeling pains. Im sure if I give myself a few days to recover, the pains should disappear. And as a final note, I gave the game four stars rather than 5 because we are still required to purchase the 4/8 week routine separately whereas I feel it should've been included in the game to begin with. Nonetheless, the workout results I've felt are great and impressed me enough to bump my rating from two stars to four stars
All in all, I plan to keep up with the game and all its classes for a few more months after which I'll move on to the real deal.....P90X!
UPDATE 12/26/11
rating given ** out of *****
I've been playing the game for a few days now and tried out a few more classes. The exercises definitely do get you moving around and boot camp truly is hardcore. Kinect technology is great and is the sensor is carefully monitoring to make sure your knees are high enough and your limbs are stretched out to their max during each exercise, which really pushes you to the limit. However, I'm still upset that all we get is a collection of "classes" aka minigames rather than a complete experience that other fitness games and even DVDs give you. I even tried out the My Objectives portion, which asked me a few questions then basically told me to play the game at least 30 min for 4 days a week and recommends classes. However, all that really is the game telling you to play the following minigames without really connecting each exercise in a meaningful way.
As I noted earlier, Ubisoft does offer a game addon (which in my opinion should have been included in the game) that adds a 4 week workout routine. The marketplace also says that Ubisoft will be releasing a 2nd add on to make this a complete 8 week program. While I still don't think its fair to charge customers extra for content that should already have been included in the game, I bit the bullet (since I didn't want this to just collect dust on my shelf and needed a routine if I wanted to continue getting in shape with YSFE 2012) and bought some MS points (from amazon, of course) which I then used to buy the bundle pack addon Ubisoft has for 560 points. The bundle pack comes with, again the 4 week program and a jump rope survival mode.
After downloading the add on, I booted up the game and saw the extra content added in the red color activities (i forgot what that group is called). Whats strange is that in game, YSFE 2012 was still advertising the add on content i just bought, almost making me think I didn't buy it. When I clicked on these adverts, they opened up the xbox marketplace and enticed me to buy the same exact content I already had! But it seems the game didn't realize i bought the bundle pack and was offering the content separately. I hope ubisoft can send an update to have the game remove the adverts for game add ons that the user already bought. Otherwise, I can easily for see double purchases happening with confused customers.
Anyways, I started up the 1st routine of the four week program and i have to say.....THIS IS EXACTLY WHAT I WAS LOOKING FOR! It starts you off with cardio and legs, then throws in upper body and back workouts, encouraging the player to use dumbells, and mixes all the muscle groups through out the workout. Unlike boot camp, this routine gradually picks up the pace and really makes you feel like your training with a personal trainer from the gym. And it lasts between 20-30 min, which is the sweet spot (at least for me) for any routine. it was, however, missing a stretch routine in the beginning, a formal warmup, and a cooldown at the end. The other issue is (and this applies to the entire game) there are no how to videos that slowly show you how to perform the exercises with correct form. All YSFE gives you is 30 seconds or so to learn the move and you're on your own from there. However, this can be looked over since most of the moves are easy to get. After finishing the routine, the game instructs you to follow this same routine 3 more times for the first week. then move on to the 2nd routine for the next week. I have yet to try the second routine, but I realized that I could mix it up and do routine 2 on the 2nd day, routine 4 on the third day, etc, easily to my liking. And while I haven't yet tried the other routines, I have a strong feeling they workout other muscle groups, which would really be icing on the cake for a building a customized 4 week workout program. Also, in between days I don't need to do the routines, I could take the many "classes" offered in the game, letting my muscle groups rest while still staying active with cardio boxing, jump rope, etc. This is truly the gym experience that I was looking for, and it seems the only way to get that is to buy the add ons.
Finally, I think the dance classes are a waste of code and game content, since consumers can get much better workout and content from games like dance central 2 and just dance 3 (as other reviewers also mentioned). It almost seems like ubisoft cut corners and copied and pasted code from their other dance games to save money on developing YSFE 2012, but then again, maybe they did rewrite the code for the dance classes from ground up (*cough* highly doubt it *cough*)
I still think my rating of 2 stars is fair since this review is only meant for the game in its original form, without any add on content. The 2 star also stays since the dance classes feel like tacked on game content rather than content inspired by genuine originality. I feel that if ubisoft had included at least any kind of 4 week routine, it would've easily garnered the 80+ metacritic score and would blow the competition (UFC fitness, ea active sports 2, etc) out of the water. And it would've also allowed me to give it the 4-5 star rating that the game truly deserves.
Original review 12/23/11
rating given ** out of *****
Before buying this game, I did my usual homework of checking product information and reviews and was surprised to see a lot of hype behind this game. Seeing that its been rated as the #1 fitness franchise for Kinect, i figured the sequel should be twice is better than any workout game for the kinect! Boy was i wrong...
Since I was transitioning from a wii to the xbox 360 kinect, I didn't know what to expect and was hoping not to run into the gimmicky type games and control scheme that i experienced with the wii on the kinect. I have to say that for my other xbox 360 kinect games, it did not feel gimmicky at all but in fact it was the total immersion experience I had been looking ever since the Wii had disappointed me. And while this game does have the immersion effect that most other kinect games provide, its approach to fitness and exercise is what threw me off as my first (and last) impression of this game sums it up in one word: GIMMICK
To preface, I'm coming from ea active sports and ea active sports 2 from the Wii. Both games require the user to entire weight and height so that it could calculate BMI, which made sense as further down the road, the game could accurately calculate calories burned. The sequel to ea sports active was even better since it threw in a heart rate monitor. On top of all of that, the game came with a 9 week (i think?) program as well as a shorter (6 week?) program. It was clear that ea sports active 1 and 2 were the personal trainers that you would see you go through a defined regimen of warmup, cardio, legs, upper body, cool down, etc. and you would mix that regimen up for 9 weeks. Now that felt like a true workout game, a real alternative to paying a personal trainer at a gym, which is what I wanted.
So, seeing such a great system from ea sports active, and being bombarded by the hype for this game, I figured ubisoft must've taken some cues from ea and made a very scientific workout game jam packed with empirical data that I could understand. Alas, i did not find that. As the game boots up, your female trainer informs you that you will be getting body scanned. a few moments later you see yourself jiggling on the screen and your low self esteem kicks in. but you try to brush it off and get ready for the personal trainer questions.......which never come. No inquiry about my height, weight, not even my favorite color. Way to be impersonal, mysterious female "personal" trainer.
Well i figured that's okay, I'll just start my 6-7-8 week program and jump right in. After getting a quick tour of the controls, I don't get introduced to my 8 week schedule....just a bunch of short workouts that I can choose.....Now I'm scratching my head....maybe if I do the warm-up, they'll jump me into the 8 week schedule?
So i started with juggling, which is a game of keep it up with a soccer ball. then I moved onto run around the world which was nice tour through the first part of NYC. then i continued with a type of cardio boxing warmup, which was fun, then frustrating because it seemed the game wasn't catching all my moves, then wishful optimism that maybe im really not extended my arm to the 45 degree angle that i should be meaning that I would have to really work on my form and speed to punch those squares!
During all three exercises, I saw my jiggly self bouncing around, which really didn't help. I would rather see my avatar or similar to ea sports, a person that i could customize to look like the ideal i wanted to be after i finished my 8 week schedule regimen. At the end of the exercises I was shown how many calories i burned, which again seemed like a number pulled from the mysterious female trainer's imaginary hat as the game had no hard data to go by except the shape of my jiggly body...
after finishing the three warmup exercises, i realized to my dismay that the 8 week schedule was not coming. This whole thing was setup like the free play mini games option in mario party with no board game option available.....and everyone knows that gets old fast! I decided to peruse YSFE 2012 marketplace offerings and lo and behold what did i find! 2 different "add-ons" which give you a x number of week schedule with preselected routines! Cmon Ubisoft that wasn't supposed to be an add on, its supposed to be part of the game! regardless, I was a little upset that I dropped money on this game naturally expecting a personal trainer to guide me on an 8 week program only to find that it costs extra on the marketplace! This clever marketing ploy by ubisoft really changed my opinion on their practices as a developer and frankly, in the future im going to be very cautious when buying their games.
But there you have it folks, this is the main reason why i docked this game down to two stars...NO 8 WEEK SCHEDULE!! when clearly there should be one.
Also, two other major points is the real lack of customization in the settings department, which is shocking after the games advertises how highly customizable it it. You cannot change your trainers voice (which you could do in ea sports) and you cant turn off the music while keeping the sound effects on (another option available in ea sports).
All in all, had i known that the x number of week workout schedule program was an add on and not included in the game, along with the fact that the settings could not be customized, i would not have bought this game and instead would have gone with ea active sports 2 for kinect. Quick perusal of the advertising material and the many glowing reviews, plus a fairly good metacritic score (for a workout game) of 77 prompted me to purchase the game all under assumption that it would at least match the basic features in ea sports active. But i was wrong.
Nonetheless, I will continue playing the game because the game is fun, I will give it that. But its about as fun as, again, the mini games selection in mario party. After the excitement dies down and the chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream cravings kick in, I forsee this game collecting dust under a pile of my wii games. But I will still try to provide updates to my experience. Maybe first impressions aren't always the last ones we should have....
As of now, my final impressions of the game: Just a workout game with a bunch of "minigames" with no disciplined schedule/program to help consumers truly shed those extra pounds. | video-games_xbox |
Works 100x better than I could have imagined. I got this drum because it's cheap and I thought maybe at least something about it would be fun to mess around with. I have an ion, but my pedal is too loud and I also wanted to get something I could take with me on the go to a friends' house. Well this thing worked as well as the other reviewers have said. The pedal in this kit is better and makes less impact noise than any pedal on the market, and if you can stick the pads down in one place, they seem to work perfectly as well. The only downside is that you pretty much have to use this with the included sticks, because the pads are too hard. The sticks in the box are rubber to compensate. Using wooden sticks on these is too loud to stand.
Another added perk of this kit is that the controller can be plugged in standalone and used like an NES controller for arcade games, as long as the games don't use the shoulder buttons. Also, people who are interested in modding projects can use the little controller part as the "brain" for a custom drum kit. People have used this to turn their nice electronic kits into RB kits!
Let me reiterate again that the pedal on this is better than the stock ion pedal in terms of noise and equal in function. Get a 1/4" to 1/8" converter and use it with your ion.
In every way, this product is worth your money if you're looking for any of the above features.
ADDITION: I am adding this to the review as a caution: the sticks that this comes with seem to be susceptible to breaking at the middle where they screw together. Now, I know that all drum sticks break eventually, but just be prepared to try to locate some rubber-head sticks as backups because you really can't play this too well with a wooden head.
UPDATE 6/29/09: The pedal for this is still working great, and I still use it with my expensive Ion drum kit. I play on expert now better than ever, and this pedal is very accurate and much easier to double tap to get those super-rapid beats. The official pedal I bought recently doesn't respond well at all to quick rapid pushes like this does. I even got a second portable kit just so I could have a spare, and the second one works just as well. | video-games_xbox |
I really hate/love this game. Playing through Alpha Protocol is frustrating. Not because of the issues the game has - of which there is plenty - but rather it's frustrating because you're playing something that you know should be better than this. Earlier this year, 2 games came out which also had some real lack of polish and iffy design decisions but they were games that I put in quite a bit of time into anyway: those being Nier and Deadly Premonition. Those 2 and including Alpha Protocol are games where half of your brain is completely criticizing nearly every facet of what it has from the graphics to the AI to the unrefined gameplay and yet the other half keeps playing regardless and you're left wondering how's that possible with a game this flawed. Of course the game did have its share of problems from the delays to Sega apparently saying it wasn't "RPG enough" yet the game, which was supposed to come out in October, was delayed till the very beginning of June so that's roughly 8 months or so for polishing so makes you wonder if the game needed more time or if Sega interfered too much. Let me say now that this is a very hard game to recommend since you'll either be like me and can see yourself doing a 2nd playthrough just for the hell of it and the others will be like "I can't even finish it, it's so bad".
Story: The story centers on Michael Thorton, an agent in Alpha Protocol, one of those secret spy organizations that gets the job done without the official acknowledgment or help from the US government. His latest mission is to go after the leader of a terrorist organization who shot a commercial airliner while in-flight but when evidence surfaces that a defense contractor, Halbech, supplied the missiles, Michael goes into investigating Halbech and what their motives are for the attack.
One thing I never liked about Bioware's approach to choice in Mass Effect was that they wanted you to feel like the game was all about choice and repercussions yet most of it was small lines of dialogue that were changed and only in a few instances were things outright different. Alpha Protocol on the other hand you really feel that your progression in the story can divert completely based on what you do and you might even find complete cinematics that you didn't receive your first time through based on what you did or said, choices that have nothing to do with whether you were a nice guy or an evil prick.
Graphics: There's 2 types of ugly graphics: game's like the aforementioned Deadly Premonition with bad textures, wonky framerate, technical glitches and a general presentation that does not scream "HD graphics". On the other hand we have what Alpha Protocol has which are "HD graphics done poorly". There's a whole host of issues with the game graphically such as slowdown (with me thinking my Xbox might be warping or it's too hot), textures that load in eventually and even load back out, an almost pervasive amount of motion blur at times and this game is really bogged down graphically by these issues. Strangely enough, Obsidian is no stranger to these kind of things from Neverwinter Nights 2 and KOTOR 2 both having graphic problems so not sure if that's just how they are or whether they're a better developer that can never get it right due to money or time. On a sidenote: the girls of the game look cute.
Sound/Music: One thing I will commend the game on is the voice acting which is like Bioware games in that they're really top notch. While the VA for Michael Thorton isn't the most emotive guy, he does a commendable job at being likable and especially tolerable considering how much we have to hear him talk. And practically everyone from your handler Mina to journalist Scarlet and the various villains you'll come across. Music also has that very Bond-esque tones with some bigger action scores to the intrigue and quiet moments. Sound effects though are...okay. Guns are quite loud but aren't satisfying loud a la Battlefield but everything works fine, it's just not wholly impressive.
Gameplay: Here's where the sleeves get rolled up, the part where you basically get ready and go "alright game, you're gonna get it". Let's start with what the game bills itself which is the "espionage RPG" so let's look at the RPG bits. The game does offer a range of skills that you can maximize yourself in from better gun handling and skills, stealth, gadgetry such as grenades or even a big fist fighter but the problem is is that unlike Mass Effect, you always feel like you can't rely entirely on one "build" since you never know when the other build will be needed. So for instance, let's say you make the ultimate Splinter Cell build and make him entirely stealth-based and silenced pistol but then there's moments where you're basically in a shoot out and a more offensive force is required such as shotguns or assault rifles well tough. It pays to be a more well-rounder then go for one total approach because half the time you might be lamenting not being able to do certain aspects. And unlike Mass Effect 2 where the RPG stuff was your character and skill build and the shooting was normal shooting, this has the Fallout 3-esque dice roll where your attacks can hit or not hit so even though you're 4 feet away from a guy with a shotgun with a good spread, this health bar's barely going down cause that's what the dice of Vegas say so...or something. The counter to this is the more precision aim where the longer you hold your gun aimed towards a specific spot, the smaller the reticule gets, making for a very precise shot but when everyone's running around or not standing still, it can get a bit annoying.
Speaking of "everyone's running around", the AI is a bit of a mess and that's putting it lightly. Some will stand there and not fire while I'm shooting at his 3 other companions and THEN starts firing, some will run up to you like they want to shoot you, stop, get down on one knee and start firing completely out in the open, start running in circles like a dog chasing their tail and goes on and on. Even the game says it's best not to do anything while in sight of cameras so no killing dudes on camera or anything of the sort yet if you takedown a guy near a camera and it looks over the knocked out or dead body, no alarms trip. That however is not taken into account when you take on boss fights which are some of the more infuriating to get through and I guarantee you most of your deaths will come from these guys. They tend to be more accurate, take a lot more punishment and have unblockable attacks that do a fair bit of hurt and you can't do bugger all. Let's just say that if Obsidian were to name this the "espionage shooter RPG" well the shooting part would be kind of laughable.
Then there is the mini-games. There's 3 types: a word search type where you have to find 2 codes buried in a mix of rapidly changing codes to find the 2 that aren't moving but when you're scanning over the entire grid and literally seeing nothing standing still, it gets a bummer, not to mention the controls are incredibly sluggish and more than once you'll be like "hurry up!" The 2nd type is akin to those "follow the line to the end" mazes where you have to turn on circuits in order as you follow their number back to whichever circuit it ends on. When there's like 4 or 5, it's fine but when there's 8? And you don't have much time to do it in and the slow cursor doesn't help makes it a bother yet there's points in the game where you literally can't progress unless you hack it so be a good spy and buy the upgrade that slows down the hacking mini-game timer. The 3rd is less of a bother: the left trigger controls the pressure of a lock and by based on how hard or light you're pressing, it raises the lock while the right trigger locks it so you're aiming for that small space in between the 2 segments. It's decent and not as bothersome but can potentially be a hassle.
The last bit of gameplay isn't so much gameplay but it's part of the experience anyway which is the dialogue trees. Occasionally in conversation, you'll have the option to give a certain tone or response to an NPC so against the females you might have dismissive, flirty or professional whereas against a character you're not completely trusting of, you might get flippant, curious and understanding and it's based on these responses that will dictate where the game will go. For instance in one scenario you meet a German commando/milf type woman named SIE who you can befriend and potentially even bed later on. When you're on a mission, you can either bring the leader of a military group you've fallen in good graces with or you can bring SIE, which results in not only useful information and even help in-mission but dialogue between her, you and your normal handler Mina with some jealously going on between Mina but bringing the G22 guys as they're called, you might get a completely different cinematic or dialogue. This helps the game's replayability since you really feel like there's so much of the story you didn't see and unlike Mass Effect where you can make 2 or 3 big choices and the rest is really just how thorough you are, Alpha Protocol's narrative and story feels a lot bigger than just that first playthrough. Whether you can stomach additional playthroughs though is another thing.
You know that old saying which can be something like "this is really bad but I can't stop watching?", like you know you should be liking this less than you are but you keep doing it anyway? Alpha Protocol is similar in that in a year which has had so many polished and worthwhile games, this one comes out and it's unpolished in nearly every aspect except its story and characters (which seem to be an Obsidian trademark: iffy to decent gameplay but excellent storytelling) yet you keep going. Like Nier and Deadly Premonition, these are games that I'm enjoying and could easily see myself playing it again yet the more I want to see more of the game, the more I'll be seeing the glitches, bugs, unrefined...well everything yet I tolerate it because I want to see more of what else it has. It's like a sick gaming circle of life thing or something. | video-games_xbox |
Here Comes A New (And Improved) Challenger. <a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/Super-Street-Fighter-IV/dp/B002TDIEE0/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">Super Street Fighter IV</a>
\\\ Super Street Fighter IV Pros: ///
+ Budget Price ($20 Cheaper Than Other "New" Titles)
SSFIV would be worth $60, so getting it at $40 is an excellent deal. It's not just some minor expansion of the original SF4... it's a revised game with a LOT of new content.
+ Large, Diverse And Balanced Roster (35)
In addition to re-balancing the SF4 cast to make the weaker characters have more of a chance to win, there are 10 new characters added to mix things up even more. Expect closer tier lists with more of a balance in the middle.
Full Roster:
Ryu, Ken, Chun-Li, Guile, E. Honda, Zangief, Blanka, Dhalsim, Cammy, Fei Long, Dee Jay (new), T. Hawk (new), Balrog, Vega, Sagat, M. Bison, Akuma, Dan, Sakura, Gen, Rose, Cody (new), Guy (new), Adon (new), Dudley (new), Ibuki (new), Makoto (new), Rufus, Abel, El Fuerte, Crimson Viper, Gouken, Seth, Juri (new), Hakan (new)
+ Fun Gameplay (Easy To Learn / Hard To Master)
While it's more offensive than other Street Fighter games, it's still very much strategy-based as well as execution-based. Different characters have different play styles. Some are well-balanced, while others are high-risk/high-reward, rely on zoning from away or have to try rushing the opponent down. Learning basic combos, special moves, and strategies is fun and easy. However, mastering links and advanced strategies like Resets, Juggles, Kara Maneuvers, and Option Selects will take you to the next level. Focus Attacks really differentiate this series from the 2 series and 3 series.
+ New Online DLC And Modes (Team Battle And Endless Battle + Replay Channel)
Online is a mixed bag, but the added modes are nice. Ranked matches are more fun now that each character has a unique grade point based on how you play as him or her. Endless Battle is a fun, un-ranked lobby system with up to 8 people (Quarter Match.) Team Battle is ok, but you won't always have a chance to play. They're both at their best with friends. The Replay Channel is excellent to use for learning from your mistakes and learning strategies for characters. DLC adds new costumes, a free new Tournament Mode, and possibly new characters. Rainbow Mika and Rolento from the Alpha series are rumored so far.
+ 2 Ultras Per Character (Changes Strategies For Each Match)
You'll always have access to your Super Move (if your Super Meter is full,) but you'll only have access to one of your Ultras per match. It's smart to pick an Ultra after seeing who your opponent picks, as it may help counter that character's play style.
+ SF2 Nostaglia
All 17 SF2 characters are playable again. After beating Arcade Mode, you can unlock remixed version of their old themes. Also, two of the Bonus Stages are back: Get ready to break those falling barrels and smash that shiny new car (even if its not too fun.)
\\\ Super Street Fighter IV Cons: ///
- Lacking In Single Player
Every character is available from the start. That means Arcade Mode has little to no value, unless you care about an achievement or two. The Cut Scenes aren't too impressive, which makes Arcade Mode even more pointless. You'll definitely want either a human opponent or an online opponent to duke it out with.
- Online: Lagging, Connecting And Waiting
Occasional lag can ruin your experience, and connecting to an opponent can take a long time. A downside to the new Endless Battle mode is waiting for your turn, should you lose. If there are 8 people, you'll easily be waiting for over 20 minutes. Sometimes you won't even get a chance to play in Team Battle mode.
- Challenge Mode Trials
You won't learn some important BNB (bread and butter) combos in this mode. While there are some nice things to learn here, many of the trials are impractical and a waste of meter. You'll often have to learn combos not shown in this mode.
\\\ The Bottom Line: ///
This game is 2D fighting at it's best. You won't find a better fighting game any time soon. If you're a single player person, this game isn't for you. But it's an excellent multiplayer and party game. Just remember that using a Stick is help your execution. Using a pad (especially the 360 Pad) can cause some problems getting the right moves to come out.
Graphics: 8.5/10
Sound: 8/10
Learning Curve: 7.5/10
Value For Price: 10/10
Modes: 9.5/10
Presentation (Content/Features/Unlockables/Roster): 9.5/10
Gameplay: 9/10
Online: 8/10
Single Player Lasting Appeal: 5.5/10
Multiplayer Lasting Appeal: 9.5/10
Overall: 85/100 (B)
Personal Overall: 92/100 (A-) | video-games_xbox |
Walk for one hour, shoot in the next. Having recently gotten an Xbox 360, I would obviously have to pick up at least one installment of Microsoft's/Bungie's flagship franchise for the line of Xbox consoles. However, is it just me or did I pick up the wrong Halo game to begin with? Despite all that I've heard that was glorifying the series, Halo 3 ODST was not the kind of game I'd thoroughly have fun with, simply because it won't let me do that.
It seems that the Xbox 360 controller was made for first-person shooters, because it is perfectly aligned with the gunplay in this game. That said, I'm a pretty big fan of how the game controls. It is indeed satisfying to blow off a bunch of mutant aliens with various weapons that you can find and use for your own advantage. You can even swap guns with a corpse's, which is especially helpful if you don't have any ammo. Even so, you also have an effective elbow punch attack.
As fun as it is to kill enemies, though, there's only so much of that fun to be had. When you're not fighting a pack of aliens, you're busy wandering around the lonely (yet scenic) environments, and don't be surprised if you end up getting lost. Even worse, most of the game's levels are filled to the brim with empty areas you walk around in, with the clumps of enemies being at certain places. There are some levels that are filled with alien fights, but each level following afterwards is the lonely and dark atmosphere I know I wasn't anticipating.
I understand that the levels featuring the battles were flashbacks of the Rookie's missions, but I don't think that means the developers needed to make the dark and lonely levels where he's being nostalgic so BORING....
With this in mind, the entire game can be summed up as "You walk...and walk...and walk...Oh, and sometimes shoot, but that's probably not too important..."
Then there are the truly fun levels in the game, which sport unique gimmicks such as Warthog driving and Banshee piloting. They are not only remarkably refreshing levels in an otherwise monotonous experience, but the Banshee level has to be my favorite level in the game PERIOD. It is SO much fun to fly the aircraft, and you can even fire at enemies while piloting!
Unfortunately, the game is only half-filled with fun, with the other half being total boredom.
(Note: I know I haven't mentioned anything about the multiplayer features, but that's because I do not have Xbox Live Gold, and I do not plan on getting it anytime soon. I mean, seriously - No way am I paying for mere online service!) | video-games_xbox |
Very disappointed. I received this headset for Christmas, and I was VERY excited about them! Having owned a pair of TB X11's for over a year, I was eager to upgrade.
Setup:
Setup was VERY easy. One thing I highly enjoyed about the base unit was the fact that it uses a USB to power up, instead of a power cord. I was able to plug into one of the USB ports on the back of my Xbox, rather than try to find an outlet on my already crowded power strip. Plus, with the optical cable running to the back of my Xbox as well, it was easy to clean up the wires when finished.
Audio:
First, the good. The sound quality blew me away. Keeping it on the default audio mode, I was completely surprised on how well the sound was. In fact, a couple of times I had to take off my headset to make sure my surround sound system wasn't still on, because that's how good the sound was. Immersive and crystal clear... which leads to my next point...
The bad. The sound was excellent, when I wasn't getting interferrence and the sound wasn't dropping completely out. I moved my base unit as far away from any kind of electronics, and I was constantly getting clicks and pops, and occasionally the sound would completely turn off for about a second. With the increasing number of wireless products running on 2.4 GHz, I'm surprised that TB didn't up the ante and go with 5.8 GHz, like the Triton headsets do(The game sound runs on 2.4GHz, the voice chat is Blutetooth). This problem with the sound was reason 1 of 2 why I'll be returning the headset. The main reason being...
The Microphone:
This to me is the biggest disappointment. Compared to the X11, this mic falls WAY short, both literally and figuratively. It's shorter than the mic on the X11. Now, for some people, this may not be an issue. However, most of my gaming is done when my wife and kids have gone to bed, and in a small apartment, being quite is important. With the X11's, I could keep the mic close to my mouth, and speak at a low volume, and people would hear me loud and clear. Not so with the XP500's. I couldn't get the mic anywhere near my mouth without tugging on it and holding it in place.
However, the mic problem doesn't stop there. Even at a normal voice volume, everyone I played with said it sounded like I was 50 miles away. I tried taking off the foam cover, and adjusting the mic, but nothing could improve the sounds.
For an expensive pair of gaming headsets, I expect a trememndous amount more. I gave them their fair shot, but ultimately I went back to my X11's, and am now looking at purchasing a pair of Tritton headsets to see if those running on 5.8 GHz is any better. | video-games_xbox |
Ranks Right up there with KOTOR. Well I beat this tonight after non-stop gameplay these last several days (I'd say about 20-30 hours of gameplay with side-quest completion). I must say I quite enjoyed it and recommend it to anyone who liked KOTOR. They are similar in a lot of aspects, but at the same time gives you a fresh new RPG with many new things to discover.
