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YOU DONT EVEN KNOW. This is the best Game out for the 360, if you have a 360 and don't have Oblivion, shame on you, don't ask just go buy it. Even if your not even remotely an RPG fan i guarantee youll love this game. Just go to ebay and try and find it cheaper than $40 total USED, and youll see that this game has the highest resale than any other, why? cause it is that good.
Im amazed they could fit so much information on one disc, I have been hesitating to play this for fear that my girl would get jealous and leave me, cause im spending more time on the 360 than her. Let me tell you, ive been playing for roughly 50 hours and i haven't even started the main quest yet. Its a totally open world, you can go anywhere anytime, letting you choose how you want to play the game.
You start of by creating your character, everything from the race to the the shape of your chin is all customizable, just remember that each race has its strengths and weaknesses too. Heck you can even decide what sign you're born under, and once you're in the game you can decide what kind of fighter youll be too. Long range with arrows and magic, or up close with warhammers and blades. Its all up to you to decide, might as well train on them all and become the ultimate warrior!
I just bought a horse and am now roaming the countryside finding things like old forts and mines to explore. I even came upon a group of daedric(satanic) worshipers who wanted me to do something for their evil god. There are so many factions too, like right now im a member of the mages guild, the gladatorial arena, and the fighters guild. People recognize you more as your fame goes up, and you can even talk to people and con them into liking you, obviously doesnt work with all of them; some NPC's are just A**holes.
This here is the most game for your money, at least a 120 plus hour game, if your hesitating still, dont; just go get it and see what i meen, you won't be sorry. | video-games_xbox |
Mixed reviews are well justified. This game has stood out as receiving mixed reviews, both on the high end and low end of the spectrum. Adding more fuel to the fire, the studio that developed the game was shut down by Rockstar shortly after the games release. While the game might not have lived up to Rockstar's, and many gamers expectations, it is a worthwhile adventure.
The Game:
The game has a great story. It is structured around your character Cole Phelps (WWII veteran) turn cop in the late 40s. The missions in the game are called 'cases', each case varies in what has happened (murder, drug use, etc). For each case you investigate the crime scene and follow leads and ultimately it's up to you to choose the guilty person and charge them with the crime. Some cases stand on their own while others tie together. You go through several positions within the police department: traffic, homicide, vice and arson. The cases are very interesting and they can be quite fun and intellectually stimulating as you work your way toward solving the case. While all this is going on there is a bigger story in the works, and you also see flashbacks of Cole's WWII days. There are "mini" side-missions throughout the game which are activated by answering a call over the vehicles radio. The side-missions involve you chasing down a suspect, saving someone from threatening to jump off a building and so on.
While the cases are fun and intriguing with different scenarios, the process is the same. Arrive at the scene, look for clues, talk to witnesses, drive around to locations of interest looking for other clues, chase down a suspect, get a confession and convict a suspect. All cases have the same process, so it gets boring over time. Only toward the end of the game do you experience some big shoot-outs and different structured cases which are a nice change of pace, but some of these 'unique' cases should have been in place of some of the same static cases.
Conclusion:
To sum it up. The game is good, I had fun playing LA Noire. There isn't much to do other than the cases and repetitive side missions. I got bored about 1/3 of the way through and took a few months off from playing the game, I then got back to it and got bored but pushed myself through to the end just to beat it and be done with it. The ending was lacking, as with many games these days, it felt rushed. The final action sequence is lacking emotion and suffers from bad editing, which is disappointing since the first half of the game was done so well. I assume it was pressure to finish the game on time that hurt the ending. Either way LA Noire is a game that any avid gamer should experience, it is a very unique one-of-a-kind game. There is nothing else like LA Noire, but it may just be a bit too long and too static to become a AAA title. | video-games_xbox |
Xeno-piece of crap. Where do i start? Aliens was my favorite movie of the four, 3 and 4 were god awful so i don't count them in all reality, so wheni heard about this game coming out (Since its been anticipated for like 7 years) i got excited. i saw the pre-game play and pics and such which really got me pumped to kill some Xeno's
PROS:
Well i mean you get to see what happened after ALiens, the time line is actually before Alien Resurection and after Alien 3 so its quite a time peroid. the gameplay was fun at first, the bleep scanner the character seemd cool and the first alien set off for a really fun game. the graphics were eh okay, the characters are kinda funny and theres some cool easter eggs like characters guns (Hicks shotgun, Frostyes flam thrower, Vansquez smart gun, you get it), also getting to use the loader to fight a Xeno boss.
CONS:
This game was half assed, i feel like the company ran out of $$ and time and decided to throw what they had out there. the aliens (unless on hardest difficulty) just stand there and kinda let you shoot them. its not scary, the Cinematics and gameplay pictures don't match, For Ex. in game your wearing full gear and your all cleaned up. During a cinematic your helmetless and dirty, Same for when you find hicks (Spoiler sorry, yeah Hicks aint dead :) in game hes wearing his gear, in the cinematic hes armorless. Also! the alien types. i thought the Aliens weren't flimsy enough they looked to stiff and they rarely flimbed on walls giving you that fearful edge of gameplay. and the Crusher alien was a diapoitment, in the commerical they made this guy to be a badass xeno but hes just lame as hell. lastly the thing i hate in all reality was the queen battle, what a waiste of money. the queen whos the most badass alien was the dumbest fight scene in the game. i was sexpectenig some hard fun way to kill her and i figured itd be kind of an omage to the movie but no, she just getts pushed out of a ship, no cool scene took about eh maybe 5 minutes to kill her.
So don't buy this unless tis like 20 bucks. its not worth the 4-6 hours of decent gameplay, didn't play online so i don't know how that is. i was really saddened about how crappy this game was. if they wouldnt have half done it, i would be happy. | video-games_xbox |
Great Controller That Provides Added Support Where Needed. The Xbox 360 is arguably one of the most popular consoles of recent memory, with even Hollywood films and television series making references to "The Xbox" or shown playing the console in some manner. The console's main advantage over its predecessor is the ergonomically designed controller. Whereas the original Xbox featured a rather large controller similar to that of the Sega Dreamcast, the Xbox 360 features a much smaller, yet larger than the PS3, design that incorporates easy to use triggers and concave thumbsticks which provide better overall grip than the PS3's analog sticks do.
However, one thing has always been a little "off" about the controller. Despite its overall design being praised left and right by consumers and gaming professionals alike, one drawback has been constantly present whenever one discusses the Xbox 360 controller and that is its directional pad. The PlayStation controllers have always provided one of the best fitting, and most useful, d-pads on a controller to date. However, Microsoft went the route of the Sega Genesis, and utilized more a disc design for their d-pad. The result: an awkward design that does not respond as intended. Pressing "up" can sometimes be interpreted by the controller as an "up-forward" making on screen avatars move in the wrong direction.
This controller promises to try to alleviate the problem, and it works, to a degree. The controller provides a much easier to press directional pad which allows the user to ensure that he/she is indeed pressing the desired direction properly. It does not move as fluidly as the PS3 d-pad does, but when compared to the previous iterations of the Xbox 360 controller, it does provide a much better overall response for each direction. If the user decides to play the games with the traditional disc that the 360 uses, a simple twist of the d-pad converts it back it to its regular form.
Overall, the controller provides a better directional pad than previous versions of the controller, with slightly improved response from the four major directions: up, left, right, and down. However, if a user is expecting PS3 level responsiveness, than they may be disappointed. The color scheme is a nice touch to the controller, providing an overall classy, and sleek design. | video-games_xbox |
Play the first, and be done with this series. I'll keep it short. It's a decent game, but since there are a few missables, and the areas they are in are quickly run through, all the OCD gamers out there will be frustrated. This could have been fixed if new game + mode was unlimited, but a loot drop system on a game that only allows ONE ng+ playthrough is also annoying. Why spend hours building a good weapon and collecting awesome armor if you can't use them to blow through additional playthroughs. Also, unlike the first game, this one loses it's luster quickly. I recall some late nights playing the first because it was hard to stop. You'll have to pass back through areas for that one last collectable in several areas simply because you don't have the ability to grab it the first time through, which in some games is fun if the areas you backtrack through are areas you want to revisit, but frankly this is a one and done game I'm now trying to rush through just to add it to my gaming 'bucket list.' Play it if you enjoyed the first, but be prepared for a letdown if you're expecting more. No wonder this is the game that killed THQ.
Addendum after finishing the entire game. DO NOT buy any of the DLC. It is buggy for me and many others. I wasn't even able to play half of one and none of another of the DLC dungeons. The auto-save feature becomes bugged, and the file gets corrupted, and since the same file is used for the main game and the DLC, it also affects your main game. After becoming corrupted, the game will randomly freeze, especially near auto-save points. The DLC will not receive any patches either as the company that put out this game has gone bankrupt. Buy DLC at your own risk !!
One last addendum, the limited edition is now worthless. It includes a code you use on the DS2 official site, which in turn gives you another code to redeem on PSN or Xbox Live depending on your version. The code the site gives you is irredeemable thanks to an expiration date. | video-games_xbox |
Great, but not perfect. 'Rock Band' is the latest music/rhythm game release by Harmonix, the original creators of the 'Guitar Hero' franchise (Guitar Hero 3 was actually done by a different company, but they changed very little). Essentially, 'Rock Band' is Guitar Hero with the ability to play additional instruments (bass guitar and drums) and to sing along. While there have been several earlier drumming games (the biggest being Konami's 'Beatmania', currently out only in Japan), this is the first US console release of such a game, and the only one to put together multiple types of instruments. To put it bluntly -- this is, in my opinion, the best multiplayer music/rhythm game made to date. By far.
The meat of the game is the "Band World Tour" mode; this is a multiplayer career mode that allows you to progress from a small, local band to become international superstars. You can create and customize your own band of gnarly musicians, including different animation styles (rock/punk/goth/metal) and an enormous variety of costumes, hair styles, tattoos, and makeup/face paint. Tattoos and face paint can also be extensively customized, as well as your band's logo; the editing process is laborious, but very flexible. Once you start playing, your band gains fans as you master harder performances, and has to unlock new modes of transportation (beat-up van, tour bus, plane, etc.) and various rock star perks (roadies!) to be able to access more tour stops. Rock hard enough and you can wind up in the Hall of Fame! Various events include not just playing single songs, but having to play preset, random, or customizable 'setlists' of multiple songs back-to-back, and various 'challenge' events that require you to play difficult songs at or above a certain difficulty level.
Unfortunately, "Band World Tour" can only be played locally, and not online. Online play is available (in the XBox 360 and Playstation 3 versions), but only in the "Quickplay" mode where you pick individual songs from a list and not the full career more. Harmonix has said that it is unlikely that this will be added later; this will probably be the killer feature of 'Rock Band 2'. There is ranked 1-on-1 matchmaking through XBox Live in a few different modes, but no way to have your whole band take on another one head(s)-to-head(s) (again, I would look for this in a sequel).
One other caveat that deserves mention: In "Band World Tour" mode, you must have everyone in your band at least use "Medium" difficulty (the second of four settings) to progress more than about halfway through the game, and "Hard" difficulty (the second-hardest setting) to unlock a few of the challenge events and the last few arenas. At "Medium" difficulty, most people will need to actually work at/practice the harder songs if they do not have earlier experience with Guitar Hero (or playing a drum kit in real life), and it may prove frustratingly difficult for little kids or particularly tone-deaf/rhythm-challenged players. You are free to simply play the songs at any difficulty in "Quickplay" mode once they are unlocked in either the single-player or multiplayer career mode (there are also cheat codes to unlock all the songs right away).
The single-player modes actually take a step back from Guitar Hero 3; there are no special challenges or deviations from the regular "play through the songlist to unlock everything" formula of Harmonix's earlier titles. Clearly the main focus of the game is the multiplayer aspect (which, to be fair, is extremely well done).
Underlying all that is an extremely fun and accessible rhythm game. The basic gameplay is extremely similar to Guitar Hero (not a bad thing). Players can individually select their difficulty level, ranging from "Easy" to "Expert". Higher difficulties require hitting more notes, and much more complex patterns of notes and chords. While playing, each instrument has a "crowd meter" that tracks how well you are doing; if you are not playing well, the meter will go down, and if it hits the bottom you will be booed off the stage! Playing certain note phrases perfectly fills an "energy meter"; when the meter is more than 50% full, each instrument has a way to activate an "Overdrive" mode that gives a score multiplier and increases the crowd meter immensely (and if multiple players activate it simultaneously, the entire group gets an additional score multiplier). Activating "Overdrive" also brings eliminated players back, although if they are booed off stage three times in total they are out for the rest of the song. Some songs feature a "Big Rock Ending", where all the players can freestyle and play whatever they want for bonus points (but only if they stop freestyling at the right time and actually hit the last few notes of the song!) A practice mode is available that lets you play individual sections of a song, and slow it down by up to 50%.
Visually, the game looks great, especially on an HDTV. The musicians are detailed and well-animated. Close-up shots show individual strings being plucked on a bass, the guitarist rapidly changing their hand positions, or the drummer accurately hitting complex rhythms and fills, unlike the simplistic strumming of the characters in earlier Guitar Hero games. The musicians interact (for instance, your singer might move next to the guitarist and they'll sing along together for a few bars), and have a wide variety of animations (including the singer occasionally crowd-surfing!) The only real complaint is that in 4-player modes, the screen gets quite crowded, especially on a smaller television set. This not only keeps the onlookers from seeing the awesome graphics, but can occasionally make it difficult to follow complex note patterns or to read the lyrics of a song. On a large HDTV this is not an issue.
The guitar/bass gameplay is almost identical to Guitar Hero 3 (although the guitar parts are frequently much easier). If you have the new "Fender Stratocaster" guitar that comes in the Rock Band bundle, there are a few new features available. There is a selectable effects switch that gives you various special effects during solos (such as echo, chorus, or wah-wah). There is also a second set of fret buttons near the bottom of the controller's neck; during specified "guitar solo" sections you can play using these buttons and not need to actually use the strum bar (that is, you just tap the notes as they come up). This helps immensely on some songs, although on others I found it easier to just play it normally. A "Lefty Mode" is available that reverses the note positions on the screen, making it easier for a left-handed guitarist to follow along. The new guitar is also more easily reversible to play lefty than the Guitar Hero 3 model.
I have not played any other karaoke games, but the singing in Rock Band is a lot of fun. A pitch track and lyrics scroll along the screen (or, alternatively, in a static 'follow the bouncing ball'-type setup); if you match the notes and timing closely you get more points and increase your crowd and energy meters. You have to match the pitch of the vocal track, but you can sing in a higher or lower octave (good for those of us who can't match the vocal range of either Jon Bon Jovi or Kurt Cobain). Activating "Overdrive" mode is done by singing/talking/yelling during specified "freestyle sections" where you can sing anything you want. You can also adjust the volume of the in-game vocal track, as well as how loudly your singing is played through the speakers. The easier difficulty settings are very forgiving on both pitch and timing, but you will need to be a fairly competent singer to clear most songs on Expert. A handheld (wired) microphone is included in the bundle package, but any USB microphone (or an XBox Live wired/wireless headset) can be used.
The newest addition to the console rhythm game market is drumming. The bundle package includes a USB electronic drum kit, which consists of an adjustable base, four pads, and a foot pedal. Similar to playing the guitar parts, a series of colored notes scroll from top to bottom, with each note corresponding to a different drum pad (an orange line across the scroll area indicates a hit on the foot pedal/kick drum). For the most part, the leftmost pad is the snare drum, the second is the hi-hat, and the third and fourth are various toms and cymbals (the same pad will often make different sounds depending on the context of the song). A "Lefty Mode" is available for southpaws, which reverses the pads and the screen display. "Overdrive" mode is activated by playing a freestyle drum solo (at specific times) and hitting a crash cymbal at the end of the fill. The drumming is -- while far from the difficulty of playing some of the real drum parts -- quite challenging, especially on the higher difficulty levels of very fast and complex songs. The drum pads are sensitive, but do not always register hits near the edges (so you have to be more precise than when hitting a real tom or snare drum).
The game features an extremely wide variety of musical genres, and a large number of songs (the full list can be seen at [...] The game ships with about 60 tracks, and there are already more than a dozen released as downloadable extras, with more coming every week (albeit at a cost of around $1.50-$2 per track, which can add up quickly). Harmonix has stated they will have at least one new track for download every week in 2008, as well as several full albums (the first of which will be 'Who's Next' by The Who.) About 45 of the starter tracks are in the "main setlist", consisting of big-name artists, and another 15 or so are "bonus tracks" from up-and-coming bands. All but a handful of the tracks are the original recordings; the rest are covers by Harmonix's studio musicians.
While overall this is a fantastic game, there are a few drawbacks that prevent me from giving it a 5-star overall score:
1) The single-player mode is somewhat lacking, and not having an online multiplayer career mode makes it difficult for some people to get to play that part of the game (since you have to get several people together at the same place at the same time). You *can* play the multiplayer career mode "solo" if you are capable of both singing and playing the guitar/bass/drums simultaneously (a headset microphone or mic stand is all but required).
2) Some of the menus and modes are confusing, and they made a few very odd design decisions. First, all the instruments are 'live' in the menu screens even if you have a normal controller attached. When we had a group of people playing the game and swapping in/out on instruments (and trying to show each other how to play), frequently we'd have problems because someone hitting the drum pads or practicing fingering/strumming on the guitar was moving the game in/out of various menu screens. Another odd decision is the inability to change the 'leader' of a band once it is created (which is a problem because the 'leader' must be present for the band to play in career mode), and that individual characters cannot change instruments (although guitarists can play either guitar or bass per song). None of these are dealbreakers, and they may be addressed via downloadable patches in the future, but it gives the impression that the game was rushed.
3) There have been reported issues with reliability of the new guitar and drum kit (I have not had any problem with mine, but it seems to be enough of a problem to mention). The design of the 'strum bar' on the new guitar was changed -- and while most people seem to like the performance of the new design, it also seems somewhat less resistant to abuse then the original Guitar Hero controllers. Also, some people have reported problems with their drum kit where the pads stop responding reliably. A few people have even managed to break the foot pedal(!), although I suspect that bad foot positioning and overzealous stomping are factors. So far EA and Harmonix have been very good about replacing any broken hardware, and are supposedly tweaking the designs to improve reliability when the individual instruments are released.
Overall, I would not hesitate to pick up Rock Band if you are fan of rhythm games, or if you are looking for an awesomely fun party game. However, it is not as compelling a single-player experience, and the online multiplayer does not seem to be completely fleshed out. But the single-player replay value is still extremely high (since you can play all the songs as a singer/drummer/guitarist, with increasing difficulty levels for each), and if Harmonix follows their downloadable content plans there will be a far larger song list in Rock Band than any of the Guitar Hero games. Rock Band is the most ambitious rhythm game to date, and is clearly a milestone achievement for Harmonix. I suspect a lot of people are going to unleash their inner rock star this holiday season, and few will be disappointed. | video-games_xbox |
La Noiar ROCKZ DA HOUZE. Y'all know I am a expert on histories and historie so it should come as no suprise to you that i am allso an expert on La Noiar!! Since I study so much and know all about the 1960s I felt right at home in this game no fooling Its the new game from Rockster and basically its Grand Theif Auto but instead of modern times its set in olden times the 1960s which is right after meny soldurs come home from World War Won. In this game you play as a soldjer who come home from the war and become a police oficer which is bada$$ and cool and you walk the beat but allso you play by your own rules and are wreckles and your capitan is allways screming at you saying STOP PLAYING BY UR OWN RULEZ YOU ARE A LIEABILLITY TO EVER MAN IN THIS DEPARMENT DONT YOU KNOW THE SENNATOR IS THE MOST IMPORTANT MAN IN THE WORLD HOW CAN HE BE THE CRIMMINAL DIPLOMATTIC IMMUNNITIES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Which is totally dope and ill!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
So you and your partner get into a car and drive in the city and investigate crimes and bank robberries and murderings and car chases and exploshions and people who take drugs and jazz singers. Your partner is hilarious one minute he's a little guy then he gain a bunch of weight then he handsome so he has a rich back story and a life outside the viddeo game cuz how else would he gain so much weight!!!!!! And you can take a car from people on the street and hijack they're car just like a terrorrist!!!!!! But you are not a terrorrist because this is the 60s and there were no terrists back then just a bunch of pot smoking dope taking hippi librels (we call them latay librels or limosuinue librels!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) And they ruined sosiety and the world pretty much ended but up until REYGAN finely came and straighten it all out in the 1980s like I say I am an expurt on histories so I know belief me!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
ITs ovious that librels didn't write this vidio game because of 1) I loved it and I hate eelites, and because of 2) in this game criminals gets PUNISHED unlike wellfair or when they gayes want to get marry!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
So then SPAWLER ALERTS!!!!! You solve all the crimes and you get prommoted. I was supposed to get prommoted at Home Deppot but they fire me instead and say that I was allways late and I was all like WHATEVA that shown them!!!!!!!!!!!
I give this game 10 out of 10 because its awsome and bada$$ and rad and you can pown newbs even though there no multeplayer you can still drive faster and pwon more newbs than in any other game plus it teach you about histry like the war and why we fought the Soviet Cong. Maybe some of you idiots won't like this game because its too SMART for you with its hisstorys and solving of crimes using your BRAINS instead of your GUN (librels!!) but for homies like me, this game is perfect and I give it 9 out of 10!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Sign, Anonimous | video-games_xbox |
Addictively frustrating. I've played through this whole level numerous times trying to get the best equipment possible for my Magick Archer. The great thing is they've added a whole bunch of new weapons, armor, augments, rings (which can enhance some of your skills), etc. The bad thing is you can't farm the chests like you could in the Everfall. The Bitterback items are cursed, so you have to pick them up and take them back to the start so they can be purified before you know what they are. And whatever you pick up is pre-determined depending on what vocation you and your main pawn is. You also need rift crystals to purify items, which can go rather quickly because half the time you have no idea what you're spending them on. You also get two more levels of enhancements for weapons and armor, which costs items you'll find all over Bitterback and more rift crystals. I found myself doing a lot of grinding looking for items and rift crystals. Note: if you play online you will occasionally earn rift crystals from people hiring your pawn.
I'm definitely not complaining though, I actually enjoy the challenge. Every time I play through it I get a little more powerful and it gets a little bit easier. The thing I like most about Dragons Dogma is the ability to change vocation easily. Even though I generally play as some sort of archer, I still like experimenting with new skills and pawns.
The new monsters aren't that much different from the old ones, just bigger and much more powerful. I thought my arisen was pretty powerful until I encountered an elder ogre, expended pretty much all of my stamina, he killed two of my pawns, and barely budged it's health bar. Eventually you'll realize which situations you'll want to take them on and when to run.
It's definitely geared for for when you finish the main story line and the game starts to get easy. I hear the monsters there level up with you, but I was level 70 when I started it and it was pretty challenging. Now I'm almost maxed out and it's a bit easier, also because I'm maxed out all of my weapons and armor, which helps a lot. | video-games_xbox |
Not Halo. The story is NOT immersive.
The tactical challenges are NOT diverse. Nor interesting.
Simply jiggering the weapons capabilities and leveling up the adversaries is not an improvement.
The dumbing-down of the story, the relationships and the territory is not an advancement of the franchise no matter how much more detail you put into the textures.
Bungie's legacy has not been equaled with Halo 4. This is just another (boring) shooter-on-rails.
After reflection, editing to add:
~The adversaries have no personality. Throughout Halo the individual alien species had personalities. In H4 they are one dimensional. Fine if your expectations have been stunted by all the other games you've played, but it's not Halo
~The story is no longer science fiction. It's fantasy. The abilities of the Didact and the Librarian are not those of corporeal beings but of gods. Fine if you like that, but it's not Halo.
~Every arena feels like a cramped, jumbled obstacle course. The objective and the only exercise is to keep moving and don't stop shooting. There is no other tactical option, there is no other way to play the game, there is no reason to revisit a level and endure the frustration of getting hung up on pointless structure while being shot by adversaries you can't see. I cannot imagine wanting to play any of these levels a second time and that's not Halo.
Sorry. It is, of course, Halo. It's Microsoft's Halo. Not Bungie's.
Most will be satisfied with the goals they apparently set for themselves but in my opinion, 343 have delivered a really pretty, very loud, delicately textured environment as if those were what made the original a worthwhile experience. As if that's what the gaming world needs more of. As if that's what elevates a silly computer game to the level of Art. They've fallen so far short of the mark established by Bungie that I don't know if I care enough to finish the game.
Edited to add: I've just lowered my rating to one star because I got to the ending. O. M. G. How lame. | video-games_xbox |
Fun Game, But Dissapointing Crashes. I've spent about 10 hours playing the game now. It has very nice graphics and music. It should be an interesting and fun game, but I've got two major complaints.
One is the constant crashing. It will lock up the Xbox 360 console anywhere between just a few minutes to over an hour if you're lucky. It is extremely frustrating to have to power down the console and restart/reload the game again. My feeling is that they rushed to release the game in time for the holiday season. If you read other reviews, this is unfortunately a very common problem. There is NO WAY that the freezing escaped quality control. They knew about the problems, but decided to ship anyway to get the holiday sales. I've applied one available patch available through Xbox Live (Jan 1st), but this has not fixed the freezing problem. Even after more play, I'm going to have serious reservations about purchasing a sequel to this game based on my dissapointment in quality control with this one.
My other complaint are the sexual references. I think most people would agree that an RPG should consist of fighting, magic, quests, gaining experience, character development and customization, purchasing cool and more powerful items, etc. I kid you not -- there are CONDOMS as treasure items. This is so that your character doesn't cause an unwanted pregnancy or catch an STD while having relations with a spouse or prostitute. I'm okay with my kids seeing fighting violence on these sorts of games. Fable II doesn't even have much gore to speak of. But, c'mon, did they have to put condoms in the game and have the involved sexual references? Granted the game is rated M for Mature and it does list sexual content. Just be forewarned. I'm not sure what target audience they were aiming for when deciding to include the sex -- 13 to 15 year old boys whos parents don't keep track of what they're playing? It's just not something one expects to see in this type of game. That was so much fun defeating those bandits, getting that cool new spell level, and oh yeah earning those condoms as treasure so that I could go boink a couple of women. I'm not sure what they were thinking.
That being said... The graphics and sound are very nice on our 1080p HDMI connected console and hi-fi system. The controls to fight melee, ranged, and use spells are simple enough to master. Navigating through the menus are a little strange. If you purchase a few books to read, you'll have to navigate deep into the menus again to get to the books. Seems to me it would be more intuitive to just leave the books screen open that to force the user to start over.
Compared to a game like Oblivion, my initial opinion of Fable II is that in Fable they seem to lead your character along a predetermined set of quests much more so than Oblivion. Personally, I like the freedom and openness of Oblivion. In Fable, you can't even go down a small hill unless it presents you with a leap option (the A button). Granted, I've only had a somewhat limited experience with the game, but it doesn't seem to compare to Oblivion.
I do like the lighted pathway which leads you in the direction you're supposed to travel for your active quest. Plus, the red enemy highlight aura is nice.
Overall, this game should be fun but I'm dissapointed in the poor QA of Lionhead Studios and Microsoft Game Studios. Shame on you for releasing this game before you'd fixed the major crashing flaw. | video-games_xbox |
Awful, Just Awful. Call of Duty 3 has become known as the prototypical TreyArch FPS shooter; indeed, it tends to win out over CoD: Big Red One in the "games-that-people-have-actually-played"-department in that consumers were fooled into believing that the standard of quality set by Infinity Ward with Call of Duty 1 & 2 would be reflected here, being that it bears the name of "3" - a main-line title, rather than an off-shoot farrago.
Unfortunately, gamers were exposed to the sort of laziness that became all-too-familiar by World At War and had entrenched itself as Business As Usual in our minds by Black Ops - laziness that presents itself with completely unmodified enemy AI on progressing difficulty levels, 'compensated' with 100% accuracy allowances and grenade spamming. Mercifully, the latter condition is not quite as embarrassing in this earlier installment as it is in World At War or Modern Warfare 2 - enemies will not go out of their way to die by your hand so as to respawn and replenish their grenade supply as they come to do in WaW. However, infinite-enemy-respawn points do manage to find their way into practically every non-cutscene-related area/script preceding checkpoints. Further compounding this torture is the level design.
The level design is interesting in that linearity truly rules the day - unlike levels in CoD2, MW, and indeed even WaW, the route from Point A to Point B is most often dictated by a plan that must be followed lest death ensue, barring the spamming of the player's inventory of smoke grenades. This most thoroughly presents itself at climax points near the end of several levels (I'm looking at you in particular, Falaise Road and Fuel Plant) where alternate routes to the endpoint appear to be capable of being utilized, but any attempt to actually utilize them ends in infinite-respawn enemy crossfires. Such circumstances hamstring the player's attempts to possibly flank enemy positions and - worse still - robs the player of the ability to manipulate or improvise the use of terrain features and cover. Too much of this game felt like the original Medal of Honor; indeed, too much of this game felt worse than such.
As far as the story/script goes, nothing terribly new finds its way into this installment. Dick-swinging patriotic archetypes clash with doubtful idealistic ones in tired, hackneyed examples that serve a definite downgrade when compared to the game's predecessor; interestingly, the script is notably bad - the urgency of front-line warfare does manage to present itself a few times, particularly as Sgt. McCullin progressively loses his nerve, but you will forget these examples by the 8,000th time you hear the words "Outta here! Move!" Said Sgt.'s last words are something I'd expect one of the worse writers at Marvel to pen for Sgt. Fury and his Howling Commandos, and unfortunately the eye-rolling lines don't end there.
Finally, bugs. Every Call of Duty has them. Two in this title present themselves often and mercilessly, and those are Getting Stuck In The Environment and Getting Killed By Motherfxxxing Barrels. The latter especially will take you by surprise at how mysteriously vulnerable your character is to having a barrel roll against you.
I don't care who you are or who you think you are - when you are more susceptible to dying by moving barrel than you are by being shot, then while you may indeed be humanity's greatest hope against Nazi tyranny, you certainly don't have a place in this wretched game.
I give the game two stars because layering a good cake with pounds of crappy frosting still has a good cake underneath all the crap - while TreyArch had the temerity to call the game's engine their own (NDL), the game runs on fundamentally the same engine that previous CoD titles did, which is solid at its core.
I can't recommend this game to very many people, not even Call of Duty completionists. At best, I can recommend it to developers as an example of what happens when a publisher greenlights a property to a company who is making games primarily for the paycheck, rather than for the opportunity. The final result is a dull, exhausting mockery of that which came before it. | video-games_xbox |
A good addition to the series. I never played ODST, but I have played and loved all of the main Halo titles. Many people will claim this is a new game completely unlike the previous titles, however, in my opinion, it is more or less more of the same.
The graphics are improved, although I am not someone who obsesses too much about that kind of thing. The deployment item from Halo 3 has been modified to be reusable, thus allowing you to keep using it over and over until you swap out for another one or die. The game is a little bit more open than Halo 2 or 3, about the same as Halo 1.
My only real complaint, personally, is that many of my favorite things were only done once. You only have the opportunity to use the jetpecks in one mission in the game. There is only one point in the game when you get a tank and get to go nuts, same with spaceflight. I am not saying it's that bad, but in my pinion, there is no reason that they couldn't have had more jetpack deployments around, and an extra tank tossed in here and there. One of my favorite missions, taking out scarabs, really doesn't exist in this game either. 95% of the deployments are sprinting and invincible, neither of which is really that interesting to use. I played through the entire campaign and didn't run across a single invisible. I am sure they exist, I probably just missed it, I just think these armor deployments could have been a little more available and varied.
Nitpicking aside, the game is fun to play. Rather than the upbeat "take on the universe" feel of the halo series, you really get a good sense of the hopelessness of the battle with the depressing music, atmosphere, and dialogue. You know things are going bad and you are fighting on a losing team. Emotionally, it is definitely a different feel for Halo.
