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OKAY GAMEPLAY WITH LARGE FLAWS IN MODES AND NO CUSTOMER SUPPORT. This is an okay game. After getting it, I immediately went to the Road to the World Cup (qualifying) mode. The first thing I noticed was that the gameplay was barely improved from the 2010 version (I had recently played it in anticipation for this one). Better, but not significantly. However, the graphics are noticeably better. In that moment, I would have given this 4 or 5 stars. Hours of gameplay later, I got to the final squad selector, where you choose your final squad. At this point I saved in case I want to play again later with a different squad. The first thing I noticed was that selector was ridiculously confusing, especially without a game manual. After 10 minutes of trying to figure it out, I finally was able to get a squad that I was okay with, although not necessarily happy with. So I advance to the final tournament. Now I have to set my lineup for the first match, but wait, where are the players I grudgingly accepted? Somehow, they got replaced by other completely random players. The starting 11 I had used through qualifying was there but my bench was different. Great! I've invested hours into qualifying and training to increase the form of players I planned on taking to the World Cup, many of whom I was unable to select in the final 23 selector. Now, all but 11 were gone. In the moment, I was mildly upset. Then I remembered I had saved before the selector. I'll just go back and fix it and maybe this time I can get my squad I wanted originally! Nope! 5 tries later and I'm still not able to pick the squad I truly want and I'm getting random players on the bench. At this point, I'm so disappointed that I decide to contact ea support to see if I'm missing anything. I go onto ea's website and sign in with my ea (origin) account. I fill out every form and go to submit my question and problem and I have to sign in again. However, after multiple attempts, I am unable to sign in. I opened a new tab and was able to sign in there. I can't contact customer support for this games critical problems. DO NOT BUY THIS GAME IF YOU ARE BIG INTO THE QUALIFYING MODE or want to choose a different squad than the true one. | video-games_xbox |
Buffy frustrates vampires and gamers. Licensed games are very rarely any good, especially those based off of TV shows. This leaves Buffy in a precarious situation. On one hand, fans of the show will be curious, but on the other hand non-fans will be suspicious of its quality. Regardless of whether you watch the show or not, however, you will find in Buffy the Vampire Slayer a quality game.
One problem licensed games come across are the graphics, however this game has some nice visuals. Despite minor framerate issues, the game looks good, with nice textures and character animation. There's nothing very unique here, but it is competent. The camera tends to spaz out in tight spaces, which can cause some troubles with fights. While the visuals aren't unique enough to make it stand out, the gameplay is.
The game's combat flows nicely from kick to kick to punch to kick and rarely gives you a problem. The combo system is surprisingly deep for a beat `em up, far superior to Spiderman (Xbox). You can throw a couple punches and hold the button for a slayer power roundhouse kick. Slayer powers are basically powerful attacks that send enemies spinning. To perform one you simply hold the attack button down. One problem is that the controls can get a bit touchy, causing you to use a slayer power when no enemy is around.
The game is a notch above mindless beat 'em up. The reason for this is that you can't kill the vampire enemies by beating them to death. To kill a vampire requires stabbing it through the heart, taking off its head, or throwing it in a vat of acid. The purpose of the vampire's health bar is to show how weak they are. Try to stab a vampire through the heart right away and it'll likely block the attack. Once you beat them up a little bit they're more vulnerable to death blows.
The game starts out challenging, making you beat up a vampire and then either throw it into a conveniently placed wooden spike or stabbing it with a handy dandy stake. This can prove challenging because vampires are good fighters themselves. A bit further in the game, though, the game's difficulty drops tremendously when you are forced to fight zombies. Part of the challenge to fighting vampires is delivering the death blow. With zombies, you just beat them to a pulp. However, the game's difficulty skyrockets once you reach the docks level. Frustratingly, the game expects you to fend off three very difficult vampires at a time. Two is a challenge, but doable, three is way too difficult. The high difficulty of this level alone, as well as some platforming parts at the end, brought this game's score down.
Everything but the balance in difficulty is done right: the cast of characters, the variety of weapons and enemies, the fighting, and the plot. The high difficulty in parts makes this tough to recommend to any but hardcore gamers. It's worth a rental at least, clocking in at under eight hours. Overall, Buffy is a rewarding, fun beat `em up with a high level of frustration. | video-games_xbox |
Fast,frenetic,acrobatic gunplay on steroids. ....can best describe Stranglehold. A third person shooter that looks and plays like a blockbuster asian themed action film. While the cutscenes at first are somewhat jaggy, they get better towards the 2nd 3rd levels. But really who cares about cutscenes, for me its about gameplay and Stranglehold is hitting the action dept. on all cylinders. Only tequila mode slows down the pace and you'll need to use it to stay alive. Luckily it automaticly refills so you'll be in constant use of it. The bullet trails are quite well done ,as you can dodge bullets (slow mo tequila time) in 'stand off' mode , its like wild west duel ONLY with 5-10 against you..simply awesome. And sniper tequila mode d-pad up aim fire and you follow the bullet like a bullet cam and wil get a unique cinematic kill or not if you missed ,which is unique every time, not the same cutscene over and over, Very cool. The graphics are quite nice and cinematicly done, not the best textures but still very very nicely drawn and detailed,lots of asian themed art, very visually stunning in some areas ,in short, a very pretty game. And you can destroy just about anything you shoot like stone carvings of chinese dragons 6+ feet high etc. Sometimes the action is so intense I have to take a break . While the constant shooting can get repetetive ..the tequila time and the acrobatic movement make up for the simple game mechanics, which is shoot everything and shoot it again. You'll slide across a counter while shooting,jump onto a push cart on your belly while shooting, hop up to a railing banister,slide down banister shooting, hop through a window shooting, kick over a table for cover while shooting,all in one continuous smooth motion. WOW simply stunning shooter gameplay. The controls are smooth and easy to master. The use of the LT is what causes you to do all those acrobatics..and tequila time (auto-enters) while aimimg at an enemy. Also you can manually turn it on with RB . Alternately in options menu you can turn off (auto-enter) tequila time while aiming at enemy, if you want complete manual control of tequila time. If your a fan of shooters ..or fan of Maxx Payne and Matrix games ... Stranglehold its simply awesome and much better IMO. Something to hold you over until HALO3 is out or if you need a change of pace from (equally awesome) Bioshock... Stranglehold's only (7) levels being the one negative thing, the levels are pretty big mostly linear , still Stranglehold is just so intense, what it lacks, it makes up for in fantastic shooter gameplay which it has in spades. Dont miss Stranglehold. | video-games_xbox |
I've solved 3 times now so I'll give my 2 cents. Nothing like this has come out since Oblivion though it is scifi. Instead of horses and swords there are galactic battle ships and lasers. It isn't as vast as Oblivion though because I was able to solve it in 15-20 hours. Like any RPG it took several hours before I got into it. I hated it at first (mainly due to technical problems) but it eventually grabbed me. I find this strange because I played Two Towers and I gave up on it because it had technical problems. I didn't on Mass Effect though because they made up for it in making the plot intriguing and using cool camera angles during cut-scenes. (in engine)
The bad- of the game is shooter. They took the game engine too far. During fights the screen jumps everywhere. It's like downloading the latest demo to a computer with a 5 year old graphics card. It really is that bad at some points. After playing COD4 that is blazing I didn't think I'd get over it. I got around some of this by turning off some effects in the options. I played it on Easy which is not like me but I refused to let technical problems affect my gaming experience. I was VERY close to taking this one back to the store but I'm glad I didn't.
Beyond that this game is really cool. The game engine took away from the FPS portion but really gave to the RPG side. The characters as where crisp and clear and as realistic as any that I've seen all the way down to the wrinkles. There were a lot of close-ups. The voice acting fit right into the character and it was flawless. If you played Assassins Creed you should have noticed how well the voice acting was done. This was only a couple weeks ago but I didn't think anyone could raise the bar in that aspect. I have to give it to Mass Effect because there are a ton of characters and literally hours and hours of dialog.
I created a character that looked just like me so it was a trip to watch myself in the role. It was an accident because I've never been able to make any character look like me but I swear this was a good match. They used some cool camera angles so it was like watching myself in a movie. The game is adult and I don't see much for kids. (for me this was good) The plot gets as complex as any Star Trek episode. In fact the main charaters movements are as cocky as old-school James Kirk. The big action scenes and music are in par with any Star Wars movie. Oh..it is so adult in fact there is a short love/nude scene. Yep..I'm sitting there watching my character make out with a blue alien chick. I HAD to do it though because there is an achievement for getting laid. How awesome is that? You can be a saint or a renegade and the dialog is different for each. Some of the things the main character did when you chose to be renegade surprised the hell out of me. I'd tell more but I don't want to give the game way. As you can figure out this game is all about choices and in fact that's what they advertise.
This is not a rental. It took me a full week of doing nothing but playing this game before I solved it to my satisfaction. For a guy who buys/rents games and takes them back I'm actually going to keep this one. There are other role types I'm actually interested in and I may check out down the road. But for now I'm locking it up because I haven't had any sleep in a week. Only a handful of games in the past few years has hooked me enough to make me loose sleep and this was one of them. I still hear the theme song in my head right now.
This year has been on of the best years in gaming that I remember. So many great achievements were made. Though Mass Affect is one of my favorite games to come out this year I don't think it deserves game of the year though. There really is no excuse for releasing a game that glitchy. It's really really really bad at a couple spots. They could have used a couple more months to work the bugs out. My guess is they had to meet the holiday deadline.
That being said and my disclaimer is "This game has no business being a shooter. The good in the game is the complex and intriguing plot, voice acting, photo realistic charaters, and unique imagery of designs of an entirely made up universe."...Go get the game! | video-games_xbox |
A Good Survival Horror Game. Silent Hill Homecoming is the 5th installment of the series on the Consoles. Known for it's scares, good stories, and overall creepiness; this one delivers. Fans of Silent Hill should pick this one up. The story is good, the acting is good, the combat system is VERY MUCH IMPROVED, the AI is good, and the puzzles support the story / atmosphere. The game has 5 different endings, depending on your actions.
Adam Shepherd has returned to his home in Shepherd's Glen from a military hospital after being wounded in combat. His brother and father are missing and his mother is catatonic. To make matters worse, the city is overrun with nightmarish creatures! As the story progresses, the town's past, Adam's past, and the horrors are explained. The story is also consistent with the past games and the movie. It's my second favorite Silent Hill story. (Silent Hill 2 was the best!)
Adam navigates through abandoned buildings and there are still plenty of doors to check. At times you must walk down a hallway with 10 doors, and maybe 2 of them actually open. Action gamers may get bored by this, Silent Hill fans expect it. It didn't bother me because I was always curious to see what was behind the doors... sometimes clues, weapons, ammo, health, and horrors. Once you try a door, it appears on your map as either functional or blocked. The levels are also straightforward, so it's pretty hard to get lost.
This is the best playing Silent Hill game so far!!! You can block or dodge enemy attacks and exploit their weaknesses. You can also dodge + counterattack for extra damage. The combat is fun, where the combat of Silent Hill in the past was just tedious.
The enemies in the game all have their own strengths and weaknesses. It takes a while to figure them out, but the loading screens give you hints on how to defeat them. It's actually fun to fight them.
The puzzles in the game are pretty simple and there are plenty of clues. They also tie into the story. In the past, some of the Silent Hill puzzles were completely random. For the most part, the puzzles in this game are good.
The only knock against the game may be the graphics. They look like a first generation 360 game. But, you're in the dark most of the time and the game still manages to be creepy.
The sound effects and music are some of the creepiest that you'll ever hear!
Overall, the game is about 10-12 hours long and there are 5 different endings, so there's some replay value.
If you're a fan of Silent Hill, you've gotta pick this one up (or at least rent it.) If you're a fan of survival horror games, check it out. You're in for a treat! | video-games_xbox |
The Prince Returns. The third installment since the rebirth of the classic series and presumably the final chapter in the "Sands of Time" saga, "The Two Thrones" takes the best elements of "The Sands of Time" (game one) and "Warrior Within" (its sequel) and caps the franchise with style, finesse, and gameplay as sharp as a scimitar blade.
You once again assume the mantle of the nameless Prince of Persia. Returning home to Babylon at long last to find it in ruins and its people at war with an army of sand monsters, the Prince also finds himself in the company of old friends... and old enemies. Cursed, he comes to find his body and soul split in two, and periodically his wicked self, known as the Dark Prince, rises forth to wreak havoc and take control of the Prince's body. The storyline is entertaining, its characters more developed than in most video games, and it strikes a nice balance between darkness and light-heartedness... something "Warrior Within" failed to achieve. In essence, it's what you would get if you took the tone and presentation of games one and two and rolled them together.
As mentioned before, the gameplay is not far from that either. While "The Sands of Time" set the tone with its acrobatic platforming, which remains pretty much in tact, "Warrior Within" took that game's weak combat mechanics and fleshed them out into something a little more interesting. Happily, both elements are retained and improved upon in this new installment. What's more, "Tenchu"-like stealth kills are now available. While they're far from perfectly executed (sometimes they seem unresponsive), they nonetheless offer a fresh twist and the opportunity to avoid hand-to-hand combat in many circumstances.
The Dark Prince is another significant addition. Regularly, throughout the course of the game, the Prince transforms into this alter-ego - a sand monster version of himself that is able to use a weapon called the Daggertail. This weapon functions much like the Belmont whip in a "Castelvania" game, allowing the Dark Prince to attack his enemies and also swing from poles and light fixtures to access new areas the Prince couldn't hope to reach. While stronger than the Prince in combat, unfortunately for the Dark Prince he must sustain himself with a constant supply of sand power or succumb to death when it's all been used up. That makes these portions of the game more intense, and, on rare occasions, a little more frustrating.
Also new to the series are the chariot trials, sequences during which the Prince must escape via horse-drawn wagons through hazardous environments at full speed ahead. While they provide a nice change of pace when they do actually occur, they are relatively few and the trial and error nature of them can lead to irritation.
There are only a few glaring flaws in "Thrones." The sound effects and ambient music retain their inconsistent, buggy feel. Too often the dialogue sputters and repeats like a broken record, and the music kind of fades in and departs with little rhyme or reason. As well, the graphics suffer from some pretty blatant clipping problems. The engine has aged pretty gracefully, but it has aged - at least the character designs and architecture go a long way keep you distracted from the occasional failings of the visuals.
"Prince of Persia: The Two Thrones" is, in many respects, a very similar game to the two that have come before it. Therefore it's not as novel as the first game to longtime followers, but it doesn't feel as long in the tooth as it might have at this stage thanks to the new gameplay additions and an entertaining continuation of the story. It's certainly a better game than "Warrior Within," more welcoming in almost every way. This series has a lot of life in it, and "The Two Thrones" is well worth your time and effort. | video-games_xbox |
Great new idea - Poor execution. Homefront was suppose to be the new story driven FPS, it was suppose to bring radical new ideas and game mechanics to multiplayer, it was suppose to be a breath of fresh air to the crowded FPS genre while offering something new besides CoD or Halo. Unfortunately it fell short...by a lot.
The one thing this game has going good for it is the great idea and story behind the single player campaign. Basically a new united Korea invades the U.S. in 2027. Similar to the movie Red Dawn (as it should be because both the story in the game and Red Dawn were written by John Milius), it tries to tug at your emotions and bring the unthinkable to life. The scenes and gameplay are intended to shock us and fill us with rage. For example in one mission we see the Koreans using a bucket loader to pile American bodies into an unmarked mass grave that was a former baseball field. However how the game brings us through this story, you just cant take any of it seriously.
The graphics for this game are a far cry from what they should be if they want to compete with CoD. They honestly look like they could be from the original Xbox days. With this in mind, it can be hard to actually see enemies throughout the game. Adding to that, the game doesn't have a very good feel in regards to movement. To explain this, imagine playing CoD or Halo with only the D-Pad. Aiming and looking around should feel smooth and fluid yet what we get is far from that. So with outdated graphics and movement we should have a wide array of weapons that feel and sound great. Again the game falls extremely short here. There are maybe a dozen weapons all together. They don't sound good, they don't have that feeling and weight that they should, and for our purposes they pretty much act the same. On the plus side the controller layout is the same as CoD which is great (if its not broken, don't fix it)
The single player campaign is pretty short. I finished it in 1 sitting around 4 hours. Probably one third of that is spent doing nothing in the game while story lines and told to us or having to follow other characters around which gets annoying after a while. It is very linear and holds your hand way too much. Some of the dialogue doesn't flow with the game and actually broke the immersion for me. On other parts it's just distasteful (After a Korean soldier is lit on fire your player says "Korean BBQ anybody?") Lines like that don't seem organic to the game and pulled away from my overall experience.
Now the main focus of the game is the multiplayer. My complaints about the single player transfer over to this part. Bad graphics, bad movement and aiming, and a broken leveling system.
The weapons are not balanced at all, pair that with the laggy server issues (which they are currently fixing) how can we enjoy the game? Something I've noticed is that if you are a lower level playing with higher levels you have no chance. Similar to 'Gun Game' in CoD, if you get a great head start you become over powered. Majority of the matches I have played had this issue. The game modes are pretty good, similar to Battlefield but the over experience was so horrible that I could only play for a week before I had my fill. It was too bad because I really enjoy large (up to 32 player) online strategy driven gameplay. Multiplayer is a hybrid blend of Battlefield Bad Company 2 and CoD.
PROS:
* New original story
* Fun multiplayer game modes
* A few good scripted sequences
* Good controller layout (same as CoD)
CONS:
* Outdated graphics and movement in game
* Short single player
* Broken game mechanics
* Unfair and unbalanced multiplayer
* Horrible dialogue lines
* Very linear gameplay
* Too few weapons that don't feel good
MY TAKE:
I just wish this game hit the mark. If the game was designed better with updated graphics it would be a dream to play. They have every element to make this game great, but the execution was horrible. I want to love this game but I just can't. I know I kept referencing Call of Duty, but Call of Duty does so much right that we might as well stick to it. Happy gaming. | video-games_xbox |
Single Player Mode Same, But Multiplayer Mose Makes Up For It. Single Player Mode
While I agree that the gameplay hasn't changed much, the ability to dual wield a weapon and plasmid has made single player mode a lot better than the first. Obviously if you still haven't beaten the first one, and you aren't intereted in multiplayer, save yourself $40 and buy the original.
Multi-player Mode
Like most people, I was a bit skeptical of this new addition. In this mode you play as one of 8-10 stock characters (depending on if you got the pre-order bonus at gamestop). There are also many different games to choose from: capture the little sister (capture the flag), Adam Harvest - team mode or free-for-all(hold the little sister for 3 minutes), Civil War (get 50 kills as a team), Last Man Standing (can't remember its actual name, but it is what it sounds like), and a few others. Your character doesn't mean much, it just changes your catch phrases (which do get a bit annoying after a few hours of gameplay).
Like the single player mode, there is a story behind these modes. Atlas and Ryan (from the first game) have provided you with the tools for "home protection." You must choose sides in the war that led to Bioshock 1.
The leveling up system keeps the game pretty even, at each new level you get new plasmids, weapons, or bonuses. So you always are getting something new to try out. You gain experience from kills, assists, time holding the little sister, Adam vials you pick up (randomly placed on the map), taking a picture of your enemies (also gives you an attack boost on them until they kill you), and everytime you hack a machine.
The gameplay itself is a lot of fun, because the levels are made the perfect size for the number of players. If you get into a battle it is a true war, because you are usually in a confined room. However,you can leave tight spaces in order to heal and grab EVE before getting back into the fray of things.
Weapons include: pistol, machine gun, bazooka, grenades, shotgun, and more as you level up. Plasmids include: Incinerate, Electric Shock, Aero Dash, Freeze, Gysers, and a few more that are new as well as some from the first game. Bonuses include: faster health regeneration, evade enemy turrets easily,use less EVE, take faster pictures.
Overall the single player is just an expansion of the first game, but the multi-player mode more than makes up for it. However, this is definitely one of those games that people will stop playing multiplayer once they get the achievements, so enjoy it now while everyone is online! | video-games_xbox |
Better Than They Say, But Only For Those Willing To Change. This game is better than everyone says. I read the reviews and I ended up originally buying NBA 2K instead. I was amazed by the graphics. There were several things I was tired of with 2K but I sucked it up to get the overall good experience.
I watched a gameplay video and it actually looked really good.
Then it hit me. This game only looks good when you actually know HOW TO PLAY.
In most reviews you see people getting blocked in the post, because the reviewers didn't even bother learning how to play in the post. They didn't even use the proper controls to back down. Once I learned the controls I started scoring half my points DOMINATING with Demarcus Cousins like in real life.
I was tired of NBA 2K being super fast. The game is WAY faster than real life. This game has a good game speed to me.
Everyone acted like the commentary was horrible, but so far I've enjoyed it. NBA 2K's commentary always repeated the same thing over and over to me. So while they filled all of the "gaps" they filled it with the same thing I heard last game. Hearing new commentators is very refreshing to me.
The flaws:
Yes, when the ball bounces off of the hoop it looks funny. Some passing animations are a little funny too. Some of these things look like they were fixed with Live's original update.
While some people claim the AI will stand there and not even shoot, I haven't seen that. Again, possibly that was without the update EA pushed out.
Also as you know, the graphics on this game are subpar. NBA 2K14 has MUCH better graphics overall. However, the graphics are not HALF AS BAD as they say. On my TV NBA Live looks very good. The player models may not look "next gen" but they are definitely an upgrade over the PS3 or the 360. The court looks great, and the net looks great.
But EA has promised to push BIG updates to improve graphics AND animations. Those are the games two major issues.
I think the game is playable now and very enjoyable. It will only improve with the updates.
So if you love NBA 2K and have no issues, I wouldn't recommend getting Live, you will probably be disapointed.
But if your like me, and you got tired of:
Not having control of your player (in 2K people spam the steal button, and you lose control of your player often)
Repetitive Commentary
And if you miss the "feel" of live from the old days. This is a good game to get.
It's still a little stiff and has work to do. But it will get there. I was confident enough to sell my NBA 2K game and buy Live.
In reality it may be a 4 star game, but these 1 star reviewers who just bash and go play 2K give awful reviews, they need to be balanced out. | video-games_xbox |
Not bad; but it's not good either. I recently purchased Ghost Recon Future soldier after holding off so long; and I have to say, I'm glad I didn't purchase this game full price.
Onto the review-
Graphics-
This may have been one of the worst parts about this game. While I can still play GRAW2 and still be impressed by the graphics, GRFS does not hold up much at all. The game has intense glare that hurts my eyes, some of the textures are muddy looking and the background details are mediocre at best. One thing I did like was how the in-game characters looked. I felt they were highly detailed and moved smoothly and throughout the course of the game, there are some moments in which the game does look good. (For example, the sandstorm level looked really good) The explosions are slightly dumbed down from the previous Ghost Recon titles; but they're not bad.
My main complaint would be the glare in some bright backgrounds such as the white sands in Nigeria which are so bright that I have to finely tune my TV's contrast as to not hurt my eyes. Also, there are certain quirks with the physics like killing an enemy and watching them float in mid air.
The good parts again would be the characters themselves and certain effects such as explosions, the water and the camo effect was alright. Nothing too special; but nothing really bad either. It looks about average to be honest.
Sound-
In comparison to the past GR titles, the sound in this really stinks. Some of the dialogue is really off. At times, I'd hear my team mate say "3 o' clock" only to turn that way or study the area and the enemy is in a different position altogether. The gun sound effects are just alright. But sound no different than the generic COD FX you'd hear quite often.
Gameplay-
This aspect was also quite different than what I was anticipating. While in the past GR games you'd rely on squad tactics and commands, this game ditches that in an effort to cater to the casual market, however, it replaces such with stealth gameplay that is flawed for the following reasons-
1. The game dictates how you use stealth at times. How in the world would a regular enemy soldier see me whilst using invisible camouflage? Invisible camouflage? Really? Ok.
2. Soldiers would find a dead body at times when they weren't even near them or they'd walk right past a dead body and say nothing.
3. Soldiers can't seem to see my team mates when they're walking in the open, but see me just fine if I do the same.
With that said, there are certain things I really like about this game that was introduced to the series and seems better than the previous games. For one, the introduction of hand to hand combat in the form of take-downs. I personally found that to be a cool addition rather than running out of ammo and being helpless. You can even stealth shoot an enemy which looks really cool. The control scheme is better in my opinion. The previous GRAW games had controller options that were all over the place while this one is simplified.
There are some moments within the campaign that were satisfying, rewarding you with a wow moment, but once the dust settles and the campaign ends, there's really not much of a reason to play.
The multiplayer isn't much better. To be honest, I played this more for single player being that I'm not a MP type gamer.
There is co-op and Guerilla Mode which I checked out a bit and found to be good additions. But to be honest, if you're looking for another GRAW experience, then don't get this game. However, if you're just looking for a TPS that's military themed then this is a decent effort. If you can find it for cheap then get it or get Spec ops- The Line which is largely superior to GRFS.
Not a bad effort by Ubisoft, but I'm waiting for the next Splinter Cell to get my taste of stealth action. | video-games_xbox |
A wonderful, immersive experience. I played Far Cry 2 years ago and loved every minute of it. Then my xbox bit the dust and I was never again able to enjoy such a wonderful game again. Enter: Far Cry 3.
Far Cry 3 is an open sandbox type game where you decide what you want to do (mostly) and when. Feel like zipping through all of the story missions and beating the game? Go for it! Want to take down the outputs with your knife? Your choice! Hunt animals with your a rocket launcher. No one will stop you.
Story: You are Jason Brody, a spoiled, rich brat with little prospect for making a worthy contribution to the world other than spending money. While on vacation with a group of his friends, he winds up abducted by Vaas and his boss Hoyt. They want ransom money for your release, but likely plan to kill you regardless. Sucks to be you, Jason!
Luckily, your older brother is a member of the armed forces He is fully capable of taking out the island thugs and freeing your friend. Unfortunately, he is killed during your escape, leaving you alone, unarmed, and without the skills necessary to survive and seek revenge.
You wake up after almost drowning to find yourself in the cabin of a very skilled warrior. After discovering your hatred for Vaas, he agrees to help you acquire the skills you require. The remainder of the game involves you improving your skills through missions, outposts takeovers, hunting, and collecting random items throughout the island.
I'll rate each aspect next:
Graphics- Amazing, 10/10.
Missions- 8/10
Knife fights- 6/10
Outposts (my favorite part)- 10/10
Hunting- 8/10
Crafting (wallets, medicine, weapon holders)- 5/10
There are so many aspects to this game, it is difficult to cover all of them in a review. So I'll describe a few of my favorites and parts that needed improvement.
Outpost takeovers- On average, 6 to 8 guards protecting a few structures. To make things more difficult, some of the outposts have alarms which when triggered alerts nearby reinforcements. Some of them have caged animals (bear, lion, komodo dragon), which can be released and help with your takeover. You can approach these any way you want. Sneak in and take them out one at a time. Snipe from afar. Run in the entrance with guns blazing. Your choice. Only downside was the explanation of the takeovers. The first one is incredibly simple. The game neglects to mention that there will be guys with full body armor, alarms, or other things you need to know about. I can remember sniping one of the full body armor guys with 3 or 4 headshots and wondering why he didn't go down. When I approached the camp, it was finally clear.
Hunting- one of the best and worst parts of this game. I didn't do the "Hunter's quest" missions, I don't have enough patience for it. For the most part, you can find animals rather easily. There are times when you need a specific animal, for a mission or crafting, and they will be extremely scarce. This can be very frustrating. The other aggravating thing that sometimes happens, a strong predator shows up while you are working on an output takeover. Nothing better than having to take out a bear/lion/cheetah in the midst of a 6 on 1 situation. Some times it can work in your favor. Other times, it can catch you completely by surprise and end your game.
Negatives:
Knife fights- I have no problem with button pressing mini type games. My issue involved the explanation surrounding these fight. With Vaas, you are stabbed in the heart (or gut) and somehow make a miraculous recovery and proceed to defeat him in a knife fight. What? How would you even have the strength. At first I thought it was an dream due to loss of blood. Imagine my surprise when I found out it actually happened somehow. No explanation is really given, just that you are a warrior. The final boss fight with Hoyt is the same way. You go from having your finger chopped off in a room full of soldiers to fighting Hoyt one on one with a knife. Huh? How do you keep ending up in these situations, Jason? Either he takes out everyone in the room except for his intended target, which really makes little sense, or something fishy is going on. The Farcry makers didn't really explain it.
Vaas' voice actor- Almost all of the voice acting is done really well. Vaas is the one who I had the most trouble with, mostly to start out. His accent might have been part of it, but a lot of the time it seems he was whispering. To give you an idea of my setup, I have my 360 installed to a surround sound speaker system. It is plenty loud. So when I cannot hear dialogue, especially earn on in the game when it is arguably more critical, there is a problem. Everything else came through loud and clear, it was limited to Vaas.
Glitches- With such a large games, there are bound to be a few bugs here and there. To give you an idea, I actually had the game totally freeze on me when entering Citra's cave just before the final scene. Talk about frustrating! There was less than 5 minutes less of the game, mostly movies, and it decided to freeze. Argh! It didn't happen too often, but it still happened.
Radio towers- Seemed like busy work to me. I enjoyed the weapon upgrades that came with them, but it seemed like a silly side quest. Somehow you see the territory better in the sky, yet it doesn't mean anything to actually walk through it. Sure it helps to have a higher perspective to see further distances and how reference points are linked, but you should also learn the area by being in the weeds, literally.
Crafting was another busy work experience. It did introduce and promote hunting, but seemed mostly unnecessary. Why can't I simply buy these upgrades at the stores? At least offer that as an option in case I can't find the required animal (or don't want to).
I enjoyed this game so much I can definitely see myself going back to play it again and enjoying almost every minute of it. I haven't decided if I will continue on to Farcry 4, but if it is anything like 3 then I should. | video-games_xbox |
Bioshock, but not Bioshock at the same time. A review from a REAL gamer and fan of the Bioshock series... ME!
I waited to finish the whole game on PC before writing a review as I am quite a fan of the first 2 Bioshock games. I played with a 360 Controller and it worked beautifully, so this review applies to the Xbox version as well. You will definately want to install this to the HDD if your Xbox 360 has the space as loading from disc can sometimes cause hangups on loading in the Xbox version.
I know that the rumor mills and PAID game reviews are saying this is the best game of all time and has achieved the mythical 10 out of 10 and that every gamer should own a copy... Well... I have to say that is just not true. The coveted 5 star, 10 points, or 100 point review scores are lying. A 100% score from a gamer is basically saying that a game with that coveted score is a GOD among all other games and that all other games should bow down before it and kiss its feet. Everyone should own a copy even if they only play flash games online. I do not feel that is the case here and is pretty much hype or just new players that have never played the first two Bioshock games.
Before people start exploding with anger as to why I only give it a "meh" 3 out of 5 and not 4 or higher is that, as a part of a SERIES of games, this one is a step BACKWARDS from the previous games. If this was its own game, in its own universe, and not connected any way to the original 2 Bioshock games; I would give it 4 out of 5.
I have to say this is a VERY SHORT GAME, they could have done so much more with this to get it up towards the amount of content that the first two games had, near 15 hours or more, but it looks like the Bioshock series has fallen to the DLC monster and time constraints that so many big game companies are forcing upon games now. I went all through the game and explored every little inch I could in the game, and it came out to under 9 hours of play time.
Since this game IS titled as part of a series/established universe, I will rate it as such and compare it to the previous games. I believe that ANY new game in an established series should ALWAYS try to out-do and improve upon the previous games.
Here we go:
First- Replay Value: The original Bioshock games were all about CHOICE and DIFFERENT paths and MULTIPLE ENDINGS to add what gamers like me call the holy grail of gaming known as "Replay Value" or "Replayability" and what companies call "Lots of people buying our games"... This is what makes a game worth buying over just renting, beating, and never playing again. Bioshock 1&2 had SUBSTANTIAL side quests that sometimes took an hour or more to complete, and were quite in-depth. There were many choices to be made that would change all manner of outcomes in the game and would give different endings. Bioshock Infinite seems to give you the ILLUSION of choice during the first 1/3rd of the game and then everything is set on rails from there. As for side quests, there really are none other than quickly exploring a side building with under 3 rooms in it and a few cypher loot hunts. You get the same ending in Bioshock Infinite no matter what you do in the game.
Second- Setting/Atmosphere: While the settings of the first two games are underwater and quite gloomy and atmospheric, even claustrophobic and frightening with sporradic placing of some enemies... Infinite is mostly in the open air and bright sun shine with open spaces, and what I call "Arenas" where you KNOW bad guys will be attacking you, so it has a completely different feel from the first two games, and just does not feel very... Bioshocky.
Third- The Weapons... In The first two games the weapons were very steam punk like, and you could see the upgrades you bought as they were added to the weapons. Such as spinning gears on the shotgun or the extended capacity add-on sticking out the side of the revolver. I loved the design of the weapons in the first 2 Bioshock games. In Bioshock Infinite you get rather plain weapons, some of them feel like copies of other weapons you already get in the game with maybe some red paint on them or such... They get no visible upgrades either. Instead, the upgrades are in name and text only with no change to the weapons visually.