The side-quests are quite enjoyable and proved to be much more creative and thought out than the "help with this person's problem and then give them money to get back on their feet." The story was also very good and their is a twist similar to the one in KOTOR, but completely caught me off-guard. It really did pull the story together though.
I will give this a little review in the aspects of the game for those interested--
--GAMEPLAY--
Decent gameplay. I'd say the actual progression of character is very cool. As you play and become stronger you get more power to your weapons and styles of fighting. The voice acting is superb and throws you right back into the classic witty KOTOR dialogue we love so much. There is humor, action, and story. The only downfall is there really is no love story. The combat is a little repetetive after awhile but as your weapons are upgraded, the more your enemies are decapitated and spirt blood from their necks, giving the game a kind of Kill Bill aspect. Very cool for those who love the splatter of blood. The characters are also memorable and stick with you throughout the game, each with their own story and purpose in the game. The only hinderence in gameplay is that it sometimes would glitch on itself when you talked to someone and the words didn't come out and then it would freeze up. This probably happened 4 or 5 times throughout my gameplay. Although this could just be an effect of my Xbox getting older.
GAMAEPLAY: 9.0
--GRAPHICS--
Bioware really maxes out on the graphics this time around. I noticed a bunch of improvement in character movement especially, leaving behind the looped and annoying gestures of KOTOR characters. The characters can point you in directions, kneel down, stretch their necks, motion embarassment, hassle you by pointing... the list goes on and on. And the setting is absolutely spectacular. Each place has a completely different feel to it, from the Ancien Dirge Chinese temples to the grassy and welcoming environment of the Two Rivers Martial Arts School.
GRAPHICS: 9.5
--SOUND--
The sound is simply EXCELLENT! The colorful music score done by Jack Wall (JackWall.net) is awesome, always having that rich flavor of the eastern culture. A CD is in the possible works and I will be getting one if it is released. And the sound effects themselves were very well done. Bioware commented that there were over 2000 different sounds created in a recording studio to get all of the sounds perfect. They really outdid themselves on this. Next to KOTOR, this is the best video game score I have ever heard.
SOUND: 10
Overall I would strongly recommend this game to anyone who is thinking about getting it. It's definately worth the money.
Also there are 3 different endings to the game instead of the standard two. One ends on a light note, one ends on a dark note, and one ends on a more compromising but ultimately dark note (perhaps could be called a failing note). I could watch all 3 in one game too, because if you change your pivitol decisions near the end of the game, your alignment can do a 180 on the outcome (including the last few lines of dialgue with the enemy which gives you the third ending).
Anyway really loved the game and would give it a 9.5 overall.
_Max | video-games_xbox |
Mindless Fun...Plain and Simple. As the title says, that is all this game really is. As a kid, I used to play the first two classic games (when they came out on the home consoles) at a friends house, and boy...was it ever BRUTAL(mispelled?). The whole story is the same as the old games: Boy (Rick) takes Girl (Jennifer) to old creepy manson, Jennifer gets kidnapped (where have heard this before?), Rick is left for dead, finds the Terror Mask (voice of Jim Cummings), Rick puts mask on...MADNESS Starts! But no more talking...lets get down to business. Heres how I'll review the game-Graphics, Sound, Gameplay, Presentation, Diffeculty level, Replay value, Entertainment, Story, and then: the Final Judgement.
Graphics: 4/5
The cinmatics in the game are good, and the whole "cel-shaded, Borderlands in-game graphics" is a nice touch.
Sound: 3/5
Now, theres the good and the bad. The bad is that sometimes the audio cuts out (both in-game and during load times,) the good is that the whole Death Metal/Heavy Metal music makes it even more fun while your tearing through monsters, and the voice acting is also good.
Gameplay: 4/5
Sometimes the controls get a little...jagged. One of the big things is the roll. You have to hold the RB button and move the left thumbstick...and by the way, that RB button, is also the block button. Yeah...which means you can't block and turn to the attacking monster or dead...things, because you'll roll instead. But that is the only thing I nit-picked at, everything else is fine...so far.
Presentaion: 2/5
This...this is the big one. The menu layout is easy to navgate, and it also has the first three games on the same disc. Sweet!!! But you'll have to unlock them first. Sad face. But the biggest letdown...the load times. There not Sonic 06 bad, but they can get pretty bad at times. You die...LOADING! You beat a boss...LOADING! You DIE from said boss...LOADING and fight the boss...from the START!!!
Dificulty Level: 3/5 (aka 'Run-of-the-mills)
Some of the monsters and the dead can get tough at times, but not to stressful. The bosses are the same...you just got to reameber(mispelled) their patterns. Survial is the true test of your gaming skills.
Replay Value: 3/5
Once you beat the game, you got the pictures to get, all the power-ups, etc. Also, the first three games to play (IF you unlocked them.) Long story short: this game is one and done.
Entertainment: 5/5
Going back to the title, that's all the entertainment you need really.
Story: 3/5
Same as the old games. NEXT!!!
The Final Judgement: 3 1/2 out 5.
Now I gave this a 3 1/2 out 5, but Amazon can't do halves, so its a 4/5. If your looking for a break from any other game your playing, try this game, its fun...or should I say: MINDLESS FUN!
Rent, Buy, or Leave: Rent it. | video-games_xbox |
A good simple time wasting shooter. I happen to stumble on this at a local game shop. It was cheap so I figured why not?
The basic story line starts with Churchill dying and events changed because of it. England fell to the Nazi's and the attack on the US is where you come in. You play Carson who was working on a building when the invasion starts. You have to escape the building, you join the defense, you escape New York and join the resistance.
There is an attack on Washington and later London. As you can see the details are lacking as to say more would be spoilers.
Overall, the game is just a simple shooter. You get two weapons at anytime. Concept being long range and short range. There isn't a health meter or first-aid kits. You take damage and things start to turn grey and fuzzy as you get close to death.
Weapons and ammo are picked up throughout the game. Grenades are something you carefully use as they are not always abundant and they are good for clearing tough situations.
One aspect that was interesting was what they called environmental kills and human shields. Basically, hand to hand and you kill in different ways or you use one as a shield while charging others.
Things I didn't care about or was meh.
* Germans had a habit of appearing out of nowhere. You toss a grenade in a room; walk in and one appears.
* Game physics and glitches. Grenades bounced off invisible walls or went through walls. There are a couple you can walk through but nothing exciting on the other side. Long range kills could happen with short range weapons. Shotgun? Really?
* Long distance shooting. Didn't have to have a rifle to kill at long distances. Could do the same with a couple quick bursts of the machine gun.
* Can't keep favorite weapons. Find a nice sniper rifle with infrared? Loss it after the completion of the chapter.
* Hand guns were not that interesting. Only purpose is the human shield.
* At times close range machine gun fire; you can't kill anything while they could kill you doing the same.
* Sometimes bullets chased your target. Line up a guy and fire. He moves at that instant and you could see the bullet arc a little and hit him.
* Germans can be dumb. Appearing around the wall, you carefully line up and they don't do anything. Not always but it did happen.
* You get to plant bombs. It's ok the first couple times but it's meh. There is a danger about doing it but you have to be color blind to have problems.
* There really isn't a big baddy to fight at the end of chapters. Well, there is one but he really isn't a "boss" as he just takes a little more effort to kill.
* Explosions really don't kill everybody. You watch a room explode with stuff coming out windows and door; go in and there are guys waiting for you.
I played the insane mode and it's tough. I played it again with cheat codes (you get them after a normal level completion) which grant you endless ammo, grenades, and faster health regeneration. It was fun but you can get arrogant at times and end up dead.
What was slightly annoying was there are 900 numbers you could call to get codes. Don't know if they still work but if you have children who would call....
Overall, it's a nice simple little time wasting shooter. Not worth anything over $10 though. | video-games_xbox |
But the game absolutely came through wonderfully. The number of alternate routes and choices dramatically . I had watched a number of reviews of the game before I made the purchase, and I had a well-developed sense of what I was purchasing before I actually received it. Dishonored is highly-developed stealth masterpiece, and I have high hopes for Dishonored 2. This game is not meant to be a steam-punk Call of Duty, but the designers succeeded in accounting for a wide-variety of tastes and play styles.
I chose to play the low-chaos or high moral option. As a result, I had to go back and resume a previous save with some frequency to get it right. But the game absolutely came through wonderfully. The number of alternate routes and choices dramatically increase replay value, giving this game a powerful bang for your buck. The DLC are just an added bonus. Once this game is complete, most players are likely to restart and attempt the other mechanics to get full value. I didn't have the forethought to calculate my playtime for my first run-through, but variety of content and replay value more than make up for a slightly-below-average runtime for the main storyline.
There are a few drawbacks: The limited variation of the player character, weapons, and offensive abilities do limit the experience for some. The designers apparently opted to focus on creating variation in other mechanics. The player should decide for themselves whether this is acceptable, but the limitations confine the player. Additionally, many of the difficulties in the plot can be overcome with a little fore knowledge (such as resuming an old save after being identified by a guard). The temptation to cheat may be a little too much for some players, and this can tend to drag the game out.
Notwithstanding the few issues, I absolutely love this game. If the disc became unplayable today, I would buy another one immediately. | video-games_xbox |
Underrated. I think that this game is way to underrated, many reviewers from actual review websites like ign or gametrailers complain right off the back when they played the game. The reviews seemed based around the campaign, when this is obviously a multiplayer game. I had preordered the Special Edition for the Xbox 360 and was pretty excited for it. Most other players that complain about the cover system, the graphics, or guns don't know what they are talking about. I have played for at least 24 hours now and have reached player level 62. With the time I've put into the game I'd say it's a pretty good game.
Campaign: It's great for gathering player experience by yourself but can get repetitive. If you have two or three friends to play it with then it's fun to do a couple of playthroughs, especially if you challenge yourselves with a hard difficulty setting.
Team Attack: It's pretty much versus with zombies getting in your way while you attack the opposing team. Some of the stages are a little too big for 4v4 but stages like "Code Blue" are perfect. Never gets boring to me.
Biohazard: It's pretty much neutral capture the flag. A vial will appear somewhere on the map and the two teams will fight over it. Only flaw with this mode is when you capture a flag, the game tends to spawn the vial a lot closer to the enemy's base giving them an advantage. I have a regular group I play with, to counter this have your Recon player hang out in their base to get the flag when you capture a flag.
Heroes: I haven't played too much of Heroes, it's pretty much everyone with super health battling each other. Once a hero dies, you have to respawn as the regular versus characters and try to kill the other teams heroes until they have none left. You basically start out with 4 VIPs and play until one teams doesn't have any left.
Survivor: Probably the worst game mode in my opinion. It's two teams that battle each other for 5 minutes, that's when the helicopter is supposed to arrive. Then you fight your way to get one of the four spots on the helicopter. Anyone can make it on, that's the annoying part. You could get on even if the other team has three people already on it.
Basically if you are decent at most video games, it's going to be fun. If you are a casual gamer that tends to die a lot, you won't have fun. | video-games_xbox |
Interesting, but flawed. RED DEAD REDEMPTION is an archetypal sandbox game, presenting a massive, living world for the game player to explore. As purely a sandbox, the game is an immense success. The explorable area is quite large, comparable to Elder Scrolls 3 and 4 and the graphics are rich and realistic and the lack of loading screens, even when entering buildings, is nothing short of impressive. In fact, in theory, you could play the entire game without a single load screen, though there are cut scenes a plenty.
The game itself is set in a fictional area of what can be presumed to be southwest Texas, in a state known as New Austin. Across the river (read "Rio Grande") is a province of Northern Mexico you can also roam. The year is 1911, and the old west is in its death throes, but although technology and "modern life" are encroaching, in New Austin, it is still the wild and wooly West.
The single player campaign puts you as John Marsten, a former outlaw who is now seeking to bring to justice the surviving members of his old gang. Why? Well because the men from the "Agency" (a nascent FBI) have kidnapped your wife and son and are threatening them with all sorts of heinous fates if you don't.
The storyline is engaging, providing you with sufficient motivation to proceed through the plot and to explore the world. Of course, as in all such games there are a pile of side quests you can, and a fair number you have to)do in order to complete the main quest, and a great many of these side quests involve missions that are not directly related to the main plot, but are favours for people who will, in turn, help you get to the final confrontations. Nornally, the number of these mandatory side quests you have to perform would be annoying, because there are quite a lot of them, but this annoyance factor is mitigated by the fact that John Marsten himself mirrors your annoyance, and eventually begins to spout lines like "let me guess...you want me to help you with some favour before you will help me...right?"
There is a LOT to do in this game. In addition to the plot lines and side quests, you can find and pick herbs, hunt and skin all sorts of critters ranging from armadillos and rabbits to grizzly bears and cougars. You can play minigames of horseshoes, liar's dice, poker, blackjack, five fingers (think knife between the fingers), and even arm wrestling. There are outlaw strongholds to assault, and any number of random encounters ranging from stagecoach robberies, lynchings, escaped criminals, etc. There are also bounties to collect.
There are also other tasks to perform, such as collecting bounties, capturing and breaking wild horses, running night patrol missions, and engaging in good old fashioned duels at high noon in the middle of the main street of town.
In some sense, RDR is a role playing game in that one can perform good or evil actions as one desires. And there is an "alignment" system involving fame (which is noteriety and can be good or bad) and honour (which essentialy tells whether your fame is good or evil. There is also a somewhat robust justice system where you can get a price on your head and lawmen and possees can come looking for you. There are also a few instances in the main plot where you can make choices that can affect the outcome of a piece of the plot.
That said, RDR is not a roleplaying game. Your choices are limited to your actions. There are no dialogue choices and almost all of the townsfolk you meet cannot be interacted with in a role-playing way. Most furniture is also not interactable. RDR is more an RPS (role playing shooter), or a third person shooter with some RP elements.
There are many good things about the game. The graphics are amazing. The sound is awesome. The voice work and acting is absolutely first rate. The music is appropriate but never annoying. And, as mentioned, the world is expansive.
But, there are also enough shortcomings that I could only give the game 3 stars.
First, the controls are clunky. Really clunky. There are a variety of vehicles you can "drive" in the game, from horseback to wagons to stagecoaches, and they are all very twitchy...especially the wagons. I have driven plenty of vehicles in games (Halo, Half Life, COD for example), and this is the worst I have ever experienced. Horseback riding is the least onerous of them, but the controls are simply far to unforgiving, especially when you take into account that you are "driving" horses and not some mechanical hovercraft that should be able to turn on a dime.
Second, the clunkiness of the controls extends to combat. The game has a cover system that is somewhat like Gears of War or Mass Effect 2, and given that you do not level up or have hit points in this game (you do have health, but suffice to say it never goes up and a couple of shots can kill you dead)cover is essential. The problem is that something the game has trouble recognizing an object as cover. Even worse, when you have your weapon drawn or are crouching, the game often seeks to place you in cover even if you don't want to be. The result is that unless you stand up and holster your weapon, it is very difficult to maneuver on foot out of cover.
Third, the animals in this game are ridiculous. They are omnipresent and the large carnivores are simply hyper aggressive and spawn like crazy. It's one thing if you go up into the desolate mountains and come face to face with a grizzly or cougar. But in this game you can be riding on a well-travelled road and get jumped by any number of hyper aggressive wild beasts, including wolves, coyotes, boars, cougars, and bears. It's really quite silly. And one hit from a cougar will take down your horse. While you are stunned for a few second, another swipe reduces your health to around 50% and stuns you again. While you are stunned, another swipe kills you. This happened to me more than once, and it is very annoying.
In another instance, I was looking for some herbs and skins. So I get off my horse to pick a flower and some wolves threaten me. I shoot them. Pick the herb and then start to skin the wolves. This, by the way, right on a main thoroughfare in Mexico. For every wolf I skinned, at least two more appeared and attacked. Eventually, after killing at least 15 wolves, I simply gave up in exasperation and fled. The game really needs to tone down the fauna.
Fourth, the game lacks any real sense of progression. As I have already mentioned, your health never goes up. And that's fine...as this is not a fantasy or sci-fi game but an attempt at something approaching realism. There is some progression in the game in the form of weapons you can unlock, as well as outfits, some of which grant you powers (for example, the elegant suit allows you to cheat at poker). And there are challenges that unlock a few benefits. But these progressions are few and far between. I would have liked to have seen some sort of skill system or feat system. And many of the requirement to unlock the few benefits you can get are very tedious.
All-in-all, I enjoyed the game. My 3 star rating reflects a fun, but more than a little flawed experience punctuated by unneccesary frustrations. Once the main story is over you can continue to play the game (single or multiplayer) for the achievements and challenges, but this just tends to highlight the weaknesses of the game (the mechanics) and the strengths (the storyline) are gone, so the game doesn't have a lot of continuing play value or replay value for me. | video-games_xbox |
DA-Awakening Falls Short of DA-Origins. I became an addict of Origins, playing it all the way through about 12 times or so without playing a different console game. I dreaded what I thought might happen in Awakenings, but I bought it anyhow. Like other reviewers have said, Awakenings was a corporate strategy to bring in quick revenue.
Here are some details.
One of the things that kept me addicted to DA-O, was that I cared about many of the party members. Many of them were genuinely likeable characters. In DA-A, the only character I cared about was killed in the first hour of game play. I don't think there is anything on earth I could care less about than the welfare of the party members in DA-A. You have a zombie, a murdering maleficar, a murdering elf mage, the drunken sot/perv from the DA-O, and so on. Give me someone to care about!
The voice acting got an A+ from me on DA-O. Sorry, but the voice acting gets a C from me in DA-A. Very average.
The official strategy guide says you get to keep all your cool gear from DA-O. Actually, I have not been able to keep the Helm of Honnleath nor the Starfang sword (one-handed or two-handed). It didn't matter whether this gear was equipped or just in inventory, it didn't arrive with my characters in DA-A. I tried several times with many combinations. Just FYI. If the Starfang sword is the *only* sword your main toon has in DA-O, your character will import into DA-A into a battle situation with no weapon.
The ending in DA-O was incredibly satisfying, and did an excellent job at bringing closure to the game. You got to walk around and talk with your party members, seeing them off on their new adventures. By comparison, the door is slammed shut at the end of the DA-A. Of course, it doesn't really matter that you can't say goodbye to your party members, because you don't care about them anyway.
DA-A would have been worth the (...) if *all* of the same characters could have been brought forward from DA-O.
One note about the OSG. So far I have found two errors in the official strategy guide (both of them was with regard to what mob dropped what piece of special gear). I looked in the guide when I can't find the final piece of matching gear, only to find that such-and-such a mob was supposed to have dropped it. I go back to the place where the battle took place, and sure enough, there is no such gear to be had.
The good news about DA-A is that it will break me of my addiction of playing Dragon Age.
Huge kudos to Bioware for Dragon Age: Origins. It is possibly the best RPG I have ever played. Huge jeers for Dragon Age: Awakenings. The mucky-mucks in the corporation saw a way to filch more quick money from the existing fan base, and shoved a P.O.S. out the door. | video-games_xbox |
Better gameplay than original, excellent story but. BioWare is highly regarded for their phenomenal storytelling and with good reason. The latest in the Mass Effect series keeps this reputation intact.
The story picks up when Mass Effect left off, with Commander Shepard, the hero of the galaxy. The good Commander finds him/herself (gender is an option) on the losing end of a space battle with a mysterious ship. Soon, Shepard is trying to desperately to learn how to breathe vacuum... and failing.
The story picks up two years later with Shepard having been "resurrected" by a shadowy Human-centric organization known as Cerebrus.
Rather than outline the story, let me point out the few flaws in this game and lavish praise by omission.
Wherein the first game had the flaw of micromanaging each party member's inventory, ME2 takes a different tack - upgrading all weapon types (SMG, pistol, sniper rifle, etc) for the entire party. If one character gets weapon upgrade X, all characters enjoy that upgrade.
While this is a distinct improvement, upgrades require a significant investment in raw materials to research. This is where ME2 falls a bit short. The player must spend a considerable amount of time scanning alien worlds, locating the elements required and launching probes to harvest the resources.
While this sounds pretty cool, it's not. A slowly rotating sphere, criss-crossed by longitude and latitude lines but be swept by a reticule by hand, all the while holding down the scanning button. This takes time and doesn't offer much excitement. Sure, it's a bit of a rush to find that first motherlode of platinum or "eezo" and the next few times seem pretty nifty. But after your 20th planet, it's dull. And you'll have to scan a *lot* more than 20 planets to find enough of the requisite elements to research all the ship, armor, weapon and biotics upgrades that make the end game more enjoyable.
So, that's my one beef with ME2 - the boring scanning. It's different than the boring inventory management of the first game but not necessarily better.
Everything else, gameplay, controls, voice acting, storyline, graphics - it's all great and deserves to be lauded. Their decision to make the choices in the original Mass Effect impact the story of ME2 was brilliant.
But I get the feeling that BioWare wants to make sure they can say "35+ hours of gameplay" on the box without having to make each hour fun gameplay.
So I gave it 4 out of 5 stars because the rating system doesn't offer 4.75 stars. Still a great game and extends the story of Commander Shepard. I'd recommend it to anyone who likes a great story with their great game play. | video-games_xbox |
I say boycott the title. Due to Madden Football's strong following they think they can take advantage of us by putting out subpar games at top notch prices. Personally, I'm getting tired of this. This game use to be great! Now... for the last two years it has been terrible at least compared to the years between 2002 to 2005. I was hoping EA wouldnt start cutting corners once they got that exclusive deal with the NFL. I thought they were better than that. I guess I was wrong. I didn't buy this game this year however I borrowed it. If this or the 2006 version is the first madden you have played, you'll probably love it, however, if you remember the top notch games of the past, you'll be disappointed. This is a watered down version of past titles that has good graphics.... nothing more. I won't buy another until they up their standards again.
Cons:
1. No fantasy Draft (You can't make up your own team)
2. I have experienced this game freezing up on me numerous times before finishing a game... very frustrating.
3. During franchise mode, the draft and signing of free agents is hard to follow and poorly done which takes away from the overall franchise experience.
4. You still can't change individual defensive players assignments. For example in the past you could change each defensive player on the field to blitz, play deep zone, cover the flat, or quaterback sneak. Not being able to do this takes away from being creative defensively. You have to just run the play as is. You can still do things such as spread out the line, move all LBs and change cornerback coverage but it still isn't the same... not as good.
5. During Superstar mode, sometimes the camera angles doesnt allow you to see enough of the field to do what you need to do to be successful.
6. The game play, how the players move, still isn't as good as it was on the old XBOX. This is suppose to be a next generation system/game.... that doesnt make sense. Its better than last year though.
7. Madden still doesnt exist. How can you take Madden out of Madden football?.. that doesnt make sense. Instead of listening to madden, you have to listen to boring repetitve radio announcers.
8. They again changed what buttons do. Why do they have to keep changing what every button does? Keep the sprint button the same each year, keep how to do the hot routes the same each year!!! I have to relearn how to play the game each year because they change the buttons.... its annoying. Its not like they added anything over the years in order to have to change buttons... they took stuff away for crying out loud.
9. There are other things about the game I do not like, however, the above things are the most important. I'm sure you can find your own problems especially if you are not new to Madden Football.
Pros
1. Sad to say the pros of this game really aren't pros at all. For example, the "new" superstar mode really isn't new. Its been on the old XBOX version for two years now. Its only new to this system because they stripped it from last year's base title.
2. This is an improvement over last years title in regards to game play. The players do move better and quicker. Last years title was way too slow especially running.
3. Of course getting the update rosters and new hot rookies is a plus. This is probably the main reason people will end up buying this game any ways regardless of how subpar it is. (I won't though)
4. Nice graphics. To tell you the truth, compared to the old title, this is the only thing the newer version does better. In all other categories, this title lacks.
Bottom line: Its sad I have to get out my old XBOX to play a really good football game. This is an improvement over last years game however that isn't saying much.... last year was that bad. This still isn't worth even close to 60 dollars. I guess you all can see that by looking at the 30 dollar used copies. In the past there is no way this would be selling this cheap so quickly. Come on EA... Lets do better than this. | video-games_xbox |
a little disappointed. I'll admit, I was super excited about this game when I heard it was coming out. I've been a huge fan of the Forza series and after feeling really limited in Forza 3/4, I was really looking forward to a huge openworld environment to explore and street race. The idea behind Forza Horizon is awesome, however the execution is a little flawed.
My biggest complaint is the AI difficulty level. One thing about Forza 3/4 for better or worse, you are racing on the same tracks over and over and over again. Once you've mastered the track you can up the AI difficulty level for a really fun experience. The problem with Horizon is that almost every event you enter you are racing on a completely new track. Because of this there are certain races that require you racing over and over just to learn the track. I like to play with most handicaps turned off, no rewind, and the AI on Hard for as realistic experience as possible. After a while going over and over again through the same track becomes a little boring. Lower the AI difficulty to Normal and the track is just too easy to beat. I really wish there was some AI setting between Hard and Normal.
The other thing that nearly ruins the game for me is that you have to get back to your garage in the center of the map every time you want to make an upgrade or buy a new car. Again, to keep it as realistic as possible I like to use the exact event specifications when entering a car in a race. There is very little evidence of what car is required to enter a race, and even less evidence of what cars you actually own when driving around the map. I found myself constantly having to go back to the garage when just simply putting it as a menu item when paused would have worked wonders and kept the action going and you out on the road.
The map is incredible, the cars look/feel incredible, there are just a few tweaks that would have really made this game shine. | video-games_xbox |
A realistic, practical review. The first question you have to ask yourself is why did I give this only 3 stars when the majority of reviewers are rating this game 4-5 stars? Actually, I'm tempted to give it only 2 stars, but there are a few redeeming qualities to bump it to 3.
I can't understand why in the world this could be one of the most anticipated games since Halo. Halo is the epitome of the Xbox action game, and it only seems wise to at least try to emulate it. Let's break it down:
Graphics: The landscapes are very nice and rendered very well, but this should be considered par for xbox. The clouds are rendered believably well too, except the cloud "layer" that you pass through while flying is simply a light fog, always the same density. The trees are rendered very well, and when destroyed by bombs, fire, etc., the effect is pretty neat. The rest of the graphics, however, are very "video game"-like, meaning, they appear plastic, and extremely non-realistic, i.e., brightly mono-colored regions. This is definitely a "mech-warrior" look and feel. The GunMetal transformer appears rendered in unchanging perfect colors, no splotches or blends. I remember reading a review about how realistic the "blood & guts" are in this game. Nothing could be further from the truth. When GunMetal "kills" something, the blood shoots out in the same 8-point star pattern every time--it appears to be rendered with the "sponge" paint brush tool & looks really bad for such a highly awaited game. In a nutshell, except for the landscapes, the graphics are very 80's arcade-like.
Audio. The mission commander is a good idea, yet in this game it is WAY over the top. The commander's voice sounds like Alec Baldwin on steroids after a pack of cigarettes. The urgency in the voice is lost because of how much of a parody it seems. The cues during the mission become repetative, even though they are timed correctly. Someone else said that the weapons each have their own realistic sounds. I personally have never heard what a tomohawk missle is supposed to sound like, so I wouldn't vouch for that. Each weapon does have it's own unique sound, but again, they're all very arcade-like.
