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A gun-toting hangover. There's a moment in 'Max Payne 3' where your character is in a drunken stooper, looking at himself in a mirror and reflecting on his personal failings..then in the most badass fashion swears off drinking, shaves his head and prepares for a one-way, revenge induced trip through the slumbs of Sao Paulo, Brazil. It's that "moment" I live for in an action movie, where the hero gets their crap together and nothing's going to stand in their way. Max Payne 3 does such a great job replicating the action-movie experience with excellent production value that I could forgive it's simplistic gameplay.
'Max Payne 3' take place 12 years after the original Max Payne and eight years after 'Max Payne 2'. Max, the now drunken, pill-popping ex-cop is working security protecting the wealthy Branco family. Eventually Rodrigo Branco's trophy wife Fabiana is kidnapped and Max finds himself mixed up in conspiracies involving human-trafficking, crooked cops, paramilitary forces and being forced to confront things from his own violent past. The story of 'Max Payne 3' is vicious and uncomprimisingly brutal, but much like Rockstar's previous 'Red Dead Redemption' the writing's very sharp and none of the violence is ever treated like a sick joke. Max's world is a serious and depressing one, and he finds that even trying to do the right thing can get innocent people killed.
While the writing goes a long way to selling the feel of 'Max Payne 3', it wouldn't be nearly as impressive without the visuals to back it up. The graphics and atmosphere really bring Brazil and New Jersey to life but it's the character models and technical tweeks that really impress: Max is a grizzled, weighty guy and every movement seems to take effort. The screen fuzzes as he pops painkillers (no regenerating health here!) and the levels load during cutscenes which "glitch" to reflect Max's burned-out mindset. The game goes a long way to make you feel as weary and drug-addled as Max himself.
The grim atmosphere in 'Max Payne 3' also carries over to it's combat. The usual bullet-time is back, letting you slow down the action but the violence has been cranked up for maximum effect. Bullets tear through flesh, spraying blood and shattering bones. When Max dives he doesn't just slide along the floor, he crashes into walls and boxes and you feel every gravel-chewing impact. The added cover mechanics are a welcome sight in firefights...until you realize everything in the environment is destructable and enemies will rush you from all directions. Just getting through these encounters can be draining, but like Max Payne 3's writing it all adds to the immersion making the experience truly unique.
While thematically Max Payne is much more fleshed out than, say Nathan Drake of 'Uncharted' he's also a one-trick pony. In fact it's when 'Max Payne 3' tries to change up the bullet-time running and gunning with levels of forced-sniping and vehicle shooting that things become tedious and uninspired. There's nothing wrong or out of place with these moments (there's maybe three in the whole game) but the lack of mobility became frustrating.
'Max Payne 3' may not be a perfect game with it's limited gameplay and some uninspired ideas, but it's also got a lot of substance to it with it's excellent writing, directing and voice acting (regular James McCaffrey turns in a fantastic performance as Max!). If you're an action-film fan like I am and looking for a quality that seem to be lacking in most movie-theaters look no further than 'Max Payne 3'. | video-games_xbox |
Great follow up on Merc I. I love this game. I have played Mercs I (Blow Stuff Up!) several times since it came out and have always wondered why Mercs II never came out. Then it did. And it was good. Not perfect, but very good.
There are many reviews here already so I will cut this short:
PROS:
Good follow up of Mercs I
Lots of action
You still have to take into consideration the various "Factions" before making a move (This is very hard to get into at first but is a distinct element of this game, you can not just "spray and pray". It makes it more of a "Thinking Game" rather than a pure Shoot-Em-Up). Same goes for fuel usage.
Good game play overall.
Lots of vehicles to drive / fly
Environment can be blown up, and "remember" it is blown up (think of sunken ships in the water).
Auto-Save
CONS:
They seem to have changed the game play, no 'vehicle repair' airdrops, and THEY STEAL YOUR HELICOPTERS / VEHICLES AFTER TAKING ON A NEW CONTRACT. The later point really sucks as why buy a nice helicopter for $10,000, only to LOSE it when you take on a new contract??? They used to move it and park it somewhere close. Now it just disappears. hence you spend a lot more time hijacking helicopters than in the first version. I think it is a bug that should be fixed. (hence 4/5)
Third person camera still needs a little work (don't they all?).
Falling from a blown-up helicopter and sliding half a mile down a hill, only to have to climb up it again, gets very old after the 15th time.
There seem to be more trees / rocks / steeper hills to contend with when driving around the countryside. Takes a little away from the open sandbox aspect.
Mechanic does not seem to do much apart from offer the helicopter hijack grapple.
My brother-in-law in Europe and I play online co-op once a week and chat via XBox LIVE which is a very cool feature (most XBox games can do this now of course).
Regards to all - M | video-games_xbox |
Amazon Warehouse Deals - Game does not load. This review is exclusively for Amazon Warehouse Deals.
I purchased the game used from Amazon Warehouse Deals, I received the item one day earlier than the estimated delivery date, which is usually the case with Amazon in general.
Upon removing the Jewel case form the shipping box, I noticed it was dented, or pushed in near the top middle of the case (The shipping box was in excellent condition). I slit the Amazon Warehouse Deals "Graded by" seal sticker in order to get to the disk inside. Once the case was open I saw your standard game paraphernalia oe would find inside a case of any game...there was also the disk of the game as well.
I popped out the disk, placed it into my Xbox 360 tray, closed the tray...and nothing. I reopened the tray, closed again and once more, nothing. I then leaned near the Xbox 360 and heard what seemed to be a light clicking sound, which led me to believe the Xbox 360 was trying to access the disk. But, nothing.
I then thought maybe my console had just at that moment broke. So I popped in a game I was playing earlier to see if this were actually the case, however the Xbox 360 read the disk without and issue and the game loaded again, without and issue.
I then went back to the Madden 25 disk and looked at the non-label, or data side. It actually looked pretty good, I couldn't see any blemishes, but that was until I held it on an angle near a light source. I then saw a small nick/scratch in the disk, looking closer, I see a few spin scratches, or scratches that are usually developed on a disk while it is being spun inside the console, or if the disk were still in the jewel case and spun. These discoveries lead me to believe this is the reason for the Xbox 360's inability to load the game.
I will be attempting to remedy the issues on the disk by cleaning it with approved cleaners and or a professional disk cleaning machine (I can take it to a local place), but do not feel these will alleviate the issue. If I cannot make the game function properly, I will be contacting Amazon/Amazon Warehouse Deals for either a refund or a replacement.
Now, although Amazon Warehouse Deals has a very high seeler rating with many reviews, it seems to me a simple test of a product of this nature would and should have been completed. I of course feel no such test was preformed and would not recommend Amazon Warehouse Deals in the future.
Take care, | video-games_xbox |
Don't buy this game for Xbox 360, save your money. You have got to be kidding me, this game is the exact same thing as Madden 25, only with updated rosters and some fancy new menus. I bought this game thinking it would be similar to Madden 15 on the current-generation consoles (PS4, Xbox One) with some graphical compromises, boy was I wrong. No new defensive camera angles, gameplay presentation or defensive pass rushing, just a hole in my pocket and $60 I can't get back.
I have never felt compelled to review anything on Amazon, but wow this game is a joke. Don't get me wrong, if you are upgrading to Madden 15 from say Madden 12 then this might be a worthwhile investment, but if you are upgrading from Madden 13 or 25, prepare to be very, very disappointed. The fact that Amazon advertises this game for the Xbox 360 as having the same features as the current-generation version is a blatant misrepresentation of what you will actually be getting.
For example, on the Madden 15 for Xbox 360 page, Amazon states: "A New Point of View See defense through a whole new lens with all-new camera angles that let you attack the play from the defensives perspective. Whether you lock in on a single defender and go for the big play or follow the action wherever the ball goes, youll see the play unfold through the defenses eyes."
Well, guess what? If you have an Xbox 360 or PS3 you won't be able to use this feature. Is it because the Xbox 360 doesn't have the processing power to implement such a feature? I doubt it. Is it because the EA developers were too lazy to include it for the Xbox 360? Yeah, it is.
It would be one thing to have a separate listing for Madden 15 on Xbox 360/PS3 without advertising these features, but by doing so Amazon is (probably inadvertently) duping many customers into purchasing Madden 15 for their last-gen consoles, not realizing that they won't be able to use 90% of the "new features" in Madden 15.
It's hard to believe that EA put out a new iteration of Madden with a $60+ price tag and such lackluster improvements. Then again, it really isn't. Shame on EA and Amazon for advertising this game as having numerous features that aren't actually available to users who have last-generation consoles, had I realized that I would be receiving a re-branded copy of Madden 25 with some superficial changes, I would have saved my money, which is what I suggest you do. | video-games_xbox |
Unpolished ,Unfinished Nearly Broken Game That Had Promise. This game had potential and after many praises from critics I picked up a copy.
It's very gritty in the use of language and graphic amputations but this is a horror game.
You can choose between four main protagonist.
The two women had career issues related to gender and the males are just jerks that I couldn't get attached to.
Too bad the game suffers from many bugs and glitches that you will have to google to search for a fix to continue the game.
Yes, a couple of the main quests glitched and it was a show stopper for a while.
Don't rely on the quest marker to set your path. It had me going in circles and even lead me to stone wall that I couldn't get to.
Pet peeve is doing a quest and once back at your hide away another quest giver wants you to go back to retrieve something at the very location you just got back from. So, you will be going in circles. I completed a computer download at the police station before getting the quest and had to go back and do it again once I got it. I couldn't just say I did it already. ANNOYING
Another annoying issue related to glitches is the respawning of slaughtered zombies.
Sometimes they respawn right in front of you (or behind you) and immediately attack you.
The modding of weapons would be fun if I can find right materials to make with my blueprints.
From the very beginning, I gathered materials knowing about this feature and other than a few items it was a waste of time.
When dying and going back to a save point, my inventory remains depleted even though I started the quest fully stocked.
You can play digital or analog mode. Analog mode requires aiming and if you want to lop off some heads and arms this is the mode to use.
Digital just swipes back and forth with no aim.
The default have you playing single player online with co-op. I quickly turned this feature off since I want to take my time exploring.
Exploring doesn't happen much because of the constant attacks from zombies some running at you at insane speeds.
Some of the zombies seems over powered. At Level 43, I still had trouble with thugs, floaters, and butchers I ran into since the beginning.
That should be the case as I progress through the game and gain experience and weapons.
The game suffers from frame rates, texture pop in, main quest glitches, and excessive enemy respawns that seems overpowered.
Not to make this too long, the game had promise but it seems rushed out the door before it was ready.
If you play this game, keep the internet near by for those glitches and be prepare to die -- a lot.
The vehicle in the game is a pickup and it gets stuck a lot. Going in reverse causes it to rotate 90 degrees and be wedge between something. The armor truck was nice but of limited use.
The vehicle is the easiest way to kill any zombie.
I nearly quit this game 75% of the way through because of a glitch.
After a half day searching, I found a solution to allow me to continue.
I normally won't give 3 stars for unfinished games like this but the game is fun to play on some levels but annoying and mentally exhausting on others with sore wrists from "swinging" at zombies. It may be slaughter fatigue.
Play at your own risk and watch where you throw the controller. | video-games_xbox |
Private Guitar Lessons. I was very skeptical about Rocksmith at first. I've been playing with Rocksmith for a few days, and I think I have a grasp on what Rocksmith does, doesn't do, and what you might be able to expect.
I think the most frequent question I have had my friends ask is: Does it work? Yes. The synch through a cable that goes from 1/4" out to the xbox's USB does not feel laggy. Be sure to follow the guided tuning to get the best results. But the short answer is: Yes, Rocksmith does what it promises. But what it promises and what people expect are sometimes two different things.
If you expect to jam with friends or use Rocksmith at a house party, it may not work for you. First off, there's not a lot of "gaming" going on here. There is a multiplayer, and while there are also mini-modes and scores/points to achieve, at its core Rocksmith is a guitar tutor. Rocksmith in NO WAY resembles Rock Band/Guitar Hero. Those other music games are designed for a party experience, but what you do with those instruments bears very little relationship to playing a real instrument. In Rocksmith you are playing a real guitar (you do need your own electric guitar).
If you're still on board, Rocksmith can be a useful tool for learning to play the guitar. I am a novice at the guitar. Rocksmith includes tutorials and info on all the basics such as tuning, and frets and strings. If you're willing to put in the time and effort, I believe Rocksmith can teach you to play halfway decently. However, learning to play the guitar (from scratch) is a long, slow process. So, don't expect to really rock right out of the box.
The visual information that Rocksmith throws at you is pretty intense. There is a fairly steep learning curve here. But again, the rewards include learning to really play the guitar. Moreover some of the on-screen information includes "tabs" (tableture), which is a form of sheet music for guitar-- if you practice enough Rocksmith, you could theoretically pick up any "tabs" sheet music and play.
PROS:
+ You are learning to play the guitar
+ It works with any guitar with a 1/4" out
CONS:
- learning the guitar is hard work, no matter if you're using a game or not.
SUMMARY:
I think Rocksmith is IDEAL for people with some guitar background: rocksmith may be the perfect excuse you need to practice extra. Beginning and advanced guitar players will both find something useful in Rocksmith, but I think both with find it frustrating. Beginner guitar players may find rocksmith overwhelming, there is a lot to learn-- and you should be cautioned that Rocksmith can tell if you PLAY a note, not if you play it well. Advanced players I feel would need human feedback to determine how well they are playing (tone, emotion, etc). If you're serious about putting in the time, I think there is something for everyone in Rocksmith. However, I also think that realistic expectations and patience are keys for enjoying rocksmith. | video-games_xbox |
Hear is a list off better reasons why you should buy a bunch of copies of Bomberman Act Zero. 1. put it in the microwave
2. put it in the oven
3. use it as a Coaster
4. use them as a Frisbee
5. use them as a Frisbee for shooting practice
6. put it on the newspaper for your dogie to poop/pee on
7. put it on the letterbox for your kitties to poop/pee on
8. put in in your bird cage for your pet bird to poop all over on
9. put it in the paper shredder/credit card shredder
10. run it over with your car
11. run it over with your bike
12. run it over with your motorcycle
13. tape firecrackers on it and watch it go into orbit and light up the sky and go "OOH! Pretty Fireworks!"
14. stomp on it to death with hiking boots on
15. embedded it 10 feet deep in your backyard... with dog poo
16. put it in hot boiling water
17. wack it with a baseball bat
18. wack it with a hokey stick
19. put it in the toaster
20. burn it and dance around the fire
21. use them as a Frisbee for you dog to chew on
22. bash it into tiny pieces with a crowbar
23. throw it out the window
24. throw it into a wood chipper
25. throw it out the window into it wood chipper
26. roast over the fire like a marshmallow
27. rub the play side of the disk against the gravel
28. throw it in the recycle bin
29. drill holes in the disk
30. put on the grill
31. bash it with a hammer
32. stick it in the mouse-trap
33. stick it in the rat-trap
34. cook it over Molten Lead
35. cook it over Aluminium
36. drop it in the toilet inside the outhouse
37. embedded it in concrete cement and what for cement harden overtime
38. wack it with a golf club
39. cut it in half with a chainsaw
40. Barf all over it out side after wolfing down too much food.
41. Drop a brick on it
42. Drop a rock on it
43. Drop a bowling ball on it
44. Run it over with your truck
45. Place it on the train track and give the train conductor a thumbs up as he runs it over with his train
46. Use the paper part of the disk case as a dart board
47. Put it in a punching bag and punch the living daylights out of it like you never punched anything before
48. Throw it in a garbage bag
49. Throw it in a garbage can
50. Drop it in a pool of acid
51. Slash it in half with a Katana (aka Japanese sword)
52.leave the disk out in the sun on a very, very hot day. (At lease at around 120 F)
53. Drop it into a open manhole
54. Cook it in a frying pan
55. Throw it into the dumpster
56. Use it as a shooting target
57. Use it as a shooting target with paint balls
58. Bash it with a mallet
59. Bash it with a iron baseball bat
60.put it in a new bag of perfectly good uncrushed chips, and then crush it with a powerful stomp, while shouting at the top of your lungs, "SURVIVAL OF THE FITTEST, LEONARD!!" (Reference to Food Fight, a terrible film) | video-games_xbox |
Great game, lots of content and fun to be had. Trackmania Turbo is a fun arcade racing game, full of stunts, jumps and fast speeds. The game features a wealth of content, there are about 200 tracks to race on in single player. These 200 tracks are spread across 4 completely different locations, each offering a different environment and style of gameplay. There is 4-player split-screen co-op, which is rarely seen in modern games, and the game is really fun to play with friends. Additionally, there is a multiplayer mode of up to 100 players at a time, and it can get really crazy sometimes. The game features nice graphics and the locations are quite beautiful to look at, there is also a high level of detail on everything in the game, from environments to cars.
Trackmania Turbo puts a lot of emphasis on leaderboard competition, and for many people that might be exactly what they would be looking for; a lot of fun can come out of competing with your friends if thats what you're looking for. The tracks in single player are quite short, which is somewhat disappointing, as they are usually 30 60 seconds long each, however the game is all about driving really fast and trying to set the best time, so the length of tracks is not really an issue. Restarting a race happens pretty much instantly, much like in Trials, if you crash or go off the track, you can easily restart it and get right back into racing to improve the time on each track.
There is a detailed track editor available in the game, so there is additional content coming from the community, and tracks are not too hard to build. Even more, the track editor has a build random track feature, so the game can build a random track to race on without having to spend a lot of time manually building a track. Trackmania Turbo is all about driving really fast and performing stunts, so the handling of cars is not realistic in any way, however it is still quite responsive. While the game is very easy to pick up, it is actually hard to get very good at it and would require time to get to that level of skill. There is plenty of challenge to be had as the game features realistic physics despite it being an arcade racer, which affects the car handling when in air and it would sometimes take a lot of time to nail a hard jump
Overall, Trackmania Turbo is a fun experience to pick up if you like fast-paced arcade racing games and offers a lot of content to justify its purchase price. Great game, would recommend. | video-games_xbox |
A Step in the right direction. This review is with regards largely to the Prestige edition and Camera at this point. The game has been fun but my friends are stuck in BF4 land with much COD hate due to earlier release particularly BO2.
A couple notes on the gameplay I have enjoyed to date. The movement is exquisitely fluid, this is so very polished. Having played back and forth between BF4 and Ghosts the last few weeks, COD took mantling and made it better. The knee slide is just icing. There are notable differences in weapon behavior between this and the previous versions. No longer is the SMB the ultimate weapon. And snipers cannot quick scope the way they used to. That doesnt mean a truly good sniper won't take you out, but it means that the glitch that made quick scoping bread and butter is gone.
Now to the camera. The camera was the reason I went for the prestige edition. So far I think it was worth it though there are some reservations. The camera comes with a number of mounting options that seem generally to work well. It also comes with a nice kit to store it all in. The camera is very easy to use and has a very short manual. The video quality is pretty good definitely HD, though with heavy compression, and not the best color. The kit includes a 4G micro SD which was a good surprise, though not really large enough. It is very easy to connect to the computer and pull the video off the camera without needing special software. The format however is problematic. You might need VLC to be able to play the video though there are certainly other options, I know that one works. The mic is not functional at speed and it's design leads to significant noise, though it is marginally effective when you are not moving fast. The camera is made of plastic but does feel decent in the hand, it does not feel fragile and I expect it to take some bumps and bruises without issue.
I took the camera out for a weekend excursion to the Kart track. I was easily able to use the included mount to secure it to the handle bars of the kart. The camera worked well to capture the action, though in that position picked a pretty substantial jitter from the kart's vibrations. I used one of the alternate mounts to secure it to a helmet via doublestick tape and was able to obtain good video that way as well. The camera worked will in both cases. Unfortunately at the end of our last set of laps I found the camera was off having missed some amount of the action. There was no issue with the first three rounds, and the triple red flash indicated the SD card was full. It recorded somewhat less than 40min at 720p60fps.
I would love to be posting a video to accompany this review and hopefully will do so at some point in the future. However, the video codec that is used in recording is making that a challenge. Adobe Premiere Pro sees no video in the files. The included software on the Mac seems to have a serious bug. When I attempted to export the video using that software to another format, the 4Gig grew to over 60Gig and filled my laptops SSD completely. I am still working on a way to edit my video and when done will add to this review.
I just found out today that the season pass will allow an upgrade from the current gen to next gen without any additional cost. Without the season pass this is an extra $10. So one more reason I am happy that I bought the prestige edition which includes the season pass.
All in all I am looking forward to hundreds of hours playing this game. | video-games_xbox |
I was Blown Away.... (Spoiler Free. In an age of video gaming that is ridden with unfinished products, or pretty much clones of past releases, there are a few sparkling gems that stand out. The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is one of those gems.
Bare with me while I explain a little; Im not ashamed to say that I've never played a past Witcher game, or any other cd project red title that I can think of. So of course I was a little skeptical at first, exspecially after getting my hopes up for other releases. *cough* Destiny *cough* But right outa the box, this game impressed me. (And yes, I bought a physical copy. Can't help the fact that I have crappy Internet where I live.) it comes with a thank you letter, and a promise of free dlc!!! Coming from a market which is saturated with downloadable content that cots the same as the game, this was a breath of fresh air.
But what's to say about this game that hasn't already been said? HUGE open world, extreme player choices that change the whole game, and just the overall length. Not to mention intriguing story. As I said, I've never played a previous Witcher title. I felt kinda lost at the beginning, but the game does a very good job of explaining itself. I got to a part that I thought would be the end of the game, seeing as I played it for days by that point (surprise, wasn't the end), but it just continued to surprise me. Almost Reminds me of red dead redemption but your choices actually matter. Even the little things make a huge difference way on down the line.
Almost done, just wanna talk about side quests. Most games, even skyrim in some cases had an issue with this, side quests can feel meaningless and seem to have no effect on the work around you. Not so with the Wild Hunt. Like I said before, most of them can have a huge impact later down the line. Don't even get me started on how many hours I wasted collecting the Gwent Cards. Probably the most fun mini game to date.
That's all folks! Like so many others, I give this game a 10/10. I was blown away, and very pleased with my purchase. If you are deciding if you should get this game or not, I would suggest that you do. Totally worth the money! | video-games_xbox |
A few peeves but generally a fun game. I was expecting DA2 to be more like DA:O. It's not. After I accepted that, the game got more fun. My overall rating more closely approximates a 3.5, but that's not an option. Despite the cons, I enjoyed it DA:2. The reviews of this game are very polarized on other sites. DA:2 isn't my favorite RPG out there, but I don't understand the rage it inspires.
Pros:
- Unlike a lot of people, I actually liked the Mass Effect style conversation wheel. I didn't like that the Warden had no voice in DA:O and I welcomed a character who spoke. The voice actor for Female Hawke did a good job IMO.
- The game was smaller in scope than DA:O. I liked the idea of playing a character who started out as a refugee and ended up a hero. While the main quest (mages v. templars) wasn't the most compelling, it built up nicely. Without getting super spoilery, it was heartwrenching to watch one companion's descent into madness.
- I enjoyed combat. I played on Hard and found it challenging. I played as a warrior and found that Isabela (melee rogue) required a lot of micromanagement because of her skills. At first, party combat was tricky but once I got everyone's tactics down right, I didn't need to manage them as closely.
- The party banter was a lot of un, especially Varric, Isabela, and Merill
- I enjoyed the romance options, but like a lot of games, I suspect that the love interests from this game will disappear or be unimportant in DA3.
- Some of the side and companion quests were really fun.
- I loved being able to summon the dog. To echo what others said, I never used him in DA:O because he took up a party slot. I used him constantly as a summon. Plus, I liked my companions' interaction with him.
Cons:
- I wish there was more interaction with the companions. I felt like there was a lot more in DA:O. Some of the companions could have used more fleshing out, especially the love interests.
- Hate, hate, hate the recycled dungeons! I mean really? That alone made the game feel rushed.
- I wish I could have customized my party's armor more. I liked the upgrades that I found during the game, but I prefer being able to buy new armor because some of my companions w/ lower constitutions (mages) really needed it.
- I understand the game is about a city, but I feel like there could have been more variation of areas. The city could have been larger. The areas outside Kirkwall could have been more varied.
- Some of the side quests felt meaningless. I understand that find and retrieve quests are part of RPGs, but some of the ones in DA2 involved no real interaction with the NPCs who gave you the quests.
- No "camp" for companions. Was it really necessary to have to go to a specific place to talk to a companion? I missed the camp from DA:O.
Bugs: (I played on a PC)
- Targeting issues. Sometimes, I couldn't target a character's attack until I clicked through the rest of the party and targeted their attacks, and then came back to the character that wasn't targeting properly. This was annoying.
- A few of the side quests did not work for me. The NPCs I needed to talk to were there, but they didn't react at all and I couldn't click on them. | video-games_xbox |
A Good Game; A Few Glaring Flaws. Let me first state that I DID enjoy this game. Though I have yet to play online multiplayer, I have played against friends in system-link, and that was quite a blast. Now, let's get down to the review.
THE GOOD:
*Graphics: The graphics are excellent. It's a very nice looking game, and everything is richly textured and detailed.
*Enemy AI: Pretty well done. For the most part, the enemies were smart enough not to run headlong into my fire.
*Levels: I enjoyed the level design on this game quite a bit. It does feel like you're fighting through the burned-out wreckage of civilization.
*Combat: The combat was, for the most part, very fun. I enjoyed the "duck-and-cover" aspect of it, although that had a few problems (more on that later).
*Weapon Buttons: The controls as far as using weapons are pretty well laid out. I especially like the "active reload" feature, as it allows you to quickly reload under fire and start shooting bach ASAP.
*Voice Acting: While Fenix's voice is a little on the silly side at first, the voice acting is nicely done in this game. Unlike some games, there isn't much of that "can I have my paycheck now" monotonous tone in the actors' voices.
*The Multiplayer: I enjoyed this as well. It's not for everyone, though, and I've always preferred first-person to third-person view, but I still had a lot of fun with this.
THE BAD:
*Friendly AI: Your squadmates are absolute morons. Apparently, the command "regroup" translates to "run headlong into enemy fire, get gunned down like an idiot, and repeatedly hassle the player to revive you". During boss fights, they become more of a hindrance than a help. During both the first fights with the Berserker, my ally was _supposed_ to be distracting it with fire so that I could focus a laser on it and have an overhead satellite kill it. Instead, he took cover behind a low wall and sat there the entire fight. The problem here is that when you focus the beam, the gun goes "beepbeepbeepbeep", the berserker hears it and runs at you, and one hit from it is enough to kill you. Dumb AI is acceptable in standard shooters where you are a one-man army, but when you're relying on other characters to help, it's incredibly frustrating.
*Controls: Mostly, these are fine, but what really bothers me is the lack of a simple "jump" or "sprint" button. You can only jump over low walls, and to do that, you have to take cover behind the wall, hold forward, and press A. The sprint is a crouch-run, which is mostly ok, except for two issues: One, the visual "reverse fisheye" effect is sort of dizzying, and two, if you run into a wall you automatically take cover. The stickyness of cover commands often leads to unecessary death as you shout "NO I MEANT JUMP OVER IT NOT STAND THERE AND GET SHOT! ARGH!"
*Final Boss: I think this fight is outlandishly difficult. I've tried several times to beat him; I even lowered the difficulty; but I just can't beat him. Not only is your AI compatriot useless, but one or two hits from the boss and you die. The layout of the area is such that you often find yourself stuck between a rock and a hard place: run into the light and get mowed down by the boss, or stay hidden behind a wall, in the dark, and get eaten by a cloud of flesh-eating creatures? YOU MAKE THE CALL!
*The Storyline: This game seems to enjoy just dropping you in the midst of the action with almost zero backstory. Which can be quite enjoyable, when the story is fleshed out over the course of the game. This one isn't. I felt myself not really caring about the plight the humans faced in this game, because they never really explained much of it. it was basically "We need to kill Locusts because they are evil" with no meat on the story. The plot of this game seems to be an incredibly generic, uninspired "humans vs. ugly aliens" plotline.
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Again, overall, this was a good game, and I recommend it to anyone who likes Third Person Shooters. My biggest recommendation is that you play co-op instead of solo. | video-games_xbox |
Hack-n-slash masterpiece. Middle Earth: Shadow of Mordor is the LOTR game everyone has been waiting for. As you've probably heard by now, the gameplay is a wonderful blend of the Batman Arkham combat and Assassin's Creed parkour, all set in Middle Earth. If you like either one of those games, you should pick up a copy of Shadow of Mordor immediately.
Combat: 10/10
If you've played any of the Batman Arkham games, imagine the combat being almost identical, except instead of using fists you have a sword and bow. For those of you who haven't played a game in that series, the combat is fast-paced and free-flowing. It is incredibly fun to jump right into a middle of a group of orcs and watch as Tailon hacks and slashes his way beautifully through the entire pack. You might struggle at first to avoid being hit while still dishing out damage to increase your hit counter (which allows for special finisher moves), but once you pick up on it you might give up on the stealth option all together to feel the accomplishment of single-handedly wiping out a couple dozen orcs with no problem.
Movement: 9/10
Again, if you've played an Assassin's Creed game, imagine the movement being similar to that. If you haven't, imagine being able to sprint across an open field, dive over a rock and a fence, and then shimmy up a tower in a matter of seconds. The movement is more fluid than the AC series, in my opinion. Most objects are climbable so you don't have to run around for awhile trying to decide at what point you need to climb from. I took one star off of the movement score because there were a few times when Tailon would get a mind of his own when climbing. Overall though, it's quick, fluid, and generally glitch-free.
Plot: 6.5/10
This one was the hardest for me to score. The plot isn't bad but it probably won't wow you either. I've seen better, I've seen worse. I won't share any plot points so as not to reveal any spoilers but the ending is "meh" and open to interpretation. They might lock this down with DLC but I can't verify that. I've read so many theories online that I'm not sure what I believe. Most importantly, you don't have to be a LOTR lore fanatic to follow along. I'm sure you might pick up a few extra plot points but it's not a game breaker.
Boss Fights: 3/10
You're probably thinking, "How does boss fights count as a category by itself?" Well, personally I love and look forward to boss fights. I can't really categorize it with anything else because it's a mixture of the plot and combat. There are 3 main bosses in this game. Usually the closer you get to the end, the harder the bosses. ME:SoM went in a completely different direction on this one and I found it disappointing. The bosses get progressively easier. You only actually fight the first boss. I beat the second boss in about 2 minutes on my first try. You just sneak up behind his "doubles" and stealth kill 3 or 4 of them and it's over. The third and final boss, which you spend all game trying to locate, is just a QTE prompt. You press the button when it tells you to and that's it.
Nemesis System: 8/10
I'm going to dedicate a little more writing to this because it's the new idea on the block.
The Nemesis System is a new feature that debuted with ME:SoM. My overall opinion of it is that's it is an awesome idea and a fresh design. I do have one complaint but I'll outline that later. What the Nemesis System entails is that there are orc Captains and Warchiefs -- basically leaders of the pack. Each captain/warchief has special strengths and weaknesses that you can use to your advantage or ignore them to a fault. The orcs have a hierarchy of these captains and warchiefs. If you kill one captain, a captain of a lesser tier moves up to take his place. A big part of the game is using this to your advantage (which I will get to). The actual "nemesis" part of the Nemesis System is the way in which the orcs react to you. If a captain kills you, he will become your nemesis and he will remember you, which will shape the way he approaches you. For example: If a captain kills you and you go back to take care of him later, he will say something along the lines of "I killed you once! You should have stayed dead." It brings a fresh and reactive approach to the game. But that's not the only way to change the way the game reacts to you. It also takes into account the manner in which a deed is done. For example: If you burn a captain and he gets away, the next time you see him, he will make comments about being burned (or cut, or...). This might sound like "fluff" for the game but it really is a wonderful feature and makes the experience all the better without getting repetitive. I'm always interested in what new way they are going to threaten me. Side note: If this game has taught me anything, it's that orcs are a VERY confident species.
Now, to how you can control the nemesis system to your advantage. In the second half of the game you will learn the "brand" ability, which allows you to mind-control orcs. You can brand your target outright OR you can brand the orc in the next line of succession, kill your target, and watch as your branded orc takes his position. It's very rewarding to take control of a low level captain and knock out his line of succession to watch him move up through the ranks. You can also use your branded orc captains to carry out assassinations of other captains, use them to gain intel (which gives you information on strengths and weaknesses of captains/warchiefs), or you can assign them to become a bodyguard of a warchief. Related note: *Warchiefs are at the top of the orc hierarchy. You have to do special missions to get them to show up and, when they do, they are accompanied by captain bodyguards.* When you brand a captain, you can tell him to fight to become a bodyguard of the warchief (which you will have to do a struggle mission to make happen). That'll allow you to take out warchiefs much easier because you can just turn their bodyguards against them to help fight the good fight.
As for the part I alluded to earlier with the one problem I had with the system. To get an actual orc nemesis, they have to kill you (which will make them grow in power as well!). I'm not saying this to sound arrogant, but I only died a couple times throughout the entire game so I didn't have a nemesis for most of it. It's not a big deal but since they put so much effort into this system, it would have been nice to experience more regularly.