Fourth- Ammo Types: There were DIFFERENT types of ammo in the first two Bioshock games: Armor Piercing, Exploding, Electric, and so on, with varying strategies to go along with nearly every enemy... Bioshock Infinite, none of that, just one type for each weapon and, to me, it felt like the basic enemies took a lot more hits to go down and ammo was much more scarce, especially near the end of the game. Pray and spray.
Fifth- Player Engagement: Bioshock 1&2 were very engaging all throughout the game, always making you wonder what might happen next or when some enemy may pop out at you since enemies were not constrained to just appearing in wide open spaces. There was quite a bit of backtracking and revisiting old areas with new things unlocked. Much fun could be had while playing the game in a darkened room. With Bioshock Infinite it felt so.... FPS Typical... Enemies drop out from the sky, shoot em', clear this area, move on, clear next area, move on, with very little backtracking or encouraged exploring or random encounters.
Sixth- Enemy AI/Character Design: This is where Bioshock Infinite FAILS MASSIVELY! In Bioshock 1&2 the enemies were downright scary in how creative they were, they would stalk you, or flank you to get you from behind, or would run away and hide at times, popping up in entirely different areas. They would look for you if you ran away or hid. Every fight was different. The enemies/splicers in the first two games all seemed to be different, unique, and quite memorable in their own ways. One thing Infinite gets right is the main story characters facial expressions, especially Elizabeth... If they had spent as much time working on the game as they did her expressions, this would have been a much better game. As for the AI in Bioshock Infinite the enemies just come at you in mindless waves as if this was a Serious Sam game, they don't hide, they don't stalk you or look for you... They all know where you are with their magic radar sense. So just lots of shooting at generic police, rebels, robots, and heavies that all stand out in the open waiting for your bullets and powers to splatter their faces. Or the opposite, friggin' stands right on top of you Zerg rush style. All while they shoot mindlessly at you or at the item you may be hiding behind while you are required to run around like a chicken with your head cut off. I really did not expect Bioshock Infinite to have AI that is this downright TERRIBLE after the amazing experience from the first two games.
Seventh- Powers and Abilities: Those that have played Bioshock 1&2 know the massive amount of plasmids and abilities you could get and upgrade, you could play the game how you wanted, even as a stealthy character with some of the upgrades. In Bioshock Infinite it has been broken down into weapon upgrades, and I believe only 8 vigor abilities, with 4 clothing power up options. Infinite just feels "Dumbed Down" and over simplified from the previous games with NO STEALTH/invisibility this time. It has had most of the strategy taken out and just turned into a "run and shoot".
Eighth- Graphics/immersion: The game is quite stunning graphically; in the first 1/3rd of the game it is engrossing and enjoyable... But... As the game moves on it feels like they were in a rush to reach the end so it is just not as immersive as the first two Bioshock games. The graphics from the first two Bioshock games were and are still amazing, especially when it comes to water effects. Infinite just did not feel "on par" with the previous games or even when comparing to some of the newer games out there. It does look good but not jaw dropping good. Though, in all honesty, I couldn't care less about graphics as some people are but it seems important to some.
Ninth- Controls: I played the game for a short bit with keyboard and mouse and the controls were decently simple, typical FPS. Same for using the controller which I played the rest of the game with... Obviously the game feels better with a controller than the keyboard and mouse, since it was made for a controller.
Tenth- The Writing/Story Telling: Bioshock 1&2 were absolute masterpieces in original Videogame writing and storytelling, fully fleshing out the world and characters and making it hard to guess what was coming next, while giving some rather hard choices at times that would change the game play and ending possibilities while in the end giving a good feeling of closure and satisfaction. Bioshock Infinite is more of a... Well... Without spoiling the story, as convoluted as it seems to become, look up the definition of "String theory" and the game may make more sense in the end. Otherwise the story of Bioshock Infinite may sail over the heads of certain gamers. Since there is only one ending for infinite, it just doesn't feel complete or like it would have made a difference any way you went.
THE BOTTOM LINE TL;DR: Short Game... NO REPLAY VALUE! Horrible AI. Fun, but not very Bioshock feeling compared to previous games... It IS a fun FPS game on its own, but just didn't feel like Bioshock. Biosomething but not Shock in any way.
RENT IT for a console system and play through it before you even THINK about buying it. | video-games_xbox |
Too Much Parental Tech Support Required....No Microsoft Support...Parents Be Ready to be Frustrated. Bought the Xbox for my kids at Christmas 2012. Although I don't personally play it much, I see the games are very cool and fun to play. However, I've grown to hate this game console to the point I will NEVER by another Xbox for my kids again. Here are my problems after a little over a year of having it in my house.
1.) Xbox Live Gold membership. Purchased a Gold Family membership so the whole family could play online. Halfway through the membership, Microsoft did away with that membership level and broke everyone up into individual accounts. Getting each and every member of my family set up on their new individual accounts was such a bug riddled royal pain, that I gave up having only successfully set up my oldest and my own account.
2.) Constantly changing security policies. Again, when policies change you are required to log on to your Microsoft Live account on your computer to accept the change. If you have a family, multiply that by number of kids you will have to do that for whenever this happens (frequently)
3.) You will frequently have to be tech support for younger kids on this machine. Be ready to research answers....most of my problems as listed above are related to Xbox Live Gold accounts. If you can't figure out the problem, be ready to scan FAQs and Microsoft website for hours. There is no free live customer support for Xbox, or Xbox Gold memberships. Good luck with this!
4.) Recently tried to re-calibrate the Kinect since my kids are getting bigger and the room has changed a bit. The calibration used to happen by following on-screen instructions and stepping into virtual "squares" as it scans you. Nowit has changed...the first calibration command is, "get out the calibration card that came with the game included with your Kinect." Uh...no...when we purchased this back in 2012, there was no calibration card included. So, I thought surely I can print one out at Microsoft's site. The FAQ for the calibration card says, if you don't have your calibration card, perhaps you can get one from a friend. Really? Obviously MSFT isn't my friend.
5.) XBox versions of Netflix and Amazon Movies are junk compared to Roku. If this was my only access to those media, I supposed I could get by, but it is VERY limited. Last time I tried, which was awhile ago because it was so lame, I wanted to rent an Amazon movie. I had to first rent the movie on my computer, then watch it on the Xbox. No thanks...I'll do it live on my Roku.
These are just a few of the frustrations I can think of for now. I'm sure there have been more over the months that I've forgotten to list. I wouldn't even give two whole stars....more like 1+ and that is strictly based on the coolness of the games. However, having to be technical support for this game is just not worth it. Hope my kids enjoy playing Halo now because the next console will not be an Xbox. | video-games_xbox |
Great racing game for racing fans and non-racing fans alike. I'm not the world's biggest racing game fan, but I've always had a soft spot for the Need for Speed Hot Pursuit / Most Wanted games. The cop vs. racer dynamic has always struck me as infinitely more compelling than "5 people driving to get to point A to see who gets there first." Need for Speed Rivals takes all that I've known and loved about past NFS cop / racer games and makes it that much better using the power of next-gen consoles.
First off, the graphics. The game is beautiful. Moisture on the cars after bad weather, explosive accidents, crazy lighting / reflections, insane particle effects, etc. You can go on and on about the graphics but it's no surprise how good they look since the game runs on DICE's Frostbite 3 engine. If you play Battlefield, you'll probably smile as you drive by trees or bust through a fence in NFS since the effects are more or less identical to crushing a fence in Battlefield. Frostbite 3 - feel free to power as many games of mine as you want because you're beautiful .
The game also has a ton to do when you're not just staring at it. I haven't quite wrapped my head around every feature yet, but I really like the open world dynamic and how you can choose to be a cop / racer and approach different lists and objectives as you see fit. Autolog is back (not sure if it's still called that anymore, might just be Speed Wall) that is constantly updating you with your top speeds and times and comparing it to your friends, which is great incentive to keep playing. I think your open world experience is supposed to be integrated with other humans (think GTA V online) but so far, I've been the only one in all my play sessions. Probably due to the fact that the X1 has only been out for 48 hours.
Overall, Need for Speed is a great racing game for racing fans and non-racing fans alike. There's a lot to see and do here whether you're really into cars or not, and I would recommend it to anyone looking to change up their first person shooter / sports menu with a high-speed, dynamic racing experience. | video-games_xbox |
Absolutely Beautiful. When I first saw this console I was a bit reluctant to make the purchase because it wasn't themed around the Master Chief.. I know that might sound silly to some but after watching many game trailers and the possible clash between the Master Chief and the new character Spartan Locke, I really didn't want a console based off Spartan Lock's armor colors. I also know this will sound a bit funny but to buy the console or the special edition controller kind of felt like I would be betraying our beloved Master Chief.. Yes, I know it's just a game and that feeling is entirely ridiculous, but I know for a fact I'm not even close to the only one out there with the exact same feelings. Now on to the console review..
After playing the game and seeing things were not quite as we were led to believe, I began to get a burning desire to have this console. This console is based off of the new Spartan colors, but not completely, there are touches of Blue Team ( Master Chief and his team ) on this console . The symbols placed here and there , Blue teams numbers like John 117 ( Master chief ) , dates that specifically refer back to events in the past Halo titles. It's little touches like this that make this console special , aside from the fact that the machine is utterly beautiful in this special design, also the special edition controller that comes with the system carries the mark of Spartan Locke but also just like the Console there are touches of Blue Team here and there as well.
The only thing that I really don't like about these new bundles is the fact that they come with a digital code for the game instead to the physical disk, I'm a collector and I have ALL the past Halo titles and all on disk so not having a physical copy kind of bothered me at first. Well after I thought about it I decided I would wait till Halo 5 has dropped way down in price and pick up the physical disk for my collection. I had the physical copy on midnight release but like I said earlier after playing the game I began to really desire this console Fortunately I spoke to the right person at my GameStop, ( I know this is unheard of ) and they said they would refund me the full price of the game if I wanted to buy the Halo console bundle. so that was all it took to push me over the edge to get the new console. So that day I went home bundled up my Day One edition console and traded it on this awesome looking new 1 TB Xbox.
Microsoft hit it out of the park with this console design and deserves nothing less than a solid
5 out of 5
GAME REVIEW
This game has proven to be a very controversial game, some love it, some hate it, some are middle road. I am on the LOVE it side of things, yes there are some unanswered questions in the game, yes there isn't the character development you might want, BUT if you play through the game slowly, listen to the squad banter while playing and pay attention to the cut scenes you will see the excellent story that 343 has crafted. You could blow through the game in quick order and at the end think, dang what happened and I was a little like that until I began playing the game on Legendary, playing very slowly ( because that's the only way to survive on Legendary difficulty ), and really started listening to what was being said by each squad member.
I know some people have no idea where the Master Chiefs team members ( Kelly , Linda & Frederick ) came from since you have always known the Master Chief as the lone hero. The game expects you to already know the background of these people and why they are important to the Chief also why they respect him so much to just follow him blindly into danger against orders. This is a fault in the game but not a big enough one for me to detract a star. Yes, I have read the books and know the back story on all the characters, and I was super excited to find out that these beloved members of Blue Team were going to be in the game, and I still am. For the typical person that has not read the books I urge you to either read the book ( The Fall of Reach ) or at least read a wiki about Blue Team and its members. This game is just a set up for more to come and no doubt deeper character development in future installments that we all know is coming.
Story : Like I said above, the game has a great story that you need to play through slowly, and pay attention to what is said by all characters, this series began with Halo 4 and is being called a saga this time, because they won't be stopping with a trilogy like Halo 1 - 3. The game does have a cliff hanger ending, like halo 2 left us hanging out there, but just like Halo 2 it is a set up for the next installment, and this only makes me want Halo 6 that much more.
Graphics : This is an absolutely beautiful game, there is no question of that. details galore all through out the campaign, it is an absolute visual feast to behold. Just like the previous games before it, the game is bursting with color and detail.
Sound : from the sound of auto rifles firing, explosion of plasma grenades detonating, ghosts zipping by or to the growl and screech of the scorpion tank as it moves around, everything sounds fantastic and gives you the feeling of just rightness, it gives you the sense that if the things in the game were real they would sound just like they do in the game. The sounds are just spot on.
Voice Acting : Absolutely wonderful, all voice acting in this game is worthy of a AAA movie. Some games focus more on gameplay and not so much on cut scenes and the voice overs for the characters in the game, but Halo 5 nails it with superb voice acting and gameplay. The one character that has been complained about the most though is Spartan Locke. I actually had no problems with him because you can tell they went for the go by the book, follow every rule. very professional type of soldier Locke is, so to me it fits his character . I do think we will see him loosen up and fall inline with the Chief as the series progresses, so " I think " we will see his character loosen up and loose the rigidness he has now.
Gameplay : You just couldn't have asked for better gameplay, it's locked at 60 frames per second and runs buttery smooth without texture pop in, hitching or lag. The game also has a progressive resolution system that scales down the resolution during high intensive sections in the game, this allows the game to keep a flawless frame rate, and to the eye you will never see the difference in resolution as the majority of the game will run at full 1080 p and only dip occasionally to approximately 900 p or better. The controls on the game pad have change a bit but they were to accommodate some of the new Spartan abilities that have been added to the game, and you will find yourself getting used to them fairly quickly. Halo still feels like Halo, make no mistake about that. Although movement is faster and new abilities have been added, it still retains the beloved Halo feel, I actually think the movement system in the newer games ( Reach, Halo 4 & 5 ) are a welcome addition and the biggest to me is the sprint ability, as much as I LOVE Halo 1 - 3 the only thing I MIGHT have changed about them is the ability to sprint.
Multiplayer : This multiplayer just might be the best in the series. Everything seems well balanced and just all together right. Everyone starts out evenly matched and no one ever seems indestructible, giving everyone a chance to get the kills or complete the objective set forth to help their team reach victory. This is one of the things that made Halo great, amazing campaign and outstanding award winning multiplayer, and I can confirm the multiplayer goodness is back with many different game types, some old and some new ( the classic type matches are still intact like Slayer, team Slayer, Swat etc etc etc ) . the game launched with 20 maps and we will be receiving 15 maps for FREE during the first year. They have added a type of micro transaction element to the game that lets you buy REQ packs that allow you to receive random weapons, equipment and skins during gameplay in the two Warzone modes. These micro transactions were put into place to help off set the cost of developing DLC for the game since they didn't charge a fee for all future content, which I give them a standing applause for that because I absolutely HATE buying map packs ( I'm looking at you Call of Duty with your 50 buck season pass ). Some have given this game one or two stars because of the micro transactions and I'm sorry but that is just the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard. The REQ packs don't do enough for the people that buy them to make any real difference and you can't use the packs till near the end of the game anyway, so the players that didn't buy them will have earned enough points to get them in game without ever spending a dime of their real money. The option is there for you to spend your hard earned cash if you want, or not, I won't because it's just not worth it to me when I can get it in game, BUT some people will and I say let them because all they are doing is supporting the game and future content. Besides that, like I said before I LOVE 343 for giving us all future map packs and expansions for free and not charging nearly the full price of the game for a season pass..
Conclusion : This is a GREAT game, it has the full package that includes Great gameplay, story and the award-winning multiplayer that we have come to love and expect in the Halo franchise. I would highly recommend this game to anyone, Halo fan or not, there is much love to be had with here..
Solid 5 out of 5 | video-games_xbox |
A great controller. So there are a lot of "should be more" reviews on here. This is not one of them. For a third party controller this is top notch.
The buttons are mechanical (a,b,x,y) are mechanical. So they have a click to them when pressed and are more responsive than the OEM controller. The triggers are sturdy and are snappy to the touch. They seem to have less of a dead zone before a trigger squeeze is registered. The analog sticks are smooth and are adjustable on the fly through the in-controller software. A nice upgrade from the Onza twist/manual adjusts. The 4 buttons on the bottom are nice and responsive as well.
There are 6 buttons total on the controller that can be mapped to any of the other stock buttons on the controller. So no, you can not program macros. So no one button drop shots or rapid fire. So with that said. They work as intended. I no longer have to take my thumbs from the analog sticks to hit reload or switch weapons, or my fingers from the triggers to hit a bumper. The two buttons that are located in between the bumper and trigger work the same. For me they are great because I only use my index fingers for trigger and bumper presses. So I can remap the extras buttons to act as the bumpers and have them in at the tip of my index fingers. No longer needing to move the index finger from the trigger up to the bumper. As for the D-pad, to me it is a dpad. I don't play fighting games so I can't really judge it on that level.
The cord is in a braided fabric casing. No tangles and less chance of being broken. It has the regular "safety detach" at the USB end and it is connected to the controler by a "screw on" type connection. Making it fit in the included carrying case wonderfully. The case is ok. Nothing super special there. It has memory foam in it to hold the controller and two pockets for the cord and small screw driver (used to remove the two rocker buttons on the bottom of the controler).
As for the general feel of the controller. It is sturdy and well built. Light and very comfortable. Long sessions with this controller are no problem at all.
So from what I can tell. All of those people out there spending $150+ on a scuf might need to check out the Sabertooth. Granted I have never used or even really looked into a scuf controller, but from what I can tell it is the same as this controller with a different layout on the bottom of the controller.
So if you are looking at getting a new controller for your 360, and don't mind it being corded then check out this controller. I don't think you will be disappointed. All in all this controller is solid, responsive, and looks great. The LED backlighting is nice eye-candy. | video-games_xbox |
Very disappointing, wait until it's about $10-20. I've played and have generally liked this series, but after playing it, I probably wouldn't pay more than $20 tops for it and maybe not even that. First off, it's ridiculously buggy. I made it about half way through the game 3x and it kept going back to the home screen. When I'd press continue mission or resume mission, it would take me back to about the 1/4 way point. I finally found a short term fix but searching youtube, but for this game being a couple years old already, this is insane. Not to mention, I had to turn my internet connection off because it kept trying to download a 3 gb update which wouldn't be that big of a deal in the states, but I'm deployed to Afghanistan and it's not doable, the internet is too slow.
****SPOILERS****
- The game play wasn't that bad, it was actually fun for the time it lasted, but it was very short. Once I figured out the save problem, I played it straight through on hard in about 4 hours without getting killed once.
- The story was horrible, really cheesy and very unrealistic. For one, regular grunt Marines aren't going to be doing CIA type three man missions in the middle of China. Second, the dialogue was like a bad soap opera. On the last mission, when they repelled up the Chinese aircraft carrier and were having a 2 minute argument over who should plant the C4. And sinking a carrier with C4? Come on.
- Maybe it's because I am a veteran, but the uniform details were ridiculous and really annoying. You'd think the creators would have input from ex military. Some dudes were wearing 4 American flag patches, one of the main characters had 2 stacked right on top of each other on his body armor. They had supposed SEALS in full battle rattle along with middle eastern kashmir scarfs guarding a hospital ward on a US aircraft carrier. And that's just a few, the inattention to detail was sad.
- The AI, including your teammates, was horrible. I walked right up to a couple of Russian troops from the front right in the middle of a firefight and slit their throats. Instead of flanking targets, your teammates follow you on your hip wherever you go.
- There's more, but one of the very most annoying parts of the game was not being able to skip through conversations, etc. Unlike Call of Duty, you have to sit there and listen to ever little dialogue between the other teammates, etc.
Overall, I'll give this 2 stars for the campaign game play(when you can actually play). I didn't play multi player yet, don't have fast enough internet. The quality of COD Advanced Warfare to this is night and day. I've purchased 9 games for my XBOX One and this is probably the only one I won't replay, at least the campaign mode. If you can score this for $10-20, go for it, but I wouldn't pay more than that. | video-games_xbox |
Good Sound with substantial design flaws. Good Sound with substantial design flaws about sums it up. These are probably the best sounding gaming headphones on the market. They command a premium price - but it's undeserved. While they sound good, they have a lot of room to improve. I'm worried that these things will be broken in no time.
Concerns / Design flaws:
1. My primary concern is the USB connector to the headset used for charging. They SKIMPED. Rather than using a contact charger on the stand (which is nothing more than a cheap piece of plastic) they force you to cram a micro usb into the headphone body to charge. The hole is recessed - so you can't see the pin alignment - they could have at least indicated on the headphone. This is going to cause massive returns. We're gamers. We don't play under giant lights. In a dimly lit room, I've found myself frustrated at 10+ attempts to plug in the charger. In a lit room, it's not much better. I can already tell that the connector is collapsing - on a pair of $300 headphones. THIS IS UNACCEPTABLE. Why is it so difficult to imagine including a small picture above the connector for appropriate alignment??? Yes Astro, YOU will be repairing my A50's.
2. Power button difficult to reach. Placement isn't horrible. But the button is difficult to press, even when you remove the headphones and look at it. It's sort of recessed with the earcup on one side and plastic on the other. Sometimes you want to reach back and turn them off and pull them down over your neck when you're not playing.... good luck with that.
3. Mode switch nearly impossible to locate while playing. You'll want to change modes in various games, or experiment with the sounds. The switch itself is notched so it SHOULD be easy to recognize with your finger. Unfortunately, it has the same 'recessed' problem as the power button, making it a 50/50 at best. It also makes it easy to accidentally turn off the power.
4. Not a design flaw per se, but there's no documentation on the mode selector in the box, or on their website. What exactly are these three modes?
5. The chat / game sound selector is GIANT. As others have pointed out, if you lean your head on something, the switch will likely be hit. I haven't had this problem myself because I sit straight up - but clearly it's going to be a problem for many.
These are significant issues in a headset at this price point. They simply can't figure out a design that's fitting of the job.. controls are too big, or too small. The only thing they really did right in terms of the controls is the very nice volume wheel. It's easy to reach, responsive, and works like a champ. | video-games_xbox |
I love T&A - I mean C&C 3. This review will almost completely ignores the limited installations BS. Suffice to say, EA is quickly eroding their customer base. On one hand, they complain about piracy, then wonder why they have more piracy when they impose draconian steps to curtail it.
Red Alert 3 replays the original Red Alert storyline. In place of Einstein, to have the Russian Commandant, played by Tim Curry, who has been involved in more games than Gary Gygax. Using a Russian time machine, they kill Albert Einstein, presumably after he kills Adolf Hitler, setting the stage for a three way war between the Allies, the Soviets, and the Japanese, represented by the Empire of the Rising Sun.
Following the mantra of the previous C&C games, you run through a progressively harder series of missions, sometimes with a combat squad, but often with the familiar base system we all know and love. The storylines are entertaining, though as the title implies, the uniforms have shrunk by five or six sizes. This is strange and disturbing for two reasons. You're so busy staring at breasts that're barely contained by jet black latex suits that you miss your entire briefing, and when you replay the briefing with a strategically placed piece of duct tape, the briefings are really pretty good. Emotions and accents are a tad over the top, but the production values and immersion levels of the Command and Conquer series has steadily improved. Why they felt the need to try and improve sales by making the cutscenes strike of soft-core porn is beyond me.
They've also introduced the deputy commander, a second officer played by either a friend or the computer that maintains its own base and forces. While you can't control the other forces directly, you can give strategic orders to the other commander. This is a great improvement, as you can defend and send them on attack, though more likely vice versa, ensuring there is always a defense force without having to split your focus.
Aside from the neat co-op option that I just mentioned, theres nothing here that hasn't been seen before, but if you're a fan of the series, you definitely won't feel let down. The difficulty curve is a little step later in the game, but not so difficult to make you give up. Cutscenes continue to improve, and in-game mini briefs a more frequent, and make it feel more like a progressing battle than an attrition slugfest. Personally, I'm going to wait for the battle chest with the expansions that's a few months away, but I'm trying to think of my wallet as much as possible. And by that point, hopefully EA will get the sand out of its ears and be able to hear their falling market share, and realize they need a better solution than securom. | video-games_xbox |
The graphics were way better than I thought they would be. I want to start off by saying that I have been playing Gears for about ten years now and was holding Gears of War 4 to very HIGH standards. I was mainly looking for upgrades in graphics, gameplay mobility and most of all a well told story. They met my criteria in all three aspects. The graphics were way better than I thought they would be. The gameplay mobility makes multiplayer more enjoyable. And the story is a great new beginning without blemishing or tarnishing the past Gears games.
For the game itself..
1. The campaign really lives up to the Gears series with its action packed story and its new cut scene designs. I found my self eager to finish missions to watch the amazing looking cut scenes, it was like watching a mini series on HBO, the graphics really blew me away. Gears 1-3 never had amazing cut scene graphics compared to the gameplay itself so it was a nice surprise to see.
2. Horde 3.0 is another upgrade to the series. They really hit it out of the ballpark. For those who have played horde in the past know it can be a lot of fun but eventually 3 hours in you might get tired and sometimes even bored. Horde 3.0 is not like that. The new implemented classes gives it a whole new experience. When I finished the first 50 waves with my friends (which was not easy at all) I knew they really had stumbled upon greatness because I saw myself playing a lot more Horde in the future.
One of the small things that they changed that really improved the horde experience was the ammo that you get. In the previous Gears it was hard to come by ammo for your guns. Now there is always free ammo boxes around all corners of the map. So you get to worry about fighting the enemy rather than trying to find an enemy that dropped some Lancer ammo.
3. Multiplayer is fun not just because the graphics and gameplay got a big upgrade but the new features will keep you wanting to play more. The 60fps on dedicated servers makes it run very smoothly and the endless amount of unlockable character customizations mixed with fun gun camo and active bounty's is a fun incentive that makes you want to keep playing all day. | video-games_xbox |
Doesnt meet expectations. I might take mine back to the store since for me it doesnt live up to the hype.
I had several expectations for this system that lead me to buy it, $500 is a lot of money so I only bought it because I thought it would "tick all the boxes". it is hyped as the "do everything" system, with some websites telling you the kinect will become your new universal remote.
So let me break it down
1) I wanted an enhanced Netflix and Skype experience. I have mobile apps for these things and of course I can use my computer to do it. I was hoping that the Netflix app would be an improvement over the one in my smart blue ray player which often freezes. Other devices (phones and computer) do not freeze and my data connection is great, so I blame the crappy blue ray player and hoped that the Xbone would deliver superior results. Skype on the Xbone is supposed to be awesome too - and it would be in my living room as a bonus.
How they failed.
You need to pay for Xbox Live gold membership to use the apps. WTF! Im already paying for Netflix. No-one else charges an "Access" fee to use Netflix. This is maddening and not mentioned before you have it at home and go to launch the Netflix app. Skype - same deal! The beauty of skype is that its FREE! Stop forcing me to buy your stupid gold membership I don't care about online gaming
2) Universal voice activated remote.
This works - to a point. If all you want to do is turn on the TV, turn the volume up or down a bit, or turn it off. You could summon a TV guide - but again that requires Live membership. But the kinect voice commands are limited and for some reason MSFT didn't give the system the ability to learn new commands. Id like to tell it to go to my DVR/cablebox menu and select some shows I recorded - since that's how I watch TV, and how most people watch TV these days. But no - they gave kinect this amazing IR blaster hardware - and voice recognition Software - then limited it to a few simple commands - not enough to be able to put away your other remotes. The key feature of a universal remote is to learn any command you want. A Huge disappointment.
3) Pass through HDMI.
Again it only partly works. I no longer need to switch sources. BUT my TV signal gets downsized to less than 720p for no good reason. I can stretch or scale it to fit but then its scaled and looks awful. My cable box menu passes through just right but for some reason the Xbox shrinks the HD channels into a smaller box and loses some resolution. There isn't any further options to configure this, and it ruins your HD TV watching experience. This is a HUGE deal breaker because it forces you to avoid the pass through system, and this wrecks the integrated approach they were shooting for in the 1st place. Now you can't just pull up the TV in the X box environment but instead you have to switch sources on the TV and have 2 HDMI cables to the TV. Maybe its my stupid comcast/motorola box that is shrinking the signal but either way its not fully compatible and ruins the experience.
4) Kinect games. I was hoping for a slew of affordable kinect based games to play for all the family to enjoy. Theres really only one proper kinect game available - only its not really available. Here were are in March 2014 and all we have is a free demo of Kinect Sports rivals with only the jet ski racing to play. Thats it. Thats all there is outside of some kind of zoo game. I was hoping to scan myself into the computer and go do all kinds of cool sports games. But months after launch a key draw to the kinect is still not available to use.
Other games - like Forza5 don't really make use of the kinect funtionality. Why not let me steer with my hands on the controller? Forzas graphics are awesome, the sun in your face makes you want to reach up and pull down a sun shade, another kinect opportunity missed! We are all forced to buy the kinect box so at least integrate it into the games for a more immerseive experience.
feel free to set me straight | video-games_xbox |
If it ain't broke, don't fix it. As I said in the title, this game tried to improve on the original, but fell flat on its face. The original had its share of annoying quirks, but ultimately, it was an awesome action-packed ass-kicking thrill-ride. The story itself, cheesy as parts were ("Hey, these blueprints will come in handy. I wonder what they're doing just sitting here."), wasn't half bad either. Jack's narrative was well scripted and well read. The game was like a GOOD B movie. Lots of action, and a story to go along that didn't make you want to throw up. Like Lethal Weapon, for instance.
The sequel (or I guess prequel) was like a CRAPY B movie.
I was severely disappointed based my expectations from the last game. And as I said, there were too many changes, and not good ones either. The only notable changes that I liked were the ability to use Shadow more, and the ability to keep explosive cannisters in your inventory. And the graphics were improved. There may be more, but I can't remember them right now. But the weapons system was a lot worse in this one. It takes 16 shots from a .45 to bring down an unarmored baddie from something like 10 feet away. I'm no kung-fu killing machine myself, but it wouldn't take me half of a gun store to bring down one guy who's standing out in the open in spitting range.
Your adrenaline runs out too fast. In this version, you can only disarm once per group of bad guys, and holding a human shield constantly uses your adrenaline, after which Jack lets the hostage go (and he doesn't even shoot them!), although the human shields seem to be invincible, and he does say some funny things when he releases them, like "not on the first date!", "oops!", or "thanks for your help." Another thing that pissed me off was that the bosses can only be injured a certain amount before they become invincible and you have to wait while they and their infinite-spawning henchmen take potshots at you until you can fight him again. What's up with that? But the thing that pissed me off the most was that whenever you get a weapon, Jack auto-switches to it. I looked hard for a way to disable this, but I couldn't find it. Small thing, right? Well, the way it works out is that you end up wasting valuable ammo in a good gun that you need to use for long range, because you auto switch to it while you're in the middle of blasting an evil-doer from close range with a crappy short-range gun. Veeeeeerrrryyy annoying. Almost as annoying as using 14 letters to spell "very".
And finally, the worst part. The story was a huge reason why I got this game in the first place, but it's worthless. The story develops poorly and there aren't really segments of it like in the first. The result is that you don't really keep pace well. Basically, it feels like he's on one single rampage that lasts for 2 days or something like that. I had trouble telling what was exactly the climax and the end. In the first one, the story and the action were harmonized and you could tell where you were going and what was happening. Not so much here. Jack's comments aren't as witty and sharp. There's a lot of laughable pointless swearing too.
In all, they messed up the way the game plays, and they added an atrocious story to it. Although it makes better sense in the end, that closure is by no means worth it. It feels like they had half the budget to work with in making this.
I don't begrudge the money I spent on this game, especially at amazon prices, but only I got it because of the first one. If you have to choose PLEASE get the first one, and don't let this one ruin your opinion of the series. If you're a die hard fan like me, then by all means, get this one. You may like it even if you aren't a fan, because of the action. So consider yourself warned: don't expect something anywhere near as good as the original. | video-games_xbox |
Didn't enjoy the game at all. Witcher 2 looks awesome and feels awesome. It's an epic adventure that spans a very detailed world. Little things in the game really put me off from enjoying it that much. I'll explain some things that I liked and what I didn't like:
Liked:
1) Characters. Some of the characters in the game are simply awesome. I can't really explain in detail of all the characters, but what I can say is that each character has a really good back story to them.
2) Locations. You get some really awesome locations in this game. A very detailed world that is similar to what maybe Medieval times in history. Some of the details in the forest areas are really spectacular.
3) Crafting. Crafting is awesome. You can collect ingredients and make some very powerful potions that can aid you in battle. I find it fun to collect things and try to make the best potion or weapon. It's easy to read and understanding.
4) Uncut Extended edition. The version of this game is what's called the extended edition of the game. PC Gamers get the upgrade for free. Xbox gamers get a very well packed item. You get a guide, and you get all sorts of bonuses and contents that the PC game got. So you lose nothing and gain some things.
Of course this is where my likes ended. Of the things above, you'll notice some keys things like combat and story are missing. They're part of my cons and I'll explain them below:
1) Combat. Combat has many little things that I dislike which makes it troublesome for me to enjoy the game freely. I believe a game should "flow" from one event to another and combat should be something you do while you transition from one event to another. This game takes a different way in battling. For starters, you don't get healing items, which is fine for me because you get some really powerful potions that you can take. Trouble is you have to figure out when you're about to fight and then take on the potion prior to battle (you can't take it during battle). You will buff and in some cases have drastic difference in winning or losing. This cases a lot of "trial and error" in that if you get into a battle, you're just going to have to reload and then take potions if you lose. I feel this throws it off as many times I get into a long dialog, get into a fight, then die only having to reload and take potions and redo the entire dialog, then win the fight. It's rather troubling to me to have to skip all that dialog just to get into a fight.
