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For Bowlers or Serious Sport Gamers Only. Being a former PBA member and Information technology specialist, I've played just about every computer bowling game ever devised. Some didn't even attempt to capture the essence of bowling and were just arcade games, while others tried to be realistic but failed miserably. The best bowling game in my opinion before this review was Brunswick Pro Bowling for the PC. The pin action was very realistic and there were changing oil patterns and a few balls to choose from. Then came the Kinect where you are the controller along with Kinect Sports that YES!! included bowling. I was stoked and bought it immediately. It was fun, but once again the game attempted to appeal to the masses and was more an arcade thing than a bowling simulation. It required the player to perform strange body motions to hook the ball and there were no lane conditions or ball choices; very disappointing.
Then I saw that the Brunswick Pro Bowling franchise had created a game for the Kinect. I was immediately excited and started reading reviews, and was again disappointed. Every review I read hated the game and rated it as almost unplayable. Since it was available so reasonably, I decided to purchase a copy anyway. I am so glad I did. This bowling simulation, and I do mean simulation, is probably the closest thing to actually going bowling without visiting the local alley. Five different alleys are included with very different oil patterns. True to bowling, the oil patterns vary slightly between lanes at each house. This means that you still have to adjust your shot between games even if you have figured out the pattern. There are a huge amount of ball choices and each ball does something different as far as skid, roll, and hook attributes. There are realistic leagues, tournaments, and one on one matches. The sound effects are very realistic as well as the pin action. Like I said, a person would actually have to go bowling to beat this experience, and it wouldn't be by much.
Now the down sides. If you are looking to have a quick bit of fun without any learning investment, this is not your game. Go buy Kinect Sports and play their bowling game for that. I can see why so many people have given this game a bad rating. Even I, as excited as I was and being a former professional, became a little frustrated at first trying to learn the body movements and figure out the game's control strategies. However, the more I played it, the more I came to appreciate how accurate the game really is to actual bowling. I also learned that the game is harder at first until a player invests enough time in leagues and tournaments to earn money and buy items. This was very frustrating at first, but at the same time was the real beauty of the game. It keeps you coming back for more to buy shoes, balls, hats, and wrist guards that improve your bowler's and thus your ability to hook the ball, be accurate, and throw as hard as you want.
Next, to make the game this accurate and sensitive to your body movements, they had to push the Kinect device to it's limits of sensitivity. This has a cost. Annoying things happen if you are not careful about all your body movements while anywhere near the Kinect's veiwing area. Make sure other players and pets stay away from the sensor limits of the Kinect as well or you will find yourself aiming and throwing suddenly without warning even though you did nothing. Ambient light must also be controlled. If the room is too dark or too bright the game may not function at all. If you have enough space in your room, steps can be taken just like in real bowling. This is my favorite way to play and really enhances the perception of actually bowling. However, when swinging through to throw the ball and create hook, the player must finish in a relatively small zone in relation to the Kinect sensor to get the best results. Once again, this was frustrating at first until I realized this also made one be accurate with where they started, the length and speed of the steps, and the timing of the follow through and hook motion. All these things actually enhance the bowling experience once mastered.
My last complaints are about the computer bowlers. If you are by yourself and want to bowl league or team tournaments, you can choose to have the CPU control the other players which is great. However you have to skip every single other player each frame to get to your turn. This means you will be standing still with your arm rigidly outstretched for over a minute between each frame to skip seven other computer players on the average league. This gets old in a hurry and there is no setting to change it. Finally, my last complaint is that all the computer bowlers throw straight balls down the middle with no hook at all. Every now and then a computer player will throw a hook at a spare, but 99% of the time it is just a sliding ball straight down the middle with no hook or roll. This is true all the way from beginner CPU players to the pros. In my opinion this really misses a chance to make the game even more realistic. It's fun to watch others try to figure out the lane conditions and sometimes watching helps you to figure out where to play on the lane and what ball to use. This aspect is totally absent since the CPU throws the same shot every time with the only difference being how many strikes it gives itself.
In conclusion, if you love actual bowling, would like to experience something very close without going bowling, or are just an avid computer sports fan, this game is for you. You will have to invest some hours in learning the movements and acquiring gear just like in real life and will then be rewarded with satisfaction and a bowling experience that will be increasingly realistic. There is also the opportunity to have friends over and bowl realistic leagues that could span several weeks. | video-games_xbox |
Dumbed down. My biggest complaint this year is that EA has decided to leave game content disabled until you pay for it online with M$ points. Each page I go into I think "that looks like a cool new feature" but am disappointed to learn it is only a cool new feature for those who want to pay money to unlock it. I pay good money to get the game to begin with and now i have to play a dumbed down version--as if [...] for a game was not enough already!
You can still play the game without the unlocked features, you just won't be as effective in recruiting in dynasty mode. It would definitely give a huge advantage to online dynasties so i would imagine if you want to be competitive online you have to shell out an extra chunk of change.
As far as the game play goes, it appears to be improved. The new animations are much much better than versions in the past find my self enjoying the game when i play. The computer is still almost impossible to stop and your offensive line does nothing for you in way of a running game, but the football portion is still fun.
The rest is still the same as years before. Which again brings me back to why I am upset. Why am I paying [...] for a game that provides little in way of anything really new, other than items you have to pay to unlock? The updated rosters you would think are a step up but as it turns out there was a snafu and they put the wrong rosters on the game disk. So they couldn't even get that right. Though I'm sure this will be patched, it reveals EA's opinion of us their fans. We are nothing more than a dollar sign. With EA it is all about how much extra coin they can squeeze out of us. Examine the review of each of their recent releases and you see the same theme. Spore, Sims 3, and I'm sure Madden 2010 will have much of the same. Each is geared to get you in the door then you are expected to pay more to get full content of the game.
Though I hate to say it, it is time to stop supporting an evil company. They are not all evil but EA is and they have to go. | video-games_xbox |
Fun but. First I want to say that this is probably one of the best looking games I've played to date but probably one of the worst Need for Speeds of the entire franchise! I was hoping that this was a remake of the original need for speed for PS One and Sega Saturn. But instead what we got was a rehash is NFS Underground that was extremely poorly excuted. To be honest I would actually rather play the original NFS underground on PS2 rather this. The PS2 version had some of the best driving dynamics of any arcade racer that I had ever I played. It seems like the developers paid more attention to the character models and voice acting than the actual game. Here are my qualms
1). No daylight!!! The entire game takes place solely at knight! This makes things extremely hard to see especially when your barreling down the road at 100mph +. At first I didn't notice this but as I sat and played for hours it all became apparent as I kept crashing into things. The truly saddened me as I was expecting environments more like Need for Speed High Stakes or Hot Pursuit with day time tracks, snow , rain etc. I don't mind night time driving occasionally but now that consoles have gotten so advanced I expect more versatility than that of a game from 15 years ago.
2). Why are the tracks so freaking narrow lol? It's like driving high speed down a two lane street with obsticals and hair pin turns. It's pretty ironic that a franchise centered around drifting makes it nearly impossible to do so due to the tracks being so narrow. Coupling this with exclusively driving at night makes for a truly awful gaming experience.
3). The driving mechanics. I'm not sure if you guys remember Need for Speed High Stakes for PlayStation One. But as I recal when I was barreling down Durahm Road in my e39 m5 all I had to do was lightly tap square hit circle modulate the throttle and BAM perfect drift! Sad to say that this formula does not translate well on NFS 2015. I will say that drifting on this new NFS is actually WORSE being sporadic, jerky and highly unpredictable.
There are other points that I have time to discuss like poorly implemented multiplayer and the s***ty extras you get with deluxe version *cough* e46 m3 *cough* why not give me the f82 if I'm paying $30 extra? Needless to say that I was extremely disappointed with NFS 2015 therefore I've already sent it back along with the s***ty Star Wars Battle Front that I have also written a review of. | video-games_xbox |
A Fantastic Collector's Edition Worth Owning. <div id="video-block-RNJ4DR45CE3UZ" 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/D1M%2BOKkw0qS.mp4" class="video-url"><input type="hidden" name="" value="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/A1vWd6-NqUS.png" class="video-slate-img-url"> The Pip-Boy Edition (collector's) allows every fan to live out their dreams of roaming the wasteland with nothing but their jumpsuit and trusty PIP-BOY Model 3000 MK IV. From the safety of their living room.
The Collector's Edition comes packaged in a Pip-Boy Crate. Press the side latches to open the center. Inside, you'll find the centerpiece PIP-BOY and the game placed stealthily at the top. The game comes in a metal case. Also included is a large fold out "map" featuring the Perks for Fallout 4.
The Pip-Boy itself is the main reason you're reading. It's surprising sturdy, made with hard plastic and two metal clasps. Inside is a foam insert so your arm fits comfortably. There is also a velcro strap to ensure it doesn't fall off or move around. My forearm is quite large and I find the velcro to be unnecessary.
The top opens up to reveal the compartment where you can rest your phone. I have a Galaxy s5. It did NOT fit well. I had to press very hard to make it fit, and while it did, I needed to get a hard, flat object (I used a sculptor's file) to get it back out. Despite not fitting well, the app looks amazing set inside the Pip-Boy. It DOES link up with your game and you can manually navigate through the menu screens, check your map, and all the other functions of the Pip-Boy featured in the game.
It comes with a nice stand that you can set it on if you'd rather admire it or when you need a break from killing deathclaws (radroaches for you greenhorns).
I did do one boneheaded thing - I did not read the instructional manual before checking out the Pip-Boy. Because of this, I discovered some of the "interactive" buttons and dials to be a bit flimsy. You can twist and turn a few of them, but as you can see in one of the photos, I ended up popping the top button (7 in the manual) in. I mistakenly thought this was the way to open the top. Even though I'm disappointed and a little sad that I've already broken my Pip-Boy (Bethesda - any suggestions?), it still looks very nice and will be an excellent addition to my collector's shelf.
All in all, if you can afford to purchase the Pip-Boy Edition and are a fan of Fallout, I recommend grabbing one. The Pip-Boy is fantastically designed, and unlike some collector's editions, looks built to last.
Final Verdict: Great Purchase! | video-games_xbox |
A very polished turd. Halo 4 is the perfect game...
Well, so you will think for the first 30 minutes. Unfortunately, no matter how well you polish a turd, it is still a reeking piece of crap.
Doing their best to ruin the game series, 343 has introduced a new story line. The previous game, Halo 3, boasted "finish the fight," a phrase which captured the attention of every player and fanboy in the world. Halo 3, if described in a single word, was simply "Epic."
And that is how every Halo game has been, if you think about it; The music, the cutscenes, ONE man against an entire army. It was ridiculous and awesome, and boy did Bungie play off it. The entirety of Halo 3 was a gut-wrenching, button pounding movie-in-a-game, and in the end, the hero was thought to be dead by the entire human race.
Literally, I thought it impossible to mess up that big of a set-up for Halo 4. The return of the Chief?! It could have been so epic, so well done! But 343, with all their effort, fighting as hard as they could...completely messed it up.
The epic music you've known from every game? Throw it out, and replace it with something written by a nobody. The perfected multiplayer (which I consider Halo Reach to have had), throw that out too. EVERYTHING that was classic Halo, 343 removed and replaced with something half-done. The storyline is filled with plotholes, and is over before it even gets started. I finished the campaign on legendary in a day. Every cutscene or segment ENDS before they give it a chance to sink in or be awesome...if you play the game, you'll see what I mean.
And the multiplayer...a steaming piece of dog doo. With the idea of copying Call of Duty, they introduced sprint and "create a class" and "perks." But they went even further...they made the BR and DMR, two INCREDIBLY overpowered guns, starting weapons. And simply to finish it all off, they removed "bloom" (aka recoil) from weapons, making every single gun infitintely accurate. The levels? Terrible. The inconsistency of weapon damage? Phenomenal. The lag? ...just wow. (since I know you will wonder, the connection problem is not me).
OVERALL, I would recommend never playing this game. There is a reason it is suddenly $40. It is the biggest disappointment I have ever had in the video-game industry. | video-games_xbox |
Possibly the best FPS we've ever played. To start I want to be clear that I don't do campaigns on any game, so this review is based on multiplayer. I'll also let you know that I'm a HUGE Halo & CoD (Call of Duty) fan currently & since 2004. I'm a decent gamer, and now have two boys that can hold their own. We keep an open mind on games and have played Battlefield 1, Star Wars Battlefront & Overwatch along with the Halo's & CoD's. Titanfall 2 is quite possibly the best of them all. No joke. You know something is original & fresh when CoD & Halo copy it. Wallrun, jet packs, and double jumps are all Titanfall originals & the other games have copied this in Halo 5, CoD Black Ops 3, and CoD Infinite Warfare. It's got something for everyone in this game too:
1. Campaign. Even though I don't do campaigns I know that some people do. My younger son likes them & completed it in 2 days. So, a shorter campaign, but still fun for him.
2. Titans. Although not my cup of tea either my sons LOVE them. There are game types that utilize Titans & some that don't. It looks super fun & realistic when I watch them play. My youngest loves Bounty Hunt, which you get to earn Titans by playing well & then fight with them during the game. There's also Last Titan Standing, which starts & end with just Titans.
3. Standard deathmatch. Pilots v Pilots is incredible! The weapons are amazing and have good variety.
4. Maps: Fresh new maps never done before. Beautiful graphics, stunning visually, and tons of variety. The creators went to a lot of trouble to test these maps thoroughly. They utilize the wall running & double jump abilities well and mix nature with buildings in most every map.
5. True FPS. I have fallen in love with this game for the reasons above, and also because this game generally takes more skill. Many of the other FPS games have loaded up on power weapons (rockets & shotguns) that take very little skill to master. This game is less short range close combat & more focused on technical & larger maps that take skill to master the weapons. Even though the maps are bigger the games move fast because you can move faster in this game than others.
Overall: Solid 5 Stars. Fantastic detail, smooth gameplay, and extremely fun! | video-games_xbox |
There is just something about this game. I am an avid action RPG (console) gamer. I love games like this. Sure, it isn't without it's flaws, but what do you expect for a title that started at $40 brand new and is from a smaller game developer? It best compares to the original Fable, in my opinion, than any other recent game.
Story: The story in this game can be cheesy at times, but overall it's pretty good. It is pretty straight forward, but not linear. You basically unlock more and more areas, and can go back to them at any time. There isn't a new game plus, or free roam mode, which is disappointing since there are things like treasure you will want to go back to. But they are pretty clear about "The Point of No Return." So as long as you create a separate save before the final boss battle, you can go back and do everything. There are also 3 different endings, depending on whether you went out for revenge or love. And one somewhere in between.
Gameplay: Overall the fighting and powers works pretty well, you can quick map only 5 things. This is limiting when it comes to magic, but once you start playing you find yourself only using about a couple of different spells. The swordplay overall is pretty basic. Lock-on, attack, roll, ect. You can choose between a sword, two-handed weapon, spear and shield, or your moonblade which is with you at all times. They all play a little differently. The game is damn hard though on normal and hard. It can even be a challenge on easy in some areas.
Graphics: The graphics aren't the best on this game, but it can really shine in some parts. The caves and catacombs look amazing, but sometimes the city can look generic. It's hit or miss. The character design is pretty cartoony, similar to Fable, but it never really bothered me. The enemy design isn't too varied, as each section you go into has only a few sets of enemies.
Sound: The background music works well with the game, and the voice acting is also hit or miss. Some characters, like Death, the bosses, as well as Scarlett, do a fantastic job. Some of the NPCs aren't up there. With some just shouting out random sayings, to really odd conversation. Overall if you can look at it with a humorous eye you will have a good time with the NPC dialog.
Overall it is a pretty good action RPG if you take it lightly, and don't expect it to be a Dragon Age or Elder Scrolls quality game. If you were a fan of Fable 1, this is a must buy. The humor is there (intentional or not) and there is a certain charm to the game that made me love it. I definitely recommend it. | video-games_xbox |
Looks good on paper, but not what I was hoping for. !!! UPDATE (6/13/11) - I traded this controller with my father-in-law for a new standard controller back when I purchased it. Since that time he has been using the Raizer, but now it is no longer usable. The material on the top of the left thumbstick has been completely smashed and flattened. The left thumbstick click (sprint in Black Ops) is also nearly impossible to use when trying to press forward at the same time. Out of the box the click was already difficult, but now it hardly works at all. At this point I would suggest that this controller is not ready for prime time and Raizer is going to need to address these serious design flaws ASAP.
The Good
- Programmable bumpers
- Tension control thumbsticks
- No more "spaz melee"
- Textured coating
- Long braided cable
The Bad
- Trigger design
- Start/Back button location
- D-pad design
- Bumper tension
- Low height A,B,X,Y buttons
- Distance between controls
OVERVIEW (Overall Grade C+)
In a nutshell, the Onza controller does the job as advertised. However, just like any other piece of sporting equipment (gloves, bats, shoes, etc) the "feel" of the device is a personal preference. The only way you can find out if this is the controller for you is to give it a try for a few nights. No matter what anybody says in their review, you are going to have to try the controller yourself to see if it works for you. As for me, I gave it a try for multiple nights but I have come to the conclusion that it isn't for me.
NO MORE "SPAZ MELEE" (B+)
I picked up this controller for two main reasons... the tension control and the programmable buttons. However, the real selling point for me was when my buddy bought this controller and said that he was no longer doing the "spaz melee" while playing Call of Duty: Black Ops. This was enough of a reason for me, so I went ahead and made the order. And he was correct, during my week long use of my controller I did not have one unintentional "spaz melee" occurrence. However, on the flip side... I also do not recall getting any normal melee kills either. I think this is because it is requires a little more pressure than the standard controller to click the thumbstick. Not a deal breaker, but it was definitely a trade off.
TENSION THUMBSTICKS (A)
You can easily twist the thumbsticks to either tighten or loosen them. It worked as expected and the thumbsticks themselves felt nearly identical to the standard controller. However, I found that I ended up setting the tension to nearly the same setting as the standard controller so there really wasn't any value for me here. I suppose that maybe a sniper would find this helpful, but as a run-n-gun player it made no difference for me.
D-PAD DESIGN (C-)
The individual buttons feel rather large and clunky to me. It is also a little hard to feel which button you are pushing as there is no change in shape between the directions. Unlike the standard controller where you can tactilely feel the differentiation between directions, the smooth transitions between the buttons on the Onza D-Pad made it a little bit of a pain. However, I think the real culprit here is that the distance between the left thumbstick and the d-pad is a little bit farther apart than the standard controller. The difference in distance is just enough that you almost have to think about it when you move your thumb over while playing. So for me, everything about the Onza d-pad is a failure.
TRIGGER DESIGN (D)
The Onza triggers are much longer and more narrow than the standard controller. I don't understand why they made them so long as your fingers rest up toward the top area anyway. So while this felt different, I also noticed that I was unable to fire single shot weapons as fast as the standard controller. I am not sure if this is an issue with the trigger mechanism itself or if it's simply due to the design and where my finger rests. Either way, I ran through combat training numerous times with the FAL and I was able to fire single shots more quickly and efficiently with the standard controller. Needless to say, this could be a major issue for any FPS player.
PROGRAMMABLE BUMPERS (B-)
The duel bumpers is a little awkward at first as I found myself hitting the top button by mistake. However, I was able to get used to it by the second and third night. Programming the top bumper is easy to do and I was able to map it to my switch weapon button. The bumpers are narrower than the standard controller so that is why it will probably take you some time to get used to. The other semi negative comment is that the bumpers have a more prominent "click" to them when pressed. It is more "clicky" sounding and feeling than the standard controller and for me I did not like that. I thought it would have been more smooth like the new A,B,X,Y buttons which have a mouse like click to them.
A,B,X,Y BUTTONS (B+)
The first thing your thumb will notice is that these buttons are much shorter in height than the standard controller. While they do have more of mouse like click and feel to them, I found the lower height to be an issue. Due to the lower height, I found it more difficult to know which button I was pushing during gameplay. So while they are marketed as highly sensitive, I prefer the standard buttons and their more pronounced feel. Of course the backlight buttons on the Onza look cool and all, but that doesn't really do you any good while you are staring at the screen during game play. One other item to note is that they do rattle, especially if your controller is vibrating. This is not a big deal technically, but it does make them seem a little more cheap than the standard controller buttons which are solidly in place.
START/BACK BUTTONS (F)
I have no idea why they moved these buttons to the very bottom of the controller. As somebody who uses both of these buttons on a routine basis in Black Ops to check the score (back) and to check the map (start), I continually went to push the button... only to remember that it was moved to the bottom. As a work around, I mapped my programmable left bumper to the Back button. However, remembering to push the bumper proved to be almost as difficult as reaching down to push the actual button. The fact that I was now using my programmable button for something mundane as the Back button was the last straw for me on this controller.