Difficulty: ?/10
I can't score this one because it's mostly based on preference. The early game is tough, but not overly tough as you adapt to how the game works and Tailon's abilities. If you walk into an orc stronghold right from the start, you're going to have a bad time. You better have a damn good escape strategy. As you start to increase in power and gain new abilities, you become Tailon, Bringer of Destruction and Death to All Who Oppose. I didn't feel like the second half of the game was all that challenging, which I found disappointing but as I said, it's all a matter of preference. For me, I kind of abandoned all strategy and didn't plan my attacks. I just jumped right in the middle of the group and started hacking.
Random thoughts:
The greatest thing in this entire game and one of the coolest things of any game I've ever played, is the warchief entrance. You'll probably read what I write and think that it doesn't sound all that great but it's something you need to experience to see how great it is. When you beat the little mission to get to warchief to show up, the warchief will make a grand entrance where the orcs chant his name. Again, I know that doesn't sound all that cool but it's something you experience in-game. They put the warchief in slow-mo and he walks in like a bad ass while they are chanting his name. RUK-DUG! RUK-DUG! RUK-DUG! It reminds me of a show or movie where a gladiator enters the arena and the crowd is chanting his name, practically demoralizing and demeaning the opponent.
Overall: 9/10
I alluded to the plot being average, the boss fights being unmemorable, and the late game difficulty being too easy, so how can I give it a 9/10? The gameplay is just that much fun. Never once did I say to myself throughout the entire game, "That is broken and needs to be fixed." It somehow manages to keep the action fresh without becoming repetitive. It's a bloody, fast-paced hack-n-slash masterpiece and this game alone will get me to commit to future games in the series. | video-games_xbox |
Lost Planet is lost on me. At the time of its release, Lost Planet was arguably the most hyped game from CAPCOM since Dead Rising blew the minds of many, myself included. While it boasts a load of potential it is ruined by a horribly fiddly control system.
Thrown into a cliched revenge story on a desolate ice-covered planet, we quickly learn the importance of a well thought-out control system. Sadly, this is what makes the game so painful; if it wasn't for the controls this game would have a lot going for it. The main problem is that the right analog stick controls your direction, but if you tap it quickly you spin quickly in that direction. So if you're facing one direction and tap down, you'll turn 180 degrees. What this means though, is if you're trying to aim at something and just want to adjust your site very slightly and you just tap the right stick, you're suddenly facing a completely different direction, which makes for VERY frustrating boss fights. And the control settings aren't modifiable! At least not the problematic ones anyway.
Most of the game involves action on foot or controlling mech warrior style machines called Vital Suits which are actually pretty cool. There are different types of machines to keep things interesting. Your character also possesses a Batman style grappling hook which is pretty cool but overall the gameplay really suffers due to the controls.
The graphics are very nice, with large, explorable environments with finely detailed snow and fog. The enemies vary in their quality but typically the bosses are very detailed. There are some very nice fire and lighting effects as well so overall the graphics are really very good.
But when it really comes down to it, the controls RUIN this game. It's probably even more disappointing because you can see the games potential as well. It's like when you meet a really hot girl and you start getting along with her great and then she says she has a boyfriend. | video-games_xbox |
Now I can't say too much on the video quality because at the time we only had 480i at best on 30/40-in crts. I had one of these when the Xbox was new. Monster had some kind of timed exclusive, so only they could sell component cables for the system. Biggest bummer was when you look at the port on the back of the system, you'll find out there's only one access point for everything and Monster's brand was designed to have the optical jack as part of your optical hookup, so if you wanted 5.1 audio, you had to go through them.
Now I can't say too much on the video quality because at the time we only had 480i at best on 30/40-in crts. What really sets me off is when you are lead to believe you're paying for top quality (like the way they're currently attempt to scam us on HDMI cables *hint, IT'S @#$%ING DIGITAL!!!), I had some issues with the use of it on the physical end. First, the plugs are TOO TIGHT! When you plug them into something, it's almost like it's going to rip the entire port out when you need to take them off for something else. Also when you talk on build quality, get this. The RCA plugs dislodged from the cords themselves!! Yeah that's right, quality brands just wouldn't come apart like that and I never even tugged on the cords even once.... oh and since I've got to that point, most of the insulation that I was bare to witness was more like a thick layer of plastic, with hardly much for what I could tell was real insulation.
You know what folks... Just consider that M$ has that HD pack someplace as both a quality brand and alternative. If you really do want this, it's your risk, but go ahead and add your reply once yours decides it wants to come apart on you.
and don't fall for any of their HDMI 4K scams. It's either a signal or it doesn't work. Besides, the 1.3/2.0 - whatever isn't going to matter as you're using the same exact jack in the first place. No pins added, no change in ports, it's the same HDMI hookup you've been using all along and it'll only matter from point to point between what's sending from the source, to what your display processes. Don't be fooled by anything Monster tells you!! | video-games_xbox |
I bought it. I was extremely skeptical of the release of this game. I really didn't understand what ODST meant in the realm of Halo and what, if anything, would make this worth plunking down $60. If you have been idle on Halo 3 and haven't bought the map packs, you get a pretty good amount out of this game. The new campaign is a real change of pace from Halo 3, some of that is good, some of it is bad. Mombassa is a very cool 'night-ops' setting to wander in and fight the Covenant. The new soundtrack is amazing. You get some new weapons, the new silenced pistol (my personal fave) and a new scoped SMG (a replacement for the battle rifle which is sadly absent). There is also a new grenade type that sets things on fire, which is pretty cool. Replacing the motion detector is what is called the VISR, which is used as an enhanced night vision.
There really isn't that much else differentiating an ODST from the Spartan you are used to playing in Halo 3. The only other difference is that you can't dual wield small arms like the Brute Spiker or plasma pistols. I have not yet beaten the game, but I can already tell that the story is lacking. The campaign missions are actually pretty fun, even if you don't particularly care about who or why you're fighting or what part your mission may play in the overall plot.
Outside of the new campaign, you get a new multiplayer mode, Firefight (called "survival" in Left 4 Dead and "Horde" in Gears of War 2) where you defend a position against wave after wave of Covenant. I've only played it through once as a single player and realized the potential that that has if you can get your friends to join you. Only downside is that there is no matchmaking feature for Firefight, so you'll have to party up with friends rather than waiting for Bungie to group you up.
On the second disc, you get all the multiplayer maps up to this point (that is, up to "mythic") so if you have ignored the dlc that Bungie has released, you will be instantly up-to-date. The multiplayer is still "spartan only"- so those ODST differences are basically limited to the campaign and Firefight.
In all, this was a good buy for me, especially since the store I went to threw in GOW2 for $10. It got me back into the groove of playing Halo, got me up-to-date on all the new maps and that is enough for me. | video-games_xbox |
Step-back game play with limited legacy support. To be fair...
If this is someone's first entry into to genre, they'd likely going to be fairly happy (you don't know what you're missing). Freestyle mode, 'woo!' I guess.
If you have any serious investment in the series and socially play this with folks that don't live with you, you will be somewhat to very disappointed. The game is being sold on nostalgia and a strong showing of its predecessors. As a title, it fails miserably as a "nextgen" console adaptation of an existing product line.
Look for other reviews about the software's limitations, missing features, delayed DLC recovery, default music library and steps back in innovation/features. The game is a disappointment. I will focus on another let down - legacy hardware support.
The Legacy Adapter only allows one profile active if players use legacy instruments. Harmonix has confirmed this - I had to get it direclty from their support (marketing and customer service ignored me). This is definitely not in the documentation, listed as limitation on the Harmonix or MadCatz websites, or posted in the FAQ for this game. Harmonix's solution is to (of course) purchase new instruments, which defeats the purpose of the adapter (albeit, its great for their partner MadCatz). My group has a significant investment in legacy controllers (like the wood solid body guitars), so moving on would be a major downgrade. The ability to use existing equipment was a major selling point and is what got us to come to the new platform.
So why is this important (why can't everyone just share a profile - a common "solution" to this problem)?
By limiting the number of legacy profiles, this limits some key social aspects of the game. If you have friends/family that don't live under your roof that want to join in using their own profiles they can't. This means each player can't track their own progress, get their own achievements, unlock their own stuff, customize their own rock star (as limited as RB4 supports), or play their personal music libraries. You're setting up a new profile each place you go play. Within my group, we've cumulatively purchased hundreds of dollars of content from Harmonix, which we now have restricted access to. As a "nextgen" title, this really is inexcusable. The options left to us is to purchase songs from someone else's playlist (its okay, everyone has the same taste of music - right?) which would be great for Harmonix or to take the hit and return to Rock Band 3.
Harmonix blames Microsoft for the limitation, but honestly - this is something that can be addressed through software (if the adapter can discretely determine which instrument is on which channel - it should be able to support mapping an instrument to a profile).
Banking on Harmonix's past, a large number of us pre-ordered digital copies of the game so we wouldn't have to keep a disc in the console (its the future, right?). I went as far as a second console to support play in our regular "gig room". I wish we would had gone to physical media so we could at least re-coup some of the money we shelled out be reselling the game. | video-games_xbox |
Finish the Fight! It IS finished... right. Yes, it is finished, and what a ride it's been! (<--- major cheese huh? =P) So as you've heard everyone else say, HALO 3 starts right where HALO 2 left off. Master Chief is embroiled in the conflict to end all conflicts aiming to be the savior of the universe.
First off, the story is... just a continuation/conclusion of the HALO saga. Don't really want to say anything here because this is a review, not a walk through.
When you first start out, you might be a tad bit disappointed with the graphics as I was. After the first 15 to 20 minutes, however, you really begin to appreciate the visuals. There is SO MUCH STUFF that is rendered on the screen at any given time (eons more than GoW), and all of it is really very detailed. The only stuff that disappoints is the character models... very generic and last gen.
The sound is... wow. It's a huge part of the atmosphere of this fantastic finale. While you are playing through for the first time, my bet is that you won't really notice it all that much, but take the time and listen. You have to appreciate the fact that you are not only getting a great game, but an entire orchestral musical score made specifically for it as well.
The game play is classic HALO style run and gun. Nothing really all too new or fancy except the new "deployables." These X button wonders are really a lot of fun to play around with and there are found in a good variety. During my play through on heroic (PLEASE DON'T START THE GAME ANY LOWER THAN THAT!!!), I need to use them quite often. They were pretty much essential for me.
*BUT* Who buys HALO just for the campaign? The proof is in the pudding... oh, excuse me, I mean the proof is in the multi-player! That's where the gold is. It's a (much) bigger, better, and shinier version of HALO 2's amazing frag fest, and it certainly is no slouch. Lotsss of maps, weapons, vehicles, and death! Did I mention the "Forge?" Well, I wouldn't want to write another 5 paragraphs (and you wouldn't want me to either I bet).
So stop reading my (fantastic) review, and go out, or in, really, and PLAY! | video-games_xbox |
Think about a few things on this product first before bashing. I just received my "Intercooler 360" today in the mail. Immediately I went to put it on my box and noticed the power cord doesn't fit. I then got online to search for solutions; I could already see the problem anyway but wanted to be sure. After reading reviews both bashing the product and praising it I've come up with a few thoughts.
1. It seems Microsoft wants to inhibit users from installing this device by creating a blockage on the power cord in the center. If you notice on newer models, mine was manufactured 8-2008, there's a piece of plastic on the xbox power cord blocking the snap in tab on the Intercooler recepticle. I'd simply remove it if you wanted it to work. Either slice the tab on your xbox; not recommended if you want to keep your warranty, or slice the tab off the Intercooler with a Dremel or X-acto knive (if you don't have a warranty).
2. Read Ohm's law before all you people out there think it's draining your power supply.
Let class begin: You have a 12 volt, 14.2 ampere, 175 watt power supply to the xbox. Each fan requires 12 volts and 0.12 amperes. So, the three fans consume 1.44 watts each. Multiply by 3 and u have not quite 4.5 watts of consumption by the Intercooler. So do the math, I don't see the fans making hardly any impact to the power supply or to the console itself. It's probably equivalent to the front LED light being lit constantly.
Note: I DO NOT guarantee my logic or thought processes. Take it for what you think its worth, I have a B.A. and advanced computer and electronic knowledge. I'm not saying I'm a genius, but I'm intelligent enough to think logically.
I DIDN'T tell you it was or wasn't "OK" to use this product. I DO NOT condone or endorse any methods or practices you might perform with this product and your console, I have not tried it and probably won't either.
I wouldn't take an xbox stoner's word (not that anyone who gave sour reviews is) on something he doesn't quite possibly understand thoroughly. Think about that. They probably are running the console 12-16 hours a day, with all their buddies taking turns, running 4 remotes in split screen in a hot college dorm or apartment. Half the problem right there.
I know we all can't afford air conditioning, I keep my place at 65 degrees and a small box fan on low in my living room with my xbox on end and I can hardly begin to feel the slightest warmth on the case. (And with NO intercooler). So I would recommend that unless you're hardcore gaming ALL day, you probably don't need a fan. | video-games_xbox |
Ash Is Back. In EVIL DEAD: REGENERATION the game begins with a short prologue explaining about how Ash and his friends stayed at the cabin in the woods, discovered the Necromonican, and brought forth the evil that raised the Deadites. After the prologue, the game has an introductory segment that allows the gamer to get used to the various controls. This segment actually takes places in the cabin in the woods. After this, the storytelling begins as Ash explains how he was convicted of murder and ended up in a sanitarium (Sunny Meadows) because no one would believe his story. No one, that is, except a beautiful blonde woman named Sally. At Sunny Meadows, one of the chief doctors, Vingo Reinhard, spends his time using the Necromonican to perform ghastly scientific experiments. Reinhard is a mad scientist and ends up stealing the book, kidnapping Sally, and transporting himself to an alternate dimension to raise an army of evil that he can use to conquer the world.
Ash's job in the game is to get back the book (hopefully to destroy it), rescue Sally, and stop Reinhard. In this adventure he's joined by a half-Deadite named Sam (voiced by Ted Raimi, brother of director Sam Raimi; Sam is dead, but he still has his soul. There's also a giant floating, phantasmic head of the original doctor who found the Necromonican who dispenses with sage advice now and again. Together Ash and Sam have to battle their way out of Sunny Meadows and through the country surrounding the place, closing portals that Reinhard has opened. It's a crappy job, but somebody has to do and who better than the chain-saw wielding hero, Ash.
I've now played both EVIL DEAD: REGENERATION and FISTFUL OF BOOMSTICK and of the two, EVIL DEAD: REGENERATION is the one I like more. The graphics of the game are a little better than in BOOMSTICK. Also, with the addition of Sam, the action of the game is more interesting and fun. I mean, there are times you have to punt Sam, put Sam on fire, and have him ride a troll-like Deadite that ends up ripping off his head. Besides, with Sam around, the dialogue of the game isn't as one-sided as it usually is-instead of monologues we are offered comedy sketches with two people.
Along the game, there are various pages of the Necromonican that Ash and Sam can collect. There are 20 of these in all and they unlock various treasures. Some of these are art concept sketches and paintings, but the majority of them are short videos with Bruce Campbell. These are a real treasure on the game. Some of the stuff is informative in a trivial way, and some of the news is now outdated (what Bruce does in SPIDER MAN II, for instance). However, all of these segments, even the outdated ones are entertaining.
For gamers who aren't familiar with the Evil Dead series, EVIL DEAD: REGENERATION doesn't offer much more than the typical video game. However, for fans of the series or fans of Bruce Campbell, the game is very entertaining. | video-games_xbox |
Not a One, but still a lot of fun. I managed to pick this up when Amazon had it listed for $249, a bargain in my book (...wouldn't be surprised to see a similar discount again with Black Friday and Cyber Monday coming up...). For anyone that doesn't already have an Xbox 360 and wants a Kinect to go along with it, this is the bundle to get. Microsoft's most recent "E" iteration of the unit gives it a simpler slightly slimmed down look which blends in nicely with all my other entertainment center tech (the power pack is enormous though, make sure you have room to tuck it away behind something). To anyone that already has a recent 360, there's not much reason to upgrade, everything else is pretty much the same under the hood.
The internal 250GB drive should be sufficient to store a decent amount of downloaded games and additional DLC - if you're considering the 4GB version, be aware that this may limit you sooner than you might think as many disc-based games now make it necessary to offload some content onto the hard drive (even if you have no intention of purchasing fully-digital copies of games). You could always buy a hard drive later, but if the price is right with the 250GB included already, why not spring for it?
The Forza Horizon game included in the bundle is a digital copy - a card with a download code is included in the box. The two Kinect games have the discs included. The Kinect turned out to be a lot of fun but make sure you have plenty of space. I have the Kinect mounted on the top of my 55" Panny plasma (make sure you buy the mounting clip separately if you want to mount on top of your flat screen!) and I measured 8 feet from the front of the unit to the edge of my couch, and this turned out to be not enough space, still ended up having to rearrange the furniture. Realistically I would say make sure you have about 10 feet of distance between where you'll stand and the Kinect. There are some "zoom lens" products sold for the Kinect as well to try to decrease this minimum distance, I have not gone this route as reviews seem to be mixed. But YMMV.
Finally, I made this purchase fully aware that the next generation Xbox One will be out by the end of the month. I reasoned that the upfront hardware cost for the aging Xbox 360 is a good value for the price I paid, many of the games will be much cheaper (and at least for now, are still widely available), and I anticipate Microsoft will still support the system for a least a few more years even after the Xbox One is released, if prior generations are any indication. As the "E" version is also the last version of the 360 to be made, I'm hoping all the hardware kinks have been worked out by this point. Not comfortable jumping right in with the new One hardware at release, especially after seeing what happened when the 360 hardware was first released. I'm comfortable with waiting 2-3 years before considering an Xbox One when the hardware has been proven and there's a solid library of games to choose from. | video-games_xbox |
Advantage, Player 1. I first played "Virtual Tennis 3" at a Dave and Busters last year on my birthday, I remembered it was fun, addictive and the little 8 minutes that i played the game some lady I was playing against was a blast. I then went to Gamestop to ask about a tennis game for the 360 since I was in the mood for tennis and told the clerk how much I wish there was a Virtual Tennis type of game for the 360, and to my pleasant surprise there was indeed the same game that I played at Dave and Busters for sale and I've been having a blast with it ever since.
Virtual Tennis 3 is by far the most fun I've had with a 360 game since I got the 360 over 2 years ago. "Fusion Frenzy 2" is fun, "GTA IV" and "Soul Calibur 4" are all really fun but the one I keep coming back to time and time again is this addictive tennis game. It is the ultimate party game in my opinion
There are several game modes to keep you and your friends ,or online friends busy for a very long time. World Tour is where you create your own player then send him to a map where you build him up from scratch. You first start at the back end of 300 players then move your ranking up to compete in Grand Slams.
In World Tour Mode is also where you learn the basic mechanics of the game. You practice with fun little court games like bowling with a tennis ball which helps your serving, and catching fruits whiles dodging giant tennis balls which helps your footwork. You also from time to time get invited by active tennis greats to join them in practice as your player improves and also work your way up from playing level 1 matches to the highest and most difficult matches.
In this age where a lot of games sacrifice the single player campaign in favor of online play, Virtual Tennis 3 has a very nice Single Player campaign that whiles not as deep as it gets is very well done and satisfying, and once you take it online or play with friends that's when it gets exciting.
The multiplayer and online play are very solid in this title, you can put up your highly skilled player against other players and boy does time fly by quick when you play this game on Xbox live. It's a lot more fun and challenging playing with real players since the CPU on the game is either insultingly easy, or just frustratingly hard.
The graphics look amazing and very sharp. The players sorta look like their real life conterpart and move just like them. The courts look amazing especially the clay looking one and I love the little trail that they put at the end of the ball as it flys around the court.
It would have been nice if SEGA had got the actual voices of the players instead of us reading text after generic text but hey i'm sure they didn't have time to hunt down the players and make them say some generic stuff into the microphone. Other than the lack of voices from the players the audio is decent. The rock music gets tired very fast but it's always a blast to hear the grunts from the women tennis players. Just wish they had Serena Williams on there to grunt. :)
It's not as deep as other tennis games but this is a lot of fun to be had. If you want a fun arcade game that you can play with drunken friends or have a ball online then this is your game.
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED | video-games_xbox |
A let down. Of all the post-release Xbox games to come out, this is the one that I (and probably everyone else) have looked forward to the most. I bought it without a second thought when I finally saw it on the rack at the store.
Unfortunately I didn't have the review that I am writing now to give me a second thought. Perhaps this will help you.
Let me start with what is great about the game. No doubt about it the graphics are it. They are absolutely just as amazing as all the hype has made them out to be. And the replays... The replays are designed so well that combined with the graphics you could be fooled into thinking you are watching a care chase from your favorite action movie. Unfortunately that's about all the game does really well.
What the game does poorly is appeal to non-hardcore gamers. This game is not for the casual gamer. This game is hard. It's challenging because the missions are tough but difficulty in controlling your vehicle increases the difficulty tenfold. What's really frustrating is you have a vehicle that can crash through just about anything in the game from mailboxes to city buses but if you touch a wall your car sticks to it like glue. The streets are often extremely narrow and intersections are usually not noticable until you've already passed them. This makes navigating the city an agrivating experience most of the time.
Hardcore gamers may be able to beat all the missions (20 in all) but their complaint will more likely be that the game is too short (each mission takes aproximately two minutes to complete). Casual gamers will find much more longevity in the game as they play the same mission over and over again until they finally put the game away and never play again.
This is one of those games that you want to like so bad it hurts. The concept is already proven in the classic and extremely underappreciated Dreamcast game Super Runabout (which has inferior graphics but superior gameplay), but the execution in this game is really lacking.
Buy this game if you want something to show off your Xbox's graphical capabilities. Even the most stubborn Playstation loyalist will have to admit that there is no way in hell that the PS2 could ever look near this good. Or buy this game if you are a hardcore gamer who is up to the challenge. You'll definately like the game much more if you can actually complete the missions. | video-games_xbox |
Wonderful Game! NO SPOILERS. First off, let me start this review by saying I am a gamer, but I very rarely actually beat a game. I am a casual gamer, enjoying the game when I get around to playing it.
NO SPOILERS!
This game is not one of those games. This is a game I couldn't put down. I highly enjoyed being immersed into the world, forming my character, giving her a personality as well as making sure she was pretty. =o)
I started this game with a human noble rogue. I was instantly caught up in the emotions they throw at you from the get go. (I tried all the origins and honestly, they are all emotional.) I also started the game on normal, thinking "hey, I can do normal! I'm not a wuss" (no offense to wusses). And off I went.
I think the graphics are wonderful, but are dated. I know some people complain about the graphics, but really.. unless you are anal retentive, they shouldn't bother you too bad.
Combat was fine for me. I will say that I have a friend who quit the game because he didn't like the combat. My teammates didn't use all my potions and my healer (love her!) seemed to handle her own rather well. You can switch to any character in your party and control them as if you created them. So, you can heal or rez or pop a potion or grab aggro. I don't think I messed with the AI but a couple times. I was fine.
About 2/3 through the game, I did have to switch to easy. It was a tough choice for me (see above about "wusses"). I couldn't get past a particular boss fight and was about to throw the game out the window and letting the passing cars hit it like roadkill. But, you are able to change the difficulty anytime in the game so I dropped it to easy. I wanted to focus on the wonderful story and not get caught up in the battles. (Call me a wuss.)
I have already recommended this game to anyone who enjoys good stories, interesting characters, and has about 60 hours to kill. Easily, this is one of my favorite games and I am looking forward to upcoming expansions and/or sequels.
(Side Note: I did not have a problem with my saves being corrupted. I didn't use the chest in the Keep very often... if that matters.)
(Second Side Note: Like I said, I am a gamer. I got the guide. I found it extremely helpful and my friends who don't have the guide will ask me to look things up for them. You find out a lot about your teammates and side quests, as well as the main story. If you read too far ahead, you will be spoiled and they give no alerts. I would give the guide a 3 out of 5. Helpful with lots of information, but gave away a lot of the story.)
Enjoy! | video-games_xbox |
There is better for your time and money. This is a First Person Shooter(FPS) but the only reason I'll rank it as an Massively Multiplayer Online(MMO) game is because there are quite a few real Player Characters you are playing with.
The game play is fantastic. The guns are neat. Generally the leveling is structured and possible to achieve within a fairly short time frame with fairly minimal "grinding."
Pros:
Game is very beautiful with amazing worlds and smooth playability
Easy to understand leveling system
Easy to master controls
Cons:
Nearly nonexistent story
Very limited end game content
Very repetitive leveling content
No way to trade items with other players
Very little beneficial rewards that are not targeted to your player
3 classes that are basically the same with a different "special ability"
Multiple ways to reward players for PVP type activities but limit rewards for PVE activities and limit the 6 player raids to once a week
The game feels very incomplete. Very little actual game content in the original game. Then you have to pay another $25 for the first two DLC's that also have very little game content. For buying 2 DLC's and a game there should be plenty to keep a player entertained for quite a long time but there just isn't. Instead of pushing back DLC's and making enough content for a $60 game this group of developers just seems intent on charging another $15.99 for what is essentially the same amount of story you would get for $0.99 on a mobile game with all the pretty scenery of an MMORPG. This game had multiple chances to get my money for the 3rd expansion and they've wasted every available opportunity to do so.
To offer a story line and game that can be completed in under 24 hours (and that includes the first 2 DLCs) and then charge $60 for it is an insult to your customer and fan base.
I'm giving this 2 stars because I did have fun playing this game for a few weeks but it's just not enough to keep me interested for very long. For $30-$40 the original game plus the first 2 DLC's would be an even purchase. For the $60 I paid for the game and 2 DLC's I felt like the game came up short. | video-games_xbox |
Inadequate and Subpar. This game is unacceptably bad.
I'm a very big fan of EA's NHL series. I have religious played each game released in the series since NHL 08, and I've seen the series come a long way in that time. The forward progress of the series, and, indeed, the quality of the experience as a whole, has come to a crashing halt with this year's rendition. This game has barely more content than its predecessor, and, worse, it plays in highly unrealistic fashion and is riddled with bugs.
The major addition touted by the EA NHL team for this year's rendition--indeed, it was the main feature in the game's Internet and television advertisements--was Legend Mode, which allows one to play as a legendary player (i.e. Patrick Roy, Jeremy Roenick, etc.). This is far less fun than it sounds. This mode is essentially Be a Pro--a mode present since NHL 09--played with a highly-rated player. In other words, literally the only difference between this mode and standard Be a Pro is that your player will start out with excellent attributes, something which makes the experience immensely easy. This game mode no doubt took almost no work by the developers, the necessary changes being limited to simply creating these players within the game and making them selectable. As for the legends themselves, you initially only have access to Jeremy Roenick; the other legends are unlockable only by playing the Be a Pro or Be a Legend modes and achieving certain milestones, something that can take a long while. Indeed, it takes such a long time to unlock such players as Lemieux and Gretzky that you'll likely have become tired of the game mode by the time you have access to them. All told, this mode is not anything special; it's ridiculous that it was the main addition in this year's rendition.
On that subject, the changes to Be a Pro do not work properly. This year's rendition gives you a more real-time experience, with your shifts being played in real time rather than time passing at an accelerated rate. Your time off the ice can either be simulated or watched from the bench; in the latter case, it likewise occurs in real time. This leads to some significant issues. For one, it's not out of the question for you to sit on the bench for five or six minutes at a time, regardless of if you're the team's top scorer. Too, you'll run into maddening situations in which instead of being put on the ice with the empty net so as to help your team score a goal--as before, this occurs even if you're the top scorer on your team, or even in the league--you're dumped onto the ice with one second left in the game. This happens on a regular basis. Further asinine quirks in Be a Pro include being traded for peanuts to another team even if you've scored 200 points in a season, and not being played on the power play--regardless of your stats and abilities--unless you've put sufficient points into offensive awareness, a statistic that is of extremely marginal value and not at all a good use of your hard-earned experience points. I'd call this year's Be a Pro substantially less enjoyable than it was in NHL 11.
Be a GM, too, suffers from substantial issues, issues even greater than those found in prior renditions of the game. First, the AI makes a horrendous GM, often failing to re-sign effective players who are not asking for much money; worse, it's not uncommon to see the AI inexplicably waive a player who is leading the league in scoring. Too, the players make asinine choices during negotiations; many of them ask for ludicrously long contracts at ridiculous price, leading the UFA list to often feature numerous top-tier players whom neither the AI GM nor the player GM are willing to take at the players` asking prices. Like Be a Pro mode, Be a GM mode has taken a step backward from last year's version.
The general experience on the ice has, too, taken a step backwards. Player AI--both for your opponent and for your unselected players--is horrid. Players often make nonsensical decisions, for example failing to keep proper position on a 2-on-1 or hanging around in ridiculous spots in the offensive and defensive zones. The degree to which players can maintain control of the puck is ludicrous, as is the agility possessed by every player; players can routinely make turns that would, in real life, result in spectacular wipe-outs. Also excessive is passing accuracy; an average fourth-liner can be expected to have the pass accuracy of a real-life superstar. The main addition to on-ice play in NHL 12, goaltender collision, is a disaster. It is very common to see goaltender interference penalties called when no contact was made, and it is very possible for a human goaltender to initiate contact with a player outside the crease and draw a penalty. Worse, flagrant goaltender interference is often not called. It is not uncommon to see a goaltender deliberately crushed without a penalty being called, a play which almost invariably results in the team with the puck scoring into the empty net. Another, more minor addition to the game is tie-ups by defenders. Essentially, defenders may tie up forwards in front of the net to prevent them from making deflections or banging in loose pucks--at least, this was the intent of the developers, because the function actually does not at all function properly. It is, instead, almost utterly useless; offensive players can disengage from a tie-up with ridiculous ease, and taking oneself out of the play in this manner as a defenseman almost invariably decreases one's ability to protect the net. Just about the only practical use of this feature lies in a defender's ability to tie up with a forward and drag him into a goalie; this will result in a goaltender interference penalty. Also of issue are such matters as deflections being utterly useless, shots being overly accurate, and checking being often pitifully useless. The new player animations are more lifelike and well-tuned than those found in earlier games of the series, but this is about all that NHL 12 has going for it over previous renditions. As with the two previous categories, general on-ice play has, in sum, taken a step backward.
EASHL--online team play--one of the biggest draws of the series, is a disaster. Every forward is capable of feats unmatched by real NHL players. Each forward with a legend card is a mix of the best qualities of the league's best-ever players: the passing ability of Gretzky, the balance of Lemieux, the speed of Bure, the shot of Hull, and the stickhandling and agility of Datsyuk. Meanwhile, defenders have roughly the ability level of second-line defenseman in today's NHL. This results in infuriatingly-imbalanced gameplay that bears little similarity to that found in the NHL. Instead of being rewarded for cycling the puck in the offensive zone, forwards will find the most success in hogging the puck low in the zone and repeatedly attempting a cross-crease pass until such inevitably succeeds. There are, as well, certain moves on the AI goalies that have a ridiculously high percentage of success. Too, defenders often will have an immensely difficult time of impeding the forwards at all; forwards can stop, twirl or turn on a dime and maintain the puck through numerous pokechecks--there is no stick-on-stick collision, and the defender's stick will also often sweep directly through the puck without dislodging it from the forward's stick--sticklifting will nearly always result in the forward maintaining possession of the puck, and hits will often simply encounter an almost literal force field in existence around the forward; the forward will, indeed, often be completely unfazed. This results in defenders generally being at the mercy of the forwards. The issues with this game mode could be described at much greater length, but there's no use; it works just as well to note that this it is horrendously imbalanced and neither fun nor realistic... unless, that is, you like playing as a puck-hogging forward in arcade style.
It also bears mention that the EA NHL team has shown little or no interest in solving these issues. Their level of communication with the community is horrendous, and little work has been put into improving the game's myriad issues. In sum, it feels as if this game was rushed and was released in incomplete state, yet with no plans of supporting it such that the issues inherent to the release version would be eventually fixed. Indeed, no premium whatsoever was, either, put on making the game exceptional in any way.
I advise against purchasing this game. If you have NHL 11, stick with that. NHL 12 is likely to provide you with more frustration than fun, and it does not justify its price tag. | video-games_xbox |
THQ always manage to improve and lack all in the same game. First off, I've been playing the Smackdown series since it began on PlayStation1 and over the years THQ has manage to pull off a few classics from their hats so to speak with "Here Comes The Pain", "SVR 2006", "Shut Your Mouth", & "Smackdown 2". Everything after these titles has either been lackluster, re-hashes, or just plain garbage. With this year's installment I'm a little indifferent about it being that it's only been out a week now.
I like how some of the collision detection has been improved and give it more of a real impact with superstars fall a certain way and how some moves can be chained together like you can powerbomb an opponent and then hit the designated button while in mid air to pin then or not.
