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Worst Console Ever. Having purchased 99% of all gaming consoles dating back to the original Nintendo, I was excited for the new Xbox One. Upon opening and setting up the new console, I was excited to get the initial set up complete and throw in Titanfall and start playing. My excitement quickly faded when the initial set-up/download took over an hour and a half. After the download for the set-up was finished, I decided to check my internet connection and it was working at a fast speed with no foreseeable problems which drew more questions. I then went to type in the code to download the Titanfall game that was included in my bundle. After close to 3 hours, the download was only at 7% and I became worried. Still not wanting to give up on the Xbox one before I had even played it yet, I decided to throw in a game my wife had gotten and the console made me do an immediate update for her game which only took half an hour. Once the update was completed, it made me download the game to the hard drive which took an hour and a half. After her game finally finished downloading, she played it for about 20 minutes before we headed to bed for the night. Thinking that leaving the console for the next few hours to let Titanfall download seemed like a good idea. When I woke up in the morning and not only had the game not downloaded but the Xbox had turned off right after I went to sleep. When I turned the console on in the morning, the download had stopped and had gone back down to 1%. Just to be clear, I don't have a slow internet connection and the downloads were still taking forever to get anywhere at all. I've always been a fan of Microsoft, but it seems like they're going away from wanting to have user friendly systems and wanting to make a non-user friendly system that's as high tech as they can get it with taking away from user control. This is the worst system I've ever purchased and I will have a full refund by the end of the week. Despite the positive reviews on this page, please read user reviews online and you'll see the massive amount of complaints dealing with incredibly slow download times. A few things to keep in mind before purchasing this console..... the graphics are the exact same as the 360. Also, when a new system comes out for purchase there are several things you expect. You should expect it to be more streamlined and smaller with the new technology that's out there. With the xbox one, you get none of these things. The console itself is big and bulky and the new Kinect is twice as big as the 360 version. If you're seriously considering purchasing the Xbox One and are a fan of Microsoft gaming consoles, please just stick with the Xbox 360 and like I stated before, if you don't believe my review, look on all the Xbox One blogs online and you'll see how much it really is sinking in popularity. Thanks
6 June 2014**** Update. Talked to Microsoft about snail speed download times and I was told that's been happening a lot and they are working on it. Game finally finished downloading after 3 days off and on. Game itself was great with the one exception that it's only for online play. So as it doesn't have an offline campaign mode, when new games come out for the Xbox one and people move on to other games, you'll no longer be able to play this game.
10 June 2014**** Update Three: The Kinect is terrible as well. In addition to the Kinect being terrible, after trying to re-setup the voice recognition to turn the console on, it continues to fail. I also can't turn on the Xbox One via controller or Kinect and the only way I can turn it on is actually walking up to the console and hitting the xbox button on the system itself. Regardless of when the system came out to the public, these issues should have been resolved by now. | video-games_xbox |
Good...but Halo 2 is a disappointing follow-up to a great game. Halo 2 is a good game but it falls short of matching the greatness of the first Halo. It certainly falls short of all the hype and expectations of the last couple of years where some gaming publications said Halo 2 would be the "greatest game ever". It is not.
What's good about Halo 2? Well, it does continue the story of the Master Chief and Earth's war for survival with the Covenant. Bungie Studios had the wisdom not to change the simple and easy-to-use control settings of the first game so playing Halo 2 is not hard at all even if you never played Halo before. There certainly is a graphical upgrade in Halo 2 but graphics were never an issue in the first game.
What's not so great about Halo 2? The big problem is that the single player campaign is short. Very short. You can finish Halo 2 on the normal setting in two days or less. It took me about a month to finish the first game so something is seriously wrong here.
Secondly, despite new weapons and some new bad guys to fight, Halo 2 almost feels like a repeat of the first game but minus some of the excitement. The first Halo game offers large outdoor and indoor levels in which you can spend hours exploring on foot or on the Warthog jeep. The first game also had a fantastic film-like musical score that really made you feel like you were immersed in the environment. It was like being in a movie.
Sadly, there do not seem to be any outstanding or memorable levels in Halo 2 like "The Silent Cartographer" in the original Halo.
Halo 2 seems to have mostly indoor settings that are smaller, darker and there are long stretches without any music. There are a couple of levels in Halo 2 where you will likely get confused and lost because of bland color schemes where everything looks the same.
What is perhaps most frustrating about Halo 2 is that Bungie Studios implied and gave us good reason to expect that much of the action of the game would take place on Earth. Halo 2 was supposed to about you defending the Earth against a Covenant invasion and fighting along side with large numbers of human troops. Bungie certainly had the time and resources to make Halo 2 an epic game on this scale but for whatever reason, they decided not to.
Halo 2 also fails to deliver many of the features that Bungie had implied we would see in the game. You cannot for example, shoot out lights to darken your environment for cover or peek around corners to see what is ahead. This is especially disappointing since another Xbox game; "The Chronicles of Riddick" has these kinds of details, making it a gaming experience that in many ways, surpasses Halo 2.
Without revealing too much about the game, you instead only play one level on Earth and its not all that great of a level. Despite the fact that mankind is facing extinction, you only see a few troops at a time fighting with you.
Halo 2 is better than your standard FPS or most other games in general. Yes, it is one of the better Xbox games you can get now but it is far from being the best. Halo 2 could and should have been much better. | video-games_xbox |
Fantastic hack and slash with terrible boss battles. OK, I am not a hardcore gamer. But I do like Conan, and the demo looked good enough for me to buy it. I have to say that the game was a lot of fun, and the storyline was Canon-like (not much plot). There are many bare breasted women (not really sure why), and a lot of graphic violence. This is not for kids, no way.
As you kill enemies you gain red mana that lets you learn new moves. The new moves is very cool. It is basically teaching you combos for each stage of the game. There are different combos for 1 handed with shield, dual wield, or big one handed weapons. I thought you could sort of specialize in one fighting style and learn all those moves... wrong. Just grab them at random. When you reload saved games all your weapons are gone anyway and you just grab what you find. Each type of weapon combos are fun to learn, but really do not have much impact on gameplay. It is fun to hack the arms off an enemy, or throw him on a spike, but going back through a second time there is no difference in the order you buy skills or train yourself. That was a let down.
You can find some hidden areas, usually pretty obvious. These unlock treasures and usually some naked women saying don't leave me here until you save her. Then she says let me reward you and stands there, you can't do anything (even hack her up).
There are some pretty clever environment plays as well. Some huge crossbows you get to fire into ships, or destroy part of the environment, that was a lot of fun.
Now for the bad parts... The camera is on some sort of system (non intelligent). So sometimes the area you need to go is at the bottom of the screen where you can't see it! And many times your perspective shifts with the camera, and so does the controller. You will press left and suddenly be going down on the screen. WIERD camera system. It was really frustrating in several spots where I had no idea where to go next or what to do. Resort to running around until something highlights for an action.
Actions are ok. You get a white circle on the ground and press the action button. What comes next is the frustrating part. It is different for each situation. You would like Action - X to open a door (it shows which button to hit at the top of the screen) would always work. Nope. It depends on what door, sometimes it is X, sometimes the left stick up, then down. If you get any of these "prompts" wrong you start all over. That is not too frustrating when it is a door, it is downright CRAZY when you fight bosses.
The bosses fight like normal with a huge health bar. As you get them down near zero a precanned sequence starts where you have to press a prompted button at the exact right time... Not always the same button either. IT IS RANDOM!!! So you figured out on the last boss at 1% health, STOP trying to get off your 9 button combo (because one of those button presses will be taken as your boss prompt). Fine. Then you think you have it figured out, nope. Random button prompt at top of the screen with about 1/2 a second to react, press button (or button sequence) or you die. Lame. The final boss was an incredibly tedious sequence of get him to 1% health and GUESS the buttons, then have the boss regen 1/2 or more of his health because you pressed the wrong button. Rinse, repeat. Took me over an hour. The entire rest of the game only took 8 hours!
Without the boss "non-combat" system it would have been fun to complete. As it is I never want to repeat the end of the game. I will start from the beginning and play for a bit, and then delete the saves before I get to the end boss, too lame for me to bother finishing again.
So, to summarize:
Graphic game
Lots of cool finishing moves to kill enemies
Wierd camera system
A few "puzzle" areas of jump before you die (lame)
Nice variety of things to kill and weapons to use
The learning system was so close, but doesn't actually make any difference in the game
I would not pay for it new, but I would rent it for a weekend or buy it used. | video-games_xbox |
What Call of Duty 3 should have been. Call of Duty World at War (WaW) is everything that Call of Duty 3 should have been. I will be honest and say I expect this game to be a placeholder for me, something to do between CoD4 Modern Warfare and CoD Modern Warfare 2. Just as CoD3 was something to play between CoD2 and CoD4. That said I was pleasant surprised to find that WaW is a great game in its own right. The gameplay very much resembles CoD4 and the controls are tight and responsive. The gameplay is classic Call of Duty. You will fight hordes of enemies until you move past the trigger point and they stop spawning. The weapon variety is good and the level design, while extremely linear, is well laid out.
The campaign is fun, though because of the time span, is very disjointed. You will not feel like you are part of a real story in the way you did in COD4. Since you will take the place of two soldiers in two armies fighting missions covering the entire war. I would have preferred that the game take place in a short period of time in order to tell a more complete and engrossing story. But I'll be the first to admit that many players want to shoot things and the story takes a back seat. Which brings me to the greatest part of the campaign, the ability to play through it coop with friends, either split screen or on Xbox Live. This was the one thing I keenly missed in CoD4 and I am glad to see it make its appearance on WaW.
Multiplay is fun with a very engrossing upgrade/leveling system. I will be honest and say I play very little multiplayer apart from coop with friends, so I will not go into great detail on it.
All in all I was very surprised and pleased with World at War. I picked it up expecting it to be okay and what I ended up with was a great game in its own right. With a series as good as Call of Duty every new game will struggle with the legacy it is expected to carry, I can honestly say that WaW is a great entry in the series and worth picking up. | video-games_xbox |
Great game if you use the Riff Repeater and Leveler. If you like games & guitars, buy this game. Rocksmith needs sales to give Ubisoft some leverage to get better songs on DLC and make a version 2 with online multiplayer! I reviewed this game playing a Fender American Stratocaster. Excellent guitar which never goes out of tune.
My main grievance is that the game didn't tell me about Riff Repeater (the Free Speed, the Leveler, and Accelerator) until I was nearly a level 8!! They should've been the first tools introduced. It should've been easier to discover how to isolate only the songs for the next Event (Songs->all the way Left on the d-pad). You can then improve each section of your event set list so that you won't be bored/overwhelmed during rehearsal and performance.
__________________________
Here is my in-depth boring geek review.
The main aspects of Rocksmith.
1. Technology
2. Songs
3. Adaptive Difficulty Setting
4. Techniques
5. Arcade
6. Playing Interface
7. Menu Interface
8. Multiplayer
Technology 5/5
-------------
Awesome, nearly flawless tech! The tuner sometimes misses on the low E, on the arcade Duck game on the low E string I did see some off-by-1 fret misses (1-5% error). Never noticed it in a game.
Song Selection 2/5
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I'm a late 70's/80's Rock/Alt Rock/Pop fan so I'm not that picky. That being said besides some Nirvana & Lenny Kravitz, and mediocre Rolling Stone, STP, Radiohead, Incubus, there is not much inspiring here. Even cool radio songs like Song 2 from Blur are pretty boring to play. There are some songs that are fun to play from lesser known artists, but many times I played a song well enough and moved on bc it was so boring to play.
Update: Recent discovery of the Leveler has helped me improve to unlock the good parts faster.
Adaptive Difficulty 3/5
------------
Written without knowledge of Riff Repeater/Leveler:
The adaptive difficult seems cool at first, except when hitting 94% of the notes and the signature riff of a song hasn't appeared. You will see a lot of repetitive single notes in the early stages that will eventually turn into chords, but the should test chords before a song and then just present chords. The game forces you to play too many boring takes through a song to get it to the full arrangement. The game should've had the same practice mode as Rock Band 3 where you practice sections of a song at the user specified difficulty/speed. Especially hard riffs should have their own section. Playing entire songs waiting to trigger one hard section is frustrating. This is not an ideal way to learn, and when the guitar parts are boring and songs are mediocre overall, the game is boring. For example, the Lenny Kravitz song "Are You Gonna Go My Way" has one of the best repeated riffs in rock, but you have to play the arrangement really well before you get that riff.
With Riff Repeater/Leveler:
By improving each section of song and leveling up, the game more quickly determines your level of skill. I like the Leveler "Lives" concept, but Lives should be user determinable and Lives should reset every time you Level up. Otherwise, you spend too much time is spent in the menus/loading when you just need practice. The Rock Band 3 practice section/song interface is more efficient.
Recommendation:
The best teaching method would be to introduce all of the chords not mastered in previous songs and then the riffs without sending the user through menus with the controller. Once the user is tested and placed based on the chords and section proficiency, the game should then present the full song for rehearsal. Finally, during the "Live" performance, no new notes should appear or disappear. However, every major mistake should register boos from the audience. Currently, the audience doesn't mind if you slop through a song at 85% unlike Rock Band 3, where you really get it if you stink.
Techniques 3/5
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For the guitar techniques, adaptive learning works well, and these are fun little practice arrangements. However, the game pushes the user back to the menu system after one try, getting in the way of repeated practice. Again, the game should allow users to repeatedly practice sections indefinitely without having to pick up the controller (ala Rock Band 3). Don't make them pick up the controller, select Retry, and attempt to give them the basic lesson again and again. Sadly, Rocksmith does its best to make sure you pick up the controller over and over unnecessarily. Let users practice the guitar not the controller!
Arcade 3/5
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The arcade games, especially the Lumines (Fret Slides) clone and Zombies (Chords) are fun for a short time. However, like an arcade game, you must start off with basic, boring levels so when you die after a 15-minute session, you will not want to go back and start at the beginning. This is a problem across the game, where the user masters a chords in a song, but in the next song you are back to repetitive single notes instead of the same chords you had already mastered in the previous song.
Playing Interface 4/5
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Positive:
The long length of the note timeline gives the user time to move between strings/frets, and the game highlights the best position for playing the upcoming notes (this could be better explained). I like the static practice background to better focus on the notes during rehearsal, and the audience facing performance perspective. Much more realistic and less distracting than Rock Band. It would be cool the background panned, tilted, moved around the stage a bit during performances to make your virtual self seem like less of a statue and more like a performer. Where's the singer & the bandmates? In version 2, I hope.
Negative:
1. The floating 3D notes can appear to be on adjacent frets until they line up in the last seconds. All of initial floating notes in a riff SHOULD HAVE FRET NUMBERS. The player is working hard enough quickly glance between guitar & tv, and it's very frustrating to be 'off by 1' bc you misread the UI. Particularly frustrating on red/yellow notes on frets 1-3 on the left part of the screen and on all notes above fret 15.
2. The interface should provide MORE OBVIOUS FEEDBACK when you get chords/notes right or wrong. There are arrows saying to move up or down a fret or string, but sometimes if you don't notice that you are way off, the only way to tell you are hitting or missing is when the score does not increase (way up in the upper right) or notes start disappearing on the timeline (really frustrating!). The game needs to signify correct playing and streaks better.
3. No chord letters signifying chord changes during the song. A lot of times as the user plays parts by picking random individual notes in changing chords. The user sees the fingerprints on the fretboard change between the common chord positions, but it's impossible to watch the fingerprints and the oncoming notes. If it just had SCROLLING CHORD PROGRESSIONS down the left or right side, my left hand could at least be in the correct position, and I could focus on picking the correct strings.
Menu Interface 2/5
-----------
Problems:
1. Chords must be practiced one at a time, you learn one of the six chords, then get kicked out to the Menu before you learn another song.
2. Practicing only songs for the Event is 'hard to find'.
3. Riff Repeater is 'hard to find' if you just follow career mode.
4. Annoyance: Start takes you to the Main Menu instead of "Back", and you can go "Back" from the Main Menu into your Career. Usually Start is for starting activity.
I feel like the menu would be much easier if it were organized like this:
Career
Rehearsal Song Setlist (with overview of songs)
Rehearse Sections
Riff Repeater
Chords
Techniques
Rehearse Song
Perform Song
Multiplayer Fun, want Online
-----------
Love the 2-player local. It's great fun, and online multiplayer should be next. No need to see your partner's guitar or hear their mistakes in real time. If the online player misses a note, just silence the next note and show their score. Keep it simple. | video-games_xbox |
A Good Tribute to a Fantastic Film. There is always a risk when turning a movie into a game. Most of the time they just don't come out right. So of course, when The Godfather was announced as being a big videogame, fans of the film and even the novel, became nervous. This is not like adapting Spider-Man into a game. The Godfather is often cited as one of the greatst films ever made, so it's important to give special care to such a license. The creators of this game did know what they were doing when adapting the movie into a game. As an adaptation, it's pretty good. As an overall game, it's bogged down in some areas that--considering how long we had to wait--shouldn't be such a big problem anyway. Nonetheless, The Godfather is still a good game.
The Godfather doesn't put you in the role of any of the film's major cast. Rather your just someone working for the mob. An original character. This, surprisingly adds to the game rather than take away. And as a member of the mob you'll be intimidating store clerks, performing the Don's every need, bribing cops and taking on rival mobs. The game borrows a lot from GTA in terms of gameplay. You can steal cars and gun down (or run over) pedestrians. There's even a number of badges to show just how badly the cops want you. The difference here is you can bribe the cops to look the other way, which isn't so bad.
You'll also have a chance to take part in classic moments from the movie. For example you'll have to plant the pistol for Michael Corleone, re-enact the famous horsehead scene and others among those. These scenes stay pretty close to the movie, and they even keep the same feel.
Another thing that helps The Godfather's Gameplay is the arsenal of weapons you have. You can carry as many weapons at a time as you want, and each one can be upgraded. You'll be able to take on anyone you feel. That shouldn't suggest that The Godfather is an easy game (or that it will become such later on). You'll often find yourself as a one man army, and taking on several mobsters at once is not an easy task. You'll die more than a few times. So don't think that because you're a powerhouse you're invincible. There are times when the game glitches out in the gameplay department. Like when a mobster is facing in the opposite direction yet he's still somehow pumping you full of lead. Little glitches like that get annoying.
The way The Godfather looks and sounds is pretty cool. There are some framerate issues in the graphics, and they're frequent. But that doesn't separate from the fact that The Godfather is a beautiful game. The music comes straight from the film, so it works out nicely as well. It would've been nice to hear some original music (but keeping to the theme) but to complain about the music would be complaining about too much of a good thing.
The Godfather is an overall good adaptation of the film. It stays close to the film, without overstepping too many boundaries. It feels too much like Grand Theft Auto at times, but it isn't much to worry about. For what it's worth, The Godfather is an overall fun game.
The Good
+Beautiful Game
+Stays close to the movie
+Even though it has an original character, he fits right in
+There's plenty to do
+Free roaming Grand Theft Auto feel
+Great use of the license
The Bad
-There are some glitches
-Framerate issues
-It feels like another attempt to off Grand Theft Auto | video-games_xbox |
Batman: Arkham... Batmobile. I'm shocked to be disappointed. I loved the first two Arkham games. I even loved Origins! But this feels more like a car racing game than one of the Arkham games. I'm five hours in, and it just doesn't feel right. The controls on the bat mobile are clunky, the car has no finesse, I feel like I'm driving a fast paced Mako from Mass Effect (or as Forbes put it, a Wraith from Halo). This would be negligible except that this car is thrown in your face every chance the game gets. The mobile is one of many of batman's tools, it shouldn't be so prominent. With "Shadow of Mordor," and the other Arkham games, I thought I could safely pre-order this baby and know I'd be happy with it. I really don't know what to say. The rest of the game is good, not "Arkham City" good, but a solid what-you'd-expect Arkham game with corresponding gameplay. It's just that clunky thing thrown at you so much that makes this game go down to three stars. If you like car-centered games, you'll probably love this, but I want more batman and less bat mobile. Sorry folks. I really wanted this to be a five star review. I really did.
Update: I just finished the game, and I have to say that the bat mobile issues do get better. Or at least, are overshadowed enough by the rest of the game to be more negligible. Later in the game during your boss battle with the Arkham Knight, you have to do this horrendous fight with the bat mobile tank. One of the worst boss battles I've ever had to grind through for reasons listed above. The in-game twist becomes obvious, but the foreshadowing is classic comic book style. Scarecrow isn't terrifying enough to be the main villain. The real interest here is batman's internal Joker. The storyline isn't as compelling as the three games before this one, but Mark Hamill makes up for it with his delightfully maniacal commentary and voice acting. I would've liked to see more Catwoman like we did in City. She's relegated to a damsel in distress (giving the game more than one was a bad idea) at the hands of the Riddler. The Riddler! Ugh. The side missions are solid, thought not as engaging or numerous as Arkham City. This is a good game. But ultimately not good enough to bump it up to four stars. I'd give it 3.5 if I could 4 if it didn't carry the title of Arkham. Probably my least favorite out of the Arkham games. I'd still recommend buying it if you're a fan, just not at full price. | video-games_xbox |
Great Fighting Game with Fun Additons, but Was Expecting Something a Little More "ULTIMATE. Before diving straight into my review of the Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 game, I want to first start off with a quick back story about my experience with the Marvel vs. Capcom game series...
I'm a HUGE fan of the Marvel vs. Capcom fighting game series, and was super excited when I first heard that (the orginal version of) the 3rd chapter of the game series was being released, plain old "Vanilla" Marvel vs. Capcom 3, that is. Because I worked for a video game and electronics retailer, I and the rest of the store's associates were able to play a copy of the full game in our break room during our lunch breaks. The night that the original, "Vanilla" MvC3 launched there was excitement abound, especially among gamer associates. It was finally lunchtime on launch night and just about everyone gathered around to play or at least spectate the first play-through of the original MvC3. The game was gorgeous, stages were interesting, and once I got my hands on it, the fighting controls felt more intuitive and smoother than ever before.
After further review I noticed how basic and limited the modes of play actually were. Even worse was the limited selection of characters. Only a little over 30 characters, while the previous game, Marvel vs Capcom 2, boasted nearly 60 characters! Taskmaster and Phoenix were cool new characters, but where was Megaman, Rogue, Colossus, Psyloche, Gambit or Venom? So many fan-favorite characters got cut and weren't respectfully swapped out for better characters. I thought new versions of game series were supposed to EXPAND upon what makes them so GREAT, not SHRINK and condense the game into a LESSER version of it's former self! Remember that sentence for later. I thought to myself, "How quickly will I become bored and utterly disappointed if I buy this game, especially if I spend 60 bucks on it?" Long story short, I played the original MvC3 game several times, but never ended up actually buying or owning it because of the shrunken character roster and measly amount of game modes...
Now let's fast forward to the the review of the current version of the game that I'm really here to talk about,
Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3...
All qualms and complaints aside, I want to make clear that UMvC3 is one of THE best fighting games I've probably ever played. The fights are fun, frenzied, and fast paced 3-on-3 tag team action. Even skilled players will, at times, get a run for their money against more unskilled players. This is simply because of how unique each character plays, the randomness/variety of each character's tag team assist moves, and the countless strategies, benefits and weaknesses that arise from selecting certain character combinations in tag teams.
On top of that, and the ultimate reason I bought Ultimate MvC3 and not (Vanilla) MvC3...the add-ons- UMvC3 has several additions. For starters, 12 new out-of-the-box characters (plus 2 all new downloadable characters), Rocket Raccoon, Ghost Rider and Dr. Strange being my favorites of this bunch. Other notable improvements include totally rebalanced fighting gameplay, 8 additional stages and Heroes and Heralds campaign mode.
Here's the slight problem, while all of these add-ons are great, they aren't great enough to be "Ultimate". A few new stages are an alright bonus, but why not create a stage for every character? Heroes and Heralds is a cool campaign mode but you have to have XBL or PSN just to make it available when playing this game- It's not already included on the game disc. Most of the 12 new characters are interesting to say the least, but I can't help feeling they wasted a lot of Capcom rosters on Resident Evil and Devil May Cry characters, and probably was an attempt to help boost sales for current and future DMC and Resident Evil title games.
Where is Megaman? The game eventually designed Zero a downloadable suit that looks identical to Megaman's, but it's still Zero's voice, Zero's quote captions and Zero's moves. Megaman with a sword and no Mega Buster?! Absurd! The rebalanced gameplay was a nice touch, but all in all this game isn't THAT different than it's previous counterpart. I couldn't imagine buying (Vanilla) MvC3 and then having to buy UMvC3 for 60 more bucks, simply because Capcom is greedy and wouldn't offer these add-ons as a free or $15-$20 download package instead of forcing the consumer to purchase an entire new game disc. Thankfully that wasn't what happened to me. I was smart and bought the Ultimate version- thus only having to buy the game once.
Don't get me wrong, the game itself is super fun to play. Alternate costumes are fun to wear. Special moves are over-the-top, colorful and flashy. Also, the button commands for special moves and hyper combos are very easy to discover on your own and extremely intuitive for most characters. Some game character's hyper combos even cause cinematic camera angles and massive projectiles to pretty much fill up the entirety of the screen. Gameplay is super fast-paced and challenging, although the AI can become somewhat predictable and may have certain programmed tendencies that can eventually be mapped out and anticipated ahead of time in some cases.
So with that being said, what do I think Capcom could have done to improve this game and truly make it "Ultimate"?...
Quite frankly, Capcom should have either included more out-of-the-box characters or provided more downloadable characters after this game was released, preferably for free. Most people already spent a whopping 60 bucks on just the plain MvC3 game. How much more money do you want from us? How many characters do I say Ultimate MvC3 should've had? MvC2 had close to 60, so I feel that UMvC3 should have easily boasted 60-70 characters. I would have much rather opted for several extra characters over a few new downloadable costumes for every already existing character. Here are just a few of the characters I feel should have been added to/included in UMvC3...
CAPCOM (DARKSTALKERS):
B.B. Hood
Tablbain (The Werewolf)
Amingo
Q-Bee
Anakaris
Sasquatch
CAPCOM (MEGAMAN):
Megaman/Protoman (Where was he?)
Bass
Dr. Wily
Snake Man
Ice Man
Time Man
Quick Man
Wood Man
Hard Man
Gemini Man
Magnet Man
Gravity Man
Wind Man
Heat Man
Elec Man
Skull Man
Dive Man
Toad Man
CAPCOM (STREET FIGHTER):
M. Bison
Dee Jay
Cammy
Fei Long
Guile
MARVEL:
Rogue
Gambit
Venom
Green Goblin
Moon Knight
Psylocke
Iceman (from X-Men)
Colossus
Professor X
Daredevil
The Wasp
Silver Surfer
Scarlet Witch
Ms. Marvel | video-games_xbox |
Excellent Story, Great Characters, Some Bugs. Dragon Age Inquisition does most things very well, which makes its stumbles quite jarring.
It is a cross between Dragon Age Origins and Dragon Age 2 in many respects. The story continues from the conflict in Dragon Age 2, But it adds another layer (or multiple layers) over top of the initial story. I have put approximately 200 hours into my first character, but I haven't completed the game yet.
Pros:
NPC character development is excellent, so much so that I kept on yearning for more characterrelated side quests.
I really loved Dragon Age Keep. It was a great way to remember the older games, and I wasn't locked into the choices that I had originally made in DAO and DA2.
The war table mechanic was very interesting, and it helped to fleshout the world, without adding to questrelated bloat. I liked that it included characters that I had learned to love through the other two games, without being overbearing.
About half way through the game, combat transitioned from a turn-based tactical game to a actionoriented game. I am more of a turn-based gamer, but the action combat was surprisingly refreshing. (The companion's AI wasn't terrible, but it certainly could use some improvement.)
The best part about inquisition is certainly the story. Bioware is known for inventive and involved storytelling, and DAI doesn't disappoint.
Cons:
The loading screens were terrible!!! (I am playing on the Xbox 360, so loading screen performance may be limited by my machine's processing power.) I love reading codex entries while I wait, but the descriptions were only up for about 15 seconds. Fifteen seconds is long enough to read about a third of the longer entries, and then the screen went black and continue to load for another 20 seconds. I would **much** prefer to have a longer loading screen, if I could read the entire text. As it stands, the loading screens were tantalizingly annoying.
There were some very significant questending bugs. Luckily, I wasn't hit with a bug on any of the main quests. Occasionally, a quest NPC would disappear. (I'm not terribly concerned about visual texture bugs, only quest-related and gameending bugs.) Also, certain keep landmark flags could move out of reach if you didn't claim the landmark before completing the related quest, because the landmark flag would be pushed out of the way by potion and requisition tables.
The equipment modifying mechanic seemed a little cumbersome.
I would've liked a list of available quests at the War Table, because some quest flags blend into the map.
The initial area (The Hinterlands) is too large. Some gamers, myself included, attempted to 100% complete the Hinterlands, before moving on with the rest of the story. By doing this, the experience really gets bogged down in the minutia, and the story really loses its way. I would recommend a much smaller starting zone, which would tend to entice gamers to begin exploring the rest of the world much earlier.
Over all, dragon age inquisition is a great game. It does have some bugs, but those are certainly outweighed by the excellent character about development and storytelling. | video-games_xbox |
MLB 2k7. I am not a big baseball fan; however, I do enjoy playing the video game of baseball. The last baseball game I bought was MVP 2006, which I enjoyed very much. I decided to try out this game for my xbox 360, since EA no longer does MLB. After about a week, here are my thoughts:
Pros
1. Obviously, the graphics are great.
2. the subtleties are good, such as a player dusting himself off after he slides, the crowd standing up when a foul ball comes their way.
3. the commentary is fantastic. there are only a few repeats.
Cons: (I know some of these have been posted before.)
1. while the commentary is good, it lags sometimes, such as, the pitch is already on the way, and the announcer is saying that the pitcher kicks.
2. even without a lot of players on the field, the game will lag a little. My right fielder was chasing after the ball and then it went into slow motion
3. some of the camera views stink. it makes it tough to field the ball at times. the ball is going to right field, but yet, the camera focuses on the base runner.
4. base running is confusing. is it right trigger, right bumper? i do know that right and left trigger control the lead runner, but what if there is more than one man on base?
5. fielding controls are bad. at least give me an arrow to indicate which outfielder i have control of when the ball is going to the outfield. sometimes it does do this, but the majority of the time it does not.
6. the batting (there is the hit stick thing, and the classic just by hitting the a button) hit stick is good in theory, but I find myself doing a lot of check swings. In order to combat this, i hold the right stick between my thumb and forefinger so i don't accidentally try to bunt.
7. is it just me or have the rosters not been updated since april?
I do enjoy playing the game, but it just doesn't have that unable to put down factor to it. I'll be playing it though, at least until ncaa football 08 comes out. | video-games_xbox |
An Original, Creative, and Amazing Experience. The best thing to say about this game is that it is really something else. I wanted it to be good before I got it, however when I bought it and played the first level I didn't like it at all. This was mostly due to the control scheme, which I thought was un-customizable. However after a while I came back to it and after looking for a while I discovered several adjustments that can be made. By default, the crosshair moves in a way that makes it slow and thus makes your character turn ridiculously slowly (something that throws off a LOT of people) however this can be turned completely off, by adjusting the controls you can the crosshair in the center of the screen, making the aiming feel more like a FPS and much more accurate. Once I fixed the controls to my liking, I got past the first level, and wow - the game really took off! What people need to realize is that there's a learning curve to the controls and gameplay mechanics and once they're mastered they really pay off and then some! It makes for some of the most fun and unique gameplay I've experienced in a very long time (and I play a ton of games).