15' BRAIDED CABLE (B-)
This cable is long... real long! In fact, it's a hassle to put away each time. I don't think it's the length of the cable so much as it's the material of the braid. The braid is rather stiff and you can't really wind up the cable in a small size. So you end up with this big pile of stiff cable that does not store away neatly. While the length is nice, if you don't need that long of a cable it will become more of a hassle than anything else. I prefer cabled controllers over wireless, but the Onza cable needs to use a softer braid like that of the Tritton Black Ops headset instead.
TEXTURE COATING (A)
I really like the texture coating that is used on the Onza. It keeps your hands from sweating and it has a really nice feel to it. I have nothing bad to say about this feature upgrade.
PROPORTION CHANGES (C)
The overall footprint of the Onza is very close to the standard controller. However, the hand grips have a slightly narrower grip angle to them and the distance between the thumbsticks and their adjacent controls (left thumb to d-pad, right thumb to A,B,X,Y) is a little further apart than the standard controller. The transition from the sides of the Onza as it wraps around the front where the bumpers are is a little bit more right-angled than the standard controller. The standard controller has a slightly more rounded and natural feel up front.
3.5MM to 2.5MM AUDIO ADAPTER (probably required)
One big "gotcha" with this controller is that the audio plug on the bottom of the controller does not have the two openings next to the jack. So I had to pick up a 3.5mm (male) to 2.5mm (male) audio adapter to connect the Onza to my Tritton headphones. You can order this from Amazon for $8 <a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/PAC-Stereo-Audio-Interconnect-With-2-5mm-To-3-5mm-Connectors-PAC-PIOAC25/dp/B000J4GCV8/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">PAC Stereo Audio Interconnect With 2.5mm To 3.5mm Connectors - PAC PIOAC25</a>
AUDIO "CLICK" SOUND
When someone in your party or game is done speaking there is a faint "click" sound after they are done speaking. Not a show stopper by any means, but definitely semi-annoying.
SUMMARY
For me, the standard controller feels so much more natural than the Onza. While the Onza does have more bells and whistles, I did not find that I played any better with it. I was always having to "think" about which button to push where as the standard controller just feels more natural to me. So I had no compelling reason to keep the Onza as it wasn't improving my game play. However, my buddy loves his Onza so it really is a matter of personal preference. As for me, I gave the Onza a try but I am going to stick with my old tried and true standard, wired, controller. Game on! | video-games_xbox |
Seems great but plagued with technical problems. In short, this headset is definitely not worth $300. It would be if everything worked as advertised but that is not the case. So here's the short...
Pros
1) Very comfortable. I can wear this headset for hours before I need to take them off
2) I love being able to swivel the ear pieces around and lay them on my shoulder, really wish more headphones had this feature
3) Mic mute when you swivel it up and it gets it out of the way
4) Very light weight but fairly well built
5) Great sound, not the best I've heard but very good
6) Virtual surround sounds actually sounds good to me
7) Can be used while charging while via USB
8) Awesome that it can be used on PC and consoles
9) Can use the optical input at the same time as the analog. I like this because I have a bluetooth receiver connected so that I can listen to my iPad while streaming videos.
10) Love having the base to holds the headphones when not in use
Cons
1) Out of the box I had issues getting them to work. I had to sync back to the transmitter twice before they would work.
2) Periodically, they will just stop responding and I have to sync them back to the transmitter
3) The mic quality is terrible. When paying this much for a headset the mic should sound far better than a $30 headset. I bought a $30 USB headset for my wife and it sounds 10x better than these. This really aggravates me.
4) When removing them from charge to use them, there is a 30 second timer until they power off so you have to start something that plays sound to keep them from powering off. This is obviously a power saving feature but should be able to be set by the user. The worst part is that when they do power off, they emit a deafening beep that is awful if you forget and are wearing them. On top of that, it plays back through voice chat software and others hear it and are deafened by it as well. Terrible design decision.
5) When the battery is running low, it emits a deafening tone through the headphones as well that is nigh on painful and again, others in voice chat hear it. What is the point of that?! It could be much softer.
6) There haven't been any firmware updates for these in years that could easily resolve some of these issues.
7) The PC audio coming through the analog jack is terrible compared to the optical input. This may sound obvious but I've never heard such a difference before.
8) Customer support is terrible.
Meh
1) The voice and game adjustments are OK, but I never use them personally since I primarily use these on my PC now. This may be more useful on consoles though
2) The sound settings switch is OK but I always leave mine on full range. Again, this might be better used on consoles.
So, given the fact that there are more pros then cons then my review should be higher right? Well the cons are pretty big ones for a headset that is this expensive. I have to do something to make them work again almost on a weekly basis and the fact that there haven't been any updates for these in years makes it seem like they have abandoned them to just focus on newer products. Combine that fact with terrible customer support makes me feel like that I would have a similar experience if I purchased any of their other products, so I will not. This will be my last Astro purchase. In hindsight, I wish I would have spent this money on the Blue wireless headphones. The reason for the three stars on this review is for the nice features that do work and work well but if you're looking for something reliable (key point there) with a good mic, look elsewhere. | video-games_xbox |
Fun karaoke game but with limited song selection. I bought this game for my wife who loves to sing, but I must admit that I kinda like it too. You get to customize your own singer (which is part of the fun; I got mine to look almost exactly like me) as well as the option to design the stages and venues where you sing. The game has a mixer-type set up which gives you the options to increase or decrease the volume of the music, the crowd, the singers' voices and player's voice separately. The game doesn't require that you sing perfectly to get points; just that you hit the right pitch. There are co-op and competition duets for two players. If you are not in the mood to play for points, there is a karaoke mode that simply shows the complete song verses (instead of the scrolling words on the bottom in regular game mode) on the screen to sing along with just like a traditional karaoke song video. It is definitely more fun to play the more people there are. The only downside is the song selection; while my wife and I are bilingual and liked a couple of the Spanish songs that were featured, the others were not all that exciting. Plus, most of the songs from the 70's and 60's were downright boring. The DLC content from XBL consists of only about 10 or 11 additional songs. All-in-all, we have no interest in about half of the songs. I realise it's hard to create a song line-up that pleases everyone when releasing a game that is meant to appeal to the general public, but that's why they should've had more DLC songs available like with the KRAI & DDR games. Still, this is a fun game especially if you are a karaoke fan.
Just a word of caution as a side note, especially to all those who think 'karaoke game = kids/ family game': you may want to review the song list (which can be found on Wiki) before buying as there are several songs based on overtly sexual themes. For that reason, along with some light profanity, it is rated T for teen. | video-games_xbox |
Multiplayer Only. If you want this game strictly for its Multiplayer capabilities, than it is a decent game. The overall mechanics are those of a normal FPS but with cool additional features such as wall running, Titans and a couple others. What totally killed this game for me was the lack of a Campaign mode. Before others tell you there is a Campaign mode and this is false, let me explain. So "technically" the game offers what they think is a Campaign mode but really just another Multiplayer mode.
A typical Campaign mode to me is:
*One player mode with the option of co-op sometimes
*Great story line with engaging cut-scenes
*The ability to pause and pick up where you left off
*Somewhat linear story in that you have to complete Mission 1 to proceed to Mission 2 and so on
A typical Multiplayer mode to me is:
*Usually online focused
*Multiple players are required
*You can choose any map or mode you like
*No story line
Here is TitanFall's Campaign mode:
*Online focused
*Multiple players required (No user level moderation so you will play your first time at level 1 against a level 42 user)
*No story line or engaging cut-scenes
*No ability to pause and pick up where you left off
*100% linear story in that you have to complete Mission 1 to proceed to Mission 2 and so on
As you can see, there is absolutely nothing that makes the so-called Campaign mode anything different than a Multiplayer mode. It is Multiplayer 1 and 2 mode. The only thing different I can recall is that instead of starting on the ground on the level and your goal being displayed on your screen (something like "Kill all your enemies to complete this mission) you are in a helicopter and a voice tells you "You must kill all the enemies to complete this mission". They then drop you on the ground! I completed three missions and still have no clue what the premise of the story is besides kill the other team before they kill you.
Putting it bluntly, EA and Respawn are absolute idiots if they think this game offers a Campaign mode. Lol, it was probably the producers of NBA Live who worked on this game. If you want a $40 Multiplayer game that is decent at best, you are in luck. Otherwise, save your money and time for another game. | video-games_xbox |
Another sleeper gem well worth picking up even after five years. Although I originally bought this for and played it on the X360, I've only just now completed it. And on the PC to boot!
OK, why? Well, when I originally got it, I was just learning to play FPS games and, frankly, I was terrible at them. So, about halfway through Singularity, there's a big ugly boss-fight where you fight from a train (trying not to give anything away here) and, well, just couldn't get past it. So I gave up and forgot about it. Then, a few days ago, Steam had a big sale of stuff including this, and I thought, why not. So I played it and--while it was no walk in the park--I was surprised at how much easier it was than it had felt the first time.
Don't get me wrong--the game is still plenty challenging, even on Normal setting--but I felt much more in control of my actions than had previously been true...despite the truly terrible labeling of the controller buttons in the game. I mean...who still calls things "Gamepad button 1"? Luckily most of that can be deduced from context or from trial-and-error, and there is a short cheat-sheet someone put up on Steam as well that shows the correspondence between "Gamepad button #" and XBox controller control.
Anyhow, I needn't repeat what others have already thoroughly covered. I have a few minor issues (and one major one) but I found this to be a solid 4, although it could have been a bit longer than the 10 hours I logged. So, to suggest a few minor areas that could be punched up:
- Too many "Tower of Hanoi" puzzles, which I hate. In particular, the issue of using boxes as steps...ugh. Annoying!
- The improvement system is completely opaque, in that you have no idea what it means when you select what to improve, either about yourself or your weapons. So you're asked to spend currencies which are hard to find, and you have no meaningful sense of the tradeoffs: is more health better than better healing? Is armor better than health? For the perks that give you better loot, how often and how much? Larger mags or faster reloading? You see what I mean.
- Although the radar is useful, it sometimes just doesn't work, so you wind up walking in a more or less random direction until it starts showing you directions again.
- A minimap would have been helpful at some points, although the radar mostly compensates. Mostly.
(SPOILER ALERT!)
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Finally, my biggest complaint, which is actually about a Very Good Thing: the minigun ("autocannon"). Once you get this thing, you become unstoppable. Literally. From that point forward, there's nothing and nobody whom you can't hose into oblivion...and the fact you get the time-stop function about the same time guarantees that.
This would be less of an issue if the game limited your access to this beast, as is the case in many games that feature similar items: usually you're limited in ammo, or it slows you down unbearably, or something of that sort. Not in Singularity: from that point forward, you needn't even bother with any other weapon, as this will be your "go-to" gun. Which is a shame, as there are some very cool techno-whizzer weapons: but when even the toughest monsters and the most heavily armored human enemies go down before you in a literal hail of bullets...why bother?
I thought at first that ordnance would be the limiting factor, but you can buy ammo at any weapons upgrade station (of which there are a lot) at 50 per belt of 100 rounds, max of 600. Given that perks cost 500 and up (the most expensive I ever saw on the list was 5000; the most I ever had at one time was about 4700. Most perks cost in the 1000-2500 range), you're literally able to fleet up to max ammo out of your pocket change...and that doesn't consider the generic ammo replenishment packs that fill up all the holes in your ammo belt.
Summary: solid game, still very playable. Replay value: moderate to poor--this ain't Mass Effect or even Crysis.
But at current prices...sure, why not? | video-games_xbox |
Mixed Feelings. As you might have guessed by the title of this review, I have mixed feelings about this game. At first glance the game seems pretty solid. You command unions, which eventually make up an army of 25 characters, in a world filled with powerful relics of a by-gone time and full of political intrigue. However, TLR's execution of these ideas is where the problems stem from. Important: I have not finished this game, nor is it likely I will for reasons you'll discover while reading my review. My statements in this review represent my opinions, and in no way should be any reader's sole deciding factor in buying this game. This review also focuses on the negative points of the game, please note that I still gave the game 3 out of 5 stars and that I still had some fun with it.
Story:
Many people play RPGs (especially JRPGs) for their stories. TLR's story is pretty generic and I didn't find it terribly engaging. A boy (Rush Sykes) somehow has lost his sister and is searching for her. During this search, he stumbles upon a battlefield, gets caught in the middle, and suddenly begins working for/with an upstart country that's trying to gain its independence. So far so good. However, for some reason the leader of this country decides to drop everything and help Rush find his sister. It starts losing you a little bit, then, fairly standard JRPG story elements occur, and it loses you a little more. However, a few hours in, a very interesting character (the only interesting character) appears: The Conqueror. If I were to finish this game, it would be because I want to find out what the Conqueror is/wants/ends up doing. Unfortunately, one character isn't enough to carry an entire story. As I've said, everything else seems pretty standard and generic. It's too bad, too, because the game sets up a very interesting backdrop at the very start that it never takes advantage of.
Gameplay:
JRPGs are considered by some, obsolete. Turn based battles, giving units an order and then watching them carry it out, etc. TLR is no different. It has turn based battles, you give your unions orders, etc. However, it handles things slightly differently. You give general commands to each union (which can have up to 5 characters each) and each unit decides individually how it's going to carry out your order. This actually was a great system, for a while. After an hour or two, you are given the ability to form 3 unions. This is when the combat shines. Each battle, even against regular enemies, will require a bit of thought. The boss battles require you to use a modicum of strategy, rather than just unleashing your most powerful attacks. This fun last for a while. However, when your characters begin to get to higher levels and begin learning a variety of skills and 'arts', it becomes apparent how much luck is involved in the battles. For me, this realization happened when I was a little ways into the 2nd disk. The battle commands are always changing depending on the situation, and you won't always have every option every turn. As mentioned, this is part of the fun at first. After you reach bosses that can destroy your unions in a hit or two, it becomes frustrating. You might have a union full of mages with powerful healing spells, but when you need them to heal, the game only gives you the option to use magic attacks. With the same group of mages, you might be able to wipe out an entire battlefield with one, powerful combined spell (called arcana), but in the next battle, be given options that require them to use physical attacks or sit out a turn and do nothing. This is just a small example of some frustrating moments with the battle system. Outside of battles, the gameplay is pretty much what you'd expect. You control Rush in 3rd person and have him run around towns and dungeons. There are no random battles, instead you see monsters in the 3rd person mode and engage them there. You can also slow time and engage more than 1 monster at a time, this is called linking. This is where another gripe of mine comes in. Linking monsters makes battles more challenging (therefore, more fun in the beginning), leads to better loot drops, and gets you through dungeons faster. However, due to a design flaw, linking monsters all the time will gimp your characters. Linking increases your Battle Rank faster, which seems to determine how tough bosses and monsters are, but doesn't significantly increase how fast your stats grow. As you can imagine, this leads to problems and it also leads me to one more gripe. Stat raises seem almost completely random. For example, I turned Rush into a mage, but somehow his strength and intelligence have remained pretty much balanced. I'll use nothing but magic attacks with him for 30 battles, and his int might increase once, but if I use the basic attack with him once in one battle, his str will increase. It seems like there's no rhyme or reason. Classes also seem pretty random, and after many hours I'm still not sure if they're tied to stats, skills, or something entirely different.
Technical Issues:
Graphically, the game looks OK. I'm writing this review 3 years (I think...) after release, and it doesn't look bad. However, there are a few technical issues. Framerate does slow down during battles pretty often. It hasn't been enough to frustrate or bother me, but it is noticeable enough to mention in my review. I also have the game installed to my hard drive and I imagine if the game isn't installed the problems only get worse. There are also quite a few loading screens. When installed, they are reasonably short, but there are certain times when going through loading screen after loading screen gets annoying.
Overall:
I had fun with this game for a while. The battle system is a unique and fun variation of the standard JRPG turn based system. However, this fun does wear off. Eventually you will be simultaneously bored and frustrated by 45 minute cakewalk battles followed by 20 minute extremely difficult boss fights. I find this game difficult to recommend to anybody less than hardcore RPG fanatics. People who are merely game enthusiasts, like me, or casual gamers, will quickly be bored or frustrated with this game. | video-games_xbox |
Very Good, Just missed greatness. Dead Rising 2, i have to admit, when i heard about it about a year ago i was ecstatic. I Played the first Dead Rising and got the 53, and whatever zombie achievement, I leveled Frank all the way up, etc. etc. In short, it was fun, I found myself killing Zombies just to pass the time. The question was, did they do anything better in Dead Rising 2. 25 achievements, and 3 playthroughs later, i find myself perplexed with the inability to come up with a definite 'yes' or 'no' to that question.
In Dead Rising 2, you Play an Ex motocross Champion Chuck Greene. Chuck was in the Las Vegas Outbreak, and the incident claims his wife and almost claims his child. Since the last Dead Rising, a new drug called "Zombrex" has been invented, it temporarily delays the change into a Zombie by 24 hours. Problem is, Its EXPENSIVE, Chuck has to do some weird crap to make enough money to buy the stuff so his little girl, Katey doesn't try to eat him or the cat at home. Chuck ends up in Fortune City in a game called TIR (Terror Is Reality) to participate in a Zombie killing-fest game to earn cash for Zombrex. During the games, a Zombie outbreak occurs, and Chuck and Katey now have to survive until the military get there, 3 days from now. You have three days, in a Fortune City Casino Strip Mall, Katey Has no Zombrex, and You have been blamed for the outbreak. Chuck's life, Katey's life, and countless others' lives are in your sweaty hands. Think you're up to find the truth? Well, lets find out if you'll even want to first.
What's Good:
Graphics:
Dead Rising 2 isn't the cream of the crop in visuals, but then, most games can't boast hundreds of zombies all moving with no hiccups in framerate. Its impressive, its immersive, the graphics are great really, Capcom really brought fortune city to life, (and ironically death). Zombies are animated wonderfully, and they come apart into pieces even better in this one than the last. Its just fun to kill them because it's so fun to watch them come apart (i note HOLD B broadsword's damage). Though occasionally i had hiccups with explosions while mowing down large crowds of zombies in the 4X4, on foot, never one.
The Story:
DR2 gives you a reason to care, Katey's so darn cute and lovable, plus Chuck himself is generally respectable. He's been wronged and he has to find a way out of this. The story is engaging, and it definitely is not a rehash of the last DR. The story feels unique, and some of the endings, are very powerful. I Strongly recommend beating the game multiple times to see them all. That said its quite bland too, its predictable at times. Still its a good story, and it doesn't really fall into "Dawn of the Dead" kind of stuff.
The Controls:
The biggest Gripe I had on DR1 was Frank Himself, he controlled, in my opinion very awkward, took some getting used to. But chuck is more fluid in his movements. He feels less clunky (and he doesn't look old when he runs). Chuck can aim guns with the left trigger, and drives with the right. Get what i'm saying? The game adopted general standards, it behaves like a racing game in a car or bike, and it behaves like a TPS when you have a gun (LT aim RT fire) Sweet! Now you can just shoot or just drive. All in all, the button mappings and Chuck's movements do what you expect, when you expect them.
Weapons:
DR2 introduces custom weapons, called Combo Weapons. Combo Weapons are weapons made from two different Weapons, such as a Box of Nails and a Baseball Bat. Combine the two in the conveniently placed Maintenance rooms to create a Nail Bat, it does more damage, it gives you PP, and it lasts longer than an ordinary Baseball Bat. Great addition, and some of the combination are zany and just ridiculous. But most of them are very fun.
Multiplayer:
Make money and Kill zombies on a crazy gameshow online with thousands of people over XBL on TIR or simply add a second Chuck to the game you're playing and kick some Zombie butt together. Awesome idea, just really hoped for split screen. oh well.
Zombrex:
The Zombrex finding missions are good, they're a mixed bag because they are a bit tedious, but the game does get you all four you need without you going ballistic, and tells you int he watch menu which missions will give you Zombrex. I Liked Katey's character, and i didn't want her to die, so was glad i didn't have to pull my hair out to find Zombrex.
What i thought needed improvement:
Saving:
DR2 drastically improved saving, now there is a bathroom in every area. But honestly i'd have preferred it a save anywhere system. As is, it is better than fine, but my main qualm is that sense of "i'm Saving Now" there are no Zombies in the bathroom, and there would be the way they have it set up. I'd have preferred it if there was an air-duct in every area going to the safe house in some way to give that "there is one safe place" feel. But its minor at best, the save system is ok, just USE IT for your sake.
Low levels:
This is the biggest problem i have, tight quarters, 4 bars of life, hundreds of Zombies, you're slow as molasses, and zombies like to grab you. You will die, quite a bit in the beginning, its annoying and i got quite angry. But once you get a Speed +, the world is a happy place. Quickstep the drink helps a lot too.