Overall: Game controls are somewhat easy to master. Audio is NOT impressive, and graphics are cartoon-arcade-like execept for terrain. The missions are rushed and you're forced to keep moving too quickly. Worst yet, it's not even multiplayer. This game would be a great rental, but I would recommend saving your money toward Halo 2. Good thing I bought FIFA 2002 Soccer at the same time--at least it's realistic. And I still always come back to Halo. | video-games_xbox |
Well... the box art's pretty cool, right. We've got here another in a long list of games that, while flawed, delivers exactly what it promises. There are two of you, you're an army, you shoot lots and lots of people. If that's enough for you, why read further? That's what it is, that's what you get, and that was plenty for me... for a little while, at least.
It's hard to talk about AoT and not compare it unfavorably to Gears of War, but I'll do my best. They share alot of common ground and in those areas, Gears comes out ahead each and everytime. We do, however, have a number of uinque goings-on here that make Salem and Rios stand alone. The character design, down to the masks and armor, is totally awesome (if fantastical and a little silly). The look is unique and incredibly effective, especially in some of the more ambitious cutscenes (those eyes are SPOOKY!). The concept of 'Aggro' (god, that's a stupid word...) isn't exactly new: drawing attention to yourself by doing lots of damage/making lots of noise is a mainstay of massive multiplayer games and it's what makes a tank a tank. But this may be the first time that i've played a game that makes it a core gameplay gimic -- it's reasonably effective and adds a level of strategy to what would be a general and straight-forward shooter otherwise. I'm not saying games like Gears of War DON'T bring 'aggro' into consideration, but AoT gives you direct control over how much attention you draw to yourself -- it's pretty interesting, especially when playing co-op, where you can really make the most of it, inching forward and gaining ground by drawing fire and biding time. Rios and Salem are suprisingly fragile and getting to know when and how to draw the bots' attention is the only way to really survive at the harder difficulty levels.
The story is serviceable: our heros are guns for hire and travel to various war zones in the past, present and near future. They exist in an alternate reality where private military corporations (PMC's) are so widespread and effective that they may just replace standing federal armies. There's an attempt at being savvy and relevant, which I appreciate. But it's entirely undercut by our meathead protagonists (who love Wu-Tang and football and find time to talk about it) and their near invulnerability on the battlefield. The campy (read: awkward) voice acting and silly dialogue take settings and plot threads from oscar calliber films and turn them into Saturday morning cartoons. Which is not a bad thing: I know I scream a lot about quality and honesty and blah blah who cares, but sometimes I just want to watch cartoons like everyone else. There's a certain charm to Rios & Salem's simplicity and their friendship is, actually, quite endearing. It's very remeniscent of, say, the old Batman & Robin TV show (I'll let you decide who's Adam West and who's Burt Ward when you and your buddy play through). There's a a free-flowing sort of levity and ease to everything (despite being in Afghanistan and Iraq): Salem and Rios are at home on the battlefield, they're the star quarterbacks of the warzone and they love it. The end result is a game that feels a bit like "White No-Necks Shoot Ethnic Stereotypes: The Game!". It's old school and a little dated, but it's simple and can be low impact, low investment fun.
In the end, though, the storylines are incredibly culturally insensitive (you literally shoot Iraqi suicide bombers until they explode. Awkward) and the gameplay is under-realized. Level designs are blocky and repetitive. Enemy AI varies from stone dumb to omnipotent. There's a few hours of simple, explode-y fun to have but, ultimately, it's an uneven game that can't stand up toe-to-to with it's contemporaries.
Still, might be a good alternative to the Gears franchise if you feel that one to be overrated and pretentious (something I hear a lot these days)... | video-games_xbox |
Great game with great single-player expierence. Halo is a very addicting and fun first person shooter that launched the Xbox system off the ground when all hope for the Microsoft platform seemed to have gone. The science-fiction based game works because of its intense cut scenes, and shocking plot twists, but what really makes it work is the feeling that your character (Master Chief) seems like one who really does serve a purpose in the military and that he is a part of the marines in their fight against an alien force. Most of the rest of the plot found in Halo is typical sci-fi shooter, but it's the atmosphere they manage to create with this game is what keeps it from being thrown in a bin of useless Half-Life and Doom knock-offs.
Gameplay: The controls are great and are easy to learn (both on Xbox original and 360) and do not offer you much difficulty so you can get into the action quickly without having to spend much time experimenting with the controls. Only problem I had with the gameplay is for the most part the weapons are inaccurate and it makes you think: "Isn't this supposed to be the future? This assault rifle is about as accurate as an air-soft pistol."
Graphics: considering it is one of the first Xbox games ever made I have to say that the graphics really manage to hold up to this day.
Story: The Human vs. Aliens concept has been used to death in the video gaming industry so Bungie makes a wise choice and decides NOT to concentrate entirely on fighting aliens as that would quickly grow boring. They throw in some rescue missions and support operations which make your character feel that you are actually do something to help. Of course later on the game we come to an uninspired "random zombie parasite," but they make such a chilling cut scene that you are able to forget that this type of thing happens in just about every FPS sci-fi game EVER MADE.
Entertainment: Halo: Combat Evolved is immensely entertaining and will have you angrily messing with it for days as you try to beat all the difficulty settings.
This game is a much better single-player experience than its two sequels that suffer from over-simplicity and lacking ANY sign of intensity. I don't care how much Bungie spits and polishes this series or how many weapons and power-ups they add it still won't change that they've turned the series into a Rambo style shooter and there are HUNDREDS of games like that already on the market.
If they ever make another Halo game they need to go back to the basics and really see why the first game is still the most popular entry in the series. | video-games_xbox |
Good Job 343i. Ive been playing playing Halo since Halo:CE came out on pc in 2003 and thus have every halo game that came out since (except Halo wars). I have to say Halo 4 has the best multiplayer of them all.
Campaign: I won't spoil anything about it but i will say that it is probably the most challenging of all so if you want to play on legendary prepare to feel the pain (and die alot). The story is fine, its mostly about cortana and the chief's relationship, but thats as far as i go.
Multiplayer:
-As i said its the funnest in the series for me. The one thing that sometimes annoyed me about previous halos is that when you die you have to wait a few seconds to come back into the game, and if you die as much as i did this sucked, but now if you die you can spawn instantly and it keeps the action at a faster pace than previous games in the series.
- Another welcome feature is if people quit new players can jump in at any time to keep a full roster of players and keep it fun. I hated it in previous games when the quit the match slow and boring and that pissed me off.
-Now you have load outs to choose what ever gun you want to start with and some other perks. None of the perks or armor abilities are over-powered and it keeps the game balanced (best of all armor-lock ability is gone forever). And no you cant choose power weapons with loadouts.
-Power weapons are placed at random points in maps so annoying idiot campers don't wait in certain areas to wait for power weapons to spawn.
-You can call in equipment drops can be called when that round meter thing fills up in the bottom corner of the screen fills up (It fills up by getting in game points by killing and doing other things).
-Sprint is now a standard ability YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY!!! (sprint is the only ability i ever used in halo reach and it makes me happy). Plus you can also use armor abilities and sprint side by side, another feature that keeps the game fast paced which i like.
-Spartan ops is good not great but i liked alot better than the super crappy firefight mode on in reach and odst.
I hate to admit but these new features ive seen in Call of Doodie and some people will hate and bash 343i for it and call halo 4 a COD rip-off which its not (it just borrows ideas from it) but these features work so good with halo and i love it. Its fast paced which keeps the action up and because of it matches are exciting from start to finish. I haven't loved halo MP this much since Halo:CE (and halo 2). | video-games_xbox |
Xbox 360 Review. The Xbox 360 is a very good console with many features and games. The 120GB hard drive gives any gamer plenty of space for games, music and videos. The first feature of the Xbox 360 is that of the controller. The controller is very well built and quite comfortable in the hands. Its triggers are great for shooters and the analog sticks are much better placed than that of the PS3. The controllers are wireless but do need to be recharged. A typical charge will last for hours at a time as I can play for a very long time without ever changing batteries.
The next feature is that of the media. The Xbox 360 has quite a variety of different media capabilities. The first thing is that it can record video with the Kinect. It can also play different video files that one would get off a computer as well as music files. The next style of media that it has is apps. The Xbox 360 has many different apps though most are video apps such as YouTube and Netflix. It has a Twitter and Facebook app but neither have the full functionality of the actually website.
The Xbox 360 have quite a variety of games but more and more what makes a game is its online capabilities. This is where the Xbox 360 excels with its Xbox LIVE online service. The service does cost $60 a year but it allows gamers to compete with one another across a multitude of games. Having Xbox LIVE also allows the users to have access to the apps that I stated earlier. If one of your friends is playing a different game but you would like to chat with them all one would have to do is start up an Xbox LIVE party and you and your friend can chat while playing different games. Now with the Kinect a person can also do video chat with any Xbox LIVE member who has a Kinect as well.
In all if you want to play games against other people or keep in contact with friends who are at college, the Xbox 360 is for you. With its great controller for shooters, its media and the online services that it offers, it would be hard to see why someone would not want one of these as they are quite affordable compared to its competitor the PS3. | video-games_xbox |
The Force is Strong With This One. After the release of Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith in theaters we got Lego Star Wars; a game that was a lot of fun to play simply because it emulated the movies rather well with all the characters being made entirely from Legos. Lego Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy is even better for the simple fact of nostalgia. Any Star Wars fan will enjoy this.
You'll begin the game in the Cantina in Mos Eisley. This is the hub, and from there you can go into any of the three episodes and play through them. At the start you'll only be able to choose A New Hope, but after completing the first chapter, you can choose The Empire Strikes Back or Return of the Jedi. As you go through the three episodes you'll some of the most memorable moments of the movies acted out entirely with legos. These moments aren't only memorable, but they're given a hilarious charm. These moments are also from the actual original versions of the movies as well. In other words, Han Solo DOES shoot first.
The game is visually striking. Seeing your favorite characters from the original Star Wars films as legos is quite a treat. Not only do you get to have nostalgia with Star Wars, but with legos as well. Even better are the hilarious antics of most of the scenes. On the XBOX360 it looks especially sharp. Far better than the other consoles, especially because it'll actually focus in on objects (far off objects actually look blurry, for example). To benefit the nostalgia even more is how John Williams' classic score accompanies each and every level of the game. For a Star Wars fan this game is the ultimate nostalgia.
As you play through each of the classic episodes, you'll be in control of several characters. Not all at once, but you'll end up having to switch. At times you may only have two characters, at others there may be as many as seven in your party at once. Your characters, depending on who they are, also have their own unique skills they can use. Jedi for example, can double jump and use the force. Those who wield blasters have a grappling hook that allows them to ascend to accessible platforms. The droids can open up special doors for you. Other characters, like the Jawas and Ewoks will be able to go into vents and access areas the other characters can't. In all actuality, they're really no different than their counterparts in the original Lego Star Wars. Also like the original Lego Star Wars, you'll constantly have to switch between characters in order to get through each and every area. You'll have to switch to R2-D2 to open up a door, for example. More than one person can play at a time, which is also really cool. You can also beat up your allies if you wish, and they respawn instantly. The gameplay isn't completely the same, though, there have been some small tweaks made here and there.
The additions to the gameplay aren't huge, but they are welcome. As you progress through levels all your characters may be able to assemble certain materials together to form a droid to help them fight. In the original Lego Star Wars this ability was only given to the Jedi, but here everyone can do it. There are also moments when you'll have to dress up as a stormtrooper in order to gain access through certain doors. You'll also be given the chance at some point to dress up as a bounty hunter and you'll be able to use Thermal Detonators. Characters also have their own unique abilities. Chewie, for example, can rip a stormtroopers arms right out of his sockets. All of these are welcome additions, and that's not even all there is to the gameplay. From time to time you'll be in command of vehicles. Landspeeders, the Millennium Falcon, the X-Wing and more as you take on some of the more memorable moments from the film, like destroying the death star.
It will probably only take you five hours at the very least to complete the story mode of all three episodes. However, Lego Star Wars II is full of extras. Each time you dispatch an enemy, whether it be in story mode or not, you'll earn money. You can also destroy certain objects and obtain money. You can use the money you gain to purchase cheats and hidden characters. Each time you get a new character they'll walk around in the hub, and you can switch to them. "Purchasing" characters isn't the only way to get them. You could easily just use one in story mode and you've got him or her. You'll also get hidden characters if you've got save data from the original Lego Star Wars. Just unlocking all the characters takes a lot of time.
The importance of unlocking characters is so you can play through certain aspects of the free play mode. There are places that in story mode the default characters couldn't reach. These hidden characters might be able to reach it, though, and so you will find yourself playing through levels again. The good news is these levels are so much fun that playing through a second, third or even fourth time is no hassle at all.
Free mode also offers a way for you to customize what a character looks like. You could put Yoda's head on Luke Skywalker's body, for example. This is mostly just a lot of fun to mess around with. Some combinations are just all out crazy. You could, for example, put Chewbacca's head on Leia's body from when she's wearing the slave outfit in Return of the Jedi. This really doesn't do a whole lot for the gameplay as a whole, but it is quite fun to mess around with, and the combinations are endless.
The only real problem with this game that I can really think of is that there is little, if any, challenge at all. Each time you die you respawn right where you left off and you have infinite lives. There's really no such thing as a game over. If you die the only penalty is that you lose money. However, the sheer fun factor of the game is enough to do away with that, and still makes Lego Star Wars II a treat.
Lego Star Wars II surpasses the original in just about everyway. It's a Star Wars game for the classic trilogy done with instant perfection. If you love the original Star Wars movies, you'll definitely want this game.
On the positive side
+Based off the original theatrical versions and not the special editions
+Beautiful game
+Addictive gameplay
+Co-op mode
+Several extras and hidden characters
+Customizable characters
+Tons of replay value
On the negative side
-The story mode is quite short
-While not really much of a con for this game, it's got very little challenge | video-games_xbox |
Pure explosive fun. Crackdown is a great game, much like Grand Theft Auto-except here, you play a cop (with superpowers) instead of some gangster. I do appreciate this with regards to teaching lessons to gamers-roundhouse kicking a gangster is much more fun-and moral-than, say, collecting virtual cocaine for your virtual gang.
Gameplay: Crackdown is, as previously stated, very similar to Grand Theft Auto in terms of gameplay. However, in Crackdown, there is one huge difference: you have superpowers. Or, rather, you acquire superpowers as you use certain skills. For example, the more punching you do, the more strength experience you get. The more dudes you run over, the more driving experience you get. Get to 100 xp and your skill in a particular level increases, to a maximum of 4 stars. In the end, you will be able to leap from rooftop to rooftop, punt a sedan several blocks, and use the most high-tech vehicles available. It is a ton of fun just to mess around with your massive powers. Also, you can take gang weapons to a checkpoint and store them for later use; this can also be done with vehicles but only at the main base, not the various scattered checkpoints.
Story: The story is not the main focus of Crackdown. Basically all of it comes in the form of a long cut-scene at the beginning of the game that basically says, "Bad guys have taken over the 3 islands of Pacific City, destroy them." and off you go. Along the way, when you get close to a location of a gang lord, you will recieve intel updates to inform you of the situation. In Crackdown, there are 3 gangs: Los Muertos, The Volk, and Shai-Gen, each of which has control of one of Pacific City's 3 islands. Within each gang, there is the leader and their underlings. While you can go after the leader right away, it is advised that you take out the underlings first, which weakens the leader's lair as well as has an impact on the gang as a whole-for example, if you take out a recruitment officer, there will be less gangsters on the street. It is a pretty great feeling when you completely eliminate one of the gangs and the streets are perfectly clean.
Graphics: Crackdown is full cel-shaded, and this is a good thing. It serves to give the game a unique, comic book style. The game runs very well on the 360 without any framerate drops, except when you create a massive chain explosion.
Sound: No real music to speak of other than when you're in a vehicle the radio will play various tracks.
CONCLUSION: Basically, if you yearn for a GTA-style game with a twist, this will satisfy-especially at the price it's at now. With lots of fun things to do other than taking out gangsters, the freedom allowed to you by Crackdown's world will surely entertain you for good while. | video-games_xbox |
It's a pretty fun game, but still has flaws. Been playing this since 3am this morning and I LOVE IT!! If you love the Fallout series, you're going to love this new addition just like I do. Plenty of quests and a new array of weapons, mechanics and abilities that are fresh. The graphics are pretty solid, but the refresh rate on the Xbone is kinda sluggish at times. Loading times are a pain as well, but that's to be expected on a video game console vs. a PC.
Rich Stanton's review described it well:
"There is one thing I didn't care for with the combat system that kinda of got to me though. Numbers still underpin everything in Fallout 4s combat, however, and so your targets don't physically react until their thresholds are broken. This is a strange combination: the guns have great feedback, but the enemies offer very little. Things are even worse with the melee combat, which has new animations and feedback too, but feels as disconnected and simplistic as it ever has done in Bethesdas first-person games.
Fallout 4 ups the ante with Settlements, a new feature that lets you build towns on dozens of possible sites across New Boston. Settlements are constructed in first-person via a slightly fiddly menu/placement system, and the guidance given is terrible, but i eventually managed to set up basic amenities and shelter for six, as well as a few defenses. I like the idea of a whole town dedicated to skulls and Nuka-cola, so its easy to sink a lot of time into planting crops, laying out new infrastructure, and planning for trading posts.
Fallout 4, then, is a paradox, delivering in many of the areas that matter most but undermined throughout by poor combat, technical problems, and what feels like a lack of focus."
Hopefully they'll have some patch updates here and there to make up for some of the flaws, but they may just be hard-wired into the game at this point. Definitely worth buying, but don't get your hopes up too much that everything has improved.
Comment Comment (1) | Permalink | Most recent comment: Nov 10, 2015 10:02 AM PST | video-games_xbox |
Worst game of the series..easily. This was the only game out of all three that I absolutely didn't enjoy. So artificial and the bugs.....bugs for days. I got this game at midnight the day it came out, worked fine for the first hour or so. The next day it started glitching more than I've ever seen, even compared to the cartridge days. The fighting system was slow and laggy compared to the other two. The weapons and a lot of the terrain were exact copies from Arkham City.
The plot had huge holes in it and the voice acting was sub-par at best. Bruce is more of a thug than a hero in this one and it's just sad. The villains..if you can call them that start to teeter out after the first three or four. Same repetitive QTE sequences with very little difference between them. Just an all around boring, average game. The sad thing is this game could have been good but you can tell they got lazy or just rushed production to make the fall deadline. Such a shame to see such a great series get weighed down by such a disappointment.
The multiplayer is a joke and makes you wonder why they even bothered trying to add this useless element to the game. It does nothing for the story and is little more than a shoot-em-up batman style, something you could easily get out of any of the FPS on the market. Maybe if they'd spent a little more time working on the actual story-line instead of wasting money on this useless feature, the game wouldn't have felt like such a bust compared to the other two.
If Rocksteady aren't the developers of the next game then this series has seen its last days. With nothing spectacular to be amazed by and the unbalanced game-play which often misinterprets the words "open world" leaving the player to feel like their riding a rail - only getting off at designated stops and participating in scripted events. If you really want this game just wait for the GOTY edition...if they even do that for this one. It's really not worth the price right now. | video-games_xbox |
Open yet goal oriented. This game is huge! While I'm certain it is possible to get through it with the minimum effort, those of us who are detail oriented can truly appreciate the scale of this game. From the small town of Masyaf to the huge area known as Kingdom to the large cities of Acre, Damascus and Jerusalem there is just so much to do. Each of these areas has optional things to do and for each optional goal you complete (collecting all the flags in one city or optional quests that are not directly story related) you get a bar in a 15 step ladder that gives you more health. More health is a good thing in a game where, as you can tell by the name, you do a lot of fighting. Between the optional and required completions, you can have as may as 20 bars on your health which starts at about 5. You'll also get better weapons and more impressive fighting skills as you go along, a crucial thing since the enemies increase in number and skill as the game goes on. The assassinations themselves can be done a number of ways from walking up behind a target (or dropping from a roof behind him) and slitting his throat to leaping at your foe with a well placed stab. Other methods of combat that are less stealthy are the long and short swords and throwing knives you get later in the game. Apparently the throwing knives replaced the crossbow that was depicted in the trailers for this game, but they work well for one of my favorite tactics which is roof based combat. Many locations in the city are more easily reached by climbing up the side of a building and running across the conveniently placed beams and such sticking out of the sides of various locations. With the exception of the water areas, where you have to aim carefully to avoid drowning (apparently this guy never learned to swim) running and jumping is done by simply holding the Right Trigger and A and as long as you are lined up with a roof or beam the running and jumping takes care of itself. Sometimes the roofs are guarded which leads to a fight that can be ended by either throwing your enemy off the roof (a tactic that can cause problems if they land near a guard on the ground) or a swordfight with tactics that vary based on the skills you have picked up at that point in the game. There are some impressive counter moves, with equally impressive results once you learn how to use them. Climbing high towers to see the city from above is a fun, and sometimes required, activity made even more fun by the "leap of faith" where you skillfully leap from the top of a protruding beam into a pile of hay far below. It's definitely a "don't try this at home" type of thing, and not for the height-phobic. The main story revolves around assassinating various people, which usually results in you running from the scene of the crime looking for a place to hide, an act which can be done stealthily or not. I've found that open combat with everyone in the area is the result of not being stealthy enough, though concentrating on the target and killing them does replenish your health for the resulting escape. The game uses checkpoints and autosaves, so it is difficult to control where you might be when you come back to the game later. In Kingdom, you will be where you last passed a checkpoint and in the cities you will probably start in the Assassin's Guild building. The game saves when you complete any objective, optional or otherwise, so I often find myself with the "just one more mission" mentality late into the night. With so much to do, all I can say is thank goodness for coffee! | video-games_xbox |
One of the most under-rated O.G. Xbox titles ever. ToeJam and Earl III was a massive long time coming
from the original version for the Sega Saturn being scrapped then the PSOne version being scrapped
then it finally got completely made but, at that point the Sega Dreamcast was already discontinued and pulled from some major store chains
TJ&E III's saving grace was Microsoft and there new gaming console the XBox
Was it really meant for the original XBox??? not really but, almost all the 3rd party Sega titles were made and meant for the Dreamcast
Microsoft did the right thing and snatched up a lot of Sega exclusives
This may be why many hardcore gamers consider the original Xbox the Dreamcast II
The Controls: might seem odd at first mostly due to the fact this is the first fully 3-D TJ&E title once you get the hang of playing the game you're gold
Graphics/Look It still looks pretty strong (this is a perfect example of Sega at there best) you can tell it has that Sega style to it just more flushed out into 3-D
Does it still hold up? some original Xbox games look rough this isn't one of them some people might not grasp some of the dated looks or the mid 1990's vibe to the game! To those people you have to understand this game was in development hell for a long time the developers added on everything they had from the jump (This was a massive undertaking) I'm very happy i was lucky enough to even play this third entry in a truly underrated series
This is a must have still to this day it's super underrated or just completely forgotten about 9.4/10
P.S. The only major downside to the game is you can't get any of the DLC since the original servers are gone!)
There has been talk that Original XBox games might be backwards compatible with Achievements added for the XBOne that would be very cool If this does in fact happen i see almost all original xbox exclusives being decoded to play on there Next Gen console...... (fingers crossed) | video-games_xbox |
Nickel and Dime'd, the less expensive Wii is better. First off, let me just say that if you're a parent looking to get a console for your kids (or just someone looking for a good console), get a Wii. Despite the "Go Play!" statements and stylized images on the box, this thing is not even close to a good substitute for the Wii. The marketing is just that, and it makes what is a more expensive piece of hardware feel like a cheap ripoff.
I'm 21, and I bought this thinking I'd enjoy it more than my Wii. After all, wasn't I "missing out" on all of those great, HD games that weren't available on Wii? Well, after a few months of ownership, I think I can safely say that no, I wasn't missing out on anything. The 360 severely lacks variety in games - lots of shooters, little of anything else. What's worse, most the games I've played just haven't been that good. I did enjoy Halo 3, the Orange Box is excellent (though I have the PC version), and I do still play Geometry Wars. Beyond that, I just couldn't find anything that lived up to the hype.
The 360 itself really doesn't seem like anything special either. When the wireless controller's batteries get low, it starts to randomly drop connection with the console. This wouldn't be such a big deal, but the stupid console still claimed the thing had 1/2 or even 3/4 battery charge! I made sure to buy a wired controller for my second one. I thought the included memory unit would be sufficient for basic stuff - game saves, replay files, user profiles, etc. To my surprise, I was unable to even play co-op or use the theater in Halo 3 without a hard drive! Further, half the online modes required new downloadable content, which of course needed a hard drive as well. And speaking of online, the arcade model doesn't come with a headset needed for talking. It costs $20 for the privilege of being able to reply to the pre-teens on Xbox Live who feel it necessary to curse you out nonstop for no particular reason. Oh, and you can voice chat with friends too.
So, I spent $280 on a machine which I use to play Geometry Wars, a game I could've just bought for the Wii. Add to that the fact that I needed to pay for online ($50/year), wanted a wired controller ($40), needed a hard drive (I got one used for $60, but they're $100 new), at least one game (Halo 3: $60), a headset ($20), Xbox Live points (for downloadable content and Geometry Wars: $20), and needed wi-fi to get online ($100, though I personally was able to jerry-rig something using old computer parts and a $25 wireless card).
Total cost: $550-$670. That much money so I can play a bunch of expensive, overrated, and repetitive games while being cursed out by spoiled 12 year olds. Ripoff.
Oh, and the system's menus are full of ads. Yeah, you pay for online, service so Microsoft can send ads to your console. Feel violated yet?
In the end, I paid more money than I was expecting to get a system which I don't use half as much as the less expensive Wii. The Wii has better game variety, far better controllers, and, despite what the critics seem to say, better games. The 360 did have better graphics, but they certainly weren't the step up I was expecting. In addition, the Wii's interface and online extras (Wii Shop Channel, Nintendo Channel, Everybody Votes, Forecast, News, Photo, Mii, etc) are head and shoulders above the Xbox. Save your money; don't fall for that misleading $280 price tag and promises of world-class game content. | video-games_xbox |
Borderlands 2 -- the variations are endless. 5 stars for BL2, -1 for the DLCs. I have played BL2 over and over and still love it, but I only played the DLCs once and didn't enjoy them much.
Anyone who claims that there is not much variety in BL2 must not be playing the same game I am. You defeat the main boss at about level 30-32 (but can keep playing up to much higher levels). Following is a description of some of the variety in those levels:
Each type of hero-character (that you play) has a different "main skill" such as the Commando's throw-down turret. You don't get that until you have reached level 5. So you are on your own those first four levels.
"Sanctuary", the home base, which introduces important new aspects of the game, is not reached until about level 9 (the way I play), or about 25% of the way to the main boss.
There is a significant variety of enemies introduced throughout the game - way beyond the types in BL1. These include creatures, human enemies and mechanical (robot) enemies. And most are fought best with different types of weapons.
Famously, BL2's weapons that you find or which are available to buy vary in their characteristics not from just one playthough to the next but as you level up weapons throughout each game. A sniper rifle that fires 8 shots per second plays a lot differently than a more powerful one that only fires 1 shot per second, for example, and ammo availability is another factor to be considered. If you just blast away and then run out of ammo, you may be in trouble.
