text stringlengths 503 33.4k | labels stringclasses 23 values |
|---|---|
One of the best wrestling games despite minor complaints. This is a really fun wrestling game even if the X-Box 360 controlling takes awhile to get used to. I'm used to the Playstation 2 controlling. Plus I still find Here Comes the Pain the one that's easy to want to go back and play again and again. I mean the season mode is the funnest since you can add legends or created wrestlers to the season mode roster. Then you can play any other match on a card besides the matches for the wrestler you chose.
I don't think season mode is that fun without that feature. I mean otherwise you just play season mode to unlock the legends and never go back once you got them. While in Here Comes the Pain I kept going back to play season mode even if I did unlock every legend. This game is fun enough to make you go back for more and more even if it's not for season mode. The GM mode is cool where now you can hire writers and pick the one who's best at writing things like David vs Goliath stories and much more. You then pick the two wrestlers that a best to fit in that feud. I also like seeing Title Mode back. Where you can defend or win a title any time you want.
Plus I love that you can rip-up signs from the audience "though I haven't learned how to do that yet. You can also fight in the audience this time around which especially adds more to hardcore matches or Last Man Standing matches. The game also has a good roster even if some are pretty bad choices to have in the game. I mean I always forget guys like Vito, Viscera, Snitsky and Paul Burcham are even in the game. Plus do we really need 4 different Mick Foley's ? I mean you'd think they would've learned by now. All they had to do was have one Mick Foley and just give you the option to change his costume before a match to either Cactus Jack, Dude Love or Mankind. It wastes 3 spaces when they could've added other Legends instead.
Instead of Viscera you could've had someone like Sabu instead, instead of Snitsky how about the Sandman, instead of Paul Burcham "how ever you spell it" how about Paul London, Brian Kendrick should've been on it as well. It also feels weird not seeing the Spirit Squard after they've been thrown in our faces constantly on Raw. I also wish Jeff Hardy was on this game. Plus instead of 3 Mick Foley's we could've had Rick Rude, Randy Savage and Owen Hart.
Some fans complain about Bam Bam Bigelow and Taz being Legends but I like that. I was a fan of Bigelow in his ECW days. All the WWE did with him was have him lose to a football player at a WrestleMania. While in ECW the guy was almost as unstoppable as Taz. The WWE wasted Taz and of course you wouldn't think of him as a Legend after seeing his WWE Jobber years. However in ECW the guy was an unstoppable animal that is truly worthy of being called a Legend. He was the Stone Cold Steve Austin of ECW. I also like seeing Shane a Legend but if he's one on the game then why isn't Vince ? It feels weird being able to play as Shane but not Vince. Despite minor complaints this is still a really good wrestling game. It is of course still light years better than the first Smackdown vs Raw which I never played as much as Here Comes the Pain.
Complete list of Legends I'd like to see in the next game: Hogan, Bret Hart, Eddie Guerrero,Owen Hart, Anvil, King Kong Bundy, Earthquake, The Big Bossman, Brian Pillman, The Demolition Axe and Smash, L.O.D Hawk and Animal, Vince, Shane, Razor Ramon, Diesel, Arn Anderson, The Rock, Steve Austin, Mr. Perfect, Vader, if you unlock Mick Foley you get all his personalities in one without him taking up 4 spaces, Chris Jericho, Yokozuna, Rick Rude, Randy Savage, JBL, Jerry Lawyler,Trish Stratus, Lita and the Ultimate Warrior.
The next game should also have a complete list of ECW wrestlers such as RVD, Sabu, The Big Show, Tommy Dreamer, Kevin Thorn, Test, C.M Punk "who I wish was in this one!", Mike Knox and Hardcore Holly.
I also wouldn't mind that if you play as a certain popular wrestler in season mode that you can unlock legend type matches as well. Like if you play as the Undertaker you unlock a body bag match that he used to have back in the early 90's. Or that when you unlock Stone Cold you unlock 3 Stages of Hell. Plus would be cool if Psycho Sid was on it and if you unlock him you also unlock the Lumberjack match since he had one with HBK once. Also the games should also bring back I Quit matches. | video-games_xbox |
Same as the last game. If you have played Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, then consider yourself to have played this game. Mediocre and unimaginative would also be a good description. If you haven't played OotP, you might want a little more info. The gameplay is free-roaming environment of Hogswarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. It has been expanded and is easy to get lost, but thankfully they have included a guiding system in the form of "Nearly-headless Nick" to escort you when you want. The story events follow the movie exactly, not the book, so don't look for any new information here. Three additions to the Harry Potter video game franchise is dueling, Quidditch, and potion mixing. Dueling existed in OotP in a limited and annoying form. In Half Blood Prince, dueling is quickly repetitive and has a good learning curve. Only once or twice did I come close to losing a match. Quidditch sounds like it would be an excellent side quest doesn't it? If you like pseudo-roller-coaster-jump-through-hoops-and-avoid-the-odd-obstacle-while-adhering-to-a-mysterious-hidden-timer game, then you are in for a treat. If not, it quickly becomes tiresome. The last new addition, potion mixing, is akin to playing Guitar Hero in that you are are pouring, mixing, adding to, and burning until the potion reaches a certain color, then you have to stop in time or ruin the mixture. If you have not played the previous Harry Potter games, this would be a good place to start. It was awesome to get to walk the grounds of Hogwarts, but this time around it was not new to me. The spell casting system is limited to certain items and under certain conditions, you can't run around casting "Stupefy" on everyone hoping to start a fight, or starting fires on the tapestry, for example. My recommendation is to rent if aren't a die-hard HP fan, and stay away if you don't like HP, which is something you would have done anyway. | video-games_xbox |
3 DLC's RELEASED BY MAY 2016. I am a HUGE Bethesda fan. I loved the Elder Scroll series and the prior Fallout games and Fallout 4 is excellent. When I heard that the price of the Fallout 4 Season Pass was going to increase (right after the announcement of at least three DLCs this year), I decided I better get it. I am so glad I did!
The first DLC released, Automatron is $9.99 and gives you a new multi-step quest as well as the ability to create robots to accompany you or help protect the settlements. The second release was Wasteland Workshop which retailed for $4.99. It seemed a little unnecessary on the surface but it is actually a lot of fun. It added a lot of new items to build in your settlements and allows you to capture and tame wild beasts. The beasts can then be used to protect the settlement or you can stage arena fights between the animals and the settlers. Hours of fun! The third DLC, Far Harbor, is due in May and will retail for $29.99. This is rumored to be the biggest DLC Bethesda has released (larger than Oblivions Shivering Isles<a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/The-Elder-Scrolls-IV-Shivering-Isles-Xbox-360/dp/B000VXKSLW/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">The Elder Scrolls IV: Shivering Isles - Xbox 360</a>)! These three releases total $44.97 alone and Bethesda has hinted that there may be more releases this year. Before the price increase, the Season Pass was only $29.99! Even with the increase, it is worth it if they only release one more DLC.
I purchased the Season Pass via the download code. It worked flawlessly. Amazon sent me an email that contained code and all I did was click on it and it redirected to Microsoft to redeem the code. Then I went to the Xbox One and navigated to the Manage Game for Fallout 4 and told it to install. Now any DLC that is released, automatically is installed. It couldn't be easier!
One note, you do need to purchase Fallout 4 full game to be able to use the DLC content. Probably a given, but I have seen people ask on other games. | video-games_xbox |
Better than every WWE wrestling game since Day of Reckoning 2. First and foremost, I feel it's important to list my favorite wrestling games so that you can see wrestling games I enjoyed prior to WWE '13.
In no specific order:
WWF No Mercy
WWF Wrestlemania 2000
WWE Smackdown: Shut Your Mouth
WWE Smackdown: Here Comes the Pain
WWE Wrestlemania XIX
WWE Day of Reckoning
WWE Day of Reckoning 2
I've played a lot of the more recent wrestling games. The last ones I found somewhat enjoyable but did not love were WWE Smackdown vs. Raw 2006 and 2007. While not incredible wrestling games, they were much better than the games that would come out in the years to follow. I played 2008, 2010, and 2011, but I didn't stick with any of them, as I didn't care for the rosters or the gameplay. Due to the disappointment of recent wrestling games, I skipped WWE '12 entirely. But WWE '13 felt like a good time to jump back in since it brought back the Attitude era. I'm happy to say I jumped back in at the right time.
While the graphics are still a bit off at times, because long hair still looks goofy and some wrestlers don't look quite right, the game's overall presentation is still really good. The lack of HUD features allows you to feel more immersed in the action, allowing it to feel more like a live wrestling show and less like a game. Some goofy animations and glitches still rear their ugly head every once in a while, too, but this is the best a wrestling game has been in years.
As far as gameplay goes, honestly, I can't go too deep into this since I'm more of a casual wrestling game fan that just likes tight controls and smooth gameplay. It's generally a smooth game the majority of the time, but some animations are still pretty robotic and dated. However, I do believe the controls are much better than the controls in the 2008-2011 Smackdown vs. Raw games, as the controls in those games threw me for a loop and I didn't care one iota for them. The controls are vastly superior in WWE '13, in my opinion.
The greatest thing about WWE '13, aside from the improved gameplay, is the roster and Attitude storylines. This is a game built for those of us with a fond remembrance of that era. The Attitude era was controversial, unpredictable, and exciting, which are all qualities missing from the current product. WWE changed their rating to entice the family and not the young male demographic, but it's lost a lot of its appeal in the process. Granted, you have some great wrestling talent like Daniel Bryan, CM Punk, Dolph Ziggler, etc., but it feels as though the product has become too dull, predictable, and, quite frankly, boring. Less weapons, less attractive Divas doing scandalous things, less top notch storylines and character building, less theatrics, etc. Most matches are pretty formulaic these days. Divas have definitely suffered under the current brand. Anyways, just because WWE's current product is lacking doesn't mean you can't find something WWE related that brings back the good ol' days, which is what WWE '13 does. Sure, they censor Austin's middle finger, which is pretty lame, and they censor anything that has to do with "World Wrestling Federation," which is equally lame, but the rest of the Attitude mode is a top notch blast from the past that reminds us just how good that era of wrestling was.
WWE '13 is a great game, but it's even better if your favorite era was the Attitude era. | video-games_xbox |
Upgraded Downgrade. So i bought this game yesterday 6-11. Couldnt wait to get off work so i could go play. put the game in and actually sit through the tutorials. Lets say i was very impressed with gameplay and how fluent it worked.... remember i am only in the tutorial. After i finished tutorial i went to the saga. Now being someone that owned all budokai's i was expecting a decent length and substancial storyline. To say the least i was wrong. I finished the story that night. I mean what a rip i only got up to the cell saga? I came in thinking it was all the way through to buu at least and had all the characters i came to love in budokai tenkaichi 3, seeing as that only makes sense. What really bothers me is after each saga they fabricate a movie based on gameplay to wrapup what happened. I think this space and time could have been better put into including a buu saga. I mean most people just skip these low budget in game movies anyway, so why not give us something we want. When i buy a game i buy it for substance some good gameplay. Not half of a game with better graphics. Btw they include the first disk of season one ...... Season one came out over a year ago and most of us fans already bought it. Why give out something we already own. Even worse why give out part of a season where you will still have to go out and buy the whole thing if you don't own it. I mean seriousl what are we going to do with one out of six disks in a set. Just a way to get ppl to sink more money into this franchise. I strongly urge everyone to rent this game before buying so you can see exactly what its worth. This game to me is WAS worthless and i am ashamed that they would even sell this game in the market let alone sell it for such a steep price. Trust me you are better off getting something else.
Cons
1. Game is short only through the cell saga.
2. Game has cutscenes every 5 seconds during actual fighting which throw you offguard and confuse you.
3. Maps are incredibly small. you can successfully hit someone about 2-3 times before you hit a wall.
4. Gamplay has no learning curve its ez to play with no skill involved
5. YOU HAVE UNLIMITED SPECIALS with little to no delay before refire. tisk tisk
6. Limited characters maybe 13 or so.
7. Transformations make you weaker......why why would they do that.
8. Game is 100% completed in one night.
9. Absolutely no replay value at all. I sold the game first chance i got.
10. When you near the end you hope the game finishes soon because it is soo bady.
Pro
1. Graphics look pretty good.
I know you were expecting more pro's but honestly this game is terrible. | video-games_xbox |
Aliens Vs Predator. I bought this game a week ago and I wanted to write a review once I finished all the missions (which there isn't a lot, only about 15). I played as all of them: Marines, Aliens, and Predators. The developers made the game seem realistic because the best species are the Predators (it makes the most sense with their Advanced Technology). I have yet to play the multiplayer mainly because it has a dead community and pretty much whoever is the Predator would win. The developers make it seem unfair because most people don't want a realistic game. The Predators have way better equipment than Marines which allows them to combat at both of the species with enormous force. Aliens come next with power since they are really fast, able to climb walls and ceilings, and they can stealth kill (along with Predators.) The other reviews are not lying, the humans cuck compared to the other species. Their equipment consists of 6 weapons (Plasmas Rifle, Scoped Rifle, Infinite Pistol, Shotgun, Flamethrower, and a Minigun), a flashlight, and a motion tracker. I think that most of them are neat, the shotgun is double barrel so you can shoot both of them at once with the alternate fire, the Plasma Rifle has a grenade launcher, the pistol has a three shot burst, the Minigun follows the enemy, and the Flamethrower shoots gas which makes enemies a lot more vulnerable to fire. The best weapon is the scoped rifle because it does the most damage and goes really long range, next comes the minigun (also called the Smart gun). Predators get better weaponry. They have cloaking, Proximity Mines, a Combi stick (Javelin that comes back to you), a Gyro Blade, and the Plasma Blaster from the movies. With cloaking and the ability to jump from place to place, the Predators can take down both species in a couple of seconds. They make Humans look really stupid because they have an ability to distract their Prey (like in the newest movie about just the Predators). Only Humans fall for it in the campaign and I believe that if it is used in the multiplayer, it just messes up their motion detector. All of them have hand to hand combat but if the Marines fight the Aliens in the way, they get burned. Predators would push them away then rip out their Spine.
That pretty much sums up what the combat consists in the game. The game takes some of the moves from the movies, for example the heavy hit with the Predators comes from the first movie.
The actually game has no bad mechanics other than no crouching which I though was weird but it really isn't needed all that much. Just like in any other game, if you get pushed to the corner you COULD be done for depending on how you maneuver. Other than these two things, the game is pretty well done. I am surprised that not more people are playing it. This game will entertain me for a good time.
One note I must add: If you have Turtle Beaches, Headphones, or Surround Sound that you use for games, I highly recommend that you use them for this game. It makes the game feel like a horror movie, especially if you play the Marine Missions. I recommend anyway who likes Aliens or Predators to play this game and anyone who is into first person shooter. I don't recommend for people to buy this game if they are looking for a multiplayer game. The story is a lot of fun. | video-games_xbox |
Wild, Outrageous Fun. This game sweeped me off my feet in almost every sense. This offering from Kojima is truly a joy in the midst of standard hack n' slashes and the ever increasing number of FPS's. There are so many elements of this game to be appreciated -- from the unique Zandetsu mechanic, to the ever-interesting war philosophy, to the Kojima-Japanese style cinematics -- but these aren't for everyone, so read on before buying this one.
GAMEPLAY:
The gameplay alone is what sets this apart as it bears the Kojima signature. Players looking for a stealthy MGS as before will be sorely disappointed. As I am sure you are aware, Raiden is a sword-wielding mercenary of sorts. MGRR centers on you cutting up your enemies with flair in a seemingly new way. How is this accomplished? It's called Zandetsu. When enabled, Raiden goes into a slow motion real-time mode where the player manually cuts enemies using the right analog stick. The game tracks how many cuts you have placed, and there are certain bonuses and unlockables for cutting certain limbs at specific times. It might sound too gruesome, but in this universe your enemies are mostly machines and cyborgs, so the human gore level is actually very low. Needless to say, if you had an obsession with swords as a young lad like me, this game will do a very, very good job of satisfying that if you are now a grown-up.
Like most hack n' slashes, there are two main attack buttons which can be used in various combos to chain attacks. Some combos are unlocked as you go through the campaign, but you will learn early on that most combos in the game will need to be unlocked through points you accumulate by playing through each of the game's chapters. Speaking of these points, you are given a letter grade after certain engagements in each chapter. The better you are with Zandetsu and the better you are at blocking and not taking damage, you will receive a higher score and thus higher points to spend. Not only can you unlock combo moves for Raiden, but you can unlock upgrades to his health, Zandetsu-energy levels (this ability is not infinite), weapons, etc. This score-point system is well-done and will make you keep playing through chapters as you aim to unlock more combos and upgrades.
Other cool features are blocking and the ninja run. When in combat, blocking enemy attacks makes for a great way to knock enemies off guard and keep yourself from getting damaged. Also, with the audio sound of blocking, as you get good at it (blocking will take practice to become efficient at) you will feel like a true swordmaster. As far as ninja run, holding down one of the triggers while moving makes Raiden run very quickly, allowing him to surprise enemies, auto-hurdle over scalable objects, and dodge incoming attacks if needed. Using both these features in boss battles makes for an extremely satisfying experience. There's nothing like keeping up with your enemies at high speeds and blocking all of their attacks with such a high level of gusto here.
This leads me to my favorite feature of the game, the boss battles. I don't want to spoil anything, but every single boss battle is very creatively done, from the characters to their attacks and so on. If you've played MGS games, then you know how crafty Kojima can get when putting together his bosses. Like I said I don't want to spoil anything, but I will say a huge drawback for me is I wish they would have added in a few more into the game.
STORY:
Can this game's story keep up with its gameplay? It's a tough call. On one hand, it is definitely nowhere near as developed as MGS games in either plot or characters. On the other hand, this game-type is a first from Kojima so it's understandable if the story isn't on the same level. A plus is that this game centers on the philosophy of privatized war, with the controlled supply and demand, the justification of killing, etc., galore. By the end of the game some players can feel the game comes off as anti-American, but what's more likely going on here is America is simply an easy platform to discuss the game's philosophy. Not to mention with the rise in drone and AI use in today's combat, I feel Kojima's philosophies on privatized wars, new AI tech, and where humans fit in, this sort of discussion is becoming increasingly relevant.
As far as characters go, I think Raiden's look and ambition are cool, but that's about it. His emotions rise up here and there, but ultimately without knowing much about his background he doesn't give much reason for players to care about what he's doing as much as they should care overall about the implications of war. Also, none of the other characters are developed unless you take the time to listen to all the conversations on the infamous comlink. At least, in my opinion, the dialogue isn't too cheesy. If you are familiar with the cheesiness of Final Fantasies and other JRPGs from trying too hard in recent years, you'll probably sigh a huge "phew" of relief as I did.
One thing I appreciated was the saturation of cinematics. Gamers who loved the Playstation years where games from Japan covered their games in cinematics (as well as lovers of games like ME and MGS who dig cinematics) will have some great nostalgic moments with these.
So overall, the story isn't terrific, but it certainly isn't terrible. Would I recommend you to buy the game on story alone? That I wouldn't do. Rather, it makes a nice accompaniment to the main reason you should buy the game: the combat.
REPLAYABILITY:
This is very important to address as I believe there are some misconceptions here, namely with how long the game is. If you buy this game to play the campaign once, will this game be short? Yes, very short. If you buy this game to be played multiple times, unlocking and upgrading what you will, will this game be short? Not at all. According to the in-game clock, I beat the campaign in 8ish hours. However, the game doesn't count deaths or cinematics. When Looking at Raptr, I beat the campaign in 12ish hours when all was said and done. Take into account several things. You can't unlock everything in a single playthrough. It's impossible. Want all the upgrades? You'll need to playthrough several times, getting perfect S scores along the way. There are also unlockable "VR" (Virtual Reality) missions, which will test your skills as you complete a set of combat-tasks with the aim to beat a record time. Lastly, with 5-6 difficulties that truly require you to practice to beat them, if you plan on keeping this game and playing it over and over, there is no reason you can't put 30+ hours into MGRR.
So with so many things I appreciate, why no perfect score? Well, there are a few glaring drawbacks. First, while the dialogue is not cheesy, the music is horrible. Cheesy metal flows all throughout the game, and I absolutely hate it. Secondly, as is usual with hack n' slashes, camera angles can be an issue in some minor battles and did cause me to die a number of times. Finally, while the ninja run mechanic is too much fun in combat, when out of combat the auto-jump feature triggers a little too easily. There were more than a few times where I unintentionally leaped over an edge down into a heavily guarded area, only to blow my cover prematurely (Luckily, though, the combat comes in here to save the day). As a final drawback, outside of the character models and cinematics, the graphic textures on the environment are rather poor considering how late into this console generation we are.
All in all, though, this game oozes confidence I haven't seen in a game for years. In every aspect, this game believes in itself 100%, which makes it that much more enjoyable. Seriously, though, Zandetsu is ingenious. It opens up a unique form of escapism, making it a great stress-killer from a rough day at work or school.
This may come as a surprise, but I actually do not prefer hack n' slashes. I tend to get bored with them too easily, which should tell you how much this game accomplishes in making players feel like a swashbuckling ninja with incredible speed and style. Like I mentioned previously, this game isn't for everyone. But if you took the time to read all this and like what you read, give this game a shot. It's one of the better surprises of 2013. | video-games_xbox |
Play the first one instead. I have played both Battlefront games. I have played the first one time and time again, and I still love it. Yet the second one has drastically devolved from the first game.
The thing that made Star Wars Battlefront so amazing was the fact that the player could do anything; you could choose which command posts to take, you could choose your character class, etc. You could choose whether or not you wanted to destroy the shield bunker on Endor. You could choose whether or not you wanted to blow up all three techno union ships on Geonosis. Battlefront 2 completely takes this feeling away. Now you have to do objectives in a certain order, going from one place to the next in an organized sequence. You cannot move freely from one command post to another. You do everything you are told, and that is one of the major flaws in Battlefront 2.
What's worse: on campaign mode, you're timed! That's right; you have a certain time to complete each map and go to the next. This is one of the lamest things in the game. Again: it removes the ability to move freely on the battlefield. This timing nuisance and the objectives are what have influenced me to remove a star from the game's overall rating.
Another star is lost because of the character classes. I liked using the diverse characters in Battlefront 1. When i was playing as the Rebels, I always used the wookie smuggler, because of the cool bowcaster weapon, its special grenade launcher, and the time bombs you could use to strategically take out bases and vehicles. When I was the empire, I used two classes: the dark trooper and the imperial pilot. The Dark Trooper was special because he could super-jump, and he had a wide-range blast cannon. The imperial pilot was especially difficult to use because the mortar launcher required good precision, and he also could fix machines and could drop health and ammo canisters.
I also like the droid pilot for the same reason. And as for the Republic, I always used the jet trooper, because he could fly and launch EMP's. All these character classes were not only unique, but very balanced and are only effective if used in the right hands.
Yeah...about that...you cannot use ANY of those in Battefront 2 unless you unlcok them by achieving a set amount of goals (like kills, etc.) in a map. You only start out with the same borng classes for every army, like the standard trooper, the sniper, the rocket launcher-carrier, and a new class that repairs vehicles. You have to "unlock" all special classes in order to use them, even though they were already great and fun to use when you started with them in the first game. You know the saying--"if it ain't broke, don't fix it."
Also, might I add--you cannot see enough on the screen. The target reticle for EVERY weapon in the game is too big and takes up too much space on the TV screen.
However, there were a few things I did like about the game--the fact that you could play "Hunt" mode and use the wampas to kill all the rebels, and the fact that you can be in space battles. The new classes are pretty cool as well. These are what probably contributed to enjoyable parts of the game. Heck, maybe I'll give this game another chance. But one thing's for sure: it isn't as good as the first one, and it never will be. | video-games_xbox |
Deus Ex: Fun, Fantastic, and Lengthy. Deus Ex: Human Revolution has a Blade Runner atmosphere mixed with innovative combat mechanics and a compelling story.
Human Revolution is prequel to the original game set in 2027. Players take on the role of Adam Jensen, a former SWAT officer who has been hired as the security chief for Sarif Industries. The company him and his girlfriend work for is attacked and he is almost killed. Sarif rebuilds Jensen using "augmentation" which allows players to mold Jensen into a truly unique character according to how they want to play the game. You can go through this game like a FPS or take a more tactical approach like <a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/Mass-Effect-2/dp/B001TORSII/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">Mass Effect 2</a>. There is a way for the more stealthy characters or ones who enjoy manipulating conversations. It all depends on how you want to play. Guns and gadgets are heavily varied and combat never gets old. I will replay this game using a different "pillar of gameplay" as the developers put it. The closest game I could compare this is to is probably <a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/Alpha-Protocol/dp/B001D25M1Q/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">Alpha Protocol</a>. Only it doesn't have all the bugs and problems Alpha did.
The graphics may seem a little dated to some, but in my opinion fit this game perfectly. Settings are beautifully designed and characters are interesting and unique. One of my few gripes is there really isn't any way to make Jensen seem "closer" to the characters like we see in games like <a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/Mass-Effect/dp/B000OLXX86/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">Mass Effect</a>. Nonetheless, this doesn't detract from the story at all. The soundtrack seams perfectly with the game.
The story is brilliant. Excellent voice actors convey the characters emotions perfectly. Biotechnology and political (and industrial) espionage is rampant in this game. The plot continues at a steady pace and ends on a satisfying conclusion.
Other than a few A.I. glitches here and there, this game is stellar. The Augmented Edition comes with a Making-Of-Featurette, Game Soundtrack, Hardcover Artbook (Which isn't just screenshots from the game, character designs and sets are included), and the motion graphic novel. The motion comic was entertaining. For an extra $10, this is a steal.
If you enjoy fun FPS, RPGs, or just want to try something new. This game is recommended for you. | video-games_xbox |
Probably the best tactical hack n slash to date though there are a few minor qualms. Some of you probably saw me on Xbox live. If I seemed "aloof" I offer my sincerest apologies but most of you know once I get a new Tecmo/Koei game I'm completely oblivious to reality! (Still, I'm friendly enough if you pm me. Don't worry, I don't bite off upper torsos!)
So Warriors of Orochi 3 is everything I hoped it would be. It's a historical and mythological based empowerment fantasy without all the nasty pillaging, raping, genocide, and torture nonsense that actually happened during "the olden days". Sure, you slay thousands of enemies but they don't leak vital fluids and most of them are snake demon-people, Boar headed ogres, and manically laughing cheesy super villains who are VERY loosely based upon non-fictional tyrannical jerk-bags!
There's definitely heartfelt sincerity and innate substance radiating from the newest "warriors" game to date. Whether it's the delight of a fully colored instruction manual or the fact there are 130 unlockable "dudes" and "babes", WO3 is a complete revival of old school gaming industry standards. (Aka you get your money's worth)
My first impressions of this game are overwhelmed enthusiasm. Should I talk about the totally sic multi headed hydra that's the main fixture of the first level? Should I reveal we can change past events so certain heroes and heroines can be unlocked via dramatic rescues in the knick-of-time? Should I go over the "bonds" relationship dynamic, the rpg leveling up mechanic, the weapon fusion system, or switching between 3 team-mates on the fly to string together intricate combos? There's so much here and what's even more remarkable is the story line isn't half bad!
Beyond that Warriors Of Orochi 3 is more of the same for the genre. You cut down thousands of enemy soldiers on foot. When that gets boring you whistle for your trusty horse and mount up! Amongst the chaos there are routine objectives such as taking over the bases of adversaries, escorting important people to safety, using a medieval tank to plow through blockades, coming to the aid of a struggling allied general, pulling a lever to flood an area, and taking advantage of a catapult to knock down large barred doors. None of this is avant garde yet it's still rewarding that some amount of "strategy" is necessary alongside the mindless hacking and slashing to attain victory.
Tecmo/Koei has once again taken advantage of my affections for ancient civilizations, swords & sorcery, mythical beasts, beautiful women, Kung Fu theatrics, and traditional warfare!
What's more of the same
1. As you complete missions you acquire "growth points". Though the team you play as levels up quickly on its' own, you can use accumulated experience to improve anyone on the roster you want to.
2. WO3 is still more or less the "king of fighters or "marvel vs. capcom" variant of the warriors franchise. Aka, you actually control 3 characters at once and you can switch them in and out to string together combos or unleash a "special fusion attack" where they all do a stunning area clearing technique simultaneously.
3. Unlike other warriors games, WO3 opts for less historical accuracy and more supernatural elements rooted in Asian folklore and mythology. Not to say "Dynasty Warriors and "Samurai Warriors" strive to be 100% accurate themselves but WO3 is twice as over the top as either franchise. (Which makes since on account it is both franchises combined)
4. Weapon fusion is still easy as pie. By smelting weapons of the same type down and putting them together you can add more attribute slots and beneficial traits to them.
5. There are side-mission requirements to do alongside the main objective but you're not forced to do them. It's mainly for if you desire extra growth points or more weapon drops.
6. Any mission can be played on any difficulty right off the bat. Aka, if you scoff how quickly you can decimate whole armies on "easy" or "normal" you can sate your inner masochist by trying the same skirmishes on hard or chaos. (Though I suggest buffing up your favorite characters before hand.)
7. There's a "free mode" if you want to go back and re-play certain maps without that annoying "plot-progression" present to interrupt your barbaric hoard slaying fun!
What has changed
1. Warriors of orochi 3 now has a base camp where you congregate before accepting missions. By throwing "tea parties" you can level up the bonds of your allies thus increasing the likelihood they will come in and help you during a battle. Aka, WO3 has borrowed a few of the better aspects of Dynasty Warriors 7.
2. The beautiful benign priestess Kaguya helps you travel through time. This is a very pivotal part of the plot. It's your goal to rescue allies before they die in the past so you can build up your chances of defeating Orochi (The Serpent King) in the present.
3. The stakes aren't high only for Japan and China anymore. A few European and other-worldly heroes are sucked into Orochi's vortex as well. Ever wanted to play as Joan De'arch, Achilles, Ryu Hayabusa, Ayane, and an assortment of other strangers in a strange land? Now you can! WO3 has the most robust and varied character roster in the series to date! It's pretty much Tecmo/Koei's "Super Smash Brothers" and what is there not to love about that?
4. It's no secret this series doesn't exactly sell akin to hot cakes here in the west. To make a North American/European release possible, Tecmo/Koei had to cut the cost of English voice acting. This means we have to do a lot of "reading". As much as that prospect may terrify or disgust certain gamers, I'm happy with it. In my youth most of my favorite games conveyed the story line and character relationships through scrolling text so it's no problem for me to deal with this slight hindrance today.
5. There is online co-op to compliment the local co-op but I haven't tried it quite yet.
6. Dream mode has been dropped and replaced by a musou battle-field edit mode where you can fool around with different scenarios by changing generals, troop types, enemy encounters, and conditions. However, you have to clock a lot of hours into the main campaign to unlock additional options for the edit mode. (Tigers and Lu Bu clones for the win! Trololololo!)
7. The graphics have been greatly improved. WO3 is on par with Dynasty Warriors 7 which is a major compliment.
8. There are fewer identical move sets. Aka, though two characters may have the same weapon type their "special techniques" and even a few of their basic attacks are usually vastly unique from each other.
9. The strength,technique,and speed designations for characters still exist but now there is a 4th designation called "wonder". It's my bet this is another "mystic class" that focuses on wider area effect magic spells.
Flaws
1. Warriors Of Orochi has a long tradition of omitting officer profile information. It's strange how you can unlock movable 3D models, sound tracks, additional costumes, and wall-papers yet a basic character write up is as elusive as a fox in a hole! Sadly, WO3 is not the exception to this rule.
2. Characters seem "scaled down" a bit from Dynasty warriors 7. The stunning attention to detail is still present but the 3D models seem a tad "smaller" somehow.
3. Sometimes learning exactly where to be on a map at the right times boils down to trial and error. Aka, certain missions are very easy to fail on the first try.
4. Characters are limited to only one weapon type. If you were smitten by DW7's "weapon switch system" its' omission in WO3 may add a sour after-taste to your otherwise deliciously sweet return to feudal fantasy land.
Ending verdict
If you been dead set on hating this franchise from the very beginning I'm not going to be able to change your mind. Still, you should know WO3 got a high mark even with IGN and we all know how much IGN has ragged on and slandered every warriors game before now. Another words, if you get only one warriors game EVER for your collection this is the one you should consider.
Frankly, I cannot argue with the bargain I'm getting here. 130 playable characters?! An epic story they can span +50 hours?! A relationship simulator built into my strategic hacking & slashing?! Nods to my favorite Japanese and Chinese legends?! Allowing me to finally be Achilles, Joan, Ayane, and Ryu in a musou game?! Stop reading my mind Tecmo/Koei! Better yet, just take my money!
If you're not a diehard fan "+C"
A C+ means though this game is not rooted in your favorite genre it's still bursting with quality content and is an excellent buy. While you will not count WO3 amongst the "perfect jewels" in your game collection it'll serve its' purpose as an awesome "party game" when friends are over. It's also a great stress reliever on account it's easy to jump right into without a lengthy tutorial. Whenever you're hankering for an old school beat em up WO3 will be there to sate your hunger! (And you don't even have to feed quarters into the coin slots!)
If you are a diehard fan "+A"
For those of us into Asian influenced fantasy epics, J-rpgs, anime, manga, old martial arts flicks, beat em ups, and the warriors games in general WO3 is a must buy. Say what you will about Tecmo/Koei but you cannot accuse them of neglecting their fan base. With each Warriors game they up the ante considerably and make improvements across the board. I remember how impressed I was with Dynasty Warriors 7 and thought it couldn't be surpassed but by golly, WO3 proved me wrong! | video-games_xbox |
A whole new level of gaming. I've been playing fighting games since the days of Street Fighter on my old Genesis and I've always used a standard controller. I haven't played many in the current gen because the Xbox controller in particular is horrible for fighting games. I decided to bite the bullet and purchase a fight stick that I could use for all of my systems.
Pros:
High quality Sanwa parts
Heavy construction
Multi-platform compatible
This stick is made with Sanwa parts, the same company that makes the parts for arcade cabinets. Since they are using the industry standard, all of the parts are easily replaceable if you manage to wear them out. I opened mine up and replaced the square restrictor plate with an octagonal one (yes, I'm a gate rider) but it was fast and easy. It took me longer to open the bottom of the stick than it took to remove the old part and install the new one. Once I got it open I saw that everything is very neatly organized inside with no stray wires anywhere. Even inside the box, where most consumers will never see, is put together with the utmost care.
The bottom plate is metal with rubber feet for a table surface and felt for your lap. No matter where I have the stick, it stays put. It appears to be some hollow plastic when you look at it, but it's definitely got some heft to it. If you play on your lap, it's heavy enough to stay where you put it without sliding around, but also not so heavy that it becomes uncomfortable.
There's a switch that enable the stick to be used on the Xbox 360, PS3, or PC. I've played on both Xbox 360 and PS3 (multiple games on each system) and it works beautifully on both. You do have to remember to flip the switch before changing systems, though. If you plug into the PS3 while it's in the Xbox position, you have to unplug it, flip the switch, then plug it back in. Yes, that's an obvious thing to point out, but I've forgotten to hit the switch more than once.
Cons:
Turbo button
Not only is a turbo button on a fight stick superfluous, this one is garbage. My son pressed it one night while he was playing Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom 3, and the damn thing just started going haywire. Instead of turning a held button into a rapid series of presses, it just started sending the rapid-fire presses to the system even when no buttons were being pressed. Pressing a different button didn't change the signal being sent (it continued sending the A command). Pressing the turbo button a second time didn't turn off the function as you would imagine. In fact, pressing the button a second time did nothing at all. I had to unplug the stick to turn off the turbo function. Why is it even there? What purpose does it serve if it doesn't work?
Other thoughts:
Button sensitivity
The buttons on this thing are ridiculously sensitive. That's not so much a con as it is something to be aware of when you purchase it. I've gotten used to resting my fingers on my keyboard when I play PC games, or resting my fingers on the buttons at an arcade. You can't do that with this stick. The buttons are so sensitive that resting your fingers on the buttons, even lightly, will result in the button registering an action.
Again, this is NOT a con. This is a good thing. Less action required means faster inputs. It's something you'll need to practice with before you're comfortable, so I thought it deserved a mention. | video-games_xbox |
Good, but mic monitoring/ mic sensitivity needs work. Let me first say that Im very impressed with these headphones when it comes to audio quality when connected to both my xbox one and my mac (at different times, obviously.) Ive mostly been using the default Astro equalizer setting for game audio and music and the sound is pleasing.
However, coming from the Turtle Beach XO One (cost of what this does), the microphone and mic monitoring leave something to be desired. The microphone neck itself is annoyingly elastic you can try to move it closer to your mouth and it will stay part of the way, but will always bounce back a little bit to a straighter position. The microphone only really hears you if it is 1-2 inches away from your mouth, meaning that its somewhat impossible to eat and talk at the same time (I know, something I shouldnt be doing anyway.) It IS possible to achieve the desired level of mic monitoring, but ONLY when you adjust other settings (mainly gain and voice/game balance) to less than ideal levels.
I believe that mic monitoring should be at the same level, no matter what these other settings are, so you always know exactly how loud you are being all the time. I feel like Im constantly playing around with the settings but never getting them where I want them. When I put the game/voice balance all the way to voice and gain at a MINIMUM of 50%, mic monitoring starts to sound the way it should and the way the XO One does (how you normally hear yourself when not wearing headphones). However, when voice is at max the people talking to you are very loud and you can barely hear the game sound. This is a huge problem.