Of course, that doesn't mean there aren't epic fights. By the end of the first chapter, I got into one giant epic fight and it was fun if you know how to use signs which bring me to my other problem with the game. The usage of "signs" which is in short the ability to use magical properties like stunning, or laying down a trap. This sounds fun but the game relies on it heavily from time to time exploiting a single sign. For example, in the first big boss fight, you can use a sign that stuns or pushes back your enemy which you have to exploit to win the fight. I feel signs are a major distraction towards the game especially if you have to use it to win.
Last issue I have with combat is with combat itself. You have no way to heal which is fine if you use potions because it may heal you or buff you enough to where health doesn't matter. The combat itself is rather clunky and unresponsive for me. The game has it where you have two swords type: a silver and a steel sword. Each sword works for a certain type of enemy like silver is for beasts while steel is for human targets. Use the wrong one and you'll find severe penalties. The combat itself is rather clunky for me. You just either get the upper hand by sitting there block then when they attack, just keep pressing the A or X button to do some fast chopping then dodge out. Overall it feels burdensome and on top of that if you buffed yourself before the fight, you don't really have to do much expect run up and chop them silly.
2) Dialog. I have never seen a more annoying dialog system than this game. When you enter a room to talk to someone, for no reason the game centers you and the person into the middle of the room. So suppose you talk to someone in a bar, suddenly you're both standing in the middle of the room talking. That is fine but the troubling part is as you craft or purchase items. Let's say you craft an item, and find you need X. So you have to quit the entire dialog, you're in the middle of the room, said person starting to walk back to his previous position, you engage dialog again, buy item, quit, back at center of room, then you have to talk again to select the craft dialog. Very annoying and many times I just quit in frustration of having to talk over and over and having them stand in the middle of the room.
Conversations are also rather annoying as anything. Talking with the locals make you wish you can just go on a rampage in the village and save them from their own stupidity. The conversations with women are the worse while conversations with males are even more annoying. It feels like people "suddenly" do things in a conversation. It also feels like the same volume of voice is there. In the beginning of the game, you are in front of some people who are about to be executed. What happens is people are yelling but their yelling voice is at the same volume level as their talking voice and it's very slow and spaced out. It sounds as if the voice actors just read a piece of paper but they're not very excited about their job.
3) No partners! You get a crew but they do nothing and they randomly appear to come along with you and rarely fight! You are a lone wolf who has to fight an entire army and MAYBE, randomly get help from your friends. Doesn't feel like a grand adventure when it appears you just randomly dialog with your friends, and then randomly get them as partners.
Also many times key choices are given in the game but you don't really know who to choose because you rarely had a chance to speak with the person.
Overall the combat and dialog really put me off with this game. It feels like an epic adventure that you're not really a part of. The combat and dialog system really turns me off in this game. The infrequent and seemingly random involvement of your friends really put me off because it feels like they're on a grand adventure but you're not part of it or rather they randomly want to be a part of it.
Just something about this game. I really want to enjoy it but just can't. | video-games_xbox |
Maybe this has gone on a little too long now. Not the game itself, but EA's disregard for those who buy it year after year. Look, I love the franchise. I've picked it up like a loyal lad every single year it's been available. Like so many others, every year I have some small amount of misguided faith that perhaps the serious issues that have plagued the title in the past have been addressed. Like so many others, every year I find myself disappointed once I realize that behind some fluff, the same limitations, bugs and flaws are still present.
I suppose that's not entirely fair. Things do get fixed, but for every step in the right direction, new problems (problems that should NEVER get past a reasonable amount of testing and QA) present themselves. So sure, defenders take better angles this year, and now HB screens are only crazily effective rather than unstoppable. Sure, QB sneaks now see the signal callers just sort of slumping forwards like they're having a cardiac event, which has "fixed" rampant abuse of the same in years past. Sure, they don't call the same plays over and over and over again (like a bomb out of shotgun on 4th and short) in modes like Road to Glory anymore. I appreciate all of this work.
What I don't appreciate is that every single time the AI completes a long play and then hurries to snap the ball, I'm called for offsides because my slow plodding DLmen haven't made it across the line of scrimmage yet (in the real world, they can't snap the ball until it's been set by the officials). I don't appreciate that the rosters aren't just hosed, but they're comically hosed, like someone somewhere just assumed that casuals wouldn't care, and the nutty hard-core types would just be tweaking them anyway. I don't appreciate canned animations being stacked on top of canned animations, rather than having real physics introduced.
Another year, and more fluff. Now Erin Andrews follows your career in Road to Glory. Now the Ohio State marching band will run Script Ohio in the Shoe before games. Now you can spend points in dynasty mode to negatively recruit against other schools. Now you can spend real world money on cheats (Want to always be a 5-star recruit? Want to know which recruits will sign with you? Want an extra pipeline state?). Now you can make your own schools/teams (funny, I thought that was a "new" feature like 5-7 years ago). You can find lists all over the place of the changes, my point is not that they don't update the game, it's that most people who play it would really prefer that the core game, the basic play and functionality of the game, be addressed before we load up with sugary video clips of Erin Andrews and various band formations.
I feel a little disingenuous giving the title 2 stars, because I'll play it, and I'll play it often. As a college football fan, I'll get to 'see' teams play that won't in real life, I'll get to right wrongs that happen during the season (at least in my own silly brain), and I'll get to take in some of that camaraderie that comes with immersing in college football with other passionate fans. And, like a good little addict, I'll be sure to line up again next year to secure my copy of NCAA 11 -- which won't have many of the fixes and changes fans have been clamoring for all along, but will introduce new fluff, new bells and whistles, but a whole new chorus of bugs and flaws to go along with them.
To be fair, some of the brand new issues (this year) that have most outraged fans since the games release on July 14th have been addressed with a quick patch. Online league commissioners may now prevent the use of purchased upgrades that would otherwise afford one player an unfair advantage. The rosters have been at least partially adusted. The sliders are fixed (funny how that's been a recurring issue). That's not really the point though. For what little they did from last year to this year, it simply shouldn't have gone to market with the flaws that it did. EA knows they have a captive and passionate customer base, they know people like me are going to plunk down the cash for the title year after year, perhaps there's just no incentive to really break new ground and advance the franchise when you hold a monopoly on it.
It's a great game (and that's not a contradiction of anything else I've said, believe it or not), but every year we pay the same price for it that we would a standalone title developed from the ground up. Are you seeing updates, improvements, and new features worthy of full-game cost? After so many years in development, after the "next-gen" consoles have been out in the market so long, shouldn't there have been a more meaningful and apparent evolution of the game? Season Showdown is a wonderful new feature, so it's not like I don't appreciate some of the aforementioned fluff. It's just not worth that full game price every single year, year after year, which is why I find myself writing this review, and lamenting the fact that I remain addicted, while EA continues to seemingly do the absolute minimum, and with no attention to detail, every single year.
I'll close the way I opened, because I know daring to knock the game and EA isn't going to sit well with some -- I love the franchise, I play the game religiously, and that's not going to change this year. I just wish I felt a little less like a chump with every new annual release. | video-games_xbox |
Great for PC. First off, I want to mention that I've been using this as a PC controller. It's been a few months now, and I wanted to share my impressions for anyone else who might be considering this as an option. Prior to this I was using a Gamestop branded 360 controller, although I'm also familiar with the official 360 controller and I've handled the Xbox One controller before.
Short story is, this controller is great for PC. The cable seems quite durable and has plenty of length, and overall build quality is very high (which is usually a given with Hori). The analog sticks work great with no drifting, and the d-pad is one of the best I've used in a very long time. Button presses are solid with good feedback. I really can't stress enough how happy I am with build quality and durability. It just feels solid.
As others have stated, the triggers are digital and not analog, so instead of a gradual squish you get more of a "button" feel. If you play a lot of realism-based racing games, this might be a deal breaker for you, although I haven't run across any issues in other genres. However, it seems like Hori tried to compromise on the trigger feel, and the throw is fairly long for a simple button. This can feel awkward at times, and if reviews allowed for half stars, I would take one off for this. However, I will say it hasn't been a major issue, just kind of "weird." I'm sure it's awesome for fighting games.
The design is somewhat of a departure from the official 360 and One controllers. The first thing you will notice when you open the box is that the Horipad is definitely smaller. I have above average size hands, and when I received this in the mail, I had instant regrets. HOWEVER; When you actually use this controller, this quickly becomes a non-issue. After long sessions of Rogue Legacy on my last controller, I would get hand cramps. I haven't had a single cramping issue with this new controller, even though it seemed less comfortable when I first got it. Perhaps Hori being a Japanese company skewed their controller size to a smaller-handed demographic, but honestly, they must have done something right with the ergonomics because I have no complaints here.
Your best options other than this are really the official Microsoft controllers. However, the 360 controller has a poor d-pad, and for the time being if you use the One controller, you're depending on a flimsy micro USB connection. Unless you're a racing fan, I think it's fair to say that this is currently the best PC gamepad that's readily available. | video-games_xbox |
METAL ARMS hits all the right switches. METAL ARMS: Glitch in the system is a 3rd person shooter that plays like a 1st person. In other words, it controls like any first person game, but you can see your character on the screen. It actually works surpisingly well, because you can see on both sides of your character and it adds a lot of depth to the on screen playing field.
GLITCH is a robot who is found and unburied to help his fellow robots defeat the evil GENERAL CORROSIVE and his army from taking over the place.
The games story is very well structured. Like HALF-LIFE, you are thrown into the action and the story takes place as you play.
I found the game controls to be one of the best I have ever played. It was so comfortable and natural. The control scheme was like that of HALO. The only downside is that you cannot adjust the controls. You get the one setting and thats it. But, they have adjusted it to perfection. Remember playing HALO and driving those tanks were kind of difficult. I spent more time backing up from walls I hit than driving that thing. In METAL ARMS its perfect. Every vehicle drives and responds differently, but they all control so well.
The graphics are wonderful. It rivals the best of the X-BOX. They spent a lot of time on the little details and it shows. Since your robot is seen on the screen, you see his every bolt and wire. When he gets shot enough, he may lose a limb or it may dangle by a few wires behind him.
I was playing multi player with my wife (who also plays video games like theres no tommorrow) when she blew by right arm off. It dangled to the side barely attached. The great part was I could still fire it, but couldn't move it to aim. It was hilariuos. I ran for my life !!
I have played story mode through about half of the game. I don't want to give anything away, but the story rivals HALO's. Its great and the cut scenes are entertaining and most importantly FUN TO WATCH !! Unlike a METAL GEAR SOLID, I did not want to miss these cut scenes.
The Music and sound are top notch too. The music builds up and slows with the action on screen. When you blast the bots they whine and scream as if their actually in pain !! They taunt you from afar and some bots even swore at me !
The reason I usually buy any game is so I can play multi player battles. For me, that is most important.
So, I started up a multi player battle and ended up playing for hours. The multi player boards are smart and big enough to keep things interesting. The variety of weapons and vehicles are amazing.
I did not even mention the greatest part yet. You have this tool that shoots a wire into enemy bots. When you "Link" up to them you control them. Then you become that bot and you can do whatever you want with him. Have him shoot all the other bad bots or just run him into the lava pit below. You can also "link" up to bots in multi player mode, which adds tons of replayability.
The downsides are that you cannot add bots to the multi player battles. Also, the difficulty level for the actual one player story mode is quite steep. But, thats a good thing, because when you beat a level you feel you have actually accomplished something.
I am having a riot with this game and recommend it to everyone. It was suprising to me that it was this good. I took a chance on this game and it paid off. | video-games_xbox |
WHOA! THIS GAME IS AWESOME! - NON STOP ACTION THRILLER. ok this is what this game is all about.
first off it's a resident evil/dino crisis type game with pre-rendered backgrounds (which is very cool).
it also has lots of fantasticly brilliant lighting effects that bedazzle the eyes when you use your swords magical abilities and also when you "catch souls" in your arm gauntlet.
genma onimusha is a survival horror game with a japanese twist to it, you basically go around and slash monsters to death, catch their souls (to level up your swords, become invunerable, boost your magic meter for the sword, and regain health and TRY TO STAY ALIVE!) there are many different weapons in this game including several swords (that grow in length size and power depending on its level) a bow and arrow and a early old time flintlock pistol (very cool). there are many puzzles that you have to solve to progress further into deeper levels of the game, or stay alive. the levels in this game somtimes can be very creepy! and cool creepy fog in the lower levels too. the combat gets VERY INTENSE, in that you have to catch the monsters slain souls before the other living monsters you're battling take them from you, some times you even have to tap the a button rapidly to "out pull" the soul from the monster fighting you for it, (when fighting several at a time at that!) if you're not crafty and quick in capturing the green souls the MONSTERS will take them from you and turn RED and get FURIOUS then ATTACK with outright VENGANCE (an excellent feature of this game).
this game is ABSOLUTELY INCREDIBLE! DON'T LET PEOPLE TELL YOU DIFFERENT!
it also has HUGE BOSSES that require special tactics to kill and rewards for killing them after you do so.
to sum up GENMA ONIMUSHA, ill say this IT IS THE BEST GAME OUT RIGHT NOW PERIOD! IT TAKES THE #1/AAA GAME FOR XBOX CROWN AS OF RIGHT NOW!
THIS IS A MUST BUY GAME, NOT A RENTAL. A PERMANENT EDITION TO YOUR XBOX LIBRARY.
DON'T MISS OUT ON THIS ONE! | video-games_xbox |
I hate this game. I hate this game! I love the assassins creed series but this game is one of the worst games I've ever played! Here are just few of the reasons why this is one the worst/ most on finished games I've ever played.
-The subtitles are impossible to read because they are so small and white and they blend in with the scene. This causes you to miss important information because you can't understand what they're talking about.
-Side quests are usually one of my favorite parts to open world games, but the side quests in this game were almost impossible to either reach or complete, nothing is fun about reaching a Side quest location and then being attacked by 50 redcoats just because you walked in the area. The viewpoints are often impossible to reach because they are in trees and tree climbing never works. You start in one place and you end up falling or you just stand there unable to jump further.
-The combat can be extremely simple or extremely difficult whenever it feels like it. Sometimes you can beat up guys with combos with ease and other times no matter what combo you attempt doesn't work.
-What type of game thinks it's a good idea for you to stab the AEI multiple times see the blood and yet they keep getting up, that is ridiculous. These fights are more repetitive then the ones in assassins creed. I'm also not a fan of a game that thrusts you into different scenarios without explaining what you're supposed to do. This forces you to repeat the same stupid parts over and over again.
-The camera jumps around at the worst times possible so when you're ready to do an important test like assassinate someone from behind you can't see what that you're doing. The button controls are almost completely different from the previous games why is the synchronize button B instead of button Y?
I've only ever quit one game in my life and this could have easily been the second. I got frustrated so many times after only playing for 20 minutes and had to keep coming back for piece by piece gameplay because it was so stupid. | video-games_xbox |
It's been a great [roadie] run. The latest (last?) entry in the Gears universe is finally here. The environment looks stunning, the characters are detailed, and the gameplay is the same that we've come to love over the last 5 years, well... besides the whole Lambent/Locust thing...
Pros: Stunning visuals, engaging story, numerous leveling incentives (skins, characters), new weapons and a new enemy! All improved, all excellent. Campaign was excellent - much improved over 2, and more on par with 1. Horde mode is excellent and challenging, but I wish there was the ability to join in session via matchmaking (add a feature to start "wherever"). Matchmaking is still great, with bots filling in for lamers who quit. The customization you can do to Horde or Arcade campaign with mutators is a great addition - mainly for those who like to play insane, and not want to throw their controller through their television.
Cons: No way to unlock beta unlocks (personal con - I didn't have that much time to play hundreds of games to unlock certain items...). There's also a campaign con I have, but I won't say anything right now (I'll edit in a few weeks... it has to do starting with Act 1 chapter 3 or 4, right after the silverbacks.) EDIT: I loathe games that "split" you up, and have you play the same segment of the story again, just with different characters. The beginning has you playing as Marcus, with Dom on the ship, taking care of a Leviathon. The very next chapter has you playing as Baird and Cole... getting to the point where you take care of the Leviathon. The gameplay is different - but it adds completely ZERO to the game making you play to the point where you know exactly how it's going to end.
NOTE: I haven't finished the game yet [FINISHED] (Just arrived a while ago- Thanks Amazon for release day delivery! So I will edit as I see fit for the review. [Edited once]
<a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/Gears-of-War-3/dp/B002I0H79C/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">Gears of War 3</a> | video-games_xbox |
Bridging the Gaps of TRON. A prequel to the movie TRON: LEGACY, TRON: EVOLUTION is a gloriously rendered game that examines in detail the events that led to Clu's rise in the world of the Grid. In the game you play Monitor, a program created by Flynn to investigate the death of the leader of the ISOs. Not long after that, a virus named Abraxas appears and begins causing havoc. In addition, Monitor witnesses the supposed deaths of Flynn and Tron by Clu. Monitor joins forces with a mysterious program named Quorra and through their joint efforts they warn the programs of the grid of Clu's true actions.
The overall gameplay of TRON: EVOLUTION is mostly as a platform game intermixed with a bit of 3rd person combat. There are some racing elements in the light cycle segments. There are also a few times where you get to drive a tank. The tanks were a bit difficult to drive, but overall these segments were some of the most enjoyable because they reminded me of old-school Atari games.
During gameplay, the graphics in TRON: EVOLUTION are extraordinary. The developers have done a remarkable job of capturing the computer world of the TRON movies. There are moments as Monitor is running along or jumping from building to building that you can see his reflection upon the sheen of the structures he is around. The voice acting is also well done and the score is exceptional.
On the negative side, the cut scenes aren't very impressive. Some of the characters, such as Clu and Flynn, aren't rendered very well. They seem out of place with some of the better rendered characters, such as Quorra and Monitor.
The storyline isn't incredibly long, but it takes longer to play through because of the very touchy game control. Running along walls and jumping incredible heights is exciting, but it gets tedious after awhile when you keep repeating the same little segment over and over and over and over because you can't jump over at the right moment. When running from place to place and jumping from object to object, you have to not only use the right buttons and have your character advancing in the proper direction, but you have to use the camera angle control to be looking in the proper direction, too. The game automatically saves quite frequently, which is a bonus so you don't have to keep repeating the same lengthy sequence over and over.
There are more than enough places to recharge your health and special combo attacks. However, in order to recharge your health you have to run up or along certain walls and to recharge the special combo attacks, you have to jump over control boards or lighted trashcans. When fighting a large number of enemies, this becomes tiresome and causes fighting sequences to last longer than they should.
I was a little disappointed by how little the light cycles are used in the story mode. Not only that, but when they are used it isn't very effectively. The light cycles are one of the things that really stood out in the original movie and were what made the original TRON arcade game so difficult. Instead of incorporating their uniqueness, they simply become a vehicle to move the characters from point A to point B.
There are some multi-player elements that is typical of most multi-player elements: a game where you derezz as many programs as you can in a certain amount of time, a capture the flag type game, and a game that's kind of like king of the mountain. There are some games with the light cycle and tank, but neither one of these is used as much as it should.
Overall, even though I got frustrated at certain points and was disappointed by how much of a platform game TRON:EVOLUTION was, I enjoyed it. However, I'm a fan of the original movie and I rented the game and didn't purchase it. Die hard fans are going to want to purchase the game. I'd recommend waiting for a little while until the price comes down and then buying it. For casual fans who wish to own it, I'd say the same. As for other gamers or just someone who is interested in the game, it's best as a rental and not a purchase. | video-games_xbox |
Good Single Player, Ok Multi, Nothing different. I have played every single Halo. From 1,2,3, ODST to even War and now Reach.
I was psyched for Reach. Got it and played through the missions while wetting my feet back into the Multi Player.
After 2 weeks I'm selling the game for the following reasons.
The Single Player story was nowhere near as good as the previous games. Plus it was WAY to short like COD short. Beat it within a week of playing, while only playing about 5-10 hours worth of game play. hit one part that i would consider Hard in the entire game.
The Multi player is terrible. It's Halo 3 with new maps, some different guns and useless effects. The EXP pts you accrue are totally useless as are the titles. So there is no point in having them in the game. They made 1 positive change to the game and got rid of the annoying Green Plazma Charge and Battle Rifle glitch of the 1st game which was a positive. But they made the grenades to strong and the Plazma's are way to easy to stick on people. They Weakened the Sword and the Shotgun which was part of the fun of the game. They also made the Battle Rifle a DRM which is now terrible. Also the fact that they don't have set game plays is very frustrating. I don't like team snipers, or team DRM... I shouldn't be forced to play it or penalized when the other team votes in their favor. They also removed dual-welding weapons which was nice for the battle rifle hand guns and other guns.
Halo could have made changes to compete with Call Of Duty. Taken away the everyone starts the same and you find gun style of game play and allow you to earn experience in the actual game play to earn enhancements that actually help the game and the re-playability. Allow people to customize the way they want to play the game. Not forcing people into battle style games that they do not enjoy playing. Instead Microsoft re-released Halo 3 with improved graphics. Lazy much like they did with every version of Windows since XP, before 7.
That is it. If you were pinning for a new HALO 3 with new Graphics and a bad story. This is the game for you. Other then that as some posters wrote Rent it for a week to two and return it. It has no re-playability. | video-games_xbox |
Is the force within you strong enough for Obi. I just purchased this game and Halo yesterday, for my Xbox, and at first I wasn't too thrilled with Obi Wan (not after playing Halo, which is a just an awesomeeeeee game! Hands down winner so far!) Nonetheless, Obi Wan, after playing it a few more times and getting the hang of it, and learning the cool jedi tricks such as the "force push," which is fun to knock the enemies against buildings, then slashing them down with your saber just rocks! "Force pull," lets you take a pestering enemies
weapons away at the slightest whim (very impressive move)
and the "force throw" hummmmm... you can figure that one out for yourselves. One of the faves for me is the "force view" which
lets you attack enemies in slowwwwwwww motion! Awesomeeeeeeeee!
There is also "force jump" and another one of my faves is the "force throw" (meaning you can throw your light saber at em! Yes, I said throw your saber at em! It comes right back like a boomerang affect! As for the graphics... they are pretty good,
not as good as what the upcoming"Jedi Outkast" will be for the PC, but are done nicely. All in all, Obi Wan, is more than just hacking and slashing, their are objectives to complete, that will unlock a few more bonus extra levels, and it's just a fun game! Especially if you're a Star Wars fan.
The only thing that really bothered me was the very first level. You will encounter a "Wookie" Chewie? He just follows you around, and helps out when you are fighting dasterdly foes, but his AI is so low, seems more like a "zombie wookie." They could have done without him. Also wish then when you cut down your enemies, that you could see their limbs fly off. Other than that, I would rent this game first if I was you, before shelling out 50 bucks for it. I tell ya it will grow on you though! Kinda addicting! Also, I am looking forward to "Night Caster" and "Blood Wake" when they come out January 2nd, those two titles look impressive! Maybe even rival "Halo" (we will have to see) I will let you all know my reviews on those 2 as well! Until then... May the Force be with you all! | video-games_xbox |
Good News, Bad News. FIRST THE GOOD NEWS.
This game has fantastic graphics. They are bright and colorful and just plain well done. If you're like me and used to seeing Wii sports and the various Mario games, this is going to knock your socks off.
Skylanders is also complicated enough to keep kids entertained. By which I mean if you have a child like mine -- he's currently 9 -- who has previously set to memory hundreds of Pokemon and Kirby facts, then Skylanders has powers and hats and soul gems and characters to learn about.
There's online play that coordinates with the game. Like some stuffed animals and dolls, you can get character codes which unlock online play that features mini-games.
The game has only mild violence. On par, I would say, with Mario jumping on the mushroom folk.
The game has clues, particularly on the beginning levels. My son plays with our next door neighbor who is only 6 years old, and he does alright.
The Skylander toys are quite detailed and can be played with separately.
The toys can also be taken to someone else's house and used with a different portal AND they 'remember' their previous adventures. There's also a feature to 'nickname' them. My son named his Spiro, "David, Jr."
BAD NEWS
This bad news can also be good news. The game is a money suck. There are 32 characters that it is possible to collect, and kids are going to want them because they play differently, and certain types are the only ones that can cross certain barriers. Money-wise, this isn't good. BUT, if you have a child that enjoys this game, then you know what you and/or Great Aunt Ruth can get for the next birthday.
The other bit of bad news is that it's possible to race through Skylanders to the end. When I asked my son how he did this, he answered that he did it by going back to the first level and then leveling up. Which hasn't dampened his enthusiasm, by the way. When I ask him about that, he said that he replays levels because 'battle mode' is fun, and because the treasures are very difficult to find.
Pam T~
mom | video-games_xbox |
Great Fun...party over. I have been playing this game now for a month, so my initial response to it has alter somewhat. First things first, I agree with the other reviews commenting on the fun of this game and its party nature. It features mini games similar to that of a carnival and you get to really use your full body to interact with these games. After completion you win tickets (those no-good tokens that could buy you a hair pin at a real carnival) which can be traded in for costumes and the like. The game even boasts with its own fortune teller, which just like its real life counterpart, makes you feel like you've been ripped off afterwards.
In essence, this is a party/group game. Trying it alone I find myself quickly rushing through the games and ejecting the game. With friends it becomes fun and gameplay time is lengthened.
CONS
- not one player; must be played in groups/parties
- too few games
- replay value of games quickly diminishes the more you play, quicker than similar games
- the "harder" levels are pretty hard to reach
PROS
- menus are easy to navigate
- setup is clear and easy to follow and one can jump into the action quickly
- 2-player is really easy and fun: opt in or out any time during play and the Kinect senses the second person easily
- space requirements are decent and you don't have to stand all the way back for the Kinect to pick you up
My real gripe with this is after more than a month of playing it is that it has kinda reached its purpose now. We hardly remember having this game, unless friends come over. Friends from previous times are not too eager playing it again, so that indicated to me it's fun first time around and then it loses its appeal. At this point I'll argue for it to be discounted before it really reaches its value. Don't trade this game in though, as you never know when along the road you might have some family/friends over interested in a little carnie fun. | video-games_xbox |
Fable 2 is finally here. I decided to write this review without reading any of the other reviews just to see if my feelings were pretty common among its reviewers. I said that this would be the one game that I would go out and buy when it came out and it was. The original Fable is one of my all time favorite games, it was just so unique, and Fable 2 is...good.
Pros:
-The graphics set a new standard for environments that just grab the player. Beautiful scenery and shadowing.
-Weapons are good, about the same as far as Fable 1 goes.
-Clothing is also about the same as Fable 1 with a few new options. However, 2 doesn't have armor ratings and I can't remember if Fable 1 did.
-Magic is also about the same as Fable 1 but now with power level selecting.
-Lots a properties to purchase and lots of people to interact with
-Great music and sounds.
-They fixed the whole good/evil points system in this one where killing a bandit while not in a quest doesn't count as evil any longer. If they attack you you get good points for killing them now.
-They cleaned up the expressions options by providing an easy to use expressions wheel.
-Combat movements are a little more fluent now
-Demon doors are still a great addition, but it seems like there are less of them...
-You don't need to continuously play to game to accrue rent...awesome!
-The horrendous aging methods from the original game have now been adjusted and are supposedly a lot better.
Cons:
-With added functions comes added difficulty in controls. I've still not figured out how to consistently execute a roll or how to use the different magic levels feature. I just push the buttons and hope they work. It seems as though nearly every button has 3 or 4 possible actions.
-People interaction is again a little difficult. You can focus on one person but you can't make everyone else go away so they aren't affected by your expressions.
-The jobs are interesting but very monotonous.
-The dog idea to me is useless. Takes the fun out of hunting and discovering hidden treasures. I don't mind if it wants to help me find buried treasure and growl when enemies are near. But it finds everything which completely takes the fun out of finding hidden things. And he's supposed to attack enemies, but all I've seen mine do is stand there and get hurt. Maybe mine's broken XD.
-My biggest problem with this game is that it's so much like Fable 1. It's pretty much the original game with lots of added features and expanded levels. The storyline is even almost identical with different characters. Don't get me wrong it's still a great game, just a little disappointing for the nerd that I am who has been waiting for months for it to finally be released. I guess I just expected too much from the game.
-What happened to the alignment picture of the character when you go in to the menu to see how good or evil you are? They totally ditched this concept. I loved to see my character standing there either looking all holy with white lights flashing behind him or evil with red all over and flies all around him.
All in all I still like the game I'm just somewhat disappointed. I think this game could have been so much better if they mixed it up a little instead of taking Fable 1 and building off of that amazing platform. Maybe take a small page from the Diablo series and add some armor ratings and random drops or something. I don't know, something seems to be missing and I gave 4 stars for that reason and for the fact that it's just too much like the original game. | video-games_xbox |
Not "Star Wars," But Still a Lot of Fun. I starting playing with Legos over 25 years ago. I only started playing Xbox 1 year ago! I played both LEGO Star Wars II: the Original Trilogy and LEGO Star Wars the Complete Saga - both to 100%.
These games are a lot of fun, and if you enjoyed playing Lego Star Wars you WILL enjoy playing LEGO Indiana Jones. I am not an Indiana Jones fan - I can't remember seeing a SINGLE I.J. movie. But I STILL enjoy these games because the play style is familiar and even at 29 years of ago, I LOVE LEGOS!
The game divides its story into three movies - Raiders of the Lost Ark, Temple of Doom, and Last Crusade. Each movie is broken into 6 sub-sections which after completing players can continue to the next section or return to Barnett College which serves as a playable "menu," allowing players to switch to a different movie, purchase characters or "extras" such as invincibility, etc. Purchases use ingame currency, called "Studs," represented by small, round lego blocks.
LEGO Characters in the game use various skills to proceed through the levels - piles of legs must be assembled into vehicles doorways, or bridges. Characters can use shovels to dig up treasure chests or other blocks for a multitude of uses. Indiana Jones can use his trusty whip to grab unreachable items, or swing from platform to platform. The game is usually pretty clear about what needs to be done next - buried items "sparkle," platforms that Indy can swing from are highlighted, and even crawlspaces and hieroglyphic boards are highlighted to stand out, easing the puzzle solving process.
The game does seem to be a bit more "buggy" than the Lego versions. Characters swinging items or picking items up sometimes causes a weird "blip" on the screen where the game engine seems to forget the shape of the item, causing a very weird stretching glitch on the screen. It's very brief, but weird nonetheless. In the Star Wars versions, some sections would require on-screen characters to work in tandem to access rooms/platforms. In these situations, the artificial intelligence would kick in, causing the non-player-controller character to perform the required duties. In Indiana Jones, however, the game forces the player to set the first character in position, then press a button to assume control of the second character, performing its required duties. What often seems to happen is, when control is switched from one character to the next, the AI takes over the first character, moving him/her out of position and requring the player to start all over again. This isn't often, but happens just frequent enough to cause frustration and in some cases, required the same sequence to be performed several times before being succesful.
The new parcel retrieval puzzles, which allow the unlocking of things like invulnerability, multiplication of collected studs, etc, is a fun addition which requires new methods of problem solving not present in the Star Wars games. More challenging still is the ability to move various structures that then make reaching artifacts or parcels impossible, causing you to replay the level more strategically. This isn't a bad thing - it forces you to think a little harder.
Lastly, the bang for your buck is tremendous, as it was in all of the Star Wars games. Reaching 100% completion in the game can require replaying each subsection of each movie 3 or more times to reach every artifact or parcel, or unlock every character. Completing all three movies might only require 10 hours or so. I've played for approximately 25 hours and am only 75% complete with the game. Players unfamiliar with the LEGO game strategy may need more time to learn the tricks of the game designers.
The only downside is, once the game is completed to 100%, it's virtually worthless. It'll take you a long time to get there, but there's little fun value after playing unless you're a die-hard Indiana Jones fan. I chose to rent the game because I know I could reach 100% (and earn all the achievements) before the return date.
LEGO Indiana Jones does a few things worse than it's predecessors but has a few new tricks up it's sleeve. It's a fun game that never gets too challenging or too frustrating and provides hours of clean, fun entertainment for all age ranges. What more can you really ask for in a video game? | video-games_xbox |
Eh, not bad, but it's not "True Crime" anymore. Apparently, the fact that this game bears a striking resemblance to GTA in more ways than one has been addressed more than enough, so I won't go there... directly.
I will, however, comment that while this game is fairly entertaining, it lacks the essential nuances that made the first True Crime a unique title capable of holding its own next to the GTAs.
In the first TC, you HAD to explore the city in order to find the places to upgrade your character, and those upgrades had to be EARNED through usage of the skills. Also, the L.A. cityscape had a lot more variation- from residential areas to commercial districts, and the freeway system was awesome.
In TC:NYC, you're bottle-fed upgrade locations; they're clearly marked from the get-go, so there's really no need to explore the city. Plus, the upgrades are PURCHASED, not earned, with money that is very easily acquired. Essentially, you walk into a dojo, pay a few bucks, and congrats, you know karate instantaneously.