More variety: You cannot upgrade your character's abilities by leveling up until you reach level 6 or 20% of the way through to the main boss. There are 3 main divisions of the upgrade tree and two splits in each of those. In the playthough to the main boss, you can only select about a fourth of those upgrades, and the way you play BL2 is greatly affected by the which upgrades you select. You can change your selections for specific battles for a small fee if you wish.
In addition to these things, the landscapes vary from normal, to ice, to deserts and there are lots of areas to go off-mission to explore.
The replay value of BL2 is very high. You can choose to play anywhere from all the side missions to none of them, depending on what interests you at the time. Challenge rewards, which upgrade your skills separately from the main skill tree, are automatically passed through to your characters in replays, making your starting character slightly more powerful each time.
Because weapons vary so much, your favorite and/or most powerful weapons from one playthrough may not be found in subsequent plays, but unlike BL1, you can use "Claptrap's Secret Stash" (once you get to Sanctuary) to pass weapons from past playthroughs to the current one, so that favorite weapon from your first playthrough can be passed on to the next for free.
You can even pass money from a past playthrough to the current one by having your previous player buy a high-priced weapon and pass it to the current player who sells it for the cash.
So all-in-all, BL2 is the most varied video game I've ever played. | video-games_xbox |
A great game with glaring issues. This game is somewhat of a mixed bag for me, but time and time again I have played through this game over and over again. There are huge issues with the game, but what this game does right certainly brings you back for more.
First, the positives. The concept of this game is very innovative as it deems itself "the first tactical espionage RPG". What this game does right is the dialogue and choices. Whichever way you approach a conversation is how the person you are talking to will react negatively or positively. There is no right or wrong choice, which opens up a plethora of paths to walk and allot of replayability. Your choices will also affect the endgame with the ones you allied yourself with willing to help you while others you pissed off (or killed) will not be willing to help you out. Certain bonuses are earned with certain actions, so experimentation is encouraged to get the results you desire. The voice acting is excellent
Next, the negatives. The combat is easily one of the worst parts of the game. The gun play is very stiff and some of the types of guns (SMGs) are overshadowed by others (Rifles) resulting in a huge imbalance for weapon types. The A.I. in this game is ridiculous as sometimes they can't even see you as you stand right in front of them. The graphics were also sub-par with bad texture pop ins and stiff animations. It loads constantly even when walking down a hallway. There are also a bunch of game breaking bugs even with the patches this game has received. On my 5th playthrough, I had to stop playing the game entirely and start over since the game did not load up the area when I opened the door.
Overall, this game offers allot of replayability if you are willing to look over the many flaws this game has. Even though I have enjoyed Alpha Protocol, I can't really recommend it to everyone. Fans of RPGs and games that involve allot of dialogue should certainly try it out. For everyone else, I can't really recommend it for the flaws that will probably break the experience for you. | video-games_xbox |
A Near Perfect Grindhouse Experience. Back in the day, you could go to a drive in and watch really bad action movies like Bare Knuckles or Murder High. Although the movies lacked production values, morals, and common sense, they were entertaining and fun. WET captures that experience quite nicely.
Concept: 10/10
A beautiful girl in leather pants guns down 100 henchmen with a gatling gun while 50's Rock n' Roll plays in the background... suddenly the "film" breaks and you get a laughably bad and somewhat dirty commercial for hot dogs... when the 'movie' resumes, she's hacking up guys with a sword. Action Packed + Sexy + Funny = Great Concept!
Story: 8/10
Rubi Malone has been betrayed by a crime syndicate full of degenerates and she wants her revenge. Rubi is a loner and a hired gun who will do any dangerous job for the right price. Scumbags die, limbs fall, heads roll, and cars explode. Parts of this game will make you cringe, cheer, or laugh out loud. Rubi Malone is voiced by Eliza Dushku, best known as Faith from Buffy the Vampire Slayer or Echo from Dollhouse. She does a decent job, but the story would have been more entertaining if she acted a bit better or a bit worse (on purpose) and the script was more over-the-top.
Gameplay: 7/10
When the game first begins, only a few of Rubi's moves are available, so the game feels really clunky as some of the animation transitions are very rough. The game sacrifices fluidity for speed, and for a "Grindhouse" style game, it's ok. Rubi is armed with twin pistols and sword. She faces mobs of henchmen and kills them by the dozens while using acrobatic props. Whenever Rubi performs an acrobatic move (wall run, jump, pole swing, zip line, slide, dive...) the game slows down allowing the player to aim and become more effective at killing bad guys. When Rubi is in this mode, she is much harder to hit. With each bad guy she kills, a score multiplier increases, giving her more points per kill and boosts a healing factor. The acrobatic, gun, sword, scoring system, and health regeneration features all combine to reward the player for aggression. This isn't one of those duck behind a wall games... this is a kill the bad guys as fast and as cool as possible games. As you get better at the combat and you unlock more moves, the game becomes really fun. There is some depth here that you wouldn't expect. At the end of each level, you get a score and you use those points to unlock new moves or improve Rubi's weapons.
Levels: 6/10
There are five different types of levels in the game. They range from Great to Poor.
Arena levels are large areas loaded with gymnastic type ramps, walls, poles, etc... and they are laid out like Tony Hawk Style Tricklines. As you play, you try to maximize the acrobatic moves as you kill the bad guys. The level ends when you destroy a set number of enemy spawning points with your sword. These are the best parts of the game!
Quicktime Sequences are also in this game. Press the right button at the right time to watch Rubi do amazing stunts. The timing is generous, but if you press the wrong button, you die.
Rubi Vision levels occur at set times and begin when Rubi shoots a guy and gets blood in her face. These levels are cell shaded in red. Rubi gets a decent healing factor and is rewarded for Chain Kills. Basically, killing guys within 5 seconds of each other increases the counter. If the timer runs out, the counter resets to zero. The enemies have low HP, so these levels are a fun change of pace and reward aggression.
At certain points in the game, Rubi flashes back to her home base... a junkyard... where she runs through timed obstacle courses and shoots targets. Every target shot takes 2 seconds off of her time. If she completes the course fast enough, you earn a gold, silver, or bronze medal. Because you don't have to do these over and over, they are kind of fun.
The worst levels in the game are platforming levels. They are loaded with insta-deaths and you must restart them from not-so-generous checkpoints. These go against the strengths of the game, which is the fast paced combat.
You cannot replay levels over again in the Story Mode, but there is a "Points Mode" where you can replay levels with maxed out abilities and weapons to try and achieve a high score. If you perform badly in a level while you are in Story Mode and you don't earn enough points to upgrade Rubi, the remainder of the game will become much more difficult.
Graphics: 5/10
The environments are passable, but the character art looks dated. The game gets away with this because it is a game based on low-budget movies. There is also a "scratchy film" filter running over the art as you play, so the game does feel like you are watching an old bad movie.
Sound: 10/10
The explosions, gunfire, and screams of the dying punctuate the battles and the Tarantino-esque Soundtrack is perfect. There's old school rock, surf guitar, and garage band music. All of it delivers a perfect grindhouse atmosphere.
Humor: 8/10
This game will make you laugh out loud and shock you at its audacity.
Replay Value: 5/10
There are four difficulty levels and a special 1 bullet - 1 kill mode for the hardcore fans. Aside from these and the "challenge mode" there really isn't any reason to replay the game and for most people, one time through will be enough.
Maturity: M
The swearing in this game surpasses a biker bar on alimony night and there's enough killing in this game to fill a battlefield after a small scale war. There is no sex or nudity, which was kind of surprising. It's M-Rated because of the violence, blood, and language.
Overall: 7/10
This ends up being a good game for the same reason that you like "good" bad movies. They aren't complex, they aren't pretty, and you just sit back, laugh, and have a good time. The game lacks features, it's rough around the edges, and there are a few bugs. But in the end, it manages to be fun.
Buy it cheap if you love action games or bad action movies and you understand that this is a "Budget" title.
Rent it if you have 6-8 hours to blow through the story mode.
Avoid it if you need high production values like Call of Duty, Halo, or Assassin's Creed.
If you enjoyed this game at all, get Bayonetta. Bayonetta is more fluid, has high production values, it's sexier and funnier.
Other great action games include Ninja Gaiden 2, Assassin's Creed 2, and if you have a Wii, No More Heroes! | video-games_xbox |
I BELIEVE. Since the days of Halo 1 & 2 on the original Xbox, I have found the Halo series slightly over hyped and somewhat boring. Especially when compared to other online FPS's such as Counter-Strike / Quake / Unreal. So you can rest assured, this review was not written by a Halo "fanboy" or fanatic.
Now in 2007, Halo 3 is finally upon us and all I can say is I now do "believe" this is the best in the Halo series and will live up to its hype.
Pros:
I think the absolute number one feature for Halo 3 is the online play A SOLID 10/10. It is incredibly stable, easy to use and it just plain works! Within 10 minutes of inserting the game disc, my buddy and I were squaring off in battle over XBOX live along with nearly half a million other players! Voice over IP is loud and clear with an occasional echo, no lagging or stalling even on release day! The interface is absolutely beautiful. I'm sure things will be even further improved over time by online patches and updates.
The graphics are a 9/10. I have seen better effects & textures (BioShock, BF 2142, etc.) but all in all, I am very pleased. (Note: I am running an Xbox 360 elite w/ HDMI on a LG 32" 1080i display)
I give the sounds effects and music a 8/10, nothing really mindblowing.
Fun factor is a perfect 10/10! It really is addicting.
Single player story mode works great too. Although it is not the true "focus" of the game, single player mode will provide great entertainment when you're seeking a change of pace. It's somewhat short, but has excellent replay value. And YES you can play to story mode online with friends!
Cons:
I honestly haven't yet found many flaws in the GAME itself. If I were to be picky, I would say the graphics and sound effects "could" be improved further. Also, due to numerous reports of scratched discs in the Limited Editions, Microsoft was careless in its packaging method. I would say 95% of all the LE versions have loose discs and are scratched. (my copy was perfect though because I purchased it locally at Be$t buy and gently shook all the cases to listen for loose discs.)
Halo 3 is a true winner for noobies and veterans of the Halo series period. I think this game will offer endless entertainment for quite some time and the Limited Edition is $70 well spent. You get quite a few extra goodies with the LE, such as a metal case, mini-hard cover book, and lots of extras on the bonus disc. For a mere $10 additional dollars, it is well worth it.
Just remember, you may want to purchase the Limited Edition in a retail store so you can listen for loose discs. With some careful searching, you can find one that does Not contain scratched discs.
Goodluck everyone and game on!
5 stars! | video-games_xbox |
Probably had expectations set to high. General info:
I loved the original two games as a teenager, the mechanics, the story, the darkness and voice acting were revolutionary for their day; and it was a long, long wait for Max to return, and given how much I enjoyed the previous two games my expectations where high (given the amount of money and hype rockstar poured into production)
Likes:
The game is very long, keeping in the Max tradition; I'm a fairly experienced gamer and the campaign took me 11 hours on easy
They kept true to the darkness of the series and Max's self pitying mental state
The number of cut scenes both voiced and filmed were amazing
Max wasn't able to hold 2938012904813 weapons in his trenchcoat and instead rockstar went with the more conventional layout of carrying a couple weapons at a time that has become the industry standard now
Dislikes:
The graphics/particularly the scenery is not cutting edge and smacks of corner cutting
The plot is confusing and largely non-sensical (a huge drop off from the original series)
Although the story and max himself are largely as dark as the original, the plot lacks the poetry (if that's the word) of the originals... I wouldn't call it a film noire like the originals
The enemies are not very interesting and largely faceless including the bosses
Severe dislikes:
I realize rockstar was trying to innovate some stuff for 3rd person ( a genre that has largely not kept up with the 1st person advances since Max debuted in the early 00's); but they honestly didn't do a great job. The camera is too close to max creating bad angles and poor vision (vision of surroundings is supposed to be one of the strengths of 3rd person games)
The bullet time due to the camera angles is extremely unweildy and I largely played the game without it
The selection of weapons is extremely bland (think Kayne and Lynch 2)
Max cannot sling any long guns, and if he has a long gun, must keep it in one of his hands, this is maddening... he didn't need the arsenal in the trenchcoat like the old games and limiting him to one long arm is fine, but he should have been able to sling the one long arm he can hold
Max drops all or most of his weapons in dozens of cut scenes for a variety of explained or unexplained reasons which kills continuity and is very frustrating
The maps are completely liniar and there is absolutely zero free roaming
The find bonuses/painkillers part of the challenges are not interesting
The crouching/prone aspect is useless
Dealbreakers:
Max's entire movement is slow/awkward as is his "going into cover" which routinely puts you behind objects you didn't want to go behind or from angles you didn't intend; because of the poor camera angles, and being too close to max you largely spend half the game rotating the camera which is stupid
The aiming system is also largely terrible no matter what sensitivity you set it to
Max tells his story largely in a drunken stupor, and Rockstar thought they should make the camera fuzzy and blinking every 2 seconds as he talks or is cut scenes, huge waste of time, does nothing for the story and just gets annoying as hell within 5 minutes of start up; and you have to deal with it the ENTIRE game
Bottom line:
If you love max, it has max, hours and hours of him
However as a 3rd person shooter it falls grossly behind games that predate it including Brothers in Arms Hell's highway, previous splinter cell games and Army of 2 40 days (which employ similar concepts of duck and cover) even infamous 2 has considerably more finess and open ended activity than bringing Max out of retirement. To me this is largely a play control copy of Kayne and Lynch 2
IMO... if you loved the originals you can buy this BUT I would advise to wait till prices come down in the secondary market, as there is nothing at all earth shattering in the game that says buy me immediately that is worth the extra 30 dollars | video-games_xbox |
Workarounds. I'm going to preface my review by saying that before I bought this game, I thoroughly researched every other kinect workout game out there by reading reviews, watching videos, and downloading every demo available. I am ultimately very happy with my purchase and feel that this is the best workout game for me (more on my preferences below). For my daily workouts, I play JMFA, Dance Central 2, and/or a Gaiam Yoga video, since I often get bored doing the same workout and need fun and variance.
Due to some reviews, I was concerned when I bought this that it wouldn't work right because my kinect configuration is less than ideal (my kinect is kind of in a corner with practically no space on one side and a little space on the other. I've played several games where I really wanted a lot more space). However, I think that while JMFA is not perfect, it works pretty well. Here are some tips if you're having problems:
- reconfigure your kinect! There's even an option for it in the game.
- reduce natural light as much as possible. My room gets a ton of natural light, and though I pulled shades and turned on the lamps, I noticed a marked difference between playing in the day and playing at night. Daytime workouts were still possible though, just expect to use the xbox controller to navigate the menus (which doesn't really bother me...I hate menu nav in all my kinect games, it's always slower)
- watch your arm placement! I noticed this when I was doing my side lunges (which mainly work your legs). I didn't have my arms up like Jillian, but as soon as I got them up there, it started counting my lunges.
- stand in the center of the square. When you look at your avatar onscreen, you'll notice it's standing on a gray square. As much as possible, move around your room until your avatar is standing in the center of that square. The kinect will read your movements much better.
As far as the game goes, I'm really loving it, though there's definitely room for improvement.
Pros:
- one of the funnest video game workouts I've ever done
- you can feel your body burning the calories
- cool Lara Croft/Indiana Jones theme! this sold the game for me. Working out by following some lame trainer in front of a white background is just boring. Playing this game really takes my mind off the fact that I'm working out, so it's great for people like me who hate to exercise.
- awesome mix of technique (I love the kickboxing and the yoga moves mixed in)
Cons:
- no option to turn off the demos that play when you make a customized workout, complete warm-ups, etc. This is really annoying because you have to do reps, stop, watch a demo, do more reps, stop, watch another demo...you get the picture. Stopping so much in the middle of a workout does not help the workout, especially when I've done this exercise before and already know how to do it. If there's an option to get rid of these, let me know. In the meantime, I just exercise with the demo, even though it won't count with my score.
- no option to string together the "adventure" exercises. These are the funnest and they really get my blood pumping, but they're each 5-10 minute exercises, and experts say that you really should do 20-30 mins of cardio a day. You can go to the next "adventure" fairly quickly from the menu, but you still have to stop and navigate the menu. Again, giving the option to string these together would give me a better workout (in the meantime, I walk/jog in place while using the controller to navigate)
- Jillian's voice. There are some people who find her annoying, though she doesn't bother me. There is a setting where you can turn her down all the way to zero, if you prefer not to hear her. It doesn't affect gameplay.
I've only had this game for a couple of days, so I'll edit this review once I've played around a little more. | video-games_xbox |
Consider Carefully about purchasing Hot Pursuit. So I thought I should take the time to write my first amazon review. That being said onto my thoughts of Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit.
I knew ordering this game after playing the demo on xbox that this title wasn't going to be my late 2010 NFS: Most Wanted replacement. I loved most wanted for its open world roaming and being chased by the cops around every corner at anytime while joyriding in my new ride. Sadly this feature takes a back seat in Hot Pursuit. Instead... as stated in other reviews once you reach the finish line, the cops don't care about your 210 mph speeding ticket... or that you emped him 12 times... or that you threw spike strips at him... or that you rammed into his car with a shot of nitrous... etc. This game will be for more casual racers.
Under no circumstances was this title implied or hinted at being a race simulator. And why should it? Shift wasn't all that great to begin with. I didn't like how once I upgraded my car with shiny new turbo charged parts that it meant my car would fly off the road every time I stepped on the gas. In MW, every new part increased your top speed, handling without any negative feedback to how you drive. And that's what I liked about it. Unless i really knew enough about the physics/mechanics of a car to know how to set my gear ratios in my transmission (a feature used in Grand Turismo 3)for the purposes of a game I have no interest in going to such lengths to truly customize my virtual car. However in Hot Pursuit you have no customization what so ever other then changing the color to your ride. You can't even "buy" cars in this game. They just magically unlock as you "progress" through your "career."
Although every car does show each of its own personalities, at times some of the higher end cars don't end up driving/feeling like a high performance vehicle should. Some cars feel as if their rear ends have some extra weight to them, others have on occasion too much over-steer. Some cars are so heavy they barely can go in and out of lanes without slamming on the e-break to do so. My favorite is having to e-break out of crashing into oncoming traffic. If there were some basic customization tools like over-steer and under-steer tuning like in MW, it could been more useful when driving some of the more powerful cars in the game.
In any case, I'm glad I pre-ordered my copy of black ops because amazon ended up gave me a $20 credit towards my next purchase, so I ended up only paying $40 for this game. My goal however is to beat it and sell it to gamestop within a week. My hope is that they will give me up to $30 back for it since they usually take back games for about that much on release week.
Overall this game is fun but not at full price. I'd say if cash is tight for you make it a rental first. Or perhaps wait and see if amazon/"anywhere else" will have a black Friday sale on it and buy it. Thats what i did for NFS: Shift ($30). I just wish gamestop would give me more then $7 back for it. :o(
PS - For those of you still itching for a more online Most wanted feel... download NFS: World. Its free til lvl 10 and if you head into the North Eastern part of the map that whole area was lifted right out of Most Wanted.
*** UPDATED 11/21/10 ***
Alright so as of the date of this update in the game my race career is at 11 and my cop career is at 8. I just finished the 3rd Coral Bay run called Tough Justice and let me tell you I was about ready to throw the controller at my Sony glass WEGA screen! This cop event was broken in my opinion. I threw a roadblock at my suspect... he crashed for once... and I slammed on my brakes and see he's just chillin' up against the guard rail but he wasn't out yet. I thought it'd be fun to y'know play with my prey a little so I threw my car into reverse and slammed on the gas with a shot of nas and tried to crush him like a tin can! Suddenly out of no-where he disappears *POOF!* And to my surprise he's back on the road driving at almost full speed. So the game decided it would be cool to just reset my suspects car from being "THIS" close to get busted back into a prime position to escape. This seems like a completely broken system and im pretty sure all of the other cars in the game that crash through the roadblock will reset as well. Other things like how you have to throw multiple spike trips at both racers and cops in order to "totally" wreck them seems a bit bogus. But lets go back to hey you guessed it Most Wanted! You ran over ONE strip and you're done. You flip your car with a mess of cops that have pinned you from all sides and you wanna "reset" your car and your busted level shoots straight up. Now try busting your suspect under a certain time in order to get gold for the event.
But I will admit, as much as this ruins the experience of busting racers, there were some surprising moments from the A.I. in this game. When I floored it to overtake my suspect to pin him or attempt to spin him out the a.i. does what I would do in a online match which is slam on the brakes, especially when being targeted by a EMP blast. And its pretty cool how at anytime these racers will do a 180 and go in the other direction which is frustratingly fun. Overall it makes for some unexpected cop chases from the A.I. Some of you have mentioned how much precision is needed in a game with such sluggish controls but all i have to say is Pagani Zonda! This car is scary! Compared to the rest of cars this gives you the most needed precision. You can almost spin out from how lightly I pressed on the e-brake. If you can get through the un-forgivable behavior of the cop chases then buy this! | video-games_xbox |
An Overall Great Console. Let me just start off by saying that I own all three popular consoles (gamecube, ps2, and xbox), so I know what I am talking about. Every console has its plusses and minus's. Even Xbox. I am very tired of reading online reviews about consoles where they say "xbox rocks" or "ps2 is the best" or "gamecube is the king of consoles". Its very immature and you would be suprised how many people depend on reviews like that to choose which console they want for christmas, or their birthday. So let me tell you that this is not a console bashing at all. I am just going to state all the plusses and minus's of each console, and let people decide on which one to choose.
Gamecube pros:
1. Has some of the best multiplayer games around (mario power tennis, mario party 6, super smash brothers melee, etc.)
2. Has four controller ports
3. Has decent graphics and sound
4.the lightest out of all 3 consoles
5. Has some great rpg's
Gamecube cons:
1. Controller layout isn't so great (for example, I don't like how the "C" button controls from the n64 have been changed into a analog stick)
2.1st and 3rd person shooters suck ass
3. Not a very good library of games
4. No online gaming
ps2 pros (only the first and second generation ps2's, not the new design, I think those things are a pieces of (...):
1. Not the lightest of the three, but way lighter that the xbox (I would know, I weighed them. I know, I have way too much time on my hands)
2. Has the largest selection of games out of all three
3. Has the best 1st and 3rd person titles out of all three (grand theft auto series, metal gear solid series, etc. Sure, it doesn't have halo 2, but that's only one game, compared to how many the playstation2 has?)
4. This is only my opinion, but I think the ps2 has the best layout of buttons on the controllers, and the controllers are just the right size
5. Free online gaming
6.built-in dvd player
ps2 cons:
1. Only two controller ports, which means you'll have to pay an extra $30 for a multitap to play multitap compatible games, which there aren't too many of
2. No built-in memory storage, which to me, isn't a huge deal, because $20 is not that expensive
3. Has the worst graphics of the three
4. Gets those really annoying disk read errors, which I have not had a problem with with the other consoles. But if it does happen to you, just complain to sony, and they will fix it up for you for free. I did that to mine, and I haven't experienced the problem ever again.
Xbox pros:
1.has also the best 1st and 3rd person shooters, but not as many as the ps2
2. Has 4 controller ports, and better multiplayer gamest than the ps2 to top it off
3. Has built-in hard drive for memory storage right out of the box so you don't have to pay for memory cards. However, there is a con mixed up in this, the built-in memory storage does not last forever, plus, you can't load a saved game data without a memory card, so then you still have to buy memory cards, which cost more than the ps2's and the gamecube's
4.has the best racing titles
5. Has a built-in dvd player, just like the ps2's. When I found this out, I really did start to think that microsoft was really biting off of sony, but whatever, no big deal.
Xbox cons:
1. Built-in memory storage does not last forever, and you can't play it at a friends house without one.
2. While I do agree the xbox controller layout is decent, it still is harder to get used to than ps2's or gamecube's
3. The heaviest out of the three, which isn't a huge deal, especially if you don't travel a lot.
4. You have to pay a monthly fee for online gaming, which sucks because the console costs enough anyway.
I really hope my review helped you in making the right decision over which console to choose. I love each console because all three have provided me hours and hours of endless gaming.
-PEACE YO! | video-games_xbox |
GTA:III in 2K6. Saints Row - Circa 2006
GOOD:
- Great Graphics and physics make the game come to life.
- Shooting works efficiently and easily, Shooting is more like that of a Third Person Shooter (like Lost Planet on Xbox 360)
- Online gameplay either with or against other people, with modes like versus/team play ect...
BAD:
- Plot is considered pretty weak to many.
- Voice acting maybe good, but most dialog feels like a forced/fake attempt to seem hip-hop urban.
- No Motorcycles, Boats, or helicopters (only the police get helicopters).
- Game might seem like too much of a Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas rip-off for some.
IF IT FITS YOUR TASTE:
- A go anywhere do anything at any time type of game that we have seen in such games as Grand Theft Auto. You're a new Gang member in an up and coming gang and it's your job to help stop (kill off) other rival gangs.
- Much like Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion (on Xbox 360, PS3, PC) you can customize your own character with things like Race/Hair styles/and setting the positions or types of things like eyes, nose, mouth ect. Also you can go back anytime and change these attributes (at the plastic surgeon for body and face and Barber for new hair types or styles). On top of all that you have many different clothing options/styles/types to choose from different clothing stores.
- GPS type map lets you put markers on the map and the CPU will map out (using a dotted line to your goal) the best/fastest route to get there.
- Lots of Car customizing to be had. Also note your garage can hold over 50 cars (which can be accessed by a scrolling menu). Also once a car is added to your garage its saved their so if you lose your car it will show up in your garage (in the same state you left it in), and if you destroy your car you can get a brand new one from your garage (for a small price).
- Pick and use weapons/health ups from a click wheel (like Turok 2 form N64 had), this makes switch weapons fast and easy. Also you don't lose weapons after you die.
- If you fall into water in the world of Saints Row you can swim, but you can also warp to the shore saving time and effort.
GAME ITS MOST ASSOCATED TOO:
- Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (PS2/Xbox/PC)
- The Godfather: The Game (Xbox/PS2/Xbox 360)
- CrackDown (Xbox 360)
ADDITIONAL NOTES:
- There is already new content out for download for this game (most of which is free) via Xbox-Live. One pack gives you a Santa Suit.
- Reportedly this game is also coming to Sony's Playstation Three. | video-games_xbox |
Great but not perfect. First of all, I don't know why so many people out there think this game is an action shooter. Unless they've been living under a rock they'd know this game's an RPG first and foremost, and that Bethesda has been touting the S.P.E.C.I.A.L. system and VATS for months before the game's release.
The VATS is an innovation which is surely to be imitated, just as bullet-time was. I have to admit I initially thought VATS would end up being a useless gimmick, but I never get tired of seeing my enemies' heads blown off in cinematic style. The VATS also allows me to conserve ammo because I'm not just pouring out bullets at the enemy; my character fires in controlled bursts even when using an automatic weapon.
The game's visuals go a long way in immersing me in the nuked-out, dead world where everyone is concerned only with living long enough to see the sun rise the next day. Sure, there are jagged edges to some building textures, and clipping and flickering, but they occur infrequently enough that I could for the most part pretend I didn't see them. Some people complain about the "dated" graphics but I found them to be perfectly adequate in conveying the depressing world I'm forced to survive in. The level of detail in the bombed out buildings, ruined roads, rusted cars, filthy clothes that people wear, and husks of houses choked out with weeds is stunning. I usually don't put much stock in graphics (for good OR bad) but the visuals in this game are that important to drawing me in.