As for the new "WWE Universe" mode, I'm not really a big fan of it at all. WWE Universe is like GM Mode from the 2006-07 SVR games but here's the thing....you can only defend titles within' the ranking system and the matches are already made up for you. I do like that emphasis is put on the "Money In The Bank" briefcase and whoever wins it in Universe mode can use it and cash in at anytime other then that I can care less about Universe mode. I hate the fact they got rid of title defenses in exhibition mode which is just irritating to me.
If it a couple of things that I really like that was added into the game it's the Match Creator which is cool because you can add all type of weird stipulations in the match before you play. Also, I really enjoyed the RTWM stories this year as they were written much better that they make sense and fun to play.
My issues with this game is that THQ seems to use the same character models in every installment, superstar threads is nice but it would be better if it was full editor like in the No Mercy & WM 2000 games, and Universe mode is a slick way of bringing back GM Mode but it takes most of the creative freedom away from the player. | video-games_xbox |
Works Great. I wanted a headset so my wife could work in the same room while I'm playing MW2 and Gears of War.
Plus:
-The headset sounds great, and I don't have a home theater system so the headphones actually sound better than what comes out of my TV. It's a lot easier to understand the NPCs with the headphones.
-The other reviewers must be deaf, or something is wrong with their xbox. I only have the headphone volume at ~30% and there is no buzzing or anything. If you max out the volume, you also max out the noise floor (or min, depending) and that is why you get the buzz. If you need it that loud, you probably have hearing damage.
-The voice chat is great and is definitely better than the default headset. The "official" headset's mic boom is too short, so I have to almost yell for the mic to pick up my voice. This mic boom is much longer and totally adjustable, so I can just talk.
Cons:
-Wires, wires, wires...
-Seriously though, your xbox is probably right next to your tv (like mine is), so you plug the pigtail into the back of your tv and plug the usb cable into the xbox and then there's only 1 wire going to the headset, and it's 18 friggin' feet long, so it won't get in your way unless you forget about it and try to run out of the room. (Hint: Instead of using the ports on the front of the box, there is a hidden usb port on the back of the xbox right above the power plug!).
-There is also a wire that goes from the controller to the headset cable for chat, with independant chat volume control, which is nice. It would be nice if that went directly to the headset instead of the inline volume control, but either is ok.
If you have the $ to blow, go spend $100 or more on a "wireless" headset, but you'll still need the wire to the controller for chat. I couldn't justify the extra $ just to get rid of one wire, especially when this headset sounds great.
Now I just need a 52" HD TV so I can pick out the other players before I get fragged... | video-games_xbox |
Great Value for Next Gen. While they stumbled horribly out of the gate with the Xbox One, Microsoft has spent the last year making amends with big improvements in hardware updates and refocusing on what matters most...the games.
I'm a long time Xbox user with the 360 being my favorite console but I was not in a hurry to "jump in" with the Xbox One when it was first announced. Not only because I love my 360 but their long list of regulations, requirements and restrictions really turned me off. I was all but sold on the PS4 but decided to wait for both companies to iron out the bugs on their new systems and for the wave of true next gen of games to come. This is where I've really seen Microsoft pull away from Sony. Sony had a great start but just haven't done much since. They're still not offering much this year in the form of exclusives while Microsoft is offering 7 by the end of the year.
The Hardware: No, it's not the prettiest looking box. Comparisons to DVR's and old time VHS's aren't unfounded. But how long are you going to spend looking at the box instead of the games on the TV? It also has a large and cumbersome power brick like the 360 which I wish they could've done away with. Once it's under the TV stand or what have you, it's forgotten I guess. The controller is something else though. I love it. It's a great, subtle upgrade to the 360's which I still love. The thumbsticks feel good, the d-pad has been refined and works well with fighting games now, and the pressure sensitive triggers have haptic feedback to create even more immersion whether shooting or driving. This is a great controller that really feels good.
The UI: They took a real step backwards with their Windows 8 style tiles on the dashboard. The 360's is still vastly superior. It's much easier to find what your looking for whereas it's more of a chore to search for what you want here. I know Microsoft wants unity between the PC and the Xbox One in the form of the Windows OS but it just wasn't well thought out. The games aren't even in alphabetical order. They're just spread across one page full of tiles. It's cumbersome and unnecessarily frustrating. They've been updating and it's getting better and I know they'll continue to just like they did with the 360 but as of now I still much prefer the 360's home screen.
The Games: Early games like Ryse and Forza 5 lacked in gameplay and content but they really gave a good show of the Xbox One's graphical power. They really are on the next level of graphics and go far beyond what was possible on last gen consoles. There haven't been many reasons to upgrade till now but now there are plenty. Halo 5 Guardians, Gears 4, Forza 6, Rise of the Tomb Raider, Recore, Crackdown, Scalebound, and Quantum Break are all exclusives and most will be releasing this year. The future also holds big names like Need For Speed, Fallout 4, Doom, Ghost Recon: Wildlands, Just Cause 3, Mad Max, and Star Wars: Battlefront to bring true next gen experiences this year as well as next. Microsoft also recently announced backwards compatibility for 360 titles (100 by holiday, 100's more next year) that allows current 360 owners to keep their last gen libraries alive on their new system. I was very excited to hear this. Those who've never had a 360 will also have more games available for their new system. That's just one more thing to make the Xbox One appealing for potential buyers.
The Deal: Microsoft has been very aggressive with their price cuts, sales and bundles for the Xbox One. The have ground to cover to catch up with the PS4 and they know it but deals like these are going to help them do that. Sony hasn't done much in terms of deals so this will make a difference for those looking to get the most for their money. I took advantage of such a deal with this 1TB model Xbox One with The Master Chief collection (Halo 1-4 re-mastered) included. Microsoft beats Sony to the punch by offering the first 1TB console at only $50 more than the 500GB Xbox One model but also the same price as the 500GB model PS4. That's a great deal and owners of both consoles will tell you, 500GB is not enough memory to store many of these new, space eating games. Amazon is giving away a free game (almost all available titles eligible) with the purchase of a new Xbox One, for a limited time. Just another deal to inspire the curious or those on the fence to take the plunge. I got Batman: Arkham Knight with mine.
The Verdict: This system still has a ways to go with frustrating things like mandatory game installs, a clunky UI and initial start up that seems to take forever just to set up and play a game. These are slowly being addressed with updates with new features being added all the time so at least there's hope that what is now isn't what will always be. But the next generation is finally here in terms of games and sales like this one give plenty of reasons to pick up an Xbox One. It's a good system now that will hopefully one day be great. Recommended (for a deal).
Disclaimer: I am not an Xbox fanboy and am not anti-Sony. I had a PS1 and a PS2 for many years and loved them. I don't believe either of these machines can be considered better. They're more like different flavors. There's plenty of cool games coming out on both systems. I just found more value with the Xbox One and am more interested in their exclusives than Sony's at this point and time. | video-games_xbox |
A Fantastic Game, but Much Too Short. "Panzer Dragoon Orta" is the kind of game that makes you thank god you have an Xbox. It is hauntingly beautiful yet filled with enough action to keep you interested.
The game is the latest installment in the "Panzer Dragoon" saga, which was about the only decent thing on the Sega Saturn. You basically fly around on a dragon, killing enemies and fighting huge boss battles. In this game, your dragon can assume three different forms, and you can switch between them at will. Each form has its own strengths and weaknesses, meaning you actually have to employ some strategy to get through most of the levels.
The gameplay is very strong. This is a rail shooter, so you move along a path for the whole level, like "Star Fox" The controls are also simple to understand. You hit one button to shift between forms, another to use your special "berserk" attacks, another to dash and brake, and another to shoot your gun or use your homing lasers. You also can easily move the camera around with a tap of the L or R buttons to face enemies faster. The enemies are widely varies and provide enough of a challenge to engage, but not frustrate, the average gamer. The boss battles are really things of beauty. You have to find the weak point of each boss by flying around using your dash abilities while dodging attacks. In later stages, this requires a lot of work, as the weak point shifts and you have to use different forms to beat a boss.
Graphically, "Orta" is as good as it gets. Each level is like a piece of art and each individual enemy is extensively detailed. The bosses are simply huge and well-designed, providing enough eye candy to almost make you forget that you're about to be fried by a huge energy beam. Soundwise, "Orta" is a little disappointing. The music sounds very much like the music in the original "Panzer Dragoon". Even some of the sound effects remain unchanged.
Speaking of the original game, it's include on here, along with five short bonus missions and a sub-scenario about a boy who's father was killed by the dragon. They're fun to play, as you get to pilot different vehicles and go through new storylines.
The main reason I didn't give this game five stars was because it is much, much too short. I appreciate all the extras, like the encyclopedia and still art, but a lot of that memory could have been used to add more gameplay. I beat this game in less than a week, and I wasn't even playing as much as I usually do. If Sega comes out with a second game for the Xbox, it needs to have at least twenty levels. You also come away from this game at the end feeling a little unsatisfied at the ending.
Overall, this is an outstanding game that deserves to be a part of your library just so you can say you have it. But, like a "Far Side Gallery" book, it doesn't take very long to finish. | video-games_xbox |
ONE AGAIN, EASPORTS TURNS THE BALL OVER. Once again, EASPORTS had promised me a completely new game and once again, I am left wondering why I even believed the hype. NBA Live 2003 is at it's core, nothing more than the same game as its predecessors. However, one thing that is new this year is the hyped Freestyle control. Though gimmicky at first, it becomes surprisingly intuitive as you try to pull off the variety of different offensive and defensive moves it allows. For instance, by tapping the right analog stick on the controller, you can pull off a string of killer crossovers or spin moves to shake the defender. On defense, you can reach for the steal while in an intense defensive crouch and raise your hands to defend against a shot without the threat of a ticky-tack foul. Without this new feature, NBA Live has nothing really new to offer.
The graphics are clean and smooth, but are overall generic. Stadiums and crowds look the same and the players cartoonish with exaggerated body sizes and large heads and hands. Some players are hard to distinguish from each other unless you recognize their tattoos, hairstyle or playing gear. The cut scenes in-between plays are amusing at first, but quickly become tiresome as they are repeatedly played over and over. How many times do I need to see my bench react as if I had been shot and beheaded after a foul? Luckily, you can turn this feature off. Nevertheless, I did appreciate the humor and the playfulness in certain cut scenes that really captured the essence and feel of an NBA game
Regardless of the graphics, the player animations are smooth and quick. I don't think I have yet to see the same dunk twice. Seeing Iverson perform a crossover dribble is pure beauty. Watching Garnett back down an opponent felt like a battle of epic proportions. There are also a variety of shots to and from under the basket. Players will either perform a nifty lay-up or change their shots in mid-air depending on the location of a defender. Gone are the days of the two foot jump shot that clanged off the rim.
Game play is my biggest gripe. Though the CPU AI is greatly improved this year, there is such a thing as being too improved. The opposition hardly misses a shot. Three-point bombs are almost a given and there are way too many dunks as opposed to outside shots. In fact, it is common to see field goal percentages in the 70's and 80's during the course of a game. Though I love how the CPU now runs the fast break consistently as opposed to the previous games in the series, the result is almost always a score for the opposition. Transition defense is practically non-existent since the CPU seems to always make the correct passes that lead to open shots or dunks. A little humanity in the CPU could have made things more realistic and less frustrating. Steals and blocked shots are also too plentiful (Sigh.)
The franchise mode is incredibly bare bones. There is of course, the standard player retirements, re-signing, free-agent signings, team lottery and draft. Player scouting and evaluations would have added some dimensions to the draft as in Madden 2003, but they are sorely absent. (Double Sigh.) Game options are also pretty bare. There is the usual one on one game we have seen in previous games and a tutorial explained by panty-fetishist Marv Albert using grainy video game footage, but that's about it.
EASPORTS really needed to up the ante this year to compare with the mighty Sega NBA 2k series. I was pretty optimistic, but again EASPORTS resorted back to bad habits by releasing the same game with an added feature here and there. Though the Freestyle control is, dare I say, revolutionary, the problems greatly outweigh the benefits offered by the feature. Again, they have released a game that is too arcadey and not enough simulation. Though I have no problem with arcade-type game play, at least give me the option of enjoying a game with realistic shooting percentages, balanced game play, and the challenge of having to work for a score. Now excuse me while I go play NBA 2k3... | video-games_xbox |
My First Taste of Next-Gen Football a Disappointment. I haven't purchased a copy of Madden since 2003 though I spent a good chunk of my senior year in college playing the backdated Madden 06 (this being in 2007-2008) because the arrival of the nex-gen Madden series was anything but glamorous. That being said, I had fond memories of a stellar franchise mode with pro-bowl voting, weekly awards, comprehensive (though sometimes surprising) player development, an engrossing and systematic (for better or worse) draft, and negotiations with players based on a number of factors. They even had a newspaper publication to go along with weekly events (now replaced by Twitter, which I find amusing to no end). Yes, this edition had the vision cone, but it also had mini-games for player development that while challenging, also demonstrated for the player methods for going about playing the game. It also came with the one thing I miss most about games today, especially sports games -- a manual, a tangible, hold-it-in-your-hands manual that was easy to keep open for constant reference as I learned the ropes of a game I only went back to with every three to four generations.
I recently ordered Madden 13 after hearing relatively glowing praise for the franchise mode, the treatment of drafted players and incoming rookies, and the general sense of growth for a team across a number of seasons (something I feel the NHL series does quite well despite many of flaws with their own progression system and methods for player stat tracking). After reading a review at IGN, one I should have known was suspicious for its overall brevity with regards to discussing season modes, I determined that the gameplay would also be my liking -- I ordered with little hesitation. Once I received Madden (after a fun battle with amazon to ensure it arrived on time, their guarantee not really being a guarantee at all -- I was to get my game on the 31st after ordering nearly a week before release), I found exhibition to be fun. The announcing was definitely an improvement over older iterations, and the presentation looks stunning. Physics still seem to be in development, as running backs can't seem to anticipate or intelligently route themselves through a hole without tripping on the feet of blockers, sometimes even crashing directly into their backs despite my futile efforts to juke or spin. The game at times looks funny in that early, nex-gen Fifa sort of way. I've spent the last week going through the connected career mode, which I find problematic and confusing. The menus aren't nearly as intuitive as they once were, and I feel a complete lack of control with regards to my roster, my playbook, my schemes, my scouting (this system seems horrendous -- every week I find out roughly 5% of the total information on a single player before running out of "scouting points"), my player growth (this system too seems flawed and doesn't seem to display progression in a meaningful across any sort of short term), or my staff (there appears to be NO staff in this game). As such, I went from inserting myself as a created coach back to the reign of Jim Harbaugh with the Niners after not being able to stomach the first week news of his firing. However, he doesn't feel at all like an established coach, making it seem likely (I haven't checked) that playing with the likes of Andy Reid or Jeff Fischer would be any better.
I think the Madden franchise, and many of the other EA franchises, overlook the desires of their audience entirely. I want the simple and the detailed at once, which is difficult, but fans seem to constantly note a particular few years of the Madden franchise that came close to perfection (in a relative sense); instead of building off of this, EA seems to try new gimmicks every year to get people in. The hot/cold quality for players was one factor I had heard about from 12, and it seems to still be here in 13 but without any explanation in the manual or the game. I can glean what it means for my players, but not in any sort of statistical way, and not when my defense seems entirely hot and my 150+ yards/week RB's are always seeming to be "cold". Ultimately, I think I am going to continue through a season with this game, knowing full well how devastating the offseason will likely prove to be. I just can be thankful knowing that NHL 13 arrives next week, and even with the lockout looming for hockey, I will at least have a game that takes updates seriously enough without strip-mining the core of the game I love so much.
Final gripes: 13 lacks fantasy drafting, seems to auto-update rosters with every time I resume playing (I literally shifted two QB's depth chart positions for the Eagles and Cardinals to reflect the current trends, to be asked every time I started the game up if I would like to update my rosters -- I figured EA was on the ball with updates, but apparently any tweaks I make to my rosters are detected as "out-of-date" and thus lead to my roster being reset EVERY time I accept; in other words, I'll be less likely to accept in the future and miss actual roster updates), kicking FG's still seems flawed, squib kicks lead to easy recoveries for the kicking team, connected career mode implements boring and ridiculous practices that has no impact on the weekly performance of players, stats seem static week to week and don't reflect possibilities for player boosts based on hot/cold streaks, practices, etc. | video-games_xbox |
The Galaxy Beckons. Mass Effect - Circa 2007
GOOD:
- A third person shooting and cover system similar to that of Gears of War or Ghost Recon Advance Warfighter 2 which is really a unique way to play a RPG. The Cover systems works well it also makes for a fun as well as a more realistic gameplay experience. While this system has its share of problems (its not as easy or streamline as Gears of War) it works well enough not to be a concern and bring something new to RPGs.
- A well thought out and well played story that rivals or bests that of Elder Scrolls, Resident Evil or any Final Fantasy game. The story itself is it told through dialog between yours and other characters, because of the choices of make during the story it has a "choose your own adventure" feel to it.
- Gorgeous graphics and nice animations, that look just as good as games like Half-Life 2: Episode 2 and Assassins Creed.
- A great sound track that has the movie like quality of some of the great Sci-Fi Space movies from the past twenty years like 2001: A Space Odyssey, Star Wars, and Dune.
BAD:
- The learning curve is steep in this game and you will spend the first few hours learning how to play this game well. Although gamers who are use to playing First/Third Person Shooters (like Bioshock and Ghost Recon: Advance Warfighter) may find it easier to play (they should start the game on hard). Gamers who like playing turn based RPGs (like Final Fantasy X and Blue Dragon) will have a hard time adjusting (they should play the game on normal or easy).
- Most side quest planets can be barren with little to do outside of the quest you came for and a scant few other item pickups scattered around, plus many structures/buildings you enter during these side missions are almost exactly the same.
- The inventory system that you use keep track of items as well as equip items on your character is not very streamline and can be annoying due to the fact that there is no way to organize your inventory in any real order and keeping track of more then a few items becomes something of a chore.
- This game has a more then a few loading sequences during gameplay that might upset impatient gamers.
IF IT FITS YOUR TASTE:
- The story of the game is mostly told through dialogs between yourself and other characters in the game, it should really be noted that your choices in responding to questions asked of you and your reactions to events unfolding around you is going to change the story of the game and attitudes of others around you. It should also be noted that during the games story you can make choices that either make your character into a brash loose cannon who cheats, steals and shoots first asks questions later or a by the book fighter or justice and freedom with moral values and willing to sacrifice personal wants for the good of others.
- A Sci-Fi RPG with lots of Third Person Shooter (Camera behind the player) elements. The games combat has quicker pacing then most RPGs like Final Fantasy XII or even Fable, although the over all combat is slower then more main stream First/Third Person Shooters like Halo or Lost Planet, the shooting aspect has an emphasis on shooting behind cover as well similar to games like Gears of War and Ghost Recon Advance Warfighter 2.
- You start will all the gun types your ever going to get in the game (pistol, assault rifle, shotgun, and sniper rifle) you can of course get newer versions of these guns and later even add mods to modify the effects and stats of each gun type. Although the effectiveness of each gun type is really depends on your skill with that gun type (you upgrade your gun skills at your stat screen), you can of course use guns you have no training for which will result in much less effectiveness of using that gun type, so it would be wise to always try to use guns types your character class can (will be able to) upgrade. Note: Solider class is proficient in all gun types (can upgraded in all gun types).
- This game has lots of dialog/story, which plays a very big role in this game, which in turn will turn off gamers looking for fast paced action with little interruption.
- No multiplayer or online gameplay.
- Travel to many different worlds/solar systems through out the Milky Way galaxy (the galaxy you currently live in) with your own star ship the Normandy and its crew. During your missions you get to bring two of six other characters with you and these other characters (all six of them) can have their stats as well as equipment be chosen by you.
GAME ITS MOST ASSOCATED TOO:
- Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic (Xbox/PC)
- Ghost Recon Advance Warfighter 2 (360/PS3)
- Jade Empire (Xbox/PC)
- Gears of War (360/PC)
- Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion (360/PS3/PC)
ADDITIONAL NOTES:
- To get all of this game's achievements your going to have to beat this game at least three time. You get an achievement for beating the game once as well as twice but to unlock the "Insanity" difficultly (which after beating the game on this difficultly you also get an achievement) your going to have to beat the game on Hard then Hardcore just to unlock that difficultly.
- In the limited collector's edition you will find an art and background story book "Galactic Codex" as well as a bonus DVD with the videos "The Making of Mass Effect" documentary /music (from the game)/360 dashboard themes and it all comes in a tin case.
- There is already a novel out called Mass Effect: Revelation, which has lots of background story for the game as well as the background for the characters you meet in the game Anderson and Saren.
- There is talk from Bioware about downloadable content coming on the way for Mass Effect. | video-games_xbox |
Great ATV racing with a whole lot of depth. I was actually surprised by PURE. Recent racing games haven't been my cup of tea over the last few years because it seems as if every developer adds a bunch of unnecessary layers (endless tweaking, passing tests to get to the meat of the game, etc.) that makes jumping in and really enjoying the game as it's meant to be enjoyed a practice in tedium from the get-go. That's NOT the case with PURE. Sure, there's plenty to tweak your ATV with, but by-in-large, PURE is an old-school ARCADE racer through and through, and that's most definitely a good thing.
First of all, the game is endlessly pretty. The animations are great, the textures are as detailed as you'd like, the character models, lighting, etc., but you don't play a game just for the eye-candy. The game is simple and straight-forward arcade racing, but there is some technique to it. While PURE is like any other racing game out there in that the first to the finish line wins, the only way to really win is to take advantage of turbo boosts, and the only way to attain those is to perform TRICKS & STUNTS. While a lot of off-road/motorcycle/EXTREME racing games allow you to do tricks for bonuses, in PURE, it's basically a necessity. If you don't do them, you don't get boosts, and without those, you won't win. In doing this, PURE basically manages to make what's usually a gimmick in the genre vital to the gameplay. As you progress, you get flashier tricks, which in turn give you bigger turbo boosts. This might actually make the game sound a little intimidating, but PURE gives you plenty of tutorials, practice runs and control schemes to make sure that you'll find something that works for you.
Another great aspect of PURE are the tracks. With over 30 tracks in the game, with tons of variety in their topography and features (jungles, deserts, mountain paths, you name it). These are huge tracks with tons of jumps, obstacles and alternate paths and shortcuts to take (and you'll want to find everyone).
Overall, Disney Interactive did a much better job with PURE than I ever dreamed they would. It's fun from the start, drives fast to the end and offers enough in the way of variety and technique to challenge and entertain just about any gamer. If you like games like SSX, WaveRace, HydroThunder or Excitetruck, add PURE to you library. | video-games_xbox |
The Dark Path To Righteousness. Survival Horror. A lot of games claim to live up to this grand title. Few deliver. Condemned definitely frickin' delivers. You will be worried about your chances of survival. You'll be on your toes. Scared? Probably not. Tense? Definitely. Supplies are few enough and foes strong enough to really up the ante on you. There is no sense that "Oh, this is just another generic bad guy coming at me." No, you see everyone as a real threat--and they could be. A couple of badly-timed moves or a poor decision can lead you to a quick reload, no matter how many similar baddies you've downed. They can all kill you if you're not careful--hence, the anxiety I mentioned.
This is one of those games where you're torn between two ways of looking at it. Half of you is playing a video game. The other half is watching a creepy supernatural crime thriller. What some other reviewers--doubtlessly motivated by a sense of instant gratification--have described as "dull" or "repetitive" is--in reality--atmosphere and pacing. Your character moves slowly--you're always aware of your surroundings. There's no rushing through halls to engage the next enemy. Instead, you move cautiously about, checking dark corners with your flashlight, and listening intently for the sound of any footsteps that might alert you to the presence of a foe.
Really, this is an incredibly cinematic experience. If you're a quick enough cat to follow the story (reading reviews, it seems like not all are), you'll get sucked right in. There's a crime spree going on, and you're an FBI agent assigned to a serial killings division. The game picks up on your most recent case--a murdered woman posed with a mannequin in a rotting building. Get used to the decrepit surroundings. The entire game takes place in creepy urban (and one rural) locales.
You will periodically make use of your forensic tools to discover evidence and advance the story. Since it wouldn't be too exciting to spend time in a lab just to process it, you're equipped with a neat set of tools. Half of them work to identify evidence, and the other half collect said evidence. Once you've collected it, it's sent via cellphone to a lab and processed in mere moments (okay, so you have to stretch your suspension of disbelief for that). You're then briefed by your Bureau forensic nerd on what you've discovered.
But you're not just any FBI agent, as you find out. You have certain talents. You have visions. Sometimes, you'll see the past, other times, the future--and sometimes you'll see things you didn't think existed. These vision sequences are the best moments in the game. You'll hear whispers muttering your name and the lights will seem to shine out brighter (think The Green Mile). Sometimes the visions are even quite useful. They'll show you where you need to look for evidence--if you pay attention--and give you clues about the story.
This is the first game since Resident Evil that managed weapons properly. I could never abide games that bill themselves as "Survival Horror" and then give you a machine gun with 300 rounds five times per level, or let you carry one of every offensive weapon you encounter.
In this game, you have one weapon. That's all you can carry with you. What you take is up to you--you'll find various implements laying around. Each has strengths and weaknesses. There are firearms, but (and get this) you can't reload them. Whatever ammo is in them is all you get. I LIKE this. It really adds an element of danger when you check your revolver and realize you only have one bullet. The best part is--and this is unlike any other game I've ever played--you will KEEP that revolver with the one bullet over any melee weapon laying around. Trust me. You'll want the power and range. And don't worry--one bullet is useful, if you aim it properly. One bullet in the right spot will take down most enemies in the game. It's realistic like that.
The only mechanic that's a chore to master is blocking. It's not like usual--hold down a button and be blocking the whole time, no sir. When you hit the block button, you will block for half a second, then lower your weapon. If the block is poorly timed, you'll take full damage. This really adds to the tension of a fight scene. There's no way to be sure you're protected from an incoming attack. You're always on your toes.
I agree that this game is a little short. I finished it the same day I purchased it. Still, that didn't seem to detract too much from my experience. I was just as satisfied at the roll of the credits than if I'd just seen a top-notch thriller in a theater somewhere.
Oh, and let me say that the ending is actually worth the time you spend playing. It's a good five-minute-long scene, with a moral choice thrown in the middle (I won't spoil it, but here's a hint: to shoot or not to shoot, that is the question.)
Allow me to reiterate one more time the power of the atmosphere in this game. During the next-to-last level, as I was making my way through the home of a serial killer, I kept realizing I was doing two things: holding my breath so I could hear better, and wondering out loud just how messed up this killer was.
If you come into this game expecting a first-person shooter, forget it. It's first-person, but it's no shooter. Likewise, don't expect an RPG or anything. This is one of those games that's hard to categorize. The gameplay is different enough from most of its contemporaries that it falls into a category all its own. I made a comparison to Resident Evil before, so let's run with that. Imagine Resident Evil. Now make all the bad guys criminals and crackheads. Next, reduce the inventory space to a single item (don't worry; you don't need more than that). Finally, change the perspective to first-person. Throw in just a splash of futuristic CSI. Bam. Condemned. | video-games_xbox |
Madden 13: A mixed bag of good and bad. It's late August and almost Labor Day weekend and it's the start of gaming season when Madden arrives. This will be the first one I have bought since the 2009 edition and the reason being is that supposedly so much was changed and `rebooted' to finally give the game a fresh coat of paint. The madden series this generation has been accused (and rightfully so) of year after of giving tiny changes and being nothing more than a $60 roster update but supposedly this is the year all of that changes and with the early release that you can get prior to the full game, has it really turned a corner?
In my opinion, even after reading the `glowing reviews', I can attest that it has but only marginally so, as some of the complaints I have had in years past, EA finally started to fix.
Interface
This by far is the biggest change in the game's iteration as once you hit start you immediately are greeted by the menus that you need to use for the game and for most players, it may take some getting around but it's clean and uncluttered and shows you everything that you need to get around the game. There are still a few hidden items that you have to dig for but once you get used to the interface, finding them is a snap.
Controls
In my opinion, if you have played one Madden game you have played them all and this is no different. If you are even a casual user, you can pick up the controls and go play and one thing that I like and dislike is the gameflow menu as you call plays in the game. This was something implemented a few years ago to `help' new users to the game and also make games go by quicker, which is fine but I wound up turning it off as I realized that on offense and defense, the AI seemed to call the same few kinds of play during the course of a game and if I wanted to be creative, I would have to call my own plays. The one plus to that however is if you still wanted to let the AI call some other types of plays you can shift the menus and call `aggressive' and `conservative' kinds of plays from the playbook or, you can turn it off altogether and use the standard that we have been used to. Other than that all the standard controls are there and I am sure that hardcore users will be right at home.
Graphics / Presentation
This by itself was the biggest surprise of them all and also still shows how far EA STILL has to go to reach the NFL2K5 benchmark. The graphics in this game have obviously improved and the Infinity Engine has added some realism to the game when it comes to tackles and contact but I still see a few quirks that just don't make sense. RBs who don't `flow' around linemen and seem to get stuck as they try to hit a hole, players who tend to trip and fall in weird manners when plays are whistled dead and players who lay on the ground for long periods of time for no reason. The player faces themselves a looking a little better but it's almost clear to see that the graphics card put into the systems in 2005 can't really render them correctly but today's standards (yes we are in need of new hardware Microsoft and Sony!) and the crowd while looking a little more diverse still looks to be 2D cutouts in the stands. I do still not understand why EA can't seem to work the same kind of voodoo that the 2K series can work ...but I digress. As far as the stadium and lighting renderings, for the first time in a long time, EA finally is on the right track and getting the lighting system right; an early afternoon game and a late afternoon game lighting wise are 2 different creatures. They still need to work on getting a 7pm game (which would probably end around 10pm) to get progressively darker. Yes, it's a nitpick but if you are going for realism let's pull that out. The crowd noise has improved as now it doesn't sound like white noise as much as it has in the past. But as far as the positives, the commentary from Jim Nantz and Phil Simms is superb. Finally EA is learning how to dynamically broadcast by ripping a page from 2K5's book! The whole presentation itself feels more like a TV broadcast than a game and it's something that has been missing for years and it takes a while for it to get repetitive but Simms and Nantz feel like they are both in the booth calling the game as opposed to just 2 voices phoning it in. It's cool to hear when they call out Papa John's pizza as the sponsor, that Gatorade display that pops up giving stats and so on...but it still something missing. It's still kind of weird to hear that they are going to a post game show and....there is no post game show. EA, after all of these years, even with the ESPN license, why can't you still during a franchise game post scores during the game or for Pete's sake in halftime? It may seem like a small issue for some but I have always believed that knowing the scores especially my division rivals always added a little extra sense of urgency or gloating to the present game I was playing and without this I have always felt that instead of playing a connected league / season, I was playing in a bubble without any way of knowing what was going on until the end of the game. Even FIFA has the common enough courtesy to update you about other games in your leagues even if the feature is a bit tacked on. It's not difficult to do and even the earliest Madden games had that feature so why this can't be implemented is beyond me and has been a nitpick of this series since it's been on this generation's systems.
Game face and Connected Careers
New to this year's Madden is the game face utility which lets you take a picture of yourself and put it in the game. It's been used sporadically in years past in NBA Live and most recently in the FIFA series. EA still has a lot of work to put into this feature because unless you are just pale, you have your work cut out for you to get your game face anywhere near close as you want it. It took me nearly 3 hours and some Photoshop help (I am a black guy after all!...heheh) before I finally got a rendition of me that wasn't ghostly pale, blue or green and in some cases too orange. Weird thing is, on the website itself, you can get a perfect rendering of yourself but somewhere between that rendering and the game download your skin color changes thus if you have patience to do this it may take a while to get it right and off you go.
The Connected Careers mode is cool so far not a huge leap that it's touted to be but it can keep you busy for far longer than you expected. You can either create a player or coach (with or without your game face), use an active player or coach, or use a legend and put them in the game. This biggest difference in playing as a player and a coach are these:
- Playing as player is very similar to Superstar mode is that you have control over what team you start with and you have to work your way up the roster as you cannot come in as a superstar yet. Also you only play when you have plays designed to utilize you. In order to build your player up you have to earn XP from practices and mini games. You can skip some of these and still get XP but not as much as you would get if you participated.
- Playing as a coach gives you total control over the team and you play it like a regular franchise mode but also in order to improve your team you have to do things between weeks (cut your roster, go to practice etc.) to earn points and build up players. These too can be skipped and like I just mentioned you get fewer XPs by skipping.
- You can take a created player only in the player mode; you cannot create a player and bring him into the Coach mode.
- You can start a career online with a few buddies and play as long as you want and even bring it offline (I haven't tested it but will update once I do)
I also liked the virtual network mode where you have a twitter feed letting you know what happening around the league and I have noted to that when you are doing some things like negotiating contracts and so forth, players will chime in when they are happy or not happy about their situation, so now it's important to keep your team happy and also the experts and they will give praise and criticism for things that you do during your career. It still doesn't quite feel as `newsy' as it could be unlike NCAA Football but its there and the potential is there.
Speaking of Twitter and Facebook, you can post results to your actual feed after each game if you desire.