So couple the annoyingly elastic microphone and poor mic-monitoring settings and you have a mic that isn't great for casual online communication. It seems like Im in the minority looking for aggressive mic-monitoring since the headset has been out for a few months and Astro still hasn't attempted to resolve or acknowledge the issue. Sometimes I cant even tell if people can hear me because the monitoring doesnt register. A lot of the support online simply suggests moving the mic closer to your mouth, but this is pretty hard when the mic bounces halfway back to where it was before.
Note that I did try plugging the XO Ones into the TR mixamp and mic monitoring was expectedly worseits surprising that that pathetic little controller headset adapter does a better job of anything than the $130 mixamp.
My a 3-star review comes out of frustration from the inflexible/insensitive mic and the underwhelming mic monitoringboth of which are done better by a much cheaper product. I feel like most of my issues with this headset can be addressed in a firmware update Id happily update my rating to 4+ stars if that turns out to be the case. If you don't care about mic monitoring or knowing that your voice is always registering, pretend this is a 4-star review. | video-games_xbox |
Nice game for beginners (and lefties. Gotta say I was skeptical about Rocksmith from the get-go. Given the somewhat disappointing attempt by Rock Band to incorporate a pro guitar feature with the (lackluster) Mustang controller, I was wondering how a real guitar would translate into the video game world. I am glad this game proved me wrong. Plugging in a real guitar is a snap (just plug the cable into the guitar, hook the cable up to your xbox via USB, turn on the game and you're ready to rock), and the game is pretty much self-explanatory.
I won't rehash what all the other reviewers said. I'll just share my personal experience with this game. As a drummer in real-life who has cursory experience with the guitar via right-handed guitar lessons way back in the day - I wanted to relearn the instrument with my natural left hand. Coupled with my love for the xbox, I figured I'd give this game a try. Overall, I really felt it was fun and I liked how the game is forgiving and really adapts (on the go even in mid song) based on your skill level. It's a wonderful feature that I think makes this a great game for beginners. I do agree with others that this game might be too easy for intermediate players, but all in all it's a fun learning tool and the fact it works for lefties is GREAT! I only docked a star because I wish this game had the option of teaching you how to read TAB or sheet music, but hopefully that will be addressed in Rocksmith 2 (if it ever comes out). Otherwise, this is a great game/learning tool for folks looking to start from scratch.
Note I do notice a slight delay on my TV (I'm using HDMI connection to a Sony LCD), but it's not that terrible. I did adjust the lag to help compensate.
Pros:
Easy to pick up, plug in and play
Nice that the game keeps reminding you to tune your guitar
Fun mini-games help with practice
Useful lessons for techniques such as hammer-ons, pull-offs etc
Works for left and right handed guitars
Adapts to your skill level as you play
Decent songs and DLC support (for now)
Cons:
Cumbersome interface with long load times
No option to learn tab/read music
There is the prospect of lag with HDMI only connection | video-games_xbox |
Great Value but Not for Everyone. Allow me to preface this with an apology for the length of this review. This bundle made up of four individual items, and as a result I wrote about them all. If you already know what all the individual items are and just want to know if this bundle is a good value then the simple answer is yes.
While I would like to give this Item a five star rating (for myself, it is a solid 4.5 stars) at best I can give it is a 3 for reasons stated in the descriptions of the items.
For those that want to know more about the individual items and the package itself please read on...
This bundle of item is only as useful as you make it. For myself, It is a great value but for you it may not be. It really depends on your online play style and what you do with it.
As an online gamer I enjoy talking to other players, and I am fairly active on my messaging. Not only that, but I do play online quite regularly, I buy games online, as well as additional content. For me, there is nothing in this bundle that I do not use, so the value is definitely there when compared to buying them separately (all prices are new products, not used).
1 year XBOX live subscription: $60 retail/$40-$50 online XBOX Live Chat Pad: $30 Retail/$20-25 Online XBOX Live Microphone: $20 Retail/$15 Online 400 Microsoft Points: $5 retail/$5 Online
As you can see, at best you are saving $55 off of retail, at worst about $20. And this is where the subjective part comes in. This is only a value if you actually take advantage of everything this has to offer. I can assure you that many people online don't. For those that do, if you can get it for less then $70 (I picked it up at $60) I would highly recommend it.
Now to the Actual products:
1) XBOX Live Gold Subscription 1 year: There is nothing to say here, other then you need it if you plan to play multiplayer games online. If you do not plan to play online then this package is not for you. <-- emphasize that period. If you don't plan to get online and play with other people then do not bother, just save your money.
The live service itself is great, and the Microsoft support is good. The problem with this premium service is the online games. The lack of dedicated servers results in a large host advantage, the lack of support in individual games (try calling Bungie to get help with a Halo Problem), and the childish (adult or otherwise) gamers out there who's only purpose in life is to bother other players.
XBOX live gold in my opinion is the best online gaming service out there for console gamers, but it is far from perfect.
2) Xbox Live Chat Pad: This package comes with the black chat pad (there is a white one out there also)and as I understand it, there are no real third party options for it. It is a bit of a pain to put on but it is very secure once locked in, and it melds into the controller. It does add a little bit of weight but, for myself, it is barely noticeable during extended gaming sessions. The keys click but don't have much throw to them, think of the mini-keyboards on cell phones. the number 1 and 0 are a bit wonky but work, maybe it's just the half size keys or their placement on the corners of the chat pad. Besides the shift key, you also have a Green Square and Orange Circle, for special characters used in European and Latin Countries. The Square and Circle only light up when they are toggled and it's easy to read.
This device is all about convenience and not needed in any way shape or form because you can just send voice messages, or use the soft keyboard. Having said that, voice recordings don't always come out clear and sometimes require multiple recordings, and using the soft keyboard takes a lot more time then the chat pad.
3) Xbox Live Headset Communicator: Easily the weakest part of this bundle, I have a love hate relationship with this thing. Quite honestly, it is a flimsy, cheap, microphone. The noise cancellation on it is worthless if you play with anything resembling a decent volume, and you will mute people online because of it, and many people just do not talk online. Quality wise, It's not worth 10 dollars, let alone the 20 retail people ask for it.
On the other hand... When you get a good group and are playing with friends online I can't imagine not having it. It's like the old days of playing the NES on the couch with a group of friends. The advantages of talking and co-coordinating with your group or just finding out what happened during a game or on your favorite tv show really outweigh the cons. You are able to get to know folk, even if it is only their online personality.
For those that are wondering why I don't just find an alternate headset, the truth is that I have been searching and it's been miss and miss. They don't fit into the controller right, stop working in the middle of a game, and in general are just to much of a hassle. I have used Jabra, Skull Candy, Bose, and Logitech mic/earbuds and not a one has just plugged in and worked. All required some type of adjustment to get it to work. Quite Simply, it's just easier to take care of the headset communicator then to have to fiddle with other devices.
4) 400 microsoft points: This is five dollars in microsoft money. Once on your live account they don't do away, and can be used to buy games, buy additional downloadable content, or buy little electronic gear for your avatar. With the constant specials MS has going on this can often get you a decent game (I bought Pac Man Championship Edition with it, very fun game).
As you can see there is a lot of hit and miss. Nothing here is needed, and all it does is make things more convenient for you. For those gamers like myself, it is truly worth the money, for the average gamer though, a gold subscription is all you really need, and that is anywhere from 15-30 dollars less. then this bundle. | video-games_xbox |
Boring, forgettable story, repetitive gameplay, but it works. Watch Dogs is an example of an open-world game that just didn't need to be open-world. While the city is big, there's very little with which you can interact. Buildings you can actually enter are rare. There's no reason why Watch Dogs could not have been developed with "linear levels" instead of a vast open world with little to do.
I'll get this out of the way first. The game works well. I only ran into a single campaign bug in which a scripted event did not trigger, forcing me to exit and replay a small section since my last checkpoint. On Xbox 360, this game looks fine. While I don't believe it is one of the best looking games on Xbox 360, at no point did I think I needed to play it on the newer hardware. That said, I don't believe this game is a "new hardware seller" -- there's no reason to buy the newest hardware based on the gameplay.
I played the campaign, and stuck mostly to the campaign. The campaign is LONG. I don't quite know how long, but the game is divided into five "acts", each of which has countless missions. Act 2 is the longest. By the time I made it to the middle of Act 2, I was ready for the game to be over. There's simply no reason to care about the story. It is not emotional, and Aiden's motivation for his actions is unconvincing. The secondary characters are equally boring and unimportant.
Gameplay involves going to a location and either hacking something or killing somebody. Be prepared to drive...A LOT. This is the problem with open-world games -- developers purposefully make reasons for you to traverse the map. Making things particularly challenging is that "fast travel" across the map is disabled during missions. Therefore, you MUST drive. Once you get to your destination, you can either stealthily reach your goal or go in guns-a-blazing. While the former makes things easy, both are just as easy. If you're patient (which makes the game even longer), you can take a nearly all-stealth approach. The stealth approach does draw you in, however -- it is very immersive.
Variations on missions include guiding somebody to safety, stealthily of course, or taking down enemies who are driving a vehicle. The take-down missions were extremely painful. The game offers multiple environmental offensive/defensive obstacles that you can trigger. Sometimes you are being pursued, sometimes you are pursuing, but usually you are dealing with both -- you are pursuing somebody AND somebody is pursuing you. The problem is that typically, you can't time the environmental obstacles just right. Additionally, you only unlock them as you gain XP and spend points to unlock various abilities. Take-down missions usually always end in a shootout. And it's quite easy to die, especially if backup or police were in pursuit, which means you need to complete the entire take-down mission again.
I had to play some of the missions repeatedly because checkpoints are bad, you take damage quickly, and objectives are not clear. Repeatedly playing the same sequences isn't my idea of "fun". A more forgiving checkpoint system would have prevented this feeling I got from the game.
While the city is "alive", it's not necessarily bustling. You can hack people for money -- but there's very little use for money in the game. You can buy materials to craft weapons -- explosives, blackouts, etc. -- but since you can also find these materials in most missions, it seems unnecessary. There's a bit of traffic in the game, but very few parked cars. For a game that places a heavy emphasis on driving, this seems counter-intuitive.
I barely touched the sidequests in this game, only because the campaign was long enough for me. Sidequests have no impact on the story or your progress, so there's no point in completing them. You can complete the campaign easily on "normal" without completing any optional sidequests, while unlocking a majority of the skills. Which makes me ask: "why are there sidequests?"
Very little of the story is delivered through cutscenes, with most of it being delivered in phone conversations. This is annoying at times, because once you complete a mission, you often have to wait through one or more telephone conversations before you get your next objective. And if you quit, you'll have to listen to the same conversations again the next time you start the game, before your objective marker is shown to you.
I think Watch Dogs is a game that has to be experienced, only because it promised so much. In the end, however, it was extremely slow, boring, and repetitive. I'm not compelled to go back to it, and really can't recommend it based on my experience. | video-games_xbox |
Complete unique and fresh experience. I have completely rewritten this review to add more detail as we've uncovered more Infinity goodness!
We've been playing for hours upon hours since Sunday's release, so I feel I have a good grasp on most aspects of the game. Forgive me if I tend to compare Infinity to Skylanders as it's somewhat inevitable given that many people are here because of their interest in the former game. If you're interested in my direct comparison, continue on, but keep in mind that despite the similarities, these two games are entirely different.
My initial thoughts on the game are how well-made and how deeply complex it is. For anyone who has played Toy Story 3, the play sets will instantly feel familiar. The Toy Box mode from Toy Story 3 is recreated here in almost identical fashion. Missions are located by glowing blue beacons in the sky and marked by a ! over their heads. A waypoint indicator (optional) is back again to guide you to the location of your mission objective. Back as well are all the little collectibles to pick up around every turn. Having spent a lot of time with the Cars play set with my son, it's also very familiar to find that the cars are controlled exactly like they are in Cars 2 (which happens to be the only game that we've ever unlocked every single achievement in!). The turbo meter is back and the controls for driving and racing are almost identical, with a few new additions. The same tricks and stunts can be performed here, and while the races aren't as long or varied as with Cars 2, all the familiarity is awesome for this Cars-loving family. It really feels like a mini Cars 2 game within the bigger game.
The game in general is very easy to jump right into. The tutorial is brief and gets you acquainted with the basic controls that apply to all characters. Once you enter a play set, you will be briefly introduced to their special controls as each character set has their own abilities. You start out in the Toy Box, and this will be my first (and probably only) complaint about the game. You are dropped in the Toy Box with very little explanation about how to do anything. It's possible that we missed something as my son was excitedly mashing buttons, but I felt a little lost initially. (EDIT: After going back, there is a tutorial for the Toy Box itself, but I haven't yet been permitted to complete it!) The possibilities are so immense that it's hard to fathom, and the manual says nothing about this. More on that later. Onto the Skylanders comparison!
Similarities:
- Figures: Clearly the biggest similarity is the collectible figures. Although the need to hot swap characters as is the case with Skylanders, you're probably fine with just a single character until you come across an area or item that can only be accessed by a specific hero. Very similar to elemental gates, though it's usually just a chest unlocked an not a new challenge area. While Disney may have shot themselves in the foot for not pressuring you to have all the figures, it's refreshing to be able to experience the game with just a single favorite and not feeling like you're missing out, or worse, not being able to complete the game because you don't have all the necessary elements. If you are a completionist, however, you will want them all as each character is represented in the game's Hall of Heroes by a grand statue that changes as the character gains levels. If you want to unlock every single item in the game, you'll also need all the characters, but these items aren't essential to gameplay and are for Toy Box and cosmetic use only.
That said, you do have to have at least one character from each play set to play in those worlds. This isn't an issue since each of the three worlds that come in the starter pack are also accompanied by three characters, one from each of those worlds. The Cars and Lone Ranger play sets also come with characters from those worlds, so not being able to "complete" a given play set should never be an issue. On the other hand, if you want to play multiplayer in any of the play sets, be prepared to have TWO characters from each world. While you can have two of the same (two Lightning McQueen, for example) you MUST have two from that world, or you and your kids will not be able to play together in that world. If you want to play multiplayer in Monsters right off the bat, you will need to pick up Randall or Mike. If you want to play Incredibles in multiplayer, you need Mrs. Incredible, Violet or Dash. I know some think this is "underhanded" by Disney, but to me, this really isn't any different than Skylanders forcing you to go out and buy at least five more figures to be able to experience the entire game. You can experience all Infinity has to offer with what you get in the starter pack, but if you want to play multiplayer (and who wouldn't?!) you need to plan on buying three other figures. The great thing about the Infinity figures is that multiple people can share the same figure. More on that in differences!
- Leveling and Upgrades: Figures do level up and receive upgrades, though their upgrades are specific to their world. Meaning if Holley Shiftwell receives the Turbo 2 upgrade, it's only persistent in the Cars play set. I started a new save game in the Cars play set to try a few things out, and I no longer had my previous upgrades, but my experience level and money did persist between games. In Toy Box mode, it appears you automatically have all of the general upgrades, regardless of your progression in the play set. Experience here is called Sparks, and is obtained by completing missions, challenges, and also by smashing stuff. Likewise with money.
- Objectives: In Infinity, objectives are called missions. Each play set has a long list of tasks to complete, ranging from very simple to quite challenging. There is definitely a lot here to keep the completionist busy for a long time. Where each Skylanders level has a variety of very similar tasks to complete, each of the 5 Infinity worlds has a wide variety of different challenges.
- Challenges: Infinity's version of Heroic Challenges and Arena Battles is Challenges. Some are unlocked through story progression and others are purchased with coins. Each challenge has three difficulty levels and you appear to have to complete them in order. For example, completing easy unlocks medium, medium unlocks hard. For each level you complete, you get a "mark" on the icon above the challenge entrance, up to three total. The color also changes, which affects how you see them from afar. Uncompleted challenges glow yellow, while completed challenges are red so you can easily see which ones aren't complete and where they are on the map when you're exploring. Challenges range from racing around different tracks to trying to shoot a certain number of targets in a specific amount of time. Some are very simple, and some I've struggled to complete at the hard level. The racing challenges are actually very.. well, challenging!
Differences:
- Power Discs: This is an all new idea and plays into the fun of the chase as each Power Disc pack has two random discs in it. There already appears to be rare ones as we happened to find two that were a different color and had holographic designs on them rather than a regular picture. The circular variety give activated powers (like invulnerability or increased health) and the hexagonal discs give you things to play with in Toy Box, be it a new theme for your world or a new toy to play with. We've found several different cars, including Mickey's car, Cinderella's carriage and the ride car from the Astro Blasters attraction at the Disney parks. Each one plays familiar music when you ride around in it. We also found Stitch's ray gun which is very fun to chase each other around with! There is no point in having more than one hexagonal disc as using them once unlocks the item permanently, but it may be worth having two of each circle disc so that each player can use the same power up if desired. I've also heard that the 3DS version of the game allows you to "stack" two power ups at once, so also something to keep in mind when collecting the discs.
- Upgrades: You shouldn't expect all of your upgrades to be about improving your character. While many are, about half are related to improving the world that you're in. For example, the cars get upgrades that increase their speed, towing ability, missiles, etc, but they also receive upgrades that spruce up the town, be it by adding new citizens or a new venue to the town. At the start, only Flo's V8 Cafe and Luigi's Casa Della Tires are present, but through upgrades you can purchase stores for Sarge, Filmore, Ramone, Lizzie, etc. Purchasing these stores also opens up new missions for you to complete, and as a result, new items and upgrades.
- Character Swapping: While it was an oversight on my part, I was expecting to be able to play all characters in all play sets, but I was a bit sad to find out that in the play sets, you must play characters from those worlds. Cars can only play in Cars world, pirates in the pirates world, etc. While I've come to enjoy the game despite this, I wish it was open like Skylanders where you could play your favorite character no matter where you are. That said, I do understand why they have this restriction, because certain characters just wouldn't work with the mechanics in other play sets. For example, Lightning McQueen can't ride a horse in the Lone Ranger and Jack Sparrow can't tow cars who've run out of gas back to Flo's. However, in Toy Box mode, anything goes and you can run races with Sully or wield a gun with Mike. Truly with the Toy Box, your imagination (and grasp of the controls) are your only limitations.
- Customizable World: You can change the look and feel of any of the buildings in your play sets. This is persistent to your game save, so I visit my son's world, I see how he has decorated Flo's V8 Cafe with pictures of Mater. If he visits mine, he sees an overload of pink and flowers! Customizing is very simple and intuitive and should be very easy for kiddos to pick up on, especially if they've played Toy Story 3. The interface for customizing is almost identical here. You interact with the building by pushing the button displayed on the screen, and it presents a graphical panel of options for customizing various parts of the building. This can be done at anytime and doesn't cost anything, so it's pure fun. You unlock other colors and designs by collecting them around the play set, just by picking them up. There are also countless spots where you can add your own little touches. There may be a post where you can choose to put a sign or wind chimes or whatever else you may have. And the fun part is, that persists through all other parts of the game. If you later race Chick Hicks around town, your wind chimes are there in front of the barn and your Guido Crossing sign is still in front of Luigi's shop. You can also customize the people (or cars!) who live in your world. When you first start out with the Cars play set, all the little citizen cars are just white. You can interact with each one and change them however you like, depending on which items you've found around town (and there are a great number of them). This may include a special hat, a new paint job, or new tires. You can also purchase new citizens altogether from the same menu where you purchase upgrades, which gives you new options for body types of your cars. Even as an adult, it's very fun to watch all our little creations drive around town. My son and I are constantly pointing out the ones that we've customized and complimenting each other on our designs!
- Unlockable Items: Each play set is littered with items for you to pick up and collect in little capsules, like the ones you'd see in the quarter machines. Red ones are the more common type, unlocking only one item either for your play set or for the Toy Box. Green ones unlock a whole set of items for Toy Box. Some items are cosmetic, for customizing the citizens of your world or your buildings, some are actually useful items that change how you play. The former is the more common type.
- Local Multiplayer: Clearly both games have local multiplayer, but there are many stark differences. In Skylanders, you are more or less bound to each other. You can't go anywhere independently, and that's not necessarily a bad thing for that game. After all, what's the point of beating up bad guys in multiplayer if you're not even together? That said, multiplayer in Infinity is a whole different scenario. You can work together, both directly or indirectly, or you can do your own thing entirely. As a result, multiplayer in Infinity is split screen, which we weren't crazy about at first, but now we absolutely love it. Here's why. If you're working on a mission to put out fires, you can split up and each of you can cover a different area. If you're on a stealth mission, one of you can be the lookout and guide the other from a different location. If you're racing, clearly the race wouldn't be very fun if you were stuck to each other and would kind of defeat the purpose of having a race in the first place. Given that cooperation is entirely possible, it's not required, and here's where Infinity is entirely different from Skylanders. At some point, my kiddo just wanted to drive around and customize everything and create a pile of cars that he towed to Mater's impound lot. While this looked absolutely fun and exciting (!) I wanted to continue on with missions and get more upgrades. While he was happily doing his own thing, I continued on completing missions and finding collectibles by myself. He was swapping out his cars left and right, opening chests and the like, and my game was never interrupted. There's no "loading" screen when a character is swapped, so he could change characters and power ups to his heart's content, even access menus while paused, and I was still cruising around. When one of us decided to take up a challenge, the other would be invited and given the opportunity to accept or decline. If one declined, they would be taken out of the game while the other completed the challenge, and then brought back again after the challenge was complete. If one accepts, they go on to complete the challenge together (or compete against each other, depending on the challenge). The ability to not be stuck to each other and be bound to what the other is doing is a really fun twist and makes the game feel much more open and interactive.
- Online Multiplayer: I feel this part is somewhat misleading. You can't go online and team up with random people like you would in a game like Castle Crashers or Halo, but you can play online with friends. This isn't very useful if you don't know anyone who plays the game yet, but I'm sure communities will form online and people will add each other that way. I think random teams would have been a fun addition and I'm sad that this wasn't an option. I understand Disney was likely concerned about content being appropriate for the whole family, but since they support the parental settings in Disney Infinity, I don't think this would have been an issue. You could just block certain accounts from user created content and allow others full access. Basically online multiplayer is co-op in Toy Box mode with up to 4 players, including 2 local players. Disney has a few worlds they created available for download, and it remains unclear how you will access worlds created by other users. I've heard that it's possible to upload worlds to Disney that they will then make available to others for download, but I have no idea how this works yet so I can't really comment on it.
- Experience: This is probably the single biggest difference between Infinity and Skylanders. Experience (sparks) are not gained by battling endless hordes of monsters. They are earned by completing missions and challenges. This may be off-putting to the biggest fans of Skylanders, but as a serious Skylander fan myself, I still find a lot to enjoy here. I don't really need another Skylanders (neither does my bank account!) but Infinity shines in it's own way. You shouldn't expect to jump into a hack and slash game here. While there is some of that (more in some play sets than others) this game is primarily about completing missions and progressing through the story. While it's entirely possible to replay areas to get more sparks the money, just like with Skylanders, you will basically be replaying story mode from the beginning. So far there is no shortage of missions and they are easy to locate by their glowing beacons that shoot up into the sky. The challenges also provide plenty of sparks and money, if you're successful, of course. Another brilliant addition is that in multiplayer, experience and money are automatically shared equally. No more fighting over who gets the next chest! Thank you, Disney!
- Character info is stored locally: Unlike Skylanders where character levels and money are stored only on the figure itself, character info is also stored locally. This means multiple people can share the same figure, yay! This was an ingenious move on Disney's part. Say you're playing Lightning McQueen and he's level 7 and then you go to your friend's house to play. McQueen will show up as a "guest" in your friend's game, retaining your level and money. You can continue to play him as a guest and he'll keep progressing. He will retain any experience and money he earned while you were playing as a guest with your friend. However, if your friend doesn't have McQueen, he can take ownership of the figure and the character will start back at level 0 for him. The neat part is, when you take McQueen back to your game, he still has the amount of experience and money he had when YOU last played him. When your friend plays him again on his game (or if he purchases his own McQueen) he will then start from where he left off with the borrowed McQueen. In essence, each figure can retain information for multiple save games. Several family members can use the same figure, and since the character information is also stored locally, each individual can have their own information on that one figure. Another bonus is, if your figure ever stops working, you can just purchase a new one and no information will be lost. Very, very cool.
- Length: With the number of hours we've logged so far into the Cars world alone, I think it's safe to say that Disney Infinity has many, many more hours of play than either of the Skylanders games. We had easily completed Skylanders Giants in a week, and that's with most of the stars and achievements unlocked. Granted, not all of our characters were level 15 in that week, but we had played through all the content. So far we've only played in the Cars play set and a teeny tiny bit in Toy Box, and with 4 other worlds to play through and the Toy Box to dig into, it would seem we have weeks of new content to play through.
- Toy Box: There's is just too much here in the Toy Box to delve into with this already lengthy review, but suffice it to say, we are always thrilled to go into the Toy Box and try out the things we've unlocked while playing in the play sets. I haven't had a chance to go through the Toy Box tutorial yet, so I really have no idea what I'm doing besides chasing my kiddo around in makeshift races, so I'll add more to this section later. In the meantime, the DisneyInfinity channel on YouTube appears to have numerous tutorial videos. I've watched a few and I'm very excited about the possibilities!
To close, there is so much more here than I was expecting. I was honestly a bit hesitant thinking this endeavor by Disney was going to fall short in the face of Skylanders, but we are already hooked on Infinity, pursuing each challenge, objective, mission and upgrade, and having already sunk a good chunk of time into the game with only a single world, and considering we appear to be not even half way through, I think it's safe to assume that as we play through the other four play sets, we will experience many, many more happy hours of play together. There's really no reason NOT to pick up Infinity if you're looking for a good time for the whole family. | video-games_xbox |
Highly Addictive & Insane Value. I own this game on Wii and PSP. Now with the recent Hi-Def releases I own it on both Xbox 360 & PS3 also. Both purchased at Amazon for $29.49 (more than $10 off retail.) That comes out to $2.27 per pin - that's insane value given the excellent implementation.
Is it worth adding this title if I own it on Wii, PS2 or PSP? Absolutely! You get 3 new tables - No Good Gophers, Arabian Nights & Medieval Madness. All of these are newer Solid State pins with complex and fun rule sets. You also get the Hi-Def graphics which blow the previous Wii version's graphics away. Finally there are online high score boards, but unfortunately no online tournaments or Friends High Scores....yet. Can the develepors implement this...I truly have no idea but my guess is that if there is support it is possible!
If you haven't played this game and have even a casual interest in Pinball I highly recommend it. If you love pinball this is a MUST buy. I'd go so far as to say it's worth buying an Xbox 360 or PS3 just to play this game if you are a pinball freak. The ball physics and table modeling is spot on. Sound is authentic. Nothing beats the feel of this game except owning the real pins which is a bit more expensive and takes up a great deal more room.
If you've never played pinball but are interested you should give this a try...probably the cheapest, easiest way to get a good sampling of some of the best tables ever.
If you buy this game and like it, please post a positive review and spread the word to your friends and acquaintances. We want to see more tables issued on disc or through downloadable content. Support the developers and let license holders on these table know that there is an overwhelming demand to see more great pins brought to a new generation of gamers.
Oh yeah...final question - Is this better on Xbox 360 or PS3? If you're a pinball purist and own both systems you may want to buy it for both. Otherwise choose the system with the controller that feels best in your hand. If everything is equal and you just want one, go with the Xbox 360 for the following reasons 1) More achievements ( the PS3 trophies are a little sparse) 2) More competition for high scores online - at least so far...if you don't like competition go PS3.
Enjoy! | video-games_xbox |
Rally was always the best part, so I'm excited about this. Quite possibly the hardest racing game I have ever played. It is absolutely the least forgiving. Here is my quick positives and negatives.
Positives:
-A lot of cars and a lot of tracks
-Rally is back to DiRT instead of rallycross and gymkhana only. Rally was always the best part, so I'm excited about this.
-Graphics are top notch. I generally turn up the gamma one or two notches based on my house set up and outside glare on the screen. As a result, the colors are a little washed for me, but at the right settings, this game is PRETTY! It's still pretty with messed up colors.
-Physics are really good. If you made a mistake, you know it instantly. Unlike Forza which penalizes you by almost always putting you backwards, Dirt's physics seem just about right with the way you spin out, flip, tumble, and go off the track to dictate which way you end up facing.
Negatives:
-As usual with multiplayer Rally games, it sucks. Delayed starts with real traffic on the track should be an option. I would love to have to figure out how to get around someone who's flipped over or dead on the side. Rallycross is the only real online multiplayer, but I am not a huge fan, so likely will be avoiding that.
-Car prices in game (game money, not micro transactions) are too expensive to easily buy your garage. I am someone who likes to own each and every car, but I am not sure that's going to happen. I have been improving in the game, but it's going to be a long time before I am winning any championships.
-Difficulty levels are SUPER high. This is a plus for racers who want a challenge. This is going to be a severe negative for any casual gamer.
Overall, this is the greatest Rally game I have ever played. Great assortment of cars. Really wish they could have pulled the Porsche 959 for the Group B, BUT, Porsche is awful when it comes to game licensing and whatnot, so no blame to the developers on that one. This is worth $60. I am playing it on a controller, and occasionally have issues with overcorrecting as a result of slight movements with the sticks. A wheel may have an advantage based on that. | video-games_xbox |
Hidden Gem of Party Games. Okay. I'll admit it. When Viva Piata first came out on the Xbox 360, I didn't think there would be much to it. Then I started playing the game and it quickly became my guilty gaming pleasure. I couldn't stop obsessing over these candy-filled critters.
So, when E3 rolled around and Microsoft announced a new Viva Piata game on the horizon, an inner voice squeaked with joy. Then I heard that the game wasn't being developed by Rare, and that the game was going to be a new party game title cashing in on the franchise's popularity. It was about that time, my inner child cried and started to throw a tantrum.
Here we are now, months later, and Krome Studios' Viva Piata Party Animals is finally hitting store shelves. While the game isn't a proper sequel to the addictive original, I've got to admit my inner child is happy once again.
First off, it needs to be said that Viva Piata Party Animals isn't actually based on the original Viva Piata game. Instead, it's based on the Saturday morning animated show that was based on the video game. Instead of random pretztails, fudgehogs, fizzlybears and horstachios, we've got Paulie, Fergy, Franklin and Hudson taking the spotlight. These stars of the animated series, along with their various female counterparts, are competing against one another in the biggest show on Piata Island, the Party Animals Championship Challenge. Billed as the most unpredictably exciting--and not to mention uninsured--sporting event ever created, the Challenge pits contestants against one another in a series of chaotic races and minigames in the quest to be named top piata.
Viva Piata Party Animals can be played with up to four players, either on the same system via split screen or over Xbox Live with other piata pioneers around the world. Players choose one of the eight selectable characters to take through a gauntlet of minigames. There are multiple rounds of competition, each beginning with a Mario Kart-style racing game. Races are single-lap free-for-alls, complete with hidden shortcuts and an arsenal of wacky firepower ranging from beehives (which litter the track with sticky honey) to water bombs (which soak the opponents' screens and obscure their vision for a time). These races prove to be extremely important throughout the rest of the rounds' minigames, as the winners get bonus candy points tacked on to their scores after each minigame event. The racing aspect of the game is a lot of fun, and something which I can see fans itching to see get the full video game treatment. C'mon Krome. Where's our Viva Piata "Kart"y Animals?
...And I must admit that the online version of this game is one of the funnest online multiplayer games I have played on xBox 360!
Aside from some minor gripes here and there, it's hard not to like Viva Piata Party Animals. Whether you're a kid or just a kid at heart, there's something special about the franchise that is almost as addicting as the sugary goodness that packs every one of these creatures. The wide range of minigames almost guarantees everyone will find at least something they like in the title, and I've yet to find anyone who didn't get a thrill out of the game's fast paced racing. Despite the fact I'm still waiting for a true sequel to Viva Piata, in order to feed my gaming sweet tooth, Viva Piata Party Animals does an excellent job of filling in as a between-meal snack.
The International Themed Mario Party Gem That Was A Reward To Find!
BUY THIS GAME! | video-games_xbox |
Had great potential, but failed in many respects. Halo 2, by all means is an excellent game. The game runs smoothly, the shading techniques (especially in outer space) are beautiful.
I am a Halo fan. I dislike Doom 3. Halo is one of the best shooters made in the past decade. Nonetheless, that does not mean that people should go out of the way to say it has no faults. It does.
First and foremost is the story. It sucks (in comparison to the first game). With the exception of the obvious, major (and debated) flaw (Halo fans, you know what I speak of), the thing that bugged me was clarity. The story contains so many plot points (more so than the original) that it is very confusing the first time you play through. This could all have been fixed easily, had the game mimicked the original. It doesn't. Cortana is very pedestrian speech wise, bringing up lame jokes and her whole air of superiority and respect from the first game is nearly gone. The radio chatter is even worse, using a proximity thing that changes between two settings depending on your situation to your marines, up close and personal or the slightest bit away. Unlike the first game which had a realistic 'pfft' noise when someone stopped talking on the radio, the voices over the radio now are way overblown and obviously, the quality has been turned down in various ways in a sound editor. The result was my brother and I cringing in our seats as we played through co-op. It was awful. This is partially the reason why Cortana was so hard to understand. The next reason is that sound as a whole in Halo 2, unless you have wonderful speakers, is muted and no where near that of the originals clarity and grace. When I first played Halo (as I played Halo 2) I was always rushing through the game, eager to see what happened next. Halo fixed this problem by providing clear voiceovers. Halo 2, apart from having some very wooden and stiff acting coming from Cortana and the marines, provides subtitles in the lengthy cut scenes, but not during gameplay. Because much of the story unfolds during the heat of the action, my battle rifle out did Cortana's meager attempt to tell me what was going on. The first time I played through, I missed out on key elements of the story, resulting in extreme frustration. Now to gameplay. Its great. Really great, once you get over the rushed animations and horrible texture problems. This game is the worse I've ever seen when it comes to textures. Not because they are dull, but because they are out of control. It is very messy, when peoples noses come into view than disappear, or, the shading on someones helmet does the same thing. Almost every object has textures that shift, mostly due to proximity. Walk up to a ghost some time, taking in the whole scene carefully. Or the tanks sides or warthog's wheels. You'll see it. Now back up slowly. Now move forward again. This is by far the worse case of graphical glitches (or shifting textures) I've seen in any game (with the possible exception of Far Cry: Instincts). Worse, it trains your eye to see even the slightest texture glitch in the most solid of games, ruining the realism experience in other good titles. Gone are the wonderful gun reloading sequences, replaced by rushed reloading. Guns are not cocked (although the battle rifle has an automatic one), pistol hammers not pulled back if you empty the magazine then reload, the sniper rifle heavily depowered, and ammo is in incredibly short supply (resulting not in hard gameplay but merely frustration). And, a final note on the graphics. Apart from generally sucking in comparison to the E3 video of New Mombassa (which sadly is not featured in the game as a full level), the facial graphics are some of the worst seen in recent times. Pasted on ears, heads that more resemble polygons than reality, totally different than the smoothness of the E3 trailer (I mean, compare Sgt. Johnson then and now. Who looks better?) Remember the two twin pilots from In Amber Clad? Uh! I can't say more!
I know it sounds like I'm ranting on, totally degrading this game. That's true, I am, in many ways. However, when you go through loads of hype, are fooled by Microsoft and Bungie into thinking the story mode will be the greatest video game experience ever (featuring Earth and only Earth!), I really felt cheated. My brother spent fifty bucks on this game and we got...this. It's bad news.
Overall though, I have come to love Halo 2 for what it does have. Very good graphics, smooth gameplay, more diverse weapons (although in short supply), less backtracking through levels, more vehicles to control (but less than expected), excellent replay value, although not as many enjoyable levels as the first game. Fantastic multiplayer even without Xbox live. Great multiplayer maps. Good ending has promise for a better sequel.
Halo 2 leaves a lot of plot holes that I hope will be resolved in the final chapter. While its ending promises something better, I'm not purchasing an Xbox 360 anytime soon, and, when Halo 3 is released, I'll look for reviews that aren't done by hyped up individuals (remember Gamespot's debated review? It turned out to be all true.) | video-games_xbox |
Remote Control Collection. I like remote controls! In fact, I like remote controls so much that I have acquired quite the large collection of them. If you come into my house and walk into the living room, you will find that my entire coffee table is covered with dozens and dozens of remote controls. The majority of these remote controls are touted as "universal". But what is universal, anyway? Some may think that a universal remote control should work with any device, anything and everything which is electronic and can be controlled with a remote. You know what I say to that? Phooey! Universal remotes never work with every device, silly! Don't you know that "universal remote" is an oxymoron?!
But is the Xbox 360 Universal Media Remote the exception? This remote controls it all, doesn't it? Wrong! The Xbox 360 Universal Media Remote controls my Xbox 360, as do the four wireless Xbox 360 controllers sitting on my coffee table among the array of other universal remotes. What else does the Xbox 360 Universal Media Remote control? Well, I'm able to control TV's volume, channels, and power. There's at least 23 other universal remotes on the coffee table that do that job as well.