I found it much more atmospheric and moody - and therefore more immersive - to play with the radio off, and let the minimalist ambient background music play. The score is haunting and carries just a touch of sadness, and perfectly appropriate. When an enemy approaches, the score switches seamlessly to a frantic, fightin' theme that gets the blood pumping. By contrast, the corny 40s music found on the radio seemed out of place with a game of this type and just ended up being a distraction, although I do enjoy hearing Three Dog reporting on my feats.
But I do have my share of complaints. First, the character creation: all the male characters I create end up looking like they're in their late 30s, despite the fact I'm supposed to be 19. On the other hand, all the female characters look like pre-teen boys! Disturbing! This is actually a step back from Oblivion where it was relatively easy to make my character look how I wanted. Here, all my characters end up looking butt-ugly no matter how hard I try. Everyone in the game has exquisite detail in their facial textures, but I end up looking like a creepy porcelain doll. I remember in Mass Effect, my character looked like he/she actually belonged in that world because he/she had the same level of detail as everyone else, but not here.
Second, the game has freezing issues: sometimes the game will just plain lock up, and other times the next spoken line in a conversation won't load, and the game doesn't know what to do. This problem can be abated somewhat by saving often. In fact, I recommend all players keep several save files at once just in case they make a decision they regret, i.e. accidentally attacking a friendly NPC.
Third, Dogmeat is all but useless. He gets killed way too easily, and when he's dead, that's it, he's gone for good. This would not be such a major annoyance if he were a bit sturdier; maybe some DLC would be forthcoming that would beef him up some and actually make him a useful partner during combat. Or maybe the game could have given me the option to revive Dogmeat: for example, when Dogmeat gets "killed," the game could have given me a window of a few seconds to inject him with medication before he's permanently lost. But as things stand he's just a hindrance, and I'm constantly babysitting him. Finally I resorted to leaving him at Vault 101 and never looking back; as annoying as he is, I am attached to my pooch and don't want him dead.
Fourth, the level cap at 20! I don't understand this at all. At the pace I'm going, I'll max out loooooong before I see everything in the game. And once I'm maxed out, there will certainly be less of an incentive to keep exploring, keep killing enemies, and keep taking quests. I could understand capping at 50 maybe, but 20? Again, I'm hoping for a downloadable patch to address this.
So there it is: aside from a few minor gripes I'm very happy with this game. I can totally see myself investing 200 hours into this game like I did with Oblivion. Bethesda has crafted another winner.
[Edit 6/1/09]: The problem I have with Dogmeat getting killed too easily has been abated with the "Puppies" perk I got after buying Broken Steel. So I can FINALLY have my trusty pooch with me at all times. Thank you Bethesda! | video-games_xbox |
Fun choice for avid COD fan, but a middle of the road product otherwise. Short Attention Span Review: Fun choice for avid COD fan, but a middle of the road product otherwise.
Full Review:
My 11-year-old son could not have been more excited when presented with the box containing the Call of Duty: Ghosts Shadow headset. Turtle Beach has done a wonderful job of branding with their line of COD headsets because every kid in the neighborhood looked on with total envy as he tested them out. It goes without saying that, to an 11-year-old, appearance is often more important than actual quality, so I'll give you his take and mine, as a more discerning adult. The kid loved everything about the headset except for the wires. We have a rectangular family room set up with the entertainment system across quite a bit from the couch. The cord wasn't long enough for him to sit on the couch, so I had to set up a beanbag. I would complain more about that, but if you've used any headsets for any purpose, this isn't a surprise. Most headsets for any purpose, video game or otherwise, don't have particularly long cords. Usually, that is a trade off for great sound and savings on batteries, but sometimes, it's just a pain. In the case of using a headset with a video game system, I have found the cord is more of a menace to tripping and/or yanking the Xbox off the entertainment center than its worth.
Tween boy loved the sound and found the microphone worked better than with his last set of headphones. I did notice he wasn't yelling or repeating himself as often with this headset as he did before. This pleases me to no end. When I asked how the game played with this headset compared to the last one, I was told, "Oh my God, so much better!" Again, this is an easy to market to kid, so I tried them out on my computer to see for myself. They are, in a word, sort of "meh". In their defense, I'm used to use Bose headphones, but I do think that these could be a bit better. I found the sound quality to be maybe a bit better than his old $40 headphones, but barely. The cans themselves feel a bit uncomfortable on the ear and the plastic feels a bit flimsy. The controller that comes with the headphones is a great feature. It has made it a lot easier for the kid to adjust audio while playing a game. Less futzing with the TV remote means more gunning down bad guys. Needless to say, this delights the kid.
All in all, these are a pretty good choice if you have or are a COD fan who doesn't want to spend the extra money on Turtle Beach's more higher end models. You could get by with a cheaper headset and have similar quality. | video-games_xbox |
Good Game Hurt by a Bad Storyline. Metal Gear Solid 2: Substance is a very good game. It has good gameplay, good graphics, and a nice feel to it. The problem? It has, easily, the worst storyline and most horrendous characters in video game history.
Metal Gear is essentially a stealth combat action game, where you have to sneak around either an oil tanker or an ocean rig. You pick up a variety of weapons and items along the way, allowing you to take care of different tasks. There's also a lot of bonus missions, including VR simulations and other extras in the game that aren't in the PS2 version of Metal Gear Solid 2 yet.
In terms of gameplay, MGS2 is good, but not great. The camera is static, which hurts your line of sight, but you can switch into first person view, though you can't move from that position. Everything else is pretty straightforward, including your radar, which lets you know what the enemy's LOS is. The action is plentiful, although you need to pick your fights carefully or any guards you kill will be quickly replaced. Once again, the boss battles are where the game shines, as each one is different and requires a different strategy.
Graphically, this is a pretty sharp game. The details are all very good, from individual hairs to pictures in lockers. There is occasionally some slowdown, as things can get cluttered. The movies also look sharp and are really well put together, though some of the characters look a bit strange.
Sadly, much of the good I've described above is practically killed by the story. Essentially, it revolves around "Metal Gears", which are big nuclear powered machines capable of mass destruction, and the terrorists who plan to use these Metal Gears to wreak havoc on the world. That's not too bad of a plot. But the execution is horrible. First of all, some cutscenes can last up to 15 minutes, making you sit there and watch them just in case they contain any important information (which they usually don't). Many of these scenes contain a lot of unnecessary dialogue that kill the realism of trying to take care of a mission quickly. Half the time, I expect "NEEDLESS EXPOSITION" to flash up on screen. In real life, if commandos spent as much time talking as these guys do, the terrorist would find them and have them killed within five minutes. It's not so bad in the first episode, where you control Snake, although your help, Otacon, can get kind of preachy at times. It's the second episode that makes you want to turn the game off. In the second episode, which takes place on an ocean rig, you control Raiden, who has to be the dumbest covert ops commando in history. Half of his dialogue is just him going "Hmmm". It wouldn't be so bad if the supporting cast was decent, but, in terms of character development, I think the writers went well overboard here. Every single character has some sort of story to tell and some life-changing event that they have to lay to rest. One guy faked losing a leg in a bombing (a ten minute cutscene), another wears glasses to look cool (five minutes), and Otacon, who was mentioned earlier, left his family after his father died trying to save his drowning sister, who happens to be on the rig. I've seen soaps that aren't as complicated. You can't even save without getting ten minutes worth of dialogue. That's because the girl who saves the data also happens to be Raiden's girlfriend, so they have such interesting post-save discussions as the first time they met, why Raiden won't sleep next to her, and what restaurant they're going to once the mission is over. I'm not making this up, folks. All that I have mentioned actually happens in the game. Even the main storyline gets too wacky and preachy for my tastes, but I'll leave that to the brave souls who can sit through hours of dialogue. I don't know who the writers were, but somebody needs to find them and make them swear that they'll never write for a game (or anything else) again.
If you can get past all that, the game can be fun. But you need a lot of patience to play this game and sit through all the garbage. If you enjoyed the first game, then, by all means, give this one a shot. But, for my money, Splinter Cell is a much better game with a much more interesting storyline. | video-games_xbox |
What Were They Thinking? (FUN Parent Test Below. Just played this with my son, and I was very disappointed at the speed of the text on the screen - so much so that my boy couldn't even understand what was going on. And I logged into Amazon tonight specifically with the intention of telling you all about my experience.
--> To the game developers: Your core audience is young kids. I'm an adult and could not even read the text showing the story, instructions or character comments no matter how fast I tried to read them (silently or aloud). What a joke.
--> To you the customer: This game is driven by text. Over & over & over again. That's all you get (no speaking) in every instance for anything relating to the game itself.
This game had so much potential. Excellent graphics. Fun little contruction cars (my kid loved them and compared them to building his Legos). And most of all, the sound effects and overall 'cool factor' for young kids would've been great! The driving mechanics were bearable - especially for a kid - and the clever jokes that occur when you drive around town and talk to people showed that they put much effort into a potentially great experience.
Everything seemed to be easy to follow with 'hint' graphics all over the place for young kids to follow, and there was a thin story line ruined by the speed of the text scroller as I will unfortunately have to complain about more below.
_____________________________
Here, do this right now (I swear this will have you convinced and LOL)...
I want you to read this sentence as FAST as you possibly can silently right now, ok? Here we go:
"I'm saying this sentence to myself because a reviewer on Amazon.com is trying to make a point that this GAME is ruined by the speed of the graphics..."
OK, did it? Now I want you to imagine that the graphic cuts off screen at the capital word "GAME" above in the sentence you just read. (I swear, it's pathetic, isn't it) Now imagine, that as you're trying to read that, THE NEXT GRAPHIC COMES UP! And you can't get to the end of that one either! There's no pause button, no nothing. I would've liked to spend some time reading these things to my kid (in that slooow parent voice we all use) but no. You couldn't even follow where or what the heck they were trying to tell us; about the story, the characters, the instructions, and the explanation of the actual imaginary world we were supposed to be in!
____________________________
All it would've taken to make this game a 4/5 stars, was a "Continue" button at the end of each text line, so that we, the players (the parents! and kids!), could've understood what was going on. I can't imagine for a minute that this game went through any 'beta' or truly public testing with normal people. No way.
Moreover, it would've been a great game to help kids to learn to read while sitting with a parent having them read to them. What a shame. Sitting with a parent (me) and trying to enjoy what could be great family time ended up with me actually laughing at the game and the developers for a ridiculously fast text (no one talks, it's one of those games with mumbling instead of true overdubs/voice overs, and THAT ruins it even more, especially in regards to the potential educational experience that "could of" been with a cheaply hired actor to speak the words to the children).
Man, what a HUGE disappointment. For someone who plays the XBox 360 in competitive gaming environments and understands the gaming industry extremely well, I could not believe that they screwed this up 'that' bad to the point where even an adult could not read the screen in time.
OVERALL: A truly awesome graphically stimulating experience and a potentially GREAT family hour experience with your kids ruined by ill-thinking, no true 'beta' testers (this has to be a fact), and a lack of understanding that their core audience will NOT be able to read that fast, nor will they know many 'big' words used in the writing. When are you guys going to figure out what kids are capable of reading? Heck, most adults don't have this games vocabluary, and the grammer is the worst and most harmful thing you did to this game.
Instead of "Bear see mountain of lost money. Bear sad game got bad review on Amazon" - you could've just done it right! "The bear sees the mountain of lost money, and the bear is sad because the game was given a bad review on Amazon." Jeez guys, c'mon. Speed reading AND terrible writing? Kids WON'T be able to figure this game out without bothering their parents every 2 seconds asking what to do! And when we try to help, there's no contoller graphic in the menu for us to tell them what to do! (like soooo many adult titles have, go figure). We can read. They can't. We can't read that fast. They can't either.
Don't waste your money on this, nor even bother to rent it, or buy it used. Just tell your kid when he/she sees it, or asks you about it, exactly what I've told my kid many, many times throughout his childhood; "It only got 1 star on Amazon.com. The kids hated it. Let's get a game with 4 or 5 stars, OK? Trust me." | video-games_xbox |
The most revolutionary madden to date. After reading all the negative reviews for this game, I decided that I needed to write a review doing this game justice. I would like to start off by saying that I have played every madden since 2005 and I have played nfl 2k5 (for all the madden haters out there).
THIS GAME HAS A FRANCHISE MODE! It has simply been renamed into something called Connected Careers which is by far the best update to the franchise mode ever. It gives you the ability to pick any existing player or coach, or even create your own player/coach. YOU CAN EVEN PUT YOUR OWN FACE ON A PLAYER, so quit listening to anybody that says you cannot make a player. This is basically just franchise and superstar modes mixed into one mode. There are new player traits and story lines that make this the most realistic and in depth franchise mode. To be fair you cannot edit player ratings or appearance once you have started the connected career. There is also no fantasy draft which I sorely miss but this game makes up for it in the franchise mode in my opinion. Madden ultimate team is basically the same as last year just with new legends cards and most of the time you play online the games will be slightly laggy but that is nothing new. This years madden is a lot more than just a "roster update" and I feel that it justifies the $60.
Another thing to note is that because of all the added functionality to the connected careers mode, the menus can be quite confusing and hard to navigate but believe me once you know where everything is at this mode becomes awesome. I feel like an actual NFL coach at times trying to decide who to cut, who to scout, who to sign etc.
Lets be honest, people love to hate on madden for whatever reason and I would be willing to bet that most of the negative reviews are people that have not actually played the game yet and are basing it off what they have read. | video-games_xbox |
TONS OF FUN. First of all, I'd like to point out that I have played all the games in the Saints Row series. It started off as a copy cat to GTA. Then, it became less serious than GTA and added more humor. This fourth one moves away from the regular gang versus gang type of story and adds a twist by adding amazing superhero abilities. Before I purchased this, I told myself not to judge it immediately and to give it a try since I knew the game had superhero abilities and more silly stuff.
After playing it for a few hours, I was having tons of fun. There are a lot of things to do, and now that you have superhero abilities, you can do whatever you feel like doing. Use telekinesis, race around running at super speed, jump from a skyscraper and bring wrath to your enemies with a "death from above" nuclear explosion. I enjoyed the storyline. Everything about it made sense. It wasn't like they came up with ridiculously crazy stuff and did not have an explanation for it. I also enjoyed hanging out with your homies and the option to romance them(LOL). Got a thing for Shaundi or Gat? Go for it. Hahaha. It was fun to chat with your homies and bring the fight to your enemies with superpowers or funky weapons. Believe...there are plenty of FUNKY weapons. I won't spoil too much, but you'll definitely have tons of fun with them.
Moreover, if you enjoy games that have references from music, movies, or video games...this is definitely for you. I could not help but laugh at all the funny video game references throughout the game. As with the other games, you're still able to customize your character and your crew. I wish they had added something to customize your ship, but since you're at war, I guess there is no time for that. The graphics are an improvement from the past games, and the soundtrack is great.
I have no regrets in purchasing this. If you want a serious game about gang versus gang type of story, this may not be for you. But, if you enjoy sarcasm, other types of humor, and twists, this is your game. My only real pet peeve is that some of the side quests get a bit repetitive, not all of them, but some. I wish there had been more diversity with the side quests. | video-games_xbox |
If you liked titanfall 1 you will hate this. If you liked titanfall 1 you will hate this. First it was nice to get a campaign that is stand alone 5 STARS, I give this game a 1 since the multi player is - (Minus) 4 stars. I played the Beta test and thought they would make changes, Not only did they not make changes, They changed all of the buttons! Now to Respawn you press "X"" Not "A", and to change to your anti titan weapon is no longer the "D" pad you press "Y", All the maps have dead ends and rooms with no doors so you are always getting stuck, You ALWAYS respawn Miles away from the action and where you died, Windows don't break and you can't shoot them out, or shoot thru them, and the list goes on. Wait till your in a titan, they changed all that too, you'll die button mashing trying to just walk! I played 5 games and all the maps were the Beta Maps, That are HORRIBLE!!! This is not Titanfall this is Call of Duty with annoying big Robots, large open spaces so you can't wall run, kill ratio is wacked so your always dieing, snipers on every roof, like I said just like Call of Duty. All of the Titans pack together, since if your alone you die in less than 3 seconds. You last longer as a pilot than in a titan. (same from the Beta test) Your titan will last longer in auto mode than if your in it. (since the auto titan knows how to play better than you) This is nothing more than a Call of Duty Clone that has lost direction. No doubt this will become a $19.99 game in less than a month. I had such high hopes, only to be shattered by this.
Go back and play Titanfall 1, even though there is not a campaign, the maps, game play, and titans are more fun than this. Gone is the popcorn jumping, super wallrun speeds, being able to really take down a titan with rodeo, not some animation of you putting in a grenade in titanfall 2 (and if you rodeo them 5 (or more) times, where are all these grenades coming from??) They took the cheap way out having you watch little movies of you doing an action, I want to control the action, not watch little animations the whole game. What about games like "on deadly ground" for TF1, The ground is covered with a toxic smoke and you must wall run and stay above the ground to survive and get the other teams flag. Titan Defense, Burn cards, Smart Pistol, Data Knife, Hacking Specters, Things that made Titanfall a unique, stand out, and stand alone game that no one could touch. Gone. Noting that made the game unique is there, Epic fail for the multi player.
For upgrading your titan, forget about it. They are what they are. You have to earn an upgrades, but they are worthless and meaningless. It's like they couldn't figure out what to do so they simply say your now 2.0, then 3.0 and it means nothing. You get nothing for upgrading or leveling up, so what is the point? This game is really like a Alpha release that still need A LOT of work to even make it playable or enjoyable. The game seems to be geared for 10 - 12 year olds | video-games_xbox |
Warning: Extremely Addicting; Proceed with Caution. There are technically 5 games on here, and I'll go over them one at a time explaining why this is the best game ever and you should sell Modern Warfare 12 or whatever it is now and get this instead. So let's begin shall we?
Half Life 2/Portal: They're good.
Now onto the REAL star of the show here, the highly addicting TF2! The mentally challenged dislike this game on first impression basis because it looks too cartoony and they want another brown/grey grizzled average American Joe Hero to play as instead. Let them rot in their purgatory of mediocrity, Team Fortress 2 is a bright and unique looking game akin to a violent Pixar movie where 9 mercenaries with unique abilities kill each other for unimportant reasons. Aaaaaand the mercenaries are:
Scout: A hotheaded Boston with a baseball bat shotgun and pistol, players can use his speed to their advantage which is about all the Scout has as a use, since he can't take very much damage before dying. People who are really good with the Scout game use his nimbleness to ambush enemy teams by jumping in and terrorizing the enemy team while they frantically try to relatiate to the little Boston Bastard. On the flipside people who suck with the Scout are usually just run around like everyone else without using agility and get their asses kicked in a matter of seconds.
Soldier: A stereotypical American similar to R. Lee Ermey, this guy is armed with a shovel, shotgun, and a rocketlauncher, and is usually played by people who like to blitzkrieg into a game blowing everything up. A good Soldier is a cheap bastard who jumps around raping everything with his Medic butt-buddy, Soldier's aren't hard to play so generally angry frustrated 10 year olds like to helm the Soldier for compensation purposes, and even a really bad Soldier is still a bit dangerous unless you know how to sneak up on em.
Pyro: A gas-mask clad pyromaniac(duh) weilds a fire axe, a shotgun, and a flamethrower, and they can f*** s*** up at close quarters, but if you take 'em into long distance areas they are quite useless. Despite Pyro's being in the 'attack' class I've found them to be most useful for defending, and a good Pyro has to master the art of ambushing, so they can pop out of a corner to set an unsuspecting sucker on fire. A lame Pyro has no concept of distance and usually chases someone 20 ft away with a flamethrower with a range of about 3ft, and they just end up looking silly.
Demo-man: A black Scottish alcoholic psyclops (that's a mouthful) armed with a bottle of booze, a 'nade launcher and a sticky bombs, making the Demo-man similar to the Soldier with a penchant for blowing things up, however unlike the Soldier the Demo-man isn't a cheap little turd because he's often left vulernable when confronted at close range. Good Demo-men set up booby traps with the sticky bombs and make a living hell for the enemy team, while bad Demo-men fire around randomly praying something will die, which usually ends up being them.
Heavy: The obese bald Russian on the cover weilds a minigun, a shotgun(real original) and his fists to bash puny cowards into oblivion. The Heavy is slow but powerful, similar to a tank, and is useful in both defense/offense. Crappy Heavies often forget that they can die and jump right into the middle of a hot zone and absorb all of the bullets. A good Heavy hopefully has a medic to back him up, is fully aware of things going on around him in case the Medic is getting attacked or a Spy is sneaking up on him. A bad Heavy (about 90% of them) run around in the open like giddy school girls before taking a Sniper bullet to the head or a knife in the back.
Engineer: For those who REALLY can't aim, the Engineer is a Texan weilding a shotgun (again?), wrench, and a toolbox to build teleporters, a dispenser, and of course the sentry gun. Crap Engineers leave their sentrys unattended in obvious spots that's easy to take out, while good ones stick to their guns (PUN HYUCK HYUCK) and keep alert for Spies or Demo-men who can take sentrys out pretty easily. Engineers are all about location.
Medic: Most underrated class, the Medic is a German ex-Nazi equipped with a needle gun, a bonesaw, and a healgun that, you guessed it, heals teammates. Medics can't take much health but slowly regenerate health and are most useful on the front lines healing the more powerful classes, so in the middle of it all a good Medic is nimble and heals everyone while a s*** Medic will only heal his Heavy butt-buddy and stand in one place begging the enemy team to take him out. If a team sucks they'll usually be bitching amongst each other over who has to be a Medic.
Sniper: My personal favorite, the Snoipah is an Australian Woody-look alike who weilds a sniper rifle, a machete, and a sub-machine gun. Snipers are either completely useless wastes of space or really good at supressing an attack and keeping the enemy from advancing. Usually they're piss-poor at aiming and you can always tell someone doesn't know what they're doing if they pull the SMG out and meet you in the middle of a battlefield because they think they're playing Call of Doodie. Good Snipers stay hidden in shadows, usually cover a busy area, and are quick and efficient with the rifle at taking people out.
Spy: Similar to the Sniper where they're either completely useless or really ass-kicking, the Spy is a monotone Frenchman who can disguise himself as an enemy teammate and sneak around them undetected. The Spy is equipped with a magnum, a butterfly knife (which is as useful as a toothpick if you don't backstab with it), a disguise kit to select which class to look like, and an electro-sapper to destroy the Engineer's stuff. Spies that are useless usually don't cloak themselves, stand in front of the enemy long enough for them to suspect something, and generally are only useful as bullet absorbers. Good spies don't go out into the middle of the battlefield and stay in the shadows preying on people who's backs are turned, and constantly moving.
And that's it for the classes, they all balance each other out nicely too. For example Engineers can stop Scouts from entering an area, Scouts can easily take out a Demo-man, and a Demo-man can take out an Engineer's sentry with ease. The one thing I don't really like though is the lack of level variety, all the levels are basically just abandoned industrial warehouses. 2fort is the most popular one and a sniper's paradise, Dustbowl is the second most popular and ends pretty quickly when one team can't get their s*** together, Well and Granary both have teams on opposite sides fighting for more control points, Gravel Pit is similar to Dustbowl where one team usually wipes the other team out, and no one plays Hydro.
It's worth noting that I've never played TF2 on computer, those players tend to bemoan the 'good old days' when TF2 was simpler/cleaner to look at and not a hat simulater, but there is also more variety in weapons as well as levels, so it's a mixed blessing I suppose. I've been playing TF2 like a crack addict for the last year now and it hasn't shown one sign of getting old for me so I'd heartily recommend it to all 0 of my fans reading this. Oh yeah, the other games on the Orange Box are good too I guess. | video-games_xbox |
Great system extras get expensive. Ok lets start this out right I own a PS and 2 PS2's. This is my first Xbox. I will not bash the PS3 it WILL be a great system but I can't take away from the X-box 360. First each system is for different types of gamers. Let's look at who should buy one and Microsoft's strengths. Price the Xbox 360 will be cheaper than the PS3. Support say what you want Microsoft is here to stay this system has staying power, of course the PS3 also has staying power. Online Microsoft has an awesome interface that the PS3 will try to emulate but Microsoft is better at it. Adult games, X-box 360 has more and more adult (13+) ones heck even know they have 4-5 excellent first person shooters. Even when they come out for 2 systems PS2 and Xbox the Xbox was the more adult less arcade version look at Rainbow six for example. X-box has more PC games converted to it, Half Life ect. PS3 will have more horsepower and more of the latest technology such as blu ray, larger hard drive and better HD. PS3 has more variety of games it has games for kids to adults. It has better backwards capabilities (if it does as promised but they have a good track record with this). Staying power see above. I will know describe the 360. The fan is loud (to me so what as long as it stays cool). First the positive: Its a GREAT system graphics look awesome! Its next gen but not the leap from PS TO PS2 was. The PS3 won't look any better at launch because most major companies are using the same code as they used for the X-box360 with a few tweaks. We won't see the better graphics for Sony PS3 over the 360 for 2-3 years if it comes. Launch games don't show off the system so when Sony is into launch games Microsoft will be rolling out new games taking advantage of the extra power. After a few years the horsepower in the PS3 should start to surpass the X-box but so what you get 2-3 years of Microsoft games looking as good or better and 2-3 years of Sony looking as good or better, then next gen systems come out again. Consoles have a 5-6 year lifespan. I am surprised there are a ton of great games for the 360. I just got one and bought ghost recon and oblivion both games are AWESOME. I have 4 more games on my buy list impressive for a system on a few months old. If you buy one you will be happy I promise even if you are a PS lover. My only beef is all you need to buy. First do not buy the core system buy the premium the hard drive and wireless controllers are a MUST! After buying the premium I still needed another wireless controller $50.00 the wireless adapter $99.00 with 2 games total price $670.00. That stinks luckily no memory card is needed because of the hard drive. PS3 will cost more but you will get wireless network built in but you will still need the second controller for $50.00 bucks (guessing on price won't be less than that though) and the system will cost between $400 minimum to $600.00 maximum. I think it will be $500.00 but we will see. Bottom line X-box 360 is a great system and worth buying you don't have to wait a year for the PS3 when they launch in November good luck finding one. I hate to say this because I am not a huge Microsoft fan but in this case they are the underdog and they deserve your respect if not your support because of them we have the most important thing in the world Competition. This keeps the PS3 from launching at the $800.00, $900.00 it costs to make, it keeps Sony working to keep you and it makes them both come out with better systems. Lets face it Nintendo is done its battle of the titans Microsoft vs Sony both great competitors each with strengths and weaknesses, If you can buy both the 360 and PS3 everyone wins even you! | video-games_xbox |
A Clumsy Improvement. It was probably a mistake to label this game "Dragon Age 2" on account of everything that the "2" implies. To me, it said: direct sequel, and sequels to me usually imply building and improving on an established foundation. When thinking of it in those terms, DRAGON AGE 2 accomplishes almost none of this. Most of what made <a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/Dragon-Age-Origins/dp/B0045ZIENQ/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">Dragon Age: Origins</a> a joy to play (and what made it one of my favorite games ever) is gone now. For fans of the first game, this may result in throwing down the controller in the first two hours of playing. But I really came to like DA2, but not for the same reasons why I loved DA:O.