So after 3 or so years, it looks like EA is trying to turn the corner to make this one of the better football games they have put out in years. There are still many technical hurdles that I am still surprised that NFL 2K5 has set the bar high for that EA hasn't jumped and still stumped as to why. The presentation has gotten better but still missing a few things, the game play still feels about the same to me as I am not a hardcore player and I know that other reviews can give more details to the technical aspects of the game but overall, this Madden and the direction that EA is trying to take this series in, feels like after so long, it's worth a buy and not just a roster update. | video-games_xbox |
I Messed Up. UPDATE:
\So I blew it originally on this review..... If you care to you can read the previous review I wrote below I won't delete because I can admit my mistakes and who knows someone may learn something from it.
My mistake was that I was not using the covers that attach to the back of the controller when attempting to recharge the batteries that come with this charger, yep it was USER ERROR.
Now that I am using the product correctly not only does it work but it charges much quicker than my last Nyko charger, I am really impressed at the speed of the charge
It does take a few seconds for the charge light to indicate a charge has begun but that is what I have come to know to be normal with this charger.
All in all my original review was off base and I am updating to correct my mistake as my experience and opinion changed after I began to correctly use the charger.
I have a Nyko charger for my Xbox 360 and use it with no issues or difficulties and it has been that way since day one about 3 yeaes ago when I got it.
I have had nothing but issues with this Nyko charger for the Xbox 1.
Only one of the docks work and that one only works when it wants to.
It is difficult to find the right spot to get the remote to rest in order to get the dock to recognize that the remote is ready to be charged.
I am not the most patient person in the world so when I get the remote to connect to the charger I usually am pretty frustrated with the device by this time, but guess what just because it says connected doesn't always really mean connection, sometimes the indicator light shaped like a remote that shows the remote is connected will turn on and a few seconds go by and it goes back out.
When the controller is actually connected a little red light will appear under the controller looking light and then you will know you are charging, it always takes a few seconds for this light to appear so I find myself holding my breath a lot.
I will say that this charger does charge the batteries much more rapidly than the charger for 360 does, batteries seem to last a little less longer though.
I'm not sure if I just received a defective dock or what but these have been my issues, I actually planned to return it for a different one but was moving out of state so by the time I went to take it to the UPS the return date expired.
I hope if you decide to purchase this charger you have a better experience than I have. | video-games_xbox |
Fallout 3: Continuing the standards. Please keep in mind that this is a review of the Xbox 360 version of the game. The reason that I went with a 360 purchase is because computer games are no longer able to be traded in or sold back at video game retail shops due to the complex codes and other reasons which at the moment I cannot recall. So, from a consumer's standpoint, I choose the 360 version because of the potential resale or trade in value.
F3 does a great job with keeping true to the lofty standards set by the previous 2 Fallouts (not to mention Fallout Tactics: Brotherhood of Steel, which many gamers have disliked, but I myself thoroughly enjoyed the game). Great stories, great quests and subquests and the exploration is fantastic. My review is biased because I am a huge fan of the Fallout series and I think Bethesda does a marvellous job of keeping true to the atmosphere and spirit of the series.
Given the state of RPGs available on the 360 Console, F3 is a great game. That being said, there was a slight lag in some parts of the game, (particularly during the endgame) not enough to be really frustrating though. In previous reviews the AI has been mentioned as being a little shoddy and I agree, but still it didn't really detract from F3's performance.
What I would really like to see happen in RPGs is a more dynamic environment. F3 delivers a little bit in this regard, as sometimes the NPC reactions change as you accomplish certain quests, but it wasn't enough. This is a problem that I've seen in most console or computer RPGs. You as the player make a major change in the world but the aftermath leaves little if any impact on the lives of NPCs in the game.
I was very satisfied with F3 and I would recommend the purchase, especially if you're a fan of the previous games. Also as has been noted in prior reviews, the game is rated M for a reason, so I wouldn't recommend playing this in front of children. | video-games_xbox |
Should've listened to my gut instinct. Ok, so before I begin, I have to give a disclaimer that this review might contain very minor spoilers for the first level of the campaign.
To start, I'll explain the background of the title of my review. When Halo 4 was first announced at E3, my immediate thought was "Wow, they must just be milking the franchise for more money." The fact that Bungie was done with Halo and would not be a part of Halo 4 set off some serious red flags for me at that point, and I honestly gave no thought to buying Halo 4 and didn't get hyped about it or anything until about a month ago. At that point, I started to watch the Forward Unto Dawn mini-series (which was really well-made by the way), and that kindled my hope that Halo 4 might actually be a Halo game.
Upon receiving and playing the game, however, my hopes were quickly diminished. In short, Halo 4 does not look, sound, feel, or play like a true Halo game. I think this comes primarily from the fact that 343 Industries made it and had to rebuild a lot of the assets from scratch (such as weapon models, sound effects, etc.), but I think they fell far short of the work done by Bungie. I played Halo and Halo 2 a lot with friends, and the primary reason I purchased an Xbox 360 was for Halo 3. I know a lot of people hate on Reach, but I actually really enjoyed Reach and I think that it truly was the pinnacle of the Halo series (I know the gameplay was different than the first three, but I think the changes actually added a good amount of depth and didn't change the core experience... for the most traditional Halo fans, 3 was definitely the pinnacle, and I can respect that). Anyway, I'll go through each main aspect of my critique below:
Visuals
A lot of people have praised Halo 4 for "amazing" and "superb" graphics. I'm a bit confused by this... not that the game has poor graphics, but I don't think the graphics are anything special compared to other recent games (Skyrim, Mass Effect 3, etc.), and honestly I think Reach had better visuals overall. Character models seem pretty good, but from the first level of the campaign and a few games of matchmaking, I felt like there were a lot of low-res textures in the environment that didn't look good at all. And the part in the first mission when the missile hits the Covenant ship and then three to four seconds later the ship just falls apart in chunks -- not exactly a stunning visual experience to me. Also, explosions of things such as plasma grenades seem very weak when compared to Halo 3 or Reach.
Sound
The music sounds like it would fit better in the Mass Effect universe than in Halo to me, and that might be because they're going for the whole Forerunner/Reclaimer Saga new feel, but I think that the original series' and Reach's scores were much higher quality and better-sounding, and I think they should've tried to replicate it to make Halo 4 actually feel like a Halo game. More than the music, though, are the sound effects. Weapon sound effects are completely different from the previous Halo games (especially the AR and BR), and as a whole they seem a lot emptier and not very Halo-esque.
Gameplay/Feel
Gameplay in matchmaking felt chaotic and much too fast-paced for any Halo game, which I think is mainly due to the new loadout system and ordinance drops. While the original Halo series featured identical starting loadouts with power weapons placed at key points around the maps, Halo 4 brings in heavily COD-influenced custom loadouts with killstreak-inspired ordinance drops, making for less strategic, more hectic gameplay. Even Reach's multiplayer and loadout system, which many people complained about, feels extremely well-balanced compared to Halo 4's. When playing the campaign, weapons felt very underpowered, and you end up having to use far too much ammo to take down what should be an easy group of grunts. Regular elites don't even die with one plasma stick, and they actually behave similarly to rampaging brutes when stuck, running straight towards you to try to take you down with them. This is a minor thing, but for me, there's no good control scheme since they added sprint as a default ability.
Sorry for rambling on and on, and I know this isn't the most well-written review, but I just have a few final, random thoughts... I think that the big reviewers (Gamespot, IGN, etc.) either gave this game great reviews because they're convinced it should be good since it's a big-name AAA title, or they were paid off by Microsoft to do so. This game doesn't even come close to the previous Halo games, which is a shame because I really wanted it to. Also, there are plenty of people giving the game great reviews as well, and I think many of them simply aren't old enough to have played the other Halo games, so they don't have a basis of comparison.
You might have noticed a common thread through many of the things I said above -- basically, Halo 4 just doesn't feel like a Halo game because it wasn't made by Bungie. The level of detail that Bungie added into their games just doesn't show up in Halo 4, and this detracts from the experience. More than that, though, the game just doesn't seem like it's very high quality, it feels like it was rushed and not polished very well, and it feels mostly like a poor cross between a Call of Duty and a Battlefield game with an attempt to throw some Halo elements in -- the fact that the game is called "Halo 4" doesn't make it a Halo game, and it doesn't make it a good game. | video-games_xbox |
Solid foundation, Needs some refinement. I pre-ordered Dead Island and thus was not able to develop any biases against it before playing. My first impressions were rather bad, but as I continued to play I soon began to enjoy the game. In the end, Dead Island has a great number of flaws, but also offers a lot and is a unique game. What it needs, however, is a reprise with a similar concept but some better polishing on the gameplay mechanics.
Dead Island seeks to combine RPG, melee, FPS, driving, and open-world game types into one title. While this is ambitious and if pulled off properly, rather exciting, Dead Island falls a bit short because of the struggle to mesh all of these game types. Shooting is clunky, slow, and lacking in detail (for example, when reloading a rifle, the old magazine remains in place while the character merely rubs it with his hand, as though this refills it). Driving is devoid of any reasonable physics engine (turning radius does not vary with speed...it's just bad) and the provided in-car view is very narrow. Melee works reasonably well, which is fortunate considering that it is the main focus of the game. However, hit detection is spotty and attack blocking does not always work. RPG elements, so I've been told, are not as good as they could be, but since I have never had interest in RPG games, I can't comment too much there. As I've tried to express, each feature of the game is functional, but not top-notch.
The game is an open-world, quest-based environment where you can do things in whatever order you please. However, until you perform main plot quests, you won't advance beyond the starting area, as the transition "portal" between areas remains locked. Until you do advance to these other regions (which include the resort complex, a slummy port city, a jungle, and an island prison), your access to exciting and useful weapons is rather limited. Completing quests earns you XP, as does killing zombies (far less for the latter), and after a certain amount of XP your character will "level up," gaining access to a new skill of your choice (this is the RPG element of the game). Unfortunately, the zombies level up alongside you, making them no easier to kill in higher levels.
In addition, you must collect money (given as quest rewards and found on nearly every dead body, with tougher zombies generally having more) which can be used to buy weapons and weapon upgrades, and to repair your weapons, which wear out at an alarming rate. You can also collect non-weapons items to a basically infinite degree, but the number of weapons you can hold at one time is quite limited.
I'm not sure what Dead Island is trying to achieve as an overall tone. At some points, it seemed to be trying very hard to be a serious and emotionally compelling title. At other times, it seemed to be a darkly humorous, campy, arcade-style romp...and that latter impression definitely overrode the former. Provided that's what the goal was, Dead Island succeeds, and those who try to take it seriously will naturally be let down. For example, the dialogue is hopelessly cheesy, some of the quests are rather lame, and the animation in some of the cut scenes was rough and very obviously fake.
In addition, the game suffers from glitches such as NPC's getting stuck on objects, zombies with no arms "punching" (NOT kicking) you, mini-map displays not working, and more. Many people have lamented a bug that caused their save file to get corrupted, but I did not encounter this (I completed the game and started a new one, called "New Game Plus" in which you retain your skill level and inventory but restart the storyline). I think that it may have finally been patched. Since I still enjoy old arcade-style games such as Star Wars Battlefront, which is plagued with glitches, I did not mind the bugs in Dead Island that much, but for those who expected a polished modern title, these proved very frustrating.
As far as replay value goes, some people might say that Dead Island has a short storyline which, when completed, ends the game. I don't find this to be the case. As it is an open-world game, like Grand Theft Auto, I enjoy just "messing around" and slaughtering various zombies, hunting for new weapons, and so forth. In addition, the online co-op feature allows me to play this game with my buddy over XBox Live, and since he is a lower level than me, the zombies are finally easier to kill with all my skills and upgraded weapons. In this regard, the online co-op seems to work well. Random people can join your co-op sessions as well, but I generally don't care for this, as random people are not likely to take the same approach as you and unless you feel like chatting with random strangers (some people do, so nothing wrong with it) your paths may quickly diverge. In addition, if you are trying to listen to all the [tacky] game dialogue for the first time, the stranger may skip it, leaving you unsure of what is going on in the plot.
Overall, Dead Island provides some fun melee experiences with plenty of gory graphical details to intensify your assault of the zombies. Other game aspects, such as shooting and driving, are not as good, but still useable. If you go into the game expecting it to be tacky, and enjoy a good laugh at the repetitive dialogue and some of the animations, then you will probably have a fun time. But if you are looking for a cinematic storyline, excellent gameplay mechanics on all fronts, and a polished title with no bugs, you will NOT LIKE Dead Island. I personally find it entertaining and good mindless fun to unwind with after other games leave me frustrated.
As an aside, here are a few humorous observations:
NPCs constantly refer to how useless money is in the wake of a zombie apocalypse, but without any, you will soon be left with broken and worthless weapons, even though you personally carry out all weapons repairs at a workbench.
As long as you are in a vehicle, it will roll on an incline, and the gas is so touchy that you can't hold it steady (there is no brake, only "reverse" which doubles as a brake). As soon as you get out, however, the car remains still.
Your character guzzles energy drinks in order to increase health, but these provide no stamina improvements. Water cannot be consumed, but only given to other people (in particular one woman who constantly complains that her muscles are starting to cramp up, no matter how much water you give her).
No matter how many people are playing, all cut scenes show the 4 playable characters, and all NPCs refer to you in plural form.
You can fire a gun directly through an NPC's head, but cannot hurt or kill any of them.
When you reach new hideouts, the doors are always barricaded closed, but once you exit, you can leave the door standing open and nobody will close it, nor will zombies enter.
One side quest involves killing the looters in a man's house. At that point, you can then loot his house yourself, and are still praised and rewarded by him.
You can tear apart computers, copier machines, and telephones (although no animation accompanies this) but the only things you will ever find are (choose one): electronic scrap, battery, magnet.
There are plenty more humorous details in the game, so if you feel good about Dead Island, give it a shot. If you are unsure about the glitches and lack of refinement, it's best to rent the title. | video-games_xbox |
Bad DRM, softcore porn material in cut scenes. I have always been a big fan of the Command and Conquer series, and I own almost every one of their previous games, including versions for alternate platforms such as Command and Conquer on the Nintendo 64. I was looking forward to this game, but it contains two major deal breakers that prevent me from buying it.
1. SecuRom 7.xx
As almost everyone has already pointed out in their reviews, this is a big deal. By insisting on DRM, EA is treating its legitimate customers like criminals. Strong words? Yes, but consider what SecuRom does.
SecuRom first of all installs itself into Ring Level 0 of the operating system. This has higher privileges than the administrator account, meaning you can't uninstall it in ANY WAY, even if it interferes with other parts of your system. And interfere it does, as it disables or causes problems with legitimate CD burning and CD ROM emulation software, and has been reported to have conflicts with anti-viruse software. And uninstalling the game does nothing to remove the SecuRom code... EA apparently feels it has the right to just install this software on your machine and leave it there, whether you want it or not. The software acts as a rootkit and may introduce security holes, and the only way you can get it off is to re-install windows.
Next, consider that SecuRom limits your activations of the product to five. Yes, five. Anyone who has owned Command and Conquer games in the past has usually found them good enough to keep playing off and on for several years. But you can't do that with this product, because re-installing Windows counts as a major change and costs another activation. Upgrading a computer and changing certain parts uses activations. And before you know it, you will have none left (who hasn't re-installed Windows many times over the course of several years?). EA claims that you can just call them up and they will let you have another activation if you run out, but what if you have five EA games with SecuRom on them (like Spore, which only had three activations)? Do you really want to keep calling them up every time and asking if they will let you use the games you paid 50 bucks a-peice for? Additionally, given that their tech support line is NOT free and is $2.50 a minute, do you want to sit on hold waiting for a new activation and get charged that amount of money for a game you already paid for?
I've had it with EA and their shenanigans and rent-ware. I will NEVER buy an EA game again until it is 100% free of DRM. I won't pirate their games, but I won't pay them a dime until I, the paying customer, have the same rights and ease of use that the pirates are enjoying with their cracked, SecuRom free versions of the game! Until then, I will only play games from DRM free manufacturers, such as Stardock Software (maker of Galactic Civilizations and Sins of a Solar Empire, which are selling just fine despite lack of DRM).
2. Softcore porn in the cut scenes
Last but not least, I have issue with what is essentially softcore porn in the cut scenes. If EA would drop the DRM, I would buy other Command and Conquer games in the future, but not ones like this. I don't think this is right for my children or myself.
In this game, if you watch the trailer, you will find that apparently the army has relaxed dress codes enough that the American female officer that briefs you in the cut scenes can wear the front of her uniform unbuttoned all the way down to the table (where we can't tell how much farther it goes). Also in the trailer, you can see Tanya the special agent slitting people's throats while wearing little more than a super tight, midriff revealing tank/tube top and extremely short shorts/underwear. Coloring them army green really doesn't change the fact that she's wearing something that could easily appear in an underwear/lingerie type add.
I'm disappointed, because the gameplay itself looked great, but I won't let the sexual content I saw in the trailers (and there is probably much more of it, the Russians are usually worse than the Americans) into my house. And quite frankly, it is also disappointing because this game had an absolutely first rate group of actors in the cutscenes, such as George Takei and others, and having the sexual content in there detracts from the realism and of the game. I mean, what military lets female officers go around with their shirts unbottoned, let alone dresses its agents on the battlefield as hookers?
Removing military formality and discipline and replacing it with an adolescent's sexual fantasy really does destroy the atmosphere the game could have had (and did have, in scenes that just had actors like George Takei in them). Sorry EA, but until you clean your game up and drop the DRM you won't get my money. | video-games_xbox |
KABLOOM. Ok, first off, I'm no game expert, so excuse me if I don't use the correct video game aficionado hoity-toity verbiage. Do you just like running around shooting everything in sight? I usually don't. While I would normally gag at the thought of such mindless gameplay; this game was different (although the cut scenes were fairly well done). Why? GUNS, GUNS, AND MORE GUNS!! EXPLOSIONS GALORE!! SO MUCH AMMO, SO MANY BAD GUYS!!. There is so much kabloom in this game it's friggin ridiculous; and the music during and between the action is top notch. And your reticule is this little tiny dot that adds a ton of reality to it, I think. I like the accuracy aspect to it. One straight round to the head, or 10 rounds everywhere else; you choose. The graphics are very good (for an xbox game). No strategy. All kabloom. No guilt. Gotta love it.
There was only one thing that I didn't like in this game.. There are several annoying little ramp thingies (yeah, I know it's not a word) in every level that prevent you from backtracking. Half the time you don't even recognize them until your already over them. Presumably, it's to let you know your headed in the right direction, right? Problem is, maybe you're just wondering around the map looking to complete your objectives, but no, mr. developer guy says if you've wondered this far without completing your objectives, that's too d**N bad, there's no going back; so, if you haven't completed enough objectives, guess what? You only get to unlock the next mission level one difficulty level down from the difficulty level you started the previously level with. If you want to start the next level at the same difficulty, you have to start the previously level all over again and complete enough objectives. It's like getting a middle-finger to your face after you put in all this hard-earned work. Lesson? Watch your step (especially when leaving or entering big buildings).
Oh, yes. Did I mention all the guns? | video-games_xbox |
A step down? They must've recieved the wrong game. Battlefield 3 shocked the gaming industry with its profound and immense military experience, I enjoyed it alot so I pre ordered BF4. I'm reading nothing but bad news on amazon. For what reason I still don't know , but I feel battlefield 4 is a huge step forward instead of backwards, here's why:
+Detail: Many of you disagree, but I can notice a concrete block break away as bullets pierce It, all the sounds you and your teamates / enemies make. Truly a game that requires a headset to bring out its true potential.
+Game play: The game just all around feels WAY more intense than the previous. With new game modes such as Obliteration and Defuse, you'll definitely be on the edge of your seat.
+Levelution: Definitely the highlight of battlefield 4, this is basically events that happen on the nap that require you to change up your strategy drastically. Stuff like a skyscraper collapsing and a dam breaking, I'm just scratching the surface here.
+Commander mode: Feel like playing the warlord position? Now you can. This was in original battlefield games and has now been re invented into bf4. Drop ammo for squads, direct them to a certain objective , even order them to fall back due to heavy enemy presence.
+Maps: March through the streets of shanghai , sprint across the farmland, swim through the flood zone , fight island to island. battle field has definitely stepped up there maps since the last installment.
+Weapon Customization: At least 100 camos and a variety of attachments to accomadate all of your carbines pdw's assault rifles , sniper rifles , shotguns, DMR's, pistols and light machine guns. There are even about 7 new grenades to choose from.
+Battle packs: a great new way to unlock your camps/ attachments, even weapons at times. You'll get a new one every two ranks or so which will include 3 standard unlocks, or 5 unlocks one of them having a chance of being advanced. You can also sometimes score 2x xp out of these!
+Dynamics: Some maps you will start out in a different state, for instance, dawn breaker can start out at night and enter into dawn, but it can also stay in the night time or just start out in dawn and stay like that. And lets face it, we've seen nothing like paracel storm before.
+Little things: Spot soldiers for teammates, use your pistol in the water, turn your laser/flashlight on/off. Yell out specific commands (need ammo, need medic, need ride, affirmative , thank you , sorry , etc.) All these make the game that much better and immense. Even if you reload with 28 bullets left, you lose them. Pretty damn realistic to me.
-Multiplayer issues: I've had multiple freezes, some major texture pop ups and some glitches. Something I hope will be fixed soon.
-24 players. Max.(ps3/xbox360): I think even the current. Gen consoles can.support at least 12 more players. Cmon now , 12 more is all we ask.
All in all bf4 for me is a way different game than bf3 . Most of you might think different but this is definitely the fps multi player game of the year | video-games_xbox |
Great for everyone, not just serious gamers. I'm not a "gamer". I have an Xbox 360 and I do play, but almost always on easy and it's rare for me to finish a game in less than a year. I chose this headset because it could be used for other devices, and I admit it - I just love Marvel! So how does this rate for someone who isn't a hardcore gamer? It's a must-buy and worth every cent of the retail price.
When I opened the box my first impression was astonishment. Most people know how annoying it is to open an electronic device of any kind and discover it doesn't come with a necessary connection cable. Not so here. This bad boy comes with a range of different cables to ensure you can literally plug it into every device it says it supports: "PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, PC/Mac, and Mobile compatibility". It is extremely versatile with USB and analog plug-ins. We tried it for our Xbox 360, but my husband also tried it for the TV watching he does on the computer and with his smartphone. I'm traveling in March and can't wait to try this for watching films on my Kindle Fire. I'm not an audiophile, but I found the sound quality to be amazing! I especially love the independent control of voice and game volume. This is critical for me as background music/effects are a serious impediment for me when playing and it's nice to be able to control without going through game menu options. And the noise reduction may as well be noise canceling, it's that good.
The headset is comfortable and stylish looking. It fit snugly without being too tight and I loved the interchangeable speaker plates (featuring Thor alone, or a lineup of black & white Marvel character faces). I'd love if it were also wireless, but we've learned the hard way that wireless rarely has the quality of wired and this headset proves the point.
Overall, this is a quality headset with beautiful Marvel styling and lots of versatility. Highly recommended!
p.s. One teensy tiny gripe: Turtle Beach/Marvel offer additional speaker plates for sale but they are ridiculously expensive: $24.95 for two plastic plates that pop onto the headset. I wish these were more reasonably priced as I would love to have the Loki plates... | video-games_xbox |
Yes, it's like MW2, but the upgrades ARE there. For those of you who didn't like MW2, you may as well stop reading now, because chances are you won't like this game. However, if you did like it, this game is for you. It has everything MW2 had as well as several considerable upgrades. I'll divide the game up by it's three game modes: Co-op, campaign, and multiplayer.
Co-op:
This section of the game is what really sets it apart from previous installments of the CoD franchise. The two-player missions are back in full force, again throwing you and a partner into the most intense locations and firefights from the campaigns. These have a good mix of stealth, support, and run-and-gun missions (including the advent of player-controlled juggernauts!). These are ok, but what really makes this section awesome is the addition of survival mode.
I don't know about everyone else, but zombie mode in Black Ops and World at War never really grabbed me. Sure, I had fun shooting up a bunch of mutant nazis with a partner, but after a few rounds, it got old. There's really only one thing to do: grab the biggest weapon you can find and hipfire into the blindly charging undead hordes. In survival, you spawn in one of the multiplayer maps and fight off waves of REAL enemies. No zombies, you are fighting real, tough, smart enemies with juggernauts, helicopters, and suicide bombers in support. Every weapon from the game is available for purchase at a weapons station, and you get to call in squads of support units and even a grenade-launcher sentry turret. Major upgrade from both MW2 and Black Ops. Also, you can play this mode to its full potential with or without XBox live.
Campaign:
What can I say? If you expected a complex spy plot, you're not going to be happy. If you expected a frenetic series of desperate missions with the fate of the world in the balance, loaded with familiar and exotic locations from around the world, and spiced up by classic MW cliffhanger moments (literally), then you're going to be thrilled: this has it all. The graphics are superb. The gameplay is pretty much the same as MW2, which some people found disappointing, but honestly: don't fix what ain't broken. I've never played a smoother system of controls and combat. All the familiar characters of the first two MWs make their appearances, and some new ones are added as well. Nikolai gets a complete graphics upgrade from his relatively simplistic and blocky animation in the first two games. I was a bit skeptical when I saw that Cpt. Price also had a bit of a graphics makeover, but they stayed true to the original interpretation of the character. There IS a twist in the plot, by the way, but I won't include any spoilers. Just be ready for it.
If your a multiplayer-only person, fine, but you're missing out on something awesome if you don't play this game's campaign
Multiplayer:
The only game mode in which I didn't see a marked upgrade from MW2 to MW3. New maps, obviously. They are much more compact than the ones in MW2, which could either be really good or bad depending on your playstyle. I think that being really familiar with the maps is much more of an advantage in this game than the last one, and I'll be honest: running-and-gunning is pretty much the way to go for most of them. This saddens me, because while I'm not usually a camper, I really appreciated the ability pick off enemies with my Barrett or ACR in MW2. HOWEVER, this game FINALLY got the snipers right! In MW2, the only sniper that could make a one shot kill without a head-shot consistently was an unsuppressed Barret 50 cal with FMJ and/or stopping power. I hated every sniper in Black Ops, because NONE of them could kill with a one shot kill unless you got a solid headshot. Imagine my surprise when I found out that a non-upgraded Barrett could actually do the job with a single body shot. This balances out the disparity a little bit. Also note that shotguns are now a primary weapon and the riot shield can now be shattered, making it even more useless than before.
All this being said, however, I should list three things that are different in this game than in MW2. First, you have the ability to customize your weapons more. By using your weapon a lot, you can not only outfit it with new attachments, but also you have the ability to give it "perks" to fit your own style. For example, the first perk you unlock for the Scar is kick, which grants you a reduction in recoil. Later on, you can change this perk to something else. Second, contrary to some people's opinions, there ARE new weapons in this game, and some of the old ones are changed around. The ACR and Scar have become more balanced weapons, for one, and we have several brand new snipers, assault rifles, LMGs, and especially SMGs. Finally, the perks in MW2 were unbalanced in favor of such universally favored perks as Sleight of Hand and Cold-Blooded. These perks are far more even in this game.
Closing notes:
Yes, this game is like MW2, but there are several SIGNIFICANT upgrades included in this game. If you liked MW2, you will like this game. If you don't want to spend the money on something so similar, buy it, beat it and then sell it used. Trust me, it's worth it! | video-games_xbox |
Low expectations lead to a pretty fun time. I acquired this game free with the purchase of a new Xbox to replace one that died on me. I wasn't expecting much due to some pretty negative reviews trashing the repetitive gameplay and ho-hum graphics. So I was surprised when I popped it in and after playing for a little bit discovered I was actually having a lot of fun.
The game mainly involves piloting various modes of transport -- a hover tank, an aerial gunship, a speeder, even a two-legged beast of some sort -- and blasting any enemies that get in your way. It is fast-paced but satisfying to watch your targeting reticle bob around the screen before locking on to a soon-to-be doomed enemy and dispatching them will a volley of laser fire or perhaps a well-placed missile. There area also times when you will play a Jedi (Mace, Annakin, etc) on the ground. While these bits got slagged off by some gaming press, I found them to be pretty enjoyable. Your repertoire of tricks include throwing the light saber like a boomerang to take out far-away foes, doing acrobatic flips and jumps to avoid enemy fire, and taking out whole groups of evil goons with a blast of the Force from your outstretched hand.
The graphics are not eyepoppingly stunning, but they are solid and definitely convey the feeling of being in the Star Wars world. In the scenes where you fly the Jedi gunship, you can see scores of soldiers and droids blasting it below you, giving you the sense that you are part of a larger battle. I'm not a die-hard SW fan, but I did grow up on the movies and find the game does a decent job of filling in some of the events following the end of the "Attack of the Clones" movie.
Initially I was going to give this game four stars, but I gave games like "Halo" and "Project Gotham Racing" four stars, and this game, while fun, honestly isn't on the same level as those heavyweights. So it only gets three stars, but don't let that stop you from just having a good time in the Clone Wars. | video-games_xbox |
Unfulfilled promises. The best thing I can say about Homefront is it has a great premise for a video game, and the multi-player is fun when it actually works.
If you buy games for the single player experience, you should undoubtedly skip Homefront. The campaign starts off with a great story, but forgets about that pretty quickly in favor of just following another character around and shooting things. It's probably the most linear new FPS out right now. And it's only 3-4 hours long. And it ends abruptly. No doubt the makers are going to milk this for all the money possible through DLC and sequels. I'm not sure when it became acceptable to release half of a game and then charge people extra to finish it.
The multi-player is fun when it works, especially the "Battle Commander" and "Battle Points" systems, but it hardly works. There aren't enough "dedicated servers" to meet demand, the game hard freezes on some people's consoles, making the game unplayable, and the matchmaking is broken, pairing players from all over the world into the same lobby, resulting in a lag-infested mess. THQ has promised to fix this, but it's been broken since launch, and I have little faith that a company that can put out such a broken game can fix it properly. Also, there are only 2 game modes, Team Deathmatch and Ground Control, and only 8 maps total. The amount of weapons available, and the extent to which they can be customized, is pretty limited considering the competition.
So, when they promised a single-player campaign that lasts between 5 and 10 hours, a strong story that hits home, a huge multi-player experience, and a game that actually works, know that they couldn't get any of that into this game. Homefail.
Edit, 04/17/11: I gave up on this game and traded it in to Amazon. From checking the forums, the Hard Freeze problem has been fixed for most players, but all of the other problems remain to be patched. There's no update on the time-frame for that. I may buy the game back in a few months IF it's cheap, IF people are still playing it online, and IF all of the bugs are fixed. I don't have much hope in all of that happening though. | video-games_xbox |
Hard Lock not Hard to Please. I bought this game used from Gamestop and I knew I wanted to play it since I played the demo on PS3. I have been a Top Gun fan for longer than I can remember, and have been a fan of the F-14 plane all my life. This is a fun little title that blends the action-oriented feel of Afterburner with the free-flight freedom of Ace Combat. This game is to air combat games, what Burnout is for racing games.
Gameplay:
The controls for this game are simple and intuitive; the emphasis of this game is on speed, and it pulls it off nicely. In most flight simulators, when you press "right" on the stick, the plane moves forward, and just turns sideways. In this game, when you press right, the plane rolls to the right and banks. Once you release the stick, the plane auto-levels with the horizon. This can take some getting used to if you play other flight simulators. If this is your first, it will feel comfortable and fun. The auto-leveling of the plane keeps you even with the ground, making it very hard to crash. I flew on full afterburner under a highway and breezed under it with ease. The afterburner in this game makes it fun to fly from one objective to the next, and this is where the game's sense of speed really shines.
The Hard Lock mode (Two words, not one as the product description reads) is very similar to the dogfight mode in Ace Combat: Assault Horizon, where you follow your opponent very closely and pepper him with bullets until you can get a missile lock. A missile lock is acquired by keeping the opponent inside of a circle while the missile locks on. In Hard Lock mode, you must complete mini-games, moving the analog sticks in a motion indicated on the screen. During these mini-games, you and your opponent will perform various maneuvers, such as "Break right" "Loop the Loop" and "Split-S" among others. They're generally easy to pass, and the better you do on them (you are rated a percentage for each maneuver you perform) the larger your Hard Lock circle becomes, making it easier to acquire a target lock. Your Hard Lock can be reversed if you fail at one of the mini-games, at which point you need to frantically stay outside of your opponent's circle, and reverse the Hard Lock again.
Graphics:
Everything in the game looks pretty decent. There is a "film grain" filter on the graphics, which cannot be removed. I do not know if this was done deliberately to make the game feel more "80s" or "retro," or if it was done to compensate for the lack of graphics this game has. Either way, I like it, and I normally hate grainy filters on my games. The planes look like the iconic planes, and the game takes advantage of the "hard lock" mode to show off the visuals. There are various skins and decal sets to unlock for each plane. It may be important to note that there are no human models in this game. Everything is a vehicle or structure. While I don't have a problem with this, it is a noticeable absence, likely done to save time during development.