Was the Xbox 360 Universal Media Remote easy to program? Heck no! Why not? Well first off, the manual that comes with the Xbox 360 Universal Media Remote doesn't have codes for individual TV brands so it can be easily programmed to work with the TV right off the bat. The instructions state that I could get those on the Xbox 360 support website, but let me tell you this: no amount of my searching on Xbox website could turn up said TV codes. I did find a webpage which was basically a copy of my manual which stated that I could go to the website to find the codes, but was there a link to this area? What do you think?
The instructions also stated that if I could not find my TV code, I could blindly program the device by pushing one of the buttons repeatedly to see if anything happened with my TV. Once my TV changes a channel or powers off, I will then have discovered the unknown code for my TV and could expect that the remote will work from that point forward, allowing me to move on from there. After trying this method for an hour or so and having no luck with it, I called the Xbox 360 telephone support people.
"I bought an Xbox 360 Universal Media Remote and I need the code to make it work with my Sony television." This is a simple request, right? Apparently not so uncomplicated for the Xbox 360 support team. First off, the person I spoke with could barely speak English, let alone understand it. Then when I finally got the point across, she acted like she didn't know what an Xbox 360 Universal Media Remote was. She thought I was talking about the wireless controller and that the controller should just "work" without a code. No, no, no! When I finally was able to make her understand that I had the Xbox 360 Universal Media Remote, she stated that those codes could be found on the Xbox 360 support website. I assume she read this answer from her computer monitor after she finally typed in the correct problem issue, but nevertheless, she still acted as if she never knew an Xbox 360 Universal Media Remote existed before that point. I explained I could not find said codes on their website, and believe it or not, the girl could not come up with a code for me and had to transfer me to a level two support tech. After much rigmarole, placing me on hold repeatedly while searching by the Xbox 360 level two support tech for nearly an hour, I was finally given a few codes and one of them actually worked.
And now you know what it takes to complete the process of programming this remote!
Meanwhile, I have added yet another universal remote to my collection; the unique one out of the five devices I currently own that control my Xbox 360 (as the four wireless controllers already perform many if not all of the functions on the Xbox 360), and the only white one out of 24 other remotes that control most of the primary functions on my television. Do I need the Xbox 360 Universal Media Remote for any reason? Probably not. Well, no; I absolutely do not need it. Not at all. | video-games_xbox |
A great headset for Xbox One. I received this Turtle Beach headset as a gift about 6 months ago. They are, in my opinion, relatively inexpensive. They are, without a doubt, a step up from the chat headset that comes with the Xbox One. I also own a pair of Turtle Beach X11's for the Xbox 360, so I have had some experience with this brand of audio devices.
The sound of the XO One gaming headset was spectacular! I was able to hear everything clearly, especially the mid-high range. A feature that I was particularly pleased with was the ability to change the level of bass with the simple tap of a button on the adapter. It was exciting to hear the difference in bass when playing FPS games like Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare. This is not a top of the line headset, but it will suit any casual player who wants to hear the game clearly and have a slight advantage over other players.
The headset is also extremely comfortable and you don't even notice that you are wearing it. I have gone for hours at a time playing the game, and not once did the headset bother me. It is lightweight, padded, and breathes easily. My ears never became too hot. The adjustable band allowed a perfect fit to my head. The only design flaw, in my opinion, was the fact that there was no microphone cover. It lets in too much noise sometimes and I can see my microphone icon light up in game when I breathe, even if the microphone is away from my mouth.
The XO One is sleek and stylish and does not take up much space when stored. The adapter allows you to change the game/chat volume and volume of the headset with ease and without looking. It was also a big pleasure for me that I did not have to do some intricate setup to attach my headset to the Xbox, like I did with the X11's. You simply pop the adapter into the controller and the headset into the adapter and you are good to go.
The biggest downside to the headset, and the reason I give it four stars, is the fact that sometimes the sound/microphone disconnects for no reason. I do not mess with the cord or adapter, but sometimes the audio starts to crackle and then go out. It is a pain because sometimes you have to unplug the cord or adapter to get it to come back on. In some cases I even have to restart the controller or Xbox. There are definitely some connectivity issues here, but I am unable to decipher whether it is the fault of my headset or controller.
Overall, get this headset. You will be pleased at how much better is sounds over the TV's audio, while allowing the people to live with you to not be affected by your game's audio. | video-games_xbox |
Read this review because the instructions won't help you. The instructions that come with the headset are meant for a toddler. And by a toddler, I mean someone who will also have no use for the instructions because they are wholly inadequate to explaining the operation of a simple gaming headset. The audio control that plugs into the game controller has two Up/Down switches, one on either side of the face. The right one is a master volume, go up to turn the volume up, down to turn the volume down. The left one is different. Go up to make the game louder, go down to make the chat louder. It took me a couple weeks of using it to realize that the chat and game audio were not on two separate button sets. I might have figured this out sooner if the audio controller was clearly marked; I also might have figured it out sooner if the actual up/down buttons were simple to feel and not put together really crappy. The up/down switch is not clearly demarcated because it's covered by rubber with a texture in place. This makes you uncertain at first where the up/down is. The unevenness of the buttons actually make you think there's multiple up/down switches on the left side, because you get a different feel by pressing on the left or right side of the up part as well as the left or right side of the down part. The buttons are also hard to push, so you have to use more effort than you would expect. Turtle Beach needs to do a better job making the audio controller overall, and they DEFINITELY need to do a better job putting together instructions. As for the audio itself, it works well about 90% of the time. Sometimes the audio will cut out at random, and sometimes it won't pick up your voice unless the microphone is right next to your mouth. Sometimes it picks up a lot of background audio. Overall this is much better than, say, using the Kinect for talking to people, but I wouldn't recommend this over any of the other brands perceived to be lesser. Turtle Beach doesn't put in the quality for the price. They think because they have displays in GameStop and Wal-Mart that it means they're the gold standard and can charge as such, but you can't be the gold standard if you're bringing a bronze product. | video-games_xbox |
Where did COD go? This is Halo. I have been playing this game for the last few months on and off, trying to enjoy it. I'll admit, it does have it moments, but the reality is that COD is now Halo and Destiny with customizable weapons. It looks like there is no going back now that AW and BO3 are turning into run / jump shooters. It's just stupid. Running on walls was lousy for Titan Fall, so why did Treyarch think it would be cool here? The game is just too fast, and it does not allow players to really cover an area without getting ambushed from above. Some of the weapons are just plain stupid. They are too powerful, while some are so weak. It's like no thought went into balancing the weapons system.
My problem with the campaign is exactly the opposite of what made MW such a compelling story. I understand that it is a futuristic story, but it should somewhat be based on modern events that have actually happened. I can't relate to this story at all and have no identification with the characters or their challenges. Remember when the Russians invaded the US in MW 2 and you were fighting in the suburbs? Or the fighting at the WWII Memorial in DC? That was epic. That actually hit me hard, like watching Red Dawn. Where are those stories? We have plenty to choose from in today's current events. Today, these story writers either have no idea what is going on, or are too focused on how stupid to make a gun.
If you want to kill zombies, play Dead Rising 3. There is nothing better than that today, so don't even waste your time with this sorry excuse for a zombie thriller.
I have so many problems with the multiplayer that I don't even know where to start. I have seen consistent server issues and lag times that just make the play ridiculous. The speed is unnecessarily high. That is not the way COD was meant to be played. We have Halo, so what makes this different? The match making is off. You have players with little playtime going up against players that have maxed out their prestige. That usually ends in a blowout. Load times are uncharacteristically high. How long does it take to go from the game summary screen back to the lobby? Ridiculous. Welcome back the quick snipe. I thought this was frowned upon after BO2, but apparently Treyarch did not get the memo. Infinity Ward did a nice job of reducing this in Ghosts, but it has come back full force in BO3. Why no contextual lean? This was a nice feature in Ghosts, so why not in BO3? I could go on and on, but the reality is that COD is no longer the game it was. Someone else will need to bring back this genre. Perhaps the Clancy titles will do it, or will it be EA and Battlefield? Or maybe it is gone forever. | video-games_xbox |
Great Buy well worth the money & pleasure. To sum up this game - for gameplay this game rocks, for all out looks, control, extras stuff you can do - this game rocks, the quests and sidequests - this game rocks, for replay value - this game rocks. So overall - this game rocks. I got so much enjoyment out of this game that I'm extremly overjoyed to hear the second installment is coming out this December, please don't be late!!! My husband loathes this game as it kept me up late into the night at time
I played this game to death. My disk is dead, I'm sure I'm the responsible party *wink*. I played so many characters. Each time I played something different, built my weapons different, played several light or dark some I flipped then played a few neutral and some I flipped. Some I did their quests and sidequests differently to make their outcomes different. See the neat thing about this game is it's not just about being light or dark. It also depends on what choices you make along the way. That affects the outcome! That's half the fun right there. That alone makes the possibilities with this game endless! Don't forget the love interests! If you go that route *grin*.
I also really liked the hack-n-slash combat style in this RPG. Most RPG's use the Final Fantasy combat style which I dislike, it moves to slow for me plus I don't like standing there like an idiot while I'm beat on. I prefer to attempt to defend myself which hack-n-slash allows me to do.
You could tell the crew how you wanted them to fight. In a screen you select certain objectives on how they fight. If I remember they boil down to fighting offensively and defensively (sorry I don't remember this part a whole lot once you set it you really didn't have to set it again the rest of the game). At the end of the game you'll have a crew of 10, maybe. It depends on whether you are light or dark. You only get to choose 2 of those crew members to go along with you anytime you leave the ship to do quests or sidequests. So it's best to choose wisely. Don't panic you can return to the ship and quests easily to get someone else if you need to :). They did provide easy transportation via riding the Rapid Transit System.
You also get to increase your own skills in this game. And they give you a lot of skills to choose from. All of your crew get to increase their skills periodically too (you can pick their skills too!) but yours will be increased more often than theirs. You also get to build and customize your weapons and your crew's weapons. Along the way you will pickup a lot of weapons including new lightsabers and powerful guns even weapons for your R2D2 clone to use. Using their scrap you construct better weapons for you and your teammates. The constructor will tell you what you need and it's shape. Not to worry it's not hard :). Also if you don't have all the parts you can still use the weapon you are building, (yes there is a double blade lightsaber in the game! Just be patient and make sure to search every dead guy). You can go into caves to get crystals but beware of what's in there. There's all kinds of things you can do to weapons and upgrade to yourself.
Now a note about the graphics - oh wow. The graphics just blew me away. At times you feel like you are in a movie! Part of why I enjoyed playing over and over, the amazing part are that there are mini-movie interludes. And they are everywhere too! They are seen when moving to an important area, or of course, landing, taking off or going to hyperspace. Instead of seeing a loading screen you'd get these breath-taking mini movie's. A nice change from the boring loading screen.
Okay so this ended up being much longer than I intended it to be but I find it hard to find games I like unless it's The Legend of Zelda lol *grin* so I was pleasantly surprised to find this one so enjoyable. I hope others find it as enjoyable as I did. So try it out and go nuts! This game gives you plenty of opportunities to do that. :) And even more opportunties to go back and do it again if you want to try something different this time! | video-games_xbox |
An achievement/trophy hunter's dream come true. Movie-licensed games nowadays are a very dodgy prospect, given that most of them are rush-released to coincide with the release of the movie. This was the case with G.I. Joe, Avatar, Transformers and The Last Airbender, and the results have been very underwhelming in all cases. Terminator: Salvation is really no different, however it is not a terrible game either and there is some fun to be had here.
The plot of the movie is not followed here, rather you are part of a group that is fighting to survive in war-torn LA against a variety of deadly machines, including skeletal terminators that can lay waste to your group in no time. Each level is a strictly linear "Point A to Point B" affair in which you fight enemies, rescue survivors and complete various tasks. The plot is only slightly denser than helium and you are unlikely to find anything compelling here, but chances are that you're mostly playing this game for the achievement points or trophies, depending on which console you have this game for. However, as a third-person shooter, the game doesn't play badly and some of the fighting can be quite fun.
The graphics, voice acting, and musical score of Terminator: Salvation are completely forgettable, but to be fair they are not horrible. LA looks suitably devastated and some of the animations and cut scenes are decent. What bogs the game down is glitches and bugs, and believe me that are many. We have a mess of disappearing weapons, teleporting enemies, and both your friendly AI and enemies getting stuck in the surroundings. Two memorable glitches include a "Spider" machine getting stuck in a wall and my guy getting stuck while running over a pothole, both of which prevented me from moving on and thus required me to reload the game from a previous checkpoint. At times, it felt like I was playing an unfinished game.
So what is the selling point of this game? Without a doubt, it's the achievement points/trophies. If that's your thing, this game is easy to recommend since it is extremely generous in both the ease of obtaining them and the amount given. On the Xbox 360 version, you get 80 points for completing each level, and the full 1000 if you play through the game once on Hard difficulty. On the PS3, you get gold trophies after each level (9 in total) and a platinum for beating the game on hard. Not since "Avatar: The Burning Earth" has a game been this easy to rack up points with.
If you're not concerned with achievements, is this game worthwhile? As a budget-price shooter, you could certainly do worse and this game does have some fun moments. Anyone expecting a brilliant game with good multiplayer and loads of replay value will definitely want to skip this. | video-games_xbox |
Very fun game, that strikes out in a few ways. Very fun game, with some not so fun end game.
First off the easy stuff; graphics are beautiful. Game has a lot of stuff on screen, lots of interactive objects, and the city really feels like a city, although an empty one. Sound is great as well, game does a great job of adding ambient sounds to make it feel as if there is a gunfight happening a few blocks away, or choppers fly here and there.
Game has a base that you earn early on and upgrade as you do missions and earn suppleis to upgrade three wings of the base. Each time you grow the base you get to unlock new perks, talents, and abilities to use out in the world. Very fun and one of my favorite parts of the game. Especially going back and watching the base grow as you progress through the game.
Now this game is that elusive Shooter MMO experience that companies have been dreaming of making for years. But like past attempts such as Destiny, this game falls flat in many areas. First of the world map is Manhattan, just a big chunk of the city. The city is fun to run around explore for a few hours but it gets boring quick and you soon realize just how empty it is. You do not see other players outside of safe houses, (the occasional hub to buy/sell gear, and pick up quests and points of interests,) and so they city is populated with enemies that all look to similar, side quests, big missions, and empty space, lots of empty space.
Now the end game, the bread and butter of MMOs and similar type games. Division after completing the main game missions directs you towards hard versions of previous missions, and challenging mode version of previous missions. So its old content, that has massively bullet sponge enemies that take mag after mag to take down in a good group, and yet those enemies can spray you and take you down in seconds. You basically repeat these over and over to get Phoenix Credits and spend those on gear and weapons. Very grindy, very repetitive, and of course you are capped in how many credits you can earn in a day.
Now another part of the end game is the Dark Zone, a very cool fun Player vs Player area. You can participate in this area early on, as it is bracketed to ensure high lvls players don't one shot you, they stay in another instanced higher lvl version of the dark zone. Extremely dangerous, filled with ton of dangerous enemies, and even more dangerous players. You can group up here, or run solo (and get destroyed,) and hutn dangerous enemies and find big treasure boxes with great gear in it. But things get dicey as you can not just walk out with the gear you find in the Dark Zone, it is all contaminated, and must be extracted by a chopper to be cleaned. Extraction zones are static, and once you call a chopper you have I believe 90 seconds to wait. And everyone in the area knows you are extracting, so they can come to snag a slot to through their bag on the chopper (only 4 bags fit), or they can come murder you and steal your gear, (only your Dark Zone gear,) and then extract your gear they just stole. So it has its high and lows.
Far from perfect, but very fun in a lot of ways, and may feel you lacking in the end and cause the player to lose enthusiasm. | video-games_xbox |
i want to love them but just can't. ok so i bought these from gamestop do to all the recomendations, so i will just come straight to the point and say that these are only slighty better than turtle beach, but ultimately i would not recomend either brand .
so lets start with the bad
1 horrible horrible mic issues, so must turn them up to be heard which hurts the ears a lot
2 this brings me to point number two , the surround sound is definitely over bearing on these causing me to prefer stereo sound over the surround sound
3 and so this brings me to my third point, this headset much like turtle beach barely fits my big head, which makes both really uncomfortable, and barely wearable or in turtle beachs case completely unwearable
4 this unfortunately brings me to my last to points, the earcups are simply to small, the pointed edges inside the cushions rub against the ears and the insides sit uncomfortably close to the ears, and please use a different earpad material this one is very itchy for me (i have sensitive scalp and face skin)
and yes there is a glitch in the firmware that makes them stay on sometimes requiring you to drain the battery
but overall i want to like this headset, but it is hard to like something that makes the gaming experience worse for the gamer instead of better, are there any positives to this headset aside from style and functionality, no theres not i would have said sound quality but i cant because of having to turn it up so much and a lack of balance in sound settings that should be there (as in the bass gets loud enough in surround sound and stereo that it feels like my ears are vibrating which makes it hard to hear other players at times).
so my conclussion is this would i buy them again, it will depend on whether or not these issues are improved upon or fixed, so for the time being i will either sell these or take them back, but i will most likely sell them due to gamestop's idiotic policy regarding headsets, because there is no try before you buy, and if you don't like them well returns usually aren't allowed on headsets (needles to say i am starting to lose faith in a certain company that used to be reliable | video-games_xbox |
Halo 3: ODST - Didn't like it at first; love it now. There are plenty of detailed reviews for this game here already. With that said, I won't breakdown the finer points of the game. I will say that this game is somewhat underrated and quite a gem amongst the other 4 Halo shooters. Those players that enjoy some story and a bit more strategy in their Halo experience will definitely enjoy ODST in my opinion.
I first saw the game in action a few days after release. Someone I know purchases games 1-2 days after they come out. I was not really impressed at the time and had lost interest in Halo since the second game. Didn't even want to play it. Fast forward some years; I enjoyed Halo:Reach. Finding ODST here on Amazon for $14 new -vs- $20 used at Gamestop, I decided to give it another chance.
The first 30 minutes of the game were a bit awkward. Playing the campaign on heroic wasn't a problem. Playing and being acquainted with Reach was.
- No sprinting
- No radar
- Can't sneak up on enemies for stealthy melee kills
- Patrols?! And they are fairly frequent
- Patrols can aggro
- Jackels with beam rifles can be head-shot deadly
- No shields.
I continued playing however and soon realized how much I was really enjoying such a change in pace.
1) It was critical to "choose" your fights. If you had to fight, you quickly analyzed the threat and prioritized targets.
2) If you do engage some enemies, don't linger in the area too long. Other nearby patrols could be rushing in after hearing the fire fight you just survived.
3) Finding cover and checking your map is a must almost every minute to get the latest intelligence on patrol movement in relation to your position.
4) As you travel through the city, you learn to take note of the environment so you can always engage the enemy on your terms. You also learn areas are never "clear" in ODST.
5) It seems ammunition is a bit scarce as compared to other games. You try to utilize specific weapons for specific enemies rather than just pouring it on and wasting ammo.
6) The visor is a nice feature and the fact that you need to keep it on 80% of the time helps remind you how human your character is.
Gameplay, plot and the story are a unique aspect in ODST. While playing an elite Spartan super soldier is enjoyable, it is refreshing to have another take on the battle against the Covenant. | video-games_xbox |
Worth It if you Put the time to Learn Pro. I have to say it's more impressive than I thought it would be. It's accurately responsive to where your fingers need to be playin' Pro and kicks arse! It's about half the price of what the Squier will cost you as the Squier won't be released 'til March 2011. With that said, I just couldn't wait to play Pro guitar/bass and wanted to get my hands on the Mustang now since it's already available. Also, wanted to get a feel for how it responds to standard/basic guitar. It works alright! You just need to use any buttons on the first 5 frets to mimic the 5 colored arrangement of G/R/Y/B/O but despite having the ability to play expert on your other plastic guitars it will still take some getting used to because the frets are a bit spread out compared to what your finger spread has on say a Xplorer guitar controller, Les Paul guitar controller, or RB2 fender. Because this is an actual life-size fretboard minus real strings but instead includes buttons along the 17 frets with 6 buttons per fret. Definitely worth the money as long as you put the time to learn Pro. The Overdrive kicks in nicely also when tilting the guitar. It's also lighter in weight than what I was expecting. This will definitely hold me over 'til the Squier gets released. One advantage the Mustang has is its ability to play all guitar songs from Pro to Basic. The Squier won't be able to play Basic guitar, only Pro! So if you have a ton of DLC that doesn't support Pro like me than this is a good investment me thinks. The length of the Mustang is similar to an actual guitar size (so it's taller than your RB2 fender when standing them upright). So yeah, only the body of the guitar has actual strings located in the strum area. The six-strings seem very durable when plucking away or strumming and the neck of the guitar is actually a full-sized fingerboard and as you learn notes and play chords the buttons accurately work! So I'm assuming that whatever you practice to learn Pro-wise in RB3 you should be able to transition fine with any fully 6-string guitar. At least that's the objective and idear!
Other things I'd like to pointout about the Mustang is that there isn't a whammy bar. So if yer lookin' to add twang to yer sheddin' or stretch out those overdrive notes for a bigger boost of overdrive, it won't happen! Looks like the Squier doesn't have a whammy bar either. Like most wireless RB instruments, the Mustang uses 3 AA batteries. There is a connector on the guitar for adding an overdrive jack so that you can deploy overdrive and so I tried the RB2 kick pedal to see if that would add a different option and it did not work. The overdrive jack may only work after new & more gear is released compatible with the guitar or Harmonix will release some patch to add more options when deploying overdrive. A feature the keyboard apparently has also. Also, if you play locally or online with friends and you only want to pick Pro songs and your other amigos add non-Pro guitar songs to your list, then you are stuck sitting there playing nothing when non-Pro songs show up. Since the Mustang handles both Basic and Pro guitar songs I wish there was a way it could tell you're using a Mustang and then it would switch between Basic and Pro automatically while playing random setlists, would be useful and more entertaining, maybe some patch would fix this, hopefully! And lastly, when scrolling through the menus and your music library of songs in the RB3 game you have to use the control pad and function buttons on the Mustang guitar. What I'm trying to say is there are no shortcuts when navigating through your music library. You can not use the frets or strum the strings to navigate like you can with other guitar controllers or hold the orange note down to bring up the shortcut or when you use kick pedal to press down and hold while using drums that opens a window menu when navigating around your music library which makes things much quicker and easier. It's a bit inconvenient but really makes you use the back button so you can sort through filters in the game, at least there is that! Either you sort out songs by using the back button going through the filters or manually use the control pad on the Mustang to find the songs you want by going through each song listed in your library by sort. The Mustang Pro-guitar has its Pros and Cons but I think the Pros outweigh the Cons. Again, Hope all this info was helpful. Overall, I am enjoying the Mustang Pro-guitar and I definitely recommend one since it's available now! | video-games_xbox |
The second installment of Assassin's Creed is more dynamic and exciting than the first. For the first few hours of Assassin's Creed II, Ezio Auditore da Firenze shares much in common with his fearless ancestor from the first game, Altar. Both hide retractable blades under their sleeves and scale incredibly steep architecture in order to track down their targets. Like Altar, Ezio becomes hellbent on revenge, taking down an ever-growing conspiracy in order to avenge his family and restore order to the world. But while the shrouded assassin from the Holy Land was a bit of a loner, his Italian cousin has charisma and wit to spare. And like Ezio, the second installment of Assassin's Creed is more dynamic and exciting than the first.
Even within the first few missions of ACII, we get to really know Ezio - not the cunning swordsman or the stealthy assassin, but the loyal son and the carefree playboy. In other words, we're introduced to the man under the hood long before he begins to wield his sword. Though much of the protagonist's motivation is well-trodden territory, spending time with Ezio is much more enjoyable. He's a swashbuckler that feels much more in line with the Sands of Time Prince of Persia.
But unlike the prince, our hero boundaries are virtually non-existent. With a little patience, any tower can be climbed, and virtual parkour enthusiasts are rewarded with breathtaking views of the Italian cityscapes. This was the greatest thrill in the first game too. But the problem there was that after you eagle-dived into a bale of hay or two, there weren't many hooks to keep you playing.
It's a common complaint, and I won't harp on it. But ACII's missions are so much more varied. No longer do you have to skulk about in the shadows, gathering intel before another formulaic assassination. Instead, NPCs dish out everything you need to know before charging into battle. You'll get to command your own mini-armies, steer gondolas, protect a carriage under siege and try out some of your best bud Leonardo da Vinci's experimental inventions. Missions will often have you doing these tasks in sequence. You can tail a courier through and above the Venetian canals, only to engage in sword-fight minutes later.
Though these missions push the story forward, I had even more fun with all of the new extracurricular activities. Like a 16th century Crackdown, ACII is littered with feathers, treasures and perches to track down (though all of them can be found on maps, so none are as maddening as the agility orbs). Additionally, there are optional footraces, assassinations, fisticuffs with unfaithful husbands and courier jobs.
However, the two obvious highlights are the Assassin's Tombs and the city restoration. The tombs are great simply because they dispose of all the silly fighting and just let you climb all over everything. It's a throwback to the PoP series' best moments, with some light puzzles and convoluted obstacle courses. Once you've completed the tombs, you can bring back your haul to Uncle "It's-a-Me" Mario's manor to help restore the surrounding village, Monteriggioni. Buildings and storefronts can be renovated, and with nearly every item you buy, a percentage of the money is invested in the town as well. Like Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, your empire accrues a sizable amount of money, which can in turn be used to buy better weapons and armor.
Because the rewards are tangible this time around, you'll feel compelled to explore every last nook and cranny of each city. While it was fun to move around in the first game, it's more fun to explore in ACII.
I wish the same could be said about combat, which does open up later on but still feels like a distraction from everything else. Late in the game, enemies will block every single sword strike, and your only effective options are parrying or disarming them. Fights often become dances in which you circle your Templar partners, teasing them to lunge so that you can fool them every time. Though you have ranged weapons, they're usually rendered useless whenever a guard alerts his comrades.
If you're familiar with the AC mythology, you may be wondering why I haven't mentioned the Animus and the 2012 conspiracy that connects all of these historical threads. Quite frankly, I guess I've stopped caring by this point. These future moments feature the same wonderful voice acting and some intriguing plot twists, but in the end, they end up hurting the pacing of Ezio's quest. Long stretches will pass between the Desmond chapters, and it's hard to remain invested when you never see outside of the tiny lab.
It's clear that Ubisoft Montreal is building up Desmond as a viable savior, and I would guess that a later installment will actually let him loose in his own time. But the Templar conspiracy at the heart of the story doesn't feel as deeply rooted as it should. The rebel characters reveal quite a bit, but Ubisoft still needs to build that world in the same way as they did with Italy. Right now, I'm frustrated because Desmond's less developed plot seems to take precedence over Ezio's, which leads to an unfortunately abrupt conclusion for both.
But after the credits roll and the gang concludes that there's much work to be done, Ezio is brought back to Monteriggioni for more treasure hunting and acrobatics. Lucikly, the always-thrilling leaps of faith will stay with you much longer than the unsatisfying cliffhanger.
--Reviewed by Justin Hemenway | video-games_xbox |
Amped 3: Trippy, funny, and very good. Amped 3 is my favorite video game that features unicorns, action figures being set on fire, Russians, and shiny kitty litter. There aren't any other games featuring enough of this stuff, I must say. But Amped 3 features more kitty litter than you'd ever believe, and it's got some great snowboarding gameplay to boot. Amped 3 is one of the better Xbox 360 launch lineups, and it's the only one that's going to have you laughing and scratching your head in confusion within the same gaming session.
I doubted Indie Built could pull off a great game here. Amped 2, which was generally considered too difficult and too technical, bombed on the sales charts and it came as a surprise to me that anyone wanted to pick up XSN's snowboarding franchise. Well, Indie Built did it, and they did one heck of a job making an enjoyable game. What makes Amped 3 so unique is, well, everything that isn't related to the fantastic gameplay itself. You wouldn't think too much of the game from looking at its bright green box art which features a snowboarder and the prominent, bold, and pink Amped 3 logo. Once you crack open that box and pop the game into your Xbox 360, you'll be thinking differently. Some of the stuff you'll see in this game is more bizarre than anything you'll ever see again. I mentioned unicorns and kitty litter earlier, but those are just two of the seemingly endless items of wonder that are tossed around in this trippy game. I'd like tell you more about the stereotypical anime cutscenes, the cut-and-paste art, or the sock puppets. But I can't. I can't tie any of these things to the Story Mode, and it would be a travesty for me to ruin any of the stuff in this game. It would ruin the "What the heck?" feeling that I was so happy to have while playing Amped 3.
The Story Mode is where most of your time will be spent. There are hundreds of challenges. Some are extremely generic to the genre--score points, go through checkpoints (which in this case are acid-influenced magic circles), or do a trick to impress a sponsor. These goals are the ones I didn't like, and they were the ones that I got really tired of when I was finishing up with the story mode. I especially hated the kitty litter challenges, because I hate picking up random, scattered, unimportant items in games like this. The ones I enjoyed kept me playing, though, especially the crash-your-sled one. The goal here is to launch your player off of his sled and physically harm him as much as possible. Needless to say, this is endlessly entertaining and constantly funny. It's even funnier when you're not riding on a sled, because sometimes you'll barrell downhill on a chair or a portable toilet or other objects. This is what I wanted to see from such a unique, artistic game--fun, creative modes. Sadly, the generic goals don't do the game any justice, but Amped 3 is a lot of fun to play and that's what allowed me to trudge through the ho-hum junk and reach the exciting stuff. Indie Built made Amped 3 easier to play (which is something XSN failed to do with Amped 2) and they did so by making the controls very similar to Neversoft's Tony Hawk series. All of the tricks are mapped to the controller's face buttons and grinds are made easier with an auto-snap system that aligns the player with rails. These two factors alone make playing Amped 3 simple and fun while the difficulty comes from the challenges themselves, not the controls. This alone makes the game much better than Amped 2.
While the art is fantastic and the presentation is impressive, the visuals of Amped 3 are its most disappointing factor. Launch titles are expected to show off the power of a new console, not show any kind of shortcomings. Amped 3 doesn't really impress me visually. If you told me this was an Xbox game and I didn't know what you were playing, I wouldn't think twice about it from looking at the graphics. It certainly doesn't look bad--little touches like powdery snow effects look really nice. It's just that this game's visual calibur is very low when it's compared to 360 beauties like Perfect Dark Zero, NBA 2K6, and Madden 06. The audio factor is quite different--there are hundreds of songs, dozens of artists, and hilarious voice acting to boot. If you're a fan of indie rock, electronica, and hip hop, you'll love the tunes found here. Since the original Amped, I've appreciated the fact that the series has featured so many low-key, unsigned bands.
The Xbox Live factor here is pretty disappointing. There isn't any online multiplayer at all, and the most interaction you'll have with other players is through the Leaderboards, which hold records for every single challenge found in the game. I thought it was fun to see how I sized up against other players but I would have loved to actually hit the slopes with someone else. Maybe they'll do it with Amped 4.
Mentioning Amped 4, I'd love to see Indie Built go for another round. Amped 3 is a fantastic game. It offers fun snowboarding gameplay, an art style that will blow your mind, and a story that will bust your gut in laughter. You don't have to sift through a lot of junk here--there are some annoying challenges, the graphics are ho-hum, and the lack of Xbox Live multiplayer is certainly a let-down. Other than that, I can't complain. Check this game out, it's great. If nothing else, you'll want to get that "What the heck?" feeling I mentioned before. | video-games_xbox |
Not as bad as everyone is saying. The biggest complaints I see in the one-star reviews this year are that the Franchise mode is gone, that there's no local multiplayer Franchise, and that there's no fantasy draft/player editing in Franchise mode. Franchise mode is not gone, it's now under Connected Careers. A vocal minority is complaining that they can't start Franchise mode locally against other people. Not many people have a set up where friends come over to play the game. I'm sure EA weighed the number of users consuming that option before nixing it. I'm sure it will be back in a future revision. As for fantasy draft/editing rosters, if there's a player you really want to play as, then here's an idea: start a Franchise with their team!
The thing that always killed me about Madden from year to year was that it just seemed like nothing was improved. This year, EA at least put forth a little bit of effort. Not as much as you would expect for a game that grosses $4 mil/yr, but some effort was measurable in this year's game.
We got a whole new game engine. As you might expect, introducing a new engine sucks up dev time for other features like Franchise. The engine is still not perfect, but it's a step in the right direction for future versions. The most noticeable change is that defense this year isn't totally clueless in zone. If you have a zone defender over someone running a slant inside, the defender ACTUALLY CUTS OFF THE RECEIVER as they run inside! Receivers can't really catch the ball until they run at least part of their route. Not much has changed overall in Madden, but small little details like that add up to a very different game.
The commentating is better. I still turn it off, but robotic Chris Collinsworth from the last few years was even more grating than real life Chris Collinsworth.
The stupid menu screen music is gone. No longer will you have to listen to white guys rapping, or people screaming into a microphone when you start Madden. Those songs are gone from the game itself as well.
The on-the-field audio is better. The players finally got some new spoken lines for when commentary is off.
Special teams AI is improved.
I'm not noticing major holes in the rosters like years past. Devin Hester actually lines up to receive kicks! Previous years they always goofed that up.
The game menu is much more streamlined.
Online playcalling is faster. I can pan through all the plays in a section before the clock runs out. Before, there was this weird lag between each page and at most you could get through 3 pages on defense before the clock ran out. They also improved the load time for online games significantly.
The crowds look much more realistic. The crowd noise makes a lot more sense for when they roar vs. being quiet vs. booing.
You can cancel a playaction fake handoff if you see the blitz coming!
I'm sure there are flaws in this game that will come to bother me over time. But, for the first time since the game was ported to XBox360, it really feels like we're getting more than just a roster update with the 2013 version of this game. | video-games_xbox |
Wildlands beta review. I have not recieved the full game yet. I won't get to play the game for another two days. This review is specifically on the game play I experienced during the Open Beta.
The initial feel I get for the game is excitement. As an elite group of operatives on foreign soil, stealth and darkness is your friend. I found myself doing more storyline objectives during the early evening/ night hours of the game and sometimes early morning for added dramatic effect leaving the scene of the mission when accomplished. The game was playable as both a single player campaign with 3 AI allies whom could be given orders in the same manner as previous ghost recon installments (Ghost recon Advanced warfare). The game felt fairly easy on normal difficulty initially playing with AI as the AI were excellent shots and could eliminate the enemies before I even knew they were there. Playing with 3 other human players on the other hand was more challenging and entertaining. You had to communicate and spot enemies and buidl a strategy with your com padres in order to successfully complete the mission with out detection or alerting the Bolivian military special forces (UNIDAD). The Beta was unclear if UNIDAD was working with the Cartel or paid off by the Cartel but one thing is clear, they will shoot to kill if you are spotted and their soldier are far better trained than the drug smugglers you run across.
The only thing I did not enjoy about the beta was that new weapon unlocks and accessories for weapons were distributed in fixed locations around the map. I don't like this method of unlocking new weapons. I think a gun purchasing system would be better suited combined with a level system. Or maybe just have the players pick up weapons they find on the enemy to unlock that weapon for the remainder of the game play. The way the system is now, If I knew where the most powerful guns were, I could just go sneak into the compound and pick the gun up and ignore the storyline. Then if I wanted a nicer scope for the rifle, Im stuck having to travel across the map to access the new scope. There is no sense to this weapon and accessory system. The leveling up system with credits to unlock abilities is nice. If you work in a 4 man team with friends you could designate certain friend to build up different tech trees and unlocked abilities that suit there role. Someone can focus on upgrade the drone and turning it into a weapon and well as maxing out its spotting capabilities while another player can focus on demolitions. 3rd player might focus on health, ammo, and reload and be the bullet sponge or decoy to trick an enemy into revealing his location. There are lots of different options on how to play this game and no matter how you play it, it will be enjoyable. | video-games_xbox |
This game is WAY better than BF4 already. DO NOT LISTEN TO PEOPLE WHO RATE THIS GAME WHEN THEY DON'T EVEN OWN THE GAME OR THEIR TOTAL EXPERIENCE ON THE GAME IS PLAYING IT FOR 30 MINUTES AND GETTING WRECKED ONLINE!
This game is WAY better than BF4 already. It had a perfect launch and there are literally zero connectivity issues. The developers this time around actually care about what the fans have to say. For example, people have been giving input on tweaking certain guns in the game and two weeks after release, they have already announced a patch to tweak said guns.
9/10 people bashing this game are either 1) basing their review on the singleplayer, which is completely foolish for a BF title or 2) Came into Hardline with an extremely closed mind, because they didn't consider it a "real battlefield" SOLELY for the fact that it doesn't take place in a warzone in Russia or China or whatever. Do not let such a foolish little thing affect you from buying this game. If you like BF3 and BF4, you will find yourself at home in this game as the gameplay is identical.
Visceral and Dice let people know what to expect from this game. The fact that there are apparently a few morons who didn't do their research is THEIR fault, not the game's. It's sad that people let something so miniscule as the game's theme to affect their opinion. The only people who wouldn't like this game are people who are not a fan of BF3 and BF4. For some reason there seems to be an abundance of gaming hipsters/nostalgia whores coming out of the woodwork lately claiming that the series died after BF2. Apparently they enjoyed mind numbingly slow gameplay in which you were lucky to see one or two enemies per game. They fail to realize that 1942 or 2 would NEVER hold up if released or played today, as tastes change and slow paced, boring gameplay went out ages ago.