The gameplay is as fun as you make it out to be. It when combined with another aspect of this game that makes it REALLY stand out is the Acrid (alien bugs found on the lost planet) makes for some of the most fun gameplay around - fighting them is more fun than anyone could expect, especially the larger ones that tower over you. Let me give you an example: there's a four-legged beast with skinny legs that will just pop out from under the snow (which is really a cool presentation, the snow effects are amazing! - but I'll get to that later), and one it's out of the snow you hear its roar/cry and it imeadately starts to swipe at you with its enormous legs an you're like "Oh s***!" Now, you could be lame and just run away from it and shoot (it will come after you but you can get away if you run long enough, it will take a lot longer to kill though) or you could fight it the fun way - utilizing all of your abilities like the grappling hook (think Link's Hookshot from the Zelda franchise). This gadget hooks onto just about any surface within range, even your larger enemies, including the Acrid I'm talking about now! When it's about to attack, you have the opportunity to roll-dodge out of the way right before it jams its enormous leg into the ground (at which point the leg will actually get stuck into the ground, and you even see the Acrid struggling to get itself free, which is really neat to watch), and while it's struggling, you can grapple onto its back and your character will hold onto it for a couple seconds, here you've got yet another range of options to do: if you have a machine gun equipped, you can unload on it, or if you're using a shotgun, fire a couple powerful blasts at close range, or (my favorite) if you happen to have sticky-grenades (which attach to whatever they hit) you can tag it with one, jump off and watch it explode.
Another great aspect of the enemies (and environment) in this game is how destructible they are, going back to that same long-legged Acrid, if you focus fire on one of its legs, you will eventually shoot it completely off! The leg will fall of the beast (with a huge splatter of yellow blood which is very satisfying), it will let off a siren-like cry and lose it's balance! All of which is amazing to watch. If you shoot off the leg parallel to that one, the giant Acrid will fall forward and with the last of its strength, push its beaten body through the snow in order to bite you with its triple-jawed mouth. It's fights like these which are truly amazing and awe-inspiring. The boss fights are INCREDIBLE, you haven't seen "big" until you've fought Lost Planet's bosses (well, maybe if you've played Shadow of the Colossus).
As I mentioned earlier, the environmental effects are outstanding. Every movement made will cause snow to flutter about and when you're inside a cave you'll witness eerie reflective lighting and stellar effects. There's also a point at which the setting of this game takes a drastic change and you get a completely different ecosystem to battle in, along with a new breed of Acrid to fight.
There really are just too many good things about this game to mention in my already too long review. It does have some flaws, however. For instance when your character gets knocked down, you lose complete control for too long, even once you're back up you still have a bit of delay before you can move out of the way. This means that if you happen to be surrounded by tons of enemies, you may get knocked on your butt continuously before you can even get out of the way, which can be frustration. But this doesn't hurt the game too much.
The multiplayer is particularly well thought out and all the innovative manners of combat from the single-player game make for remarkable multiplayer mechanics since you can use VR suits (giant mech-suits, you've seen 'em before), and you've got your grapple as well, so you can think of all sorts of ways to take out your enemy.
This game, in my book, is one of the most underrated games of all time. I don't usually write such enthusiastic reviews, but this is an exception. Just remember, this game is a as fun as you let it be, if you're lazing and prefer the easy-way-out when it comes to games, this may not be for you. But if you're a creative person and enjoy a challenge, set the game on hard (which is harder than most games on "hard") or expert (which I can't do personally) and have a blast killing aliens in your own inventive ways! I can't say everything that is great about this game, go out and play the game for yourself! | video-games_xbox |
Battlefield controls Ruin the Game. This is a GREAT game. When I first started playing I was like wow. The Graphics are amazing. The dialogue between characters was lame.. very SNESish but I was willing to let that slip by.
And the battles and action was... unique.
My problem with the game is twofold.
First.. controling your armies is VERY difficult.
I had to replay a bunch of battles because my troops would not do what I desired, or I couldn't order them all fast enough.
The view of the battlefield is shown right above and behind your current selected troop. that is nice and all, however this causes you to lose your depth with your curser. it's hard to see where you are clicking your troops to move towards. you can't tell if you are moving them 5 feet or 5 miles.
Your curser also remains on the battlefeild at all times at the last location you left it. That doesn't seem so bad but when you rotate between armies it can be annoying because the curser might be facing the wrong direction and you need to rotate it completely around in order to command your troops to go the direction you desire, and then do it again 2 sec later should you want a different troop to go the other direction.
Not so bad you say? It is when every second counts and you need to get every unit to do their own thing at the exact same time.
It makes me wish there was a pause so that you can order your units to do their assigned task and then unpause and just edit as needed real time.
It gets even worse when you have calvery. ride through the enemy, turn around and ride back through. the bad thing about that is they turn like a semi.. very wide, they are very intensive to control... so while you control them you ignore others. and the difficul curser controls tend to make you accadently force your calvery into hand to hand which it's not designed.
Yes there is a minimap that can help with commanding your units around, but even that can be difficult to use espesially in the mist of a battle. I didn't play the game for very long, however I think mastering the mini-map might be the key to getting through the game.
Another problem I had with the game is the fact that it was linear. It told me what to do step by step. send your troops here, now do this, now head this direction, now set thease traps.
it was very blah. Maybe it's because I was playing it on easy... but I don't think so. It doesn't feel very much like a strategy game when all the strategy is done by the computer for you.
if you can get by the clunky controling then this game is Great. the graphics were supurb and the experience and leveling up they have is very unique and promising.
even the hand to hand fighting is decent that you do. the only flaw is that is that when the leader goes down you win and they lose.. so fight your way ton the leader and kill them and you win nice and easy. ::shrugs::
I liked the game. I will probally try to continue my game and find a better way of controling my armies.
If you like strategies, you might like this. I'd reccomend renting first however | video-games_xbox |
Zombie killing Mayhem . I didn't buy this game on day one ( release day ) , I bought it after I had played Ryse , COD Ghosts , Battlefield 4 and Assasins Creed Black Flag . I just don't tend to enjoy Zombie games , but I know now , that I was mistaken about this game and should have picked it up earlier..
The Zombies are more of a distraction in this game than an actual threat.. Don't get me wrong , they will kill you and they are numerous , actually more is going on at one time in this game than I have ever seen before in a game.. There are huge hords of these things on the screen at one time all doing something different and not once did it effect the game play.. No lag , no screen tearing , no loading while moving from place to place.. This game has simply amazed me.
When I said earlier that the Zombies are more of a distraction ( In my opinion ), is because of the broader picture ( what is happeneing in the story and with the individual characters in the story ) The game actually has a really good story to play through and interesting characters to meet.. I thought this game was just going to be just a mad Zombie killing fest , thats why I held out till after I played the other games I mentioned above , and I couldn't have been more wrong.
This is a full blown RPG with many , many , many side quests to complete , personal upgrades , weapon crafting , and also automotive crafting as well.. This game has so many crazy weapons and vehicles to craft that I never got tired of it and am going to start the game over again since I have now beaten it and do it all over again.. Its just that good , that I don't wan't to stop playing it.. The only thing that will change this time is that I am going to play throught that whole thing in co-op with a friend..
I just can't recomend this game enough , Microsoft and Capcom have made a master piece out of a Zombie game. I NEVER would have thought this game would be as good as it is... This is a solid 5 out of 5 game plain and simple.. With the numerous weapons & vehicles you can craft this could be your Zombie killing dream come true. | video-games_xbox |
Many Many Flaws. No one likes to criticize this game, so let me be one of the first. As someone that played NHL 11 and 12 nearly every day for two years, I am very familiar with this franchise and how the game should work. There are a few major problems with this game that make game-play very frustrating
~ Computer AI is always better than the user AI. I would play the computer on 11 and 12 on All Star, and now can barely win on the normal setting
~ Players will get tapped by other players and instantly drop to the ice. I get it they are on skates and shouldn't be always up, but come on
~ AI will have players skate full speed into the net, which will either trap the goalie (without drawing a penalty), trap the player behind the goalie, or
dislodge the net which will stop play. Can't tell you how many times I got scored on because the AI crashed a player into the goal.
~ The new physics engine is cool and something they should develop further. Now it takes a full wide circle to turn players around and it is completely unrealistic. There's no reason a player skating slowly needs a full circle to turn around instead of quickly stopping and reversing.
~ This is a problem that SHOULD be fixed with roster updates, but the initial team ratings are completely asinine. Obviously being from New Jersey makes me biased towards the Devils, however, as the team that finished second in the league last year they shouldn't be given as poor ratings as they have. For example, every single player on the Devils roster decreased their rating from NHL 12 while 3 stayed the same. The only player to get a boost was the rookie defense-man, Adam Larsson.
Even that bump wasn't a good one. The rookie Larsson was given an 84 rating, when he was a healthy scratch most of the playoffs and often in the regular season. This is higher than the captain, Bryce Salvador and the other D-men, higher than Patrik Elias and higher than David Clarkson, who had a 30 goal season last year. Then there's Brodeur's rating, which is the real disgrace of this game. After out-playing Bryzgalov, Lundqvist, and holding his own against Quick in the Stanley Cup Final, the future hall-of-famer was given an 82. I rest my case. | video-games_xbox |
Not impressed. I am really glad I couldn't find a copy of this game to purchase, so I wound up renting it.
When I was at the rental store, the guy behind the counter said he had already heard several complaints about bugs in the game. I have only had the game for one evening, and I have noticed only one major glitch so far. There were some black dots that showed up on the screen for a second, but they did not freeze the game. Also, gameplay seems a little choppy in spots.
The one HUGE (let me repeat, HUGE!!!!) gripe that I have about this game is the small font size. I can barely read anything. And my TV screen size is 17" x 22" with really nice resolution. Plus there were times when they put even smaller fonts on the screen and I literally had to get my face about 2" from the TV just to try and figure out what the dang thing said. I really don't know how anyone is supposed to play this game if they can't read the log, and can barely read what all of the iventory items do. Good luck if you own a smaller tv.
Also, another gripe is the cheesy menu. If anyone out there used to play that old game called Dungeon Siege, then the menu will look very similar to that. There is a large yellow rectangle which holds all of the inventory items in a cluttered mess, and I haven't found a way to fast scroll through the items quickly like I can in Oblivion. Also, in the skills section, there are a bunch of circular symbols to represent the different skills. And you have to put your pointer over the top of them to remind yourself of what they are. I don't know why they couldn't have just printed it out in text (LARGE font text) to make for easy and quick reading. It looked like they were going for style over functionality. It just seems poorly designed to me. And pretty old school,to boot.
And, the voice overs are really bad. I even considered turning them off because they were annoying me a few minutes into the game. The voices are really monotone. And the story seems so boring, I practically fell asleep. Thank goodness for the A button so I could fast forward through all that. They really needed some better voice actors and better writers because a lot of the writing was really cheesy.
Character customization at the beginning is pretty pathetic. For instance, to pick the color eyes of my character, I would scroll to the right over the eyes option, but it wouldn't even tell me what color I had picked. And, the image of the guy I was customizing was so far away, I couldn't see what color the eyes had changed to anyway.
And, what one of the other reviewers said about great sound is true as long as you have decent speakers on your tv. The bass came out so deep, it rattled my tv speakers. Fortunately, I have some tower speakers hooked up to my tv through a receiver, but if it wasn't for that, I doubt my tv speakers would have sounded very good trying to keep up.
Some cool things are:
-Weapons can be combined togther if they are the same type of weapon to make more powerful weapons.
- If you over develop skills you won't use, you can spend money to change those skill points over to other things.
-If you lose a fight and die in this game, you don't lose any of your valuables. You simply are transported to a remote location and have to run back to where you were before.
-You can set traps for other people, although I haven't quite figured out how to do that yet.
-The main character seems more agile to me right at the beginning, and swordplay seems more fun just because it is really fast.
I have only had this for one evening, so I can't really critique the whole game yet. But so far it hasn't shown me anything unique yet that has me excited about this game. I am really pretty bored by it. It is like a really, really lame version of Oblivion. | video-games_xbox |
The best shooter on the 360. Absolutely glorious! I have spent 48 hours on this game since I bought it in April.
Unlike most Cave bullet-hells, Raiden Fighters is much more about fewer bullets that are VERY fast. That means this game can be enjoyed as a simple survival shmup (which was how I played it) or competitively for score. I suck hard at shmups but I've managed to get in the top 10 on all three games so far.
If you're on the fence and have any interest in shmups just get it! It so, so fun. My only minor critique would be that the techno soundtrack can be a little grating, but also charming in a 90s sort of way and it fits the games retro aesthetic. My favorite part about Raiden Fighters is that unlike shmups such as Ikaruga and most of Cave's stuff, this collection feels much more "free." Yes there is memorization but once you unlock the gold medals you can just go crazy.
Here's how scoring works in RF/RF2: Without a slave ship, get 9 grey medals in a row from 10-90. Get ONE slave ship and collect blue medals from 100-900. Get TWO slave ships and collect green medals from 1000-9000. Important: You can only earn one medal on the screen at a time. so if I'm at 50 grey and there are 4 grey medals on the screen, each one I collect will only be worth 60 points. Once I've cleared those medals and a NEW medal appears after I get them all, that new medal will be worth 70 points.
Once you have 9 of each medal, gold bars will appear. Allow 9 bars to appear on the screen simultaneously and they will explode. After that, they will build in value like the other medals did from 10k to 100k. BUT if you "drop" a medal by not collecting it before it falls off the screen, your counter is reset to 10k.
Raiden Fighters Jet is similar but you start of with floating medals that hover around your ship. Collect a bunch till you hear a loud clanging noise and the medal turns a bluish purple color (you'll know when you see/hear it). After that let 9 medals appear on screen and you unlock the 10k-100k gold bars again. Once you get the hang of the basics you can look into replays and guides for fairies, Micluses, and other secrets. | video-games_xbox |
The headset to get for xbox one. So, for reference, I have tried both the Atlas headset and the X07, and the difference between the two is stark. Immediately upon pulling the X07 out of the box, it is apparent that it is going to be a comfortable headset. This is the kind of headset that you can wear for three hours without your ears hurting. That is not the case at all with the Atlas headset, which made my ears hurt after about an hour of wearing them. There is leather cushion on the X07, and the ear plates are pretty big on them.
As for the sound on the X07, unlike with the Atlas, there is little to no cracking in the background. I by no means consider myself an audiophile, but I have already come to appreciate the nice, crisp sound that accompanies these headphones. There is also excellent volume control on these. The volume on them can range from making my ears bleed to just a whisper of a noise. To that end, most everyone that uses these should be able to find just the right noise level for themselves. With the Atlas, I felt the noise was entirely too quiet.
Beyond all of this is the versatility that this headset provides. While it is made for the xbox, it also plugs into my iPad and iPhone 5s just great. That, by and large, helped justify the $160 price tag for me. These headphones can be used in the vast majority of tablets and phones, so one can get their monies worth for sure with these with the right equipment. The noise isolation on them is also pretty impressive. Overall, I have already gotten a good deal of useout of them.
My current setup includes a monitor without speakers, and I did not have any desire of spending $300-600 on a sound bar. For people in a similar predicament, getting the Turtle Beach headphones is a terrific alternative. The surround sound that comes with the X07 makes it possible to hear the footsteps of incoming enemies, which is huge in games like cod, and to a lesser extent, Titanfall. I'm guessing it will be nice in the Halo games, too. Overall, the X07 is a pretty good purchase if anyone is asking me. | video-games_xbox |
Not Even A Candlestick. bottom line:
gameplay:
unrealistic, dry, bourish, dead, slow, uninspiring, makes the sport look boring
graphics:
great, the players faces are creepy but that's my problem, I love the way the jerseys fit on the players
sound:
audience; good, maybe too excited and over-reactive but at least they are there. music; some pleseant, rest eye-gouging
accesibility:
you can pick any team you ever dreamed of. However, the main menu is tough to figure out, can't pick situation to play in (ex. rain, snow, what stadium, what referee, size of home crowd etc. etc.)
I used to enjoy the FIFA series immensely. I USED to. Face it FIFA fans, this game is a total football letdown. Don't get me wrong; the grapics are amazing (the players look a little stoned, however), and the sound is split: I love hearing the exuberant crowd reacting to a foul or a goal, however I ahbor the music (some of it is catchy, the rest is flat out annoying); I also like how the jerseys move around the players and how the get dirty...it is very realistically refreshing.
Another thing I like about this game is the amount of officially licenced teams; I like having the oppurtunity to dip into south American rivalry matches, or say pitting a team like Cruz Azul or Chivas against European powerhouses like Real Madrid or Chelsea.
But one thing I do not like is the menu, or even the set-up. Subbing ones players burns minutes from ones time and pressing the back button loses all of your settings. The main menu is not very complicated, but finding specific things may be difficult and may take awhile.
Another bone I have to pick is not the biggest one; the options pre-match are very limited- you do not pick them at all.
The gameplay is my biggest hate in this game. Whether its because the ball bounces awkwardly when passing, how one does not feel like they have total control over ones team, or if something just feels wrong about the game, it does not compare at all.
For me, in a sports game, gameplay is everything. If its fun, and the graphics are decent it would have at least gotten a four. This was not fun. This game was incredibly annoying to watch and unbearable to play. The only fans are those who have not played that of the Winning Eleven series. And FIFA holds not even a candlestick to Winning Eleven. | video-games_xbox |
Good range and comfortable, but the "Pure Audio" sound is lackluster and my mic sometimes refuses to work. The PDP Legendary Collection "Sound of Justice" True Wireless headset (quite the mouthful there) sounds great, but at the end of the day, they're just ok. The "Pure Audio" sound is largely underwhelming and a lot more "tinny" than I would expect from a $100 headset (wireless or not). With the bass boost, it's much-improved, but I really don't want that on for every game. The headset interfaces with the XBOX One via a USB transmitter and range largely lives up to the 40-foot claim. There's a standard audio jack on it, I would assume to use it with other devices, but I haven't used them in a wired setup yet.
They do feel sturdy and well-made, and are quite comfortable, despite being a little bit heavier than any of my other headsets. The headband is quite adjustable and the knitted padding over the ears is comfortable and surprisingly breathable. The removable microphone is a nice touch, since you don't always need it, but it's also where I have my biggest issues with the headset. Sometimes, it simply doesn't work. At one point, I thought it had stopped working entirely and was ready to contact PDP support, only to have it start working again. They're working for now, but I have some reservations about how long they will be.
Overall, this just doesn't quite live up to the hype and marketing campaign behind it. They are comfortable and the wireless range is good, but some of the more important aspects been a bit lackluster. Call me crazy (or cheap), but I still see a headset with a $100 MSRP as something considerably higher than low-end. This isn't a terrible headset, by any means, but between the disappointment of the "Pure Audio" sound (again, Bass Boost improves this) and the concerns with the build quality (the microphone not working), it's hard for me to recommend it, even as a mid-range option. | video-games_xbox |
Great. I originally wrote this review for the PS3 version. So, if the game on 360 has problems with framerate or screen tearing I apologize. I just wrote this review for the game itself, and not the console it's played on. Here's my 2 cents:
Alot of the video and/or written reviews from game sites will tell you that this game is like a combination of God of War and Zelda; or a copy of this; or a copy of that. They are completely wrong. I wish people would stop comparing awesome titles such as Darksiders to games that have somewhat similar mechanics.
This game is NOT GoW or Zelda, nor does it feel like either. God of War is God of War. Zelda is Zelda. And Darksiders is Darksiders! It's really fun and awesome to look at. Really smooth controls when it comes to fluidity, and HUGE bosses that make you think, "oh damn, there's no way I can kill this guy!" I love it. It feels like you're playing an animated comic book. A very BRUTAL comic book.
It has a perfect blend of cartooniness vs realism. Not too much of either. A game that is developed to be "real life like" in it's entirety is horrible. Because in real life, if you get shot once you're dead(most of the time). And a game that's too cartoony feels like you're playing pokemon. Darksiders has the perfect balance of both.
There's plenty of upgrades for weapons, an awesome story, and alot of all around enemy mutilation as well as really satisfying combos that are not too hard to execute. Just because it happens to be a hack n slash does NOT mean that it is a GoW copy. This game is it's own game. (Don't take me wrong, I love GoW to death).
I'm actually extremely happy to finally have a game that isn't another FPS. It seems that most games developers want to release these days are FPS games. (can't wait for Dante's Inferno too).
If you're a fan of hack n slash games with a perfectly blended amount of intriguing puzzles here and there, & a great story then Darksiders will satisy your needs. It IS NOT a rip off of any other game, and anyone that says so needs to ease up on their analyiticalism and just enjoy a great game for what it is instead of comparing it to everything else. Darksiders is bad@ss and I can't wait to resume my game after writing this review. | video-games_xbox |
excellent port of fun railroad-based board game. I'll write first about the board game that is the basis for this Xbox 360 game. See my last paragraph for info about how well it made the transition to a video game format.
Ticket to Ride itself is a very good board game. It's one of the new flock of board games coming from Europe. It's also one of the lightest and easiest to learn railroad-themed board games ever made. Consequently, it's very fun for a wide variety of players, and very approachable by casual game players. However, veteran board game players or fans of the old grease-pencil rail games may find it a bit too light and lacking strategic complexity, which is why I've bumped it down to 4 stars.
Gameplay is very straightforward and can be learned in minutes. Each player starts with a set of hidden goals to connect various pairs of remote cities. Connecting the secret cities gives you a bonus depending on the difficulty; failing reduces your score by the amount of the bonus. (You also get points for connecting any cities at all, but you won't win without focusing on your bonuses.) Your main actions consist of accumulating train cards then spending them to lay down track connecting adjacent cities. Unlike grease-pencil rail games, connection opportunities between cities are a fixed feature of the map and thus a limited commodity. Connections have a specific length and color; players must obtain the right number of train cards of the right color in order to claim the connection, and once claimed, no other player can use that connection.
That's about it, but it's enough to make an exciting board game for 2-5 players. Your plans to connect your secret cities may be thwarted by another player seeking to use some of the same routes to connect his/her secret cities. Skilled players will learn to recognize critical connections and claim them early while working around blockages in less critical areas.
The Xbox 360 version of this board game is very well done. As you might expect, it removes all the tedium of the game. There wasn't much tedium to begin with, but you no longer need to setup the board or clean up afterwards, or hunt for cities you don't recognize, etc.. Also, the Xbox 360 adds some great graphics and sound effects. Every now and again, you'll see a balloon float by or a ship sail by on the map -- nice touches. You can also zoom in to get a closer view of a tangled set of connections or zoom out to see the board as a whole. And, of course, the game provides solid AI opponents of varying skill, so you can play with any combination of human and computer players, both locally and remotely. Your train cards are supposed to be a secret from other players, but the game plays just fine even if all local players see each other's cards, as players tend to focus on their own connections and train color needs rather than on blocking opponents. You get all of this, plus Xbox Live achievements, plus a tutorial to help you learn the game easily, and all for less than the cost of the actual board game. Board games are a great social activity, and they don't always translate well into video games, but the Xbox 360 version of Ticket to Ride is superior to the original board game in my opinion. The only drawback of the Xbox 360 version is that there isn't sufficient contrast between red and orange, which can sometimes lead you astray. (It makes you wonder how difficult it would be for a color blind person to play this game, either the board game or the video game.)
Now if they'd only port Iron Dragon to the Xbox 360... | video-games_xbox |
Battlefield : Flatline. There's enough camping to drive you out of your mind.
Most of the time, you're dead before you even see your enemy, and the rest of the time, you're dead before you can aim down your sights and start shooting. Then you stare at a loading screen as you wait to spawn, and an annoying beeping noise rings in your ears as you get close to deployment.
rarely, i found success at moving in and flanking an opponent, but SMG clip sizes are so small, you can't kill multiple enemies without having to reload first.
The respawn timer is incredibly long considering the maps are larger than in call of duty. You spend a long time waiting to spawn, and another long time running to your usually inevitable death.
Spawn, Run, Die.
rinse, repeat.
What's most disappointing, is that when the game works, when the game's fair, it's fun. I love the fair shootouts, where sometimes you die and sometimes you live, but the player who aimed better took the victory. It's that tiny kernel of addictive gameplay kept dragging me back, wasting my time and and angering me over and over again, exploiting my hope that eventually, the game mechanics would quit cheapshotting me. A false hope.
There's no reason to play this game in it's current state, and what it takes from you is far more valuable than what you'll get out of it.
* also, weapon, attachment, and ability unlocks happen at an extremely slow pace, meaning that you can't pick up the game and breeze through all of the content in a few hours (or minutes, depending on your level of intelligence)
You've got to invest a huge amount of time if you want to play and see it all, and since none of it is very good, there's even less justification to even try this game. You can't casually try it and discard it once you've seen everything. You will never see everything, unless you are prepared for a long, abusive relationship.
This game's left a bitter taste in my mouth that I've never experienced before. I still think about it, still want it to be worth playing.
Perhaps the biggest flaw, is that it doesn't do anything to take advantage of the robbery/heist elements in multiplayer. There's no cool maps that involve criminals breaking into a bank as the police try and stop them. It's just battlefield 4 on smaller maps with often worse graphics. It's Painfully uninspired. It feels like it doesn't have a single idea of it's own. Nothing new has been brought to the table. You'd never guess this was a cops vs robbers or cops vs gang game based upon the gameplay.
What a miserable and complete failure. | video-games_xbox |
My Two Cents. I read a lot of the reviews before I bought this game, and thought I'd add my opinion to the mix.
I've played Grant Turismo 3 and Project Gotham before, and recently bought a cheap used copy of Grid, so these are the games I can make comparisons to.
Recently I decided to get the Racing Wheel and this game to get a new experience out of my 360. The short review is that I really like the wheel, and the game is good too.
Graphics - are good. The mountain scenes where you look in the distance are detailed. The cars look good, and the light shifts on the hood (which actually messes me up somtimes since I use the view with just the hood)
Physics - awesome. I really feel the difference in the cars. They all drive differently.
Gameplay - The game is beautifully designed, but as some people have mentioned, the feel of the game can be a little sterile at times. Granted, I knew this going in, but it lacks some of the excitement of a more arcade style game like Grid, where the cars are all over the place.
AI - One thing that is a little different in this game are your AI opponents. I remember in GT3, how the cars raced perfectly and never deviated from their path one inch. If I cut in front of them, they politely braked and let me pass. This game, however, is the complete opposite. The cars are constantly spinning me out and merging into me on curves. It's a little frustrating to be next to a car on a turn, and they just keep creeping at you forcing you into the grass. Another thing I've noticed is that if I'm ahead going into a sharp turn, and hit the brakes, there's always a car riding my a$$, and I assume I'm taking the turn too slow, let off the brake, and proceed to take the turn too hard and end up in the grass. It's confusing; the AI seem to be able to take corners at a lot more speed than me. I do like how the AI plays cat and mouse with you, coming up behind you, or not letting you pass.
Upgrades - I know some people like going into the garagae and making upgrades to their cars, but I could care less. All I want to do is race, and the game will automatically do this for you which is nice.
Cheats - I don't like most of the cheats and have turned most of them off. It doesn't feel like you're really driving if the computer is doing your braking for you, but for some people who aren't that good, I could see these cheats making the game more approachable. I do have to agree with one of the reviews about the XP though. If you play with the cheats on, you win and get more XP which gives you points to upgrade your cars, but if you turn them off, you lose more and can't upgrade your cars before races.
Difficulty - I've been playing on Medium, which is about right for me. I briefly turned it to Hard, and was left in the dust. I kind of wish there was a setting somewhere between these two though. On Medium, I've spun out, hit walls etc. and still have come from way behind to win the race, which is kind of a hollow victory in a way. On Hard, the cars are near perfection, and after braking too much going into a curve, I fall to last place and am never able to catch up again.
Licenses etc. - Some people mentioned that they miss driving for licenses that allow you to enter races. In GT3, it got a little tedious being stuck at one point in the game until you passed the license test. I like improving as I go along, however, doing something different like obstacle courses is a fun diversion at times. Maybe they should put some sort of side mission in the game where you can go to driving school if you want to.
Crashing - I always go into a driving game saying I'm going to play it right, but soon start crashing it up in order to win. Since the AI is always crashing into me, I've gotten into the bad habit of using them as a cushion on a sharp curve because they're going to crash into me anyway. I wish the AI was a little more careful, and then I would be too.
Online - I haven't played online, so I can't say if it's good or bad. The game comes with a free month of XBOX Live if you need it.
The Second Disc - Someone's review complained that there was a second disc. It's true that it eats up about 4 GB of your HDD, but I think it shows that the developers put a lot of effort into the game since they needed a second disc filled with tracks and cars.
Four Screens - If you have the money and inclination, you can set up 4 screens for this game for the front, two side views and rear view mirror. That's awesome.
Forza vs. Gran Turismo - This game is good, and I'm sure the next Gran Turismo will be good too. What's the argument? I don't understand. | video-games_xbox |
Why I sent them back 2 days after receiving them. I am an audio video technician in downtown Minneapolis and on my free time I like to relax and play some video games. I had the XO four and wanted an upgrade so I did some research and thought these would be a great improvement. Boy was I wrong. Here are the reasons I sent the XO seven pro back just two days after I purchased them.
Let's start with the way they felt when you wear them. They are a leather stitched design. I thought this would make them more comfortable, but it turns out leather does not breath or form very well to your head. Within 15 min my ears were very hot and my head felt squished. The XO fours never gave me this problem because they're more of a cloth memory foam material. So after about twenty minutes I had to take them off because they were too annoying and distracting while gaming.
Now for the audio side (including the mic). The audio quality was actually very nice. This is the reason I gave the product two stars instead of one. There was never a low , nor high tone that these headphones did not deliver on. The main issue with audio I had was whenever the mike was plugged in. The 3 different gain settings was great in theory, but it did not deliver. What this feature is supposed to do is activate the mic when a certain volume level is hit so that the other players do not hear a bunch of back ground noise from you, but it is very distracting being the gamer. If the gain is too high then you are always hearing random noises and button clicks from your controller mixed in with the game audio causing you to lose focus and becomes very annoying quickly. If you set the gain level too low then it only picks up when a louder noise is detected, but then when you begin to talk the beginning of your sentence is cut off and then when the mic is activated (about half way through your first word) causing you to stutter or lose your train of thought as your voice spontaneously pops into the headset.
Controller adapter. The adapter is nice but not very clear on what the presets will do. You can control and change the mode of EQ, gain, chat, and game volume. The only issue is that with the EQ and gain you can not customize the presets (you might be able to plug it into a computer to adjust, but ain't nobody got time for that).
Sorry for the long post. To summarize I'd recommend going with the cheaper XO four unless you just want to play one match, not chat, and take a break In between matches.