Sound:
One complaint from another customer who reviewed this game was the repetitive music. While I do agree the music can get repetitive, there are multiple tracks which I don't mind repeating, and on Xbox360, you can pump in your own soundtrack. That being said, the game's title screen does feature the Top Gun theme. Everything else sounds like knock-off versions of "Danger Zone." All-in-all, the sound is adequate, and does its job. The voice acting is bland and uninspired, but passable. One cool thing is that when you have your afterburners on long enough, your plane makes a sonic boom, and that is a nice touch that I see in few/no other games.
Overall:
Top Gun: Hard Lock is an overall solid title. It is made with a very arcade feel to it, rather than the simulation feel of other games. The big question is: is it worth the $40? The answer to that question, is "no." I love this game, and enjoy it, but I got it on sale from Gamestop when I had a coupon. There is no reason to buy this game new for $40 when Ace Combat: Assault Horizon is available for $25 and is a better game. Another big problem this game has, is that you have to buy the multiplayer separately. A budget title that requires you to pay for the multiplayer absolutely kills the multiplayer community, and it is extremely unlikely anyone actually paid for it. When the game drops to an ACTUAL budget price, of $20 or less, then it would definitely be worth the pickup. As it is right now, you're better off buying a different game.
Pros:
+It's got the Top Gun theme!
+Tight, responsive controls
+Excellent sense of speed
+Arcade feel blends Afterburner and Ace Combat into an exciting, free-roaming game.
Cons:
-Missions can run a little long
-Music can get repetitive
-Have to pay for multiplayer
-Better games are available for cheaper
-Limited selection of planes | video-games_xbox |
Ending = Kick in the nuts. *Spoilers*
I didn't think it possible for Bioware to screw up the ending this badly. I mean to many, Mass Effect was the premier example of a game providing excellent story telling, combined with superior character development. The story Mass Effect told was so good and engaging the whole way, Its unthinkable to me that they could butcher the ending the way they did.
The game is quite similar to ME2 in play style. You have less party characters, then ME2, but slightly more then ME1. The game thankfully gets rid of the annoying planet searching for minerals, from ME2. And you have more weapon, options and upgrades then you did in ME2, but you are still unable to choose armor for your squad mates, just change their colors. The gameplay itself is probably slightly more refined from ME2, dialogue choices however, are diminished even further. Paragon or Renegade choices every time, and very few of the quick action decisions introduced in ME2
The game overall was quite good and I cant bring myself to give it less then four stars, despite the much hated ending. The collectors edition comes with a patch, a comic book, a tin case, and some add on downloadable content. All together its probably not worth the extra $20 over the regular version.
The game had a number of plot holes and things that didn't work besides the ending. First of all, the annoying focus on the kid, was a complete waste of time. The scenes were short, so I was willing to overlook it, but they only took away from the game. The slow motion May Payne like dreams sequences where you chase the kid around, were boring and meaningless. I was afraid while watching them, that they were going to be tied into some lame plot twist and that's exactly what happened, with the ending.
I liked that they tied up the story lines with the Krogan and Geth, and these were some of the best parts of the game. I also like that they tied up the story with Cerberus, but they made it and the Illusive Man way to big a part of this game. This final chapter was supposed to be about the reapers, Cerberus could have been destroyed or joined the fight, but it was a mistake to make some stupid terrorist organization so heavily tied to the ending.
The crucible plot point was also, weak. I liked the idea that we were gathering resources and allies for war, building up to the final conflict, but then of course the ending makes it all pointless. The crucible, seemed unnecessary. How did sophisticated plans survive numerous cycles for a giant, device, that was never built or used and nobody know what it does, yet, they put all their hope on this.
Here are some things we should have had that would have made this game truly epic.
1. We spend the game acquiring resources and allies, and make difficult RPG decisions, concerning, where to send people and resources. which planets or systems to defend? Which to abandon? Who can we get to join the fight? We make difficult gray area decisions, about where to send squadmates, people die some heroically, some cowardly. There was none of that.
2. The Reapers are invading, and indoctrination is rampant across the galaxy. Who to trust? Who is trying to sabotage or thwart us? Can we trust ourselves or our squadmates? This are was largely ignored.
3. We could have had some epic tank/vehicle battles, or space battles, yet the game gave us none of that and remained solely a first person shooter.
4. Towards the end we should have had numerous choices about where to apply resources and units, and what to attack, and who was to go where and do what. None of that, no choices whatsoever. We Don't see any of our squadmates, do anything or fight in anyway. No heroic, cut scenes of teammates fighting to the death against the reapers, or kicking ass.
5. Here's what the ending of the game should have been. The ending(s) that would have made most everyone happy. We should have squared off against the reapers. the choices you've made throughout the three games come home to roost, and you see their effects in action. people you saved, or didn't, people, you killed or didn't, resources you acquired or didn't, people that liked you or didn't, all of these things should have mattered and been given some weight, in how the ending played out. There could have been two primary endings with many variations. The galaxy united fights off the reapers, and for the first time, a cycle survives, We see galactic celebrations, and followup on the surviving characters. We got none of that. Or an ending where the reapers are just to much and defeat is inevitable as hinted at in the first game. We see Sheppard and our various characters gong down heroically one by one, giving it their all. The reapers are given pause, but ultimately win and the cycle repeats. We didn't get that either.
Instead what we do get is some slow motion moving around, no epic battles, no boss fight, no character finales, a truly lame plot twist, where the reapers, are being controlled by some unexplained ghost boy, and three ridiculous choices, that are completely idiotic, and render all the three games build up and choices meaningless. You got that Bioware? That's why people are pissed.
How about truly long ending, that's worth all the effort we put in? One that makes us feel like our choices mattered. One that gives us some closure on Shepard and the other characters we cared about?
That's all we wanted. | video-games_xbox |
A painstaking "adventure" through an empty world. I'll be flat-out honest with you people: I've never enjoyed the Elder Scrolls series, ever since the first game. They've always seemed boring and uneventful, not to mention incredibly silent and dead. Oblivion, the fourth entry in the series, has been heralded as one of the greatest games ever made--if not THE greatest--by many people, some of which I know, yet it's baffling how I can't even fathom a good reason to enjoy playing it. And trust me when I say this, when Skyrim was announced, EVERYBODY was stoked to get their hands on it. And when it was released, many spent their entire nights--and even some of their work days--playing the game. I just recently had the "honor" of playing the game on all three optional platforms (PC, XBOX 360, and PS3), all with their current updates and patches, and now, I have come to give my two cents...or two-hundred dollars.
---STORY---
The narrative begins with you, a presently faceless and nameless prisoner being shipped off to Helgen to be executed in front of a small town in what appears to be the middle of nowhere. You're introduced to a small group of characters, two of which you'll never see again after this opening scene, and just before you're about to be executed, a dragon suddenly appears and wrecks the entire village. You make a "daring" escape through the rubble and ashes of Helgen, eventually being free to explore the world of Skyrim. You later discover that you are a mythical being known as the Dovahkiin, or "Dragonborn", and it is your destiny to slay the mighty Alduin, the same dragon that invaded Helgen, in order to save the world. Along the way, you'll meet a handful of characters that will assist you on your journey, and you'll be offered many alternate paths on your way to the final battle with Alduin.
So, let me ask you: did you enjoy that tidbit of narrative? Really? I'm glad, because it's LITERALLY the only thing you've got to enjoy in terms of a story. There's nothing else in this game's plot that makes it stand out above anything else: you're a chosen hero, you find the evil dragon that's threatening the world, and you kill it. End of story. There's absolutely nothing here that will keep you on edge or in suspense, because every single thing about the story is predictable and boring. None of the main characters are memorable, and you'll forget their names and faces almost as soon as you meet them. The story won't take you but a few hours to finish, but really, what's next? There aren't anymore plot elements you can seek out to gain you closure, and when you defeat Alduin, the story just sort of...ends. There's no epic ending cutscene, there's no tugging at your heart strings with an appreciative ending, hell, there aren't even any credits you can watch that are supported by the opening theme! Things just go on like nothing happened.
---GAMEPLAY---
Whew...Okay, let's get started. There's a lot to cover, so just bear with me. Let's start with controls. They're simple enough, and I'll admit they did a good job in mapping actual controller buttons to the keys from the keyboard when it came to pressing the correct buttons to perform the proper actions. I have no real problem with the controls, except for wishing they mapped different buttons to different actions when they ported this game to the consoles.
Now, let's talk about Quests. You know, the bread of an open-world RPG. You meet random NPC's in towns and cities, talk to them, and eventually, you'll get a quest to complete. Most of these quests will be labeled as "Objectives," which means they start off as meager jobs, but very quickly erupt into something much bigger and, of course, much more tedious to get done. When you complete a quest, you get a reward and a small, hardly noticeable completion dialog box in the center of your screen. Your reward is displayed--BARELY--in the top-left corner of the screen for about five seconds. Most of the time, you're not even aware you got your reward. Would've been nice to make it a LITTLE more obvious that I actually finished the task I was asked to do.
Third, the inventory. When you access the inventory screen, you're greeted with the options to check your status, look at the different kinds of magic and skills you have, open the map, and view your current collection of items. If you have the game set to autosave, this is where it happens at the regular intervals you set it to. On the status screen, you can view the perks and status of your character, looking through everything you currently have unlocked. The map...well, do I really have to explain what it does? It lets you fast-travel through the world of Skyrim, provided you've already been to the location you want to go to. The items screen is displayed in categories, ranging from typical potions to your wide array of weapons and armor. You can also access the settings screen, where you can view your current quests and objectives, change in-game settings, and save and load data.
Now, we move on to the WORST part: the combat. By equipping a weapon (or being stupid enough to go in unarmed), you can attack enemies you find using those weapons (or your fists). You can either choose to play the game in first-person view or third-person view, and if you're smart, you'll play the game about 95% of the time in third-person.
Fighting enemies is dreadful. Hell, even swinging your weapon at the air is dreadful. Everything about combat is terrible. For starters, it's boring; you're literally just swinging your weapon in the same boring, repetitive animation sequence, chipping away at their health bar until they drop dead. Many could argue that's the point of any game with combat, but I would wholeheartedly disagree. After all, COMBAT IS THE PART OF THE GAME WHERE MOST OF THE ACTION IS SUPPOSED TO TAKE PLACE. If the combat is boring, guess what? Roughly 90% of your game is boring. You're going to be fighting everywhere you go; dungeons, cities, towns, even on the fields just outside of stables--wherever you go, you're bound to run into some enemies just waiting to gut you. So why, exactly, does it have to be so BORING?
Also, and this is unfortunately true for a lot of RPG's released these days, but magic is virtually useless. Seriously. You travel all throughout the world of Skyrim, learn all of these seemingly nifty magic spells and Dragon Shouts, and you'll use them...I dunno, a few times? Maybe? I only had to use Dragon Shouts when the story progression forced me to. I NEVER had to rely on any magic, or even any of the transformations the game had to offer. I never found any joy in riding dragons, I didn't find any solace or happiness in killing random monsters and looting their corpses for items and money, and I CERTAINLY found no remorse in waiting for the game to get harder. Even on Master difficulty, this game is a breeze.
Lastly, let's discuss leveling up. When you use certain skills or magic, your proficiency in that specific spell or skill will increase, which then increases your progress in your current Level. If you ask me, this is literally the most asinine way to give your players a level-up system that provides them with choice. There are WAY too many different skill trees to improve, and yes, you guessed right: you don't get NEARLY enough points to spend on all of them. The game forces you to have a certain proficiency level in that skill tree before you can unlock the next perk, but what happens if you're not that far and you just leveled up? You really want that perk, right? How are you going to get that perk that requires 60 proficiency in that skill tree, and you only have it at 29? Too bad. Either don't increase your level until you spend HOURS trying to raise your proficiency to that level, or just skip the perk and find another one you might enjoy having. What, pray tell, was stopping ANYONE from just putting in a basic choice-based level system in this game? Like, when you level up, you're given a list of things you can improve RIGHT NOW and you can choose whichever one you desire AT THAT MOMENT--you know, like in Kingdoms of Amalur? Y'know, surprisingly, I find myself comparing the two a lot. Maybe because...*Gasp* AMALUR IS A BETTER GAME!!
---PRESENTATION---
This is, without a single doubt in my mind, the BIGGEST problem of the game. Skyrim takes place in this huge, MASSIVE world, and yes, there's a ton to see and do all throughout the game. There are so many people to meet and greet, plenty of quests and objectives to complete, tons of exclusive weapons and armor to obtain and forge for, huge amounts of dungeons and locations to discover and explore, and even a bunch of different side-stories to contribute to. Yeah, sounds all fine and dandy at first, right? Now, let's get to the part that's going to make the entire world despise me.
This game is empty. Yes. Empty. But not in a content-based sense. There's plenty to do, but none of it--NONE of it--is fun. The world is big and broad, sure, but it's so lifeless and boring that you don't WANT it to be big; you just want to get to the next town or dungeon and be done with it, already. Character models are sloppy and hideous, none of the side-stories contribute anything to the main plot experience, and even fighting dragons--the ONE thing this game is universally praised for--becomes insufferable after you've brought a few down. And worst of all, the entire game--in all three versions--is LITTERED WITH GAME-BREAKING GLITCHES. Crashes, bugs, graphical and system errors at random intervals...I can't even BEGIN to count them all! There are not enough numbers to count the amount of times the game crashed on me, not to mention the number of times I found myself trapped in place because the camera didn't buffer me out of a damn corner that I could have easily slipped through. I have literally CLIPPED THROUGH MOUNTAINS while exploring and trying to find new locations, I have sent enemies and NPC's flying into the sky by simply bumping into them while running, and I have even broken the game in its entirety by utilizing a few in-game glitches to instantly level every perk and skill tree to maximum, as well as break the enchantment system by making weapons deal more than 10,000,000 damage a hit and armor giving me +10,000,000 health, stamina, and magic, not to mention ridiculously-overpowered abilities. How is it that Bethesda doesn't see fit to FINISH their games?
---SOUNDTRACK---
While I enjoyed the musical scores that played through my time in Skyrim, there are too few to even call this a soundtrack. There are only a few songs that are very commonly recycled as you play the game, and most of the time, the tracks don't even change to properly fit the situation. I can't even count the amount of times I've been fighting a dragon while the peaceful town or city theme was playing in the background. It completely kills any sense of suspense or tension in the atmosphere...what little there is to be found.
---OVERALL RATING: 2/10---
Skyrim is a massive disappointment to fans of the Elder Scrolls series (if there are really any die-hards out there), and an even bigger disappointment to anybody who countenanced the thought that they actually paid money for this game. This is not an RPG. It's an adventure game that TRIES to do everything right, but fails in all departments. Don't get me wrong; I meagerly appreciate the effort, but if the final product (I won't say "finished," because this game clearly isn't) doesn't succeed in making the mark it was meant to, then you've accomplished precisely nothing. Skyrim does just that; it accomplishes nothing it was supposed to. It fails in nearly every aspect, with the quality of the soundtrack and the almost nonexistent feeling of freedom being its only saving graces. Like Final Fantasy VII, I know full well that a lot--A LOT--of people love this game to death, but much like with my FF7 review, I think it's doing the world justice to give them a wake-up call with exactly how terrible this waste of data really is. | video-games_xbox |
Don't be cheap, buy a better one. Get what you paid for. DO NOT WASTE YOUR MONEY. I bought two of these in January. I told the wife it was one pack for each remote but we all know the truth--both controllers are for me so I can seemlessly swap out controls on the fly with minimal down time. I thought the ad for this product on Amazon said one year warranty but apparently my return window ended in February. Valentines day, in fact. Yet another disappointing and traumatic Valentine's Day memory for me. =( Well now it's April 30th and neither work proper. I have had issues with the batteries recharging. When they were working properly, they would fully charge in about six hours and last about the same in game time. Maybe eight hours. I know this thanks to timed binging of Battlefield 4 with my brothers. That whole "25 hours of game time in four hours of charging" is just a sweet, sweet lie meant to bait us in, make us feel pretty, and ultimately leaves us feeling used and discarded. Anywho.
For the last month and a half--meaning I owned them for a whopping 45 days up front, and about 60 days with issues--they've not been wanting to charge. Today alone my xbox has been on since 7am with the controllers both plugged in to charge since about 7:45am. It's almost 7pm and both are not charged. I've checked the USB cable and the remotes/battery packs; the little blue light is on both. They're just not charging. You truly get what you paid for; these are half the cost of the official Microsoft battery packs/charge cables and now I see why. I'm very sad about this. But hey, don't listen to me. Just click to see all reviews with the newest first and look at all the 1 star reviews to come out in the last couple of months. Also I rarely ever give negative reviews--and I'm pretty sure this is my first negative review on Amazon in all these years--but this is just ridonkulous. I'm so disappointed. How am I supposed to protect the virtual world with my mad l33t sniperz skillz if I can't do so from the comfort of my couch? | video-games_xbox |
Disappointing. I too hate to submit a negative review but I'm disappointed with the "game". In addition to the problems cited by previous reviewers (endless loops, difficult to navigate) the body scan measurements were a little off. Although the circumference measurements seemed pretty close it had me at 5'3 where I'm 5'9. Oh well, I can fix that with a manual height adjustment. There are certain exercises (pushups for instance) where it is difficult to see the screen, and for safety and proper body alignment you shouldn't look at the screen, but they don't provide you with enough voice cues to do the exercise with the necessary timing. Also, there seems to be a problem with voice recognition. It asks questions as you are working out (you doing ok?) but doesn't seem to hear my answers no matter how loudly and clearly I speak them. I did a video diary and found my voice was so static I couldn't hear it at all. I re-calibrated but still it's not working. Our other games seem to pick-up voice ok- so I'm supposing it's just this "game". I did a 50 minute workout- and it was a good workout- but I'm disappointed with the "fun" factor. I could put in a workout video and get the same thing- why pay $50 for a "game"? After my workout I went to the "burn extra calories" section to see if I could find something fun. There was a boxing option and I thought that would be fun. But the closest it came to boxing was that it was in a ring- I was still doing planks and butt-kickers. So, still looking for something fun- I went to the "Challenges" section. The challenge was to punch a bag faster than the other contestants. Unfortunately whether I punched fast, or in time with the trainer it was not picking up all my punches and I lost miserably- I'm afraid I might be eliminated... ;-)
I think the manufacturers of these fitness "games" are missing out on the real beauty of a gaming system platform- and that is to make working out FUN! I enjoy the Adventure game, but there are only about 4 activities. I can get lost in the fun and competition and forget I'm getting a workout, but I need more variety. Jillian's first game- Fitness Ultimatum was on the right track- but it had it's own set of issues.
In summary- if you are looking for a workout- this is a pretty good "game". You'll get a workout, and it will keep track of it on a calendar. I am still waiting for the holy grail- a game that gets me moving, is fun, and challenges me competitively. | video-games_xbox |
Essentially Bioshock 1 with a new story, but still great. I have been waiting for Bioshock 2 to come out ever since they leaked that it was in production. I absolutely loved the first game--and was hoping the second would deliver a similar experience.
As other reviewers have pointed out, it is essentially the same. I just don't really see why that's the worst thing ever. Look at the Call of Duty series--They are all essentially the same, fast paced shooters with the same mechanics but different settings or stories. It's basically the old saying "don't fix what ain't broke"...and I really don't see Bioshock as "broken."
Similar to the 1st Bioshock, the atmosphere they create is incredibly engaging and really draws you into the environment. It's basically the same creepy dystopia that Bioshock 1 was based in. The sounds are excellent, the graphics are on par with the 1st (which are pretty good) and the mechanics are pretty much the same as well.
What I still love about this game, as I did in the 1st one, is that they really work to make sure you feel like you are exploring a city, and not just a series of hallways that have differently arranged pots and plants. I highly recommend taking the time to traverse every inch of what is available, because they put in a lot of effort with details. I love the graffiti, the diaries you pick up (and I do recommend you listen to every one) and I love the general feeling of being deep under the ocean. As I said before, they really did the same excellent job of immersing you in the environment and making you feel like you are the character.
From what I have played of the story so far, I like. It has me drawn in and eager to find out more. You play as one of the "Big daddys" in this game, which is interesting. It's the same type of struggle and gameplay though, which is that most of your time killing baddies will be those crazed, tweaked people who come at you with guns and wrenches, etc.
You also still have access to the genetic powers yourself and for better or worse, you have access to those vita chambers that restart you near by, which kinda trivializes strategy in some fights.
Other than those real minor issues I take with the game, I will still happily award this game 5 stars and play it and love it. If you liked Bioshock 1, and have the money to buy this one, I don't think you will be disappointed at all. Think of it as another installment in the game franchise (surely there will be more to come), instead of some revolutionary new game, and you'll probably enjoy it a lot more. | video-games_xbox |
An Essential for Avid Xbox 360 Gamers. Microsoft's Xbox 360 120GB Hard Drive is certainly overpriced when compared to other digital storage devices, but it is an essential upgrade for Xbox 360 fans who don't own an Elite model. The Xbox LIVE Marketplace's dizzying selection of downloadable content and the recent dashboard update that allows users to play games from their hard drive will quickly fill 20 and 60GB models.
While initially skeptical about the need to install games to the hard drive, I have to say that it is one of the best features released in an update. My Xbox 360 sounds like a 747 when playing a game from the disc drive, but when using the hard drive it can be barely heard over my PC. I imagine not having the disc drive spin for prolonged periods of time might also help combat some of the heating issues that have plagued the console. However, a typical game requires close to 6GB of storage.
I purchased a 20GB model and, even without installing a game to my hard drive, space eventually became an issue. Game add-ons like map packs and expansions can take up a good chunk of space. For example, Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter's content is approximately 3.3GB alone. Add an occasional episode of a favorite TV show, the latest hit movie or the fantastic Netflix feature and before long you'll be scrambling to free up space.
Installation of the new hard drive was quite simple and rather painless. The accompanying instructions were easy to follow and transferring all my old files to the new drive using the data transfer kit took approximately an hour. I had no trouble starting my console with the new hard drive and the transition was seamless.
The only aspect holding me back from rating this product with five stars is cost. I understand Microsoft's desire to release a proprietary accessory, but a list price of $159.00 for 120GB is a bit ridiculous. That being said, it is a sound investment for avid Xbox 360 gamers. | video-games_xbox |
The Dynamic Duo kick the blocks outta Arkham's Worst. If you liked LEGO Star Wars and LEGO INDY, then LEGO BATMAN is already in your Xbox....'nuff said. If you didn't like them...you won't like BATMAN...if you didn't try them, you should.
The LEGO games are fun for the whole family, young and old, the animated LEGO movie links to the gaming threads are wild & wicked and worth the purchase on their merits alone. The format for Batman is much like the Lucasfilm game sets, just not directly connected to any particular movies...although (thankfully) the Danny Elfman music (circa 1989) runs throughout the game, the style is generic Batman via LEGO LAND. The villains have teamed up to escape Arkham Asylum and the Dynamic Duo must stop them...each villain has a story arc to unlock, before free play is possible in the related locations...so like the previous installments, replay value is high, you can return to the story setting later as several optional characters including the villians themselves in order to find hidden "trophies" to build in Wayne Manor (part of the Batcave hub, where menus, story progress and unlockables lie). This way the same tales have many variations for players to explore, collecting the coin-like "studs" as currency for upgrades and unlockables. There's roughly about 30 separate levels to play, 15 in the hero chapters and 15 levels i the villain chapters.
LEGO BATMAN characters have individual moves, Batman for example can put baddies in a choke hold and throw them. An exciting addition to LEGO combat is the BATARANG, which will lock on targets for distance attacks. Introduced also, are special suits for Batman and Robin, these make certain combinations of characters a necessity for passing stages or solving puzzles...For example, in true comic book fashion,Robin can get a Magnetized-suit to scale metal walls, I can't explain the pleasure that came from watching Robin lumbering and buzzing up surfaces (sound fx here are classic) Other moves are standard for the LEGO games: grappling hooks for platforms and punching and kicking.
The character design is great and Gotham looks good...there are lest characters to be unlocked here than in any other LEGO game so far and lest upgrades as well. But as for the characters there are so good choices from the Batman Universe....Joker, Penguin, Catwoman, Two-Face, Poison IVY, Mr. Freeze, Riddler, Killer Croc, Scarecrow, The Mad Hatter, even Bane. Like the heroes, each villain has their own special weapons and moves...I bet you can guess Banes.
Another LEGO staple is the mix and match at the hub, where you can customize a character for free play by swapping the pieces around.
No major complaints, it just seems smaller than previous efforts, maybe because no direct movie-tie-in was done...like the Trilogy format.
I do miss the "character quirks" introduced for LEGO INDY, like the fear of snakes and rats, effecting character behavior. Admittedly it doesn't work well with the superhero genre. Also, since this is a Traveler's Tales project with Warner Bros. and not Lucasfilm, don't expect to find any hidden Star Wars characters this time....sorry. | video-games_xbox |
My game of the year. I have been an avid gamer for more than 10 years. And I have played my fair share of RPGs, JRPGs, Strateggy RPGs, you name I've most likely played it. Also big on competitve shooters, Im an all around guy. But for 2012-2013, this is the game right here. A redefining RPG that should be heralded by RPG action fanatics. Event the creators of the game had been astounded how much love their game had garnered and were not ready to even make an expansion for it, and that is why they had to re-release the original game with expansion content. This games combat is just amazing, the realism really sets it apart, the physics are so well done they make the world come to life. From goblins to cyclops to dragons, all are impacted by the spells, or weapons you use against them. If you shoot a fireball at a cyclops's arm,it will catch on fire, and burn its flesh, if you hit the same cyclops in the chest it will stagger back, if you hit in in the eye with an arrow it will enrage. Words cant explain how awesome this game is. My crappy review cant give it justice. Being able to customize your own pawn, basically companion, and let others online hire him to gain AI intelligence with how to do quests or fight creatures is just awesome, other players pawns fight along side you, seeing what abilities and armor their masters equipped them and then hiring to your party so they can travel with you on quests. The world changing around you from the things you do, such as slaying a griffin unlocking a full griffin set of armor at shops, or helping a merchant clear out a cave, unlocks a brand new shop in that same cave that lets you travel fast between two areas. Ugh the game is seriously a must have for RPG action lovers. Cant say no more, going back to playing again. Also the classes are awesome and diverse, and you can set your own pawns classes, ok ok im done going back on DD:DA to slay a Griffin wooo! | video-games_xbox |
Rockstar is Redeemed. Red Dead Redemption surprised the heck out of me. I am not a big fan of the old West. I'm not even a big fan of sandbox games, though there are a few worth their salt (inFamous especially). When I heard about Rockstar's new open world game being set in the old West, I was skeptical. All the previous old West games seemed to get lackluster responses (Call of Juarez, Red Dead Revolver come to mind), so I didn't think much of this offering. After numerous publications praised this title, I decided to give it a try. From the opening cinematic, I could tell this game was going to be something special.
Pretty much everything about this game is stellar. From the graphics to the game mechanics, Red Dead Redemption excells. It is a gorgeous game to behold. Huge vistas abound. Incredible detail everywhere. Dynamic lighting, particle effects, and object interaction are done so well. The images are crisp and clear (with occasional pop-in, but not a deal breaker). I just love standing around and marveling at this incredible world that is practically painted on the screen. Movement on foot or horseback seems natural and intuitive. Driving a stagecoach is a thrill. Aiming your weapon (with aim assist on or off) works well. Nothing seems overly wonky.
The characters are definitely what drive this game. Unlike some other open world, sandbox games (cough..GTA IV...cough), you actually care about these characters. I found myself constantly drawn into the conversations, eagerly awaiting the next tidbit of info. The array of characters is vast, more than any other game I've played. You're simply never going to get bored. Plus, you've got a lead character who is fighting the eternal fight (good vs evil) within himself. That is always intriguing.
Other reviewers have argued that the 360 version has a slight graphical advantage over the PS3 version. I haven't compared the two, but I'm very satisfied with the 360 version. Other reviewers have also complained about the glitchy multiplayer component, but I haven't encountered any issues with that either. My total gameplaying experience has been flawless.
Every once in a while, a game comes along that transcends the genre. I think this might be one of those games (and I don't say that lightly). Even if you're not a big fan of the wild West, there is enough to do in this game that you might forget the setting. | video-games_xbox |
Game Of The Year, All Years. For someone who was bored with console gaming in general this game has got me back on the couch for those red eyed, caffeine fueled nights. As you may have read elsewhere, Dark Souls is the spiritual successor to the critically acclaimed Demon's Souls for the PS3. Demon's Souls is known for it's brooding atmosphere, solid mechanics, and unforgiving difficulty. From Software has taken all that is good about Demon's Souls and amplified it, expanded it, and reinvented it to create a truly unforgettable gameplay experience. I won't go into a detailed review of the entire game as many popular gaming websites have done this and are easily found. I will however mention a few things that I have discovered on my own:
-Content: There is just so much damn content in this game. There are secrets, and then those secrets will have secrets. I have spent much of my playthrough without the use of a guide or help from the community, but those times when I have peeked for assistance I am astounded at how much there is to do and how many different ways it can be done. This brings me to my next point...
-Playstyles: Dark Souls has different classes but they are only relevant for maybe the first hour of the game. How you build your character is up to you. For instance, I decided to play a knight with heavy armor, a big shield, and an even bigger sword. But I was having some difficulty with a certain boss that was very mobile and hard for me to hit. So I decided to venture off into a different part of the world, level up my magic abilities a bit, and then attempt the boss again. After leveling up my fire spells I was able to defeat the boss fairly easily. I have since changed my style yet again and focus more on using a massive weapon with both hands, sacrificing defense for damage dealing abilities. This is such a breath of fresh air when compared to other games in the genre that cram you into pre-defined playstyles with no wiggle room.
DLC: There is none. This is proof that somewhere, someone is out there making games that aren't looking to squeeze every last dime that they can out of their customers through micro-transactions. Everything is already in the game and there is plenty of it to keep you busy for a very long time. For a game that is this good and this popular, the decision to exclude micro-transactions is not only a noble gesture but really restores a bit of my faith in the gaming industry as a whole.
Framerates: One big problem with Dark Souls is the framerate issue in the Blighttown area (for both PS3 and the 360). The area is already exceedingly difficult, but it is downright frustrating when coupled with very low framerates. Not a game breaker but it is annoying enough to deserve a mention.
Story: The story is paper-thin. Don't expect to be riveted by plot twists or dramatic story telling. There are a few surprises here and there but the reason Dark Souls is so good is that you have an amazingly fun time playing the game, not watching the cut scenes.
I suppose I could go on and on praising DS. The bottom line is that I haven't enjoyed a game this much in a very long time. I could spend 1000 words just praising the crafting system. Dark Souls is a masterpiece that I will be sinking many more hours into for months to come. | video-games_xbox |
Sci-fi fans, prepare to have a nerd-gasm. A quick disclaimer: I haven't finished the game, and I don't plan to reveal any game details, so don't worry about spoilers.
As a kid movies like Star Wars, created this intense fascination with the universe and what kinds of things could possibly be out there. As I got older Star Trek, Ender's game, Dune and other Sci-fi staples became my bread and butter, but as awesome as all that media is it lacked any true immersion so I just sat there wishing I could experience what it would be like to find an exotic alien planet, or fly through a solar system at near light speeds. The Mass Effect games have given me an ability to come that much closer to my nerdy dream, and this sequel manages to create even more immersion then the first.
Combat has been much improved over the first and the general level of polish and detail is (astoundingly, given how detailed the first one was) truly wonderful. I find myself constantly thinking, "holy crap! How did they get it looking this cool?!?" On a technical level this game really shines. My biggest problem with the first one was that the system just couldn't seem to keep up with the vision the develolpers had. Due to some sort of black magic or pact with the Devil Bioware has managed to make the sequel more detailed and vibrant yet run smoother (much much smoother) then the original.
The atmosphere is what really sucks me in for this series. Bioware is really good at weaving a tale that keeps me guessing and intrigued while throwing so many side characters with varying, and conflicted backstories that the whole thing really feels like an actual universe. The characters really give the illusion that they have lives that continue on and make choices that seem realistic. The choices you make in the game are not the standard binary choices of most games. It's not always just an, "I'm being a good character" or "I'm being an evil character" there are plenty of genuine shades of gray and I've had several times where I was emotionally conflicted over how to react to a situation and look forward to playing again and trying different things.
The game integrates well with the first one and is chock full of appearances from characters in the first game that have been influenced by the decisions that you made. I highly recommend playing the first game for the best experience.
My only complaint (and it's a bit of a tow sided sword) is that the vehicle exploration parts of the first game have been completely removed. Although the vehicle (Mako) of the first game had a lot of glitchy unfun aspects to it and was arguably the worst part of the game, it still was a lot of fun to cruise around the surface of a newly discovered planet and find it's secrets. Bioware listened to the complaints and decided to axe the whole thing for now (there is a planned down-loadable content that will add a 'hover tank' but details are sparse as of yet.)