The RPG sense of upgrading and building your character that made the first TC fresh and new is all but gone from this title. It'll take you about an hour or two to achieve the maximum cop ranking, and that only unlocks a few cars and weapons which can just as easily be purchased from one of the game's dozens of vendors.
You can take a cab or the subway anywhere you want to go, including active crime scenes and that's just dumb. Also, seeing as the cab rides are dirt cheap, it almost makes no sense to DRIVE anywhere, especially when the most realistically rendered thing in the whole game is New York's infamous bumper-to-bumper gridlock! Also, and maybe I was wrong to expect anything different- perhaps NYC really looks like this- but I honestly got bored with the same drab surroundings block, after block, after block after... you get the point. I started taking cabs everwhere just because the tedium of driving and wrecking at every intersection caused a malignant tumor to form in my brain.
Another point is the car mechanics. Almost every vehicle you drive feels too big and weighty. Perhaps it was the close feel of the narrow streets, but even the sports coups felt like school buses. Ever tried a jacknife turn on a two-lane, one-way street during rush-hour traffic? It sucks both in real life and in this game. And forget about driving backwards; even if you've got a car that can haul @$$ going forward, our hero Marcus Reed backs up like my grandmother.
Then they added the clothes changes and hair-styles which, to me, just screamed "we wish we were GTA!" Honestly, neither has any bearing whatsoever on the game, your environment or the people around you.
All in all, that game doesn't make for a bad GTA knock-off, but it does lack in the sequal department. Ever since the first TC, I've anticipated this sequal. I waited two years and all I got was this crummy T-shirt. | video-games_xbox |
Pleasantly Surprised. When I originally heard that Resident Evil 5 would not feature an updated control mechanic I have to admit I was very disappointed and apprehensive about investing in what I assumed would be Resident Evil 4 with a boob job. Well, after playing through this one a couple times I have to admit I was very wrong. I know people continue to review this title harshly based solely on the way the controls are setup ... don't buy into it. The entire game is setup to function WITH the controls. At no time did I feel inadequate in terms of what needed to be accomplished to progress through the game based on the controls. Yes, the controls are similar to RE4, but not an exact duplicate unless you're brain dead enough to use the RE4 controller scheme that's offered in the game. Make sure you use one of the control schemes that allow you to strafe as this small addition is a big improvement over RE4. The controls also felt much more responsive and tight than RE4 - aiming and looking around just felt easier (excluding the extremely easy aiming of the Wii version of the game).
The one gripe I do have with this game is the addition of a computer controlled character if you choose to run through the game solo. Some boss battles were made much more frustrating and difficult just b/c you have this moron to look after. The final boss and his ability to hit you and your partner with insta-death is brought to mind .... at times I found that the computer relied more on me than me on it.
The complaint concerning the computer running through ammo hurriedly is true ... in a way. This can be easily fixed if you keep the computer on the COVER command rather than the ATTACK command at all times. In addition, give the computer a rifle, this will hinder his/her ability to run out of ammo so quickly. At no time, however, did I find ammo to be a hinderance, it's actually very plentiful and I found myself storing a nice supply between levels so long as I kept the fully-automatic weapons and RARE ammo (magnum, grenade launcher, ect.) out of the computers hands.
The graphics, music, story-line, ect. are all top-notch, as is expected from the Resident Evil "video-game" franchise. No points lost in that department. | video-games_xbox |
UPDATED] AxPro Review & VS BlackOPs Version. BlackOps version info is at the {{{{{ marks.
[UPDATE] It has been a month now that I have been using these non-BlackOps AxPros. I wanted to post an update since some of the cons I had read about these headsets were claimed to have manifested after a few weeks. My opinion or anything else has NOT changed. They still are banging out fantastic sound. I haven't experienced any degradation at all in performance, in the feel of the headsets on my head, the boom mic has not broken or stopped working. They feel and are performing just as they did on day 1.
One thing I neglected to mention in my original post were the audio settings. Here is my take: Adjust the Time Delay to 10ms as Tritton suggests on the Dolby control box. Push both switches to your left and with the headsets on listen for the changes. Each time you press the + or - button you will hear the sound mute momentarily. If you pay attention you'll notice that there are 15 steps from one end to the other meaning your delay can be set to 0ms minimum or 15ms maximum. So to get to a 10ms Time Delay setting, hit the + sign until you no longer hear any mutes then back down with the - button by pressing it 5 times. Or do the opposite: hit the - button until you hear no more mutes and then hit the + button 10 times. Set the volume on the control box to max. Setting the Dolby control box output volume to MAX will not overdrive the headset. Adjust your volume levels at the inline controller. Your sub-woofer you can set to personal preference. I have my sub-woofer set five levels higher than everything else. I like the base. My Front, Rear, and Center are set to the same level. Why? Well, because they engineered volume levels into the game. AND, most importantly, the game IS in Dolby Digital. So if Enemy 1 is to my left and 10 feet away and Enemy 2 is to my left and 20 feet away the game programming will tell my Dolby Box. And I will know without looking because the volume of their footsteps will be different. I don't have to adjust my volume levels to figure it out. The same is true for whether someone is in front of me or behind me. If I turn up my rear channel higher than my front it will screw my judgment of distance. Think of doing this and then having one person in front of you and another behind you both at the same distance. If they each take turns firing a round you will think the person behind you is closer to you because they will sound louder than the person in front of you. Of course that will be because you raised your Rear channel in comparison to your front. Make sense? Don't be a Noob! I've seen videos and reviews that talk about turning up your Rear channel so you can tell people are behind you (and all kinds of other channel adjustment combinations.) DUMB! No logic in there thinking. I would love to argue the point with them.
{{{{{ I researched the BlackOps version of the AxPros... They're a marketing rip-off. Why? I say this because there is absolutely no functional difference between them and the AxPros that I have. The two just LOOK different. Their price tiers are $149 PC, $199 Surround, $249 Dolby Digital. But again, THERE IS NOTHING FUNCTIONALLY DIFFERENT between the BlackOps AxPros and the originally AxPros. Here are the crib notes and why I dismiss their significance:
BlackOps Version Perks:
1. Braided cabling for a ruggedized look. Cool look.
2. BlackOps black paint job, logos, and insignia. Cool look.
3. Gold plated connector tips. Anyone who thinks that really makes a difference in performance is a victim of weak marketing and is just technologically ignorant. If it is not end to end it does not matter.
4. Cool carrying case. Yes, the case is cool.
I like how the BlackOps version looks. I like the ruggedized cabling look, that it is blacked out, the logos, insignia, and the case... So why not get them? #1 I already have the Tritton AxPro. Why buy it again just because it looks different? #2 The new version does nothing different or better than what I already own. If there were improvements to its performance then I might get them but that is not the case. Madcatz is riding the BlackOps wave to cash in on people just coming into the market with BlackOps, those who have never bought a headset, and those who don't look enough to see the difference. I can't entirely dump on them because they're a business in to make money off a product. I just think it is a very weak offering. I don't think much of them anyway. I've bought a few of their products in the past and those did not last. Now that they've bought Tritton it means to me that it will be down hill now for anything with a Tritton logo if Madcatz imposes its production and support ways to the Tritton side. Do not interpret what I've said about them as Madcatz hating. I don't do that. I speak from MY experience and from what is apparent. If my mood were right I might just pick them up if I didn't already have mine and I decided to say F it and spring. I am not there right now.
Madcatz BlackOps AxPro Headset purchase = Consumer Fail
I will update with any changes.
PSN ID: Sergeant-RAZOR
[ORIGINAL POST]I've been using this headset for over a week now to play MW2. Prior to the AxPros I was using the TurtleBeach P21 which is a good headset but the AxPro's almost make the Turtles sound like clock radio speakers. I did my homework prior to purchasing. I watched video reviews, read written reviews, here, on Google, on YouTube, GameSpot, IGN, and a bunch of other sites. I was on the fence about purchasing them because of some of the complaints I read that seemed repeated by several reviewers but I am glad I chose them. Hopefully what I say will help someone sort through so much of the smoke and crap some people have said.
Here are some points:
Are they really too heavy? NO! They are heavier than my P21s but not too much. I can feel the weight difference but I have had a couple marathon runs on MW2 and I have been fine. I guess if you have a pencil neck you're going to have a problem. If you're normal then you will not.
Do they squeeze your head? NO! Unless you're a tank head, you'll be fine. I would say they fit snug. I do, however, have to shift the cups on my ears if I am playing for more than 30 minutes. But otherwise I have no problem. If the gravitational field of your immense head is easily discernible then these are not for you. Also if you were in the military and wore a large Kevlar then these will not be for you, your eyes might get popped out and fire into the screen. If you're playing MW2 that might make for a dope KillCam so if it does happen please record and forward to me.
Are they hard to set up? NO! There are NOT too many cables. The cables are NOT too short. Some people complained that the 3ft fiber cable to connect the console to the Dolby processor is too short. What? Well, if you're sitting on your sofa and want the processor next to you but your console is set up in Hell's crack then I don't know what to tell you. I have my Dolby box on top of my PS3 and it is fine where it is. Also, the manual breaks down the connections for each console and for PC. If you can read then you'll be fine. If you're functionally illiterate then you're hosed. Read the manual! So if you have the MicroSUX XCrap, look at the section that pertains to it. If you have the VANGLORIOUS PS3 (It only does everything, really) then look there, etc. As for sound settings that is personal preference and I am still in test mode as far as that goes. I have the Front, Center, and Rear at the same level but my Sub I have set 3 clicks higher. I like bass. My Time Delay is set to +10 as I saw on a few YouTube videos and read on some reviews here. These settings have been fine for me so far. More on the sound below...
Are they cheaply made? NO! They are no different from what most all other manufacturers are putting out. Too many of these "they're cheap" reviewers seem to want to pay a few dollars for a headset that will allow them to hear what is going on at the edges of the universe. Be fair. No one is going to produce an aluminum/titanium alloy headset with gold wiring and a gunning transistor logic Dolby processor box and then let you pay with food stamps. They are made of some metal but mostly plastic. That should not be a surprise. What the hell else isn't nowadays? Today some things you buy are made cheaper than in the past and you can totally feel it. The AxPros don't feel this way. They do feel solid. The reviewers who broke the mic in a week or whose ear pads or covers fell off must have been gorilla stomping the headsets raging over some game. They're gaming headsets not crash helmets.
Do they sound good? NO! They sound FANTASTIC! They blew my TurtleBeach P21s out of the water. The sound is much fuller, deep, clear, NO hiss as with the P21s. They do not sound tinny at all. I heard the difference right from the initial Infinity Ward logo opening screen. During game play I finally felt like I was in the game surrounded by the gun fire, the explosions, the chatter, screams, and the map environment sounds. I ran around in a private match on some of the maps to test out the AxPros and I was amazed at how many sounds I had been missing. When I knife someone now and the paper bills fly I hear the paper flicker all around me. With the settings I described above I can tell where everyone is including in front, behind, above, or below. When aircraft fly above I don't have to look up to verify where they are. I can hear where they are and their direction. I can hear the harriers turning this way or that to avoid their fire if I'm not cold-blooded. Kills come easier because now I can better judge where everyone is from me. The very first time I played with the AxPros with others was free for all in the Quarry map. I was running toward the end of a building about to turn left when I could hear that someone was coming from the direction I intended on going. The footsteps were realistic and true to life. Thinking this was a perfect test situation I stopped, waited, and timed hitting R3 right when it sounded like he should turn the corner. It was spot on. My blade made a home in his ribcage. He accused me of having a modded controller or being a hacker. What? My kill/death ratio has gone up and playing is SO much more enjoyable because you can play and be much more sure of what is around you and where. There are very low tones you can hear when there is no sound going through the speakers which I imagine are the speakers being polled by the Dolby box. I've seen several complaints about that but you only hear them during dead silence and they are very low.
The Tritton AxPros are worth buying unless:
1. You have a skinny weak neck.
2. You have a gargantuan head.
3. You are illiterate or retarded.
4. You want headsets from NASA for cheap.
5. All you've got are food stamps.
Check out justintime1976's videos on YouTube. His work helped me make my decision. He compares the AxPros to the Ax720s and the Astro A40s. The videos are lengthy but he does a great job and even includes some sound tests. There is nothing more convincing than the sound tests. Even through YouTube you can hear how much better the AxPros are than the A40s which are easily twice as expensive as the AxPros. | video-games_xbox |
If you liked LEGO LOTR, you'll like this too *UPDATED. If you liked LEGO LOTR, you'll like this too. The gameplay is pretty much the same with some new additions, and the world is bigger. In fact this game is advertised as being the largest LEGO game yet. That said, it's still like LEGO LOTR where all the areas are still pretty small and close together (don't expect Skyrim). But there's more to collect, and more to explore. Right off the bat I was thrilled that I could visit (for the first time) the Grey Havens even though they didn't go there in The Hobbit. The story does NOT send you there (relax book fans), but if you want to visit then go ahead. And even though the narrative in the book, movie, and game skips from the Shire to the Trollshaws, that doesn't stop you from making a U-Turn and revisiting Weathertop and Bree. You can even visit the Old Forest and Tom Bombadil's house! Again, they didn't go there in the book, and the story in the game doesn't take you there either, but that won't stop you if you want to visit those places on your own.
There are some parts in this game that were in the book but not in the movies, like having to cross the black river in Mirkwood that makes you fall asleep if you fall in. Something else I found interesting was that, in the game, the High Fells where Gandalf enters the crypt where the Nazgul are buried are located WEST of the Misty Mountains in the North of Rhudaur, where they were originally supposed to be when the movie was going to be two films. (Originally, Gandalf was going to go there right after Rivendell.) Yet in the game, he still goes there after he leaves the party in the second film.
It's fun playing the barrel sequence and actually getting to play the scene with Bombur from the movie! The parts where Gandalf goes to the High Fells and Dol Goldur are fun too because it's cool to explore them. Like with the LEGO LOTR game, while playing this I felt like it would be THE definitive Hobbit game if only it were done with a serious tone and without LEGOs...as great as this game and the LEGO games are. I would love to be Gandalf exploring the High Fells but with a serious tone and the creepiness ramped up to 100.
The game can be pretty open-ended at times, like when I was playing as Gandalf and Radagast and we were headed to Dol Goldur. I decided to explore around Mirkwood a little first. We reached the eastern edge, found a boat, and sailed it up to Lake Town where we got out and explored, even though they never go there in the book.
Yes, you can ride boats in this one. In LEGO LOTR you got to ride a boat for like five seconds down the Anduin River, in this one you can paddle around Hobbiton or around Long Lake. If you find a boat, just hop in. I think the Long Lake takes the place of the giant field that was Rohan/Gondor in LEGO LOTR. It's the biggest thing I've come across so far. You can sail around Lake Town, and there are some side quests and collectibles scattered about.
My only minor nitpick with the game so far is that sometimes for the puzzles I forget which dwarf carries what special item I need to solve the puzzle.
Each dwarf has their own special ability which can sometimes have hilarious results.
Something that I haven't seen mentioned in any other review yet is this game uses Howard Shore's ORIGINAL music. If you own the original soundtrack, Smaug's theme on the track "Inside Information" is so much better than in the movie. In the movie, either they changed it or parts of it like the bells are drowned out. I've seen the movie four times as of this review and there are still parts of the original soundtrack I don't hear in the movie, but they're in this game. Also, the track from the first movie soundtrack (not used in either movie so far) "The Dwarf Lords" plays over the closing credits for the second movie.
*UPDATE* I've now finished the game. Yes, this only actually covers the first two movies. It ends in the exact spot where the second movie ended. It's kind of strange because after you finish each movie there are closing credits and then you go right into the next movie, but the second movie ends on a cliffhanger, you watch the closing credits, and then you're just dropped into Free Play mode with no "to be continued" or anything. So some people might be left totally confused.
The rest of the story will be released as DLC sometime this Fall before the third movie comes out. Personally, I would have rather they waited and just released the whole thing together, but my guess is this happened because of the last-minute decision to split the film into three movies. Just look at some of the LEGO toy sets: the one with the Mirkwood spiders says "An Unexpected Journey" on the box, even though that event happened in the second movie. | video-games_xbox |
A Pretty Good Game . True, this game is over hyped and isn't an absolute must have but I have had some fun with it. This is yet another Medal of Honor game, in the vast franchise, which brings you to the Pacific Theater of WW2. This game is better than The Frontline in my opinion, with refurbished graphics, smarter AI, THX sound system, cooler missions and environments, vast ammount of weapons, more multi player action- co-op missions for example, and what can I say it was just more fun plainly.
SINGLE PLAYER:
You fight your way in the epic single player campaign from Pearl Harbor, to the struggle of the Philipines, to the jungles of Guadalcanal, or top secret 007 action like a mission Singapore and to famous battles like Bridge over the River Kwai, and you will even make your way to a Japanese Super Carrier. Overall, the single player is very fun and interesting having more of an Indiana Jones and original Medal of Honor feeling, yet it still fell short. What can I say the single player campaign, is plainly too short and easy and will take less than 10 hours for most gamers to beat. I clocked in at a time of 6 hours, and I wasn't really impressed with how they ended the game either. The missions are shorter than I perfered as well, unlike the Frontline's monster missions.
EA obviously rushed this game, and tried to releases ASAP instead of making a great campaign mode. Hey, what can I say despite the flaws I had fun, with the Pacific Theater of War and the new refurbished weapons. The Weapon set is made up of ove 20 authentic WW2 weapons for example the M1 Grand, the Thompson, the Springfield, the Sten Mk 2, the classic B.A.R, and much more. You even get other cool weapons like the Welord- an silenced pistol, and a Type 99 LMG- whihc is a kick @$$ weapon you will get at the last level.
The A.I. (Artifical Intell...) is much smarter than any of the previous Medal of Honor games. For example you must fight against Japanese Banzai charges and a plainly smater enemy, and the fight alongside helpful Allies. Although, there are some great changes in the A.I., but the programming is basically the same old, same old, and very simple; example get behind an machine gun enemies come from no where and run around, making them easy targets. Also enemies are always out in the open and never have the the sense of danger, making them easy targets. What ca I say the enemy is smarter, but still not realistic.
I've noticed they have added a little bit of an Indiana them like in the mission The Search for Yahama's Gold, when you lead a small task force to find the secret Japanese Treasure, along with an 007 feel like Singapore Sling, when you must covertly gather enemy intell behind enemy lines. You also even get to ride on an Elephant, with a machine gun placment, in The Bridge Over the River Kawi level. Pretty, much the same as the Fronline combinding real event, with a bit of an fictional!!! In a lot of the the missions in the Frontline, I got the feeling that the commericals were true "You Are An Army of One", but in this game you depend more on your allies. I myself would perfer the Call of Duty games over the Medal of Honor games though which are 10 times better.
This games though best depicts the Pacific Battle Theater, next to Medal of Honor: Pacific Assault on the PC. Rising Sun is no Call of Duty or Pacific Assault, but it still was fun, I wish the single player could have been better.
MULTI PLAYER:
The multi player is new and improved from the Frontline. You now have co op fun, along with new 4 player fun on, tons of new maps, and characters to top it all off. I had fun playing through the co- op campaign, which was twice the fun, but still too short. Besides that, I liked the new 4 player options, which was very fun playing on some cool maps with your friend hunting the down with a B.A.R, and all of a sudden he pop out with a Thompson, and on your flank comes what's his name with an M1 grand a great choice... you get the picture, it's darn fun, no nothing like Halo 2. If they would have put online play on this game they would have made this game twice as good with more of a replay value.
Overall, I was impressed with the multi player, but I wish it had online options, then I would really be happy.
I can't say this was the absolute most satisfying game out on the market with lack in the single player campaign, and it plainly not being innovative. This game is more of a B class game, that is still enjoyable and some good old authenic WW2 weapons, and events, mixed with a bit of fanasty. EA obviously rushed the game and ended it very weakly, but I have an open mind and I had some real fun. I don't think it's worth $49.99, but if you find it cheaper some where don't hesitate to buy.
Overall, I will give this a 3/5... good game but lacking, and plainly nothing new.
-Rogue Fox "Rogue" | video-games_xbox |
Better than the first. This game is perhaps the most fun game i have ever played. The only other game that could even match it is the original Halo. Before i get started, let me clarify a few things. Don't pay attention to the people who gave this game only a few stars. These people are mainly jealous PS2 owners who are grumpy because the game isn't coming to their platform and thus they are trying to ruin the game's overall score.
I feel that this game has made several improvements. Dual-wielding for example. In Halo 1, if you wanted to kill an elite fast, you just shoot it with a charged plas. pistol shot, then switch to a pistol for the head shot. In Halo 2, thanks to d-wielding, you just hit it with the p. pistol shot and then pull the other trigger and finish him off!! This is like carrying three weapons in a way. Though you loose grenades, this is a small price to pay for an elite kill in 2 seconds (very useful on legendary). Furthermore, for those people who miss their assault rifle, that's what the SMG is for. It has slightly less power than the AR, but when dual-wielded with another one, overpowers the AR anyday. True, the pistol has been weakened quite a bit but you will not miss it once you see the battle rifle. It has a scope, and one pull of the trigger will deliver as much damage as the Halo 1 pistol did. It is essentially the same gun! On the subject of vehicles, the destructabilty of them is just cool. If you want to go into battle with a totally tricked out 'hog ride, shoot the thing's hood a few time until fire comes out the front! Then hop in. Even if the car is on fire, it will live until you die. Hijacking the vehicles is also tremendous fun. Buy the game, you will see what i mean!
Also, the graphics are just spectacular. They are about 5x better than the original game. Plotwise, the game is equally amazing. The only bad thing is the ending.
All I can say is buy this game. It totally is a killer ap. Don't listen to jealous PS2 owners, and BUY THIS GAME!!!
(you should buy this game for Sgnt. Johnson's wise cracks alone!) | video-games_xbox |
So much bigger than DA2. It's hard to compare DA:Inquisition to DA2 because this game is simply so much bigger. It follows the immediate aftermath of the Chantry explosion in DA2 and the subsequent rifts that opened in the Fade. With a couple of familiar characters and a host of new ones, DA:Inquisition really opens the world much wider.
There's an up and down side to this. While Inquisition is much closer to an open-world format, it accomplishes this with hundreds of side missions and narratives. While DA2 also had them, there were far fewer and they seemed more prone to propel the story, while in Inquisition many fall squarely in the category of "just stuff to do". These menial tasks give you a perspective of the world, such as recovering a wedding ring or placing flowers on a grave, but after a hundred or so they really begin to dilute the main story line. While DA2 balanced the side quests with an impending timeline, Inquisition makes no such claim, and your character can wander away for days or weeks on side missions without anyone seeming to notice or care. Of course you don't HAVE to do all the side missions, but it can be a little distracting trying to find the main storyline sometimes.
Like DA2, you have your choice of fighter, rogue, or mage character classes and can bring along a trio of customizable compatriots from your roster. The decisions you make will have some affect on the game, though they often feel less impactful than they did in DA2 (excepting, of course, obvious decisions like whether to execute someone or ask them to be part of the team - in which case they either join the roster or leave the game).
The only real downside is that this game crashes a lot. A lot. The autosave feature will save you sometimes, but if you're in an area for long - save.
Overall, EA did a nice job of scattering a few big bad dragons to [optionally] fight while making a compelling storyline with gorgeous graphics. This is a franchise that just gets better with each game. | video-games_xbox |
A Good Product for the Price - Does The Trick For Me. Overall, I am satisfied with the results of this product.
I needed a product that would reduce heat generated by my 360 and yet allow my 360 to lay flat on my glass (open) entertainment center (stand up fan models will not work for me) and this does the trick as far as I'm concerned!
I am giving it a 4 out of 5 as it is somewhat cheaply made (I did only pay $15 for the item).
My first use of this product was watching a DVD for 2+ hours.
I noticed a significant reduction in the amount of heat I felt on the back of my 360 as compared to other times I've used my 360 for similar durations.
I think it does a good job and the company stands behind their product if for some reason it ever does damage to a users 360 there is a # to call to inquire about repairing your 360.
The main drawback with the device can be (but doesn't have to be) NOISE: HOWEVER THERE IS A SOLUTION...Viewing from the front of your 360 you are supposed to install the Intercooler with both the top and bottom clips on the left side (opposite of the power plug). However if you do this, you will almost certainly encounter a NOISE problem! This is because one or more of the fans are dragging against their own casing when the unit is installed with both clips (the plastic bends a little causing friction). Of course this is a knock on the products manufacturing and the sole reason I gave it a 4 out of 5 was b/c it requires some human ingenuity to overcome the noise obstacle and the company should look into fixing this problem in the future. I don't feel the initial noise problem is a reason to return the item...My SOLUTION was to simply unclip the bottom of the 2 plastic clips on the left hand side, leaving only the top clip installed. This reduces the friction and you can then barely hear the unit. Be careful not to break the plastic clips! I have not had the unit very long so I do not know if this setup will strain the top clip too much but I don't think so.
Other Suggestions:
(A) Get an OPEN entertainment center (or set the 360 out in the open) because ANY enclosed center is going to cause OVER-HEATING problems for equipment that needs fresh air such as an Xbox 360, etc
(B) I purchased additional cooling for $20 in the form of a USB powered "Chill Pad" which is made metal and has 2x60mm fans. I placed the Chill Pad under my Xbox 360 for added cooling and that has really helped (the 360 stand model won't work for me b/c I lay my 360 flat). If you get a Chill Pad, try to find one that is made out of chrome/metal as those are easier to replace any burned out fans. I suggest avoiding plastic Chill Pad's as they are less durable (already had 1 that broke after 3 mo's). I do have to turn the Chill Pad off when I turn my 360 off b/c it would otherwise continually run as the 360 gives it power even when it's off.
This is a good product and I would recommend it to others with the installation suggestion I listed. | video-games_xbox |
Extremely fun arcade flight combat game. Hawx is very similar to the Ace Combat series of arcade flight combat genre of games. Physics, realism, realistic weapon loadouts and airframe performance aren't important. Before the diehard flight sim aficionados throw this game off their "to-play" list, they should realize that the fun factor of Hawx is its primary selling point. There aren't any slow points of the game. You're always flying hard and fast, chasing after enemy ground, sea, or air targets. I can't think of one boring point in the game, although I can think of a few missions where it took me several tries before I completed the objective. The bottom line is that you won't be sitting behind the screen for 3 hours using the autopilot to traverse Iraq and Iran like you would with Jane's F-15.
You start with a meager aircraft and work your way towards the F-22 Raptor and F-35 JSF at the end of the game. Missile loadouts range from a "Joint Strike" Missile that can hit both Air and Ground targets, but is a very short IR seeking missile (the pilot yells Fox 2 when fired). I'd say it is almost on-par to a AIM-9 Sidewinder, maybe an AIM-9X Sidewinder but I haven't heard of these being used as dedicated AGM's. There's also a long-range Air to Air missile that requires you to guide it with your radar (similar to a AIM-7 Sparrow), although the pilot calls out "Fox 3" when he should be calling out "Fox 1". The most impressive missiles have to be the multi-AA and multi-AG missiles. The multi-AA missiles are AIM-120 AMRAAMs but you can lock up to 4 targets simultaneously and release your salvo. They will go to individual targets. The same applies to the multi-AG (AGM-65 Maverick) but it only works on ground/sea targets. There's also your "free fall" iron bombs, rocket pods, and flares. The iron bombs shoot out like missiles and don't work the same as the bombs in true flight combat sims. It's simple enough that a FPS gamer would understand and enjoy.
The premise is well publicized so I will spare you the details. You just have to destroy enemy targets and protect the good guys on certain missions. I recommend the Xbox 360 controller especially for operating in the "OFF" mode, where you can conduct the Cobra maneuver, thrust-vectoring drifts, and other fancy stuff.
The only complaints I have about the game are how it deals with SAM threats. It doesn't allow you to easily locate and lock onto SAMs especially during a heated firefight. Dodging missiles is easy when there aren't many targets and enemy aircraft dancing about, but on many of the missions you will be dealing with a dozen or more enemy fighters, AAA, SAMs, all while protecting a friendly AWACS or trying to destroy a ground asset within the allotted time. Overall I cannot complain much. The game literally flies on my rig (Phenom II X 730, HD 4870, Vista 64-bit) at full resolution and max details.
Pros: Lots of fun and highly replayable. You can go back to previous missions and keep racking up points to earn more aircraft and awards.
Cons: Hard to lock onto specific SAM threats when there are multiple targets. ERS is more distracting than useful unless it is for a specific mission (taking out a bunker or the nuke at the end).
Overall: It's a rather short game with a lackluster ending. More of the "good job guys, pat yourselves on your back, grab a beer and we'll take it from here" that you get from Tom Clancy games. There's no dramatic ending or cutscenes. | video-games_xbox |
Just a few points . Some of the most fun I've had playing games in the last few years was going a couple of rounds of Guitar Hero with a few friends. It's a fantastic party game and if you've never played it, you owe it to yourself to check it out. This, much like SingStar and Dance Dance Revolution, is a title that's going to appeal highly to your "non-traditional" gamer crowd. I could, honestly, fawn over how much fun it is for hours, but there were a couple of things about the 360 version of this game that I wanted to bring up.
First, I know there are a ton of you out there that have a PS2 version of this already. If that's the case, I'm not sure there's enough added content out-of-the-box to warrant buying the game a second time. The only difference would be about ten added titles to the soundtrack. Now, mind you, they're all great songs; but is what amounts to a CD enough for you to plunk down another ninety bucks?
Unfortunately, two of the features I was really pulling for on the 360 version aren't making the final release. I was wildly excited over getting a wireless guitar, but there was some kind of licensing hang-up with Microsoft over the use of their wireless technology. Red Octane has said that they're hopeful they'll eventually release a wireless guitar, but they couldn't get past the red tape fast enough. I'm a bit bummed, but, to Red Octane's credit, the wired guitar they included is really cool looking.
Secondly, I'm also a bit disappointed that there isn't an online multi-player competition. I thought it would have been awesome to have head-to-head rock-offs. I don't know if this is something they could work in later, but Microsoft's online play is so well done and so much fun that I'm always a little let-down when developers don't take advantage of it. It wound up being the only issue I dinged the game a star for. If that was included, this may have been as close to perfect as I could have hoped for.
The graphics for this aren't staggeringly better then the PS2 version, but on the other hand, they don't really need to be either. It's considered a high-definition game, but honestly, you'll probably only notice a small difference. In a game like this, you're looking at the play-ability. As long as the graphics aren't a distraction, that should be enough. The game play here is as addictive as any you'll ever hope to find.
The Co-op play with the bass-guitar mode is a lot of fun and a cool feature. I'm also really looking forward to seeing what song downloads end up being available on xBox marketplace. Jury's still out until we see the content, but that's a pretty cool feature that'll keep this game fresh for a long time.
As I mentioned before, if you're an xBox lifer, who's never had the chance to check out this former PS2 exculsive, you owe it to yourself to pick this up. If you already have the PS2 version, however, you'll be just as content to rock out with that for now. | video-games_xbox |
Fun, but dear God, give me variety. I played the demo for this game, liked it, so I bought the full version.
I was actually pretty pleased:
The graphics were amazing. The face's of the characters could have used a little more work, but other than that everything was vibarent and colorful. Combo moves exploded on the screen and as many as 700 "enemies" would be on the screen at one time- each one equal in quality and detail. Detail is another big plus; with armor, each individual plate that makes up the armor can be seen individually, robes can be seen in all the layers they are worn in, capes flow mystically as the character runs around- it's fantastic. The environments are beautiful too, sunsets, castles, forests, each one is finely detailed.
Gameplay- The gameplay's pretty straightforward. Tap the x button to do a "standard" attack, the y button to do a "hard" attack, and mix the combinations to do combos, it's your typical hack-n-slash. What's nice about this game though, is that the button combinations are different for each charcter. For the first character's first move it could be: xxyx, but a different character's first move could be: xy(hold)xx. So, getting comfortable with each character is necessary. Also, some strategy as far as when to pick up items exist... but not alot. Health is basically your only concern; if you pick up all the health as you see it drop, you'll be full at first, but when the boss battle comes by you wont' have any backup. Some weapons can be picked up for power boosts, but as you grow levels (max being 9), having strong weapons become less and less critical.
Overall, this is a great game, that's fun to look at and is fun if you're looking to kill a few hours. But it's the same exact thing every level- which can be very tiring. Also, a story is almost non-existant, or at least not very strong. But aside from those minor things, excellent game. | video-games_xbox |
A Halo game that if it never existed, it wouldn't matter. The Good: Feels like Halo with tweaked balancing, short and varied missions, a somewhat interesting story premise
The Bad: Story doesnt really go anywhere, characters have no development, boring hub world devoid of life, without hunting for audio logs the game is extremely short
Well I finally did it, I actually beat ODST. I rented the game when it first released and it was so boring I nearly fell asleep. I turned it back in after the first mission. In retrospect, I realized I just didn't know enough of the Halo universe to understand the story of ODST as non-fans won't quite understand this little slice of story, and thats exactly what ODST is, a slice of Halo.