I'm going to give the Astro A40 a shot and I'll see if it's any better. | video-games_xbox |
ok for the money. I decided to go ahead and take the plunge and order this after reading all the positive reviews, which seem to outweigh the negative ones... a few things you should be aware of:
- if your xbox is connected to the tv via an hdmi cable ...which more than likely it is since most people nowadays have a high definition TV and want to take advantage of those crisp, sharp hdmi graphics.... then you WILL need what is referred to as a "xbox 360 audio adapter cable" from some third party seller in order to make use of this product.. I have an xbox 360 "slim" or "S" version, no idea if the audio adapter cables designed for the older (non slim, white not black colored) xbox 360's will work for the xbox 360 slim but I THINK they might... these adapters are relatively cheap, can be found for under five dollars including shipping and handling on ebay (or around the same price on amazon if you order twenty five or more dollars total to qualify for the whole free shipping and handling deal)
- the packaging the TV comes in says you can use the "tv audio out jacks found on most tv's" to use the turtle headset without the need for an audio adapter... what makes me nervous is I purchased the Panasonic VIERA TC-P54VT25 high definition television which won various awards and was considered to be THE tv of the year - and it had no audio out jacks just audio in jacks... if a TV that distinguished didn't have audio out jacks it makes me wonder if the TV's that didn't get any awards would really have audio out jacks?
- reading through the complaints listed for such audio adapter cables leaves me a bit nervous ... there seem to be a fair number of complaints about them not working though the number of "I'm happy with this" comments seem to outweigh the negative ones.
- a google search for " AV Adapter Hack - Optical and HDMI Output on Xbox 360 Simultaneously youtube" may be of interest to you... I had absolutely no interest in mucking around with my own xbox equipment in the way the video described so a friend got a hold of an old microsoft brand device like the one the person describes in his video and did the modification mentioned in the video... I found that that connecting this to the turtle headset's red and white jacks then plugging it into the "component audio in" holes on the TV made the headset work... for some reason the "video" ports refused to cooperate even though they are also red and white colored like the component ones. Make sure you set your tv's audio option to "component" in the TV menu (which you should be able to access via your tv remote) if you go this route
- I found the sound pumped through the headset to be , as other reviewers have described, fantastic, you do indeed hear little details you don't through the tv speakers - as far as the mike when she first used it my daughter complained that her voice "echoes" when she hears it and other persons gaming with her on the various xbox live games also reported that her voice echoed... later on as the game went on the echoes faded and both she and friends online reported that her voice sounded "normal" - this is the first time she's using the headset so could be just something as simple as the wireless internet connection in our house possibly giving issues...
- read the instructions that come with the headset carefully - it's very easy to get the wire that connects the headset to the xbox controller (so you can use the microphone part of the headset) reversed or plugged in "upside down" in such a way that it won't work... pay close attention to the "xbox 360 chat setup" diagram on page 5 of the instructions "connect the talkback cable" .. pay very close attention to the ends of the cable, note that oene has an "L" shape that plugs directly into the xbox controller, the other "straight" one connects into the white box thing on the headset
- on the same page 5, the "configure xbox 360 settings"... it's not available to me when I access xbox, doesn't show up as an option.... not sure if the latest update to the xbox 360 interface (which automatically downloads if you have your xbox connected to the internet) involved microsoft getting rid of this menu... if so that's rather disturbing I would have liked to see the voice menu options remain such as "voice output - play through headset" ... perhaps this is why my daughter's voice echoes when she uses the mike?
- the part of the headset that connects via usb to xbox provides electrical power to the headset so it can function.... not sure but I don't think it "carries" your voice into the microphone (which is what I was thinking it would do since other xbox devices work that way)
- the cables for the headset are satisfyingly long... my daughter is able to sit on a couch in the living room with the xbox all the way across from her next to the TV and the cables are still long enough to not present a problem.
Overall it seems to be an okay headset for the money spent ... I do wonder if it's worth the entire purchase price especially given the hassle you have to go through as far as the initial setup - though for all I know perhaps all xbox headset/microphone combo's give this sort of headache? Or are there better ones out there that are totally usb - plug and play into the xbox, no need to worry about red or white audio jacks and away you go.. but if you go that route does the usb mean the sound quality is worse? People more well versed than I in xbox hardware and audio equipment will have to figure this one out... | video-games_xbox |
Potential but Needs Polishing. Cabela's Dangerous Hunts 2013 lets you take on the role of a big game hunter, tracking deer in forests, tracking lions in savannahs, and more.
You have a rifle-shaped controller that you hold in two hands and point at the screen. The rifle has metal sensors in it so it can feel your pulse. How quickly your heart races affects some shots. You have to remain calm and cool despite wildly charging animals if you want to do well.
I thought the game had great potential. There's a storyline that has you and your competitive brother along with a calm, patient, hunting-minded father. Of course things quickly go awry and soon you're in the thick of things.
It was definitely a game that I loved at first and then things disintegrated quickly. The more hours I played, the more I got into highly improbable scenarios where enormously large packs of hyenas were just deluging me from all sides. This was definitely a time that the heartbeat sensor would have been cool! Could I keep calm while fending off wave after wave of enemy? But unfortunately this is exactly when the game does NOT care what you are feeling. Your heartbeat has no effect at all. That's definitely a shame.
There are the missions where you're simply riding "shotgun" and have to shoot things that attack you without controlling direction of motion at all. There are other missions where you are cautiously tracking game through a variety of environments.
The gun control is OK. You don't actually sight down it which is a shame. You just sort of point and hope the calibration is working properly. Most of the time the gun was fairly responsive but of course it gets really annoying when it lags or mis-directs occasionally.
I think the game has great potential, but I think it'll take another release or two before they get all the qualities just right.
Rating: 4/5
I was sent a review copy of this game and controller from the Amazon Vine program. | video-games_xbox |
Some games are just better on PC. I honestly had really high hopes for this game, the Sims on console has been hit and miss with me in the past, but I was still excited to hear about the release. I liked the first one, really liked Bustin' Out (loved playing with friends online), hated Urbz... you get the picture. For me the game has mostly cons, and not many pros. There is all the new Karma stuff going on, and that can be fun to mess with. As many have mentioned the controls are just not great, there are far to many things to constantly shuffle through to see what you want. It's difficult to make your Sim do what you want, you click near a table- options come up for the light, the plates, the chairs and the table, it can take up some time. Also, the constant asking if you want to follow your Sim gets annoying. There is nothing you can interact with at work, so why would I want to follow them to a building I can't even see inside? Of course I would like to follow the only person on the lot to the park, I just directed them there, who wants to look at an empty house? Little things like that are annoying. The switching from live mode, to town map and the loading, is all very slow. I installed it on my hard drive and it marginally improved the speed, but not enough. The graphics aren't anywhere near as good as I think they should be. I have a large TV, and most all the games I play look great, this one doesn't stand up compared to everything else. This probably sounds insane, but the main thing that actually has me still playing this game are the achievement points. Another thing, if you enter the passcode to connect to the exchange and all that stuff via Live, it's only usable once. If you buy yours from somebody else that has entered it, you are out of luck, just thought I'd mention that for anybody that is looking to buy used. My main point- if you are a Sims fan like I am, you are probably going to want to get it no matter what you read, but be smart, buy it in a few months when it's in the bargain bin. | video-games_xbox |
Not the spiritual success of Max Payne II. Neither the video game we needed, nor deserved. I'm a big fan of Remedy Games. I thought Max Payne II was on the short list for best game of the year back when it was released in 2003, along with the original Prince of Persia and Freedom Fighters. What Max Payne II had going for it was a gritty, neo-noir plot, a highly stylized way of storytelling, memorable characters, a distinct sense of localization and attention to detail, insightful parody, and wildly surrealistic moments. Who could ever forget the Funhouse level, or Max's nightmarish descent to madness as the the walls between reality and his inner torment blended and became indistinguishable from one another? It was these kinds of audacious and fearless storytelling moments that really made a core number of gamers dedicated Max Payne II fans, even if the majority of people slept on the game.
Fastforward to this past week, when I played Alan Wake for the first time after Steam offered it at a deep discount of 90% off. I missed out on Alan Wake back when it was released in 2010 because I didn't have XBox or a gaming PC at the time, and now I was glad to be able to play this game which was in many ways should've been the spiritual successer to the Max Payne franchise.
After five hours of gameplay.. I am very disappointed. Alan Wake tries to execute some of the best ideas of Max Payne II, most notably depicting a person's inner descent to madness in the gaming medium and the use of incidental and tangental in-game TV shows and radio broadcasts to flesh out the game proper, but most of the things that Alan Wake tries to imitate from Max Payne II fall spectacularly flat.
The combat fails to evolve despite a variety of weapons and enemies, and every encounter feels the same since there is very little difference between a handgun or a shotgun, a flare or a flash grenade, they all do basically the same thing which is kill the shadowy horde of enemies.
The story, and therefore the game, progresses at an incredibly slow pace. SPOILER alert. Alice is kidnapped within the first hour of gameplay, and a kidnapper appears soon after to make a ransom demand of an unwritten manuscript from Alan Wake. The audience is informed that Cauldron Lake is somehow a gateway between realities and the fiction that Alan Wake writes somehow changes reality. However, after learning that information and making your way to the kidnapper to hand him the manuscript in exchange for Alice, the story is not developed AT ALL and you spend the next three hours progressing from point A to point B trying to get to the kindapper with no plot progression. It grinds the story to a complete halt and made me lose all interest.
The in-game TV show, which was so brilliant in Max Payne II, reprises here on Alan Wake in the form of the TV episode "Night Springs." All the episodes of "Night Springs" appear as if they are failed scripts from "The Twilight Zone." They are not interesting, thoughtful, or provocative as the TV shows from Max Payne II. They are very dull.
And speaking of dull, the radio broadcasts are the worse! They do not contribute to an atmosphere or mood at all. It is as boring as watching the Weather Channel on a sunny day, and that's because the broadcast actually talks about the weather!
All in all, a very disappointing 'spiritual successor' to the Max Payne legacy. | video-games_xbox |
Praying for Halo 5. <div id="video-block-R2Q3A0RTE09RBF" class="a-section a-spacing-small a-spacing-top-mini video-block"></div><input type="hidden" name="" value="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/91F3v0tkgfS.mp4" class="video-url"><input type="hidden" name="" value="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/A1yDGH0o38S.png" class="video-slate-img-url"> Once a triumphant experience, Halo's once awesome multiplayer has transformed into a tragic catastrophe of epic disappointment.
I could get over the fact that Microsoft is trying to milk halo for every penny the once dignified franchise is worth, except they somehow found a way to make a great game suck.
Oh but they'll fix it right?
Negative.
Each exciting update has introduced new and exciting bugs that redefine the frustration of the experience.
At least we can play the campaign without worrying right?
That's a Negative.
Replay missions on legendary over and over again for countless hours because achievements magically pretend like you haven't already done it several times.
At least we can play all the campaigns with friends over xbox live right?
Another negative.
Enjoy the slowest in game experience ever offered by xbox live, regardless of internet speed, complete with irritating lag that will plague you for hours, before finally kicking you back into the lobby.
The newest multiplayer updates are improving the experience right?
Negative once again.
Instead of waiting hours on the matchmaking screen, the game will lock up, freeze entirely, and force you to completely reboot the xbox system.
I'll wait as long as it takes for Microsoft and 343 get this right, but to say the newest halo reboot is a complete and absolute failure would far understate this disaster of a video game.
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APRIL UPDATE: Tackle this spring with all new bugs, glitches, and non-fixes including:
Invisible Opponents
The question, "Could I get frustrated any quicker with this game?" is finally answered thanks to the last update. Die quickly and impossibly with this new bug, as you are quickly killed by opponents that you cannot see!
Games starting before you spawn
If you thought you were irritated before, think again! Get ready to miss out on the beginning of the game, only to spawn into a game in-progress after waiting 20 minutes in the annoying loading screen!
In-game chat
In game chat literally just doesn't work, so get ready to compound your frustration by attempting to start up a party with xbox one's terrible interface! You and your team will enjoy loss after loss as you struggle to communicate thanks to yet another quirky bug that hasn't been fixed even once since launch!
Keep an eye on halo's twitter, facebook page, and blog site for unneeded and unwanted updates on things like upcoming bug additions and customer service that pretends people are still working on this game!
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Please see the "video review" for a peak into the daily issues that STILL plague Halo: MCC here in April of 2015, nearing 6 months after launch! | video-games_xbox |
This is the best MLB game of its time. O.k. first off, if you are planning to buy this game, I support you 100% Dont read reviews under 4 stars because they are wrong. MVP Baseball has the best gameplay of its kind. In dynasty mode you have your own E-mail Inbox so you can receive messages about contracts, player happiness, upcoming games and stragegy, suspensions, trade offers, etc. This game is so in-depth that you will never get bored. You can jump up walls to shag a homerun, perform diving catches, sliding catches, jumping catches too. Sliding is different to, u can slide headfirst, feet first, and u can hook slide. You can even charge the mound if you are hit by a pitch by simply pressing Y. You run at the pitcher and hit him then the dug outs charge on the fields. There are new uniforms such as the padres, and blue jays. new pitch types like the circle change, knucklecurve, and slurve. (slider and curveball combo.) All the trades are realistic and updated except A-Rod and Soriano. And the Barry Bonds thing isn't a big problem. He is replaced with a phenomenal hitter names James Dowd. All u have to do is go to Rosters, Edit player, and make him black, #25, and change his name to Barry Bonds. And it runs like NCAA College Football and Madden, u earn points and u can unlock unlockables such as Legendary Players; Babe Ruth, u get the point. Also old uniforms such as The yankees uniforms, red sox.
Here is a break down
Graphics- 9.5
Gameplay- 10.0
Sound- 10.0
Crowd Detail- 7.5 (the crowd actually have real looking bodies, no more mysterious red and blue blurrs in the stands.)
New Features
Pitcher Showdown
You pick a pitcher and pick another pitcher. You pick either 3,6,9, or 12 strikeouts. You pick a lineup to pitch to (the easier the team the mopre strikes.) Whoever reaches the limit first wins. If you walk or give up a homerun u loose points.
New Pitching Views
New fielding capabilities, Sliding, and Diving, and Robbing Homers.
This game is a big improvement from MVP Baseball 2003. You can actually manually field, and play on Pro without getting killed. You end up having exciting games into long inning games and relying on the bullpen to win u the game.
Remember to change Default Rosters to NO at the dynasty screen or else the players you trade wobnt be on the team. I kept doin it and it got frustrating but then i realized i had to so that lol. | video-games_xbox |
Doom does the brand justice. When the first Doom came out in 1993, it was scary, relentless madness and changed video games as we know it. First Person shooters have since the adopted many of the same features, and improved on them with time. However, just as with time comes change, the fps game genre moved on from health boxes, side-strafing, and relentless combat to regenerating health, cover systems, and tactical combat that was not necessarily as guns-blazing as Doom was. Modern champions of the FPS genre have been Call of Duty, Battlefield, Halo and Far Cry. So, as a potential buyer, you are reading this to determine whether or not Doom (4, essentially) is worth your time. I hope that my in-depth review of the Single Player component will help you out (didn't really play the MP, as it is arena-based and I am more of a Battlefield 4 MP guy myself).
No Spoilers Ahead (Not really any, I don't think).
Ok, so, you play as the Doom Marine (this version and the backstory behind him and how he ties into the game's enemies is a new spin, FYI, but will not spoil the surprise). Also, just in the last game, UAC are the morons that left the door wide open for the demons (and, like the Doom Marine, their story has a new twist on it that makes you really go, "wow, the UAC are a bunch of sick puppies"). There are a good amount of missions navigating both Mars and Hell. The storyline is fleshed out through NPC's that communicate to you via hemet comm and through pick-ups of info throughout the game. Practically every level has at least a couple of "monster arenas" where you have to kill every demon before being allowed to proceed. Most of the time, the excuse in the game is that the area is in lockdown because of the significant demonic presence and you have to purge the area before access is restored.
The graphics are great, although it may take a second to flesh out the area when starting a new game or rebooting a saved game (played on Xbox, btw). The soundtrack is great and really adds to the massive hordes you have to fight through...and then there are the dynamics of combat.
Different from most other games available at the moment, Doom encourages the Rambo approach - run into a room as fast as you can and use your crazy arsenal to wipe the floor with the bad guys. The gory kills - executions - are a blessing in disguise, as if you are low on health, they give you a chance to get some life back and stay in the fight. There are a variety of new and classic weapons here, with the only weapon really being dropped being the classic pistol. It is replaced by some type of pulse pistol that is good for low-level bad guys.
The chainsaw is a beast that requires you to find gas canisters but can be an "instant-kill weapon" that can instantly defeat almost any enemy you encounter, but had limited uses as it runs out of gas after kills.
There are also power-ups, like overcharge that gives you 200 health and armor, haste which makes you really fast (and very important in arena-style battles), quad damage which multiplies the damage of all your attacks by four (the rocket launcher is the best weapon to use when picking this up, IMO), invunerability (very rare), or berserk, which is ABSOLUTELY NUTS in the new Doom. While in Berserk mode, you can pummel and beat to death any enemy you face - with your bare hands. No longer does it just increase your punching power substantially to equal that of a rocket - now it allows you to kill everything from mancubi to Barons of Hell in brutal, sadistic fashion.
The controls are tight and reaponsive but the nature of Doom requires you to constantly be on the move and COMFORTABLE WITH YOUR CONTROLLER - this is a biggie, and means that if you have a PS4 and an XBOX ONE both, go with whatever controller you are more comfortable with. Graphics won't matter if you are getting ripped to shreds by the demon horde.
So, in closing, I would recommend this to anyone looking for a pulse-pounding, nonstop shooter - and especially to fans of the franchise. This game is amazing and proves one big thing - DOOM is back. | video-games_xbox |
Good, hopefully better with updates. I purchased this as part of the Xbox One Titanfall bundle. The game itself is fun for a while but got kind of old fast.
The issues so far:
1. Took FOREVER to download and unlike the Xbox 360, the Xbox One timed out while downloading it more than once. 12 hours later and having to turn the Xbox One back on a couple times I was at 97%. This is what Microsoft thought was the future of gaming? Yikes!
2. Connectivity issues - on a multiplayer only game this game is worthless when xbox can't connect. But don't worry, once they got that solved, we've had regular server issues within Titanfall where it can't find a matchmaking server.
3. Screen tearing. The graphics look OK but certainly not good enough to be called "next-gen." I expect the 360 to look about the same.
4. Severe lag on occasion, especially when there is a lot going on in the game.
5. 1st update happened last night which ruined the Hardpoint game mode by reducing hold points, thus turning the game into TDM for people who are bad at TDM. Since you no longer get significant points for holding a point, people now camp near the hardpoint and pick people off as they go for it. They get to then "recapture" the hardpoint for more points.
6. No singleplayer. I knew this going in and actually prefer multiplayer but when the servers are down, which has been a lot lately, the game is just taking hard drive space.
7. Too easy to level up. After being out for one week, lobbies are full of people being Generation 4, 5, and 6. One guy completed all 10 generations and maxed out at level 50 in just a few days.
8. No real matchmaking. WAY too often I jump into a lobby where the opposing team is all Gen 4 or greater and the team I get put on are very low level and haven't regenerated at all. You know how much XP you get when your team gets slaughtered? Very little so leveling up takes MUCH longer. If they shuffled up teams like COD does, matches wouldn't be lopsided and both teams have a fair chance at winning.
All that being said, the studio is active with the community and appear to be making changes based on feedback so I have high hopes this game will continue to get better. I don't regret the purchase and look forward to the upgrades and changes to come. | video-games_xbox |
As a fan of the previous two Forza Horizon games, I was really looking forward to this one. It didn't disappoint. As a fan of the previous two Forza Horizon games, I was really looking forward to this one. It didn't disappoint!
First, let's get this out of the way: This is probably the best-looking video game I've ever played. Ever. Yes, the PC version can run at 4K while the Xbox One is stuck at 1080p, but I have to say I've never seen a better-looking game. Rise of the Tomb Raider is a distant second.
Now, I just got the game today, so this won't be in-depth. In case you've never played a Forza Horizon game, the concept is pretty ingenious. You start out in an area (the Colorado Rockies in FH1, southern France in FH2, and Australia in FH3) and race at festival events, attempting to get money and experience to buy upgrades or even better cars. After a while, you're pretty much free to roam the entire countryside, including off-road. The game goes from a detailed arcade/sim racer to one of discovery and delight. For example, in FH3 I was busting through the woods along a newly-discovered access road when I came upon a beautiful waterfall . Time to stop, look at the scenery, and perhaps even take a picture of your car sitting in front of it! There are roads, races, special cars, various cash/experience bonus boards, speed cameras, and other things to discover.
Now, one thing they added in FH2 was water/rain effects. In FH3, these effects are much, much better. It can start raining in the middle of a race, and by the time it stops you'll find puddles strewn across the road. You can bust through creeks or skirt the edge of the ocean if you like. Time of day effects and dynamic weather changes really help immerse you in the game.
The cars are a good mix of local Australian cars like the Maloo, the Ute, and the Falcon, along with hypercars, classic sports cars, SUVs, buggies, pickups, muscle cars, etc. from across the world. They're all gorgeous, and each handles like you'd expect. The difference between driving a heavy Range Rover and a buggy along the sandy beach is quite convincing.
This game also brings in some new gameplay features, such as the incredible multiplayer modes where you can make your own Horizon Festival, set up your own races and challenges, and then invite others to your Festival. Exhibition races are always fun, like the first one where you're racing against an old, old Jeep through the woods, with the Jeep dangling beneath a helicopter as it swings above and through the trees. Its things like these that keep the game interesting.
I'll return and update the review after I play more of the game. Even so, I can already recommend it wholeheartedly. | video-games_xbox |
This is a great dock and here's my experience with it. I have a confession to make.
I'm nervous about batteries. They go BUMP in the night. I have woke up in a cold sweat often, staggering out of bed to plug in devices in the middle of the night. During the day, I stalk my wife. Not in a creepy way though. Just following her around to plug in the various things she unplugs to use for 15 seconds. This happens more than I'd like to admit.
I'm sick. I need help.
I bought the Microsoft Play and Charge Kit. It runs longer than AAs, weigh less, cost little and work wonderfully.
I thought all my problems were behind me. Well, until I got the bright idea of putting my Xbox in a climate controlled AV cabinet. (WHY???? Don't ask. It fell under the umbrella of, "don't set the house on fire & as long as the TV works")
Great! So I'll just plug the controllers in on the sofa table and we're good.
------------
The problem:
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I tried plugging my controllers in to a USB wall plug and found: My controllers either don't charge past 10% or won't charge at all. Tried a few different chargers and aftermarket cables. And controllers look crappy laying out there with cables attached.
Crap. So it's Sunday at 11am and I'm going to walmart or (GASP!) gamestop to buy some terribly cheap looking device that will have BRIGHT LED's all over it and requires its own terrible quality batteries with open electrical contacts on the mismatched battery doors they provide.
Then I come home and plug in my new piece of crap charger and set my perfectly good batteries aside because it won't work with them. My palms are getting very sweaty at this point. I try and calm down by getting in to a game and my sweaty paws are gripping controller so hard that I short out the charging contacts and BOOM! I'm in the doctors office and they make a Daytime TV Documentary about how I've welded my male parts together playing Xbox Live.
I have battery anxiety sometimes.
--------
What about this dock?
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GOOD
- Quickly charges controllers to 100% using my standard 2.4 amp USB wall plug
- Nice RED (charging) or GREEN (fully charged!) status light for each port
- The charging light is just the right brightness. You can look at it without sunglasses on. Not bright in a dark room!
- Easy to dock the controllers. Even if you have an accessory attached to it.
- It even has a wife approved clean appearance
- Comes in white or black to match your style
- Company logo not annoying.
What's bad?
- I still wake at 2AM a cold sweat once or twice a week | video-games_xbox |
Every bit as good as the first game and then some. I just finished this last night. Took me a while to get through the whole thing.
I was a little disappointed in the ending. Unless I missed something I was kind of expecting to see a cinematic of some sort showing War being released and humanity being restored. VERY anticlimactic.
Also... I kind of remember in the first game, when you finished it you could continue on to get items you had missed... basically just riding/running around beating stuff up. It was either that or you restarted the game, but with all your abilities and weapons. I forget which. Either way... it's not in this one. I finished it and had the option of basically starting completely over (losing everything) and being able to play at a harder level, or keep what I have but the end boss is left undefeated... allowing me to continue to find loot and complete side quests but the main mission was still active. I opted for the restart kind of thinking I would keep what I had. What I don't like is how you can save games into a different slot (or at least not that I was able to figure out).
I haven't been able to get any of the DLC or updates so I might be missing out on some other goodies.
The game mechanics are for the most part cool, but sometimes if you don't do something just right in just the right amount of time it becomes incredibly frustrating (like scaling the circular walls while the flaming floor is rising).
I would say for the most part it's still a button masher with some mild tactics... basically dodging hitting, special move (teleport slash is awesome) and summoning ghouls as a distraction is the best way I figured out to defeat a boss.
The graphics are awesome. Not much else to say about that.
Some of the areas are pretty difficult to figure out and I've used YouTube on more than one occasion for hints.
Overall I enjoyed this game and will probably play it through again.
Definitely recommend it to anyone. | video-games_xbox |
Be Warned, You May Absolutely Hate This Title. Enchanted Arms is an Anime based, turn based RPG. Now that this is out of the way let me briefly explain why I would not recommend this game to anyone today in 2011. The game was released in 2006. The graphics are very outdated if you care about such details. The intro movie is very cool but when you get into the gameplay itself the age really shows. The area during battle mode is divided into a grid where 3D characters stand in their battle stance waiting for your order. The interface is very similar to classic JRPG like Final Fantasy or Phantasy Star. The animations are very repetitive and do not have much variety in movement. The special effects for attack or defense spells and other weapons are ok. Lots of nice flashing shapes and lights. You can move the camera into various positions plan out your attack paths or move very easily. What is especially nice is the quick mode or auto mode, one just does the battle choices for you, another avoids the steps that ask you to move.
The problems arise when you are in the movement mode or outside the battle. Let me give you an example. There is a class of students and in this particular scene all the male students are one to one copies of one another and the girls as well. It is annoying. When you move you can barely see any shadows anywhere. The NPCs do not show much life either. If you were to see similar characters talk to each other, they have the same look with exception of haircuts or eye colors. When you run around you look like a robot and run with limited animations. When you face an obstacle your character keeps repeating the the running motion.
English language voice overs are horrible with the exception of few characters. I cannot tell how bad or good the Japanese voicing is.
Another strange or annoying thing, whatever you might call it, is the voice acting and presentation of one character who is suggested to be a crossdresser or homosexual. The issue I have with this is not that he is there but how he is presented. If you were to imagine any gay stereotype its in the character. (think South Park's Big Gay Al) There is a collar, face makeup, exposed stomach and girly gestures. Just makes me think why.
I would avoid this game at all costs. There are many better JRPGs for xbox 360 out there. Blue Dragon is a great alternative. | video-games_xbox |
Xbox Is Awesome. Xbox is one of the best systems in the market. The graphics are no doubt the most powerful and the games aren't so bad either. Halo 2 is the best game out right now and I think Microsoft and other game publishers and makers have created their games well for Xbox. Xbox is a very powerful unit; it even has a Pentium III processor which no other system comes close. This system and PlayStation 2 are the best systems because they're aimed more towards adults and teenagers. Nintendo GameCube is a very kiddish system and the games like Mario are really only kids games. You can even tell a Nintendo game from any other game because the graphics are so recognizable. Here are the specs for Xbox.
Product Identification
Product Line Microsoft Xbox
Manufacturer Microsoft
General
Form Factor Console
Dimensions (WxDxH) 11.8 in x 7.1 in x 3.1 in
Weight 8.8 lbs
Controller Controller S
Expansion and Connectivity
Other I/O Connectors 1 x Ethernet
Processor
Processor 1 x Intel Pentium III 733MHz
Processor Clock Speed 733MHz
L1 Cache Instruction 32KB, Data 32KB
L2 Cache 128KB
External Bus 6.4GB/s
Internal Data Precision 32-bit Integer, 64-bit Floating-Point
System Memory
Main Memory 64MB 200MHz DDR SDRAM UMA
Main Memory Bandwidth 6.4GB/s
Graphics Processor and Memory
Graphics Processor Nvidia NV2A
Graphics Core Clock Speed 233MHz
Graphics Frame Buffer 64MB 200MHz DDR SDRAM UMA
Texture Cache 64MB 200MHz DDR SDRAM UMA
Texture Read Bandwidth 6.4GB/s
Fill Rate (pixels) 932 Mpixels/s
Fill Rate (texels) 1.86 Mtexels/s
Fill Rate (triangles) 125 Mtriangles/s
Pixel Depth 32-bit color, 32-bit Z-buffer
Audio
Audio Processor Nvidia MCPX
Audio Performance 256 simultaneous channels
Sampling Frequency 48KHz
Expansion and Connectivity
Game Media Format DVD disc
Controller Ports 4
Memory Card Ports One per controller
Standard AV Output Connectors Analog RCA stereo, composite video, S/PDIF digital
Optional AV Output Connectors RF, S-video, component
Storage
Media Drive 4X DVD-ROM
Hard Drive 10GB
Source: Gamespot.com
It's a really nice system to own and you should buy this system of wait out for Xbox 2.
Here are the only specs I found of Xbox 2.
Specs: Microsoft Xenon (Xbox 2) Product Identification
Product Line Microsoft Xenon (Xbox 2)
General
Form Factor Console
Processor
Processor IBM processor
Graphics Processor and Memory
Graphics Processor ATI VPU
Thanks again: [...] | video-games_xbox |
Great system but not the most XBOX 360 bang-for-the-buck. I bought mine on amazon.com for $219 with the Customers Vote lottery system. I would not have bought it otherwise. The 256 memory unit card isn't even large enough to hold free online demos from XBOX Live. No hard drive included, BUT I bought one off of an amazon.com seller for $50 (the 20gig) and purchased a component cable at Target for $20, so the entire purchase was THEN worth the $219.
I have a few favorite original XBOX games I refuse to get rid of but YOU NEED THE HARD DRIVE to play them. And there are also backwards compatibility issues with some games, so go to the official XBOX site for a list of games that do work with the hard drive). I've heard that on November 4th, Microsoft will start selling original XBOX titles for download for about $15 each. Which leads me to believe you'll probably want the 120GB hard drive, and at almost $200 for a XBOX 360 120GB hard drive, well, no way Microsoft, I won't do that. Paying $50 for a like-new 20GB was bad enough. The system comes with an Arcade Collection DVD of games and this DVD is only available with this bundle - since I don't play the arcade games I put it up for auction on ebay. (I count that as a $25 toward my purchase price for the Arcade Bundle...)
The XBOX 360 console is, as you've probably heard, quite loud and can get quite warm. I have NOT checked my console to see if the new "Falcon" processor is in there (this is supposed to be the new processor at 60nm rather than the old 90 nm). This has been found in some newer systems made mid-2007 to present. MS really should have put the newer Falcon chip into all mid-current 2007 consoles but they didn't. That's a shame.
Overall, this is a very good system with some great titles. And as some reviewers have pointed out, owning gaming consoles is an expensive hobby. So far I love the system WITH the hard drive I've added. I've heard rumors of a 40GB hard drive possibly being released by the end of the year. I would Google all this stuff, including promotions Microsoft has and hasn't really made a stink about announcing, like if you buy an XBOX 360 system between Nov 21, 2007 and sometime near the end of December AND already have an XBOX Live account for an ORIGINAL XBOX system, you can get HALO 3 for FREE!