Some people may not like some choices that Bioware has made regarding the way the game plays. The focus is more on polished action and adventure then it was in the first game (first game had a much more traditional RPG feel to it) I can understand the complaints and there are aspects of it that I miss a little but for the most part the game that has been delivered and the experience it brings are way too fantastic to bother complaining about it.
This game has, for me, reproduced that giddy child-like wonder for the cosmos and the intrigue of wondering, "if there is life out there, what would it be like to come in contact with it?" It also manages to borrow liberally from some of the coolest ideas in Sci-fi and still fell like an original creation. Kudos to Bioware on an amazing game, and I hope others find the same awe-struck amazement that I'm experiencing as I play it.
A side note, I'm really glad I got this through Amazon. Release date delivery, special armor and a 10 dollar credit towards future game purchases are a pretty awesome incentive to go the online route instead of heading to a brick and mortar shop. | video-games_xbox |
Not quite the equal of Virtua Tennis. As a major fan of Sega's Virtua Tennis and Tennis 2K2 on the Dreamcast (the latter also appearing on the PS2 as Sega Sports Tennis), I could not wait to get my hands on Power And Magic Development's newest virtual tennis game, Top Spin Tennis. A relatively unheralded console developer, PAM has done a fantastic job taking Sega's amazing formula and attempting to refine it - in fact there are aspects of Top Spin that are improvements - but despite the online capabilities of Top Spin, the gameplay itself doesn't quite match the fine-tuned perfection of Sega's efforts.
Top Spin was designed from the start to be more of a simulation than the arcade-based Virtua Tennis, and as such has more complex gameplay. Each face button on the Xbox's controller is used for a different kind of shot: A is a "safe" shot, X is a slice, B is an angled top spin shot, and Y is a lob. These shots can also be used to mix up your serves. In addition, each trigger performs a "risk" shot, which can be quite a potent weapon when mastered. The R trigger is used for power smashes, and the L trigger is used for drop shots. As a result, the game doesn't quite have the same instant pick-up-and-play accessibility of Virtua Tennis, but once some time is spent behind the controller, the shots become second nature. Top Spin also features an In The Zone meter, which is basically a power meter meant to simulate adrenaline. Play well, and the meter rises, and once full, risk shots come easier and the player performs at his/her peak. To help with this, you can have your player react in between points, celebrating a great effort or complaining at a missed opportunity.
Top Spin features several modes, including a tutorial, Exhibition for up to four players, and a mode that lets you create a Custom Tournament. Most of your single-player hours will be spent in Career Mode, in which you build your own player using a pretty robust creation system and send him or her out on tour in a quest to become number one in the world. Your player travels from continent to continent, competing in various tournaments, earning sponsorships, and visiting coaches to learn skills. This aspect of Top Spin is closer to an RPG than Virtua Tennis, as you must choose distinct strengths for your character instead of becoming a superhuman performer. It is important in Top Spin to choose skills that will cover up your weaknesses (as you cannot max out all abilities), but it is also possible to become a specialized power baseliner or a quick serve & volleyer. You earn money for match wins, which you can use to purchase more gear and to pay coaches to train you, and victories also assure a rise in rank, but should you lose a match or two, your rank will drop. The Career Mode is a very nice idea, but it doesn't have the imaginative challenges of Virtua Tennis (where you'd serve to knock over bowling pins, etc. etc.) and you can enter any tournament at any time, rather than having to wait a simulated year before retrying. When you add that Top Spin's AI can be easily exploited, the battle to become and stay number one can drag.
Visually, the game is terrific, especially the detail of the courts. Fully polygonal crowds cheer, real-life ads are everywhere in the larger arenas, and cities rise in the background. There are even playground courts ranging from in the middle of the desert to indoor arenas with snow falling outside or joggers out for some morning exercise. Player animation is very well-done, and the licensed players look strikingly lifelike, even down to signature animations (Lleyton Hewitt's serve looks just like it does on TV). However, there are no night courts, the ball boys don't chase the ball, and ambient shadows don't change during play as in Sega's games.
Top Spin's sound package isn't quite as remarkable. Matches can get very quiet with no music or crowd noise - only the grunts of the players and the smack of the rackets. It's supposed to simulate real matches, but the option to include music would have been welcome. In addition, crowd noise will suddenly appear as a roar out of nowhere, which can be jarring.
The gameplay itself is good, but doesn't quite measure up to Virtua Tennis or Tennis 2K2. New players will have trouble making risk shots, and as a result, points can be unnaturally long, especially in doubles. Sega's games did a great job allowing many types of shots with just the control stick and a single button, but it's not so easy to pull off a drop shot in Top Spin. Players will often lunge when you don't want them to, and then won't lunge when you DO want them to. Top Spin also is a lot more sensitive when it comes to player position in relation to the ball - in order to hit with power, you've got to be in exactly the right position, even after being fully trained. You'd think that a pro player could adjust, but Top Spin is a little too precise. Also, once players get the timing of the risk shots down, matches end up going far too quickly and lose a lot of the sim nature.
Still, even with these slight problems, Top Spin is quite an achievement. It looks great, plays well online or off, and has a deep Career Mode. With a couple of changes, Power And Magic could very well upset Sega's Tennis 2K2 as king of the virtual court. | video-games_xbox |
Been playing since NHL05, DO NOT BUY THIS GAME, its the worst Ive ever played, and EA is just as horrible as always. Let me start of by saying that I have been playing NHL games since 05, always been a sort of fan boy, even through the disaster that was NHL 15. But now EA have made something so horribly awful to play that I am no longer a fan, first of all they have the audacity to claim that they listened to their customers for this game, that is FALSE, every single player who has played the game since '12 has only been asking for ONE SINGULAR THING, to get rid of the flippin ice tilt. So what does EA do? oh they release the MOST (not maybe most, not probably most, Ive played fifa 15 and it looks like a fair game compared to this) scripted, ice tilt-y pile of garbage that I have ever played, and I tried, I really tried to play the good parts of the game and try to ignore the HUGE GLARING ISSUES that people are complaining about constantly and enjoy the game, but it's not possible it's just so completely scripted. Let me throw out an example for you, the best chance you have to win in NHL is to be loosing by 2 goals, you think im joking around? I am absolutely not joking around if you are down by 2 goals, in the 3rd period you can score from anywhere, any kind of shot, with any player, against any team and defense, it doesn't matter, I can't tell you how many times I have been outshooting someone by 15-20 shots and be up by 3 goals, and then the 3rd period starts and they scored 3 backhanders from the blueline right through luongo (87 ovr) and thats not the worst part, the worst part is how much it boosts the other teams goalie when your winning, the game just doesnt let you score when your winning and its pulling for the other team, even if its a bronze goalie and you have a legend, you can have him sliding the wrong way with a wide open net and he will either make a physically impossible save or your player will miss by 10 feet every shot (even if its a legend Luc Robitalle with a captaincy card on him) even if they are 3 feet away from the net. And then on top of this stinky pile of garbage you have EA who, like always, is doing nothing to fix their games (but oh huge surprise they update the HUT packs every single day with more and more expensive packs).
Long story short, this game is unplayable because of the ice tilt, EA will never fix this, and if you buy this game your just encouraging those money grubbing idiots at EA to keep farting out terrible games.
my advice would be, save your money for fallout 4, a game that actually has been crafted by people who are interested in making a good game and not just huge piles of money like EA. | video-games_xbox |
Jade Empire. Jade Empire is one of the best games to come out this year, and it did just about everything right. I have very few gripes and so on a scale of 1-10 I would give it more of a 9.5. I rate on a couple of categories when deciding the rating of a game, so it's easy to follow the review. So read on if you want my full opinion.
Video:
Firstly, the graphics. The graphics throughout the entire game are very pretty and pleasing to the eye, the Jade Empire is a fun world to look at and the character models are beautiful and not duplicated often. The lighting in the game is more than adequate for a game like this, there are shadows for about every object in the game. The only bad thing I can say is that sometimes when talking the character animations can get a little jerky or awkward sometimes (You might have to wait for a character to turn around or something as such, which is woefully slow sometimes). However, the combat animations look smooth as silk and move exactly how you want them to.
Audio:
The audio in Jade Empire is very impressive as well. The music completely immerses you within the world of the Empire, and it definitely breathes a large component of the combat in Jade Empire, you just feel like whistling some of the tunes that you get when you're ripping out the ribs of an ogre. The sound effects in the game are also done well, the kicks and punches and flips and rolls sound real when you're dancing around an enemy you're right about to bop a good one in the face. And, as in all BioWare games, the voice overs are sublime, and sometimes you could swear you're talking to another person. The only real gripe I have in audio (and it's an extremely small gripe that is mostly just an idea for the developers) is that, you, the main character, doesn't have a voice, you can talk, but I think it would be nice if you would play what you said in a voice.
Gameplay:
Here's a big one, the gameplay. The gameplay in Jade Empire is excellent, the combat system is fluent and it feels smooth. This is one of the bad things, sometimes it gets so smooth that you don't really get the feeling that you hit the guy, like you did damage to him but your foot passed over his face, not hit it. Other than that the gameplay is very amazing. The game has many different styles and methods that allow you to deal with your enemies and the game gives you some time to explore this system, alas, you don't feel like it gives you enough. Also, a somewhat big part of the game is running around and talking to people, I have no problem with it, but some players may be turned off by this dynamic. But overall, the gameplay is satisfying and fun.
Story:
The story is well written and done, telling the story of you starting off at a school, figuring out that you are the last of your people, so on and so on. The story is good, but sometimes I felt like it was just re-hashing KOTOR's story. For instance: A guy named Gao the Greater reminded me of Davik, this guy may have been on purpose but Hapless Han reminded me of Deadeye Duncan, Dawn Star reminded me of a cross between Carth and Bastila, Inquisitor Lim reminded me somewhat of Calo Nord (mostly becuase you fight him and Gao at the same time), and Silk Fox reminded me of Canderous (because she's a jerk). But that's not saying that the story doesn't feel like it isn't its own. The only other bad thing I can say about the story is that there aren't any GOOD plot twists that you wouldn't be able to predict from the very beginning [if everyone disagrees with me then I can just proclaim myself smart :)].
Overall:
Jade Empire is a must buy for any X-Box owner. It has a great (though somewhat same-feeling) story. Great gameplay, graphics, and audio make this a game to love.
1-10 Rating: 9.5 | video-games_xbox |
Best Headset I've Bought. Simply put, this headset is amazing. The massive discount knocking the price from $160 to $90 made the deal even better. The headset is very comfortable to wear, even after long periods of time. The sound quality is excellent, both for in-game audio as well as for music when connected to a mobile device via the included mobile cable (another great feature). The wiring of the headset itself is also very high quality, with the wire connecting the headset to the controller being similar to a stiff, durable shoelace. (That might not sound like what high quality wiring should be like, but I find it hard to describe. In other words, it's not the standard rubber-coated wiring you get on almost all other headsets, earbuds or chargers.) The mic is adjustable and can be pivoted up and down, as well as closer to or farther from your mouth. There is a short length of wire extending from the left side of the headset that ends in an adapter, which can be connected to the controller cord or the mobile device cord, both of which are included. The sound control adapter (or whatever its official name is) that connects to the controller itself has a variety of functions, which include selectable sound modes for the audio as well as the mic. It also includes a switch for master volume, as well as a mixer that can differentiate between game and chat volume. The Superhuman Hearing mode is extremely helpful in certain situations. I wouldn't advise keeping it on all the time, because it's meant to emphasize smaller sounds, while making the normal game audio and party voices seem distant and a little less clear. It amplifies small sounds like footsteps, reloads and ambient character speech; it even helps determine where the sounds are coming from as opposed to the normal surround-sound effect that seems to come from all directions. This makes it extremely helpful during intense moments, especially in more competitive games such as Rainbow Six Siege, in which you have one life per round and knowledge of enemy locations is critical. The only negative thing I have to say about this headset (but of course it's not worth removing even half a star if I could) is that the jack that connects the removable mic to the headset is a 2.5mm jack, as opposed to the 3.5mm jack connecting the headset to the controller itself. The mic from my Turtle Beach 40X headset was 3.5mm, same as the actual connection jack. The only problem with this is that I would sometimes connect an aux cord from my phone into the mic jack for the headset, which I would then use to add music to game clips and montages before I uploaded them to my YouTube channel. There probably aren't many other people who do this, but if you're cheap like me and don't want to buy some editing software, you might kinda miss that feature. Long story short, this headset: 9.9/10 Excellent job by Turtle Beach. If you're looking for a headset, buy this one now while it's still on sale. | video-games_xbox |
I did the update and it works fine for me. I got this through the Amazon Warehouse. The packaging, wires, and the device itself are in good condition. As soon as I got the headset I plugged ii into my pc, went to the turtle beach website, typed in my model number, and on the page it tells you to download an app to your pc.
I've read a lot of folks complaining that after the update it still sounds bad but I didn't have that problem. When I got the headset it was the day that the Xbox One did an update so maybe that fixed the audio?
It sounds fine to me. Maybe some of the reviewers from January and earlier need to check for recent updates? I plugged turtle beach receiver into the optical port of the Xbox. Unfortunately, I had to change my settings from DTS to Dolby Digital. I don't really get this since it states DTS on the box...? I have to keep it that way unless I go into settings every time I'm going to use the headset and switch it back and forth to DTS.
I played Dying Light, Diablo III, and FarCry 4. I could tell when something was left, right, and behind me. The sound cuts out from time to time. Maybe once every 90 minutes but it would only black out for 1 second.
You need to get accustomed to the presets, I originally thought all of the presets (Action, Sports, Music etc...) would be installed on the headset. It's actually on the app you download on your pc. You get to choose only 16 presets to install in the headset. You choose which one you want on your pc with your mic plugged in. So if you want Action, Louder Footsteps, Action, and less treble, you have to select them and install them. It's very easy to do but you won't remember is preset 2 the Action or was that Music? I ended up take a photo of my presets on my phone to refer to.
It's clear, simple, and easy to use. I played Dying Light for hours and the battery never failed. I've watched Netflix with them and it sounds good to me.
I only took away 1 star cause the ear cushions began to hurt after 90 minutes and I kept having to adjust them. I've read some gamers were able to swap them for leather cushions but I haven't found which will fit my ear cups. I'm not a fan of Dolby Digital and want my DTS back.
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Updated 12-29-15
I still have the headset and they still work. There are a few things I wish were different. The "beeping" noises to indicate you changed the equalizers is still crazy to me. I had to memorize which beeps refers to which settings. Example: Movie Mode is 2 beeps, Bioshock Mode is 1 beep, Music is 3 beeps. That's just a little odd to me and to this day I haven't memorized which is which.
Also, I had to order these soft fake leather ear cushions cause of the ear fatigue I was getting after 2 hours. If you go to there site and just type in ear cushions you'll see them and they are $2 each and they make a difference.
Thank goodness they haven't snapped or anything bad. The sound is still great. I speak at normal level and everyone in the party hears me. A really good product.
BTW keep checking for updates. Especially when Microsoft makes changes. We got the new dashboard a month ago and my headset wouldn't pick up game sounds. Plugged it in to my pc, did a quick update, and plugged it back to X1. Worked again! | video-games_xbox |
Major Shift in Dead Rising Franchise. Being a huge fan of DR1 and DR2 I am extremely conflicted about how I feel about this game. I liked DR3, but it felt different, and I want to talk about it here. First I will talk about what the game does well, and after I will talk about some qualms I have with the game.
First, the open world is a great move. Instead of a loading screen heavy game, especially bad when your survivor was too far away to come along, the game uses long roads to avoid long loading times. This can be seen as good or bad, as now you 'hoof it' during the loading screen, but it doesn't disrupt play.
Next, I love the upgrade system. Instead of earning abilities and perks Call of Duty style you get you pick your personal playstyle. If you want to specialize in blades, go for it, if you want to be a karate master, be patient danielson.
The psychos are good as ever, and very balanced. I can't think of a single encounter that is as frustrating as Cletus was in DR1 (psycho in gunshop). One thing I will say is I did not lose to a single boss in this game, no game over. Maybe that's just because I am familiar with these games, but they feel a bit watered down and more of an adventure now.
The map is wonderful. It gives you ideas and hints where blueprints and collectables are throughout the game, but it's your job to actually find them. It's very satisfying!
Time for the bad. Sorry!
Combo weapons/vehicles make the game like minecraft with cheats. You no longer have to remember where to find the baseball bat and nails, once you make it once, you can make it for free (many times) at your hideout. Same thing with the vehicles. It's fun, but certainly makes the gameplay very easy.
The plot is weak. In DR1 you're a reporter and are doing reporter things, cracking the case and taking erotic pictures! GORE GORE GORE! In DR2 you're a man trying to save your daughter while figuring out this Zombrex stuff. This game? You're a mechanic just doing whatever you want. Perhaps it was the open world mechanics that made it difficult to try and have an enticing plot, maybe Capcom just got lazy. I don't know, but I never felt like I needed to keep going to find out 'what happens next'.
Nothing wants makes me want to replay it. I played DR1 3-4 times (Saint, Zombie Genocider, Best Ending, etc.) and DR2 2-3 times and the game actually got better each time through. I knew more than I did the original time, and used that knowledge to play the game a different way. In DR3 it doesn't matter, there is no real meta strategy. You can do whatever you want, in whatever order, and still get the best ending, which leads me to...
There are no "tough choices". I didn't once have to go back to an old save in this game. No situations where I had to pick between saving a survivor or going to fight a psycho. I liked this element, it kept me on my toes, made me think of my meta play, and I missed it in this game. | video-games_xbox |
BAD. This thing is horrible. Straight from the underworld itself crafted by the hands of Hades.
Accuracy to the myth = bad
Graphics = bad
Gameplay = adequate
Concept = good
Storyline = bad
You've now read the heart of my review if you want to know more details keep reading.
Accuracy to the myth, it's supposed to be about Roman mythology, opening Pandora's box. But instead we get werewolves, fairies, and Japanese plant monsters attacking us. I think I got halfway through the game and still never made it to Rome.
Graphics, the individual graphics are pretty good. The hair on the werewolf, the pollen floating through the air, but this game could really use some motion capture. The human slide across the floor like stick figures. You have to decapitate the werewolf to kill it permanently, but many times the werewolf head would get stuck inside the wall making him immortal. Invisible walls are when the game designer blocks the edge of the level but forgets to put texture into the wall, so you're walking into nothingness trying to figure out why you can't move. This game loves invisible walls.
Gameplay is adequate, you've seen and done all of this before. Except for the time the giant sea monster slammed his eyeball into me as an attack. That was a new experience for me but just made me laugh.
Concept is a really great idea you open Pandora's box and fight monsters with guns. This is the only good part about the game.
Storyline is a train wreck. The poorly made cut scenes explain that your hand is the only thing that can put the monsters back inside the box and close the box, so the general in his infinite wisdom send you off on a solo mission to fight monsters hoping that you an untrained civilian don't die. The other half of the story is told in cell phone text messages that you have to reach her self. No one likes reading a book on there playing a video game.
In conclusion this game is horrible! | video-games_xbox |
Connected Franchise Mode player's review. Its a new and much improved version of Madden 16. Like all new major games with hard release dates, its currently scattered with bugs here and there (freezes when saving franchise currently). That said EA will eventually fix all the bugs like they do every year. I won't mark them down unlike others because I feel like this game has that much promise! I believe its potentially be the greatest madden yet and I been playing since 2004.
All the same features as last years version with new running back controls, defense gap assignments, special team blocks (yet to see this), and game planning. The biggest issue I had with Madden 16 what that their CFM regressive system was broken. Despite Patrick Peterson having an 11 interception season, he regressed to be worse than he was originally the next season along with other young/stud players. Therefore the biggest addition in CFM mode was that they finally gave users the freedom to FULLY edit players (ratings, positions (every position available), development/traits). I can move a 4-3 DE to 3-4 OLB, a DT to DE, WR to TE, OG to OT, a QB to K. I can make Larry Fitz and Tom Brady find the fountain of youth and change their age to 20 years old. I can change Brady to a punter. You now have FULL control, therefore if the regression system is broken again or I dislike the current roster, I can fix it. That is huge. Thank you for letting me be a grown up EA.
Fantasy draft system seems much improved as the computer will select young/high development players more than a guy with a year or two left in the tank. I do find it unrealistic for teams to draft Jalen Ramsey within the 2nd round of the fantasy draft over a massive set of proven commodities, while Carson Wentz was still around in the 7th round despite Jay Cutler taken ahead of him. Still no love for interior lineman. 2nd/3rd tier WRs and CBS taken over top guards and centers. Maybe a little more tweaking. Draft selection still has the annoying issue of not displaying all the stats on a player, however its improved in that it shows an expanded selection of key stats (including development!). The only knock is that I can't see a player's durability/injury rating. I knew Davante Parker has durability issues, but I certainly wouldn't of taken him in the 9th round if I could of seen just how low it was.
Gameplay-A very sweet skip option that can be used for intro, player bios, replays, halftime, and timeouts. Finally a noticeable different in strong offense lines with the running game and weak ones. Running backs have much more options in breaking tackles and I can finally run the ball consistently with a good Oline and RB. Defensively the gap assignment change seems live up to the hype, defenders stay in their gaps! The trauma of multiple 20+ yard runs is not over however as since the RBs have new ways of breaking tackles, making my AI defensive backs not seem to make a tackle anymore. Zero improvement with block kicks. Formation subs is finally back, giving more customizations I need on game day. Interceptions for me defensively have cut down. Have a backfield of Haden, Randall, Berry, and Pryor. After 1 season, a combined 6 picks from those 4. In Madden 16, I had at least over 20 so I'm not sure of what adjustment they made, but a clear difference...
Though I never used supersim that much, its improved heavily. You can go to critical gameplays (sort of like a red zone channel) and adjust the speeds of the sim. Commentators are new and refreshing. New ticker tape on bottom.
Practice squad is a neat addition because you can keep weak bubble players (though they can be stolen), they will gain XP from team practices.
Team practices for XP gain have changed as well for the better. You can select practice types and certain players are given XP based off your performance. The performance in practice will give a weekly boost game day as well for whatever scheme you practiced. Like to run the ball? Do the zone run practice. Your OL and RB will be given XP and the game day boost for the type of run plays. Don't want to do this weekly? Do it once, get a gold medal, and sim that practice again and again. Getting a gold medal in the practice is worth it because you'll get about 2-3X the XP for your player. In addition you can select 3 players on your roster to be given an additional XP boost. Confidence influence is no longer available in practices. Its all game day performance. Don't like the amount of XP you're given as well? Then go to the settings and change the XP sliders. Its very well done this year.
Head coach development has changed as well. Your head coach is still given XP from game day performances and wins. However they changed the amount of points needed to upgrade, in addition you are given a nice boost after your first win. Within 1 season, my new head coach was able to land the scout, trade, and 2 position XP boosts, whereas the 2016 version would of at least taken 2 seasons to get all those.
Contract negotiations has changed in that certain players will only be available to sign after a certain week of the year. In addition, they no longer accept cheesy deals, even backups, so the salary cap will be harder to control. Drafting will be much more key.
Scouting system has changed solely in that the first scouting trait you review costs the most points now instead of the last (realistic in my view). Therefore its much more costly to scout a full position. Choose wisely.
I will return with a draft review, though IGN stated that the computer now makes realistic trades (desperate teams moving up for QBs) and gives immediate feedback of ratings with your picks.
All and all, this is the best madden ever for a guy who loves their connected franchise mode. Every year I ponder buying the game immediately because I fear that the changes will make the game worse than previous versions. This year I was gifted it and wow! I am thrilled about this one. I encourage every CFM lover to hop on. There is much more control and much more positive changes than negative. If you can't handle the bugs, just give it about a month and their team will adjust.
Great job EA, please don't mess up next year's version. Keep building this! | video-games_xbox |
Review from a person who does NOT have xbox live. An unbiased look at MW3. The last COD game I Bought was CoD 4. I bought it for the single player, and yes I loved it. It was fast frentic and fun. I didn't have Xbox live, nor do I have it now. MW2 came out, yet again I buy it for the Campaign and the newly added spec ops mode. I had a great time with both modes, they were challenging on harder levels and provided hours of great entertainment by myself playing for a solo experience. I know its fun for people to hate on these games, but I have no reason to because I have never played the multiplayer, so I am not going to bash this game for something that everyone else does it for.
I was going to pass on MW3 until i saw the added spec ops survival mode that I could play offline Solo. This was very pleasing to me, especially in an age where everything seems to be online oriented. I, like many other gamers, enjoy a fun experience and a break from reality when I play games. If a game can deliver said experience, then I will come away from it satisfied. Sure over time games come and go, some get traded in and some I keep forever because they are special to me.
For what it is to me, MW3 is a fun arcadey twitch shooter with an intense campaign and some great replay value to be had challenging myself in the spec ops game modes. That alone is worth the money and time from me. I know most of you reading this have already made up your minds about this game before playing it, but thats perfectly fine. You are entitled to your opinion and so am I. If you are one of the rare few who buy this game for the campaign and some offline spec ops fun, then I am sure you will have some great fun like I have been doing.
At the end of the day, its not graphics or even a solid story that keeps me playing games, its the pure fun I have with them. Some games acheive this and some games don't always do it for me. Whatever you decide, just remember that we are all gamers to some degree and we will keep gaming for life. | video-games_xbox |
Awesome controller. This controller is perfect for gaming on the 360 or on pc. Wouldnt be surprised at all if someone gave me this controller and told me it was the genuine microsoft controller.
I compared this controller side to side with my genuine microsoft controller and there are only some slight differences. The main difference about this controller and the genuine microsoft controller is that this controller doesnt have the X symbol on the middle button, other than that, it looks exactly the same and works exactly the same. The hard case feels very similar to the genuine and the size and the weight of the controller are exactly the same. Also, the RB and LB make a clicking noise when pressed. However, the thumb sticks have the four dots which really help in aiming using the thumb sticks and are overall, very fluid.
I have mainly been using this as a new xbox 360 controller because my other controllers were getting really old. This controller works great and the buttons are all responsive. I actually prefer a wired controller because you don't have to constantly keep changing/charging the batteries and the wire has a good length, I believe its the same length as the genuine microsoft controller and the length is fine for me, but you can buy an extender if necessary. The length is definitely fine for pc gaming. I also installed the controller on my windows 8 laptop and the firmware was automatically installed very quickly (less than 20 seconds to install). Works great when you want to play racing games or are used to using xbox controllers for pc games
Overall, the controller definitely feels high-quality, not a cheap knockoff of the genuine microsoft controller. Great when you need a controller for either pc or xbox 360, but don't want to break the bank. The controller works great and seems like its going to last a while.
* I received this product in exchange for an honest, unbiased review. | video-games_xbox |
Fun, Fun, Fun. The story is about a world that on the brink of extinction as demons (humanoid creatures who kill humans with military ammunitions and sadistatically wear their skins after each murder) run amuck. Suddenly a tall, gothic, and beautifull woman appears out of nowhere with a broomstick as a machine gun. She doens't know why she there or why she exist at all. Just that she has another demon entity inside her head and giving her gifts to fight the evil forces at work. As you control the witch through different stages you try to discover why the world is furthering itself to Apocalyptic chaos, why she exist, and who started it all in the first place?
Good: This game was very fun to play. I was alittle nervous at first but I did make it past the first level at is. I like this game because it is a shoot'em up game where face against countless of demons blasting them with your broomstick machine gun. Not to mention the more kills you get after finishing the game the more points you get to either power up or to buy some better weapons. My favorite is the magic you receive like flying crows, crucifying rose pedals, a magic wall to block you from gun fire, and of course telekinesis. But most of all is the demon voice that grants you powerful abilities like lightening strike, tornadoe, and my favorite meteor shower. Its really awesome game play and I would refer it to anyone.
Bad: Even though the game is fun to play there are some things you can't get away with. I thought starting over playing the levels over and over would strengthen my chances of powering up which it did. But once you pass a level it doesn't matter if you saved it or not. The levels are not saved. So if you decide to start over to get extra points I suggest play level 1 and 2 and start over. It would be easier that way to build up experience points. Another thing are the abilities. If you happen to gather all the abilities and beat the game. Once you start a new game you start over from scratch. You can keep all the upgraded weapons but your powers won't resurface until you pass through the levels again!. So unless you just want to keep shooting up things than be my guess. One more thing. There only 5 levels but they are pretty long. So you won't have to worry about being disappointed.
Boss Battle End: I thought about leaving the whole thing up to you but if you are stuck trying to beat the boss at the end, the other reviews or (if your looking it up on other cheats sites) are not good information worth following. The Demon Boss is really tough and its a long ass fight. The good news is that there are some rebel fighters that keep popping up out of nowhere to assist you. This will distract the titan while you try to destroy it. First of all it will shoot some evil spirits at you. This is a good and bad thing. Good but it will shoot it out from afar. If you bought the chaingun already use that to spray the buggers to strengthen your MP. Its bad because this things run up to you and try to swallow you one by one depleating your health as fast as you can say damn. So shoot as many as you can and dodge like hell. Not to mention he will shoot some very powerful fireballs at you so dip and dodge or hide somewhere behind some large and strong debris so you don't get hit. In the reviews they tell you to use your meteor strike to kill the monster. That is not the case. Summon lightening strike. It won't kill him but it will weaken him. The demon voice will tell certain weaknesses to attack with your machine gun but it is best to get close enough (Not too close!) to summon a lightening attack to destroy those weaknesses. When the demon tells you to destroy the snakes on his left arm. Once again use the lightening attack to blow up each head (Shoot down the evil spirits to regain your MP). After his left arm of snakes have been obliterated, The Demon King will start to walk very slowly back and forth like its out of breath, plus it keeps summoning more evil spirits as its last line of offense. Once you see the signs then that is when the fireworks start. Once you feel up your MP, summon the meteor strike and watch as the giant stars obliterate it infront of you. Its really cool. | video-games_xbox |
I wasn't quite prepared for Sims 3 Pets. I was so looking forward to getting this game because I prefer playing Sims 3 on my XBOX 360. My daughter plays Sims 3 on her PC and has every Sims 3 add-on/expansion pack available. Naturally when this game came around for the XBOX I thought "cool, I can add it to my already established Sims households I have saved on my XBOX". Unfortunately, when I popped the game in, I realized I couldn't "add-on" to my Sims 3 game but had to start an entirely new family etc. It is its own entire game and does not correlate whatsoever to the regular Sims 3 XBOX game. I hate to put this misunderstanding onto EA but I never once heard anyone mention it wasn't a game add-on/expansion exactly like the PC version. I might not have bought it if I knew that. I find some serious issues with the game play itself as well. The characters movements are very choppy and sometimes one of my household members completely slides across the room like a statue on wheels and then gets stuck while the game tries to decide if it's going to lock up for good or not. This strange movement might be good for a laugh initially, but after doing it time and time again when I hit the "fast forward" button, it becomes irksome. It seems compared to the regular Sims 3 game the colors are bleached out during game-play and no matter how I adjust my TV or the brightness sliders inside the game I cannot get it to look right. There are some good points to the game that have helped it keep its 3 star rating from me though. The controls are very close to those of the regular Sims 3 game so it will come naturally to those of you who have the original. There a few new karma powers and new challenges involving the pets which helps keep the game fresh and interesting as well. The pets are very much like having another family member in the game and their independence makes its easier to get your skills up in the beginning without having to worry about constantly caring for them. With that said, I feel like it was a waste of money to either have this game or have the original Sims 3 since I cannot play one while playing the other and they're really the same game. When I'm playing the Sims 3 pets I look longingly at the Sims 3 box and feel like a bad parent whose abandoned their child. I created all those people, helped them grow and become strong and healthy, and now I'm leaving them to rot in the corner for a less superior game. Hmmmmmm, not sure what the right path is. Looks like the only solution is to buy another XBOX 360, place it next to the one I have now and try to play both games at once. Or maybe it would've been easier to not have spent the money on this game or on the original. This game is a cruel reminder that you can't always have your cake and eat it too. | video-games_xbox |
Very close, but not perfect. I have been using these for about a week. I originally just needed a mic since my son broke mine. I purchased the Gears of War throat mic, and that thing is a pile, not even sure how it made it to market with the below sub-par sound quality. So I retuned it and after mulling over the options I decided on these. They are a bit pricey, but I paid $200 for the Tuetlr Beach x41 and those were worth the purchase a couple years ago. My main complaints with the x41s is that they don't go loud enough for movies, and they do burn through batteries, and you get the occasional interference noises from the wireless. That is the main reason I went with these. They are corded so you don't need batteries, and they go louder than I need them too.
The only faults I see with them are these, and they are more of a personal issue than anything else. First is it is corded, cordless is really nice for obvoise reasons. The main cord on these is quite beefy, so it is a bit heavy to be hanging down in you lap. Also the mic/mute control is also beefy. And you also have a small cord plugged into the controller which can be removed if you are not gaming. The controller on the cord is nice as it has a mute, and separate game and chat volume so you can dial them both in. But once I am playing and I am zoned in I don't notice the cords at all, and it is a welcome trad off to not have to use batteries.