Anyway, highly reccomend this game. Such a refreshing change from the wholeheartedly forgettable maps and horrendous netcode/glitches abundant in BF4. | video-games_xbox |
Good but glitched, still worth playing. First, kudos to WB Montreal for releasing a Batman game that is on par with the previous entries in the series. It isn't better, but for a studio's first try, it sure as hell isn't bad. It's a total retread in terms of game mechanics, but definitely not bad.
The fact that this game is absolutely worth playing makes it all the more sad and unfortunate that WB rushed this game out before it was ready. I feel like this was likely more the doing of the WB as a publisher than the developers themselves but regardless, it needs to be remembered that this happened so that history hopefully doesn't repeat itself with the WB's next Batman game. I guess they thought they had to get this on the market ahead of COD: Ghosts or it wouldn't hit their sales projections. That said, by the time most people read this (and other reviews like it) the game's issues with freezing and corrupted save game files will have been patched by the developer. Unfortunately, that doesn't do much for the many people who bought the game on day of release.
UPDATE 11/16/2013
As of November 16th, I still have one missing Secret achievements that was incorrectly not awarded to me during Story mode and I've also run into another yet-to-be-fixed bug where after beating the main story, some of Enigma's informants cannot be properly interrogated. Minor issues, but the game has been out for almost a month now. No reason these shouldn't be fixed.
Anyway, there's also a lot to talk about in this game beyond just the glitches so I should probably everything and anything else about this game that I liked (or didn't like) as well...
One of the first things I noticed about this game is that Enigma's collectibles, which now come in the form of Extortion Files, are hidden within puzzles that are generally far easier to figure out than many of the Riddles hidden throughout the second game, Arkham City. I'm pretty disappointed in this, as it has turned the collection process into more of a chore than anything that requires thought. It's still fun, just not as fun as it could be if it required more thought (or more thoughtful use of the Wayne Tech upgrades) to get each Extortion File.
The addition of the Batcave is really great.
The bad guys seem a bit more aggressive than in previous games, which is nice. There are also a fair number of side missions (like destroy Penguin's weapons caches) which is also always great.
The Wayne Tech upgrades are a little random. Some of them are pretty useless and the progression tree menu for unlocking them is not at all intuitive.
The boss fights are generally good, but (spoiler) you don't technically end up fighting every assassin. Also, the boss fights vary greatly in intensity and difficulty. I think most people would agree that the first boss fight (Deathstroke) is strangely much tougher than the two or three after that.
And finally, the voice acting, writing, and cut scenes... basically all of the production value of the first two games... is intact and fantastic. The story in this game is seriously stellar and as some reviews have pointed out, it's a bit grittier and less convoluted than Arkham City's story.
All in all, this game really, really is worth playing. Just don't expect better (or different) than the other two previous games. My recommendation... pick it up if you can get it for $39.99 or less or if you just really really love Batman. | video-games_xbox |
Always in moderation: Indulge and you'll be overwhelmed. With gameplay like God of War, Conan is a great, gritty, down-to-earth realistic low-fantasy, firmly within a universe like that of Conan the Cimmerian.
Rather fantastical elements are added in which only serve to make the story lamer than it could be, such as talk of ancient magic and wizards and demons, and an emphasis on "Conan the Destroyer" type magic, rather than firmly hard R-rated action.
But there IS plenty of R-rated action; blood is profuse in spilling (not crazy anime-style, but it gushes properly, leaves large permanent stains, etc), and body parts can be hacked off. Topless women are available to be saved, but other than watching them jig a bit in skimpy panties, you can't do anything with them.
The action as of yet has somehow managed to keep from growing stale, as you learn too many new moves too quickly in the game, but there seem to be more things to learn as you progress. Enemies begin to get too easy to kill, while some enemies are ridiculously difficult not due to any skill on their part, but simply a seemingly impenetrable shirt of armor, and an ability to break your sword parry almost every time they use a strong attack. Some of the bosses (including a morbidly obese creature on an island carrying a big stick covered in nails) are simply invincible, and can only be killed by utilizing the landscape, or monotonously waiting for them to miss you (quite easily) and then slicing at them with weak speed moves for half an hour.
The gore gets excessive to a point where the squeamish will be vomiting, and the non-squeamish, if unaffected, will be dissatisfied with the "300"-style gratuitousness of it, because rather than 2 hours of nonstop violence, this can go on for endless hours depending how long you play.
And in the end, enjoyment and lasting value comes with moderation. I've found in my experience that playing an hour or two every day or so makes this game more valuable than flooding an entire day with the game. Because the gore becomes cartoonishly gratuitous, and much, if not all, of the levels are the same labyrinthine maze requiring lots of simple puzzle work and ridiculously high "God of War"-style jumping.
Decent game in moderation, destined for irrelevance if indulged, a decent start for a Conan launch in console games, but not the best they could have done. | video-games_xbox |
Disappointing, perhaps even ruining the series. Please read the review titled "The Least Enjoyable of the AC Series". This guy nails it.
I've loved the Assassin's Creed series. The characters, gameplay, stories, the evolution of the game, upgrades, physical movements and actions, and the overall themes of Templars versus Assassins and backstory of a race of demigods have all been very engrossing and compelling. The games in the series have all been satisfyingly fun.
Assassin's Creed III was not fun.
I hated Conner. Maybe this design choice was made to show some character development in later games. I just really don't care about him any more. He kills everyone in his path, then protests to Haytham on several occasions, saying "you didn't have to kill him!" Unlike Altair and Ezio, he offers nothing that provokes reflection and thought on the part of the player. His voice acting and lines were weirdly boring or over the top, and never humanized him or gave his character any depth. All that was consistently portrayed was a one-dimensional adolescent brat.
Previous games in the series had simple economics systems that were well integrated into the games by giving usable rewards that maintained a challenging but fun level of difficulty as the bad guys got progressively larger, faster, and more dangerous. The twist of large rewards from assassin missions in neighboring cities and countries was welcome and again compelling in the last several games. It was repeated in AC III, but the homestead gather/buy/make/sell/convoy thing was wildly obfuscated menu driven awfulness.
And you don't need money in AC III.
For example, a key upgrade to buy in previous games was increasing the flavors and quantities of munitions that you could carry. In AC III, you can buy the same upgrades and carry several dozen pistol shots. BFD. You can only use the pistol once in a battle before a several second reload sequence (that can't be done while running from the regular or continental army that is now chasing you and you cannot hide from) must take place. Then you bend down and loot a body to get another pistol cartridge, replenishing the one you just used. The ammunition quantity upgrade is unnecessary.
Ben Franklin's almanac pages are worthless. The general stores are worthless. The feathers are worthless. The treasures are easy to find and access. Your armor upgrade is given to you; there's no earning it. The lock picking exercise is interesting - once, and repetitive thereafter. The chase missions are supremely frustrating (seriously? Chase without push*- sorry, just ran up a wall again, then fell into a pile of hay that I could never find while trying to escape from guards that randomly perk up and immediately chase for no reason -*without pushing anyone? Seriously!?). Rooftop running is impossible. The vertical nature of previous games doesn't exist, virtually eliminating the 3D movement that made previous games so fun. Climbing the trees to synchronize viewpoints was f-ing impossible due to the camera angles ("press A to climb to the next notch in the tree". What notch in the tree? All I see is a close up of tree trunk bark.)
I've never played a buggier or glitchier game, including Skyrim and Fallout III. At least those games were fun and rewarding.... It feels as if the game was never focus group or beta tested and was rapidly released to comply with dates in the game's story (yay! we released a game on October 30th with a story that starts on October 31 and ends conveniently before the Christmas season! yay!).
If you're wondering about buying this game, here's how gameplay progresses (consider this your fair warning): cut-scene, tutorial, eavesdrop, chase, get off the wall you accidentally ran up during the chase, desynchronize, chase, desynchronize, chase, travel long distances by running, meet a potentially interesting character, run from guards, run from guards, run from guards, bribe a news herald, never talk to the interesting character again, eavesdrop, reload your previous point because of a glitch or bug, chase, desynchronize, chase, cut-scene assassination where you get to press X as your reward for your hard work.
At the end, I'm bored and frustrated, and kept hoping Connor would die and I'd switch perspectives to someone more compelling.
The game will be a good buy in several months at 20% or less of its original price if only for the brilliantly constructed naval segment of the game. It is certainly not worth the release date price.
Overall, I'm very disappointed with AC III. Consumers would be much better off by buying AC II, AC Brotherhood, and AC Revelations for the same amount of money instead. It's really a shame. Ubisoft, why did you choose a setting (the American Revolution) where the geography (new world), technology, and architecture (all new, all undeveloped, all simple, all small, all "woo, I just got shot by six guys with muskets") inherently eliminate so much of the wonderful, grand, 3D horizontal/vertical historic feel of your previous fantastic games? Why did you choose to have your next trilogy arbitrarily move later along the historical timeline? Why not go with the French Revolution, or involve King Arthur (imagine Merlin's powers resulting from him carrying a Piece of Eden!), or maybe even pre-modern history (Templars and Assassins in Altair's time had to have predecessors, maybe Roman or Greek or Babylonian even)? Maybe Desmond has a Buddhist Monk that lived in a Monestary in his ancestry somewhere?
Ubisoft, please either scrap Connor, or make the next game so excellent that I won't be able to ignore it, because that's my plan right now....
Thanks all for your time, and a venue in which to vent frustration, hopefully preventing others from experiencing the same. | video-games_xbox |
A Magical Experience. This game has a few flaws, so technically I'm rating this 4.5 stars out of 5, but it by all means deserves the round-up.
The main reason I took interest in this game was because Nobuo Uematsu did the soundtrack. This may be his best work since Final Fantasy VI and VII. The sweeping orchestrations and touching piano really stand out. There is only one song that doesn't work, and it's the love song that occurs on disc 3. It made me cringe. But other than that, this is one of my favorite video game scores of all time. The voice acting is great, for the most part. There were a few hammy parts, mostly from the main villain, but it rarely distracted me. It comes with multiple language tracks. It's funny how the games you desperately want to have multiple language tracks (like Final Fantasy X) don't have them, but something that has high quality English also has other languages. It's a solid aural package.
The graphics are beautiful, but I feel that Japanese developers need to get a firmer grasp on the Unreal Engine 3. During cutscenes, especially, slowdown can be pretty bad, but an install to the Hard drive mostly eliminated this problem. The environments are some of the best I've ever seen. The characters are rendered very well, but the character designs can be a little odd. Ming stands out in my mind. It was a little hard to take her character seriously when her massive breasts were hanging out. Her personality is very warm and subtle, but her design is a little over the top. This is just nitpicking, though. The graphics are great in almost every category.
My favorite part of the entire game was the Dreams. As an avid reader, I had nothing against reading in a video game. I actually teared up in some parts. The writing is beautiful, and the music that accompanies them is well done.
Surprisingly, the dreams that you have to read are actually more compelling than the main plot that you watch. It's by no means a bad story, it just follows the standard tropes a little bit too much. The main villain was the least interesting part of the entire game. His motivations are muddy for the most part, and I just had to roll my eyes every time he did the stereotypical cackle. But the plot doesn't focus on him much, so it's forgiven. While not as good as the dreams, the plot is compelling all the way through. However, the third disc slows down the pace considerably. I think they put in a few throwaway boss battles to remind the player that this was, indeed, a game. The pace picks up after a while, but it took its time. The main character Kaim Argonar is one of the greatest leads in recent memory. He initially appears to be a moody, Cloud Strife type, but he is so much more than that. Yes, he talks little, but throughout the Dreams and the main story, it's for the better. He's a man that chooses his words carefully. He never says too much. I love the way that he has touched people in his thousand year existence. He's an excellent character.
The gameplay is amazing. In an age where JRPGs almost play the game for you, it's nice to see a game slow down and focus on strategy. The random battles are infrequent in many areas, but I have never had a problem with them in other games. It works well here. The system where immortals can learn new abilities from mortals is incredibly deep, and I just plain loved it. I never used the ring crafting system much, but I liked the sense of skill they gave a fairly formulaic gameplay style.
As the only Xbox 360 game to span four discs, there is a lot of play time here. Expect a fifty-hour game or perhaps more if you want to do the side-material, of which there is a staggering amount.
Mainstream critics may criticize the game for deliberately using old-school RPG mechanics. They may also say that there is nothing unique about it. While many of its mechanics are borrowed from other sources, the fact that it all comes together so well and even adds some more on top is a testament to its skilled designers. It isn't perfect, but it's close. I loved it. And it deserves five stars. | video-games_xbox |
As many cons as pros, but the value of the pros outweigh the cons. So I dropped over 400 dollars on this so they could attack me with advertising. I paid 50 MORE than the Sony for ads? Like dropping money on a date to the movies, paying 20 for tickets, and 20 on food and drink, so I can watch.... ADS.
Whatever Microslut, I'll take the abuse just for Forza.
There are redeeming qualities, hence the four star rating, but I'm in too much of an advertisement huff that I will have my full review later.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Update:
Cons:
Still get blasted with advertisements for Gold, no matter how many times I say no, then after you say no to the ad, it will pop up AGAIN. I didn't pay for ads, especially at the price I paid. Forza 6 keeps the audio bug issues that Forza 5 had, making the game unplayable after a while. You have to force close the game and reboot the Xbox One to get rid of it, EVERY time, because it comes back every time. The Xbox One app on windows 10 AND the movies and tv app which tell you that you can stream and/or watch movies stored on your PC, won't let me play movies stored on my PC. The last negative for now would be pandora app bug where if you do not force close pandora, the next time you use it, you will not be able to see your pandora channels. Use the same fix as the Forza bug. Annoying. You cannot use your 360's gamepad without a huge PC workaround. Exactly NONE of my 360 games are compatible, ouch. Maybe I should use the Xbox One's HDMI passthrough to use my 360 lol. Battery life on the gamepad is dismal, even if you use high MaH rechargables.
Pros:
However, this sucker streams Hulu and Youtube a million times better than 360 and even a little better than roku, I love how you can now cast youtube from your android device, unlike the 360. I also like the interface better for streaming apps, very slick and easy to use. On wi-fi or ethernet, it's very fast. The 500gb drive is more than enough space for my use, and the Gears of War Ultimate is a fun addition to this version. HDMI passthrough, even though I haven't used it, is a real nice modern touch. The gamepad, although it doesn't quite fit in my hands as well as the 360's pad, is freaking phenomenal, the force feedback, holy moly, instead of just "buzzzz", I can actually feel the ABS kick in on my cars in Forza and you can feel the curbing in the game too. It also, obviously, plays bluray. The streaming is the main redeemer for this console.
The Forza game itself sucks, and a console's racing sim game is the reason I chose a certain console and since I loved Forza 3 and 4, and heard that Gran Turismo was bad, I choose to buy the Xbox One. Bad decision, but you can read all about my hatred of Forza 6 in that review. | video-games_xbox |
Puzzle solving and swordplay. TOMB RAIDER without the grimness or the unrealistic body [well, a *different* unrealistic body anyway, because the main character is a sphinx]. I mention 'grimness' because BEYOND GOOD AND EVIL looked pretty good for kids until you started finding out just what was happening to those who disappeared, while SPHINX is about as grim as Scooby-Doo (if the ghosts turned out to be real).
SPHINX AND THE CURSED MUMMY starts pretty easy, giving lavish hints in the opening level, then becomes more challenging as it goes along. On alternate levels you play as the Mummmy, who has no weapons but the interesting ability of simply not losing any life [he's already dead!]. The Sphinx does get a weapon early on, leading to the occasional button-mashing, but expect to do a lot more PRINCE OF PERSIA and TOMB RAIDER type puzzles than fighting. There's also a touch of ODDWORLD:STRANGER's WRATH in the many many creatures found in this game.
On the minus side, the game controls seem a little arbitrary on the time-trials. When I know where I'm going & how to get there & it's being timed, I don't expect to see my character plunging to defeat because the game only accepts landing one millimeter this way or that way. And while more experienced gamers might find only minor challenges in the occasional cage battle, I found some made more difficult because of the camera control (it's pretty challenging to avoid an attack you can't see coming). However, this might simply be a matter of employing the correct strategy.
Also, I suppose, it might be said that you won't be learning anything about actual Egypt from this game :) Huge lava flows and bizarre animals are hardly realistic, but they do make for interesting game play.
The video game market is full of fantasy adventures, but not many are equally suitable for children as adults (e.g., LEGO STAR WARS). In my case, this means a game I can play without concern of my children seeing something inappropriate, and still have an enjoyable, challenging game. | video-games_xbox |
Maintains "zombie nostalgia" other games in the genre have lost over time. Valve has gradually made me a fan of first person shooters. Half Life 2 though frustrating was a very fun game and Portal was an ingenious concept which made a non violent shooter addicting to play.
Needless to say if you belong to the camp of people who believe Resident Evil has lost its' roots or that you want a bit of urgency, thrills, and horror in your FPS, Left 4 Dead is the answer for you!
To be honest Left 4 dead has a simple premise. You are 4 survivors amidst an epidemic that has given humans rabies turning them into violent psychopaths. Your sole goal is to leave the town anyway possible.
As the 4 survivors go about their tasks they talk to each other, crack jokes, make comments on what they see, and shout "reload!" when they have to reach for more ammo. All the characters are likable but my favorite is likely Bill, the gruff war veteran who was in Vietnam.
The controls are very simple. Right trigger fires, left trigger is your melee, and you switch between weapons, pain killers, and med kits with the D-pad. After you select an item right trigger will use that item on you while left trigger will use it on one of your friends. Pressing up turns your flash light on and off. As someone that has had problems with the controls of certain fps games I can say valve made everything stream lined and easy to learn, a good thing when the zombie hordes are running at you with their blood curdling screams.
While left 4 dead does not have a stellar story it is different each time you play it. Zombies will usually spawn in different locations each time you play and the 4 survivors come off as so real and genuine as people there really doesn't need to be a better reason to motivate them other than surviving and getting the heck out of dodge.
The only truly unrealistic factor in left 4 dead is that weapons and ammo are found on tables everywhere, especially at the beginning and end of check points. However a "zombie infection" is not truly realistic either and the point is to be sure everyone is having a good time.
In addition to normal zombies that can leap fences, run at you with psychotic rage and gnaw and claw at your face there are "mutant zombies" which are more formable. The obese boomers vomit bile that blinds you and attracts other infected. "Witches" are pitiful creatures that sob in the dark and don't immediately attack unless you make loud noises or shine your flash light at them. If you annoy them they will make use of their long ferial claws and they are extremely difficult to put down. Trust me, it is better to tip toe around them. Hunters can scale walls effortlessly and fall atop you while smokers will use their long tongues to grab you or blind you with a natural type of tear gas they omit from their pores. In addition there are "tanks" giant atrocities that excel at mauling and chucking heavy objects. As with the other zombies these abominations do not always attack in the same place so you feel as if you always have to be alert.
The area environments are fun and easy to navigate. Poor Gordon Friedman had to run on narrow beams and along the side of cliffs. Luckily there are no tiny walk ways elevated hundreds of feet in the air within Left 4 dead. Enemies can however push you through windows if they time their sneak attacks just right.
Some may argue if left 4 dead is a true survival horror game. In my opinion it is based on the fact you are normal people instead of elite mercenaries + there are zombies everywhere. While I love me some RE 4 and RE 5 they have strayed far away from their survival horror roots. Left 4 dead captures the nostalgia of the older RE games minus the crappy camera angles and broken controls.
As you can expect there is the single player campaign, multi player co-op online and offline, versus, and survival mode. In Versus mode one team gets to be the infected. I heard they recently added a "fatigue meter" to the survivors so they cannot simply melee attack everything to death. Whether or not this makes the game more fun and more balanced is hard to say. "Survival mode" is self explanatory and very much akin to mercenaries mode in RE 5 or Horde mode in Gears of war 2.(Aka you get swarmed by enemies and you try your best to hold out as long as you can.) I will comment that the AI is smart and tactical. Your "buddies" will be helpful to you and rarely a hindrance even when not controlled by other players. While I did not personally have a beef with RE 5's AI I do admit it is far better in Left 4 dead.
It's amazing how good valve struck a chord to honor a true "zombie apocalypse" theme. The game is reminiscent of 28 days later or Romero's "Dead" movies in that it makes you feel as if you are the characters on film. Though critics may argue the story is sparse and vague I honestly believe a convoluted over complicated back story would drag the game down and bitter the flavor in this particular case.
Being Left 4 dead has dropped in price the only advice I can tell you is get it now! You will not regret it!
Pros
+Easy to learn controls
+ 4 survivors carry on like real people. Each of them are likable and it is easy to sympathize with their struggle.
+The environments are fun to explore as opposed to being a bit frustrating like they sometimes were in Half Life 2.
+ Zombies spawn in unique locations each play through so the "surprise" never tapers off while playing.
+ Nice co-op and versus modes online and offline.
+Befitting music and sound effects that are spooky and keep you in a cold sweat.
Cons
-Vague story line with not many (if any) cuts-scenes. Personally I did not mind this but other players might.
-Unproven if the "fatigue meter" added in versus mode balances the game or rather makes it a suck-fest to play as the survivors.
- No true main antagonists. I do not consider the "mutant zombies" true bosses however in this case it's not that big of a deal there are none. Predictable boss fights at the end of each scenario might remind players they are playing a game thus waking them from Left 4 Dead's haunting spell. Once again I think it is a good thing there are no predictable boss fights though other players may once again disagree with me here. | video-games_xbox |
Absolutely Revolutionary. Disregard anything you've read about this console being weaker than the competition.
Don't let quick launch-frame ports running at less than 1080p scare you off. Microsoft has spent hundreds of millions in R&D on this device and most of it's capabilities have not even been revealed to developers. First and foremost, there is confidential silicon on the SOC that you can see if you compare the chip from PS4 to XBox One. It is in this silicon that the Xbox One will absolutely blow away any competition for the next half decade and remain competitive for 5 more years. Microsoft develops Direct X, a graphics API that developers use for writing 3D games. The Xbox One supports extensions in hardware for the latest version, DirectX 11.2. Additionally, the hardware is already in place, but undisclosed to developers for DirectX 11.3, 11.4 & 11.5. 11.1 is available for Windows 8. DirectX 11.2 is only available for Windows 8.1 and Xbox One. Exclusively. DirextX 11.3-11.5 will each ship with the next 3 annual windows 8 releases (Microsoft has planned all the way through Windows 8.4 before moving to Windows 9 in 5 years (8.1-8.4 will all be free updates to 8.0).
As each version is made available, these extensions will be made available to developers on Xbox One. Out the door, the silicon is present to support DX11.2 resources (HARDWARE ACCELERATED!) such as the much talked about "Tiled Resources". This feature alone allows developers to comprise geographically complex scenese that would consume as much as 3 GBs on other systems with as little as 15 MBs. It also maximizes utilization of CU/Shader Units such that the supposedly "inferior" 768 present on Xbox One will, in many cases, blow the doors off of the grossly overestimated 1168 units on the PS4.
Sony has essentially built an off-the-shelf low-mid range computer that will be obsolete in 2-3 years. Xbox One has been engineered from the ground up to as a true "NEXT GENERATION" machine. Think of the PS4 as a faster version of the PS3, whereas the Xbox One is more of a total reboot of computer graphics technology. As Microsoft reveals more features to developers, expect games to continue getting better with time. The much anticipated Halo 5 due out this summer is the first game to really start using the custom silicon. As such, the game will graphically surpass any game the planet has seen.
Here's one popular developer's take: [...]
Keep in mind, all developers who have been granted access to the updated SDKs and Drivers thus far are under NDA to not disclose the details. This is a marketing move so that when people see Halo 5 and some yet unannounced titles at E3 in June 2014, they will amaze and delight in a way people haven't seen in a long time. Additionally, there will be an international install base of 15 million by then, making the economics of exploiting these features viable.
As far as the Xbox One as it is today, it is already an impressive device. The TV features and voice control are revolutionary. The "Snap" ability is a godsend and the controller (particularly the impulse triggers) is easily the most pleasing controller of any generation.
Buy one, you won't regret it! Get a PS4 too, if you like Sony's offerings, but don't miss out on what the Xbox One is going to do for Gaming! Be a part of the most important paradigm shift in gaming. | video-games_xbox |
Madden 2009 Collector's. First off, I'd like to say that it is getting old every game manufacturer putting out something, adding little trinkets like an eight-ball keychain, adding a couple of extra features, and calling it a "collector's edition."
EA Sports did an awesome job when they released Madden 05 and its "Collector's Edition." They did an awesome job adding the interviews and showing the progression all the way from the beginning of Madden to the then current generation and even including THREE different versions of Madden. Since then, I've been duped into buying the 07 collector's edition and this one. The "extra" disc is okay, but it doesn't warrant really being called an "extra" disc. I will review Head Coach 09 right now before I review Madden. :YAWN!!! I tried to play, and even made it through one game. Yawn. Anyway. On to the game..
CONS:
1. Way too much information on the screen prior to the snap. After a few games, I've gotten the preplay options down fairly well. I do hit the right stick, but it still does pop up every so often during the game.
2. While I do appreciate the attempt at commentary upgrade from prior versions, Cris Collinsworth is rather dull, and the next time i have to hear him say, "The joy about the NFL is watching qbs throw the ball, and WRs catching the ball." My, how insightful. Worse yet, "the tight end is like a pacifier." comment. enough!!! I feel at times that eugene levy is doing the play by play
2a. if Tom Hammond mentions one more frickin' time that today's game is brought to me by EA Sports, i will Elvis my TV and shoot it.
3. Bring Madden back into his own game.
4. bring back the all the officials, not just the referee, and the chain gang.
5. when i challenge a play, let me know what I'm challenging first. I hate challenging a catch on the sidelines, b/c the guy looked like he was out of bounds, but when I challenge, it challenges the spot of the ball.
6. every so often, Cris will go to show me a backtrack, the logo will come up, and w/o pressing anything, it will disappear and go back to normal gameplay w/o doing squat.
7. the td celebrations are a nice touch, but only make them available only after a cool TD like an INT ran back, or a kickoff, not when I QB sneak from a yard out with the game already in the bag.
PROS:
1. gameplay and graphics are awesome.
2. they brought back the option to allow the cpu to play itself if you are bored and just want to watch.
3. the ability to bluff your plays. when i play humans, the main one i play against tends to watch my play.
4. If I lose a challenge, the salt isn't rubbed into the wound anymore by showing me the scoreboard graphic of "TIME OUT." It's a little subtler now.
It took a little bit for this game to grow on me for some reason. I do at least enjoy playing the 93 version. I must be dumb b/c i don't know where all these extra plays are supposed to be. This is probably a partial wish list for next year, but at least attach the field goal nets to something instead of casper the friendly ghost raising them. bring back the chain gang, and the ability to truly squib quick. it would also be nice if they would put up a sports ticker at the bottom like on the ps1 with ongoing scores of the other games going on when you are playing on the ea sports ticker. It's too bad that they can't throw in real time scores as well.
overall, the game is an improvement over the past two incarnations of madden for the xbox 360, but it really didn't live up to the hype that this game was getting. the box mentions 85 new features, but i've yet to find 20. That being said, i do enjoy playing it. | video-games_xbox |
When is the next great Conflict game coming out. All of my gripes will be under the paragraph so named. I just want to hit the high points of this game first:
1. Mission Diversity: This truly is a reflection of some special operations missions in a war on terrorism. The first two installments in the Conflict series were pretty much just a small A-Team running around the battlefield doing their "traditional" special operations missions. This installment has your team going from a jail-break in Colombia to South Korea and an executive security mission. The final mission is the assault on a nuclear missile base in the Indian Himalayas. This variety shows the fluid character and truly global reach of terrorism and the war against it.
2. Controls: The squad controls are much more simple and intuitive than the other Conflict games. I especially like the ability of a downed soldier being able to call another to heal him/her rather than take control of that soldier or order him/her there with a third soldier. This is great when you have to have a guy covering and need to get two downed soldiers back up. The delay orders are great for assaulting rooms or pieing corners in multiple directions at once. It also aids when you can stealth guys into position and then cut loose on an unsuspecting enemy when all your guys are in place with the click of a button. It is also good to be able to lean and shoot.
3. Graphics: These are the best graphics of the whole conflict series. The Desert Storm installments had bearable graphics but overall they looked cartoonish. Vietnam was getting there and I like the feel of its graphics more for some reason but the Global Terror ones are on par with Rainbow Six or SOCOM. Not as good but on par. Some of the jerkiness has been taken out of soldier movement.
4. AI: The AI is better but not vastly. Your squad's AI seems to have improved little but I note that soldiers will tend to act on their own better. For example, if they are shooting at a guy they just can't hit then they may move into better position to kill him or simply lob a grenade. The enemy AI will flee from grenades and this opens them up to fire when they get out from behind cover.
5. Gripes: They are few and usually to do with storyline rather than gameplay. The gameplay gripes I have are mainly the level of difficulty or additions I want to see in the next game. I also wish they would have brought some things over from Vietnam. I believe that Vietnam was the best game as far as feeling in the storyline, keeping the action quick and constant throughout the maps and I think that all in all it was the most difficult of all the Conflict series.
However, there are singular missions or portions of missions in Global Terror that are rathcheted way up compared to anything in the Vietnam ones. The first few minutes of "Pressure Drop" will test your ability to move your squad around and survive as well as deal out damage and repel attacks. Otherwise you will spend your time healing downed people and getting shot until no one is left to heal anyone. Keep your head on a swivel during this mission. After that it just lets off from there until the very end of the map. This is similar to a lot of missions, which are more realistic to combat; 99% sheer boredom punctuated by 1% sheer terror. I do not mean to say the game is boring but it does seems to follow the big-battle then pick off stragglers then regroup and crossload ammo, medic kits, grenades etc.; then move to next big battle and start all over. Why not have one mission where the whole army comes down on top of you and you have to set up correctly to fight it off like in Desert Storm, Back to Baghdad or Vietnam? To be fair no counter-terrorism unit would want to be caught in that kind of situation but for gamers it is fun. I guess this is keeping with the game's storyline realism.
Also, I miss the vehicles especially the choppers. Nothing beats loading up "Ride of the Valkyries" to your custom soundtrack on the chopper mission in Conflict: Vietnam. Could they not have put a mission with a helicopter in it like in Conflict: Vietnam that was more like the chopper mission in Delta Force: Black Hawk Down? The times you do use vehicles in this game are only setting your whole squad up to get wiped out by hidden tanks, mortar fire, or RPG wielding enemies whom you may miss while sweeping through an area.
I wish they had an option to view the weapons' sights realistically in zoom like on Conflict: Vietnam especially with all the new, authentic weapons in modern armies' inventories. Some things are more "gee whiz" than actually useful; mainly laser sights on weapons. I also wish that they would have the weapons behave more realistically. Case in point: M-16's have longer range and are more accurate at distance than AK-47's but AK's are more powerful. Why then does it take the same amount of body shots to down someone or that they have the same zoom distance? Just a small wish I have. I also wish they would incoporate some sort of throw adjustment on grenades like in most other games of this type.
I also wish that the characters' dialogue in this game was as "colorful" as that in Conflict: Vietnam. The dialogue in that game was the most realistic since the majority of Soldiers/Sailors/Airmen/Marines/Coasties pepper all their speech with profanity. I think I counted only one four-letter word in this whole game. This was probably done to allow more people to buy this game but come on, it's M+ already and I think that bad language is less problematic than graphic violence. Anyway, any game involving combat soldiers should have profanity, if they have any dialogue at all, to be realistic.
When will game makers realize that there are no women in American Army Special Forces units or even CIA direct action teams? I admit putting women in is to be PC and maybe to draw the growing number of female gamers but it takes away from the realism in the storyline. Also, to go with storyline realism, why not use more realistic terror groups? The South Korean missions have you up against terrorists from South Korea. It is more realistic to have North Korean terrorists operating in the south. The drug cartels in the Colombia missions were the most believeable. Also the main enemy in the game has a private army of former German special forces operatives. Most private armies/security companies today are made up of former Spetsznaz(USSR/Russian special forces). Just think about real world intel/organizations for the next game Take2.
If you like the other Conflict series games then you will love this one. I realize that most of my review is devoted to gripes but this is just in hopes that some developer will try to make a great game perfect. | video-games_xbox |
Could be an Amazing Game if the Developer Fixed the Hacking. I enjoyed Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 as my first call of duty game. I was hooked and went on to love Black ops 1 (hated MW3 and am very iffy about Blops 2, however those should be covered in other reviews). My friends would always rave about how much they loved WAW, however they warned me that it had a lot of hackers. I should have greatly heeded this warning.
Let me first touch on the single player campaign. I generally purchase call of duty games for the online multiplayer experience, however that doesn't mean that I completely neglect the single player campaign and I am glad I didn't. The campaign on World at War is excellent with a well structured story, memorable characters, well thought-out level design and good weapon design. You really feel like you are stuck in WWII. The beauty of the campaign is that most missions can be done in co-op which is great as co-op games allow me to regularly socialize with friends who I cannot or do not normally keep in touch with in conventional ways.
Now, unfortunately, on to the multiplayer. This could have been a phenominal portion of the game and, at an earlier time, I'm told it was. However, the game is so riddled with hackers using god mode, flying around, above, and below the map, and spamming your screen with obnoxious text that it makes this mode both unplayable and completely unenjoyable. On the very off chance that you do get a hacker-free loby, the game does play very well, except for the fact that one of the hackers hacked me, making me unable to use any of the initially unlocked create-a-class items (stopping power, tommy gun, frag grenade, etc...) and putting me at an extreme disadvantage against the competition. When I called Activision to get this resolved, they said there is nothing they can do. I asked them to reset me to level 1 and I would go through the first few levels again in the hope that this time everything would unlock, but was told that they can't just unlock anyone who asked. When confronted with the fact that this isn't just a "anyone" situation and I had a legitimate problem stemming from the lack of security for the game, they just said, "Sorry, you will just have to prestige and hopefully the problem will work itself out." If they patch this and fix the issues, I will gladly update my review, however this remains to be seen and I am not holding my breath.
One final aspect that I have delved much into in this game, but is worth noting is Zombies. It is a fun cooperative mode and well made, however I have not played it enough to review it. The reason I haven't done much of it here is that it is very similar to the Zombies in Black Ops 1, which I played quite a bit more and have become bored with.
Because I purchase these games mainly for the multiplayer mode, I have weighed that most heavily in my review and due to the lack of support both by Treyarch and Activision, and the overall gross negligence of this game, I have arrived at a 2-star review. | video-games_xbox |
Great headset at a fair price. I bought this headset as a backup for my normal gaming headset because the price was right, the specs looked good, and they looked comfortable. I tend to wear a headset about 8 hours a day for gaming, communication, and watching TV .
The packaging for the product was very good. Very professionally presented with all the info you need. Oddly it was very similar to the packaging for a Razor headset my roommate received recently. The hard carrying case is a nice addition to have if you happen to need them and I can assure you mine will be used on a regular basis.
As for the headset. Visually it looks very good to me but that is a subjective thing. The headset itself is much lighter then I expected and I can hardly feel that it is on my head even after about 3 hours of gaming. The padding is very comfortable and the cans fit my big head perfectly. The headset seems to be a completely plastic design but from the feel even though it is light there is enough elasticity in the build that I think they would last a good long while. The lights are a nice touch although I can see why some people would like the option to turn them off to be less flashy. The cord is nice and long and for me the in line volume control is right about where I would want it.
As for function. The sound quality is good. I find the bass just about perfect and the clarity is good at all volume ranges. So far I have tested it with youtube music, Netflix streaming, a DVD, and in WoW and Diablo 3. Sound is also very good in both Skype and Ventrilo. The microphone is clear and I have had no issues being heard or understood in Vent or Skype. The audio controls work great and I like that the mic light turns off when you are muted. Since I tend to mute myself frequently it is nice having a visual reminder.
The only drawback for me is the connection. I tend to like headphones with an audio jack so that I can watch TV with my headset so I will have to see if a USB to audio jack converter will work with these. Even so I knew this going in so it won't effect my rating. I am just stating it for anyone that happens to miss that in the description or for feedback for the manufacturer. I would prefer to have audio jacks with a converter to USB for computer use which is what I am use to.
Obviously I can't give a review on their longevity as they just came out but I think based on what I have seen so far these will be a good headset to use and I will have to start watching for other Sently products. I will however update if I have any issues in the future.
All in all I will give this headset a 5 star rating. I bought them at the sale price of about 30 bucks on Amazon however I feel that they preform as well as my Plantronics Gamecom 780 headset and out preform my 380s for volume and clarity. Based on my short time with them they also easily keep up with my roommate's Razor Blackshark Battlefield 4 edition headset. That being said I think that the retail price is fair. | video-games_xbox |
A great resurgence for Lara Croft. The new Tomb Raider series had resparked the slowly dying light of all the past reboots that have not been sucessful. Being a big fan of the original series, I cas say that this game, as long as the former title a few years back has done a great job sucking you back into the world of Archeology.
The game boasts fantastic graphics that really makes explorering a treat. Whether you are zip lining across a Siberian tundra or slowly exploring a dark cave, it really makes for exciting gameplay as you never know what will happen next or what will pop out at you.
The story is good, but I personally liked the first title's better. The game added a few new features such as supplies you can gather (wood, cloth, feathers, mushrooms etc) and allows you'd to craft bullets and upgrade equipment. Some people found the survival insticts button made the game too easy as it simply highlighted all interactive items as well as way points. But you can turn that feature off all together of you choose to or just refrain from pressing that button. As a completionist I found the latter more difficult so I decided to turn it off all together.