In the end, however, the game feels the same. Combat is almost identical to the predecessors, sure you have life like Halo 1, but that is about it. You will feel right at home playing this game. Brutes have been toned down and are actually quite easy to kill, elites have better AI and are actually more difficult to kill, and even the effectiveness of grunts seems to have gone up a bit. Hunters are gruesome as ever to take down, in one level, forcing you to take out 4 at a time. Wraiths don't feel as powerful as they used to. So everything feels tweaked in one way or another. Weapons have been tweaked too, most notably, the battle rifle fires only 1 bullet rather than a a spree of shots. There is a couple of wildlife monsters you have to take out, but they only appear once in the game. It would have been nice to have to kill a couple more of them.
I haven't said anything about multiplayer. It is just as fun as always, and I don't think you will get anything more or less out of it than previous Halo 3.
Pros:
*No flood
*Earn Credits to Purchase and Unlock Armor
*Deployments are reusable (sprint is nice to have when you find yourself vehicleless)
*Better graphics
*Creepy Yet Unique Mood
*Some very unique environments such as the night club and office building.
*Spaceflight and the City flight missions were two of the funnest I have played
*More open environment
Cons:
*Not enough Tank Missions
*Not enough variability with armor deployments
*Less Epic
*You already know how things are going to end, more or less
*No opportunity to knock out a scarab(there is an opportunity, but the game suggests you speed right passed them, and you aren't really given the weapons to do it, so I suppose you can, but it you'd be going out of your way to).
So to sum it up, I like Halo Reach. It was more of the same with just enough modified to keep things interesting. If I wanted a completely different revolutionary experience ever time I played a new game from a series, then I would buy a game from a different series. I think too many people obsess over each subsequent game being a completely new experience from it's predessor. To me, that is stupid. If you want a different game, buy a different game, don't buy Halo 2 or 3 if you want a Gears of War experience. Personally, I am happy with the new story, the newer graphics, and a couple of unique missions yet still being essentially the same game. I recommend buying this game. | video-games_xbox |
This game is so bad it forced me to write my first Amazon review. This is my first review for Amazon. I am a big fan of the Alien franchise and have played all the Alien games, from PC to the original PlayStation game, to the various AvP games. I have to tell you, I had High Hopes for this game. I actually used to do business with Game Stop corporate and heard about the game at the corporate headquarters in the Dallas area as the game was development over 4 years ago!!! I was so anxious to play this game. I viewed a version of at the Game Stop convention last year in San Antonio I still have pictures of the life-sized Alien Queen they built to promote the game!!!
However, it seems they spent more on that life-size queen then they did on the actual game itself. I am so disappointed with this game; it drove me to write this review. Make no mistake, I read the negative reviews, but having played poorly reviewed, underwhelming games in the past, I could usually find something to enjoy about those games. Not so here.
This game fails on every level:
--First the graphics, they just look like they were developed for the original XBox console. Worse, in the cut scenes, there is this weird visual distortion line that travels up and down the screen every so often, making those scenes look like they came off a bad recording on a VCR tape. Anybody remember adjusting the VCR tracking option on those old VCRs? Apparently no one at Sega or the other companies involved in producing this game did.
--Second, the game play itself is just horrendous. The default controls for the "soldier" aren't laid out very well. The thumb stick controller that controls the character movement in first person, also doubles as the toggle for the melee weapon when depressed, and the only melee weapon available (as far as I got) is to punch the Alien with your elbow. Even novice gamers will tell you that when you are faced with even a simple enemy assault, it's not uncommon to mash the thumb-stick while moving your point of view (POV) to shoot multiple enemies. So instead of shifting POV and shooting the Alien, you wind up just punching the Alien in his face. The only thing this accomplishes is to annoy the Alien and make him angrier. And let's face it, an Alien doesn't have a pleasant disposition to begin with. You can actually change the melee option through the settings, but it is not intuitive and at this point in the game, it,s not really worth your time.
--Third, the AI. I'm not sure if this game has anything resembling a modern game play AI. No matter which situation you are in, if there are 3 other marines, the Aliens will always go to the other marines, make some sort of pathetic clawing action, then come after you. So what this means is that no matter how many marines are traveling with you the Aliens will always come after you and it is your responsibility to kill all of them. I've played scenarios where it's my job to protect someone (while they accomplished some task), but I could run around the room and the Aliens always just appeared and followed me. This is sloppy AI.
--Fifth, worst of all, the pace of the game. It just doesn't pace itself well between scenes of action and scenes of visual discovery. Pacing, like in a movie or a novel is everything. It's what drags you in. In this game, with all its faults, it can never establish any kind of pace. This makes the game just jarring and completely un-enjoyable to play.
All these faults led me to write this review. I know there are many gamers like me, who will play a sub-par game because they are fans of the franchise and will look for any redeeming quality to keep playing the game. This one doesn't have one. I wanted so hard to love, then like, then just tolerate this game. This is the first time I can find no redeeming qualities to a game. When this shows up in the bargain bin at your local retailer, I don't care if it is 99 cents, don't waste the minutes of your day playing it. | video-games_xbox |
A great game for the mind. First a brief message to PS2 owners. Do not write a review for a game you have not played. Please don't come here to cry about the fact that Sony(shock of all shocks) actually has a competitor in a free market. Now on to Oddworld... The first two Oddworld games were among my favorites on the Playstation. These games were not mindless killing sprees, mario style platforming, or fighting. The company who made these games was truely trying to break the mold and redefine what a videogame could be. The first thing that one notices about an oddworld game is the level of attention given to the characters and the world they live in. The environments are lush and detailed. The characters are well designed aliens with distinct races. When playing the playstation games you could tell that they were trying to do something truely special and beyond that systems capabities. After the release of the first game oddworld Inhabitants annouced Munch a 3-d game which would spend forever in development eventually holding out for a next generation console. After three years I finally got to play Munch.
The game is very good and has high production values, but the translation to 3-d can make some of the levels tedious. The old 2-D games worked much like Prince of Persia in that you would solve the puzzle on screen then move on. In a fully realized world in Munch solving a puzzle can take a long time. Running back and forth between checkpoints, locks and levers can be daunting and a bit repetitive. Despite this odd shortcoming the game comes out in spades. The realistic worlds and characters really draw you in and the puzzles while dumbed down a bit from the previous games are still engaging. As with any puzzle game it requires patience. so if you're into fast action games then you may hate this. Also the first three levels are slow. They are basically there to teach you the ropes. Once Munch and Abe get together the pace picks up a bit but not a quick as some would like. In short this game plays identically to the first to games only in 3-D. I think some wanted a Zelda type of game but what we have here is really a reworking of the first as the developers probably originally intended it. In short if you liked the first two games then you'll most likely love this game even though a little of the charm is lost in 3-D. | video-games_xbox |
For the RRoD Xbox 360 owner. Picked up the Xbox 360 Arcade version from Walmart today after my original 06 Xbox 360 went down with it's 3rd RRoD last week! I already had many Xbox 360 games and I was at the point should I get the piece of garbage fixed again, or a playstation 3 and start over with games or get this new jasper chip Xbox 360 since I have a library of 360 games. Well with the Arcade version and the updated jasper chip I went with the new Arcade Xbox 360. MS had to do something because I and all the other RRoD owners weren't going to fork over dough to get the same garbage again. This Arcade version with the Jasper chip I feel was definitely made and released for the RRoD (red Ring of Death) Xbox 360 owners.
I mean we already have all the extra stuff from our RRoD 360 system so just give us the console that won't die on us and that's what MS hopefully did.
It doesn't come with a Hard Drive but I used my HD from the RRoD Xbox 360 system and I install my HD before start up and it worked perfectly. It comes with a standard AV cable but if you are a previous RRoD owner you can use your Standard/HD cable, that is what I am using now.
It also has a HDMI port but you will need to purchase a HDMI cable if you want to use the HDMI so I'll get a cable later for it. It comes with a wireless controller so that is a $40 savings, you can't have too many controllers.
I gave this 4 stars because the DVD player still makes too much noise and the jasper chip has not been tested over time yet. But the Xbox 360 is great entertainment when working.
If you are in the market for your first Xbox 360 console then get the Arcade Version with the Jasper chip and buy a HD and other accessories for it. Stay away from the Garbage Xbox 360 systems with out the jasper chip if not you will be just asking for the infamous Red Ring of Death!
Note if getting it from Walmart: the boxes say 256mb but their add says 512mb so I looked at and around product ID area and saw the 12.1A so I bought it and it is the 512mb system. My family is back up playing Xbox 360 again. Also purchased the High School Musical 3 dance game. Daughter loves it and it actually is fun for the wife and me the old man. | video-games_xbox |
Calnus, Engage. Star Ocean The Last Hope (Star Ocean 4) is the 4th installment in the long running Star Ocean series. Star Ocean 4 can be played by itself as it has a standalone story, however if you have played the previous Star Oceans (especially 1&2) then The Last Hope will give you more insight into them as this is a prequel to the series.
The story in The Last Hope was something I really enjoyed. The game revolves around a man name Edge Maverick who with his childhood friends are going into space to find a new planet to colonize as World War III has left the surface of the Earth uninhabitable. Along the way to their first possible new planet something goes wrong mid warp and everything goes haywire on the new planet they eventually crash land on. From here on out Edge learns that humans are not the only intelligent beings in the universe and that the universe itself is on the brink of destruction and its up to Edge and his crew to try and put a stop to it. Overall I thought the story was the best of the series (I have played/own the other three SO's) I like how the main characters love interest is not forced as the two of them (Edge and Reimi) already have something there that just needs a little extra push to become something more. On top of the main story you have Private Actions, a series staple, Private Actions allow you to build relationships between the characters in order to boost their affinity with you and hopefully score you their endings (you have these extra characters endings on top of the main ending), when the female's have enough affinity for you, you can put them in your room to boost their affinity a little more. One complaint I do have with the Private Actions is that a lot of them are missable and unless you are really lucky, or have a PA guide with you, you can miss two of the extra endings in the game.
Gameplay is where The Last Hope really shines, if you have played the other Star Oceans there is really only two new things here, if you have not played a Star Ocean game before, the battle system is done in real time, you have a field map where you can see all the enemies on screen and if you touch one, you go into a battle map, here you can pull off some stupid combos if your good enough and even preform super attacks that can crush bosses in one or two tries. The new additions are the blindsides and bonus board, blindsides are when you get behind an enemy and hit them for massive damage, of course the blindsides only last for a few seconds at a time, the bonus board is little crystals you get for doing certain things in battle, the crystals can range from anything to extra money to extra experience all in all the battle system is solid and I found it very fun and it never got stale for me.
Graphically The Last Hope is top notch, it may look a little dated compared to games like FF13, but the character models do look really nice and colorful, I'll admit at first the characters do have somewhat of a doll look to them (its in the eyes) but after a few hours you don't even notice it anymore and it actually grows on you. The environments are somewhat plain as there could be more there but overall it gets the job done. What I really like though, is there is a lot of things to see, you have a couple forests,snow fields, beaches etc, it makes you feel like you actually are going to different planets and exploring the universe! The voice acting in The Last Hope is decent, I mean, it didn't bug me at all since I was not expecting anything groundbreaking, but others will absolutely despise it.
If I had one complaint about The Last Hope, it would be that the last boss is cheap, he can use area attacks that hit everybody and he only gets more cheap as the fight goes on, however with a last minute super attack I managed to finish him off. One word of warning, if you don't like long cut scenes (some of the ones on disc 3 can get more than 45 minutes long) than this game won't be for you. But if you don't mind any of the above than you should pick this one up for sure. | video-games_xbox |
Excellent Budget Gaming Headset. <div id="video-block-R3JYSDRX7BEMSG" 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/E16AUOPivlS.mp4" class="video-url"><input type="hidden" name="" value="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/31ZrJFWmXgS.png" class="video-slate-img-url"> If you're looking for a mid-level headset that won't break the bank, this would be a smart purchase. Ive used many other mid-priced headsets and the this eTopxizu model is among one of the best of them. Since this is a regular 3.5mm headset and not USB there are no need to install any drivers and it is compatible with all devices. The ear cushions are very large and generously padded. I wore them for a couple of hours listening to music and playing games and did not feel any discomfort at all. This is because it fits completely over your ear, causing less pressure on your head. No my son wore them for over 6 hours the first night and he said they were pretty decent..He games on steam and said he had no issues with the sound or the mic while gaming online. The microphone works well and people were able to hear me just fine. It rotates as well so you can move it out of the way when not in use. The bass on these headphones are amazing. Explosions feel like you're really there. Gunshots are clear and crisp. Overall, this is a very high quality headset that won't put a dent on your wallet. If you're a new or casual gamer, this is a good headset to start you off on your gaming adventures. 5 stars from me.
If you have any questions, please feel free to ask in the comments. I will respond. Let's keep making better buying decisions together. Thank you and as always Be Safe & Happy Shopping!!
I received a sample product to test and evaluate and give my unbiased feedback to you. This is my honest opinion of the product. If anything changes during my usage, I will update my review.
Highly recommended and I give it 5 out of 5 stars. | video-games_xbox |
Halo Rocks. Halo is the newest game from developer Bungie. In the past they have been best known for the Marathon series. They have in the past been very devoted to creating an artistic game and Halo is no exception. This is a marvelous game. It is so much more than just a FPS. The story line and level designs suck you in and one finds it difficult to stop playing after a few levels simply because of the very intricuit story.
The graphics are stunning. I have seen nothing like them before on any platform. The colors are rich and deep. Everything is very crisp, yet artistic so surfaces don't seem drab or hard. This is made possible partially by the Xbox's bump-mapping ability. Even when zoomed in 10x(ala sniper- rifle)the textures remain crisp and beautiful(won't see this on any PS2 game). The architecture and design of the stuctures in the game are simply amazing. You may find yourself spending a good deel of time simply looking around levels through the pistol scope admiring the scenery.
Graphics are not everything though(even though the graphics in "Agent Under Fire" were much better than those of "Goldeneye" the game still paled in comparison to its predecesor). Luckily, there is much more to Halo than simply the graphics. The control is very fluid. No more staggering around in multiplayer matches looking like fools swerving around randomly (you know what I'm talking about, Goldeneye's great but people just don't move like that!) Every movement looks great from the outside and remains smooth and fluid to the controller. This makes aiming much easier(for both parties since it's much easier to hit a target whose movement is not so random).
The game itself is great! The levels are very well thought out and the difficulty is just right. If your not to good at FPS you'll have a blast playing through on easy. More experienced, play on normal or heroic. Want a real challenge, just try to beat the game on legeondary. As you increase difficulty the enemies become more numerouse, harder to kill, and smarter. On legeondary the elites are near impossible to kill unless special tactics are used. The enemies are extremely smart. Throw in a granade and the elites will not only avoid it themselves but they'll warn the other weaker, stupider enemies to run. Blasting away and run out of ammo, look-out everyone's likely to come at you blazing. You can even keep enemies pinned down behind cover given a large enough machine gun.
The weapons are great too. There are just the right amount, and each can be used for a specific purpose. In addition to the human weapons: light machine gun, pistol, shotgun, & rocket launcher; one can also pick up enemy alien weapons. These include a plasma machine gun, plasma pistol, & needler(see it in the game, don't want to explain). You can, however, only hold two weapons at a time. This adds in a realness factor, but also makes stategy very important. Sure, a rocket launcher may sound good now, but after a few shots you're out of ammo, not to mention its etremely slow reload and splash damage. In addition to these weapons, one also has granades(both human and alien) and a mele attack. Both these functions are separate buttons on the controller. This is very helpful for both are used extensively and are quite necessary in harder difficulties(you will not beat legeondary if you don't use granades and use them well). In addition to this, one can drive many vehicles,these include a killer tank, humvee type vehicle, enemy hover bike and flying craft, all of which have excelent weapondry.
Think weapons are cool, they get a whole lot cooler hearing them work in killer dolby surround. This is the best way to experience(and playing Halo is an experience) this game. Given, a good home theater system isn't cheap, the sound is truly remarkable. Hear plasma bolts recoche(sp?) past your ears. Granades blasts deafen in the distance. Drop ships zoom in from behind you. Enemies positions can be determines simply by listening to their foot steps and murmers. To compliment all this, Halo has an amazing soundtrack that truly draws you into the game.
Finally, in addition to all this there are the little things that really make this game great. The attention to detail is really remarkable. From the shadows on the guns to the reflections off of glass floors, to the delay sound of the tank shell when it hits a far wall(remember, in real life, you see things far away way before you hear them since sound travels
much slower than light). All these things really bring closure to an already great game. Halo is one of the more perfect FPS's ever made. One of the best games on any platform period. And let's face it, this game is currently carrying Xbox. You buy Xbox for Halo. Therefore, if you have an Xbox there is no reason (unless from a violence standpoint, and even there, this game really isn't that bloody) not to buy this game. It is without a doubt the best game on Xbox! Probably the best game out right now. Buy it, experienceit, love it. | video-games_xbox |
Great F1 game. Finally got it for Christmas and got strapped in and running with my older style MS wheel.
First impressions: awesome! Definitely a huge step forward in realism compared to 2010 - if you were disappointed with the realism in 2010, this is a bit better. F1 2010 was very arcade like - realism about 4 or 5 out of ten for feel of the car. I'd guess (never having driven a modern F1 car, of course) this is about 7 or 8. I'd really love to be able to experience 9+/10 (physics-wise) just so I know what it's like. There's no option to do that with these realism controls it seems.
One thing I found difficult was that I couldn't see around the corners easily. I haven't experienced that problem with 2011 yet.
It's still not completely realistic: with all assists off, after running 20 something laps in Kinky Kylie, I was able to get within 1 sec of Seb's pole time at Monza. Okay, it's one sec at Monza, but still - and I'm not trying to say I'm a fantastic driver - I'm not, I'm aware of a HUGE number of mistakes I made getting to that 23.3. I'm not using drs or kers - oh - and I haven't played with car set-up yet - and there's no way an F1 car could possibly be this accessible.
Nonetheless, it's fun! I haven't really gotten into career mode yet, just trying cars and tracks. Monaco is wicked fun. So even though it's not a full simulation, it's accessible enough to bring F1 to your console. I just wish it were possible to be a bit more of a simulation.
I guess I'll have to give career mode a try at some point. Normally, I don't get into such things.
I found I had to raise the brightness on my screen about 20% in order to be able to see anything. The visuals are realistic, but too dark and contrasty to mimic how your eyes will adjust to racing in real life. I'm disappointed the helmet visor tint is gone (would have been great to be able to pick a visor!)
I've played around with the realism settings a LOT trying to get what I think feels like a more realistic feel to racing. None of it quite feels right. I ended up turning force feedback and wheel weight down to 30% because shortly after starting, I was getting cramps in my hands. An F1 car is very light at speed and the force feedback is far too juttery compared to real life, the tires are stiff but not rocks (methinks). I think I have everything else turned to 0 right now - can't remember, can't find any good recommended settings (saw 0/22/29 and I didn't like that - prefer 0/0/0).
Other than that, my gripes center around the post-racing replay (I haven't tried the in-session replays yet):
1) In order to see your last lap, you have to fast forward through the entire session at a relatively low ff speed. Would be nice to be able to skip to the end or at least through large chunks of time.
2) The cameras are at times annoying. You can either be poised directly above the car or have the standard on-car views, but if you want to see the car from outside, they do these goofy cameras that fly with the car and shake around. Just give us a TV cam view that zooms, please! Or at least the option. I'm sure some people dig that stuff, but I find it massively annoying. It would be nice to fly the above-car camera around the car to analyze set-ups and stuff (I figure - I haven't yet started with set-ups)
3) Not about replays, but if you play the game with a wheel, you can't easily type in your name. Nor have I found a way to go back and change my name. : /
4) These few details hold the game back for me. I love it and I'm glad I have it, but there is still room for improvement. Of course physics that were 100% would be awesome, but as racing sims go this one is good. Certainly among the best for the 360! (Haven't gotten around to opening Forza 4 yet - can't wait for that one!)
***
If you were wondering why on earth to get 2011 at the end of the 2011 season when you'd just gotten 2010, the reasons are plentiful. It's not just new cars and tracks, it's a leap forward in simulation.
***
Anyway, this is a great step up from 2011 and if you're an F1 nut, well worth it! | video-games_xbox |
Interface is awful, worse than any 360 version. 2 stars because although it plays games, and has other "apps", the interface is awful. It's hard to navigate and even if it wasn't it's hard to actually find anything. I don't think Microsoft ever tested this interface with anyone before rolling it out.
My major gripes:
1. Interface. Slow, hard to find anything. Every action has a load screen. Every. Single. One. Even going back has a load screen, even though the previous page is still in memory (I know because when you go back it flashes the previous screen and then goes to a load screen).
2. Twitch & Microsoft. This is little, but it really drives me crazy. When looking at a game in the store, you can watch the livestreams of others playing the game. It plays right on the store page, which is cool. But, if you want to watch it full screen, you need to download the "twitch" app. Why? Commercials - which brings me to:
3. Advertising everywhere. I pay for the console, the games, and the Xbox live access. And yet, there is advertising everywhere. Absolutely everywhere. EVERYWHERE.
4. Nothing ever closes. You can't actually close apps or games anymore. They run in the background. Neat idea, but they should give you a way to close the game/app. Why? Because of glitches and errors in apps and games. Instead of closing the game or app that isn't working as it should (which happens a lot, see below) now I have to reboot the d**n machine.
5. Not-yet-ready-for-prime-time. Lots and lots and lots of minor annoyances and glitches. Especially since everything and every game needs internet access. Bought a game through the store? 50gig download that you have to handhold because the Xbox turns itself off. Xbox updates are frequent, huge, and disruptive. Game updates are huge, frequent, and disruptive. Neither updates seem to fix any of the issues.
This is a step down from the original 360 - even from the updated "panels" interface. There are better options out there now than the Xbox. I recommend Steam, tbh. Steam Big Picture just does absolutely everything better.
Rainbow 6 is a pretty cool game, I like that. It's networked multiplayer is awful, like everything networked in Xbox. Prepare to have to reboot every time you want to play the game. | video-games_xbox |
Excellent but for a few minor issues. I bought these so I could game without disturbing others or be disturbed. Nothing worse than not being able to hear your teammates online at a critical moment. These headphones were all I'd hoped for with just a few minor annoyances which I'll list below.
Pros -
1. Sound Quality. Great sound, especially when hooked up to the digital output of my xbox. (minor problem with hiss, see cons). Playing games with these headphones seems almost unfair. Hearing the location of the competition without seeing them is a huge advantage and leaves them clueless on how you got the jump on them.
2. Chat Function. Game chat is near perfect, greatly improved over the standard headset. Chat is clearer in both directions and the auto volume level helps keep chat intelligable over loud game audio. The separate chat volume is great for fine tuning. The plug/puck for connecting to the xbox headset is a great design, puts the mute switch and volume control right on the controller within thumbs reach and the jack stays connected, unlike the standard headset plug.
3. Comfort. Headset is very comfortable with a few minor issues (see below). The ear pads are very soft cloth and the head band is well padded. There are a few small issues. First, they are a bit heavy and you will notice this after long periods of use. Second, the pressure applied to hold them to your ears is a bit to much for my liking. Would have been nice to have a little adjustment, also they won't adjust small enough for children to wear at all.
4. Good design and well built, other head phones feel like they might break if your to hard on them, these feel very solid.
5. Range. You can go just about anywhere in the room and keep a good signal as long as you maintain line of site. My family room is good sized and no issues at all. One minor issue is the transmitter needs to be high up. I originally had it down low (less than 1 ft. above floor) and if you tip you head back the signal degrades and you get a loud hiss in you ears. Placing the transmitter higher than waist level helped quite a bit.
Cons -
1. Price. At $180 they are very expensive. I'm happy I have them, but feel they are over priced and the X3's may have been more cost effective.
2. Hiss. There is a constant hiss from the IR transmitter which is very noticable when game sounds are absent and the volume is high. When game sounds are active you don't notice it so much. Some people will be bothered more than others by this. I find it very annoying and will actually play games at a lower volume to reduce it as much as possible. For the $$ they should have addressed this.
3. Isolation. Whether by design or not, they do not block out ambient noise very well. I can still hear sounds in the room very easily. This is a con for me, maybe a pro for others? | video-games_xbox |
Even "legend" difficulty is a bit too easy, but still a good game. I would rate this game 3.5 stars if I had that option. It is about a 7/10 game to me.
The one major problem with this game is that there is not enough action and too much walking around talking to people. It wouldn't be so bad doing all the walking if there was more combat to go along with it, but the game is lacking in this department.
The next point is that the game is too easy. I finished the game on the hardest difficulty in two days and never really had any problems with any of the enemies. All you have to do is set up your god powers and perks and everything is a little too easy. To be fair, I didn't get 1,000 gamerscore on this game (I actually got 620), so there were things that I didn't do. The big problem with the things I didn't do is that you can't go back and do them. If you leave a certain place you can never go back, so find all the herms and talk to all the people everywhere you go BEFORE you do whatever completes the level, or you won't get all the achievements.
Another thing... you won't be able to get 1,000 on this game without playing it multiple times, as you have to max out all the god powers/abilities for all gods for all the achievements and you cannot do that on one play.
The fighting system is fine, but it is sometimes hard to do weapon changes while doing combos. This didn't stop me from enjoying the game, but I did stop trying to do weapon swaps in combat. The god powers are a big help in combat; sometimes too helpful. It is easy to kill everything, even on the hardest difficulty.
The graphics on the game are good in places and extremely poor in others. The textures for grass, trees, weeds, etc. are some of the worst I have ever seen. You can walk beside a tree and see that it is just a flat object with no depth. It is like the trees and things were drawn on paper and then hung up as if they were trees. I thought it was pretty funny to see how little effort went into these things. The characters look fine, but there is nothing earth shattering there either.
Even with the problems noted, I still enjoyed the game and I think that a lot of others would too if they give it a chance. | video-games_xbox |
Not Quite What I Expected, But Good Nonetheless. I read enough reviews to know that this game would be much different than Halo, COD, etc.. Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising has a very few moments where you can run and gun, but mostly it's careful, planned out actions that involve keeping low and moving fast. The first time I played through, I was extremely cautious and moved very slow and careful. By the second playthrough, I felt comfortable moving around a bit more, even getting close enough to kill with a knife. Most missions are really long and there are big gaps between checkpoints. It can be frustrating if you move carefully and fight hard for 20 - 30 minutes and then lose all that work from one stray bullet or careless mistake. If you can get over losing half an hour's progress when you die, it is a very fun game. The shooting mechanic is very rewarding with realistic ballistics. You feel like you truly earn every hit you make. Unfortunately, there is no cover system and while you can usually find adequate cover, your team refuses to try. You cannot specifically order them into cover. You can tell them to "move," and if they are near cover, they might or might not use it. I was initially worried that this would be like a few other games where the enemy could see you through cover and shoot you, while you cannot see him. For the most part, I've found that the line of sight is true both ways in OF: Dragon Rising. If you are hidden in grass and can't see an enemy, he can't see you. Some people have complained that enemies require too many hits to kill. I think the wounding/kill system is fairly believable. The "too many shots to kill somebody" problem comes in when you are engaging at long range. Most of your hits are actually just grazes. If you hit in the chest or head, the enemy goes down. The most unrealistic element is probably the gore system, in my opinion. The effects are absent when they should be expected (like when you hit an enemy with an AT rocket), and exaggerated when you least expect it (complete decapitation of an enemy including the neck, from a single 5.56x45mm FMJ round to the head.) The biggest letdown in the game is that there are no missions centered around using a vehicle. Before purchasing, I assumed that there would be at least one or two missions where you get to command a battle tank or helicopter gunship. There are opportunities to command some of these vehicles in some missions, but there are no missions that require or encourage you to. Another slight annoyance is that you cannot customize your load-out. There are a lot of different weapons in the game, but you have to get lucky and find them on an enemy, or only get them during certain missions. Overall, it is a great game to pick up for the price if you like realistic FPS games and large levels. If you liked the first Ghost Recon, you'll like this game. I definitely plan to get next one: <a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/Operation-Flashpoint-Red-River/dp/B004PFS9OK/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">Operation Flashpoint: Red River</a>. | video-games_xbox |
Easily the Best Game to date. I have to admit. I was a little iffy on whether on not I wanted this game. The trailers didn't look that great, and the cover art isn't anything amazing, but my friends told me it was worth it so I tried it out and bought it myself. So if I were to give any complaint to this game, it would be that they advertised it poorly compared to the actual content.
First off, the characters are amazing. One of the few disappointments with xBox 360 games is they have bad characters. (For instance, Dead Rising, worst characters ever invented in history), but Red Dead Redemption is amazing. The main character John is easily the best character, and you get to play as him. Then each and every character you meet has a unique history/story line from their life's experiences that make them who they are in the game and play in the sides.
The story is very long and exciting, as I have already played for like 3 days without beating it yet. One of my favorite things about the xbox 360, is the sandbox style game, and this game is one that delivers. The story takes place in Texas and Mexico and it does a good job of making you feel like you are in the world. All of the cut scenes are well done, and I think as someone else commented, it is Hollywood style. When it rains, the camera gets rain on it. Which by the way, there is also whether! Rain, Snow, Sunny, Thunder, and lightning
The details are just stunning. I keep finding new animals each time I play. It would take ages to name them all, but they have every wildlife animal you could imagine, for instance, Mountain lions, Coyotes, Rattle Snakes, Armadillo, Rabbits, Bears, Cows, Chickens, Goats, the list goes on and on. The scenery is realistic (I'm not sure if it is based off of real towns or not, but either way they did a good job with the towns.) One of the best things about this game is there is so many side-plot options. You know how there are those weird poker games you can buy? Well Red Dead Redemption incorporated lots of games into the game with the same quality, with poker they have Texas Hold-em, Black Jack, and Liar's Dice then they have other games like Five Finger Filet, Horse shoes, Arm Wrestling, and more. And in all honesty, they are really fun. The money system is awesome to, it does cost money to play games like poker, and well I actually find it easier to make money off of poker than any other way. But don't get me wrong, poker isn't some easy or super hard game, it actually feels like you're playing with real people. I guess to sum it all up, The AI in this game is better than any other game out there.
Free play is the best. When your not following the story, the best thing to do is just mess around with the world. Now many people compare this game to Grand Theft Auto. But it is about a thousand times better. It is actually quite different than GTA besides the free play options. You can do pretty much anything. And to just get you going here are some few absurd things I have done. Set a horse in front of a train and let the horse explode to death. Throw glass bottles onto people, horses, houses, and trains and watch the fire works. shoot your horse while riding. Rob a train, lasso the people inside or even throw a person onto a train track and let them die. And there is so much more.
Overall, there is no words to explain how great this game is. Just pick up a copy or rent it and I swear you'll love it. The very beginning of the game is intense and it keeps that way the whole game so there is no part to regret. | video-games_xbox |
More isn't always better. Last year, Sega was gracious enough to publish Otogi: Myth of Demons in the U.S., allowing gamers to experience the mesmerizing destruction and mystical Japanese setting of From Software's nightmarish slasher. Well, send Sega a thank-you card once again, because they're repeating this year, with Otogi 2: Immortal Warriors.
At its core, O2 feels almost exactly like the original: you carve your way through gorgeously rendered levels, trashing swarms of bizarrely beautiful evil demons and reducing the environment and buildings to rubble, while mournful Japanese dirges swirl in the background. Raikoh, the resurrected silent warrior, returns for second round of purifying the land from the demon scourge, only this time, he's got some help.
The main difference in Immortal Warriors is the six playable characters. Four "generals" are called upon to, er, sacrifice themselves (in grotesque fashion during the game's opening cinema) in order to raise Raikoh from the dead once again to repel the invading forces of the evil Nine-Tailed Fox. In addition, the sorceress who summons the generals is also a playable character.