The sound on these is really good also, they are a bit bass heavy which is nice when gaming, especially in Gears. I had the the x41s were a little light in the bass. Would be better if it had a dial to adjust to your liking. Hearing "Boom" from the Boomer really sets the tone and grabs you in. I can't say if the 7.1 is better than 5.1, but the surround is better on these than on my x41s. You
can really track the movement of characters in the game. Watching some movies the bass is a bit much, but I would prefer to
much than to little. It is not over whelming, but it is noticeable.
I have put many hours on these this week and only had two times when there was sound issues. One match I had terrible echoes and heard everything I said repeated, which does happen with every other mike I have used. And in one game the bass got extremely overpowered and was distorting like crazy. Was fine in the game till that level, and was fine the next time I turned them on, so I assume it was a fluke.
Comfort on these is pretty good, but after a couple of hours they do start to get uncomfortable. The cups could have been a little wider in my opinion. Not so noticeable when gaming, but movies watching when you are not so focused I did notice it more.
I would totally give them a try, they are the best all around set in my opinion. If they were wireless I would give them a 5 no problem | video-games_xbox |
3 steps backwards in the NFS series. I'll start by saying that I've been a long time fan, since 2002 with Need for Speed Hot Pursuit 2 on 2002, and have owned all but one or two of the series. All of the games in the series have been awesome, but this game... was just awful.
The biggest issue is the cops. I can't take any time to enjoy the graphics, the open world, the amount of detail, playing around with a car drifting and going as fast as I can because of the cops in the game. They are relentless and overzealous. I was parked on a side road for 30 seconds to answer a text and I hear "suspect is disobeying all road signs, all units engage." Suddenly I'm scrambling to find a hideout, which you have to use kinect or easy drive to do because the start screen is also worthless. Really? 30 seconds on a side road...
The start screen so now just an overlay on your gameplay, using the same controls at the same time. Are you in the middle of the map and need to go towards the right side of the screen? Are you doing it while driving? Well, prepare to run yourself into the guard rail. Using the joysticks in the menu will move your cursor and steer the car. RT and LT change what you view in the map, and make your car go or stop/reverse. This was a poor idea.
Quitting an event doesn't lose the cops. Crashing is pretty unforgiving, which I'm not upset about. But if I'm having a bad race and crash a few times, I can't just reset it and try it again. If you quit when you have the cops on you, you'll still have the cops, but just not be in the race anymore. If I don't feel like finding a hideout, I let myself get busted, which is just a waste of time.
The good news is you can get into your hideout no matter how high your wanted level is, if you can make it there. You have to be pretty much stopped to enter the hideout. If you don't make it in time, you lose ALL of your points. I can't recall how disheartening it was losing 20-30k points per event. I was reduced to working on one or two things from my speed list, then going back to the hideout before they sent every in game cop they have. GTA cops aren't even this bad.
I will give EA that this game is gorgeous, and the open world is massive. But the car selection is very small, maybe 15-20 cars tops (I'm sure you'll be able to buy more with DLC, but it's nothing like the selection of past games).
This is probably the last game of the NFS series I'll get. I'm sorry EA, I tried. I contacted Microsoft for a refund, and luckily they understood my frustration, and it seems I wasn't the only one that thought this way.
*UPDATE*
Microsoft did NOT refund my game because the policy is that they don't refund digital games. | video-games_xbox |
They should have released this as "Final Fantasy: Road Trip. There's too much fan service in this game to not at least partially acknowledge Final Fantasy. But calling it an entry to the named series is almost insulting.
Here's the thing. I am not a heavy gamer. In fact I actually quit console gaming in about 2013 because I saw RPGs were going the wrong way. Games like The Witcher are not true RPGs, they're basically replicas of the same thing we had with the Elder Scrolls series. That's NOT what I want.
I want "boy finds legendary weapon and saves the world" stories. Doesn't matter if they're turn-based, although I prefer turn-based in some cases, there are some action RPGs I enjoyed - I played every Kingdom Hearts except one and Star Ocean was always a favorite (until the 5th entry) - but I want the epic story. I want stories that are likely never going to happen in the real world.
The moment I saw this game's trailer, I knew I would own it. I don't regret that decision. But there are a few questionable design decisions.
I own PS4 and One S. I bought it for the One S for a single reason: the controller battery life. I can easily game for over 20 hours with the Xbox One's controller. PS4? Dead in 6. That wasn't acceptable. Also, I don't like the gimmicky touch pad on the PS4 controller and was afraid Square Enix would try to use it, to disastrous effect. Control felt more comfortable on One S controller, as well.
Much has been made of the graphics; I'm telling you now, as an owner of <a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/LG-Electronics-43UH6100-43-Inch-4K-Ultra-HD-Smart-LED-TV-2016-Model/dp/B01CF07L54/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">LG Electronics 43UH6100 43-Inch 4K Ultra HD Smart LED TV (2016 Model)</a>, there's absolutely little wrong with the graphics on a properly calibrated TV. They're crisp where it matters, beautiful to a fault especially when it rains in the game. Are they flawless? No, but from 20 feet away you really can't tell a difference except that the PS4 version is slightly sharper and the black levels a bit deeper.
To the game. It definitely feels like Grand Theft Auto meets Final Fantasy, except that GTA doesn't force you to gas up the car and Final Fantasy XV doesn't have hookers. But same basic idea with quests, same basic idea with going from place to place, even the map feels a little bit like Liberty City/Los Santos/San Andreas. This isn't a bad thing, but by no means does it ever scream "Final Fantasy" at all except at points you're interacting with chocobos or summons or magic - or if the right song plays on the car music player.
The Deluxe Edition comes with the Kingsglave movie, which happens in parallel with the first few hours of the game. Watching this is not mandatory, but it's highly recommended, if for no other reason than to learn about the backstory. Some of it is replayed in the game, but there's no audio or spoken text, only flashbacks, which may not give the full sense. You also get three downloadable items, one of which (Masamune) was easily outclassed by a weapon that can be found for free in the same place it was in the demo - Three Valleys. The Gold Chocobo skin (if you preordered) is okay, but the Leviathan skin is a masterpiece. The Royal Rainment outfit bumps stats a bit and looks nice on Noctis.
When starting the game you're forced to install 50GB of data. While the game will let you start at around 50% completed, all you can do is an Open Battle deal. You can't really START the game until it's fully downloaded, which is annoying. It makes me wonder why you have to keep the disc if it's just going to install the whole thing to the drive. I don't want download-only, because Xbox Fitness taught me that you don't really own downloaded games. You're "leasing" them and are subject to lose them whenever they feel like it. No...I want to OWN what I paid for.
If you're considering whether to get this or the PS4 version know that you can't go wrong with either, except the framerate issues that are on PS4 do not apply to the One S. The One S has slightly lower resolution, but it still looks amazing.
On the web there are various bug stories. I have not encountered any bugs or freezing. My theory is that the downloaded version was corrupt, causing this problem, where the physical version was clean. That's only a theory. No issues here though.
It's a solid game, not really a true Final Fantasy, but certainly a great game and worth playing. | video-games_xbox |
Good try, but sloppy. Just so you know, I really liked Assassin's Creed. The first game was a joy just to run around in; especially exploring the various cities and countryside. That's why this game was such a dissappointment; exploration is a tedious, frustrating experience and, because of the new monetary system, MANDATORY.
Firstly, story. I don't know what game the other review sites are playing, but it's not the one I'm playing. This story is a ridiculous stereotype of bad buddy cop and action movies with a healthy dollop of tired conspiracy thriller; EVERYONE is betraying everyone else; there, I just spoiled it for you. The characters are just as stereotypical: Ezio is basically a drunken, whoring moron who is too stupid to understand anything beyond drinking and violence but we're supposed to excuse that because he's handsome and physically able; the writing is just full of terrible garbage in a similar vein. All villains are either fat or old. Everything is a just a huge neon sign blaring WE CAN'T WRITE. I just cannot get across how really, really poor the whole thing is.
The health system has been re-worked so, rather then just regenerating health if you find a quiet spot, you actually have to break off from the mission you're currently on and seek out street doctors to heal you. This would be fine if it wasn't for the horribly oversensitive, paranoid guards in the game which pretty much attack you on sight now. Instead, it just ends up being a immersion breaking task similar to an annoying fetch quest. Happily you can buy some medicine vials to use on the fly though which aleviates the annoyance; of course, you still need to hunt up money to buy them.
The guards bring up my other big problem; I can't explore anymore. They're so senstive that even running by them will trigger a huge chase and they're so numerous that you can't get anywhere without having to deal with them. They make the whole game seem terribly claustrophobic and not free roaming and non-linear at all. The messy combat system is back simply with additional options making it even messier; lacking even a basic tutorial unmtil well into the game (other then control pop-ups hints which, if you stop to read, you'll end up dead because they don't appear until you're IN a fight) fights end up being sloppy, button mashing dissappointments. Even with all the bizzare, rock-paper-scissor weapon match ups they've added, the only effective way to kill EVERYONE is still simply the same move as the first game; Counter Kill with Hidden Blades, which makes all the weapon buying in the game nothing more then decorations for your villa.
The free running system in this version is touted as improved; in reality it's totally broken. You'll find Ezio constantly veering over 45 degrees off your course to make jumps he doesn't even need to do; he overcompensates ridiculously when jumping so you'll repeatedly find yourself plummeting to the streets below, usually triggering yet another guard chase or need to find ANOTHER doctor, and Ezio's feet are apparently magentically attracted to posts, probably so he can do that lame "crouch on a high place" pose as often as possible. I actually had Ezio TURN COMPLETELY AROUND at one point to hop onto a pole he had just passed rather then simply leap across a small alley to the platform on the other side. He'll also frequently get hung up on regular six inch steps; the whole character will freeze and refuse to move at all as if he was on the edge of a steep precipice.
That's not to say the game is devoid of improvements; the new Blending system is neat (and necessary since the guards are complete turds), buying new dyes, armour and weapons is fun and the graphics are as good as they were in the previous game; albeit very similar. There's really no telling you're in different cities then any from the first games at most points; Venis is beautiful tho.
When you do manage to explore, the game is as fun as the first with TONS of things to find but they're hard as anything to find; most are sourrounded with a white glow that almost perfectly matches the sky and roof shingles; if what you're looking for is on the roofs, either wait until night or you'll only find it if you trip over it.
So, if you liked Assassin's Creed for the exploring, this game pretty much kills it and the story is reason alone to never even look at the game case on the shelf. Yes, there's lots of new things added to the game but it's like a spaghetti sauce that started out good but then had way too many ingrediants dumped into it to try to make it better. | video-games_xbox |
Below average sound quality. It's hard to know what to say about this gadget, which is made by a famed computer audio manufacturer. Turtle Beach was once the number one for sound cards. Now, here's a headset named after a new video game. The headset has nothing to do with the game, although you can certainly play the game (among just about all others) with this headset.
The package is very complete. This is a wired USB headset (sort of). That's to say, you plug one cord section into your headphone jack of whatever device you're using, then you plug the amplifier/control box into a USB port. Enough cords and adapters to be confusing are supplied so it helps to look at the setup booklet and even more to get the (slightly) more complete manual on-line.
I don't really care for this approach. Why couldn't everything connect through the USB port? This would work on a PC, though I don't know about some gaming consoles. It certainly causes some issues if you want to use the headset without an amplifier, as possibly with a cell phone, because you must run the controller/amp to get the mic to work.
Also be aware that all wired connections (except USB) are four-pole. This doesn't work with everything; for some PCs, for example, you'll need a four pole to three pole adapter, a hard enough to find item that costs US twenty or more, plus shipping. This shouldn't be necessary after you've paid more than enough for the headset.
The controller box has six different setting switches, too many to use if you're in the middle of a game, so set up carefully before you start. In addition to treble, bass, volume, etc., there is a nice touch: an adjustment for what was once called "side tone" which is the amount of your own voice fed back from the mic to the earpieces.
Now, about the sound quality, and as a former audio engineer and professional sound recordist, that's where I feel much of the value is (or isn't). The promo promises "crisp highs and thumping lows" but the headset delivers neither of these.
The sound is very clear with very little noise, and the definition is outstanding. That's the good part. The rest of the story is absent base and a constricted high-end, a narrow stereo image and a lack of airiness and transparency. It's about as good as wired headphones at about one-fourth or at best one-third the price.
The construction is average. The headset and cables will hold up well under non-abusive normal usage. These are not for professional use, obviously, and I didn't expect a rugged build.
I think a gamer would be better served with a wireless headset with less hookup issues. The separate amplifier is more of a nuisance than a feature. I don't especially recommend this headset because of its complexity and poor usage design and its below-average sound quality. | video-games_xbox |
Fresh Take on FPS Games. As an owner of Rainbow Six Vegas 2, I was excited to see this game release. I read the negative reviews and decided to give it a try anyways. To be honest, if you don't have access to Live Gold, then DO NOT buy this game. While you can play the game without it, you literally can only do the "Situations." Which I believe were only ten situations of the game that basically introduce you to the characters, maps, and weapons. It takes no time to go through them and you will be bored in no time.
Yes, the game has NO single player campaign. And while I do believe they shouldn't release a game as limited in gameplay as this for $60, the multiplayer and terrorist hunt game modes just about make up for it. However, a campaign similar to Vegas 2 would have been awesome. The multiplayer mode is a lot of fun. You can work closely with your team or try to do things yourself. It is 5 on 5 and you are either on the attack or defending. Each of those scenarios carries a different set of unlockable characters and weapons. If you are attacking, you start the round with a remote controlled drone that you use to infiltrate the building and find the enemy team, hostage, or bomb. If you are defending, you start the round trying to fortify the room you have been given to keep the hostage or bomb safe from enemy forces.
The gameplay is very nice. Graphics are great, weapons look, sound, and operate very realistically. It is a very fresh take on first person shooter games. I always hated the Call of Duty games because they are so stupid when you stop and think about it. People just running around shooting with no real consequences of dying. In Siege, when you die, you have to wait until the round is over to play again. While you wait, you can watch security cameras and other players on your team and help them defeat enemies via talking through the microphone. This game forces you to at times, be a "Camper"-the type of person that is shunned from COD games. I personally much prefer this to COD or Battlefield.
Biggest Gripes - The load times are maybe a touch on the long side and once in a while I get disconnected from their servers but the game just came out and I am sure that will improve. There aren't too many options for weapons and are limited to what character you choose to play as for each round. But overall, I think this is a solid game and doesn't deserve the low ratings it's getting at the time of release. If you wanted a single player campaign, then go buy a different game. And if you hate campers, then go play COD because we don't want you in the server anyway. | video-games_xbox |
RockBand 4 is better that GHLive overall. Fantastic game. Everything was brand new and in the box. While GHLive does have more free content, there is no way to practice difficult music passages in that game. Rock Band has a practice mode just for that. As a actual profession guitarist/musician ( using GHlive and Rockband 4 to heal from an injury) i can say that Rockband is the superior game in relating the guitar experience to a plastic controller for me. GHLive does have open strings ( no frets pressed while strumming) and more chord fingerings because of the 33 stacked button configuration on the GHLive controller. I really enjoy that, but after playing GHLive exclusively for a few months, i switched to RockBand for more songs GH didn't have and i like it more. RB4 has hammer-ons and pull-offs and uses that mechanic to simulate slides and to a lesser extent bending. RB4 knows that playing a fret closer to the bridge cuts off notes fretted behind it. RB4 triggers the music when you play, meaning that if you mess up, the music dosn't play. That gives you the sense that you are actually making the song sound good and play. GHLive has the guitar tracks always playing and they just get quieter when you make a mistake. I feel like my accuracy only results in a volume change because the song plays regardless of how well i do. GHlive also seems to have more notes to play on screen than heard in the music from time to time on the hardest difficulty. That seems to artificially raise the difficulty and breaks the illusion that this is just a game. Don't get me wrong. I do still really like GHLive and i still play it, but RB4 is my game of choice. Its not perfect of course. The on disk songs for both games are weak on most genres except pop and even then the songs aren't the popular ones. RB4 does have a huge store with over 3000 DLC tracks. While it costs $2 per song, it really is a value considering each song has 4 parts (guitar, bass, drums, vocals) at 4 different difficulties. I get a lot of mileage because i am interested in full combo-ing the songs on expert so I repeat the same songs alot. Your mileage may vary based on your play style. I live for music so this game just never gets old. They still have new DLC each week too! Rivals is a fun upgrade too. Drums work great as does the pro cymbal expansion too. The vocals are very similar to Karaoke Revolution in form and function. They work well and i have no complaints. My only real complaint i have with RockBand4 is the liberties take with songs. I have taught and performed most if not all the songs in this game and i am very fimilar with how they end. Holy diver by Dio fades out in the original recording. The way RB4 handles these songs varies but Holy Diver has 2 chords (IV to I in Cminor if i recall correctly) added at the end and repeated that were never in the song and makes the ending awkward. Why they didn't repeat a previous riff to end it, like other songs that fade out, is beyond me. But hey thats small potatos because every coverband that plays Holy Diver has there own ending anyway. Definitely recommend this game. | video-games_xbox |
GREAT for Web-Conferences. I don't know what you guys are doing with these headsets that they break. I bought a pair of these over 4 years ago to use at work on conference calls and they work great, still after 4 years of tossing them onto the desk when done with meetings. That isn't exactly good treatment of my equipment but they are still working fine. I read the reviews about the swivel being weak, so don't try to spin the ear cups around where they don't want to go, and you'll be fine. They are plastic, treat them like plastic and they'll work forever. I even talked about 13 co-workers at various different sites to go out and buy these themselves. Work won't reimburse for these, and we don't care, we all went out and paid for them ourselves just because these are way better than junky single-ear desk phone head-sets. In fact, that is a good point to make too, having both ears involved in work conference calls is so much better than the single ear head-sets that I cannot emphasize it enough. There is a reason all these gamers love headsets like these, and it applies directly to work applications!! Block out a noisey office, all the loud-talkers down the hall, and actually LOOK like you are busy in a meeting to divert those people who insist on talking to you while you are obviously already on a conference call. One caveat to these headphones though, your voice is not routed into the headset for you, so when you talk it sounds weird at first. But I bought a set of headphones that bragged about that feature of being able to monitor your own talking, and it simply wasn't worth it. That feature just added buzz and hum so at this point, I prefer what these headphones do because there is no hum or buzz, the audio is fantastic. In fact, some of the folks on these work conference calls sound like Darth Vader because using these headsets is actually a little too good!! We just needed them to move the microphone into the right position further from their face, and adjust the volume in the conference call tool and they were fine. It is fine that these headsets are loved by gamers, but don't forget that these things also have a work application that is pretty fantastic. | video-games_xbox |
Basically an Xbox 360-One Hybrid; Very Impressed for the Most Part. The standard matte black Xbox 360 controllers are good. But I play so much that eventually they get worn down in one way or another. Buttons no longer respond, thumbsticks get loose or unresponsive, etc. I've gone through quite a few in my years and years of playing. I decided to try something new with this chrome controller.
First thing's first. The chrome finish. It's great. Let me preface this by saying that I've gotten a gold chrome controller before: one from a third-party site. It was VERY cheaply made; the chrome finish was literally tearing off the controller within a week. Luckily, this controller has a layer over top of the shiny chrome to ensure this won't happen. The black chrome was a good choice I think; it stands out without being flashy (like red or gold). Also, I should point out that the FRONT of the controller is the ONLY chrome part; the back and battery pack are the standard black matte of any other controller. I personally think this is fine, but some may beg to differ ("If I order a chrome controller, I expect the whole thing to be chrome!"). The black chrome front doesn't contradict the black matte back much at all. The only problem I have is that the silver D-pad kinda looks weird, as opposed to the black D-pad on regular controllers.
Let's get into the performance now. The controller functions the same as a regular controller. The ABXY, Start, Select, Dashboard, and Triggers/Bumpers are EXACTLY the same as the normal controller. The differences are in the thumbsticks and D-pad. Instead of being a smooth concave with the four points like a normal controller, this controller has opted to remove the four points on the joysticks and is concave to a point in the middle. It feels like Xbox One thumbsticks (which are ungodly small), but thankfully are the same size as the regular 360 sticks. It's not the most noticeable thing in the world, and I personally don't think it changes the feel of it much, but a change worth mentioning. The D-pad is nearly identical to the standard controller, but the cross is silver and sticks up quite a bit more. Again, not the biggest change but it's worth mentioning.
All things considered, it's your normal 360 controller but... Better feeling and better looking. The ONLY negative is that fingerprints on the front are EXTREMELY noticeable, even after touching it for a second. It makes my OCD go crazy, seeing fingerprints on the otherwise clean, slick, black chrome look. Yes, they can be wiped off simply with a shirt, but guess what. Your fingers go right back on it as soon as you're done cleaning it, making the process of cleaning it meaningless. Might as well leave it "dirty" and showcase fingerprints all over the darn thing.
+ Slick black chrome look that makes it stand out without looking too bold
+ Mostly unchanged from the great feel of the normal 360 controller
+ D-pad is able to rotate and sticks up more, which is an improvement (in my opinion)
+ Control sticks FEEL better than the regular ones (again, my opinion)
- FINGERPRINTS.
- The black chrome only covers the FRONT of the controller, which some people may not like.
- The D-pad and control sticks are DIFFERENT, for better or for worse (depends on person). | video-games_xbox |
Not really "E" for Everyone. Just watched a seven-year old who's above average academically and below average on coordination attempt to play this.
There's a time game where the time is displayed in the "military" 24 hour format, aka 9:35pm = 21:35, combined with the speed of the game, not even an academically advanced kid would have a chance, since few in America are any good at military time and certainly not kids who likely haven't even been exposed to it.
Also, the challenges are on a pretty short clock. Since this kid was behind for his age on coordination, he had trouble keeping up even at "beginner" level. The game would be better if you could customize the time limit according to ability, so that you don't just end up with a 0 every time you attempt to play a challenge that's too hard for you.
Lastly, based on American culture and current "best practices" in motivation, this game is a big loser. After getting a low score on the beginner level challenges, it scored the kid a great big fat "F," displaying the player's avatar sad with head hung low while the doctor says, "I can't believe you got an F." Way to go doctor. That really makes anyone want to play this game. The weak reassurance of "you'll do better next time" hardly makes up for the negativity of a seven year old seeing his avatar, head hung low and looking like he's about to cry. The avatar does perk up a bit on the weak reassurance, but not enough to overcome the visual strength of the avatar looking that discouraged and a big fat F.
Don't know if there's a way for Microsoft to offer upgrades on games on discs. If so, they should do something about the negativity and the time limits on beginner level. A game that's impossible and critical isn't a game any kid wants to play.
So yeah, definitely not "E" for everyone. Stick with Kinectimals and Dance Central for games that skill build kids without being a turn off. | video-games_xbox |
Good Game, but with some bugs. Overall, I really enjoy this game. I know some will complain about graphics, the 'open world,' etc, but that was never a big deal for me. Graphics can look bad or good, but a good game/story trumps those in my mind. A few other complaints have been that the game isn't really open world; I agree, it isn't. But I don't think that detracts from the game; if anything it seems to add to the atmosphere of, "I can't go everywhere I want because a tyrannical government is in charge."
While I haven't completed the game I have enjoyed it so far. I especially like the atmosphere of the game; kind of reminds me of Elysium where most people live in squalor but a few enjoy better technology. So far the story is good and upbeat. I have a hard time doing the side quests because I feel I need to complete the main objective and beat the tyrants; I've tried to slow myself down so that I can.... well, do other things that I don't want to reveal.
So my gushing aside the game does have some issues. The game seems to start an area before it has fully loaded everything; the load times are a bit excessive... but I would rather wait another five seconds in the loading screen to make sure everything is ready to go opposed to the level only partially loading and my game stuttering along. I found it a bit 'interesting' that resistance fighters, especially the females, all look very attractive while the common peasants don't; while that doesn't detract from the game since you don't really talk with the common people it is noticeable. Which leads to the next point. Most people in the game are just walking sprites. They may ask you a question (but you can't respond) and say things that lead you to believe they want to interact... but you can't. My last complaint is about the periodic enemy AI going a bit glitchy. I had one enemy keep trying to walk through a door (that I just happened to open at the EXACT moment he was trying to walk by... and he got stuck in the door).
So does the game have issues; sure, yet it does. Do I think it detracts from the overral experience? No. I think it is a very solid game with some bugs that can probably be fixed with some more patches. | video-games_xbox |
open-world fans.. our time has come. 9.25/10
When Grand Theft Auto III came out(the reason i got a PS2 way back in 2001), i knew something great was in the mix. it was a sign of change in the gaming industry. it showed us there could be more to games than levels, more than high scores, and more than even a good story. it showed us a virtual world you could become totally engulfed in(outside of RPG's). a world where you could go anywhere and do anything(although that was just mostly stealing cars and shooting pedestrians in those days). over the years they've made some serious improvements, from the bikes and helicopters of vice city, to the jets and ability to duck and roll/ manually aim in san andreas(finally!) and now their first venture onto this generation has finally arrived, and its a great day in the gaming world
the series continues to awe with this installment, even in this day and age in video games. Graphically speaking, it is simply beautiful. its amazing how much attention went into every aspect of this world. theres cracks and pot holes ranging in depth in the road, and varying curb heights. vehicle damage is very impressive, from dents and scratches to a hole for each bullet that hits. the lighting system is amazing, with day/night cycles and a rotating sun throughout the day. naturally the game doesnt have the detail of say Call of Duty 4, but you could fit like 50 Call of Duty 4 maps in this city! its that huge. you have to take the size of a game into consideration when rating the graphics, thats been a given for how long now?? just to clear things up for the clowns complaining the graphics.
when you walk out the door theres so much to be done you might want to keep a checklist for the days. although what you actually choose to do is up to you. causing chaos is always an option. you can go bowling, play pool, play darts, get drunk, go to a srip club, get some food, check out the in game internet, and tons more. you could always just surf the channels on your TV.
your cell phone is a pivotal part of the game. you can call friends and girlfriends for various activities(some are listed above), and if you neglect them for long enough, they'll call you. you can also call potential employers for jobs.
theres the standard "go kill this guy" and "go get this" but they have been very entertaining anyway so far. theres much more depth to many missions, including stealth. one example is having to steal a cop car, then proceed to pull over different shipping trucks until you find the one full of TV's.
gameplay is vastly improved. the cover system is great, allowing you to quickly roll and protect yourself behind random cars, trash cans, and basically anything else thats big enough.
the game has a much more realistic feel than previous entries. you'll find yourself making sure theres no cops around before committing crimes. the star system is still here, but this time your wanted level is radius based, and if you can get far enough away from all cops, or at leased out of sight, your wanted level will go down. its honestly genius. i narrowly escaped one by jumping the guard rail and running down a steep hill, only to see another driving my way in the distance. quickly ducking into the alley behind a dumpster, i watched him roll by and waited for my stars to begin to fade. some cars are locked and you'll need to break a window to get in and proceed to hotwire it.
-for all you parents out there, the content is more mature than previous entries. you get a pretty good look at the in-car action with the street workers.. hehe.. and "coarse" language is used every couple minutes(at leased). the violence and blood looks more realistic now too. thats usually not what you guys worry about so much though.
my only real complaints are the hand to hand combat(its the most solid of the series but San Andreas seemed to have more move depth), and the fact that you cant go into more buildings. don't get me wrong, theres TONS of places to go and things to do, but i was hoping for even more. there have been waaay too many things that made San Andreas great and were simply missing here. no car customization, less clothes, less weapons, no property to buy, and more.. in some ways its one step forward and two steps back.
i won't elaborate on the story much, as its already been done heavily. basically your an illegal immigrant from eastern europe. your cousin convinced you to come to America with his stories of mansions and sports cars. when you arrive things aren't quite as described. you start in the darkest, grittiest part of Liberty City. a pocket full of change and a head full or dreams. what happens next is in your hands.. | video-games_xbox |
Pretty solid for a lot of types of games. After trying this stick on multiple games also across multiple genre on the PC and my PS3, I will say that the Qanba Q4 it is a solid stick even for the price!
The actually stick itself is very well built and has enough weight to not move on most surfaces also with the help of its rubber feet. It is also quite a good stick to put on your lap since the bottom has felt and during my gaming sessions, it never started to move around on my lap or my desk which is pretty again amazing.
The button configuration is a bit strange however since most stick for the 360 have the main face buttons ( A B X Y) in the shape of an L facing down but this one has then laid out in a square position (see product images to see what I mean). Because of this, some games will have awkward button placement at first if the game allows you to rebind the controls (If your games do not allow you to do that, then do not consider buying this stick.). Though the parts for the joystick itself and the buttons are very responsive and the start button never got in my way though I have heard that players who bash buttons uncontrollably may press it by accident. The turbo functions allow for automatic fire which is kinda silly but hey it's nice that it is there and the inclusion of a MODE button is great since it swaps the Joystick's controls from the D-PAD to the analog stick on a real controller. I mention this because there are SOME games on PC (Mostly poorly programmed Japanese ones) that will accept an input ONLY from the analog stick.
Probably my biggest gripe with this stick is the gate used in the Sanwa joystick itself. It is a square gate even if the stick itself can register 8 directions. This makes the controls from some games like danmaku's, shooters(Side scrolling, Over Head, Run N Gun), classic arcade games and fighting games less precise and changing the gate to an octagonal one will void your warranty which is really lame as there is a sticker that hides a screw that is required to remove in order to open the case.
Another small point of criticism that I wish to bring is the distance between the stick and the face buttons. It's incredibly close, more so than ones that can be found on arcade machine and using the buttons closest to the stick may become uncomfortable over time, though all my games allow me to rebind the controls so this issue is alleviated somewhat but is still present.
In the end, this stick is quite great! The fact that it can be used on three systems is great and the face buttons are all great. The square gate isn't the best but if you wish to change it you can but the button layout might be a killer for some people if they play games that do have rebind-able keys. If you are a gamer who appreciates arcade games and might think about modding this, then I highly recommend the Qanba Q4. | video-games_xbox |
An honest review from somebody who doesn't obsess over the franchise. Coming from somebody who would much rather play a game that emphasizes on story or content, Call of Duty Black Ops 2 was (surprisingly) a fun experience for me. Treyarch tried their absolute best to add new content to this franchise that many consider to be way past its expiration date. While many play this game solely for its multiplayer experience, I started with the story mode of BO2, which lasted about 7 hours. I played the previous Black Ops, and the game makes references to its past roots from the Cold War. Taking place in the year 2025, BO2 tries something newer than Infinity Ward's Modern Warfare titles (which I hate), using "futuristic" weapons and gadgets (sniper rifles that see through walls, explosive shotguns, etc). Treyarch also added the occasional "pick your own route, make your own choices" where you have choices that can change the gameplay. For example, would you rather escort the president on foot with machine guns, or cover your squad as they do it for you with a sniper rifle? Also added were "Strike Force" missions, which are overhead missions that you interact with and order commands to otherwise brain dead comrades. I get that Treyarch was trying to create a "RTS" like mode, but these are boring, repetitive, and a chore. They suck.
Treyarch also tried to be innovative by changing up a few things in multiplayer, while also trying to keep all the weapons and equipment as balanced as possible. The new system allows you to pick and choose what you want (don't want a sidearm? Swap it out with an extra grenade or attachment). The killstreaks (now called "scorestreaks") are all more of the same, except you are now rewarded even more for playing the objective (capturing flags, planting bombs, the basic stuff). Multiplayer is fun, but very, VERY repetitive. Play it in chunks to save your hands...
Lastly is the Zombies mode. Love it or hate it, Treyarch's "horde" mode returns. I won't go into detail as I don't play it very much, nor am I a total master of it. You and your friends basically hole up and fight wave after wave of zombies.
A lot (as you can probably tell) love to hate this game, but if you just want to relax and have more of your military first person shooter, Call of Duty Black Ops 2 is a fun game.
(P.S. Also included for free is a voucher for one of the map packs, which includes a handful of new maps and content). | video-games_xbox |
The game is an unfinished product. This game is an unfinished product. It is way too buggy to have been released to the unsuspected public.
Playing the campaign, there were a few times where I had to reload the chapter because my character would not move through an open doorway, or the game wouldn't trigger the next scene. Multiplayer has problems too. Sometimes it hangs in between respawns.
The campaign is fun in spots but overall it feels like something we have all played before. It feels like the early Medal of Honor and Call of Duty games, where you have very little freedom in accomplishing the missions, you follow the exact line they set up for you. You enter a level, shoot the bad guys that pop up, duck down then pop up in the exact same place. After you clear out the baddies, you wander around looking for the exit. When you find it (providing the game trigger doesn't have a bug prohibiting you from continuing) you enter a new area and play wack-a-mole with more bad guys.
They brag how realistic the missions are. That may be (I wasn't a SEAL or Delta operator) but I'm not sure how realistic it is to have a .50 caliber sniper rifle and not being able to hit a bad guy hiding behind a wooden fence. Also if it's going to take a second or two for my sniper bullet to hit the target, it's going to take more time for the sound of him going "splat" to hit my ears. Also, your teammates have the personality of a rock. Bad Company 2 was hilarious at times, hearing the banter between your squad mates.