Gameplay is what you'd expect from the last game. Lots of running, explorering with twists and turns. It plays very similarly to the Uncharted series. I have not tried the multilayer portion of the game so I cannot review on that unfortunately.
The one knock I give to this game, which is what caused me to give it 4 stars instead of 5 is that my may file got corrupted and I could not load any of my games. I'm playing on survivalist difficulty and found it very frustrating that I had to reload from hours prior via backup save files. The other option to fix this was to unistall and reinstall off of the disc without the updates. But this only worked once for me. This glitch seems to only occur in certain parts of the game.
The other con I would give this game is the marketplace add-ons that they now offer which is a set of card packs that will change the gameplay depending which card you unlock. These cards don't bring much value to the game and they cost real money or in game credits that you earn by completing achievements. It's not really a baf thing but I don't think many people will utilize this feature and may ignore it all together.
Overall, I enjoy coming home from work and progressing through the story. I take time to look around and find treasures (without survivor instict). The game runs very smoothly and I am sure you will get sucked in as I did. | video-games_xbox |
The Wait is over. Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic (KOTOR) and Jade Empire stand out as two of the best RPG's ever made for the original Xbox. Bioware (the game developer for both) struck gold with their epic, morally charged RPG's, and when it was announced that Bioware would be releasing another game in the same vein on the Xbox 360 (Mass Effect), fans went rabid. Two years before its official release Bioware hyped up Mass Effect in various magazine interviews, and soon demos were released showing off the graphics and gameplay.
As with every A-list video game, Mass Effect was going to be THE next generation video game experience. Bioware boasted a massive universe; one that featured many planets available for exploration, an extensive and unique conversation system, and their usual good/bad choices. They also boasted a squad-based combat where you could control your AI team mates. Bioware also promised a slew of side quests and missions, which included a vast array of uncharted worlds to explore.
Now, I have come to accept the sad fact that most of what a developer promises will never see the light of day, but in the case of Mass Effect it seems that some things were literally cut short without any reparation or reason.
Before I get into my review, I would like to state that Mass Effect is a really fun and engrossing RPG that offers a really fun conversation system, a fully realized universe, an awesome story-line, and real-time combat a la Gears of War. Mass Effect offers a character creation system that allows you to customize your character and level-up him or her as you see fit, not to mention you get to choose from a handful of job classes (Infiltrator, Soldier, etc..)
The graphics of Mass Effect are true Next Generation splendor. Everything we have come to expect of modern video game graphics is present, from realistic and lifelike character models to fully rendered and detailed backgrounds and items. In the graphics department, Mass Effect truly exceeds and surpasses most games. Optional grain filters and blurring effects are available as well.
However, due to marketing schemes by Microsoft, the game is marred rather frequently by long load times, texture pop ins and the occasional jitters. What is this marketing scheme I speak of? The core Xbox 360 system that does not feature a hard drive.
The soundtrack is very atmospheric and reminiscent of old school Science Fiction movies, and it does a great job of immersion. You will feel like you are in some strange science fiction movie. Sound Effects are pretty good as well. No complaints here...
The control is very similar to KOTOR and Jade empire, except that Mass Effect has real-time combat instead of Turn based. Similar to Gears of War, there is a cover system, thought it is often very clunky and unnatural feeling, and you will probably spend more time just standing behind cover than hiding behind it. Weapons follow your standard shooter fare - pistols, machine guns, sniper rifles and shotguns. There are some grenades and such as well. The really draw however, is the biotic and tech powers; the meat and potatoes of the combat. Each character (your team mates included) have a range of biotic powers (Mass Effect's version of magic) available to them, and they all kick butt. Depending on what character you create and how you level-up that character, various biotic powers will be made available. Tech powers work in the exact same fashion.
Mass Effect also offers a quick menu that pauses the combat, allowing you to use your team mates tech and biotic powers, as well as change their weapons. This is a handy feature as there are more than enough intense battles where you will find yourself outnumbered and out-gunned.
The biggest feature of Mass Effect has to be its story-line and extensive background information. Through various "codex" entries, through conversations and surveying planets, you will learn the history of the Mass Effect Universe. The story line is perfectly intertwined with the history, and succeeds in being a deeply engrossing and involved story with a pretty interesting plot.
The conversation system is truly unique in that it allows for perfectly seamless conversations that feel like cinematic cut scenes, or at least that is how it would feel if Bioware had put more time into it. While the conversations do have a somewhat interesting and engrossing quality to them, the characters facial and body movements are very repetitive and boring, and the conversation scenes hardly serve as the games cut-scenes (as Bioware claimed they would). They basically consist of a still scene showing your party and whoever you are talking to, with the occasional close up of a characters face or body movement. YAWN...
Since a good chunk of Xbox 360 owners own the core version that has no hard-drive, all developers must create their game to run off of the game disc only; this leads to problems galore. Mass Effect is a HUGE game, and Xbox 360 discs are relatively small - do you see where I'm going with this? My guess is that in order for everything to fit on the game disc, and to keep the disc number down to 1 Bioware was forced to cut things out. This is evident in the "explorable" universe. The limitless universe that Bioware bragged and hyped about during development is NO WHERE to be seen. Sure, there are still various planet systems to travel to, and they all host about 6 planets, but you cannot actually "land" on all of them. In fact, the player will spend more time "surveying" (which involves pushing a button and reading the text that pops up) the planet or even reading a wall of text associated with the history of the planet rather than actually exploring them. There are only a handful of planets that the player can actually land on, and these explorable planets comprise a good majority of the side-quests.
On these planets, the player controls a vehicle (called the Mako), sort of like a dune buggy, and can explore a very limited portion of the planet (which usually is a big square area surrounded by an invisible wall). Not only is the Mako incredibly annoying to control, there is literally NOTHING to do on these planets. Besides the occasional enemy outpost, the ability to mine for minerals (a push of a button), and a confounded sense of "WTF?" these "uncharted" planets offer little in terms of side-missions.
Not only is there nothing to do on these planets, but their design is exactly the same. Every uncharted planet has the same looking sky (though the color may change from planet to planet), and they all boast the same boring mountainous regions and rocky terrain. Seriously, this very lazy on the part of Bioware, though I feel that the poor design of these planets has more to do with time constraints than sloppy developing.
Another big issue is the moral dilemmas that your character faces during the game. Instead of aligning with a "good" side or an "evil" side, the player can either align themselves with the Paragon side of the Renegade side. Essentially, the character cannot join an "evil" side, or even play a "bad" character, the choices boil down to this - what would you do to save the universe? Will you slaughter mercilessly for the sake of the entire universe, or will you play by the book? Don't get me wrong, this is a really neat concept, and if Bioware had more time I'm sure they would have perfected it.
My biggest gripe with this Paragon/Renegade dynamic is that, either way you choose, you save the universe; the Paragon (good)/Renegade (bad) conversation choices and decisions really only serve as replay value, and only a few of these choices alter the course of the game.
What's worse, is that your team mates don't really even question your authority if you do something horrible (like murder innocents); in fact, your team mates don't even really feel "alive". The only time you really get to know your team mates is on your space ship (The Normandy), where the romance plot lines and such take place. Other than that, there is little to no conversational exchange between your character and your team mates on missions. Not only does this break the engrossing quality of the Mass Effect world, but it makes for some very boring game play as well. Considering KOTOR and Jade Empire both featured extensive dialogue between the characters, the lack of such feature in Mass Effect can only be chalked up to a rushed development.
Another tell tale sign that this game was rushed is the fact that you can only talk to certain NPC's (usually those associated with a quest). I may be spoiled by high profile RPG's like Oblivion, but you SHOULD be able to talk to various NPC's, they should have their own lives and daily routines. I mean, we are in the Next Generation of video games, the Xbox 360 CAN support this feature. In essence, the NPC's should be interactive; another missing feature that severely breaks the engrossing factor of Mass Effect.
Negatives aside, Mass Effect is a truly fun game that is worth playing, just don't expect what Bioware promised. | video-games_xbox |
Feature Rich. I played the original Risen and I found that game to be tough, challenging yet strangely addicting. Risen 2 follows in the footsteps of the original with some welcome improvements but not so many improvements as to make it a "cake walk" or a by-the-numbers adventure.
Every RPG has its own set of rules and game mechanics. For example The Witcher's gameplay is radically different from Skyrim which in turn is different from Mass Effect. This is fact, Risen (parts 1 and 2) is no exception, in the world of Risen you are presented with a sandbox world to explore and remember, much like you would your own neighborhood.
There are no magical beams of light to guide you from place to place; you must remember locals, paths, shortcuts, villages, towns and landmarks to get your bearings.
A vast majorities of quest will be giving to you via conversations you will have with the populace, pay attention to what they say, because buried in their conversation may be directions to how to get to where you are headed.
Risen 2 makes an improvement on the map department since Risen 1's map was cryptic matter to understand.
Speaking of maps, in the world of Risen you are given nothing. You must acquire everything you need. Food, tools, armor/gear, weapons and yes even maps.
This can be frustrating, especially early on in the game since you do not know where you are, you have no lay of the land and you can't make heads or tails of your location. However, this is part of the intrigue of the game. Finding your own way. Won't be long before you recognize a stretch of beach, a rotting stump and a turn of the road, perhaps a cave or a temple with untold treasures to loot.
Risen 2 has a fast travel system, so once you find a local map and find key, important landmarks you may travel to these locations quickly, shortening your travel time.
Why is Risen 2 a feature rich RPG?
What the game lacks in graphical horse power, it more than makes up in features and excellent voice work.
I found myself laughing quite a few times listening to the conversations these the NPC pirates would have about their raids, or who they wanted to "plow".
The developers have done an excellent job of keeping each encounter with NPC and major villains/characters fresh and distinct even if some of the character assets get reused from time to time.
So in short ACES on the voice work.
Few RPG allow for so many different ways to modify and enhance your character. Sadly Risen 2 doesn't allow for character creation (you play the hero from Risen 1), but you can "learn" all kinds of interesting techniques and abilities.
LEARNING is the key word in the universe of Risen (1 and 2), you do not simply level up (by spending glory points) and magically gain the ability to parry blows, or the skills to pick locks.
Instead, you must find NPC throughout the world that are willing to part with their knowledge and teach you the necessary skills for your character to start to form into a complete person. Want to be better at lock-picking? then find the NPC that will part with this knowledge and ask him/her to teach it to you. Want to be better at piercing weapons rather than slashing? then find the appropriate mentor and pay him/her for their time.
This brings up an interesting ebb and flow of always searching for loot, treasure, stealing, hunting, fighting, exploring and quest solving in the hopes that you can advance just one more skill.
Risen 2 ads to the fun by streamlining and making things move in a more coherent, brisk pace. I found myself MUCH more enthralled in this game than in part 1 and I found part 1 captivating. There is a more deliberate and focused direction in Risen 2, you will become a captain, earn a crew and go where you please in no time.
LOW TIDES
If Risen 2 has an element which needed special attention it would have to be combat. as it is, it's "serviceable". However, the more you advance your combat skills and the better the quality of your weapons will directly affect and dictate the outcome in most combat encounters, dramatically.
Risen 2 has a 1 button combat system (primarily) and although this may be off putting to some, it is by no means silly or ill conceived, just not responsive enough. There are plenty of occasions where an enemy can simply spam you with hits and you will be hard pressed to get in a hit, to say nothing of turning around and running. The game simply does not react to inputs fast enough.
You will learn moves such as Parry, Riposte, and such but implementing those moves will be another matter altogether different. I'm 45 hours in and I have yet to find the correct timing to parry anyone.
Your movements are clunky while your enemies are surprisingly agile. This spells trouble with a capital T.
Yet even with the combat snafu (which I am positive can be relieved much by a good patch) the game is still addicting and fun.
It allows you to live your pirate dreams and fantasies and it does it without insulting the player.
In fact I am not even sure if this game would have benefited if the engine used was Unreal (or something equivalent). Sure it would have looked prettier, but perhaps we would not have all these other wonderful ways of interacting in this world as we do now. Legendary weapons, Voodoo, forging, distillery (for making rum and grog ~ you'll NEED IT!), gunsmithing you name it, it's in this game.
Come to Risen with an open mind and realize not all the best games get all the hoopla. You just might be surprised. | video-games_xbox |
Worthy of the Name. Ahh Final Fantasy, the series that has caused me to buy many a console system just to play the latest iteration. XIII continues the tradition of high quality offerings from Square Enix and does so in a new way, cross-platform on the PS3 and the XBox 360. It is well documented that the presentation quality of the 360 version is slightly inferior to that of the PS3 (576p versus 720p) but the actual game experience doesn't seem to suffer in any appreciable way. Still, I can't help but feel slighted somewhat by being offered the lower resolution version for my platform of choice.
Platform considerations aside, the experience offered by Final Fantasy XIII lives up to the high expectation of the series with a few surprises that assist the more casual gamer with less time available to devote to play.
- Improved Accessibility for Casual Players
Story Recap: One of the unexpected new features the game offers is a recap of the story during save game loading. After firing up the game and selecting a save to restore the player is presented with the most recent story recap. This is a fantastic feature that help the player remember how far the story had progressed and what their next goal is in the game. During play, this information is also accessible from the menus but having it presented to you at load time is a nice touch.
Streamlined combat concepts: Another welcome feature is how well the new combat features are presented to the user. The Paradigm system for combat and the way items and skills work are introduced with good pacing over the first several hours of play.
Retrys: For a casual gamer I can't emphasize enough how welcome a feature this is. Somewhat similar to the Checkpoint system found in Blue Dragon, Final Fantasy XIII offers the player a change to retry any battle that they lost rather than restoring a previous save game and progressing back to the battle. The Retry system doesn't just throw you back into the beginning of the battle. It actually starts you just before the battle allowing the user to take a different path or perform more adventuring before even jumping back into the battle they just lost.
- Some feeling of Deja Vu
Concepts from older Square titles are revised and incorporated into Final Fantasy XIII.
Loot system: Similar to Final Fantasy XII, XIII offsers a loot system where creatures can drop items. These items may be sold or used to upgrade equipment.
Vagrant Story's Equipment Construction: Final Fantasy XIII offers players the chance to level up their weapons by feeding them the aforementioned loot to generate experience. Existing equipment (weapons and armor) can also be disassembled into loot. The whole system is a really fun concept but doesn't seem nearly as overwhelming (or flexible) as the similar system from Vagrant Story
Final Fantasy VII revisited?: The intro reminds me of Final Fantasy VII's train and the fact that the main character (even though female) is ex-soldier contributes to this feeling. This isn't really a bad thing though since VII is regarded as one of the best games in the series.
Final Fantasy XIIs Automatic Team Members: While XII provided a fully programmable AI (using Gambits) to control the actions of your team, XIII provides automatic group member actions for only support characters. While I miss being able to program all my characters, the support characters actually seem to make good battle decisions. The main character/team leader controls in a more traditional way where commands must be selected from the menu.
Final Fantasy X's sphere grid returns?: A new Crystarium system is used to allow characters to learn new abilities and boost attributes. This system feels somewhat similar to Final Fantasy X's sphere grid and works reasonably well. It requires a player to enter the menus and make decisions to level up their character but this action can be done before each save point and doesn't cause too much trouble.
- As always an entertaining story
An abundance of video cutscenes: I believe this version of Final Fantasy may have the most cutscenes of any. There's plenty of video for fans to view with many humorous moments.
Entertaining (and annnoying) characters: True to form there are some memorable characters in Final Fantasy. My favorite so far really has to be Sazh, the man with the chocobo chick roosting in his Afro like it's some kind of nest. He has some of the best lines in any game.
Overall a worthy member of the Final Fantasy series. I still can't help but feel slighted by the inferior graphics of the 360 version so if you have a choice go for the PS3 release. The game does look fantastic even at 576p though. | video-games_xbox |
Insane, Chaotic, Unrealistic huge fun. Man, how nice to be away from reality. IRS, Bills, Responsibilities, nasty politics and more are reality. I'll leave them behind and grapple to a heli, grapple the passenger to his falling death next with the pilot and then take it over and then blow the hell out of a thug-run criminal gas station with my heli's built in rockets, parachute down and then motorcycle to a drug king pen's villa and blow the snot out of him and his goons and its not even 6:00am in the morning yet. Am I a Marine? Nope, I don't command that respect but I play Just Cause 2. Been playing it for addictively for 16 hours now and not even 8% through the main game yet. Here is the original review - a few gripes after.
Well, I've never really enjoyed "sandbox" games. Tried GTA and just didn't get into it. Maybe I didn't try it long enough. But this game just got started and its an absolute blast and I think its just going to get even better. Watched many videos and read some reviews and watched one of the developers play and man this game is just plain insane fun! The diverse things you get to do and blow up are just amazing. Creating chaos and destroying cities to piss off the government! If only! Well, here we get to do it and the light story motivates you to kick some tail. The controls take time to get used to and are a bit difficult for older gamers like me, but its so much fun its worth it. Glitches??? I'm having way too much fun to even notice, nor do I give a .... Man, grappling to a huge heli, blowing it up OR taking it over then latching on to a building and 'chuting down, so many options. For less talented gamers such as myself, it does get a bit difficult with all of the controls and fast action though. I'll just have to keep practicing. As far as value for a game? I can't imagine how long and how many great hours you could put into this game. I think there are almost 400 locations to explore and infiltrate and I'm just getting started and thats not even mentioning the side missions which I haven't reached yet. Fun factor and replayability give this game 9.5 out of 10(haven't found a 10 yet) if you like to blow stuff up, shoot thugs, drive vehicles - planes, boats, helis, hummers and who knows what else.....this game is absolutely for you. If you pick apart games for reality, well give this one a pass. Once I get way further into it, I'll update this review.
Some gripes: Save points! I wish there was an option to go exactly back to the place where you died. It seems that the game sticks you back into an old conquest and you have to fly/ride/run back to the other place or "transport" from your black market contact to a previous conquest that is close by to where you want to be. Not sure why, but thats the way they did it. Maybe there is another way but I don't know it. The vehicles can be difficult at first, but after you get used to them they are a complete blast. This game is still one of the most fun games I have ever played and there is so much more. Its one of the first games the I want to complete each mission at 100% and that can be fairly time consuming. The heli's are so much fun. I don't know why the put the vehicle purchase option in the game when you can just steal and aquire them in the game. Maybe there is a reason, but I don't know it yet. I bought a couple but it was just a waste of cash when I crashed them and stole another. I'll stand by my 5 star and 9.5 out of 10 review, or ok, 9.25 out of 10. A complete consuming blast, and still I'm only a small way in the game. | video-games_xbox |
Simply Amazing. This game is, in a word, stunning. The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion comes to you in only a way that the next generation of gaming can deliver: the visuals are crystal clear, the scenery is absolutely breathtaking, and the depth of the game is mind-boggling.
In case you haven't yet heard, Oblivion has what could be considered the best graphics of any video game. Ever. Period. And if you own an HDTV, prepare to be shocked. I have an HDTV that supports this game in 720p resolution (I had to buy a VGA cable since the composite made my picture too dark), but regardless of the step down from 1080i, the graphics don't suffer a bit. Every time I take my first step into the world, I'm convinced that I'm actually traversing dense forests, navigating a musty cave filled with bandits, or sneaking into someone's house to nab a few price-worthy items.
On that note, I have yet to play a game as immersive as Oblivion. The impeccable combination of graphics, sound, and lighting make the world of Tamriel come alive in ways previous generations of consoles could never hope of achieving. A real-time weather and clock/calendar system only further the level of realism. You can tell a storm is coming as the clouds move faster overhead and the sky begins to darken. The storm rages for hours (in game time) and as the clouds eventually dissipate, a lush sky full of stars and a bright moon appears. Such attention to detail makes for an unprecedented gaming experience that shouldn't be overlooked.
And what of the combat and storyline, the things that REALLY matter in an RPG? Everything you've come to expect of the Elder Scrolls series is there, and it comes in spades. Massive improvements have been made to the lackluster combat system of Morrowind, and the inventory is now easier to use than ever. The story is gripping, kicking off to a riveting start within the first 10 minutes of play. This game grabs you from the beginning and never lets go.
And should you not feel like following the main storyline, why not indulge yourself in the almost countless number of side quests? With four guilds to join, each with their own separate story line (and keep in mind that you can join as many guilds as you'd like), you will never have a lack of activity in the world of Tamriel. Even then, if joining a guild isn't your thing, why not just set out and explore to your heart's content? The province of Cyrodiil is full of caves, forts, and bandit hideouts for you to raid. Some of these are massive underground lairs which can take up to a full hour to thoroughly pilfer. All this being said, if you find yourself playing Oblivion and say "I have nothing to do in this game", you're wrong.
All in all, this is one of THE BEST video games I have ever played. Minor bugs, such as low-res textures in the background, and sometimes long loading times, do nothing to mar the experience this game offers. If you have an Xbox 360 (or a PC capable of handling the processing load), stop reading this review and head to the store immediately. I'm serious. Go. | video-games_xbox |
More like L.A. Boredom. L.A. Noire is beautiful, it is absolutely stunning, which is probably the only positive thing I can say about this game. I remember reading articles about this game before it was released, talk about over hyped. This game is an absolute snooze fest.
Your a cop, you scour each crime scene for clues,you interrogate people of interest, then you either kill or arrest someone. This same sequence happens throughout the whole game over. . . and over. . . and over again.
The gun fights are terrible, just a simple auto aim mechanism, even worse than the system used in <a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/Grand-Theft-Auto-IV/dp/B000FRU1UM/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">Grand Theft Auto IV</a>, action and gunfights are clearly not a focal point of this game, bummer.
The driving on this game is decent, you won't be doing any hair pin turns in the retro cars in the game, which is fitting.
The motion scan software is neat, but it really serves no purpose in this game. Sure, you have to detect the integrity of what someone is saying based off of their facial expressions, but even if you get it wrong, it doesn't effect the story, you just rank up slower.
***Overall***
This game was the ultimate let down, I was expecting <a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/Grand-Theft-Auto-IV/dp/B000FRU1UM/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">Grand Theft Auto IV</a> meets <a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/Mass-Effect-2/dp/B0065PN7AO/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">Mass Effect 2</a> i.e. An action adventure sandbox game with an ever evolving storyline. Instead I got a linear snooze fest.
*Pros*
- This game is beautiful, it makes even more excited for GTA 5.
- The motion scan is very innovative, it makes me even more excited for GTA 5.
- This is a three disc game, I know have three new frisbees.
*Cons*
- This game was made
- I played this game
- Rockstar made this game, terrible let down, their products are usually superb.
Support Rockstar and buy these games instead:
- <a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/Red-Dead-Redemption-Game-of-the-Year/dp/B005N4HBE6/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">Red Dead Redemption Game of the Year</a>
- <a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/Grand-Theft-Auto-IV/dp/B000FRU1UM/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">Grand Theft Auto IV</a>
- <a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/Grand-Theft-Auto-San-Andreas/dp/B001IVC4UE/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">Grand Theft Auto San Andreas</a>
- <a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/Grand-Theft-Auto-Double-Pack-Grand-Theft-Auto-III-Grand-Theft-Auto-Vice-City/dp/B0000DJX7I/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">Grand Theft Auto Double Pack: Grand Theft Auto III / Grand Theft Auto Vice City</a>
- <a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/Bully-Scholarship-Edition/dp/B000WPXQSQ/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">Bully: Scholarship Edition</a>
- <a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/Midnight-Club-Los-Angeles-Platinum-Hits/dp/B002MED6F8/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">Midnight Club: Los Angeles (Platinum Hits)</a> | video-games_xbox |
Don't believe the Nay-sayers: embrace your destiny. Ok. Here it is: the definitely review that encorporates over 15 hours of gameplay with some common sense.
This is by far the best Star Wars game produced to date--end of discussion. The storyline is better than anything Lucas dreamed up for the last two "star wars" movies (where were you Bioware?!).
Sound = 5/5. It's tremendous. From the hum of my lightsaber to the voice acting (totally engrossing), you are sucked into a galaxy far, far away...
Music = 5/5. Top notch. Not a lot of the John william's soundtrack here, just a lot more mood being set. Excellent music that fits each scenario/plant/task.
Graphics = 3/5. Are they the BEST graphics ever? No. Are they WAY above average? YES. Solid graphics on all levels (planets are beautiful--I could just explore for hours and hunt sand raiders on tatooine for credits--oh wait, I did!). yes the game "skips" sometimes when you turn to reposition the camera or when you've moving, but only once in a while. It is so minimal you won't even notice after a few hours of play. Nothing to concern yourself over.
Gameplay = 5/5. Totally unreal. Tons to do and tons of ways to do it. the replay value built into this game is enormous. I look forward to playing again and again.
Combat = 4/5. I give four becuase although I think it is a five, some will not like it since they don't 'control' the fighting. You instead 'direct' it. You issue commands to your team and watch as they are carried out, and although it sounds very passive, it is SO enjoyable to be able to sit back and watch your turn-based decisions being played out in real time. It's a lot like being able to direct a fight sequence and to my surprise I found it VERY, VERY enjoyable. I love just picking fights so I can watch my double-bladed red sabre (a la Darth maul) slice through my enemies with ease!
Value = 5/5. Huge replay value. After playing this game for 15 hours. I would honestly consider paying $100 (USD) for it. It is that good. So many different things to do, places to see, people to interact with and ways to interact depending on your force preference (light or dark), you'll be reliving this saga again and again.
OVERALL: 5/5 A GREAT Game that will challenge Halo as the best overall game in the Xbox library. If you are an RPG fan, pick it up. If you are a Star Wars fan--this is honestly your dream come true.
May the force be with you. | video-games_xbox |
Fun but Different. Tony Hawk games have been a favorite of mine for years (I still play the Nintendo Gameboy Advance title from time to time!) This is a departure from the regular open world of the previous titles in both gameplay and the controller.
Controller: First thing you need to know is that you MUST put the grippy tape (included) on the goard or it will slide all over the carpet and can be dangerous. Next thing you need to know is that calibrating this thing is the most frustrating experience I've had with any Xbox 360 accessory. If you don't have it just right it will not work and restart the calibration. I watched several You Tube videos and read up online and finally found a cure: set the board on the box it came in and try again. Having it higher off the floor worked for me.
How does it work? It has several light sensitive sensors (sides, front and back) and has a gyroscope that recognizes the tilt of the board for tricks. Kick the front up and then jump to Ollie for instance. Do the same thing and touch one of the sensors to grab your board in the game. Fortunately, there are a ton of tutorial games to teach the basics and get you going. I found that the board was responsive and intuitive once calibrated. I think in the future this kind of accessory/controller will be much easier to use and lead to a bunch of innovations (can you see a surfboard version? I can.)
Gameplay: You ride the board, pushing one leg past to similuate a push off to speed up and then do tricks by leaning and touching the board. The big difference other than the controller is that the levels are on rails with some split path options, which means that you follow a path (in yellow) instead of free roaming the world. This makes it easy to know where to go and easy to prep for tricks, but takes away from the fun of discovering the best places on the maps from previous games.
I found the controller fun and intuitive and the game simple enough to play and enjoy. Replay value is low as their are only so many maps and so many paths to play. Overall a three. | video-games_xbox |
A vast improvement over the original. Assassin's Creed 2 was a major improvement over the original though not perfect. I myself couldn't even make it through the original's campaign but in this one I put twenty hours in. I enjoyed my play through, but it wasn't without its faults.
First off the missions themselves tend to get a little too repetitive. Most of the game you must find your target using the big red crosshairs on the screen then kill him and finish off his guards to advance. That is better than the boring missions like sitting on a bench from the original, but it's still a little annoying at times. Yes there are some breathes of fresh air to the campaign like stealth, protection, and vehicle missions but these are the minority throughout the game. There are burial tomb missions that are an excellent blend of platforming and killing. These are the most fun you'll have in the game, but there are only six of them.
The graphics are nicely done even though you can tell that the graphics engine is getting a little outdated, but for a world this big I guess that's a small complaint. Most of the cutscenes look good and the voice acting is very well done. Nolan North and Kristen Bell return and give great performances. Ezio himself could have done a little better job but it's nothing that was too damaging. The climbing is faster this time around and works well most of the time, but there are times he just leaps off a building instead of grabbing the wall next to it.
The combat has been updated and you now have a gun along with other assassin weapons. Even with the new weapons and customization to your outfit the combat is basically block and counter attack the entire time. You can now though hire whores, and weapon wielding men on rooftops to help you either distract or kill your foes respectively.
There are side missions which include assassin contracts, message retrievals, and uncovering the truth puzzles. They are mostly just to add game time except for the Uncovering the truth missions which unravel a conspiracy as you find symbols throughout the world. Also there 100 feathers to collect along with buying upgrades to your town to earn you money.
The story has its strengths and weaknesses. The beginning and end are riveting and very well done, but throughout the middle of the game you are simply on a path of revenge and the enemies seem to blur together as you take down dozens of conspirators. Desmond's story is much more interesting throughout even though the present day time doesn't get a lot of screen time in this one. Overall the story was good but if not for a sometimes boring middle section could have been great.
Assassin's Creed 2 is a enjoyable twenty hour experience. Yes the game has its flaws that keep the series from being a five star success, but overall it is a fun bloody romp through Italy. The story when it is in stride is excellent and leaves you wanting more when the credits roll. Even the campaign missions themselves are exciting albeit a little repetitive. If you think you would enjoy being an assassin in early Italy then give this game a try. For its price tag it has a lot of content to be enjoyed. | video-games_xbox |
Terrible, just terrible. This game has virtually nothing going for it. In my frank opinion, this filler title would have bankrupted a smaller game developer. The guns are horribly nerfed (no suprise there). The first person animations are either jerky, or seem to be absent. Enemy AI is not bad, except that, yet again, fear is not a factor. There are multiple levels where ou have a flame thrower, and maybe I'm just odd, but if someone is charging at me with a flame thrower, my priorities will change. Speaking of enemies about 90% of them are OBVIOUSLY infinitly spawned. The levels are fraught with 10' hallways with unopenable doors that 100+ armed men pour out of.
My play style is DSM (dedicated squad marksmen), that means I snipe at 100-300M, and move up when clear. Unfortunatly, the enemies only stop spawning when your in the aforementioned hallway. Add to this that the 30-06 M1 Garand (2800-3000 ft lbs impact) takes atleast 3 rounds to kill, assuming you can hit anything. To be fair, when I sight in a weapon, I like the target to be on top of the iron sights, they put the target behind the front blade. Because of this I shoot alot of window sills.
To call your allies roadblocks would imply the stop the enemy too. They dont. They stop you from being able to move. I have on more than one occasion had to jump to a checkpoint because an ally decided to take cover next to me, thus trapping me in a corner. It seems the only function they serve is to occupy any available cover, thus throwing you under the bus, and to yell supid expressins. Further more, the only true objective to this game seems to be not getting pidgeon-holed. The grunts from Halo threw less grenades, and somehow a solder who is on enough drugs to shrug off a BAR ban land a grenade in a pie dish from 60 yards away. 10+ times per level, I will be prone behind a box/bench, bush, etc and a grenae will land so close I can throw it back without moving. Also, this same enemy AI can make a headsho, while running, through smoke and bushes from 50 Yds, but your allies can't hit a guy taking a casual stroll six feet from them.
The only moments in the game I truly enjoy are watching the AI Bonsai chargers beat the crap out of the immortal squad AIs. This can go on for up to a minut, and is very satisfying to see SGT. Roebuck in such pain. As for historical accuracy, the historical footage in the loading sequences seems to be purely or shock value, offering no insight into the mission, or meaningful information about the sitiuation. In addition all of the missions seem to be in fast forward, as 500+ Japanese/German troops are occupying a 4 acre island compound/city block.
On to the good. The third person animations are good, and the enimies will occasionally, although obviosly scripted in advance, move things to make cover. The weapon variety is not bad, all the classics are there, with some new additions. Being a late war game, the shelled out theme is obvious, and expected. As usual for the WWII COD series, you get to drive a tank, and shoot out of an airplane. It wasn't fun the first time, it isn't fun now. That being said, the game is complete, and dosen't have any major bugs (clipping, missed animations, sound gaps, etc), just really stupid allies. The marines in Halo were more useful, atleast the got out of the way, and carried ammo for you.
All together, this is not worth a buy, unless you have never played a shooter before, and have no expectations.
I am presently in my final semester for my game design degree, and this is my 20 somethingth shooter including COD 1 and 2, ETQW, all 3 MWs, the Mass Effect trilogy (RPG yes, but lots of shooting), 2 Halos, MOH pacific assault (slightly better then WAW actually), and a small assortment of online shooters (Combat arms, etc). The nicest thing I can say about World at War is that it's like Chrome Hounds. Could have been a great game had Mech Warrior never came out. | video-games_xbox |
Good Territory to Explore. Well, I heard some mixed reviews on the MIC. Initially, I bought it for the vocal harmonies in The Beatles: Rock Band. I already had and loved the Rock Band microphone; so it was time to venture into some new territory. The MIC seems to do the job it was made for just fine across any difficulty, but some reviews complained that the pitch arrow tends to fly all over the place. Having not encountered this while playing The Beatles, I tried Rock Band 2 with the MIC on the Network song Code Monkeys. I did not experience any problems when playing. I can honestly say, I do not know what other reviewers are talking about when they say the pitch arrows goes crazy when using the MIC. Chances are I just jinxed myself, but moving on..
A downside to this product, and this is a goofy downside, is that you cannot hear yourself out of your television/surround sound speakers like you would when singing with the Rock Band microphone. Some people find this as a plus as they cannot stand to hear their friends or family yelling; let alone that yelling being amplified out of speakers.
Another downside is the tiny D-Pad. I find it adorable, and this is coming from a guy with long hair and a goatee. Some people, on the other hand, find it annoying. They say it is hard to navigate with. When playing a rhythm-based game, the D-Pad is mostly used for up and down only. There should not be a problem with pushing up or down on this tiny thing, but if you are elsewhere, like the Xbox 360 dashboard, you will find yourself accidentally pushing left or right instead of up or down. It is really nothing to cry about over, it is just a minor inconvenience.
My biggest problem with it is, while you can talk to people just fine, hearing the people you are talking to must be done so out of your speakers. As any Xbox 360 player knows, trying to listen to someone out of your speakers is hard to comprehend at times. So while the drummer or guitar player you are playing with online has a headset on talking to you, you need to turn up your volume to listen! -And it still comes out fuzzy! I can understand where the design team is coming from here, though. It would look silly if you had a plug-in for a headset on this thing your fingers are wrapped around, and it already does half the job of communication on its own. Still, Mad Catz should have worked something better out then relying on the speakers for communication.
I do enjoy the controller lock. That is something I do not believe I have ever seen on a controller before. When switched on, it disables the buttons on the MIC. It is useful seeing as the controls can sometimes be pressed when not intended. As an example, playing the Endless Set-List 2 in Rock Band 2, and you are trying to get the achievement the Bladder of Steel which requires you not to fail or PAUSE THE GAME. Sadly, the MIC is wired. So, where you won't run out of batteries or press pause/ the guide button, you will need to watch that you don't tug the wire out by mistake. -And this is a fairly short wire (10-12ft). Maybe another con, but it has not phased me in the few weeks I have used the MIC.
Overall, the MIC makes for a good microphone when singing in rhythm-based games. You won't hear yourself or your friends, but you don't have to worry about an useless controller next to you or batteries. | video-games_xbox |
Could of been the one - *edit* beware of online crashes. I understand Sega needed to push the release up to keep the series alive and hopefully make Madden change their game more(989 did it with Gameday 98')...rumor has it they already moved 1 million....BUT it doesn't excuse the glitches and poor defensive logic, it simply makes them even more aggrivating. I'm giving the game 4 stars due to the value, if it were $50 it would of recieved a 3. *edit* be careful with your online VIP* I'll run down each major category.
Graphics - Technically speaking, the highlight of the package, visually speaking other than the faces it sports the same look during gameplay as last year. Only HD owners are going to notice triple-pass rendering, my s-video makes it very low profile. One thing I don't like is Sega scrapping virtually all of the animations. If you claim you are developing off of the xbox like VC did, there should be no need to trash animations due to the hardrive. Not to say the animations are low quality, but I really miss the spinning tip-toe and running handlplants for example from 2K3. At least none of them repeat too often and the tackles feel much more context sensitive then Maddens. They added a lot of neat cutscense which change up the game and gives it a fresh coat of paint when you pop it in. The load times are very brisk, and the real-time half-time show is a sight to see. You can also load any replay you choose to throughout the game, but it isn't anything that I use often. Different stadiums have specific intros which is cool, and some of the in-game cutscenes really work to create a Sunday atmosphere.
8.8
Sound - The 5.1 is better than the trash they did for 2K4, but the novelty of it has worn off. Most of the in-game sound effects are very solid and convincing. The crowd pretty much sucks, and the commentary, while slightly repetitive, is the best in the business by a long shot. Some stadiums also their own jingles which is welcome. Then there is custom soundtrack PA music which is a nice add-on. It's a bit buggy(if you name your tracks after saving a file, it will corrupt, and I have had the pa stop altogether) and cumbersome(I don't feel like going all the way down a list of 300 songs for each situation) overall it adds another layer of immersion to the game. One recommendation is "don't believe" by letter kills after a missed FG. This isn't usable online, which is a let down. Plus you have to lower the PA to a whisper so the songs don't drown everything else out. Also offline the same rare bugs where the audio cuts in and out haven't been fixed.