LOADING:
Holy crap, load load load load load load load. Ok you get me, this game loads, a LOT. Its takes up a lot of time and drastically drops immersion factor. Plus the hard drive install, doesn't really help. I mean there are times when it loads the cut scene after a cut scene it just showed. Ugh, i got very impatient waiting so much.
Psychopaths:
The first Psychos in DR1 seemed easier than these guys, these guys are made of steel, are faster than bullets and do ridiculous damage compared to the first one. Holy crap the psychos are hard in DR2, and they just don't have the same feel to the battles as DR1 it was more about just figuring out how to kill them in DR1 not running around and waiting till they get tired and hit them with a shotgun blast that does like a smidge of health damage. Then repeat until dead. I remember in 1, if you had a good weapon you could easily overpower certain psychos, in this one, their psychotic behavior somehow gives them the ability to withstand an atomic bomb. Its ridiculous, and frustrating especially at low levels, btw any one hit kill attacks will not work on psychos, it won't even land. (That's why the charge up sledgehammer move won't hit them if you're wondering.)
Time:
There never seems to be enough, its a constant juggle of do this, do this, get to the safe house then, kill stuff, kill this guy, crap I'm gonna lose this survivor AGGGGH! Yeah, it will give you Grey hairs if you let it overwhelm you. I think they could have removed some urgency and it would have been more fun. More time to kill stuff = good.
All in all though, Dead Rising is more of the same but much better, its more playable, it feels longer, has more replay value, and can let you kill Zombies with friends. it has a few problems but what game doesn't? Its definitely worth at least a play if you like violent games, like zombies, or you like platforming type games, even Shooters. Its worth a rent if you're unsure. If you liked Dead Rising 1, pick it up. If you didn't because of the saving and that kind of thing but thought it was fun, rent this one and try it out. If you loathed DR1, you'll hate this too. Its a lot of fun if you like this sort of stuff, i recommend. | video-games_xbox |
The game every horror movie fan deserves. Resident Evil 7 brings the original atmosphere from the very first RE back to life, while adding multiple influences from horror movies weve seen over the past decade.
I am only a few hours in, but based on what Ive already played I wanted to add my thoughts about the game, characters, and story very briefly.
The gameplay itself is pure Resident Evil. The ONLY difference is its coming from a first person perspective this time around. I personally love this change. Having to literally be face to face with everything you encounter, not knowing whats behind you when you turn around, jump scares that not only jump out at you, but are IN YOUR FACE, it just puts it on a whole other level. All while keeping it on par with what you should expect from an ORIGINAL Resident Evil game. If you see reviews or people on social media say otherwise, they are just flat out wrong as wrong can be.
Characters and story are different this time around. No zombies (which is refreshing) but instead we have the Baker family, Zoe and Mia. Now again, Im only a few hours in and I am aware of other types of characters to come in later, but I won't speak on what I really don't know about yet. These characters (with the exception of Zoe right now, whom I haven't come across face to face with yet) are blended together directly from three movies. The Baker family is 70% Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2003) and 30% House of 1,000 Corpses. Mia is 100% The Evil Dead (2013), which funny enough, is the same name of the character replicated from that movie. If you haven't seen these movies and you like to really dig deeper into where these new influences on the series are coming from, I highly recommend checking them out. It will make everything a lot more relatable and even more interesting seeing how striking the influences are, at least in my opinion.
Last but not least, the game is scary! If youve heard otherwise, its more than likely because those people are playing during the day with the lights on listening to the soundtrack to Frozen. I would suggest that whenever you play this game, wait until the sun has gone down, your room can be as dark as possible, and it is a MUST to put on headphones. The design theyve done with the audio in this game is outstanding. Just walking around hearing creeks, knocking, doors shutting, rain, wind, all coming from a 360 degree angle is done exceptionally well. If you don't fully emerge yourself in this game, you are robbing yourself of what makes it as great as it is.
I highly recommend adding this to your collection, on a count that you play it the way its meant to be played and maybe take the time to learn about what influenced the new direction and story in this series. 5 out of 5!
***EDIT AFTER FINISHING THE GAME***
So with 10 hours in and apparently still a handful of Mr. Everywheres to find, I am blown away by a really great story that I did not expect to come together. I won't give any spoilers, but things manage to intertwine in a very cool way that at least I didn't see coming. Some things I left out in my initial review...
The molded! I thought at first they were extremely tedious and annoying, but after a while they seemed to fit in better. When they first appeared, I just felt they were in the way of everything I was trying to accomplish.
The boss fights. Okay, so Ive heard a lot of people complain about the repetitiveness of these fights. The only one I felt that was about was a certain fight involving a chainsaw. Other than that, I was surprised to find them pretty fun. I LOVED the final battle with the Mother! Really creeped me out.
I loved how unexpected things got. A couple times I kind of sat back and thought, okay, are we going a little bit too far with this? But it was always fun and kept me guessing on what was to come.
The puzzles. Maybe Im an idiot, but I needed a walkthrough for a good amount of these puzzles. I was pretty confused most of the time, but once I read the walkthroughs (I recommend searching for Poloygon if you look one up online) I realized what I needed was right in front of me. Except for the birthday puzzle. I would have been lost without some sort of guide.
(I don't think what Im about to say spoils anything, unless you want to know absolutely NOTHING going into this game.. Ill keep it as discrete as possible) The only complaint I have is the drastic shift in atmosphere about 6-7 hours in. I don't even think complaint is the right word to use, but I was having so much fun with where things were taking place originally, I couldn't help but semi-rush through this specific part of the game just in hopes of getting back to something more familiar. There was nothing wrong with it, it helped bring the story together. Just missed, land.
I still stand by my 5 out of 5. Check it out for sure, if you like survival horror with a whole bunch of surprises and twists, youll love this. | video-games_xbox |
This is but a taste of the Dark Side. Let me preface this by saying this game is awesome! So why four stars? Mostly because of some systemic issues that I came across and one thematic reason that didn't fit well with me. Other than that this game is simply brilliant. Taking Star Wars into the realm of role playing was obviously a great idea. The tabletop game looks fun as it is, but to branch into the realm of video games, I suspect, is just as fun. I've played Star Wars games on and off since "Dark Forces II" came out years ago, but I wouldn't say I'm an absolutely die hard fan of them. However, I'm hoping "Knights of the Old Republic" will spawn a long running string of similarly designed Role Playing games!
RPG's are probably my favorite format for video games (I still haven't decided if I really like them more than FPS or if they simply tie). The game that really got me into RPG's was Diablo and it's because it didn't use the very common turn based system that was used in games like Final Fantasy. Now a huge amount of RPG's released over the years have followed this kind of methodology in copying the fast paced Diablo format where the user gets to hack away at enemies in a button mashing frenzy. "Knights of the Old Republic" uses more of a turn based combat system. Which I really didn't think I would like at first, but I didn't mind it to much in this one. It gives you the time you need to setup your attacks and choose force powers if you want to use them in combat. Some people might find this boring because you don't have to really physically participate in the combat, instead simply watch your character execute the moves, but I still managed to enjoy my time in this game. At least I get to manually control where my character goes and whom I interact with. I personally found the game play enjoyable.
Another major plus for this game is that you definitely get your moneys worth! I logged nearly 60 hours in my process of completing this game and you can play the game multiple ways! Basically if you play it as a Dark Side character you get different options than you would a Light Side character, and each side has different endings. This at least makes it worthwhile to play through the game twice logging approximately 120 hours of game play in all! This, of course, is provided it doesn't go faster the second time around... which it probably will take less time.
Anyway, I played through the game as Dark Side and this is where my initial hang-up came in. Based on the movies and other things I've read in the Star Wars universe I just didn't feel like they really captured the ethos of the Dark Side. In this game you had to do randomly cruel actions in order to earn Dark Side points and I really didn't like that. While the Dark Side is unforgiving and cruel, I don't feel it's a chaotic cruelty. It's more of a measured cruelty that's motivated by a need for power. Arbitrary cruelty doesn't really have much of a result in this game, you don't gain anything from it (other than Dark Side points) and I just think that doesn't work towards the true Dark Side motivations. Now I've played both "Knights of the Old Republic" games and I really liked two better in this regard. I think it captured the Dark Side much more correctly. Whereas in this one it's very difficult to actually play as a Dark Side character most of the time. In some situations I didn't have any option, but to give an answer that yielded me Light Side points and this just seemed stupid to me because my character was so heavily weighted to the Dark Side at that time. Not to mention one of the major ways you earn Dark Side points is by being mean to your own team, this just seemed foolish. If you were really Dark Side you wouldn't be blatantly mean to the team you were leading, you would coax them into wanting more power or vengeance etc. This doesn't come into play until the second half. The only time I really felt like I was truly playing a Dark Side character was when the big plot twist was revealed, after that I got very heavily into the story line and moved this game up a notch in my rating scale. (Very very VERY awesome plot twist by the way!)
The second issue I had with the game was how heavily laden the game was with glitches. Now I tried playing through it on my Xbox 360, so you'd think the game would actually process smoother, not so at all. It is especially jumpy during talking sequences between characters and it has an extremely difficult time processing a battle with a large amount of enemies. This becomes detrimental in the later battles on the Star Forge where you have to fight through so many Sith that the system can barely process all the blaster fire and light saber duels! Now, I also tried playing this game on my original Xbox a long time ago and basically what happened there is it had an in game error and crashed the whole system. My original Xbox never worked again and I had to purchase a new one, thus I played this on the 360 to hopefully avoid that. Well, the glitches are still rife throughout my game play, but at least it didn't destroy my Xbox this time. (Please note: The game more than likely didn't destroy my original Xbox, but probably had more to do with its age and the amount of use it had received over the years. I just have a natural fear now that it happened!)
Overall this is an incredibly good game. It's pretty well thought out and probably a superb game if you play as a Light Side character, because the story-line probably has a much better flow. You visit multiple worlds throughout this game and each world is simply HUGE. It's one of the reasons it takes so long to play the game, especially if you like to play a game thoroughly like me (i.e. making sure every inch of a map is shown). Again, the major flaw, to me, aside from the programming glitches, was the Dark Side story line is lacking. Anyway, I think the processing would have been superior on a PC at this point. I would definitely list this as one of my must play RPG's, because despite it's flaws it really is that fun and if you're a die hard Star Wars fan, I doubt you'll be disappointed. | video-games_xbox |
Save your money. I wanted a pair of badass headphones for the 360. Almost bought these. Didn't bother with turtle beach bc I can tell an overmarketed P.O.S when I see one. Then I had a friend tell me about the Astro A40's. Just got my tax return back so whatever right? I ordered those bad boys for a hefty 275.00. I know the price seems steep but trust me...if you're gonna spend the money on something, do it right the first time. I got the astros and was literally almost in tears from how amazing they sounded. I mean stunning. The 2011 wireless version has a bass boost option which makes up for the previous versions lack of deep low end. It also is in Dolby 7.1 vs 5.1. Absolutely awesome. I play alot of BFBC2 and the tanks and houses falling will make you cringe. Sniper shots whiz by my face and I can immediately tell which direction they came from. I almost never get snuck up on unless there is alot going on around me and distinguishing the footsteps is too difficult. If I'm chilling in a house taking a base I know how many people are coming in to try and rush me and from what direction. It's totally unfair and I feel sorry for everyone else when i knife them in the face. Anyways, I broke the tip off one of my cables in the mixamp and had to send it back for a replacement (excellent customer service btw) While I waited for it to be returned, I went to best buy and bought the Turtle beach DX11's for 139.00(why not? I wanted to see Astro's competition and a lot of kids online were using them of course so i wanted a comparison). Terrible. I mean bad. zero bass, and if i turned the bass up it crackled and distorted. Good mic though. I returned them immediately. Got the Tritton AXpros. Now I'd read an in-depth review about them and how they sounded "artificial". This is pretty spot on. It sounds like someone is just taking the sound from your tv and turning it up in your ear. Fake sounding. Weird to describe but definitely not worth the price. Plus you gotta constantly mess with settings, rear, front, center, sub, etc just to try and make it sound somewhat correct. Please, TRUST ME. Do yourself a favor, save up and get the Astros. I wish I could hear life through those things. Movies sound great too. Even unplugged from the mixamp and hooked up to the ipod they sound amazing and crystal clear. You don't know what you're missing. The benefit to the wired version is you can plug your ipod up while you play online and stream music into the headset (and control the music volume via ipod/phone etc). My same friend that told me about them bought a pair after I did and plays the Tron soundtrack while playing battlefield and its awesome to play to. The wired version doesn't have as much deep end as the wireless though so pick whats more important. Hope this helps. | video-games_xbox |
No Money - No Multiplayer. I am a huge fan of the Halo franchise, enjoying endless play with my family at home and online friends. I purchased this game for the multiplayer aspects, which are not clearly detailed in any writeup that I've found.
The game is fun, but not truly multiplayer, it falls into the online RTS category, meaning Xbox Live, or another Xbox 360 that you happen to have lying around, is required if you want to enjoy more than one player in the game. So... unlike the other Halo series games, this Halo does not support true multiplayer on the console.
Pros: Fun RTS game, but limited without the multiplayer on console aspect of the previous Halo games. Intuitive controls, the simple tutorial introduction to the game is well done, graphics are good (not great), video cuts are excellent, vocals are well done, and the game is very responsive.
Cons: No true multiplayer, meaning multiple players cannot play the game on a single console, but network play over the very expensive Xbox Live network is available, or you can link multiple xBox 360s. Halo fans will likely find themselves quickly tiring of the game after the campaign ends without multiplayer teaming on the console. Ensemble Studios has since closed, effectively making Halo Wars orphan-ware, so don't set high hopes on multiple updates/upgrades.
Note: Microsoft is clearly against the original console license scheme they introduced with the xBox and Xbox Live, which only required one account for the console, vice making customers pay $75 for each player despite only using a single network connection and single server session. Requiring multiple online licenses for a single piece of software on a single console is clearly fleecing customers, but Microsoft is making huge profits with no additional investment or resource cost, so there is little incentive for them to stop the practice.
Summary: Overall, a fun game that misleadingly calls itself multiplayer and Co-Op campaign ready, however no multiplayer is available on a single console like the previous Halo games. Microsoft continually pushed their licensing scheme from the console to the individual players, handicapping groups with 'visitors', and Halo Wars continues that position by eliminating multiplayer on console all together in this last offering from Ensemble Studios (a Microsoft game development studio). If you are a lone player in search of a Halo variation on the RTS (like Command and Conquer) than Halo Wars is probably a good choice. | video-games_xbox |
A great game for Naruto fans. This game is about the closest you can get to living out the earlier part of the anime series/manga that you can compared to the other naruto games. While the others introduced story elements into their games as well, this one really feels like a sandbox sort of feel by giving you real-time travel throughout the naruto world. It's pretty big and there's lots to do to keep yourself busy and entertained just between all the mini-games and side quests alone.
The combat though is pretty unique how they handle it, and makes you actually do some work to pull off a special attack, but once you get the hang of it is pretty easy to do. There are even little mini-games within the special attacks too to keep you on your toes and give the opponent a chance to counter.
The storyline pretty much starts out from the very beginning and goes up to just past the chunnin exams, in case any fan was wondering. It's not a very lengthy game, but that depends on how much of the extra side-quests and everything that you do. For anyone who was wondering they do have downloadable content, including japanese voice-overs along with new characters for multiplayer. It's a solid game that's not too hard for newcomers to these sort of games but definitely gives those with some experience a chance to shine.
The multiplayer is about the only thing I can nitpick about, and that too mainly with the online part as a lot of people tend to be pretty good at it so it's hard to find someone your own skill level. The AI itself is pretty brutal even in the easiest setting for beginners. That and the faces are static during combat (ie. their facial expressions don't change and their lips don't move).
For a Naruto fan I would definitely recommend this game, it's visually gorgeous in HD, and completes a true Naruto experience. For newcomers to the Naruto franchise, it's a great way to get involved in the story, although I do recommend reading up on the manga too. I expect to see this series continue on through the story arc in future games which I look forward to picking up. | video-games_xbox |
Ever wanted to live the life of a Pirate. Well, here's your chance!
I just beat the game yesterday with 84% completion, meaning I did a good portion of the side stuff (of which there is a TON). If you've ever played an AC title, you know what the game is, but this time, you're an assassin pirate in the 18th Century Caribbean. If you've played AC3, then you are familiar with Connor Kenway, Haytham Kenways son. In Black Flag, you play as Edward Kenway, Connor Kenways grandfather.
I will comment on the main differences in this game compared to the others:
-Your ship: Customize your ship with a pretty wide selection of sails, helms, and figureheads. Sail, and watch as your crew members man the sails and sing jolly tunes. The ships sailing controls are really well done and easy and the physics are really cool. The waves and the wind will influence your direction. You might even be hit by an epic wave or a water devil. Sail where you want, when you want, kill a shark or whale (including the elusive white whale), stop your ship in the middle of the ocean, climb to the top of the tallest mast, and dive into the sea. Jump between ships, air assassinate the enemy ships captain from his own mast, then plunder his booty (if you're into that sort of thing).
-You CAN go diving in certain locations (I think there are like 8 diving spots).
-*SPOILER?* You don't actually become an assassin until toward the end, unlike in the others, where you become one almost immediately in the game.
-The Blow Gun: The best addition to AC since the double blades. Sleep darts and Berserk darts will become your best friends.
-You can fast travel from anywhere. If you don't feel like sailing to get to your next objective, fast travel there by opening up your map, selecting a discovered location, and BAM! LOAD SCREEN!
I only have a few complaints for the game (which are COMPLETELY overshadowed by sheer epicness), which include the AI of the guards, the movement AI of the controlled character, and the simplicity and dullness of combat. Again, these complaints cower at the sight of the awesomeness that is this game.
I've played every AC title and this one takes the cake. Not only is it a good AC game, but it's a good Pirate game. | video-games_xbox |
Gamplay Only Review - for SERIOUS players of this franchise. UPDATED. UPDATE: EA fixed two of the menu issues i stated early on. unfortunately none of the gameplay has improved. Before writing this I finally took the game out of the console, bent it in half and threw it away.
I have been playing the NHL franchise since 1994, and still play it several hours a week. I look forward to every new release, and i was pumped about 15 and really wanted to love it. The game play in 14 showed that the game play continued to make strides in the right direction. The game was getting more realistic, while the fluidity and fun of the play also improved (not an easy thing for a game to accomplish). NHL 15 is a huge step back from 14. Most reviews complain about 'incomplete features', and features not delivered day 1. I am not referring to any that (like GM mode, etc), and only reviewing the play-ability of the game only, which is the most important part of this game by far:
- AI is HORRIFIC. Players move AWAY from the puck more than gravitate to the puck, and these are players that would be all over the puck in real life. Defensemen stand outside of the zone when the team is clearly and solidly on the offensive. Players never chase the puck into corners, and players swing away from the direction of the action, so when you switch to them quickly, your're out of the play. Defensemen sit and turn on one point, and often make no movement at all. No, not every player should be sprinting the puck, thats not what i mean here. EA should have coupled AI along with the game strategies to ensure computer players respond to puck and player movement in a way that makes sense for the way you want your five skaters to work together. There is no logic to what the players do in this game, and there is nothing intelligent about that, so EA, stop referring to it as AI. In general, getting directional fluidity out of your team is harder than ever, this was decent in 14, terrible in 15.
- Hits are no better in 15 than they are in 14 - even though EA states they have new hit physics. A forward with the puck will still bounce right off a defender that goes in hard and connects with a shoulder to the chest. Sure, it doesnt happen all the time, but see how you feel when you're playing online and deliver a hit that should at least free the puck, but instead, results in the forward bouncing straight to the net and scoring. infuriating.
- Players are clumsier than ever, and NO, its not more 'realistic'. Passes go through sticks - the recipient looking oblivious that he is even in the game. Passes to the slot get 'bumped' on the stick instead of shot. When pucks are on the boards, your active player will skate 1 foot away from it and make no effort to address it. Try to backhand a pass in the slot? FORGET IT, it'll slide off the stick at a snails pace, even if you're punching a hard pass with the controller, like we've doing in this game for years. FRUSTRATING!!!
- Goalies are stupid. Sure, they make ridiculous diving saves all game that show the new physics, but they let in goals that pee-wee goalies would get ridiculed for. There are at least two deke moves that beat EVERY goalie EVERY time. If you play online you know this well - there are guys online that bank on these dekes, and thats all they do. Boring.
- Players whiff on shots 20ish% of the time - nowhere near realistic. If you're moving the puck fast, in the high slot, through the slot, a one timer to the blue line, etc, players cut right through the puck and look completely stupid. Sure, not all NHL players hit every one-timer, but they almost always make some sort of contact. Not in this game. Dumb. This wasn't even an issue in 14.