You play as an ODST (Orbital Drop Shock Trooper) who are the grunts in the war fighting most of the fights while the series mainly focused on Master Chief. In ODST you are dropped into New Mombasa that is now completely overrun by Covenant and devoid of life. You were supposed to meet your fellow team mates for a mission, but everything went to crap, as usual, and now you have to figure out what happened to them. You are supposed to find clues as to what happened to each member and these result in flashback missions. After completing the game I realized how short it actual was with only about 8 missions or so. Outside of these missions finding 30 audio logs ends up being filler content as I spent most of my time with the game hunting these down for achievements.
If you don't bother hunting these down you're in for one short game, but this was just to help tide people over before Reach was released and for the inevitable release of Halo 4 that everyone wanted. Wandering around this hub is actually quite boring with the occasional Covenant fire fight breaking out. The city is devoid of everything and felt like unnecessary filler to add a couple extra hours of aimless wandering. There are objective markers for each clue, but getting to each one is tedious and has no point. The audio logs serve as a side story of what happened to the city and a particular inhabitant, but the actual story outside of this doesnt pick up until the end of the game which is really weird.
The mission is to retrieve the data of the Superintendent which is a huge data hive that is underneath New Mombasa. It turns out this was extracted by an alien species that becomes an ally and you must bring it back to Earth. I will actually praise ODSTs missions for being a decent length and mixing up the gameplay a little bit. While its the same Halo stuff we are used, its in shorter bursts. Vehicle sections mixed with highway sections mixed with on foot stuff works well here just like any other Halo game. There is some better balancing over Halo 3 (it uses the same engine) with better weapon handling and tighter mechanics. It still feels like Halo which is what counts, but this is obviously a diversion. I honestly asked myself in the end that if this game was never released would it have mattered? No, it wouldnt have, as its not a main Halo game and most people actually never played it.
In the end we get a mediocre Halo game with characters we really don't care about due to lack of character development. The graphics are decent and look even better on Xbox One, but what does it all mean in the end? Nothing we couldn't have gotten out of a novel or comic series and proves that ODST is just a diversion to stem the tide of anticipation for Halo 4. With a boring hub world and a broken story, ODST isn't a necessity for anyone, fans or non-fans alike. Play this if you just want to finish the whole series or feel like you need a break from the main road. | video-games_xbox |
Awesome with a Few Modifications. First off, let me say the product is an awesome idea and it delivers in the playability area with no problems! The only problems I have encountered with this item are in the area of portability. The desire to travel with my system was the driving, nay, the ONLY reason I purchased this item. I travel constantly for work. After dinner with some co workers the other night and talking about the case it came to my attention that the designer of the case is very familiar with our company, and he also liked to travel with his console. To that end it still delivers pretty well. The issues I have had follow:
TSA-
It would be better if the case opened completely and laid flat. As it is one must remove the console from the case and reassemble it when one goes through security. There is a workable design improvement there.
The hard plastic handle vs. airplane overhead space-
The handle sticks out to far to allow the over head compartment to close. Since there is no way I am checking this thing that is an issue. I resolved it easily enough by removing the handle. The ability to do that is a huge bonus! However, I wonder if a soft nylon handle even with a rigid rubber grip might not remedy this in future models.
Shoulder Strap D-Rings of death!-
The assembly attaching the D-Rings to the case needs some major improvement. I have found on numerous occasions that they will work their way out of the clip holding them to the case causing a sudden system impact with the ground. I have not had any permanent damage yet, but i attribute that mostly to vigilance and near ninja like reflexes that have allowed me to catch it or maneuver it to a softer landing. The rings pop out so that one can remove the shoulder strap. I get it. However, I think an easy improvement would be to enclose the ring in plastic rather than allow it to detach. Make the shoulder strap removable rather than the D-Ring they attach to. You know, like a laptop bag. I will modify mine so that they are permanently attached. No big deal there.
When I find a solution to the TSA thing I will try to update this. I have a couple of ideas, but don't want to start sawing on the thing until i have a solid plan. Now if the vendor wants to send me a couple of empty plastic shells (read without the tv in) I will be more than happy to try and mock some up and modify for weight of monitor later ;) | video-games_xbox |
Hard single player game, Laggy multiplayer. I finally got around to playing the spiritual sequel to Demons Soul's and it's just as hard as the predecessor. With this game though I had a friend to play through the game with me, which is much more fun than soloing through it.
Story:
Like Demons Souls, this game only has a minor story. They have a few cut-scenes in the game, but not really that much. You can also do some side missions as well that may have lasting impacts later on in the game. Other than that the game doesn't really have the story and is more based on the gameplay and difficulty.
Gameplay:
Here is where the real game is at, and trying to master the fighting styles in this game can be quite fun. You have to dodge, block, and parry your way through the various enemies that pop up along the way. You level up based on how many Souls (Experience and currency) you collect and each stat you increase makes your soul level go up.
Along with that if you play online and are a human you can get invaded at any time if you haven't killed that sections boss yet. You can also summon a friend to join your game to co-op with you (so in order to co-op you have to take a risk of being invaded). It makes for a really fun experience having to worry not only about the enemies, but human players as well.
While on the subject of PVP, it is a bit disappointing since I ran into a bunch of lag and ended up being killed in ways I shouldn't have and have had my weapon hit the enemy but no damage was calculated. Also, the camera seems to mess with you a lot at times and can get annoying and move slow when you are trying to fight enemies you need to avoid. Summoning friends can get really annoying as well, since it fails all the time and takes a few times to connect, if you're lucky the sign shows up at all.
Soundtrack:
The soundtrack is pretty cool, especially the boss fights. Makes the boss fights even more epic, and even if you wipe to them over and over, at least you have a cool theme to go along with that. The opening theme has parts of the Demons Soul's theme in it so I really enjoyed that.
Graphics:
The graphics have improved over Demons Soul's from what I can tell and the enchanted animations look really well made and make you stand out. The enemies look quite unique in this game, and I didn't really find myself finding ones that looked the same (except for the very first ones). You go to so many different locations and they all look amazing. They did a great job in creating the setting in this game.
Verdict:
If you wer
e planning on playing this by yourself I say pick this up. It's a great challenge that not many games have these days. New game+ is pretty hard though. If you're looking to PVP or co-op with a friend, rent it. I ran into so much frustration with this part of the game, so I can't recommend buying it if you just want to do those things. Overall it's a fun, challenging game that only some gamers would want to play.
~Written Feb, 2012
Positives:
* Challenging game
* Tons to do
* Hard to get 100% achievement list
* Great dark setting
Negatives:
* PVP lag
* Co-op failed to connect a lot
* Sometimes you have to fight the camera | video-games_xbox |
Great Game but Needs some work. Overall Crysis is a great game. Has a great plot a long campaign and a fun multiplayer. Graphics surpasses the expectation on the Xbox.
(Single Player) (9.75/10)
It is about a virus that has overtaken New York sent in by aliens. As a marine your mission was to rescue a man by the name "bishop", but you later learn that he is too infected by the virus. Bishop passes the Nano suit to you before committing suicide. From there you go on through about 10-13 hours of endless gameplay and alien killing. You also have to escape from the mercenary team "CELL".
(Multiplayer)(8/10)
Great Multiplayer, has a bunch of fun features and is unique in the FPS community. You have the ability to go into armor mode and cloak into the surrounding. This game is based on tactics and timing, make a wrong decision and you will be burned. Crysis multiplayer is very unforgiving. The maps overall are great except for a couple bad eggs but are easily avoided with their voting system. There is 3 classes of perks (Stealth, Power, and Armor) each can be leveled up to a maximum of 12 Levels. Each of these classes allows you to select a special perk for the game.
Cons- Although there is many good things in the Crysis multiplayer ! must point out the flaws. There is a problem with the host connection giving the player a large advantage. Hit detection is very poor and can be fustrating. Killing an enemy may take 4 bullets to even 15 bullets which is very inconsistant. Another major problem is that the multiplayer lacks a variety of weapons. there is a total of 2 SMGs, 3 Assualt Rifiles, 2 Snipers, 3 Shotguns and 2 Light MGs. As a player I prefer a large variety of weapons to give the game more taste. If you are a Free for All player you will find this game as a pain. In opinion i believe that there is too many people in a single game. A total of 12 players are placed in a game making it impossible to play. I found it difficult turing a corner without being killed. Another con is the poor spawn locations. They will literrally spawn you in front of your enemy either allowing you to kill them or them to kill you which is unfair to both parties.
But overall this game is very fun and i will be enjoying this for the next year. I will reccomend people to buy this game. The flaws are an easy fix, crysis is not very experienced in the console feild and is still learining to adapt to the world of console gaming. But never the less they included their prestigous PC gaming experience into the console community providing us with a quality game.
-sean ng | video-games_xbox |
This game is amazing...WIPEOUT FUSION, eat your heart out. While games like WIPEOUT FUSION try to get it right, QUANTUM REDSHIFT nips it in the bud and nails WIPEOUT FUSION to the wall(in every aspect). The GRAPHICS, GAME PLAY, FRAME-RATE(not a lick of slow down @ 60 FRAMES PER SECOND), WEAPONS, CONTROL, TRACK DESIGN, are all better than WIPEOUT FUSION by a country mile. The graphics are simply amazing, the explosions have awesome shock waves(which don't create any slow down) and the buildings, water and surroundings are all beautiful. There is this amazing water effect when you're in 1st person mode that is darn near 'STATE OF THE ART'. There is a couple of games that come close to this 1st person-water effect, one is EXTREME-G3 on the PS2(it's a harder-later race at night and it is raining. Really cool water effect in 1st person mode)and the other is TEST DRIVE on the original playstation(I believe it is the 'Russia' track and it too is raining, again, really neat water effect in 1st person mode. BY THE WAY, that game has awesome crashes!) Other than that I haven't seen any really neat water effects in 1st person mode racer games like QUANTUM REDSHIFT has. You'll see what I'm talking about, it's AMAZING! There is also a really neat effect I noticed while watching my replays. Some of the stationary cameras shake violently as the racers are blazing by. I love that touch and this game is full of little things like that. I can't really say enough about how pleased I am with this game...HOWEVER, there is a couple of NEGATIVE's though, but really don't take away from the game play itself. One is that the tracks seem a little short for my liking. I wish I could adjust the number of laps in QUICK RACE mode to make up for that, but there is sadly no option.(but, in it's defense, the harder the race you choose the more laps there are, but I still have no control over that PRE-SET number). ALSO, I don't think that the track "IN REVERSE" should be counted as a "SEPERATE TRACK". It says there are 16 tracks, will really there are 8, in both directions(8X2=16, NOT! It's really 8 tracks FORWARD and REVERSE. But, in it's defense, I haven't completed the game and there may be surprise extra tracks, but that's not likely the case). ALSO the short skits when the rivals are squaring off with each other are, for the most part, pointless and a waiste of valuable storage space(perhaps more tracks could have been added?). Other than that I LOVE THIS GAME. Heck, I can't emagine any race fan NOT liking this game! But some people like to sleep during their racing experience and...that's okay, however, if you are into SNOOZER race games like PROJECT GOTHAM(which I actually like, it just gets boring, very fast), or SEGA GT(no comment) this game may be too exciting for you. But if you like FAST PACED, HIGH SPEED, SHOOT'em UP, FUTURISTIC, COOL WEAPONS, COOL EXPLOSIONS, FLASHY TRACKS, ANTI-GRAVITY-POD RACER TYPE racing games then this game is for you. To put it simply...THIS GAME IS A MUST!!! | video-games_xbox |
Caveat Emptor (Let the Buyer Beware. Well lets begin this review with the games it includes:
XBLA (games will play without xbox live service)
Galaga Legions, Pac-Man Championship Edition, Mr Driller Online, Pac-Man, Galaga, Xevious, New Ralley X,Dig Dug and Ms Pac-Man
This disc is worth the price for just these games since they're the classics and remakes that are really good of the classics. Each game is worth a total of 200 acheivment points for a total of 1800 possible max points.
Museum Classics
Baraduke, Bosconian, Dig Dug II, Dig Dug Arrangement, Dragon Buster, Dragon Spirt, Galaga '88, Galaga Arrangement, Galaxian, Grobda, King & Ballon, Mappy, Metro-Cross, Motos, Pac & Pal, Pac-Man Arrangement, Pac-Mania, Pole Position, Pole Position II, Rally X, Rolling Thunder, Sky Kid, Sky Kid Deluxe, Super Pac-Man, and The Tower of Druaga.
With that you got some pretty good classics to choose from with a few title that could've bee left off but, hey why not. But, sadly theres support for leaderboards for these games or the usual acheivments for 1000 total for this game. (the game actually doesn't show up on your play list)
On the back of the box it doesn't state that these games will not have acheivments or that they do not support leaderboards. It's kinda miss leading cause it states on the back of the case that it supports leaderboards. Which is kinda true. It does for the XBLA games but, not the museum games. It should've stated that on the case.
I was looking to compare my best score of Galaga 88 and Pac-Mania highscores. Plus Dragon Spirt would have been fun to play online. I'm guessing with Microsofts rules for acheivements theres some odd reason why namco couldn't give you the normal achivements for the museum classic games collection. Since it's only available on disc and is new while the XBLA games are something in reality that is seperate.
Other than feeling kinda ripped on the classic museum it's still worth getting if you're missing key favorites of your past arcade games. Or wonder what the fuss is with aracade games that just won't die almost 30 years later..... | video-games_xbox |
Honestly see nothing wrong with them. People have had different views of PDP Afterglow's products. I'm not quite an expert though because this is my first product I've bought from them. Might buy a controller later on but anyway;
- Sound - This Headset sounds great for its cost. The three different audios are clear, The Bass Boost really does add a nice oomph of impact depending on what game/music your listening to. On PC, I use a Equalizer to increase the effect further when I really feel like having my head rattled so much the headset technically shakes itself(though long term usage-wise..it might not be advised to abuse it.)-Another Note- The've done well to add the Bass Boost without really distorting the Highs of the sound, though you can still notice the difference in contrast though.. The Virtual Surround Sound mode is probably what you will use with everything you listen to. It isn't no 7.1 but it does do a pretty good job of opening the "field of sound" from just your ears to your whole head to give a overall nice richness of sound.. The VSS mode, as it has on the box, will be able to obtain the highest high's out of all 3 modes and it can still capture a nice low to an extent. Technically, it's the Jack of all Trade mode. Then the Pure Audio is pretty much the normal default mode. It will always be set to it when you turn the headphones on.
- Value - About power usage, well, They certainly told the truth about how long they last. I haven't really ran into a loss of power problem since I've got them. Of course, I don't quite have the time to fully play them for 10-12 straight hours and if you use them in a mobile device, they don't really use power unless you manually turn the lighting effect on(because it's not automatic unless they're used on console or PC)The glow effect is awesome, of course. Some people I show them off to always ask do they sound as good as the look. All I do is let them have a test and they shut right on up lol.
- Design - The only thing I have a problem with is that the ear cups are quite bulky. Being 50mm drivers though, they do envelop your whole ear. And it will take a little time to get use to the feel. You can rotate the padding though until they feel right to you....and depending on the person, they may slightly squeeze your head when you first put the on. you just have to stretch them out a bit and "break them in" before they start feeling comfortable enough. Until then, you might have to take them off after a little while to give your head a rest.
- Overall - They sound great, they look great, they're wireless with a nice range to them. -Side Note- The wireless transmitor has a 3.5mm jack that can go into a mobile device as well, so if you have a AC wall unit with a usb, then you can pretty much turn your mobile device into wireless as well, as sort of an alternative to bluetooth. Anyway, all I can say is that they'll have to survive the test of time of course( months to years) without messing up in some way. The Golden Rule still applies: Take care of your things. Other than that, what more can you ask of in headphones. These are all-around nice.
- Update - I have been using the same exact same pair that I wrote this review on for over a year now :) and they still work beautifully. I will admit though, I have had a few scares with the sound completely dieing in one ear for a moderate amount of time, in which I'm still confused on why. All I did was give them a rest, charge them, and miraculously they went back to normal. I've carried this headset around several places, banged them a few times, yet they still live. The mic is a little fragile though considering mine has cracked a bit but all I did was apply a little bit of black tape and it's fine. The LED still works too. I just thought to do this update for anyone that reads the reviews. But seeing as the Prismatic version is out, that might not be likely :P | video-games_xbox |
Lacks content. It lacks content. This game, while fun, is just not worth full price. No fanboy can deny that. Single player starts off ok before devolving into a check the block COD knock off. The arrest mechanic, while fun at first, gets repetitive since bad guys react the same way every time. AI is just awful. But hey, who plays battlefield for single player, right? Hotwire and heist multiplayer modes are great. Conquest mode is neutered without attack helicopters and tanks. Sure it's a cops and robbers game, but if you are going to throw in a classic mode than Visceral/DICE shouldn't have been so lazy about it. They could have themed it to allow for the fun stuff. After all, they have tanks and attack choppers in the campaign. The few 5v5 modes are not worth your time as Counter-strike does them better. There are a few balancing issues and bugs that need to be ironed out, but overall it runs well. There is hardly any destruction outside of levolution events, which kind of makes sense so that people may use the grappling hook and a few other gadgets, but it's still a disappointment none the less. My biggest gripe is the overall lack of content. EA promised us that Hardline would have the same amount of content as BF4. That was a lie. You only get a few guns per class. Take the enforcer class for example, you get to choose between 2 shotguns or 2 medium range rifles. If you don't like any of those then you are sh$% out of luck. Same thing goes for pistols and for some reason they are locked to certain classes. Why can't I carry a Beretta or glock in the mechanic class? It seems to me like they stripped a lot of content to later sell as DLC, which is what this game should have been... themed DLC. While I cannot recommend at full price, I do recommend it if you can get it for $30 or less. Or just skip it all together since BF4 is running great and better titles are coming out this year. At full price - 2.5/5 stars. | video-games_xbox |
Enjoyable Viking Mayhem. So far I've played this game 3 times, and found it very enjoyable each time through. To really get a feel for how this game plays, you have to understand the kind of game it is--it's basically a one person hack-and-slay, where you are a viking warrior tromping your way through three big islands. On the way you can add some combat moves and add magic to your sword with runes, but other than that it's pretty simple. No complicated character generation, no fifty zillion skills and convoluted quests and NPC interaction. Just straightforward wandering through various quests and environments with your quick wits and quicker blades.
On the plus side, there's lots to love if you like this kind of game. 1. The graphics are gorgeous (especially on a large plasma), sometimes I like to stop at a mountaintop and just survey the fabulous vista, and you can see really far into the distance.
2. The quests are pretty simple fetch-type missions, nothing overly complicated here. For variety there are some infiltration type missions that are fun, where you get a lot of "oh crap I just barely slipped out of sight of that huge patrol of 200 bad guys" moments. Also, the quests flow very nicely, and I found it difficult to put down the controller...just one more quest!
3. The combat is just plain fun. One of you, bunches of them, and you can't get away with mindless button mashing, or you'll get pummelled in an ambush with five or more bad guys. Plus there are champions and giants that are visually intimidating and therefore fun to charge at full tilt!
4. The large scale battles. This is the real treat here; during the course of your missions you recruit viking warriors for your army. Once you've accomplished a certain number of missions, in the order of your choice, you can unleash an assault or even a large scale siege on a fortress. There's gazillions of guys on both sides, arrows flying everywhere, dragons blasting things overhead (on your side, luckily, and you can control them), and just miles and miles of endless carnage and mayhem, complete with over-the-top severed limbs and bloody sprays everywhere. I mean, come on, you gotta love that.
5. The dialogue is not great, but at least believable, and there's no warrior-babe bimbos in chainmail bikinis (like that blonde in Ninja Gaiden II) to ruin the overall gloomy nordic atmosphere, captured beautifully by the music, graphics and story. Ok so Hel's outfit is stupid, but other than that the women are shamans that wield powerful magic to aid you on your quest, rather than the usual silicon caricatures you see in video games.
Quibbles:
1. Your main character is hardly fleshed out at all, and the story is really just an excuse for you to go romping accross the land chopping your way to glory. Yeah, it's fun, but it could have been better with a "gears of war 2" style gripping story to move it along. If only...
2. The "Hard" difficulty is barely distinguishable from the "normal" difficulty. Once you get the hang of it, you can bash your way through both with little trouble. They needed a difficulty level that was harder than these, perhaps a "you gotta be kidding me!" type level with highly aggressive bad guys.
3. They could have done waaaay more with Norse mythology than they do here, which is just a catfight between Freya and Hel. Where is the mighty Odin? What about the dreaded Fenris Wolf? The trickster Loki? I really missed these elements--perhaps in a sequel.
4. Your main hero should have had a beard. I mean, he's a viking plunderer after all :)
But over all it's lots of fun and has repeat play potential, and despite the beard comment, your hero looks a lot like that big guy from "the 13th Warrior". If you liked that movie, incidentally, you'll love this game, because it's pretty much the same thing. One viking dude versus boat loads of baddies, summon dragons, summon armies, invoke flame, ice or lightening runes and lay waste to the countryside!
Folks looking for an "Oblivion" or "Fable" type game with complex character development are likely to be disappointed. Adolescent minded players interested in jiggly warrior babes (a la Soul Caliber 4) will also be disappointed, and gamers interested in gripping story lines (Gears 2) or nail biting paranoia (Dead Space) will also be underwhelmed. Skarin (your hero), has little use for idle chatter, fears nothing, and is more interested in slaughtering the enemy in the heat of frenzy, raising a massive viking horde, and swarming the fjords with bloodthirsty berserkers and wreaking flaming vengeance on Hel's towering castles with dragonfire. All he needs is to know where the bad guys are and a few tools to hack them to pieces (in slo-mo sometimes), and he's happy to do Freya's bidding.
Hope that helps you decide whether or not to buy this older title. | video-games_xbox |
Disappointed and Frustrated. The first Kinect Sports is one of my favorite titles: It's tight, polished and can get your heart going. This title by contrast is limp, very buggy, and a yawn. If you hadn't known better, you might have thought this was first title in the series and the original was the polished sequel.
-Baseball: A complete mess. In the tutorial they demonstrate stepping with the same leg you throw with. They teach you how to slide in to first(!!). It goes downhill from there. Every time I hit a double, the announcer states I've scored a run. When the announcer says I've hit a base hit, I'm suddenly in a race to beat the fielder from throwing me out from left field. Sliders are announced as fastballs and curves. I'm convinced the developers have never played or seen a baseball game in their life. It is really that bad.
-Football: Also a mess and dumbed down to offense only, no defense. Unlike Track and Field, running harder doesn't appear to make you run faster.
-Tennis: Think table tennis from the last title on a larger scale with less skill. In fact, you have a wider range of movement in table tennis from the previous title then you do in full tennis here.
-Skiing: Pretty boring and exactly what you'd expect. Race the AI opponent to the finish line.
-Golf: One of the better activities, although the sensitivity is becoming very frustrating. No matter how slow I swing, I'm always hearing "He's absolutely crushed it" from the announcer. This makes putting difficult as you can imagine, short shots are sent gliding over the hole. Unfortunately the sensitivity is nothing like real golf, I might be better off if I didn't play the real thing.
-Darts: Ironically the sport I was least looking forward to is the most polished in the game, Darts. It feels like the developers spent more time fleshing this activity out then the others. I've had more fun in Darts then the other sports, all seem to just be an exercise in frustration.
There is no sport in here that gets your blood going, all of them are quick bursts of energy then wait around. They are all very bland to me. I was really hoping they would have fleshed out Track and Field or Soccer into larger titles, but we are left with 6 mediocre sport mini-games. Very disappointed. On the technical side, we seemed to have taken a step backwards. The Kinect recognition has been really flakey in areas, even the speech recognition is very hit and miss. It's been a very frustrating experience. | video-games_xbox |
Pretty Solid. UPDATE: So I played most of the night on Battlefield and COD. I put in about a good 5 hours into that session and loved what I herd from these. The sounds were loud and in your face, err well ears I guess. They were consistently crisp and loud, also threw in Forza some more and loved the emphasis on the V12s roaring and the tires moving screeching from left ear cup to the right. For you headset buffs out there I for got to mention that these are STEREO, so no surround sound sadly or any special EQ boosters or buttons or anyhting of that sort, with that said In my honest opinion Im okay with that. I know having different EQ modes is nice but just being able to have a gaming headset for chat on my XBONE thats all I can ask for. The controller can't output true 5.1 or 7.1 to begin with itll be simulated so in all honesty the stereo is great here. The only complaint I would have to say is that after that session I did feel those cans on me, not to worry they're comfortable but you notice them after awhile it is most likley due to the fact that since the console has come out that I've just been using the standard mic so it may take some getting used to. All in all I stand behind my review and love these things a lot, again for the first of many headsets (lets face it there will be more) I think they were great for what you pay for out of the box, any question anyone has I'll be happy to answer, I will add a video review in the coming days. Thanks guys! Hope you enjoyed this review!
So yesterday I picked up the 4 shots by Polk and wrote an in depth review, though I liked them after spending a night with them I found that the voice chat was very sub par, Polk did come out and issue that they were going to fix the headset with an update but they did say that wouldn't be for another two weeks. Normally I'd wait but with titanfall out on tuesday and having this whole time without a headset I went back to swap them for these. So heres whats in it and how I like them so far:
Contents:
XO Seven headset
Xbox Chat Adaptor
Xbox Chat Cable (3.5 mm)
Phone/MP3 Cable (3.5 mm)
Removeable Mic Boom
Instructions with a sticker yay! :P
Side note: the Cables are break away, I'll get into that later.
Presentation:
As you all may know with turtle beach they like to go big on their packaging and make it look premium, nothing short of that here. The box features a cover that slides off to reveal a smooth white box with the contents neatly inside. As you open up the book like door reveals the headset itself with the adaptor and instructions on top, underneath will be the remaining cables.
Comfort & Weight:
Similar to the 4 shots they are pretty snug. I will say that there is a little more wiggle room then the 4 shots but if you have a huge cranium still maybe a little tight. The ear cups are a tad bit bigger which is very nice and feature memory foam padding which feels great to the ear, with that said the only issue I can see stemming from this is that you may get hot if you're having a pretty long session. They are a very durable build and the materials are well put together. Not that I hate the past turtle beaches but I've always felt they've been a little on the flimsy side. In any case pretty sturdy. The weight isn't too bad on these guys though after a session you will notice them on your head. I like them better than the 4 shots while they're a little bigger I prefer them.
Sound:
Whats there to say? Outstanding job here. I will say that they are a little more bass-y than the 4 shots and are pretty freaking loud to say the least. I played battlefield 4, Forza 5 and Killer Instinct and all of them sounded terrific. I was really blown away by how immersed I felt with each game, battlefield had a lot going on from being in a vehicle to a fire fight the explosions were great. Killer instinct worked well too, each punch or hit sounder more and more brutal as I played, again well done here. As it states it has 50 MM speakers in each ear help pound out the sound and into your ears. While the headset has a little more bass to it and you can hear a tad bit more the polks are a tad bit more acoustically sounding for music, I listened to my xbox music channel and didn't quite feel that sound as much as i did form the polks but it was nice nonetheless. Plugging them into mu iPhone was also very good sound. I took a couple off calls and put on spotify to test the sound and both were exceptional. All in all solid.
Design:
As you can tell these are akin to the XP Sevens on the 360, same materials same design, pretty much the same here just optimized for the xbox one and obviously Chat compatible on the one. As i said in comfort I like the way it feels and I like the materials but do like the contemporary style of other headsets as well. There is nothing wrong in terms of design here and its very signature of TB, But I would like them to maybe change it up a bit sure if its not broke don't fix it but again i would just like to see it. One drawback with these like the 4 shots is I can barley hear myself talk, I do know it adds the immersion, but sometimes I need to remind myself than I'm talking louder than I realize, granted not all headsets can have SVM (Warheads). Almost for got to mention the chat cable features a break away inline cable for switching to the game adaptor to cell phone/MP3 use. Its very seamless, although I do have to say that in the break away part its a five pin connector, those that had the very first AX 720s or the Black ops version know what I'm talking about they had that in the decoder box and I had a couple of those pins break on me so be sure to line them up each time you switch cables, I know it sounds dumb but its happened and it sucks. It does have a line on the side of the break away part so you line up the pins so you really cant mess it up, the cord is a tad bit long for it only going to the controller but hey its not as long as the 720s used to be.
Voice Chat:
Okay so this department is what killed it for me with the other headset. Its safe to say that I have had no issues so far with these. The mic isn't too sensitive and can be removed easily without a problem. I can hear my friends very clearly through the headset and they herd me just fine without me being too loud, I again found a way to keep the game sound balanced and have a good game and chat flow. I will add in the adaptor description from my pervious review for those that didn't read it.
MS Chat Adaptor:
Basically the way it works is its divided into five buttons: the left side has a controller button the is for game chat, while the one on the bottom controls the voice chat, in the middle you'll find your mute and on the right its + and - volume controls. I know seems confusing but after my buddy look at forum boards heres what we cam up with. On the left side you basically can decide if you want more game audio or more chat audio. Out of the box it comes in at 50/50 game and chat. Essentially you have volume ranging from 0-16 on that side meaning, if you put it all the way to zero you'll have all voice chat and ZERO game. If you press the button 16 times your ears will pretty much bleed and you won't hear your friends..at all. Hence being 50/50 (8 presses) you be good to go. once you get it balanced to where you like you can then adjust that with the right side.
Overall:
So far I don't have any gripes and I feel that they're great on the sound and comfort. If you can look past the price tag of $160 (thats the standard for headsets like these nowadays) these are solid. Outside of the XO Fours and the 4 Shots you'll need the adaptor for any other existing headset. If you have a go to one from the previous gen stick with it and get the adaptor, If you're looking for a more contemporary look go with the 4 shots once the update comes out. I will use these tonight and if anything comes up I'll be sure to update this info and let you guys know how it goes. | video-games_xbox |
For fans of HBO's Band of Brothers; GREAT strategy game. If you are looking for another Call of Duty 4, this is NOT it. Sure its an FPS with shooting and explosions, but there is so much more to this game. Don't get me wrong, COD 4 is awesome in its own right, filled with fast paced action, great graphics, explosions and Hollywood moments; the Golden Standard for any new FPS to come out. So, with that in mind, if you play Hell's Highway with this mindset, you might disappoint yourself, which is too bad because Brothers in Arms is a great game in a category all of it's own.
If you have ever seen the HBO miniseries Band of Brothers, that same look and feel from the series is obvious within the first 15 minutes of the game. The opening of the game is presented in a style similar to a Hollywood picture, with great camera angles, music score, and just overall presentation. If you enjoy playing games with a good story and enjoy seeing what is happening behind the scenes of all the shooting and gameplay, then you will certainly enjoy the ride as the folks at Gearbox went to painstaking efforts to portray a grand story filled with emotion and presentation.
Now on to the bread and butter, gameplay. If you enjoyed the previous installments of the Brothers in Arms games you will be pleased to know that the formula has remained the same, albeit with some minor changes. You can now hug the walls similar to Rainbow Six: Vegas for added cover, as well as issue orders to a machine gun team for fire suppression, and a bazooka team to battle entrenched enemies and tanks. Now, if you want a challenge from the simple run and gun gameplay of most shooters, then you will love employing your own strategies to tackle every single mission. There are multiple ways to tackle every single firefight, from setting up a base of fire and flanking left or right, using grenades, or just throwing caution to the wind going head-on and hoping for the best (which doesn't bode well at all). I remember one instance when two big groups of Germans were walking towards me in formation and I had about 5 seconds to set up an ambush or risk being slaughtered since I was out in the open. Naturally, it took several tries, but when I got it right the feeling of victory was SWEET!! It is times like this when you feel your adrenaline pump because while you have to accomplish your missions, you still have to take out the Germans while issuing orders to your teams with loads of bullets whizzing all around you. This sort of action gets your brain going this way and that, and though it may be hard to concentrate and keep your focus, you begin to understand how hard and stressful war really can be, and not just another Hollywood-sized Call of Duty 4 spectacle. | video-games_xbox |
A bulwark classic and the best of the Call of Duty bunch. I stumbled upon this game back in late 2007 and after some time playing it, was instantly hooked on it. This was the fourth entry in the Call of Duty franchise, and the first of the "Modern Warfare" trilogy spin-off of the series. Released in 2007, the game was a massive success and sold millions of copies and it deserved the success and praise it got.
The media frenzy, cultural impact it had was nearly unprecedented and the feel and controls that COD4 had were unrivalled by any game I had played before and in the years since, it has remained my favorite game of the series.
Although the game's title says "Call of Duty 4", the story line completely breaks away from the World War II themes of the first three and is set in the then-near future with a bloody civil war erupting in the Middle East, and also another civil war in Russia between a weakening government of moderates and 'loyalists' on one side, and a vicious ultra-nationalist movement lead by a ring leader named Imran Zakhaev and a British Special Ops team is sent out to track down a nuclear device that has gone missing and attempt to stop the ultra-nationalists from taking control of Russia.