[...]
The graphics are incredible. Assassin's Creed looks amazing. Same with Gears of War. And of course newer xbox and PS2 titles are just going to completely disappear soon (as the xbox titles have). The option to add the HD DVD player for $180 sounds appealing but I will wait for the price to drop. More rumors about MS wanting to incorporate the HD DVD player into the system - I hate using consoles for playing DVDs, I don't like the idea of wearing out the laser unit just to watch a movie.
Comes with the following:
a WIRELESS controller
AV RCA-style cable
A power supply about the size of a brick
memory unit card 256, big enough for xbox 360 game saves
console
Arcade Compilation DVD with full games and demos
Baaaad:
No wireless built-in, but I use a Linksys gaming adapter (I won't pay $100 for the MS one, rip-off)
Loud, loud, loud...
Keep the power supply on a cool surface (ie don't put it on a carpet)
Titles run $59 for newer games, ugh
At $279 for the Arcade Bundle, I would buy the $349 Pro Bundle instead - MUCH BETTER DEAL! | video-games_xbox |
The super terrific happy HOURS. I owened a PS2 for awhile and although it was nice, the graphics seemingly were not as happy as the original Xbox. Therefore I went out on a limb (after hearing the new Technology the playstation is getting into (dangerous) for the Xbox 360. After taking out my CORE console (thank goodness I sprung for the wireless controller) I noticed it didn't seem like I got too much for a little over a few hundred dollars. Included was a System, wired controller, Composite TV hookups and a Mammoth Power adapter. When i turned on the system I was fairly amazed to find an OPERATING SYSTEM. YES! This meant that the XBOX 360 is a MEDIA CENTER, not a game console. View your pictures, listen to music via USB 2.0 connections, you name it it has it. But when I popped in Need For Speed Most Wanted the graphics are REAL! Yes... Real. Enters DRAWBACK #1. I had nothing to save on. If you buy the Core System... buy a hard drive...if you can find one(if you can't find one your games may stop to load in the middle of your game). From the complaints I have heard of overheating are fiction. The Power Adapter is Physically outside of the system... which doesn't lead to overheating. YES the 360 does play select XBOX games. In fact Xbox live has the update, and Microsoft recognized how important backwards compatability is and has released an update (again bless that OS and they don't take long to download by dial up) to play over 200 original Xbox games, and from what I hear, the list will increase (more updates)ensuring you have your favs to play from XBOX. I think it is worth the retail considering you are buying a powerful System. I can say the only thing I miss my PS2 for is DANCE DANCE REVOLUTION...IN TIME the Box should have that option... Expand your mind! If not Wait for mario's revolution! It doesn't get 5 stars though because it was rushed for Christmas and the backwards compatability wasn't worked out (licensing rights). | video-games_xbox |
Good, but not Zwei. Let's get something straight right now. Panzer Dragoon Zwei for Saturn is my favorite video game ever. The music, control, level design, and graphics (not to mention storyline, secrets and multiple endings!) of that game simply put every other 3D shooter to shame (well, Sky Gunner is pretty darn good too).
When it was announced that another Panzer Dragoon game was beign made, I was going crazy with anticipation, daring to hope that a game surpassing (or at least equal to) the great Panzer Dragoon Zwei was going to come my way. Now, I own both games and I have to say that Panzer Dragoon Orta (while by no means a bad game) does NOT measure up.
Any shooter fan can tell you that in the world of shooters, it really comes down to only a few things. Graphics, control, music, and gameplay. The graphics are the eye-candy that makes you play, great music is what sets the perfect mood, and without great gameplay and control there would be absolutely no point in playing.
The first Panzer Dragoon had a gun shot and lock-ons. Panzer Dragoon Zwei had gun shots, lock-ons and berzerkers. Now, we have gun shots, lock-ons, berzerks, dragon morphs, speed-up, and slow-down. Call me crazy, but I DO think that you can have too much of a good thing. I mean, the berzerkers were great and really added to the second game. But when a big boss is killing me the last thing I want to do is slow-down instead of speeding-up while switching to the WRONG FORM OF DRAGON. Sadly, over and over again this is what ended up happening.
Shooters are all about reflexes, shooting down all the enemies before they can attack you. This game makes it more about shooting the same enemy in the same way over and over and over. And what of the branching paths? While they add some to the game, there is nothing like the path branch from the second level of Panzer Dragoon Zwei (left take flight, right stay on the ground for the whole level).
I have to also say that (sadly) while the visuals of the between-level movies are incredibly animated, they aren't worth watching more than once in most cases (the one in the snow is always cool to me). And why on earth should I watch cinemas when there is no compelling story? Don't even try to tell me that there is the same sort of story-telling in this game that there was in Panzer Dragoon Saga or Zwei (Azel blows Orta away and the intro movie to Zwei where the kid's village is destroyed is better than every cinema in this game combined).
In the area of Graphics, Sound, and extras this game really shines. Not only does this game feature some of the best graphics on the X-Box and feature some great sound effects (the music is okay), it also includes the complete first Panzer Dragoon game.
Games like this are becoming more and more rare. If you're hungry for a 3D shooter fix give this game a try. It has awesome graphics, sweet sound, and IS set in the Panzer Dragoon world (and get a load of the Panzer Dragoon Encyclopedia in the extras!). Just don't expect more Zwei. | video-games_xbox |
Max Payne 3 is fun but lacks the full Rockstar treatment. Max Payne 3 is a fun game but it isn't perfect. The slow-mo and physics are pretty cool but some issues hinder the experience. The campaign is decent but by the end you'll be so tired of the gimmicky drug effects and bad checkpoint system that you may want to throw something at your TV. The campaign is hard due to the bad checkpoint system, the crazy accuracy of the AI, and the random gameplay issues the game shouldn't have. I only completed it on Normal difficulty and even that was more frustrating than it should've been. I wouldn't even want to try the other three or so difficulties surely for the amount of frustration it would bring me.
The multiplayer is decent but it has it's own laundry list of issues also. Getting into matches takes longer than most games, some explosives such as rocket launchers have really bad physics, there are more random bugs here than in campaign, and the game itself isn't very "noob friendly" since the more experienced players will always have an advantage in terms of their load-out perks. Usually, in a game like Call of Duty, the advantage isn't that great but it feels drastic in this game. The game's "featured" mode is Gang Wars where the two teams play essentially five different types of matches in one big battle. It sounds better than what it actually is since the game can be quite hectic with the big team numbers. As of right now, Team Deathmatch has the most amount of players on average, and that's 4 vs. 4 gameplay. However, there are very few maps in the game right out of the box so you could become tired of the same 3 or 4 maps per mode right away. Even if you purchase the season pass (which I did), you'll come out of it wishing the maps were better suited for each game mode.
Even though Max Payne 3 is far from perfect, it's still a fun game. I come back to the multiplayer because I feel like there's nothing like it on the market right now. The slow-motion and the grittiness of the characters is amusing. My suggestion is if you're planning on buying this game, rent it first. I borrowed it from a friend and thought it was decent so then I bought it. I don't suggest paying the full $60 for it, I don't think it's worth that much. | video-games_xbox |
The Best Military Game on Xbox. Although Halo was awesome, I'd been wanting a game that was more realistic unlike Halo and other mainstream first-person shooters. I have a military background, so I ordered Ghost Recon on Amazon, but while waiting for it in the mail, I picked up Rainbow Six 3 at my local Babbage's. To make a short story shorter, Rainbow Six 3 has been in the Xbox since long after Ghost Recon arrived.
Rainbow Six 3 has an awesome small arms collection: sub-machine guns, assault rifles and sniper rifles; cool semi-auto pistols like the HK USP. It has several types of explosives you can use like claymore mines, flashbangs and grenades like smoke, willy pete, frags and CS.
The gameplay on Rainbow Six is just plain awesome. It's not Halo where you can jump up and expose yourself and live to tell about it. In Rainbow Six, like in real life, if you get shot in the head once, you die. If you get shot a few times in other places, you are either dead or badly wounded. If you move fast and make noise, the enemy knows you're there. If you move slowly and silently, you are undetected. You are able to use real life tactics like quick-peeking around corners, slicing the pie, dynamic entries into rooms, using your team to cover you while you disable a bomb or secure a hostage. And when the gunfight is on, it's a lot of fun. I repeat, it's a lot of fun.
The controls on the game are very responsive. Once I got the input sensitivity adjusted to my liking, the controls became an extension of my hand. Switching weapons and reloading is easy and takes a realistic amounts of time. The graphics are the best I've seen yet on the Xbox in my small collection of games and the games I've rented. You can see shadows of your enemy as you are approaching corners, if you look at a flash bang as it goes off, you are disoriented for about twenty seconds. The sound on the game is awesome. The gunfire, explosions and other sounds are very realistic. On my home theater system, the explosions were just booming through my subwoofer and rocking the house. The communication between team members is adequate.
Occasionally, a team member may do something stupid like run in front of you while your are shooting at a terrorist. And some of the terrorists occasionally use stupid tactics like the kamikaze charge whereafter they quickly become paper weights. These are small faults that do not take away from the overall gameplay.
I say if you are in the market for a first person shooter or a military style game, Rainbow Six 3 is where it's at. | video-games_xbox |
Lots of potential, not much payoff. This game offers satisfying melee combat, and literally nothing else.
That's not quite fair -- it looks great for the most part, and the writing is absolutely top-notch. The story is interesting, and the incidental dialogue between the two playable characters and even from the enemies is surprisingly entertaining. But when it comes to the actual gameplay, you'll realize after about half an hour that you have done pretty much everything the game will let you do. You're supposedly working to unravel some big conspiracy, but you accomplish that by walking through uninteresting urban mazes and beating up uninteresting, anonymous enemies with the same basic moves for the entire game. Even your standard "find a way to open the door" puzzles just require you to look around for a few seconds until you find the necessary lever or whatever, and there's never any variation on the combat.
It's disappointing that you never get to play any characters besides Rorschach and Nite Owl (although they are pretty well done), and that even with those two you never do anything like, say, fight someone with a gun. That's really my biggest gripe with this game, that none of the enemies who are trying to kill you ever pull out a gun, even when they're police officers or mercenaries. The boss of episode 1 is literally wearing a flamethrower during your entire battle, and the main impact that has on the fight is that you can't punch him in the back because of the big gas tank. Seriously. He only actually uses it at the very end of the sequence, and he does so in the dumbest way possible.
So why did I give this three stars? Because I did really enjoy the melee combat in short doses. Some of the finishing moves are fun to watch even after you've seen them 50 times. (There's one Rorschach does that I like to call "Nut Spank" -- cracks me up every time.) It's kind of a button masher, but not really more so than your average God of War clone. And it's cheap. I think it's worth the price for something to play after work for half an hour or so every now and then when you just want to blow off some steam but you're not in the mood for a shooter.
EDIT: I dropped my rating by a star because I stopped playing this after a couple weeks and haven't had any desire in the months since to pick it up again. You can almost certainly find something with more replay value to spend a similar amount of money on. | video-games_xbox |
An Absolute Blast for Multiple, Competitive Players - Comfortable Level of Activity. It took an initial 2.1 GB update to get up and running with Rabbids Invasion, and it turned out to be worth the wait.
I can see how this game would be a total drag for a single player, but I and a game-loving friend, as adults taking a crack at a kids game, were more than willing to keep an open mind, and we have genuinely enjoyed the game.
The game is simple, and though it gets players moving, it features action balanced among physical fitness, competing to be the first to point out an upcoming object within a scene, yelling at the top of your lungs, controlling on screen characters by hand while jumping to grab objects, and much more.
There are all sorts of fun episodes to unlock along the way, and the more players the better in that regard, as all players' combined points build the bar up more quickly to the next new episode, or the next photo booth object.
Photo booth objects may be used to add as props within the photo booth, where the Rabbids in the foreground prepare their poses, while humans prepare theirs in time for the snap of the shutter, upon which a message prompts whether or not to store the fun photo among the collection for later viewing.
I am most impressed with the implementation of the Kinect tracking; it always seems to keep the players in their respective circles, and is quite responsive. Of course, there are times when I would win a face-making, gesture-matching frame with what I was pretty sure was not in synch with what I had seen, but for the most part, it seems incredibly well done.
I can see its targeted age group possibly finding some replay value in this game once it has been explored in its entirety, but once through is enough for myself. Up to four players can enjoy the game having enough distance from Kinect to accommodate the group - this will be fun for get togethers of those beyond the intended demographic, supposing they're willing to give it a chance in the first place. The Rabbids are somewhat silly characters, so if you're the rigid type, they may not appeal to you.
This game is fun, running is a blast. The pointing at items does repetitiously happen more than most anything else in the game, but the variety of other items keeps the game fun. I especially liked the hand-controlled painting, or rather competing to fill in the outline of various mustache and beard combos on the faces of Rabbids. Turning on the lights in the buildings was a blast to. The main thing is, you've got to have at least one person to compete with, and it's a blast when everyone is giving it their all to win that crown.
Overall, this is a fun game. I like it, even as an adult, but I don't love it, but that's just me. It's a blast. | video-games_xbox |
Mediocre at best. First off, the story is ZOMG meh. It tries to go the Forrest Gump slash Transformers: Dark Side of the Moon route by taking some actual historical events, and film clips, and blending them with their story. Basically it comes off as Red Dawn with Korea instead of Russia, and instead of Patrick Swayze, we get a pilot. All that aside, it is a very linear shooter that attempts to identify itself with a few unique things, such as being able to talk to people in almost RPG like town settings. It would have been nice if they expanded on that, by offering shops, or more meaningful content in those type of settings (Fallout?), but like much of the game it just feels rushed, and mediocre. Another fine example of this is the newspapers you pick up as you go along, they tell part of the story, but look to be little more than text on a page. Being a newspaper, shouldn't it have looked like a newspaper, and not a book report?
It just really seems like the game was pulled in two directions with the type of content they have. One side was pulling to make it a fast paced action game where you go go go, shoot shoot shoot, and go go go again, whereas the other side wanted it more go go, shoot shoot, stop and take in what is going on, absorb the world and those "surviving" in it. What comes out the other end is a semi-meaningless linear trek through their story, with a few somewhat fun gimmicks to keep you amused along the way.
As a fan of first persons shooters, it is always nice to shoot at new things with familiar controls, so I can't call this a bad game. There are classic little things that annoy me, like for instance, at one point I stopped short of a story point, and this one guy kept spawning, running to a fence, hopping over it, and then shooting at me. I just stood there shooting him over and over and over, until I took a few more steps forward, and he stopped spawning.
Cool name, cool overall image, and maybe part two will me a cool game, but for now it is just an okay game. | video-games_xbox |
Not bad. UPDATE: It's working just fine. I am not seeing any issues thus far. It's possible others received a defective unit or aren't using it properly. The thing where the base needs to be depressed and clicked into position to protect the contacts a little (I'm assuming) is kind of useless. The included NiMH pack works well, but I really wish it was a single cell lithium ion for my own reasons.
Now, I see there are a ton of negative reviews, but the unit seems acceptable. I'll keep it unless it breaks within warranty/return period. Otherwise I will just repair and upgrade it in my workshop.
I like it. It's of middle-upper quality, controller sits comfortably on the unit without forcing it or otherwise anything awkward. I'm using a 90 micro USB cable I already had to plug into the dock, the included cable is of mid quality.
There is a sort of extendable function, where the main cradle click locks downward, likely to protect the contacts when not in use or for storage. Not really sure, but it's not important really. I'll be leaving it in 'charge' position for its entire service life most likely.
Now, I have only had this for one day, so I cannot attest to the battery life, however I believe this battery is metal hydride chemistry. It's heavy. It will work fine, however, if your base stops working properly, you can't charge this pack. It's only chargable (practically speaking) through the contacts on the bottom of the pack. Yeah, you might be able to charge the pack with a home made adapter through the primary contacts, but it's going to be a PITA. I may take the casing for this battery and rebuild it with a lithium cell pack of my own design, and rewire the base accordingly with different solid-state. This is fine for me, as I'm an experienced electrical engineer, and really for $17 it's not terrible at all.
Will update if the thing craps out. I treat all of my equipment, no matter how cheap, likes it's made of glass, so if it fails for me, then there's something wrong with the design or manufacturing process. | video-games_xbox |
Evolution of RPG gaming and Morality. I am giving this game 5 stars; incredible story, engaging game play and tactics, great voice acting,and characters you grow to care about not withstanding, what sets this game apart, what sets most Bioware games apart, most notably Mass Effect and now Dragon Age, is its approach to morality.
The difference between Dragon Age and other notable RPG's is subtle; I invite you to think back to previous offering in this genre.
JRPG's such as Final Fantasy series, Tales of Vesperia or even the classic Chronotrigger lacked any real morality decisions, or "Role Playing". The story plays out for you, whether you want it to or not. Almost like content in between cut-scenes. Moving from there, you have games with morality choices that are gaged on a meter with a clear line between good and bad: Bioware's KOTOR is an excellent example. However, with the coming of Mass Effect, and now Dragon Age, Role Playing has evolved to a more natural level.
No longer forced to chose between good and evil, it has become possible with these games to actually Role Play a complex character, and in no other game has this been more possible then in Dragon Age. The dialog choices are almost agonizing. My character is anything but black and white. Decisions are not without consequences, whether it be the changing opinion of party members, or the uncovered quests, or even missed opportunities (for example, I killed some one who could have been a party member, I did not know it until I spoke to a friend who played the game differently) Often, the consequences can be brutal; knives in the back cold blooded brutal. This is a true Role Playing Game, that begins to approach a level of engagement never seen before. When I make choices, I do not think,"is this a good, or bad action". I think, "how would "I" handle tis situation?"
You are never forced down a path, or forced to join a faction. This game allows one to play in the truly grey area of human nature. For this reason, I give this it 5 stars. | video-games_xbox |
What a let down. <<spoiler alert! There are a few, if you haven't read any other reviews but nothing you won't find out 10 minutes into the game.>>
I, like many other writing these reviews, am a big fan of the Assassin's Creed games. I so looked forward to this game, I pre-ordered it. Something I never do. Skyrim (which is Fffff%$#ing fantastic!) was the only other game I preordered. Man was I let down.
>>The Story
Well I have not finished the game yet, and due to the number of bugs, I don't know if I will be able to. Hopefully a patch will come out and fix them, but if Ubisoft's attempt at making a good game is any indication, that's not happening. But so far (~50% done according to the Animus) it is as good as the prior games. You are getting answers about what is going on in the world and it is interesting.
The game starts out with you playing some guy who turns out to be Conor's father. Very Darth Vadery. It was surprised and annoyed at how much of the game was play this guy. Then you play Conor as a kid. And then a teenager, and then a teenager with a slightly older looking avatar.
But Conor's story? Yeah, see Conor below.
>>The Main Character, Conor
Wow, another reviewer had it just right. Conor is a boring dullard. His voice is whinny and annoying. He acts like a 5 year old. His comments on the world and story arc are dumbfoundingly obvious. He comments on things the player can obviously see but omits any explanation on anything useful.
I really don't find myself caring what happens to Conor. You are pushed through the story doing things for people and half the time, I really don't know why other than the marker said so. What story you do fine out about is badly written. Your mom dies when you are young. There is no sign that you even know who your dad is. Then all of a sudden you are talking about him like you grew up with him all your life! Wha the Hell! Then there is the problem that there is no reason for you to hunt your father. One of his associates maybe, but then you find out he didn't kill your mom and burn your village. SO WHY ARE YOU AFTER THEM!?
And talk about an ungrateful world. Your enemies are the British, of course, it is the Revolutionary War, but then so are the rebels, the loyalist, and the Templar dudes. Basically everyone is your enemy. Yay, fun. You even have to liberate forts controlled by the British and it is taken over by rebels who are then hostile towards you and chase you out of the forts. REALLY?! Wow, just wow.
I can go on about this, but not without more spoilers.
>>Game Play.
This is really the biggest problem with the game. It plays like AC1, no potions and you heal slowly in combat and nearly instantly out of combat. New to AC3, you don't get armor so you never get more hit points/damage, but then again, as far as I can see the enemies don't get any tougher either. But let me itemize some of my beef with the game:
* Bugs. HOLY F'ing BUGS!
Quests that don't start, or after they start disappear. Quest markers that lead you to no quest event. Like hunt this animal. You go to the spot and kill every animal around and nothing. Quest restarts having failed it. Or you go to a location for a liberation mission and there is nothing to do there. No one doing anything. ARGH!
Hunted system that is soooo messed up. Like AC2 you can get noticed and the guards will start to peruse and eventually become hostile. You have the option of taking down posters (which do NOT show up on the minimap), bribing town criers, or bribing the printing press. All well and dandy. But then the whole thing is buggy. I get caught doing a liberation mission and get chased. Then I go to a town crier (which does show up on the minimap) and low and behold, there are two EXACTLY the same avatars saying the same lines, doing the same thing. Then I bribe him (them) and they take 2x the cash. A little later, I get in trouble again. Now there are THREE town criers at each location. I mean come on. How lousy is that. The posters are sometimes INSIDE the walls so are nearly impossible to find except for the white animus lines around it. Then when you are once more anonymous, the posters don't disappear and the criers still extole you as a villain (well all of them except the one(s) you bribed.) This is a major screw up.
Hunting? The game tells you to look for tracks, white paw prints floating in the air with a white line going down to the ground. You go there and sometimes you find track and your HUD radar shows you where the prey is. Sometimes it tells you a small animal was here. the tutorial says you can place a snare here and go away. The small animal will return and get snared. HA! This only works in the tutorial. First you almost NEVER find these "tracks". Second when you do, going up to them scares all the small animals away and they never return. WTH!? But hunting bigger game can be fun. Hiding in the bushes and pouncing. But then again the timed button mashing is down right dumb. Wolves and big cats are tough and can kill you. Bears are highly aggressive and while they require 4 sets of timed button mashing, are the easiest to kill. How does that work?
Clipping problems. I have been stabbed and shot by enemies through and INSIDE walls and door. Can I shoot them back? NO! So when you have to kill someone and they are safely tucked into a stone wall, you have to basically start all over. THAT IS ASININE!
* Homestead. Yeah this is at times the bright spot and low spot. Getting people to settle your homestead is cool usually and the subsequent stories are good too. But then, there is more stupidity on the writers behalf. You can gain access to new raw materials by completing these quest. Some make sense like ridding an area of a problem. Others like playing bacci ball get you walnut wood? WHAT!? And you don't even have to win. Just play.
The economy is more complex than Skyrim. Scores and Scores of things you can produce that can be then used as raw materials to be crafted into other things that they themselves become raw materials for other crafting stuff. For example, you need to buy wood from your woodsy people, then have that made into barrels, then have those used in ale making. FEW! And each step of the way costs you money. Then you can sell it using a caravan. Which costs money. Which loses money to taxes and being attacked. So in the end, you lose money trying to make money. I think eventually I will be able to make money, but this is AC NOT Donald Trumps Capitalist Island or something. Thankfully, you can just ignore this part of the game.
* Sneaking/Assassinating. Well one thing I have never liked about AC games was that you can't "go stealthy" so generally you find yourself fighting a half dozen dudes Rambo style. This game is no different. I feel more like Conan the Barbarian then Ninja Assassin. I always felt this was laking in these games.
That's enough of a wall of text I think.
If not for the bugs, I think I could have finished this game. I would still have to look past the bad protagonist, cheesy storylines, missing information, and a whole plethora of other things. Ohh Ubisoft! DAMN YOU! | video-games_xbox |
Magical. We bought this game for our kids for Christmas and my wife and I have probably played it as much or more than they have so far. It's a great family game. This game is huge! There is so much stuff to do! The developers really crammed as much stuff in there as they could. You have the whole huge theme park to explore (which is very accurate to the actual thing!), a whole bunch of "attractions" (minigames), and much more. It has been a pretty "magical" experience so far for me and my family.(we're planning on visiting the actual park this year so that makes us even more excited)
I had a lot more that I was going to write but if you read the excellent review from Nutwiisystem.com that is currently listed as the "Most Helpful" that is basically what I would say. There are a few other things I would add/change -
He said his one gripe was the repetitive gameplay. I don't disagree that the way that a lot of the minigames are played is virtually the same. However they are so varied in the graphics, theme, music and everything that happens during each level that more than makes up for the repetitiveness for me. There are also enough tweaks in a lot of them to keep them from feeling like complete copycats.
Multiplayer works well for the most part and adds to the fun. As many have noted there are some issues with characters being assigned random avatars (which may be upsetting for some) during drop in/drop out co-op. I have found that the player that has the profile where the game is saved is the only one that can expect his/her avatar to remain consistent. Even though the game recognizes my daughters and signs them in on their profiles it will still assign them random avatars (although if they have changed into a costume (like a princess dress) the random girl avatar will usually retain that). They have learned to deal with it and don't get too upset (if they want a girl and it assigns a boy, leave the play area and come back and it will switch)
****Update - the random avatar thing isn't an issue anymore. We got it to save so when the Kinect recognizes my daughters or they sign in on their profiles it will have their customized avatars appear.
Overall this is a great game and one of my favorite Kinect games. If you have kids, are a kid at heart, or a Disney fan, definitely give this one a look! | video-games_xbox |
Not what I want, but still good. This isn't the Ghostbusters game I've always wanted to play. I've always wanted the opportunity to play my own character who opens his own franchise in some city other than New York. Dr. Venkman did, after all, dream of profits from the franchise rights just after Dr. Stanz mortgaged his grandmother's house to get the money to start up; I'd like to be among those paying that franchise fee. I want to have to organize a route, balance profits against losses--in short, play what amounts to a business sim / RPG / go blast some ghosts. Some calls would be routine, replayable missions that are designed to be fun and bring in some money. Some would be one-time deals that tell small, episodic stories. And some, coming on the schedule according to a timetable, would lead to a final confrontation against some ancient demigod, resurrecting wizard, horror from another dimension, or what have you (the big bad of the game). The goal would be to make enough money to have the right equipment to take on said creature from beyond. You take your time, or pay too much out for collateral damage instead of equipment, or what have you, Chicago (or whatever city the devs chose for the franchise expansion) will be ground zero for the end of the world. No pressure. ;)
That said, the actual game is quite fun. In the initial run, I was struck by how the art style seemed to be somewhat inspired by Left 4 Dead... appropriate for the genre. The controls are fun, blasting and trapping ghosts is fun, and the four equipment sets you pick up as you go through the game make for interesting gameplay. There was only one sequence that at "casual" (the lowest difficulty level and the one I played at) that frustrated me, but it was awesome when I finally got past it (the cupid statues at the gate, for those in the know). I really don't have any complaints, and if they were to create my dream game, the basic action established in this game would be perfect for the ghostbusting action portion of the game.
The guys were in good form, as well. With the exception of Rick Moranis as Louis Tully, the original cast is actually played by the original cast... which is really, really cool. The beginning was a little rocky in my opinion, but both the story and the banter between the ghostbusters are excellent pretty wall all the way through.
If you like Ghostbusters and are not pathologically averse to shooters (and this is more than just a shooter, IMO), send a message: buy this game. Maybe they'll make another. Maybe they'll even give us our own franchise. | video-games_xbox |
A New Way to Experience the Charm of RTS-Style Game. RTS-like games on consoles always have a cumbersome control system when compared to their PC versions, although game-makers are trying everything to simplify the complicated controls into a single controller with about ten buttons to make up for the loss of keyboard and mouse (which might be the biggest invention in the PC input equipment). However, this ends when EndWar comes out.
Features:
No annoying resource-harvesting, only fast-paced actions. That's the Endwar, with the innovative voice command control system. Sit on a couch, trigger RT, speak out your command based on a "Who-What-Where" structure and game is in your hands (voice). RTS games have never been so smoothy on a console. Despite the fast actions it presents, it doesn't mean there's no strategy. You still need to plan well to win every battle.
Voice Control:
Voice control works actually pretty well so far as I have experienced since more than 90% of the time my command is taken into action correctly using the original Xbox 360 headset. Also, button-based control is available, which means you can treat this game like a traditional console RTS game if you like, but it's hard to defeat a human opponent while you are not using voice control, because you need longer time to give your orders.
About the game itself:
The background of the game is set in the near future when the WWIII is set on fire.
In the Solo Campaign mode, You will first get yourself familiar with the game by walking into the Prelude part telling you how the WWIII breaks out. You will be assigned as a commander of one of the three factions, which are Euro, USA, and Russia and play a series of easy battles. That's telling you the basic rules of this game. After these tutorial-like battles, the WWIII begins and you have to choose your faction to continue your fight. You earn money after each battle for upgrades for your units.
Theater of War is one of its multiplay modes and is much like the WWIII solo campaign but with human opponents not AI players. Other multiplayer modes include quick match in which you fight a random players, and private match where you can play with your friends.
Win the battles:
Endwar includes several types of maps. In some you need to defend the enemy's siege, while in others you try to secure the uplink buildings to gain more advantage to crush the enemy. Several types of units are available, including riflemen, engineers (using rocket launchers), tanks, transporters, gunships, artilleries and some others. The basic rule is like a triangle that gunships are effective at beating tanks, which are the killer of transporters, which are in turn gunship-hunters. In solo WWIII or Theater of War, the units survived will be promoted and become much more powerful. If they are defeated but evacuated (retreat), they can still be dispatched in the next battle and their ranks are maintained. However, they will disappear from your dispatch list when they are defeated and killed. So, use your high-ranked units wisely and don't let them attack without proper covers. Unit promotion will not be saved for quick match or private match.
Closing Comments:
Endwar is really an RTS game made for console. It's the start of a new type of RTS on console system that is promising, although we do see some drawbacks such as frame loss when many units are firing at each other on screen at the same time, and no big difference between the three factions except for the looking. I haven't touched any RTS game on any console for like 3 years, and thanks to Endwar that brings me back. | video-games_xbox |
The New, FREE Version Is Awesome. The review below was based on the original, "buy the DVD" version of the game. The software is now free on Xbox 360, PS3, and PC. All of the bugs have been worked out, the install time is amazingly fast (compared to the install that the DVD required), and the updates are only a few minutes now, instead of over an hour (or four).
The game play itself hasn't changed much. There are some cosmetic changes here and there, such as the major ark falls. They also have had some seasonal events, such as a reindeer hunt around Christmas (hunt as in find, NOT shoot).
Overall, I have found the game to be very fun since Trion released version 2, and I highly recommend it to others. I am leaving the old review intact, just so you can get a feel for how bad it was, and compare the new version for yourself.
Granted, there is still the occasional crash, but it always feels (at least to me), that it is because there are just too many players in one spot, doing the same event at once. But when you stop and think about it, having too many players means there are a lot of people enjoying the game, and that is a positive thing, even if the crash is an inconvenience.
Unfortunately, the Ark Hunter DLC is still too important not to buy, since it leaves a hole in the game if you don't have it. But considering the hours of fun you'll have with version 2, it's worth the $10.
And by-the-way, when you buy the game new, there are some codes for items that will help you get started, so if you're the type of person that bought World of Tanks (another free game on the 360), you might want to consider grabbing the disc for this game as well.
Should Trion ever put out an Xbox One version, especially if I can keep my character, I will definitely install it.