These extra characters are a blessing and a curse. On one hand, it's refreshing to send a new character into battle, and they play just differently enough to keep the experience feeling new (a good thing, because at its core, Otogi is a simple hack-&-slash affair). Kintoki is a bulky, slower warrior who wields a huge axe, while Sadamitsu is a small and speedy robe-wearing female armed with a lightning-quick scythe. Seimei, the enigmatic sorceress, fights with twin bladed fans, and can grab and throw enemies. The best of the lot, however, has to be Suetake, a living tree stump who's "armed" with a wagon wheel. Yep, you read correctly. Before you laugh yourself to death, he's probably one of the most useful characters in the game - you'll see what I mean once you give Ol' Wooden Head a chance.
However, you cannot choose any character at any time during the main quest. Many of the 25+ levels are restricted to certain characters during the first playthrough (several are restricted to one character only), and this has several unfortunate effects on the gameplay. Even though you have six characters to play, you're unable to stick with a favorite, because if you neglect powering up Tsuna the Wolf Guy, when you reach a level where you have to play as him, you're going to have a hard time progressing.
This basically means you have to play and level up all the characters equally, and while they are similar, you're undoubtedly going to have your favorites. Being forced to play a character you don't particularly like can distance the player from the experience. Add to that the fact that some levels are obviously designed for one character in particular (which makes it more difficult if you want to play with a different one), and it can be more frustrating than it needs to be. However, once you manage to clear a level, you can then replay it as any character you like, which makes uncovering the many secrets easier....just be prepared to play most levels more than once, even if you're a skilled gamer.
For the most part, however, Otogi 2 feels like a natural extension of the original; a true sequel. The storyline picks up directly after the events of the first game. The love-it-or-hate-it floaty combat feels tighter and heavier, and huge stylish combos are only a few buttons presses away. You'll still harvest the souls of fallen enemies to buy new items, as well as to keep your ever-dwindling magic supply (if you run out of magic during a level, you start losing health - think of the magic as your power supply). And there's still nothing like blasting a creepy monster through a stone wall and making a huge crater in the ground. The combat is cathartic to say the least.
One welcome addition is the Forest of Havoc, a collection of mini-challenges that break up the constant pummel-fest of the main mode. Unlocked as you progress through the story mode, these challenges are quite different. One requires you to use enemies to sink ships. Another has you passing through arches without touching the ground. Overcoming each challenge gains you new items, and the final challenge will bring a smile to those who played the first Otogi.....
Otogi 2 keeps the same design and music styles as before. Some enemies are recycled from the first game (and the enemy design overall doesn't seem quite as inspired in Otogi 2), and the music, while a great complement to the mood, doesn't quite top the deeply haunting Japanese instrumentals of the original.
And again, as before, you'll struggle with the camera and lock-on, battle tough bosses, lose track of your character amidst all the onscreen chaos, and suffer slowdown. But these problems can be overlooked due to the beautiful levels and unique atmosphere that Otogi 2 presents.
Last year's Otogi: Myth of Demons was an incredible experience, and Otogi 2 retains much of the details that make the series stand out from the norm. Fans of the first will definitely want to play the second to see what happens to Raikoh and his crew. Just be prepared for a sequel that doesn't quite reach the immersive genius of the original, but still delivers the goods in dreamlike, memorable fashion. | video-games_xbox |
Ah, the wonderful world of Bungie. Halo, is a great game. Not the best game ever, but a great game nevertheless.
It has been a long hard struggle for first person shooters (fps) to enter the consol market and, exept for a few notable exceptions (like Goldeneye), most of those released have flopped. The reason for this is it is just hard for a joypad to compete with the comtrol afforded by a deybord-mouse combo. Also, most movement in consol fps is to slow for the average gamer. Also, a lot of fps for the consol have been plaged by the common flaw of video games, poot story. together, poor plot and less than optimal controls have stopped the rise of consol fps.
Halo, however, is one of the exceptions. The story is quite riviting (however, one must wonder how bungie is not paying royalties to Larry niven). The graphics are incredible. The gameplay, though, is truely what makes this game great. There are several aspects of this game, which are novel in the world of fps. First, you can only hold two weapons at a time. This differs from past fps where you can carry an entire arsenol with you (buff guys i guess). This lends a new level of strategy to the game. There are also quite a few different enimies. But unlike other fps, they are mostly introduced all up front and it is the landscape that plays a large roll in teh degree of difficulty of hte levels. The levels themselfs seem very realistic (ie. there are several corradors that look the same) this is a downfall, becaause it leads to repititiousness. You get tired of running though corridors that look exactly the same, but admit it, if you were going to build a ship, most of the hallways would look the same wouldn't they? The two very distinct major enemy races in the game also adds a touch of strategy, as they are susseptable to different weapons. This is even more enteresting given that you can only HAVE two weapons.
The multiplayer is pretty standard, and fun. The levels for hte multi player are not that great, but the fact that you can network up to four xboxes makes up for that in spades (as long as you have more that one xbox lying around). This fearture allows up to four people to play together, with each person using an entire TV screen. Very nice. I do not think that consols will ever really challange teh multiplayer work of fsp shooter on PC, but there is something to be said for grabbing a few buds and playing halo in the same room, beating on the guy that just made a great play, and grilling dinner, all at once.
All in all, i found Halo to be a fun and enternaining game. There were some annoying points (repititous levels) but that was only owing to the realism of the levels and those familiar with past bungie games (like Marathon) should find this familiar and even somwhat enjoyable. In the end even those who do not like bungie should find the new quirks introduced into Halo fun. Anyways, Halo is a solid game and fans of Marathon will find themselves reliving their younger days.
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"I pity the man that can only spell a work one way." Mark Twain | video-games_xbox |
Go for the bundle. More than half a year since the Xbox One's launch, here are the Xbox One console options:
Xbox One: MSRP $399
Xbox One + Kinect: MSRP $499
Xbox One + Kinect + Titanfall: MSRP $499
Xbox One + Kinect + Forza 5: MSRP $499
Xbox One Day One + Kinect: MSRP $499 (Discontinued)
As you can see, it should be obvious to at least rule out the 2nd option since it's clearly the worst deal of the bunch. Then the question becomes, "Is it worth $100 for a game and the Kinect?" This question, however, doesn't have a one-size-fits-all answer. But I will try to at least give you some guidance.
First of all, I am happy to have the Kinect sensor, even though I use it mostly for voice commands. I have also used it sparingly to play a few Kinect games such as Kinect Sports Rivals, Just Dance, and Xbox Fitness. But I will tell you this: If I had bought the Kinectless bundle, I would probably never have bought it separately. Word is that Microsoft will start selling the Xbox One Kinect alone for $199 later this year, which is clearly not worth it. It becomes a much easier sell when you see it as paying $100 extra to get a $60 game and the Kinect sensor, which kind of makes it like $40. Or even $100 for the sensor could be a MAYBE on its own. But definitely not $150-200 for only the sensor. The point is, if you are even a tiny bit on the fence, just get one of the Kinect+Game bundles so you don't regret it later. But I can also admit the Kinect is not for everyone, and if a few extra games and voice commands are not worth it to you, by all means save the money and go Kinectless.
With that out of the way, let's say you decide you want one of the Kinect bundles. Should you go with Titanfall or Forza 5 as your free game? Again, there isn't just one right answer. Both are great games, but both have their weaknesses.
Titanfall:
[+] I find it overall the more fun game in small bursts. Especially if you tend to play over Live with friends. It seems more enjoyable to just jump into an FPS like this for a little bit, while chatting and fragging with a buddy
[+] Value-wise, Titanfall beats Forza simply because it's newer and would cost more to buy separately than Forza 5 (being a relatively old launch game)
[-] Multiplayer only. No campaign whatsoever. For some this doesn't matter, but I personally quite enjoy having the option to switch between being more immersed in a story, and some classic social killing
[-] No longevity. Being multiplayer only, with no local multiplayer, you are at the mercy of the servers. In a few short years, your game will be rendered unplayable for the rest of eternity. If the last console generation is any indicator, this will also happen well before the following generation of consoles is even out.
Forza 5:
[+] Honestly, this is still one of the most graphically impressive games. Though to be fair, car games are always a little easier to impress with, since we've been saying "WOW IS THIS REAL LIFE" ever since the PS2. But it helps that this wasn't a multi-console release like Titanfall was, so they didn't need to cater at all to previous generation hardware in developing the game.
[+] If you are generally interested in racing games, I think this is definitely one of the better ones. It's a lot of fun, and the racing physics are spot on. Very immersive with a fun career mode.
[+] Single player *and* multiplayer. So unlike Titanfall, you can still at least play single player mode 10 years from now. And if you're just not in the mood to get destroyed by 10-year-olds on Xbox Live, single player mode can offer a nice getaway
[-] Microtransactions. Huge pet peeve here. They very blatantly withheld game content that would have otherwise been included. If you want all the cars, or even the same number of cars Forza 4 had, be prepared to pay up. UGH.
[-] Launch game = bargain bin. By now, it probably wouldn't be too difficult to find a used physical copy of the game for pretty cheap.
In my opinion, a huge minus for both games is that it appears including physical copies of games with console bundles is officially a thing of the past. I won't complain too much since it's basically free, but I much prefer a physical copy for a few reasons: Doesn't take up as much space on my small unswappable 500GB hard drive, will never have to worry about download servers being down if I need to redownload the game at some point, and simply the satisfaction and tactile feeling of something real in my hands, with a pretty case and artwork, that can sit in my video game collection with all the other junk I've purchased. I will admit you lose a little bit of convenience compared to being able to change between your full games without swapping discs, but for me the pros of disc outweigh the cons. Like I said though, everyone's opinion is different on this, and since it's included for free, it's still way better than the gameless bundle.
There's still a few problems with the Xbox One as a whole, however. I still can't do lots of things my previous generation consoles could. Such as playing a wide variety of video files off a flash drive, or playing 3D Blu-rays. There's still no wireless headset like I love on my 360. Though there are some pretty fun games on both the Xbox One and PS4, neither console yet has that MUST-HAVE game we're all still craving. So I wouldn't blame you if you still wanted to wait out this generation for a little while longer as they continue to improve their system software and game lineups. By this holiday season, I'm sure there will be a pretty decent collection of games as well as some awesome bundles and/or price cuts. | video-games_xbox |
Should've Been Perfected Longer. This thing needed to be released later, it's obvious to anyone who owns one. It's missing SO many things the 360 has, such as a battery indicator for controllers, free hard drive space indication, it crashes more than it should (So far 4-5 times), and the hard drive is going to be a problem in the future because of the large size of games and small HDD. I enjoy gaming on it (Battlefield 4 & CoD Ghosts so far) but it's hard to adapt to without a decent amount of use. The Kinect makes it INFINITELY more intuitive than with button presses. Learn the commands. It'll help immensely. Lets you do anything and everything much easier, my favorite is "record that" which records the last 30 seconds of gameplay, helpful when you're "pwning n00bs" online.
The "seamless switching" could use some work. Sometimes games crash (too much), the Xbox sometimes locks up, (for 10-15 seconds), and the interface lags sometimes while running a game and something else. It's trying to do too much I think.
The box is heavy, much heavier than a PS4, and quite big (longer than an Xbox Slim, but about the same height). I'm still getting used to the new controllers, not sure they are as good as the Dualshock 4 or the 360 controller. Also, WHY IS THE CONTROLLER BATTERY NOT COME RECHARGEABLE? Why must I spend an EXTRA $25 on a $60 controller when that same functionality is included on the DS4?? Get it together Microsoft! Still, it's nice, and the Kinect is nice.
This thing will be beyond amazing when it matures, it just wasn't ready yet. one serious problem I have had so far is while I was downloading a CoD update the One somehow lost internet connection with the update almost done. This completely screwed up the game install and after not loading correctly I had to delete CoD from the HDD and then reinstall AND THEN wait for the update. This reinstall took LONGER than the original one too, and this whole thing took over an hour for some reason. I was not pleased. Fix it, and it could be great. | video-games_xbox |
The game was one bad fight after another. The game is one bad fight after another. The game is extremely linear; go this way or no way at all. If looks like you would be able to go another way but no you can only go the way they want you to go...and once you're there you can't go back to check something out. The climbing was also only one way to climb. You walk a narrow path that lead to an open area, usually in the shape of a square and you fight the same boring enemies over and over and over and over and oh yeah OVER AGAIN. Even the idea of making your own fight chains was interesting but the game made it boring. It still was basically preset on which buttons you're pressing.
When I first heard about this game I was excited. The premise of the game sounds very interesting. The idea of being able to steal and remix someone memories sounds fascinating but the game was nothing like that. Even when you could change a memory, which was rear, you could only change it for the out come the makers of the game wanted, so only one way.
I'm an adult gamers who really enjoys the Tomb Raider games, which are also linear game and the fights are in open areas. This game was the same concept but was VERY poorly done.
I found the story was very weak and you couldn't put much thought into it or it really wouldn't make sense. Just because you change a person's memory doesn't mean it's going to change the outcome of events. Memories are perceptions not actions. If you're in a car accident, if you change your memory of the accident, you would still have been in an accident just you views on the accident change. In the game you change a memory and you change an outcome. This could have been a fun part of the game but as mentioned before you could rarely do this and you could only change it to get the outcome the game makers wanted.
There must be some people out there that liked the game based on the reviews but I wouldn't recommend this game to anyone, even if it was free. It's just that boring.
P.S. I discovered most people on Amazon don't like negative feedback and just check the not helpful button because they disagree with the poster's opinion. If you didn't find this helpful, please tell me in the comments why and I'll try to update this to provide more information. | video-games_xbox |
This game spits in the face of the real Sonic. I bought this game recently from Amazon for around six dollars with hopes that despite the poor reviews that I, as a stoic Sonic the Hedgehog supporter, would be able look past it's flaws and find a core consisting of at least a well meaning attempt to continue the adventures of one of my childhood hero's. The joke was on me, however, when all I found was a massive collection of glitch after glitch instead of anything even remotely resembling the game I deluded myself into believing existed. I have been playing Sonic games since the Sega Genesis was a top-of-the-line product (which is farther back than I care to remember), and when the Sega Dreamcast was introduced I purchased one for the sole purpose of buying and playing Sonic Adventure, which was a mind-blowingly spectacular game. The reason that this information is relevant is to show that after all these years of Sonic existing as one of my favorite fictional characters of all time, I can honestly say, without the slightest exaggeration, that this game will forever leave a scar on one of my most cherished video game related memories. Nothing about this game can even be considered close to being half-way mediocre, it really is that bad, this is not a joke. If you are a Sonic fan then do yourself a favor if you consider buying this game, and burn your money instead so that you never have to endure this mockery of video gaming culture. If you are not a fan of Sonic the Hedgehog then this game would make a fantastic supporting argument if you insist that Mario is superior to Sonic (although you would still be wrong). I am kicking myself for wasting six whole dollars on this game, when I would gladly pay five times that amount to never play it again. In summary, everything about this game is nothing less than utterly contemptible, and I hope whoever designed this game is never allowed to even think about designing another game without having to pay an outrageous fine. | video-games_xbox |
Totally engrossing game great for hours of enjoyment. Bioware has turned out the most enjoyable games for a number of years and ME2 is no disappointment. Tying in well with the story lines from ME1, ME2 is a captivating game that will draw you in with beautiful visuals, interesting NPCs, and a fast paced storyline that will leave you anticipating the final chapter of the trilogy.
I primarily play games for the storylines which is why I've played pretty much everything these guys have put out. ME2 follows in that tradition with an all encompassing main story and quite a few side stories related to each character. Really these games are like interactive movies. They're certainly above the level of most science fiction in recent years. I cringe to think what will happen when the series gets the Hollywood treatment but I'm so devoted to the series that I inevitably will watch it. The story picks up just weeks after the first game ends and the ending sets up the finale perfectly.
The game is not without its flaws, just like the first one. Oddly, I think the first one was a better game as far as "game mechanics" go. I absolutely HATE first person shooters where scurrying around looking for ammo is 90% of the game. ME1 was free of this ridculousness but for some reason they chose to introduce it into ME2. In fact, other than the awful inventory system ME1 was pretty much perfect in this regard but ME2 took away most of the character equipment customization that made ME1 so great. I think part of this was intentional because if you were level 60 in ME1 with all the best weapons and powers you were pretty much a GOD on casual mode and not too shabby in the more difficult ones. Not so in ME2. Again, it tries to be more like the FPS games I loathe, likely because more people like that but it's my review and I'll knock a star off if I want to. Also, the mineral/survey parts of the game were beyond ridiculous.
Even with these flaws, I'm definitely excited for the release of the final chapter in the trilogy and can't wait to find out what happens to all the characters from the first two games. | video-games_xbox |
A honest review. Ok I just recieved this today, wasn't sure at first what to expect due to all the negative reviews. However I was still excited to play it. The very first thing I took notice to was the controls. The movement seemed clunky at first but I did manage to compensate for it. I only played through the first 2 single player levels. After just playing them 2 levels I could see where the game was going, if you know what I mean. I wanted more, more action, better graphics. Ive heard that the single player campaign is around 4-6 hours long. Now after playing single player I was disapointed. I almost wasn't going to play the multiplayer but thought I would give it a chance. This is were I got hooked! At first I couldn't get connected to Ea's servers. Isnt that much of a big deal, all companies have first day release issues etc. I kept trying did get connected. I had a blast. There was a little lag here & there. But I never got disconnected. The rooms were full all the time. There are only 5 multiplayer maps as of right now. I play games & take them for what they are. I don't like making a purchase based on someone else's opinion. Just because they don't like it, doesnt mean you will. People are not giving this game a chance. Do I like COD? Answer is YES. Is this game worth the sixty dollar price tag? No. I recieved mine for forty dollars due to the gift card promotion. This game could have been much better. It is a fun game. But then again you cant compare it to COD or Halo because its simply not that. Its kind of in a league of its own, and theres nothing wrong with that.
Pros----
Sound is amazing
Nice lighting textures
Addicting online play
good soundtrack
Cons----
Short campaign(4-6 hours long)
Popup textures
Not so good AI( on of my teammates was stuck running inside a doorway, I shot his foot, and he became unstuck)
Shots don't always "register" on enimies
In the end its not great but its not bad either. I hope this review helps. | video-games_xbox |
This Ain't Yo Momma's Mordor. This game is a lot of fun for Tolkien geeks like me. It looks like it is ripped straight out of the Jackson movies. Beautiful graphics, spooky ambient sounds, moving music, perfect voice-acting, a lot of lore, and ACTION. If the Batman games, Assassin's Creed games, and GTA games decided to have a baby together, this is what would appear. Shadow of Mordor takes the best qualities from all of the aforementioned gaming hits and melds them into a fantasy dream.
The combat and killing animations are gorgeous, brutal, bloody, stylish, and surprising. They do not get old, and often new animations pop up. The combat is exactly like the Batman games, if not a little more forgiving. The stealth kills are so much fun. "Brutalize" an orc in a stealth kill and you become a psychopathic Middle Earth Dexter for a few seconds. Just impressive! But maybe not good for young kids.
The fact that all of Sauron's minions are constantly being promoted makes this game surprisingly addictive. Especially if one of them kills you. Getting revenge, targeting loudmouths, taking out legitimate dangers, etc. is a lot of fun. Since, like GTA, this game gives you a lot of freedom to roam and cause trouble in Mordor, you can do this for hours without advancing the story if you wanted to.
Like the Assassin's Creed games, you can climb anything, go anywhere, leap from edifice to edifice, dive from ridiculous heights, and oerform some dramatic sneak attacks.
Character progression is a lot fun too, as you are constantly obtaining cool skills and powers that you have to try out on the hordes of orcs that roam and hunt nearby. Plus, if you clear an area and travel back to it, more orcs will be there. They often investigate kills and call for each other's aid. So, their is a LOT of blood to be spilled.
There is a lot more to brag about, like your wraith interrogation skills, Gollum sneaking about, beasts to ride into battle, etc. BUY IT NOW. Show Mordor what you are made of, and have a TON of fun doing so.
This game rocks. | video-games_xbox |
Kinect Sports Season 2 Review. Microsoft has come out with a sequel to their sports game to show off the Kinect. In this game you'll get to play Football, Golf, Darts, Skiing, Baseball, and Tennis. As you play the different games you're going to be able to unlock difficulties to increase the experience and also the challenge.
Graphically this game looks exactly like the first, with the exception of the change in sporting equipment. Everything was clearly done, and the informational videos told you exactly what you need to know to get the job done in the game that you're currently trying to play.
The sounds of the game were for the most part hit songs from different eras, when you did something good, and an announcer of some sort to tell you what's currently going on in the game.
The controls of the game involved your body, but for some reason I felt that they were worse than they were in the first game. Trying to do the actions to serve a tennis ball, I could never get the Kinect to see exactly what I was doing, and as a result I never felt comfortable in that aspect. There were other games that suffered from the same disconnect I felt, but not to that large of a degree.
So you have all these sports games, and to be honest there's only one that I would recommend coming back to, and that's Darts. The simplest one is the best one to play because you can figure out what the game is expecting and then play as if you're playing the real thing. Now for the other games.
Let's start first with Football, it's anything but football. You have 4 plays to march down the entire field, there's no such thing as a first down. You're either going to have to score a touchdown, kick a field goal, or I'm guessing turn it over on downs. You're going to have these different passing indicators that will light up when its the correct time to throw it to a receiver, but I felt as if sometimes my throwing motions didn't get the ball going in the correct direction. There's also the fact that you've got to squat before each play, and sometimes if you squat too soon it didn't register. There's also the fact that you couldn't play defense in the game, so you were at complete mercy of the game.
Now lets hit up baseball. This is yet another broken game. I do get that they wanted it to be cute and cool to have indicators tell you which type of pitch the batter was bad at hitting, but it makes no logical sense for a left-handed person to have to constantly pitch with both hands depending on the batter. There's also the fact that even if you got it right it wasn't going to equal to much. The fielding mechanic was also screwy. I understand that there's an achievement for bobbling the ball and then catching it, but I never felt comfortable with that mechanic. There's also the fact that its a severely shorten game when it comes to innings, which is probably for the best, as when I played against a human opponent the actual inning would take about 8 runs bare minimum before a change in sides.
I've already hit a bit on tennis, but overall it just feels a bit sloppy. I do like the overhead slam feel, but other than that the game doesn't really like I wanted it to feel.
The other games golf and skiing did what they were suppose to do, but once again I felt that the controls weren't tight enough to make them overly enjoyable. There are also some challenges to try to extend the game, but to be honest you can get through those rather quickly, and then you're left with the game again. A good thing that each of these games should have had is more options, more than setting the difficulty. I would have love to change up dart system, to change up inning numbers, to be able to play defense, to have more of a game than a bunch of half done carnival games. So with that I've got to give this game a 5.7 out of 10. | video-games_xbox |
Fun for the low price. Title: Spawn: Armageddon
Description: This game is based on the popular Todd McFarlane comic that chronicles the activities of once human Al Simmons whose now turned into a sorta demon. He is Hell's answer to a "fallen angel" as Simmons uses his new powers to his own ends and seeks to make sense of the madness that is his new existence. Take on the forces of Heaven and Hell as you are in the good graces of neither. 1 player.
Platform: PS2, GC, and Xbox (reviewed)
Learning Curve: 4- This title is as expected pretty linear and in tradition (well as tradition based as the past 3 years can yield) of other linear games this one doesn't require a lot of you to get the hang of it. It is mostly hack and slash but expect to see some mobility learning with the capabilities of the cape and grappling with your chains, but still learning is pretty stress free and most of it will go into familiarizing yourself with weapon icons.
Replay Value: 3- Since this is a linear title don't expect there to be a high replay value of this title. It is a good rent for people needing their fix of the hellspawn hero, but purchase for the diehard fan isn't completely discouraged. It is now an affordable price. You can pass up a few comics this month and add this title to your collection.
Difficulty: 5- Expect to see some frustration from the bosses and sometimes you can be swamped by enemies. From what I can tell so far most of your tasks aren't time based so play should be otherwise stress free. This is a fun title for casual gaming.
Guide: There is a guide available through Bradygames for $14.99. Like all guides it is helpful, but navigating the game is pretty easy and the guide acts only to map certain difficult to find secrets of the game. For maximum fun try to find these on your own after you've completed level objectives.
Pros: Price, Nice FMVs, variety of baddies, versatile battle system for a inexpensive linear game, and very fun for casual gaming.
Cons: Suffers from normal linear title problems of replay and game simplicity, Spawn graphics in game lack a bit (Spawn looks too short and stocky,) the story lacks a bit, and the chain effects could have been better.
Time Expected to Invest: About a week to give the game a decent run through.
Retail Value: $19.99. If you do some digging you can find it for $14.99 at several stores and perhaps here within Amazon itself.
Suggested Purchase Price: Under $15 used or new.
Overall: 6- For fun factor. This game has had some horrible reviews and I think it is undeserved. I came to this title expecting a total piece of crap and to be honest I found it quite enjoyable. The gameplay isn't straight linear as it does give you the option to run back through the level to explore before moving on and there are hidden areas that you can miss if you aren't watchful. I don't think this title is worth it's original $50 price tag, but for $15 I think it's worth it. If you can find it cheap I recommend this title. The gameplay is fun so don't expect the monotony of titles like Batman: Rise of the Sin Tzu and the terrible Aquaman title. If you doubt me try it as a rental, but purchase is just slightly more expensive I say you save yourself the extra gas money and time. | video-games_xbox |
Better than the offical Xbox One Remote. I will admit that I did not have much hopes when I bought this remote. I had previously owned the official Microsoft Xbox One remote and it did not work as well as I hoped. The way I have my entertainment system set up, my normal day to day tv and movie watching goes through my Xbox One. The cable DVR set top box goes through the Xbox One HDMI pass through and then to my 7.2 receiver, and finally on to my TV. I have the Xbox One set up to control the receiver, Cable STB, and TV already so this remote was ready to go out the box.
I love the fact that it not only controls the volume and channels, but it also works with the FF, RR, Play/Pause, Skip<, and Skip> on my DVR/STB. I had trouble with that on the MS remote. It also has the number pads that work flawlessly. The one thing I hated with the MS is trying to use the One Guide to jump around on the TV channels, you would have to scroll from channel 1100 all the way to 1800. Now I can simpley input the numbers and there it goes, so much quicker.
It works flawlessly with all the app I use on my Xbox One. Watching videos on Netflix, Hulu, HBOgo, Amazon, Crunchyroll, YouTube, etc. is a simple and the response if fast.
I also like the silver Xbox Home button on the top, it is easy to find when turning everything on and looks great in contrast with the black. But that also raises one of the issue I have with this remote, there is not power off button. I know you can hold the Xbox Home button for 3 seconds and select "power off" but that is a few more presses than what is needed. The old Harmony remote that I was using had a button for power so there is a IR signal available.
This would nearly be a perfect remote, but the one function it doesnt have is a button to view the recorded shows on my DVR. I know that is more of a fault the Xbox One's capabilities and programming, so I did not want to ding it too much. Some of my other minor gripes is the buttons all feel the same, often time there are dimples or bumps on the 5 to center your finger, or the volume and channel buttons have varied feels to them to differentiate. Even though it is back-lite, I like to keep my eye on the TV and not have to look down at the remote to know what button I am pressing.
All in all I gave it a 4 out of 5 because it is a very functional remote that lets me hide the remote for the TV, Cable STB, and Receiver so I can just use this one for every day use. The only reason I keep the others around is so I can do some tweaks to the other components when need be. | video-games_xbox |
Big Promises Poor execution. Very disappointed in the Xbox one. Seems like it is an unfinished product that was rushed to beat the xmas sales.
Pros
Lag in the Kinect seems to be less of an issue then it it was on the xbox 360 version
Cons
PC based Smartglass is only available only for Windows 8. Is Microsoft trying to force us to buy version 8? Personally I think windows 8 or 8.1 is a piece of junk and I will NOT be forced to accept it just to have a working smartglass. There are Android versions and Apple versions. On the Andriod version it works with my nexas 7 tablet but will not work with a Galaxy S4.
Graphics, I truly cannot say the graphics are any better then what I've seen on Xbox 360. Maybe it is because the current lineup of games are recompiled Xbox 360 code without the code taking advantage of the new hardware.
Voice commands are very hit or miss. Seems to only understand only about 50% of what I ask it to do and about 10% of my wife's voice.
There are USB ports on the back of the console but forget about plugging a keyboard or mouse into them. Will not work. Sure you can browse with internet explorer with your Xbox, Entering text in I.E. or even going through the xbox setup with only the hand held controller you have no idea how bad the lack of keyboard support is. Yeah I can use my Nexas 7 and Smartglass, however that is only a slight improvement over using the controller.
Xbox One Will Not play Flash based video in it's Internet Explorer. Since a lot of internet websites are flash based those sites are worthless to visit.
A lot of the built in applications such as Skype, Microsoft Fitness and others require a Xbox Live subscription another $60 per year hit on the pocketbook
We have a Dish DVR Vip722K satellite receiver. At first Xbox would not work with it. Finally found that the IR channel must be set to channel 1 for that to work. Xbox is then able to turn on and off the TV or change channels. That is the extent of it. Cannot find any method to access recorded content on the VIP722K DVR, Also cannot find a way to access the satellite receivers recording and scheduling functions either.
I've got a LG smart TV the smart functionality of that TV alone is far superior than Microsoft's implementation of TV to Console functionality, which overall I rate 1 on a scale to 1 to 5 at best.
There are more limitations and headaches then benefits with the Xbox One system then worth mentioning and many are already documented by others here and on other website reviews | video-games_xbox |
Good overall game with some caveates. I bought this game from Gamestop so I can't comment on Amazon's service but I can comment on the game itself. After playing Crysis on PC, a game well regarded for it's armor abilities, I got hooked on cloaking. Mass Effect, Crysis, and other games drew me because of the cloaking. So when I found out that you could cloak in Halo Reach I was psyched. And I was not disappointed.
While it is limiting compared to the other games I have played, I still enjoyed it a lot, in campaign and especially multiplayer. I'm not much of a multiplayer gamer myself though, but this might change that.
Now, on to the review. I'll split it into four major sections.
Campaign:
Overall the campaign was excellent. There were only a few frustrating level design choices in a 10 hour game on Heroic and I was very satisfied. Contrary to what I expected however, you couldn't choose the armor ability you wanted at the beginning of a level, you had to pick it up and swap it out for the default sprint. This also reset after each level, so you weren't allowed to completely decide your playtype like in Crysis.
Thing is though, when have you ever been able to decide how you played in a Halo Game? All things considered, this game gave me an open world feel, similar to but not matching with Crysis and Far Cry. In many cases you could flank the enemy instead of charging headlong into them, it felt less linear at times. This wasn't true for the whole game, but some of it, which in my mind is an improvement.
Space combat was very fun, better than I was expecting from Bungie. It was smooth and seamless, if not full featured. You had to rely on other pilots to tell you whether you were being tailed instead of equipment. Overall though, very fun.
Plus, you can choose both your gender and your armor in the Campaign. This isn't Fallout style gender choice where the character is silent, all dialog is fully recorded for each gender, even if it is identical. Even sound effects are recorded like heavy breathing after sprinting.
Multiplayer:
The armor abilities really add something to the multiplayer. Classic game types a given new life. The BR game type, which is now DMR, feels completely different with Active camo, Jet packs, and bubble shields. Honestly, I have never played anything like it. Enormous fun, especially on the bigger maps.
One thing that is almost CoD esque is the challenge system, but I think it is more fair. As others have stated, In CoD you had to complete challenges in order to gain equipment that you could use to dominate. In Halo: Reach, the challenges are rewarded with credits as opposed to items and you can use these credits to purchase armor parts that look snazzy. Other than that, they don't really mean anything except bragging rights. Shallow, but many are still fun to get. These challenges carry over into campaign, firefight, and multiplayer and by that I mean they might require you to kill 150 enemies with headshots in Campaign or get 250 kills in Firefight.