The story mode of the game built on what is now, a kind of stale theme plot, but back when the game came out, it was very well-written and lots of fun to follow as well. The characters, although a bit hard to follow immediately eventually became very 3-dimensional and eventually to where you wanted to learn about their histories.
The graphics are absolutely amazing, even if the game now shows it's age and the sound effects were groundbreaking and very realistic. This made the game one of the most intense and adventurous military shooter games of all time in the closing months of 2007 through the middle of 2008.
The multiplayer was so much fun and had really amazing sound effects, excellent and very detailed (By late 2007-standards) graphics and realistic looking sceneries, and very brutal, realistic sound effects which made it worth the many hours I sank into playing it. It's a shame that now many mods and hackers have made it almost unplayable nowadays but playing "COD4"'s multiplayer was great fun back in the day.
I've for the most part have now moved on from the "Call of Duty" series but "Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare" and it's two sequels remain staple favorites on the Xbox 360. Highly recommended. | video-games_xbox |
Customer support is a joke, flawed product. My problems with the headset are not related to the sound, as I don't use them on my pc; I use them for surround sound on my television.
I bought these barely used. They didn't even look used, to tell the truth. I used them constantly because I am a gamer at heart. Having very little experience with other high/er-quality headsets, I would say they're great for those of use who want surround sound, especially in their headset and want a wireless headset with customizable sound, and want the ability to customize the speaker tags. (I bought this right before the A50 came out).
Comfort and aesthetics: 1/1
They are oh so comfortable. You will forget all about the weight, if you ever even notice at all. I know I didn't. They look nice, especially if you drop some extra for custom tags that you design yourself. The only way they could look nicer is no plastic headband.
Performance: 1/1
They work and they work well. The microphone is excellent. Others will insist you are int he room with them, and you can hear others clearly (sometimes too clearly)..
Durability: 0/1
Due to their design, you will have problems with the plastic bits especially. If you don't believe me, do some searches about their flaws and defects. Be it wires popping out from faint/no mishandling, or becoming permanently stained (pvc-type plastic is my guess), or cups randomly not working, or what-have-you, these seem to only stay in wonderful condition if you treat them like ancient silk. Keep them in the exact same position on your head, remove them very slowly and carefully, and store them in the same position when not in use. Note that from my experience, whatever is "going wrong" the headset will still mostly work.
Customer support: 0/1
The support is completely random. You will either get a response extremely quickly, or not at all. Expect c.support to ask you for pictures of your headset. Don't have a camera? Then don't expect to do any sort of warranty exchange, not even if you bought the extended warranty like I did. I am fairly convinced they stall on warranty issues to make you waste a much of your warranty time as possible so you'll do fewer exchanges.
A different angle: 1/1
This is a much cheaper route for surround sound that a normal system of the same quality. For gamers, it's incredibly useful to tweak your sound so you hear what's coming up behind you with the Rx/mixamp.
I feel like it only deserves two stars, but they received three so that's what I've marked.
EDIT!: I started the warranty exchange process in June or July. I am here to say that it is finally finished: new headset arrived about a week ago. That's five/six months of my warranty gone without use of headset. They refunded my extended warranty, but now I'm out-of-warranty. | video-games_xbox |
Perfect Deal for Those Wanting Elite Controller. FYI, I purchased this from Gamestop in November of 2015. My purchase was for the full $499 but it also came with a free game of my choice (I picked COD: BLOPS 3 and regretted it haha). Even at the full price, this was an amazing offer for the following reasons: 1. I really wanted the elite controller and it was sold out EVERYWHERE at the time. This bundle was even sold out most places. 2. If you subtracted the $150 price of the controller from the bundle I basically got a hybrid 1 TB console for $350 (which was a really sweet deal at the time, prices are lower right now). 3. It came with a free game of my choice. Do NOT pay full price for this bundle unless it comes with at least one game. As of the today, this bundle is $439 ($60 off or about the price of a new game), so make sure to get a good deal here. Not that the console isn't worth it without a good deal, just that at this point deals ARE out there and you should save or get free stuff whenever possible!
Now I will move on to the controller and then get to the console itself. The Elite controller is simply amazing. I love the weight (I don't get the odd hand fatigue some people talk about due to the heavier controller), I love the material (nice grip on it, and lots of metal components), and the premium look/feel this all attributes to. Above all I love the paddles and the magnetic system for attaching everything. It is SO easy to remove and swap out everything, yet it is still plenty secure while playing. I have NEVER lost/slipped a magnetic paddle, D-Pad, or stick while playing. This convenience is great, because if I am playing a game that doesn't require paddles, I take them off and put them in the controller case (which is also great by the way). Often times I will play with all four paddles, then no paddles, then just two paddles in the sames sitting with different games. Especially when just using it as a media remote, it is nice to be able to remove the paddles. When it comes to competitive games (from COD and Halo to even the likes of Rocket League) the paddles are your friend. I simply don't even want to play these same games without them!
The elite controller is simply the best I've ever used. I have played all Xbox consoles, most Playstations, all Wii consoles, and many Nintendo. Admittedly, I haven't tried a Scuff controller or other 3rd party upgrade, but I did lots of research before I went with the Elite comparing them and I have no regrets.
As far as the console itself, I will just name off some of my favorite features since at this point in the cycle everyone should be well aware of the basics.
The hybrid 1 TB hard drive is great. I can't compare it to a non hybrid drive as I haven't used that model of Xbox One yet, but it is very snappy with loading times. Also, 1 TB is essential given how you get 4 free games a month (two Xbox One games and two backwards compatible Xbox 360 games). Even with the larger drive I still usually just "purchase" the free games and cancel the install unless I really like them. You can always install them later.
One of my favorite features is streaming my games to my laptop. It is so easy and convenient! It is great to not have to move the xbox to another room to play it while my wife is watching one of her shows, or we are watching something together. We will just use our Chromecast to watch the show and I'll just connect my laptop over wifi and off I go! Even without being wired to the internet I can still play competitive multiplayer games (with rare noticeable lag). This is a wonderful feature.
Another favorite of mine is the Kinect. While I won't review that here (as it is a separate purchase from this bundle at about $100), it is an awesome accessory that my wife and I use daily. I did NOT get it to play games (though there are a couple decent ones like kinect sports if you get at a low enough price), but instead I got it for voice commands, workouts, and Skype. Not all of the voice commands work super well, but as soon as you learn the ones that do and in what situations they are ideal for, it is a pretty sweet deal. I love getting home from work and telling the Xbox to turn on haha. Also love using Skype with it. Previously we would huddle around a laptop on the table or hold up a smartphone to video chat, which was never very comfortable for extended chats with far away family. Now, we can lean back on the couch!
The main reason I went with Xbox is because of the style of controller (not a fan of joystick placement on playstation) and the exclusives (gotta have my halo). From the view times I have seen similar games played on both consoles, I have not noticed any compelling difference in gameplay or graphics to make that a major deciding factor for me.
I have been extremely happy with this bundle, and have had no regrets so far! | video-games_xbox |
Gameplay can be fun, but cloud saves and network issues create a huge disappointment. I received this game as a gift, and I liked playing it for a couple of weeks. The NPCs have OK AI when racing against you or chasing you as the cops. The mix of NPCs and human players online is OK, too. The map is fairly large, with quite a few races that allow multiple routes from start to finish. It is a decent game, until you run into problems with the online "features".
A couple of days into playing the game, I started to notice that I was frequently being disconnected from an online game (the default gameplay mode), often times in the middle of a race. My game would be migrated to another host. These came out of the blue, no warnings. Soon, these host migrations became too frequent for me to tolerate. I would get disconnected three or more times within a 15-minute period. I would usually give up playing after the second or third disconnect in a game session. I started playing the game in single player mode to avoid the disconnects. You lose the ability to play against other humans online, but at least you can finish a longer race without interruption.
Then I got hit with the cloud save bug. My save game had reverted to a state from a week before, losing any progress saved between then and now. After checking into a hide out or command post to save my progress, and even after restarting my Xbox One and seeing that the progress had been saved, I lost several ranks in both Racer and Cop story lines on a subsequent system restart.
EA tech support told me that they were having a temporary issue with cloud saves and that they would restore the game. They lied. Checking the EA forums shows that this "temporary" issue is apparently a known bug (even if EA denies it) that has been reported several times since November by numerous players. Any suggestions in the forums for this bug have yielded no results (users claiming to have fixed it later find out the hard way they did not). And now Ghost has laid off employees. Essentially, it looks like consumers are getting the shaft from EA (again).
If you have a physical disc, at least you might be able to recoup a few bucks from GameStop or reselling the game yourself. If you bought the digital download, it appears you are out of luck. | video-games_xbox |
The Last Call of Duty game I will ever play. I will try to keep this short. I have been a huge fan of the call of duty game series on Xbox 360. Main game, and multi-player both. Black ops 2, leaves me angry more often than not.
First off, the Main story is ill thought out, and bounces around too much. Not to mention the RTS missions where you can bounce between units to protect assets. Completely eliminates the Call of duty first person shooter experience, and essence in my opinion. The story line also just steals Ideas from movies, and mushes them into a disgusting mess that will leave you laughing the whole time.
Multi-player. One word, Terrible. What did they do? Hit detection is terrible, the guns are terrible, the lack of +1 chamber loading that BF3 and MOH:WF figured out finally. I am now completely convinced that the developers at both studios for the Call of duty franchise, have no understanding of actual weapons, or physics. Also, good luck throwing the axe. If you were good at throwing the knife in MW3, you will hate Black ops 2 even more. There is not one good thing about the multi-player that I can even think of. Earning kill streaks is stupid, the maps are awful, and changing hosts every 2mins is exhausting. Let's not even get into the bugs that haven't been patched.
Overall, I am happy to report that I will soon complete a few achievements, then cut the disk in half with scissors, toast it in a toaster, then light it on fire, finishing off what is left with a rusty hammer.
After that I will probably Play a game that wasn't made by a 3rd grader, only designed to rob its fans of $60+. I can't believe that one of my favorite first person shooters was ruined in such a way. I am completely done with the Call of Duty franchise, as I know most of us are. What an awful end, to something that had such a good run. Please don't make any more, you will be wasting your time.
Only buy this game for someone that you hate deep down in your soul. | video-games_xbox |
Barely worth renting. I would like to start off with for what is the strongest selling point of a game, the story. As far as I can tell having played through this game, the story is horrible. Its not explained whats happening, what you are doing, and even who you are. Who are the Azeir? I couldn't tell you. For a game that was sitting in development for so long, they sure did not do anything with the story. Did the humans make the red-eyes? Are we on one planet? What is the deal with the Norse mythology? No one knows. I go onto Wikipedia or check the wiki sites, no one knows. This for me ruined the game, I decided to just go back to Fallout 3 (Which conversly, has a story).
The gameplay was horrible, the controls for attacking limited to say the very least. I found myself continually mashing the thumbsticks and occasionally doing something that helped. Ranged weapons were really quite useless, the whole "juggling" aspect was inane and useless. Again, for a game to be in development for so long, why are there no combo moves? No specific gameplay stratagies for different weapon classes? Why is the laser the most weak gun for no good reason? Not to mention I found it quite infuritating when a "god" couldn't do basic first aid to himself, I found the respawning happening far too often later in the game.
The camera... yeah... about that. It almost seemed like they wanted this game to fail, the camera was all but useless. Not to mention it often tried to show how beautiful the game is (It really is) but ends up making you lose track of where you are and whom your fighting. Not to mention from time to time the camera shows you something that makes no sense. You are aboard this "world serpent", which by a view behind you, is launching ICBMs. To where? No clue, because when you finish the stage nothing has been leveled by nuclear explosions. Did the level designer just not talk to the plot writer? Maybe there just was no plot writer, which would explain quite a few things.
I really wanted this game to be good, I wanted to enjoy playing it. But after playing 10 hours into the game, the only reason I continue was to get more achievment points to best my brother. Games are meant to be like books, have a plot that is fun to read (In this case, play). I wouldn't recommend even renting this game, its not worth the $8 at Blockbuster. | video-games_xbox |
Good value charging solution, but not without drawbacks. I already owned the official MS battery packs, but ordered this because I wanted a more graceful charging solution. I previously bought the Power A DS4 charger and was pleased with it so I took a chance on the X1 version. I like that the chargers can act as a storage/stand for the controllers, even when they are not being charged.
The design of this unit is sort of janky compared to the PS4 version, but that is largely due to the way MS designed their controllers vs. Sony. The unit is more bulky than the PS4 counterpart and takes up more real estate in my entertainment center. Both units are made out of cheap feeling plastic, but this one ends up feeling even cheaper due to its larger size. Utilizing the the micro USB port on the controller for charging might have been a more elegant solution than the custom battery door they went with, but what do I know. Appearances aside, the charger does work as intended.
I did notice 2 main drawbacks vs. the official MS battery kit, however:
1. The battery life is significantly shorter. Not a huge deal since it comes with 2 batteries and you can always keep one fully charged so long as you have a spare controller, but it does drain noticeably faster. I usually need to charge the MS batteries every 2-3 weeks with my usage, whereas these need to be charged weekly.
2. While you can still plug in a USB cable to resume play if the batteries run out mid game, doing so will not actually charge these batteries like it does with the official MS packs. You will ultimately have to put the controller back on the charger to get it to charge.
I suppose you get what you pay for seeing as how this entire kit (charger and 2 batteries) was cheaper than a single official battery pack from MS. This kit is definitely a good value, though it does have some downsides. I haven't decided yet whether or not to continue using it or go back to my official batteries. If you value power longevity above all, it's probably best to go with the MS battery. | video-games_xbox |
Diablo + Halo + Mad Max? Yes, please. Borderlands is structured like an RPG but plays like an FPS - what an awesome combination of win for a game! Striking visuals, satisfying gun play, an insane amount of variety to your offensive and defensive arsenal, and a randomized loot drop system that will leave you wondering what sweet new toy will you discover on your next mission.
The areas you explore in Borderlands are expansive and broken up into zones. Some of these zones are initially inaccessible either by an un-triggered mission or by enemies many levels higher than you making initial exploration, difficult or impossible. The game zones are huge and give you lots of room to move and even drive around. Don't go looking for lots of large settlements or cities, it's mostly a dry barren desert wasteland with scattered settlements/outposts here n' there. Think more like Mad Max... like... Bartertown. :)
Visually this game is a real treat using a very smartly designed cell-shading-esque design that looks great and doesn't yield that 'cartoony' feel, but almost as if it was a photo realistic game image-filtered over with that visual style. It's a refreshing change of pace that really adds it's own originality to the gaming scene.
In terms of game play it's important to mention that this is still at it's aesthetic and structural core, a role playing game. Health bars appear over characters, damage numbers pop out of targets when hit, loot drops everywhere, and enemies (including some boss encounters) respawn when you return to a game zone you previously explored and cleared out. As it is required for you to level up in this game to succeed, this is the aspect of 'grinding' you must know, accept, and love. People looking for a linear 'railed' gaming experience found in most first/3rd person shooters will need to look elsewhere. But as a hybrid of these two genres the RPG elements are easy enough to follow and implement while the FPS gun play is very responsive and completely satisfying.
Like the dungeon crawler Diablo, Borderlands is essentially a loot lovers dream. You will discover (literally) thousands of different guns, upgrades and augmenting devices and they will all be different and unique in some way. And just like your RPG games, some weapons are common while some are extremely rare/legendary. Unfortunately you can't stash all your prized possessions in some kind of 'magical chest of holding' for long term storage; you gotta make it all fit on your character or you'll need to sell it or let it go. This is the aspect of the game that really hurts the most. You'll come across some ridiculously awesome weapons and you'll have to choose what stays and what goes out of your inventory. If you're a veteran to the RPG scene, you already know this pain very well, but for newcomers to the genre - prepare to make some tough decisions on which weapons become your new favorites.
There is so much more to cover in Borderlands like: character perks, split-screen co-op, and 4 player online co-op to name a few, but I really wanted to focus on the style of game Borderlands is. It meshes that blend of new and very familiar that makes the game unique in its own right. Whether its "Game of the Year" is yet to be seen, but for this fresh new IP to even be mentioned in the same sentence with GOTY, is a testament to Gearbox for its brave and innovative approach on two very well traveled genres. | video-games_xbox |
A so far so-so follow-up. When I pre-ordered SOD2 I had hopes it would be a huge improvement over the first. It IS an improvement, but not a huge one. The biggest positive change is being able to play together with friends. Unfortunately, what you do is basically get invited from your own game to join them in theirs (or vice versa) where you help out for a bit with rewards awaiting you when you return to your game.
This does help your odds of survival, as the more in your party, the better, particularly when going after infestations and, especially, plague hearts. But despite pre-ordering in order to receive the special items promised by Amazon, you don't get those. I had to go back to the Amazon page to find it NOW says they will be received within 7 days, something it did NOT say when I ordered my copy of the game. So I have to muck through with the average gear until then. So much for being special and pre-ordering.
The graphics are good, if not great. There is a lot of lag when playing together that doesn't exist when playing separately, and characters are always in each others way. I often find myself pinned and unable to move at all if a friend and one of their fellow survivors are standing close by. It's worse if there are three players all trying to operate in a building along with another tag-along survivor. It can be very frustrating, and even dangerous, as you can't fight back or help your friends if you can't move.
Like the previous SoD, you have to delicately balance the needs of your community, finding food, medicine, ammo, improving your settlement, finding and taking care of (and repairing!) a vehicle, not to mention weapons, ammo, etc. No settlement is big enough to provide you with everything you need. I have an infirmary (you are basically forced to have one of these as one of your two starting characters starts with the blood plague that will turn him into a zombie), a garden (for food/meds) and the third slot you need to use for outdoor beds, a shooting range, repair shop, toilets, etc. You can't have all of them.
You can create more bedding by claiming outposts but you can't build improvements on outposts so they're of somewhat limited use. It's a fun game, but then the first game was fun. I'm undecided if the hoopla is really deserved. I haven't finished a game yet. In my latest game my two best survivors were murdered when completing a "meet the neighbors" mission and the neighbors swarmed out of the house and beat them to death before they could escape (at the same exact moments zombies attacked). I won't be doing any of those missions ever again. It seems rather unfair to be told you need to do this for a survivor if it is destined to lead them to their death.
So far, it's just "ok" - three stars with a chance for four. Review will be updated to reflect my future ratings once I've been able to finish the game. | video-games_xbox |
Had so much potential to be better. To be honest, I'm sort of in the middle ground about this game. No, I didn't finish it, but I've already had then ending spoiled for me by everybody who applauds it as the best game of the year, and some even say EVER. I did, however, play for about two months and couldn't do it anymore.
Frankly, I thought this game would be amazing. "Oblivion with cowboys" was what the guy who made me buy it hailed it as. If he meant a huge world like Elder Scrolls, yea, he was right on the money. It opens well, and it's fun for about a week. But like Oblivion, it takes months to finish. The biggest reason for that is that this game is 20% story, 80% side missions that don't matter. A lot of gamers don't have the patience for a game that lasts months, especially when it's as glitchy as the 360 version is (I don't know about the PS3 version).
Everybody's already talked about the tedium of running on horseback for virtual miles on end, but it's even worse when your horse is killed out in the middle of nowhere and you have to walk to the next town, which could be anything from 10 minutes to hours away. Your horse will die at least once. I guarantee it. Everybody's rambled about catastrophic glitches. The only one I really noticed was the autosave feature didn't work. The side missions are terrible and boring. Some people say this game is too easy, but I actually found it to be annoyingly difficult.
The graphics were "amazing" but I've seen better, really. They were fairly accurate in their setting (cacti for the specific region were right, the animals looked pretty good, etc) however, graphics don't make a game.
I did have fun in this game for the first month I played and only got 12% done or so. Breaking your own horse was fun, the first 20 times. It is a game that only certain people could love, and I really wasn't one of them.
Mostly, I feel that it was a great idea that got bogged down by developers being over-excited to include all of their own little ideas instead of trying to bring it all back together somehow. | video-games_xbox |
Console Gaming Adapter does not adapt to loss of power. We purchased this item in order to get wireless N signal from out GameLounge GameFuel Extreme N router to a room which was not hardwired. For the price point, it looks like a great alternative to paying money to "the man" at Microsoft by getting their N adapter for $70.
We got it home, opened it up, attached it to a laptop to configure to my router, and we had signal. I unplugged it and took it to its target destination, only to find it had forgotton the settings. Ok, plugged it back into the console only to find that Xbox 360 can not configure the device using ethernet. So I unplugged the Cat5 from the Xbox 360 and back into the laptop, configured it, and swapped the cat5 back to the xbox. After a few minutes, and rebooting the xbox, it found the network and was able to log on. Until later that day when we had a brown out. We found a feature for which I have awarded one star, in PBC which worked with our router. Go to the router press 3 buttons, run upstairs to the adapter press and hold the PBC button, run back downstairs (all in less than 60 seconds), press confirm, and go back upstairs and check. Yep the PBC light is solid, and we have connectivity...until a couple hours later, when the PBC light goes dark on the device and won't activate again until you remove power from the adapter for a few seconds. Retrain for the olympics a second time doing the 10 meter dash up and down the stairs, and we are back in business.
I expected to get some excercise when we got our kinect for the xbox, but didn't expect the majority of it would come from doing a daily dash to reattach via PBC. I finally gave in, and paid the piper his $70 bucks for the XBox N adapter, which has worked without issue or reset since we installed it. Returning this device, and would recommend anyone planning on using this as a gaming adapter, to go to plan B. It works fine when your laptop can configure and store wireless settings, but is not a reliable choice for gaming (its primary function.) | video-games_xbox |
You won't have to force the fun. If you love KOTOR (Knights of the Old Republic) you will love this. Might be because this is KOTOR 2. It has the qualities that we loved from the last game. However, there are a few changes. For one I have not noticed any dialogue between my party while traveling. All dialogue between party members is now done on the Ebon Hawk. Workbenches now creat items as well as customizing them. Skills have more use now because they are used to create better items in the workbench. Speaking of customizing lightsabers are now much more customizable with 5 slots for upgrades. Party memebers gain or lose influence points depending on how you treat them and if they agree with you. The more influence you have over them the closer their alignment is to yours and also other benefits may arise.
Well I think you must've heard plenty of good things about this game, but here are a few things I didn't like. The biggest of which is the ending. Don't worry I won't give it away. Suffice to say that it was highly anti-climatic as well as being a cliffhanger. In fact it is anti-climatic in a few more areas other than the ending. However, the story was still engaging if you can follow it. It is a bit cryptic at times and confusing, but if you could follow Metal Gear Solid 2 you can follow this. Another big problem is that it is glitchy. I didn't have any problems, but I've heard many others complain about it. Especially those with modded Xboxes. The romance options in this game never really come to fruition. Except for one, there never seems to be any resolution to the romances. Also you do not get your lightsaber until a good long way into the game. This wasn't a problem to me and added a sense of importance to obtaining one. Also lightsabers are much more powerful than in the first so it makes sense to make them rarer.
Despite all that this game is great! It is definitely worth buying if you are a fan of Star Wars and the first game. The quests are new and interesting. There are quite a few moral dilemmas. Not much if any of the quests from the previous game were recycled. Which is a good thing... | video-games_xbox |
I bought it for the multiplayer...and I'm still a little disappointed, but I still play it. The campaign is an uninspiring redux of MW2. I'm about halfway through it and I'm yet to be impressed by either the story line or the missions. However, I bought it because I don't get a lot of time to game (I have a kid and a job) and all my friends have this so I play multiplayer.
That being said I have a few problems with this game, firstly the maps. Here's a very accurate assessment of the maps by another reviewer (I hope the link works) [...]
I addition they didn't fix what (in my view) are 3 horribly unrealistic traits of the game that make multiplayer play at minimum inconsistent, and at times controller-smashingly frustrating
1) knifing is still wildly inconsistent. There's no commando perk and yet I've knifed people from a solid 10 feet away but missed them when they were prone on the ground and i was crouched behind them. Is it lag? Is it bad programming? I don't know but it's really annoying. Most of the times I'm pretty sure my knife is a rubber prop knife or it's stuck in the sheath.
2) Dropshotting. I don't care that you can make your controller do it, anybody that's ever fired a real rifle knows that you lose sight picture as you drop from crouch to prone either during the transition or immediately after because if you try to keep it during the fall you'll either hit right on your elbows or nut yourself with the ground. This ain't hard to fix and yet it continues to ruin the game
3) Halo jumping. I'm old enough that I played Counter Strike when it was still in beta and if you couldn't jump shoot you just got pwned. This was cute when they transitioned to Halo and there was low G environments so it slowed everything down and you could do kung-fu jump punch moves to smash other players. In a "modern" warfare game I'd again like to see some risk/reward in the control of the sight picture when halo jumping. Have the guy trip and fall 30% of the time or something afterwards. For all the to-do made about the interactive environment if I jump up in Bakara with all that paper flying everywhere and it never gets in my face or makes me slip and fall while halo jumping that's just stupid. Again, it ain't hard to fix.
All that being said, yes I still play the game and have fun most of the time. I'm just disappointed at the lack of creativity shown by the developer while still having the gall to roll out a "premium" service and ask for more money (no I didn't sign up for this). The 3 things above could (and SHOULD) be fixed in a patch and the maps...well adapt to survive | video-games_xbox |
Van Helsing May Cry. Video games based on movie licenses are always a hit or miss. For every good game like "The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King," and "Spiderman: The Movie," there is the horrible "Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines," and the mediocre, "Enter the Matrix." "Van Helsing" falls somewhere in between.
The game borrows heavily from "Devil May Cry," complete with cinematic camera angles and fighting combos and weapons you can purchase after a level. The graphics aren't especially detailed with low and blurry textures. The XBOX version is sharper, but below standards for a system with that much graphical capability. A treat is using the voice and likeness of Hugh Jackman as well as the other actors from the movie. Gameplay is steady enough with one button used for projectile weapons such as Helsing's twin guns and another for close combat which when timed right, unleashes a series of combos on an enemy. The L trigger is used to target the enemy you're fighting. However, the targeting system tends to focus on enemies farther away rather than the ones that are closer which can be frustrating since you need to toggle over and over.
My biggest gripe are the camera angles. Since it's fixed, judging where you're going can be very frustrating. For instance, you may be walking towards one part of a room when all of a sudden, the camera angle will shift to a new perspective. When this happened, I had to backtrack a few times just to make sure I was going in the right direction. Fortunately, on boss levels, the camera angle is just about right, hovering from a nice distance that allows you to see where you're going.
"Van Helsing" is by no means a bad game. It's just...okay. The graphics are nice, but not especially detailed. Gameplay is basic and easy to learn. The camera angles on the other hand, is a beast to contend with. All in all, the game doesn't really offer much of anything we haven't seen before. | video-games_xbox |
Great Fantasy Game. Advanced graphics and some simplifications built upon the successes of Morrowind helped create this masterpiece.
Pros:
Graphics- Hands down some of the most beautiful graphics you will find for a fantasy setting. Nice huge open environment with the ability to save anywhere. Customization options for your character with multiple professions to choose from or add to. There are some interesting weapons and spells to choose from. Having the ability to create potions and poisons with some interesting effects. Having a marker placed on your map for the quest you are on helps finding the destination much easier than Morrowind, but takes some of the fun out of finding it. The game will take months to complete unless you concentrate on just the main plot, but that defeats the purpose of the RPG experience.
Combat system was easy to use. After you played this game thoroughly you probably won't play it again for some time.
Cons:
The balance system used in the game to adjust the toughness level of the creatures to your character level and skill could use a little more work. This feature will make super tough goblins instead of wimpy goblins when attacking the same lair dependent on your character's level. You will die a fair amount of times due to the number of creatures and men you will need to fight. There are tons of quests to accomplish. This is a double edge sword. Lots to do or redundant steps not leading you to the Promised Land. I guess it depends on how you perceive it. Most don't have anything to do with the main quest so it could get redundant.
Overall Score: 91/100
Some suggestions to Bethesda:
Limit the amount of invisibility of items that have Chameleon spells put on them. 100% invisible should not be attainable.
Night Vision should also be tempered somewhat like the Chameleon spell.
Better thief and assassin missions. Morrowind had better assassin missions.
Better stealth meters and improvements based on available shadows and light sources. Currently your character can walk down a well-lit hall and if his stealth skills are way up there nobody can see him.
More diversified magic spells.
Don't provide the ability to create your own class of character. This sounds like something the people would like to do, but the game is coded with constructed characters sets in mind. | video-games_xbox |
Loading...Loading...Loading...Yawn. There are so many problems with this game, I don't even know where to begin. I only lasted through the first disk and part of the second, I kept hoping somehow the boredom would subside.
(1) Every few minutes, the game "loads", displaying a "Loading" message and some still pictures. Presumably, the game requires installation on the hard drive to work right - but this limitation was not disclosed on the box. If you have the 4GB Xbox, the game is unusable, no matter what they say.
(2) Even after one of the three disks, the game play became monotonous and dull. The protagonist either (a) drives around; (b) searches for clues; (c) interviews witnesses or (d) has "action" scenes. The driving around is about as interesting a daily commute - complete with waiting at red lights (in other words, it's boring). Searching for clues just means walking around the crime scene and waiting for the controller to vibrate. Interviewing witnesses - I never quite got this. One is supposed to study the witness's facial expression to determine veracity, looking for shifty eyes and the like, and then challenge the witness with evidence if he or she is caught lying. But if one has the evidence proving lying, what's the point of the facial expressions? Finally, the action scenes are silly - pointless car chases, foot chases, absurd fist fights, and ridiculous shooters.
(3) Nothing one does really seems to affect the action much.
(4) The stories are trite and uninteresting. No detective story would get published with the level of simplicity in these stories; the clues are likewise trivial, or unconvincing. It's impossible to distinguish between sloppy writing, sloppy criminals, and a frame-up in general - the criminals all leave inculpatory evidence at the scene and all behave absurdly.
(5) The technical quality is mediocre. Objects sometimes self-intersect, characters try to walk through walls, there is little consistency in the physics.
The visuals are impressive for a computer game, and the acting is quite good for a computer game.
As an early step in a burgeoning genre, perhaps this game is important. A game that was fully interactive and that did allow the player to act like a real detective would be incredibly fun, and some day perhaps those games will arrive. This game certainly takes a step in that direction.
For now, however, I suggest reading an Arthur Conan Doyle or an Edward Hoch story. | video-games_xbox |
BRINK....Great ideas that don't quite come to fruition. Check out my video game review blog: [...]
What do you get when you try to cross MAG or Team Fortress 2 gameplay with the look and feel of Borderlands and a futuristic Mad Max? Bethesda Softworks (Fallout 3, Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion) and Splash Damage (Enemy Territory: QUAKE Wars) hope its the next big franchise to hit consoles. The impressive art direction in the advertising campaign originally drew me to this game, but does it translate to tengaging gameplay? Now that it has dropped in price almost universally, is it something you should pick up now? Is it even worthy of it's all CAPS moniker?
The premise in BRINK is not anything we really haven't seen before, but it centers around a man-made, eco-friendly, floating city, designated The Ark, that is on the brink (get it) of Civil War. Since the oceans of the world have begun to rise to unsafe levels, The Ark has become a sort of haven for people affiliated with its original inhabitants, as well as other displaced people looking for a better life, who have to live on the outskirts. It's basically a bunch of Haves versus Have Nots. One group wants to break free of the overpopulation and desecrating conditions for the outcasts on The Ark (called The Resistance) and leave the floating city to see what the world is like beyond its walls, while the other group wants to keep the refugees in control and living in continued squalor, while they continue to benefit in The Ark (called The Security).
Upon starting the game, you have to first select and customize a character. While the customization options are ample, they aren't exactly endless. The character design is similar to Gears of War, with overexaggerated features and bulging muscles. There are four different classes of characters: Soldier, Engineer, Medic, and Operative. Obviously each has their own strengths and weaknesses and in this game you will be switching classes a lot during each level or mission, to complete objectives.
To move around, BRINK also uses whats been classified as SMART (Smooth Movement Across Random Terrain). In this, a button can be assigned to to quickly traverse across different environmental obstacles. Think of it as parkour influenced climbing, jumping, and sliding, reminiscent of Mirror's Edge. Unfortunately, much of the time, I kind of forgot about SMART and did the regular old climbing and jumping, except for the occasional slide.
I've spent quite a bit of time with this game, beating both campaigns (a total of 16 missions, but they are long missions, which turns out to be a blessing and a curse), and utilizing both solo play, as well as completing levels online with human counterparts. I get that the online component was designed to be a major selling point for BRINK, but the online community is pretty stagnant at the moment. When starting a level online, I would say that only about 25% of the time did I have another human joining me.
Gameplay
This game is quite frenetic when you first jump in. There is a lot of action going on around you and quite a bit of chatter from your teammates (which I liked initially, but then grew to hate). Initially, only one or two classes will have an objective that are pretty basic (hack this, defend this, escort this person, etc.), but the objectives increase (both primary and secondary), as you progress through the game. Just find a (or take over an opponent controlled one) command post, and you can switch classes. There is an objective wheel that is easily accessed at any time, that highlights the objectives and classes needed, so it's not too confusing. Select an objective and it'll point you in the right direction to complete it.