I still can't stand the TV show, however.
The Original Review:
In the three weeks that I've been playing, I had to install three times. Once when I put it in my Xbox the first time, a second one within a week of playing because of a bad patch, and again today, because of a bad patch. It takes half an hour to install, and the first two patches were 1 1/2 hours each.
The first time I tried to patch today, the patch froze my Xbox (a common complaint on the message board for the game). This forced me to patch a second time, and again, I locked up. I was forced to clean the cashe, and install from scratch. That was half an hour to install, plus FOUR HOURS to patch. FOUR HOURS!
The company has also stopped taking direct questions via email or phone. You have to file a complaint via their site, and hope they answer within a few business days. No game is worth all of the install/patch time that this one requires on a weekly basis. And by the way, today's patch was to accommodate a dlc that isn't even out for another week or so.
If you think the bad reviews are an over reaction, look at Amazon's buy price for the game. Twenty one cents as I type this. Twenty one cents for a game that currently sells new for $10. That has to mean that there are more people selling their copies then there are people buying them used or new.
DON'T BUY THIS GAME!
UPDATE:
I Attempted to play this again. Things were fine for a few days, then yesterday, another long patch, due to the need to re-install. The patch was over 4 hours this time. I did have other things to do, so I let it run. Today came another patch. It installed, the game crashed, and I had to reboot my Xbox. When I went back to the game, it started to re-install automatically.
After almost 2 hours, I gave up, and turned it off. Later, I attempted to finish the patch, but for some reason I was told that I'd have to start the patch from scratch. Almost 2 hours later, the patching was done. I turned the game on, and was told that the patch was corrupt. I'd have to do it all over again, game install and the patch.
I have noticed that the people that get to bypass all of this <censored> are the people that have bought the most recent dlc for the game. Maybe I'm just being jaded or paranoid, but I think that Trion is trying to force people to spend money on the season pass or dlc. Either way, I am selling my copy. | video-games_xbox |
One of the Best Game Stories I Have Seen in Years. I have to admit, I purchased the first couple of episodes on my Xbox 360 back when this series first came out, but never actually got around to playing them. My backlog of games is so big that a lot of times, titles like this just fall into the cracks as you just totally forget about them. Anyways, I wound up rebuying all 3 Telltale games for my Xbox One during Black Friday (Walking Dead 1 & 2 + The Wolf Among Us) as it was just too good of a deal to pass up and since I had never gotten around to playing this title, it was the first one I popped in once I received them. In all honesty, had I known it was going to be this good, I would have played this title before I played Walking Dead 2. All in all, this was easily one of the best stories I have seen in an adventure game in a long time. All in all, it has just a great story, brilliant characters, and the mystery your investigating keeps you glued to the screen from start to finish. I wound up blowing through all 5 episodes in a single sitting.
One of the reasons I think I ultimately put off playing this game is I really didn't know much about it. The game is based on the comic book Fables, which is basically about a bunch of fairy tale characters that come to live in our world (the mundane world) due to their homelands being occupied by an enigmatic tyrant known only as the Adversary. Some of the characters include Snow White, Ichabod Crane, The Big Bad Wolf, Bluebeard, The Three Little Pigs, Beauty and the Beast, Mr. Toad, etc. You play as the Big Bad Wolf, also known as Bigby Wolf. He is the Sheriff of Fabletown, a town where most of these characters live and secretly blend in with the mundane world. I won't give anything away regarding the plot, expect to say that it revolves around some murders that have taken place.
The characters themselves are hugely fascinating and written extremely well. Add in the murder mystery and trust me, there is enough quality content here to keep you hooked until the very end. I actually wound up playing it a 2nd time through, just to see how the different choices pan out as this game has branching paths, just like Telltale's other adventure games. To say that I thoroughly enjoyed my time with this title would be a massive understatement. In all honesty, I would say this was just as good as the original Walking Dead title by Telltale and had I known it was this good, I never would have put off playing it as long as I did. If you haven't played this game yet and are a fan of adventure games, particularly Telltale's adventure games....well, do yourself a favor and play this game the very next chance you get. Trust me, you will not regret it. All in all, one of the best adventure games of the last 10 years, easy!!! Absolutely brilliant in every sense of the word.
5 Stars!! | video-games_xbox |
DO NOT BUY. Absolutely unplayable. Remember how every year, everyone would joke about how all we're buying is a roster update? Well, this joke has gotten way too real.
This year, all you're buying REALLY IS just a roster update. Franchise Mode and superstar mode are no more. Don't buy into the whole "Connected Career Mode is Franchise/Superstar," because believe me, it's not. Not remotely close.
Your ability to edit your players in Franchise mode has been revoked. Have a specific retired jersey number that you don't want anyone on your team wearing? Tough luck, you can't do anything about it, some nobody is now wearing that treasured jersey number. Wanna give your players a little more swagger by adding a wristband or giving them a visor? Tough luck, can't do that either. Wanna change the name of a drafted player because you have way too many "Jones" or "Johnson"'s on your team? Tough luck, you now have an army of Jones on your team.
I knew that they were going to leave the "Edit Players" feature out this year, but I thought I could make it work since I can't picture a year where I haven't bought Madden. But if you're reading this, BELIEVE ME, you can't, especially if you're someone who loves personalizing and customizing your players. Franchise mode has lost all it's depth.
This year, EA has removed the point-of-view camera angle from Superstar mode; which is when you play from behind your player while you move around with him. What does this mean? It means that you are now playing from the view that you would in Play Now or Franchise mode, the camera no longer follows your superstar. This makes playing wide receiver or corner back IMPOSSIBLE because they are too far off of the screen to see. You can't cover or run with a receiver you're covering, or you can't run a route, because you can't see your player! It's basically Play Now mode, but you're locked onto your player, whether you can see them or not.
This game is just unplayable. EA took a step forward by adding in the infinity engine and EXP system, but they took four HUGE steps back to make this game utter trash.
Head my warning, DO. NOT. BUY. THIS. GAME. | video-games_xbox |
The UHD 4K player adds a lot of value to this system. I just bought a 4K TV and was in the market for a matching UHD 4k Blu-ray player. There are not a lot of choices out there and my top pick in a UHD 4K player is over $300. So, I took the jump and moved up to the Xbox One S 2TB. For less than $100 I turn my UHD 4K player into an XBox One with a 2TB drive. I already have an XBox One with 500GB internal drive and 2TB external drive, but it does not play 4K. For this review I'm going to focus on two areas. Set up and UHD Player.
Set Up: As always, when I first connected the XBox One S it needed to download and update. Because of this set up took about an hour. I was ready. Rather than hovering over the unit I started the process and then went to fix dinner. It restarted at least once in the process and finally came up to the new XBox console. I have to say that things have really improved since they early XBox days when they made a big deal about one account having more than one XBox. Microsoft is trying to make the XBox the center of the family entertainment system and has realized that this will only work if you are allowed to have more than one XBox. I mean, seriously, who has only one TV? I logged into my account and got a list of games available to download from my account. When I tried a couple games I even had access to latest saves. Next step, select a batch of games to download and let the unit install them over night. The next day we were ready to play. One more thing I will mention, XBox searched my network and found my Sonos speakers. This gives me an option of playing music from my XBox to my Sonos system. A nice bonus.
UHD 4K Player: At some point after setup my XBox One S recognized my TV as a UHD 4K device and asked if I wanted XBox to change to match the resolution of the TV. I told it to change and then tried a 4K Movie. The screen started glitching, blinking, and blacking out. I powered off the XBox and the TV, then turned everything back on and tried the movie again. It looked GREAT and the flickering was gone. At this point I was not using external speakers and was relying on the TV speakers. At this volume I could hear the XBox which was just a bit louder than a dedicated blu-ray player. It would probably bother me at low volumes but not when I have the surround system on. The only other issue I have is using a game pad as the remote. I need to look at options for using a master remote to control movies on the XBox One S. | video-games_xbox |
Note quite KOTOR. I loved KOTOR and couldn't get enough, so I bought KOTOR 2. It's a fine game, but can't match the epic scale of its predecessors. The biggest problem is bugs and what seems like an incomplete plot. Here are some thoughts:
STORY
KOTOR was renowned for its epic story. KOTOR 2's story by contrast is a bit vague and never really fulfills its potential. Basically, several Sith Lords are assassinating the Jedi and you have to gather the last of the Jedi masters. However, unlike in KOTOR, you barely see the main villains (well, except for one of the Sith...). The individual levels have some fun plots, particularly the civil wars, but some like Korriban seem empty. You see a surprisingly small number of Sith along the way.
There are also a few potentially interesting plot twists, particularly the HK-50 droids, that seem unresolved. Indeed, there are developer files for further levels and cinematics that weren't included in the final game due to time pressures. All I can say is there is a mod available online that reincorporates some of these elements.
CHARACTERS
Another downside is that KOTOR 2's cast is simply weaker overall. The characters tend to have more subdued personalities and there's a lot less dialogue. There is a new game mechanic of building influence with other characters, depending on your gender and Light/Dark Side actions. It's a good idea, but sometimes this only means that it's more difficult to talk with them. You'll probably find that there are at least a few characters whom you'll simply have no desire to play. There are a few gems, such as Kreia, whose cynicism and creepiness are an awesome touch. However, you won't see any action figures of them anytime soon.
GAMEPLAY
Pretty much KOTOR plus a few additional mechanics, such as greater Force powers and lightsaber fighting forms. It works pretty well overall.
GRAPHICS
Again, like KOTOR but better. Some of the main characters look really good with more polygons and detailed rendering. This game came out only a year after KOTOR, so it's not surprising that they look so similar.
MUSIC
Again, not as epic as KOTOR. There aren't any blood-pumping themes like the KOTOR intro or Star Forge battle. It's not memorable and tends to be dark and subdued. Sadly, I think it was a mistake to put Mark Griskey on this game as opposed to Jeremy Soule, the compose for KOTOR. I'm also not a fan of Griskey's work on The Force Unleashed.
Overall, KOTOR 2 is more KOTOR and it works reasonably well. It's a shame that Obsidian didn't spend the extra few months or so that would have made this game great. In the end, given the price of the game nowadays, it's certainly a decent way to get your KOTOR fix until The Old Republic comes out later this year. | video-games_xbox |
The Most successful FPS returns & is better than ever. I gotta admit when I first put this game in I was not as impressed but the more I played it the better it got .When I first played it I was rushing through the levels with flashlite and shooting everything but not realy looking to much but I gotta say now that Ive played it twice I truly am impressed with this game. There is alot of detail if you look for it. Doom3 is an EXCELLENT FPS Game,with great graphics, and the smooth FPS gameplay. The demons are nicely detailed ,the flying screeming heads look realy kool and all the enemies have a fierceness look to them with glowing red eyes ,very kool stuff. The sound is good especialy the whispers ,it sounds good on my stereo, but some of the guns sound a little weak ,but the ambient sound effects are realy well done the whole game has got a real creepiness to it. The footsteps you can even tell what direction they are coming from .Your first set of demons are possesed slow walking human zombies but that soon changes as the new varied demon creatures will lunge strait at you and they are tougher on the Veteran difficulty. You charachter has a PDA in Doom3, you can download info,email,voice messages,and video clips from certain terminals which all can been read and seen,also you can down load other peoples lost PDA'S and look at there info stored. It helps you find codes for lockers and doors with either ammo,weapons,health,or level advancement. There's plenty of ammo hidden in all areas of the game ,I never found myself too short of ammo. Its there you just go look in every dark area ,corner, nook and crannie. The more ammo you find the more enemies will spawn in .I noticed that if I didn't pick up certain ammo ,or explore certain areas no enemies would spawn in , the more you explore,and the more ammo you find,the more enemies will spawn in. Like for example the plasma storage room with the door code ,if I didn't go in, not as many enemies would spawn but if I found the PDA & used the code on the door ,tons of enemies spawned in. The bottom line is explore everywhere for a tougher game experience,the more ammo you find the more enemies you'll fight. My fav weapon was the shotgun it kills most demons in 1-3 shots,but of course its useless for long range. The plasma gun or the chain gun takes care of the charging big-bull type demon pretty fast. All the weapons work quite well,except for the handgun which should be used only on slow human zombies. Save your shotgun ammo for the demons who charge you & you should always have it handy. Conserve your big weapon ammo for the tougher guys. There's the blood & gore type effets in Doom3 that made doom series a stand out fps and the chainsaw is once again back for gory kills. The lighting is well done with dark hallways and enemies popping out from them and all the trippy looking demonic type writing on the walls looks wild. And I love the way the demons spawn in ,very kool. I find myself jumping (flinching)alot because the sound effects(on my stereo) & the enemies pop at you from out of know where .I like the dream type sequences ,it adds to the tension. This game does a good job of making you feel tense. You cant use your flashlight and your gun at the same time,(what? no friggen duck tape??)which at first is a little annoying but after awhile it does make the game more intense which adds to the effect of the game ,and after awhile you will get so good at switching from gun to flashlite it'll become second nature and besides its a simple one-button switch.white button on default. The first 29 sections your on a station on MARS and its not all just strait forward (linear),many times you'll backtrack to a previously unopenable door for level advancement. Mostly you'll find a door that needs a special key or a code on another persons PDA,you'll then need to find that PDA for the door code. Not to mention you will be fighting plenty of demons along the way. After you leave the Mars Level about 3/4 in the game you get to HELL level its Friggen Intense ! The look of the game comepletly takes a change for the better ,Imagine the whole game with this look ,maybe Doom4 will go that route ,hopefully so. Wait till you get to the HELL level you'll agree its awesome looking,this is what I imagined Doom3 to be. Its really intense you loose your flashlight & all weapons but luckly you will re-stock back up. Also the levels look even better once you leave HELL and go to the caverns levels. Its pretty trippy looking. There's 4 difficulty settings ,RECRUIT,MARINE,VETERAN,& NIGHTMARE MODE. Nightmare mode is only opened up after beating the game and you start the game with the Soul Cube ,you can equip it as soon as you get your first weapon,also your health on nightmare mode slowly drains even if you don't get hurt,but will stop draining at 25. I played the game on Marine mode and beat the game in 3 days,now im on Veteran difficulty. I truly like the game better the second time around ,Im noticing alot more little details. There is a secret Room on the last level just before you fight the last Boss. Its in the cavern level with all the candles in the hallway. You push Id logo on the wall and a secret room opens up and you'll find a PDA from the Id game developers with all the programmers Thank You Notes. Doom3 is a Fun Solid Tension filled FPS Game with decent replay value and Online capability. | video-games_xbox |
A new "homecoming" to Silent Hill. I'll keep my review brief and too the point.
Positives:
1. Engaging story. I thought it was really good.
2. The change the environment makes from the "real" world to the "nightmare" world.
3. Graphics are phenominal.
4. "Over the Shoulder" view has it's advantages of eliminating bad camera angles that plagued the other games.
Negatives:
1. Save points - They are few and far between. Especially at the beginning of the game when you arrive in Shepherd's Glen. It took me over 45 minutes to find a save point after I reached Alex's home. Here's a hint. Go to the Town Hall. There is a save point in one of the back rooms. Do this to save aggrivation!!!
2. Combat - I really had a hard time understanding the dynamics of the new combat system. You CANNOT just go toe-to-toe with a lot of the bad guys, they will cut you up! You have to make use of the "Evade" option to duck around an attack. There are several enemies you can go toe-to-toe with if you use the combat knife (which I used pretty much the whole game). You must use combos though, Here's another hint: Tap A, A, A, then X. This will stun the enemy and you can do it again. Here's another. When you run into the enemy "SMOG" - RUN! You do not need to fight him unless you are trying to get the acheivement.
3. Lack of Health Items - Shepherd's Glen has very few health items. And the few I did find, I ended up using due to being attacked all the time. By the time I had a boss battle, I had no heath items and was at half health. AAUGH!
4. Boss Fights - These are EXTREMELY DIFFICULT unless you master the combat system of evading, countering, and attacking. In fact, you don't even know how to defeat the bosses unless you've been killed a few time and see a "hint" appear while the game is re-loading. Don't be surprised if you have to re-load a few times or more.
All in all, I liked the game. I liked the characters and story, but like I said, combat is tough. You cannot run from some bad guys like Feral and the Spider-like creature. Pyramid Head shows up at some points, but you do not fight him like in SH2. You can also infer from a conversation with Wheeler the deputy, that Cybil, from SH1 probably died during the first game. Also, about 3/4 of the game is in Shepherd's Glen and the last 1/4 is in Silent Hill. Kinda wierd considering the title of the game, but you can overlook that. | video-games_xbox |
Team Ninja might be the worst company ever... (Wait that would be Konami. This is the 3rd version of DOA5 since 2012
Now that i think about it that's so tasteless
Team Ninja did some strange patch where the previous game Dead or Alive 5 Ultimate Is patched and turned into DOA5 Last Round
(very stupid on Team Ninja's part)
you're loose all the belts you won on the previous game
Once Ultimate is Updated to Last Round
So there was really No point in this coming to next Gen Consoles imo
I forgot how much i payed (i bought it a week or two during release date) very bad idea
another stupid thing team ninja did was release DOA 5 Last Round Core fighting for $9.99
DOA 5 is without a doubt the highest point in there series but, after this being over priced on Next Gen Consoles
It leaves a black eye on the franchise
still in July they are coming out with very over priced DLC (very under-handed and sleazy)
Team Ninja came out and said they removed Tomonobu Itagaki from the Company
Cause he put to much sexual content into the fighting game
But, yet still to this day you see countless over priced DLC and even mini beach videos!
Seriously Team Ninja knows sex sell but, they take it to such a shady area it's pathetic.
Why not just go all out and stop with all the Cosplay Outfits and do Uncensored Nude patches???
I'm just saying.....
The saving grace of this port is the Look it does look simply amazing
the audio is really good now (mostly due to the XOne being able to decode DTS 5.1)
the fps i have no clue at times it looks awesome but, there are times the game slows down
Not online when you are playing through One player Modes (which is very strange)
The Online last i played it was touchy (lots of slow down) which brakes the online
If you can get the full game for $20.00 or less bite
If you already played the other versions it all depends (It's truly a mixed bag It's without a doubt not the worst Port that was brought over from last Gen just to make a quick buck! but, it's also a Triple A Title that has a strong fan base that's already picked up one of the previous two versions
There are no new achievements in this version Big Surprise (1000)
But,you get a few new exclusive fighters
Not really since Last Round is also on Previous Gen Hardware thanks to that stupid Patch
It's really hard to review this title due to the fact DOA5 is so slick and close to perfect! This was such a Huge Waste of a once great IP
Due to all the crashes and problems at release 7.5/10
I haven't played this game in 3-4months maybe all the glitches and tech problems are fixed none the less watch how much you spend on this It's a gamble if you want a great fighter on Next Gen Hardware
Pick MK X or Killer Instinct Season 1 or 2 | video-games_xbox |
Love the Sessions, approve of the changes to the learning path, think there are some bugs that slipped through testing. We are owners of the first Rock Smith, and enjoyed that title. This new, updated version seems to offer a lot of improvements over the last installment. I really like the Sessions, which basically lets you free-jam with robotic players. General gameplay seems the same, with a few improvements in how it guides you through learning and playing.
My first grip is in importing the old songs. When you first start the game, you have to go through the setup portion. At this time, if you have a save file for the older game, it asks you if you want to unlock the old songs (most, really, as a few are actually missing due to licensing of something). At this time, I said "No" because I knew I had a gift card lying around, but had to search for it. According to their site, you can purchase it later. I am here to confirm that is not the case. I searched and search the Microsoft store, and I can tell you if it's there, it's VERY well hidden. I ended up having to create a save on a different drive using the old game, create a new save on that same new device using the new game, this time answering "Yes" to the prompt, then nuking those new saves and going back to my cloud-saved game file. It appears to be a know issue that the developer is working on.
My second grip is in the tuning. The tuning is GREATLY improved over the last game in that you don't have to repeat it every time, as long as the tuning doesn't change between the songs you play, like playing a Standard tuned song then a Drop-D tuned song. However, at least on the Fender Squire we use to play the game, the high e has a problem picking up. It pops up, then falls off the meter, even through you can still hear the sound through the speakers. I find I have to tune that string before I let the game tune it, and pluck it REALLY hard to get it to register. Thankfully, as said, you only have to do this once per tuning. | video-games_xbox |
No "Sands of Time" but a good, albiet short game. I really enjoyed PoP, especially the twist at the end. It definately leaves room for a sequel. But with a changing market they need to change how they design the game. I'll explain later.
The graphics are very cool, probably the best cell shading I've seen on any video game. It looks like a highly detailed sketch at certain points, very cool!
The controls are pretty good but can get awkward depending on which way the camera is aimed (up may be up or it may be right?) They shouldn't take you very long to get used too. Also, I think there's too many buttons that do too many things. Take the Sands of Time for instance, to run up a wall, grab a ledge, jump off, etc, it pretty much all done with 1 or 2 buttons. Now you've got one button for a longer jump, one button to grab rings, one button to jump up/off a wall, etc. Games like this need simple controls to keep the gameplay from getting too confusing.
Combat is even worse, you need all 4 main buttons to do different things plus the control stick PLUS a block button...keep it simple. Thankfully combat is not the focus of this game (nor has it been for any PoP game with the exception of the Warrior Within, which I didn't like very much). The acrobatics were pretty slick, although they didn't feel as streamlined/quick as they did in the Sands of Time series. Maybe they made them a little more realistic, I'm not sure, but I like the much faster pace of the other games more.
The gameplay itself is pretty good but at times feels a little too restrictive, like I'm on a track and have only one or two options of where to go. I guess that's typical of PoP games, but after playing Assassins Creed which was mostly open ended, I think PoP could use a small dose of it. Elika was a neat addition, although I didn't really like the fact that you cannot die. She fits the story well but doesn't really add a whole lot more to the gameplay itself, you can jump further with her, use her in combat...that's about it.
And I know this is petty but why couldn't they have made "the Prince" an actual prince instead of a guy who uses that as a nickname?
Being an achievement finder they could have made the achievmets for this game SO much better. I HATED the "be gentle with her" achievement. This is one of the worst ideas ever, because it made people like me quit out of the game every time she saved me. There's no "load game" option while your playing, so I'd quit to the menu and reloaded. I bet that at the end of the game she only saved me 15 times...but mentally I couldn't keep count so I played it safe.
Here is where I think UbiSoft missed their mark...they are not keeping up with what the market wants. Xbox live is a GREAT service, not just for playing multiplayer games, but for comparing times/stats, etc. Prince of Persia games have never been about combat, they've always been about navigating obsticles, and with Sands of Time that turned into "navigating obsticles using acrobatics at very high speeds." My favorite achievements on this game were the "runner" achievements, get from point A to point B within this much time, they are a blast. They need to ditch the light seeds, the combat, most of the pointless (find all areas, find this view, go to a high place, etc) achievements and make 20-30 "runner" achievements, as these are easily the most fun to get. Make some of them extremely difficult, that will make the veterans want to keep playing. And to top it off do what Devil May Cry 4 and Ninja Gaiden 2 (and other games) did, add "Time Attack" leaderboards for these running achievements. Let players compare their times to other gamer's times, make it somewhat competitive. As it stands the game was fun but it doesn't really give me a reason to go back and play it again or to "try to set a new fast time" or anything.
Overall I'd give it a solid 8-8.5, I really liked the game although it has some faults and, as said, it doesn't have great replay value. There is some DLC coming soon that will add new areas, but I don't know if it'll be worth the purchase. | video-games_xbox |
Not user-friendly. Let me start by saying that I can't compare the Xbox One to the PS3 or PS4 because I've never owned them, but I can compare it to the Xbox 360.
The biggest flaw with the Xbox One is that you are not allowed to download or install anything to your hard drive other than games. No ripping music, no downloading purchased movies/television shows from either Xbox Video or Amazon Prime to your hard drive. There isn't even an option. This isn't terrible if you live in an area with good internet, but I live outside of town so my best internet speed is via satellite, which is useless for streaming.
My guess is this is because Microsoft planned at first to have this be an online-only system, and when they changed that restriction they "forgot" to change the programming to allow for options other than streaming.
Also note that if/when you purchase this system you will have to have an internet connection to get everything set up, including the pre-installed apps like the Blu-ray/movie and CD players.
The graphics are of course better, but with my slow internet the homepage can be pretty choppy. The new snap feature is also nice, but as far as playing music goes, I'd rather have it play in the background while I'm playing a game instead of keeping the music-player open along the side.
I also really like the new controller; LB and RB can now be hit using the middle of your index fingers instead of the ends so you don't have to move them off the triggers. It takes a little getting used to, but once you do you will love it. The only thing that could use an improvement is the development of a battery pack, because batteries are obnoxious.
Overall I give this system 3-stars. It's okay, but it should be better. Until this streaming-only issue is fixed I would not recommend buying this system. The Xbox 360 is more capable than this; they should have added to what the 360 is already capable of, not stripped them away. If you have good internet though, it probably won't bother you much, since streaming is a viable option. | video-games_xbox |
Great design, unforgivable implementation. I'm in a tough spot. I loathe the design of the Rockband guitars - the strum bars feel too stiff, the buttons are loud, the guitar is terrible at sensing when you raise it vertical for star power. That leaves the guitar hero guitars as a backup. Fortunately, the Les Paul frets, strum bar and star power accelerometer all work exactly as they should. I like precision when I'm playing, so I like to hear the click from the strum bar and a super-fast reset back to the neutral position so you can strum again. In short, when the les paul is working, it is *perfect.*
The problem is, the guitar is never really working properly. This is mostly due to some really terrible design decisions. The neck detatches (presumably for easy transport), and as such there is another set of contacts between the neck and body. Turns out they really screwed up the design of this section and most people's guitar neck and bodies tend to separate and lose contact with eachother. This leads to buttons not working properly.
To make matters worse, Activision and Red Octane's return system is a travesty compared to EA's and rockband. When something in RB breaks(and believe me, it does. Often.), I can go to the EA website, tell them it is broken and within about 2 minutes, they are sending me a replacement drum set or guitar or kick pedal, as well as a prepaid box to send back the broken instrument.
When I tried to replace my les paul after the red and blue buttons stopped working after *two weeks* I had to send them an email which took a few days to get a response on, then it was MY responsibility to send them their defective product, then I got to wait 4-6 weeks while they deduce that it is, indeed, broken, then they sent me a refurbished one back. Oh, and the only reason I even got this pathetic level of service was because my guitar was still under 90-day warranty.
p.s., The replacement guitar also stopped picking up the green button after about 10 days. I ended up unhooking and repositioning the circuitboard/contact plate on the neck of the guitar myself, and it was upgraded from "unplayable" to "merely irritating."
Weak. | video-games_xbox |
Simple concept but so difficult to master. From somebody who's played almost every online RPG I have to say this one stands out not for how complex it is but rather the opposite. At first glance alot of people (including myself) will take one look at this game and not see it for what it really is. This is not a game that will give you hundreds of quests to gather 10 boar tusks or 12 dandelions. In fact this game will give you just a few objectives, but that is all you will need.
First off, this game is meant to be tough. There are 3 pages in the instruction manual. There is a limited, "learn as you go" tutorial. Throughout the game, hardly anything is explained. At some point for those who stick with it, they will realize this is what makes the game so special.
Here are some examples:
1. I got new chain mail and thought I was going to be tough but then realized I didn't have enough stamina to carry the load. Gear = weight and it makes you move slower.
2. Mobs know how to use a shield and a sword. You have to parry/dodge them and find weaknesses. You can't just hack and slash.
3. Being able to see the ghosts of other players (by clicking on their bloodstains) and how they died makes this game feel so much more than single player.
4. You and other players can leave markings on the ground that warn of dangers. You might see a marking that says, "Difficult boss ahead" or "Be aware of up".
This game is measured in progress through the world and not by what quests you finish. You will feel so disgusted every time you die, but if you learn from it you will appreciate even the smallest victories. The most impressive thing this game has done is how they put a price on dying. You will find yourself peeking around the next corner wondering where the next ambush or boss is hiding. And when you die and leave all of your souls where you just died (souls are like experience) you'll be compelled to get back to that spot to retrieve them.
And as you peel away the layers of this simple onion, you will see just how deep and consuming this game is. Brilliantly done!
My advice is to get through the tutorial and give it a few hours. If it doesn't have you hooked then maybe it's not for you. I promise, a game this honest and real isn't for everyone. I'm about 15 hours in and I have barely scratched the surface. | video-games_xbox |
It's just ok. After playing this game I can now see why the release price for the game was only $39.00 . I'm not saying this is a bad game but deffinately not a AAA title . So I will break this down and tell you why.
1 - The graphics are just mediocre , if anyone trys to tell you differently then they have not played a decent game in the past 5 years. At times ( I'm not joking ) the graphics are no better than they were on the original Xbox. The graphics vary from place to place in the game , some places look ok while others are down right ugly and very muddy. This game was made with the CryEngine from the developers of the Crysis series so I expected a really good looking game , but that is not what was delivered. These developers just didn't take advantage of such a great game engine that could have made this game absolutely stunning.
2 - Character animation is just lacking , the characters are stiff and no real realism about them. alot of the time the voices are not in sync with the characters mouth movements , which are stiff and ugly anyway.
3 - The sound in this game is hit and miss at best. at times the game is running smoothly and everything seems to be in sync , but at other times the sounds are just not right .. Like when you exit one area and enter another the sounds from the last area you were in continue to play with the new sounds of the new area and just make a mess of it. Also , the weapon sounds just sound weap and don't have that punch you would expect from games like COD and Battlefield.
4 - weapon load outs - just forget about this one , you use what you are given ( sniper rifle and pistol ) and nothing else. You CAN NOT pick up enemy weapons laying around.
5 - Enemy AI is just dumb , they have a set movement and never deviates from the set path and most of the time their back is to you. you can run right behind them and they won't hear a thing. If for some reason they do see you though you might as well kiss your butt good by , because they have sniper like accuracy with an assault rifle from a mile away.
Even though I have had negative things to say about the game , I did find fun in it. I was just a little disapointed with the way it turned out. They advertised this game as if it had stunning grapics ( watch the trailer , it even says that it is actual game footage ) and it does not, very sub par , anyway they promised alot and didn't deliver , but the game is playable and you will find some fun in it and for the asking price now I can say it is a fair buy. If you pay more than 20 bucks for it then you are paying to much. | video-games_xbox |
Mass Effect 2 - Game Of The Decade. A Significant Evolution Of The Bioware Formula.
NO SPOILERS
I bought this sexiness day one, from my local (cough-cough), because I couldn't wait. Installed to HD, popped my 50" Panasonic G10 into 360 mode. Hot wife and I took turns playing, we both took off work for a Bioware Holiday.
BIOWARE
The Bioware Story-RPG is one of my favorite video game genres. I played through Mass Effect 7 times. Dragon Age 4 times, Jade Empire 3 times, KOTOR 5 times. BG2 twice. If you are one of the two million Bioware fan-person-types, you're in for a treat.