Firefight:
I had a lot of fun in Firefight. Not just because it is an awesome mode, but because it is so customizable that with a little creativity things won't get old for a while. You can set what enemies come in what waves, whether the enemies come in order or are random, armor abilities, weapon loadouts, base armor abilities (Ever wonder what it would be like to have Active Camo and a jet pack? You can in firefight) and a huge host of other settings.
Plus, you can fight enemies you can't fight anywhere else in the halo universe in this mode with a few tweaked settings. Heretic Snipers with human sniper rifles to balance the cloaking and Jetpacks? Check. Seriously, so many options, so little time.
Forge:
I haven't done too much research into forge at this point but what I have seen is impressive. In Halo 3 you could add items to a map but you couldn't change it's basic layout, not until the sandbox dlc. In this, you can open forge world either with each individual map prebuilt or completely blank slate. No walkways, not grav lifts, nothing. Just rocks and water. This is a real map editor now.
Closing thoughts:
Unfortunately, much of multiplayer and Firefight suffers from a reduction in the open world feel. Many areas that you wouldn't think should be off limits are, greatly limiting creative gameplay. This isn't a deal breaker though, and as a whole package the game is well worth the money.
Oh, and Co-Op difficulty scales with the number of players you have. | video-games_xbox |
Saints Row is pure, grown up fun. Saints Row 2 is one of my favorite games of all time. Let me qualify that by saying I am a hardcore gamer. My favorites include Knights of the old Republic, Nier, Mario RPG, Deus Ex HR, Final Fantasy tactics, Mass Effect, Jade Empire, Fallout 3/New Vegas, Bioshock, Mega man X3, ect. Saints Row 2 stands up to all of them, and so does Saints Row the third.
I will admit, I miss the bonkers level of customization offered in SR2, but that in no way means that you won't be able to design your character how you want. The graphics are amazing, the gameplay is lightning fast, the amount of things to do from the start are staggering, and the world is brimming with life. When I was prompted to take a car to be upgraded for the first time, I didn't like the one the character was suggesting. I walked out into the street, shot a man, waited for the cops, killed them, took THEIR car, and upgraded IT. Now I have a metallic purple cop car, with an enhanced frame, spikes coming out of the wheels, nitrous, and purple lights underneath the chassis; awesome.
Even the most basic task can go wonderfully wrong. I was sent to pick a character up. I noticed some rival gang members idling at a light, so I got out of my pimped out cop car, and lobbed a grenade under their car. The explosion was very satisfying. I got back in my car, accidentally ran over several dozen pedestrians, and arrived at my location. I picked up my target, and as we were getting into the car I noticed some stars and badges on my screen. Five seconds later, I realized that meant I had upset both the cops, and the gang members, both parties which converged on me, en mass. What turned into a basic pickup, evolved into a thrilling chase through the city with both the cops and gang members trying to run me off the road. The best part though, is that all that applies to the original incarnation of this game. Lets get to what you can expect to see in this, "The Full Package".
Let me do it this way. I completed a few missions, messed around the world a little, and was enjoying myself. I was a little worried that I wasn't having as much fun as I was expecting, but I'm patient. I decided to try a hitman side job. The first person I went after was at the airport. All I had to do was steal one of his carts to draw him out. I had just cleared out the penthouse, so I went to the helipad to see if the helicopter was still there. It wasn't but something MUCH better was. You see, because this is "The full package" you start off with many awesome weapons and vehicles from the various DLC that came out, nearly all of them better than what exists for you at that point. It is completely up to you if you want to use them right off the bat, or go through the game with what you would have normally, but where is the fun in that?
I chose to take the Ultor hover bike there. That's right; a hover bike, complete with Gatling gun attached to the front. I sped over to the Airport, and while I was strafing the sky in my hover jet, like a boss, a little notice popped up telling me I had discovered rival gang activity, and if I took them out, this area became mine. Seeing as I was piloting a shiny new hovercraft with a gun on the front, what choice did I really have? I started strafing the rival gang bangers on the ground, and as I thinned their ranks, they called in back up. For five minutes, I took out their forces while learning how to best use the hover craft. My original objective of finding the cart had been safely forgotten by now.
At a certain point, their reinforcements had rocket launchers, and managed to shoot me out of the sky. Using one of the awesome extra weapons that comes with this edition, I was able to hold them off while I called in a new vehicle. I pulled up my list, to see what my options were, and among such names as "sexy kitten" and "sad panda" I noticed the "saints crusader". that sounded pretty cool, so I had that delivered. As I waited, I saw the purple dot on my mini map, which represents a friendly entity, draw near, and I turned to see what type of car I would be using as a get away vehicle...... it was a tank.
The saints crusader is a big, beautiful, purple tank with a powerful cannon, Gatling gun, and is nearly indestructible. For the next twenty minutes, I shot down helicopters, cars, suvs, mowed down gangsters by the score, and savaged giant monstrosities known as brutes. It was awesome, and only happened because I got "The Full Package".
Hopefully, by now, I don't have to say this is not a game for kids. This is strictly grown up fun. The freedom in this game is amazing. Bored with the missions? Steal a car, or take someone out for, both for money. Tired of side missions? Try some of the many spontaneous mini games. The second you jump onto a car hood, you have the option to "surf" it. The game even times you. Don't feel like doing anything constructive? Great! Screwing around is this games best feature. Steal a car, drive to the airport, jack a plane, fly as high as you can go, and then jump; you always have a parachute with you. Find your fastest car, hit 200 and plow straight into a bridge, and see how far you can send yourself flying out the windshield. I don't think it is possible to be bored in this game.
Saints Row the third The full package really is the complete package. if you are looking for a fun, irreverent game, than look no further. This game is what you make of it, and I haven't even touched on the DLC or awesome multiplayer; I'll let you discover that for yourself. A definite buy.
Update- Regarding the DLC issues, there is a thread on it in the comments section of my review. Hope that helps. | video-games_xbox |
A great Xbox 360/PC headset, but not perfect. I'm not a stranger to gaming headsets. No headset is perfect, but the Chimaeras are dangerously close. I've just finished using mine for the first time.
The Chimeras are very slick looking, and have a nice weight. The basic design is nice: a wireless headset with a charging dock that handles all of the Dolby 5.1 processing. The headset itself is of solid construction, with cushioned cups, and two cushions on other side of the headband. The recharge design is actually pretty intelligent: the headset uses two AAA NIMH batteries, which can be replaced if they ever go bad. This alone makes the investment something that isn't a ticking time bomb like a wireless 360 headset can be. The headset connects to the base wirelessly via pair buttons, and the headset connects to a 360's mic port with an included 2.5 mm jack cable. On the sides of the headset are volume buttons for voice chat, mic mute, and power on the ear cup with the boom. For the other cup, master volume control, mute/sync button and mode button. The mode button is to switch between Xbox chat and LAN chat (which I can't test until later).
The audio itself is great for a two speaker headphone. Obviously, it's not true 5.1 because of the lack of 5 speakers per ear cup, but the difference isn't really noticeable (I've owned Tritton AX Pro's in the past, which did have 5 per ear cup). The volume level and bass is absolutely satisfactory, which leads to the next problem: it's takes some fine tuning to hear people talking with the headset. The audio quality is so good, that bass heavy gunfire can sort of muffle your team. The voice control works, but it's a sub channel of the master volume. There is no way to lower game volume without also lowering voice chat, so it must be done in the game's options. There might be a better way to do this, which I'm unaware of, but so far it's not a huge issue. The mic transmitting in general is of a much higher quality than the wireless headsets from Microsoft, or a regular unpowered Xbox headset. Also, for the first time I've seen, a raise boom mutes itself. It's an ingenious feature, as usually I raise my boom when I want to visually communicate that I'm not talking on the headset.
The headset's included batteries might be a little on the low end side; I charged for three hours and only got about three hours of game time out of them. This leads me to wonder why there's no option to have an emergency power cord when it goes out in the middle of a gaming session. The website it claims it can get eight hours, so I'll have to see if it was a bad set of batteries, or just a fluke.
I love these headphones, but I still need to get used to them. I'll update my review after our second set arrives, so I can write about the LAN chat and prolonged use.
EDIT 10/1/2011:
So far, prolonged use has increased. It's a solid pair of headpones, with the included off brand batteries. I'm considering getting a pack of better, higher mAh or better quality ones. I'm even considering getting additional batteries, as swapping batteries is pretty quick. I'm more than satisfied with battery life. It's to the point where plugging in the headset isn't really an issue; I redact that note under cons since replacing batteries is actually less of hassle than plugging in the cord.
The mic is very sensitive, and there's no way to adjust it without lowering your chat volume. This seems counter productive. The headset could also use a wind screen, but that's easy enough to put on yourself.
The LAN chat works, but it's sort of dubious considering how absurdly sensitive the mics are for a regular, at home setting where two people are just gaming, with nothing else going on. LAN chat is most definitely meant for a loud gaming hall where everyone is shouting/TVs are blaring/stereos are playing music. We conducted a test where we played loud music close to us, to the point where understanding each other was difficult. With the headsets on, though, we could clearly hear each other. However: the game's volume does not play at all in this mode. This makes games where hearing things around you (the purpose of a 5.1 headset) is basically wasted. I'm not sure if I can think of a game where this makes much sense.
EDIT 10/2/2011
After playing multiplayer in an Xbox Live party, I've discovered that this headset is too loud for the chat volume it provides. You can't lower the volume independently, either, so a loud game like Gears of War 3 is literally a struggle to hear other players. After experimenting with two Chimaera 5.1 headsets, two Microsoft Xbox 360 wireless headsets, and two wired Xbox 360 headsets, it's become clear that heavy action games almost require a mute to hear voice chat. For games that don't have audio options (like Halo Reach), you're out of luck. I've contacted Razer with a support ticket to see if there's some way to fix this. If not, I'll most likely be returning these. After all: I bought these because I intended to chat while wearing headphones. For now the score stands, but if there's no way around this (without having to buy extra accessories to compensate for poor design) I'll be adjusting my review's score.
FINAL EDIT 10/3/2011
After lots of testing, I discovered only have issues hearing some people. These people don't speak loudly, don't properly place the mic near their mouths, or a combination of the two. Some games are too loud, like Space Marine multiplayer, when in furious close combat, and definitely need to be lowered from the 100 ranges to 75 in the options. Gears of War 3, though, hasn't been an issue unless there's Brumak two feet away from one of us (with Dolby on), and even then reducing the volume 10% helps. We have two pairs of these headpones in the same home, so we tested them in party chat under the following conditions:
-Chimaera 5.1 to Chimaera 5.1 = Great chat quality to the point of almost being too loud.
-Chimaera 5.1 to MS Wireless Headset = Great chat quality.
-Chimaera 5.1 to standard wired mic (MS version) = Great chat quality.
-MS Wireless Headset to Chimaera 5.1 = Great chat quality. No issues except in the loudest of games.
-Standard wired mic (MS) to Chimaera 5.1 = Great chat quality ONLY if the person isn't being a shy weirdo.
After lots of use, and thought, I've decided to stick with a firm four stars. The only flaw, honestly, is the decision combine chat and game audio on the same master control. If those channels were indeed separate, this would be the only headset I could ever recommend for the Xbox 360. It could be more friendly for PC gaming; the lack of optical and 3.5 mm jack in at the same time is the only thing hindering this. While getting an adapter to connect the PC's mic to the headset itself is possible, complicates it to the point that having a wireless headset is meaningless. I can only hope Razer decides to separate the audio in the next version, should one come out.
PROS
-Replaceable rechargeable batteries
-Batteries are easy to change to a fresh set, if desired
-Plenty of options for audio jacks on base (RCA L/R in, Optical in/out, 3.5 mm in/out)
-Auto mute on raising boom
-Comfortable
CONS
-Boom can't be rotated once down, has no wind screen.
-Voice chat volume is a sub channel of the master volume on the headset. You can't mute game volume and still hear voice chat through headset controls (x360).
-Game volume can occasionally drown out some quieter users, and louder games have to be adjusted through in game menus.
-LAN voice chat has limited use, and feels tacked on. There's no option to use 5.1 in this mode. In game chat is a better choice. | video-games_xbox |
Excellent! Not a clone of the PC version. The review below mine, by Michael Pappalardo does a good job of describing the game, but I'd like to clarify on a few of his "CONs"...
"Unskippable 4+ minute trailer for the game everytime you go back to the main menu really makes you NOT want to play"
* What? There is most definitely not an unskippable 4 minute trailer. The only trailer I see is the one at the start that can be bypassed by hitting "A".
"DREADFUL load times"
* While they aren't the shortest in Xbox history, they aren't THAT bad. Keep in mind its loading huge maps. The PC version has the long load times.
"Laughably unrealistic weapon damage on enemies (emptying an entire handgun clip into their chest at point blank range is...minorly annoying?)"
* It looks like a lot of the enemies are wearing flak jackets..
"Enemies can see you no matter how well covered you are"
* If you try standing up and running through the jungle, yes, they will see/hear you. If you crouch or go prone and slowly advance on the enemy while using the larger plants for cover (not the grass), they will NOT see/hear you. The stealth element is great in this game.
"Grenades utterly useless...enemies know your location immediately when you prepare grenade for throwing and scatter before it even leaves your hand"
* Not true. They will however have a pretty good idea where it may have come from if they survive the blast.
I'd like to add that I found the gameplay to be more enjoyable than the PC version. And I am a huge fan of the PC version. You can do some really nifty things in the Xbox version, like set traps, roll onto your back while under huts to shoot through the floor, 3 very cool new vehicles, etc. The akimbo (dual weapon wielding) is VERY enjoyable... When selected, each trigger independently controls the left/right hand's weapon. The visuals are absolutely stunning for the Xbox, and lag is not a problem. | video-games_xbox |
Call of Duty's fall from glory. First, let me say I have been a COD tryhard since Modern Warfare, at times logging well over a month in real game time, I play competitively every place I can (Fraggednation.com, MLG.com, etc.) and I'm going to try to stay objective even through my anger...
Campaign: the first thing that jumped out at me was the aim! The autoaim in campaign is so easy a newborn could headshot opponents from a mile away...the skill is GONE! The graphics are more detailed than previous COD titles, though not night and day different. The campaign is short and sweet with lots of heart-pounding battlnes, quick interior gunplay, and some decent long range coverfire situations. Worth $70 bucks? Pushing it.
Co-Op : The spec op missions are back with some fun missions a new mode called survival that took the zombie idea and turned it into a wave based ex-fil that never happens. As you progress through the levels, you run across a gammot of opposition including dogs (some with C4 strapped to them), different types of heavily armored juggernauts, chemical teams, bomb experts, claymore specialists, helicopters, and more... a nice addition to the game in my opinion.
Multiplayer: Well, here goes... the multiplayer is the same COD with a few upgrades. My first complaint: hit detection. You will hit someone with a really big gun fifteen times and get hit markers and get killed by the first round that your target fires after you've already hit him...you die, they walk away. Second, they obviously have never fired real guns, because according to the developers, a nine millimeter has a slower follow up than the .44, which is slower and less damage than the .45, etc. As far as having a good time, good luck, as any game type you play will be filled with campers not playing the game types, mods that can shoot through maps, way too many children, constant lag problems, and a multitude of other problems. Another major issue: they won't give the community dedicated servers, which Battlefield has, which Homefront has, and those titles are DWARFED by COD. On top of it all, Activision is where you are sent for any problems concerning the game...THEY SAY ON THEIR PROMPT NOW THAT THEY WON'T PROVIDE SUPPORT FOR ONLINE GAMING. They say they will contact you back wthin two days by e-mail. Eleven messages later, they still haven't responded.
To wrap this up, I used to love COD...now, they are obviously just trying to suck up as much money off a dead title that they can dupe the public into buying, and I'm done. No support, no respect for those of us who made this franchise huge? Bye Call of Duty, because after wasting so much time on each failure (esp. Black Ops), I won't waste my time or money on an over-hyped child magnet again. | video-games_xbox |
Just an Average Game. Pros:
1. VISUALS: The lighting of this game are really stunning
2. ENGAGEMENT: The weather component is awesome (though sam never gets wet in his combat wet suit)
3. EASE-OF-USE: The gameplay and moves (Though I was hard pressed to figure out how the Chinese could always walk up on me in zero darkness yet the Russian mafia, CIA, etc couldn't) are excellent. Excellent use of the controller buttons for multiple moves.
4. ENGAGEMENT: The interplay of the News channel was great (but it lost it's brilliance because of Con #2 see below)
5. EASE-OF-USE: The heads up indicator that tells you when you can grab a person or object.
Cons:
1. ENGAGEMENT: The game is too repetitive. The repetitive nature of the game can only blend well with a great story had a lot more umph! to it.
2. ENGAGEMENT: The developers came up short on the story. This game could've reached cinematic proportions. Clancy as a consultant and the individual who came up with the story could've done a better job with the story. The 3 story line threads could've been developed much better! Much Better! #1 The thread the news is broadcasting, #2. The thread that Sam fisher is aware of because of his covert ops, and #3 What is really going on that needs to be unravelled.(Kids don't just play video games any more).
3. Visuals - I wasn't always too impressed with the visuals of the game, considering what Halo did with the Xbox in all kinds of environment. Sometimes guards in the distance reminded me of some previous PS2 titles
4. ENGAGEMENT: The game environment - I will reference other games. Grand Theft Auto 3 and vice. There isn't anything normal going on in the worlds that Splinter Cell takes you to. Everyone is on guard. No one is dropping off a grandmother. No one is roaming the streets look for a club. No one is living in the worlds created by Splinter Cell.
5. ENGAGEMENT: The guards are too routine. These guys have limited conversation. They don't drink. They don't smoke. They don't sit down even though they are supposed to be patrolling their area. Basically the guards are not alive! They should have about 20 things they can do depending on their environment.
Conclusion: Without a CONTINUALLY engaging and credible story then the game becomes boring!! If Splinter Cell was the first game, like MGS 1 or even Tenchu, then we could accept this with the birth of a new genre. But since Splinter Cell is adding to the genre not inventing it unfortunately the bar obviously has to be raised to the next level --Hand an award to Halo for raising the bar on FPS -- to be included in the pantheon of truly ground-breaking games.
Splinter Cell adds to the library but does not raise the bar. | video-games_xbox |
I was Totally bummed at first, but better now. My kids are nuts about a game called Minecraft, so Santa brought them a new Xbox 360 and Minecraft for Christmas. While perusing Amazon I noticed an interesting game where you plug your guitar in and play along with the game and it claims to teach you how to play, plus there were some pretty awesome songs listed that you could learn to play. Being the novice guitar player that I am, I figured this would be a win/win situation so I purchased the game. I waited patiently for Santa to deliver the Xbox so I could play the game...
Well the day arrived. So I setup the Xbox and let the kids have at it on Minecraft. Well after the three hour Minecraft marathon I finally pried the controllers away from their greasy little fingers. I cued up Beethoven's Symphony No. 9: Ode To Joy on the home audio and opened the Rocksmith 2014 box, unbound the cable, hooked it to my guitar, plugged the other end of the cable into the Xbox, pressed the button to open the disc tray, laid the disc on the tray ever so lightly, and then pressed the button and watched the tray slide so smoothly back into the Xbox. Then I stared at the screen...waited...waited...then all of a sudden Beethoven's Symphony came to a screeching halt when I saw "disc unreadable" in bold letters across my screen. My heart skipped a beat as I muttered some bad words under my breath. I quickly opened the tray, took a look at the pristine underside of the disc and placed it back on the tray and loaded it again. Still, disc unreadable...http://smile.amazon.com/review/guidelines/product-links.html
Later in the day I came back to the Xbox to try again and by some kind of Christmas miracle the Xbox read the disc. Beethoven's Symphony No. 9: Ode To Joy miraculously started blaring out of the home audio. I calibrated my guitar, then tuned it. explored the main menu and then explored the lessons. After a lesson or two I was ready to learn a song. Blitzkrieg Bop has to be easy so I started with that one. The note highway came up and notes started to come towards me and I heard "hey ho" and saw it written on the upper left of my screen but then everything froze. I thought to myself that this must be some Ubisoft programmer's sick joke. Hey ho? Really? So I restarted the Xbox and tried to learn another song but within a minute it froze again. After five times of this I just gave up.
Then to add insult to injury, after researching some troubleshooting ideas I go back to the Xbox but now I get "disc unreadable" again. I really wanted to take the disc out and bend it in half, light it on fire, and then stomp the living hell out of it by this point but the more mature side of my overruled, so I put it back in its nice little box and wrapped up the cable and returned it whence it came.
Update: 01/30/14
I ended up purchasing again and received a good disc. This game is fun, now that it works. Some of the lessons irritate me because it seems like the guitar does not register clearly on some of the chord lessons. But Learn A Song and Guitarcade are fun. I am even thinking about purchasing a Bass so I can pretend to be Geddy Lee. I would give this 4 stars but since I had so much trouble initially, I will give it 3 stars; better than the 1 star I initially gave.
Update: 01/18/15
I have had this game for a year now and I am still playing it. I ended up purchasing a bass and I am having fun on bass. I'm not quite Geddy Lee yet, but getting better every day. The game did have some kind of save glitch so I had to restart my path, but I can live with it. I give it 4 stars! | video-games_xbox |
Headset not for the serious gamer, but maybe the casual. This headset is not HORRIBLE, but as a gamer who likes to put some money to gaming stuff it's not worth the money I spent.
I bought it a little more than a year ago, thought it was cool. It goes with my computer and all, I have a glowing razor keyboard, computer case, a great RAT mouse and it fit in with the style. But I haven't been happy with my purchase for a number of reasons.
1. The whole headset is plastic, meaning at some point something will crack and that crack will slowly spread. I have a minor one with my current headset that is running to a screw connecting one of the muffs to the arc. Although it appears like it has stopped, I know better, it will either spread or others will arise. The arc is clear, and because of that it's also getting cracks that naturally form in plastic over time of stress, and being stretched. Which...makes the appearance look worn, and UN-fixable.
2. The audio isn't amazing, it's nice but I had to adjust to it. The headset is cool because it has two controls, one Master volume, and one Microphone volume. But let me tell you this makes thing complicated. Because I play games, and talk to friends, I try to find a decent setting on the headset that is balanced but it's difficult so I'm constantly changing audio options in game because the controls on the headset are not sensitive enough to allow fine tuning. PLUS if I play games, and the audio gets quiet enough...it slowly gets quieter (Not the game, the headset. The headset's audio output LITERALLY gets quieter) until I can't hear anything at all from the game, until I do something like click or make an action loud enough to suddenly bring the audio all back at once. The headset could use a hardware upgrade.
3. The microphone is low quality, comparable to the cheap PlayStation/Xbox headsets we have all gotten for free, or gone out to buy due to them simply breaking down. It's not THAT important...but when I drop $100+ on a wireless headset, I expect good audio and a microphone regardless of the headset's build.
But there are indeed benefits to this headset.
1. It is universal! Can plug into any headphone jack if you have the cord, Xbox/PlayStation compatible, and PC compatible.
2. Wireless receiver that connects the headset to computers, systems is super simple. ONLY the USB portion needs to be plugged in, nothing else.
3. Built in mute button on the headset, so I don't have to navigate to my communication program like skype, or teamspeak to mute myself.
4. It does have a smart design, the clear portion of the Arc is a great idea, although poorly executed. Having the upper arc, and a band that rests on your head means it will last longer. If you had a headset with a single arc, such as some Turtle Beaches, it will naturally be smaller, thus allowing for a lot less manipulation versus the Afterglow's which is incredibly wide allowing for much more abuse. If you had a single arc, the arc could have fitting issues like I had with an older Turtle Beach, where it may fit a little awkwardly for awhile until you adapt, or adjust and adjust and adjust. With the Afterglow's the band that is supported by what appears to be 2 sets of metal wires, means that the band will shape to YOU. You spend ZERO time adjusting, and you just put it on, and it fits comfortably. The reason why it's poorly executed in my opinion, is the fact they make the headset out of plastic entirely. If you connect plastic to plastic, and screw it together with metal screws then stress will be focused on those points of connection. Which is shown in my current headset.
I love gaming headsets, I love asking to see or play with friend's headsets, I want to get into creating a scale of rating for gaming headsets, and want to spread the word for what's worth it and not. I hope I help someone with this review, and I hope that I can help people make informed purchase decisions for gaming gear! | video-games_xbox |
What Guitar Hero/Rock Band wish they could be. Remember playing those old rhythm games and thinking to yourself, "It would be awesome if this was a real guitar, and I was actually playing the song." Well, that time has come.
Personally, I am not the most experienced guitar player. I have sat around the campfire and belted out some tunes, but by no means am I a god on the guitar.
I've read through tons of complaints about this game, and found so many of them to be petty. First, it takes a few minutes to really get going in the game. If you enjoy playing guitar, and rocking out with the Rolling Stones, then it's no big deal. The navigation takes some getting used to. I thought it would be more intuitive, so I could work off my playlist for rehearsal, but I had to go to the song library and select the song there. A few seconds of extra time, so once again, no big deal. Other people have complained that it's hard to tell which fret a note is on, but the game is actually pretty intuitive, and if you take the lesson on "shifting" you should catch on. Hint, 4 frets will be highlighted, typically in alternating shades, making it pretty easy to tell the frets apart. Sure, in the beginning it might be difficult, but as you learn the song, you'll be playing from memory and it won't make a bit of difference. I've also heard complaints about string color. Like the fret problem, it takes some getting used to. It's a new system that you're not used to so in the beginning you will have no idea which string is the blue string. You will catch on though, I promise.
In the beginning you'll find the game throws songs at you which will allow you to play on the 6th string (red) and the 5th string (yellow). When you get the hang of that, it will automatically throw in additional notes and strings. Hammer-on's slides, and sustains will also begin to appear. If you're not familiar with these concepts, they have a technique section that allows you to practice each one. A word of advice, to address another negative comment, go to you're song list and PRACTICE the songs on your set list before playing your next venue. The score box fills from the bottom and has benchmark lines. You obviously don't need a perfect score, but there is a mark on the score box for each song that I work to hit before feeling confident enough to perform.
I've seen some people complain that they have lag due to using an HDMI setup. I play Call of Duty, and have found that the lag is pretty constant when gaming, not just with Rocksmith. Any gamer worth his salt would tell you not to use the HDMI. Not to mention, if you have a nice set of headphones, it's just easier to set up the sound with the A/V cables. HDMI is nice due to the fact everything is in 1 plug, but that's all it's good for. Don't let anybody tell you otherwise.
I do have one tip: Don't finish anything! When you are practicing a song, or working through a technique challenge, the game will re-load everything from scratch if you choose to re-play. This means you will also have to strum through each string to ensure you are still in tune. I've found it to be easier to just play through once so I can see the score on the top benchmark, and then I will pause and restart just before the song finishes. When I hit the score I'm aiming for I let it play through so it will record my progress.
All in all, it's a pretty decent game. Do I believe it will make me a virtuoso? No. I doubt this game will give me the talent I need to become a songwriter in Nashville. I do believe that it will make me better at guitar though. It will speed me up, get me used to shifting, hammer-on's, picking out specific strings, etc. Practice makes perfect, and in this case, I have all the practice I want for a very low price when considering the going rate for lessons from a real person. | video-games_xbox |
Hands down, the best and most original game for Kinect. I was playing The Gunstringer when a friend of mine came over and brought his son. His son was mesmerized by what was going on and kept asking me what exactly I was playing. I had to stop and ponder that question, as it dawned on me that I couldn't properly tell him, he just had to watch. Gunstringer is definitely the most unique and pleasant game I have played in years. There is literally no game out that even closely resembles what the Gunstringer is. I say 'pleasant' because it is one of those wholesome, fun games that keeps a smile on your face throughout with its amazing presentation.
You take the title role as The Gunstringer, an undead cowboy out for revenge on his old posse that betrayed him. The thing is, you aren't exactly playing a game, but actually performing in a play in front of a live-action crowd. It sounds totally screwy and I understand anyone's qualms as to this concept being pulled off effectively. I am proudly here to say that it all has paid off, this is a thrilling game that completely wraps you into the role of operating an undead-cowboy marionette. You use your left hand as if you were holding the strings for the marionette and hold your right arm out and make a 'invisible-gun' hand shape(you don't have to make the gun shape, but why wouldn't you?). So the left hand controls walking, moving and jumping of the Gunstringer and your right arm is for shooting. You accomplish shooting by aiming at a target and recoiling your hand as if you just fired a real gun. you can even paint up to 6 targets and then pop back your hand for multi-kills. It all works effortlessly and is a joy. It just feels natural for what you are playing and my hat goes off to Twisted Pixel for making such a responsive and working control system. Certain areas of the game can turn into what boils down to a simple platformer, where you don't shoot and are meant to control the Gunstringer through obstacles, over ledges, etc. So you will literally just be bowing your left arm up and down or left and right. These parts are few and don't overall hamper the experience at all.
The humor in the game is unmatched. The presentation, commentator that narrates the game in real time, and countless cameos from the developers at Twisted Pixel all combine to give a package that is not lacking on charm and humor. To finish off a boss, you literally smash your hand towards the ground and a giant Monty Python-like arm will rain down in game and smash your opponents. Your real-life crowd will laugh, cry and gasp along with your entire adventure, keeping the atmosphere very light-hearted during the entire game.
The game is budget priced for a reason, it is short. I beat it in maybe 4 hours at the most with my first run through. However, if you have ever owned a Twisted Pixel game, you know how much extra content they pack into them. You can unlock game modifiers, music, pictures, audio commentary tracks that will play over the game like Mystery Science Theater 3000. Plus I unlocked like 10 avatar items and a theme for my Xbox. On top of that, the very first piece of DLC, "The Wavy Tubeman Chronicles" is completely free and available to download in game. This DLC is brillient as it is entirely Full Motion Video, like those old western games on the Sega CD and arcade where you would shoot at the video of real people and they would horribly act out their death. It really is amazing and a great homage to early 90's gaming. Fruit Ninja Kinect is also included in the package, so you can add that to the value of this game as well.
Frankly, even though it was short, the only fault I can find is that I wanted more. this is one of the few games I have played were I beat it and actually wanted to go back for round 2 immediately. With all the unlockables available to purchase with in-game money earned by playing, it entices you to come back for more and more. I am a 28-year old male who played it with on-lookers ranging in age from 3, to 13, to 40 and everybody really enjoyed and got into the game. It is Core game that can appeal to multiple generations while not sitting under the housing of a 'casual, family-friendly' game.
If you own a Kinect then you owe it to yourself to have The Gunstringer in your collection; a truly amazing, unique and humorous experience. | video-games_xbox |
Revolutionary, somewhat, for console. In about the first fifteen minutes, you may be asking yourself, "Why did I buy this?" But eventually, it all starts to grow on you, eventually forming into the standard obsessive routine of explore, build, and expand that pervades in all Civilization games.
Going into Civ Rev, you need to keep in mind that this is a console game, designed towards console gamers. Instead of the week consuming PC Civ game, you can accomplish this in one sit-down (three hours on easiest, but the difficulties will increase this quite nicely).
Multitasking has essentially been removed from Civ Rev. Instead, you can focus on your goals and how you're going to win, and you no longer need to worry about funding that vast horde you built. One thing I found lacking was the diplomacy. Apparently, in order to keep it simple, it has been butchered down to "Give me this, and if you don't, we're at war." It's every Civ for them self in this game, and if you're near to achieving a victory, they will make a desperate attempt to stop you.
Combat still has that good `ole Civ feel of creating a powerful unit form countless victories. Units gain experience, and in Civ Rev also gain ranks, and then eventually purchase upgrades that can change how it fits into your strategy. A problem does arise that you can't upgrade a unit to its next advancement (i.e., you can't improve an archer into a musket man; it is, and will always will be, an archer). You can, however, sell of your units, so you're not forced to go on suicide missions with them.