That's not to say that BRINK isn't fun because at times it really is. Shooting people and is almost always fun... for a while. Having the missions broken up by each side seemed like a really interesting idea, but they basically turn out to be the same levels, but just opposite objectives of each other. If the Resistance was trying to destroy something, when you play the mission as the Security, you're trying to defend the same thing you were previously asked to destroy. This doesn't flesh out the story as much as I would have hoped for, and really didn't make me pick a side I was rooting for, as if they had added totally different levels for each side.
There is a major problem with your teammates AI in the game. They are basically worthless (but every now and then surprise you with a well-placed turret), and you constantly feel like you are the only one that is able to do anything. For instance if you have to repair something and are playing solo, without human teammates, it seems like you are the only one of the class you selected that can get anything done. You have usually around 10 minutes to complete the objective, but it usually takes all 10 minutes because your teammates don't help at all. When they do decide to help, it's like a mad rush in the final minute or two. The opponents know where to congregate to protect what's needed, but it seems as if your team gets bored rather easily and leaves their mark.
Which leads me to my next problem with the game. If you die, or I should say when you die, because your opponent's ammo tends to be much more powerful than your own, you have to respawn
There are a few "what if" missions tacked on at the end, but they seem as more of an afterthought, than a critical part of the story, and are some of the shorter missions of the whole game. I recommend playing through some of the Challenge levels early on, as by completing them, you earn some upgrades for your weapons. There are 3 different types of challenges: fulfilling objectives, moving around with SMART to certain areas in a time limit, and defending, each with three levels of progressively harder levels.
Graphics
There are two distinct setting for the missions in BRINK. One is the futuristic Ark, which kind of reminded me of something out of Mass Effect. Lot's of plexiglass, neon, etc. Once the action moved away from The Ark, to Container City, I became re-interested in the game again. It's a totally different kind of look that really made me push through to finish my first half of the Campaign. There are lots of little crevices and creative shortcuts to find.
I didn't really experience any lag, when playing online, but only really connected with one other person at a time when playing the campaign. The multiplayer was solid and much more fun than playing with bots, but by the time I tried multiplayer, I was kind of burned out by the game. Sometimes when enemies died, parts of their body would be underground, or if they were standing on something and killed, seemed to be floating in mid-air.
Sound
Throughout the game you have a Commander basically talking in your ear the whole time. He gets very frustrated when things aren't going the planned way. Considering that you feel like you are a one man show on many of the levels, it get very annoying quickly.
I did find the chatter between teammates amusing. When you give supplies to another teammate, they always respond with some form of thanks. Additionally, when you have some supplies and they are needed by someone nearby, they will let you know.
Replay Value
There is a planned DLC coming soon (free for the first two weeks), which may increase the number of people playing online. Currently, there are 8 maps available for multiplayer skirmishes. I fear, however, that most players originally interested in the game have either moved on to something else or sold/traded in their copy.
Once the campaigns are completed, there is not much incentive to return to those missions. Especially the ones where your teammates seem clueless. There are some audio logs to collect, which supposedly add more to the story (or unlock a trophy/achievement when all are collected) but I didn't have an interest to find more.
There is a cap at level 20. When I finished both campaigns, I was at level 16, so I played multiplayer and replayed missions to reach the cap. There are bonuses for completing missions online (which I didn't know until about halfway through the game)
Honestly, I really wanted to like BRINK. Blending solo, co-op, and multiplayer into one somewhat seamless experience seemed innovative and intriguing. However, in the end, it wasn't done well enough to grab my interest for extended periods. Each mission is quite long, and if you don't succeed, feels arduous instead of energizing at the challenge, that you have to relive 15-20 minutes all over again.
Rating
6.5 | video-games_xbox |
Better Choices Are Out There For Fans of Survival-Horror. Ive been a fan the Resident Evil series ever since the first one, and have had a chance to see it evolve with each new game. RE 4 was an amazing game, and I even enjoyed RE 5. But by the time I bought RE 6 for the low, low price of $9 new, I had already heard all the critiques about it being too far of a departure from the things that made the series great. So it was hard not to jump into it without some major bias. Heres what I found from my experience with the game:
PROS
-Looks pretty good on the Xbox360, a last gen system.
-A wide variety of characters to play, with multiple missions for each.
-Player models are detailed and interesting.
-For the most part, weapon controls are tight and responsive.
-Nice execution of the standard arrangement of weapons and inventory items.
-Some of the sequences are challenging in an exciting way.
-While most of the chapters are action oriented, a few lean more towards the survival-horror we love.
-A decent, cohesive story consistent with the crazy stuff that goes on in the RE universe.
-The total game length is decent.
CONS
-Your characters, the highly trained operatives that they are, will spend a lot of time during cutscenes standing around with their thumbs up their tailpipes watching really bad things happen to their friends and allies. Seriously, they stand frozen, gnashing their teeth melodramatically when we all know they could whip out a gun and place a shot between the bad guys eyes faster than we can hit the skip cutscene button. Now I know this is done intentionally as part of the story so things can unfold the way the designers imagined, but in my opinion it is really weak storytelling and an extremely frustrating way to eject the player from their immersion in the story.
-While part of the series charm has been the over-the-top acting, I personally have never cared for it muchespecially given the very adult themes at play. While RE6 isn't the worst offender in the series, theres plenty of it on display here. The Last of Us is a far better example of how all of these genres and tropes can be brought together in a way that doesnt feel like it was written by a 14 year-old.
-I really hope that Quick Time Events die in a horrible, flaming death. Likewise, whoever invented them should have to write Im sorry I invented QTEs on the chalkboard a million times. Seriously, developers need to band together and pledge that they will never ever put QTEs in their games again.
-Progressing through the upgrade system is slow and will require multiple playthroughs to unlock. Considering it was a chore just to play through the game even once, its unlikely Ill ever pursue unlocking them all.
I hate to say it, but by the end of RE6, I didn't even feel that the game was a good way to spend my time. Granted, I felt compelled to finish it since I actually paid for it, but thats a bad reason to do something. And its not that the game was absolutely horrible. Its just that everything good was brutally cancelled out by something equally frustrating. It became a slog very early on and before long all I was focused on was finishing the game rather than enjoying it.
I really hope that the RE series loops around and returns to some of the things that made it interesting in the first place. RE: Revelations was a much more enjoyable game, played much more like RE 4, and signals that it is possible for the developers to do so.
So while others may have enjoyed RE6, I simply cant recommend it. Its better to spend your time playing a decent game like RE: Revelations or one of the recent Silent Hill entries if you're looking for something in the survival-horror genre. Cheers! | video-games_xbox |
Against the Odds. First off, I'm pretty confident in saying that Superman Returns: The Videogame is the best Superman game to date. Now gamers will quickly tell you that's a big feat in it's own, but that doesn't make it a good game by regular standards. From the get go Superman Returns has two things working against it, the fact that it's a Superman game and the fact that it's a movie tie-in game. Usually either one of those is enough to ruin a game right off the bat.
As a Superman game I would have to say that for the most part this game has succeeded. You do in fact feel like the Man of Steel overall while playing. As most know by now one of the most entertaining aspects of the game is flying, which I believe is done quite well. They seem to have really nailed most of the signature Superman flying poses that mirror what you've seen in the Superman movies. Powers in the game are handled quite well in my opinion also, you can quickly access three of the classic powers and they all have their varying degrees of usefulness. As far as the strength is concerned I think there really is the sense that you are, at least on some level, pretty close to Superman's power. You can pick up anything from cars to tankers or even fishing boats that can be used several ways in combat; anything from simply throwing them at your enemies to batting at them or hurled like a javelin.
As a game however, and an "open ended" game at that, I'd have to say I really wasn't all that impressed with Superman Returns. The missions you'll find yourself in follow a very simple formula. Once in range of a mission you generally have the same objective (save for fire missions, boss fights, or a handful of unique scripted missions) you'll have to dispatch a number of bad guys who are attempting to destroy the city. You'll pretty much have about five or six different types of enemies that you'll fight throughout Superman Returns, ranging from robots to cloned flying dragon esque creatures. The numbers will vary generally depending on your progress through the game, although the highest number you'll fight at any given time is usually around 15, save for your fight with Riot ( a villain that is able to duplicate himself). You'll quickly get tired of missions as they all pretty much start to seem the same, the game will simply mix up the types of enemies you'll fight, i.e. sometimes just robots, sometimes robots and clones, sometimes flying robots and clones, etc. So although the travel may be open ended I feel that by no means are the missions. Aside from a few mini-games (playable Bizzaro, high speed races, and finding 100 kittens) the game is pretty linear and doesn't give you much else to do.
The story of Superman Returns: The Videogame has little to do with the movie. Which from my experience with movie tie-in games they usually turn out to flop for generally the same reasons. The main reason being that it's difficult to make a 6-10hr game where you take control out of a in this case 2hr + movie. More often than not you'll find the tie-in game trying to drag out parts of the movie, that may have not been entertaining in the first place, so to counter this they take liberties with the story to basically fill in the game. So where an actor in a movie may have opened a door, in the game you may have to kill 20 guards, steal a nuclear sub, and hijack a helicopter to open the door...it will definitely fill that level. This isn't always a bad thing if done right, but more often than not it just feels like the whole game is being thinly drawn along to the next cutscene. Superman Returns seems more like a game set in the Superman universe in general, that happens to have a couple of cutscenes from the movie. Which you honestly can't bash them too much for adding in all of this extra content because Superman Returns the movie didn't have that much action. Much like many first movies in a series (X-Men, Lord of the Rings, etc.) it's meant to establish or in this case reestablish the characters.
From a technical stand point I may not be the best to listen to for a review of this angle of the game. I recently purchased a 360 (just for this game, that's how big of a Superman fan I am) so I haven't had much experience with what the system is capable of. Although from the other games I've played what I've seen from the system so far Superman Returns does seem to be graphically sub par. Now I'm no game designer so there may be tie to the amount of what the system has to render at any given time, keep in mind the Metropolis in the game is around 80 square miles and has over 9,000 buildings in it. So although I was pleased over all with the graphics, it doesn't seem to be up to the full or maybe even near full potential of what the 360 is capable of.
The game's audio seems to be pretty solid, nothing really stands out from a standard beat 'em up type game. The flying audio bits are great, the subtly of the cape flapping while flying around and the sound of the wind rushing past and eventually a sonic boom while speeding about are very satisfying. I have mixed feelings on the score however. My biggest issue is that the game doesn't draw from the Superman soundtrack, neither that of the new work done by John Ottoman...or the original work done by John Williams. This was really disappointing, Superman has such a march to it that seems to be ingrained with the character that's it's hard to think of Superman and not hum the Williams fanfare. I guess for non-Superman fans this could be related to playing a Star Wars game and not having the Williams theme included. Now in the defense the original score done for the game isn't bad, although at times it can seem somewhat generic. One of the nice touches that really helps the feel of the game is the change of pace of the music while flying. While flying lower near the streets and weaving through skyscrapers the games plays a pretty peppy fanfare esque tune, as you move higher past the rustle of the city into the skies above the music calms and shifts to a much slower melody.
Now although I'm trying to be objective as possible I can't say that I didn't like the game. I myself am a Superman fan, and a big one at that...there are still pictures from Christmas day of me in my Superman outfit standing proudly. So for me any opportunity to take the wheel of the Man of Steel (excuse the rhyme) is something I enjoy, and so far this is the most entertaining opportunity that gaming has presented. To be honest if all you could do in this game was fly around the city I would have still bought and not felt cheated. Obviously there are many that aren't able to take this much joy from certain aspects of the game so if you're looking for an XBox game that allows free open ended game play, challenging and engaging enemy fights, and a great story...save your money. For fans of Superman who have been waiting for a chance to experience a taste of what it might be like to step into the big red boots, this is for you. | video-games_xbox |
What I expected, plus a little more. First I want to state that I did not have high expectations going into this game. I just wanted to get something fun, that had replay value. Well, I believe I got exactly that. The story line is not too bad. I could take it or leave it. I found myself watching most of the cut-scenes, but I skipped a few. So no great treasure there. I beat the storyline and side missions on hard after about 15-20 hours which of course unlocked Insane mode. I still plan on finding the last few things before I start that. They did improve a few things from the first one. If you're running up a building, and it has a lip, Heller will actually try to continue up a building. Which is a lot better than Alex just running up and back flipping off it it in Prototype. Another improvement about running up the building, buildings that get thinner as they go up, Heller will actually move toward the wall if you're jumping most of the way.
One thing I have mixed feelings about is the powers. You now currently equip two powers, which is nice. But at the same time, you have to hold the left bumper to switch to a different power. I found myself just sticking to two powers most of the time anyway, so it wasn't that big of a deal.
I think the Radnet content is going to keep people playing this for quite a while. The storyline is fairly short, but again, it has good replay value. Gone are those stupid orbs that you had to find as Mercer. For that I was thankful. You no longer spend EP on upgrades. Instead you level up and select one 'stat' increase, such as health, speed, and the like.
The collectors edition content isn't bad either. For $20 extra, you get the soundtrack, the first DLC, and an art book, which is small, but nice. I wasn't too interested in the 20% off coupon, but I'm sure I'll find a use for it eventually.
Overall, if you liked the first one, you'll like this one. If you didn't like the first one, rent this one. | video-games_xbox |
Game of the Year. It's here. It's finally here. After what I thought was a disappointment in Bungie's final Halo game, Halo: Reach, 343 Industries has taken the helm for a new trilogy. Halo 4 takes place after Halo 3, which was released over 5 years ago now. How is this game different?
As far as multiplayer (That will be the highlight of my review, sorry for the campaign fans), 343 has implemented a lot of things from Call of Duty. Don't let that scare you though if that idea doesn't sound good to you -- it works flawlessly in Halo 4. While the perks seem to run the multiplayer in Call of Duty, what truly should be the difference -- the gun -- is what truly matters in Halo 4. Unlike Call of Duty, there doesn't seem to be any overpowered "perk" in this game. Some of the guns seem to be excessively powerful, but they all have downfalls. Whether that downfall is a small clip or something else, 343 makes sure nothing in the game is gamebreaking, which is impressive. Something that should also be noted is that everybody in multiplayer now has the ability to sprint for a limited time, which makes the gameplay faster paced and more frantic. That inclusion, unsurprisingly, only makes this game better.
The maps in the multiplayer mostly range from good to fantastic, with not even one map that I would say I truly dislike. The maps here have a vast variety from small to large in size, and snowy to grassy. My personal favorite has to be Exile, which is a fairly big map that makes for hectic Capture the Flag matches, and it just looks and plays phenomenally.
If you enjoyed Firefight from Reach, I'm sorry to say it's not returning. Instead though, 343 has included Spartan Ops. In this free mode, content will be released weekly with several episodes for you and your friends to play in. While the missions are fairly entertaining, I'm not quite sure what the purpose of them is, mainly because they seem to end before you even start going.
As for the campaign, I won't spoil a thing, but I will tell you that this is probably the best campaign yet in the series. The voice acting is better than ever, the humans' facial reactions are spot on, and there are -- thankfully -- very few parts in it that aren't fun. I can also tell you that this is one of the hardest campaigns I've played in a shooter... at least on its highest difficulty setting, Legendary.
I tried to keep this review relatively short. There is a lot to say about this game and its contents, but I wouldn't be able to do the game justice. Rather than have you waste 20 minutes reading this review, I'd rather give you that time to go out and get the game if you haven't already.
Halo 4 won't exactly change the genre, but it has taken the essences of Halo 3 and the good portions of Halo: Reach (Did I mention there's no Armor Lock in this game?), and made one of the best online gaming experiences for this generation. It could well be the closest thing you'll find to Xbox LIVE multiplayer gaming nirvana.
5/5 | video-games_xbox |
Better than EA. Much more trainer-ish than Ubisoft. Empowering. So far, I've used EA <a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/EA-Sports-Active-2/dp/B002I0JFCO/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">EA Sports Active 2</a>, Ubisoft <a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/Your-Shape-Fitness-Evolved/dp/B002I0H9WM/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">Your Shape Fitness Evolved</a> and Biggest Loser.
I think this is my almost-first choice.
It might be because my bias starting with Ubisoft. I think the tracking is better with Ubisoft, and correction of posture is better with Ubisoft... but...
This seems more like a weight-loss program + trainer + exercise program.
The interface is relatively kinect-friendly, although it's obvious that some of the menuing was designed for cross-platform support.
*Quick Start and Beginner friendly*
It's pretty easy and quick to get started. A few questions, and you can be off and running. I think there is considerable more sensitivity to those that might not work out that often. There is a testing/analysis section where you and the program can figure out what your current fitness level, and adjust accordingly. During this testing, the design and comments are decently encouraging and low-level that the beginner shouldn't feel too intimidated, but just happy to be moving their body. As it progresses, it can be more challenging to keep the more active interested.
*Ease of use*
Menuing is decent. Not the best I've seen on kinect, but definitely in the top 25%, but for a product that is cross platform, works well.
Voice commands. During your workout, there are voice prompts where the "trainer" asks you questions about your fatigue and need for water, etc. I thought it would be gimmicky, but it's really convenient being able to respond verbally. So much better than having to pick up a controller to answer a question.
*Body Analysis*
There is a section where the program scans your body to get some estimates of your measurements. I think it could be very humbling, but if you're trying to be honest about your weight loss, it'll be a good benchmark for your progress. I don't believe it to be absolutely accurate as it claimed I had a 200" neck. Oh, and you can enter your weight by the 0.1 of a lb. So I guess we're pretty serious about charting your proress.
*Exercise plans*
So far, I've just breezed through a few of them, but find them varied enough and not terribly silly (I liked them better than pretending to be riding a mountain bike [EA]). I find them decently challenging and I LOVE that you can choose when you begin a session, how much time you have available. It's nice to be able to choose a quickie 10 minute session, or a longer 40 minute session instead of having a fixed time
*Calorie counts, health knowledge*
Feel that this is a more rounded approach than ubisoft's workout-centric version. There are calorie goals, fitness tips, and an overall idea that you are entering a whole plan than having to figure it out on your own. But it doesn't seem to dumb it down too much for you. Considering their wide audience, I think was well handled.
*Personalization*
I thought i would mock the video-diary, but when it came on (actually first two times, the microphone didn't work), I decided to look at the image, and as Charles Barkley said [...] "Just stand in front of the mirror naked and you can't lie to yourself." So I decided to make an entry to my future-more-in-shape-me with humility and sincerity and encouragement. I realize a journal is a very good motivator, and a video one for someone trying to see their body change would be even stronger.
*Show tie-ins*
I don't watch the show. Not that it's important, I just think if I knew the personalities and some of their catch phrases, it would appeal to me even more. I think the avatars for each of the hosts aren't horrible, but I think they look better in real life.
I'm sure that if I were a big fan of the show, the quotes from previous show participants would be inspiring, and feeling that "the same trainer" that is on tv is "training me" would be fun/exciting.
*Feedback*
I like that there's a blobby silhouette, similar to Ubisoft. It moves and bobs like I do, making me feel more like an active participant rather than a marionette for some avatar.
There were more corrective comments than I expected, "dip lower" "hands higher", given both audibly (I like that) and visually (some bars change color and warn you), but I find that I like ubisoft's skeletal tracking a little bit easier for me to understand the feedback.
*Problems*
There were sections of the program that either because of my sensor's position, my body position, or somewhere lost in the software, some movements weren't being tracked correctly. Even when just standing there making menu choices. I'm very glad that I know I have some pretty solid programs that track well, so I can tell it has to do with the software.
*Bottom Line*
Wow, after all this praise, I think I should highly recommend and promote this product. But truthfully, it's not taking advantage of the kinect tracking as much as I think it should/could. But I like the exercise "program" (not the software) overall. I think it's comprehensive, personal and motivating.
I like that Biggest Loser emphasizes a "community feel" with other avatars working out with you (and their body shapes aren't quite hardbody as well), how they take advantage of the cooperative friend workout so you can encourage your friends. (you can do that with the other products, it's just seems a little stronger emphasis on here)
I just like the Ubisoft program's use of the tracking better. It seems more accurate, more responsive. Ubisoft's workout programs have appealed to me, and maybe I just need more time with this one.
If there were a dead heat, I think ubisoft would win by a hair in my eyes, but I think the best idea is to buy both and rotate them. You'll have more variation, and appreciate their differences, but your calorie burn and tracking won't be consolidated automatically | video-games_xbox |
My personal favorite videogame of all time. When I was a young lad of a mere fourteen, I had never had much experience with most types of games. I found my gaming joy with games like Spyro, Crash Bandicoot, Ratchet & Clank, and the like. I was a Sony man(boy) and proud of it. I played action/platformers and that was it.
I got myself a job at the local McDonalds, and I decided to buy myself an Xbox. I had read a lot about it online, and looked up good games for it that weren't out for the PS2, so I figured i'd buy one. This was in 2004, so the Xbox was getting ready to make way for the Xbox 360. The paycheck after I bought my Xbox, I went on Amazon and bought two games: Halo and The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind Game of the Year Edition. Reviews of The Elder Scrolls(from here after known as TES) mentioned it as a massive game with a rich fantasy world, and being a fan of fantasy I decided to check it out. Everyone knows the kind of reviews Halo got.
I played Halo for a bit, but found it similar to Medal of Honor, except with aliens. Nothing I couldn't play on PS2 I thought. Then I popped in TES. I won't lie to you, I was not remotely prepared for the massive beast of a game that TES was. I was used to linear levels and plenty of instruction on where to go and what to do. My experience with open worlds was GTA: Vice City, and your goals are given to you mostly. You start off Morrowind a prisoner on a boat. You then proceed to name your character, and get lead off the boat by a gruff guard.
Emerging on the deck of the boat and seeing my first sight of Tamriel is an experience I will never forget. Sure the graphics and animation are dated by todays standards, and in 2004 I was stunned by the promise of the newly announced next-gen consoles. But those amazing graphics were a year away. TES was a beautiful, gigantic world that I could play in right now. In the center of Seyda Neen, a tiny shanty town you start out in, there were paths leading everywhere. You were told to deliver a package to some guy with a funny name(Caius Cosades) in a town with a funny name(Balmora) The in-game map doesn't show much, so you have to ask for directions frequently.
I fell in love with RPGs because of this game. I loved the fact that you could fight with a sword, or an axe, or a spear, there were tons of different armors to choose from in three different weight classes, you could focus on casting spells, you could fight with bow and arrow or throwing stars, you could even sneak around breaking into people's houses! A game with this much freedom was simply amazing to me, and it rocked my world and my entire perception of what a videogame could be. I had never before been as immersed in a digital world as I was when I discovered this gem of a game.
Back to Seyda Neen. I was totally unprepared for TES. I got completely lost within the first 2 hours of playing while exploring the countryside around the town. I literally spent the next hour-and-a-half figuring out how I was going to get back on a path to anywhere really. I ended up on a path in the mountains that led to a cave. Being inquisitive, I entered. And was promptly attacked by a...vampire! I barely survived that encounter, and also missed the notice that I contracted Poryphic Hemophilia. I eventually found my way back to town and continued on to Balmora. Three days later I woke up(in-game) and was told that I was a vampire now! Amazing! On top of all of the other stuff in the game, you could become a freakin vampire!! My 14 year old mind was completely blown!
TES will stand as my favorite game of all time. I love what Bethesda has done since, with Oblivion and Fallout 3, but nothing can touch Morrowind in my heart. I love every single inch of dated graphics, awkward animation, fetch quest, and glitch. Nothing can beat the first time, and what a truly glorious first time Morrowind proved to be.
Now, having heaped all of this praise on the game, I would never even think about recommending this game to everyone. It can be frustrating, monotonous, slow, glitchy, and obtuse. It can be insanely frustrating just trying to figure out how to complete the first quest, let alone join a guild or even explore the high-level content offered in the expansions. This game will not hold your hand. If you are easily frustrated, I highly recommend the excellent strategy guide available. You will literally be stunned by how much you have missed. The game keeps on giving, which is one of it's strong points. Just when you think you have found everything there is to find, you discover an entirely new questline or cave somewhere out there. But if you love exploration, high fantasy, freedom, choice, and immersion, I fully recommend this game for Xbox or PC. | video-games_xbox |
Great Game, I'd have payed 60 for it. I played this game before Bioshock 1 and 2, not knowing what to expect, besides the vigors and some gameplay I had seen.
I loved the gameplay, not being some boring storyline, where the whole game is just shooting. The setting is beautiful, and is awesome to see such a masterpiece, floating in the sky. The graphics were great, and I loved the many colors in the game. Fighting with the skyhook as a tool is very unique, and its something I missed when playing bioshock 1 and 2.
The storyline- The story was phenomenal. It left me breathless, and I had grown to love the characters. the concept of the game is very unique, dealing with multiple realities. The ending was very touching, and on top of that, the game left me thinking about how it all made sense. I loved everything about the storyline, except one thing. One of the antagonists, which seemed to pose a huge threat, didn't turn out to be much in the end, but that is minor, and the storyline is still great.
Gameplay- the gameplay was very unique, the useage of gear instead of tonics was intuitive. The guns were upgradeable, and instead of using different ammo, there were different versions of the guns. Instead of buying new plasmids with adam, the player can buy upgrades for the different vigors in the game, and while the gun play was fun, I really enjoyed the vigors. Most vigors can be combined with another, to do extra damage, which I found to be awesome.
Compared to the gameplay in the first two bioshocks- Bioshock infinite was amazing, but it doesn't exactly compare to the originals. It is set in a very light environmenet that is beautiful, versus the other two, where it is dark and ruined. The idea of choice, has almost been completely taken out, as the choices in the game hardly effect the ending. In defense to that, the ending has to be the same, due to the events that occur. When playing the original Bioshock, I was glad to be able to store eve, and health packs, while in bioshock infinite, I found my self conserving salts and trying to avoid contact with enemies, and while elizabeth helps out with ammo, salts, and first aid kits, the game is just not the same.
In my opinion, both games are amazing. Some players who are looking for a game similar to the original bioshocks, will not find this to be as great of a game, but Ii'd encourage anybody to play it. | video-games_xbox |
Great game--would be 5 stars if not so buggy. My almost 6-year-old son and I have logged too many hours playing this game since Christmas. Great game in that it works for kids and adults (teaming up for some levels is essential) without being too boring for either. The controls are intuitive, and the portal accessory that swaps characters in and out is fantastic. A true exercise in patience in this house is managing loot collection and sharing with a little one that wants to rush ahead and grab anything/everything as soon as possible. We've managed to pick up at least one character in each class except one, so there's the anticipation factor also in hoping any of our local shops will ever be re-stocked after the Christmas rush.
As noted in the title, this would be 5 stars easy, except the game freezes up often enough to be extremely annoying. Not sure if this is limited to the 360 version or if it affects other platforms as well, but the screen will freeze up and require a system shut down and restart to get things going again. Not a great moment when it happens deep in a level and you have to explain that the whole thing will need to be done over. I'm hoping they will release a patch or update that will magically make the freeze-up issue go away. It seems to be worse when playing 2-player, and most of the events have happened when switching from one skylander to another, so my guess is the peripheral constitutes most of the problem. Though it also happened once on the pause screen, so that theory might be out the window. Either way, I recommend not switching skylanders during cut-screens or other moments when game instructions are being given, and also to make sure it registers the removal of skylander 1 before bringing in the replacement. I've googled the problem and it looks like others are experiencing it as well, with one theory being that older systems are the culprit, though that is not the case here. Over many hours playing other games, I've never had one that froze up the xbox completely (except when xbox live was down), so I'm left with the conclusion that there are one or more bugs in this particular game.
Speaking of xbox live, the only other complaint I have is that there is no online play capability. Being able to bring your skylander anywhere with stats saved onboard is awesome, but it would have made it even better to be able to play with friends remotely when you can't be there in person.
It will be also be interesting to see if they release any DLC for the game, or if the surprise success this holiday season will mean official sequels down the road. | video-games_xbox |
Only things that's missing is the manual. This will be a long, disjointed review. I like it better than Black Ops 2 (which is saying something) and 1000x more than MW3 (which isn't saying anything).
I bought Arkham Origins, GTA5, AND Assasin's Creed:Black Flag in recent weeks. They are all going to be shelved for months while I play this game. LOVE IT!
Minus 1 star for no manual. I want a manual included.
The package itself is awesome. Was a little confused at which disc to install and play off of, but figured it out (I'll leave that fun to you). Quick to boot up. Fairly quick to get into a game. Coming from Black Ops 2, took me a bit to figure out how best to configure my soldier.
I don't EVER play the single player part, so all those locked characters you can choose from that are blacked out... I don't know who is what there.
The action is crazy as ever. More "realistic" as you don't have a pack of 8 dogs rampaging around. No spy planes to shoot down.
You can lean again, which is nice. The Clan thing, I signed up for one online, and then ingame its not there.
Not having a instruction manual was not helpful at all. Bought the Kindle version of the Guide and doesn't work on my computer... YAY?
Much larger, mult-layered maps. Games last longer as a result.
Graphics are still just so/so.
Gameplay is fun as usual. All kinds of attachments, and scopes, and sights, etc.
So if it'd had an acutal manual (and at $119 you think you could expect that?).
The squads things to train with is nice, but I want my stats and XP to count, so going up against bots doesn't do it for me.
None of my friends play at the same time (or that I can count on anyway), so the Clan thing is lost on me.
But its a long marathon, not a sprint. By the time Black Ops 3 comes out, I can be maxed out Prestige wise.
Still have my yellow name ingame for being an Elite Founder.
If I had to buy one game for the next gen systems, it'd be this one. Not on XBOX One though, as 720 was state of the art back in '99. ;) | video-games_xbox |
A Creed Worth Living By. Portrayed to me as a tedious romp through the Middle Ages in the guise of some odd combination of shadowy intrigue and conspiracy, Assassin's Creed didn't raise my hopes for what I saw as a flagging Action-Adventure genre. A mere 2 hours after popping in the disc however, I nearly threw my controller to the ceiling in pure gaming bliss.
Perhaps it's the spit-shined presentation, or maybe the incredible scale of the game - not to mention the buildings within - or even the sublime animation with which Altair moves throughout the world; but I have still yet to find such an enthralling experience in any other game so far.
The storyline, originally the first "hook" for me into the game, eventually sinks into a predictable mediocrity of philosophic squabble, yet by the end it doesn't particularly matter. Endless men lose their lives at your hand, guided under the careful ever-watching gaze of Al-Mualim; every kill bringing a far-too-soon desensitized `revelation' to light about the happenings around Altair. While intriguing at first, the yarn seems to drag itself out too thin, ending with a tired clichd twist. As I see it being the weakest link of sorts, I still can't say that it's truly horrible. As with every twist and turn, I attempted to retain that ever-so-elusive suspense of belief, becoming just as enraptured in the plot and happenings as Altair and his `modern-day' counterpart. Oh, didn't mention that yet? Probably the only twist that matters, but I'll say right now that Assassin's Creed takes place solidly in the future.
The presentation is one of Assassin's Creed's most pivotal facets, and one that is not soon easily forgotten. From the haunting choruses of the chapels of Acre and Jerusalem, to the sublime Middle Eastern flair of Damascus and the Kingdom, no detail lays unturned and unadorned. With the fantastic musical score providing an ample background, Assassin's Creed's graphics do not disappoint in any way. Of particular note is the animation. Every grasp of stone, blast of wind and heart-piercing stab are accentuated to a degree that I've never before seen in gaming. A heart pounding pace and fluidity perfectly emphasizes that you are, in fact, a highly trained assassin; fully befitting of your skill as portrayed in game.
Gameplay is deceptively simple, with each content segment divided up into different mission blocks that introduce a new and critical part of the story. Divided into three distinct segments - information gathering, the kill, and the escape - each assassination opens up a new part of the cit(ies) in which the missions are based; forcing a "carrot on a stick" stigma onto the player, yet all for the better. If the content were delivered to you all at once, a la GTA, Assassin's Creed would be far too massive of an endeavor the normal gamer.
In the end, only one truly irks me about Assassin's Creed: you can't swim. | video-games_xbox |
Loves it. I have to say up-front: I've never played Fallout 1/2, I've never played Gears of War or Oblivion or Mass Effect and I didn't even know this game was "10 years in the making". This is a review based on what I think of Fallout 3 only, and it's coming from someone who's not very skilled at games like this.
That said, I LOVE this game. I like the way the graphics look, I love everything about the beginning sequence and getting started in the game. The first hour was AWESOME for me (the Vault part). I would say it's kind of like when I watched someone play Mass Effect, so It's DEFINITELY more of an RPG than an FPS. I like that you can choose how you respond to other characters and the game is different for everyone so there's still potential to play a different game the next time around.
Plus you still get to shoot stuff and it looks great! The VATS thing is cool the first few times you use it, but it gets old after a while. It does help in certain situations, though. Besides, it's cool to shoot someone's head and their brain comes out (it's sick, but it's cool). I also really like that I can shoot anyone I want (accept for kids, but that would have been cool too). I know I accidentally shot my "dad" in the back of the head with the BB gun and blood splattered on the wall. It was a bit of a shock to me that I could actually do something to a "core" character but I really like it.