A little something about the menus used for setting up a game:
(Update - EA actually fixed these two things below)
- they are SLOW and cumbersome. changing jerseys has like a one second delay and by the time it catches up with your movement on the controller, you're not even sure what the heck you picked.
- changing strategies is also awkward and slow. the menu doesnt respond to the buttons in a timely manner. Click, nothing. wait a second, then click and you're good. so pointless and unnecessary. 14 did this elegantly and seamlessly. EA, you're fools for screwing this up.
In summary, i hate this game, and i am so disappointed that i do.
But wait!!!! EA did improve the crowd graphics and crowd props!! WOW, very impressive EA. Someone at corporate should get canned for this 'game' that is better suited as a $60 drink coaster. None of the game play is better, its almost all worse than 14. Massive failure. Epic fail. Please, someone make a great hockey game so i can ditch this franchise. | video-games_xbox |
Delivers Crystal Clear Sound, But Fits Too Snugly. This LUCIDSOUND LS30 WIRELESS UNIVERSAL GAMING HEADSET delivers crystal clear sound, but I found the headphones to be somewhat uncomfortable after an hour or so. Perhaps thats just meI find most headphones that completely cover the ears to be uncomfortable after a fairly short time.
Setting up the headset on my PS4 was something of a challenge. The instructions are minimal, and it took me a while to figure out that the flat USB base station had to be connected via optical cable to the back of the PS4 console, and then plugged into one of the USB ports at the front. Because there were instructions on how to put both the base station and the headset into pairing mode, I figured they needed to be paired, so I bumbled around until they found each other. The light on the base station turned solid blue when they were paired.
Then I did the really stupid, embarrassing thing: I plugged the boom microphone into the mobile/Xbox input port, instead of into the oval microphone port. This error turned the headset completely off, so that when I went into the PS4 settings for audio devices, the choice needed for the input and output device (USB Headset (LucidSound LS30)) was missing. After I unplugged the boom microphone (which activates an internal microphone), the headset showed up in the audio device list, and I was able to complete the setup. (The headset also shows up in the device list when the boom microphone is plugged into the correct microphone port.)
Once the headset was set up, it performed beautifully. I particularly like the chat volume control on the right earphone, which makes it simple to control the volume. Theres a nice option in the settings that lets you test the microphone volume by speaking into it.
This headset also works as a standard headset when connected to a mobile device (using the included audio cable). I plugged it into an iPad Air2, and the sound for music was pleasing. Its worth mentioning that none of the special gaming features work (e.g., the chat volume control I mentioned earlier) with mobile devices, as the headset is actually turned off.
Because of the tight fit that makes the headset uncomfortable when I wear it for long stretches, I rate this headset at 4 stars (I like it on the official Amazon scale). | video-games_xbox |
After Several Months, Still the Favorite. After several months of playing Rock Band 2 and comparing it with Guitar Hero 3, we're ready to provide our review of how Rock Band 2 stacks up!
First, we have been playing all the Rock Band and Guitar Hero games since they first game out. We are musicians and have a sense for how musical systems should work. We spent the months to fully evaluate Rock Band 2 against Guitar Hero 3 and to see how both held up for long term play. We also played both games both with other experience and novice players.
Despite my appreciation for Guitar Hero, I find Rock Band 2 to be head and shoulders better for many reasons. First, simply in terms of playability, it is much easier both for newcomers to pick up and for experienced gamers to easily use. New players who have trouble can be "saved" by their bandmates and the song can keep going. When you're all experienced and playing on harder levels, the wonderful screen layout means you can easily keep an eye on how the group is doing and help each other out.
I enjoy the way you progress through the different cities, unlocking physical gig locations, mixing up new songs, gaining helpers and items.
The character customization, of course, is awesome. I like the detail I can put on my avatar and smile every time I launch back into the game and bring her up.
The song list is great and I really enjoy that the songs I previously purchased for Rock Band 1 are right there, playable and waiting for me.
I love how the band bus in the background goes by with my name on its side, the tiny details in all of the gig locations, the way the characters interact with each other.
It all comes down to great gameplay, though. The game is simply SO much fun to play. I'll go back and forth between this and our other games, and while Guitar Hero can get frustrating, Rock Band 2 is always a joy. I'll play long past when my fingers are sore. It's that addictive.
I really don't have any complaints at all about this game. As long as I can keep downloading new songs, and buy the solid drum kit so that I have the best drum experience I can with it, I am completely happy.
Highly recommended! | video-games_xbox |
Arcade 2d Shoot 'em Up Perfection. I've been a fan of the Raiden series ever since seeing them in-person at the height of the 2d arcade days. Unfortunately due to its rarity in my local arcades I never had the chance to play them very often. So this compilation of the three Fighters series games for $20 is probably one of the best deals ever for fans of Shoot 'em Ups. It's an absolute steal for the price.
Each game in the Fighters series would be very approachable for intermediate and above skill levels. It's a great introduction for those who want a more action packed Shoot 'em Up experience without dipping into bullet hell territory. With only a casual commitment they are still difficult games to play proficiently, but the enemy and bullet patterns are (mostly) fair and avoidable on the standard or below difficulty levels. Average players could enjoy any Fighters game without having to posses reflexes that are beyond those of mere mortals. If lightning reflexes and quick thinking aren't in short supply however, then there is a lot of depth to enjoy... Like any great Shoot 'em Up they can be very complex or shallow experiences depending on the individual and dedication put forth. Regardless, a little extra shot of caffeine before playing might help add a few more points to the high score.
There are only two potential drawbacks... One might be some visual overload because there are just tons of objects moving fast on-screen at any given time. Still to this very day all three Raiden Fighters are impressive for 2d sprite games. There's not much in the way of a slow difficulty ramp-up such as a game like Galaga. Pick your fighter, hit start and prepare to dive-in head first! Depending on personal preferences the second drawback could be the soundtrack. It will be either great or annoying depending on how appealing someone finds Drum & Bass / Breakbeat music. Regardless, it does add to the experience of the adrenaline packed play and was an appropriate soundtrack style for each game.
So on top of the great classic game play and 2d graphics, Raiden Fighters Aces probably has one of the best arcade to console ports ever. For those who care there are well designed menus, filter options galore, a rotate screen function, saturation adjustments, even add arcade monitor style scan lines and control their intensity. It makes all other arcade compilations and ports with the standard blur/scale filter just seem that much more pathetic. New functionality like saving and viewing game replays, new boss rush modes and having an online score scoreboard with LIVE are just icing on the cake.
Maybe someone can correct me, but as far as I know MAME still doesn't emulate this series well due to the encryption of the original boards and ROMs used. So this maybe the only chance for awhile to play the Fighters series properly outside of owning the original arcade hardware. If there is any remote interest in the game please get a copy now before this becomes a lost gem and goes for 2-3x's the price!
Now all I need is some mega PSiKYO compilation of this caliber and I can die at anytime knowing my life is complete.
TLDR: Like Arcade Shoot 'em Ups? BUY IT NOW! | video-games_xbox |
To me it was worth it. There is a catchy piece of criticism I keep hearing about this game. Everyone keeps saying "under two hours, under two hours." Technically, yes, most will finish the main mission in about that time. It took me about two and a half hours to complete the original mission (mainly because I took some time to enjoy the level) and when I did so, I was informed that i got C rating and unlocked a series of additional levels, an extra weapon and a couple other small items. Not wanting to settle for a C rating, and wanting to find out what else I could unlock, I decided to play through again to get a higher rating. Today I played it for another hour and a half and got an A rating and unlocked two more weapons. I'd really like to get an S rating and see what unlocks at that point. By the time I achieve the S rating on the original mission I will have easily spent five hours on this game BEFORE EVEN STARTING ANY OF THE SIDE MISSIONS I UNLOCKED AFTER BEATING THIS THE FIRST TIME AROUND. The point is this, kids: for those of you who love MGS and unlocking things and taking your time with a game instead of rushing through to the credits, there are hours and hours AND YET MORE HOURS of game here. When you beat a level, it tells you what percentage of the game you have completed. I GUARANTEE YOU the people on here bitching about how short the game is have a less than 20% completion rate of the game. I feel comfortable saying this because after beating it twice and getting my A rating, I still have ONLY COMPLETED 12% OF THE GAME. IT FREAKING SAYS SO IN THE LOWER LEFT HAND CORNER OF THE MENU SCREEN.
If you're the type of individual who judges a game by how long it takes you to beat the main mission without any regard for how much of the game you actually experience then yes, maybe you wouldn't be happy with this purchase. But for Pete's sake quit whining about how short it is when all you wanted to do was beat the first mission and call it a day. 12% people, and I've already logged four hours. Don't listen to the whining. If you're on Amazon you're already not going to pay 30 dollars like I did. IMHO, this game was worth every penny. | video-games_xbox |
Very good RPG, will last a long time before you beat it completely. So I saw this game in the store for like $8, and Fable is one of the more well known RPGs on the Xbox, so I figured I'd pick it up... until I saw the platinum version for another $9 and it had the two DLCs (which in total cost $17, the price I got the platinum edition for). So if you want 2 additional DLCs that'll take some extra time to beat, get the platinum edition instead of this. If not, get this... either way, buying Fable II is something you won't regret.
Pros
+Hours of enjoyable gameplay.
+Tons of places to explore.
+Unique magic abilities.
+Unlimited Mana.
+Several kinds of weapons, including swords, hammers, axes, guns, crossbows, cleavers, and a guitar. (only in the DLC though)
+Neat little minigames.
+Companion that'll help you find treasure, very helpful.
+Glowing path system so you don't get lost as easily.
+Marriage + the ability to have kids.
+Plenty of items to collect.
+Good/evil system, where the decisions you make will impact the game.
+Quick loadtime, or if it is slightly long, it's worth it.
+Co-op capability.
+Tons of clothing and character customization.
I have to say, this is a very unique RPG, with many sidequests, things to collect (such as silver keys and gargoyles), the moral system, ability to dress yourself in many different ways, regions to explore... okay you can just read the pros. Basically this is a fantastic game to add to your collection.
With all those pros being said, you'd be surprised I'm giving this game a 4 star rating. This is why.
Cons
-People will follow you and block you unintentionally in town, gets really annoying.
-Magic spells take too long to execute. (Sometimes I would just prefer having mana and spells load quicker)
-Annoying glitches, VERY annoying glitches (at least to me)
Examples include:
#1 - When your dog locates a 'dig spot' and you try following the dog to it, he stops and you have to run into him to sorta move him, and it still gets irritating, especially when you get to the spot, you start digging it up, and if enemies appear, you have to go through the hassle again which takes up more time.
#2 - When you press the left trigger to get someone's attention, and when you try to leave/press the trigger again, the name and stats of the person still linger on the top of the screen. It gets really annoying since it takes up a lot of space on the top of your screen. To fix it it's usually best you have to save and quit and return to the game.
#3 - The Westcliff Shooting Range game. When you shoot the targets in the head, sometimes it doesn't count as a headshot. It gets really annoying especially when you try to get the 175 points for 1st prize, and it's one of the most difficult/frustrating goals of the game since sometimes headshots only give you 1 point instead of 3, or they don't give you any at all.
#4 - Not sure if this is really a 'glitch' or not, but for example, you're working at the Blacksmith making swords, and you have that little meter above you. The white dot has to hit the green, and when you tap the button, sometimes the dot delays and moves over some more, making you lost your streak of perfectly made swords... gets really irritating when you're going for the 5 star promotion.
All that being said, if the glitches were corrected or not as annoying, I'd definitely give this game a 5 star rating. Still, grab it while you can. | video-games_xbox |
Solid gameplay and worthy investment. Title: Ninja Gaiden
Description: Ryu, the gifted and noble young ninja of the Hayabusa clan, is left with the responsibility of protecting the Dragon Sword and keeping the Dark Dragon Blade safe in his village. Things go horribly wrong and after a siege in his village the Dark Dragon Blade lands into the possession of a powerful demonic like being that will protect his investment at all costs. The events of the entire game are observed from afar by a mysterious being that seems to have an unusual interest in the Dark Dragon Blade himself.
Platform: Xbox
Learning Curve: 10- This game has a very complex battle system that you will constantly have to perfect to advance in the game. Expect to spend hours working on new fiends you encounter and how to dispatch them quickly with little or no damage. Foul ups in your fighting prowess can turn you into a dead ninja quickly.
Replay Value: 10- This game has a great replay value. There are nice game rewards available for beating the game at different difficulty levels and you can also unlock new costumes and original NES Ninja Gaiden titles. Tecmo is also releasing some great supplementary editions to the game and the Hurricane Pack is already available using Xbox Live. The new packs introduce new abilities, weapons, enemies, and more.
Difficulty: 10- This game will try the patience of many gamers. I think a lot of gamers that are gonna give up on this title will likely do so in the first two levels. Ninja Gaiden pulls no punches with it's players. Ryu will face insane opposition to retrieve the Dragon Sword so be prepared. One of the game's developers said it best by saying that on most games the enemies are there for you to kill on Ninja Gaiden they are there to kill you.
Guide: Prima has a strategy guide available for $14.99, but I don't recommend buying it other than for collector's purposes. Brady games usually does a better job on their guides so I've come to expect sub par results from Prima, but this guide is one of the worse I've seen. You're best going online and working through the game with online text guides. If you work through the game using solely Prima's guide you will miss many secrets, combo strategies, and make your game play much harder.
Pros: Great graphics, advanced combat system, nice FMVs, expanding on Xbox Live, and enthusiastic online community support (you'll find lots of people loving this game and wanting to go on and on and on about it online.)
Cons: My only real compliant on this title is the camera system. At first I hated the R trigger center the camera function, but than I grew used to it and loved it. There are some points of the game where you simply can't get a good angle and you will die on a simple jump or you won't be able to see your character because a wall is in your way and that can mean death quickly and thus frustration. This is seldom though and tolerable.
Time Expected to Invest: My first game clocked me at about 34 hours and when I added up all the unrecorded time (aka. all the time I died) I'd have to say it was well over 40. I spent most of my time learning the fighting system and I imagine a second run through the game will be much much quicker. I translate this time into about a month of good solid playthrough and the game will still leave much more to explore in the other difficulty levels and with Xbox Live.
Retail Value: $49.99
Suggested Purchase Price: This game is worth every single penny. My purchase of the game cost me $29.99 used so you can shop around and prolly find a good deal.
Overall: 10- This is a solid game. Most gamers will say this is just a pretty and over rated hack n' slash game, but Ninja Gaiden enthusiasts know better. Ninja Gaiden's magic is in it's subtle and complex battle system. If you have the patience this game is sure to become a favorite among adventure gamers. | video-games_xbox |
Not really that big of an improvement. I bought WWE 13 about 3 weeks ago at Gamestop, and after playing this game extensively, I'm deciding now to actually write an honest review of this game.
To be honest, excluding the Attitude Era gameplay and reliving some of the best matches during that era, this game offers nothing that WWE 12 couldn't of offered and feels more like WWE 12 with DLC. Here's my review-
Graphics-
First off, let me start off by saying if you've already played WWE 12, then the graphics should feel eerily familiar. In fact, they're recycled at best and given a few tweaks such as a few new camera angles, a little smoother looking (but not much) and that's about it.
Some wrestlers in WWE 13 look really good while others I found to look ridiculous. For example, CM punk's nose seems way too long and "poking out" much like it did in WWE 13. Wrestlers like Shawn Michaels have looked much better in older games, and Mick Foley's character model should have been replaced altogether. One thing I wasn't crazy about in WWE 12 as with this game would be the inaccurate size of wrestlers. Big Show looked huge in past wrestling games, but in WWE 12/13 he looks noticeably shorter and too "puffy" looking.
The graphics aren't anything to scream about, but they're not bad either. They just don't compare to WWE's past games such as WWE smackdown vs raw (the first one), SVR 2007, 2009 or 2011. The slams look about the same as last year's, which means that you get a dull thud feeling rather than the impact we've enjoyed on past efforts. In essence, it's quite obvious this game wasn't given the best treatment possible by THQ. It feels recycled.
Also, WWE 13 gives wrestlers the most generic stances possible. I can remember playing older wrestling games and actually appreciating the fact that each wrestler had his/her own stance or something signature. I also feel that some wrestlers got better treatment with graphics than others. Some mid carders or low carders could look a lot better in my honest opinion.
Sound-
One thing I loved about WWE 13 would be the attitude era commentary. It's phenomenal. But this still doesn't take away from the fact that WWE 13 suffers from the same sound issues that WWE 12 suffered from; and that's a lack of actually being able to turn the crowd volume down. Instead, you'll have to fine tune the sound FX volume to even hear the music properly. Speaking of music, each entrance is once again drowned out thanks to THQ wanting to give you the feeling of being at the Arena. Except at a live WWE event, the music is extremely loud much like the crowd and you're able to hear both pretty good. Why not keep the same music and sound effects from previous SVR games and improve upon it? Finally, there's the commentary which sounds so dull and is recycled. Michael Cole doesn't sound the least bit interested in giving this game justice whatsoever. The only commentary that sounds exciting and lively would be King and JR.
Gameplay-
WWE 13 does add a few new tricks to the bag, but I'm wondering why anyone thinks catching someone mid air is anything new being that older wrestling games could do this as well. (Think SVR 2008, which is the worst entry to date) It does however give you the power to pull off a finisher mid-air and also "OMG moments" such as breaking the ring, smashing an opponent through a barricade, Hell in a cell drops (this isn't new. It's been able to be done in so many games. Namely, Day Of Reckoning) and some other moments. While this is all well and good, there's no reason this couldn't have been included in the lazily developed WWE 12. Afterall, even SVR 2008 gave you the ability to top rope superplex an opponent through a set of flaming tables.
The moves are largely the same with a few new ones tossed in but that comes at a price being that some moves are taken away which were good ones.
Aside from that, WWE 13 does do a few things right. For one, thank god THQ tossed out the crappy RTW mode that was present in last year. No more long backstage brawls that plagued WWE 12 and instead, WWE 13 has the robust but exciting Attitude Era mode which is fantastic. I really enjoyed the commentary and how the storylines transitioned. It was largely reminiscent Legends of Wrestlemania's objective based in game mechanics.
The predator technology runs a little smoother in WWE 13, but it's not too noticeable.
The game's roster is really good. At first I wasn't crazy about the "clones" of John Cena or Shawn Michaels and Triple H, but they do play much differently. Some legends are included in this game as well. It's just a shame that some wrestlers are missing from WWE 13 or require that you purchase/download them.
What WWE 13 doesn't fix would be the control. You still have the same awkward system present in WWE 12 with collision detection problems that hinder game play. Instead of a round of smooth gameplay, every wrestler still has their generic side headlock grapple and it's annoying.
The game's AI is either too easy or a little too dumb to take seriously. You could have a match against the CPU and get every move countered or sometimes not countered at all. At times, I wanted to irish whip an opponent and clothesline them on the way back, but instead, the ring seems so small (just like wwe 12) that you literally have to time your button presses way ahead of time.
If you're looking for a game better than WWE 12, I'd only say the Attitude Era inspired mode is truly worth playing. THQ has plenty of DLC but the game's system needs to be trashed big time. People complained about the analog stick control and THQ couldn't give us the control options we had in SVR 2007 where you could choose to use both analog sticks or face buttons. Instead, they use a flawed grapple system. Hopefully, the next wrestling game gets revamped altogether being that THQ will not be behind it.
This game's a decent play; but I'd definitely not pay full price for it. Perhaps half. | video-games_xbox |
love these headphones, but. When I got these headphones I thought it would be a great way to avoid having to listen to whatever gaming system my son was playing on the television. Unfortunately do they not only drown out his yelling at the TV, but they also don't quiet the gaming noise either (I thought all you had to do was plug the device into the proper slot on the HD TV and instant silence, not so). Instead, my husband and son sat there for an hour going through the various ways to turn off the sound on the television and finally found some button on the remote that mutes it. However, if they forget to undo it when they're done then I'm stuck with a mute television and no clue how to fix it. LOL I don't know how it would work with any other kind of TV. We have a Vizio (if anybody has figured out how to get the headphones to work without all the drama please let me know!)
Now, that being said, the headphones work beautifully for the computer, iPad, and iPhone and the sound is awesome. I really love how big the earcovers are as well. I wear glasses so my ear isn't being pressed down onto the frame (which hurts after awhile). The glow from the headset is very cool even though you can't see it when you're wearing them but still... it makes a useful device neat to look at :) The headphones are on the large size so any visions I had of packing them to the local library for a few hours of mindless internet usage using them is out (the black piece you see in the picture sits on the top of your head - everything above that is actually way above it if that gives you any idea of how large these are.