The DA:O faithful might remember visiting a little town called Lothering after the Battle of Ostagar. Not too long after you leave, it's destroyed by the darkspawn, and this is where Hawke's story begins - kinda. It turns out, Hawke eventually becomes a rather important person; important to whom, that remains to be seen. But a dwarf named Varric is intent on telling Hawke's story and his adventures in a city-state called Kirkwall. So, as you continue your flight from Lothering, you're living out a story that's already been written - also, kinda.
Now, the story... Was there one? It essentially boils down to a feud between mages and Templars (introduced in the first game), and over the course of the game you gradually decide which side you're going to fight for. It's certainly not strict; in DA:O, you were gathering an army to combat the Blight, but in DA2, you're really just going about your life. You're hit with a mountain of quests almost immediately, almost to an overwhelming degree. You'll have so many to sort through, you'll very likely lose track of what you were supposed to do in the first place, or why any of it was significant.
To its credit, this game is jam-packed with content, and I'd argue that there's more to do in this game than there was in DA:O. But a major drawback for me is that the game rushes you through that content. You might remember doing a lot of wandering to complete each of the many quests in DA:O, walking through labyrinthian zones and the plethora of loading screens. BioWare took a very odd route to solving this, by essentially making it so that you can immediately fast travel...everywhere. This definitely took away a lot of involvement you would have otherwise had with the world itself. You can't even walk between zones, since every exit takes you back to the city map.
I would have loved to see more pacing with the quests, at least by not making it so easy to jump around to each one. The rapidfire way in which you can burn through these quests also makes one of the game's major flaws more evident. You might have heard of the lack of unique dungeons. Indeed, you might have all four or five of them memorized by the time you're done with the first third of the game. This definitely cheapens the game overall. BioWare have made the claim that it was to save space for content. If that's true, I guess that's the way it has to be (using two discs would have been a solution), but it was very odd to go through an underground dungeon and discover I was standing in an exact copy of Hawke's house.
Now, the characters were probably the prime reason I loved DA:O. I loved returning to the camp after finishing big quests and chatting it up with my party members, hearing their reactions, getting to know them. In DA2, you don't really have that option anymore. Although each character has their own house or hangout in Kirkwall, you can only talk to them a handful of times throughout the game. Most of the character development is done over the course of the game itself through quests. For the most part, this worked for me since they seemed to be more involved with what you were doing, and you could even ask for their help or advice sometimes. But, again, only a handful of times. You can't even say "Hi" to them otherwise.
As for the combat, it was definitely a little uneven. At about the middle of the game, it was a lot of fun; I had the right amount of talents to fill up my hotkeys, so I could just mindlessly smash buttons. It's quick and frantic, and this is pretty much why it doesn't work so well later on. You'll have to start juggling talents and spells eventually, which means to you have to continuously smash the attack button, keep an eye on the battle (your target, your party, your health), and then pause the game at the right time so you can use items or talents that aren't hotkeyed. Through the last half of the game, I felt like I was doing way too many things at once, which made it hard to keep my strategies on the battlefield. In a 30+ hour game, I really started to miss the auto-attack option.
Now, probably the best improvement in the game is the visuals. All of the races, male and female characters, look unique from each other. The environments are more defined, brighter, and just more impressive all around. Kirkwall itself is fairly unique, but certainly doesn't have the detail that the city should have, since 80% of the game takes place there. There's a lot of white stone, not as many people walking around as there should be in a city that's supposedly packed, so it can get kind of boring in large doses.
Touching on the smaller elements, I was really worried that something would be lost in translation when it was announced the main character would be voiced. The Mass Effect series doesn't do much for me in regards to immersion and roleplaying since the options are so limited. But I was pleasantly surprised how much control you have over Hawke's every little action. You can ask questions, talk to your party members at times, and respond in various degrees of tone (peaceful, playful, and threatening), and you're given A LOT of opportunities to do this. So it does feel less like MASS EFFECT where you only prod Shepard every now and then, and more like DA:O where you have a ton of control over where the conversations go.
I also loved that people don't refer to you as Hawke very often. This was a really good move on BioWare's part.
As with DRAGON AGE: AWAKENING, I couldn't help but feel like there was a disconnect between the stellar writing and dialogue that the game's writers were turning in, and production itself. The codex entries will tell you that Kirkwall is this amazing city with a history and character, but then you look around and there's only white stone and no people, and when you dig deeper, there's only the same dungeon that you probably just left. For all the flair they managed to imbue in DA2, they never quite gave it enough depth; one of the locations, the Gallows, is supposedly out in the middle of a lake. You could've fooled me.
Again, I think it was a mistake to call this DRAGON AGE 2, because this really isn't a sequel, it's a reboot. Unlike DA:O, you're limited to one race, one backstory, one city, a few dungeons, and a handful of instances in which you can talk to your party members (and you can't even change their armor). I personally think the writing and interactions are still just as fantastic, but they suffer beneath recycled and uninspired environments. And for as much as I enjoyed playing as Hawke, the game went out of its way a few times to remind me how much I wanted to play as my Warden again.
To be honest, I'm still torn over this game. On the one hand, I would say that it's still worth checking out. RPG fans will take issue with the loss of some classic elements of the genre, elements that were present in the last game, but the large amount of roleplaying opportunities might soften the blow. It just takes a little time. But on the other hand, this game was an exercise in making you forget everything that happened in DA:O. Imagine if MASS EFFECT 3 has nothing to do with Shepard or any of his former squadmates: for me, it was a disappointment on that scale.
How much you enjoy this game will depend on how much you invested in DA:O. Judged on its own, DRAGON AGE 2 is still a great RPG worthy of BioWare, if a little more rough around the edges than we're used to, but it won't have too much to offer those of us who left our hearts in Ferelden.
[Completed the entire game, minus a few sidequests.] | video-games_xbox |
Halo is Evolving. It's been two years since Bungie's final incarnation of Halo was released and a new developer - 343 Industries was given the task of advancing this series to the future. A few brand new weapons have been added, an entirely redesigned multiplayer system, a new type of co-op called Spartan Ops and the return of the Master Chief. This review is heavily weighted towards the three main sections: Multiplayer, Spartan Ops and Campaign
Short Review
Campaign (gameplay portion) 6 of 10 - a few new enemies and vehicles, unfortunately somewhat repetitive and closer to Halo 2 style of gameplay, has glitch issues
Story 8 of 10 - resuscitates a long dead storyline and breathes new life into it with new characters, the emergence of the Prometheans and the Didact, somewhat difficult follow
Weapons 7 of 10 - old weapons have been adjusted with less recoil, stronger assault rifle, new weapons like sticky detonator and railgun change it up, not many truly new ones though
Enemies 6 of 10 - Prometheans and their hounds are new and difficult in tandem, however all Covenant are now far less intelligent, essentially five types of enemies overall
Graphics 6 of 10 - graphics on the whole look pretty good with dynamic light and shading as well as very smooth animation/physics, but textures look chunky and grainy
Multiplayer 9 of 10 - now able to actually gain abilities, always have sprint, loadouts available as well as weapon drops for killing sprees, very similar to CoD, lost old UNSC ranks
Spartan Ops 8 of 10 - new episodes added every week, objective based co-op separate from campaign really changes it up from firefight, and everything carries over from multiplayer to here
Character Development 9 of 10 - all armor adjustments carry over from Reach, loadouts, decreased reloading times, infinite sprint, increased grenade damage, some grinding
Campaign 6 of 10
As a decade long Halo player I can safely say I've played through all the games produced by Bungie at least five times through. And this one is right about at Halo 2 levels of refinement in terms of overall gameplay and intrigue. The story sets it apart and really allows some issues to go overlooked. However, at its best you feel as though you've stepped back in time and are now playing a game that is nostalgic, as if to say "wow, remember when?" But, by the end of the game you feel the repetitiveness start to creep in. The routine seems to follow the blow up four of these generators, press three of these buttons system which is obvious on a second play through. On the whole, it plays more like a 10 hour cinematic than it does a quality game. I'd love to see the movie these guys could make though. It does feel much larger and epic than previous games. However, there is considerable dead time and the dynamic enemies are few and far between. You have essentially five main types of enemies: Elites, Grunts, Jackals, Prometheans (forerunners) and Promethean Hounds. That's essentially it. By the third level you've already reached every type of enemy. It gets old, quick.
For those who will remember, this will appear as an amalgamation of all previous Halo games. It has the extras from Reach, as well as some of its weapons. It looks like Halo 2. It has the architecture and setup from Halo CE. And it basically plays like Halo 3. This makes sense because chronologically it is the next step. Going along with the issue of the monotony, you have basically no replay value here. The reason I say this is absolutely nothing carries over from the campaign. You don't get commendations, credits (without challenges), armor or loadouts for the campaign. What's my motivation to replay this game again 343? It's also somewhat less difficult than previous games. Heroic feels more like normal, Normal feels like easy and I haven't tried easy. This is not a problem for me but it's something to note. On the whole, I feel like the campaign kind of took a nose dive for extra multiplayer development and we were cheated out of a quality fifth Halo campaign.
Story 8 of 10
When I first found out they were going to make a Halo 4 I scoffed at the possibility that they could continue a decrepit storyline. But they somehow managed to pull me back in. You feel for the people and the Chief. I think it was the fact that they relied more on the Halo books here than in previous games. It's still lacking in info, but this is made for gamers. The game starts out with Master Chief in the old Hyper sleep chamber in the middle of deep space on a ship going down, sound familiar? Cortana is quickly determined to have begun something called rampancy where her AI has begun to degenerate. They're being sucked into a Forerunner world. Without giving away too much, they've found the original species that created the Halos and guess who has to fight them. My only real issue with the story is its somewhat hard to follow even watching all of the cut-scenes I still had questions. It's probably the best story I've yet seen in a Halo game however.
Weapons 7 of 10
Most of the weapons in the game were overhauled, for example the Assault Rifle actually does do damage now. The DMR has less recoil and the Needler is quicker and useful again. But for the most part few truly new weapons were added. There are a number of new weapons, but if you take a second look at them, they're replacements for previous weapons. All the Promethean weapons are just human weapons with a different type of ammo. Everything else is negligible. The only truly new weapons (that aren't copies) are the Storm Rifle, SAW Rifle, Promethean Energy Rocket (or something), Promethean Grenade, Sticky Detonator and Railgun. The Storm Rifle is a covenant assault rifle. The Promethean Energy Rocket is a slow version of the rocket launcher. The Promethean grenade is for all intents and purposes trash. Its area of effect is about eight feet and it does little but stagger all but the daftest of enemies. The SAW is just a full blown light machine gun, but surprisingly not that powerful. The sticky detonator is a weapon which you can fire at an enemy and then it sticks to that spot allowing you to detonate it at a later point. It's actually pretty helpful later on in the game. The Railgun is a weapon that has to be charged but is a one hit kill if you get close enough - essentially a supercharged shotgun. What was bothersome in this game is halfway through you were almost forced to use the Promethean weapons the majority of the time. And they just don't really impress me.
Enemies 6 of 10
It's pretty obvious 343 was "dumbing" down the covenant to make the Prometheans seem more fearsome and I just found the Prometheans to be annoying instead of challenging. I can see how they would be challenging however. They have a flying machine they house in their back which comes out and either acts as a turret or produces a shield for them. They can teleport pretty quickly to where you're at - especially the orange (higher level) Prometheans as well as return your grenades. And you can't melee them as far as I can tell. You do have to spend some time playing against them to understand their weaknesses. The Covenant on the other hand are nearly worthless by comparison. The grunts as usual are grunts. The jackals are about as difficult as before. The Elites seem very slow to react and can't seem to throw the grenades far enough. They also go down pretty easily.
Graphics and Presentation 6 of 10
Many have said that the textures look cheapened and have actually taken a step back compared to Halo: Reach. This is true in quite a few cases, mostly evident on the Master Chief's armor. It feels more realistic in its presentation however such as animation, sounds and shading. Most of weapons have been given new sounds as well as all the vehicles. And, for the first time you feel as though you ARE the Master Chief. And the FMV cut-scenes are magnificent. The beginning cut-scene could be a trailer for a movie it was so life like. It was the first time I truly confused one with a real face. Unfortunately, many of the textures later on in the game are quite lacking in refinement and overall appearance. They're far more reminiscent of Halo 2 than a game from 2012. I can't tell if this was because of budgetary constraints, the fact that they were starting from scratch or that they felt it wasn't necessary. In any case it's hard to overlook after playing the game more than once. I, myself don't feel terribly bothered by it, but from a blockbuster game you'd expect better visuals.
Multiplayer (now War Games) 9 of 10
This is where the game really shines and the Call of Duty influence is more than evident. But, instead of being detrimental to the overall evolution of Halo it benefits the more skilled players. For example, when you get on a killing spree you're able to do a weapons drop. You are able to also level your abilities benefiting people who are quality players. Yes, there are obvious grinding aspects, but really it doesn't take much time to gain the XP and level the playing field. This can be discouraging to past Halo players because now tactics have to be used if you plan to win. Gone are the days where everyone lines up like the Civil War and shoots until one person dies. Another really interesting aspect is the loadouts which are also able to be leveled up. I, myself, have a DMR, Plasma Pistol and Plasma grenade with unlimited sprint and quicker reloads. It prevents the people who "abuse" the vehicles from running a map, so to speak. I'm able to quickly disable any vehicle. In the past, I needed to look for a plasma pistol, plasma grenades and hang back to make sure I didn't lose these items quick. And if you think about for a second, shouldn't you be rewarded for being good at the game? Maps are all new aside from a carbon copy of Valhalla (which is now named Ragnarok) from Halo 3. This is my favorite map on any game.
Spartan Ops 8 of 10
This is a new system in place of firefight. Instead of a "defend until done" type of mission its far more objective based and various in nature. For example, one of the Spartan Ops consists of protecting generators. But, it seems as though most are just secondary missions. I believe they are all also pieces of levels taken from the game. But this was the case in Reach as well. This is an interesting take on the co-op firefight overhaul. In general it's somewhat less boring because they have a new set of missions each week. Now I don't know how long this will continue or if it's going to be something that's updated each week. But it does add some level of variability for non-multiplayer gamers. Another really nice thing is that you don't have to join a matchmade game. You can play by yourself or by up to four people on your box. This was the case before, but if you wanted credits in Reach you really had to join the four person firefight. Also, all credits, loadouts and armor carries between Spartan Ops and War Games.
Character Development 9 of 10
Armor is varied in type and you're able to switch quite a few things after maybe 6-8 multiplayer games. As before all armor can be aesthetically adjusted. You get better armor abilities, tactic packages and increased damage from certain weapons. Yes, it's VERY similar to Call of Duty. But, for some reason it just works better in a Halo multiplayer game. This is how the game should have been probably back in Halo 3. I don't know how many levels there are because they took away the actual ranks, replacing them with levels. It seems like there are probably 100 levels because I know many who are already SR60. In essence, if you are a seasoned Halo veteran you'll likely rise to the top pretty quickly. The additions may seem as though "grinders" are being given an unfair advantage. But, even if you're a highly ranked, if you don't know how to play or know the maps you'll still die plenty.
Conclusion
Taking the campaign away I'd rate this game 9 out of 10. It really satisfies all of the issues I had with multiplayer and switches things up with the Spartan Ops. But there are some problems you just can't avoid. The pilots for the banshees routinely run into things. Gunners for your warthog will likely get you killed. In the case of the Mammoth level I was driving the warthog and he was destroying ghost after ghost and then all of a sudden he just stopped shooting. I had to retreat and he never did start shooting again. I mean these are really basic issues too. The weapons are maybe 10% overall new weapons. Visuals are somewhat disappointing. And the campaign on the whole should never have been cut off from the XP. In multiplayer I've already seen cases of lag cheating (or he has the ability to teleport possibly?). I have a T3 connection so it wasn't me lagging. So there will have to be a few updates to the game.
In conclusion, if you're a Halo player who really likes the old way of playing where one person gets all the power weapons at the beginning and decimates your whole team you may want to rent this one. It does have many elements of Call of Duty and has evolved as a whole. There is grinding, but you get most of the worthwhile add-ons early in the rankings. I've been playing Halo since 2002 and I can honestly say that as a classic style player I do like where multiplayer is going. If you're solely a campaign guy/girl then you may want to steer clear. Being their first try, 343 has done not a bad job overall because you've got to consider this a standalone game. I'd give the game as a whole a 7 out of 10. | video-games_xbox |
Feels good, looks good.. kind of cheap on the inside. I was given this controller as a gift about a year ago and I was ecstatic about it once I realized how nice it was. I had no idea there was a $150 Xbox controller out there. I have always swayed more towards the feel of Xbox controllers over PS4 and compared to regular Xbox 1 controllers.. this one felt amazing. Note - I do not play on Xbox or PS4, 60 FPS is chumpy no matter what definition.
I play A LOT of Rocket League on PC..and some FPS's. After about 3 months of use playing pretty much only RL my Left Bumper (Air Roll/Drift) broke, it had snapped underneath the controller housing and actually got stuck in the controller and once I tried to lift it back out with a pick it simply slid right out of the controller altogether. Turns out there's an arm-like piece that snapped off underneath. It's made out of plastic.. I understand the housing/casing being made out of plastic but a long (relative) mechanic piece being made from cheap plastic.. for $150.. seriously?
The rest of the controller feels great, there's a slight right drift on the left thumb stick on my second controller but it's so slight it's not that big a deal in RL.. in FPS's it sucks. So when it's not broke and not drifting.. it's great. I purchased my second controller from Best Buy with the 2 year protection plan they sell.. I've had to go back 3 times in the last year to get replacement controllers. Same left bumper breaking every time.. I've even changed my controls to not use that near as much, but it still broke within 4 months instead of 2-3. The Right Bumper broke as well so it's not just the left, but it's only broke on 1 controller and that was after my left bumper broke and I switched for a week. So 2 stars for the feel and the rest of the controller.. losing 3 stars over 1 really cheap piece on a $150 controller.. IMO plastic should not be apart of a dependent mechanism, at least not for $150.
Guess I'm going to try out the Razor Wolverine or a Scuff and hope they're better built. | video-games_xbox |
Worst New Game This Quarter. This game is one of the biggest disappointments in terms of gaming since Sim City made its reboot. The developers stated that they didn't want to make Battlefield 4: Star Wars Edition, and they certainly didn't. FPS isn't an easy genre to make a unique gaming experience, and this game is a great example of this. The game design is very poor, and once you get past the amazing visuals you find that the game is little more than a poorly planned FPS that offers little in the way of compelling game play experience.
With no map to guide you, you are completely reliant on communicating with your team mates to organize a defense. But there is no in game voice chat. This would be like if an RPG gave you tons of resources to collect, but forgot to incorporate crafting into the game.
Last but not least the actual gameplay itself is poor. There are no exciting one on one duels like in Halo. No memorable vehicle battles like in Battlefield. The deployable items is reminiscent of Call of Duty, only you don't have to earn them. Almost every weapon in the game feels OP if used in the right situations. But as the situation is always changing it starts to feel more like luck than skill. If only you had that thermal imploder instead of Orbital Strike.
All of this makes Battlefront one of the most unsatisfying gaming experiences I've had to date. You also need to keep in mind that in order to get the full lifespan of the game you need to get the Season Pass which add's another $60 to the game. By the time you are done the game will cost you $120, and that is completely unacceptable for a game of such low quality. Juxtaposed against newly released games like Halo 5, Assassins Creed , Metal Gear Solid 5 (one of the best games I've ever played), Call of Duty, Fallout 4, and Star Craft II: Legacy of the Void - Battlefront stands out as easily the worst of the lot, and it isn't even close. | video-games_xbox |
How can you set the past right, when your what's wrong. Story:
You are Captin Renko, part of a team scrambled to see what's going on with an abandoned Soviet Research station that appears to have a malfunctioning nuclear reactor that has suddenly become active. Upon you arrival you find that the base appears to have been completley abandoned with no signs of life. Suddenly there is EMP blast that knocks your copter out of the sky. When you wake up you find yourself seperated from your squad on the other side of the island.
As you make your way toward your squad commander you encounter strange visions and find mysterious notes that indicate that the researchers there had discovered a new type of element that promised to unlock a source of unlimited power. Suddenly you hear another explosin and look up... only to find your self in a burning building. On your way out of the building you come across a wounded scientist, doing the right thing you pick up the scientest and carry him out of the building to safety. Then you look around again and find your self back in the ruined building you just left.
The only thing you don't know is that you just changed history. The world is now ruled by the Soviet Union and they want to know why there is two U.S, which hasn't existed for 40 years as far as they know, soldiers snooping around one of their abandonded bases. An unexpected ally rescues you from the Soviet forces and tells you that your the cause and the solution to the new time line and tells you that you must find a device called the TMD if you want any chance at putting the timeline back to the way it was. Little do you know that the ripples you caused by changing the time line go further and deeper than you ever imagined...
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Time Played: About 10 hrs
Graphics: Great
Control: I didn't notice any real problems. There are some segements where the aiming can be a little clunky when the screen is shaking all over the place. Only real issue I had is a level later in the game where you have to keep the targeting reticule over a critter to knock it off a train with a energy beam. I know what they were going for but it was still super annoying.
Gameplay: Different. It never got old turning enemies into to dust or playing around with the time abilites.
Story: The concept is different, the setup is great, the clues scattered throughout the levels keep you guessing at what is going on and then at the end... your given three ending that don't really go anywhere with what you have found out. Personally it would have been nice if they had added another ending or two that let the player think their way out of the coundrum their given at the end of the game. But other than that it was defenitely worth playing to the end to see what happened.
I would recommend this to anyone who liked the bioshock games, mass effect, or any other shooters that have a interesting story to go along with their gunplay. m.a.c | video-games_xbox |
Charm wears off and frustrating load times, but still a bit of a compelling game. There are parts of this game that are nice, and others that are just annoying. But over time, the annoyances become a bit less, other than the long load times.
The game starts out fine - interesting story, that reveals itself bit by bit with audio logs and such, leaving you wondering what happened. The dog is cute, especially as you get to upgrade it. Gameplay starts out alright - combat isn't difficult, and enemies with different colors are best attacked with corresponding colors in your energy weapon. You use the D-pad to change that, starting out with just white, then getting red, and eventually the others.
But soon the repetition and annoyances step in. I'm not a fan of "timed" games. And once you get to the second area in this game, "dungeons" are timed to get "good" things. So you have X minutes to rush through to find the good things. For me, rushing through things takes away the fun, and that's where this immediately became something I'm likely not going to bother trying to get any extras. Glad I'm not a "completionist."
Once you get to the second area, you can walk and explore freely. And anything in the desert areas that are your "free to explore" areas are repetitive grinding, like Destiny or anything else, the exact same thing over and over to get parts to upgrade... This is where some of the fun is just lost in monotony.
And load times are a bit excessive as well...
It's alright to play at a few points, but after our initial excitement, the charm is lessened.
Some of the boss battles are pretty tough, but usually there's a spot that works well to help protect you but let you keep firing. And definitely pay attention to the little blurbs it shows during those long load times, some are pretty critical to know - I was level 18 or 19 before I learned that doing bursts with the guns supposedly is better than holding the trigger.
Teleport points can be a bit frustrating later in the game as well, some areas are so huge, that while trying to find a spot you can return to after going to the "home base" to unload your inventory, you keep getting overwhelmed by 8 or 10 bots at a time and you get slaughtered. Then you have to wait the insanely long reload time to start all over... I finally gave up, went back to the base, unloaded my inventory since nothing I "won" in battle was being picked up anymore anyway. But there's no quick way back to where I was, I have to traverse a lot again now. That, with those long load times, makes this game something that's fun for a stretch, then just ANNOYING and you kill it in frustration for a while, until your frustration goes away and you play some more.
But at least while it's annoying, it's still decent enough to eventually return to after a break... | video-games_xbox |
Burnout Paradise. I will be giving you a honest review of :Burnout Paradise for the xbox 360.
One of the biggest things most gamers will notice is the graphic detail to the game it self . The detail to the city really makes the gamer more there then ever before . Also the detail done to the cars damage will really stand out as more damage happens. The makers of burnout paradise have put out one of the best car games to this date .
The game play is really cool your able to start the missions when your ready to . One of the best things to do before doing any missions is drive around the map first and learn it . So the next time your ready to do a mission you know most of the city layout . A cool feature is you could be driving down the road and notice a paint shop. You can drive the car into and as you go past the car will get a new paint job . This instant change also works for repairs . It's like after you have some car damage drive into the repair shop instantly your car is fixed .
The control system to burnout paradise is like most any other games. Once you learn what does what the fun bar just keeps going and going up. Because you will be able to pull off some great car moves that look insane. There is even a mission where you got to use your skills to keep your car from getting damage . This is the part having good controler skills and knowing the map comes in handy .
The graphics for Burnout Paradise is some of the best i seen for a game of this type. It seems they really done some work in the graphics and it really shows it! The detail done to the car's alone really do stand out. Also lets not forget the map it self , shows some time was put into the design of the map . Like i covered above just makes the gamer feel more like your really there. Also the detail work done for the damage of the cars is just really cool . I was like at some points in the game wow my car damage really stands out .
The audio tracks to the game is well done . It seems they put a good amount of time in adding some cool bands to it . I spent a good amount of time just checking the music out and liked everything . I normaly don't play the music in games like this , but Burnout Paradise is one of those rare games i will keep that music going on. The sounds comming from the car it self are just as good .
If your looking for a game that you don't have to worry about renting first to see if its any fun or not Burnout Paradise for the xbox 360 or even that other system is well worth getting . I seen verry little of this game before buying it and consider it one of my top xbox 360 games . As with all choices of renting or buying thats up to the gamer . So if you enjoy the burnout games of the past , trust me this is the best one of them all and well worth the price. If you never had a chance to see the burnout games of the past this would be the best game to start off with !
I have been a gamer for a good length of my life and giving others my honest thoughts to a game and helping others make a choice for a game makes me feel good . Also to show how happy on giving you a honest review of Burnout Paradise for the Xbox 360 . I have put 4 special names below that will help you out . The fun in finding out what the codes do will be up to you as the gamer !
Thanks for the time in reading my review of Burnout Paradise !
* Special names - walmart , gamestop , circuitcity , bestbuy * | video-games_xbox |
More like Forza 1.5 with PC graphics and a Zynga business model. If this is the future of gaiming, we're all in big, big trouble...
First of all, we all need to know that Turn 10 was rather "rushed" by Microsoft to get this title ready for release day. It wasn't quite time for a new Forza title, with Forza 4 not yet reaching it's two-year-anniversary. (That's been the Turn 10 business model - make the games last for two years.) Microsoft needed a big title for release day, and Turn 10 skipped a few features to get a disc on the shelves in time.
But was that the best idea...?
What we're left with is an extremely watered-down version of a Forza title. And trust me, I am rather disappointed. See, with the popularity of "Clubs" in both Forza 4 and Forza Horizon, I took special efforts to get my Xbox One and Forza 5 LE copy pre-ordered. It wasn't easy, at nearly $600 of "stuff." The frustration started when my new Xbox was dead-on-arrival, with a bad disc drive. But with perseverance, I ran to a friend's house - who's new Xbox worked fine - loaded my profile up and went through the first tedious hours of gameplay where I was forced through a 5-race circuit before I could even see a menu.