MASS EFFECT 2 vs MASS EFFECT 1
Bioware hasn't made a cutting-edge-technology game until now. ME1's graphics looked sexy in conversation-mode, but got a bit chunky in action-mode, and bizarrely pop-in-y in cutscene-mode. All of those tech-engine problems have been solved. They've been spanked like a naughty librarian. Like, if ME1 was Kate Beckinsale in Uncovered, then ME2 is like Kate Beckinsale in Underworld. If you rank graphics by sexiness per game-hour, Mass Effect 2 could give Uncharted 2 a run for its money. It's the most attractive Bioware game ever. This totally changes my outlook on the future. If Bioware can step up and make such a fantastic looking, smooth-playing bio-rpg in 2010, then I no longer think the world will end in 2012, and I'm going to stop nagging my hot wife about her carbon footprints (hottie can get a little dirty). Mass Effect 2 makes anything possible.
ME2 vs MODERN WARFARE vs HALO vs GEARS OF WAR
Mass Effect is a first-person shooter because they want shooter money. MW2 sold like 20 million copies. Halo 3 sold like 11 million copies. Gears of War both sold like 6 million copies each. Mass Effect 1 sold like 2 million copies. And its fps controls were suspect. ME2's controls feel fantastically better than ME1, they feel like AAA fps controls. ME2 has much better story than the comp. BUT. 1. No real multiplayer. 2. No constant action. Bioware makes Story-RPGs. (This is a beautiful thing.) A 35 hour game, I would guess, has 25 hours of interactive conversation and cutscenes, and 10 hours of shoot-shoot bang-bang. Mass Effect 2 has 4-star shoot-shoot experiences--inside a 5-star choose your own sci-fi adventure story. If you know Bioware, you know this. If you don't know Bioware, learn what they are, and what they are not. Mass Effect 2 is all about STORY.
6 COMPLETE CHOOSE YOUR OWN ADVENTURE NOVELS
ME2 is standard Bioware length. 35 hours per play through, average. 20 if you speed. 50 if you waddle. Multiply that action by how much of the experience you want. I play all three types, warrior, tech, superpowers. I play all three ways, good, naughty, wild card. I play male and female, and go though all the "romances." And I play all the side quests. Even if you layer that action, it's a 120 hour + game. That's fantastic entertainment at 99 cents per two-hour session. That's as good a deal, per hour, as getting blu-rays from an online mail-it-to-me company. That's like 12 novels long. Like 5 complete seasons of TV. Bioware's the only developer on the planet that makes this kind of beautiful uniqueness. This kind of awesomeness only comes around once every few years. Is this flavor of hot awesomeness perfect? No. Is amateur pornography perfect? No. Sometimes the pacing is off, or the dialogue excessive. But it more than gets the job done. The job is to delight. To experience a genuine human story--even if you're a lesbian space thief. Mass Effect 2 is classic VG storytelling. And better written than 99% of sci-fi novels, tvs, and movies.
RATED M+17 MATURE = PG-13 (RE: SEX, VIOLENCE, PROFANITY)
I told my hot wife about the ME1 controversy. The sexbox, the lesbian simulators, the blue alien "hot talk." She asked if ME2 kept that or dropped it. (My hot wife likes lesbian threesomes. In books. In movies. In video games. In our kids' crayon drawings.) She never played a Bioware game before Dragon Age, but its lesbian threesomes made her a loyal fan-for-life, because, even though the presentation was lame, Bioware attempted to portray adult relationships. Now, in Dragon Age, the depiction of sex isn't much more sophisticated visually than taking two barbie dolls and slapping them together in slow motion with pimp music. ME1 is even more "clean." No nudity, no nipples, no sideboob, half an asscheek if you don't blink. ME2 continues the PG-13 tradition, except it adds sexual profanity. ME2 has new romances, hotter than the previous. ME2 has new "sex" scenes, hotter than the previous, but I would say equally subtle. They're less graphic than Firefly/Battlestar. They're less graphic than vicky's secret catalog. The "hardcore" is that some of the dialogue, i.e. the punk blad chick, can get a little David Mamet-lite. The second Star Wars prequel had more sexxxy with Portman's pokies. So I told my wife to keep her expectation in check, that if she wants some big bouncing bowchikawawa to do a mefeediasearch for alicegoodwin. Mass Effect 2 is good wholesome fun, with robot violence, and a few spicy dialogues thrown in for Character. Our kids are young, but if they were in high school, I would let them play this game. It's like when The Matrix got an R-rating just for having one kick-to-the-head. Even Titanic brought the naked. ME2 is purely a PG-13 experience. Maybe someday Bioware will sack-up. I don't know if the problem is uncanny valley breast animation or fear of losing sales, but, I hope that they get off the fence and either go T for Teen and sell better, or put some actual mature 17+ content in their M+17 games. Sorry for the rant. I love Bioware, but I'm 32 years old and sometimes I feel they only care about the 12-24 boys. I guess it's selfish to want them to age with me. In any case, of all the PG-13 sci-fi stories in books, movies, tv, and games, ME2 is what they say. Fantastic character-based storytelling. Dark plot. Wicked powers. Witty dialogue. Sacrifice. No ewoks. Mass Effect 2 is the Empire Strikes Back of games.
BUY IT, RENT IT, OR IGNORE IT
We hold all the power. We change the world everyday with our wallet. | video-games_xbox |
Fearsome, intense and sometimes buggy. Few games succeed in keeping a brooding fear deep in a player's heart, especially for the entire duration of the story. "Alien: Isolation" keeps the sheer terror, hopelessness and unrelenting intensity going more than most in the same genre.
Sega really worked to build a space station straight from the Alien universe. Not only does Isolation keep the aesthetic of the 1980's view of the future in every design choice, but it captures what made the movies so damned frightening in the childhood of Gen Xers and beyond. Cramped spaces, lack of any real defense and an everything-that-can-go-wrong-certainly-will atmosphere all boost your heart rate throughout the game.
Yes, there's a story about Amanda Ripley trying to find out what happened to her mother, Ellen, the iconic heroine from the movies. However, it doesn't take long for it to really take a back seat to everything else that's going on. Primarily, it ends up with just surviving. Though Ellen is the hook into the game, more unfolds as the origin of the Xenomorph on board begins to take shape, but only through taking time in reading the logs on service terminals. It's worth the time.
But oh, that creature. The first run-in causes a gasp, then the holding of breath in a lot of encounters following that. Some of the cat-and-mouse situations aboard the Sevestapol end up more frustrating than they do frightening, but for the most part, the intensity builds. As long as players keep using their only defense -- their brains -- it rarely gets stale. The same goes for the android encounters.
Unfortunately, at least on the Xbox 360 version and some of others in checking out forums online, this game has a fair share of bugs and glitches, some of which go beyond annoying. In one particular mission, some players can't exit an area by simply walking into the open room. Hint: You'll recognize it if you hit it, so just mash buttons. It worked for me on more than one occasion.
But there's also sound bugs, problems with textures, the occasional randomly floating weapon and only one truly unexplained death in the whole 20+ hour experience. For a game that was probably designed for next-gen systems and ported as best as possible to last-gen, it's probably not that bad, but it doesn't make it less annoying.
Really though, wait until it gets dark, turn off the lights and boost the volume. Get immersed in this and it's truly an enjoyable, refreshing, scary-as-all-hell experience. I can forgive the bugs for the fantastic level of anxiety the developers helped me maintain. | video-games_xbox |
A worthy sequel. I haven't finished this game yet, but I guess I better make my review before too many 1 star idiots show up and destroy the reputation of a brilliant game.
If you enjoyed the first game for the great story line and graphics, but found the game play to be a little repetitive and glitchy, you should definitely like this game. Ubisoft really managed to keep everything that was brilliant from the first game while fixing most of the issues and annoyances.
The scenery is still brilliant and the characters in the cut scenes look so realistic that sometimes it felt like I was watching a movie. The voice acting is also brilliantly done; both of these aspects really help suck you into the excellent story that this game gives.
The combat system is much improved from the first game; as soon as you get DaVinci to repair your "wrist blade" contraption, you can start stabing unsuspecting guards in the neck....even more fun than it sounds.
The game starts out a little slow; you'll be beating people up a lot, but you don't get any weapons for a little while. This is all part of building a great story though, so don't give up on it too early (the blood will come).
If you didn't play the first game, you might want to rent it or at least read an story overview online. The game presents a few back story cutscenes, but if you didn't play AC1, you might feel that the story is lacking a little. It is after all a continuation from the first game.
Game ratings:
Graphics: 10/10
Audio: 10/10
voice acting: 10/10
Combat System: 10/10
Controls: 9/10 (Sometimes I jump up on something when it's not what I intended; however, this is what allows you to scale building and run around so fast and easily, so it's an acceptable consequence. Once you get a good handle on the controls, this shouldn't be a big issue)
All in all, I think that this was the sequel I was hoping for and I'm eager to finish it and see where the story goes.
Don't usually review games this early in play, but I hate seeing 1 star reviews already bashing it and bringing down the rating. It's a shame to see such a great game with an overall 3.5 star rating.
14Dec2009
Update:
I've since finished playing this game and I have to say, "Wow"! It was just great all the way through, and kept me wanting more. My only gripe would be a little bit of a rehash for the repetitive game play people loathed in the first game. If you don't collect all of those codec's, it will make you before you can finish the game. Don't worry though; they'll give you a map that tells you where they are at least. I'm still a little disappointed that I have to collect them at all though; it's all too familiar with what I hated about the first game.
Despite the few repetitive monotonous game play tasks that surface, the game is most excellent. The story gets pretty crazy, but in a good way. Some things are explained, but many mysteries surface. Overall though, much better ending that the first game that didn't leave me feeling as confused and empty. It definitely should leave you wanting more; too bad I have to wait two years to finish the story...at least Mass Effect 2 will be coming out, and of course there's still COD.
One question though: In this game it's explained that you'll learn to become an assassin in real life from the simulation you go through. How is it that you didn't learn squat the in the first game? Apart from eagle vision that is. I thought it was a cool aspect to incorperate into the game, but it's never really explained how you didn't learn to fight from playing as Altier. Just wondering. | video-games_xbox |
If you like the AC series, it's good. I don't know if I'm a huge fan of AC after having played AC3 and this game. The initial fun of the open world, fighting, and free-running, I feel, wears off fairly quickly. The missions are typically frustrating and annoying more than fun. Chasing down enemies, staying out of sight, and stalking just don't really do it for me. One thing that I think is a mistake is that holding down the right trigger is used for both regular running and free-running. This means that if you're running at all, your character is also going to start climbing walls/trees/cliffs if you make contact with any of them. This can be incredibly frustrating when you're trying to keep pace with an escaping enemy through narrow streets and you get stuck on a wall for several seconds when you didn't mean to. In Black Flag, there's a lot more piloting of ships, which was one of the funner but underused aspects of the last game. But did they really need to add rogue waves and waterspouts that must be avoided? It adds difficulty and frustration to sailing, without adding any fun.
And this is a larger topic: game makers have always, in my opinion, overvalued difficulty and undervalued fun. Making something challenging is okay if you're making a puzzle game, like Portal, but the enjoyment of games like this is in what you get to do (fighting, exploring, sailing), rather than what you have to do (completing mundane tasks like eavesdropping or doing various tasks within time limits).
I compare AC to Grand Theft Auto and Red Dead Redemption. My overall impressions are very close to GTA, which I also like but find tedious in exactly the same way. RDR had drawbacks similar to GTA's and AC's, but I thought it was much more fun and less difficult. Completing tasks and missions in RDR could be mundane, but were not as hard, I thought, so they could more easily be appreciated for their creativity and humor. And having shootouts is more reliably entertaining than the repetitive combat mechanics in AC.
While I haven't played through most of Black Flag yet, so far one criticism I have is that it would be a lot more fun to have more weapons available. While you can pick up and temporarily use rifles and large axes and such, they don't become part of your inventory and aren't available for purchase in stores. You can upgrade your twin swords and pistols to different models, but it doesn't seem to have much effect on fighting. I enjoy games where the weapons you collect can be sold for profit and where you can choose what types of weapons you can use and specialize in.
That's basically all I have to say. If you enjoy this type of game, it's really, really good. If you're "meh" about this type of game, like me, it's a "meh" game. It's good-looking. It has its pleasures. But I never did get around to finishing AC3 because I was tired of being alternately bored and annoyed by it, and I sort of suspect that will happen with this one. | video-games_xbox |
Buggy, Yes. Best RPG of this Gen, Absolutely. If you haven't played many role playing games or aren't familiar with the current generation Elder Scrolls titles, you might want to look further into the game play of this title. There is quite a lot of wondering and dungeon crawling in this game, that might not be immediately apparent from the action facade on this very complex and involved RPG.
I played the regular version (non-ultimate) a while back and was super impressed with the story, characters, and shear variety of plot altering choices in the game. At first it seemed like a copy and paste job of the Fallout 3, but if you give it a chance the writing and art are way above and beyond it's direct predecessor. After Bioware's wholesale rape of their own franchises and Bethesda's consistently poor writing performance, Obsidian is the best western RPG developer out there in my opinion. Don't get me wrong Bethesda can make a very imaginative and engrossing world, with excellent action RPG game play, but once your 40-50hr into a game, that all fades away if its not supported by good writing and compellingly interactive plot. This was where Bioware excelled but now it seems they would rather convert Gears of War and WoW fans than keep the ones they've got.
This is why I decided to pick up the ultimate edition as well as write this favorable review. It just makes sense to support a company that seems to give a damn about the quality of their product, while so many others do not. The story is slow starting but once you get going it's the best since Fallout 2. From me that's very high praise. The add-ons that come with the ultimate edition surpassed my expectations, and trust me they were quite formidable. I didn't care much for Honest Heart, but you can tell they put way more time into making the area than the story. Overall it was well worth the price and I plan on picking up a copy of Alpha Protocol to further support Obsidian Entertainment.
For those of you that haven't played this generations Elder Scrolls or Fallout 3, a word of warning. These games are quite buggy, despite the fact that they've had several games on the same engines. They are resource hogs and really best suited for a beastly gaming PC. As for console gamers, like myself, I suggest installing it on the hard disk, creating many save files of strategic value, save often, and try not to let these technical issues ruin your experience. It's clear that we have a developer more concerned with setting up a awesome, expansive environment to tell a very unique story, than one concerned with stream line performance and technical prowess. If only the two went hand in hand. Where's the Kojima of the RPG world?
P.S. Bethesda was contracted to handle post release patching of this game, so don't blame Obsidian! | video-games_xbox |
Sound Quality & Customer Service Is Excellent; Built In Mic Stinks - [UPDATED 02-12-2016] - New mic & headset adapter. UPDATE: 2/12/2016
I finally had some time to sit down and have some extended time playing Star Wars Battlefront and Titanfall with the mic & adapter combo. The adapter didn't yield any additional benefit to the sound quality (that I noticed, anyway). However, I think it's a necessity - it makes changing the chat and game volume very easy; I don't have to scramble through the menu during the game. According to friends of the other end, my voice is coming through clear and audible. Again, the sound is way above the price point for this headset - it is a STEAL at the current price!
UPDATE: 2/8/2016
I received the microphone a little over two weeks ago. I didn't have a chance to test it out until last night. The microphone comes attached to a 3.5 mm braided cable. It seems pretty durable, and doesn't tangle as easily as the cable that originally came with the headset. As for the microphone, it performs well. I did some audio tests while in a party chat - initially my friends said I was a little quiet, so I had to move the mic a little bit closer. Outside of that, I haven't had any issues with the new microphone. I'll update again when I test out the headset adapter.
I don't know if Polk is still honoring the mic & adapter replacement for these headphones (honestly, they should at least provide them for the microphone due to a poor initial design). My only tip is to CALL THEM! Don't e-mail them, don't post on their FAQ, don't post on their forums. Just pick up a phone and call them - my issue was resolved in a relatively short amount of time.
INITIAL REVIEW: purchased the Pole Melee a few days ago, and just received them. I read through most of the older and newer reviews on these headphones, did all of the research about the microphone problems with the Xbox One. Originally, that was my primary reason for buying these; I wanted a headset that wouldn't break the bank and worked with my XBOX One.
Out of the box, they somewhat work with the newer XBOX One controllers (with 3.5mm jack) - Game audio is crystal clear. The pop-down microphone isn't useful at all for game chat.
However, I made the call to Polk's customer service line and they did place an order for the boom mic and controller adapter right away! I mentioned that I had tried them out on the XBOX One - the customer service agent that I spoke to didn't waste any time apologizing or troubleshooting. I had to give him my contact information and the serial number of my headphones...that's it! My experience with their customer service was fantastic.
So, I'm currently waiting for the boom mic and adapter to arrive (NOTE: The rep told me that the adapters were shipping out in late Feb to March). Once I get the boom mic, I'll update this review with notes about the new microphone. | video-games_xbox |
A polished turd costing $60. This is for the xbox350 version of the game. Ive played a few of the other NFS titles and I gotta say that EA really messed up bad on this one. I almost consider this as bad as the PS2 port of Pro Street. While at first you really enjoy the game, the graphics and details are beautiful, fast chases in hot cars right away if you got the collectors edition, well chosen soundtrack. Then you notice a few things that keep happening while racing like if you're in 1st with nobody around you... a few seconds later you are passed up by the AI that you dusted who had crashed into a roadblock, or while as the cop when you ram the snott outta some sap online and try to go for a bust by blocking them.. how come they all of a sudden appear to be a quarter mile away while you are parked? Or my personal favorite, the collision detection issue from hell. In a race, car a will have 1 bar of damage left and car b will have 3... how come car a can smash car b and(if he hits hard enough)destroy that car and not suffer damage from the hit? Or even worse, you destroy your car trying to knock the other guy out. EA really didn't think this one through, the autolog on xbox360 logs you out whenever it wants and the only way to get back on was to hard reset the entire console...WTH? And f-up number god knows what, no splitscreen for you to play with a friend next to you. Way to make people buy your shiny ploished turd of a game EA, you cant even let me and my girl play together without having to buy another copy and system linking the two consoles together....oh wait!!! I CAN'T EVEN DO THAT!!! What the heck is this? What braindead executive allowed this crap to published? And why is that person allowed to live still? If you want my advice, rent it, maybe the PS3 version isn't broken like this one. I know Id really feel gipped if I payed for the Wii version, its like a PS1 abortion. | video-games_xbox |
BLAS MORALES. Gears of War 4
Guess what decided to make its way back to the Xbox, yes "Gears Of War" Its back and here to reintroduce a new plot with a new character with new enemies, as we look at gears we look at what it has to offer and what it has decided to remove from the series. Gears had a variety of things they had added that had caught many gamers attention from "Horde 3.0", weapons and, other potentially matchmaking choices such as Arms race. So going into Horde they went ahead and added classes that have skill options that you can choose to help you as you progress in the rounds of horde that attempt to kill you. Thats why it is important to choose specific skill sets that will contribute you and your team to survive and gain the best possible points to built modifications to help you progress as the levels go up. New weapons that add a change to the game would be the dropshot and the buzzkill. With this new weapons and new designs gears has to offer it allows the player and the user to keep themselves engrossed into the game for long periods of time. Sadly one of the things that would have been an amazing add on was beast mode. You being the locust instead use each individual locust ability social specific to that one to overwhelm the COG and defeat them which was a unique thing of gears of war three.
My overall feelings of the game was how amazing it was to smoothly take control of my character and how it was now simpler to maneuver over obstacles and with enough practice you could use this to your advantages on the horde or team deathmatch to avoid damage or even death. They game has also brought the aggressive shooting and blowing up location and gore executions that it has been know for and also strategic planning as it can be crucial as to were you and your teammates need to be to corner one to two players and avoiding little no casualties of your own.
As we look at the gameplay we think to be introduced to this new people we will be taking to fight endless swarms of enemies, but instead we are placed back into what had previously accord in the last three games with about twenty-minutes of flashback and fighting old enemies, which is seems rather fine as it try's to bring new players up to speed. We have a few things such as the COG claiming martial law and the world trying to avoid anymore decline of the human population. Even as the story was progressing though I couldn't help but think that little was done thru the story, from what I've seen we attempt to find Marcus who was captured and then to attempt to save Kait Diaz mother, who was the sole survivor of the entire village that was also captured, whom she ends up needed to kill at the end of the story her suffering. It felt like it was all a rescue mission the entire time. Not leaving much for anything else.
So then we get to our main characters and we James Fenix who is later explained to us is the son of Marcus Fenix. I would have felt as if there would be more focus on James and his friends and instead the developers instead reintroduce Marcus Fenix back into the game, thus this felt as if the attention or focus on or new characters is diverted back to Marcus leaving us to not really grasp James and the others. The reason I say this is when Gears of war 1 came out you get this hill you immediately start going up such as Marcus who is in jail for treason against the COG, you also get to know Dom who is a childhood friend who is on the search for the hopes his wife is still alive. I could just be a little impatient as this is only the first game and there's more then enough room for introducing the characters on a personal level or character development.
Also one of the things I noticed was the new weapons that were introduced, if you have ever played Gears of war you would notice that the one weapon that is the main go to is the gnasher it can be highly if not lethal in close quarters and is mostly used in gears of war games, It seems the realization that use of this was noticeable to the directors of gears and decided to attempt to counter it with enforcer it has shorter range then most weapons but also burns through the mag quicker, this could be used when someone attempts to charge at you or has a gnasher and you need to get them before they get you. They have also brought two new weapons such as buzzkill and dropshot which both can be used to the players advantage on those who take cover and cant get to them. With either or weapon you could fore your opponent out of cover or face there end with where they are at. This weapons now allowing you different strategic property to incorporate in gameplay for competitive players.
Gears has brought the many joys that it has to offer once again and with new things it has now added into its gameplay that make it amazingly well. It does need a few things that it probably could work on mostly the campaign but overall this is an intense thrilling game with swarms of enemies ready pounce on you so its important that you don't fight alone. | video-games_xbox |
For Those Who Enjoy the Original. I have not enjoyed a Halo game since the first one. The Halo scene completely changed with Xbox Live and the absence of health packs. Too many times the opposing player would hide behind a rock and completely regenerate his health. The inclusion of duel weapons seemed enticing until everyone held a plasma gun and a pistol to shoot a charged shot followed instantly by a head shot. When it comes to Reach, it goes back to what made the first game so great along with a few welcomed inclusions. You have the regenerating shield, but you do take damage that must be healed via health packs once the shield is gone. You can now choose a perk before each time you spawn. They include a couple of shields, a distraction clone, a jet pack, and the ability to run. It seems a bit silly that you can not run unless you choose the perk, but it is still very useful and a welcomed perk. There is also the inclusion of assassinations. It is as simple as going for a beat down by meleeing an opponent behind the head and instead holding the melee button until the animation starts. It is just a gnarly way to kill an opponent. It does take longer to do than just beating them down however. The single player, like Wars and ODST, does not have the player assuming the role of Master Chief. Instead, you take control of Noble 6. The newest member of Noble team. You make Noble 6 your own with many cosmetic armor adjustments. The female players have not been left out. Noble 6 can be either male or female. Although as a male player, I chose to be female. I find it gives a slight edge in multiplayer. I doubt it actually reduces the hitbox as it is normally a separate object within a character model, but it does make you a slightly smaller target. This along with a very slimming choice of armor, makes me a harder target. Also if I hear a male running voice, I know there is another player behind me attempting to assassinate me. So I can quickly evade and attack. The campaign takes place before the original Halo game about the invasion and loss of the human settlement planet Reach. Although the fate of the planet and the Spartans are known, you do feel like there is a chance they might make it mission by mission. In the end, the developers give a dedication to its fans that helped them along with this series and that the player, just like Noble 6, made it possible for the success of the series and the end of the war the series depicts. It truly is a great game and by far the best in the series. It definitely makes you want to play with your friends on split screen more so than any other Halo game since the original. That is my personal preference to online play any day. I hope you find this review helpful and insightful. Take care with your shopping and purchase choices. :) | video-games_xbox |
Great. I have this on PS2 but you cant get it on here or something. This is probably my favourite game of all time it is just mad! The characters are great my favorites are (the ones I play as most) Sgt. Cortez, Capt. Snow, Capt. Forest, Riot Officer and Braces. the story mode is fantastic with about 10 levels first is Siberia set in 199o which is an easy level. Next is Chicago in 1930's where you have to go through the streets help Marco(who takes ages) get back to his apratment without being shot, get the nightclub pass and go to the club to kill Big Tony which is easy cuz I get double tommy guns from the entrance and jsut kill him. next is Notre dame which is good where you have to go through a church killing zombies. Then is Planet X which is where you have to kill these aliens or something. then neo Tokyo which is bare hard cause you have to follow this hacker to there base without being seen by the security cameras in the street cause you are being chase by coppas for some reason. then wild west which is bare easy and you have to kill the colonel. Atom Smasher is in 1972 you play as Harry tipper and have to go through khallos compund(or somethin) and kill all the henchmen and them him, it is very hard. Aztec ruins is hard cause you have to kill these stone golems which is hard. Robot factory is pretty hard. The last level Space Station set in 2401 is great cause you have to get out of there before it blows up.
ow the weapons there is Garret revolvers, soviet 47's, Tactcial 12 gauge, snipers, minguns, shotguns, Rocket launchers, homing launchers, mines and other sick weapons.
there is a whole load of characters about 55 it takes ages to get em all so beware. there is many arcade modes to do, Deathmatch, team Deathmatch, Capture the bag, Flametag, gladiator and other modes. the arcade levels are tight.
Mexican Mission-a mexican theme(duh) i give this 8/10 cause of the layout
Ice station-A massive building in the center with loads of snowand other buildings 10/10
Hospital-A dark gloomy old hospital good for hiding 10/10
training ground-an amry base type thing good for turrets and shooting from far away 10/10
Aztec-a jungle leevl 7/10 for the confusing layout
Scrapyard-a futuristic scrapyard with laserguns and other weapons like that. 9/10
Nightclub-A mafia club with a confusing layout again 6/10
Hangar-An air base good for rocket launchers 9.5/10
Robot Factory-8/10
Ufopia-An alien base 9/10
Chinese-A big restraunt which is great-10/10
Chasm-This is great cause you can blow people up on the other side and stuff 9/10
Streets-This is good 10/10
Compound-Not too big butgood 9/10
Site- I haven't unlocked this but played it its a building site-8/10
Circus-Nah I don't liek this 6/10
Overall this a one of da best games ever so buy it-event hough number 3 is out soon.
10/10
And thats all I have to say about that | video-games_xbox |
After a while you WOULD WANT the world to end. Buffy the vampire slayer is back for a second time on the Xbox...but this time she isn't alone. I was very excited to know that the makers were planning a second game...who wouldn't love to play as their favorite vampire slayer?! 'Play as Buffy, Faith, Spike, Xander, Willow, and Sid!" That was the sentence that fooled ME into buying this game... You DON'T get to play as these characters WHENEVER you want. You can play a certain character depending on the story line. The game consists of 12 levels:
The Magic Box:It's Byffy's birthday and the gang is celebrating happily at the Magic Box; unfortunetly the party is interupted by a gang of nasty uninvited guests. Here you get to play as Buffy, Willow, Xander, and Spike. After dusting some of the vampires, you are informed that kakistos is behind the attack. KAKISTOS? You thought he was dead...right? Well he is back!
The Cemetery: Buffy decides to patrol and see what strange occurencies might happen there. Surprise! She meets Sid the dead dummy. Sid informs Buffy that Kakistos passed by here. Buffy decides to follow the supposed dead vampire and is greeted by a series of really pissed off vampires and zombies. Kakistos tries to resurrect joyce and as Buffy you have to stop Mummy dearest from waking up!
Who is behind all of this 'Chaos'? No other than Ethan Rayne. Ethan has made a deal with the 'First'. He will choose 5 champions to compete against the forces of darkness and if they succed Ethan will have dark powers. Oohhh... As the champions, the heros are sucked in an alternate univerese where noting is what it seems! You have to find the missing body parts of the only 'Champion' who was able to defeat the First and find 'Hope's Dagger' to kill the first (who really is Ethan!). The game takes you to the Quarry (Faith), High School(Xander), the zoo(Buffy), The initiative (Spike), the Hospital(Buffy +Sid), The Mall (Willow), etc...
Now what is BAD about this game:
*The camera! I dispise the camera in this game...I probably died a million times because of it.
*The over-exageration of the game: your life is TOO short and the 'inventory' sucks! Try getting a medi-kit! You'll DIE just trying! The plot is really dull, and Hello-Willow's voice?!? "Here bookbookbook-I found a secret!-Someone's little hidey hole, let's take a peak!" The same lines REPEATED a zillion times!
*The sound: Especially in the cut-scenes! Their mouths are slower than the words! And sometimes you hear the 'staking' noise, while the vampire is STILL alive and kicking.
*The same demons from the FIRST game! The same vampires EVERY level...WITH the same comments!
*The puzzles are SO silly! Looking for a sun-dial? Placing rabbits on pentigrams?
This game is an embarassment to my Xbox AND to any Buffy fan! I'm really disapointed. The only 'GOOD' thing is the multiplayer games. THAT's it! Killing the bosses are easy and the plot is predictable! Even the extras are bad!
Buffy is a game that requirs charisma and humor-something this game lacks. The levels become very repeptitive in the end. I hope that IF there is a third game...it would be better.
Here is some of those one-liners you hear a million times!
"That's ALL she wrote!"-Buffy
"Faith...Pest control","Stay dead next time or I'll get REALLY cranky!", "Just by looking at my face you should have known it was going to end like this!","I'll call you dusty"-Faith
"Oh a medi-kit! I wish Tara were here then I can be nurse Willow!"
"For my booboos!"-Xander
"That's got to hurt!"-Spike | video-games_xbox |
Almost, but not quite. If you're toying with the idea of picking up Overlord, chances are you probably can't go too wrong by doing just that. If you enjoy hack and slash RPG types like Fable and have a fondness for games that don't take themselves too seriously like Black and White you'll probably find yourself right at home here.
Now on the flip side of that if you enjoy in depth RPGs with advanced items and huge inventories and a wealth of rare and coveted weapons, potions, etc. you might not get your fill here. Furthermore if you have your hopes set to become a truly evil incarnation that sets flame to his foes and damns those that would ask for help, again you might be a little disappointed.
Overlord is an overall fun game that lets you fill the role of an evil...well Overlord set on rebuilding his tower and getting even with a few (now corrupt) heroes. By this point you probably already know some of the more novel aspects of Overlord, most notable of which are the minions. The minion system works very well allowing you to control up to 50 minions during the later levels of the game.
Your minions are comprised of four unique types of minions that each serve a purpose and have their own strengths and weaknesses. The traits of the minions will often have you tackling puzzles that call for the right use of the right minions. For instance you may have to have your minions carry an item across a fire engulfed grate. Now using your brown minions will result in a rather large barbecue, however using your red minions which are resistant to fire will allow you to proceed.
You are also able to upgrade both your minions and your armor/weapons to some degree. Your minions will take items left by fallen foes which will increased their resilience and damage. The system for this is very intuitive, most of the time your well equipped minions will be the first into the fight while the weaker minions trail behind in an attempt to take less damage from the brunt of the fight. Minions that are in need of upgrade are generally the first to pick up items also, so you don't have to worry too much about getting three or four uber minions while the rest are lacking.
Your armor and weapons can be upgraded in the game too. Throughout the game you'll find smelters that will produce more effect armor and weapons. Once you've created those items by spending gold you can then upgrade them by sacrificing your minions. Sacrificing different types of minions will add different attributes to your armor, for example sacrificing a green minion on a weapon will add an increased chance to critical with the weapon. So overall the item/upgrade system works well without weighing the game down too much by having you spend endless hours searching for rare loot.