When I asked my son if he had anything to add, he said the microphone could be a little longer. Apparently it only extends to the side of his face and he'd prefer it be closer to his mouth. Otherwise he loves this headset. It makes it much easier for him to sneak internet gaming time. | video-games_xbox |
Unreal Shooter. Ureal Championship has better graphics, animations and map designs than its daddy "Unreal Tournament". The map designs are fun to play because they include both indoor and outdoor arenas to frag. The maps have a cool sci-fi outworld look to and have very unique designs. The characters animate well and die violent, bloody deaths. You'll even see limbs come off with blood gushing out. (too bad the dead bodies dissappear). The game controls are responsive and easy to learn, it plays like many first-person shooters. There are several modes of play and they are all fun to play in single player mode and even more fun with friends split-screen or XBOX live. Playing single players with BOTS is just as fun, because the bots are VERY smart! They hide, ambush, rush you or even gang up on you, while your team BOTS provide good back-up support. Now everytime you make a frag you have adrenaline levels go up. When you have max adrenaline, you can excute cool power-ups which can change the outcome of the matches. The power-ups are: cloaking (invisible), berzerk, agility and regeneration. All of them are useful and fun to use. In addition to this, the MUTATORS have made a come back and are just as fun.
Now for the bad: The sound effects lack punch. I just wished better sounds were used for the guns. The music consists of heavy metal (which I hate). The weapons haven't improved much, you'll see the same ones from the first game. The graphics although look great are kind of on the dark side and I wish that they had included adjustable gamma settings. The game suffers from performace issues, as you'll notice the framerate is not very smooth.
Pros:
+great graphics
+bloody deaths
+fun maps
+lots of game modes
+split screen gameplay
+XBOX live
+good sound effects
+responsive controls
+excellent artificial intelligence
+cool power-up
+better MUTATORS
Cons:
-low framerate
-not much else improved
-music is horrible
-game looks too dark
Although it has a few shortcommings, they are forgivable and I recommend this game if you like first-person-shooters! | video-games_xbox |
3 1/2 stars... I'm a little disappointed. Medal of Honor: Frontline is a decent game for the Xbox. It has both its strong points and its shortcomings.
I played Medal of Honor: Allied Assault on the PC and absolutely loved the game. It was my favorite FPS (first-person shooter) hands-down and probably my favorite computer game of all time. I was thrilled to see that with the exception of the D-Day Normandy level, Frontline was completely different than Allied Assault. I was not thrilled to see that the graphics in Frontline paled in comparison to Allied Assault. Enemies and textures are much more animated, almost cartoonish on the Xbox, and given what I had seen in Splinter Cell and Halo, this was a letdown. I know the Xbox has better graphics capabilities than this. Walk through a bush in Frontline and you get a "pixelized" graphic that looks like it was created in Paint, not by a professional graphics artist.
In Frontline, the only time you can save is before and after each level. There are appropriately placed health packs, but they won't help you if you run in to a tank or enemy with a rocket launcher. I found that many times, you had to run in to an ambush and die to understand strategically how to get past it the next time. This wouldn't be as frustrating if you had even one save per level. Believe me, at least once you'll get 95% through a level only to die and have to restart. And you'll probably take your frustration out on the controller. I just feel that this is a poor way to make the game longer and/or more challenging.
There are faults with the AI that I didn't see in Allied Assault or among the better games on the Xbox. Case in point: open a door and two enemies are waiting, if one sees you, you can cap him and the second one won't even react. Huh?? There was another time when I couldn't shoot a sniper because I was too far away from him. If I can see him in my scope, he should take damage regardless.
Having said the negative points, I'd like to offer some positives. The sound in this game is better than any other Xbox game I've played. The sound effects are excellent, and there is also some movie-quality, heroic music that plays during key points of the game. The levels are very diverse and well thought out. I like how you can scope any weapon to get a slightly better view of your enemy, but if you do so, you can't move. I felt like a true soldier in this sense. The controls are natural and enjoyable. I love the scoping of the sniper rifle.
If you can accept the shortcomings, Frontline can be an okay experience. I think those who haven't played Allied Assault on the PC would enjoy the game more. If you have, just don't expect it to be nearly as mind-blowing as Allied Assault. | video-games_xbox |
Refreshing Taste Old Game. Personally I was a little fan boy when I got the beta and played and said it was freaking amazing and the best thing that has ever happened to me, But now, when I have the game, I have a bit more different of an opinion.
The game seems to have not the best graphics, I might be able to go as far as saying it has LAST GEN graphics. Well that IS what I was expecting from a game with a 10 year old engine. But the question is why did they make a game on a 10 YEAR OLD ENGINE! Like oh my god, really? Not good graphics, but not to bad. Very mediocre.
Next, the gameplay. Lets start off by saying no. No this is not a COD Killer, not even close. I am not saying it is a better game, it is just COD has more players, and will have because it comes out with a game every year, Titanfall comes out every like 4 years. Anyway, the game play is refreshing, very refreshing. It is fun, very fast pace, and also surprisingly, very very balanced. The only problem is, it can get repetitive. I see my self playing this game like 24/7 for about 5 days, then switching off between this a COD after. Don't get me wrong it is VERY fun! Just it has the same concept, get a titan, kill a titan, evac. Every game. The lack of guns and streaks contributes to this problem as well, the guns are balanced and fun, it is just their isn't enough of them to fit my likeing.
I know this review seems like I am ripping on the game but don't get me wrong I LOVE IT AND LOVE IT ALOT. But I am just saying it is not the solid gold game with nothing wrong and everything write game.
It is not just another game game play wise, but the same time it is. It is not COD with mechs, it is a FPS with meks and parkor. It is fun, but not HOLLY S*** THIS IS GOD! It is great, best game for next gen so far my a long shot, and I am going to enjoy playing with it, but this won't be the only game I play, it will get boaring like any other game. But for now, I am going to have some fun! | video-games_xbox |
Do NOT buy this game. At best this game is a rent. While it's definitely cool to be part of the Aliens world, this game just falls short on so many levels. That's kind of a pun because there aren't that many levels so the game is rather short. I beat this game in a couple evening sessions on the hardest setting. The funniest thing about the hard setting is that this game's idea of hard is taking away the HUD. I have never heard of this. I thought my game was broken because I couldn't see my life or my ammo. Nope, it was just the game makers being lazy with the difficulty settings, despite the game constantly prompting me to look at my HUD.
The sound effects are great and some of the weapons are cool (mainly the pulse rifle) but there's really no need for half of them. The pulse rifle and shotgun are all you need, which gives you no incentive to upgrade the other guns. To top it off, the flamethrower isn't even a weapon you can have in inventory. It's just a rare power up you find and dispose of. WTF.
Graphics are early xbox 360 at best, dialogue is cheesy, game play is monotonous and enemies are stupid. Half the game you're not even fighting aliens, you're fighting people. It's like a bad version of army of two, except the humans are incredibly strong compared to the aliens and are unrealistically accurate with their shots. I thought having Michael Biehn and Lance Henriksen as voice actors would be cool, but it's like they both knew the game sucked and didn't care about their performances.
I also didn't like all the "new" aliens they added. It just made no sense with the storyline. It should have just been all the regular aliens, in hordes, coming at you and you have to survive and get off the planet.
There was no tension, no real jumps, and I didn't feel that the story added to the Aliens myth. It was just kinda...there. Trust me, do NOT purchase this game. Rent it if necessary, but you're truly not missing anything. | video-games_xbox |
Excellent controller so far. I've had this controller for a few months now. I was very worried, when I first purchased the item and read reviews, that this controller would begin malfunctioning quickly. That, however, has not been the case in my experience. Take note that I am a PC gamer and never make use of the controller's rumble function. I have suspected that the rumble function may cause some controller malfunctioning issues. Do not get the impression that I have had no issues with this controller, however. There have been problems with the triggers malfunctioning slightly, but that has been on-and-off. Currently, the controller and both triggers are working flawlessly. Those slight issues with the triggers worry me a bit.
Design-wise, the controller is sleek and comfortable to use. The grip area on the bottom of the controller is covered in a rougher plastic that does not slip in my hands. Size is a good middle-ground between small and large -- it feels great in my hands, but I feel that it could be larger when I compare it to the Xbox One controller.
Analogs and buttons are all responsive (besides those trigger issues I mentioned earlier), with the analog sticks being at a nice height comparable to the normal Xbox 360 controller. The D-pad is amazing. I happen to be a big fan of good D-pads because I play a lot of games that play the best with them. It is very responsive and comfortable to use. If you like clicky buttons, this controller may turn you off as none of the buttons, except for the bumpers, make any kind of click noise when you use them. I happen to prefer them not being clicky, so it is a plus. I can make no comment on the inputs in the back on the controller because I never use them.
For PC use, my PC installed the proper drivers upon plug-in. The pad works flawlessly with every game I have tried it with.
Overall, I recommend giving this controller a shot based on my experience, especially if you can find it at a bargain price (I got it for 20 bucks in a Game Stop bargain bin). Keep in mind that many other people have had malfunction problems; I may have just been a lucky one. | video-games_xbox |
What a nice ass. I must start this review by saying the previous Dead Space games are my all-time favorite games. Dead Space is actually what got me into gaming so holds a special place in my heart. I played Dead Space from beginning to end over 10 times and Dead Space 2 over 5 times (Hard Core included). I have had Dead Space 3 pre-ordered since E3 last year and was counting down the days. So my intense love with the series definitely plays a large part into my opinion of the game, but I will try to keep it from coloring my review too much.
Plot: The plot is very well done and answers many questions, like what convergence is and the purpose of the markers, but still left enough questions unanswered to easily continue the series. The first about 8-9 chapters felt a little slow to me and took me a little to really get into the plot, but the last 5 chapters were very intense and enjoyable as you got closer and closer to the climax.
Gameplay: The gameplay keeps some of the traditional aspects of the original games while it changes others. One of the big changes, as I'm sure everyone is aware of, is the removal of credits (and nodes) and adding resources and a bot instead. You now use resources that you find, or your bot collects, for you to make items, weapons from blueprints or your own unique weapons. You still have the `node' rooms from the previous games but to gain entry you now need to use precious resources to craft a tungsten bar. When I first started playing I missed the traditional bench and credit system but after I crafted my first original weapon (shot gun + rocket launcher biotches!) I quickly learned how awesome the new resource and crafting system was. It's very streamlined, and I love how you can switch parts around to see what works the best without loosing any circuits or parts. However, one thing the game doesn't clearly state, and I only learned because my sister told me, is how to maximize your bots ability to collect resources. Your radar on the bot shows you where you should go (with arrows showing if you need to go up, down, or on the correct level) until you see blue circles on the bot screen. Like a moron I thought I was just supposed to place the bot in the direction of the radar. You will still get resources but you will get tons more if you place them in the resource rich areas. If the new craft system isn't to your liking, once you beat the game you can then play Classic mode, which eliminates the co-op function and crafting system. Like the original games, you can only make weapons made from blueprints you find.
Another change is how the suits function. All the suits are the same except for some having more slots then others. So there is no difference from using the Witness Suit to the Arctic Survival Suit except the appearance. You still upgrade your rig like normal and that's what makes your suit better. Some may like this feature but I must admit I miss the classic style of each suit having their own bonuses and benefits, where a suit from the beginning of the game will be much worse then a suit at the end. Now getting a new suit or changing into a suit doesn't really feel like a reward anymore.
Along with the main quest there are about 10 optional missions you can do (including co-op missions). These are always high risk but rich in rewards. You don't have to do them but I would suggest doing all of them at some point since they add to the gaming experience.
Something I don't like is the auto-save function. I typically like games that auto-save, but there have been many times where I have assumed I have saved my progress only to load up and start most of the level over again. Once I was loaded into the middle of 3 necromorphs, which was annoying. I would have much preferred the original save function instead of the new auto-save function.
Another small change is the ability to crouch and roll. I almost never used the functions, so I don't really have much to say on this. I've seen some people don't like the idea of Dead Space adding this function, but all I have to say to that is don't use the function then. I made it through the game without a problem with only using the crouch and roll a couple times. This isn't because I didn't like the function but I am so used to the original games I just didn't remember to use the functions.
Enemies: I think this is my biggest caveat of the game. In my opinion, this is one of the big things that made the game feel less like a horror survival game, like the original ones, and more like a horror action. The first games were eerie and scary and gave you that feeling of isolation. The games would give you glimpses of enemies or sounds that would have you peeking around corners to make sure nothing was there or whipping around with your gun in fright. However, this game simply piles the enemies on you to the point you don't even have time to feel scared. This doesn't make the game harder, it just changes the gaming dynamics for the worse. There were places where it was just annoying with how many enemies they piled on you. After the first couple of chapters I stopped being cautious and started just storming into every new area. I could also pretty much predict where the enemies were going to come from.
They do introduce a couple new enemies like Feeders (which are easy to kill but extremely annoying) and Wasters (just plain annoying and DON'T DIE in the harder difficulties), but most enemies were recycled from the previous games. They do also have a couple cool big enemies but only about 3 of them.
You are also now fighting against Unitologists which added an interesting new dynamic to the game. I actually like the addition of humans and it fits with the plot. You have a bit different fight style with them then with the necromorphs which adds a nice change of pace.
On top of the enemies you also have a lot more environmental hazards to fight past. You have to deal with being in space, piloting a craft, repelling, falling body temperatures, giant drills and more. The repelling parts lasted longer then I liked and I have no idea how I made it past the space flight scene, and getting the secret trophy while doing it, but otherwise most of them were enjoyable and added to the gaming dynamics and gaming experience.
Graphics: Graphics are top notch, just like the previous games. The space scenes are amazingly done and give you the feeling of the quiet isolation of space, even with a co-op partner. The on-planet scenes in the snow are well done and makes you want to grab a blanket.
Characters: Isaac is Isaac, the badass engineer we all love, just with less crazy thrown in. Carver is also pretty hardcore but a man hurting from the decisions he has made in the past and the loss of his family. Ellie is totally different. The only similar thing about her is her voice actress. She doesn't even look the same and she must have gotten the package discount of get a new eye and you get off breast implants, which is fine but definitely unneeded. She isn't as hardcore as she was in the 2nd game which makes me sad. She was my favorite in game female characters. Denick, the main Unitoligist protagonist, is not as crazy and is more intelligent then previous unitologists, which makes him more dynamic as an enemy. There are other secondary characters that all have their little quirks and traits that makes them all unique characters.
Co-op: I have only played up to chapter 10 of co-op so far, but I'm really liking it. It is definitely a different gaming experience then playing alone and entirely different from the previous games. I am playing with my sister with her being Isaac and me being Carver. So far there have been very few story differences in playing as Carver compared to Isaac, and that was only in the co-op only optional mission. It isn't the smoothest co-op by any means. For example, I will activate something as Carver while my sister is off doing something else, but then the cut scene shows Isaac is the one activating it. Poor Carver doesn't get any credit for doing these things. I understand why it was done this way, it just can be a bit jarring. Carver also has very few lines which is a little disappointing. But despite the flaws it is still fun to play with someone and can make the game easier. Or harder, especially if you play a part over and over again of flying through space where one or the other person would get hit by a flying chunk of space debris. Not that I experienced that...
Conclusion: When I first started playing I did feel disappointed in the game and how it didn't have the same feel as the original ones. It took me about a week to play the first 5 chapters until I finally decided to just complete the game. As I played more I was able to get past my initial disappointment and started really liking the game. It is definitely different from the original games, which is still a bit of a disappointment, but it is still a really well done and fun game. As a Dead Space Game I would give it 3 stars but as it's own game I would definitely give it 5 stars. I would suggest this game to anyone who is a Dead Space lover and hope they are also able to get past their disappointment of the changes and enjoy it for the fun game it is.
EDIT 04/03: After playing Dead Space 3 again on Classic and Survival mode, plus playing the DLC I am feeling more and more bitter towards this game. Isaac from the 2nd game is one of my favorite characters but the Isaac in this game is unlikeable and immature. Ellie is useless and holds no appeal anymore except to be used as a plot point. Even when you play as Carver he isn't even relevant to anything. He has almost no presence what-so-ever, even when you are playing as him. The few times he even becomes noticeable is when you do the co-op optional missions. The enemies are ridiculous and recycled and simply swarm you. In a couple sections you will get swarmed over and over and OVER by feeders (probably about 25 at a time will swarm you), which isn't scary at all just VERY annoying. There is no scare factor and it has lost that creepy atmosphere from the previous games. The game has 3 bosses and one of those bosses is used 3 times over. It has become a shallow sci-fi zombie game instead of the deep and creepy horror survival game from before. It has too many platforming parts, 2 or even 3 repelling sections was fine but more then that is not, and ridiculous mini-games. The DLC made me bitter because it was what the game SHOULD have been and annoys me they didn't make the game more like the DLC, which was great. Another thing that really annoys me is since I have this weird thing about getting Platinums, it really annoys me that the game forces you to play it 4 times to get a platinum. I know it's totally optional to get the platinums, but it just adds to my bitterness for the game. So after thinking more about this game and playing it through again my review has dropped from a 4 to a 3. The initial play was fun but as a Dead Space game it's a joke and doesn't even feel like it's part of the series. | video-games_xbox |
Silent Hill: Homecoming Review. Having played Silent Hill 2, 3, and some of 4 I would have to say that Homecoming is the least scariest. This is in part because the developer, Double Helix, decided to revamp the fighting system in order to defeat monsters rather than running away. This results in a game that may not be as disturbing due to the fact that monsters can be seen in great clarity. The fighting system itself is well implemented,there are fast/slow attacks, a dodge button and the ability to circle around which greatly help you take down everything the game throws at you. With this said however, some players may find it difficult to get used to fighting since some of the timing requirements to doge or counterattack enemies can at times be tricky.
In the graphical department Homecoming is a mixed bag the environments and monsters look crisp and clean,but may not up to par with some current generation games. The human characters however, are less than average with a limited amount of facial movement to articulate their feelings, their delivery could have been better. The exception to this is Alex, but even he could have been done better.
As far as the story goes, I rank it as less than average compared to the others I have played. The whole premise of Homecoming involves Alex Sheppard, a former soldier, coming back to his hometown of Sheppard's Glen in search of his brother. I won't ruin the rest for you, but suffice to say that there are some twists, turns and decisions that will lead Alex on several realizations, and some dramatic moments involving his family and the town's connection to silent hill. With regards to symbolism, the Silent Hill games have always been choked full. Although some of the symbolism in this reviewer's opinion is not as prominent as other games, it is there if you look hard enough. Fans of the movie Jacob's Ladder will no doubt recognize some similarities.
Overall Silent Hill: Homecoming is a good game, that I would recommend for series veterans, and someone looking for a creepy adventure. It sports five different endings warranting some replayability. I would however advise that you do not pay full price. My copy was purchased for $29.99 which I felt was appropriate given the length and the time spent with it, but paying $59.99 for a copy might lead some to feel like they were burned. Happy Gaming | video-games_xbox |
Medal Of Honor! GIVE IT A CHANCE! GREAT GAME! PLEASE READ. I was really excited about the release of this game even though i had no clue what to expect. Medal Of Honor kind of fell out and i never really heard anything about them once the original call of duty came out, and especially when call of duty 2 came out for xbox 360. Then when Call of Duty 4 came out you never even heard a single word about Medal Of Honor anymore unless it was a commercial from EA trying to sell it. There was no buzz or anything for the past about 3 to 5 years. COD 4 comes out, COD: World At War comes out, and the Modern Warfare 2 comes out. Then a while later you start hearing about Medal Of Honor switching to the modern warfare game type. Finally there is a huge buzz about Medal Of Honor again. I knew right away that i was going to get this game the day it came out. THIS GAME IS AMAZING! Single Player; The first couple of levels aren't that amazing but they're not bad either in the single player campaign(although there are a couple epic moments). About the third level this game takes it up a notch. Every level is amazing now! This story mode is way better then Modern Warfare 2's story. Do not give up on this game after the first level. Multi Player; The multiplayer is great and very fun. It is not as in depth as COD, but it is amazing. There is only 4 game modes and ther all about equal in fun. The gameplay is very different then COD. If you expect to sprint around with a sub machine gun or something then think again because you cant do that in this game! You need to be tactical and pick a spot with a good vantage point of the enemies. Multiplayer is great! Don't be an extreme COD fan and start complaining about no killcams and the noob tubes don't kill people across the maps. Boohoo, get over it! There are a few critiques though, : 1) Explosions are too weak, 2) Not enough levels or game modes, 3) get more in depth on leveling up. That said i love this game online. It is a great break from Modern Warfare 2. Buy this game. That being said I am not a COD hater. I own COD 4, COD WAW, and MW 2, and i enjoy them all. But, I think that Call Of Duty: Black Ops is going to crap all over Modern Warfare 2. Treyarch is stepping it up with the wager matches, massive customization, currency system, and just changing up the setup menu and everything. Black Ops is going to be EPIC and I am fully excited for it. :) | video-games_xbox |
Fun, but absolutely pathetic Setlist. As usual, it takes a bit to get back into the grove. Fingers need their memory back. Brain needs to readjust its timing as to what's trips, quarters and half, and drummers need to pay more attention to the rhythm and less to when the note passes the mark.