Multiplayer has some neat maps but there's not too many of them. There's not a whole lot of weapons to unlock either. I can't see myself playing this much, the dirty gritty feel is fun but there's not a whole lot to unlock. As frequently reported, the grenade launchers aren't very powerful, even though they are pretty dangerous in real life. It is neat being able to damage the buildings enemies are hiding in.
Overall I think they should have fixed this game and added a few new features before releases. Save your money and look into something else. | video-games_xbox |
BUY THEM. These headphones are well worth the money for gaming!!! I've had these headphones for about 4 months now and I am completely blown away by the sound every time I put them on. Every little nuance of sound can be heard from the game. I get at least an extra 10 kills in shooters because I can hear footsteps and gun shots so clearly!
Stadiums in sports games sound like I am actually there but racers are lacking somewhat.
Chat volume could be slightly improved but only because the sound is so overwealming that it may be hard to focus on the person talking. Not a big issue at all because people can still be heard clearly. I have never had the problem of people in chat having trouble hearing me.
Having the option to pair with my phone is AMAZING!!!!! I can jam music while I'm driving a corvette stingray down a curvy hill in Niece or while I'm shooting three pointers at the lakers stadium. I can also answer phone calls and be heard and hear the person CRYSTAL CLEAR! I have had conference calls while playing battlefield!!
Comfort: these do get a little uncomfortable to wear after an extended period of game play but I have noticed that they just need a little breaking in.
These also sound great for watching movies but my only gripe about these is that he buttons on the side are way to sensitive. If I'm laying down I always find myself accidentally pushing the buttons on a pillow or other surface. Also these are not the best headphones for listening to music by itself. Sound is low on songs and bass is subpar. I have a pear of beats for listening to music though so this isn't really a big deal.
ADVICE: Make sure to follow he instructions for set up to make sure you are using the most optimum sound settings in the XBOX. This makes a world of difference.
Lastly, I have had to go back to using wired headphones because of my cat chewing one of the cables and, when I do, I immediately notice how amazing the sound of these are.
A MUST BUY FOR AVID GAMERS! And they look pretty cool to boot.
HAPPY GAMING | video-games_xbox |
A fun tennis game buried beneath aggravation. On the one hand, Top Spin can be a fun and addictive tennis game--easily the best on Xbox and, in most respects, more than a match for the classic tennis game, Virtua Tennis. On the other, Top Spin is weighed down by numerous little points of irritation and frustration. Alone, none of them would make a major difference, but when put together, they really hurt the overall product.
First, the good. Top Spin is easy to pick up--if you've ever played any console tennis game, you can get the basics down in a minute or two; and if you haven't, there's a quick and easy tutorial. The controls work well here, with each button hitting a different kind of shot (normal, slice, top spin, lob), and the triggers allowing for more difficult drop and risky shots. The graphics are great, with gorgeous stadiums and nicely animated players. And the career mode is nice, with a create-a-player feature that lets you design even the particularities of your player's face and body type. As you play in career mode, you can develop an individual set of skills for your player. You might want to serve-and-volley, or stay on the baseline and hit with power. Any type of player is easily created.
But Top Spin has too many problems. The handful of licensed (real life) players are powered-up over and above their stats, so that the difficulty level swings wildly between the made-up players you'll face and the real-life ones. Second, the game abuses the risk shot system--obviously, the game doesn't have the same timing issues as a player, and your AI opponent will frequently kill you with perfect risk shot after risk shot. Perhaps most annoyingly, given that the Xbox has a hard drive, you can't quit playing in the middle of a tournament in career mode and come back later--you have to forfeit. Probably for this reason, in career mode, you win a set at 3 games, not 6. This makes the game even more frustrating, because if you're broken by the AI, you have to immediately break-back or the set may well be over.
All told, I enjoy Top Spin, but only in small doses, and not nearly as much as I might have. It remains the best tennis game on Xbox, but if the obvious points of frustration had been solved during development, it might have simply been the best tennis game. | video-games_xbox |
EGADS, man! Where for art thou Infinity Ward. Man! What's the f#$%ing deal with companies handing over their biggest game franchises to second and third party developers??? Haven't they ever heard the old saying, "Dance with the one that brought you???"
This game is horrible, and if you say otherwise you're in bad need of therapy because you're so desperate for a video game that you've convinced yourself this is worthy of your time.
Or maybe your time is truly that worthless...in which case you should contemplate drastic measures.
First off, the game is VERY linear. "Call of Duty 2" truly felt like an open battlefield, whereas this one feels like a ride at Disneyland. Sure the scenery is beefed up and beautiful, but how about those character animations? The mouths aren't synched to the dialogue, and they do that mindless hand-waving thing when they talk...just like all cinematics did back on the PS1 and N64.
The AI is horrible. In Call of Duty 2 you couldn't just hold your crosshairs in the same spot and wait for the idiot German to pop up in the same place so you could plug him. In this one you CAN---but you just don't care to.
Also---"IT'S GLITCHERIFFIC!" I shot a German and he flew straight up into the air, completely off the top of the screen! I snuck up behind another German and hit him with a melee attack----the friggin' dude did two front flips and flew like twenty yards. Mind you, he was in the standing position the entire time. Not unlike tossing an action figure across the yard.
This game left a stale taste in my mouth, and really just pissed me off. Call of Duty 2 was 360's only killer app. If nothing else these people need to realize that once you have a great game---all we really want as gamers is a great big expansion pack! They could've added 12 more hours of additional content to Call of Duty 2's campaign missions and I would've paid $60, cash on the barrelhead son.
Way to go jacka@@es. ... | video-games_xbox |
Fun but broken in some ways. Let me begin by saying that this is the first Splinter Cell game that I truly love. Its not so focused on stealth, or at least not to the point that it becomes frustrating.
Pros:
solid graphics and sound
gritty gameplay
mark and execute system is good
Ability to use diverse tactics and approaches
CO-OP modes, are a GREAT addition, thank you!!
Awesome co-op and single player campaigns
Cons:
There are only a few small complaints about this game. It is somewhat buggy. Many times I was "stuck" on something and completely unable to move. Other times after being incapped, I would be laying on top of a railing or other object that should not have been able to support me at all.
Another small complaint is the lack of clothing variation. The regular suit that you have to start with doesn't have any color variations? What? Small complaint, but just a cut and polish issue.
The big complaint I have with the game is the "last stand" mode. They force you to protect this EMP bomb, which completely limits your ability to move around. On top of that, its very much a "run and gun" mode, but with only two players to rely on, it is exceedingly difficult. The addition of a four player mode would have made this much more enjoyable instead of frustrating like it is now. They also do not replenish your ammo at all, or have any ammo box for you to continue using the weapons of your choice. On top of that, there are no spots that are easily defended and the opponents are so aggressive its crazy. It just seems like this particular game mode was broken and didn't fit the game at all. It would be fun if they got rid of the "defend the EMP" part of it and just made it wave after wave of bad-guys. Just my opinion.
MAKE THE hunter, last stand and face-off modes four player!!!
There is a lot of opportunity here for expansion via DLC and updates, and I really hope they do it. | video-games_xbox |
This was a very good first attempt. V2. A lot of what they did in here is fun and useful, and plays along without getting overly boring.
Problems I had with this game was not in the look, or feel of the game.
You are in WW2, and you are behind enemy lines, and you are a sniper.
They go on-and-on about how this is a stealth game, and you need to use your head to win.
well...... not so much.
You actually need to kill pretty-much every guy you run into, and you tend to blow stuff up, a lot.
Not very stealthy.
Also, it's very liner. If you ever played COD: WAW, then you know how this feels. There are triggers, and guys
who just APPEAR. You can plan all you want, but in the end, you have to play twice, and know where the triggers are.
When you walk past a bunch of gas cans to get to a goal-point, then you know you are going to have to blow those things up on the way out.
The worst is the Guys who spawn behind you, or in areas you already checked.
You can spend 20 minutes, looking over a courtyard and think you have scouted it pretty good, then plan your approach, only to have a sniper spawn in a window you KNOW was empty, or a group of soldiers spawn in a building you have to pass.
In one mission you have to kill 3 waves of enemies. when you kill the last guy in the second wave, a new enemy spawns right behind you.
I set a lot of trip wires that I figured would work, only to shoot the guy I was planning it for.
If you already played the map, then you know exactly where the enemies will come from, and where to place your traps.
Every level has like... 2 ways to get through. 1) the obvious way, killing every guy in sight. or 2) the side road, but... you will still need to kill all those guys on the main road anyway.
In the first map they teach you how to move. They teach you how to crawl through small openings. Strange.... Every small opening I found (that I SHOULD fit through) was actually impassible.
There are TWO types of enemy snipers: 1) the ones who wait for you to shoot someone before firing on you. and 2) the ones who know EXACTLY where you are, and are just waiting for you to poke your head out. No amount of planing or stealthiness can fool these guys.
Bigger maps, with more options for moving around, would be great.
Randomly placed enemies (at least 30% of them) would also be good.
Getting more points for NOT killing. This was done is a really cool ninja game called Tenchu, where you got points for Killing only the target, stealth kills, not being spotted, not being detected, etc.
Also, shooting the guy in a non-instant-kill is very difficult. I was trying to injure the guys, so they would be rescued by their friends.
I shoot the leg or belly, and the guy falls down and then gets up again shooting. No limp. Head-shots and chest shots are my go-to now. Just kill.
all-in-all, fun, but too liner, and easy to pick up as well as put down. I felt no need to finish the game in a hurry.
It's worth the money, but I hope they fix some of this stuff for the Next one. | video-games_xbox |
Rush, Rend, Repeat. One of the main things I like about this game is the ability to customize your ninja. I'm attracted to games that allow me to choose a male or female, games that let me dress up the way I want to, and even games that give me the option of running around naked with nothing but a wrap and loin cloth on, killing enemies at random while my friend puts his ear to the ground and tells me to look at his ninja's butt...
This entire game concentrates around stealth gameplay, so if you're not into sneaking around in the shadows, waiting for an opportunity to strike, this game may not be for you. It's possible to stealth kill almost every enemy in the game without having to fight anyone. There are only two enemies in this game that you will actually be forced to battle, and those are both bosses. Enemies can spot your ninja in several ways. Sight, sound, and smell. Your ninja can pick up scents from objects scattered about the environment. Enemies can see you better if you're by a light. There is a light-meter, but it's more practical to just pay attention to where the light is falling on your ninja. Sound is the same way. If you can hear it, enemies most likely can too. The only part of the interface that is really useful is the Ki Meter, which keeps track of how far you are from an enemy and how alert they are to your presence. This meter is how enemies are tracked and hunted during the game. There is a simple map to use, but destinations are rarely marked.
Enemies follow patterns in their patrols that you must watch in order make an effective kill. Some enemies can see longer distances than others and will even spot your ninja on rooftops. Enemies do appear on rooftops, but not so often that you expect them there; certain enemies will even follow you up there. Enemies can be killed or knocked out, their bodies can be hidden in bushes or even thrown over rails and into ditches, water, etc. Hiding bodies can be essential to a good score. Enemies can be held for as long as you want before you kill them, so you can drag them somewhere else then cut their throat. You can push them to the ground, sit on them, then kill them, or you can push them against a nearby wall then kill them. Consecutive stealth kills are possible, but almost always contrived. Swimming is limited and barely ever needed; gone are the days of breathing through a reed. There are a wide range of ninja arts at your disposal, but you are never forced into having to use them. In fact, you can get through the whole game just fine without even purchasing any, but they can make the game more fun and give you a variety of new ways to approach enemies.
After completing a mission, you will receive a "Ninja Rank" depending on how stealthy you were and how many enemies you killed. Gold is awarded as well, which you can use to buy abilites, clothes, and items. Eventually, you can completely erase the sound of your footsteps and make it harder for enemies to see you in the open.
I would not recommend buying this game for co-op play (which I did). There is a chance that you could experience a lot of lag if you're not the one hosting the game. Not only that, but the coop mode itself leaves something to be desired. There is no progression in this mode. All missions are unlocked from the start, the host picks one, you run around killing everything or go straight for the objective. The mission ends when the objective is reached. Nothing is there to make your ninjas to work together at all. Unless you're wanting some gold, there's not much going for this mode. You cannot play through story mode in co-op.
This is a game I was only able to play for about an hour per session. The story did not keep my attention like previous titles in this series. It's easy to pick up and put down, and the average mission can take about fifteen to thiry minutes depending on how you play. Don't expect variety in the missions. The objectives are simple and repeat often. Kill the landlord, ninja master, landlady, merchant, find the informant, save this person, collect these bombs, or oh heck, just kill everyone in the whole village...just not the civilians.
A note on achievements. I completed all fifty missions with a Ninja Rank 5 on Normal, got that achievement, but didn't receive the achievement for Easy mode too. I then completed all Hard missions with a Ninja Rank 5 for the Hard achievement. In order to receive all three achievements for completing all missions on Easy, Normal, and Hard with a Ninja Rank 5, you're seriously going to have to complete a hundred and fifty missions with a Ninja Rank 5. And that's only if you manage to get a Ninja rank 5 on the first time through each one. If you've read this far, thank you. I hope this helped at least a little. | video-games_xbox |
I would genuinely appreciate a response Amazon. I am simply adding my voice to the multitude that did not receive the game as promised. Though I would like to write much more, I will simply say that I contacted Amazon 4 times over the span of 5 hours today and never did get a good answer as to how this could possibly happen, or what was being done to resolve the matter. After 2 previous calls and a 40 minute hold to finally reach a supervisor, the line went dead. Seriously, you just can't make this up. After calling again and politely insisting on a supervisor who ultimately provided little information is beyond frustrating. I did my absolute best to avoid shooting the messenger(s) through language barriers and lack of understanding about early access and guarantee frustrations but never really got anywhere Amazon. It was my hope to be playing my game right now, not posting this "review".
Prime is a paid, subscription service and my preorder was 5 months ago in May. See the attached photo. Looking into my account can absolutely verify the above mentioned calls. Like others, I ordered the Ultimate edition at $79.99 for Prime/gamers, but reviewing my history now shows $89.99 and I do not understand why.
Watching my status via the app for several days only to get an email the day of delivery to confirm a new delivery date AFTER I can walk into a store elsewhere and buy it is absolutely unacceptable. I would like to know what will be done to accommodate the frustration and the fact that guaranteed delivery obviously doesn't mean much. As much as I would like to try and keep some perspective on the fact that this is a game, it really is upsetting to see how many people have been let down today.
The entire appeal of this preorder was the early access, season pass, and price break for being a Prime member. I would like to know what will be done to correct all of this. | video-games_xbox |
My Favorite Game of All Time. (This is the son of the account owner) First off, I love cars. I own FH2 (which I don't really play), and Motorsport 6. Forza Horizon 3 is better than Forza Horizon 2 because of updated cars, new ways to play, better graphics, etc. I'll agree with some of the reviews that say Motorsport 6 is more challenging, and it is, but Forza Horizon games have a certain feel to them that give it a very positive attribute. Motorsport games aren't happy, no matter what you do. When I first played the game, I did the campaign. I then realized that some of my friends had it, so I went online with some of them. Online is a whole other experience. You can do races (certain races, but you won't be able to do some of the races in the campaign unfortunately), and you can do my favorite thing of all. Playground games are mini games that you and your friends can play. There are three games (and quite frankly, they should add more), flag rush, infected, and king. These names should all be self explanatory, but infected is by far my favorite. There's something exhilarating about jumping around and running away from the "infected" car. Next onto car packs and expansions. I own two car packs: Smoking Tire and Porsche. The only notable cars that come from the Smoking Tire pack are the Aston Martin Vulcan and the Crown Victoria. Both are pretty cool. Porsche is my favorite car company. Porsches are very popular among Forza players as well. The notable cars that come in the Porsche pack are the GT3 RS and the GT2 RS. All great cars. I don't currently have any expansions, such as Blizzard Mountain, but the Hot Wheels Expansion is coming out tomorrow (May 9th), so I'm going to purschase that. The cars are all great, and the driving is great. You can customize a lot of the settings in terms of difficulty as well. Overall, this game is fantastic. I didn't talk about a lot of things that I should have, but I made point of the most notable things. This is definitely a 5/5, and I would give it more if I could. | video-games_xbox |
Mediocre product. Lets start with the paladin plane, it's ... To be fair .. Ok. I myself had difficulty flying it I never did get it up in the air without it completely breaking so I just never flew it again. I'd recommend learning how to fly it before you actually attempt to fly it. It is meant to be a collectible but it is also a premium flying aircraft meaning it was built to high standards for flying. They do include adhesive tape and a spare wheel for repairs and include a manual and website links to learn how to fly and repair the paladin. But like I said and cannot stress enough. LEARN HOW TO FLY IT BEFORE YOU TAKE IT OUT OR RISK BREAKING IT AT YOUR OWN EXPENSE
Now onto 1) complete game breaking glitches, I once got reset because save got corrupted. Yes you read that correctly. The multiplayer is not saved online but saved to your game save so DO NOT DELETE YOUR SAVE FILE TO RESTART THE STORY. Doing this WILL DELETE YOUR MULTIPLAYER. So if your save gets corrupted you are screwed, ubisoft cannot get your multiplayer back so you are back to the very first rank. I had this happen to me twice, once at rank 20. Then again at rank 56 luckily the second time I had a copy of my save on a USB drive. 2) RAGE QUITTERS. There is really no host migration, if a player leaves who is the host ( this has happened countless times since I started playing) you get sent back to the lobby. Host is not transferred to another player. This really sucks because you will not get the bonuses for the match and sadly there is no penalty for the people leaving. If you are a person who can't handle staying in a game, please don't purchase this game. You will just ruin it for everyone. 3) random glitches that happen way too frequently. Like invisible guns. Randomly getting stuck in walls.
Now for addiction details. There is a lot of extra missions for coop, online and offline and the extra missions are single player too. Exept for a few which do require an additional player. Coop is very fun. It's a great game to play aside from the stuff I mentioned. | video-games_xbox |
Buggy and Flawed: a giant step backwards. First of all, let me clear this up: there IS a bug or glitch with Madden 2006 for Xbox which will make your game freeze up on occasion. Besides being infuriating, it is indicative of how rushed this game feels. There is nothing you can do to fix it, but feel free to do a google search on the problem and you will see what I mean.
I've been playing Madden since the very first game, in 1989, and by and large, the series has had an amazing ability to reinvent itself and keep improving year after year. Madden 2006 marks the first time in memory that a Madden game has clearly not only failed to improve, but has actually regressed. I ended up selling back my copy of 2006 and have gone back to playing 2005.
What's new? First is the unfortunate brainchild of developers starved for innovation, the unfortunate invention known as "QB Vision", which basically makes passing more awkward and more difficult than it already was WITHOUT really bringing anything to the table: it's not more fun, it's not more realistic (since my eyes scan my receivers anyhow), but it is more frustrating. The whole scheme stinks of "change for change's sake", and I bet that it will be gone from Madden 2007 on Xbox 360.
Another addition is the "Superstar" mode, which should be somewhat familiar to those who've played NCAA Football 2006 and its Heisman mode. The idea is awesome: you create a player, then lead him through his career, managing the on and off-field activities, hopefully making him a big star. While the notion of a sports-RPG is genius, the implementation stinks. Superstar mode ends up being about repetitive practice sessions, and clicking through endless and boring text menus. Yawn. Also, why couldn't EA sports combine Superstar with Franchise mode? Many players create themselves and place themselves on their favorite teams, so why not?
The rest of the game is basically the same. The graphics aren't that much better, and the animations have a few more flavors, but that's about it. The "Truck" stick is a nice addition, but for some reason EA changed the controller layout. Yet more "change for change's sake"; if it actually improves play, then go for it, but it it doesn't, why mess with it?
The game's longstanding AI flaws are still there. The secondary can be either incredibly telepathic (CPU opponents) and break off plays with Superman-type reaction times, or utterly idiotic (user players). When a 99-rated Cornerback gets beaten regularly by a mediocre receiver, then the AI stinks. The middle linebackers and their amazing jet-packs are back for another season, meaning that a team with a semi-decent MLB patrolling the middle is good for endless deflections and picks, since he can jump about 6-10 feet in the air. Last but not least, the kick return and punt return gameplay is still beyond horrible. There is no blocking, since your CPU teammates are incapable of recognizing the 250lb behemoth heading for your returner, and will just stand there while you get creamed and fumble the ball. This is inexcusable. Why is it that it's so hard to program a game in which a returner gets even average stats? Most players will be lucky if they get 5-10 yards on a punt return (to be fair, I am referring to the high difficulty levels) with a super-speedy returner. Yet when you check the stats, there will always be some joker who averages 18-20 yards per return!
That said, it's still a fun game, especially since you can turn off QB vision and change the controller layout to the classic template from 2005. But then, what is the point of buying 2006? | video-games_xbox |
Save Your Money. Let me preface this by saying that I have not read any of the other reviews for this game here on Amazon, so I have no idea what everyone else is considering the pros/cons. This is just my observations from playing the game that, I am sorry to say, I paid full retail price for. It should also be noted that I did not finish the game.
Let's start with the good:
Graphics: The graphics in this game are simply amazing. By far the best I have seen in a console game, ever. Even without playing it on an HD television, I thought that the designers did an amazing job with the scenery. Just climb to to the top of any of the look-out points in one of the cities and you'll see what I mean. Simply amazing.
Controls: The controls were very intuitive, not requiring any adjustmant time to get used to at all. That was a high point, as many games now require you to play with the controls a little bit before getting right to the action. There was none of that with this game.
Now on to the bad. Let me just say that I feel many of these items to be subjective, and I'm sure many other people could dismiss some of these and enjoy the game. I could not.
Story/Gameplay: The story itself was decent. Without giving anything away, I thought that it was an interesting premise to be looking at these events through the eyes of an ancestor. However, the part of the story that really irritated me, and more or less ruined the game for me, was how repetitive that the game got. It amounts to:
1. Travel to city
2. Report to local bureau chief
3. Perform several "Investigation" tasks
4. Go back to bureau chief
5. Locate and assassinate target.
Seriously, I am supposed to do this eight times? No thanks, it stopped being interesting after the second time that I had to do it.
Realism: Try walking into your local shopping center with a couple of swords hanging from your belt, and several knives strapped to your back in plain view. You'd be lucky to walk out of there alive after the local police got called out. But this is exactly what you do in this game. And even worse, the guards don't care! Seriously now, how could someone like that possibly hope to blend into a crowd in a major city. Or, how could they possibly blend in with a bunch of monks as they walk around the city? This is not such a major issue for many people, I'm sure. I just couldn't get past this as I was playing. I mean, you stab someone in the alley, and then all you have to do is walk away slowly with your weapon sheathed and the guards don't think to stop you? Come on!
Finally, you can walk around every guard in the game with all these weapons hanging from your character, but take one step towards a Templar, and they attack you. I thought you were supposed to be able to blend in with the crowds? What happened to being able to effortlessly blending in? This was a major inconsistancy that really irritated me after a while.
In closing, I would save your money. If you absolutely must play this game, rent it. You won't get a major case of buyers remorse that way. Oh, and parents, it's rated M for a reason. Younger kids should defintely not be playing a game where the object is to knife someone in a public place without anyone knowing what just happened. Try looking at something else. | video-games_xbox |
Stylish and Disgustingly brutal. I played Call of Duty 2 and was given a great WWII game in the same general vein as Medal of Honor---that is, a PG-13/Moderate R type war with an emphasis on glory and America Eff Yeah glory.
World at War is far more like a pulp comic take on it, but without the sleaze associated with such genres.
Gore is a major factor now, including such heinously realistic things as mounted machine guns severing limbs, blood is up in your face, and stuff gets sickeningly real very quickly all around.
My main disappointment with the storyline was variety. As usual, you're Americans and you're Russians. That's it. That's pretty much how it's always been in Call of Duty, Medal of Honor, everything. Lack of variety is more than made up for with sheer depth, grit, and style executed in the campaigns.
The American campaign does something never really done in any WW2 FPS game I've played---the Japanese. The entire campaign involves the Pacific Campaign, so you can go back to Call of Duty 2 if you want to M1 Garand Nazis instead of Imperials.
The Nazis were pretty sick in terms of warfare ability, but the Japanese bring a whole new level of warfare to this game that makes it less "AMERICA EFF YEAH!" gloryhounding like we're used to in old games, and more "If I hear 'BANZAI' one more time, I'm going to throw all my grenades all around me and shoot everythign that moves before I totally lose my mind!"
This is in no way a bad thing, implying certain aspects are overused---it's simply a display that these methods are so gorgeously executed---to be walking into an area of tall-grass, hear the shout "BANZAAAAIII!" and see three or four Japanese in perfect camouflage emerge and rush at you and your comrades. And this is no triggered spawning---they are lying in wait from the very start. I've had one instance where my stupidity lead me along an odd path, and I ended up right behind a Japanese soldier just laying there. I decided it would be a good idea to shoot him with my pistol, ended up completely missing, and he got up and lunged at me.
Fighting the Japanese is a horrifyingly brutal ordeal, not merely where "Banzai" forces will appear so frequently, but where snipers will climb up into trees and fire at you, or emerge from trap-doors right beneath you, or any number of guerrilla-type tactics. One long-winded mission segment is entirely just clearing out ONE tunnel complex at Iwo Jima, which goes along perfectly with movies like "Flags of Our Fathers" and "Letters from Iwo Jima", and is total hell upon the psyche.
As was the case with Call of Duty 4, and which I think I may have mentioned in my review for Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2, this game has a big moment within it, a "HOLY S***" moment that really changes the scope of the game. For this game, they are likely a matter of opinion, but for me each campaign had at least one. The biggest one in the American campaign was playing as a gunner for a fighter plane/bomber thing. Your mission is essentially solely reconnaissance, then engaging a trade fleet that reveals itself as Japanese, then you must answer a distress call, where an American naval detachment is attacked by Japanese ships and air units.
There's interactive sequences where you must shoot Japanese gunboats and destroy them, in order to reach out and pull American sailors and soldiers out of the water onto your plane. The HS moment comes when Kamikaze planes begin attacking, and Zeroes attack your plane---and you run out of ammo. And in a perfectly placed slow-motion moment, where a wing of Japanese planes prepare to strafe you, and your gun clicks empty, American Corsairs arrive at just that moment to shoot them down and save you. Tears were in my eyes.
Then there's the Soviet campaign. Maybe there's a difference between this and the campaign in Call of Duty 2, or maybe it was just Gary Oldman's epic scenery-chewing Hamming of Sergeant Reznov, but this campaign, for its moment in time, made me a cold-blooded, Nazi-hating Soviet.
I hated the introduction, which was a complete and total 99% ripoff of "Enemy at the Gates", where Danilov meets Vassili in the dry fountain, hiding among Soviet bodies, trying to avoid being shot by Nazis shooting the corpses to ensure they're dead, then using the cover of Luftwaffe planes flying overhead to mask your sniper shots, and even an overly-long, gamebreaking duel with a German sniper, which due to my playing on Veteran mode, got me killed several dozen times due to its sheer facepalming, wallbanging difficulty that went beyond "Boy that was a challenge" and into the realm of throwing controllers into television screens.
The rest of the campaign goes from escaping Nazi attacks in the Battle of Stalingrad, then quickly jumping ahead a few years, and taking the war into Germany itself. I would absolutely never condone this in a video game already so grittily real, but I still at least feel relieved that there is no depiction or even mention of the sheer violence perpetrated by Soviet soldiers on German civilians, along with the huge amount of raping of German women. Same way around with German soldiers on Russian civilians.
The HS moment for the Soviet campaign, for me, was emerging from a complex in Germany, running out into the open, and fighting our way down a street with dozens of Soviet soldiers and a tank plowing through ranks of Nazis. The thunderous, bleak metal soundtrack with the braying shouts of Sergeant Reznov were simply overwhelming, and the very real depiction and realization of literally fighting for every yard of ground coming into place was a massacre on the senses in the best possible way.
To my delight and pleasure, each mission is preceded by an animation in the exact same style as the introductory animation in the movie "The Kingdom" briefly detailing the history of Saudi Arabia. It is beautiful and brilliant, but they clearly run out of ideas later on as rather than nifty transitions and transformations, we merely get pictures and video clips.
For the rest of the game, the multiplayer is satisfying, but ultimately merely a clone of Call of Duty 4's multiplayer, with WW2 weapons attached, and a few new neat perks and additions to the system. The most disappointing aspect here was that, just like CoD4, there were standardized weapon classes and customizable ones, in which EVERY WEAPONS is available, or ready upon being unlocked. This means a battle between Japanese and Americans would be utterly indistinguishable as Japanese soldiers use Soviet machine guns, Nazi rifles, and American grenades, while American soldiers... use exactly the same things, mixed up arbitrarily.
But the game creators brilliantly came up with something to keep people coming back to it, even as they move on to Modern Warfare 2---Zombies!!!
Unless you buy new maps, you only get one Zombie map, though. It's great fun, and something that must be experienced. | video-games_xbox |
Great gaming system, plus so much more. I purchased my elite about a week ago, about 18 months after purchasing my original xbox 360 premium...I wanted the extra HDD space. My experience so far has been great...
Pros:
~ 120gb harddrive
~ HDMI (cable is included along wth component cable)
~ Color - I personally prefer the black color
~ Game line-up: Xbox 360 has the biggest and best game line-up of the three "next gen" gaming consoles. And this will only get better with the upcoming holiday season.
~ Very quiet. Being that I owned both a third generation premium 360 console, I can attest to the vast difference in noise levels of the elite.
~ Microsoft has done an excellent job of designing the menu - very intuitive and easy to navigate.
~ Xbox Live is second to none. Currently the leader in online gaming, it allows you to have live private or in-game chat with friends or foe. Demos, trailers, dvd and hd movie downloads, music videos, arcade games, etc...the list goes on.
~ My personaly favorite is the ability to network your Xbox 360 to your XP or Vista home pc and listen to music and watch home videos that are stored on your pc. Very nice for when visitors are in town.
~ Warranty, warranty, warranty. No other console offers a one year complete coverage warranty like MS does. On top of that, they now offer a 3-yr warranty to cover the Red Ring of Death (RRoD)issues (see below).
~ CHOICE: I guess it depends on how you see it (glass half full/empty). But I personally don't like being forced to pay for features that I won't use. With the xbox 360 you get what is essential to you as a gamer...a great gaming console. If you want to have a wireless network for gaming, it's available, if you want a high definition movie player, it's available. I don't have either because I don't want or need them.
Cons (only one):
~ Well noone can deny the hardware issues that have plagued the Xbox 360 over the past 18 months. Overheating and the infamous RRoD has impacted the xbox 360. But, as stated above, MS had addressed the issue and is now correcting the design flaw which caused the failures. | video-games_xbox |
Great game, if you know what to expect. PARENTAL WARNING: If you are reading this to find out if this game is suitable for your child, skip it! Extreme violence, gore, and nudity.
I really liked this game, I haven't had this much fun with a video game for quite some time. If you belong to the Sega/SNES and Arcade generations then you might remember beat 'em up games like Final Fight and Streets or Rage; this game follows a similar pattern (of course, in 3D).
The graphics are nice, they have a funky style, the soundtrack is heavy metal rock that goes well with the gameplay, which is fun by the way. The gameplay is relatively simple: walk around, beat the crap out of enemies, grab some weapons, collect a few things, move on. While the gameplay is simple it is not shallow, you get to upgrade your character and use combo moves.
I don't want to give specific details about the plot so I don't spoil it for you, but I want to say it is relatively simple and straight forward without being shallow. These days video game plots are getting more and more complex and sometimes something straight forward is a refreshing change.
Another plus I found is that the game is not extremely short and you won't beat it in an afternoon like some other games (Halo or Call of Duty, for example). There are some games out there that focus more on the online experience and lack the single player quality, games you can beat in 4 hours or less like Call of Duty. The lack of online play can be a plus or a minus, depending on how you look at it. I, personally, like to play online but sometimes I just don't want to, sometimes I want to play a fun game by myself and I don't want to beat it in one afternoon. Games like Call of Duty, while good, leave you with pretty limited choices for off line play.
The game is violent, very violent, sometimes even gross. I'm normally pretty open as to what kind of games young teens can play, but this is not something I'd buy for a teenager.
Now, the game is not perfect, it has a few issues that are sometimes annoying. My main complaint is the loading times. In this game you will die often, and while it is not frustrating to have to do the same thing over and over it is frustrating to wait for the game to load. The loading time is not horrible, but it is definitely longer than average.
Another issue with the game is the lack of variety when it comes to enemies. The first half of the game is great, but by the 2nd half the enemies are pretty much the same.
Long story made very short: if you are an older guy (say, late 20's to mid 30's) and want to play the same ol' same ol' in a modern format, maybe with an arcade feel to it, then get this game, you will not be disappointed. If you are looking for something with a complicated plot, lots of thinking/puzzles, and online play then there are other options out there. I hope they make a sequel which I will definitely get, and if the fix the enemy issue and the loading time issue then it will be a truly great game. | video-games_xbox |
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