8.7
Features - Here is where the game runs into some serious problems.
ESPN 25 - Great mode, the restart function is much appriciated after NCAA's college classics. A few are impossible without setting it to rookie(since when were real qtr's 5 minutes?), but otherwise it's a nice way to get used to the game.
Celebs - Give me a break. These lame games have you going up against cheating all-star squads. The problem is it doesn't feel like you are playing a human. I doubt any of those celebs put enough time into the game to get as good as they are depicted here. I'd like to know if they have a real GT so I can slap them silly in a real game.
VIP - Nice try, but needs to be fleshed out more as these things do not feel like living opponents. It's gimmicky now, but can be something really special if it's done right next year.
FPF - Until they make the heads swivel like a human being with a neck does in real life, this mode is a coaster.
Franchise - All of the weekly prep and things of that nature is broken, as well as the draft and trade logic. The highlights are good but scripted and will get old. It's usable, but disappointing and isn't in the same level as Madden.
Crib - I actually like this, but a lot of the items are overpriced, and getting catalogs is literally a crapshoot. It's got some interesting stuff buried in it though.
Online - Not really functioning properly as of now. This game froze my Samsung for the first time online...*update*. The game now has died on my Samsung, and is the first and only xbox game that sits in my room that won't play. It started off with lots of little freezes online and sound glitches offline, and got worse as time went by. Soon when I wanted to snap the ball I would get no response, and now when I want to play a game it won't finish. This is because my VIP became corrupt...you have to contact sega tech and they will reset your online profile. Another thing, don't download a profile that freezes online, because it will make your games freeze OFFLINE. And I have ran into DC's and server bugs quite often. This isn't new to XBL, but it makes the games early release seem more suspect. It's fun, but the drops, defense, and lack of presentation features brings it down to earth. You can only stomach so many third down drops. Overall a terrible start.
Etc... - There's a clipping and false start bug, and the ball spots and challenges are not very accurate compared to real life at all. The cpu can run well with the right sliders, but the passing game is strange. Sometimes they run plays without looking at the situation, making for some stupid passes. Screens have to be lobbed to work most of the time which makes no sense.
7.5
Gameplay - Trips up at the 5.
Special Teams:
Last year special teams were moronic. They still are, they just made the coverage team terrible. Just check out a kick-off replay and you won't believe your eyes. It takes all the drama out of kick and punt returns, but it's better than getting a TD every other time last year. You can have the FG arrow pointing in the uprights with no wind, and the kick still sails. Punt blocks are too easy. Not much good to say here.
5/10
Defense -
7/20/04
Dear god,
Please help our poor defensive backs. They seem to have a problem with slowing down then speeding up on fly routes. Or jumping on battable balls. They also like to run around in circles like they are having a seizure when the ball gets by them. Worst yet, they still haven't learned a THING about containing mobile QB's. We made them even more of a nightmare by giving them the QB evade, please forgive us. We also forgot to include any spy plays for the third year in a row. In fact, we have caught the db's standing dead still when the QB begins his take off. Manually controlling them is like skating on ice with tennis shoes on. We tried the sliders already, they don't seem to help. So what should we do? The game has been pushed up three weeks, we're going to be screwed!
Sincerly,
VC
In all seriousness rushing defense has improved and problem plays from last year have been shut-down, but at times defense is at high school level and just as stressful as last year's game, which says a lot. Some plays with certain players seem buggy. If you try to plug the outside to stop the speed backs, don't be shocked to get burnt on a go route every time. The defensive hot buttons salvage what would otherwise be a train wreck, but it doesn't matter when the ball is in the air.
6/10
Offense:
This is the best aspect of the gameplay. Bursting through holes feels really good and there are a ton of moves to utilize. The fumbles seem reasonable, but the blockers sometimes get confused and ruin running plays. On the passing front, usually it feels right other than the screens. Online the drops really get out of hand. Offline I can MAX out the catch slider and still wind up with 7-8 open drops in a game!? Reminds me of moving the goalie slider in the hockey game, it barely changes anything so you have to fiddle with the player attributes to get realistic results. It's just that certain aspects like tosses and fly routes are money, and the computer will never adjust in a game if you hot-route out every time they are sitting in zone. Offensively the cpu. QB is either a stud or a paper-weight, there are very little normal games. It's best played with 2-players and adjusted sliders.
8/10
Overall, the game is worth $20 but isn't the best thing since sliced bread. I couldn't see myself playing this throughout a season(I can't since the game has died), but that's just me. Madden might not be changed much visually, but from all indications it seems like to play a more authentic brand of football. Almost reminds me of High Heat 2004 versus any version of MVP baseball. | video-games_xbox |
The Difinitive Spiderman Experience. I've played every 3D spiderman game since PS2 and this outshines all of them in every aspect. the slow motion ability alone puts this one ahead of the others, but there's so much more that contributes to its greatness.
you never really know what's going to happen next. from the random crimes ranging from retrieving a stolen purse, to tracking down and stopping an armored car thats been jacked. the missions are just as various, full of classic Spiderman characters. you can also do photography missions for the Daily Bugel.
outside of the movie's storyline are 9 different series of missions, and side races and crime activities you can start any time you're not in a mission. its this variety and randomness that boost the entertainment department through the roof for fans of superhero games.
the graphics, while not the best on the system, are impressive given the size of the world around you (vertically and horizontally) and the fact that there's no load times between areas. the city is huge. spiderman himself looks fantastic, but normal human character models lack detail and are a little blocky in some cases.
the controls/gameplay at their core are similar to Spiderman 2, but enhanced to near perfection. its the first game in a long time that actually had me wanting to learn and memorize all the combos and abilities. the slow motion effect was a genius addition. spidermans speed is his greatest attribute in combat, and for the first time in a game, it gets some attention. boss battles(although still frustrating at times) are much more manageable thanks to your extreme speed.
never before has a game made you feel so much like the hero you emulate. an amazing achievement in its subgenre.
**to anyone interested in the New Goblin download pack, be warned you cant get off the board, and his attacks are pretty limited. he has no missions outside of races. you can solve random crimes though. the exploration options (and flight speed) added through him are worth it though. you can fly so high above the city. amazing is the only word for the view from up there. | video-games_xbox |
This game was at best...decent. I was one of those people who saw and loved "The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring!", the classic movie. I thought the video game would be much of the same. Fun, great story, good graphics and overall just something to spend time playing. Well, I was wrong. This game is nothing like the movie, and in my opinion was a very over-hyped game. "Why?"
1. The gameplay: It's just boring. You start off spending an hour in the Shire, trying to do various tasks, which are rewarded very lightly. For example, you have to give the lady who's buying your house a letter, which takes 15 minutes to find (usually more). There is no map of the Shire, no hints of what to do. Everything has to be figured out by yourself. So after you find the little paper or letter, you walk back to give it to her. But nooooooooo wait, you have to find another item without any help and ring a bell because she believe there are "Wolves" in the shire. That's another 15 minutes if your lucky, 30-45 minutes if your not. You also have to complete close to a dozen tasks to get your "Corruption" rating up. If you become to corrupted (it's a second bar above your health), you just die. I had to start over several times because of that. So say that somehow you do get all this done, get stocked with supplies, talk to everyone, and are ready to go in less than 2 hours, you must escape the black riders. I did this, and it is extremely difficult, and yet in parts so easy it's stupid. There is always a certain area you can go where the black riders can't get u. And yet at the end, u must make a run for it. No where to go, no where to hide. And the black rider you must at the end escape from, is on a horse. Well, if you get past all that in 3 hours, without dieing, your lucky. Most people don't. And the whole process is just boring. No excitement, no real rewards. I hated the first part.
Well, once your out of the Shire, you head into a forest. The forest is full of creatures, which are all so easy to kill. You must find your 3 companions who came with u, who somehow git lost in 4 different parts of the forest. This alone took another hour, and if your not lucky, you'll get lost forever (literally). Once past that, you are caught by a willow tree, when u are suddenly saved by a fat, short man named "Tom Bambaldi" or something like that. You must then find 15 lilies, which takes another 30 minutes. At this point, I had died 5 times, had not found anything I liked, was bored, and was just sick of the repetitiveness of the game. That was my wonderful experience playing this game (luckily I rented, and returned the next day).
Graphics: This would get probably 4 stars. The graphics are pretty goood, but are PS2 graphics. It wasn't what it could have been. For example: The black riders are in total 3D, and look really cool. But their capes for some reason are flat and are in 2D. Very dumb. You can't go in the water, which once again, looks very bad. The leaves you can quote "Run through" you can only run through once. And they are very are, only a few for each part of the level. But in many aspects, the game was good. You can break many things, and that's always fun as they fully destruct. The Shire is brought to life well, and in many ways, this game was fun to look at. But with the horrible gameplay, this game could not be saved.
3. Sound / Lasting Appeal: Well, the voice acting was fantastic, and the one point where this game was 5 stars. It was always fun to listen to people talk, and the cut scenes are very well done. Unfortunantly, this was the only fun part of the game. As for the lasting appeal, none. It takes 5 hours just to get a chapter into the story, and the whole thing, I'm afraid, just bored me.
If you think you can stand all this, then this is the game for u. Persounally, I think a game should start out easy and become challenging later on, and let u do something cool and interesting within the first hour. Some may like this game, but I sure didn't. Over-hyped, and over-bought, The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring for the XBOX and PS2 was a disapointment in my mind.
Oh, the Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers is coming to the XBOX on January 1st. I'd go for that, as it's by EA Sports, has a lot more action, and you play through both movies; The Fellowship and the Two Towers. Thx! | video-games_xbox |
absolute best well thought-out video games to date and the bar has been raised. I am an old time gamer at the age of 55 with 3 teenagers and their friends in the house we just about have played them all. I also bought one of my sons the FC4 Pc version. So I have been playing a while and I am not impressed easily. I think this has got to be the absolute best well thought-out video games to date I have ever played. You really get your moneys worth and much more in my opinion with all the side mission and its huge map. Even though I am not finished and at around 75% done with it and received the game about 9 days ago (I cant play all day like my kids can). I like doing the side missions during campaigns, nurse the game so to speak. Anyway I felt a need to give it some praise so you don't want to pass this one up. The story is good and the detailed landscape,beautiful scenery, running animals you could miss all detail put in this incredible game if you don't stop and look around and listen. Playing on a new Sony 60" TV all I can say is wow. Its going to be hard for others developers to top, and the bar has been raised significantly. The game play itself has a very polished feel and with its natural sound and look. I love the idea of putting the mini helicopter (the leaves blow branches sway when near) and auto drive on the vehicles are great. After being so disappointed with my last game purchase "Destiny". Why I bring this up is Far Cry 4 has some issues with the Xbox One edition, sound drops, glitches and loading errors, I think loading issues are from Xbox coming out of sleep mode, my son doesn't have this problem with pc version. Had to restart the Xbox One so it would load the game. This happened a few times when paused too long I guess but are minor in my opinion and forgivable. I also don't like the idea that they will update the game when your playing, come on guys wait. Bottom line I would give FC4 5 stars all day long and hate the idea I am almost finished with it. I am in hopes for a FC5. | video-games_xbox |
Casual Gamer's Perspective on Last Remnant. I am a casual gamer and lover of the RPG genre who feels the genre has lost some of its old charm. This game appealed to me initially because it seemed to be a relatively good-looking game and it seemed to be a tactical RPG (and having never played such a game I was curious). I have played through most of Disc 1 making a point of avoiding the main plot in order to do all the sidequests.
First, the positive:
+ having full control over the camera angle while walking around
+ being able to save anywhere just by accessing the menu
+ very accessible (easy to use menus, etc.)
+ being able to branch off into sidequests
+ being able to avoid enemy encounters (some friends of mine really hate random enemy encounters ... there are none in this game!)
+ no need to heal after every battle (this may be a negative depending on your preferences)
+ semi-decent world map (all the newer RPGs I've played suffer from simplified world maps and this is no exception but it's far better, for instance, than the FFX/X-2 airship-based world maps which you hardly ever use in any meaningful way)
Then, the negative:
- the protagonist is a bit of a selfish brat
- no one puts the protagonist in his place for some reason
- in battles, the camera flies around in a circle very rapidly for no reason and occasionally jerks upward when an enemy is defeated (I've gotten used to this and it doesn't bother me now but your mileage may vary)
- there are arbitrary rules on how many "leaders" and regular units you can have in your party (the rules are relaxed as the plot progresses)
- there is not a lot of variety in the monster designs and most of them get recycled over and over again
- most of the monsters are not visually impressive with the exception of some of the dragons (compare to any FF game where most of the monsters are virtually works of art)
- there are lots of problems with the mechanics of the battles (nothing major but enough to be annoying)
- the graphics are really good but textures often take way too long to load (if you play off the disc and not a harddrive)
- initiating a sidequest often yanks you away right into a dungeon with no warning (no big deal but makes it feel more artificial)
- the story feels immature and uninteresting (so far)
- there are not a lot of NPCs with dialogue in towns
- the dialogue is very minimal and there is no mystery in finding the right people to talk to because anyone with something important to say has a red bubble over their head and anyone else has a blue bubble or no bubble at all (they have nothing to say) which is sort of lacking in that old school mystery and charm if you ask me
- there are no job classes and anyone you recruit can learn anything based on what you tell them (in my experience the Mitra (humans) seem the best overall in terms of stats, the Yama (brawny fish) next best, then the Qsiti (intellectual frogs) who are only occasionally useful sadly); if you don't like magic or specialization or unique skills and favor pure tactical realism, maybe this is not so bad
- the non-leader party members lack individuality (everyone has one unique "joke stat" as far as I can tell but it's a lame attempt at creating individuality as far as I'm concerned ... e.g. "Gustation")
- you are limited in how many leaders you can use (right now I can only use 5 of 12) and MUST use the non-leader grunts
- Combat Arts are neat but Mystic Arts and Item Arts are boring and I get them confused sometimes because they often do the same thing (e.g. heal)
- Combat Arts in the higher levels are just the same animations recycled (e.g. Nimble Smash IV is just Smash) and I can't even keep track of who knows what because all of the Arts are so generic
- underwhelming maps: there is nothing wrong with them, per se, but besides really nice textures and tile floors the overall town and dungeon design is not all that creative or memorable
- the mini-map features and blowup map are really convenient except for bigger maps which require you to scroll (there is a big desert where this is a bit annoying)
- the towns all have the same stock stores and throne rooms (this is a common RPG flaw)
In summary, if you love plot and characters and magic and aesthetics and don't really care about mechanics or tactics one way or the other, you may be better off with Lost Odyssey. If you love tactics and combat and don't really care about story or characters one way or the other, then you may enjoy this game but still notice some of the minor mechanics issues that are listed above. In terms of general adventure, this game does OK. I'm not thrilled with it yet, but then again I'm still on Disc 1 and I take a while to warm up to games. However, I do enjoy the occasional sidequest (there are some funny NPCs along the way) and have been able to branch out a lot from my main objective.
If you like other tactical RPGs, you'll have to be the judge for yourself because this is the first tactical RPG I have played so far. If you are less casual and more hardcore, my hardcore gamer friend who hates traditional JRPGs and loved FFX-2 recommends the Valkyrie Profile series and the Persona series as an alternative. If you're casual and loved FF2 and FF3 and FFX like me, then Lost Odyssey (not to be confused with Last Remnant) is a good bet or FFX (if you have a PS2 and haven't played it). | video-games_xbox |
Fallout 3 + Left 4 Dead = Dead Island. My title is the best combination for describing the overall look and feel of the game. You have an expansive world that you can wander around and explore... and you have zombies. The island itself is beautiful, with a number of scenic vistas and some pretty good detail in the areas that have things to interact with. The story itself is essentially every zombie trope you can think of, so I won't even bother to go into it. If you're buying a game like this for the story, well, don't.
There are a lot of mixed reviews for the game so far and I can definitely understand why. Some things in the game are straight up glitchy. Whether a character model freezes (though it makes the zombies significantly easier to kill) or you get stuck trying to jump out from behind some bushes, there are a few things that shouldn't have passed out of the beta for the game. The character models are also a little dated. They're nice from a distance but up close they remind me of Half Life 2 (and that game is a few years old!). My guess would be that they were trying to capitalize on the success of that trailer from April, but hey, for the most part, the game is good.
I also wish I was able to go into more buildings and explore - I like taking everything that isn't nailed down. Fallout 3 was the same way when you came upon a random settlement, but the game worlds don't even compare in terms of size - so while it was okay not to go in every building in Fallout, it's not okay when there are only 20 bungalows near the beach.
I've spent about 20 hours on the game thus far and I'm not close to finished, I enjoy wandering around, looking for collectibles and screwing around too much to progress the story very fast. There are a lot of things to find and side quests to perform to keep me entertained for quite awhile. If you're looking for a very fast paced game, I'd say skip this and go for a FPS (that and the fact that bullets are rarer than gold on this island).
Killing zombies is always a blast, and turning on analog fight controls and giving a zombie a good side swipe to the head is a pretty fulfilling experience, haha. I wish there was more variety to the weapons, and I'd like the option to go a little gun crazy once in awhile. One quest reward was thirty bullets, that's how rare they are.
At any rate, I'd say this is a game worth picking up if you'd like to have a weird melding of games. You like to explore, you like to kill zombies, but Dead Rising is too cartooney and Left 4 Dead is too frantic. That's really the target audience.
PROS:
Beautiful scenery
Lots to explore
Zombie killing mayhem
CONS:
Character models are blocky (like Half Life 2)
Lack of guns
Some glitches, but nothing game breaking | video-games_xbox |
The Console That Defined It's Generation. For the first 20 or so years of my video game-playing existence, I was a Nintendo man through and through. Yet, when the Wii (as fun as it could be) moved in a direction I didn't want to go, I bought in on the XBOX 360. For the next 5-6 years, I had a lot of fun with this console...enough for me to put to rest the notion of "brand loyalty" to one gaming company forever.
I am not a hard-core gamer by any means, but during the time I played on this console it offered me what I wanted...mainly sports sims and multi-player action. I no longer have the patience (as I once did as a child) for campaign modes, and I'll not into the culture of online gaming. No, I mainly bought an XBOX 360 because I didn't want to give up my Madden football and whatever the newest baseball sim was. Along the way, I had tons of fun with a few other games such as the NBA2K franchise and WWE2K's. The time I spend bonding with family members over these games is invaluable to me.
In terms of the system itself, it is quite an amazing product. When Microsoft entered the gaming market with the original XBOX, it was kind of thought of as the "step-child" in the battle between Nintendo and Sony. While that XBOX wasn't quite a good enough system to truly compete with either company, by the second go-round Microsoft had made a system that would dominate the console market for years to come. With Nintendo going into family gaming, the Playstation 3 was the biggest competitor of the 360, and while there are indeed many loyal PS fans out there, this is the console that people will remember when they look back at the time period from the future.
Of course, no console is perfect, and this one wasn't without its hiccups and flaws. The "red ring of death" issue plagued many early units, Microsoft customer support can often be infuriating, and it wasn't until later in the console's life (when a slim version was released) that it could be looked at aesthetically as a success (early models are much louder). Yet, for all those flaws, it also succeeded in many key formats: it contained one of the best controllers in gaming history, it had the widest selection of games than any other console, and it was perhaps the first system that introduced streaming apps (I remember the Zune video app being quite popular...haha!).
So, even though just 5-6 years ago I never thought I would be "leaving Nintendo", here I am lauding the benefits of a Microsoft system. In a historical context, the fact that such a statement can even be made is almost proof alone of the 360's success. After a lifetime (NES, SNES, N64, GCN) spent playing Nintendo products, after about a year with the Wii I made the switch to the 360 and never regretted it. The console has now "served its time" and I'm transitioning into the next generation of consoles, but I'll always remember the 360 as the system that broke me away from Nintendo and made me live to smile about the day. | video-games_xbox |
Rubis in da (Grind)House. WET
Lara Croft, Bloodrayne, and Joanna Dark are primary examples of strong female videogame protagonists. Now comes an addition to the roster: Rubi Malone who is the featured gun-for-hire in Bethesda's WET, an highly intense 3rd person shoot em up that may seem derivative as it had borrowed from previous games; stranglehold, tomb raider and even prince of Persia but there's still enough originality to stand out on its own mostly due to the fact that it's one of the first games to pay homage to the grindhouse genre. (Grindhouse are B movie exploitation films that for the most part consist of violent revenge flicks, kung fu films and Blaxploitaation cinema.)
After a few introduction gunfight scenes/playthroughs (the freeway chase comes to mind.) the game's story really takes hold rubi is paid to apprehend an aging mobster's son only to find out that she has been double crossed and is now out for revenge.
The gameplay itself is basically utilizing two hand pistols, shotguns, sub machine guns and a crossbow while demonstrating a few acrobatic skills. (running alongside walls, swinging on overhead bars, rebounding from enemies and navigating a few environmental puzzles.) The more stylized moves you can pull off, the higher your score tallies at the end of each stage.
(To break the monotony, rubi uses a sword for melee attacks ala kill bill)
That being said, it's important that you attain a high score so that you can purchase upgrades be it weapons or acrobatic skills. These definitely will come in handy as the game further progresses.
The game itself is very reminiscent of directors Quentin Tarantino, Sergio Leone, Robert Rodriguez, John Woo and to a lesser extent Don Siegel which is a complement within itself. (there's even an Asian rock lounge scene that was inspired by QT's Kill Bill.)
When it comes to aesthetics, despite the cool film scratch filter (it makes the game look as if you were actually playing a Grindhouse movie.) the graphics are somewhat dated and rough around the edges especially in regards to the in game characters. However, the voice acting and especially the psychobilly soundtrack makes up for the lackluster eye candy.
Unfortunately, WET has garnered a few not so good reviews X-Play had given it two stars but that's nothing new since they are notoriously known for awarding low scores for games that were actually fun. (Darksiders and Jericho come to mind) sometimes, I think they only play most games for under an hour only to give harsh rush judgment opinions.
One caveat, if you are expecting some kind of epic ending you may be in for a disappointment because once you go through a final boss battle that consists of a few quick time events, that's it. Unapologetic and abrupt with a usual question mark before the credits roll. (Great ending song BTW!!)
If you are looking for a bargain priced action shooter, you can't go wrong with this game. In a oversaturation of shooter games, Rubi is a Diamond in the rough.
Bottom line: Get WET! | video-games_xbox |
A complete and unexpected disappointment compared to GT4. I cannot believe what a hunk of junk this game is compared to GT4. My level of disappointment far exceeds the whopping $50 I spent of this game. Let's be specific. Here are quantitatively some of deficiences of this game compared to GT4:
1) Engine sound is absolutely muted and unrealistic. A porsche and a Ferrari sounds remarkably similar. I have no good sense of how fast I'm going by the engine revs, unlike GT4 where I can clearly hear the demarcation of when the engine is approaching the redline
2) The car visuals are completely 2-dimensional. One of the greatest innovations in GT4 is the car dipping that occurs when you slam on the breaks. This really gives you a wonderful sense of how fast you are going on a track and how hard you are breaking. I get none that with this piece of crap Forza game.
3) The road texture in Forza is completely non-distinguishing as a function of speed. In GT4 the road texture becomes rich and more detailed when you're at slow speeds, and becomes more blurred and smoothened out at the higher speeds. Just like R.E.A.L.I.T.Y. Again, this gives you a wonderful sense of how fast you're going. In Forza the texture is pretty much the same no matter how fast you're going... so again, you have no feel for how fast the car is going.
4) The gravel in Forza is ridiculously unrealistic. When you hit the gravel sections your speed drops ridiculously abruptly... which makes no sense. Also, in GT4, when you hit the gravel, your car bounces around like your traveling over... gravel! There is none of that bumpiness in Forza
5) The scenary in Forza, although better detail than GT4, looks completely CARTOONISH. Looks like something out of a Japanese animation movie. There is absolutely no sense of being immersed in a real environment, like in GT4.
6) The controller feedback vibrations in Forza is, for one nearly non-existent. Going over a candy-cane is about the same as getting into the gravel areas. In GT4, the feedback when you hit the canes is so in tune with the visual feedback of "bumpiness" and the auditory feedback of tires running over those canes. Forza has none of that, again, giving you no sense of speed, excess of speed and a general feeling of how the car is handling the road.
Overall, even without the GT4 comparisons, this was a highly unsatisfying and unenjoyable experience. After a number of hours playing this game, not only did I find myself not ever wanting to master any of the tracks, I found myself never wanting to drive any of these tracks nor any of the cars again. When I fired up my PS2 and ran GT4, I can't describe in words the exhilaration I felt when my passion and interest for driving simulation games was instanteously restored...
Save your money and your frustation. Pass on Forza, and get yourself GT4. | video-games_xbox |
Rivalry Competition Comparison. The springs here and that means the Baseball game Rivarly by MLB 2K5 and MVP 2005. Since MLB locked up MVP there will be no rivarly till 2012. Last year's winner was MVP. But this year's winner can be different
Graphics
MVP: Good faces, good animations, but arcadic player details. Stadiums are good, grass look realistic. But those photocopied crowds took away the credability- 4/5
MLB: Phenomenal Face graphics, good animations but not better than MVP. Stadium looks good!! Best things are crowds. Polygonal Crowds. They even have cutscenes too!! And guess what.. Day Progression! Play on the sunny places and compare the shadows in the 1st inning to 4th inning- 4.5/5
Winner: MLB 2K5
Commentary
MVP: Er.. Duane Kuiper and Mike Krukow speaks like talking to grandson about memory of war. Sometimes they get out of the topic and boring- 3.5/5
MLB: Phenomenal commentaries by Jon Miller and Joe Morgan!! Fantastic!- 5/5
Winner: MLB 2K5
Musics
MVP: Err.. those soundtracks are bad as hell, especially 'Tessie'.- 3/5
MLB: Good musics for sports and CUSTOM SOUNDTRACKS! Made by ASB and improved by MLB- 4.5/5
Winner: MLB 2K5
Sound Effects
MVP: Nice crowd noise, nice umpire calls, nice bat sounds, period- 4.75/5
MLB: All of them all nice, but bat sounds are too lound- 4.25/5
Winner: MVP 2005
Pitching
MVP: New Precision bar is here with fussier and harder!! It's hard to make pitch accurate, there's no other options- 3.75/5
MLB: K-Zone is simpler and more accurate than Precision bar. If you don't like it, you can choose more!! K-ZONE 2, Power Pitching, Cursor- 4.75/5
Winner: MLB 2K5
Baserunning
MVP: Erm, no change. A lot of errors on it- 2.5/5 !!!!
MLB: New On Command Baserunning feature is good and made baserunning simpler. You can experience yourself by using baseburner mode (actually that really fascinated me)- 4.5/5
Winner: MLB 2K5
Batting
MVP: The new Hitter's Eye feature made your batting simple. Just like bad foul swings, colors on the ball (red, green, white), and the ability to move around the box. And boy, I do love it- 4.75/5
MLB: Same as last year with Contact Swing and Power Swing (I call it 'Steroid Swing'). But new *** feature 'Slam Zone' took away the credability. It has no meaning- 3/5
Winner: MVP 2005
Fielding
MVP: The Big Play Control is back! I enjoyed it last year, but robbing and sliding is hard as a hell. Double play is simple though- 4.25/5
MLB: New thing called 'Maximum Fielding' is here and it's easier to rob homer!! Double play is simple and I could do triple play too if possible!- 4.5/5
Winner: MLB 2K5
Glitches:
MVP: No Lefty Glitches! I'm real happy about that, and no fielding glitches whatsoever!- 5/5
MLB: Erm, the game is good except for several glitches on Wild Pitches, and CPU roster arrangement glitches- 3/5
Winner: MVP 2005
Player Accuracy
MVP: No Sosa in O's, that means Ordonez is in FA still, no Iguchi. The player ratings are messed up too!! Manny Ramirez is Overrated. Carl Pavano, Big Unit, Beltre, and Aramis Ramirez were SO underrated. That's the one of those major problems- 2.75/5
MLB: No Sosa in O's Again... that means you-know-what. But player ratings were not messed up. Good!- 4/5
Winner: MLB 2K5
Online
MVP: New EA Online!! But it's slow and ONLY 5 innings? EA's got long and winding road to go- 3.5/5
MLB: There's online as usual. It's faster and you can play 9 innings and home run derby as well!- 4/5
Winner: MLB 2K5
Franchise
MVP: The Owner Mode rocks! It's even better than MLB 2005 (SONY)owner mode! It's completely good! There's Dynasty mode too!!- 4.75/5
MLB: Okay, there's enhanced GM Mode, Franchise and Tournament, but face it, they are not good enough to catch up Owner Mode. But you can be fired, or get more money in GM Mode- 4/5
Winner: MVP 2005
Extras
MVP: They got Mini Games which just really fascinates me, but nothing else-4/5
MLB: The Skybox is AWESOME as The Crib. In the face mode is good too! It's the game that you can disable the opponent's ability by earning the point!- 4.5/5
Winner: MLB 2K5
Price
MVP: 29.99. - 4.5/5
MLB: 19.99, a steal! - 5/5
Winner: MLB 2K5
Average:
MVP: 3.93/5 = 78.56%
MLB: 4.25/5 = 85%
Overall
MVP: 86
MLB: 93
Winner: MLB 2K5
This year's winner is MLB 2K5. But, hey MVP was good too. They just had last effort that looks just like last years, but badly.
P.S.: I hope this comparison review was helpful. But you can try both and compare it. Just try it. | video-games_xbox |
The Good, The Bad and The Ugly. I have been playing Fifa games since they first came out on Sega. For those youngsters out there, that means over 8 years ago. Granted some years are worse than others, for example 2000. This year has been also a mayor disapoitment. First the Bad. For the 9 years we have been playing the game the sprint button has always been the Green Triangle, guess what now it is R1. Why? Well that is a million dollar question, because there has never been a single complaint about it. It doesn't sound like a big deal but trust me, for those of you who have been playing many years you will get messed up, it simply instinct by now. Now the Green Triangle is passing to the open area, doesn't make any sense. Sprinting is the most used button in Fifa, and changing it fouls up everything. Now while you sprint you have to pause in order to pass, somehow while sprinting you don't have enough control over the player, so if your sprinting and want to shoot you need to let go the sprint button (R1) first. This is very annoying, it means reaction time now takes about three seconds at least after presing pass, shoot or just dribbling in a different direction.
Now for the ugly. The camera view has changed once again. Some may say, "Well just change it" its that simply. Well actually no! Those who play Fifa always play camera view, it has the best view of the field. World Cup 2002 had a great camera view, it looked spectacular. That's exactly the problem with EA, always trying to reenvent the wheel. Instead of improving on the game qualities they go ahead and reevent it so it looks and feels different since they beleive that is what people expects. Well it isn't. We expect you to fix the flaws in a game, to improve game play and simulation, to improve graphics, add more teams. If they wanted to change something, they should haved changed that old scottish comentator, hes too annoying. A commentator brings emotion to the game, even if its dull. Which brings me to the good.
After many years of waiting and wishing, EA finally grew a brain cell and added spanish commentary. Beleive me it makes the game worthy of footbal. Thats right football not soccer! In football you yell Goooollll! And in soccer Score! Score? Just ridiculous. The commentary is up to the second and they even fill you in on interesting facts about the players, like how well they did in the world cup.
Some of you might be saying well its just a game, don't take it too seriuosly. Well it isn't a game, its Football. Wether you are playing it out on a soccer field, on the streets or even on a game console it is still Football. | video-games_xbox |
Can't beat this double pack. espicailly since i bought it for 30 bucks! I would have paid 50 for this though, both of these games rule!!
Alright,let's get this out of the way first, for all the whiney ass people that are all, this is disgusting, wah wah wah...well, don't play the damn game then! It's just a game!!! That's the main problem with people these days,espicailly whiney-ass babies in america. They want to blame ENTERTAINMENT for everyone's problems. Instead of actually being a responsible parent, they want to blame moveis, games, and music for all of their child's behaviour problems. Then, these same people,(like kyle's mom off of south park) go waaaay overboard and start getting petitons signed and start raising a big fuss instead of letting people have fun in a MAKE BELIEVE world. I don't go out and run people over on their motor bikes to jack them like i do in the game. I can distinguish the differnece between make-believe and reality. If you can't distinguish what is wrong and right in realtiy then yes, you shouldn't be allowed to play this game. But, for those of us that can tell the differnece between make-believe and reality, and that know what is right and wrong, then we should be able to enjoy these fine games. But, once again people want to ruin the fun for eveyone, not just their own kid or whatnot.
GTA 3 almost seemed to revolutionize gaming as we know it. The total freedom of what you can do is just astonishing. The missions are fun, the hidden package hunt is a pain, but the rewards pay off for it. The rampages and unique stunts are very fun and entertaining. This is the one that started it all for me!
GTA Vice City just simply rules. It looks like the GTA series might be over now that they released a terrible sequel(San gangsta-eras). Vice City is the perfect size, big enough for hours of play and entertainment, but easy enough to remember where everything is and where to go. The addition of motor-bikes makes it even better than part 3, but i still have a lot of fun playing part 3. The missions in this one are even better! More rampages,unique stunts, everything from part 3 but even more of it! This has to be one of the best games ever made!
All in all, both of these games rule. Yes, Vice City is the better game, but i still have a lot of fun playing part 3 too though! And for all the whiney ass "this is disgusting" people out there, remember, IT'S JUST A GAME!!! | video-games_xbox |
I've yet to Experience any Problems. I first discovered Silent Hill one day when I was on YouTube and somehow stumbled upon a few songs from the Soundtrack, I can't remember if it was "Tears of Pain..." or "Never Forgive Me, Never Forget Me", but I suppose it doesn't matter now. Anyways, the first game I played was "Silent Hill: Downpour", which I suppose wasn't a letdown, but also wasn't that good, it was just so-so. So when I found out that there was an HD Collection containing Silent Hill 2 and Silent Hill 3, I knew I had to buy it. I don't currently own a Play Station (any of the models) although I did have one awhile back, but that is long gone, so getting the HD Collection for the Xbox 360 seemed way more budget friendly than investing in a new system, and games.
I know a lot of people complain about the game being glitchy, and buggy but I've owned this game for almost two years now, and I have not experienced any of the problems that other people in the reviews and comments have faced. I admit that reading some of the comments made me nervous to buy the game, but I still bought it, and decided that if it was buggy or glitchy, I would cut my losses and just toss the game. But I have never heard any audio problems, or seen the game glitch in any way where I am seeing unfinished landscapes or backgrounds, and neither have I experienced the voice audios being off from the games graphics. The resolution is perfect for my TV, and does not look pixilated, blurry, or distorted. I'm actually wondering if many of the bad reviews left on the game are from Die-Hard original fans, who refuse to give the HD collection a chance, however, just because I haven't had a bad experience with this game yet, doesn't mean maybe someone else didn't.
I read one review where the person stated that you cannot choose from the new voice recordings or the old ones, and that is false, well at least half-false. In Silent Hill 2 you can choose from the original voice actors or the new voice actors. I've only ever played it with the original voice actors, so that it adds to the effect. However, in Silent Hill 3, it does not give you the option to pick, and only has the new voice actors.
As for the actual game play, I love it. It takes awhile to get used to the controls for the game, but when you have them down, it's a breeze. I find that the puzzles in the games are fun to solve, and at times a bit challenging which just adds to the game for me. The monsters are quite creepy, and at times, downright grotesque. All of this weaved together with the storylines creates an ambient game unlike any other. The characters, along with their struggles and story, soon become unforgettable.
Just please be assured, this game is bloody, gory, and definitely NOT FOR KIDS!!! | video-games_xbox |
Pretty good, could be better. I personally love this game. I really enjoy the story, and i love the fighting style compared to DA:O. Though i do have some major complaints, i think this game overall is enjoyable and i am now on my 9th playthrough.
My complaints:
1. I agree with everyone else's criticism of the maps being used over and over again. After a while, it really gets annoying. I had to uplaod a couple of mods to change the scenery and NPCs on my 2nd playthough. I was going nuts with everything being repeated.
2. I hated how there wasn't much depth to the some of the quests. It seemed like BAM, BAM, you've completed the quest, while others you had to run all over the place just to end up back where you started.
3. I really really didn't like how i couldn't carry on coversations with my party members unless it was in a quest. Though it didn't stop me from becoming invested in them, it just took a little longer.
4. This one is my BIGGEST complaints: The major battles and the "Major" quest went by way to fast. I was totally expecting the ending adventures of each act would at least be 2-3 hours each, but it seemed like they only lasted 20 min. ex: In the final batle with the Qunari, i was expecting some awesome showdown like in the trailer. I was severly disappointed. Thats all im saying.
The things i LOVE about DA:2:
1. I absolutley LOVE the characters. I became way more invested in these characters than i ever did in DA:0. By the end, when some major decisions were called for, it honestly broke my heart to choose.
2. The party banter is hilarious. There were times that i was laughing uncontrollably.
3. I really enjoyed the fighting style. i felt like i was in it. And to those people saying that they were constantly pushing buttons: thats what makes it fun. I'd way rather be pushing buttons and taking control of my character than just sitting by and watching it play for me.
4. Its a game you can definitly play over and over again. Just change your characters class, and their personality style, as well as a different load or preset from DA:0 and it gives the whole game a different feel. With DA:0, i felt as if i was playing through the same old stuff again and again, without much change.