The improv sections are neat and help weaker players get through songs they otherwise couldn't. The new guitars have the most responsive strum bar I've seen to date on the rock band model. Expert level players will appreciate this.
At first, I was impressed with the set list: Hail to the King, Somebody Told Me, Spiders......but asides from What's Up?, don't expect many decent songs past from what's written on the box. I can appreciate a country song or two even though I loathe country just to let the series cover all the bases so I'm not even referencing that sort of stuff. There just aren't many "First Sting" songs from artists.
I'm not sure if I experienced a game glitch or if the game is giving people preview songs. My two favorite songs of the entire Setlist ended NOT being on the Setlist when I went to go find them again: Working Man by Rush and Jane by Jefferson Airplane. These songs predate me by quite a bit so I'm not just some ranting geezer. I went to play the songs after playing them my first night and they were gone. So watch out.....you might get dooped like myself when you say "this Setlist is pretty good" just to see the examples you were leaning on disappear.
I assume some features are coming down the pike as Rockband was trying to beat Guitar Hero off the finish line. The game seems a little barren with some features (not seeing any keyboard support) but this is a bit of a "wait and see". Some things might be gone due to assuming many of us have played a "Mock band" game or due to lack of past interest, but there have been a string of patches already that have added stability and some options. | video-games_xbox |
The best darn all-around controller for pc... PERIOD. I play a lot of different games, and some require me to use a controller. I Bought this very cheap in my country (Denmark), I think it was around 100 DKK = around 15 USD, and I've been loving it ever since.
I think I had it for... 4 maybe 5 years now! It's still fully functioning and I still use it weekly!
The form of it feels a lot like the XBOX 360 controller, but it is not exactly like it, but very similar. I loved the 360 controller but I had to get one for PC, saw this cheap and though why the hell not :D And OH BOY it's probably the best buy I've done for my pc for the money counting the hours I've used it.
All buttons are very stirdy, they feel nice to press, and they do what is intended. When I'm playing car games I switch the left steering to "360-mode", and it's like playing on an Xbox 360. The RT and LT buttons feels really nice, and I can regulate my speed to 0-25-50-75-100% in turns (higher and lower and in-between) instead of driving with my "W" keyboard button, which just produces 100% or 0% speeds (if you're playing car games with your keyboard... you're missing out...), also braking can be done softly. I can also use the left steering stick to regulate my turns to softer or harder turns, instead of using the "A" and "D" buttons on my keyboard... The right steering stick can be used to look at opponents around you or behind so you can block them from overtaking you, or in back mirror or side mirrors when driving POV. The inner vibration motor adds feel to when I'm drifting and let's me know if I'm driving on onto the grass or sand in the map. The LB and RB buttons are nice for quick clutching or looking behind for half a second. The start button is nice for when wanting to pause the game and back/select button for resetting you car. The Y button I use for gear up, and B for gear down, X for handbrake and... A to... something else :D
In my opinion, a joystick like this is a MUST HAVE when playing car games on PC! It adds finer controls than keyboard, and less thinking about the controls and more on the driving itself. You will "experience" your games more, and not fiddle around on your controls as much.
Another cool thing about this controller is, than when playing newer games, the controller is often recognized automatically by the software in games like Dirt, Dirt 2 and 3, GRID, and (I think) Battlefield 3 as well :) Which maps the controls perfectly as a 360 controller, sets up the vibration, and even changes the GUI in some games to E.G: "Press the: ( A ) button to start" or whatever. It adds a premium "console-like" feeling to your pc games.
I also find it nice to use my controller in games like Battlefield 3 or Kerbal Space Program or even Garry's Mod :D In Battlefield 3 I can't fly a helicopter or a fighter with mouse and keyboard, but I'm a master when using my controller, so I tend to play Battlefield 3 with mouse and keyboard when running and shooting and mostly using tanks too, but when flying helicopter or plane I quickly grab my controller and fly around using that instead :) love it!
I also use it a lot when playing old Playstation games on an Emulator for PC. I reverse the left steering pad and I get a hybrid between the old PS1 controller and an Xbox 360 controller. I love to be able to play old games like Crash Bandicoot, CTR, GTA2 and other good old games using my controller. I love the hybrid feeling of my controller, but don't buy this if you expect or want a Playstation controller for PC. This is more a 360/PS hybrid. I really love the design.
The only cons I can find about this joystick is the way they made the holes for the left and right steering stick. These are rectangular with rounded edges instead of just being circular like the normal 360 controller. However I don't really notice this while playing E.G car games, because I don't bottom out as much. Also I have a mixed feelings about the soft touch fabric/material which the controller is covered with. It has a nice grib to it, but after some years of use it does tend to get a little bit sticky... but I guess that's my own fault... I still love it and use it weekly though :)
Some other reviews says their steering sticks get stuck sometimes. I've never had this issue, and they might get an RMA if they send it back...
Some reviews puts it down because they liked the Playstation controller more, and this have an Xbox feeling to it... To those I say: Don't buy this controller if you are into the Playstation feel, I love the Xbox controller and I love this design, the reverse-able left steering stick does not turn this controller into a Playstation controller, but rather a hybrid between Playstation controller and Xbox, which are good for old school Playstation Emulator Crash Bandicoot gaming if you're into that ;) But don't think of it as a Playstation controller or you won't like it... I love it through! And I mostly play games in the Xbox 360 configuration :)
I love this controller, I might buy one or two more so that friends can come to play splitscreen :)
I would really recommend this if you like the Xbox 360 controller and looking for a nice controller for PC. I've loved mine for years now, and it's still going strong! :D Great product!
Sorry if you think my review is messy... I just couldn't stop spurring out how much I loved it :)
aaand... I just found out the controller is unavailable :'( Gotta take good care of mine... I hope Saitek produces some new ones... I'm really loving mine :) | video-games_xbox |
Great wheel. I also have the TX force feedback . First off, you may have never seen this, it's totally worth the watch if you haven't: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5qanlirrRWs
Great wheel. I also have the TX force feedback model. I can tell you that the TX is in fact really cool, but don't despair if you cant afford that one, this spider wheel is very, very good. The 'bungee cord" system may sound strange or cheap, but it really works great. Sometimes I don't even want force feedback, and in Project Cars if you turn the feedback way down, it makes the TX wheel NOT return to center when you let go of the wheel, not good. So, sometimes I still use the spider. Yes, it's really fun to nail down good feedback setting in Project Cars with the TX wheel, but for less that $100 the spider is very, very good. Do not listen to the low star people, I do not know what they are expecting. In fact, as far as weight complaints about the spider, as in, it "feels like a cheap toy"....is you removed the back of the TX model, the heavier "dash" so to speak that houses all the feedback belts etc, the TX wheel itself I believe would weigh just the same as the Spider. As far as Project Cars, I mostly use the Aston Martin V12 Vantage G3, in case you ever get the TX wheel, here's the settings I use in case it helps. Be advised that at least with the TX I bought and at least with Project Cars, out of the box it felt strange....the factory feedback settings made the cars feel old, clunky, like the tires were full of rocks or that the steering column was broken, so, you really need to be patient and get good with all the settings in Project Cars, once I dialed in within the the range listed below, the TX was way better than originally, again, I have only tested these settings with the Aston Martin V12 Vantage G3. When I say "regular options" I am talking about where you press your start button and go to "options & help"...that is, the setting area that ISN'T that settings area when your in the pits, just that Options and Help area within the start button or the home pages.
Steering ratio 15.0:1.
Force Feedback: Master Scale 80.
All F & M Scales 160.00.
All F & M Smoothings 70.0.
Force Feedback Calibration in the Regular Options, Tire Force 51.
Put steering ratio to 25.5:1 IF in regular options the steering assistance is No, Driving Assists Allowed All and Yes to Antilock brakes/stability & traction control.
NOW, if in regular options the steering assistance is YES instead, still all assists yes and yes on all the Antilock brakes/stability & traction control, then just put all Scales up to 190.00.
This is all with the steering sensitivity in Reg Options at 70
NEVER CHANGE DEAD ZONE FROM ZERO IT SUCKS.
Lastly, in regular options, taking the steering sensitivity from 70 up to 100 seems to tighten up that slack sensitivity at the wheels center/or deadzone.
Also, 180 Scales with 60 Smooths is good too
If you prefer a little more feedback from bumps in the road, with any set up above, just i DECREASE all four of your All F & M Smoothings.
Keep in mind that, in my opinion, the lower you put the Smoothings the more of what I call a "belt grind" effect happens. I mean that the belts inside the TX unit will give more feedback in a sense, but it can feel , to me, more like just a grinding belt/broken steering column effect...not really translating as road bumps, so just test it of course. for me 50 or 60 on the Smoothings is the threshold to keep the bumps still feeling like bumps and not just belt grind.
UPDATE: Today I will be testing the settings by Stella Stig on YouTube, seen here at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=joDSaUXxZFk
I will also test MoneyMan300 settings at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z1WAQCF5OB4
I will update this post with how those settings compare to what I listed above, I am assuming they will be better.
Lastly, I use the TX with the Playseat Challenge. Google that if your not familiar of course, its a really good seat for regular home use. It folds up which is the main point. Its not your top of the line deal, but for space I don't think it gets better, and, its still very, very comfortable. For $250 its a very fair price. One issue I had was the straps your elbows rest on were bugging the skin at me elbows...just go to Home Depot plumbing area, get either type of one inch pipe insulation...they have a grey type which has a more plastic feel to it, and they have a black type that is smoother, looks and feels more like rubber...I tried both, its personal preference whichever you like. The more rubber type has this tape you can peel off to stick one side to the other and close the factory split...leave this tape on if you get the rubber type foam, you'll need to remove the foam from the chair after each use as to allow the chair to fold up again. Cut your foam at about 15" or 17"...whatever works best with what angle you have your seat adjusted to...open the factory split and wrap the foam around the two straps where your arms rest at then seated in the chair. Works great. These are sold in singles at Home Depot, you don't have to buy the multi-packs. You can cut your same 1 inch foam longways with the factory split, taking it's diameter down as to better fit the pipe diameter where your knees rest, get some velcro straps, and make knee padding here. See before and after pics below.
Here's a review of the Playseat by Inside Sim Racing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1_lxcNdMdmU | video-games_xbox |
Great while it lasts. When I got this controller, I was nothing but impressed. While it takes a little bit to get used to the extra buttons really do help in almost any game. You also grow to love the face buttons, adjustable tension joysticks, and rubberized finish. This controller was everything I had hoped for and more. That is until it broke. After just over a month the leads to the left trigger broke, which meant when you press the trigger it spaz's out and makes it impossible to use in almost any game that requires the use of that trigger. The obvious solution was to just map that the the extra button, and that works fine, but its extremely uncomfortable. I think that button is just too close to the left joystick. So that fix just didn't work for me, so looking for another fix I found that this is a pretty common problem on Microsoft brand controllers. It's extremely easy to fix on a Microsoft controller with a screwdriver and a soldering iron. This is not exactly the case on the onza. On the microsoft controller you find two screws on the back that will allow you to take the controller apart; on the onza there are no screws. There is no easy way to take it apart, and if you succeed you will probably mess up the seam enough so that the controller is no longer comfortable to hold.
So in review here are the pros and cons
Pros:
Comfortable rubberized finish
Extremely durable braided cord
Nice feeling face buttons
Adjustable tension joysticks
Divided D-pad for no misclicks
Useful remappable buttons
Cons:
Possibly poor build quality
In my opinion while this controller is working it's by far the best available. From reading several other reviews it seems that it might be more likely to break than a Microsoft controller, and definitely a lot more difficult to fix. So in conclusion I would wait the probably 15 years for the onza 2.0 and hope that razer puts a little more money into each one, I would definitely be willing to pay twice what the onza costs just for one that won't break. | video-games_xbox |
Great play - but watch for bugs and glitches - your weapons disappear randomly. I'm a huge Dead Space fan. Played the first one three three times. Pre-ordered Dead Space 2 and waited a few months to play it - waiting for the inevitable patched, hints, etc. Unfortunatey I did not know about this MAJOR BUG that can make the GAME UNPLAYABLE. I'm playing on an Xbox.
Yes - I uninstalled, reinstalled and contacted EA via their forum. EA never replied - they actually deleted replies from others experiencing the same problems.
There's a well known bug that the manufacturer denies - your weapons disappear randomly from inventory. Imagine being 30% of the way through the game. You've upgraded your favorite two weapons with around 22 power nodes - finding and purchasing them, scrimping everywhere, getting that extra $10,000 so you could purchase extra power nodes. You play, die, play, die, play and suddenly your Javelin gun is missing. Restore or go to last check point - no good - it's gone. OK, so you keep on playing. Then a couple of chapters later, the line gun is gone! Now I'm left with two basic, not upgraded weapons, and I'm in an area where I'm fighting a "boss" - with weak pea-shooters. All these guns do is tick off the necromorph. Plus all my ammo was for the other weapons. No money, fully stocked up on ammo for a weapon that's evaporated from my inventory. So I have a choice - start over or trash the game.
If you manage to play from save station to save station without dying, you won't glitch. If you never use a restore point, you won't glitch - usually. I played three times from start to finish. It glitched twice.
As of 9-6-2011 the glitch is still there. Search for it - it's an ongoing problem with thousands of complaints. Yet Visceral Games won't fix it.
It's too bad. This is a great game - but honestly, bringing the equivalent of a rock to a nuclear bomb fight won't work. A level 13 boss when all you have is a plasma cutter with zero ammo, and a force gun with 4 rounds? Yea - I have over 60 rounds for the line gun and over 80 for the Javelin (hoping the weapons would magically reappear.) But they are gone, never to be seen again....unless I purchase them again AND go through all the power nodes again. Pathetic.
So save often and watch your weapons! Apart from *that* the game is a blast. | video-games_xbox |
Bungie's sending it's Halo games out with a bang. To be honest, after playing Halo 3: ODST I was skeptical when I saw the first teaser trailer and saw it was a Halo game once again based around a group of soldiers of various ethnical backgrounds with the main character's player never speaking and never taking of his helmet. I only started getting excited when I saw the first multiplayer trailer and saw how Bungie was going to mix up their iconic online experience. Well, enougth gabbing out of me, here's how the game is.
Campaign: Halo: Reach's campaign is, in my opinion, the best of the Halo series. The characters are interesting, the skyboxes are awesome, and the gameplay is, well, Halo gameplay. You shoot for a while, then you hop in a vehicle, then their's a setpiece moment, then you're sniping at night, never allowing it to last too long to get old. The story is told in the same way all serious military games do now days, in that it tells you some of the information, and then expects you to fill in the blanks. Oh, and if any of you have read the Halo books (and to the rest of you, yes they made books about Halo) then I should warn you that Halo: Reach doesn't seem to follow the canon set up by Halo: The Fall of Reach and Halo: Ghosts of Onyx. So don't try to connect the events in the book to the game or you might go mad. Some problems I had were that, while the use of motion capture makes the cinematics play out great, the engine can't always keep up. Bungie gutted it's game engine for Reach and it seems that it has a few problems left because in some cinematics the framerate drops which is the most notable time for that to happen.
Oh, and there's an achievement for playing through the entire campaign on Legendary, alone. I have gotten it and, yes, it will make you cry blood.
Multiplayer: The campaign is nice and all, but as always the multiplayer is where it's at in a Halo game. Even for seasoned Halo veterans Reach is going to take some adjustment time. Bungie has remade their multiplayer from the ground up with things like armor abilities (which grant you certain abilities that you can switch out every respawn), to a finite health bar among uthers. Some will cry foul while others (like me) will welcome this refreshing change to a system that was starting to get stale. There are 13 maps included on the disc and while they are fun, I'm already waiting for a DLC map pack. Or you could always make your own maps in forge...
Forge: For the uninitiated Forge is a mode that allows players to change superficial elements of any multiplayer map (except firefight). In Halo 3 forge worked in the same way a car with a missing shift lever technically runs. In Reach the system has removed many of the problems from the old system and makes map-making a breaze. You can phase objects into one another, you can leave an item floating in space, and you can move objects by infentesmal amounts for precision placement. However the system as a whole seems rough and unpolished. When you bring up the property menu for an object you will find junk options that don't affect that object at all. It makes the menu a bit taxing as you find what you can edit about the object and what you cannot. Also there are several annoying bugs that will probably get patched soon (I hope).
Firefight: For me firefight mode was the best thing in ODST and in Reach it is given the trademark of Bungie, customization. You can change an obsurd number of details to make each firefight match different. Want to fight off only hunters with Sniper rifles with infinite ammo? Done. Want to be invincible and mow down legions of grunts? Done. My only gripe is that the menus are too expansive. When you want to customize the enemies you fight you have to manually change each wave, for every round, for every set. It's a pain but I guess they expect you to save the varients you make so you only have to go through it once.
Online Experience: As well as the multiplayer you will also be able to matchmake firefight and (coming soon) campaign coop. Instead of the two devisions of caual and ranked games, bungie has done something different. Now 95% of the matchmaking games don't give you a rank number but earn you credits that gain you rank and can be used to buy armor parts for your spartain, PLEASE NOTE that these parts are purely cosmetic and don't give you any kind of advantages. For the competition junkies out there there's an arena system that should suit their needs. The fileshare system is back and now you can search through the archive through the game or just find the best of the week. However, if you have a great clip or movie you want to show your party you're out of luck. Theater mode in Reach is restricted to one person at a time, so your friends have to download the clip off your fileshare and watch it by themselves. Bungie said it didn't have the time or resources to make it viewable by a party but it's still the most glaring flaw of the game.
One Last Thing: I feel the need to mention something that most would probably overlook but to me is one of the best parts of Reach. In Reach, the spartain you create in multiplayer is brought over when you play firefight and campaign, even in cinematics. Now in past Halo games I controlled the Master Chief but it never felt like I was the MC just following him around, same goes for "The Rookie". But when I first booted up Halo: Reach my friends were in a game and invited me in. I rushed through the cusomization options and chose a reddish-orange color for my spartain, intending to change it later. I then went through the campaign and about 3/4 the way through I earned enough credits to buy a shiny new helmet I had my eye on. But when I was about to press "Buy" I hesitated. I knew my Noble 6 by the old helmet, and changing that seemed like changing the spartain I had fought with for the last 6 hours. I then realized that I had never thought to change his garrish orange color because it seemed like making him any other color would be "wrong". In one week and one game I have a stronger connection to my orange spartan than I have ever had to the Master Chief through three games, and that is where Reach shines, despite some bugs and glitches and a puzzling story with some of the pieces missing, Reach does what Bungie has been trying to do all along, make you emphisize with the people fighting, and it does it well. | video-games_xbox |
A Post Apocalyptic Epic Adventure with Epic Bugs. ... and I'm not talking about the Giant Mutant Ants.
This game could have been a 5 Star Gem, but it's incredibly buggy, even two years after it has shipped. It's a two sided coin, where one side is a sweeping epic adventure where your actions shape the world around you, and the other side is a buggy piece of crap. You can enjoy this game if you save often in different save slots and try to ignore the characters that get stuck in walls or the occasional quests that can't be completed. If that's a deal breaker, then you can gladly skip this game.
Story: 9/10
You're a courier who gets hired to deliver a mysterious package to a big shot in New Vegas. Unfortunately for you, you get gunned down and left for dead before you can deliver the package. But in Vegas, fortunes can change in an instant and you're rescued... after they put your face back together. Once you're revived, you can explore the wasteland. It's a great blend of the fallout universe and the old west. There are rival factions, gangs, a host of NPC's fit to compliment every play style, farms, ruins, Las Vegas, and your decisions affect the outcome of just about everyone.
You affect the world by taking on quests, and just about all of them force you to make critical decisions about who you will help and who you will betray. As you play, you'll meet a bunch of interesting characters who can travel with you as companions. You can have 1 robot and 1 living humanoid with you at all times. They all have their own back stories and quests as well.
Your Character: 9/10
When the game begins, you can customize the look and basic skill set of your character. These skills compliment your play style. If you want to be stealthy, you can focus on Sneak, Lock Picking, Hacking... If you want to be persuasive, you can develop your Barter and Speech Skills. If you want to focus on defense, there are Medical and Survival Skills which give you more health points from using medicine and food. And of course there are different types of combat: Guns, Energy Weapons, Explosives, Melee, and Unarmed Combat. These skills enable you to get through the game just about any way that you want.