As far as graphics go, they're not top quality, neither are they bad. Fights are fun to watch, and the only annoying thing is your advisors, whose ubiquitous presence and pop-ins will begin to annoy some. But after awhile, they become more like an annoying friend more than anything. The sound isn't much, but this is probably a game where you will find yourself listening to your own music.
One thing I'm sure will annoy PC veterans is no control over your map. It's usually one continent with a few islands (don't quote me on that, though), and I believe the size is the same. Still, the maps are different every game, providing an essentially limitless replay ability.
Definitely different, but still a great game. $60, though? Play the demo off Xbox Live, or rent it for awhile, and if you find yourself getting hooked, than this will be worth it. | video-games_xbox |
Not really sure about this one. Prince of Persia's first installment on Xbox 360 is a big change from the earlier franchise, and if it weren't for the wall running and crazy acrobatics, I would say they should have given the series a new name.
This new Prince of Persia game is absolutely beautiful to look at. At first all the levels are dark and eerie which they pull off well, but then when you free the land, it all becomes a stunningly beautiful site. The actual characters a little cartoony looking, it looks like they used a similar technique that was used for Crackdown, but only for the people. Also on the plus side are the controls when running, jumping, climbing, etc.
Unfortunately, there are a whole bunch of problems. First is the combat system. It's horrific. Why, when in the older PoP games could I fight ten enemies at once, now I can only fight one at a time. Some of the boss guys look pretty cool but they're easy to take down because first of all, you can't die. WHAT KIND OF VIDEOGAMES MAKES IT WHERE YOU CANNOT DIE?! Also, you have only four moves, which you can string together in combinations of your choosing, but it's still only four moves. You have to fight each boss five or more times, which becomes tedious, even if some of them can be killed in 30 seconds by pushing them off the edge of the stage (What is this, Soul Caliber?) What I'm getting from this is that they tried to make a God of War-like battle system (Simple, big on button mashing, with indicative icons that appear on the screen and tell you what buttons to hit), alas, this can't even touch God of War.
Power Plates are another annoying feature. They make your character fly and run veritically up walls and do a whole bunch of impossible stuff, which is fine I guess but it takes away from the complexity of the platforming aspect. This makes the game too easy to the point where you could beat it in a week. Also, when you fall, your teamate saves you, so once again, you can't die.
The plot for any PoP game has never been all too complex but this one could have been thrown together very quickly. God gets out. God causes havoc. Prince undoes havoc. End. The only thing interesting about the plot is that it slowly reveals bits and pieces about your teammate Elika's past, so that the picture isn't really complete until the very end. Even so, it's a pretty simplistic picture. You're left at the end feeling a little cheated and very unsatisfied, because you just started to actually care about what happens to your characters and then poof, it's over, set up for a sequel no doubt.
Lastly, there is the dialogue. They tried to make this new prince all witty and edgy, but again, they failed. The result is a bunch of mistepped one-liners that make you want to cringe. (The worst being "Y'know, if you really wanted to win back your daughter's acceptance, you could have just bought her a pony. This apocalypse business, just doesn't cut it" or something god-awful like that)
With this game, Ubisoft got their foot in the door, but that's all they did. If they want to make this into a trilogy like the original Prince of Persia they're going to have to learn from the bountiful mistakes of this game and try to fix most of them before the next one. Otherwise they are going to prove to us that they are unable to balance this franchise and Assassin's Creed at once. | video-games_xbox |
Wondering if I bought the Bizaro version. I'm still playing the game, I'm only about 3 hours into the thing and somewhere around 80% completed according to the game, and I'm not having fun any more, and this really bothers me. I just shelled out $60 something and I can't say I've ever had a feeling during this that I was doing anything meaningful other than saving a block of Metropolis idiots (they run into you while you're punching your opponents and are sent flying).
I'm trying to do one of the side missions where I fly around and collect things, but Metropolis gets attacked every 10 seconds by a band of flying ice dragons and their companions the fire dragons. Or I'll get wrapped up in a fight with the guy who multiplies over and over again yet only manages to have 3 or 4 lines and they're so freaking corny it hurts.
I really wanted to like this game... honestly, I got sucked in because of the demo being so short... I thought "there has to be more to this game, and it's probably frickin' awesome"... I'm really not finding the frickin' awesome.
There's a large beautiful city here every 3rd building seems to have the same texture, in the distance you can see a giant dam which looks like it would be fun to fly over to, but forget about that. Metropolis is a huge series of islands with an unreachable mainland and no possible way the citizens could reach it. No airports, appears to be a sea-based town only. The mainland, if I am guessing right, has a cliff facing Metropolis that is roughly 25 miles high, which is about the same height as the unreachable dam that you also can't visit.
And there're numerous problematic dichotomies - one example is you are charged with taking care of the city, keeping things from getting damaged, and yet you get achievement points for things such as ripping the globe off of the Daily Planet and throwing it down the streets. Another is you go to take a challenge and turn into Bizaro and have to destroy as much of the city as you can to advance.
And for the Man of Steel, I feel more like I'm playing the man of pretty darn strong rubber. I can lift 60,000 pounds in this game, and throw it, and it bounces off any buildings it hits. I can hit a pedestrian while in a fight and they get right back up but if one of the opponents hits them, they go down instantly. I try and pick up the injured person to take them to the ambulance (where I then drop them 20 feet to their rescue) and will manage to pick up the wandering pedestrian who is walking through a burning car to get in my way.
Metropolis takes a little too much damage and Superman drops to his knees and looks like he's crying. It takes the same amount of damage in two back to back fights and, well, for some reason it's fine.
While playing I also learned that when the game spawns 15 flying enemies in certain areas the game will lock up for a while. Friend of mine was watching and said my XBOX had shut down due to overheating and I pointed out that you could still go the menu and to wait for a bit, and then it did whatever it was doing and started speeding up, and that it was always when there were that many flying enemies. Duplicated the problem a few times.
I don't know what I did exactly, but I blew one of the bosses into orbit for a while, and when he came down he landed in the ocean. He did not move, nor could I swim or fly underwater. I tried using my heat vision to hit him but noticed all I was doing was damaging Metropolis. I was fighting Bizaro at one point and I knocked him into the one highway that exists... could not get to him. Both these incidents I had to reload the last save.
I've gotten to the point where I save every single event due to bugs like these.
I wish I had my money back, or the game I expected | video-games_xbox |
Great but not Amazing (sadly. For the record I played War for Cybertron as well, and this is a better game than that by at least 1 star.
The problem with this game, is that it's great, but it just fails to go over the top for me. Transformers is and has always been my favorite cartoon and series ever since the G1 days in the 1980s. So for me this game had the potential to be awesome, and it falls short of that... but it's still worth playing.
The story is really good. It's basically something like a mishmash of all the dramatic elements of Iacon parts 1,2,3 from G1 rolled together. There are a few really fun levels. There are a couple of levels where I was like, "Why am I doing this?" but for the most part, they all offer something interesting or unique. The best part is, the story is replayable. You unlock guns and perks as you go along, and it would be almost impossible to find everything/unlock everything in one go, so you can play it again on a harder difficulty. There are some cheesy parts though, be warned, but not anywhere on the level of War for Cybertron. That game made me cringe quite a few times (cybertronian slugs? come on with your biological lifeforms, this is Cybertron bro). Hopefully the intern that programmed/storyboarded that part was fired. But there are a few easter eggs to be found (glass gas? that is so random-awesome).
The gameplay is righteous. There is very little left to want. (Playing as Bruticus is EXTREMEly fun and awesome). The saddest part possibly, is that there is very little motivation to transform, unless you're on a flying level (which War for Cybertron also suffered badly from). But this game is definitely at the peak of Xbox development, and has levels of detail rivaled only by newer games like Skyrim, etc.
The multiplayer, for me, is possibly the most disappointing part of the game, and ends up for me, being the part I spend the most time on usually. This is one area I have to say War for Cybertron really took the cake. In Fall, there are very very few customization options. I know it may seem like you can make your own custom transformer. But you quickly realize that more or less, they all look the same anyway. The worst part is, apart from the visual customizations, there are very few skill/weapon/tactics variations. There is basically one or two builds that are really good, and everyone uses them. This happened in War as well, but to a lesser degree. In fact what made me quit playing multiplayer, is that I noticed the Scout class is the best global tradeoff, and about 50% of people play it because of this (boring). I'm sorry but the really tough "Titan" class should be able to take far more hits than it can. Get caught with your back turned by anything? DEAD. God forbid it hit anything at more than 20m off with it's garbage X12 "Scrapmaker" gun (until you get the accuracy perk at 21 that is). War had far far far more variations and customization that I personally thought made it way better in this arena. Here's the worst part about hte multiplayer, within 2? weeks, Highmoon already found a way to gauge more money out of you, by releasing this super disappointing "expansion" pack, with 1 (count it 1) new robot body, and a few new maps (cool, but not what the game needed, imo). That's weak in my opinion, and I refuse to pay for it. Too little, too soon.
For the record, I can be a harsh critic, but I do feel like a lot of my concerns are pretty objective. That being said please remember this is only my opinion and I'm just trying to help prospective buyers. All in all I'd say buy it, but don't expect to still be playing it in a month. | video-games_xbox |
Black Ops 2......Don't bother. This is an all out honest review of my personal Black Ops 2 experience. I understand that everyone's experience with this game will be different but I do believe that there are enough similar experiences to mine to warrant this disclaimer of a review. DO NOT BUY THIS GAME. If you are a parent planning on getting this game for your child, I highly recommend either renting the game first or borrowing it from someone to find out how this game is going to play out with your particular internet.
Lets start with a few good things about the game overall. First, the game has beautiful graphics with smooth character models and seemingly good frame rates. It looks and feels like a very well crafted game. The single player campaign has a great story and is actually my favorite Call of Duty story to date, but as with most CODs it is very short and does not warrant a $60 purchase by itself. The in game sound is fine and the multiplayer guns, camos, class system, and score streaks are all very good.
So you might ask, what is wrong with this game then? It is very simple. While the online multi-player content is very good, the actual performance online is absolutely miserable. This game was marketed to seem like the most competetive call of duty ever. How can that be when the individual player connections to the game are so different. For example; I have a decent internet conncection which I pay for because I enjoy these types of games online. I get 20Meg download, 5Meg upload, and I can ping between 20-30ms to anywhere reasonably close to me. My ping halfway across the country is between 30-50 ms (I live on the West coast of the US). This connection is more than good enough to play these games and be competetive in them. However, very rarely, and i mean very very rarely (probably less than 5%) does it feel like I have a good connection to this game. The in game ping meter/ bar system almost always says that I have a 4 bar connection with a 4 bar being the best. Why then does half of the enemy team have a 1/4 to 1/2 second advantage on me? Sometimes even closer to 1 second. These are players who even sometimes have a worse connection than me with a 2 or 3 bar.
What this translates to is actually a very unbalanced experience. How can you be expected to win a gun fight while the enemy player has these rediculous advantages on you. Sometimes I'm sure I have an advantage over them too. It seems to vary from player to player in the game lobby. In game what will happen is you will see an enemy and enter into a gunfight. You start shooting at him and lets just assume you are right on target. You shoot a few a bullets and then drop dead. Then you watch the kill camera from the enemies perspective and realize that he actually popped out of cover a lot sooner than you saw him and he started shooting you before you ever knew he was there. Sound bad? This is how the game plays for me all the time. Other things happen too. The ever so frustrating dying behind cover. Someone starts shooting you so you run through a doorway and get 5 feet behind cover. Think you have escaped for the moment only do die a second lateer. Check the kill cam and on his screen you he killed you in the doorway before you turned the corner. These things would happen on other Call of Duty titles from time to time but not nearly as commonplace as in this one. This happens almost every game and multiple times within those games.
While I admittedly don't know anything about network engineering or game coding, I do know what a smooth multi-player experience feels like and this is not it. Lots of people are calling this Lag Compensation where players with better connection are given artificial ping(or lag) to even out to the players with worse connection. Previous Call of Duty Titles like Call of Duty 4 and Modern Warefare 2 did not have these horrible connection issues. This seems very similar to Modern Warfare 3. Its almost as if they just ported over the exact same net code from that game into this one to save on development time and money. So if you enjoyed that game then maybe this one will work for you too.
Anyway, I've ranted for far too long now. I just want people to be aware of these issues before they buy this game because I truly believe we as consumers should expect more from the game developers who by the way have not even acknowledged this as an issue. This is a very sloppy network structure for a game that centers around quick reflexes and snap-to aim. I truly feel that connection, not gun skill, determines who wins gun fights in this game and that overall this is a broken experience. If you are just a casual player who is able to jump on for 20-30 minutes and have fun no matter what, then by all means by the game. But, if you are like me and can't turn of the competitive button in your brain, then you might be highly disappointed. But whatever you do, please rent or borrow this game to see how you like it before you waste $60 on it like I did. | video-games_xbox |
Awesome Installment in the Dead Space series. An EPIC chapter in the story. Lets cut to the chase. Dead Space 3 is fantastic
I've read plenty of other peoples perspectives on the game, and as usual, I'm somewhat baffled at the negative reviews. I'll refrain from commenting on the source of the negative reviews, as we're all used to these awful reviews for video games each time a new one comes out. Its become almost silly how the insanely toxic negative reviews come out 2 hours after games become available. Obviously people don't play through the games to understand them.
Now, onto DS3. This is an operatic continuation to the DS series, with much of the critical mass of DS2 being picked up on, including some of the characters, and a portion of the storyline, and the gameplay in spirit at least. The action is nearly identical to DS2, with the same feeling of the controls, and same basic pacing. There are plenty of disgusting necromorphs to kill. They explode beautifully into a pile of creature debris....
This installment is much more story driven than the previous games. Its worth it to watch the 2 Dead Space movies if you can find them (they are on various streaming services). The whole story line will fill in for you, and Dead Space 3 will make much more sense. The story is actually quite ambitious and fulfilling, even if it is an amalgamation of numerous space/horror shooters.
The storyline is even bigger and more ambitious than the previous installments, as the characters are now closing in on the source of the plague and the original markers. A portion of the game is in space, where the feeling of weightlessness and disorientation is better than ever. There's an amazing portion where you are in a space suit, and you have to maneuver through a huge debris field in deep space, picking parts and junk from all sorts of broken space craft. Its really awesome, if not dizzying.
The planet bound adventures take place on a variety of locations, with lots of new baddies to shoot. The ice planet is filled with interesting nooks and crannies, that hide creatures as well as stuff. There are plenty of scares to be had, but candidly, we're all used to the creatures jumping out of all sorts of crevices now, so we're all ready for it...it probably feels less shocking than the first game, where you had no idea what was going to happen.
As far as the gameplay, its a refined version of what we saw in DS2. Some things succeed, while others take a bit of time to understand and may work less optimally. The whole resource gathering to make weapons thing is a bit tough to get the hang of, and probably didn't need to exist. Its confusing and wasn't necessary, although the notion of gathering junk to make new weapon types isn't anything new to video games (RPGs mostly) While it clearly makes sense in the Dead Space series, it doesn't actually add to the game, as you can only have 2 weapons, and none are all that great anyway. It takes till much later in the game for the whole weapon construction thing to start being useful. Its definitely not a high point, although there is nothing wrong with it in concept, the execution of the whole thing leaves a bit to be desired. You never really know what weapons are good, bad, useless, are slow, fast, etc. You have to make them, then try them, then disassemble them, etc. There have been much more reasonable and successful weapon crafting mechanisms/schemes in many other games (Fallout 3 comes to mind, as do many others).
All video games have annoying things to them, even the great ones. DS3 has too many boss type battles during the course of the early part of the story for my taste, as I find they waste inordinate amounts of time, and while they're mostly straightforward, they are annoying. The save system has become totally automated, and now it becomes even more consolish in nature, where you have to play based on the developers time checks, rather than yours. This leads to the terrible feeling of doing checkpoints over and over and over and over till you want to pry your eyes out of your head. Additionally, the save system exhibits some random behaviors, where you can't tell where you are each time you start playing. They've also introduced something called "start from the storyline", which is different than starting from your last save. I have NO idea what the difference is. Totally confusing and borked to say the least.
So all in all, this is an incredible game, even if it does have some dopey operational decisions made by the designers. The Save system is definitely a low point, but it does do something, even though we're all not sure exactly what it does most of the time. Other than that, the other annoyances are very minor, in comparison to how amazing the overall game and story are.
And finally, the music is AMAZING. The score is epic.. just incredible. The voice acting is terrific as well, and the entire aural experience is otherworldly. All in all, this game is remarkable in its ambition, its sweep, and its breadth. Hope they keep making them
FINAL POINT: If you like the story, and scifi in general, its definitely worth it to watch the animated Dead Space movies on whatever streaming service you may have. It makes a world of difference to how you may think about the game and the whole series in general. | video-games_xbox |
A beautiful and (almost) perfect controller. This Mirror's Edge wired Xbox One controller is a very beautiful controller. It feels wonderful in my hands, very smooth outer skin (rubber) and the edges shape nicely within the hands. The face buttons are accurately represented in feel to the original, as well as the Left and Right trigger (though a bit shorter in feel, but this is a none issue). The L/R sticks are a cross between the DS4 and the XB1 controllers in that they feel a bit longer and rounder (ds4) but are very responsive (xb1). I prefer the XB1 thumb feel as they slip less off the thumbs, but I didn't have much of an issue here. Interesting enough, the D-Pad is actually, in my opinion, better than both the DS4 and original XB1 (incl the newer editions). It's very smooth, and each press feels extremely responsive making it wonderful in fighters and item/weapon selections in a fps game.
Unfortunately, there are issues with this controller. It comes with its similarity in style to the original Xbox One manufactured controllers' bumpers, in that the L/R bumpers aren't as smooth as the newly updated controllers (that ship with newer 1TB Xbox's, and the Master Chief/Spartan Lock editions).This may or may not be an issue to you, but I would like to point this out nonetheless as it was an issue to myself with the originals. They felt hard to click and weren't anything like the Xbox 360 bumpers. Fortunately this was revised in the newer editions but were somehow left out in this controller. Secondly, there is no input or plug in connector option for the Xbox One headset itself. I'm not sure why this was left out, but if you only have the voice chat headset included with the XB1 and not the Xbox One Stereo Headset or any compatible 3.5mm wired headset for chat, you won't be able to talk online. So please keep this in mind whether or not this is important to you.
Lastly, and back to the biggest positive for myself, and something I wish EVERY Xbox One Controller included, audio and chat volume control. This is an absolutely amazing feature, and one that I very much use. At nights it's great to control the volume without having to double tap the Xbox button to then scroll to Settings and then finally having control of volume sliding knob for audio and chat. This is already built into the D-Pad and control via the lower right button (near Right stick).click. It's something I've longed for myself. I haven't tried this on PC yet so once I do, I'll update if it does not control (as in comparison the USB Gold PS headset's button does control volume on pc).
All in all, this is a must have controller if you are in the market of a newer (wired) controller for XB1 and/or PC. You can not go wrong. However, please keep in mind both negatives and how much that'll effect you. I haven't had any issues with the wire disconnecting itself, and again if it does become apparent, I will definitely update. Please also keep in mind these ARE limited editions and are numbered (up to 5000).
Highly recommended, thank you for reading. | video-games_xbox |
Best UFC game? No - The best fighting game. Let me start off by saying I am not a fan of wrestling, UFC or anything MMA. I am in no way biased towards this genre, but I do like to kick a little butt via my Xbox 360. I loved Fight Night (round 2 mostly) and a few Wrestling games, and even the previous UFC game. They were all quite fun - But the new "UFC 2009 Undisputed" tops them all. Let me explain why.
I'll start with the first thing that most people look for in picking out a new game: the graphics. I have to say, I was amazed by the graphics of this game. When my girlfriend sees me playing NBA 2k9, she sometimes thinks I am watching a real basketball game. When I first put in UFC 2009 Undisputed, I had to convince her It was a video game opposed to the real thing. The game is friggin' realistic, believe me. The crowd is a bit stale, but still a step up from previous games. For the graphics, I give an A+
Gameplay and Controls. I love the controls, they're perfect. Although this series is just starting, I hope they never change them (and we all know how developers love making new and "innovative" controls).They are easy to learn and become natural to the player pretty quickly. But don't let this fool you, just because the controls are easy it doesn't mean the game is. I have yet to master any aspect of this game, but I would have to give the difficulty a 7.5, with 10 being the hardest.
The gameplay is what what really won me over with UFC 2009. With dozens of real life fighters, there are seemingly hundreds of moves that you can make that ensure every fight is a unique experience. And from what I have seen from real life UFC, the game play here is pretty much identical. One thing I must point out, is that I absolutely hate UFC once the fighters are grappling on the ground. I was certain I would hate it here, but I absolutely love it. It is a very unique gaming experience, but most of the game is still played on your feet. Gameplay and controls: A+
Game modes: So far I have only done career mode and 1 vs 1 against a friend. Both are great. The career mode has its flaws, but not many. It is still difficult for me to navigate through the menus as it seems like they went out of there way to make this take longer than it should. My favorite part is that they gave us character creation. The different appearances that you can give your personal fighter aren't superb, but there are tons of different attributes that you add points to as you progress through your career. For now I made my guy specialize in standing kicks and grapples on the ground, I'll see how that works out for him. As I continue sparring and training between matches, I'll be able to add points to any attribute I please. Career mode A, while multiplayer I give an A+ (I have only played multiplayer for about an hour, but I had a blast.)
Overall, I think you know already, I give the game an A+. My only complaint is the load times, but they are totally expected with all the detail that went into the game. The great thing about this game is that you can invite friends over and play for hours, and then when they leave just load up your career mode and keep going. Sounds like a kind of sad way to spend your Friday night? That's what you think now - but try it, and you'll be hooked. | video-games_xbox |
Morrowind is huge but is also a dissapointment. First of all I got this game because I heard that it was so large and immersive, lots of towns, forests, dungeons, people, races, battles and QUESTS a big bunch of QUESTS but I think it lacked something... When I first got this game in my hand, I was so excited I was like "Oh! Im going to be hooked for weeks!" But Man, I was dead wrong...
There is no main plot I guess.. you are just a prisoner about to be released in the land of morrowind (Tamriel) Into a small town called Seyda Neen. That's were you need to put your name, race, class and birth sign. The first thing that draws my attention was the water. It looks real and It reflects everything like it should be in Real life. I have never seemed a game with such great water graphics, the town was very well detailed from little shacks to big buildings and towers.
The graphical department such as CHARACTERS they are... decent... Is like when you are talking to them they will say something like "Speak Quickly Outlander" but they will not show a different expression they will always have the same old and pale reflection when you come up near to them its a great downside really, and when they speak something to you, you will just see their lips moving but they are really not synchronized with the line they are currently expressing to you.
The buildings (Outdoors and Indoors) are very well packed, you will see curtains, carpets, tables, chairs and a lot of others furniture, almost everything in this game is take able from forks to plates and that's another fact that I was attracted to this game. In the outside, the building looks like it supposed to be in Real life, there are different kinds of buildings depending of which people or culture live there, so it really adds to the story, it was very well implemented and I was glad they managed to do that.
There are a lot of character models with different outfits, races, hair accent and culture. But once you get into Balmora they will look very similar. The monster on the other side though I haven't finished the game myself, but the outdoor monsters looks like they should be, there are little monster, medium sized monsters and big monster. They tend to intercept you more often than expected. There aren't a lot of forest... I only have seem an immersed forest in the land of Soltheim, and it wasn't a big deal, the forest on the mainland looks deserted and with not a lot of trees, nothing but bushes... there is also different types of land and a big mountain on the middle of the mainland. The map is very very large and detailed so that's another good fact of the game (you can easily get lost but the game comes with a map that you can see every time you want to)
The gameplay mechanics in this game is kind of interesting but is not a big deal either, you can either change your camera to a first person mode (Half life plox?!) or a Third Person mode (yeah!) though I have to say that the frame drops when you are in the third person mode... so is better to stick with the first person mode.
This game is good for you if you like to think and make decisions; there is a lot to do in this game! But the game is slow-paced and you will feel sometimes overwhelmed... the music is also a big downside since there is no variety in it. And Think twice before going to make a killing spree because the loading time takes more than 4 minutes. | video-games_xbox |
Great game no matter what path you choose. I will admit that the game took longer to get going than normal, I finally started getting hooked at level 4 or five.
You can choose to sneak around in the dark or arrow blazing but you are limited to how many you can carry plus other items such as choke arrows to knock out dogs and birds, 2 types of lethal spearhead arrows, blunt arrows (very cheap) for distant buttons, stun grenades, water arrows for lit torches, flame arrows, blast arrows, rope arrows and a few others.
These items will be used to make the game easier such as a less populated path would be accessible with a rope arrow that you can attach to a beam and get across, easily travel in the dark if you launch a water arrow into a torch and knock out some guards with ease, if guards bunch up and stand over a dead body then you can launch a blast arrow and kill 4 goons at once.
There are different settings in the game and the most important would be custom settings, which is an achievement and it should be. You can customize your game and not use your focus ability which is like telling you some helpful hints and collectable locations. Other settings that you can adjust are the ability to be detected, take damage and not be able to knock anybody out or kill anyone. If you are spotted or knock someone out, you have to restart the last checkpoint. Also with these settings, you won't be able to equip lethal arrows so they can be sold off for money. All of these setting can be adjusted by turning them on or off but its all up to you. My first playthrough was 25 hours with custom settings and it was very challenging.
My second playthrough was 16 hours which was collectables and challenges which are other achievements. Each mission you are given secondary objectives such as getting headshots with arrows, don't be detected, collect all the loot, don't take damage, and don't kill anybody, pickpocket enemies and so forth. If you complete these, you will be given extra money at the end of the mission.
What to do with all of the money that you earn? You buy upgrades for you armor, Blackjack damage (club to knock people out), your Bow, Arrows, carrying capacities, more arrows, health and such.
This game is just like Deus Ex but without the options to pick the conversation responses and all the side missions are given by three people. Unlike Deus Ex, you have to find the right person at the right time to get the side mission, in Deus Ex, you can talk to these three people and have all the side missions opened up. If not, you will get a few here and there in between levels. | video-games_xbox |
Why do people say the first game was better? This one is way better. Personally, I feel the first game was hands down one of the worst video games ever made. Yes, it had a good story that fit in with the series, and decent graphics, but the gameplay of it was horrible. The original had many gripes that eventually made me scream so much that I was hoarse for a week, and left me with a broken XBOX controller. Elixers barely existed in any levels, and defeated enemies rarely dropped health for you to slightly heal. Enemies always blocked your attacks. Stakes could get easily knocked out of your hand, which left your enemies ready to throw cheap combos at you as you tried to pick it back up, and if you knocked them down to pick the stake up, they'd always immediately get back up as you did. It also had a poor hit detection system--- one time I staked a face down vamp about six times, AND HE STILL DIDN'T DIE. I returned the game about a day later after buying it.
The second game thankfully fixes many of these problems. Health packs are now slightly easier to find, and when you kill enemies, they will regenerate health more often. Enemies also block far less, stakes don't get knocked out of your hand, and there's a nice button that lets you quickly pull out a stake to kill a vamp or demon, unlike the original where you had to take the time to equip it, which meant that an enemy would get a chance to recover before you could even kill them. When you stake a face down vamp, it actually kills them. Also, about the inventory. People complain that you can only hold 5 healing items, while in the original you could hold up to 9. I think that they're forgetting that if you did, this meant you could not have any support weapons--- in other words, no hellfire or holy water. In this, you can max out your medpaks while still carrying plenty of hellfire and holy water(for a total of 15). Also nice is the ability to use multiple melee combat weapons, since in the original, you could only use one at a time.
Character wise, Buffy and Faith have their usual Slayer skills. Willow uses magic. Xander, although you will also have him in combat, relies mainly on weapons. Spike's main aspect is his strength, and Sid's small size makes him hard to hit. One cool thing is that sometimes another character may fight with you--- for example, in the first level Buffy and Willow team up to battle a group of vampires, or in the second features Buffy and Spike fighting it out with zombies. Bosses also feature some actual puzzles to get to their weak spots this time around, which thankfully aren't incredibly frustrating and easy to figure, as opposed to the first game's bosses which were just more fighting, which mostly had each one of them relying on this incredibly cheap tackle attack that always knocked you down.
Yes, there's still a cheap camera, and you do have to search through inventory midgame, but overall, Vivendi Universal has created a much better Buffy game than EA did(now here's hoping that there will be an Angel game with Angel, Spike, Illyria, Gunn, and Wesley). I suggest if you have a choice between Buffy 1 and Buffy 2, get Chaos Bleeds and pretend the shoddy original never existed. | video-games_xbox |
Great Game! A LOT Better Than The First! Worth The Money. This is a great game. Fans of the first NFL Street will love this game. There are so many new game modes and features and the online play is a lot of fun (dial-up or broadband/dsl) (Online play works surprisingly well on dial-up for PS2).
The game modes include:
Own the City (You create a guy and gain team members by playing pick up games. If you beat this mode, you can use your guy in NFL Challenge and in Madden 2006).
NFL Challenge (This is like how the first game was. You have 150 days to make your team the best it can be by getting ability points from completing challenges. You can also add real NFL players on your team. You can use your created team online to battle other peoples online teams. Also, I think you earn points to make your players better if you win online).
NFL Gauntlet (You pick a NFL team and battle all the other NFL teams. I'm sure you unlock things as you go through each team).
Pickup Game (This is the old game where you pick players from NFL teams and have an exhibition match with the CPU or with some friends).
Street Events (These are mini games which you can play with the CPU or with friends. Some include include:
Crush the Carrier [You grab the ball and get as much points as you can get until you get tackled and the ball goes up for grabs. Whoever has the most points at the end of time limit wins]
A "500" type game [CPUs throw passes awhile a group of people try to catch the balls. Whoever has the most points at the end of the time limit wins].
Open Field Showdown [You go one-on-one against a CPU or player in a field from like the 20 or 25 yard line. You try to fake-out your opponent and score a touchdown].
There are also many other mini games available but they are like playing a normal pickup game.
New to this game is wall jumps. You can go by the wall and do a wall jump, wall juke, wall pass, or wall catch to get rid of the defense and get those extra yards. Also if you do a wall move on a poster, you get extra points and your gamebreaker meter (the ability to get your guy powered up to make a huge play) will fill up by about a third.
This game has endless possibilities. You can create a guy, create a team, play a lot of people online, play against a friend or against friends, and a lot more. This football game is a break from traditional football games like Madden 2005. Madden is still a great game but its cool in this game because you can jump off the walls and just break free from all the rules and slow-paced action of traditional football games (Madden 2005, ESPN 2K5). This game reminds me a lot of the Blitz series. I would say this is the best football game out there now. And if it was between NFL Street 2 and NBA Street V3, I would say this game. This is probably one of the top ten games out there.
Also, this game has a great soundtrack featuring a lot of rap/hip-hop and punk/rock/alternative. This is not one boring song on the soundtrack and since there are a lot of songs, it doesn't get repetitive. | video-games_xbox |
Almost Perfect. I received my Drum Rocker yesterday and, after nearly six hours of straight play, I can tell you that I haven't the slightest bit of buyer's remorse (I played both Rock Band 2 and Guitar Hero World Tour). The $299 price tag can be tough to swallow but if you want the best possible drumming experience while playing a band game, this is it.
Now, I must tell you that I am not a professional drummer by any stretch of the imagination. I'm getting pretty good at the games, but outside of that I've never touched a drum set. Even so, I felt stifled by the Guitar Hero World Tour (herein referred to as GHWT) drum set. My main problem was that the flimsy pedal was keeping me from completely moving up to Hard on drumming. I did some research on upgrade pedals and it was going to cost me $120+ to get a decent pedal that was compatible with the GHWT drum kit (most upgrade pedals are only compatible with RB2 drum kits). For that, I figured I may as well spend the few extra bucks and get a whole deluxe drum kit.