As soon as I could, I ran to the multiplayer screen to create my club - Old Man Racing - which still today is at-capacity in Forza 4... But I couldn't FIND the club menu... because there ISN'T one. And that's when I took to the internet to realize what all was missing - like 200 cars, and over a dozen tracks - GONE from previous titles. Then there's the freeplay mode which only allows a smattering of cars to choose from. Plus, racing with a "rented" car rewards the driver with nothing - no cash, no experience points - nothing. There's also no ability to sell your created liveries, or auction off cars, or do anything online except race other players. The absolutely monumental marketplace experience that Turn 10 created in Forza 4 is GONE.
Here's what Forza 5 gives us over Forza 4. Breathtaking graphics. Microtransactions.
Yeah - microtransactions. I'm not going to go into detail here because enough have already complained of it, and their complaints are completely valid. The first it came to my attention was the little text on the screen that said, "Press Y to Boost Experience!" and so I did, only to be confronted with a screen where I could spend real money to earn experience faster. What a terrible, terrible game mechanic. I mean, what are we teaching people? That money gets you places? Whatever happened to working hard for the things you want to achieve? And why - after shelling out $80 for a freakin' disc, do they STILL think I'd be willing to shell out more cash?
Forza 5 simply isn't worth it. The experience points and cash and all the other nonsense isn't worth this basic racing simulator. There's nothing here demanding my attention - no reward for grinding through the muck that is this shell of a former title. After roughly 6 hours of playing I have all three Vipers, and frankly that's all I ever want in a racing game anyways!
Turn 10, shame on you. I've been a dedicated fan of your titles since 2007. I think I'm going to see what Gran Turismo has to offer this time... | video-games_xbox |
Great fun, but not for the kids. Whacked is a cartoony beat-em-up game that pits you against three opponents - and with XBox live, they can be anywhere in the world!
At first glance, Whacked looks to be another version of Cel Damage, Super Smash Brothers Melee, or any of the many other cartoon-characters-bash-each-other-with-cartooney-weapons games that are on the market. You choose from a number of cartoon characters. You go into relatively small maps. You run around looking for weapons to kill each other with in cute ways.
When you get into the game, though, you realize very quickly that this game IS really unique, a ton of fun, and not really intended for kids!
The characters are each very special, and everyone I've played with has their own favorite. Toof's has a layer of teeth all the way around his head, and his entire head top lifts up when he wants to eat. Eugene is a picked-on flightless bird that dreams of revenge. Lucky is a rabbit who has lost his foot and is very grumpy. The characters are all drawn with a twisted sense of humor and you can tell that none of them are quite sane.
Gameplay is straightforward. You get put onto a cartooney map with interactive parts. A kid's room has a train rolling around on a track that runs you over if you're not careful. A kitchen sink area has a garbage disposal which can cause some damage. There are numerous weapons scattered around the map, from electro-zappers to egg-firing guns to staple guns and single-shot rocket launchers. There's a toy tank in one level, but it won't work until you put a battery into it!
In between levels are bizarre commercials and interviews with the characters. They're all on the twisted side. One commercial, with purposefully badly drawn artwork, simply goes, "grind up a pig, put it in a can, Scrapple!" while showing you a pig being ground up and dumped into a can.
The commentary that goes along with the game is GREAT! If Lucky the Rabbit is doing well, the background might start singing, "Kill the raaaabit, kill the raaaabit!" If Charity bashes Lucky into a wall, you might hear, "Charity got lucky today!" That leads to one of my only negative comments on the game. It seems like it'd be a great game for young kids and teenagers, since there's no blood and it's all cartoon fun, but the language should make a parent think twice. The announcer talking about the prize for winning calls it a 'lap dance of fun.' One of the built-in responses (vocal) after being hit is "If I had any feet, I'd kick your A%%."
Going on line both increases greatly the fun you can have but also increases the amount of swearing you have to deal with. The XBox Live comes with a headset and many of the users seem to be teenagers that enjoy shocking others. The gameplay is fast and furious, and quite a fun challenge, but if you wear the headset you'll hear everything from non-stop swears to rambling commentary on sex and drugs. If you get a group of serious gamers it's great to taunt each other and congratulate great shots, but if you run into one of the attention-seekers, it might be good to just leave off the headset for a while.
So for more mature audiences, I definitely recommend this game very highly! For the younger set, rent it if you're unsure, and judge for yourself if it's appropriate for their age level. | video-games_xbox |
Love this thing. The ONLY negative that I have to say about this is that it didn't come with a data transfer kit to move data from your old 360 to your new one. You have to purchase the new one by calling XBOX360 customer support (or going on line) and its a $12 charge. BUT they were all out and didn't know when they were getting more in. So I painstakingly re-downloaded all my content after transferring my license. It took 3 days, but the beauty of it, I was able to do it from the xbox360 site. So everything downloaded fine and this XBOX360 is the bomb. Now with he bigger hard-drive, I can download those XBOX original games. Plus you can install the MW2 on the 360 and play it from the hard-drive (you still need the disc to act as a catalyst). The reason you want to do this is that in the long run, it saves the wear and tear on the XBOX because the disc isn't constantly running.
As far as the game itself, it is difficult on any level which I really like. You will die a lot, one of the coolest thing is to ride the snowmobile. So single play is very very good and multi-play is awesome (even though I get smoked alot). I like the design of the box itself and it seems quieter than my previous system.
399.00 is a great price considering you are getting 2 controllers, the game and 250GB HD, headset and the system. It doesn't come with a HDMI cable, but you can get one of those cheap nowadays. And the wireless controllers are not the rechargeable kind. So you are going to have to buy an extra battery pack if you don't already have one. Its good to be consistent and buy the black rechargeable packs.
The XBOX360 as a whole w/XBOX Live is far more enjoyable than the PS3, in my humble opinion. Because if you have netflix, with the 360 you can put movies in your instant cue and watch them immediately, with no disc to insert (unlike the PS3). And they just added last.fm, facebook, twitter and zune.
In the end, if buy a lot of content from the XBOX Live Marketplace, than this is the system you want, the 250GB, if not, you can't go wrong with 120GB xbox-360. | video-games_xbox |
Uniquely complex game. Chromehounds is a mech simulator. It may sound obvious, but a lot of people seem to think it's the next Mechwarrior. Mechwarrior (for x-box) was an arcade game that was simple to play and easy to learn. Chromehounds is much more difficult to play and the learning curve is very steep.
The single player story mode is shallow and really nothing more than a glorified trainer for the x-box live version. In fact, if you don't have x-box live gold, this game isn't even worth renting.
The graphics run from very good to pretty poor. The mechs look great and are highly detailed. You can customize your mech with a ton of camoflauge patterns and decals. The environments, on the other hand, are pretty sappy. Buildings, grass, and sand look pretty bland.
The mech customization is really the key to play (otherwise equally powered mechs would just be strafing each other and whoever has slightly better aim would win). You can load up on weapons and armor, at the expense of speed. There are TONS of weapons, legs, and cockpits. You can carry missle counters, thermal vision, night vision, and other "assist" parts.
X-box live featurs a "war" with three warring nations. Every player must pick allegiance to one nation (though you can change allegiances) and you can go on missions for your country. The goal of each mission is to destroy the enemy's HQ while defending your own. You also win, but get less points, if you destroy the other team's mechs.
X-box live also features ranked and unranked games so you can just try out your mech against other players before taking it on the campaign.
This game is complex and it takes a while to figure out how to build the right mech for the right mission. My only real complaint is going on missions requires you join up with your squad. If you've ever been in a "clan" on x-box live, you know how hard it is to link up with your team to play other teams. Overall, this game offers a unique mech simulator that assures players won't necessarily be beaten by trash talking 13 year olds with excellent hand eye coordination. | video-games_xbox |
Who wants...to live...forever. Ah, immortality. The fantasy and desire to live forever is as old as death itself. Books, movies, even religion have all been influenced by humanity's desire to exist beyond a normal lifespan; to see the rise and fall of nations, to witness the advancement of the human race, or simply to dance on your enemy's grave. Even Queen wrote a song about it (see the title?)
Lost Odyssey, however, takes a bit more somber approach to agelessness. Sure, you out-live your enemies, but you also outlive your friends, lovers, even your children. What is immortality then, except watching the endless procession of death with no attainable end in sight? We've all played with the idea in our heads at one point or another, but after reading some of the well written memories that the main character, Kaim, recollects, it becomes easy to see that immortality can really be a downer. Even my roommate, who is as jaded, narcissistic, and cold-hearted as they come, admits that some of the memories are real tear-jerkers. I've read some that bemoan the dramatic writing as melodramatic, and it is true that some of the memories can run a bit long, but they're written that way to invoke a clear picture of the events to the reader. But enough about the memories; while they play a significant role in the portrayal of a less than grand millennium of existence, they're not the meat and potatoes of the game itself.
When I first opened the box I was excited that it took an entire four disks to contain it. Reviewers out there say it is because the world is so big, but that's not really the case. The world itself is average size for a next-gen game, and can be contained on one disk. Really, what would be the point of making a video game world so big that you need to change disks just to traverse it? The first three disks are by-and-large filled with cinematics and cut-scenes. You really don't start exploring the entire world till you get to the fourth and final disk. Until then you're watching a 40 hour long movie with the occasional fighting mixed in to remind you that you're playing a game. While others might complain that there isn't enough fighting in the game, I was happy with it. I don't play role playing games to fight a bunch of random encounters; I play for the story. Get an action game if you want to spend the entire time button mashing.
Overall, Lost Odyssey is a superb RPG that is both nostalgic and fresh enough to keep any fan of the genre happy for weeks. Beautifully drawn characters and maps for those of us that eat up graphics, along with deep playability will keep you glued to your television for hours on end. Just remember to take a break every now-and-then to live your life; it's not like you're gonna be around forever.
Pros:
Graphics: A+
Story: A+
Controls: A+
Cons:
No journal to help you remember what you're supposed to do.
A lot, and I mean A LOT, of back-and-forth between levels. (Memorize where the Pipots are) | video-games_xbox |
A bad frame rate ruins this game. I've only played a few levels of this game, so I'm not entirely qualified to write a review, but felt an obligation to warn away potential buyers who think they can get away with an inexpensive, old Xbox 360 shooter for an enjoyable experience. Maybe you'll be able to look past it's many problems. Hell, maybe someday I'll be able to. But for now the game is, for me, at best, slightly nauseating. Jeff Gerstmann said it best in his Gamespot review: "There's a good game in Quake 4, but it's buried under several layers of highly disappointing graphical performance issues."
You may have read other reviews of this game and found that a common criticism of the game is it's poor frame rate. You may have heard, 'it gets bad about halfway through,' or 'in some spots it gets a bit dodgy, seemingly for no apparent reason.' These reviews don't do justice to how bad the frame rate is on the Xbox 360. For the most part, there is not a moment in the game when the frame rate is stable. Starting from the opening cut-scene (yes, the movie that opens the game is jacked, too) the frame rate chugs and almost never stops chugging. If you stare at a wall that's a few feet in front of you, the frame rate stabilizes, but the moment you turn around, even the indoor draw distances are too much for the game to handle smoothly. It's a real shame, because even though it's an old fashioned and out-dated shooter, it does a number of things pretty well. It controls well, the weapons are, for the most part, satisfying, but you can't enjoy it. The frame rate is really that bad.
The game has a number of other faults that are hardly worth getting into. In some ways the graphics look great. Even today, Quake 4's computer screens, with their brightly colored interfaces, are impressive to behold. On the other hand the outdoor areas on the Xbox 360 are said to be even uglier than they were on the pc.
The bottom line is, if you have a tolerance for a poor frame rate and this game is very cheap, you may want to pick it up. However, If you're like me and feel that a stable frame rate is one of the most important aspects of a game, no price is low enough to justify buying this game. It was a shoddy port from pc to Xbox 360, and the people responsible for it should be embarrassed. It's a real shame that 360 owners can't experience the aspects of this game that are good, through the morass of technical performance issues that make it so bad. | video-games_xbox |
It's about time. With all the issues past MS hardware has had, I didn't think I could give a fair review of this product without waiting at least a year to see if any problems popped up. Then again, the latest models for the old design 360s have been much more reliable with the RROD being a non-issue unlike in previous models. This new "slim" model couldn't be any worse and if I do run into problems, there is always an edit button for this review.
Now why should you buy this updated model? Well it comes down to your individual situation and how important having the latest and greatest is to you. I personally had a 2007 20 Gig unit which had already been struck with the RROD once before. My warranty was up in a few months, my HDD was painfully limited on space, I had no HDMI port, and the unit was extremely loud. It was only a matter of time before it had to be replaced anyway, and with Gamestop having a special trade in deal (best trade in offer they have probably ever had) it made sense to upgrade, for me.
The "360 S", as it is described by MS, has immediate benefits over older models:
Looks - The system looks much better in person than it does in a 2D picture, slideshow or even video. You really have to see this thing to appreciate it's beauty. Now this is all subjective, but I think most people will agree that it looks better in person and in your entertainment center than it does in photos. The glossy piano black finish is quite attractive, though it can be a scratch and smudge magnet if you are not careful. Matte black is probably better for consoles but I'm not going to complain since it looks great. The silver/chrome trim is pure eye candy and goes well with the black finish. The curves and angles of the system are subtle and sexy making for an attractive console whether it rests vertically or horizontally. The controller is all black, unlike old elite controllers where the analog sticks were gray, and the guide button is chrome. The headset is also black, and looks very slick compared to the cheap piece of plastic packed in with previous units. MS went all out with the black here, the system is so dark in fact that it practically disappears when the lights are off, this is not a positive or a negative, just an observation.
Size - The official number is that the 360 S is 17% smaller than the preceding models. It looks even smaller than that when you finally get it home. It is easily smaller than both the original PS3 and the PS3 slim, though not as tiny and compact as the Wii. It will fit nice and snug into any entertainment center.
Function - First thing you will notice when unpacking your system for the first time are the vents. MS is not kidding with ventilation to prevent overheatng, there are two intakes, one on the top and one on the bottom, and an exit vent on the right side (when vertical, top when horizontal). Hot air is pushed out with such prejudice that I advise you not have any other devices resting to the right of the console if it is vertical and leave plenty of breathing room up top if placed horizontal. These vents work, the system stays cool and if it were to overheat there is a fail safe where the system shuts itself off and goes into "cooling mode". When in cooling mode, there will be a message on screen which explains what it is doing so you don't have a heart attack thinking you just got some more faulty MS hardware (admit it, we're all a little jumpy when it comes to MS hardware issues). I have not personally witnessed this cool down mode, I have simply read of it's existance and seen evidence. I have put in a number of marathon gaming sessions on my new 360 S and it runs cool to the touch.
Speaking of touch, the push buttons have been replaced by touch buttons. These buttons are quite sensitive, I only had to wave my finger in front of them to get a response. I didn't even touch the system and the disc tray opened, I thought the thing was sentient for a second and knew what I wanted. The power button is pretty sensitive as well and there is this satisfying chime that goes off when you activate these buttons. Now I am not sure if the sensitivity will dull over time, but they do seem a little too sensitive so keep your cats away from your system so you don't have your game ejected on you in the middle of play.
The immediate benefits with this system are the 250 Gig hard drive, built in 2.4 GHz WiFi and a portal for the upcoming Kinect. The hard drive is a huge bonus for me, now I can finally install games, rip music, download and watch videos and dive into XBLA like a fat man at a buffet. I feel so...liberated! WiFi is not a big deal to me as I prefer a hardline connection when online gaming, but it is certainly a welcome option. Some people have complained that the WiFi is not 5 GHz like the previous adapter but in all honesty, the 5GHz range is much more limited than the 2.4 and the whole reason to use WiFi, as I see it, is for the range. The built in WiFi is also claimed to be the fastest yet by MS and various gaming sites such as IGN. Then there is Kinect, which I am undecided on. I really need a price before I can make any decisions and I doubt I will be an early adopter, but if it releases more games like Child of Eden (spiritual successor to the hypnotic music shooter REZ), then I will have no problem picking up a unit for the right price. Maybe Kinect is not a day one purchase, but who wouldn't want to go all Lawnmower Man/Minority Report on their dashboard with hands free navigation and voice recognition? If these features are incorporated into games (without replacing the controller, just supplementing it) that are not shovelware, I will be interested. Not having to buy any kind of adapter for Kinect, an adapter you just know MS is going to overprice, is a welcome bonus.
Noise - The most immediate gratification you will get from the 360 S is it's whisper quiet sound. Whisper quiet is a perfectly accurate description, practically everyone who has this model uses that term as soon as they turn it on. Whisper quiet does not mean completely silent, it means that you can't hear it unless you are listening specifically for it. This means turning everything else off in the room, and this is with a disc in the tray. If the system is idle or if a game is installed, it's even quieter. It is easily quieter than the PS3 Slim and almost on par with Wii levels of silence. The noise of my old Xbox never really got to me because I play with a surround sound gaming headset (Tritton AxPros) but after hearing how quiet this system is, I can certainly understand the appeal of silence compared to what once sounded like an airplane taking off mixed in with a V-twin at full throttle.
As mentioned, I got a good deal on this new system at Gamestop. Is it worth the full 300? That depends on your situation and what you want. There are some great deals on the previous Elite models right now and if you have no interest in a hard drive (I suggest everyone get one though) then perhaps you may want to pick up an Arcade for half the price. There is also a rumored entry level 360 S to be released this fall for 100 bucks cheaper, not sure if it will have a HDD or not, it most certainly won't have built in WiFi. For anyone who has an older unit which is about to be out of warranty and has a 60 gig HDD or less, I'd say this is worth the upgrade if you truly want it. It is certainly a fine piece of hardware, the best hardware MS has ever released. | video-games_xbox |
Great game that you have to play a lot to appreciate. When I first started playing this game, I wasn't impressed. Missions that seemed disjointed and too easy. NPCs that responded in odd ways just because I stood next to them. Excessive profanity that just seemed out of place. I bought a boat that disappeared after I docked it. Traffic jams that exist only because one car won't move. Pop-up messages that disappear too quickly. That sort of thing.
But then something amazing happened. I was trying to pick up loot from an area occupied by gang members. Instead of attacking them (which would have been easy), I called in an APB on one of them. Fifteen seconds later, some cops drove up and tried to arrest him. An actual conversation between the cops and the gang members started, and then one of the gang members pulled out a gun. The cops shot him, and then the other gang members starting shooting the cops. Everyone started fleeing, and the cops chased some of the gang members into the street. There was a real shootout, with people taking cover, running away, and so on. I just sat back and watch the whole thing unfold in front of me. I've never seen anything like it in a video game. The NPC interaction in this game is fantastic.
I would say that you need to play the game for at least five hours before you can appreciate it. I never played the first game, so I didn't know what to expect. Watch Dogs 2 is an open-world sandbox game, much like GTA. Instead of committing violent crimes, you hack devices (unrealistically) to control them. Instead of picking a lock, you hack it. You can hack traffic lights to cause non-fatal accidents. You can hack some devices to cause fatal explosions, with little apparent side-effect. You can steal cars and motorcycles, but be quick before the owner accosts you.
There are still a few quirks. Stealing things is too easy. If you commit a crime, all you need to do is leave the area quickly enough, and there are no repercussions. If a gang member attacks you, 911 is called but no one ever comes to help you.
But the good outweighs the bad. I'm now hooked on this game. Sure, there's a lot that's unrealistic in the game, but there's enough depth to keep me going. I'm sure there's a lot to the game that I haven't discovered yet.
The only real disappointing aspect of the game is that it didn't need to be made Rated M. The profanity and nudity is completely unnecessary, and the only violence in the game is from shooting people (which is optional). Ubisoft could have easily removed all of that and the game would still have been great, and then it would have been Rated T. Unfortunately, I can't let my son play this game. | video-games_xbox |
Low quality. Extremely disappointing product. I am extremely disappointed with this headset. I expected a lot better from Razer.
I purchased the original version of the Carcharias in November of 2013 when it was a simpler model. See link: <a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/Razer-Carcharias-Over-Ear-PC-Gaming-Headset/dp/B001PTH0VW/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">Razer Carcharias Over Ear PC Gaming Headset</a> The cord was braided nylon, the remote was diamond shape with simple volume and mute controls, and it has just a audio and microphone jacks. No USB powered nonsense, just plug it in and go.
Unfortunately my cat chewed the braided cord right through and rendered the headset useless. I do not know how to fix this myself and the warrenty of is several months over.
So I googled "Razer Carcharias Headset" and quickly purchased a new one thinking I would get the same item. I was extremely disappointed to receive an so called "new and improved" version of the Carcharias. Here's my breakdown of this product:
- The cord of this headset is all rubber... which in my opinion is lower quality than the braided rope
- The headset and earpieces seem to be the same. I am not keeping this headset long enough to test whether the comfort level differs.
- This newer version has a third USB piece along with the audio and microphone jacks which you MUST plug in to use the headset because it is USB powered. Words cannot express how disappointed I was to learn this. Also when you plug the USB in there is a buzzing sound which is just a huge no-no on headsets. I'm baffled that Razer allowed a product with such a huge defect replace the original version.
- The new remote gives you a lot more audio control, which would be nice if they even worked on my laptop... but I'll get to that
- The headset came with all sort of connecting shenanigans that I would not need because I am not using this for an X-box
I opened the box, got the headset out and plugged it in to test it... I could not get this headset to work on my laptop. No sound came through. Just the constant buzzing from the USB. To have to go through troubleshooting to try to fix these issues on a brand new headset is disheartening. You would expect to plug in and at least do its job and play sounds. Nope.
I love Razer products and have in a past had great experiences with them, but these Carcharias have spoiled it for me. I have contacted Razer customer service via e-mail and am awaiting their reply. Perhaps their service will restore my faith in their company. | video-games_xbox |
In a drowning world of JRPGs. Being that JRPGs is my favorite genre of games, and I've played and own many of them, I've never been completely into the 'Tales' series. Sure I've played one in the past (specifically speaking 'Symphonia'), but I never had a win or lose opinion about the series. Well, 'Vesperia' completely converted me and now I must play each title as they come along.
I thought about buying the game many times, and passed on it, and it wasn't until my utter disappointment with 'Final Fantasy XIII' that I finally decided to pick of Vesperia. See, I needed something to take out the bitter taste of my gaming experience that FF13 gave me - as that was the game that was supposed to take me above and beyond the JRPG experience. Visually it did, but that's simply all it did. Still, in a world of FPS shooters, it's hard enough finding some solid JRPGs out there for the next-gen consoles. And with that limitation I happily, gladly, and finally picked up 'Vesperia' only to find that it had EVERYTHING I loved most about JRPGs. It reiterated most of what I loved since 'Tecmo Secret of the Stars': Distinct characters; multiple levels of dark storytelling despite the light appeal; massive worlds with the freedom to explore them; A WORLD MAP (all JRPGs MUST have an accessible world map, sorry); a welcoming battle system that allows you to determine how your partners will or will not act with the equipment you present them with; levels and levels of character progression, skills, weapons, etc.; great music and voice acting; and beautiful visuals. One other key feature: MULTIPLE SIDE QUESTS to better your cast and experience.
I'm not sure what I love most about JRPGs. There are so many elements that make the experience wonderful, but I think the ultimate appeal is spending time with the game and characters. It's hard to forget about characters who you literally watch make choices WITH you alongside them as a participatant. 'Tales of Vesperia' gave the player this experience as certain events, locations, and conversations with NPCs lead to different scenarios of the cast's development. Even when the characters were simply standing around having a conversation I found myself in love with them all because I was present in the occurrence and not an outsider to it.
The only - and I mean only - thing I found obnoxious about the game was attempting to acquire secret mission 17 (as those who haven't played will see). Otherwise, I recommend this for anyone who wants an involved, solid JRPG.
Another added bonus is this game actually has a Game + feature once it's completed so that most of what you earn in your first playthrough CAN be carried over via Grade points. And there are tons of DLC materials if you are an Xbox Live subscriber. Don't be afraid to take advantage of this material because the game looks cute, but she ain't easy. | video-games_xbox |
Cannot be used in addition to your controller. As a general customer and not somebody wholly computer savvy, I can only judge this product based on my limited knowledge. I'm sure it's a wonderful device, but for my purposes, it was NOT what I was looking for. I'll explain.
I have several XBox 360 controllers. For the Xbox One, when I wanted to purchase a second controller for some local co-op play, I tried to see if there was a way to use the 360 controllers I already had. Alas, after vast amounts of Googling, I discovered this is not the case, except for one instance that popped up multiple times: using a CronusMax. I didn't really want to get it, as it is $60, but when I realized that I would be spending the same amount [if not more] for a second Xbox One controller, I weighed the benefits of a single Xbox One controller versus the ability to use one of my 360 controllers (among other things), to which I was more accustomed than the Xbone controller anyways. And, if the need ever arose to use a PS3 controller or PS4 controller on it, or vice verse, I would already have that capability.
Despite having already seen a few YouTube videos and read a few Yahoo! answers, I was unaware that YOU CANNOT USE THIS IN ADDITION TO YOUR EXISTING CONTROLLER. That is to say, it substitutes your Xbox One controller in a process called "authentication." Basically, it takes on the ID of the Xbone controller in order to use a different controller, rendering the original controller unusable.
That's not to mention that it's a process getting it to the stage where it will work. You MUST HAVE a PC, and you MUST download software and read the instructions carefully. If the cord that comes with it doesn't work, you have to go out and buy another one. When you plug it into your computer, you cannot treat it like a USB device, which can be confusing for simpletons like me. Once I learned to leave it lying on the desk plugged into a cord that I had to replace, open up Cronus Pro that I downloaded and installed, go to Tools -> Options -> Device and set the Output Protocol to the SYSTEM you're using it on NOT the CONTROLLER (incidentally, the instructions say to go to Device Options, I had to figure out it was under Tools), plug the CM into the XBox One while it's on, remove the battery of the Xbox One controller, plug that in until you see a zero on the CM, unplug it, and finally plug in my wireless receiver (another additional purchase) and sync up my Xbox 360 controller, I discovered that the Xbox One controller is completely nonoperational, and both controllers stop working when you put in the battery and turn it on. 'Course, that may've been because the Xbone got confused and couldn't recover. Also, the wireless receivers CAN have more than one controller synced up to them when they're plugged into your PC, but apparently not in the CronusMax.
Maybe the USB Hub (sold separately and only something I just found out about) would've solved it, but that's another ten bucks. If you're like me, just get another controller and save yourself the aggravation. | video-games_xbox |
He Doesn't Always Use His Hidden Blade, But When He Does. Ezio Auditore may not be the most interesting man in the world, but he is certainly in the running for the most dangerous. "Assassin's Creed: Revelations" is a well-designed and fantastic-looking game with plenty of fun moments. I'm a big fan of the AC series, so it was admittedly much of the same gameplay I experienced in the previous titles. You sneak, climb, find lots of shiny treasure, and live by the creed.
Did you ever wish you could just lob a bomb at those pesky city guards? Well, now you can. After finding the proper ingredients scattered around the sprawling cities, you can add a very literal sense of explosivity to Ezio's threat factor. Make no mistake, though; you'll still need your trusty complement of various pointy weapons to handle the major assassinations and various lesser assignments set on your path. You're also given a "climbing hook" early in the game, and this adds some unique touches to climbing and free-running. You can still use your ranged weapons, too. Many a clueless roof guard met his end at the loud pop of my hidden pistol, which wasn't stealthy in the least, but certainly effective.