One thing I have a lot of trouble with however, is aiming with the xbox remote. It's hard to shoot things on target (at least for me). It also feels a bit like pixel-hunting trying to get the target aimed properly to pick things up, and when you do try to pick things up the system is a litte off and I have to aim more to the right of where the object is. I think the PC version would be easier in this sense.
Another thing I don't like is the 3rd person mode. Your character walks weird, it looks like a puppet with a blue screen in the background, it just looks really unnatural. But it is nice to see your character all pimped out with guns and armor and stuff, so I like the 3rd person for that.
Another thing I don't like is that there's no multiplayer content for xbox live. It would be really cool to be able to play multiplayer content "capture the flag" or whatever type of things like in Call of Duty 4 or Half Life 2, but in the Vault setting or some of the specific metro areas in the game. I get why this isn't available - it really is more of a single player story, but it would just be so cool in this environment with these weapons.
I can't really compare this game to many others "like" it or the original games, but I like this game a LOT. I like the Pip-Boy thing, I love the graphics, I like the blood and gore, I like that the game is set in DC, and I also like that I can pick up this game and not have to worry about back story from some other game that I haven't played. I just like this game, and thought I should give it my superficial review. | video-games_xbox |
Some additions were great others not so much. Madden 06 is still the Madden everyone is addicted. The biggest changes this year is the inclusion of the qb vision and precision passes. These two things are by far one the best new features in 06. It addes another layer of realism and lot more challenge for those who constantly pump up the difficulty level. It takes a little getting used to but once you get a feel for it your gonna love it. The downside is that those two things are really the only new features worth mentioning. One big add on for 06 besides the new qb features is the Superstar mode. On paper it sounds very promising and for the first few minutes I was enjoying myself then massive boredom sets in. There are a few words that describe superstar mode well let's see: tedious, boring, lame, stupid, repetition!!!!, oh and did I mention boring and most importantly crap. It is unfortunate that the Superstar mode turned out to be a collassoul failure but honestly EA what is the fun in playing through endless practices and retarded interviews and acting gigs. Sure making idiotic rants to your agent can be fun but nothing lasts forever. Unless you really like doing the sme thing over and over you'll be simulating just about every event on your calendar besides actual games. I hope that in the upcoming Madden 07 that the superstar mode is fixed. Knowing EA my hopes aren't to high. The one player perspective thing for 07 sounds good but there has got to be more changes made to the superstar mode than just that. Other flaws present in 06 include that god awful radio brodcaster Tony Bruno and John Madden who probably hasn't recorded a new line of dialogue for the game in years, unfortunately that is probably a good thing. So overall Madden 06 delivers what the gamers want. The game has it's flaws but 06 proves to be a whole lot of fun. I can't wait for Madden 07, just about a month now, which should touch up the issues in 06 but who knows how much. | video-games_xbox |
A Nice Change. I know I just got this game but I thought I would do a review to help out this game's rating. The first thing I noticed was the nicely detailed cut scenes, which I always like to see. Once the game started I thought the menus were very easy to navigate and when designing my character I understood exactly what I was doing, I picked an outfit and chose a color for it. Each part of the customization was just enough to make each character very unique and I can't wait to unlock more things to make my character as different as he can be from other players. Because I don't care to see eight characters on a level look like a bunch of clones (CoD). I like knowing that the character I created is mine and no one else's.
When I first started playing, I got the introduction to what each class was able to do, and I already realized that if you play alone you might have a harder more frustrating time playing the game. As each objective in the levels as for a different classes abilities. The game shined though once I exited solo campaign and joined up with a bunch of my friends. This is where the game was amazing! Each of us picked one of the four classes and everyone stuck together to help each other at whatever objective was asked of us. Since we had all the classes picked, that person would do the objective as the rest guarded him. The game seems like it was built perfectly for this type of game play.
I can't wait until there is enough people to go into vs mode and take on different people on these huge levels. Because unlike CoD where you always have one guy with 30 kills and 1 death, I believe this game can eliminate that and make people finally organize themselves into working together to achieve victory. Also, the levels are built so people will be able to attack each other from different angles. Like all p2p games though, there is always that lag issue but even the best games have that problem, until Battlefield 3 comes out at least.
To finish, I am really happy with this game, most of all when it comes to playing with friends. It is one of the best co-op experiences in awhile. Plus, with nothing else coming out in the next couple of months as far as multiplayer games are considered, this will be in my Xbox for long enough to get my moneys worth out of it. I really hope more people like this game as much as I do, that way we can get more maps in DLC with extra objectives to make the game even bigger. | video-games_xbox |
The audio is GREAT, was just a little disappointed by TWO things. I bought mine last November (Nov 2012) and when I got them I was very pleased with the sound quality. I recommend ANYBODY who hasn't owned any headset other than the one provided with the xbox at the time of purchase to read up on the settings, visit the site to check things out before buying. NOT because Turtle Beach is some horrible evil company that sells crap, but because if you're inexperienced with video game headphones like I was (and kinda still am because all I really do is cycle through settings until I find one I like and I'm still not sure why my mic doesn't pick my voice up...but more on that later) you might find yourself overwhelmed by the options and/or confused by how to set things up when you take them out of the box. Going from the not so great headset provided with my xbox by Microsoft I was easily satisfied by the comfort, look, and again SOUND QUALITY the xp 500 headset provides.
Now for the TWO reasons I didn't give this a 5 star rating. The first reason, If you DO NOT HAVE THE XBOX SLIM, then you'll have to connect the wireless transmitter into the back of your TV. This might not sound like a big issue but I didn't like the fact that this wasn't made very obvious for people like all the good features (aka selling points) are so they can make a better informed purchase. And my TV is newer so I had no issue just finding the audio jack after panicking and feeling pissed off for like 5 minutes, thinking I had been duped into having to purchase something else just to be able to use the headphones. BUT when I hooked my 360 up to the TV downstairs (older flat screen, maybe 2005 or 2006 SONY BRAVIA I think), and tried to connect the wireless transmitter... for whatever reason I couldn't hear anything. I disconnected and reconnected maybe 3 or 4 times before just turning it all off. I still don't know why that doesn't work like on my '09 Samsung. This could very well just be an issue with the TV, so I won't accuse the transmitter with certainty. I just don't like that the XBOX SLIM being the preferred model of choice for Turtle Beach isn't touted like everything else. SECOND ISSUE, I can hear myself talk while wearing the headphones but nobody else that I'm on Xbox Live with can. I don't understand this at all. And for anyone thinking "maybe everyone is just ignoring you" lol trust me I considered this BUT I also tried to record a voice message and when I played it back...NOTHING! I tried this on more than one occasion. I made sure the mic wasn't on mute so I don't know what's going on. I even stopped trying altogether for a few months and then got pissed and tried it recently. So I'm pretty sure its not just in my head. None of the people I've encountered online hear a single word I say. For anybody that plays Halo, you've probably noticed a little volume icon over other player's Spartan or next to their GamerTag. Well even though I have a mic, the only thing I ever see is the classic quadrant ring.
To be fair, I just recently reported this issue to Turtle Beach, so I won't badmouth their customer service at all. But I have read other people's complaints about the same issue. All in all, if you've been thinking about a set of comfortable nice sounding headphones so you won't bother anyone else in the house while Playing Mass Effect 3 for like the 7th time at 1:00 am (Making the jump from planet to planet is WAY too damn loud in comparison to everything else in the game), I definitely vouch for these being a good candidate. I don't think it would hurt to do your own research, though. I hope anyone who chose to read it found this helpful, I REALLY Hope you enjoy whatever you wind up buying. Take care | video-games_xbox |
Buggy. I'm not sure that scrambling the menus and making minor changes constitutes a "new" version. What is new is that Madden 25 freezes or cannot carry functions that worked flawlessly in the past. Unlike past versions, users must sign into EA's servers at the outset. If you already have an EA logon and attempt to login to EA via Madden, the software responds your logon and password are already in use and that users should create another logon/password.
Game functionality is not any better than 2012 and, in some cases, has suffered. In some games, the computer simulates late afternoon with both sun and shade. Unfortunately, users are likely to have difficultly seeing the action in the shade. In other games,season-ending injuries to 6 or 7 players on one team can occur. Similar to 2012, it is difficult (or impossible) to override the ridiculous software demands when attempting trades. Users cannot duplicate trades or free agent signings that actually occur in the NFL. While rosters are reasonably accurate at the beginning of the season, there is no roster update during the season. Actual free agents are not accurately listed in Madden either at the start of the season or as players are cut in pre-season. Ironically, the very limited IPAD version of Madden can easily update rosters but the more elaborate XBOX version does not offer updates (or the method for updating is not readily apparent). Potential buyers should be forewarned that the Madden game does not contain printed instructions but a skeletal version of instructions is available on the game DVD. A more elaborate version is available on the EA web site.
I have been playing this game for years and the game seems to be steadily declining in both reliability and functionality while other games are gaining in these respects. It would be nice if this game was available in a PC version since PC functionality (last seen in 2008?) was more sophisticated and user friendly than Xbox in 2013. On to Madden 26! | video-games_xbox |
Rpg of the year for me. I would like everyone to know before hand that this review is going to be very blunt towards the people who bash the game because they do not like it or even give it a fair play through. I am tired of the people bashing this game and then trying to tell everyone that its terrible because its not for them. All of you no matter your age should understand the difference between a bad game and a game that was not meant for you. I mean seriously some people need to stop going out of their way to make the game seem like it is terrible. And god forbid us hardcore gamers finally get a game we deserve after having our market being replaced by games that give us no challenge. You guys get the games you want to play year after year, we have to wait until the one game comes every once and a while. Honestly is it really that hard to let us have one game that may not before you?
Before I get to the review let me clear up some of the crap some of the people reviewing are saying. First Off if anyone has been following the game, the developers have said multiple times that the game was going to be very difficult and was not for the casual audience (what did you all think they were just trying to BS you?). So why are people disappointed that the developers are telling the truth and it really is as hard as they claim. I mean come on the slogan is Prepare to die!
Second I also saw someone claim that the game wasn't as multiplayer as they would have liked and to them I say once again that the developers have also said that they wanted the game to be largely single player so the players might feel alone but you could invite people to play with you but they would be strangers to continue the feel of the games legendary difficulty. I will also add that why would you buy anything without looking into it first to make sure its what you want to spend your money on. The game even had a predecessor which could have told you what the game was going to be like.
Now that that's done with I will get on to the review. Ever since I heard of Demon souls I wanted it so bad I once considered selling my 360 so i could get a PS3 just to play it so you could imagine my excitement when I was told by a gamestop employee that Dark Souls would be for the 360. Now that the wait is over I can say that it is exactly what I wanted. Yes the game is hard and the learning curve is steep but if you set aside your frustration and keep pushing forward you will learn from your mistakes and and be greatly rewarded with awesome looking gear and an overwhelming sense of accomplishment that no other game can give you. I honestly believe that this is now one of my favorite games ever.
One last thing for you casual gamers who are scared to try it, if you like RPG's and are willing to slog through some very frustrating deaths I guarantee you will like it. My best friend who doesn't own any of his own game systems plays and loves this game so you could say he is the ultimate casual gamer. Besides being a masochist another advantage to have before playing the game is to have played any of the monster hunter games before. I do not understand how any of you can let this game get the better of you. Anyone who puts this game down is simply a quitter who refuses to take a little time to learn a great game that puts others to shame. Please do me a favor if your deciding if you want to buy the game yes listen to the negative reviews but please make sure they aren't being completely biased and more importantly listen to your inner gamer. Putting all my ranting aside let me ask you a question, are you prepared to die? | video-games_xbox |
Intense and immersive with good direction. I rented Call of Duty 2 for the 360 last week and after playing half of the campaign mode I can offer up a fair review of it for my fellow FTGers.
COD2 is a really solid FPS with the best campaign mode I've seen. Admittedly I'm not a huge FPS player so I don't have the breadth of knowledge that some have, but for me this campaign mode has a great story, great direction within each mission, unique experiences, and solid realistic gameplay.
The story is broken into three parts. In the first, you play a rookie Soviet soldier. You go through training and get thrown straight into the defense of Stalingrad. It's snowing and bitterly cold, and this is an excellent choice by the developers to open the campaign here because they get to show off the incredible graphics. The smoke in this game is like nothing I've seen on a video game screen... probably the PC FTGers have seen similar, but we console warriors haven't seen it. Snowfall, bulletflash, and other particle effects really impress.
The second part of the story has you as a Brit fighting against Rommel's forces in Africa... the change of setting is welcome. The third part (which I haven't begun) has you as a US GI and fighting in mainland Europe, I presume.
The missions are all unique. A memorable early mission in Stalingrad requires you to fight off Germans along a kilometers-long downed communications cable. You fight your way along, repairing the cable in places where the Jerries have cut it. You're fighting house to house in the streets of Stalingrad... great action and tension.
The enemy and allied AI is really excellent. Your allies truly act like individuals who form a unit, and not like a bunch of scripted robots. The enemies can be pretty cagey too, they can hide in one place and pop up somewhere else, sometimes they create diversions or throw smoke to cover their tracks.
And direction within the missions is solid without leading you around by the nose. There is usually a beacon on your radar that tells you the general direction of your next objective. One thing I hate about FPS campaign modes is when you clear an area but have no idea where to go next... this never happens in COD2.
The only thing that is not very realistic is that your character can take tremendous amounts of damage before dying. On normal difficulty it usually takes absorbing five bullets in quick succession to die. Otherwise you can hunker down and, like in Halo, your health magically recovers to normal. You can up the difficulty and your character can absorb less damage, but I haven't done that because I'm afraid I'd get creamed.
The audio is great... you hear the dull thud of mortar going off two miles away at the same time as you hear the sharp crack of your allies' gunfire right next to your eardrum. The graphics are so good you could practically read the Jerries' medals right before you snipe them. I could go on but I've already written a ton.
One last note... this game, with it's realistic graphics and sound, is so immersive that it becomes a very intense experience. So much so that I play it for only an hour at a time or else I'd probably start freaking out. So, the point is it's really immersive and intense. | video-games_xbox |
Don't buy it, yet. What a disappointment. I have been a huge xbox fan for many years, having owned the previous 2. This is my first time having bought a release day console, and it's really a load of crap.
First, the fan inside the xbox was noisy from out of the box, and 2 days later the Kinect sensor died. Microsoft said they would send a new console and sensor within 2 business days, and here I am 11 days later and they JUST shipped it today. That's only after calling them every single day asking them for a status update, which was always "we're escalating the issue and someone will get back to you within 24-48 hours". I've never been so disappointed with Microsoft support in my entire life.
Barring hardware issues, the games are pretty great so far. The TV functions are nice, but in no way perfect. There are SO MANY features missing from this console that were available on the 360, it's absurd. But just to give a quick rundown of things I miss, and other items it should have:
-No notifications when friends come online
-No notifications when a friend starts playing the game you are playing
-No way to see recent players
-Avatars are now useless, making props and clothing you previously purchased, a total waste. Now there's no reason to spend money on that stuff.
-Viewing achievements is far too difficult and cumbersome. Can't see a list of achievements you haven't received yet.
-Near impossible to figure out how to rate a player
-Can't have a party with people who are playing different games
-No way to make TV the default when the xbox starts up, nor an IR code to force xbox into TV mode
-No way to choose auto-signin for a single profile
-No way to store universal controller configurations like southpaw and inverted Y axis
-No way to see controller batter level
-No way to easily see friends who are online without delving several menus deep
-No way to disable controller vibration
-No way to disable kinect mic by default
-Recording what you just played in a game doesn't work, always gives an error
-HDMI input is not a pass-through, which means the xbox one must ALWAYS be on to watch TV
-No way to determine headset volume level
-No way to invite player to game without also inviting player to your party
-No way to manage storage
-Xbox turns on when you plug in controller to charge (after you just turned it off)
-Bluray player doesn't support 3D bluray.
-Does not support DLNA streaming
-When TV is snapped, you can't mute just the snapped app, so you get 2 audio streams mixed together
And that's just a short list I can come up with at the moment. I'm sure there are like a hundred other items I'm not remembering.
My suggestion, hold off on buying this pile of BETA until Microsoft gets their crap together. | video-games_xbox |
A Breath of Fresh Air. First, a quick bit of background. I play primarily FPS games. I occasionally dabble in RPG's. I loved Oblivion. I loved Skyrim. But most of my gaming time is spent on FPS games. As anyone who plays FPS games can tell you, that genre is stale. Every major FPS game is a sequel, and aside from some minor variations, you realize in about 30 minutes that most FPS games are almost exact clones of all FPS games that preceded it. So, I look to RPG's for some variety.
Witcher 2 is indeed an RPG, but even within the world of RPG's, it is unique. The Witcher series are based on books written by a polish author. The games are steeped in the mythology of the books, and Witcher 2 simply thrusts you into this world with little explanation. No baby steps here. You learn from context that your character is a Witcher, which is a supernatural being that folks hire to slay monsters. The world of the Witcher 2 is vast, detailed, and filled with competing factions with a long history of distrust and racism. Humans detest non-humans (elves and dwarfs). Elves have been subjected to pogroms and massacres, and live in the woods as rebels. The Witcher's world is divided amongst competing kingdoms, and the kings wage wars based on petty differences. This is a detailed, rich world filled with interesting characters.
Witcher 2 was originally released in 2011 as a PC only game. It was released again in 2012 as the Witcher 2 Enhanced Edition on the Xbox 360. The Enhanced Edition added hours of new content, an improved tutorial system, and included some previously released downloadable content. The game starts with the most amazing CGI cutscene I have ever seen. It is so amazing you will wonder why they don't make whole movies with this technology. The scene is important because it kick starts the story of Witcher 2 but isn't really placed into context for a while. (Mild Spoiler alert: the cutscene shows the assassination of King Demavand, which starts the story. End of Spoiler.)
The story of the Witcher 2 is complex. And violent. Innocents are slaughtered by their enemies. There is CGI nudity. There are sexual acts that make Mass Effect look like a Disney movie. This game plays like an R rated movie. The voice acting is flawless. The main character's voice is perfect and well done. You don't hear the same annoying lines from NPC's over and over again like you do some other games. (Hello, Skyrim!) The combat has a learning curve. You fight with a sword, in conjunction with powers (which the game calls "signs"). The fighting is real time, and involves a combination of timing your attacks and parries with evasive movements. It looks weird if you watch gameplay movies, but makes perfect sense when you are the one executing the moves. I found the combat quite gratifying and enjoyable. But it has a learning curve. It starts hard but gets easier.
The story places the combat in context and gives it meaning. You level up and develop your character, investing skill points in swordsmanship, powers (signs), or alchemy. There are different endings, and about 1/3rd of the way through the game, you must pick a path that plays out independently of the path you didn't choose. The ending I reached explained every loose thread of the complex story. I was very impressed with how much effort and detail went into every facet of this game, from the gameplay and graphics to the story and the story's resolution. You can really tell this game was a labor of love for the developers. I plan to go back now and play the other path. Two games in one? Bargain!
If you would like to play an original game that isn't a rehash of all games that came before it, consider Witcher 2. I did, and came away impressed. | video-games_xbox |
FUN multiplayer game, weak single-player campaign - worth it. It took me a while to get into this game. I wasn't able to figure things out until I finished two or three missions of the single-player campaign. Once I figure it out, things really got going. The game is heavily weighted for multiplayer, and that's where this game really shines.
The single-player campaign is probably about 3-5 hours in duration. The voice-acting is a bit on the "cheesy" side, and so is the dialog -- so this game certainly wouldn't win any awards for writing. The CGIs seem to be a bit dated, and I'd say they have that "action-figure" look about them. The campaign has you completing certain objectives in a certain order; in other words, it's a campaign on rails. The campaign serves as a good "training course" for the multiplayer side of the game.
You can play the multiplayer version of the game either against bots or against Xbox Live players. The unique aspect of this game is that you select your own spawning location on the map, from orbit, and then you descend through the atmosphere until you reach about 1200 meters, at which point you can activate your air brakes and slow your decent so you can fine-tune your landing location. During descent you need to avoid anti-aircraft missiles and enemy fire. The main objective on any map is usually the same: capture the 2 or 3 control points and maintain control while destroying any enemies that come your way. Capturing a control point is not as easy as just "capturing a flag" as on other games. For Section 8, you have to activate a hacking sequence which takes several seconds to complete, then the "control" can take an additional minute to complete, during which time you can be killed or an enemy can "diffuse" the control point. Likewise, if the enemy captures a control point, you can diffuse their control or win control of it. So control often changes from one side to another. It can be frantic, it requires strategic thinking, and it's REALLY fun.
The game randomly generates DCMs -- dynamic combat missions, which are smaller objectives that require your attention. These may require the activation of a beacon, the protection of an outpost, collection and protection of intelligence, or intercepting a convoy. Depending on which side the DCM is assigned determines the action the other side must take. Although it's random and there's a decent variety of these missions, they do tend to get a bit repetitive at times. However, whether playing on Xbox Live or against bots, it seems many of them are successful and they are fun -- they add to the frantic activity, especially as you try to maintain or gain control of a control point. This game manages to take other games' multiplayer modes and combine them into a single, huge, multi-player map.
I find the AI bots acceptable when playing the multiplayer maps alone. They flank, they take cover, and they rush at you as you would expect live players would. Once in a while, they run around in circles, and sometimes they don't run at all, making easy targets -- but this doesn't happen often. On medium difficulty setting, they prove enough of a challenge, but it's nice to be able to play multiplayer maps and avoid the chaos of online gaming.
Graphically, the game is OK. I've only experienced 2 or 3 minor slow-downs in a week, and they only lasted about 2 seconds each. Zooming with the sniper rifle really doesn't provide much "zoom" or additional detail, for example. Don't get me wrong though, the game runs really fast and looks good, and that helps add to the fun.
Achievements seems to be equally spread between those you can obtain playing single-player and multiplayer bots vs. multiplayer achievements. It will take some time to get them all, but it helps add to the replay value. In fact, in terms of replay value, this is one game that I find myself playing again and again.
If you like first person shooters, multiplayer games with tons of players, and control/conquest type games, I can't recommend this game enough. | video-games_xbox |
Campaign Mode Thoughts. To start this off, I would not qualify myself as a hardcore gamer. I generally prefer FPS games, and I happily play through campaign modes by myself, rather than play online vs. other players.
I picked Battlefield 4 up for half price the other day thinking 'why not?' It looked good, and it was on sale. I played through the campaign in somewhere between 6 and 8 hours over two days (I wasn't really keeping track). Keep in mind that this is only a review of the campaign mode, and not the multiplayer mode.
The Good:
- The graphics looked amazing. I don't know if it's just because I have a good setup, or maybe I'm just easy to please when it comes to graphics, but I thought it looked fantastic. I didn't notice any insane amount of frames dropping, or frame rates slowing.
- The soundtrack was well-paired with the emotional levels of what was happening in the game. I didn't feel overwhelmed by it, and it added to the experience.
- I really enjoyed having to think a little outside the box when it came to using sniper rifles. In most games, you line up the crosshairs, and boom, you're golden. In Battlefield 4, you have to take dropoff into effect and range your enemies if they're far away. A nice touch.
The Bad:
- Just like most FPS games, you can carry two weapons, and as the game goes on, you unlock more and more weapons. I like that, and I understand that you'll start out every mission with two standard weapons, and you'll get the chance to swap with ones you find on the ground, or when you find an ammo/weapon stash. However, what really bugged me, was that in the middle of a mission, you'll have a cut scene lasting a minute or so, and you'll pick right back up where you were, but you'll be back with the stock weapons given to you at the beginning of the mission. This frustrated me, because I would finally get a good assault rifle and sniper rifle, then go through a cut scene, and be back with some terrible assault rifle and a little pistol, right as you head into a part of the game where a sniper rifle would have saved a TON of frustration and dying. On top of that, the weapon swapping system when you find the ammo crates is just a little clunky. I can't necessarily complain about it, but it just wasn't intuitive. The order of the weapons was constant for the first half of the game, then it changed inexplicably for the last half, forcing you to re-learn the menu layout.
- Without ruining anything, there's an on-again-off-again relationship between two of the characters that seems rather forced. I would believe this more if the game was longer, and there was more time to has out back stories. The dialogue between the two seemed a tad awkward and as if there was a longer script, but the producers just shaved off lines to save time. For example, this is what one conversation (diluted, obviously) was like between the two characters (I and H) at an emotionally tense part of the game:
I: "I just don't trust you, you betrayed us!"
H: "You don't know everything about me!"
I: "Try me."
H: "My family died horrifically."
I: "Wow, you're right, I didn't know everything about you, I trust you with my life now!"
Obviously, this isn't the exact conversation that took place, but it's the message that came across. I'm willing to look over most video game dialogue issues, but this just seemed forced and awkward, ruining the moment.
- What happened to being able to pilot any aircraft? I was excited after piloting the fighter jets in Battlefield 3, but nope, you just get a couple of cars and some boats in Battlefield 4. Major letdown.
The Ugly:
- I know that this game is rated M, and it clearly states why, but most parents who buy this game for their eleven year old sons aren't going to look too closely at it, and assume that it's 'Just because of video game violence'. What surprised me was the amount of swearing in this game. Granted, it doesn't bother me, and I play by myself, but I counted three to four times as many f-bombs (used rather creatively) than all the Die Hard movies put together. This, I can imagine, would catch a lot of people off guard.
- Glitches. I can forgive a few small ones, but when you have a major game title such as Battlefield, I expect a certain amount of quality control. There were two that stand out in my mind from playing it through:
1.) I climbed an outpost tower to get a better view of the enemies, and my two teammates (AI) followed me up. One managed to get around me, so they were standing on either side. They didn't crouch, so they were spotted almost instantly, and started firing at the enemies. Since they were on either side, I could not move, jump, or crawl away. I died after about 10 seconds of being trapped there.
2.) After finishing a portion of a mission I had to do several times (I died a lot), I had to follow one of my AI teammates up a ladder on an aircraft carrier from the deck to the bridge. Simple, right? I started climbing up the ladder behind him, and as he got off the ladder at the top and I was beneath him, I heard a 'smack/thud' (the same sound used when you melee an enemy), and I was catapulted into the air, flew across about 100 feet of aircraft carrier deck, hit the deck, and slid off into the water, and died. So I had to redo that portion of the mission, because my AI teammate decided to literally kick me off the aircraft carrier.
- The ending. I won't give anything away, but you have to make an emotional choice, and after you do, you get a short cut scene, and then credits. It feels like there's no resolution to the entire game or story at that point. It just left me feeling frustrated and empty.
Overall, I won't say this game was bad. I think it's a perfect "What do I want to play this weekend" game, but it definitely isn't getting a spot on the shelf of my favorite games. I'd recommend you try it if you find it on sale somewhere, but it's definitely not a full price game. | video-games_xbox |
They are good....but not the best. Some background: I'm a gamer. I used to be really, really into competitive Halo. More recently, I'm more of a relax and play some Xbox and PC games with friends type of guy. I just want to say that I use this setup every single day for about 2 hours minimum. When I'm not at work or hanging out with my girlfriend, then I'm most likely on my computer or Xbox which means I'm using these!
Sound: The sound is fairly good. You aren't going to be blown away by it if you're an audiophile. The sound is very hollow. This IS the desired effect though. These are made for competitive gaming. In competitive gaming you are looking for increased advantages, not an increased experience. You will be able to pin point shot fire and footsteps fairly well with these. If you are going from no headset to these...then the immediate advantage is staggering. These are not for music, they are for gaming. That being said, they do an adequate job for movies and music as well.
Mic: The mic is awful. There. I said it...it's awful. For this price, your voice should be clearly heard. But when it comes down to it, this is a very poor mic in comparison to the PC350 or PC360s. Also, hearing chat in xbox live is extremely hard to dial in with these. If you change in game mic boost past a certain point, it will screw up your controller signals, if you don't raise it you can't hear your team. I'm sure not all of this is in astro's court....but the overall variance of mic performance AND mic dialing in for xbl is ridiculously inconsistent.
Build Quality: The build quality is good, but not great. Like I said, I've had this system for about a year. I've tried to keep good care of this headset but it has seen a ton of use. The mic no longer stays in place. Multiple connectors crackle if moved at all. The micro usb broke off on the chipside of the board(this was the biggest blow as I never ever moved the mixamp or strained the cables). Part of the rubber casing of the main headset wire came with a slight imperfection that has eventually led to the it splitting, exposing the inside wire. So...build quality is a tad worse than I would've hoped for.
Comfort: Great. It's an extremely comfortable headset. I often forget that I'm wearing the dang thing. The mess of wires is kind of hard to avoid...so I can't really be mad at astro for that, but it's the only thing that intrudes on the comfort level.
Overall, It's a great combo system. I would say that the PC360 + mixamp is a better system though. | video-games_xbox |
Not Worth It. Two Worlds plays out with the recent trend of "class abandonment", yet keeps levels, skills and factions. It is a third-person RPG, one that does not involve turns. It's a medieval fantasy-based RPG, and I mean that in the classic sense, because your actions bear some aesthetic value to the world after some time. This is not nearly as interesting as it sounds. I'll list the pros, then the cons.
Pros:
-Intuitive character building. This, for all the blandness of it, is set up somewhat nicely. At first the skill levels are deceptive, but you quickly learn that the circles are just stages of development.
-Culturally savvy. While the dialog isn't technically "old" English at all, it's one of a few attributes of the world that loyally comes across as (European) medieval. Most other fantasy games, gunpowder or not, actually reflect a late medieval / early Renaissance society.
Cons:
-They should have skipped the voice-acting. yet again we have an RPG saddled with it, which often doesn't match lips, and occasionally doesn't match text. It has all the compelling values of a high school play.
-The box boasts seamless transitions; not only is this false, but the game's graphic stability stalls frequently in combat. Very frequently. Multiplayer as yet is mostly a crapshoot, with bows.
-Mounted combat (sigh) is awkward and somewhat wasteful. If they'd fix the frame rate it'd be less so. To their credit, cavalry really was meant for completely separate engagement.
-The single mode allows a race-gender combination of? Male human.
-The story is flat, and I truly do mean worse than a lot of RPGs. In fact, most MMORPGs have more compelling stories going on.
-Your character deciding the fate of the world is really a PC way of saying eventually you snap and would do anything to stop the voice-acting.
-You don't build your own spells. You collect magic cards. You know- the grand tradition of Cheetoh-encrusted neckbeards for the last twelve years or so. Once you get a few summons (and boosters, yawn), you needn't bother with aggressive spells.
-Bows. They auto-aim, have no depleting ammo, and if one focuses in them they needn't do much else.
I'd redirect a curious shopper to The Elder Scrolls: Oblivion, Game of the Year edition (some expansion content, same price tag as Two-Worlds). Two Worlds only features (crippling) multiplayer, and mounted 'combat'. I also think it's incredibly poor form on the publisher's part to box this game with all its performance problems, then promise some patch a month and a half after release. One can turn down the HDR intensity, which brings it up to subpar.
Rent if you must, but this title (as shipped) isn't worth anything near its price tag. | video-games_xbox |
not as "solid" as it's predecessor. way back in 87 when the industry of videogaming was still in it's infancy, a somewhat obscure nes game METAL GEAR not only
gave me hours of pure entertainment, it also hooked me on videogaming. now several years after 2 sequels, we now have MGS SOL: Substance for microsoft's blackbox.
to put thing pureand simple, i was impressed by the intro with the cool movie-like music courtesy of composer gregory williams.and even ore impressed with the graphics and gameplay
but to be honest, the story line especially during the last 45 minsof the game was too unbearable to say the least.
first off, SNAKE is only playable within the first 35% of the game making way for prtty boy RAIDEN who looks to fruity lke a reject from 80's band, kagashoojoo and te additional cast lke his whiny girlfriend and emma does nothing but slow th games progress especially during those codec moments.
the antagonists=villians were the less impressive thanFOXHOUND if not wannabees. FORTUNE is a female version of VULCAN RAVEN with a backstory no beter than sniper wolf, VAMP looks like a ... version of PSYCHO MANTIS as amatter of fact talk tosnake on the codec afer youv'e taken out the hrrier, there's a lil scandelous backstory between VAMP and the marine colonel. HEH-HEH
SOLIDUS looks like SPIDER-MAN'S DOCTOR OCTRPUS with those snake arms. FATMAN was fun to take on as you try to defuse his bombs while he's puttin bulets behind your back. oh well at least we still have ocelot, well sorta....
i like the lil reference o snake's alter ego" J.G. PLISKN which gives nod to KURT RUSSEL'S SNAKE PLISKEN of ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK
once again HIDEO KOJAMA hashis characters given long philosophical speeches=morals and the jazz like ending music
makes MGS2 lok more like adrama than an espionage action game.
overall MGS is very playable with the bonuses like bos mode and casting teater not to mention the VR MISSIONS AND SNAKE TALES.
but story wise it lacks the "oomph" that made MGS a SOLID hit.
atleast DEVIL MAY CRY andpanzer dragon orta won't disapoint.
"IF IT AIN'T BROKE.." | video-games_xbox |
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