That's enough story. Let's get on to the review. I'm going to break this up into parts so that it flows a little better.
SETUP:
Setting up the drum kit was fairly straightforward and easy. It takes about an hour due to all of the pieces but it's a one-man job and not at all complicated. The pieces are all clearly marked and the intructions are written in plain english with big colorful diagrams. My biggest gripe would be the mess of wires. Each individual drum and cymbal has it's own wire (to connect it to the "brain", which is the XBox controller that sits in the middle of the kit). These wires are significantly longer than they need to be and so you'll have to spend some time trying to wrap them up and hide them. The kit does come with quite a few zip ties for you to do this and it'll only take you about five minutes, but it's still annoying. While speaking of wires, I should also mention that this kit is NOT wireless and requires you to plug it into the XBox in order to play.
Another thing worth mentioning is the size and weight difference between this kit and the standard RB2 and GHWT kits. This kit probably weighs somewhere in the neighborhood of 30-40 pounds, while the other kits might be around 10 pounds. You won't be picking this thing up with one arm and tossing it into the corner. It's also roughly 1.5 to 2 times bigger. If you have a small living room (like I do) storing this thing away is a nightmare. They say you can fold it up for easy storage and, yes, that's true. But folding it up requires you to untighten the screws from every piece you want to "fold" and then retighten the screws when the piece is in it's folded position. That can be pretty time consuming and nobody wants to move the pieces around once they've found their most comfortable setup. That solution is a little unrealistic if you plan to use this drum kit frequently.
DRUM PADS:
Man, these things are sturdy. Each individual pad weighs a couple of pounds and the strike zone is made of a rubbery/leathery material. I don't imagine this thing breaking down anytime soon. My GHWT kit started flaking after playing a few songs and you can actually rub off flakes from the strike zone when you touch it. That won't be happening with this kit. The pads are also 100% accurate. I've yet to drop a note and it picks up every hit no matter how far off to the edges I am.
CYMBALS:
I've read quite a few complaints about the cymbals but they honestly work great for me. They're registering every hit and don't have any issues with double-registering a single hit. Yes, they are stiff, so you won't be able to strike through (one of the more common complaints) but I just tilt the cymbals downward which allows me hit the edge and drop my arm back down to the drum pads in a fluid motion. If you leave them level then, yes, you'll have to hit the cymbal and then work your drumstick around it to get back to the drum pads.
I should also note that the cymbals are pretty much optional. There's no difference between hitting the green cymbal or the green drum pad when playing the game. A hit on green is a hit on green. So the cymbals are really for decoration and play style preference. They do sell an add on cymbal so that you can have three (the kit only comes with two) but I don't see much need for that. I imagine it would obstruct my view of the television and won't add much to the kit beyond aesthetics. Again, it all depends on how you like to play.
My big gripe about the cymbals is that you can have a cymbal for every color except for red. So for lefties like myself the experience will be a little different than it is for righties. When playing right-handed you can bang the green cymbal at the end of your drum fills in RB2 but, playing lefty, your only option is to bang the red drum pad. So, in that aspect, this kit doesn't fully support the "lefty flip".
PEDAL / DRUMSTICKS:
This is the category that made me give this kit only four stars. The pedal is awful. It's made completely out of metal, so it probably won't break on you too quickly, but the feel of it is just terrible. There's virtually no resistance when pushing the pedal down and it sounds like a door hinge. I'm going to end up having to upgrade to a Rock Pedal.
The drumsticks were also a let down. They were pretty rough cut and the wood was splintering at the bottom. I played a few songs with them and just couldn't get comfortable. As a result, I've been playing with the gimmicky Rock Band 2 aftermarket drumsticks (see <a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/Rockband-Rubber-Tip-Drum-Sticks-Yellow-Flames/dp/B001ELSSS0/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">Rockband Rubber Tip Drum Sticks - Yellow Flames</a>). What I like about those is that they come with rubber caps to put on the end of the drumsticks. This really dampens the sound of you hitting the drum and lets you focus more on the music coming from the television.
OVERALL FEELING:
Great drum kit. Playing RB2 and GHWT with this kit is a totally different experience. You might be put off by the $299 price tag but when you put them next to your GHWT or RB2 drum kit, both of which sell for nearly $100, you'll be able to easily justify the price difference. It's three times the price for ten times the quality. But don't forget the other little things that you may want to buy that will cost you extra:
- Upgraded bass pedal: $70+
- New drumsticks: $10 - $15
- Drum throne: $45 - $50
- Third cymbal: $50
This premium setup gets expensive fast! But, if you're serious about drumming like a rock star and can afford a little discretionary spending, I believe you'll be satisfied with your purchase. | video-games_xbox |
343 did it right. First off: Don't listen to what anyone says about Halo 4 being like Call of Duty. It's not. Sure there are loadouts and perks and support packages, but in my opinion those are not owned by Call of Duty. You can't have rights on a game standard. Now, onto the game.
I will start off with the multiplayer because I find it RIDICULOUSLY fun, and the majority of Halo players play multiplayer much more than the campaign.
I have never been good at any of the other Halo games' multiplayers, because I never found any weapons or if I did find a weapon spawn point, someone had gotten to it first. In Halo Reach this was a big problem for me. Sure I got a few kills here and there, but it never was... fun. But it has all changed now.
There are still hidden weapons around the battlefields, but now there is this thing called ordinance drop. Basically if you get enough kills, you get to pick one of 3 advantages that will be shot down to the ground from an invisible frigate. Usually these choices are either a really exceptional weapon ( Railgun, anyone?) or a new set of grenades or a abilty perk, like superspeed or a health boost. This has changed the game for me, and now I am usually at the top of the leaderboards. Sometimes first, but seldom past 6th.
I was skeptical at first because Bungie, the legendary creators of Halo, sold Halo to a new developer, 343 ( it was that and the fact that 343 is a character in the Halo games who is a complete backstabbing bastard). But alas, I was not disappointed with 343. They aren't better than Bungie, but they certainly aren't worse. I loved the new graphics engine and the new armor looks(MUCH better than Halo Reach armor. If you don't believe me, go look at the CQC armor. Bleh). So, Multiplayer concept, check.
Multiplayer Maps:
The maps on Halo 4 are freaking incredible. Ravine is stunning, filled with forerunner tech mountains and grassy knolls. Impact is just breathtaking, as you are in space. But the most spectacular map by far is RAGNAROK. Ragnarok is a remake of a classic Halo 3 map called Valhalla. It. is. Beautiful. There is a spire on each side of the map, with a sea behind one and a mountain behind the other. Marvelous. I never felt that any f the maps were too small, but I think that Adrift could use some work.
Multiplayer Rating
5 Stars
Campaign
The campaign in Halo 4 was a little iffy in my opinion. When you start out you fight the classic aliens called the covenant. They are about the same. Grunts, Jackals, Brutes, Drones, Elites and the like. I didn't like the elite's new makeover. They look too... pale-ish. Play it and you'll see. But now there is a new alien species. Yep, a whole entire freaking species to worry about. They are called the Prometheans. They are silver and orange robot-alien things. They come in 3 types, Knight(Tall, dark, and incredibly frustrating when they teleport), Crawler(just about as annoying as drones. They are like dogs, fast and agile and like grunts, fun to punch in the face), and Watcher(Watchers fly around like drones and can revive dead Knights. Yeah.). The campaign was iffy because of these new aliens. Oh, and they removed the FLOOD from the campaign. Yep. The missions were okay, but these new alien willt ake awhile to get used to.
Campaign rating
3Stars
Spartan Ops
Various missions that involve Prometheans and covenant. It was okay.
4 Stars.
So, overall, Halo 4 is a marvelous game, five stars, if you like both the multiplayer and the campaign. But if you are buying it only for the single player, 3 stars. Thank you for reading. | video-games_xbox |
Very fun. I have played hundreds of video games, but I have only finished two or three. This game was so addictive for me that I have already finished it, and I only bought my Xbox two weeks ago. In a sense it was disappointing that it was over. I am not sure if the game is short or I was just very glued to it. Like I say, I don't finish many games.
I have to say I agree with some of the gripes about the game. The save system was the most annoying to me. Several times I would cross one checkpoint then backtrack to another checkpoint, which would overwrite my previous save. Then when I went back to the area where the first save was, I died and I ended up having to replay both sections over and over again. My problem likely comes from the fact that I am a cautious player who would cross into a new zone, see enemies that require a different weapon, backtrack through 12 levels to get the right weapon, come back to where I was and proceed to kill enemies and die. Then have to track back through those levels to get my gun again. The only other annoying part was one level in the middle of the game (right before the big mountain in front of the control room) where the game forced you to play essentially the same room over and over again. That got boring.
I disagree with the people who say the frame-rates are slow. I never noticed that in the game. I played with s-video rather than hdtv which may have made a difference. The graphics were superb from my experience.
Overall, I really enjoyed this game so I gave it five stars. It probably is the best shooter I have ever played (I don't strongly enjoy shooters normally, I prefer RPG's and strategy games.) This might be a consideration for those of you who play shooters without much attention to strategy(if that exists). Halo has a great deal of strategy in the game. You have to grab this vehicle at this time or you die when you try to do this thing. The order matters. I think the reason I enjoyed Halo more than most shooters is that it seemed to me that there was significantly more strategy involved. This may be a consideration in the value you place on my recommendation. | video-games_xbox |
Create Some Dust Of Your Own. It's been a while since I've played a game where I am physically swaying into the turns as they're made and utilizing my mental ability and reaction time to the various challenges offered with RalliSport Challenge.
This game is by far the best racing game for the X-Box. What Project Gotham Racing started, RalliSport Challenge is continuing, but on a more stylish and challenging level. This isn't to say PGR is a bad game because it's not; however, RSC will blow you away from the get-go.
As with many of today's games, you're given a few cars and tracks to prove yourself on before unlocking the remaining items. As you place high or gain enough points throughout competition, you are rewarded with new and challenging courses and a vast selection of cars.
An interesting item to point out with this game is that before each race, you're given important information that you'll need to keep in mind before you begin. The weather, temperature, track conditions, type of surface, etc. are all listed while various still segments of the track are shown. This is good information to take in while the track itself is loading. I find it very clever of Microsoft to do this because it eliminates the criticism from people who complain about the extended loading times of some games (Halo for example). One final note is that you're given the tyre (tire) option also that gives you the option of what type of racing tires you'd like to use for each individual race.
The graphics are mind blowing. The course designs are layed out beautifully from the sun reflecting off the mud and ice to the tarmac accepting your skids as you turn into the sharp right and left bends. Your car takes damage and even visually shows it while you're racing. Finally, the sound effects are all there from each car's individual motor noise to the destruction of your windows as you drive over shrubbery that bends or even into the different advertisement signs throughout the course. Don't forget to avoid the animals that run across your path too.
The passenger riding with you will not get on your nerves as he points out the various twists, turns and obstacles forthcoming. He ends up becoming a very important factor in your final standings. Take my advice, listen to him.
If you have a Dolby Digital 5.1 connection, enjoy it and by all means turn it up. My receiver identifies all of the sounds and distributes them throughout all of the channels causing me to look behind me at times for the debris I just left behind. In addition to the game sounds themselves, you're given a Music Manager feature that enables you to burn your favorite racing or rock and roll music to the X-Box hard drive and create your own CD Soundtrack to enjoy while competing. (All they are is Dust In The Wind!!!)
Race alone or against computer cars. Also race against four of your friends on split screen competition. (Suggestion: Be sure you have enough TV to race with four people because a 13" TV will not suffice with four people racing simultaneously.)
Go out and invest in this game, you will not be disappointed. | video-games_xbox |
Best NBA simulation to date. After playing Live throughout my childhood, I turned my attention to the 2K series in 2001 when they released NBA 2K2. I've been with them ever since. I'm 23 years old now, so my expectations of games has definitely changed over the years. I now look for games that challenge me and force me to sit back and strategize rather than button mash. NBA 2K7 definitely succeeds in that. This game captures the NBA better than any other NBA licensed game released...Ever!!
Keep in mind that this game is very complexed and if you are new to the series, expect about 1 to 2 hour learning curve. If you're a vet to the series, like myself, then you'll feel right at home when playing this game.
The thing that separates this game from similar games is a new feature called Signature Style. Signature Style captures the moves and mannerisms of your favorite NBA players and translate them to the video game world. Pretty much every player in the game has their signature shot (that's right even down to the 10th and 11th man on the bench). Albeit, some shots are not accurate, but you are able to go and edit anyone's shot to one that you feel is more accurate. Some players also perform dunks, passes, and dribbling animations specific to them.
The atmosphere in this game also hits the spot. What blew me away is seeing people in the crowd walking in the stands (i.e. leaving or going to their seats). Also during timeouts, you'll see the cheerleaders and mascots take the center court to do their routine. The crowd reacts to everything on the court as well.
Bottomline, this game is so deep I honestly don't feel like writing anymore lol. All I can say is this: If you're a fan of the NBA, or just a fan of basketball in general, then do yourself a favor and buy/rent this game. I guarantee you that this will be the best NBA simulation you'll ever play (unless of course you're playing 2K8) | video-games_xbox |
Afterglow Universal Wireless Headset Not Worth It. I ordered this product in April 2013, and was very happy when it came in. The functionality of these headphones were great. They worked fine, were wireless, had a great range to them, had a pretty good battery life, and nothing was wrong with them. However, as time progressed on, I started to realize that the battery life wasn't as good as it use to be. Instead of getting a couple of hours of gaming with these uncharged, I would constantly have to plug them into my computer in order to use them. I payed it no mind, but still deemed it to be a little strange. Then today, August 8th, 2013 I turn on the headphones and they're working as intended. However, suddenly the earbuds started to make a little fuzzy sound, only to suddenly fade a short time later. Then I got no sound out of the headphones and realized that maybe they were dead. So I tried charging them, only coming to my dismay that they're no longer charging anymore, and the wireless headphones indicator (the blue USB flashing on and off is going on/off consistently) meaning that the Headphones is turned off. I tried turning them on via the button, didn't work, I tried plugging them into my computer which should be charging them, didn't work since the light is still going on and off, and plugged them into a different USB, which didn't work. Which only comes to the conclusion that these headphones just up and stopped functionality.
Its a shame these headphones up and blew it since they only got 4 months of work, and since I've gotten headphones from Staples that have lasted longer, these headphones aren't worth it since apparently they can stop working out of nowhere when everything appears to be fine. They worked yesterday, yet today I guess they decided to just die on me. Dont get me wrong, these headphones were great when they were working, however Its not worth the price tag when apparently they can stop working with no signs of problems. The uncertainty of this product isn't worth the price that it comes at. I'll def. stay away from this brand from now on. | video-games_xbox |
Farah would be pissed. I am relatively new to the whole Prince of Persia line of games. I purchased the Sands of Time about two months ago for twenty bucks and thoroughly enjoyed it. I loved the story and the characters were incredible. I had never seen a more smooth and enjoyable Action/Adventure game.
That said, I can't stand fighting games like Mortal Combat (only because I totally suck at them) and I was a bit skeptic when I read that this new game was going to involve a lot more fighting..... and no more Farah. After beating Warrior Within I can say that it was a blast. Never in one game have I been so completely pissed off, excited, had so much fun, and hated something so much like I did in this game.
This new PoP is an open-ended map and I found myslef hopelessly lost more than a few times. I backtracked through the same parts of the level sometimes three or four times only to find I had been going the right way in the first place. That was the thing I disliked most about this game. Most people have a better sense of direction than I do so it might not even be an issue for you, but, there it is.
Fighting is freaking amazing. I love it, love it, love it. There is a slight learning curve to it, but after you get it, you are one freaking bad-ass mofoky. The flyingbackflipoffthewallmultipleswingofdeath is my favorite move of all time. If you are good at Mortal Combat/Soul Calibur type games you will rip it up. Duel wielding is a skill straight from God. The new Arena Modes are so much fun. I can't even begin to describe the sick joy I have of beheading all those red sado-masochist chicks.
I like the new Prince. It would have been nice if there had been traces of the old prince in him, but oh well, the old prince couldn't duel wield and throw weapons. I was disappointed to see Farah go. I guess I kind of wanted to see the old story continued. The new chick is busty, but creepy. And the bad chick is almost naked, but nasty (she's also a royal pain to kill).
The sound is definitely a problem. My Xbox is getting old, so I think it is due partly to that. I have dropped entire conversations, the metal music comes on at random times, and other times not at all. I like the new music as it gives the game much more adrenaline. It just needed to be tweaked a bit more before release. It's a shame too, because I love Godsmack and the riffs they have going and it is a blast to fight with them.
This game goes quite a bit deeper than you might think, but I won't give away all of the crazy cool stuff you find out and can do in this game. You should for sure at least rent the game and give the fighting engine a chance (because it is worth paying for the game alone). Thanks for reading! Cheers!! | video-games_xbox |
A great game being braught down by human operation errors. Sacred 2 is a great game that plays exactly like the old Diablo for the PS1(if you every played it, it was fun). You play one of six different character classes, and choose if you are going to play a good campaign or an evil campaign. You are allowed to have up to 8 different characters at a time. The cool thing with this is that there is a hero box in the cities that you can put items that you find into it with one character quit with that character and load up one of your other characters and retrieve the item you just put in there with your other character.
First thing first, let me post about some of the earlier reviews of the game. One of the previous review posts(This is where the Human error comes in). The 1 star review for not being able to save for not being connected to or having an XBL Gold account. I am currently deployed to and serving in Iraq. I have absolutely no internet connection for my XBOX 360 in my room. I have no problems saving my game either. It does however at the very start of the game loading up ask you and tell you that you are not connected to XBL and will not be able to take advantage of certain XBL features please choose a storage device to save on. If you do not pay attention to this and rush through it and hit the (B) button you will get the remark stating you cannot save your game. I accidentally did this and just restarted and continued playing. SO to close this bit. YOU CAN SAVE WITHOUT XBOX LIVE OR A GOLD ACCOUNT.
For the fatal save error that is a system problem not a game problem.
Another review I read said that they took the game back because they could not read what was on there screen due to the letters were horrible or they had to small of a TV. I am running a 19" non high def LCD TV in Iraq and I can see everything just fine. Again it may be the LCD that clears the picture up a bit but I can read everything just fine on my TV.
Now back to the game. The graphics are beautiful in this game. In the XBOX 360 version you have complete camera control. Your left thumb stick moves your character around and the right thumb stick will rotate the camera left and right or zoom in and zoom out. You play from a angleed top down third person perspective like you would in Diablo. Sometimes the view is not great but it worls really well for the game. I only wish I was home to play this on my 52" 1080p LCD widescreen TV and my digital surround sound. The ambiant sounds and the music for the game are very fitting and bring you even deeper into the game. The story is there but you have to really look for it and pay attention to it. But it is just as vague as any other MMO/hack and slash style game. Then again the devs paid more attention to game play and other features over story which is fine with me.
The game does have it's faults however. But in my honest opinion they are minor nit picking gripes that plague any game out there. For starters the camer angle does limit you on the distance that you can see but it is the nature of the game type that makes it that way. Some of the character models look funny when they run but that is a minor nit pick. You cannot choose to be a different sex for each of the different classes. But I do understand why they did that. As stated earlier you have to dig and pay attention if you want to understand the story. A map would have been an excellent addition to the game. And my only real personal gripe is that there is no system link.
Overall the game is very fun and time consuming like most games that fall into this catagory. So as far as the story goes you can completely lose yourself and forget what the story really is(I did this as a matter of fact) by running all of the side quests that you can possibly do in the game. So if you are looking for a game that is going give you the bang for your buck and you enjoy an open world(sandbox style) of grinding, looting, searching for better armor, weapons, and gear to create the nastiest character ever I highly recommend this game.
Hope this helps a bit. I am sorry if it is confusing but my brain is just trying to vomit all of this information out and can't control where it is flowing.
JD | video-games_xbox |
Overlooked, and Under appreciated gem that everyone must try. Ugh.... Amped 3... Where to start.. I remember buying this game a little after xbox 360 launched, as I got Call of Duty 2, Kameo, and Perfect Dark Zero.... I actually got a gamefly account so I could just rent games because there were many I wanted to try and couldn't afford to buy them all...Anyways.. When I got it and started playing it, at first I was like "wth is this kiddy shi...stuff and long annoying cut scenes"... and went in playing with a "oh well... im stuck with it till monday" mood. Several more mins into the game it made me chuckle... but still not convinced (since I saw the mediocre ratings it was getting, compared to every other game available at the time)... So I just shaked my head, and was like... "stupid...lol"..... Yea, you know where this is going.... Half hour into the game, I am laughing my a$* off, uncontrollably with every cut scene, that I couldn't stop playing, just to see what they would come up with next... Yea, this once "too cool for silly cartoons" 18 year old "man" was giggling like a school girl an hour in, and was seriously wondering why this game wasn't up there with the rest of the xbox exclusives.. I kept this game so long that eventually gamefly just shipped out the next game in my queue, thinking that it probobly got lost in the mail or something.... Im not gonna lie, I kept it, and didn't say a word, since they deleted it from the queue too and still played it regularly.... I knew the rules, but I was honestly still hooked with it, that I wasn't ready to send it back, but also didn't have the money to buy it at full price back then..... kids of today are lucky to have places like amazon where all games drop in value fairly quickly... If there were deals like today, I would of never done that.... Im 29 now, and of course feel bad, but at least I continued to support GF for many years.....Oh, and btw...Karma is real, folks!... after a year or so that I completely stopped playing it, I made, and put it in a case and stored it next to all my others... over the years, my collection of games has grown to well over 300 xbox and xbox 360 titles, and just recently a youtuber that I follow asked us to list our top ten favorite xbox 360 exclusives, and sure enough it made #7 in my list and by doing that, it brought back memories, and got me excited to play it again... went looking for it, opened up the case and NOTHING!. went mad looking through every case to try and find it... NOTHING.. No worries, I'll just buy it on amazon... NOTHING here... so im like "thats what I get! Guess I'll have to pay top dollar, and download it from xbox live" again.. Nothing.... they're not selling it! :( This game should be re released and remastered for xbox live arcade..... I felt like Rose from the movie titanic... "come back!.... come back!" .... The Hunt Begins!! Dun Dun Dun!! xD. | video-games_xbox |
Pleasantly Suprised. Kinect
When I first purchased the xbox I expected to be disappointed by the kinect. I didn't like that I was required to buy one. However, when I started to use it my opinion quickly changed. The kinect functionality is more than just a "parlor trick". I use the voice commands regularly when watching netflix. It is convenient because I can turn off the xbox and tv with very little effort. Especially when I am about to fall asleep. I can see myself using the kinect throughout the consoles lifetime.
Controller
My favorite controller used to be the 360 controller with the dualshock in close second. The xbox one controller has easily overtaken the 360 controller as my favorite. It is very comfortable for both me and my brother. I am 6'7" with very large hands and my brother is 5'2" with tiny hands. My brother's only complaint is the bumpers. He says they are harder to push. They are noticeably stiffer than the 360, but it doesnt bother and won't effect me. Over all, with more precise thumb sticks, responsive d-pad, comfortable form, and smooth triggers this is a near perfect controller.
Games
There currently aren't many games for the xbox. So far dead rising has been my favorite. Forza is ok. Ryze is stunning visually but not as fun to play. However there is a great line up of exclusives like Halo, Trials, kingdom Hearts, and Titanfall. Xbox one has the games that I want to play.
Xbox One or PS4?
There is never one definite answer as the xbox one is better for some and the PS4 is better for others. I have played both consoles extensively and have high regards for both consoles. The PS4 has less comfortable controller for me but it makes up for it with the touchpad. The lineup for PS4 games is still promising but I personally prefer xbox's. I do like the look of the PS4 more than the xbox one.
The main reasons I chose xbox instead of PS4 are
I prefer the xbox one controller. I don't see myself using the touchpad unless it is required
I prefer the exclusive games that will be available to the xbox
I like the kinect integration and plan to use it regularly.
If you like the touchpad and the Playstation games and don't like the kinect. You should buy the PS4. It is a great console and you will not be disappointed.
However if liked the 360 controller and the Microsoft games, I would give the xbox a chance. If you don't think you will use the kinect much, go to a friends house and try it out for an hour. You might also be pleasantly suprised.
In summation I am pleased with the xbox one and I think it is a dynamic console. I recommend it to anyone who uses netflix or any video streaming app in their living room. Halo, Trials and Titanfall are games that I feel will set the standard for next generation gaming. | video-games_xbox |
Non-essential platforming/shooting fun. Lets be blunt; Crackdown 2 is one of the most average titles on the Xbox 360. It isn't bad, it isn't good - its just kinda playable but theres nothing to get excited about. The sandbox approach is copy and pasted over from the first game, with slightly enhanced graphics and tweaked gameplay mechanics which you won't really care about. It really is just another version of the original. There are some things that Crackdown did better, and the new additions are lacklustre - this time zombies are lazily thrown into the mix because the devs couldn't think of anything else. Some of the collectable orbs move this time that must have been hard. The auto-target system seems ultra-lazy, no accuracy is required at all therefore, very little skills needed. Taking over control points is the main objective throughout the entire game, this never changes and really grated on me after the first four hours or so. You progress further into the game expecting something exciting, but late in your slumber you realise this is all Crackdown 2 has to offer.
There are some interface issues which could have been done better. The map is atrocious and hard to follow. You cant add waypoints onto the map which makes it a necessity to pause the game and go into the menu to see where you want to go next if its not the main objective. The voice announcer is extremely irritating very early on, more so with the fact your highly exaggerated explosive skills are guaranteed to maim peacekeepers who get involved in almost every shoot-out. Expect to be told off and insulted at every turn for incidents you have very little control of.
If youve not played Crackdown, this is probably the game to go for if you were curious (the original is free to Xbox Gold members). Otherwise, Crackdown 2 is simply an average title that you will have fun with for a bit before throwing back on the shelf to gather dust. | video-games_xbox |
Worth Its Weight in Sand. Well, not really. I don't know how much sand goes for these days, but the game box and disc can't weigh all that much. Basically, the Prince of Persia 1 was truly the unsung hero of all times. After playing it, Prince of Persia 1 became the template upon which I judged other games. However, Ninja Gaiden changes things (I've said this before, and you weren't paying attention); and Prince of Persia 2 is existing proof of it.
Prince of Persia 2 has the adrenaline-injected combo-based action of Ninja Gaiden (and yes, the Prince does battle a ninja or two this time around. At least, they looked like ninjas, and I don't think the Prince of Persia would lie to me), but with the same old time trying puzzles of the first game, not to mention the outstanding character and background detail and design, and rich, smooth control.
The multiple (and creative) enemies are a little more battle savvy this time around (so are the bosses (hey! Bosses!)), but luckily, so is the Prince. Yes, the old problem of being grounded by enemies (those who played the first game know what I'm talking bout) has been revoked. The Prince can pick up an extra weapon should he so desire, and the sword upgrades feel more like upgrades this time around. And the old "hit X until the enemy dies" based combo system of the first game has been replaced by "free form fighting," which isn't quite as impressive as it sounds, but is still cool. The balance between health and sand seems a little more...balanced this time around.
The Prince himself has changed. You can immediately feel that he is an empty shell, no longer driven by redemption, but by desperation. Cause, he's gonna die. The game's difficulty will make sure of that. Yeah, that's another nod of the hat to Ninja Gaiden; if you don't know what you're doing, this will be one of those break-down-on-the-floor-crying games. But when you're in your groove...
A word about the plot: it is not necessary to have played the first game, but I do suggest you play it. This game seems to answer some of the questions in the first game (like, "what the heck happened in those fountain places?). Also, certain events in the first game are brought up a lot, and it kind of helps. (I don't know about you, but I don't trust the Old Man) The plot is a little predictable at times, but you won't really care.
Aside from that, the only spot on the plot is that it teeters dangerously close to a "Terminator" style grasp on time travel. And yeah, the dark Prince is pretty dark, and you might wonder what happened to the happy-go-lucky Prince from the first game. However, the rest of the game suffers not from the gloomy atmosphere; the Dahaka and the Crow Master and even the fortress itself are all worthy adversaries in both style and story (if you're wondering where this style and story comes from, watch Bram Stoker's Dracula by Coppalla, trust me).
As for extra features, eh. Not too much of an improvement from the first game. The movies deal with the creation of the game, as well as a trailer now and then. The image gallery is nice, but confusing to fill. And this game could not have suffered from an unlockable soundtrack; the blaring annoying rock soundtrack is a bit different from the original, but, dare I say it, appropriate at times.
So, all in all, I'd say that this is one of the few sequels I have ever played that lives up to the original. It is one sweet ride from super cool fun action time first scene, to frustratingly frustrating final boss. But, something is lost. The fairy tale feel of the first game is not totally gone, but it is drenched in shadow. And, to be perfectly honest, I miss the British accent. | video-games_xbox |
Fun characters, but sloppy and glitchy. I've yet to complete the game, but in terms of quality there are already a number of issues. However, the copy I have is actually playable (so far), which is why I was generous and gave 3 stars. I'll preface the remainder of this review by admitting I have no real understanding of the tech that goes into these games, so these are all the viewpoints of a complete layperson.
Graphically, I'm far from impressed. Yes, I am playing the game on an older console, but given that Dragon Age II had better visuals, I find the green smudges that appear to be trees (or maybe bushes? The giant pixels make it hard to be sure) disappointing. I might expect giant green pixel-smudges masquerading as tree-bush-fade rifts on a PS1, but I shouldn't have to on a 360. This lack of graphical clarity is present constantly, in all scenes. Furthermore, Bioware somehow failed to mention that physical features like scars aren't available on the PS3 and the 360. Seeing as I was pretty pumped up to give my character a badass scar or three, I'm rather peeved by this. Scars were available in older games; why not here? While on the topic of character appearance, holy shiny hair, batman! It's like all but a few hair colors decided to be in a hair conditioner commercial. On steroids.
Glitches, while numerous, aren't game-breaking (as of yet). Sound lags occasionally, and I've found myself in occasional battles with absolutely no sound at all. Once or twice my character has turned invisible during a cutscene conversation. Textures take up to 2-3 minutes to "pop in", and sometimes they don't at all. Load times are excessively long, but I haven't encountered any freezing yet. Occasional cutscenes experience visual "stuttering".
Gameplay is...weird, compared to prior games in the series. I find it far less intuitive than it was before. I preferred the old style.
Story is interesting, as are the characters. It's depressing that these seem to be the only things Bioware can get right in this game. | video-games_xbox |
It's a good game once you get past the suck. I recieved this game used, and unlike the lot of you mine works flawlessly. My complaint is that I started it and thought that I had played the level before and realized that 343 had just copied levels from previous campaigns. I was so confused as to why I was again fighting the Covenant but oh well, and at first it was rather boring. I got about two gours into it and honestly had had enough.
I did finish it and it did grow on me. However, 343 added some quarks that were infuriating. The reload mission setting is quite deceptive and when I got stuck on a part I used it, thinking that because I had just changed terrians and what looked like maps that a new mission had ensued. Not the case. I had to work for like an hour just to get back to where my original mistake had been and by that time I was so pissed I didn't want to go any further. The other thing was constantly changing the accessory pack instead of just letting the player keep what they had and liked. Most of those packs were garbage. The cloak was useless, the shield wouldn't let you shoot, and the only one that was actually really good was the jet pack. They did this with weapons too but since that was a part of the original game it was expected. As for the weapons some were great while some were horrible, but something that was in common with all was the pitance of ammo alloted to all of them. 36 total shots for the battle rifle? What bs. Like 13 for the sniper rifle, or others like it. If soldiers today carry more rounds wouldn't the future have better or at least the same capacity? It was just annoying.