All in all, i really enjoyed played DA:2. i definitly reccommend checking out dragonagenexus.com to upload some mods for it. Go in playing the game with these things in mind, and you will enjoy it. | video-games_xbox |
Fits my large noggin comfortably; lots of bass, and a bass boost button for even more. Thank you PDP for sending this to us for review!
Performance Designed Products (PDP) has become well known for their brightly colored controllers and glowing neon headsets, as well as many other gaming related peripherals. We have purchased some of their lower priced controllers in the past, like their Rock Candy line. While the products always functioned as expected, they did feel less durable than their OEM counterparts. It seems like PDP is really stepping up on their build quality with recent products, and the Afterglow AG 7 headset is emblematic of this.
The AG 7 feels really solid. It is adjustable for large to small heads, and the top strap has quality padding that should last quite a while, with a firm grip holding it on your head without being uncomfortable, though it could get sweaty after a while. The ear pads are also removable, and the interior of the headphone is accessible, so modding is possible. However, putting those pads back on is not easy at all. The size adjustments click firmly into place, and don't slide around by accident. On the whole, it feels well built and strong, with solid plastic and metal holding it together. I expect them to last a fairly long time with regular use; as long as they are not bent unnaturally far in any one direction, since they do not fold DJ style. They have not given up on their trademark color schemes for the Afterglow model line this one glows a bright neon green while in use on Xbox One; for other uses, the glow is entirely optional, and just wastes batteries.
When plugged into a PC, the AG 7 identifies itself as an Xbox One controller. Since it does not identify as a sound device, Windows can't use it as one. Of course there are no controller buttons, so it can't be used that way either. There is a 3.5mm jack that can be used like every other headphone, but none of the extra features are available when used this way. My cellphone did register it as a headset, and the microphone sound was very clear for the other listener. I had much less success on PC, as I couldn't get the microphone to work acceptably there.
On Xbox One, the system instantly recognizes it as a headset and will quickly route sound and chat functionality to the headset. It was pretty much plug and play, and it worked very well. I don't play Xbox games online, so I wasn't really able to test that part, but if it sounds as good as it
So, after all of that, how does it sound? Well, it still follows the unfortunate modern pattern of boosting the bass above most other frequency ranges. The nice thing about PDP here is that they actually put their frequency response chart right on the box, which I greatly appreciate. They compare Pure Audio with Bass Boost, and show competing response charts with them both. Bass boost pushes up everything from about 200Hz on down by about 10db, which is quite a lot. The graphs also show a large spike at around 9-10KHz, which does noticeably improve the high end compared to other gaming headsets we reviewed recently, like the SteelSeries. Unfortunately, most of the midrange and lower treble is still substantially recessed, and it sounds that way. But at least they are honest about it, and for that, I applaud them.
If it's not obvious, I am not a fan of the massively boosted bass on modern gaming headsets. It's mostly because I know what good audio sounds like; I have invested much in my home audio system. But, by publishing the frequency response graphs, it is much easier to make intelligent equalizer decisions to make them sound much better for PC or mobile use. With some strategic cuts (and a few boosts, also) they sound pretty good after all. My biggest disappointment, outside of how they sound unequalized, was that I could not get the microphone to work well on either of my PCs. And that it's wireless only on Xbox One. But, there it works quite well. If I ever had a need to play Xbox One without my normal speaker system on, or play a game that my children should not hear, I won't hesitate to grab the PDP Afterglow AG 7. | video-games_xbox |
Great d-pad and buttons. Bad triggers. In summary: It's alright?
Alright, so I'm a PC gamer. This controller is wired and does not contain a port for a headset to connect. I do not care because I am a PC gamer. I like not worrying about batteries, and I don't need a headset. Other reviewers are giving bad ratings because of the headset, and I just don't care.
I found out about this controller because I was looking for a decent, cheap controller I could use to play fighting games. (I'm a Steam gamer; specifically I play Injustice, because it's on the PC and it's cheap.) The pad on Xbox 360 controllers sucks, and the Xbox One pad (I don't own an X1 pad, but I've tried demonstration units in stores) is better, but still "eh". This controller is cheaper than the Xbox One controller and seemed to suit my needs well. I heard good things about the pad on Hori's 360 pad, and so I was willing to try this out. Pros and cons:
PROS:
A) On the PC, this controller works with games from the 360 era as well as games from the X1 era. The game just has to support Xinput. (360 controllers should be forward compatible too.)
B) I really do like the shape of the controller. It fits in my hand really well. My hands are ~7" from the base of my palm to my middle finger. I don't remember the X1 controller fitting my hand as well as this one.
C) Again with the shape. The triggers have an facet in their shape that matches the knuckle in your finger as it goes around the trigger. There's no photos anywhere that show this off well, but basically I'm really really am impressed with the shape.
D) The pad is great! Not too clicky, not too mushy.
E) The face buttons are clicky and have a small travel distance like the PS3 controller.
CONS (and these are really, really bad cons):
A) The triggers. Oh gosh the triggers. I knew when buying it that the triggers were on/off, and not variable like the 360 controller. I'm totally fine that. When I play racing games, it's mostly kart racers or Distance or something. No, the lack of trigger-is-an-axis is not a big deal. It's the button itself.
The trigger is more like a button than a trigger. When you put enough force on it, it goes in. When you don't have enough force on it, it doesn't go in. (If you're a keyboard enthusiast, this is the same way that rubber dome keyboards are either pressed or not, with no step in the middle.) And that in itself is fine. The trigger button takes more force to push in than I'd like, but again, that's not *really* a big deal.
The BIG problem with the triggers: When you have enough force on the trigger, and it's in the pressed-down state... It doesn't always register. Whatever it is that detects the trigger being pressed, you have to press in even harder to get it to actually register the button press. This is HORRIBLE. Basically, when the trigger button is depressed, you're playing this guessing game where you're not sure if the force you're putting on the trigger is enough to actually register the input. So what you're REALLY doing is squeezing it down way too hard because you just want the input to register.
B) The bumpers are a bit mushy, rather than being clicky like the 360 pad's bumpers. However, the bumpers don't require you to push on them super hard like the triggers do.
CONCLUSION:
If you're playing something that doesn't need the triggers, this controller is great! If you're playing something that uses the triggers (FPS and racing specifically), I would hesitate before buying this. Even though I bought this pad for fighters, I've been playing mostly racing games (Distance) and FPS (Portal 2) with it. The triggers definitely hamper the experience.
(My mom bought this controller for me as a gift from her own Amazon account, so I don't have the "Verified Purchase" stamp on my review. I own the blue-colored controller specifically, but I'm posting this review on the black-colored controller's page too.) | video-games_xbox |
Unbalanced, frustrating, and nooby multiplayer. The Halo series as a whole has been a very fun, exciting, and skillful experience, but Reach has has taken the competitive matchmaking, slapped it in the face, knocked it around, threw it on the ground, and stomped on it. The overall competitiveness of Halo has been diminished. The game is flawed and unfair. I feel like I died, and it was inevitable. Other games make me feel like I did something wrong or messed up and should have died, but not this game.
- The armor abilities are flawed and unfair. Armor lock makes you invincible to melees, grenades, rockets, swords, and lets you stall the game so you can be saved by your opponent. The sprint coupled with the energy sword allows an instant kill before the other person can shoot twice. The sprint also allows someone to run away when they are about to die. The active camo allows someone to be invisible when still (invisible sniper D:), and causes the enemies near you to have their radar jammed. The list goes on.
- Headshots are equal to body shots (with the DMR)except when the person is one shot. Then 3 body shots kill, and one headshot kills. This takes out most aiming skill.
- Bloom (reticle enlargement when you shoot) make the bullet spread completely random and allows lucky headshots.
- The maps are tiny, but still have at least 3-4 power weapons per map. This allows power weapon and grenade spamming as well as sword sprinting often cause lucky kills.
- Half of matchmaking (at least) is played on bland, gray, forge maps with little creativity.
- The map spawning is horrible. I am often spawned two feet from an enemy, or an enemy is spawned next the opponent I am in a gunfight with. Sometimes, I am even spawned with the other team.
PROs
- Forge adds creative, cool, custom maps for private play.
- Custom Games allows creative, arcade gametypes such as Speed Halo.
- Firfight is a nice new add on where you battle the covenant and have a certain number of lives.
- The campaign is thrilling, intense, and very long, but does not follow the storyline.
Overall, the online multiplayer is very poor, but the single player and private/custom multiplayer is insanely fun. | video-games_xbox |
Abysmal Out Of Box experience, boring campaign. First experience: 0 stars. Don't expect to pop this game into your XBox and start playing right away. The same evening - unlikely. Most likely you will have to wait a day or two before you can play a game you coughed up $30 for.
- first thing you see is that the game copies itself from disk to your HDD. It takes several hours of its sweet time. If you are less lucky, it freezes half way through and you need to restart.
- Then when the game is finally installed, you still cannot play! It wants to download mandatory 35 GB update! Even on my relatively good DSL it took me the whole night. But it froze midway, so I had to restart the whole process again, from installing the game because you cannot uninstall the partial update! I read online, freezing during those lengthy operations is pretty common for the Guardians.
Three days later and a trip to the store I finally launched the game.
At this day and age, game developers should let you play immediately while downloading additional content/updates in the background and while caching stuff on your HDD. Other developers do just that. 434 Industries decided that your time is cheaper than theirs.
Campaign 2 stars: as bad or worse than that of Halo 4. Same flat-ish maps. All races have almost the same weapons: pistol, shotgun, SMG, scoped rifle, sniper rifle, RPG. Just different number of enemies. Next map, pick enemies off, run away from the same big guys with big cannons, kill them, watch some epic cutscene, wash , rinse and repeat. Not even close to engaging maps of the original Halo where you had to plan your tactics to survive a given map and nearly no map was the same as before. I don't know how Bungie did it, but neither does 434.
Graphics - yes, it is awesome. But this is 2016, graphics should be awesome. Who cares whether a mediocre game is beautiful?
Multiplayer - don't know, I don't play it. I give them benefit of the doubt that there is some value. But generally I read "the game is all about multiplayer" as "campaign is bad and likely multiplayer too" | video-games_xbox |
Old time gamer loving this current hit. I played pong while in high school. That is how old I am.
I've completed the campaign on Normal, then again on Heroic, and now I am about half way through Legendary.
I started on Heroic and had to back it down to Normal. I was not a long time Halo player. I played a little halo 1. That is about the extent of my experience with halo. I decided to give this a go and found Normal to be playable for me. Oh, I prefer RPG adventure games like Skyrim but wanted to give the first person shooter a go. At the normal setting it was a challenge but I was making steady progress. Then I tried Heroic, some aspects were easier (I knew what was to come) but there were things I did in Normal that would not work and I had to find a new tactic or hone a new skill. All in all, Heroic felt about the same challenge as normal and playing a second time was still fun.
Legendary is a whole new level of challenge. Again, some aspects now are downright simple and easy. Some things once you learn them and master them become simple. Love head shots and I use the skull with the kids cheering. That is hilarious and fun addition to the game.
However! I am taking much much longer to work from check point to check point on legendary. Facing multiple promethean knights is very challenging. My tactics had to change. I die too quickly if vulnerable, I need to make sure the flyers are gone, the little dog like beasts are cleared out, etc. Oh and the prometheans have good weapons but there is nothing more fun than a plasma pistol overload to take down the knight's shield then whip out the next weapon of mass damage and finish him off. Sometimes you don't try to clear them all out in Legendary. Just get to the next objective and keep moving.
Great game. I was worried about it not coming from Bungie but is no reason to be concerned. I asked my son about how the fame felt and he thought it might be a tad bit easier to master than previous versions from Bungie but for me it is just right. Im struggling with legendary and that is exactly how it should be. I did my first assassinate in legendary and I started to jump on ghosts and kick out the enemy to take over the ride. What a blast! Now if I can figure out how to more accurately throw my grenades.
Love this game. I am having a blast and I am an old timer gamer from the 70s that played pong. | video-games_xbox |
Great Game But needs improvement. First off, I am new to Zumba, but not aerobics. This is my first Zumba purchase in the series and I find I enjoy the ancing and music - however it is not for begginers and must have help setting up for those not Xbox savvy. I kid you not it took me over an hour to set up with no controller and the the hand recognition fast and moves quickly. I have played 4 times since owning it a week and it has frozen up at least once each time I have played and not once recognized me. I must sign into my profgile each darn time. ugh. I feel I stick with it because the music is catchy and I believe I will learn the dance moves eventually. Although it has a learn the steps section, there are only two dance moves per type of dance! Ugh. add to that the
PROs:
- Catchy Music
- Has prompts on top left so doesn't take away from dance but you can look there to get the next moves if you recognize
- Eye Candy for main dancers - and back dancers not so bad either
- A few real bodies (One dancer in back had a tummy bouncing and that made me feel good about myself)
- For farther away Kinects- the trackers gives a lot fo forgiveness and Zumbas and I KNOW I am not getting the steps right- but close :) ok somewhat close :P
- Visuals are excellent and I like the 'flair/sparklies' when you zumba a lot
Cons:
- Fast and difficult steps (imagine very hard for a novice to aerobics and/or Zumba)
- Only certain dance moves can be learned (two per dancy style)
- Horrible interface /Menu system ex. 1 Hard to click on one thing and pick/click because your hand may be moving to another area. ex 2 when in the learn the steps section- they have a fast/slow I kept trying to pick one (slow) and the hand was so fast (even when my actual hand was going slow) and kept clicking between the two.
- Limited on customability
- Limited on songs
- Keeps freezing on me
- Does not recognize me when I log in- must login each time to my profile
Again, fun music, great visualks and I like to dance. just have to learn the moves. But the extra freezing, lack of profile recognition, and the issues with hand only movements or voice commands makes this a difficult system to work with. | video-games_xbox |
What Video Games Were Like in the 1990's. The Game Industry should release a game like this once every two years. If you beat it, you get your Hardcore Gamer License Renewed.
Concept: 9/10
In this day and age, video game publishers learned that if nobody finishes your game, they don't buy the sequels. If you can't get through Space Ninja Vampire Massacre 1, are you gonna buy 2? So, over the last decade there has been a conscious effort to "assist" gamers so they can get through the adventure. Call of Duty and Assassin's Creed are great examples of this. Although Call of Duty is exciting, it feels like you're going through a war adventure on rails. You can't get lost, the game helps you lock onto enemies when shooting, and the Check Points are extremely generous. Assassin's Creed makes it really easy to kill bad guys and feel great doing it. Have you ever put the controller down and watched how many hits Ezio can take when he has 1 box left on his health bar? He can take about 5 more hits before he finally dies. You have a very friendly user map and markers show up in the real world to help you out.
Dark Souls does absolutely NOTHING to help you out. This is an open ended world where the following things can happen to you:
1) You can accidentally fall off of a cliff and DIE.
2) You can accidentally fall off of a cliff and DIE because you were running on a ledge and the camera bumped something, changing your run angle.
3) An enemy can knock you off of a ledge, causing you to DIE.
4) Enemies can critical hit you of they get behind you or parry your attacks. This will leave you almost dead if you are lucky.
5) Multiple Enemies can stab you at once. So, you're level 20, feeling pretty tough and you head back through that noob area. Well, if 3 enemies strike you at the same time, you'll DIE.
6) Some enemies have some lengthy combos and if you get hit by the whole thing, you'll be almost dead. If you get stabbed while you're getting hit with by the combo, you DIE!
7) The Drinking Potion animation is fairly long and you can get killed in this animation.
8) Some bosses have insta-kill attacks.
9) Other Players can invade your game and kill you. No seriously, they can.
10) There are traps that will kill you or leave you badly injured.
11) Some enemies are invincible until you get a special item.
12) Your sword collides with walls. That's right. Swing your sword... CLANG... it bounces off the wall and you get comboed by an enemy... and DIE.
13) You can walk through water, but guess what? There are pits in the water where you can fall... and DIE.
14) Some enemies are just as hard as Bosses. At some point in the game you'll fight one and DIE.
15) Enemy Spells and Arrows have Knock Back, which means if you're on a ledge and get hit by an arrow you get knocked off the ledge... and DIE.
16) Enemy attacks pass through each other, so it's possible to get spear comboed by 3 enemies in a hallway and DIE.
17) If you block a two handed attack, your stamina bar drops, the next attack knocks your shield out of the way and staggers you... leaving you defenseless.
18) You can get cursed, which lowers your MAX HP 50%!!! This stays even after you die! The only way to cure it is with a special item.
When you kill enemies, you get SOULS, which act as XP and Currency. If you want to level up, repair a weapon, buy something from a vendor, you need Souls.
Now, here's what makes Dark Souls an intense experience.
You carry these SOULS with you and when you die, you drop them! In order to collect them you have to go back to the area and pick them up. If you get killed on the way back, all those SOULS you dropped are gone forever.
But wait... there's more. When you die, you respawn at the last Checkpoint where you rested. And guess what? ALL of the enemies in the whole game respawn. Yup. So getting back to your SOULS is quite dangerous, especially when you die at a boss. You didn't think there would be checkpoints near bosses did you? Muhuahahahaha!
So, instead of Benevolent Game Designers helping you through an adventure, the design team of Dark Souls is purposely trying to kill you. There are enemy ambushes, traps, snipers, enemies with critical strikes, massive bosses, enemies that get back up after you kill them, floors that collapse, lava, etc...
Here's the typical situation. You need 10,000 souls to go up in Level. You are carrying 9,500 and you just ventured into a new area. The next Checkpoint must be close because you haven't seen one in a while. You slowly make your way through, wary of traps, ambushes, surprise sub-bosses, and cliffs. Every step is intense as your heart races. You suddenly see a new type of enemy rushing towards you! It's some kind of death knight! You have no idea what it can do or how many hits it takes to kill it. What do you do? Do you fight it? Do you run? Do you go back to the last Checkpoint, but doing so will respawn all of the enemies?
But something happens to you while you are playing this game. You start thinking strategically about every encounter. You learn not to fight 3 enemy spearmen in a hallway. You learn to lure them into open space where you can evade their attacks. You learn the weaknesses of every sub-boss. You start to study the timing and range of the enemy attacks. As you are doing these things you actually get smarter about fighting the enemies and better at playing the game.
Well, with all of these things going against you, you really do feel like a CHAMP when you do reach a new Checkpoint.
Story: 6/10
This isn't your typical story based RPG. In fact, very little is explained to you. You're an undead and you wake up in a medieval prison. You escape from your cell and battle your way through hell. There are NPC's in the game who tell you very little and not all of them are trustworthy. As I was playing, I really wished I knew more of what was going on. But the lack of information given to me added to the tension of the adventure.
Graphics: 7/10
The art Direction is very creepy and the monsters are things out of a serial killer's worst nightmares. There are a ton of different environments with their own creepy look and feel. From Castles, to dungeons, to dark forests, to catacombs, etc... The AAA titles (Assassin's Creed, Call of Duty...) look much better, but Dark Souls doesn't look bad.
Gameplay: 8/10
The combat is like Ninja Gaiden where timing, angles, your health bar, and even your stamina bar all come into play. Because every fight is high stakes and the enemies are all dangerous, every fight against an NPC is exciting. When you hack your way through 5 or 6 guys without getting hit, you feel like a superhero. Every challenge in the game can be overcome if you are patient, observant, lucky, or persistent. You can also hang out in a semi-safe area and grind to level up 10 times to boost your character's abilities.
Character Customization: 10!
Make any type of character that you want and play any way that you want. You can be a tank-like fighter in heavy plate armor with a giant axe. You can be an agile fireball throwing mage. You can be a dual wielding thief. You can be a poison using assassin, specializing in speed and backstabbing...
When you Level up, you put a Skill Point on your Stats. Just about everything you do raises your character's Defense Stats. (You take less damage when hit.) Weapons have a requirement. So, if you find a HUGE SWORD and you want to use it, but the Strength Requirement is 20 and yours is 18, you can still use the sword two handed, and the animation will be a bit clumsy. As you increase your Strength, the animation will smooth out and you'll do much more damage with it. The same is true with armor. If you want to be agile, you should wear leather or chain armor, but if you want to wear plate armor, your dodge animation will be slower. It's up to you to find the best weapon / stat combo that fits your character.
Also, just about every piece of armor or weapon can also be upgraded to be more effective. Weapons do more damage and armor does a better job at protecting you. There are also loads of magic rings, items, and spells you can find throughout the world.
Multiplayer: 8/10
Although this is primarily a single player game, Dark Souls does wonders with Multiplayer. There are 3 ways in which Multiplayer is used. The subtle way is that you can see other Players playing their games as ghosts that pass you by and fade into the distance. If they die, they leave a bloodstain. Touching the bloodstain will show you the last 5 seconds of their life. So, if there's a seemingly clear hallway, you touch a bloodstain, and you see the other Player's phantom run down the hallway and suddenly drop dead, you know there's a trap or an ambush somewhere. Player's can also leave messages for other Players. Write it in your game and it shows up in theirs. "TRAP ahead" "Be wary of Sniper" "Weakness: Head" "Illusory Wall" "I DID IT!" So, even though the game designers are trying to make your life hell, you get the feeling that you and all of the other Players are in this together. You may have died 10 times at a boss, but when you see "I DID IT!" you know that someone else just beat it in their game, so there's hope for you. You can also invite Players into your game and play Co-operatively until one of you dies. You can also invade other Player's games to fight them in a 1 on 1 duel. I thought I was pretty tough, so I started invading other Players' games. Some of the other Players were twice as strong as I was. But it really is interesting to see the different types of characters you can make. I was a Thief with chain armor, a small shield, some magic, a bow, and a longsword. I fought against a knight with a sword that was bigger than me. A pyromancer who threw massive explosions. A warrior with a giant hammer. A dual wielding assassin. etc... I was amazed at the different looks and abilities of the other characters.
Maturity: M
There's some gore, blood, scary monsters, but no swearing or nudity. This is also an incredibly hard game.
Replay Value: 6/10
It took me over 60 hours to finish and there is a New Game+ Mode where you can play again with all of your stats and items. The enemies are a bit tougher this time around though. There are two (short) endings to the game, too.
Overall: 8/10
This is one of the most intense games you will play and if you finish it, you've got bragging rights! The reason it's only an 8/10 is because there are quite a few areas of the game that just feel cheap. You can also screw up your game completely by accidentally attacking or killing an NPC. Yup, you can murder any NPC in the game and you usually get a cool item, but once they're dead, they're gone. The game also fails to explain things to the Player. The items descriptions are fairly weak, so you don't know what an item does until you use it. You have no idea how to upgrade your weapons until you actually start upgrading them, there's no map and no indicator that you are in a tough area, and in many instances you really have no idea where to go. I think 90% of the people playing this game will have to consult a walkthrough at least once.
Buy this game if you consider yourself a Hardcore Gamer and want a challenge!
Buy this game if you really want a dark / creepy action RPG!
Buy this game if you love deep character customization!
Avoid this game if you have a life or want to maintain a healthy relationship with a spouse or children. This game takes dedication and concentration to finish.
Avoid this game if you don't like dark games. Dark Souls has Dark backgrounds and Dark themes.
Avoid this game if you get frustrated easily. Losing 10,200 Souls because you got ambushed by an enemy and fell off of a cliff is incredibly frustrating!
If you liked this game for the challenge, check out Bayonetta and Ninja Gaiden 2.
If you liked this game for the RPG elements, you need to try Skyrim and Oblivion.
If you like medieval horror themes, definitely check out Castlevania!
If you finished this game, you are a badass! | video-games_xbox |
Afterglow Wireless Headset - Blue Iridescent Fun. Apparently Performance Design Products (PDP) utilized multiple focus groups and read "thousands of e-mails" in order to create what they consider to be the "very best gaming headset." The biggest concerns they noticed from gamers: performance and sound quality. Additional concerns noted were connectivity, comfort, and user friendly features.
My 12-year-old son's first words on seeing these headphones: "Whoa." He found them to be a good fit and liked having the option to change sound modes - those being "Pure Audio," "Bass Boost," and "Immersive." He was most impressed with the surround sound, 3D-like effect of "Immersive," which totally added a new level of enjoyment to his (sanctioned) gaming time. He also liked the retractable antenna that lights up to indicate the sound mode he's using.
This headset also works with portable devices that utilize a standard headphone jack. I tried the music with each of the 3 different audio modes and found the Bass Boost sounded the best with Rock and Pop, while the Pure Audio worked best with Classical and Jazz. Just personal preference, of course, but it's nice to have the option to enhance the sound.
The important things that come in the box:
Wireless headset with build-in, adjustable microphone and rechargeable battery
Charge & play USB cable
USB Transmitter
XBOX 360 Chat Cable
Line-in cable to connect mobile devices (such as an MP3 player)
Grey universal audio cable.
Small user manual
The only issue we've had so far with this headset and the XBOX 360 was accommodating the USB Transmitter and a flash drive in the available USB ports on the front. The transmitter is just a bit too wide, so it currently sits next to the flash drive, but isn't securely in place.
Other than this item, these are a very impressive set of headphones that'll add a new element to your (or your child's) gaming and/or music listening experience. | video-games_xbox |
Unfairly Lambasted. I may be walking alone out onto a shaky limb here, but I'm going to go for it. I have played through this game's entire campaign and I think it is highly underrated, even quite unfairly maligned. Is it perfect? No. In fact, after a rather strong start, there are many elements of the game that become progressively and disappointingly sloppy as the campaign goes on. But I'll get to those in a moment.
Aliens: Colonial Marines spent five (maybe six) years in development. I can't deny, after such a long time, that one would probably expect a stronger game to have emerged. But even after the incalcuable number of horrific reviews came in following the game's launch, my longtime fandom of the Aliens series was not going to permit me to avoid giving it a try. I launched into the campaign expecting the worst, and I was immediately impressed by the incredible amount of love and detail that went into Gearbox's recreation of the Sulaco, and tension I felt as I gradually started getting attacked by aliens in very effectively lit enviornments. As you progress through the first three missions, which culminate in the epic destruction of the Sulaco, the game really grips you.
Landing on LV-426, though, I quickly forgot about the fact that the Hadley's Hope colony was supposed to have been utterly destroyed in the film, because the surface of the planet and the colony's interior are so lovingly and beautifully reproduced in this game that you can't help but delight in exploring them and reliving that experience. As you have to defend the operations center from attacking waves of aliens, and eventually travel into the previously unseen depths of the colony on other missions, the game does a great job of keeping the tension ratcheted up in intimidating, alien-infested enviornments that are astoundingly detailed and brilliantly lit. The feeling of actually experiencing the film from a first-person perspective in pretty impeccable, in my opinion.
Once you get about halfway through the game, however, things abruptly start to look more sloppy and unfinished. The cinematic cutscenes in particular really became choppy and painful to watch. The character animations and textures are downright ugly, and the script starts losing direction as the story heads into territory that it's not sure how to justify or explain. I won't detail any spoilers here, but a few head-scratching narrative calls are definitely made. The quality of the campaign remained pretty consistent, though, and the real highlight of the game (for me) came in FINALLY being able to get up close to the mysterious derelict and explore its interior, which has, since the events of Aliens, been converted into a Weyland-Yutani research facility. This is something I have ALWAYS wanted to see, so I'm pleased that Gearbox went that route. Unfortunately, this is also where some of the campaign's visual glitches started to become more pronounced. There is actual visual tearing in a number of enviornments, and the entire screen goes wavy at times. This is pretty unbelievable. But, they are temporary scars on a larger experience that is absolutely worth having.
There were many complaints about the A.I. of both your allies and enemies in this game. To be sure, your allies do like to run ahead of you at almost all times, frequently alerting you in advance to incoming enemies, which really has an impact on the tension and suspense that the game is supposed to deliver. I expected from the reviews that there would be a large number of aliens in this game that generally didn't attack and would sit happily waiting to be blown up. Perhaps this issue was patched in a software update, because I didn't experience it... much. Yes, it DOES happen sometimes, but not often enough to break the final product. It's one of those things you have to view as a temporarily amusing glitch in an otherwise pretty well-crafted experience. The aliens' most irritating behavior is frequently running right past your squadmates to home in specifically on you, and when they engage your allies, they usually seem unable to dispatch them until you come to their aid with all guns blazing. In the end, it makes your allies seem more like window dressing than any kind of actual help, unlike the kind of squad A.I. you're given in, say, a game like Mass Effect.
So, that may be what Aliens: Colonial Maries boils down to for some people... weighing the pros against the cons. I, for one, enjoyed myself pretty thoroughly from start to finish. I could fault Gearbox for a rather unsatisfying final non-battle against an Alien Queen, or the astoundingly, infuriatingly anticlimactic non-ending that they wrote into the game's closing cinematics (which I'm hoping the newly-released DLC, "Statis Interrupted," will make a point of addressing to some extent). But when all is said and done... after I finished the game, I promptly started re-playing all the different campaign missions in search of missed item pickups and achievements. And my overall enjoyment of the game continued unabated. I haven't tried out the multiplayer mode yet, since the campaign has been keeping me busy, but I doubt a lot of people are playing it anyway due to all the toxic word of mouth this game has received.
I think that Aliens: Colonial Marines is a lovingly crafted and very enjoyable Aliens experience that unquestionably falls short in some areas, but hits more sweet spots than it misses. If you're a longtime Aliens fan like me, I feel confident that you'll find more to appreciate here than to despise. Maybe all the negative reviews will lower your expectations enough to actually surprise you with the general quality of the finished product. Maybe you'll hate it all the same. But if you're an Aliens fan, and you're not the kind of unforgiving, self-righteous sourpuss who lets every little imperfection completely break the game for you, then I think you owe it to yourself to at least give it a try. You just might be pleasantly surprised. | video-games_xbox |
Best Game Ever Made" is a Worthy Description. We all have our favorite movies, our favorite books, authors, etc.
Some of us have favorite video games. Oblivion is all about sword-fighting and combat, magic and wizards and orcs and monsters... Now, normally I wouldn't consider this my type of gaming - I'm more of a science fiction, action/adventure fan than science fantasy.
But Oblivion... ...oh my, Oblivion...
There is more content, more creativity, more bang-for-your-buck entertainment in this game than frankly any other game I've ever played before. Period. The sheer scope of what this game lets you do is more than I'll ever experience. From enchanting your own weapons and armor to creating your own potions or magical spells, buying and improving houses, managing inventory and treasures. There are so many hidden features and items... ...it's mind boggling.
You take the roll of a character (which you completely design and name) destined to save the land of Cyrodiil from the evil clutches of Mehrunes Dagon and the parallel universe that is Oblivion. However long it takes is entirely up to you, as along your path to complete the core quests of the game you will encounter simply countless "side jobs" and hidden quests to complete, dungeons to plunder and insuremountable quantities of loot to collect. With epic battles to fight, wild and imaginitive creates to save or slaughter, and a massive landscape to explore, there seems to be no end to Oblivion.
Complaints? Well, the game seems to crash occasionally. Save often and it won't cause much heartache. This game presents enough data to keep these modern gaming consoles working pretty hard. This game would be phenominal online, however no such option exists. Oblivion could very easily be the next World of Warcraft. Other than that, I have no complaints - I played this game to completion on both the Playstation 3 AND the Xbox 360. Again, as a non-enthusiast of Science Fantasy games, that HAS to say something for Oblivion.
Buy it - buy it on Xbox or PC so that you can add some of the downloadable content not available on the Playstation. Buy it, then set aside a LOT of free time to enjoy all it has to offer. I also strongly suggest getting the game guide - read my review on that before buying, though.
And Bethesda, quite frankly I would be relieved if you just made every game that ever comes out from here until the end of time. | video-games_xbox |
The best COD yet. Call of Duty 3 pits you as 3 different characters whose names escape me at the moment, but you play as American, Canadian, British, and Polish forces during 1944's Normandy Breakout campaign. The idea behind the operation was to get the Germans out of Paris & France all together.
If you have played Call of Duty 2, then you should know what to expect. You run around in first person view, firing a wide range of Allied & Axis weapons which include Trenchguns, MP44s & MP40s, M1 Garands, and so on. You can throw both frag & smoke grenades, so that is cool. Additionally, you can now drive vehicles such as motorcycles, jeeps, and tanks which was wicked cool. Another new addition is these little fist fights that you get into every once in awhile with the German soldiers where you have to tap right & left triggers to out muscle the German and then you two go at it. It adds some interaction into it, and keeps you on the edge of your seat to see what will happen during the fight. Oh, and one more thing (lol), now when you have to plant explosives or anything you have to actually assemble the C4 or actually DO the action (such as placing the pin and turning it or using a crowbar to tear down a boarded door). Very nifty.
In my opinion, the multiplayer in this game easily outdoes COD and COD2. First off it runs much smoother with less glitches and lags. Secondly, the weapon balance is pretty even with the exception of the lame Trenchgun. Finally, you can now choose classes such as Medic or Sniper, each with their own special abilities (like reviving dead teammates, giving out ammo, or calling in airstrikes) and set kits of weapons. I love the multiplayer.
The graphics are a decent step up. All the characters look real, and move fluidly as well. The enviroments look fantastic; they look truley wartorn. The weather engine makes everything just feel so unique and realistic. The only downfall is the fact that it feels recycled by about the 5th chapter - theres only so many times you can see blown up buildings or vast forests, you get me?
So what makes this game fall from a 10? Well, for starters I would have liked to be able to interactivley fight the Germans more often. I found that aspect of the game pretty fun, but the fact that it comes up about 4 times in the whole game is a let down. Secondly, one thing about the multiplayer enrages me: sometiems you will be behind perfect cover, and somehow an enemies' bullet will still kill you. Finally, for some reason in single player the MP40, when it is in enemy hands, shoots so rapid that it can be easily mistaken for an MG42 - which means after about 5 hits your going to die. Very annoying....very...very annoying.
All the aspects of sound in this game are perfect. The score of music, the sound effects, the guns, the voice acting... all beautifully realistic, believeable and just sound, well, good.
The ending of this game was pretty interesting. It ends with the Americans (which I notice is a thing in all the Call of Duty games). Your first Sarge named McCullins hated this dude named Guzzo, and when McCullins dies tells Guzzo to go to hell. Dixxon, another member of your platoon, becomes your new Sarge. He is the one who leads your squad through the remains of the game all the way up to when he gets shot. Guzzo becomes the new Sarge and you guys finish up the Normandy Breakout. A few days later your character is on a truck with a bunch of other guys and Guzzo climbs aboard and says, "Rule Number 1) Your no use to me dead.", which is what McCullins said in the beginning of the game. Then a Private asks what kind of pep talk that was (which is what Guzzo said in the beginning), and Huxley (a member of your original squad) says, "If you want a pep talk, read a poem." (which is what Dixxon said in response to Guzzo in the beginning.) Its all deja vu, but it was interesting nonetheless.
Overall, Call of Duty 3 delivers the fast paced, heart pounding action that we have come to know and love in the series, as well as the touching stories surrounding each character. A lengthy campaign thats really fun & challenging, added with a near perfect FPS multiplayer, is more than enough of a reason to buy C.O.D 3. | video-games_xbox |
Great game with 3 caveats...#1 You must be comfortable with confronting uncomfortable racism. Great game with 3 caveats...#1 You must be comfortable with confronting uncomfortable racism.. #2 You must be comfortable with foul language and overt potty humour... #3 Getting "free Stick Of Truth included" is probably not going to happen. On getting "free" and "included" Stick of Truth took me over 3 hours on the phone and in chat on computer. I purchased a physical copy for Xbox One... inside was the disk and two pieces of paper, one was an ad for south park season 20, the other was a code for redemption with "Towlie" on it. The code ONLY downloads Towlie hints in game nothing else. So I called Microsoft (xbox) they had no idea how the code came nor how it was to be included in the game. Next was Xbox tech support,they had no idea how the code came nor how it was to be included in the game. Next was Amazon very helpful but they had no idea how the code came nor how it was to be included in the game. Next was Ubisoft (makers of the game)they had no idea how the code came nor how it was to be included in the game. Finally a computer chat with Uplay..they had no idea how the code came nor how it was to be included in the game, but by this time i was adamant "just get me the code that was promised" I had to go through 2 conversations AND send a screenshot of my purchase STILL NO CODE. I asked why they can't just generate a code because it was clearly supposed to be included. It was not till a full day later they finally relented and gave me what I had bargained for when the game clearly says said "Stick of Truth included" printed on the front of the package. Each call with each company I had asked HOW was the code to be presented ...on a slip of paper? printed on the disk? on the receipt? on the package? Not one person at any of the 5 companies in the supply chain knew. NOT ONE. So good luck getting the code if you buy a physical copy. You will need it .P.S.Amazon was great and tried as hard as they could to get answers even calling me back to let me know what they had found. The other companies were clueless and not very helpful. Great game...terrible support when trying to get the "included" code. Hope this helps. | video-games_xbox |
A First Person Red Dead Redemption on STEROIDS. I have never played Far Cry 1 or 2 but this game is amazing! Let me break it down in 3 categories: Storyline, Co-Op and Multiplayer.
Main Storyline - This game is like Red Dead Redemption and Sleeping Dogs on steroids! The storyline is really good. You're on vacation with friends and brothers until things go wrong (Typical of any movie or game). I have never liked FPS campaigns, I have all Call of Duty games but never ever played the storyline. There are soo many mini games and things to do and explore in this game. It took me 4-5 days to beat the game and an additional 2 to get all achievements. I'm also a hardcore gamer playing 3-6 hour a day (kinda sad). I like how you can get all achievements playing it only once. The story is so unique full of interesting characters and funny dialogue.