When you inevitably get spotted in a restricted area, or really have no choice but to strike out in the open in the broadest of daylight, you'll have to put your money where your mouth is and kill a whole bunch of guards. As is the case with any Assassin's Creed game, it is often preferable to simply forego stealth entirely and start swinging steel at anyone who looks dangerous. Either way, counter-kills and the ability to "chain" your kill-streak (continuing to attack after a successful kill) are what take the player above a simple "hack & slash" experience to feeling in control of a veteran assassin.
Now, some cons: I found myself asking the same question I often pondered while playing AC:Brotherhood; in the lengthy history of international assassins, did we really need to play as Ezio again? "Revelations" marks the third full game given to the character, and although I like him, I've never found him to be all that compelling.
Also, it got pretty excruciatingly repetitive and unrealistic to rebuild an entire city by myself. Every time you drop the money to fund a new shop in town, your notoriety goes up. Buy about five shops without stopping to bribe a herald along the way and Templars attack your assassin hideouts. While this does result in a new tactical defense sort of mini-game, it gets annoying. This is part of the larger effort made by the developers to make you play the game with meticulous caution - you know...sort of like an assassin? However, I'd still rather handle things "the old-fashioned way." | video-games_xbox |
One of the more over-rated titles I have played. The concept of an RPG FPS really intrigued me as I have been a big fan of the Elder Scrolls and many an FPS over my life. Borderlands is really just a Fallout knockoff with a strong Halo like feel. To me games like Call of Duty are too firmly planted on rails not allowing for much diverse gameplay and Halo was just a dragging grind with no major single player reward. Borderlands was fine for a few hours but got stale real fast and suffers from some major flaws. Maybe Borderlands 2 will improve on the formula but I will be hesitant to jump in.
Right off the bat I started as a Soldier to get into the flow of the game and then maybe attempt the other classes later on. In my very first encounter with enemies I was immediately concerned with how grossly underpowered my weapons were and how difficult it was to kill basic enemies. I chalked this up to the RPG elements and figured with leveling the game would even out. This never truly happened in my experience and as such I found the game to be just an arduous and often frustrating experience.
There are several major flaws to this game with me.
1. The aiming interface and mechanics are clunky on the Xbox.
Right off the bat I regretted grabbing this title out of the bargain bin for the Xbox and instead should have grabbed the PC version. The default settings are slow and cumbersome. Upping the controller sensitivity was imperative to me and while it helps the actual effectiveness of aiming was never very consistent. Even with Aim assist on it's a very frustrating experience. Your crosshairs jump all over never allowing fine tuning to aim and in major battles you will waste a ton of ammo firing all around enemies meanwhile AI aim is spot on. Some weapons are better than other but the whole process was very inconsistent and because of its cumbersome nature you can never truly excel at it. Worse there is no consistency to your shots even when you are on target. For instance you can have your cursor dead on an enemy standing still, hit one shot, and miss completely the next. This was most apparent with shotguns. I would have a Psycho bearing down on me litterally feet away and blast him once for a Crit then the next shot point blank would completely miss. This kind of erratic behavior was common for me. Some shots would produce big damage while the next well placed shot would do next to nothing. The emphasis on criticals was even more annoying because it was so hard to aim well enough to get them. Add in that enemy mobs would move in the most erratic ways. They would straff and charge around, often at ridiculous speeds, and with no clear motivation. Enemy AI was also incredibly intelligent and could spot you from a mile away and always had perfect AIM. The most pathetic thing I saw was the axe throwing mobs could heave an ax with spot on accuracy from a mile away and even score hits lobbing them over huge boulders and buildings, meanwhile perfectly aimed sniper shots would collide with invisible objects and poor clipping.
All in all I felt the need for dead on accuracy was not balanced with the shoddy mechanics of the game. Enemies are really hard in this game regardless of level so the need for a fluent and accurate aiming system was paramount and it doesn't exist here. Instead you burn tons of ammo and spend hours cursing the screen.
2. The leveling system is garbage.
The nature of an RPG is that a player can build the character to suit their play style and ultimately make the game easier for them as time goes on. This is normally achieved by building skills or attributes which makes you stronger. Borderlands though has a pretty shoddy leveling system. First of all it takes forever to level up. It requires tons of kills and quest completions to gain even a single level. Second of all you don't really even have attributes. Instead you have a WOW inspired talent tree that allows meager % bonuses to certain skills. So yeah you can make your shield regen faster or improve your core health some but most of the talents are geared towards your turret which is an item rarely employed.
Basically the bonuses just weren't good enough to make a significant improvement in the character. Yeah you got some attribute bonuses but in the end the key to powering up was finding better guns. Better guns make all the difference in this game but even this is a frustrating experience because you will spend hours debating which guns to keep but then enter combat and find even your best weapons are still horribly underpowered. I just couldn't help but feel that I was always inferior in strength to even the most basic mobs I was fighting. I even spent hours at one point power leveling to my early 20's to the point I wasn't even earning XP for many kills in quests and the game was still insanely challenging. It is made apparent early on that your character will always be at a disadvantage because the games difficulty is scaled very high and there is no real way to level it out except to hone your skills rather than building a better character.
3. The game punishes you heavily for failure.
Unlike most modern FPS games there is no health regen, at least not right away. Instead you need to heal via health packs and rely on your shield to protect you. In my experience with the game this was a major pain in the neck. Your inventory is insanely limited so you really can only carry a couple of health packs and they are all heal over time deals anyway. If the shields were stronger this would help but they aren't. At level 22 I found a lvl 4 mob could deplete my 179 point shield very quickly. This means that you are going to take health damage a lot and enemies rarely dropped health packs. So the emphasis was on finding shields with health regen powers. Easy enough early on but the speed of these regens was painfully slow. This meant tons of time spent just standing around waiting after battles while my health slowly climbed back up. Not very engaging honestly. Ultimately the game is pushing you to use cover and not get hit but if you go back to the cumbersome aiming controls (for the console anyway) then you will realize the drag this will be.
The next way the game punishes you is by dread awful spawn mechanisms. This game is very much like WoW and enemies exist in areas as a pack. Clear that area out and the exact configuration of enemies will return. The downside is they return almost immediately after you leave. Thats fine enough in the world map but in dungeons its an absolute pain. It basically kills you if you need to backtrack or wish to run back and sell items. It also kills your ammo supplies. Naturally any exposed ammo you find early on in dungeons but aren't picked up will disappear but the enemies return quickly. Further adding to the annoyance is that when you kill the boss you have to fight your way back out to complete it. Its a major time suck and sometimes that grind back out will kill you faster than the boss.
The last insulting aspect is that dying is severely punished. Gathering cash is a big grind in Borderlands. There are crates and containers everywhere holding small amounts of cash. Running around for an hour you can pick up a couple grand maybe. In dungeons too these things exist and it is neccessary to open them all even though for the first half of the game I never spent much in stores on anything other than ammo capacity upgrades. The hook is though that it can take you an hour to gather a couple thousand bucks but if you die the game forces you to pay a respawn fee. Early on the fee is a couple hundred but after a few deaths the fee was upwards of 8-9k. In other words you could spend 3 hours exploring a dungeon only to mess up and die and all of that cash you gathered is gone and then some. This just adds to the time suck and makes the games challenging aspect even all the more frustrating.
4. The game really kin of rams the need for co-op down your throat. I tend to play most of my games alone. I'm just not much of a co-op gamer but Borderlands really wants you to go it with friends. The difficulty of the game alone is high and as such seems heavily tailored for multiple players. There are just so many aspects that are grueling alone and one can easily see the benefit of having a friend join you. Certain boss battles are major grinds or neigh impossible without support. Heck even as I type this I have some bandits in a vehicle just driving circles around me and I'm burning loads of rockets trying to kill it.
In the end I think Borderlands is a playable game but it wears you out about halfway through. It's just not a strong enough title to really keep me interested because the difficulty is just so high and the game doesn't reward you for sticking it out. A million and one guns doesn't mean much to me when 99.9% of them are garbage and the leveling system doesn't really improve my character any. If I actually finish this game it will be a miracle because I am just so bored of it. I'll also be very wary of Borderlands 2 which releases in a a few weeks.
My advice is that if you need to play this now budget title that it would be best to grab it on PC and make sure you are gonna play with friends as the single player just has too much frustration in it to be considered an all around fun title. I cannot fathom why this game was rated so highly by the gamer mags. It's just a major frustrating time suck. | video-games_xbox |
Unfinished and still unplayable after a month - coming from a long time halo fan. I bought this from Gamestop but thought I'd share my review on here as well to warn people and get into the details so people know what to expect.
I have been so excited for this game for the last few months. In fact, I even bought my xbox one solely with Master chief collection in mind. So first off, I wanna say that I usually don't like to review games, especially with multiplayer components right at release, but I've given this game almost an entire month and it is still working terribly and half of the content is pretty much unplayable.
I'll start with the Multiplayer, which for me is the most important part of the game. I couldn't wait to nostalgia hard on the glory days of Halo 2 and all the fun times I had playing it, but shortly after buying the game at the midnight release, I rushed home only to discover that the entire multiplayer aspect of the game doesn't even work. For the first couple days it would take upwards of 30 minutes to find a match and thats only if you're lucky enough not to continuously get disconnected, but hey, I get it, it just came out, they're bound to have some bugs to iron out, it's pretty common.
343 must have noticed and began to apply patches throughout the next couple days after launch saying "Fixing issues in multiplayer", however I haven't seen them make much of a difference with the extremely long wait times. Not to mention out of the maybe 10-15 games I was somehow able to get in to over the course of the month, a portion of those were so buggy that it was unplayable. In a couple matches of supposed 4v4 slayer, one team would have 2 players and the other would have 6, I don't even know where to start with that. I guess this is as good as time as any to point out that as of now the ranking system only works in one playlist, and that big team battle is limited to only 12 players instead of the usual 16. As time went on they seemed to attempt to fix these problems by removing half of the multiplayer playlists including all halo 1 & 4 lists, leaving us with only 7 to choose from.
Unfortunately this didn't really seem to help much, matchmaking was a tad bit faster but there were still 15-30 minute waits to find a game, not even close what I'd expect from a next gen game, even halo 3 back in 2007 was 10x faster, it's inexcusable. After a week or so of trying to join games I just gave up and went out and bought GTA V, hoping that it would entertain me until they fix this utter disaster of a launch. After finishing GTA nearly three weeks later, I popped MCC back in hoping to see these issues resolved. I tried every different playlist multiple times and spent almost an hour and a half total not even able to find a SINGLE GAME, so now I've pretty much given up hope.
Another point I'd like to touch on is the co-op element of the game, the second most important thing for me. Halo has always been a great co op experience shared by my friends and I, but MCC managed to disappoint me here as well. First off, the fps drops and lag kicks in as soon as there's more than one person on the screen, so local split screen is still playable but doesn't look very good and the frequent fps drops get annoying. Online Co-op on the other hand is much worse. I've tried it twice but the other players besides the host have all experienced a couple seconds of lag that are pretty obnoxious and can ruin the experience, that is if the constant disconnecting doesn't ruin it first. Just to reiterate, it is at least playable, unlike the multiplayer, so at least there's that.
Last but not least, the single player campaign. The only thing that works decently in the game. The work they did on Halo 2 Anniversary is incredible. They touched it up top to bottom and it shows, the new voice acting, music, and graphics are all simply amazing. Kudos to 343 for that. All of the other games running at 60fps in 1080p look amazing as well, the difference 60fps makes is huge and everything runs super smooth. The game has crashed once or twice but all games do occasionally, not specifically 343's fault.
Everything considered, I'm upset that I spent $60 on a game that I'm starting to think they didn't even bother to test or make sure their servers could handle. I don't think I'm the only one here to think that it's almost just disrespectful to ship out a game in this condition, it's like a slap to the face to all their loyal fans. To sum it up, I'm pretty disappointed in 343, and their already bad rep is just getting worse. And just to be clear, I will come back and update this review if things get fixed, but I think it's fair to post this now seeing as they've had a month to touch it up, and if it takes longer than that to fix I personally see it as shipping out an unfinished game which shouldn't cost $60. The only thing holding me back from trading it in is the Halo 5 beta, hoping I can somehow get maybe 3 or if I'm lucky 4 games in over the 3 weeks its open. | video-games_xbox |
Indy comes to the world of Lego. Since I really enjoyed Lego Star Wars, I was pretty excited to see the release of Lego Indiana Jones. While the Lego video games don't necessarily have the greatest level design, I can't deny the fact I find these games incredibly fun. The fact that you can co-op through these games makes it all the more fun.
Indiana Jones was an excellent trilogy to bring in Lego format. Though since they've progressed with this stuff... I kind of want to see a Lego Aliens/Predator series; I think that would be amazing! Anyway, experiencing Indy in Lego format was great fun. Basically if you've gone through the Lego Star Wars stuff then you already know the name of the game. Playing the game in Story Mode can actually be pretty difficult, even for two people. Once you're done that you get the chance to go through the game in Free Play, and for me, this is where the game really shines. You get to use an array of different characters and you get to explore the maps for lost treasures and other hidden items. I don't know what it is about doing this, but I find it incredibly fun. I think the Lego games are a nice break from the usual fairly serious games I play like Half Life 2 or Mass Effect for example.
Some of the levels are a bit frustrating, but I've come to expect that when dealing with Lego developed games. They also hide some of these items very well, so they are quite a challenge to find. The hours of game play you get out of this makes it rather worthwhile in my opinion.
I really don't have much to say on this game other than if you've already got experience with Lego Star Wars, you know what to expect. If this is your first Lego game, don't get too frustrated, they don't make the puzzles completely obvious. In the end I had a lot of fun; however, I still wouldn't rank these types of games as the top games ever made. They're just a lot of fun while trying to get through them. | video-games_xbox |
Loving the white. I love this white console! I have the black Day One edition which has been great for me. This white one is so beautiful! The design works better with white than black in my opinion. It's really white. Not an off-white. I didn't realize how white the controller was until I compared it to the Titanfall controller which was also white. It makes the Titanfall controller white look more like a putty white. The console comes with Sunset Overdrive, an amazing game that's probably up for game of the year since it's reviewing so well. It comes as a downloadable code, not a disc.
There is no Kinect so you might want to pick that up. Totally worth it. You can find it used on Ebay for much cheaper than a new one.
For those that haven't checked up on the changes for the console, it's all improved for the better. Friends and party chat support is improved. The BluRay playback is still great. The TV snap is bigger now so it's easier to watch football or TV shows while playing a game. The chat audio is so crystal clear that you can hear your friends fidget in their leather chairs. You can play back your MKV or any time of files via a USB drive. They update the operating system monthly (sometimes faster than that!) so we're constantly getting new features.
You can hook up external hard drives (HDDs) and put your games on them. My external 3TB HDD is actually faster than the internal HDD on the One! You can also move this external HDD between Xbox One systems to play your games (which I'm doing until I pick up another HDD for this white console). So if you wanted to go to your friend's house and play, you can just bring the hard drive (and disc if you bought a disc game).
You really can't go wrong with the system. Games look and play great. Chat audio is great. It's so much faster than the 360 in turning on because the One can be in sleep mode and wake up almost instantly. You can be at work, buy a game, and the One will automatically download it so it's ready when you get home. You can play a game while downloading (something that really couldn't happen on he 360)!
All the bundles are on huge sales right now! Now only do you get $50 off, but it comes with a game so it's really under $300 for a console. | video-games_xbox |
Realistic, occasionally frustrating rendition of squad-based WWII combat. With Brothers in Arms: Road to Hill 30, developer Gearbox has created a strategy-oriented first-person shooter that tests more than your hand-eye coordination. To succeed at the game, you will have to become proficient with some basic squad commands and learn to "suppress and flank" in the midst of a firefight.
Add to this decreased, more realistic shot accuracy from your weapons (the targeting reticle is turned off by default, and doesn't help much anyway - to be accurate, you'll have to switch to the zoom view down the barrel of your rifle, which limits your movement and peripheral vision) and you have something significantly different from other WWII shooters like Call of Duty where you're a one-man army. The emphasis is on group tactics - holding the enemy down with suppressive fire, then hitting them from their exposed sides with flanking. Running and gunning will get you only so far in the game (although it is sometimes necessary).
This can be loads of fun, but will sometimes cause you to scratch your head when you're faced with more than one group of enemies in complex terrain. To help with this, there is an in-game feature that allows you to take a bird's eye view of the battlefield, and highlights yours and your enemy's positions. It's not bad, although I wished you could freely move around the map while in this mode; they only let you switch from the positions you and your enemies have taken on the map, and rotate the camera around those positions. In addition, your men will behave pretty intelligently most of the time, taking cover if they're fired upon, or telling you that they can't carry out the command you've given them.
Besides the gameplay, there is the story and immersion in the game world. Gearbox succeeds here, showing through in-game character dialogue and narrative by the main character in between missions, the life of a soldier during this time. I felt attachment to the characters I fought alongside with during the game, and also the camaraderie the real soldiers they're based on must have felt.
In addition to the core game, there is quite a bit of extra content you can unlock just by completing the levels on a given difficulty setting. Plus figuring out how to really dominate the battlefield is another incentive to replay the game.
It was with a sense of accomplishment and satisfaction that I finished the last mission for this game. | video-games_xbox |
The Spectra is a responsive wired controller that feels good in-hand, but you're really buying this for how shiny it is. <div id="video-block-R13U6MCIZNS2D1" 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/A14jKNPhJhS.mp4" class="video-url"><input type="hidden" name="" value="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/714FZI6EEwS.png" class="video-slate-img-url"> I'm actually really liking the Power A Spectra Controller for XBOX One and Windows. It works great on the XBONE and seems to be responsive and just feels good in hand. I'm not going to say that it feels better or is more responsive than the stock XBOX One controller, because frankly, it probably isn't (the stock controller is hard-to-beat), but I also don't feel like I'm at a huge disadvantage playing a multiplayer game with this controller, so I really feel like it's comparable on that front. It also does a fine job in Windows, where I've been using it with Steam for the last couple of days.
The thing is though, if you're really taking a long, hard look at the Spectra, it's probably because it's an illuminated controller (I'm a sucker for blinking lights, I guess), and as far as that goes, it quite literally shines (I really didn't want to enter bad pun territory there). It's a nice-looking controller with the light off, with a nice metallic, chrome look at the center of the controller, but it's a lot better when you turn the lights on and let it do it's thing. Since a picture is worth a thousand words, I uploaded a short video showing that off.
All-in-all, the POWER A XBox One Spectra controller is a good third-party controller. It feels pretty good in the hand and is responsive. It's not the best controller I've ever used, but it feels competent. For most game players, it's good enough to be your primary controller, especially if you want a lightshow to go with your gaming (and really, who doesn't?). | video-games_xbox |
Back to Good. The end of the "Sands of Time" trilogy marks a successful return to the style and fun of Prince of Persia - Sands of Time. The Two Thrones combines the good fighting mechanics of Warrior Within (WW) with the downright utter enjoyment that the Sands of Time (SoT) started two years ago.
The story picks up where WW left off, with the Prince returning home to Babylon. Before you know it, the sands of time make a comeback and the Prince is left in peril in order to save his kingdom. All the great platforming tasks of insane jumps and crazy obstacles are here, as are most of the "sand powers" found in the first two iterations.
Gameplay is the same for the most part. The new "speed kill" system is quite fun, but some may find it eases the fighting difficulty quite a bit. That being said, its not always the easiest thing to pull off, especially when multiple enemies are involved, but a cool addition none the less.
The graphics look better than ever, a slight improvement over WW, and a remarkable improvement over Sot which was jaw dropping only two years ago. The rendered cut-scenes look good and the sound is clear, including all the voice acting where the original actor from SoT has returned to voice the Prince. He does a great job again and really adds to the overall quality of the game. The music is a return to the orchestral sounds of eastern decent, and the hard rock has left the building to much acclaim.
This game is very linear, which some people may stray away from. There is no multiple back tracking like WW. However it is enjoyable from start to finish. Even the new chariot races are interesting, but some may find them slightly out of place. There is one Boss fight in-particular that will cause many frustrating moments to all. After a few times (or perhaps dozens) studying the patterns and getting your attack down, it becomes no problem.
I did experience one glitch that caused my game to freeze at a certain point several times. After searching around on message boards, it seems to be a common problem. I was able to get past it after resaving over the save point file. A word of advice - have at least a few different save files along the journey so you don't have to start over at anytime.
The ending is completely appropriate to the trilogy, and leaves you hoping the Prince will one day return. This game is a little on the short side. At around 7-8 hours for me to complete, it seemed shorter than the previous two. All in all, a great game. A must play for anyone who enjoyed the previous two, or for fans of third-person action adventure. You owe it to yourself to play the first two beforehand though, if only to see the story from beginning to end, and to experience one epic adventure. | video-games_xbox |
Cowboys Meet Vampires and The Best Auto Save Feature EVER. In Darkwatch you are Jericho Cross. A hybrid between vampire horror and Western shoot-em up. If you're looking for a first person shooter, Darkwatch is the game fore you.
Capcom offers intense gameplay and presents a original excellent presentation of new characters.
It's refreshing to see a first person shooter with a theme that isn't played out which makes it well worth checking out.
Jericho Cross hardly does the talking. Others speak for him while he jumps and robs trains.
By mistake you release the soul of Satan's son, Lazarus, who curses you to a vampire. He unleashes his undead minions to plague the old west.
The only organization that can stop him is a secret army called the Darkwatch. Cassidy, one of the army's "regulators" witnesses what you did on the train. You'll spend the beginning of the game by her side, as she leads you back to the safety of Darkwatch. You begin to understand the new powers you have as a vampire.
You'll of course have access to a variety of different weapons, ranging from pistols and rifles to my personal favorite the exploding crossbow and a rocket launcher.
Each gun offers different strengths and weaknesses, and each one is fun to use in its own way. Since the enemies in Darkwatch take location-based damage, it's possible to blow off the heads and limbs of most enemies with the more powerful guns.
Each gun also offers you a powerful melee attack, and the weaker enemies in the game will actually go down with just one satisfying strike.
The power of these attacks and pacing of the gameplay make melee a viable option, particularly in caves or other close-quarters areas. You'll also have access to dynamite that you can throw, which serves the same role as a grenade.
Stationary turrets are also sprinkled throughout the later levels. Cross can carry only two weapons at a time, so you'll often need to make important tactical decisions about which guns you want to pick up and drop as you make your way through each of the game's single-player missions.
It all adds up to fast-paced, eye catching gameplay that will keep you entertained throughout Darkwatch's single-player missions.
Your vampire powers will become the key to staying alive even though your undead. Which seems like a plot loop hole at first but once you realize that he quickly regenerates his health, I'm sure I won't find you complaing about this when 20 skeletons come running at you with TNT or butcher knives.
One of my personal favorate powers is the double-jump! You basically feel like you can fly and control your direction in midair, which is useful for getting up on rooftops or jumping from steep ledge to ledge. Don't worry, there isn't any real platforming neccessary in the game. Another vampire-related power is the blood shield, which acts more or less like the shield in Halo.
You'll love your blood shield and then get back behind cover and let it recharge before taking damage.
Blood vision is another Vamp Power that will allow you to see the weapon pick ups and power-ups by highlighting the screen.
Enemies leave behind blood clouds that not only increase your health and powers but follow you when you get near.
This makes the BEST Auto health restore and Save feature in any game I have seen to date. No only does it replenish your health but it also charges up a special power meter, which lets you unleash your special vampire powers once full.
There are eight total of these special powers in the game, four that are "good" and four that are "evil". These unlock throughout the campaign as you come across innocent victims who've been cursed by Lazarus.
One cool feature is that you choose to cleanse their souls "GOOD" or devour them for your own selfish pleasure "BAD".
As you make choices, you build a reputation as either good or evil. So you're encouraged to stick with one side until you've maxed out your powers then start choosing the other.
This aspect of the game probably sounds more interesting than it actually is, as the choices you make don't really affect the story, aside from one major choice you make toward the end that determines which one of the two different endings you'll see.
The single-player campaign of Darkwatch is varied, but definitely not lengthy. A single play-through shouldn't take more than 10 hours for most people (FIVE for me personally) and even if you went back to the mission that branches the storyline and replayed from there to see the second ending, it would only add about an hour or two more to your gameplay time. The good news is that while the game is short, it's pretty fun while it lasts. There's a good variety of monsters to fight against, ranging from scythe- and gun-wielding skeletons and zombies, to banshees that float around high in the air, to blood-spitting demons. These repeat throughout the game.
The endgame boss fights are also fairly challenging, but not overly frustrating, as the midpoint of each fight acts as a checkpoint.
Darkwatch's enemies offer no rest for the weary.
Speaking of checkpoints, Darkwatch's missions include a liberal amount of them, which is good as it helps keep the action flowing. The designers also did a good job of keeping the actual missions varied. A couple of missions have you fighting on horseback, including one where you must eventually try to jump onto a train. Another mission has you driving a heavily armed buggy, which lets you run over lots of skeletons, a la Army of Darkness. Yet another is set in daylight, where your vampire powers are useless. This is a particularly intense level, as you desperately fight from shadow to shadow in order to maintain your shield and other abilities.
Darkwatch's presentation values match the excellence of its gameplay. The graphical style has a very comic book feel to it, with the slightly exaggerated proportions of Cross and the other Darkwatch team members. The other character models in the game are well detailed and animate nicely. Perhaps one of the nicest touches is the location-based damage. There's nothing in the game quite as satisfying as seeing the bad guys literally come apart from the limbs. That is, unless you prefer the fun rag-doll effects from dynamite and TNT explosions. The generous number of cutscenes advances the story between most of the missions, and as for any graphical differences between the two versions of the game, there really aren't any. Both the PS2 and Xbox games look near-on identical, so you're not missing much graphically if you go with one version or the other. The game's sound quality is also very good, with kitschy Western tunes as the soundtrack, and impactful sound effects punctuating every explosion and gunshot. Though Cross oddly never utters a single word throughout the game, the extensive voice work for the other characters is noteworthy. Video game veteran Jennifer Hale voices your guide, Cassidy, and Charmed vixen Rose McGowan lends her voice to Tala, who plays your sultry sidekick later in the game.
The game's visuals offer up a delightfully dark atmosphere.
Unfortunately, it seems that the work that went into creating such a compelling single- player campaign in Darkwatch was not matched for the multiplayer aspect. The game offers online competitive play for up to 16 players over Xbox Live, as well as split-screen action for offline play (which is the only multiplayer you can get on the PlayStation 2). There is a solid selection of maps, based on levels from the single-player game, as well as original ones designed specifically for multiplayer. Only a small handful of game modes are offered, which include your usual deathmatch, team deathmatch, and capture the flag, rendering the multiplayer aspect of the game much like any other first person shooter. You're pretty much just running about looking for the best weapons to blow away your other enemies who are also running down the weapon spawns. The only unique game mode is something called soul hunter, where players run about the map collecting blood in order to fill their blood meter before the other players do. None of these modes are especially great, so if you are looking for a game specifically for the multiplayer action, you may want to give pause before you consider Darkwatch.
Despite the lack of satisfying multiplayer, Darkwatch's enjoyable single-player campaign and satisfying run-and-gun action make it an appealing shooter that's easy to recommend. The game's excellent presentation and unique style should also make it attractive for action fans seeking a shooter that doesn't rely on one of the tried-and-true settings, but still offers excellent action. | video-games_xbox |
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