The one thing that actually was pretty awesome about this game was the vehicle levels, although the flight controls were a bit off for a few of the vehicles. I have always wanted to fly a Pelican, and now I did.
I also dug the Tron like appearance of this game and surprisingly the music. Halo was never really knowm for a grwat score but this one's was rather enjoyable. Also the sticky bomb pistol was fantastic. I will play it again just to use that. | video-games_xbox |
Best $19 investment ever made. Mass Effect has certainty an outstanding storyline to it. From countless of alien races that would play a majorly dramatic role to it. Four of them will allied with you along the way at the beginning of the game, along with two humans. Each of them carrying their own special set of skills involving biotics(power to manipulate objects along with living organisms), tech(self-explanatory... hacking, disabling, accessing...), or full out guns that arms to the teeth. Not to mention they look quite nice on the back of your Shepard. More importantly from the beginning of the game you get to customize what Commander Shepard would look like, and his specialties(classes). These classes include soldier, infiltrator, adapt, or vanguard. My personal favorite is the vanguard, which is a shaking not stirred blend of soldier(warrior) and adapts(biotic). Given the ability to use the infinite ammo shotgun and pistol along with biotic powers throw and lift. Grandest part of this game is that almost every decision you make during this game will have a major effect of the outcome scenario. And that scenario will carry-on the game-play towards Mass Effect 2... especially the ending, no spoilers. The downfall of this game is that the main storyline is not so long give or take 2 - 3 hours to finsih. HOWEVER!!! including the side quests that you'd be doing around the galaxy it'll add an outstanding over 8 hours of play time. Also the game is made so that you would play the game over and over gain from the beginning. With the same character that you've made before, including all of his/her experiences level, and items from the last game-play. Another downfall is that the side quests can get very repetitive. Since the surrounding environments of the less important plant all have similar landscapes, just the weathers are different. Other than that all rocks and mountains, but still fun. If your into being an overachiever and complete the collection missions that would benefit later on in the squeal. Continuing the worst moments in this game is that there are some places in the game that would or the enemy would get stuck into the map. Making some times the game is extremely annoying, but who could blame Bioware the game is massive! Lastly not to mention make sure to save the game after every major moments of ownage. Since the game has HORRIBLE! Absolutely HORRIBLE! Auto-saving mechanism might as well disable it! If you do not save the game yourself at time you will find yourself an hour back into the game after a death... not good. Overall after with all the downs the story and amount of opinions you get beats the annoyance. P.S. a few times there might be some bad frame-rate if you don't notice the rest. | video-games_xbox |
a decent game but not the best in the series. I will say that I am giving it 3 stars but in reality its only 3.5 and I will wait for the expansions to see if it can go to 4. on the plus side it is a massive world and you get to do a great mix of fighting and stalking and puzzle solving. the writing for 90% of the game is great, especially the joker cameo. but it does have a few issues.
gameplay wise the bat mobile is over used and has sluggish controls, you get use to them but I would have preferred a different mechanic and some fast travel.
as I said the first 90% of the game is very well written, a good mix of darkness and humor. my issue comes mainly from the ending, and the Arkham knights identity becomes painfully obvious before you even play through 20% of the game. the last half of the game feels rushed and there are still some dangling plot holes from the last game, like Harley's baby she was suppose to be pregnant with in the secret ending. the enemy that commands the militia in the latter half of the game is under utilized and disappointing, they spend a good hour of game play playing up the approaching fight and what you get is a rehash of a pervious boss fight only easier. I also thought that stagg and rydder and the preacher were under used, I was hoping for some metomorpho, and creeper origins and a longer quest line with the preacher.
and finally the ending leaves a little to be desired, they rap things up without explaining the big plot twist that happens at the start of the game, I thought they could have gone in a different direction with the ending and azreil as well. I have no problem with the mystic stuff because of grundy from the last game and batman does have some mystic moments in the comics, but I have issues with the ending and how it was handled.
and I have issues with some of the up close facial modeling. Ivy looks to manish for who she is suppose to be and other then the main characters a lot of others don't have full articulation and look almost plastic (Harley for instance).
also I am disappointed in the small story dlcs that let you play as different characters, they are short and are mainly excuses to do stalker and brawl modes with different characters.
finally the promised character switcher, it made it seem that it was going GTA 5 where each of batman's allies would have their own stories and missions while gotham is under siege, what we get is an ability to switch during a few duo fights that happen during specific quest lines. I felt it would have been better to do it GTA 5 style.
overall a good game that could have been great. | video-games_xbox |
Avoid this witch's lame spell. Bullet Witch is bad. Atari and Cavia's third-person action game is so bad, in fact, that I don't even feel like it deserves a flowery introduction. Toss in a terrible game engine, embarrassing graphics, and don't forget to leave out all of the A.I. You're bubbling up a stew of Bullet Witch, kiddies!
Protagonist Alicia is busy running around killing demons after years of horrible events wipe out the vast majority of humankind. She's quiet but she's got a sharp attitude and a hot trigger finger. This is the premise of Bullet Witch, and very little else is explained as the game progresses. Alicia doesn't like demons. She wants to kill them. It's that simple.
Unfortunately, it actually isn't that simple. Alicia, despite being an attractive heroine, controls like a grumpy old man with a crooked walker. She's got some nimble dodge moves mapped to the Xbox 360's L trigger, and these moves let her avoid everything short of exploding cars, falling objects, and snipers that are evidently so sharp that they can nail her mid-jump. In other words, you won't be avoiding much as you hop around wildly and steer your cow-like character around the levels.
You also won't be shooting much; the game's collision detection seems random at best. I would often stand a few paces from an enemy, unloading a machine gun's entire magazine only to watch the enemy mow down Alicia using his machine gun. Lame. The collision detection rears its ugly face anytime the game's "Walnut Head" enemies come around. Walnut Heads are floating bodies with huge, pulsating brains-they control magical barriers that Alicia has to break down to continue through the levels, meaning that fighting Walnut Heads is mandatory. Walnut Heads have the power of telekinesis and telepathically throw cars and other huge objects at Alicia, commonly killing her before she's even spotted them.
Alicia can use her broom-like gun (imagine that) to kill enemies, and the player can even change the gun into different forms. By finishing levels, you earn skill points and can upgrade the machine gun into a shotgun, sniper rifle, or gatling gun. Unfortunately, none of the unlockable forms are as efficient as the machine gun. Since there is unlimited ammo, and Alicia doesn't seem to die quickly, there isn't much need to think while shooting. Alicia's spellcasting powers are terribly done; using the bumpers you'll scroll through different types of magic. Some magic, like the "Ancient Wall" ability, is completely useless. Ancient Walls completely obstruct your view and break down quickly. Natural set pieces like blown-up cars and corners provide much better cover. Offensive spells like meteor storms and lightning bolts are powerful but use most of your magic points and therefore can't be utilized often enough to be considered helpful. Annoyingly, animations are loaded up as Alicia conjures up her destructive powers that prevent her from avoiding any attacks whatsoever and even freeze her in place for seconds after casting. Even worse, you can't hotkey any of the magic spells to the otherwise unused directional pad-what's the deal with that?
Artificial intelligence is completely missing from this product. In the second level you encounter a few building-sized buffoons with huge machine guns; they're designed to look absolutely monumental and terrifying but are actually gentile giants. Each of them that I encountered in that level actually stopped walking toward me, stopped shooting, and calmly allowed me to shoot their pulsating hearts until they exploded and fell to the ground. I thought the first giant might be a fluke, but indeed the next ones just stopped their terror-inducing rage when they laid eyes on Alicia. The basic grunts are so incredibly stupid that they'll actually walk away from you and into walls after being shot. Still, they've got heart-they're so hell-bent on killing innocent humans that they'll ignore Alicia filling their backside with lead and lightning bolts. I've seen daddy long-legs missing all eight long legs put up more of a struggle than these brainless dolts.
Bullet Witch is among the ugliest of the Xbox 360's library. As I ran through the post-apocalyptic settings I couldn't help but think of Majesco's Xbox sleeper Phantom Dust-but even that bargain Xbox title looked better and ran better than this Xbox 360 one. There are blurry and undetailed textures everywhere, little to no particle effects as a result of shooting the ground, walls, or glass-hell, the only visually-pleasant sights are the game's menus and the trails of smoke that accompany smoldering, exploded and destroyed cars on their trip back to the ground. Remember those giants I was just going on about? After completing that level, you see a newspaper clipping with a sub-headline that reads, "Who's going to remove these giant corpses from the streets?" No one, silly! The bodies disappear when you move away from them! Other objects do the opposite, appearing as Alicia approaches their vicinity. Clipping must be one of Alicia's witchcraft powers, because she can walk through what appear to be solid chairs, tables, fire hydrants, crates-the list goes on.
All of the above problems are silhouetted by the fact that Bullet Witch is about six hours long. There are six levels, each takes about an hour to complete. Doing so earns you some Xbox 360 Achievements, but there is no way that even the most addicted Achievement freak should spend $60 on a video game that offers six levels. There are currently plans to release more content via Xbox Live, but this is a $20 product trespassing in a $60 box.
If Bullet Witch had a consistent physics engine, artificial intelligence of any kind, and even a trace of collision detection it might be an average shooter. As it is...well, in the first sentence of this review I said, "Bullet Witch is bad." I just repeated it, and it doesn't need to be said again. | video-games_xbox |
if you liked the first game youll love this one. (edit: upon finishing both campaigns i realize that this falls short of the original in some key areas. the fact that the roster has been cut down is unforgivable considering they've done next to nothing to improve the engine over the last 3 years, your abilities lists have been basically cut in half compared to the original, and one alternate costume for each character when the original had 4 for each, this game falls short of the plateau set by the original.)
in a year that has arguably been the greatest year for comic book games we've ever seen, considering we got X-Men Origins: Wolverine, basically the best god of war knockoff we've ever played, and just a few weeks ago we got Batman: Arkham Asylum - a contender for game of the year in some circles. now we get Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2, a sequel that takes everything that was great about the first game and gives you more of what you loved with action rpg dungeon crawling goodness. conversations have been vastly improved, with branching conversations and choices similar to Mass Effect.
the story is a majory improvement over the original, this time everything is based around the comic run called Civil War, in this storyline the United States and the super hero community are in turmoil over the new "registration act" forcing all mutants and other heros to register themselves. the leader of the "pro-registration" side of the conflict is Iron Man, and his enemy leading the "anti-registration" side is none other than Captain America. making for not only a more interesting story than the original game, but one of the more enticing stories in comic history, pitting hero against hero in a battle of morals.
the game controls very similar to the original, (A) is your light attack with (B) for the heavy attack, (x) for grabs and throws, and (Y) for jumping/flying, hold inn RT and press the corresponding face button to activate special powers, and hold LT and press the corresponding face button to activate Fusion powers, which is where things get even more interesting. every single character has different fusion powers than can interact with any other character in the game. say you're using iron man and you have wolverine on your team, why not blast his claws with that lazer beam to cause 6 separate beams, clearing a room of enemies almost instantly. theres tons of options as far as fusion powers go, but thats just one example.
the roster has become slightly smaller than the original game, theres about 22 this time around, while there was about 30 last time, but the characters feel more unique and evenly balanced this time around, and im sure we'll get at least 8 more characters through download content.
graphics are well done considering the length of the game and the amount of content and interactivity with the environment(you can lift/destroy nearly everything), for an Action/RPG with so many playable characters and so much replay value, it looks great.
sound quality is great, and i love the attention to detail. if you're using juggernaut with a good surround sound system, each footstep will shake the walls, and every slash of logans claws can be heard perfectly, ect. voice acting is also fantastic in most cases, if im not mistaken they got the voice actors from Hulk vs Wolverine to do the voices Dead Pool and Wolverine in-game. nearly every other character sounds spot on as well.
replay value is through the roof with this game, not only are there tons of playable characters with alternate costumes and other unlockables, but when you throw in 2 campaigns, one for Pro-Registration and one for Anti-registration, there are branching objectives and side quests depending on your alignment and whether you're normally aggressive, diplomatic, or defensive when conversing with other characters, you have what is probably the best deal in games so far this year.
8.25/10 | video-games_xbox |
I don't understand why people prefer this game to the other Spidey games. I honestly don't get the love for this game.
It's true that Spider-Man 3 and Spider-Man Web of Shadows were glitchy and rushed and had graphics that were relatively inferior to other sandbox games. But Shattered Dimensions was a huge step backwards. I liked the design visuals, and I loved the concept of having four different Spider-Men with different sets of powers and moves. And getting voice actors from the cartoons to do the voices here? Brilliant.
But once you get past those initial selling points and actually start playing the game ... it's just plain boring.
First, the plot itself is not even slightly engaging. It's deus ex machina up the whazoo: every single level, you're dropped off in some random, disparate location by Madame Web, and told that there's a villain nearby who has a fragment of some mystical device and that you have to stop him and get the fragment. Otherwise, there's no real connection from level to level, so there's no real build-up of suspense, no unfolding plot, and hence no emotional investment.
Second, the levels are tedious and repetitive. Villain has fragment. You pursue villain across a linear landscape. You catch villain, villain gets away. You give chase. Rinse and repeat until final confrontation.
Third, web-swinging has gone from being one of the most fun things to do (in the sandbox games) to an absolute chore. I'd like to be more specific but honestly I don't know where to begin. Just swinging from point A to point B without falling into the space in between is difficult.
I get why Beenox opted for a different approach from the Treyarch games which, since the success of Spider-Man 2, had become somewhat tedious. Spider-Man 3 was bad, and Web of Shadows was only a mild improvement over it. But at least, at the end of the day, swinging across the city was fun. Where those two games went wrong is that they were both rushed. The graphics were shoddy, the fighting system and AI were terrible (though WOS was immensely better than 3), and the side missions were repetitive.
Beenox took all the wrong lessons from the failure of those two games - and to make matters worse, it seems they are taking the wrong lesson from the success of Shattered Dimensions because the upcoming game (developed and released in less than a year) looks to be more of the same.
Shattered Dimensions was terribly dull. Beenox... If you don't want to do a sandbox game, that's fine. But this claustrophobic Spidey game is a terrible alternative.
Ah well. At least Arkham City looks good... | video-games_xbox |
Dawn of the Dead. Killing zombies is a fun activity, and Capcom certainly knows that. The makers of the immensely popular Resident Evil series return with a new zombie fest, Dead Rising, exclusively for Microsoft's XBox 360. Unlike Resident Evil, however, Dead Rising is not exactly a "survival horror" game. Survival, yes, since the game requires you to stay alive for as long as possible, so that you can discover the truth behind a zombie infestation in a fictitious town in Colorado. Horror, not a hint of it, since the zombies are more comical than scary. Still, the game takes the zombies genre, and throw them into a free-roaming, sandbox adventure environment, and the result is remarkable. In fact, Dead Rising is so good, it has already taken its place in my top five games of the year.
Playing as freelance photojournalist Frank West, you begin the game by stumbling upon a military quarantine in the sleepy town of Willamette. Sensing something amiss, you hire a chopper to take you up for an overview of the happenings in the town. Not surprisingly, you see zombies everywhere, and you decide that you should infiltrate the area to find out more, just so that you can take some pictures for your story. You land on a helipad on the rooftop of a shopping mall, instruct the pilot to return in three days, and begin your quest to the truth surrounding this mess.
With the pilot due to return in three days, you've 72 hours (in-game time - 24 hours in the game take roughly two real hours to complete) to solve the mystery, Very soon into the game, you'll get to meet many survivors from the zombies onslaught, and some of these people will be involved in the "cases" of this game. To find out the truth, you'll need to complete all these cases (eight of them in all), and be at the helipad at the agreed time when the pilot returns. While doing cases, you'll also come across scoop missions, which are optional side quests that fill up the gaps in between (and sometimes contradicting) cases. Scoops usually take the form of escorting survivors, but they also involve the occasional fetch missions, and boss fights.
The game plays like an action RPG, as Frank earns Prestige Points (PP) as you progress. Solving cases, doing scoops and fight bosses obviously bring in the bulk of the PP. However, you can also earn additional PP by doing simple things like heating up a stove in the restaurant, and taking a space ride in the wonderland of the mall. The mall itself is reasonable large enough for exploration, but you'd probably not have enough time to see it all if you intend to get the best ending for the game, since the compulsory missions are all time-based, and have time limits. For example, if the game requires you to be at a certain location at a certain time to initiate a case, not being there at that time will render all future cases expired, and "the truth will vanish into the darkness". Such is the pressure exerted by Capcom, you'd probably have to replay the game a few times to explore the various secrets and Easter Eggs that are littered around in the mall.
This game also has a highly publicized save system. For the uninitiated, the game only allows one save slot, which tends to make things more difficult than they should. Since missions are time-sensitive, there's always the possibility of saving your game at a "wrong time", thus rendering all future cases redundant if you didn't give yourself enough time to start the next case. Capcom have admitted that this is a deliberate move to up the game's difficulty level, but despite the kind intentions, it still feels like a cheap move to lengthen the game's eight hours (if you're going for the best ending) of gameplay. Nevertheless, if you've to restart the game all over again (which I did), take heart that you'll at least keep your current level, skills and statistics for the new game. These make it easier to blast through missions already completed before in a faster fashion.
Apart from slaying zombies and rescuing survivors, there are also some useless, but fun things to do in the mall. For example, the game includes plenty of outfits for you to change into. Don't like the costume that you begin with? No worries. Head down to any of the plazas, and check out the shops there. Chances are, you'll find something that suits your tastes. Don't like your hair color? Well, you can dye your hair. Want some cool accessories? How about some sunglasses and caps? It's all in the mall, and it'd take you some time before you can wear them all. If you're absolutely free, and aren't concerned with solving the cases, you can go on a run like this just to try out all the available clothes. The game also has unlockable costumes, usually unlocked after you gain an achievement. One of these is a Mega Man costume, and the accompanying Mega Buster. Fancy running around the mall, and shooting zombies as Mega Man? You can do it, if you manage to do the required achievements.
Clothes are not the only distraction in the game. The mall also has a collection of food, and eating them all results in another achievement unlocked. Food replenishes your health, and mixing them with a blender will also create juices that you can use to fight better. For example, mixing two packets of milk will create the Quickstep Juice, which allows you to run faster than normal. Trying out the different combination for juices, as such, become another sidetrack task to do.
To make the task of killing zombies less tedious, Capcom also throws in plenty of weapons at your disposal. You'll begin with simple baseball bats and 2X4s, but as you progress, almost everything that can be held in your hands will become your weapons. Handguns, chainsaws and even stuffed toys are just some of the example of the wide array of arsenal at your disposal. Whether you prefer melee style fighting, or long-range FPS style of taking down your opponents, Dead Rising will have something for you. It also helps when the killing processes are so beautifully presented.
Talking about presentations, Dead Rising is a game that combines great graphics and audio effects. The colors are vibrant, and are a joy to look at. The music scores are great, throwing in different themes for different areas of the mall. The voice-acting is awesome, telling the story superbly without sounding awkward. In a nutshell, the presentation is what you'd expect from a next-gen game. Unfortunately, Capcom have taken this next-gen thing a little too far, by including texts that can only be read legibly on a HDTV. Yes, we know that this is a next-gen game, but not everyone owns a HDTV. What's wrong with having a SDTV option for people like, you know, us? Also, while voice-overs are included for the cut-scenes, the in-game conversations are all text-based. If you don't have a HDTV, chances are you'll miss out some parts of the story, just because Capcom got lazy.
Still, Dead Rising is a really great game despite its flaws. Its issues are unfortunate (and you can tell Capcom about them by doing an online survey), but it strengths make it a must-play if you own an X360. Just make sure you save up for a HDTV if you want a better experience. | video-games_xbox |
Dragon Age Inquisition an RPG not a dugeon crawl. I've been waiting for this game for quite a while, and so far am really enjoying it. First lets take a look at what this game is. DAI is an RPG. For those that try to compare it to DA2 there is no real way to compare them. DA2 was much more of an Action/Adventure game. With DAI you're in control of a group of heroes that you can customize to a degree. The game does automatically assign the characters attribute points as you progress (I wish that you could do this manually), but you are free to manage your classes skill points applying them in 4 different base skill trees and 3 specialized skill tree for each class (there are the typical warrior, mage, and rogue classes).
It has been pointed out and I agree that the standard game play graphics are not up to par with the other next gen console games, but the cut scenes are very rich and well done.
One of the things that I like most about the game is it's controls. The controls are very fluid and are not clumsy at all. The one exception to this is with mounts. The gallop/run feature for mounts is the same control as the directional control (pressing down on the left control stick). I've never been a fan of an intergrated gallop/run and movement control feature.
Now on to the game and game play. There is a ton of content included in this game. For those that just want to play the game for a good story you can do so with very few annoying side quests. Those that love to look for all the little secrets will be delighted to know that there is no shortage of things to see and do. Last for the completionist you will go nuts with all the stuff that there is to do. I myself am a completionist and will say this, know when to cut yourself off and move on to the next area. You can always comeback to a previous map and work on it some more.
Overall after waiting as long as I did for this game I'm very pleased with it. I wrapped up Middle Earth: Shadow of Mordor the day before this game was released (completionist) and will say that the graphics in SOM were better but the content, controls, and overall game play was no where as good as DAI. I liked SOM but the overall game experience and entertainment provided by DAI tips the scales in its favor. Remember this is an RGP, which means that its basically an interactive book/story not an action/adventure where you spend most of your time engaged in real time combat and stats, skills, leveling are less of a focus. | video-games_xbox |
A great game that is far from perfect. I love the concept and have been waiting for a game like this for as long as I've owned a guitar. And although I have owned a guitar for 3 years, the learning curve was so steep that I never played it. Simply put, learning to play the guitar is very hard, at least for me, which made it no fun. Enter Rocksmith. This game makes learning much more enjoyable and I've found myself playing for a few hours at a time, 4 or 5 days a week. From that standpoint, Rocksmith is worth it's purchase price.
However, it has brought on many new frustrations that stem from an imperfect game. As other have said, it's not a replacement for a credible teacher and it does promote sloppy play. But Rocksmith makes the learning curve much less steep in my opinion and as long as you can recognize your sloppy playing technique, as with real music lessons, it's still up to you to fix that.
Here's where I have problems with it though. I own three entry level electric guitars, all with medium strings (.11). An Ibanez, a Fender and an Epiphone. I've noticed its ability to recognize the correct notes varies greatly from one guitar to another. While Rocksmith tends to work decent with the Fender and Epiphone, occasionally it will not recognize a single note played or even all of the notes throughout an entire song. That's ridiculous. I find that the Ibanez seems to work the best, but again, I can play the exact note it requests and the game will indicate that it is incorrect and that I need to move up or down the fretboard. This has become very frustrating over the course of the last month or so, to the point where I want to pull a Pete Townshend and smash my guitar through the TV. I have figured out a couple of tricks here and there as sort of a workaround, but the game is definitely flawed.
As far as the delay others have mentioned, so far I have experienced none. Or I just haven't encountered a tempo quick enough to notice. I'm using the internal speakers of my 42" LG HDTV with my PS3 hooked up via a HDMI cable.
I have other minor gripes as well, like the fact that they make you purchase new songs at a price of $2.99 which is absurd. I think 99 cents is steep, but would be much more reasonable. Another would be the mini games, which seem like a good idea but function poorly, maybe it's the games inability to get along with my guitars, I don't know.
And that's about it. Sure I'd change a few more things, but I feel that they are more opinion based problems opposed to functional issues. I will try to update this review if I manage to solve any of the issues or any new problems arise. Would I buy the game again? Yes. Would I suggest it to others? Yes. Does it need some kinks ironed out? Absolutely! | video-games_xbox |
FINALLY!! MULTIPLAYER CONSISTENTLY WORKING NOW. BUYER BEWARE!!!!
Battlefield Bad Company 2 was immense fun...for about 3 weeks. The maps are huge, the gameplay awesome, the "team" approach to combat, I would like to have given this game a solid 5 stars.
Accept for one problem: multiplayer. Multiplayer worked for me for about 3 weeks and now, for the last 2 weeks, I have not been able to play multiplayer at all.
Kind of like the other reviewer Rose has stated.
I have a solid XBOX live account, I can see when friends are on, can play my other games online ok, but not battlefield.
So, in summary, the game I was in love with, (Battlefield 2) has gone from 5 stars down to one, or less.
I guess I will sell this game and will purchase Modern Warfare 2. Sigh.....
*****UPDATE ON 4/19/10******
Ok, as of 4/16, the multiplayer started working for me again. I was just about to go sell it for MW2 but now I will give Battlefield another chance. Again, the gameplay is wonderful as long as the multiplayer works consistently.
I will upadate again later on multiplayer play.
*****UPDATE ON 4/27/10*****
Ok, I think it is only fair that I upgrade my rating of this game since, as of 4/27/10, the multiplayer part of this game has been working for me about 90 percent of the time. So, assuming the multiplayer continues to work on a consistent basis ( I don't mind an occasional glitch, nothing is perfect) this game is a keeper!!!!
Again, huge maps, great gameplay, realistic bullet trajectory and physics, just all around very fun and addictive.
Please note I have not played MW2 so I cannot make a comparison, though I have played COD 4, another great game.
Sigh, Sigh, Sigh. Well here it is about a month later and I'm updating my review...again...sorry to say the multiplayer has stopped working for about the last 2 weeks. Now I know its not my hardware because I can play Borderlands or the New Red Dead Redemption online with no problems.
I seem to be one of the very few with multiplayer complaints so it might just be one of those mysteries where the game and my hardware conflict.
Anyway, I'm afraid I'm going to finally give up on this game and purchase MW2 as I love multiplayer FP' shooters.
I've even tried tried re-installing the game to no avail. Can anyone out there
think of anything else that might be causing the problem?
My firewall set to high? anything???
If you are still reading this from my earlier writing you can see the multiplayer is on again, off again, on again, off again.
Time for me to move on to MW2
8/3/2010:
Ok, when EA did that multiplayer update a few weeks ago, it seemed to have solved my above formentioned problems and I'm happy
to report I can now play multiplayer whenever I want now, so I'm upgrading my review of the game to 5 stars. | video-games_xbox |
Great gameplay, downgraded everything else. Fifa 08 was not perfect. Fifa 09 has improved the gameplay immensely. Other than never being able to score on 1-on-1's I think the gameplay is near perfection.
Why do I give it 1 star? Well because the interactivity of the menus, the search function, and the transfer have been made into a huge clutter that slows you, the user, down:
In Fifa 08, after you selected your team and kit, you would be taken to the squad, where you could easily see your roster and see if anyone is tired. Now though, you are taken to a menu where you can pick squad, formation, strategy, etc. If you are doing a season and have already set a strategy and formation there is no reason to access these again. However, with cup matches, league matches, suspensions, injuries, and fatigue, the one item you almost always need to see is your starting XI. So while before you could see this right before every game before, now you specifically have to click into it. And that's really annoying.
Search function. When you want to do transfers and want to search for players, your options are limited. You want to search all players with ratings between 90 - 100(there are about 5)? Well were you could easily do that in Fifa 08, now the population pool is too big too search for Fifa 09. You can split it up so you only look for Fw's or mid's and that works, but why should I have to do that? It worked fine last year, why make it more limited this year? Also, this search does not capture players who are in national teams but not in any of the provided club teams. This is not a complicated search, how does EA botch it?
Lastly, for transfers you can quickly select what team you want the transfer to go to. So you want robinho to go from team A to team B. Easily done. But say you want donovan to come back from team B to team A. You have to exit out the transfer window you have open and go pick team B as your 'base' team before making the move. Transfers should be able to go in both directions between A and B without having to exit out. And using the same example, team B is really easy to switch, but to switch team A, you again have to exit out. This should not be the case. Why make it so much work?
Maybe a one star rating is an overreaction, but the three items I mention get me really upset. | video-games_xbox |
I Don't Even Think it's That Fun. It's depressing when one of your most anticipated game releases leaves you wishing you had bought something else. Sixty bucks is a lot of money to waste.
The first Mercenaries title was - in my opinion - a major milestone. Taking the Grand-Theft-Auto sandbox design and filling it with military vehicles, crazy gun fights and massive explosions. The original game was not without its flaws, but I actually think this game has far more.
The Cons:
Oh goodness the graphics. I think a lot of gamers feel that graphics are an aside - as much as graphics are touted by major reviewers, publications, etc, us gamers just don't really seem to care that much. If a game is really, REALLY good, we'll look past some frame rate issues and bad aliasing. But Mercs 2 - good God - did they port this off of a Gameboy?? When you're in a race and obstructions literally pop up in front of you around a corner - that's not good. When an enemy is shooting at you from 50 yards away and yet the engine hasn't actually drawn him yet - that's not good. The colors are extremely flat - trees, buildings, people - almost all look the same.
Topography is another issue - many times I've watched my character get killed because I was literally stuck in a rut the depth of a curb. I've also gotten stuck between rocks many, many times. It is incredibly frustrating watching an action game turn into a platformer because you're trying to jump out from a few rocks.
Fun... The game just isn't that fun. A lot of strategy has been compromised for action and explosions - neither of which are that good. In the original mercs, you could subdue a "high value target" - referred to in that game as a "deck of cards." You could then take your subdued target, toss him into a vehicle (The Hummer H2 was my favorite) and drive out of an enemy base, camouflaged as a civilian. This was one of my favorite things to do. So imagine my surprise when I knocked out a HVT in Mercs 2, ran up to my truck, and couldn't load the target inside. In the following explosion, my HVT was killed and I lost half of my bounty. Why did they take that element out of the game?
The air support has become bigger and in some ways, better. There are a LOT of things you can call in this time, and you don't have to worry about keeping a faction happy to keep the supplies rolling in. However, you have to stop moving, select what you want to call in, and throw your beacon for things like artillery support, fuel bombs, etc. Of course, most of the time you'll catch a rocket in the face for your efforts because you're not moving! Why you have to stop to throw an air support beacon is beyond me. This was obviously never beta-tested.
The story - if you can call it that - is pretty poor. There's no indication as to when missions become available - you literally have to make your rounds among your increasing number of outposts and H.Q.'s and find out what is available to do. The first couple times I found myself thinking, "now what?" only to realize that I had to go talk to someone to find out what was available. I guess it's good that Fiona - your... ...boss?... ...keeps nagging you to return home so she can give you suggestions.
Good Lord the voice acting... I don't know if the same guy did Mattias as in the last game, but he obviously spent some time hanging out in suck city between projects. He is without a doubt the worse voice-actor I've ever heard. Was this guy trying to impersonate Shatner? It is literally so bad, I've begun skipping the conversations simply because I can't stand it.
So what's good? The vehicles are okay - I really liked the combat ship I stumbled across - rocket launcher, two side-mounted turret guns and a butt-kicking front-mounted cannon. The helicopters are more varied and capable - sorta... My favorite part was using a helicopter to drop a gigantic gas tank onto the deck of a large tanker ship - the ship was a target I was asked to destroy. The gas tank landed next to two additional gas tanks on the deck, and after a few seconds of bouncing around, the first tank exploded, igniting the other two. As the ship exploded in a glorious fireball, I sat there laughing almost uncontrollably - it was just cool. Too bad it took 6 hours of game play to find a good part.
What else would you like to know? No, the physics aren't any better. Driving is a tiny bit easier, but cars slide like you're driving on teflon-coated ice... They stop okay and such, but get out of a car while it's still just slightly moving, and you'll walk a half-mile to catch up to it - that is if it doesn't slide off a cliff or beach.