If you need to kill 2 guys, you can blow them up, shoot them, stab them, convince them to fight each other, poison them, trick them into surrendering... The choices are yours to make.
Whenever you complete a quest, kill a guy, pick a lock, hack a computer, etc... You gain XP. When you gain enough XP, you go up in level. Here, you can add skill points to improve your skills and every other level you can add a Perk. Perks are set skills that help you. Better Critical Hits, Heal in Sunlight, Carry More Items, Take Less Damage from Radiation, Have a Mysterious Stranger Randomly Help You...
The character progression system really allows you to improve your character in every way possible and there are no skill trees, so you don't have to worry about making mistakes. Once you get a Perk, it is always active.
Gameplay: 7/10
The gameplay is pretty solid. You travel, make dialogue decisions, and accomplish mission objectives. You can do this by shooting, blowing things up, stealth, trickery, or forming alliances with important people. Once you discover a new area, you can fast travel to it at any time, using your mini-map.
Whenever you talk to someone, you get options based on your skills. So, if some rifraff tries to BS you, you can call them on it. The more skilled you are, the more dialogue options appear. For example: If you have a high Explosives Skill and you're talking to a bomb expert, you can relate to him through your knowledge of explosives and win them over.
Combat: 7/10
There are many ways to kill your enemies. If you use guns, you can shoot them in real time. You can also use the VATS system, which pauses the game and gives you action points and allows you to aim at a body part or weapon of an enemy with strategic benefits. If someone is running away, you can shoot them in the leg to slow them down. If you are fighting a giant insect, shooting their antennae confuse them and they attack their allies. If an enemy is holding a grenade, you can shoot it to blow him up.
You can also use grenades, land mines, melee weapons, your fists, and stealth. You get major bonus damage for attacking an enemy while you are hiding. You can also reverse pickpocket someone and put a grenade in their pocket. A few seconds later, they explode.
There are two basic kinds of enemies in the game. Melee enemies who charge you, and missile enemies you shoot at you. There are also a ton of different damage types. Energy weapons work well against machines and will occasionally vaporize enemies. Guns have hollow point ammo for unarmored enemies and armor piercing bullets for armored ones. Explosives are great at breaking limbs. Hand to Hand combat is good at knocking enemies down, disarming them, killing them, or crushing their limbs. In just about every encounter, you'll be making some critical decisions.
Hardcore Mode!
This makes the game much tougher. Your health items only give back health over time. So instead of getting an instant 100HP back, you might get 5HP over 10 seconds, which makes you vulnerable. You also have to eat, drink, and sleep or suffer stat penalties. If your companions get killed, they stay dead. This is pretty rough, but it does make the game feel a bit more realistic. This can be turned on or off at any time.
World: 8/10
The world is full of rival factions, mutants, ghouls, military, robots, and people just trying to survive. Some of the quests are tragic, some are hilarious, some are epic, and some make you think. And of course, you could just wander around for hours and see what kind of trouble you can get yourself into.
Graphics: 8/10
The graphics are pretty good for a huge big world type of game. The art direction blends the 1950's and ruins quite nicely and New Vegas is well done. The characters look OK, but their animations are a little stiff.
Sound: 8/10
The soundtrack is pretty good and features Frank Sinatra, epic music, exploration music, etc... They all set the scene quite nicely. The sound effects are good and help round out the action. The dialogue is pretty flat.
Bugs: 10/10
I had the game crash on a load screen and it wiped out my auto save. I lost 6 hours of gameplay. How does this happen in 2010? The game frequently crashes about every 2-4 hours, so save often and have multiple saves. You and other characters get stuck on trees, cars, walls, buildings, rocks, etc... You may be able to "fast travel" with your automap if you get stuck outside. If this happens when you are indoors, you have to restart. Enemies sometimes turn into a blob of polygons and some quests are broken. This is the buggiest 360 game that I've played.
Replay Value: 10/10
There is no multiplayer, but the game is about 60 hours long and there are multiple endings. You can start over with a new character and play the game over in a whole new way and get different endings.
Maturity: M
There is swearing, sexual situations involving people, ghouls, robots... gambling, decapitations, dismemberment, blood, etc... This game is about as wholesome as a trip to Vegas with the Mafia.
Overall: 6/10
This could have been an 80 hour epic adventure where you control the fate of the world, playing any way you wanted to... Instead, this is a game where the immersion constantly breaks down as you try to navigate around a minefield of bugs. For most people, it isn't worth the trouble.
Buy it cheap if you like Bethesda Games like Oblivion, Fallout 3, or Skyrim.
Buy it cheap if you like the old west feel of Red Dead Redemption.
Buy it cheap if you like games that allow you to play creatively.
Rent it if you have 60 hours to blow through it... err... you're better off buying it cheap.
Avoid this game if you hate crash bugs.
Avoid this game if like linear games.
Avoid this game if you need good acting.
If you liked the shooting, tactical aspects of this game, I recommend Deus Ex.
If you liked the open world, I recommend Skyrim, Fallout 3, Red Dead Redemption, and Oblivion. | video-games_xbox |
The fun was over too soon! (spolier alert. This was a great game but it was too short. You start off as Colton White, hunting wild game with your father Ned as part of a tutorial (throughout the rest of the game there is a tutorial to guide you along). You board a steam ship to take care of some business when its ambushed and your dad pushes you overboard saving your life but not before telling you "I ain't your father". He also tells you to go to the Alhambra in Dodge city. From then on the main storyline is to avenge your father, find out what those guys on the steamboat were after, and ultimately who you really are. But there are also side missions like pony express, hunting wild game, bounty hunting, deputy missions, ranch hand etc
Throughout the game the side missions help to boost your stats like your horse riding skills or quick draw as well as to earn cash so you can buy weapons and abilities upgrades. Quickdraw is very useful it allows you to slow down time and pick off enemies one by one until the meter runs out. You can extend the meter by getting upgrades.
I found my horse to be a useful weapon also. Trample your enemies or break down doors with your horse. They are more than just transportation! But be warned as your enemies will try to shoot your horse to bring you down, making you an easier target. It's also useful to do the same to your enemy, especially in bounty hunting missions where you want to take them down but bring them in alive for more cash. The graphics were nice and theres lots of wide open spaces to ride your horse. But while roaming the wild west you might randomly be attacked by some bandits.
The voice acting was good also, there was Kris Kristofferson and literally the voice of Chucky (Reverend Reed). The characters also speak in old west slang (how often have you been asked in real life if you have true grit?) but not so much so that you don't understand what they mean.
I did find some of the missions to be too easy or short so I recommend playing the game on the hard level. Also, There was lots of open space to ride my horse and not enough towns, camps, ruins, etc to explore. I was also disappointed with the AI interaction. I expected townsfolk to speak etc when my character rode or walked past but the most I got was they rolled out of the way of my oncoming horse. The townsfolk do interact with eachother however. You may wander across a shoot out but if you join in you end up testing the town's patience. And when the town's patience runs out a posse gathers and we all know what happenes when the posse comes to town...
The one major flaw I had with the game was its length. It was over too soon. There were lots of side missions and not enough missions for the main story line. It is important to not ignore the side missions, because although some are just for fun (like playing poker)they are actually the main filler of the game as well as good for improving your stats and earning money for upgrades. After you finish the main story line you get a few new weapons and you're free to roam from town to town and do whatever you want. So if you didn't finish all side missions like mining gold, then go ahead. | video-games_xbox |
60 Stress reliever... worth it or not. Titanfall is not Halo. Titanfall is not COD. Titanfall is not Battlefiled. If you purchase this game, remember that is not one of these three games. It is purely chaotic, fast paced, solo fun! After playing this game for a week or so I have conlcuded two main things.
1. It is fun
2. Do not overplay
This game, all be it fun, has very little to no longevity in it at the moment. So pace yourself! You will have fun for an hour, but much more than that and you will be looking for something that isn't there. I may sound like I am complaining, but in all actuallity I love this game, it just is missing something right now. It just released, so hopefully Respawn has some things up their sleeves in terms of DLC and such.
Titanfall for me is my come home from work and have crazy, chaotic fun for an hour type of game. It is not my teamwork based, communication based, destroy the opposition type of game. The way the game is designed to be very vertical, to switch on and off from Titan to Pilot, to get from one side of a map to the other in a snap, well, it just hasn't found it's stride yet. Teamwork is virtually non-exsistent due to design and setting up on a map is impossible due to the magnificent Titans running everywhere. This is not your typical FPS, so it does not work like that. I understand that and can live with that fact. A lot of people on here and various forums are bashing this game harshly. I don't think that is deserved. I think they were looking for a COD with mechs (which might be fun too).
Did I mention I really enjoy this game? There are things to be wished for though.
- customization options
- Titan-less mode
- Minion-less mode
- symetrical type maps (maybe some smaller Pilot v. Pilot maps)
- more weapons
Just to list a few
Anyways, go out and get the game and have fun! I would say that this is definetly a must have for an Xbox One owner. Just realize that it is a different feeling FPS, so don't expect COD, HALO, or Battlefield because you won't find it. | video-games_xbox |
A new spin on the old BF formula, mostly fun and sometimes frustrating. **Update 4/14/15: Servers have continued to improve and Visceral has announced the first wave of patches/balances coming soon. I also now HIGHLY recommend the "Blood Money" game-mode as it's very fun and very well designed for most maps; Blood Money is a bit of a mix of neutral Capture-the-flag and base defense. I have logged roughly a hundred hours online across all game-modes and still find the multiplayer enjoyable.**
It could be too early to say, but I dare say the verdict is in: BF Hardline doesn't suck (and is fun too). After EA/DICE totally screwed the pooch with the release of BF4, Hardline by some miracle works far better than anyone could have expected. After plopping down around 16 hours in the Beta, 10 hours through EA access, and another 4+ hours last night (release day) I would be lying if I said my experience was anything less than satisfactory. Most surprising is that the single player campaign is actually somewhat decent and focuses more on stealth and gadgets then huge war-like battles, though it's not perfect and a few of the game mechanics are a bit silly (such as flashing your badge to instantly make enemies surrender to you, lol).
BFH plays like a Battlefield and Call of Duty crossover, in the best and worst ways possible. Like BF you expect open maps with lots of vantage & entry points with a few vehicles thrown in to add to the mayhem, minus the military vehicles everything is pretty much the same. More to the tune of COD, maps are much smaller with more choke points; run-and-gun game play is key in most situations and you will die very FAST. The game suffers some of the notoriously bad habits of COD in that there are many instances of spawn death. Spawning in your base is ALWAYS safe however. If you spawn on teammates and objectives then you do so at your own risk and can expect to be gunned down if enemies are nearby, this is due to spawning much closer than ever before to objectives. While irritating it's just a side effect of having small maps; large game modes are a bit crowded and the chaos can be a bit too much.
The biggest issue about BFH for me is that many matches are over in about 5-10 minutes, and some modes have lower ticket counts pending on the map, tickets also bleed very fast and I found most matches ended before I had a chance to get into it. I imagine this will be addressed if it bothers enough people as there's no reason a game of conquest should end in less than 10 minutes. The second biggest issue is the persistence of a known bug from BF4 where players "trade kills," this alone is absolutely maddening. In 2 separate instances now I was melee'd to death AFTER I shot a guy and he died. I have video of this recorded and it's extremely frustrating when you die in 1 on 1 fights AFTER you kill the other guy; it wouldn't bother me much if it wasn't happening ever 2 or 3 deaths. Screw that!
Speaking of the new maps, I'm actually VERY impressed with the new offerings thus far. There are some beautiful new levels that really capture the spirit of the "criminal"locations they represent. Even on smaller levels there are a surprising number of paths around each map, including roads/water for vehicles. Each objective/structure has several doors (many of them interactive or destructible) and there's a lot of variety in map types. I was especially impressed with the use of elevation in some areas having not just 1 or 2 floors, but up to 3 or 4. It should also be mentioned that the inclusion of portable zip lines and grappling hooks is really great and adds a huge amount of traversal power.
Some of the new game modes are decently fun too, Hotwire sends players to hop into objective cars and traverse the map at high speeds in order to gain points, it's really fun and the maps support this game mode well. Conquest and TDM return as normal, and while fun, don't really add much new. Heist is an objective mode that pits cops-vs.-robbers around a very specific set of objectives (like robbing a bank, etc): it's a bit hard to learn but is a nice change of pace. There are also a few others but in truth I haven't touch much outside these (I mostly play Hotwire and Conquest).
All in all the game is fast paced, challenging, and needs a bit more polish. BF Hardline will be on sale before long so there's no harm in waiting for a price drop, it's not a perfect game by any means, but it does run smooth and has enough content to keep you entertained. My advice: don't buy the Deluxe or Ultimate versions, Premium isn't really worth it until they actually release new maps later on, and the starter "Battle-packs" give you random crap that won't help you (I know b/c I downloaded the Deluxe version and in NO WAY was it worth an extra $10). For those on fence, wait for a price drop as this game will most def be on sale before long. | video-games_xbox |
Great but hardly worth it. Stick with the Xbox 360. So, I'm part of the next generation now, and let me tell you - this is not a very essential upgrade. There are many good and bad points to the Xbox One - mostly positive - but there's so little REASON to get it that no number of small positives make it worth 500 dollars.
I'll try and explain as quickly as I can, getting the out and out bad out of the way first.
- It's very big. As in, original Xbox huge. It's also a little bigger than even the first Xbox 360.
- Hard drive is fixed in more ways than one. You cannot replace or even opt for a bigger one, and if my experience with last generation hard drives (which are ALSO 500gb) is any indicator, that space will fill up really fast
- The Kinect is oddly glitchy. Voice controls will work 10 times in a row, then it will fail to hear you the next 5. The motion sensing will sometimes lock on to the person next to you instead of well, you.
- You have to DOWNLOAD AN APP to play movies. That is unacceptable. 13 years ago, the PS2 could play movies out of the box. There is NO reason to lock a feature ADVERTISED ON THE BOX behind a mandatory download.
There are also several good features
+ Better graphics than the 360. Not mind-blowingly so, but noticeable.
+ The Kinect, when it's behaving, feels very futuristic.
+ Multitasking (the 'snap' picture-in-picture feature) is pretty cool, letting you Skype while browsing the internet in a different tab, or pretty much any other combination of applications.
Now where does my verdict of 'not worth it' come in?
/ The graphical advancements really aren't noticeable unless you have a fairly large TV. I conducted a blind test, asking people to come in and guess if I was playing the 360 or Xbox One version of Call of Duty Ghosts. 22 and 32 inch TV's, people got it wrong. On my 55-incher, people were able to figure it out pretty much right away. Still, most people don't HAVE a 55 inch TV, so don't expect to get too blown away if you're rocking a smaller set.
/ The controller is pretty much exactly the same. Yes, several small improvements have been made, so it it overall better then the 360 controller, but in most ways it's the same.
/ You need an Xbox Live Gold account to do pretty much ANYTHING other than play single-player games that you own on a disc. And that costs 60 dollars a year. For shame, it won;t even let you watch Netflix - which is a separate additional subscription! - without it!
/ Since it's not backwards compatible, you'll have to keep your Xbox 360 and all related accessories and cables around to play your old games, which just spits in the face of Microsofts whole 'this will unify your living room' philosophy.
It was being forced to keep my Xbox 360 that actually ruined it for me, because it made it obvious how little I needed an Xbox One. The games don't look much better, the Kinect isn't as improved as its best moments might make you think, and playing with essentially the same controller on a system with essentially the same GUI makes it really obvious - more than any previous generation, we are being asked to buy a marginally improved product. Buy one of the Xbox 360 E consoles instead. It'll run you 300 dollars less, the system is far smaller, and you can continue playing all the games that have already come out and will continue to come out over the next several years. Unless you're the type to be swayed by the ability to watch a movie AND TV simultaneously, the Xbox One doesn't have a clear edge of the Xbox 360. And if this is going to be your first console? Same advice applies, get the one with 90% of the functionality, a smaller size, many more games, and did I mention - less than half the price? | video-games_xbox |
Nogstalgia is good for some playing once a year, but that's it. This is a compilation of Capcom arcade games. I was pretty disappointed when I discovered it's not the home games like I grew up with this. These are just the arcade games and having Nintendo ports of Commando and Bionic Commando would have been great. This compilation might contain $5,000 worth of quarter eating fun (like the box says), but not even the online leader boards will keep you coming back for more than nostalgia. A lot of the games feel very stale and clunky by today's standards.
1942 - A top down arcade shooter, blow up planes, its a classic, but feels clunky now.
1943: The Battle of Midway - Same as 1942, only one year later. Its a top down shooter and the challenge has been amped up.
1943 Kai - A special Japanese version of 1943 for the people that love their insane difficulty.
Bionic Commando - I was very disappointed to see this wasn't the NES version. Its 6 levels of bionic arm swinging fun though. About 30 minutes of fun.
Commando - It is not the NES version and provides some nice challenge, but far less secrets. The arcade version just seems dull.
Exed Exes - Another overhead shooter.
Final Fight - A great beat-em up game! Well worth paying for this compilation. It does get tedious by today's standards.
Forgotten Worlds - A great horizontal shooter that is well worth playing once a year!
Ghosts 'n Goblins - This side scrolling Knight vs demonic army is challenging fun, frustratingly challenging fun! Again, its still fun!
Ghouls 'n Ghosts - The sequil to the previous game, but I feel like the weapons are worse.
Gun. Smoke - Basically its Commando version 2.0. The controls feel clunky.
Legendary Wings - Some say this is a legendary good game, but quite honestly even with its variety of top down shooter and platforming, it feels difficult, like too difficult and not fun.
Mercs - A fun version of Commando 10 years later, blowing things up from a top down view has never been more fun.
Pirate Ship Higemaru - skip it
Section Z - A side scrolling shooter that has new tweaks like shooting in 360 degrees.
SonSon - skip it
Street Fighter II - Same as the arcade! Slow and clunky. This is a fighter vs fighter game with 8 characters to play that we all know and love. Ryu, Ken, Blanka, Chun Li, Dahlsim, Zangief, Honda and Guile.
Street Fighter II': Champion Edition - Same as the arcade again!
Street Fighter II' Turbo: Hyper Fighting - Same as the arcade V3! Only faster!
Super Ghouls 'n Ghosts - A great game, same as Ghouls and Ghosts, only more challenge, more weapons, more armor, more enemies, more of everything great about the game!
Trojan - A side scroller without platforms, it feels kind of clunky, but its a good game if you can follow the patterns.
Vulgus - skip it | video-games_xbox |
Great buy/headset. The standard xbox 360 headset that came with my original purchase recently stopped working and I promptly started searching the internet for a worthy replacement. When I found this headset I must admit I was a little bit skeptical after reading the reviews and seeing the rating. However, I couldn't be happier with the headset-earbud.
My original buying specs were the following:
* Nothing over-the-head (I am tired of looking like the Burger King drive through manager while playing a game. I also love playing quick games of COD MW2 before doing something and the nasty hair imprint the over-the-head sets leave you with is annoying when wanting to go out after)
* Comfortable to wear (lets face it, sometimes the time can fly by when you get into an online game and if the headset hurts it will take away from the experience)
* Good sound/mic quality (Again, if the quality is terrible it will hurt the experience)
So after getting this headset:
Pros:
* Comfort: I have worn many ear-bud style headphones and can say that the cushion that comes with these, added to the support it has below the ear, makes it almost unnoticeable for extended game-play. The trick is that you DO NOT shove it into your ear but rest it just slightly inside of the ear lobe while relying on the under-support to keep it in place. If worn properly, you will quickly forget it is attached. It also comes with an extra ear-bud cushion in case you lose it or it somehow rips.
* Quality: I am playing a game, not listening to Bach so hitting all of the different audible ranges is irrelevant. The important thing is my friends hear me clearly and I can hear them clearly. No static, no problems with picking up background noise or even muffled sounds. As with the comfort factor, make sure it is worn properly so the mic is slightly away from your cheek to avoid muffled sounds.
* Other stuff: The jack fits nicely into the standard xbox 360 controller. It even seems to be a bit more secure than the standard headset did. It has the ability to mute and adjust sound on the cord. Cord length is also longer than the standard headset, which is great since I have a habit of pulling it out of the controller due to its short length.
Cons:
Really don't have any. It is what I expected and love using it.
Conclusion
For $9.99 it was a great price and I can't be happier with the product. I would and have recommended this to my friends. If you are looking for the same things I was above, look no further. | video-games_xbox |
An Honest Review (It breaks. I won't avoid what you want to know, so I'll keep it short to the point but detailed enough.