The game has a solid story that works well and in most cases would be well received. It does however fall short on the evil end of things. While you're supposedly the poster child for the maladjusted and evil you'll still find your self off on some of the standard quests found in any number of other nameless RPGs. You'll be sent off to find food for your villagers, or protect them from some other evil invaders, etc. This is all well and good and you'll find that you'll have the opportunity to perform some evil twists with many of these but the story just doesn't convey the sense of evil that it was built up to deliver. Most of evil found in the game falls more to the comical side of things, which isn't necessarily a bad thing so long as you weren't expecting some evil epic.
So overall I think Overlord is a great game to pick up, and you should enjoy it hopefully as much as I did so long as you go into with the right idea about its presentation. There are tons of neat touches throughout the game that may add to replay value such as being able to beat it completely evil or completely good (well as good as an evil overlord can be) and of course the 360 version offers the standard load of of achievements that can be quite a bit of fun. | video-games_xbox |
An Amazing Game for all Players. Many people may have bought this anticipating another Halo game where one can just charge in headfirst into a pack of brutes on legendary difficulty and dispatch them with ease. That is not so. Because you do not play as Master Chief, you do not have regenerative health. You are just a normal, well-trained Orbital Drop Schock Trooper (also known as Hell-jumpers.) Basically, you're only human. I played the game on legendary and found it very challenging at points. I used cover far more than I had in the previous installments in the Halo franchise, and was more than once terrified to see a pack of Brutes disembark a Phantom. When it comes to health, Bungie created an ingenious system. You start out every life with full health and stamina. If you are shot constistently, you will lose stamina. When out of stamina or losing stamina, the edges of the screen become red, most likely because of you blood. When you are out of stamina (you will know this from the large amount of red around the edges and your belabored breathing) you will start losing health with each bullet, needle, or plasma round that hits you. If you stay out of the line of fire long enough, however, your stamina will regenerate. This works much like a shield. If you lose health, the health bar at the top of the screen will go down. The only way to replenish health is to find an Optican free healthcare station and that will heal you right back up to 100%. Each station contains multiple life packs and can be used multiple times. Another amzing addition to Halo 3: ODST is the "VISR" system. When the VISR is turned on, it illuminates the battlefield and outlines everything. Enemies are outlined in red; inanimate objects such as trees, crates, or cars are outlined in yellow; weapons, grenades, and turrets are outlined in blue; and friendlies are outlined in green. The VISR also has communication playback, navigation, and mission objective display screens available from the VISR menu. Another great part of Halo 3: ODST is the addtion of new weapons. Though there are only two, they are each very fun to use and are my weapons of choice. The first is the new silenced SMG with a scope. It provides quite a bit of zoom, and with a silencer that also reduces kick and a very good rate of fire, it can quickly tear through waves of grunts, jackals, and those nasty space-bugs. The other newly modified weapon is the magnum. It now features a silencer, and a scope even better than that of the new silenced SMG. The only downside to it is the recoil. Still, it is capable of dealing one-shot kills to any unarmored foe that is unlucky enough to be shot in the head. It is also very handy when getting the "Boom, headshot!" achievement in ODST. There is also a new enemy. It is basically a big floating ball that, when hammered away at, explodes and showers triggered plasma grenades everywhere. The highlight of Halo 3: ODST is the new co-op mode, firefight. In this, 2 players from one console, and more from others can fight waves upon wasves of every type of Covenant troops during night (where you can use the VISR) or day in a myriad of maps. The main difference, though, is the setting. Halo players are most likely used to vast outdoor environments the majority of the time, but in ODST the player spends almost the entire game in the city of New Mombasa. This game is a must-have for any owner of an Xbox 360. Five stars! | video-games_xbox |
Bioshock is Groundbreaking. Can I even call BioShock a video game? The main purpose of video games is to entertain; however BioShock serves as a frictionless medium which conveys a beautifully woven plot through its use of plot-effective gameplay.
I have heard a lot of good things about the video game Bioshock, and now I know why. When I first started playing the game it was 3 A.M and my room was pitch black. After the opening scene of the plane crashing I was already knee deep into the game. I liked how the game's cut scenes were all done in first person unlike the prior games I have played (i.e Psychonauts and Portal). While I was swimming in the ocean towards the "Creepy Tower", I could not help but be reminded of the T.V show Lost. Even though there was no tower in Lost, it was about crash landing in an airplane onto unknown grounds, in this case Rapture. As I was walking down the tower towards the bathysphere, I really liked how the lights flickered on to indicate where to go. It set a very fitting mood and was also an unique way to create the game-flow. While entering the bathysphere and descending down into the ocean is when I started to understand some BioShock's plot. I definitely got the 1970's and 1980's feel with the font and advertisements outside as well as the black and white movie reel. At this point, I had been playing the game for about 15 minutes and I could not help but realize how immersed I was. This game was one of a kind.
What sets Bioshock apart from other games is its depth. I cannot remember the last time I played a game with such deep and complex allusions as well as plot affiliated gameplay. The BioShock developers must have really loved Ayn Rand because the numerous parallels to her books Atlas Shrugged and The Fountainhead are hard to ignore. Also, the perspective through which the player views the game, first-person, is hyper-effective. This coupled with vivid, realistic graphics and sharp, piercing sounds makes convincing the player he is inside Rapture a breeze.
Finally, the interactions with Little Sisters makes this game illuminate. This is probably the cornerstone of what makes BioShock's gameplay related to plot. You as the player have the choice of either rescuing the little sisters or harvesting them. Personally, I had an honest dilemma of choosing what to do. How you choose alters the plot, thus changing the ending of the game. This exemplifies how exceptional game development can leave the player to have a story unique to himself and his decisions.
All in all, this game was amazing. 5/5 Stars. | video-games_xbox |
A good option for an entry-level wireless headset. I got tired of wired headsets having issues with the wires shorting out and I have 3 cats who love playing with things they aren't supposed to. I set out to buy a wireless headset for under $100. I went to my local GameStop and these were recommended by one of the employees. I had never heard of PDP/Afterglow before and thought they might end up being cheap aftermarket trash but I decided to give them a try.
I was impressed by how solid the headset feels, it definitely feels like it will last. The USB dongle used to connect to the Xbox is one of the smallest Ive seen and the connection is great; Ive never had the audio drop out while playing. The sound quality is surprisingly decent too for a sub-$100 headset, especially with the bass-boost on. The separate chat mixing dial is great, and I really like how the headset lights up and you can change the color.
The reason this gets 4-stars is the mic. Its noise-cancelling and therefore if its too far away from your face your friends won't hear you, and if its too close you sound like a creepy mouth-breather. I also cant stand how it doesnt fold up...you have to take the mic off if you don't need it or want to store it in the box. If the company had used a fixed mic with flip-up-to-mute like many other headsets this thing would be a 5/5. The only other issue I had was at one point the stereo sound was reversed but unplugging the dongle and plugging it back in fixed this issue.
I compared this to a Turtle Beach Stealth 600 and this won out. The mic on the Stealth 600 was way better but that was about it. I felt like the PDPs had better sound quality and can be turned up much louder than the 600s. The PDP set is not as tight as the 600 was which makes it so you can hear a little more outside noise but for me this is good so I can keep an eye on my cats while Im playing. Also the charging cable for the PDP set is 6 feet long compared to the 600s maybe 1 foot long cable. And PDP gives you a 3.5 mm cable so you can use this headset with other audio devices.
UPDATE 5/2/18: I initially really liked this headset but over the past few months some small issues have become more annoying. The issue with the sound being reversed (sounds to the left being heard in the right ear and vice versa) happens almost every time I use my Xbox; unplugging the dongle and plugging it back in fixes this but its quite annoying. I also get a lot of random pops in both headphones that reall take away from the sound quality. Overall I wish I had kept the Turtle Beach Stealth 600 instead. | video-games_xbox |
May Be Confusing For Younger Gamers. My 7 year old son and I LOVED the movie Cars. We have several Cars books, the soundrack--my son even has Cars light-up sneakers and wallet!
It was with great anticipation that we got the PS2 Cars game a few days ago.
Let me start off by saying that this game is not very intuitive, and would definitely be problematic for younger children--even experienced racing or platform gamers. My son kept roaming the streets of Radiator Springs and I got to thinking "Man, there's GOT to be more to the game than this!"
So I went about trying to unlock various mini-games and races. (The guidebook wasn't much help.) I finally realized that not only did you need to "collect" (run into) lightning bolts for points, but you had to complete various races and mini-games to unlock more of the same. This isn't unusual, of course, but it's quite confusing. For example, a raceway may look familiar in the menu, but what you don't realize is that you need to race it *several times* to unlock other features.
I also figured out that the circular map on the screen (that you can disable if you want) features green and white dots on it. Green dots indicates a spot you can drive to for racing/games that it's an event you've already done. White dots are new events/games that you've unlocked.
Another confusing aspect is that there is an Arcade Mode and Story Mode--as well as other options. Figuring out what does what can be confusing. For example, let's say you've earned enough points to unlock cool paint jobs for Lightning McQueen. Well, you wouldn't go to Ramones, believe it or not. You have to first go to Bonus Materials, buy your paint job/s, THEN go back to Ramones for him to apply it. (And the load times seems unusually long!)
Other Bonus Material includes unlocking characters (Ramone, Flo, a souped up McQueen that's like a monster truck, Doc, the Sheriff, Sally, Mater, etc.), paint jobs, and movie clips.
Some of the mini-games are very difficult without the circular map. We played a "Find the Postcards" game and only found SIX out of 20 on our own WITHOUT the map. Some mini-games appear to have various levels, too. For example, there's a Tractor Tipping Game where you can be either Mater or Lightning. You must stealthily creep up on sleeping tractors, toot the horn to "tip" them, and avoid Frank's lights. In subsequent levels of this same mini-game, there are other moving searchlights you must avoid (in addition to a roaming Frank), and actions you must perform in order to access trucks in a maze (such as pushing wheeled bridges to cross over gulches.) I believe there are 6 levels to that game, which I've completed.
You can choose various levels of expertise, and Rookie seems to work just fine for me and my son. I'm able to win races in this game, whereas I can't even steer straight in games like Need for Speed! However, my son and I keep placing last in Mater's Rustbucket Race-O-Rama (a dirt track arena complete with hills and rusty car parts!), so I don't know what's up with that.
Other mini-games we've experienced so far (we're at the beginning of Chapter 2 in Story Mode) include Luigi finding tires (we're on Level 3) and racing with Doc while learning how to Power Slide. (This comes in handy for racing, because you earn extra points for tricks, including this Power Slide.)
One of the arena races features a very cool mini-game in the form of a Pit Stop: after exiting the raceway, there are four button games controlling Guido's tire changing. For example, there may be 5 symbols on a tire and you have to press them in order. Or, you may have to quickly toggle between square and circle for him to squeegy the windows in time.
We've already noticed several glitches on this game, including lagging/freezing, bright lights "spiking" from cars, and one level not even opening (black screen). I have a feeling that this game was rushed to coincide with the movie's release. We'll be taking it back to the store tomorrow, telling them it's defective. HOPEFULLY, it's only one game and the next one is fine, but I have a feeling it's a designer flaw...
If you like racing games, there's a lot here for you. You can free roam in an extensive landscape (off-roading, too), race various speedways and town races, and play amusing mini-games. It may be frustrating for younger gamers, as I said, so parents may need to babysit the controls to help unlock games. But if you're little one just likes to race and roam (or crash into other cars, as my son likes to do)--then it's a nice game. | video-games_xbox |
Surprisingly great quality at a reasonable price. While I neither own, nor play, any of the modern game systems that this device is targeted for, I do have quite a lot of experience with headphones and with consumer electronics. I looked at the sonic qualities of them in use as a traditional headset and I did not evaluate the microphone at all. If you are looking for a review from a gameplayer, this is not it, but if the same level of quality went into the design and implementation of the microphone as it did the sonic quality of the headsets, I think it will be perfect for even the most finicky gamer.
FIT AND FINISH
Physically the headsets have a bit of a Tron-like look to them, which may not be perfectly suited for the average 30+ year old. Thankfully the designers provided several different illumination settings for the headsets. I promptly set the illumination to be disabled -- no need to waste precious battery life.
The overall fit of the headset wasn't perfect. Having it be adjustable would be a very welcome feature for those of us that have a bit bigger noggin. The ear cups didn't sit flat because they were a bit on the tight side. I ended up rotating the headband toward the back of my head and thankfully the cups can be rotated to fit your ear angle. This provided a mostly comfortable fit, but still no where near as comfortable as it could be if even slight adjustment was possible.
SETUP
Getting the headsets set up was fairly straightforward. Plug in the USB dongle to the back of your computer or game console, connect the audio output using the 1/8" mini-plug or one of the adapters provided, power on the headsets and let the dongle and headsets pair up. Instant wireless audio. The quick setup documentation left a lot to be desired, but there is a much more thorough user's manual that outlines several key troubleshooting steps as well as how to setup more complex home theater systems should you run into issues.
MUSIC PLAYBACK
THE SETUP: I sat down with a very eclectic selection of music ranging from Classical Mozart (Symphony Number 40 if you'd like to know) all the way through Journey, Dave Matthews Band, Nirvana Unplugged and Disturbed (needed something with some overdriven guitar). I've listened to several wireless speakers and headsets and I was definitely impressed by the quality of sound being generated by this sub-$100 WIRELESS headset. I was listening to uncompressed digital versions of the songs from the original retail CDs and in all cases the Bass was tight and highs were sharp, just the way I like them.
Every now and then with the more "layered" pieces, things got a little muddy with the woofer overtaking the rest of the mix and causing some sharp drops in the mid range. For example during the Dave Matthews Band song "Tripping Billies" the intro has a heavy bass drum hit over the top of the sax and violin, there was a noticeable reduction in the amplitude of the mid/higher end range of the sax/violin to accommodate the very loud output from the woofer. Wanting to investigate this more, I hard wired the headsets into the source directly and that eliminated this problem. It appears that it may be a result of some compression needed to provide enough bandwidth for the wireless connection but only the manufacturers can really confirm that. What I was noticing was something that is commonplace when listening to compressed audio and for most consumers it is a non-issue. I just wanted to indicate here (for those that care about such things) that there are some subtle differences when listening wirelessly compared to listening with a wire but it is very minimal and for casual use won't be a problem.
LITTLE THINGS
The volume adjustment on the headset was a welcome addition as there are times when you do want to adjust that output just a bit and don't want to have to grab a remote or wake your computer to do it.
With regard to the alternate modes that are available on this headset, all of my comparative tests were conducted using the "Pure Audio" setting. There are two other options which the manufacturers title as "Bass Boost" and "Immersive". When Bass Boost was enabled, the bass was sharp and generally undistorted, but overly heavy for music. This might be a desired effect for those who have a particular affinity for bass in their music, but for my tastes the "bass boost" is just too much. As PDP is a gaming centric company, I could see its use in gaming, or movies, but not for music. It is for people that have a need (or just a desire) for heavy bass and don't care about much else. The Immersive option, like the bass boost, would seemingly work better for movie/game play use, not for music. It is intended to create a psycho-acoustic virtual surround sound effect, but again, in my tests, the quality of sound output by the speakers is far better than anything that a circuit can emulate and in Pure Audio mode the headset did a very good job emulating the spatial effects created naturally during recording and intended by the audio mixers of the content. But some users may enjoy it. Thankfully, the manufacturers provided an easy color-coded system indicated on the microphone to tell which mode you are in and made it very easy to switch between them. Try them all and figure out which one works for the content you are enjoying.
WHAT ABOUT FOR JUST WATCHING TV?
For those of you that were hoping to use these headsets for casual television watching, you will really enjoy the volume adjustment so that you can listen at a louder level than your partner might enjoy. Being a closed ear design, you can even be in the same room as your partner and they could be sleeping or reading and you won't be disturbing each other. Of course you can use these headsets with a wire and that will provide the simplest form of connectivity. Unfortunately, the wire that comes with the headset is fairly short (as it is intended to be used with portable gaming consoles or Ultrabooks that may lack a USB port). If you are looking to use them as a wired headset, you will need to get a longer cable. Thankfully, the port that the manufacturer used on the headsets is a standard 1/8" Mini plug available at most local electronics stores. If your TV or amplifier doesn't have a "headphone" out plug then you will need to use the included RCA plug to 1/8" stereo plug which the manufacturer includes.
NOTE: You can only use the "pure audio" mode when using these headsets with a wire.
BUT WHAT ABOUT WIRELESS TV WATCHING?
Wireless from the TV is potentially a bit more challenging. If your TV has a USB port (many newer models do), you may be able to plug the USB dongle into that and then use the included RCA to 1/8" stereo plug (sorry no optical input available) that the manufacturer includes to hookup the audio. Our test TV is an older LCD that doesn't have any kind of USB plug available. In my tests, I discovered one could use a powered USB hub (for example this: [...]) to plug in the USB dongle and then hook the audio cable up to whatever audio out is available on your TV. The hub doesn't get connected to a computer, the included AC adapter provides the power for the wireless connection and then you can use these headsets without the burden of the wire following you around everywhere. As an added bonus, while using the wireless mode you then regain the ability to use the alternate Bass Boost and Immersive modes (which were not available with the wire) should you be interested in doing so.
A COMMENT ABOUT WIRELESS RANGE
The wireless range of these headsets is quite good. In very non-official and non-quantitative tests I was able to walk out of our suite of offices (about 2000 square feet) and down the hall 20-30 feet before I lost connectivity. This is obviously dependent on location of the source and devices/construction materials between the headset and the source. But in a typical residential environment a user should be able to walk around a 1,000-2,000 square foot house if the source is centrally located without loosing connection to the source.
FINAL SUMMARY
Overall these are a great set of headphones for consumption of multimedia content. Whether it is to be used with a portable device like an iPad or other game platform, or with a home theater so you don't disturb those around you, most users will find the sound delivered by these headphones to be light years beyond what they are accustomed to. Physically, the overall design (a little on the "bright" side for my traditional tastes) and the lack of size adjustment makes them difficult for me to wear comfortably both privately or in a public setting. The alternative modes may work for your particular listening needs, give them all a try and choose what works for you. But all in all, at this price point, it would be difficult to find a better sounding headset that offers all of the features and options this unit includes. | video-games_xbox |
No other fighting game like it. When people talk about this game, it's almost always about the toned-down fatalities (and when people complain about this, they usually haven't even played the game). Personally, I never placed too much importance on fatalities anyway, so that definitely wasn't a deal-breaker for me. Actually, if you play this game and see a lot of the fatalities for yourself, you'll notice that many of them aren't really "toned down," but just more subtle. I think they are just as brutal as ever, and they actually look more realistic in most cases which makes them even more brutal as far as I'm concerned.
However, this is a FANTASTIC game. First of all, the graphics are absolutely gorgeous. If you have a smaller tv, you probably won't notice the stunning degree of detail in the characters until you enter Klose Kombat, but then you'll notice all the cuts, bruises, tears in clothing, etc. that makes you feel like your hits are actually doing some damage.
Also, this game is really balanced. The MK characters are all classics like Liu Kang, Sub-Zero, Scorpion, in fact there aren't any MK characters past MK 2. The DC characters hold their own and don't just feel like Mortal Kombat characters with different clothes. Superman is actually my favorite character to play, and I'm not even a huge DC fan.
The story mode is probably the best one you can find in a fighting game today. Most fighting game's story modes are lacking, like Soul Calibur IV, and aren't really the focus of the game. But in MK vs DC, the story is very essential as it explains why heroes are fighting against heroes, and why the two universes are clashing in the first place. A lot of the dialogue is corny, but that's to be expected and it doesn't ruin the experience at all. And again, the detail in the characters is amazing, not just their appearance but their facial expressions and mannerisms as well.
And finally, the gameplay is meant to feel 2D and fast-paced. It's supposed to feel somewhat like MK2 and MK3, yet there's enough new stuff to keep it fresh and exciting. You'll be falling off of buildings, running through walls, jumping over projectiles...it's never boring. Unlike the last three games there are no multiple fighting styles/weapons, although Deathstroke and Baraka both have blades, and you have to press "B" (Xbox) or "circle" (PS3) to pull them out. Also, the combos are considerably difficult and will take some time to master. This game is significantly more challenging than most other fighting games, yet still fun for beginners as well.
One thing's for sure, there's no other fighting game like it. Check it out if you're looking for something new and refreshing. | video-games_xbox |
Xbox Live is how gaming should be done. To put it bluntly, Xbox live is the best internet gaming plan ever created. Some may whine about the cost, but after beta testing for weeks, I find this plan incredible.
In a word, voice command is brilliant. As a long time gamer, I used to play PC games online. I would have to stop and write a message, then continue playing, all the while hoping I wouldnt lose my edge in the game. With Xbox live voice control there is no longer a worry. Just say what you want to say. If you are worried about your voice, you can use one of the voice masks avaliable, or create your own. On the downside of voice masking, sometimes I find it hard to understand some players when their voices are masked. If you really don't want to talk to anyone, mute your mic, and you can even turn off everyone elses voices. In cooperative online gaming, this voice communication will be invaluable. Not only hat, I have found it enjoyable to speak with people online and taunt them as well.
The service itself is rock solid. With every game being required to include optimatch, friends, and the headset, you are guaranteed to enjoy every game you play online. I have only had Xbox Live for a short while, and already I have 5 or so friends from all around the country that I play with on a regualr basis. Anothe nice feature of Xbox Live is that you can always play with people who are of the same skill. This is made possible by a ranking system. If you want to create a game where only people of a certain skill can participate, you simply choose a rating, and you will immediatly have a game where you play against those of your skill level.
While all of the features for Xbox live are nice, the real importance lies, of course, on the games. Luckily, there hasn't been a funner and more anticipated group og games then those coming out this holiday season which are prepared for Xbox live. With killer aps such as MechAssault, Unreal Championship, and Ghost Recon fulling using the service, fun is guaranteed.
If you have a broadband sevice and an Xbox, you cant miss Xbox Live. Its to good. And I didn't even mention all of the excellent features for it, I only grazed them. | video-games_xbox |
Cheaper than the "Official" Microsoft one, and it works just the same with the same drivers. I built a gaming computer for my brother-in-law and he wanted to be able to use the wireless controllers from his XBox 360 to play the games, so I searched around for the wireless receiver and found this one at a reasonable price. Microsoft wants to charge you $20-$30 for their "Official" one, which is a little ridiculous, and the charge and play cable won't work for using a wireless controller with a PC. So when I found this one, I did a little research on it, and read the reviews, good and bad, to get an idea of its quality. I read a lot of reviews that said that they couldn't get the receiver to work because there was no driver for it, but then there were a lot that said it would work with the Microsoft drivers. So I took a chance on it, heck it was less than 10 bucks so I wouldn't be out very much if it didn't work, and went ahead and ordered one to try out. When I received it, it was just like any other product from China, it was in a plain white box with a product sticker on it. Inside the box was the receiver and a small piece of paper with some very poorly written instructions in English. I plugged it in to the USB port on my computer to test it out, and at first it wouldn't register. So I plugged it into a different port, the first one was a USB 3.0 which are finicky by nature sometimes, and it popped up in the notifications try saying that it was searching for the drivers for the newly found device. After about a minute or so, it said it was complete. I opened up the Device Manager, and found the device in the peripherals section, which said it was a Microsoft USB Controller Receiver. I opened up the info for it to see what driver it used, and sure enough it installed the standard Microsoft XBox 360 Wireless Controller driver. I then loaded up Skyrim to see if it actually would function with my wireless controller. Once the game loaded, I pressed the sync button on the controller and the receiver to get them to connect to each other and once they did, I was able to use the controller to play Skyrim just like I have been with my wired controller. I was very pleased with the results, so I am actually going to buy another one for my computer. As long as you make sure the correct drivers are being used, you will have no issues with this receiver. | video-games_xbox |
A nice comeback, but could be better. If you never played the original, then you will love this. My friends all tell me about how much they love this version, but I played the original games way-back-when. In fact, The original X-Com: UFO defense was WHY I bought my first PlayStation.
For those you played the original, this review is for YOU.
I loved this game, but I do have to say, that a lot of what I loved about it was the hope that it would be similar to the original.
I kept finding myself preparing for things, or waiting for things that the original had.
As a turn-based strategy game, it has a lot to offer, but with a strong fan-base of the original game, they should have kept a
few more things in there.
I had a desperate need to prepare for things that were never going to happen, and so raced through the game kicking all the
trigger points too fast.
The Aliens never attack your base.
You never get more then one Troop Transport Ship.
The Nations who leave the alliance, never side with the aliens, nor build alien bases in their country.
You can only build ONE Psy Lab, so the max amount of people tested is 3 every 10 days. This drags out the testing forever.
Some things that should be added (new or from the original):
More bases: I liked having more then one base. It lets you place fighters, and troops around the world for faster response.
More Skyrangers: I liked being able to send troops to multiple action sights in the original game.
Targeting non-enemies: I liked being able to blast a hole in a wall, and make my own door. Now I need a grenade (killing my own guys).
Targeting Mind-controlled enemies. I normally use them for cannon fodder, so my guys get free shots on the big-guys, but I would like to just shoot them, before my mind control wears off, sometimes.
Targeting non-enemies2: Cars. I'd like to intentionally blow up a car with my gun.
Having a Backpack that can CARRY multiple items (using an action to get them out). I would put stunners, and medkits in there)
The ability to SELL OFF captured aliens. I hate that they took this out. I don't even know how many aliens we have In-House.
The ability to send more the one fighter-craft at their ships.
I liked having TWO weapon bays on the Fighter. You can double up, and do massive damage, or have a long-range/short-range option.
More Enemy bases on earth, before the big guys show up. The progression is too fast, making it difficult to build up new soldiers.
More easy missions mixed in with the crazy big ones. Lets the new troops get some XP.
More civilians on the remote missions... like farm houses, etc.
Aliens attack your base:
Base defenses. this could be sentries, stronger doors, or security cams (if installed, you can see the rooms that the aliens have not destroyed the cams.. by gun or by Phy attack), or even place Blast-doors on a Facility (making it very difficult for the enemy to gain entry on either side)
Placing guards around your base. This way all your troops would not just appear in the Barracks.
All your troops would need to have guns. Right now, I rotate 6 guns, armor, etc through the away team.
Really fun, but I would really like some of those old things back.
This game absorbed about a week of my life. | video-games_xbox |
Afterglow Universal Wireless Headset. To start out with I was going to get a turtle beach headset but I tried a pair of them and they were really uncomfortable. Then a friend of mine told me i should get the afterglow ones and that they were awesome. So I decided to go with them and I'm glad I did.
They were not easy to get a hold of everywhere was out of stock so i hurried up and got them form Amazon once I saw they were in. I was surprised they arrived five days early.
Setup:
The headset was very easy to set up I had them up and running in under five minutes. You pretty much just plug them in and your good to go.
Controls:
All of the controls are easy to use, they are all on the same side and work well. The only part of them I don't like is the fact that there is not a separate volume nob for both game sound and chat (there is a fade in and out nob you turn up and down to play more chat or game sound) but it's not as big as a deal as i had though form the start. The mic mute is also the on/off button so if you set it up and your mic is not working before your all like this thing is broken try to unmute it with that.
Sound:
The sound is great, the first thing that i did when i got this headset was hook it to my ipod with the line out cable (which was a nice feature because, the headset dose not have to be on to work as normal headphones) and it sounded great. There is also three different sound modes build it to the headset "pure" which is just normal with no equalizer, "base boost" which is just like is sound more bass, and "immersive mode" which is a simulated surround sound. All of these setting work well, I like the immersive mode the best. The mic works good as well everyone that I have used it with says that they can hear me loud and clear.
Comfort:
I think that the afterglow headset is really comfortable the cups are big enough that it dose not crush my ears like the turtle beachs did.
Battery:
The battery is great, I use this headset for everything and have only had to charge it twice (not counting right out of the box) and I have had them for about two weeks now.
I don't really like the fact that the lights pulsate when the headset is charging, but it's not a big deal. There is no real way to check the battery life, when it gets low it will start to make a noise to tell you. I comes with a ten foot usb charging cable so you can use them when you charge them.
The Lights:
The lights are cool, if you do not like them you can turn them off and there are four different modes for them all on, just the top band on, just the ear cups on, and all off. The light on the mic changes based on what sound setting you have set blue for pure mode, red for bass booster, and green for immersive mode. One thing that I found is that if you have glasses the light from the mic made a pin head sized light dot in my classed at the eage of them which was not as distracting as I had though it was going to be.
The light on the usb receiver is not a bright as I thought its was so its not overpowering in a dark room.
So over all the afterglow universal wireless headset is a great set with a few weak points but nothing that is to much of a problem. | video-games_xbox |
Time manipulation Fun,at least that what I thought. Time manipulation device was what I thought would really make this game stand out,you could reverse and accelerate the age of objects and enemies with it, but the TMD only took the game so far the enemies got very boring to fight after a while and the game suffers from narrow and linear level design pair with a short campaign. This was one game I wish i could age and make it a little more entertaining.
If you like sci fi games the story in singularity is quite interesting. the story, a fictional plot is about the events during the cold war when the soviet union discovers a powerful element know as e99,this element is use to create the singularity which is use to help the soviet union reign dominace throughout europe. the singularity causes a catastrophic disaster and the Americans are sent to investigate, this is where you come in,your character is a gordon freeman like protaganist who just listen to everbody and never talks(its time for us to kill off these types of characters for crying loud there most common in FPSs' and I am tired them ,why do developers feel the need to make the lead protaganist void of any personality.)
Singularity gameplay can be pretty fun sometimes with all the slick upgrades you are given for your TMD,there is a kinectic power for your TMD that will hurl enemies across the room, and a upgrade that will freeze objects and enemies in place giving the player the ability to oppose their will on them.and if you're a gorehound the game's engine can pull off some sick dismemberment psyhics. Singularity can be terribly dull and generic at times regarding the puzzle scenarios and linear level design ,with these problems this keeps singularity from hitting the mark. There are alternate endings that a easily available to see by just reloading the checkpoint at the end of the game. I consider this a nice touch for the game since the game was so short, but because of the game generic gameplay this game could probaly be sitting on your shelf collecting dust till a real time machine is actually invented. | video-games_xbox |
You might want to get the PS3 version, if you can. I love the originals. This is a serious I have spent possibly too much money on over the years. Between getting the original release, then the re-releases, I've put hundreds of hours into MGS2/MGS3. At first look this collection is obviously missing one major component, MGS1. Push that aside and focus on the collection as it is, and all seems fantastic.
Graphically the games have never looked better. High resolution visuals, and for the first time full widescreen support make this the best these games have ever looked. If you've played the games they feel just about as you may remember. But it is that "just about" that may be the biggest reason against getting the game on the Xbox 360 over the PS3 version.
I prefer the Xbox 360 controller for gaming. All my friends are on Xbox Live. And I prefer getting achievements instead of Trophies. However anyone who's spent a significant amount of time with these classic PS2 titles can tell you that they take advantage of a very specific function of the Dual Shock controller that few games utilize. MGS2 and MGS3 use the analog buttons of Sony's controller. A style of buttons the Xbox controllers have never had.