Mercenaries 2 is... ...it's an insult to the engineers who made Mercs 1 such a great game. Gone is the flair - no neat animations when you subdue a target. Instead we get minute-long tank hijacking sequences. For every item Mercs 2 tried to improve on the original, they slacked off on two items that Mercs 1 did great. All in all it makes for a pretty lackluster game. I'm sorely dissapointed. | video-games_xbox |
BEST AND ONLY CHATPAD YOU'LL EVER NEED OR WANT. This chatpad is the real deal licensed by Microsoft one, NOT one of the many cheap knockoffs for sale at either same price or cheaper. Included in the box is the chatpad itself and a standard 3.5mm stereo Xbox one headset like the one included when you bought the console, and USB 3.0 to USB-C cable used to update the controller and chatpad during initial setup process. (And as added bonus cable can also be used to charge and play standard Xbox one and Xbox one Elite controllers, or connect any device or android phone that uses USB-C to your Xbox one to use as a media player with Xbox app installed and device USB set to MTP or PTP) Now for the features and details, Send messages and search Xbox live easily. Compose messages enter codes, and search content in seconds with a quality baccklit qwerty keyboard instead of controller and on screen keyboard. Plus there's 2 programmable keys you can set to instantly open choice of features, apps or games on press. It snaps right into bottom of controller (standard or elite) and is so well designed I leave it attached permanently to my Elite controller and it doesn't get in the way AT ALL during gameplay or when not in use. To be honest it actually balances out the Xbox elite controllers weight perfectly!!!! It is a 5 star product and my only con plus the ONLY reason I deducted one star is because keys are slightly too close or small for small percentage of people who have either Large hands or fingertips. Very minor issue because you will adapt and get used to it. I've used this daily for about a month already before I wrote this review. It uses controller for power source but I haven't noticed any reduced life or performance in controller battery from using it. Oh and you go into your Xbox accessories app to update and configure it same as with the elite controller. Don't hesitate, and don't buy ANY generic imitation, it's well worth the little extra for real licensed one. Any questions or just wanna add me I'm PhillyG11 on Xbox live and always on. | video-games_xbox |
Excellent, almost perfect. There are so many things this game does well it is hard to know where to begin. The story is phenomenal but be prepared to be an active participant. Unfolding all of the details depends on your own playing style, patience, and determination. The voice acting... I've never played a game where you can tell each character's personality based almost solely on inflection. I've seen some people rate the game negatively based on the combat system, but I think the reviewers may have been anticipating a completely different game. It is a 3rd person shooter, kinda...well sort of. OK, it's a hybrid of the KOTOR series and squad based shooters (Rainbow six, republic commando etc). The system takes some getting used to as you have to open the command prompt and then target an enemy and give the order, and it probably could have been made more intuitive, an actual tutorial would have been nice...give it a learning curve of about an hour of combat to finally understand how things work. I think not being able to switch to other character's perspectives is fine because the whole concept is based on you becoming Shepard and if that is the case you would never see fights from Wrex's eyes.
Now, this is an RPG story and so you should be prepared for such. The game breaks down to probably 1/3 combat, 1/3 dialogue, 1/3 exploration. You will not be moving from fight to fight in constant action. Also, you won't be able to explore EVERY planet you come across, some are too inhospitable or uninteresting to explore. Again some may be disappointed but personally I found it realistic. Very few worlds would develop into models of Earth.
Is the Game perfect: no. But show me one game that lacks a single flaw and I'll eat my shoe. Overall the game is an A++, those unfamiliar with KOTOR or RPG's in general may do well to rent it first as they may be bored if they aren't involved in the story. Anyone else BUY IT, you WILL play it multiple times. | video-games_xbox |
Great game - typical sequel. I know I am going to get a lot of bad comments because of my 4 star rating, but hear me out. I am an average to modest gamer, do not find much time for games and have to admit that I loved Halo 1 for originality and playability. The hype for Halo 2 even got to me, I could not wait until it's release, and now that I have it, I want to know how I finished it so fast. Played Saturday & Sunday over probably 10 total hours on Normal level, but don't recommend playing on heroic or legendary to extend gameplay unless you like the feeling of having 10 linebackers pile on top of you.
The game was great, but didn't live up to a lot of the reviews posted by total Halo fanatics, especially who say this is the best game ever. It is good, but there are better. I am reviewing the Limited Edition as that is what I bought.
There are improvements to the first game, but this game lacks in the same way the movie Attack of the Clones pales in comparison to the original Star Wars series. Here are my reasons:
How better:
Graphics - A step up from the first game, obviously more time was spent in designing.
Deathmatch - Play is better on some levels and the weapons & equipment offer more options to take out your friend. There is even an updated version of Blood Gulch.
Vehicles - More vehicles to choose from, and you can steal from other players both friends and computer.
Better AI - Marines are smarter, and this time, they can drive while you shoot.
Limited Edition Extra - DVD included with metal cased Limited Edition is full of more extra's than I have time to watch. Well worth the extra $5.
How not better:
Story - story is the same as first Halo, with no new elements added. Covenant are still dumb enough to think Halo is a salvation tool.
Playability - If you liked the library scene and the Flood (character in 1st) you will love Halo 2. Lots of flood and dark scenes. Some levels you find yourself running for the checkpoint rather than digging in and fighting. Too many obstacles and clutter.
Overall, this is a great game and will probably break the game sales record. Sorry to the Halo fans who think everyone should give this a 5 star all around. If you have not tried Halo 1, you might want to buy it first as it has levels you will want to play over and over. Halo 2 is better for people with Xbox Live, and true fans of the original - so try that one first, as it will be a classic - if not already. | video-games_xbox |
Not the game to play with non-gamer significant other. First off, I just want to point out that the zombies are not zombies at all. They have spaceships and crap. That's a sentient alien race, not a band of zombies. I don't recall the last time Rick and the gang on Walking Dead had to defend their settlement against an Independence Day style assault by zombies firing energy weapons from their flying saucers. Just saying.
Anyway, I had really high expectations for this game as something to play with my girlfriend, as an alternative to board/card games when it's just the two of us. I am a PC and console gamer that enjoys titles from almost every genre: FPS, RPG, arcade side scrollers, RTS, turn based strategy, etc. This game was really unique in its ability to not hold my interest for almost any time at all. Both of us were fairly bored after 3 mins of playing in split screen and have not played since. Basically threw away $20. Oh well.
Shame on me for not watching gameplay demos beforehand I suppose, but I thought there was more strategy and design focus, defending against a horde of zombies by cleverly placed defenses or a strategic choice... not just non-stop running around shooting in 3rd person perspective. There's no real strategy or thought here and really the only focus is on your thumbstick mastery, so basically the worst possible thing to introduce a non-gamer to console games, who hasn't spent hundreds or thousands of hours obtaining proficiency with accurate thumbstick running/aiming/strafing inputs.
So I'm left wondering who this is for then, if it's boring to gamers and simultaneously boring and frustrating to non-gamers. I guess young kids that have no idea what's going on anyway and just mash at random inputs on the controller. Or possibly for slightly older kids whose parents prefer them slaying the undead (which are actually aliens of some sort) or beings made of cellulose and water rather than those of skin and blood.,, but I've got news for you. Those humanoid little beings still die folks. You can call these poor alien immigrants to Earth "zombies" and slaughter them, but their invisible blood is on your corn-cob shaped nubs that shoot lasers... or whatever.
This is less intimidating and easier than trying to play Halo or something, but it's crap IMO. The search continues. | video-games_xbox |
Did not like this game. Okay Ive played both Prototype and Red Faction so my review will be slightly skewered. First off I want to say I bought and played Prototype first. Then I read a bunch of reviews about Red Faction (mostly on this site) that say "Red Faction Red Faction" so like a doofus I purchased it. (this is where the "I played Prototype first comes in")
Prototype dominates. Compared to Prototype, Red Faction felt slow, sluggish, and semi-retarded. The driving controls were alot harder (not user-friendly), targeting slower. I know these are two completely different games but in certain aspects they are alike. For instance, hit-and-run techniques are used in both. Where Prototype you can enter a fray, destroy w/e it is you need to destroy and then get out, in Red Faction you face endless amounts of EDF that keep on coming. The Guerillas that assist you have downs syndrome (ie get in your way or shoot you in the back) and you can only hold 120 rounds of your regular auto rifle (starting off). The only way to escape once you go red status in Red Faction is to die it seems. Rarely did I make it to a vehicle to escape to a safehouse. Also you should be able to "jack" vehicles, for example when those EDF are driving and stop for a second you should be able to open their door and throw them out. The game should progress where if they are going to send 20 - 30+ EDF Soldiers to your location, its later in the game, not when I can only afford level one armor. Oh and driving a vehicle was awkward, aiming a weapon and switching weapons, though simple should have followed a Modern Duty style, just awkward (maybe that is my fault not used to it)
By the way in no shape or form am I endorsing Prototype, Im just comparing it. Also, I will admit this is my first Red Faction type game and it just seems...ugh. Maybe I need to give it more time but when I have to stop a convoy and I cant "jack" a vehicle and can't destroy enough of them because Im getting shot or run over by the endless EDF, it gets tiresome. Maybe this game aint for me
I despise the fact that I bought Red Faction, Although what made my vision skewered was Prototype was played first, was faster, sleeker, and way more user-friendly game. Play Prototype then play Red Faction. Hell just watch Prototypes intro and when you ask your self "whoa wait...I can do all that?" Yes you can | video-games_xbox |
It's still fun, but flawed. The NCAA line of video games have been largely the same from one year to the next, with incrimental improvements coming each year in the form of different game modes, small graphical updates, and playbook expansion.
The 2014 edition of NCAA Football is no different, providing new game modes such as Ultimate Team (a trading card type game mode that allows you to play as your favorite players from back in the day) as well as a new user interface and new intros for teams. However, NCAA sets itself apart from its eerily similar siblings (NCAA 11-13) due to the new Infinity II Physics Engine. Basically, the players now have mass and tackles are no longer simply small scripted cutscenes where you can phase through other players. Instead, a player will be stopped in his tracks if he is tackled by 2 or more players, and running feels much more fluid and life-like, while also providing for some pretty hilarious glitches (such as players tripping over eachother trying to get up from a pile).
My complaints with this game are with the presentation, specifically with the sidelines, the crowd, and the ESPN commentary.
Sidelines: The sidelines in the NCAA games haven't changed since around 2004, and it really shows. While players on the field are flying around with a fantastic physics engine, players on the sideline all seemingly move as one unit when stepping forwards and backwards during play selection and during the play itself. The players on the sideline seem like they are all very stock character models, and they are all copies of each other (no differentiation). Come on EA, how about you update that once in a while?
Crowd: Same type of complaint as the sidelines, the fans in the crowd appear to be cardboard cutouts. All of the fans also stand up and sit down at the same time, which, in case you've never been outside ever, doesn't exactly happen (apart from when doing "the wave").
Commentary: Mostly, the ESPN commentary is very good; however, after about 2 games, the commentary becomes stale. This is especially true if you have played any of the NCAA games since 2011 because most of the commentary has been recycled from old games. And, unless you feel like getting a verbal smackdown from the commentators, don't even THINK about going for it on 4th down or running up the score.
Overall, the game is very fun, and is an improvement to the series. If I hadn't found it for $43 on Amazon, I probably wouldn't have gotten it, but it is pretty fun. 4/5 Stars. | video-games_xbox |
Too much of an okay thing. After the amazing spectacle that was Saints Row The Third, I was incredibly excited to see Volition take the series a step further into the purely ludicrous. Unfortunately, Saints Row IV simply can't shake the fact that it started as a DLC add-on to its predecessor and as a result fails to deliver a memorable experience of its own.
As the story begins, the Saints are now in the White House with your titular main character taking the role of Commander in Chief. Not soon thereafter aliens invade and place the Saints in a Matrix-style computer simulation where most of the game takes place. This simulation is a virtual recreation of Steelport from SR3, and IV disappointingly brings nothing new to the table by way of setting. Not only is it the exact same layout from before, the entirety of the game takes place at night. Steelport didn't have a ton of personality to begin with, and shrouding the city in darkness certainly doesn't help that fact.
One of the primary selling points for Saints Row IV is the superpowers that you incrementally learn through the course of the game. It doesn't take long at all before you're sprinting faster than a race car, scaling buildings in a single bound, and shooting fireballs from your fingertips. The whole thing feels ripped right out of Prototype and Crackdown (complete with orbs scattered throughout the city to improve your abilities), and it's appropriately fun to fling yourself through the Steelport skyline at 100mph. However, the superpowers quickly become a double-edged sword.
As soon as you get your increased mobility, there is absolutely no reason to drive a car again. In fact, there's hardly a reason to touch the ground again. The entire bottom-half of the world is forgotten as you bound from one objective to the other. So on top of the uninteresting setting shrouded in darkness, the game actively encourages you to only traverse the even less interesting building tops throughout your travels.
It seems like Volition realized this, so the game is peppered with constant and arbitrary reasons for you to lose your superpowers. These seem forced (because they are), and it's unfortunate that better reasons couldn't be found to keep your feet on the ground.
After all the powers run their course, however, Saints Row IV doesn't have much else to say. The story is needlessly stretched to full game length by repetitive missions and an over-emphasis on side-mission activities. What story there is doesn't hold water, either. I'd be lying if I said I didn't laugh often while playing SR IV, but it chooses to focus far too heavily on waxing nostalgic over providing a satisfying narrative. Everything follows a predictable path, and what should have been an epic clash to send off the series with a bang ends up being a redundant slog that presents its finale with a whimper.
The humor in Saints Row has always been one of its strongest suits, but even here things have taken a downturn. It seems like Volition has forgotten the difference between parody and reference, and as a result falls into the Matt Hazard trap of simply recreating tired video game tropes and then calling them out. It's the developers wanting to have their cake and eat it too, exploiting lazy design shortcuts (an overabundance of fetch quests comes to mind) and hoping to get away with it by pointing out how bad it is. This problem is pushed to its derivative limits through your spaceship and crew, which is a shameless rip off of the entire structure of Mass Effect 2 without even trying to be funny about it.
This is all irritating on its own, but the myriad of bugs and glitches were enough to send me over the edge. Throughout my playthrough, I encountered no less than 4 game breaking bugs which caused be to restart from a checkpoint or reboot the console entirely. From scripted events not triggering to NPC characters getting stuck in the game world to full on crashes, the entire experience felt sloppy and unstable. And no, the fact that it's set in a computer simulation is not an adequate excuse.
In the end, I feel that Saints Row IV would have been better staying as the DLC pack "Enter the Dominatrix" for a budget price. The recycled content, lackluster story and half-hearted execution make it impossible to recommend at the full $60 price point, even for die hard Saints Row fans. | video-games_xbox |
Disappointing. First let me say I actually enjoyed MLB 2k8. It had flaws(several), but after tweaking some sliders I actually played a few full seasons, simming a game here and there, and enjoyed it. I had high expectations for MLB 2k9, and was very disappointed. After getting home and putting the game in I started up an exhibition game. I loved it, the presentation was new and great, the announcers were new and fresh, and the graphics looked good. Unfortunately the more I played the more the bugs and glitches started showing up. Such as......perfect throws to the first baseman and he wouldn't put his foot on the bag; outfielders not getting there gloves up in time to catch flyballs and letting the ball go over their heads; Players running through walls and disappearing; Stats are all screwed up; Pinch hitters for the CPU coming out and pitching the next inning; I actually had some phantom player standing in the other batters box once when I was hitting. My first franchise froze after the first three games and I had to start it over. I haven't even mentioned dumb things that just don't happen in a true baseball sim. Things like the CPU swinging at everything. They never take a pitch. For that matter, the CPU hardly ever throws a ball. Almost every inning is three or four pitches. You can fix that with sliders like last year right? Wrong. They took away a ton of sliders and presentation options from last year. There is no slider to control CPU aggresiveness at the plate. There are no sliders for a ton of things, and what ones there are you can't figure out what they mean. Want to change the presentation angle? Can't, there's no option. Oh and if you do mess around with some sliders it disables the card collecting feature.
I will close by saying that everything is there for 2k to improve on to make a great game. Like I said before the presentation, graphics, and overall broadcast of the game is very nice. Unfortunately, I believe the bugs are just going to be too much to overcome for us xbox360 users to have a good baseball game to play this year. Oh well, theres always next year.... | video-games_xbox |
Very good game. Having played all the Halo for hundreds of hours, I can say that I am very happy with Halo 4. I was actually awaiting for another Halo, without much/any changes. But Halo 4 got more changes than what I could have hoped for. Some changes are good, others are annoying.
Let's start with the changes that I do not like:
1) The online maps are huge and can get annoying because you don't get to kill as many enemies as in the previous games. Personally, I think the game is close to what Call of Duty is.
2) The multi-player in the previous games was always pretty awesome. It was mostly close combat, meaning that you would come close to someone and melee with the player. Instead, Halo 4 is more of a "shoot from the distance" kind of game. You won't get a ton of melee kills, instead you will try and kill your opponents with the DMR or other medium-to-long-range weapon. The game has actually changed from a "melee" type of game to a "hey guys I'm camping on the top of this bunker". This is really annoying. Every time I join a game, I know that someone is going to camp and snipe. This is not exactly what Halo is about. Halo is a melee game before all.
3) Legendary mode is not legendary anymore... It is definitely easier not to get killed in the campaign on the Legendary mode. This was too easy for my taste. I did like the challenge of starting a mission over and over after getting killed. This is what made the game so popular... it was actually hard.
4) Number of online maps is very limited.
Good points:
1) Campaign is really, REALLY good. The prologue was just something that I wasn't expecting. The story is amazing so far (yes, I haven't finished the game yet).
2) It's fun.
Not many good points, but that doesn't mean it isn't a good game. It is actually a very good game that is probably worth buying. If you are new to the series, I would definitely buy it. If you know the Halo series, you will probably be a bit deceived. | video-games_xbox |
i've had some great gameplay moments,,& some usb slots r added,but without good music options i just wish for my old 360. i could deal with halo 4 ,final fantasy xiii 2, & soul calibur 5 being nigh unplayable,but i can't abide to the xbox 360s ,& its numerous issues. on my old(& vastly superior)360 i could save music directly from a flash drive to the hard drive(i've been told that files can b shared with another computer on the same network, unfortunantly my computer can't hook to a network, now the flash card must remain attached,& it takes like 3-5 minutes to load it from inside a game, microsoft has devised a way to uninvent the 360, on my old 360 i needed the worry about the red ring to death, now is de-evolution)i thought i had a seriouse enouge overheating problem to remove the outer coating, the warranty b damned,but as it turns out i didn't need to (it coulda remained upright,& easily ventilated)when thought i had an overheating problem i asked for advice from xbox.com,& the advice was not to run it on a surge protecter,but unplug in a storm(i know this is difficult for them to understand,but sometimes the power screws up with good weather, for example the next morning the power went off, good weather). if i woulda known microsoft wasn't reliable at all maybe sony would have a new customer. just recently i asked my brudger to remove the outer case the warranty b darned ,but he knowing how to fix the problem just ordered me an intercoller at <a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/Nyko-Intercooler-STS-Xbox-360/dp/B004HX1QFY/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">Nyko Intercooler STS Xbox 360</a> . the nyco intercooler is much cheaper than a new xbox (15.99 vs 199.99) ,& is fairly silent (if it is loud just blow it out with an air compresspr. 1st of all y wasn't this built in, 2nd y was i instructed by an xbox rep to unplug ,& play only on clear weather,& 3rd y did they not tell me about the intercooler (it , of course, had nothing to do with an extra $199.99, microsoft is such a stand up company. i have decided not to stay with microsoft for the xbox one (i liked when it was called 720 more anyway, i envisioned xbox 1080 vs. ps47 1/2) unless there's an intercooler u can buy for it(its possible they built a fan into it,but with a price of $499.99 that's very unlikely) | video-games_xbox |
This does look promising. Even though the game is not out yet...it looks very impressive. Yes, some games that LucasArts released in the past were pretty bad. Like Obi-Wan, The Clone Wars, and Starfighter SE. You have to remember that they did release some really good games after those. Like Jedi Knight II Jedi Outcast, which was the best selling PC game of 2002 in three countries. Bounty Hunter was also pretty cool. Jedi Starfighter was worth the play too.
The release date was also getting pushed back. First it was November 19, 2002 for Xbox and March 5, 2003 for the PC. Second it was February 20, 2003 for Xbox and May 26, 2003 for the PC. Third it was March 25, 2003 for Xbox and June 18, 2003 for the PC. Fourth it was May 1, 2003 for Xbox and August 16, 2003 for the PC. Now it is June 16, 2003 for Xbox and November 14, 2003 for the PC. It seems that LucasArts and Bioware want to put as much effort into this game as possible.
So what I am getting at is that they seem to get better through time. I have seen many screenshots and videos of Knights of the Old Republic and it does look very impressive. You can watch an interview of the game with previews in the backround at ...
The game was told to be 40-60 hours long. At the start you can become a Jedi or Sith, create your own character, build your own lightsaber hilt, choose the type of lightsaber you want (single lightsaber, two lightsabers in each hand, or a double bladed lightsaber like Darth Maul's), choose the blade color of your lightsaber, choose your force powers, and in the game if you are a Jedi you can gradually fall to the Dark Side or if you are a Sith you can gradually become good.
In the middle of the game you can perform many upgrades like upgrading your lightsaber. If you want to change the blade color, you have to seek out the crystals that will give you the color you desire and take out the old crystals and pop in the new crystals.
There is also laser turret games like in A New Hope with the Millenium Falcon being attacked by Tie Fighters and Luke and Han get into their laser turrets.
The game also features where you can play in what is called a "Real-Time Mode" which is basically without pausing the game and choosing your attacks. An example of a "Real-Time Mode" game would be Jedi Outcast. Your other choice is to play it in "Traditional RPG" where you do pause the game and choose an attack. An example is Final Fantasy.
This game is to be very dramatic and to let the player live and embrace themselves as a Jedi Knight or Sith Lord in the Star Wars universe.
Who knows what this game will bring? Lets hope it will make every Star Wars fan happy and satisfied. | video-games_xbox |
What Happened. So today's game market is pretty well if not over saturated with strategy games. With this being the case it makes sense that developers of the new comers learn from and improve based on titles that have been on the shelves. Obviously this logic doesn't follow through in the real world, enter Kingdom Under Fire.
Now although some of the sounds of battle are pretty well done, KUF leaves a generic after taste. swords clash with as much enthusiasm as a high school thespian take on Hamlet. Horses, arrows, trampling feet, all sound generic and uninspired. The final death blow to the sound quality comes from the voice acting. Dialogue feels cheap and meaningless between yawn inspiring battle charges and filler buster comments among characters.
The graphics have also suffered. Although character models look good form long range, animations and detail look childish at a closer glance. I simply can't say enough bad things about the animation. One such example is the way characters run through trees and obstacles, it looks more like they're running in place while the world moves around and shifts out of their way. Usually poor voice acting and graphics go hand in hand and KUF is no exception. Characters don't even speak their lines. Instead the programmers decided to have the characters constantly "chew gum" while the voice track is played. Even after they speak the characters continue to do the chewing motion-is this level of programing really acceptable with the capabilities of the XBOX?
Gameplay quickly becomes boring no matter what the mission is. Battles mean mashing your troops into enemy troops with the ocassional support of varying soldier types. This does add a level of tactics to the game but not enough to compete-or even step in the same field as other strategy titles. The core of all battles is getting your character in the thick of the melee. The quickest and most efficient way to end these battles is by finding the commander of the enemy forces and quickly taking them out. Its a good idea but translates into a random chance on the battlefield as the commanders always look like the other enemies on the screen. You'll be lucky if you find them.
With everything said, Kingdom Under Fire is a title that adds no ambition to the RTS genre. All aspects of the game range from bland to mediocre and onward to generic. This title is obviously an attempt by programmers who love RTS' to get a foot hold on the genre; the reallity is that they should have stayed out or developed a more valiant effort. For those with computers running at a good ability, there is an endless sea of RTS games. Sadly, Kingdom Under Fire throws in the towel to even the classics from the past decade. If you're curious, rent it. Otherwise pass it by on your way to a Blizzard or Sierra title. | video-games_xbox |
Its exactly what an arcade sandbox racer is. I'll state this first, I'd much rather play a sim racer like Forza than an arcade racer.
Everyone compares this to the original, I wasn't a fan of the original, cars with body kits are just too tacky. When the first videos of this game came out I was pretty excited, Criterion did a pretty bang up job on Hot Pursuit and having not played the original most wanted I was a bit excited to finally get something similar that actually had nice looking cars in it. So I bought it and for an arcade racer, it nails it. Yes this isn't like the original Most Wanted, if you wanted that maybe you should tell EA Black Box not to create a game similar to Hot Pursuit (The Run) and maybe they would not have lost the title to make more NFS as Criterion is now the sole provider of NFS (Not sure about Shift). All in all, it is like Burnout Paradise, but better. If you want to compare this game to an older one, its Paradise you should be comparing it to. The map is smaller than paradise, but its not as confusing and you don't have to open your map during a race to find out where to go. Also, licensed cars. Paradise had all of those made up cars that looked similar to real cars but were rather outrageous. Now I can cruise around in an SLS AMG doing similar things that I did in Paradise.
There is no storyline and I appreciate that, why? because in most racing games you aim to be the best racer in the game, whether this be Forza, Gran Turismo, or what have you, the objective in the game is to get the best cars and be the best racer. This game does that and just doesn't have to tell you, I mean the named is called Most Wanted. I appreciate there not being a story or any voicing besides the police. I find voice acting in racing games only end up cheesey and rather pointless.
Things to consider before you buy this game:
-Do you not hold a grudge against EA for not making the exact same game they did in 2005
-Are you looking for an arcade racing game that is rather good
-Are you looking to race licensed cars and not put outrageous bodykits and wings on them
-Do you want a game where it has a simple objective of just being the best racer in the city
If you said yes to these statements above, you'll enjoy the game. If you said no, continue to complain about how this is not the same game as the original 2005.
Maybe in 2015 you'll be lucky enough to get an anniversary edition. Don't count on it though as times have changed. | video-games_xbox |
The First Wow Factor Of The 360 Generation. PGR 3 was the first game I owned for the Xbox 360 and the 7th Generation of Gaming overall. The perfect mixture of arcade racing and simulation. A middle of the road racing game to say the least. The physics, next-gen graphics, and drifting kudos system made it very impressive for me when I first purchased my Launch Edition Xbox 360 in November 2005 as I was thoroughly impressed by what I was seeing. PGR3 and Dead or Alive 4 were the games that made me the most excited to turn on my Xbox 360 in late 2005 and 2006, the 1 year advance that Microsoft had in that generation. Not to mention that you could almost infinitely rip as much music as you wanted from your CD collection or Burned CDs and have it play seamlessly with this game with the Custom Soundtrack Option. The game has its own respectable soundtrack as well. 12 years later and it's still such an ingenious and well balanced game. This was one of the first racing games to have a significantly detailed interior cockpit view of the car while you're racing. The in-game menus are perfect. Simple, attractive, straightforward, and extremely easy to navigate. While connected in Single Player, you can compare your scores and race times to all Xbox Live players around the world. The relatively small selection of cars, in my opinion, makes it feasible to own all of the cars in the game rather easily which is good for the arcade racer in my opinion. Not to mention that they simply just skipped over most entry-level cars that you would normally start with in most simulators and basically start you at a reasonable mid-level where you climb quickly to fast, exotic cars 1/3 into the game. They even have different garages where you can collect the cars and even walk around and play classic arcade games while you're at it to increase your Gamerscore. It's an absolute shame that Microsoft Game Studios dropped these guys to replace it with Forza only. Forza is a racing simulator while this was something between Forza 1, Outrun 2, and Need For Speed Underground 2. There's nothing else quite like it and still isn't today. 12 years later and it still holds up pretty well. It's clear there was a lot of effort and enthusiasm put into this installment of the series, probably due to the launch of the Xbox 360 itself. If you're buying an Xbox 360 for the first time and have a penchant for racing games, start here. If you own an Xbox 360, enjoy racing games, and never managed to pick this up, at the price it goes for now, what are you waiting for! Go for it! | video-games_xbox |
Much quieter than original, and smaller. My Xbox Original finally got the three red rings of death. Could have fixed it myself for $20, but there were a lot of reasons to upgrade. My original didn't have HDMI and was LOUD. The Slim is MUCH quieter (when you turn it on cold you literally can't tell it's on), smaller, and has HDMI and built-in wireless. Awesome. Definitely recommend.
Question: My Slim though occasionally "clips" audio, as if it's lagging for a millisecond when doing things like backing out of a menu option, or even when powering it on and playing that start-up melody. My old one didn't do this. Does anyone else's?? Odd because I'm pretty sure the Slim also has a slightly more powerful chipset than the Original... Thought I'd mention it here as a question just in case it really is some weird issue with the Slim (software/firmware or not, it's still an issue), and others might like to know.
UPDATE 10/6/2011
1) Glossy finish looks nice out of the box, but agree with others, it's a dust magnet. Really wish it was matte and/or rougher, anything but glossy.
2) After much testing, audio static issue seems to be a decoding issue at my TV's end. It happens only through HDMI, with Dolby Digital 5.1 selected on the Xbox. I have an older 42" Samsung LCD and it seems it has issues keeping up with decoding the audio, so every few minutes or so, it will produce "static" on top of the normal audio. I'd think it should distort or skip rather than produce static, but I've narrowed it down pretty conclusively at this point. It's definitely between the Xbox and the TV, and only through HDMI, and other HDMI audio sources (laptop) do not have the same issue, and I'm assuming that's because they're not pushing DD 5.1 like the Xbox is. I suspect if the laptop was pushing DD 5.1 over HDMI, I'd end up with the same issue.
Bottom line is if you experience audio static/distortion/fuzz over HDMI and only over HDMI, it's probably not your Xbox. Probably a decoding issue for older hardware. | video-games_xbox |
The best and final music rhythm game. Yes, it's almost time for <a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/Rock-Band-3/dp/B003RS8HG6/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">Rock Band 3</a>, the game that will change music rhythm gaming forever, with Pro-Mode bridging the gap between plastic button-mashing and playing actual chords on a stringed electric guitar. That will surely prove the be all and end all of music games; the only one you'll ever need, which makes the others look archaic in comparison, especially considering you'll be able to export all the songs from the first two games over to it, and can still enjoy all the hundreds of downloadable songs you've amassed so far. But for now, Rock Band 2 is the crowning achievement of music gaming; the music is fantastic (just to listen to), very varied, doesn't feel dusty, and there's even a song like "Visions" by Abnormality in there (and "Hammer Smashed Face" by Cannibal Corpse (!!) as downloadable content) for all you extreme metalheads.
The only downside to Rock Band 2 is that the "realistic" aim comes with a price; conquering the game's Expert mode is a pipe dream for most of us; unless you've been naturally gifted or happen to live in a cellar with Rock Band 2 as your only way to engage the senses and maintain the presence of life for all eternity. With that being said, a "normal" player that keeps on playing and progressing can make it through about 70 or 80% of all songs on Expert without failing, but will have to step it down to Hard for those infernally absurd death metal songs and crazy solos. (It's also a shame that the Guitar Hero World Tour-guitar's slider pad doesn't work in the Rock Band-games, which might've actually helped one immensely with the harder songs).
Harmonix is a studio that's trying to make the experience more real and immersive; they listen to their fans (yes, they quite literally listen to your opinions and try taking them into account when making DLC or improving their games), and they've built up an enormous network of downloadable songs with HUGELY varied artists (that amazingly go seamlessly into the actual game progression itself) as well as the Rock Band Network; where fans and amateur bands themselves (with the right tools and conditions) can add and sell their own music to users of the game, making for a living market of possibilities, and something that goes far beyond just a "party game". Harmonix know what it's all about; giving anyone at all, no matter what age, gender or background, the feeling (and skill) of performing their favourite (rock) songs to a cheering audience. Without the pressure of sex or drugs, groupies, hangovers, expenses, fatigue, new albums, piracy or a bad night for the vocalist. You're the star, and with the right friends and songs, that's actually what it feels like. The only difference is you're playing along, not producing any actual music. But most of us are just fine riding on the coattails of true artists when it's this much fun. | video-games_xbox |
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