Co-Op - EWW... Co-Op. I'm not a fan of Co-Op anything but this one is different. They throw in mini-games in each of the 5 Co-Op missions. Also, each mission is pretty short and give you an an achievement.
Multiplayer - How would you like to Punish or Spare the MVP of the other team after you beat them? You can in this game and you can unlock more with progression. The online is fun and shots feel like they count unlike in Black Ops 2. You unlock hard drives, USB, etc. to decode too. It sounds weird but every game you play, you get things to decode to give you either XP or better weapon modifications. You'll also get speed boost to speed up the tie it takes to decode or unlock those items. Some things take up to 10hrs so a speed boost will cut that in half. You'll have to get those from friends however. My biggest complaint will be the inability to get your friends in a party to play. You'll have to wait until someone joins a lobby in order to join your buddies.
If you like Red Dead Redemption or Sleeping Dogs, this game will top those! | video-games_xbox |
Too Fast. Kinda Boreing. Halo. The first time I played Halo it was on the original Xbox. This was also the first time I played Xbox - or even saw an Xbox. February 2002, I was sitting in a tent just outside of Afghanistan sweating my "A" off contemplating the impending battle ahead when my SGT came and said - Would you like to play "Halo"?
The young Marine I was said, "What is Halo?"
It's about Marines - it's about space "Us" he said. For the next 11 hours I was completely taken aback to the detail and joy of the "new" quality of video games. I had been playing video games since Atari 2600 in the early 80's. I had every system up until the release of Xbox. At that time, I could not afford an Xbox because it was worth more than I made in 2 weeks (about $300 as I remember).
I was hooked - I loved Halo. I also bought Halo 2 for Xbox a year or so later.
When Xbox 360 came out, I waited to buy it until Halo 3 came out - I was a civilian by this time. When I bought Halo 3 and Xbox 360 in 2007, I waited until I bought my first TV - a 42" Plasma that I still own today. Halo ODST and Halo Reach were subsequently purchased. Now, Halo 4 comes out.
What a disappointment. I thought that ODST was bad - it certainly was, except Halo 4 has the HALO name in its 4th official showing. 7 hours. What a shame. 7 hours after waiting for years after Halo 3. Now what? Another 3 years to beat a game in 6 hours? I believe the games are getting shorter because there is more and more movies on the disk. I do not want to watch a movie I own over 500 movies in Blue Ray and DVD - I want to play the game that I bought. I have never spent $60 for a DVD unlike for a game. 7 hours after waiting for so long and spending $60?? Sad, very sad. I am 33 now. I have been with Halo for a decade. Halo Anniversary was the best thing for Halo since its original release - Halo 3 comes a close 2nd. What is Bungie doing? Halo 4 should have been unbelievable - what happened? Did they get lazy? Did American's become lazy? I do not know.
My advice - - - Wait 6 months for the price to go down to $30 - - - then wait another 6 months for it to go to $20. Buy it then. At that point you will not get ripped off. Breaks my damned heart Bungie. | video-games_xbox |
The only thing Thief will do for you is make you $90.00 poorer. (The game + the walkthrough. First off I took two hours and I read ALL reviews for this game. I bought this game and the PRIMA Thief walkthrough. The only thing Thief has done for me is make me $90.00 poorer. I paied $60 for the game and $25 for the walkthrough + tax. I have been so angry with myself about so far not finishing this game. I thought I was probably the ONLY one that thought this game was very boring I mean so boring my eyes want to bleed. I actually think I should be paied to finish Thief that is how bad it is. I am going to try to finish it but sadly I am unsure if I can. I am actually laughing as I am writing this review because if I did not do that I would be in tears. Also see my review on PRIMA's Official Game Guide for Thief before you buy it please. The guide is not good many errors with it. Now that I think about it the worthless guide has something in common with the game, cries.
On a last note I did buy some Thief Posters from Amazon. I honestly loved this game for about the first hour I played it but I can only steal so many ashtrays, pens, gears, before I go insane. Also what really ticks me off is the main place you buy upgrades for Garrett the NPC's say the same thing over and over. Also what is with the NPC you pass in the city that talks about stale bread over and over? I cannot think of a person in my life more annoying then this game! LoL I will not regret buying the poster I think Garrett looks cool and he is in the poster, this sadly is the ONLY thing I can say was done cool.
Oh I am also tired of stealing letter openers, scissors, vases, and wine glasses. Also the endless amout of worthless documents in the game is tragic. I will never buy a game from Eidos again, I am not sure this can even be called a game. Zombies are smarter then the guards you encounter. I am going to stop now because I do not think I have anything else good to say here I am sorry guys seriously. Thief could have been great and I mean that all jokes aside. Reading some of your guy's reviews that gave Thief a 5 star rating I want you to know I respect your opinion and I am sorry about giving this such a bad review but I had no choice. | video-games_xbox |
Great game, strategy a bit lacking, but still a solid 4 star. I took a while to purchase this game, due to the fact the last game that got "good" overall reviews on here, turned out to suck (Unreal Championship). I must say I really did enjoy this game.
Basically in RS6. You assume the role of Ding Chavez, the leader of a 4 - man strike team. You complete various missions that deal mainley with eliminating terrorists and saving hostages.
When you first start this game, you will see that it is very similar in appearance to Splinter Cell. This game effectively uses the aspects that made Splinter Cell so great. The lighting effects are spectacular. You can often look at shadows to see where your enemies are which is very helpful. UBI Soft has again done an excellent job with the graphics in this game. The levels almost look life-like.
The sound in this game is good and way above average. If you have your XBOX hooked up to a home theatre system, then turn it up a bit to get the full effect of the various types of weapons. One thing I did like about the sound though is that different guns make very distinct noises. I especially love the sound of the .50 caliber sniper rifle and the USAS Automatic shotgun. The sounds of the cities and towns you are in are pretty cool as well. For example if you are outside in a town you can hear cars and kids playing in the street. If you are in a bar in New Orleans, you can hear Jazz music playing through the speakers.
The gameplay is also above average even though it could have been much better. One VERY cool feature of this game is the fact that you can command your team using your actual voice if you have the XBOX communicator headset. You can give your team commands like opening doors, covering, throwing grenades etc etc. I am really suprised on how well the voice recognition worked. I was expecting me to have to set up something to actually "train" the game to learn my voice and in fact spent about an half hour looking for an option to do that, but it does not exist. The game does an OK job in recognizing your voice, which is pretty amazing in my opinion. I have a deep voice but the game did a pretty good job in recognizing my commands. Sometimes however, the game misunderstands what you say and does something entirely different or does not understand it at all and does nothing. Of course if you want, you can always use the controller to give commands, but it is not as much fun as voice. The only time I gave commands from the controller is when I ABSOLUTELY needed my team to do something because my life depended on it. One thing that was missing from the gameplay is actually giving individual team members commands. If you asked them to do something, then the whole team did it together, which is kind of corny. So if you want your team to split up, then it would just be two groups; you by yourself and the other 3 team members together.
The story line behind the single player campaign is just average. While each level is impressively done, the story line behind it is not. There is not too much depth in the story line and the final mission was bit of a dissapointment.
I would have liked to see a bit more stategy involved the single player campaign mainley ordering individual team memebers. Another thing that I did not like about the game is the fact you only get three saves per level. In splinter cell, you get an automatic save when you reach a certain checkpoint, however in RS6 you are given three TOTAL saves per mission to use at anytime. If you use your 3 saves just to get by one part of the mission, then you must complete the rest of the mission without dying. A strategy I used was to save after an objective was complete. Usually a mission has 2 or 3 objectives so this worked out nicely, eventhough I occasionally ended up playing a portion over and over again. Another "unrealistic" but probally nessacary feature is that if your team members became "incapaciated" in a mission, they will be back up on their feet in the very next mission. I take "incapaciated" to mean "dead", so that is kind of unrealistic but I can see why it as done that way. In my missions if any of my team members died, then I would just reload from my last save point, to keep the game realistic.
XBOX live on this game is the best part of the game. My favorite game and only game I play on Xbox live is Terroist Hunt, were basically you have a squad of 4 actual human players going through different levels eliminating terroists. It is very fun and you can easily play for hours at a time if you don't watch the clock. You can of course also give orders or take orders from your human teammates. You can also play the single player campaign online where your computer squad is replaces with real players. Other games on XBOX live include "deathmatch" type games, which I don't really play that much. For the most part, the people on XBOX live who play RS6 are very cool and mature and not some snotty nose kid who doesn't know what their doing or just come online to act childish just to get attention. I have met a couple who fit in the latter category, but that is it.
Overall I am very impressed with this game. It could have used a bit more strategy in the single player campaign, and also the storyline lacks depth. but other than this, this game is a solid 4. Definetely worth checking out. | video-games_xbox |
Interactive Science Fiction at Its Finest. I have had a love-hate relationship with the Halo franchise over the past 10 years.
Halo: Combat Evolved was a huge evolutionary leap forward for all console first person shooters in that it brought us a PC quality game to consoles for the first time. Master Chief was an undeniably badass character and the supporting heroes, villains, and overall mythology led to a gaming franchise that stand amongst the largest in the industry. I can fondly remember having LAN parties at friends' houses playing multiplayer...It was the reason that Xbox was able to turn into the brand it is today.
The last 4 games in the series: Halo 2, Halo 3, Halo 3: ODST, and Halo: Reach, have built upon the foundation laid down from the original with varying degrees of success. Xbox Live was created and a whole new online world was created within the Halo universe. I'll be the first to admit that Halo has stagnated over the past few iterations. So much so that while I bought and played most of the games in the series, Halo: Reach was the only one I took the time to finish (and that was on co-op). I never felt the need or desire to play online. Something about online gaming lacks the charm of actually shooting a friend sitting on the couch (or other room.
While I was skeptical about the release of yet another Halo game, I looked at the change of developers from Bungie to 343 as an opportunity to genuinely reboot the series. This version of Halo was either going to make or break my opinion of the series...The amazing reviews and commercials also caught my attention and piqued my interest as well...
I just completed the game on Legendary with my cousin over Thanksgiving break and I must say that this is the best Halo I've played since the original. In many ways, I enjoyed this game as much as that one. Why though?
This is a more mature Halo with the narrative driven by the evolving (or you could argue, devolving) relationship with the Master Chief and Cortana. If it hasn't been said enough times, in short, Cortana is dying, and it's up to the Master Chief to try and find a way to save her. Along the way, they naturally run into their nemesis, the Covenant, and accidentally awaken an ancient evil being called the Diadict.
The relationship between the Chief and Cortana is the thing that really resonates with me. We've been following these guys for 10 years now and finally, we see a human side to each of them that has been absent in the previous games. I'm an older gamer (28), my cousin is a teenager (15), but both of us could see how their relationship drove the action forward in the game. We found ourselves wanting to beat the game not just to save the universe from this new evil, but more importantly, we were concerned about how we were going to be able to save Cortana.
I don't turn to shooters to play a game that will leave me with emotional resonance; surprisingly Halo 4 was able to do this with its story, its atmosphere, and its music.
How does Halo 4 play? It plays like Halo...refined. Now there is a sprint button. You can use power ups, a la, Halo Reach, in this game. To be honest, a lot of the levels, especially in the beginning had me thinking about the level design in the original Halo.
It can, is, and should be argued that this game is the same game we've been playing for 10 years. Yet after playing it, it feels so different to me because I actually really care about the characters now. 343 should be commended for their ability to bring out emotions in players who have invested themselves in the Halo Universe.
The graphics are fantastic; the cutscenes in particular are downright breathtaking. I really love the new score for the game as well. The music is very atmospheric and again, it gives off this emotional and mature vibe. I was totally digging it.
The game isn't perfect. Stage 5 in particular was pretty painful with respect to pacing. Maybe it felt extra painful and borderline boring due to playing on Legendary. Let's just say there were times where my cousin and I had each other and a Warthog available to us to battle like 6 Wraiths and 12 Banchees. We felt like they pounded us with enemies and gave us little to nothing to work with to artificially lengthen and toughen the game...Won't lie, there are some plot holes and not everything is fleshed out as much as you would want it to be.
But then again, this is Halo. It's a shooter, not a novel, not an RPG...the point is the kill enemies. I would liken it to interactive chess.
I could sit here and share more thoughts, but the fact of the matter is, Halo is reborn. It plays wonderful. The controls are spot on. The graphics are sharp, the sound effects are excellent (play at high volumes on a good surround system and you'll appreciate it), and the engine runs smoothly no matter no many enemies are attacking you. And for me, it feels a whole heck of a lot more grown up. And to be honest with you, it's exactly what I hoped would happen to the series. Fantastic job 343! It's rare that I say a game is worth $60. This one is worth it; especially if you like playing online multiplayer. | video-games_xbox |
It pains me to write this review. ***Updated***
Well about seven weeks after filing my ticket for a warranty claim a customer service rep finally got in touch with me. From there I sent in my broken headset and was astonished when a week later a new headset was at my door. So Mad Catz did come through and honor their warranty, even though the service was painfully slow (over two months from start to finish). Updated from one star to three star review.
***Original Review***
I have put off writing this review for so long because I was hoping Mad Catz would come through...but to no avail.
Let me start by saying that I loved this headset while it worked. The surround sound was amazing. I play Modern Warfare 3 and could hear exactly where gunshots and sounds were coming from. It was precise to the point I regularly get kills through thin walls and the chain link fences with tarps strung across them. So while it worked, I loved this set. Then after a few months of use (three to four times a week, an hour or two at a time) some of the speakers in the left side of the headset went out. Completely. No more sound. No problem, I thought, I will just contact customer service since it is still under warranty. So I contacted Mad Catz (They own Tritton), and my nightmare began.
First of all, if you live in the US there is no number to call for customer service anymore. They removed it from their website. The only way you can get in touch with them is by submitting a ticket. Apparently no one monitors this ticket system. One week after submitting my ticket, I got an automated response asking if I still needed help...and that was the last I heard from them. That was over a month and a half ago. I checked them out with my local Better Business Bureau and saw I was far from the only complaint outstanding with the company.
I have not tried a turtle beach yet but I cannot imagine a worse experience then this. Will NEVER buy a Tritton/Mad Catz product again. | video-games_xbox |
Titanfall Does not live up to the promise of the the Alpha or the Beta. So we heard the hype, that TitanFall could be the XBOX One's Halo. Well i a word... No.
UPDATE: Ok if you've seen this review before, you know I whined about the mute control, well I did find a mute option off the "menu" button, but I can't seem to get this feature to work. but if it does, and if you can get to it in the lobby this may get this game and extra star!
Pros:
While this game is fun to play and a lot of games mode, Interesting weapons with a decent improvement scheme ( you actually have to USE the weapon in question in combat to improve it!)
Being a Titan Driver is great! Titans are a lot of fun to pilot, with reasonable load-outs early on and the ability to have a mutli-ton attack / watchdog as your companion, is awesome.
Cons:
Firs and Foremost this game need a mute ALL, or mute ALL but party setting, so you can silence the inane drug addled blither of these obnoxious 'YO YO YO my N****' spouting players, especially when these are a bunch of 10 year olds from Beverly hills, or two dudes talking about last nights date, um dudes that what the coffee shop is for! OK off soapbox!
Their seems to be a complete lack of a match making alg. so you wind up with 1st level player with 50th level players. While respawn has done some cool things with scoring, like getting points for faithfully guarding hardpoints for example. I've seen many low level players just drop from games after being killed 20 times in a row, because they can't over come all of the power-up of the more advanced player. This more than anything will be the quick death of this game unless addressed.
Their is no option to name custom load out slots after they have been created, this is a minor annoyance, but an annoyance none the less.
The Campaign mode, while a nice try, is not enough to satisfy the single player depth of story. the campaign plods along whether you win or not with no divergence in the story line, Honestly with the work Respawn has put into this and the quality of the AI, they should have had a true SP track with AI grunts, specters, and pilots, to run through the campaign.
Bottom Line: Overall I like the game and find it fun, but I find myself tiring of it quickly, do to the issue mentioned above, and putting it down, I have owned the game for 36 hrs at the time of this post, and sure sure if i will still be picking this game up a week from now. HOWEVER, if you are a hard core Multi-Player only kind of gamer. you are sure to love this game! | video-games_xbox |
Can't wait for DLC. I picked this game up last week, and so far have had a blast. By way of biography, I've been playing guitar since the early eighties, about ninety-nine percent on an acoustic. My fiance bought me an inexpensive Squier Strat a couple of years back which has sat largely unused since it's unboxing. I've also had an old style Xbox 360 (no HDMI) which has also sat largely unused since it's unboxing four or five years ago(just over 1000 achievement points before starting with Rocksmith). The Xbox is hooked up through a composite connection to a CRT (4:3) television with no perceptible lag during songs. Perhaps a bit during the duck shooting arcade game (it may well be in my mind).
First things first. You don't want this game hooked up to a CRT television through a composite connection. Even two feet away from a 36" television, it's hard to read. I don't fault the game for this...it's just the television was already there and the Xbox was a heck of a lot easier to move than it was.
Onto the meat of the matter. I'm sure this game can teach people to play songs. It's not teaching them to play guitar though. There are so many pitfalls in guitar playing that this game simply isn't prepared to address that it may even hurt the beginning guitarist. I can play a lot of the single note arrangements with only two fingers and get very good results (point wise)....which isn't a good thing. The game doesn't know how you're holding the guitar, if your hands are in the right position, if you're anywhere near the fret when you hold the string down etc. When you've learned all of the songs in the game, where does that leave you? You can't read music, you can't read tabs, you haven't been taught to listen and play by ear. You now move on to a real guitar method system, and you're smack dab back at the beginning...well, at least you'll have some callouses.
Why did I rank the game so high then? Because it's fun. As a video game, it's entertaining. That's what I bought it for. The included songs have something for just about every taste, and the promise of a large DLC library in the future to custom tailor the game to it's owners taste makes it even better. The way the tunes are presented reminds me of karaoke. As much as I hate to admit it, I get a real kick out of the video audience's applause when a song is going well, or their mutters when I hit the wrong note.
If you're a beginning guitarist, don't try to use this as your only means of learning the guitar. If you've had even a little bit of instruction (check out Rob Bourassa's videos on youtube) this could be a decent tool to help keep you motivated. Mostly though, if you just want a fun video game to hook up to your guitar, you've found it. Well worth the eighty bucks. | video-games_xbox |
One of if not Best "Sandbox" game to date. When it comes to video gaming the entire spectrum is abundant with Sci-Fi, Racing, World War and Shoot-em-ups dime-a-dozen. Now the gaming world has been given a newer fresher choice in Red Dead Redemption. Though there's been Wild West games in the past none like this. Rockstar whose fame is the GTA series has given gamers new life and a new experience. If you ever wanted to be a "Clint Eastwood" or eperience a "John Wayne" western style here's you chance and this game doesn't disappoint.
I cannot compare to the GTA series as I never reaally played them. But I have had my share of Sci-Fi to World War shooters and I can honestly say this is a breath of fresh air. No super-duper, fancy, spectacular explosions, effects and weapons...just old school western landscape, six shooters, Winchester Rifles, whisky, wild cowboys, bandits, drunks, cattle and horses.
Visually - The game is downright solid and detailed all over. The landscape feels and looks like the Wild West with rock, mountains, trees to even tumble-weeds going by. As to the structures, Rockstar nailed it with detail in everything from the wood, paint, and layout in towns to ranches. Go inside a General Store and it's filled with store items from that period. Even the Salons with the bar and tables are detailed enough to you just want to look around for the heck of it. The outfits and attire are sensational as well with several various characters and outfits to see. But what I sy is the best is Rockstar uses a "day-to-night" style where during gameplay you experience a real day though not actually 24 hrs time frame. The change during the day with lighting is really something to see with high noon sun to nice sunsets to a glaring moon with plenty of stars. Night time is really fun with small laterns scattered throughout for a nice touch.
Audio - is as solid as ever with critters, aniamals, gunfire, wind, hoof-beats of houses, chatter and of course gunfire. Besides the "look" of the Wild West you can hear it as well. If you have a decent surround system you'll enjoy this for sure.
Gameplay - if you're a die-hard Sci-Fi, World War shooter that's accustom to fancy weapons you may get bored or say what a relief. First off the movement and mechanics of the game are solid and good. From walking to running to riding horseback to conversation to firing six-shooters to jumping to knife-throwing to punching someone it's there. Of course the main thing in the game is shooting and the target system comes in three flavors depending on your style and adapting to pace. There's a neat "Dead Eye" part where you can slow down time a bit to help target and shoot. You can also shoot someone in the leg and they'll either hop along or crawl. As you progress more weapons become available as do outfits and yes horses. Do more chores, good deads and of course "Bounty Hunting" you earn money to spend or play poker. Heck you can even play Horsehoes. You can also screw-up and have the Law after you.
There's plenty of side missions including "hunting" from coyotes, deer, raccons , crow, hawks, bears, snakes, skunks and cougars. Being a "Sandbox' game and it's a huge sandbox you can pretty much wander around and just explore. In towns you may help a strnger, take down some unruly cowboys, help a lawman on a task, breakup a fight...who knows but the game is anything but predicable and same-old stuff.
Multi-Player -I really haven't played much except in "Free Roam" where you can hookup with up to eight players total to form a possie and head out for various missions and places scattered throughout. As you level up you gain better weapons and choices of characters to be. It's pretty fun and experience to ride along with friends and even strangers
Final Thought - Is the game perfect...no as several have stated there are some bugs and occasional bug but not enough to declare it unplayable. As to style and substance of the game it's a gem and worthwhile of the ratings it's received. There's simply nothing out-there in the same league. If Rockstar supports this as they've done with the GTA series you can pretty much bet on more maps, more add-ons and more DLC over time. In fact they already have six co-op missions coming and that was before the game came out. If you wanted to be "Clint' in High Plains Drifter or Pale Rider look no more...Red Dead Redemption is as close as you'll get. | video-games_xbox |
Fun Game, but some Audio Issues. The main problem this game has is that the audio is a bit hit or miss. The audio for the first part (the original Jurassic Park) is the worst out of the bunch, but I found this to be pretty forgivable since it was so nostalgic. There was something really warm and fuzzy feeling about listening to the audio pulled directly from the original Jurassic Park, even if it wasn't of the best quality due to recording procedures of the time. I'm giving the creators benefit of the doubt that they tried to clean it up as much as possible and most of it is passable.
Jurassic Park: Lost World and Jurassic Park 3 actually had excellent audio quality so no complaints at all there. What really got me was that the audio for Jurassic World was on par with the Jurassic Park audio at the start. I don't know how or why the recording from the first few minutes of the movie is so awful when placed into this game (it did not sound like that in the movie theater) but it was bad and because the movie is brand new and they should have just had direct access to this recording, it was pretty unforgivable. It was short-term and didn't appear through the whole final act of Jurassic World, but when it did happen it was grating and very noticeable.
The only other issues I encountered with the game were during some of the chase scenes (ala Jurassic Park where the jeep has trouble outrunning the T-rex). Sometimes the animal chasing me would glitch, get stuck on an environmental object and stop chasing. But I was required to keep running like I was being chased. It removed a lot of the thrilling suspense those chase scenes are supposed to give, but the game would right itself after passing into a new scene with no damage done to the game because of the glitch.
No one dies so the game is more kid-friendly. Any deaths that happen in the movies are made into jokes (the lawyer the T-rex eats in the first movie is actually scrubbing her teeth until she spits him out at the end). Even as an adult I found this acceptable and got a laugh out of some of the changes. | video-games_xbox |
More than a quantum of bullets. This is the first 007 game from Activision, who took over the franchise from Electronic Arts. I have no idea why EA would sell those rights, especially when they made some very fine games, the best being Everything or Nothing from 2004. Quantum of Solace is actually an amalgamation of the plots to Casino Royal and QoS, the first 'new' Bond films with Daniel Craig, whose voice and likeness are used here. There isn't much to solve in the missions, you just have to shoot a lot of goons. It's actually far less complicated than the previous Bond game plots, less produced (EoN had a large cast, its own theme song, etc), and more linear.
It's a strange game, though...it's really a step backward from the EA games, though it still retains the general feel of the earlier entries like Agent Under Fire and Nightfire. The innovations that EA brought to Everything or Nothing are completely absent. That game's engine, which had you control a third-person Pierce Brosnan (more reminiscent of the GTA games, and an engine that EA would further develop with the excellent The Godfather), had things like 'Bond Vision', Q-gadgets, and a far, far better hand-to-hand combat element. QoS returns us to the first-person mode, so you just see the gun barrel. Granted, there is a cover mode, which has Daniel Craig suddenly slide behind a wall or a box, but it's hardly anything new (it does work well in firefights, though).
There isn't a gadget in sight, and though the new Bond films are moving toward grittier action and less gimmicky tech-toys, for a video game it'd have been nice to incorporate something whacky like the Q-Laser/Claw/Spider/whatever. Also, the hand-to-hand action on QoS is very strange...there are a few 'boss' moments where you have to fight someone, but the screen tells you the button to press...you just have to time it. Very easy, and not necessary. The guns are pretty good, but no upgrades in 1P mode, and there is less variety--will they ever match the video-controlled rocket launcher from Nightfire? The villain AI is similar to Nightfire...even their speech ("Target acquired!" "I'm moving in!", etc).
Furthermore, QoS has no driving missions at all--how can a Bond game not have his Aston Martin or BMW? There are no 'Bond Moment's...at least none that give you bonuses, a fun part of the EA games, and there are no upgrades like special weapons (more power, a Golden Gun, etc) drastically cutting the replay value on this game (there is a weapons upgrade on the online multiplayer mode). QoS is also a very short game...far too short. You can finish this with no problem on the third difficulty in a few hours. Even the fourth/hardest difficult level is pretty easy...the enemies are quicker and more accurate, but you just replay and replay. The game is very linear with only one way to attack a board, and not enough interaction with the backgrounds.
Despite these drawbacks...I still liked the game, maybe because I've enjoyed all of the previous Bond games on the PS2 and before. There is still some classic Bond-esque action---cartoonish shooting with no blood or gore. Funny enough, this is actually more reminiscent of the 2002 game Nightfire (for the PS2), which also had the third-person mode. But it's definitely a step backwards in terms of features and overall game play. Mystifying as to why EA would surrender this lucrative franchise--and don't believe any hype that it's the best Bond game since Goldeneye (every Bond game has been called the best game since Goldeneye by someone).
Recommended if you can find it at reduced price. This review is biased because I've waited for a new-gen system Bond game, so I'll take what I can get. It's far too short, there is only an online multiplayer mode (once again, the makers cheap out on local multiplayer in order to push the XBox Live business), and it's way too easy. I would still recommend Everything or Nothing as perhaps the best-ever Bond video game, and far more innovative than this effort. Let's hope Activision steps up next time, or perhaps tries something before the next Craig Bond film, ala EA's From Russia With Love retro-effort. | video-games_xbox |
Alot better than what most other reviews are saying. I recently purchased this game and you know what ? Its alot of fun. I noticed that when I started the game I recieved an xbox update before it would allow me to play the game. This had to be a patch of some kind because I have not had any of the issues people keep complaining about.
I am playing this game with my console connected to a 42 inch LED samsung TV with an HDMI cable. The graphics are not the best Ive seen but they are still very good. The only thing I think they should have worked on a little more is the characters faces. They don't look quite as good as everything else but it is passable.
The sounds in this game are awesome , from the aliens hissing , doors opening , pulse rifle , and even the hand held motion detector Everything sounds authentic.
This game picks up right after the events of the Aliens 2 film. I have seen many complains about actually having to fight humans and aliens in this game. Many just wanted to be fighting the aliens only, but so what. If you have seen the movies you would know that the whole mission of aliens 2 was started by the Weyland-Yutani Corporation. Now since things in the movie didn't go as planned for the corporation , don't you think they would be sending their own people to recover what they want ? The answer to that question is a resounding yes. So the human enemies in this game make complete sense.
All I want to do here is let everyone know that this is a really good game. Maybe it was a patch that fixed all of the glitches and issues that has caused all of the complaints because I have had none. Some of the complaints are very unfounded and a prime example of that are the complaints about fighting humans. If you are a fan of the movie series I really don't see whats not to like. Solid 4 out of 5.
Edit :
Since I played this game it made me want to try the AVP game and I must say that AVP is and awesome aliens game. If you like this game and havnt tried AVP you need to give it a try. It is a darker game than this and playing as a Colonial Marine in that game is fantastic. You will constantly be very looking side to side and behind you because in AVP the Aliens will come from everywhere and at times without notice. I had a very nervous and foreboding feeling the whole time I was playing the Marine portion of the game. I picked AVP up from here on Amazon in like new condition for $17.00 and it has been worth every penny. Also The graphics are a little better in AVP , Mostly the detail to things and environment Mostly. Enjoy | video-games_xbox |
The final nail in the coffin for my xbox. When I first saw this game I had the impression that I might actually like it considering first person shooters are some of my favorite games. I had bought Halo originally and was unimpressed by it's clumsy controls, uninspiring architecture and repetitive gameplay. The aliens themselves looked like something out of a computer animated saturday morning cartoon. Ok... so after I finish the game, I think wtf was this?I thought maybe people liked it because of it's multiplayer as I did when I played Quake2... (How that is even imaginable without a mouse and keyboard is beyond me. Once you get used to it it's very, very, hard to go back.)
Although I didn't get a chance to really play Halo multiplayer I figured I'd give it a try on Halo2. So I got this game and realized, that this was pretty much a recycled version of the first game I bought. I had registered an account with Xbox Live since i had a few months free to try it out, met some of the fanboys who swear by fact that they think xbox live is a superior gaming experience to that of a PC... ok... I'm thinking hell, this better be good. I played for a while, it was interesting to say the least for a few hours, until you realize that the balance of the whole online gameplay is out of whack. Some weapons are absurdly overpowered and others underpowered leaving mostly those with the baddest weapons to dominate most of the game. Why is the rocket launcher's blast radius so high? Why even bother moving out of the way if you see it coming straight at you. Pretty much your dead, period. There is no dodge button, or a sprint button, why is there even a jump button? You jump like you're on the (...) moon and you walk like you are in quicksand. The gameplay is pretty much mostly the same online everytime: shoot, kill, die, repeat. If you fall off the side of a building you do not die. This is like FPS for babies. Even worse The analog sticks are very limited to just the auto aim so it makes trying to shoot multiple targets trivial, especially if there is someone directly behind you. There is very little tactics here since there is no --->HEALTH<--- in the maps. This has to be the most unbalanced online game I have ever played, yet this is a console game so I'm not really that surprised.
The presentation of this game is fantastic however which got me interested in the first place, mind the hype, However when that dies off after the first day or 2 I realized I have bought a hollow poorly designed game packaged in a intriguing looking package, like an animal right into a trap. $50+ down the drain.
I thought well.. maybe the game will get better and there will be new stuff but the WORST part of all of this is that what I first thought was going to be FREE updates to the game, bungie plans to sell thier new multiplayer maps just to play them online. W-T-F? Two words... RIP OFF.
Why would I pay extra money to play online multiplayer maps when I can download as many as I want on other online games for free or design my own stuff? That is the final nail in the coffin for me on my xbox, this game is already sold, so are all my xbox games all that is left is the xbox itself which I only keep because of GGXX and Shenmue 2. I'm not wasting any more money on an outdated piece of crap like an xbox. | video-games_xbox |
A little late but whatev. Okay, so I've been playing Chaos Bleeds for a year and a half (not because I'm stuck but because my friend owned the game so I had to wait until it was available and I had time to play). I admit it was the first of the two Buffy games I played, mostly due to the fact that my friend couldn't find the first buried in her Taj Mahal sized closet. Anyway, it was a little frustrating in the beginning, as any game you're new to, when it came to figuring out the controls, but once I did, I quite enjoyed it. And the puzzles weren't that hard (for the most part) and neither were the bosses, though it did take me forever and a day to beat Kakistos, but I insist there were too many of those stupid orb things.
Anyway, my only real issue with the game was the fact that yes sometimes you end up punching air, but hey, you get used to it and figure out how to recover.
I didn't play the first Buffy game until after I'd gotten 8 levels into Chaos Bleeds and I have to say, from the start of that game I was disappointed, never even bothered to complete the first level in fact. I was just so bored and the inventory is completely different, in my opinion, worse.
Good things about Chaos Bleeds, while there is a limit on five items (on certain items) you still had a variety and after getting used to the inventory you could change your weapons very quickly. And nothing was shmexier than being able to use a shovel or a spike every now and then, by far my favorite weapons, next to the axe. Over all, Chaos Bleeds is one of the few games that ever kept me interested in playing, and I would often re-start the game to get a higher rating in speed and kills. Now that I've moved away from my friend that owns the game I decided to crack down and buy my own version, and let's just say I can't wait. I have a feeling my days off from work are going to be filled with me calling "Just a minute mom, I'm dusting vamps in here," followed by her reply, "Kill 'em good honey!" | video-games_xbox |
A Spectacular Action/Horror Game. Before getting into the review I want to be honest and let everyone know I played this game at a friend's house since I do not own a 360, and he recently purchased this game. This game, not only is amazing, but actually makes me want to gather up some $ and splurge on getting a 360 now. (Plus Gears and Halo add to the temptation also LOL)
GAMEPLAY
Given the opportunity to finally play Alan Wake I was blown away by the level of gameplay this game brings to the table. The game is action/horror based and requires you to trudge forward as Alan Wake, trying to find out what is going on in this creepy town that he has chosen to take a vacation in. Very quickly things go bad and only a trusty flashlight (powered by energizer batteries of course!) and handful of weapons are at your disposal to survive the darkness that is coming for you. The mechanics of the gameplay are simple and are integrated excellently into the environment. This game is dark, with most segments taking place at night where the darkness is at its peak strength. Environments are dark and creepy and your flashlight helps you see everything. Intractable objects will have a sparkle/illumination to them when you put the flashlight over them and when it comes to combat, your flashlight actually acts as your cross-hair (it also will illuminate secrets).
Combat is pretty simple. Enemies are shrouded in this mysterious darkness and can only be made vulnerable by light. Shining the flashlight on them drains the darkness away, but slowly. You could intensify your light to speed this up, but at the cost of battery power. Run out of battery power you can either let the flashlight slowly recharge or pop in a few new batteries. Once the darkness has faded you can then attack the enemy with a variety of weapons. Alan also has the ability to use flares and flashbangs. Flashbangs will instantly clear an area of enemies or severely weaken them, while Flares will drain darkness from them and force them to back off. Upgraded flashlights you find along the way help you keep up against the growing darkness.
On-top of fluid combat mechanics, the game can have a lot of depth to it. You are playing out a book as it happens and finding manuscript pages adds to the suspense. Sometimes it is a page reading about what you have already done, while other times it is only an ominous sign of what is to come. The game itself is structured almost like a TV show, broken into episodes with each episode ending with a little drama. The next episode actually does a "Previously on Alan Wake..." kind of deal where it actually summarizes the previous chapter for you as if you were watching Part 3 of 6 of a long running TV special.
GRAPHICS
While Alan Wake, graphically, is not the best you could find on the 360, the game shines when it comes to the lighting effects. You can tell effort went into making light and dark look natural and feel natural. The way your flashlight illuminates the environment, reflects off objects... How the town looks in the daylight etc. The game has gorgeous lighting effects! Alan Wake captures that feeling of being alone in the woods late at night. You rely heavily on your flashlight so a lot of focus clearly went into making that mechanic work and look great. Model graphics for characters are not bad either and are very believable. Visual animation combined with excellent voice acting gives all the characters a unique feel to them, which I found refreshing and helped me to become immersed in the storyline.
SOUND/STORY
The sound and music in Alan Wake is excellent. High quality voice acting does a fantastic job giving characters a unique personality, and dialogue feels well thought out and written. The gameplay itself is mixed with ambient noises and a sound track that fits the mood of the game. The town of Bright Falls has two moods, day and night, and the game does an excellent job letting you not only see it, but hear it. Alan Wake boasts a very good storyline. It is deep and on a first play through you will be guessing at what is going on, twists and turns in the story and surprises will happen constantly. Expect the unexpected at times and that works perfect for a horror/action game. I could even see a second or third playthrough being just as much fun as the first.
REPLAY/LENGTH
It took me a little over 12 hours to beat the game mainly because I tend to wander around everywhere and look for collectables or secrets (Such as hidden boxes and coffee thermoses), plus I took my time to enjoy the atmosphere of the game. I could see your first playthrough ranging anywhere from 10-13 hours with additional game playthrough dropping to more like 7-9 hours. The game has some length to it and the storyline is fantastic enough to keep you coming back again and again to experience the majesty of Alan Wake.
CONS
No game is without problems and Alan Wake is not an exception either. A small problem hurt this game but not enough to hurt its score I think. The only real negative I had for the game is the driving. It felt tacked on and not well implemented; but given as you rarely will spend time in a vehicle it can be overlooked.
OVERALL ... 95% (9.5 / A)
I love this game! I really do. The environment and how your gameplay subtlety interacts with it. The lighting effects of your flashlight, the storyline. By no means is each element perfect, but when you combine all the elements Alan Wake brings to the table it makes for a Spectacular Action/Horror Game that will keep you riveted from start to finish. There isn't always action going on, and there are long segments of storyline, but it builds tension and drama which is something I really enjoy when it comes to games like this. | video-games_xbox |
Subsets and Splits
No community queries yet
The top public SQL queries from the community will appear here once available.