On the DS using the Square button (X on Xbox controller) raises your gun. Gently releasing pressure on the Square button allows Snake to lower his gun without firing it. On the Xbox controller you cannot do this, so the gun just fires. The simple work around is to de-equip the weapon. But the problem doesn't end there. Automatic weapons (like an AK47) are aimed by lightly holding the Square button, and fired by pushing the Square button all the way down. Not possible on the Xbox 360 controller due to the buttons being a simple on/off style. So on the Xbox 360 controller when you push X to aim the gun you go immediately into firing the gun in full auto.
This makes using these weapons very tough in the story mode, and make the VR missions involving these automatic weapons harder to complete. In VR you have to time your shots even more carefully since you have to take the animation time of lifting the gun into consideration. You have to aim by just eyeballing the center of the screen. And you still have to burst fire by pressing and releasing X so as not to waste the limited ammo you have.
I'm still having fun with this collection on Xbox 360, but if you've never played these games before on a playstation controller you'll think the game's controls are broken. They are, but only on the Xbox 360. Remembering back it was a similar problem the Xbox 1 version of MGS2:Subsistence suffered from the same issue. At least this time around you don't also have the frame-rate issues the old Xbox version had. | video-games_xbox |
The Ultimate? Maybe if you exclude Forza. Codemasters hyped this game for months before release with numerous screen shots and talk of the new and improved physics model, damage model, and everything else. Maybe if they hadn't been telling us how great this game...errr, simulation... was going to be then perhaps it would have lived up to the promises. Oh yeah, let's also pretend that Forza Motorsport never existed and hadn't set a high benchmark for others to match.
This game is decent but it is by no means the ultimate in racing simulation. The sheer variety of cars and racing genres offered in TOCA 3 are what really saves this game. The damage model is indeed very good as well.
The major drawback as I see it is that the handling physics for the cars are not what they could be. Yes, the cars all handle differently but they still seem to lack the 'feel' and feedback that you would get from other great driving sims such as Forza and Colin McRae Rally. What you end up with is something between Forza and Gotham 2. I bit sim, a bit arcade, and a bit disconnected. At times you feel a bit as if you're floating rather than driving a race car on a race track... I should note that this is with the game in PRO SIM settings which in theory should make things better.
The other problem? This isn't really leaps and bounds ahead of what TOCA 2 offered in terms of game play. I've heard numerous comments online from others saying they thought TOCA 2 had better graphics and in some instances handling characteristics. I just ran a back to back test of the Global GT light series in both TOCA 2 and 3 at Brands Hatch and can confirm that in some ways TOCA 2 is nicer. The car is certainly more anchored in TOCA 3 and feels less floaty but you feel more feedback off the racetrack surface in TOCA 2. In TOCA 3 it seems as if you only feel the corner rumbles strips and the rest is up to you to guess when your tires are about to let go. Graphis are indeed very similar between the two games. Flip a coin?
Online play: In a word? LAG. I've noticed MANY more lag problems in this game compared to that of Forza. So far the rooms also seem to have a large number of kiddies who get their greatest amusement from crashing into others instead of actually trying to drive and win a race. Yeah, the same kids were online in Forza as well but it seems as if they multiplied and all bought TOCA 3. If you plan on buying it for a great online racing experience, stick with Forza... unless Codemasters is able to sort things out a bit with the lag issues. For some reason some of the online scoreboards are all messed up for select players as well... showing scores as -1 rather than the more usual 1490ish numbers.
Rent this one first and see if it is for you. If you spend some time racing it, the game is actually fun and the variety of race tracks and cars is a big plus. Game play is OK once you adjust your reality accordingly. The game could have been a huge hit but in my eyes it still comes up shy of topping the feel of Forza. | video-games_xbox |
Pretty disappointed. I received this for Christmas. It was my first NHL upgrade since NHL 12. I have only played the season mode in "career" so far, so I cannot comment on everything.
I don't see a whole lot of difference in appearance from NHL 12. Arenas appear the same. Apart from a few new shirts, fans are the same, and even have the same movements. Some of the players faces are a little more detailed, but not by much. Game menu is very similar.
PROS:
-Collisions between teammates causing falls and puck loss is a welcome addition to realism.
-Fans yelling comments during the game.
CONS:
-Diving to block a shot is pointless as CPU players can shoot or pass the puck through your body as if it weren't there. They can even skate through your sprawled-out body without losing possession of the puck.
-You can not poke-check a CPU opponent without getting a tripping penalty.
-Goaltending is horrible. CPU opponents can score from anywhere-without a screen, and are usually unstoppable on the PP. If the puck does not go in on the first shot, the rebound goes right on the tape of a CPU teammate and is always scored.
-Fighting...more specifically, how it begins. After almost every big hit or run-in with the goalie you can almost guarantee a fight. But it's really hard to start one after a play stoppage as the time you get after a whistle has all but been eliminated, unless someone from the opposing team is trying to start a fight.
-Broken glass from errant shots. I average 2 broken glass sheets per game. It was a novelty in NHL 12, but in NHL 15, it gets old quick as it happens way too much.
-Commentary is awful. I am a huge fan of Doc Emrick, but he sounds monotone and devoid of emotion as if he was forced by court order to do this. Doc only seems to have a few lines that are repeated ad nausem throughout the game. The commentary by Eddie Olczyk doesn't match the play he's describing in many cases. Also, I've had games where Ray Ferraro was called upon during every play stoppage during the 3rd period. Having to stop and wait for Ray to talk about the same few hits every couple of minutes gets annoying fast (NHL 12 only had 2 such stoppages during an entire game). Injury reports are generic "the home team is reporting" and "they've lost their forward for the rest of the game". Team and player names are lost on just about all commentary, including play-by-play.
-Soundtrack is horrible. I can only tolerate 2 of the songs.
-The replay camera is often off-target to the point where you don't even see what's being replayed. That's when they bother to show an in-game replay. Big hits rarely see a replay, except when Ray Ferraro is called upon to summarize, and I have yet to see a replay of an injury-causing hit. Some goals don't even get replays.
Again, I have yet to dive into anything other than season mode, but so far this seems like a downgrade from a 3 year-old predecessor. | video-games_xbox |
A Lot of Bang For Your Buck (and a lot of explosions, too. Many reviewers have gone into a blow-by-blow review of the game so I won't bother here. I'm a 50-something casual gamer that likes first person shooter/role-playing games that aren't overly hardcore. To me, the perfect game lets me do a lot of exploring and a lot of blowing stuff up. Far Cry 3 mostly fills the bill; it's a Skyrim meets Resident Evil 4 game where pirates substitute nicely with the zombie-like folks of RE4. The game is more linear than Skyrim but the story is less buggy. The FC3 world isn't as big as Skyrim but is far bigger than any RE world and you are pretty much free to roam and do side-quests at will.
The mission is fairly simple over-all. You are a putz travelling with your putz-brother and putz friends to a south Pacific island where you are all then kidnapped and held for ransom (and then to be sold into slavery anyway after the ransom is paid). You escape and learn combat and survival skills as you rescue your friends and do battle with the bad guys. You align yourself with the island natives and are "helped" along by the beautiful Citra.
Fairly early into the game the Medusa mission stumped me. In it, you are tasked at taking out 3 or 4 teams of guards/radio-operators using stealth techniques. In frustration, I abandoned the mission and began doing side-quests in an attempt to become stealthier. If you are using this review to make your decision: save yourself some grief and don't try to do this mission with your knife...bring a stealth weapon (a silenced sniper weapon or a bow-and-arrow).
Far Cry 3 has its glitches but they are mostly few and far between and are mostly of little consequence. Whereas most games of this complexity seem to have at least some freezes, this had none whatsoever. I did see a vehicle coming down the road vanish into thin air and observed a few other quirks. The only real gaffe was in the fuel depot mission near the end: a seemingly translucent vehicle had me stumped and I had to look online to see that the translucent vehicle was a placeholder where I was supposed to drive another vehicle to. That was a bizarre and purposeless artifact.
Far Cry 3 takes place mainly on and around two fairly large islands however only one is accessible until you defeat bad boss #1 -- Vaas. I think that is supposed to be the half-point of the game but because I had spent so much time on side missions avoiding the Medusa mission, I think I was better armed and more powerful than I was supposed to be when I went to the second island and thus the remainder of the game went quickly. Over there, you infiltrate the inner circle of trade-slaver and *really* bad guy Hoyt before the final showdown.
You can continue exploring the island after you make your choice, observe the consequences and wade through the closing credits.
Complaints? Not many. The biggest would be that once a mission is started, you have to see it through. Though checkpoints are taken at key moments, if you quit the game before a mission is completed, you have to start it from scratch. There are a few missions that were fairly protracted and so you need leave yourself ample time.
I should note that I've only tried multiplayer mode once without much luck.
** SPOILER ALERT **
There is an odd ending after you've left Hoyt gutted and his compounds a smoldering ruin: Citra has re-captured your friends and you are left with the final decision...a roll in the hay with her or loyalty to your friends. If you are a female, it's probably an easy decision to make. If you are male, you'll probably choose Citra but in a moment of weakness, I opted for loyalty to my friends. | video-games_xbox |
Most overrated game of the year. People are ready to get down on their knees and worship this pretentious trash because it's complicated and has interesting characters and I'll give it that. Booker and Elizabeth are an intriguing duo and well-characterized. Also, it's convolution rivals "Inception." However, the utter nonsense the game puts these characters through in the final act ruined the entire experience for me.
Gameplay: Solid. This first-person shooter isn't a well-oiled machine like Halo or Gears of War but we all let that slide because of the imaginative premise and what we hope is an enjoyable story. The cool feature of being able to zip around on sky rails and shoot lightning and fire balls from one hand also makes up for it. No serious complaints here.
Graphics: Again, solid. I've seen some calling these the best they've ever seen and that's just ridiculous. The graphics didn't impress me as much as the environment and art design, which were beautifully creative and pretty. The graphics themselves are often muddy. Animations are stiff, particularly in combat. Blood is overly copious and overly red. The first-person scripted moments were all awesome though, at least up until the ending.
Setting: Wonderful. This is what made the game bearable. It's just as cool as Rapture to have a floating city with plenty of it's own weird eccentricities and unique people.
Story: The premise... Booker Dewitt, a cross between Ash from Evil Dead and Han Solo, is thrust into a crazy flying city that worships an arrogant Santa Claus figure for unknown reasons. He teams up with a lovely young girl who helps him out in combat and has the power to open doorways to alternate dimensions. So far, so awesome. The game starts off in a similar vein to the original Bioshock. Mysterious new world that is there to be figured out. Interesting weapons and powers to use against the limitless assailants. The problem arises when you question the characters' motives and find no logical answers.
The Ending: It doesn't make sense... or at least, if it makes sense in the mind of the developers, they did not adequately convey it. Let's review some unanswered questions that are rather important to the logical meaning of the narrative...
SPOILERS:
Why did killing Booker in one timeline suddenly affect every tear in the world when minutes before, Elizabeth said that such a tactic wouldn't work? For what purpose did Elizabeth go to Rapture other than fan service? Why did Comstock need his super-powered daughter if he had a machine that could make tears? If Booker truly knew nothing about his own life, why wasn't he asking more questions throughout the story? Why is Booker the only person in the universe who can use vigors/plasmids? What did the Lutece's gain from assisting Comstock? If Booker became a new man in the timeline in which he was baptized, why would Slate not be able to tell he and Comstock were the same person? Why did they rip off the idea of tears from Men In Black 3 but somehow make it entirely less comprehensible? Who was the corpse in the first light house? Why do all of the choices made in the game have no meaning or effect on the world? Why are we frustratingly prevented from making choices in Booker's body aside from how best to kill the samey opponents in front of us? Why was Slate's corpse still sitting in Cell #7 after we entered an alternate reality? Why weren't Booker and Comstock's noses bleeding throughout the game? Who built the giant bird creature and why was it controlled with a flute? Why was Fitzroy a violent murderer of children when she's trying to stand for the people? What the heck happened to Preston E. Downs? If Elizabeth had all those abilities as a child before they constructed the Siphon to drain her, why didn't she figure the whole thing out back then? Why does Elizabeth say she always wanted to "come back" from the tears she entered as a child to her family? Who was Booker's wife/mate and why did she have no say in Elizabeth being sold to Lutece? Why did Booker continually reference Anna if he didn't know who she was? Why does every "door" resemble a lighthouse? If Elizabeth could somehow conjure ghostly beings with her emotions as she did with Lady Comstock, why didn't she utilize them in combat? Why does nobody care if you walk around carrying a gun but suddenly freak out when you use a harmless vigor? Most of all, why did Irrational decide to take a promising story and turn it into a meaningless mess that renders all actions taken by the player irrelevant? | video-games_xbox |
This is a Great Game****4 Stars Overall**** Revised Review. At first i gave it 3 stars based upon the demo, but revised this to 4 stars overall...after I rented the game and have since purchased it mainly for the xbox live gaming which ive found very fun.
If any of you have seen the movie Kelly's Heroes this is kinda like that in a way. You know when watching the movie that its not a serious war movie but a fun to watch exciting movie with guys behind the lines outnumbered, cracking jokes the whole way and blasting the enemy, not too realistic but fun...well that basically "The Outfit" xbox game.
The full version is better than the demo and ive enjoyed the campaign very much and this game is terrific on xbox live with team play or head to head.
The details in the weapons are great, the collateral damage from blasts is much better than on the demo and the rag doll effect is pretty cool. Driving vehicles was tough at first but now that ive played a while its become second hand and not difficult imo. I blasted through german defences and took the main objective only to have german reinforcements coming up from the rear. I had left a damaged tank on they way only to find the enemy had repaired the tank and was using it against me, lol. It is cartoonish, the movie clips are entertaining and the one liners are kinda funny imo....again kinda like the one liners in K.H. I have read over and over about the aiming of weapons. Remember this is in the 40's during WW2 not 2006 so laser guided aiming and pinpoint accuracy was not available and again imo seem to be accurate for the era the game is geared toward. Thats why the Allies would send 1,000 bombers or mass their artillery for effect...so don't expect pinpoint accuracy and no cruise missles.
I would say rent the game see if the game is for you. If you have xbox live its a MUST to try online if not then your missing out on the best part of the game. Also, its a little frustrating at first with the vehicles but practice then go online.
If your looking for a serious xbox WW2 game the two best IMO are Call of Duty 2 (xbox 360) and Sniper Elite (xbox) both of which are terrific WW2 games. However, for a fun light hearted game with terrific sound, realistic WW2 weapons and one liners is what you like try The Outfit. | video-games_xbox |
Rockstar Nails it Again with Max Payne 3. I have never played any of the previous Max Payne games so Max Payne 3 was my first. I must say Rockstar delivered another fantastic game. Rockstar whose biggest hits are GTA and Red Dead Redemption now and then pop up a game that is really good, but a huge seller like GTA or Red Dead for example I use L.A. Noire. Max Payne 3 is on the level of L.A. Noire. Max Payne is no longer in the hands of its creators Remedy, and is now controlled by Rockstar. I understand members of Remedy did lend help to Rockstar with the game. Now lets get into it. Max Payne 3 is a ton of fun. It has one of the best single player campaigns out there, and the multiplayer is really fun.
Story: In MP3, Max has left NYC, and is working as a security guard for rich Brazilian business man. Max is overcome with drinking and pill problems. However, in hopes of getting away from what happened in NYC more trouble comes for him in Brazil. I have never played a story where one character went on such a rampage. Max Payne even after the people he was hired to protect are all murdered, still goes on his killing spree trying to stop the corrupt the forces at large. Its an interesting story since Max easily could've stopped, but he kept going. The game finally comes to a close with a really fun final level where Max battles hundreds of crooked cops. Great story
Mutliplayer: This multiplayer is crazy. The main story of the game is simply crazy, and the multiplayer certainly fits the bill. From the wacky characters you can be too the bullet time and diving, this game offers a very unique experience. The game offers various game modes like your basic team deathmatch, and another cool mode where its like gang verse cops and there are 5 rounds with each round being an assortment of the different game mode. Its a cool variety mode that throws its own little story.
Verdict: Max Payne 3 offers a fun game to play. A very gritty and adult story that is just a ton of fun to play through, and really entertaining multiplayer. There are other game modes I did not hit on simply cause I did not bother with them. I heavily recommend this game just for the single player since it is worth almost just for that. I don't know how the MP community is at this point, but you may find a game here and there. Fantastic game definitely recommend it! | video-games_xbox |
Beary good although a few fishy catches. Editing top line: Right now the value is mediocre so just pass and get the original.
Review of download version - See retail thoughts near bottom. Also I'll abbreviate "Now with BEARS!" to simply Bears just for the sake of making it easier to write. Also due to the nature of downloadable content this could very well not be the only expansion. Only time will tell and I might append this if necessary.
It's been a while since I bought Kinectimals last year and thought about whether or not to set up the second Xbox with Kinect and giving the old game to it or just downloading it. Since I had 4000 points I went ahead and downloaded it although in the future I might buy a retail copy (I still prefer having a physical copy even though with my 8GB flash drive I can lug around my profile and the games).
With that said it's 1200MS Points and requires 1.54GB of available space. It took around 4 hours to download on launch but I'm pretty sure based it was mostly issues with WiFi on my Xbox 360 S. The required update for regular Kinectimals is 48MB and can be deleted like a save game.
The story is very similar to that of the cat side of Kinectimals. Simply find lost treasure left by pirates and all that. For those that have played the original the concept is nothing new. Because the Bears version involves a new island Bumble isn't so much replaced as he still resides in Lemuria. While I won't go into spoilers I personally liked how it rolls along...However it is each to their own and some probably want something new.
Mira, the new island, doesn't have a whole lot in terms of what's there. It only has a new home, Bear Town and two more areas. One of the more disappointing things to me is the lack of a store. The given home cannot be customized which negates the need of buying stuff although it would be nice to have some playability with buying toys. On the bright side there are no trick contests nor obstacle courses (which wasn't so much horrible as it did take up 10 contests in the original game!).
Achievements for this aren't really too great but that's probably expected. Just 10 more achievements and 250 more points. Unfortunately for me I got all the Bears achievements in a single day without trying much (then again the original Kinectimal achievements weren't hard either...They just took some time).
The graphics themselves look nice but I think my only complaint is that the bears have the same animations (minus climbing and juggling obviously) and sometimes sounds as the cats. It would be refreshing for the bears to have a completely different and more bear-like animations but since the game isn't meant to be realistic I don't really see a reason to deduct any points.
As for the value here is where it gets dicey.
*For those that have the original Kinectimals and only one Xbox 360 there is definitely more value with just buying the content via the marketplace and installing it on the Xbox.
*Those that don't have the original Kinectimals might find better value with just buying the original game and adding this via download later on. The difference between that and getting both on a disc currently is only a few dollars but then again that's just me.
*If there are those that have multiple Kinect-ready Xbox 360s and only one copy of the original might benefit from the retail disc with Bears. While profiles and the download can be stored and run off a USB drive it is still tied to the original console and original profile. I've dealt with the issue that Kinectimals is unappealing to guests because exploration only occurs on the starting player's save file (I originally wrote player 1 but player 4 could easily be the one to log in and start) and if my Elite has a Kinect sensor I'd buy this as retail.
I originally put it at 4 stars but I'll leave it at 5 stars simply because I'm rating the content of the game in regards to the cost on Xbox Live. I'm still debating whether or not the difference is worth it in the hypothetical situation but I'll try to not think too terribly hard about it. | video-games_xbox |
Universal Button Mapping, THANK GOD. I bought this game as a Christmas present for my girlfriend's son. He is 16 and is wheelchair bound with Cerebral Palsy and mental difficulties. He has limited dexterity and can't reach all the buttons on the controller. He also can't read very well. That being said this game is awesome for him.
First of all it has Universal button mapping. It allows you to bind any function to any button on the controller. That is the single best feature for him. He can't reach the bumpers or triggers on the controller, so games with only one controller setup or that make you choose a profile don't always work. In this game i was able to map all the main functions (gas, brake, nitrous) to the face of the controller, so he can use all of them.
It also has a pretty easy learning curve, some of the cop missions have no time limits so he can take as long as he needs to to catch the bad guys, which he is able to do. Although, I would like to have adjustable difficulty, but it's certainly not a deal breaker.
It also has a mode where you get to play for fun, you can do free rides as a racer with no cops or a cop with no targets. there's no penalties or getting caught, and you don't lose cars. it's just a fun way to drive around really fast in any car you've unlocked. So he gets to feel like he's racing without the failure and frustration aspect.
I play the game also and as a racing game fan I like it, the graphics are superb. The game is big fun, it may not satisfy serious simulation players, but for an arcade racer I like it.
There are some serious departures from previous installments in the series. Although there is a free drive mode, the map isn't as immersive as it was in the older games, you don't drive around looking for races and you can't start random cop chases. All races and chases are started as missions, like in the old need for speed hot pursuit.
There is also almost no customization of the cars you use, it doesn't seem like you own any of them. Once you unlock a car you can use it for the races it's allowed in and in racer mode you can pick the color but that's it, there are no custom graphics and no performance upgrades. This also means that you have less to worry about, if you get busted or wreck your car, you start the race over and all is forgiven. | video-games_xbox |
Pretty Good Console. I love this console. It brings your living room together perfectly. The software has been improved so much since release. no longer are there tons of glitches and bugs, it runs smoothly and fast. First update took about 2 hours, but my internet is slow. Kinect works creepily well,hand gestures and voice commands, even in a pitch black room. Surprisingly works with my old DST, and even hunts down the HD versions of the channels! Titanfall is a great game that entertains me for ours on end. 100% reccomend
*What I like:*
[+] The dashboard is integrated WAY better than the Xbox 360 and PS3. There is no longer the feeling of "in a game" or "in the dashboard". You are ALWAYS in both. Say you are in the middle of a game but want to spontaneously change a system setting or launch another app etc. Both the 360 and PS3 had some semi-dashboard functionality built into the dashboard/home button, but most everything required you to first exit the game and go to the dashboard (aside from some shortcuts to go straight to a different game). Now, you press the dashboard button and without interrupting your game in any way, you now have access to the full dashboard and settings, etc. There is really no such thing as being required to "quit" a game anymore, which is awesome.
[+] Speed. I always was surprised that through the entire life of the Xbox 360 (including the 360 S and 360 E), there was an unacceptable amount of lag on many core dashboard functions. Something as basic as showing your list of games, or list of gamerpics to change to, or achievement lists, or loading marketplace screens, would often take several seconds of waiting to populate. The Xbox One's startup is acceptably fast, but basic things like loading marketplace content or my list of installed apps, achievements, etc, is very quick. Switching between game and dashboard is no longer the slow annoyance it used to be, but rather is nearly instantaneous.
[+] Dashboard Layout: The Xbox 360 dashboard was too cluttered and poorly organized, in my opinion. There were many different 'sections' to scroll through with LB and RB that made it take longer than necessary to get around. The Xbox One dashboard only has three now, it's much cleaner and simpler. Your pinned games/apps, main section to switch back to currently in-use game/app or browse your other apps, etc, and the third section is for browsing/downloading new games/apps. Very easy to navigate. It's also completely add free. Though at launch, the Xbox 360 had very few ads, and over time Microsoft worked a lot of extra advertising space into the design. So let's keep our fingers crossed that doesn't happen again, especially when you are a subscribing Xbox Live Gold member! I also like the notification and achievement changes. You can earn 0-point achievements in random apps, like for watching videos and such. It's admittedly pretty pointless, but if you don't like the idea of pointless achievements, you can easily ignore their existence.
[+] Built-in game DVR. Very cool feature that removes the need for external recording equipment for anyone interested in that. Even if you don't plan on using this feature, it could still benefit you in the form of more & better guide videos from other people that will likely be swarming onto YouTube.
[+] The controller. Controller design has come a long way since the old Atari joysticks or uncomfortable NES gamepads. I have used Sony's Dual Shock 3, Nintendo's Wii U Pro controller, Xbox 360 controller and Xbox One controller. They are all fantastic. But I must say I always liked the 360 controller the best. The Xbox One controller is simply an improvement upon that one. The only downside to the 360 controller was the mediocre D-pad, which has definitely experienced a massive improvement in the XBO update. They also moved the guide/dashboard button higher, which I like since I used to accidentally hit that when I meant to hit Start/Back. I even like how they redesigned the battery to go inside the controller. It takes slightly longer to swap a battery out, but since I use the USB cable to charge instead of swapping batteries (no Quick Charge Kit yet exists for the One like the 360 has), that doesn't matter at this point. The only thing I don't like is renaming the Start and Back buttons. "Press Menu" sounds way less cool than "Press Start" you're used to on any game's splash screen.
[+] Noise levels and cooling/reliability. Anyone who had a launch Xbox 360 or launch PlayStation 3 knows what I'm talking about. Those things were LOUD. Distractingly loud. The Xbox One's internal fan is very large compared to the launch 360 (google photos if its internals). Large fans can move more air and are not as loud as small fans. This also helps with its reliability, as the Xbox 360's biggest launch issues were overheating problems. Microsoft learned from this and I guarantee that will not be an issue here. I wanted to make sure of this, so I have literally had my Xbox One powered on almost 24 hours a day for the last week since launch day. This is because if it's going to overheat, I want to know now rather than down the line after the warranty is up. And I'm killing two birds with one stone because Killer Instinct has some goals related to how long you are in practice mode, so I leave it idling in practice mode while at work. Yeah, call me crazy. But anyway, so far, it has handled being constantly on for days at a time with not a single issue.
[+] The HDMI-In is definitely a unique feature to the Xbox One that the other consoles can't touch. It's not for everyone; you might not care about it. But it certainly opens up some neat possibilities. Any other HDMI-enabled device you may be interested in using can be switched to and from at a moment's notice. I plugged my Wii U into mine. I could certainly live without the HDMI input, but since it's there I may as well experiment with some interesting ways to use it.
[+] I obviously can't speak for everyone else, but my Xbox One console, disc drive, and controller, all function flawlessly and had absolutely no issues. | video-games_xbox |
A unique, fun, relaxing meditation game. Leela is a new way to learn and play with kinect.
I bought a book on Chakras (7 energy centers that rise up your torso to the crown of your head) many years ago and have always been moderately interested in meditaion.
This game from Deepak Chopra and Curious Pictures is pretty amazing.
I played the demo 3 times last week and seemed to feel a little better. So I purchased the full game and am pleased with the variety of activities to unlock.
The control method works well, the menus are easy to navigate. I found I play more calmly and in control with each time I play.
The Presentation Sound and Visuals are very well done and will help your breathing, relaxation, and put you into a flow state if you let it.
I will break down what the game offers.
There are 2 main branches to the game, Play and Reflect.
Play's Movement section is broken down into 7 chakras each with seven levels. Each level adds a new element to play with.
The movements you perform to control the visual game onscreen are exersises to help open your Chakras. (you will be rotating and bending hips, chest and sholders, and expanding your arms and pushing gently outward, depending on the level/chakra).
The 2nd section of Play is Sequence. Where you perform a series of Movements to open multiple chakras.
The 3rd is Mandala in which you create a personal mandala image to help guide you back to meditation.
Reflect contains: Stilness, Oracle and Ambient
Stilness has 7 guided meditations with Deepak's voice and some visuals and music.
Breath Practice has 7 different meditations that help you control your breathing with onscreen visuals that actually match your breath in your lower middle and upper torso.
Finally 7 silent meditation lengths are available from 2 minutes to infinite. They also each offer 7 sound choices and no speech.
Oracle contains quotes from Deepak that arises after you've reflected on something.
Ambient lets you listen to the music in the game with backdrops from various parts of the game .
So there is plenty to do, and I look forward to making this a daily routine.
If you are curious about meditation, and/or playing a game in a relaxed new innovative way, I highly recommend Leela. It is extremely well done with wonderful music, psychedelic trance inducing visuals and is a nice introduction to chakras and meditation.
It's just what I've been looking for in the back of my mind all these years.
**It's been almost a week now of daily leela and I must say I feel more calm overall, especially right after a meditation of course. It really seems to work if I breath with my movements in the Play section as well. | video-games_xbox |
Best COD multiplayer. This review is for the multiplayer only. I have not earnestly played the story in the COD games since modern warfare two, which also was my 1st COD game. I also don't play zombies. That being said this is the best multiplayer experience yet.
The pick 10 system is awesome. It is fun coming up with all kinds of class combinations. They have taken a lot of the sting of prestiging. Now when you prestige you keep all the camo you previously unlocked on your guns. I always thought it was stupid doing all the work to get gold on your guns just to have it taken away and having to doing all over again when you prestige. And ont only do they not take your camo away, they also do not take away the attachments that you unlocked for the guns either. They allow you to prestige each gun individually up to two times, the 1st time you get your clan tag displayed and the 2nd time you get your emblem displayed also. Also when you prestige you get an item unlock every time, in addition to that you also get to choose between a custom class, refunding all your unlock tokens used that prestige and resetting your level to 1. I only see usefulness in the 1st option. But it is still better than mw3 which gave you a unlock token each prestige, but you had to choose between using it for an unlock or custom class.
In addition to prestiging not being the end of the world now, they also have a new mode called league play. This mode attempts to match you up with people on your skill level so you have those totally lopsided games. You should win about 50% of your matches once it places you correctly. The beauty of this mode in addition to the above is everything is unlocked for you to use as you see fit, further leveling the playing field for you and the competition. They even allowed the points you get for matches in this mode still increase your level in regular public matches, again making prestiging more palatable. I don't think you get as many , but you still get some. I don't think you get credit toward your gun levels though.
You get a good number of maps, I believe it is 14 maps + nuketown 2025. All the maps are also available for the normals stylists, I almost said all playlists but I don't like using absolutes when I am not sure. This is significant because ther is another shooter that came out this year but only had 10 maps that shipped with it and of the 10 only 5 are available in the playlist that I like to at in. Lets just say they got old quickly. I am still finding new and different ways to tackle the maps and it is great.
As for the perks themselves I like what they have done. There are no more pro version of the perks. You no longer have to play modes you don't like, such as ctf, to get unlimited sprint ala black ops. Big big plus in my book. Also none of the perks affect how the guns shoot, no more stopping power. The perks themselves I feel are overall weaker. Ther are a couple standouts like engineering and scavenger, but overall they are weaker. There is no unlimited sprint, only for a longer duration. ghost only shields you while you are moving, so not good for campers anymore. This is in my opinion a good thing though. It is hard to make an truly overpowered class now. You will always be lacking somewhere. To make a truly stealth class now you have to use 5 of your 10 things on just the perks. 1 for blind eye, ghost, cold blooded and dead silence. Plus you have to spend a point for perk 1 greed because ghost and blind eye are in the same level. Then you have to get a gun a put a silencer on it, you are down to 3 things left to pick any you still have a 2nd and maybe 3rd attachment(if you get primary gunfighter) to pick and a 2ndary weapon, and your lethal and tactical grenades. Something g is going to get left behind.
It has good integration with COD Elite. You cand make up classes and upload them so they are ready for you when you log back on the game. There is a livestream ability that is also cool to keep you in the game even when you are away from the game. See how other people play and learn new strategies.
All of that and that is only a 1/3 of the game. There is still a campaign and zombies. Well worth the money, even if you only want it for multiplayer. | video-games_xbox |
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