(update march 2015)
I would like to point out before you continue, these headphones break easily. I haven't updated this at a proper time considering college, anyway, these headphones did not last me even a year before the plastic cracked. After I called up skullcandy they said they don't offer repairs and to just buy another new one. If you want something to last, I suggest not reading any further.
- Sound -
Take note that this is NOT like a headphone or earbud. The voices will be a little faded since it is surround sound. Surround sound gives you more music than the voice, that how they work. You'll have to lower the music and increase the voice. Coolest feature is their V-G vol. control. You can increase voice volume or the game volume, which ever one you want to hear the most and yes the is the usual + and - master vol. The bass is beautiful, it's like a subwoofer but it's good enough for a headseat, it's kind of similar to a vehicals bass (of course it depends due to various speakers). They also have an EQ3 which allows you to change the bass/teble for what you're hearing. #1 - has the most bass and best for music and sometimes movies. #2 - Normal bass and normal treble, good for movies and games that you want to hear thing clear but with the BOOM in it too for explosions. #3 - Least bass and most Treble, this is best for when you want to hear the game CLEARLY to wear you can hear the footsteps of other in FPS' and bullet shots and that includes hearing in game voices too.
!!THERE IS NO NOISE-CANCELATION WITH THESE HEADPHONES!! These headphones do not cancle in the sound our cancle out sounds, However is does muffle it enough. At least you can hear when others are calling you, unless you have a lot of other noises in your house.
-EDIT-
-Surround Sound-
I've seen some people say that it isn't surround sound. I have no idea what they have done to say this but has been surround sound for me. The audio jack may seem like something you have to use but Surround Sound doesn't really go through it that well. I've been hearing surround sounds while going through the USB rather than the audio jack so that may be something you might want to look into. Also I'm playing the PS4 with my skullcandy plyr 2 with the audio coming out of the tv (Visio 42") and into the transmitter. I played BF4, CoD, KZ Shadow Fall and currently FF14 and I hear surround sound on ALL of them and this is with audio jack.
-Power Saver-
Coolest function that I have found out quite a while ago but forgot to post. The headset turns off after around 3-5 minutes of it recieving no audio transmition. So if you forgot to turn it off you don't need to worry, it'll shut itself off after a few minutes if there is no audio playing. This has honestly saved a lot of electricity usage.
-EDIT COMPLETE-
- Design/Comfort -
It's a little tight on the head I do admit so it'll get tiring after a while. The cushioning isn't bad at all but it's not the best. It rests nicely on the top of the head instead of weighing it down. I do admit compared a lot of other headphones this headphone is pretty light.
- Mic -
As told the mic mutes when set up straight which is the coolest feature if you ask me, no more flipping a switch. I do LP's and the mic is very different in sound. It's hard to describe, my logitech mic has increadible treble and can hear you breath, Skullcandy Plyr2 doesn't pick it up unless you purposefully do it and doesn't have as increadible treble. Compared to xbox mics it's seriously good. Adjusting your mic's position is amazingly easy and smooth. It stays where you put it, but as you should know there is always a limit.
- Cables -
The audio cables are easy to install, red and white what more must I say. Your transmitter or brain as skullcandy says, has a power cable which is also the mic cable. It comes with a 360 cable to chat on xbox live, it connect from the controller to the headphone so be careful if you rage/throw your controller. The power/mic cable is a USB so you connect it to your PS3 for chat or on the computer for chat, weather the USB works on the 360 is beyond me but at least you have the xbox cable. To hear the sound of your computer you need a 3.5 mm cable !IT IS NOT INCLUDED!. It also comes with a headphone charger which is exactly like a PS3 controller charger, and the power cable.
Personally I love these head phones. The design is just killer and the color is just awesome (there are only three colors for plyr 2 and 2 for plyr1). I'm seriously satisfied with this gaming headphone. Awsome for music, movie's and gaming. Every time I'm home I can't wait to use it, stupid saying that but I'm serious..
Can I listen to my consol audio? - Yes
Can I chat? - Yes, the PS3 will use the power/mic cable and the Xbox360 will use the chat cable.
Can I listen to my PC audio and will I need a audio jack? - Yes and no, YOU'LL YOU NEED TO GET A 3.5 MM AUDIO JACK (In short a jack that fits in a Ipod or
the computer, both ends must be male) or you can have it go through the USB.
Is the Mic quality good? - It's acceptable but could be better.
Is it comfortable? - Somewhat, it's not the most comfortable headset I've felt better, but it's still good.
Is the sound good? - Yes, the sound is very nice and you can adjust it too.
Is it easy to hook up? - Yes, absolutly easy, manual is a little confusing but you'll figure it out quickly.
Is it Surround sound? - Yes, I suggest you have the audio go through the USB since I've been hearing the surround sound with that (through PC).
Is it worth it? - (updated march 2015) I can't say I would since it breaks after a while. Skullcandy doesn't offer repairs too. | video-games_xbox |
bugs and problems microsoft X-box bad customer support very rude. First og the graphic looks great. having top geat working on this looks fantasic nice selcetions of cars.
hoqwever thats about all the good news of this. however the list of bad news is realy something.
lets start of with bugs/ gliches and bad progreamming and rush outed too soon and did not check and complete the work proerly before putting the product on the market. after you read this you may think of selling your X-box 360. and kill that stupid X-box live acount while at it.
I beleave there is a world tour chalanges that will alow you to race around the world. off line of course
it sounds good. However its not. the idea of this is to win the race to collect points.. these points are money to buy your next car when you are told to do. it will start you off with a basic car and buy a bit better basic car and work your way up to better cars when you do complte the race and you gain your points there is a screen that will show you the list of cars that are ready for you to choose from. it sounds good ha? Not realy. well it dose not work. IT DOSE NOT WORK. Why goe though all this trobble to have this car buying system that DOSE NOT WORK AT ALL? thats where I called stupid bugs and rush job. This is not Top Gear fault. This is the problem of Turan 10 the maker of the disc and microsoft them selfs. to rush 5things out with out checking there work. I have to do it by reporting my findings. and they are
After finsing the races you win poits to buy the cars.
The car is selected from a car select screen.
you buy the card rhar was was picked
IT DOSE NOT WOREK
the files are not saved
there are no guarage what so ever to store your cars in.
so when the next track dose comew up there is another problem
Choose car dose not work. that goes to the previous problem
NO CARS in your guarge.
all the cars had been paid for afterwinning the first 20 races are not working
you are sruck with the first basic car. it will last for a short while well untill better imrpoved basic cars are on the track. maing you fee like your drving in ear wax.
lets talk about customer servgice of Micoosoft. rude . the chat line there ambassoders send you to
Tweeter customer service that is nothing to do with solving the problems in this maters..
Micorosft demands are bump tax paying customers some place elese. to a phone service that makes you waste your time
and money to pay for micorosft demands to buy new game that was all ready paid for. Collectors edtion are far more wose. it cost more 90.00 adn not avalable any more and yet you will pay microsft that same money again. no refunds.
for no mater what the escuse is or never to be restocked. micosoft is like ebay. sell bad products and suspend peoples account. on the phone call you will get warnings about getting X-box live account suspened.
you was driving in EAR WAX now tour out of that ear wax and now driving in a sewage.
chate lines are robot useless. will will demand you to repeat your self over and over and over. and move demands you to go to tweeter customer service. and if yuur asking for a manager of there rude conduct. it will ask again what is the problem that the game is suffering and demand more details. the phone line is a joke.
lets go over
bugs of not able to buy new car
bugs not having a guaage to safe your car in
not working change car function and dead too
wost customer service
fake reps think they are ambassorders
no phone support
encorce to buy and no refunds from Micosoft
evne when the product is out of production your still pay for it
The Bottom line is sell the X-box 360 and buy British TV series Top Gear on DVD and Blu-ray
USA edtion for people that live in the USA. have a better chance of exchaning from dealers if the dealer will allow exchanges for the same product
stay away from video games it not worth the money when bugs are crashing the game play. | video-games_xbox |
Not quite up to the hype, but a good game none-the-less. Not quite UP to the hype.
I was a huge fan of Bioshock. Bioshock II, not so much, as you can really see a direction change halfway through the game. Overall I enjoyed both, but really loved the first one.
That aside. This game looked great in the previews, and is a good game, but some things annoyed me. I really wished the story was fleshed out more. They have such a great locale and well developed characters. I just think it took a serious turn for the worse with the rifts. Going in and out... it simply was not convincing. Things did not change enough as far as... well gameplay wise. You still had physical things too much like they were when you went in. Then it becomes this odd open rifts to get loot inside them, or hooks, or helpers, walls, etc... all of that could have been taken out, and I don't think anyone would have noticed.
They really should have simply gone another route with all that. I understand there are temporal anomalies based on the technology keeping that city afloat. But pure gameplay wise, none of those goodie rifts felt... well right. Almost corny really. I would have rather seen her left as-is, and only open new doorways, and then have them focus on making things different enough so you did not feel like someone told you that you went through time, but yet the world makes it feel like you really didn't.
In all honesty I have not finished the game yet, but I am well into it. I love the characters, and the basic story. I was expecting a lot more concerning her keeper, maybe that should have been a focus rather than the goodie rifts. I don't know. I do expect a fairly decent ending... I guess. Admittedly I was not 100% onboard with Bioshock One, of which I loved, but truly wanted to see my "condition" reversed.
But oh well. It's Art and all that. All good games.
Maybe I'll put in a resume, and help them make part two better... or part 3 of Bioshock :-)
Carry on... | video-games_xbox |
Morrowind is the best open ended RPG ever, but . I've been playing Morrowind for the Xbox for weeks now and I think I'm getting close to the half-way mark on the game.
The game's world is huge and there's just too many quests and objectives aside from the main quest that can be sought out.
The game has an extensively huge amount of roleplaying topic context material and text information in NPCs and books.
The game's magic system is relatively good for RPGs with seven schools of magic and a near infinite amount of premade spells,
however, that you can make your own custom spells truly makes for a Wizard character that is truly unique and top notch.
The game's thieving system is also incredible as you can steal just about any item in the game (hope you don't get caught).
Now that that's said, I need to point out a few of Morrowind's down sides - and they may be dealbreakers for new buyers.
First off, the combat in the game is rudimentary and overly simplified consisting of repeated attacks until the enemy falls.
Second off, Morrowind takes quite a bit of time to save and load, taking up to two minutes to load a large save game.
Third, Morrowind tends to crash with "Dirty Disc Errors" quite often after the save file reaches 150 blocks or larger and
reaching 150 blocks will not take you very long, despite any efforts you may employ to reduce the save's file size.
Also note that the "Dirty Disc Errors" (DDE) have nothing to do with the physical condition of your Morrowind game disc.
Morrowind will often either freeze or crash with the DDE message whenever the game tries to load more than the Xbox's
finite available 64 megabytes of RAM and these crashes will happen often, so buyer beware on this point.
At this point in time, no workaround, fix or Xbox patch is available from either Microsoft or Bethesda Softworks.
Unfortunately, noone has thought of the gamer and come up with a PC CD burn application with a Xbox game patch on it yet.
The Morrowind Game of the Year edition is set to be released in the Fall of 2003, so I would recommend waiting for the update.
Hopefully the updated version of the game will be more crash proof or come with a built in game save file fixer option. | video-games_xbox |
Entertaining and has pretty good replay value. My wife and I are huge pinball lovers. We grew up playing all the pinball games we came across and are constantly looking for decent pinball games for gaming systems. We are more interested in pinball games for gaming systems that are simulations of actual games, not re-invented games.
When we came across this game, we had to get it and try it out. The game-play is pretty realistic. The ball movement and flipper action is pretty realistic. You really get the feeling that gravity is playing a real part in the movement of the ball and you can actually get lost in the moment when playing some of the games.
The graphics are superb. I grew up with a lot of these games and played them many times and the look and feel is spot on.
The game has pretty good replay value as there are lots of goals to meet for each table and you really have to learn the tables backwards and forwards to understand how to meet all the goals. Each table provides you with instructions of the game as well as what each bumper, target, or scoring device does and how to activate bonuses, etc.
There are different modes to select when playing to track your ball(s) during game-play which will satisfy all people that like the different ways you can have the ball tracked on-screen. I'm viewing the game on a 55" DLP TV so the picture is pretty good size. I think it will still look good on smaller TVs and I don't think you'll lose much visibility.
My only thing I didn't like about the game was the amount of games provided. I would have been happier with a minimum of at least 3 or 4 more popular games. I feel a bit shorted; especially when you go into the virtual game room and when you "walk" around, it sure does seem like a lot of wasted graphics and space for the few games included. I know it's all for looks but I felt a little shorted on the amount of games. It's just my opinion though.
So, if you're a casual pinball player and want to try this, I highly recommend it. If you are a pinball enthusiast, it's worth the purchase to play these games you love so much and to add them to your pinball collection. | video-games_xbox |
Rare's Notable Downfall. You know...It's funny: When it was announced that Rare would be bought out by Microsoft, they made it seem like it would be a decision that would greatly enhance not only the Xbox lineup, but Rare's own creations. Over a decade later, we learn not only has the famous development team churned out way less titles than when they were with Nintendo and prior, but notable franchises such as Conker and Banjo-Kazooie haven't fared well at all from the purchase. This installment in particular pretty much convinced Microsoft to have Rare only make Kinect Sports games from that point on until this year, when they suddenly released one of the best video game collections ever made.
But anyway, Banjo Kazooie: Nuts and Bolts is the FIFTH Banjo game in the series, NOT the third. You see, despite Rare being owned by Microsoft, they were still allowed to make games for the Game Boy Advance and eventually the Nintendo DS, two of them being Banjo games; 2003 saw the release of Banjo Kazooie: Grunty's Revenge, an original platforming-adventure that took place between the first two games, and two years later there was Banjo Pilot, which was basically a kart-racer except with planes. Because THQ, the titles' publisher, didn't promote them much at all, they've become drastically overlooked in comparison to the other games in the series.
So if anything, I would gladly consider Grunty's Revenge to be the real "Banjo Threeie" over this crap.
The first glaring issue with the game is how egotistical it is of itself. The story is basically a re-enactment of a meeting at Microsoft (or so I like to think of it), as Banjo, Kazooie, and living 80s computer L.O.G. remind me a lot of bickering executives. L.O.G. persuades to Bear and Bird that nobody likes playing platformers anymore (Because Super Mario Galaxy totally bombed, right?), and that kids today just want to shoot things. The result? L.O.G. shoves the duo into a mission-based game involving cars. No, seriously. How L.O.G. decided to pick a car theme out of the idea that kids like shooting games is beyond my knowledge.
Missions are held within various themed worlds as can be expected, but everything is so ridiculously played out this time. Each world opens up like some corny television program, and the supporting characters of each world are literally placed in a role as if they were actors. Whatever happened to the naturally whimsical feel of the original games? Nuts and Bolts instead has everything mechanically in place, and the game itself constantly likes to believe there isn't even a fourth wall, as everything is pointed out as they know they're in a game. They even talk about wondering if this game would be successful, Kazooie complaining about not having her abilities from older games, etc. I thought video games are supposed to make you think you're in another reality that's unlike our own, not outright admit it's all a setup from the get-go.
Because of the mission-based play, don't expect to do much when you're not assigned anything; the environments are basically empty playgrounds you could explore by driving your car. The missions themselves are usually things that involve your car (Duh), but even when you try your best to ignore the fact that this carries the Banjo Kazooie name, the missions don't feel as robust or rewarding as platforming challenges one conquers in the adventuring titles. They feel a lot like the missions from Mario Kart DS's Mission mode, except less fun and with lesser variety. Certain objectives are rather vague, while some others can be frustrating all because the car's wonky "realistic" control schemes would throw you off.
Because of all this, I actually ended up getting BORED playing this game, which is something I never expected a game by Rare to cause. I was increasingly growing tired of doing car-based missions that all require me to sit in the thing and drive it in ways that aren't as reliable as they should have been. The scary part is I gave this game many, many chances to appeal to me, but every play session I attempted, I ended up wanting to play anything else on my Rare Replay disc and/or Banjo Kazooie: Grunty's Revenge. Don't play this game if you don't want your memories of Bear and Bird tainted. | video-games_xbox |
Welcome to Bright Falls. Where do i begin? Alan Wake is one of those games that grabs a hold of you and you feel like you need to keep playing to see what happens next. It's set up kind of like a TV show featuring different episodes each with a surprising cliffhanger and a recap at the beginning of each show. It's a neat idea really and now that i've played it i hope they will continue to release episodes over time. I recommend you log in to XBOX Live and download the free Alan Wake prequel webisodes to get you in the right mood and frame of mind.
I don't remember the last time i played such an intense game. The gameplay is simply fantastic, you will be doing battle with the local Bright Falls folk which have been taken over by the darkness. In Alan Wake the light is your ally, any form of light be it your trusty flashlight or a bright flare will help keep the darkness at bay. Enemies are consumed by the darkness and are invincible until you remove the darkness from them using a light source. Only after you have cleansed the "taken" with light can you harm them, at that point you use one of the several different conventional weapons like a revolver, shotgun etc. The taken usually have melee weapons like axes and chainsaws and they like to sneak up on you in the pitch black darkness so you will be dodging constantly to avoid getting your head lopped off.
The levels are very linear, you can occasionally go off the beaten path to look for extra ammo and items and are usually greeted by more disgruntled taken. When i first learned Alan Wake was somewhat linear i was a little disappointed, but after playing through 4 episodes (There are 6) my disappointment has been left in the darkness. Sure i would have liked this to be an open world game but then it wouldn't have been what it is. Alan Wake is a wild ride with many fine tuned scripted events.
From a graphical stand point im very impressed, i was completely sold on feeling like i was traversing the small town getaway called Bright Falls. Getting everything to look this good without any framerate hiccups is commendable. Whether it be day or night, it just looks amazing.
The story will keep your interest, i don't want to say it will blow your socks off but it does a good job of keeping you in the dark just enough, feeding you bits and pieces of backstory and what might lie ahead in the form of pages that are scattered though each level. As you find them Alan will read them to further draw you into the tale. But like i said, you should start with the prequel on XBOX Live, im betting after watching the 6 webisodes you too will hunger for some psychological thriller action. So go out and buy this game so maybe they will continue to create add-on episodes so i can play them! :) | video-games_xbox |
Best. Concept. Ever. "Operation Darkness" is the first Japanese strategic role-playing game (JSRPG) to arrive on a Microsoft console and I say not a moment too soon. After all, <a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/Final-Fantasy-Tactics/dp/B00002SVWG/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">Final Fantasy Tactics</a> is one of my favorite games of all time and OD is very similar in gameplay to that groundbreaking gem. The story takes place during World War II with your main character being wounded in battle. He receives an emergency blood transfusion from a British special forces officer who shows up just in time. You join the unit known as The Wolf Pack and for a while, everything is as it should be; you find Nazis, you shoot Nazis, life is good. And so it goes until after one battle when zombies suddenly appear out of nowhere. Promises of forthcoming explanations keep you going until a friggin' vampire shows up and starts demolishing everyone. So your commanding officer -who was so generous as to have given his own blood for your transfusion- transforms into a werewolf and tosses the bloodsucker into the air as the anime hottie you have a crush on blasts him in mid-air with a fireball from her hand. Alrighty then. "Operation Darkness" mixes and melds a wonderful historically accurate account of the greatest of all wars with supernatural horror aspects and presents it as a solid JSRPG video game. These are a few of my favorite things.
Now, if you've read the professional reviews for this game you are thinking, "Hey, man, didn't this get like a 40 out of 100 on Metacritic?". Yes. Yes it did. But the professional reviews are from the standpoint of video game industry insiders who are more concerned about a game's programming, graphics, and technical proficiency then they are it's capacity to entertain. Screw that. <a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/Lost-Odyssey/dp/B000ZJVDA2/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">Lost Odyssey</a> garnered some decent scores and it has endless loading screens, outdated gameplay, limited voice-acting, technical issues, AND it needed four discs to do it; all for a few awesome-looking cutscenes. This is a stripped-down game by comparison that focuses on it's key aspects well and does away with endless cutscenes and the loading screens that go with them in favor of a solid fully-voiced story often (well) told with non-animated characters. It may be last-gen, but it is still effective.
Now let me give you full disclosure about what IS wrong with OD. First, foremost, and most flagrantly there is the in-battle camera. Atlus tried somethinga little different and went for a up-close-and-personal view reminiscent of a third-person shooter rather than the standard eagle's eye-view typical of most strategy games. This succeeds in making the battle seem more in your face and personal, but the fact that you often can't line up your shots because there is a tree or building blocking your view from behind your character is awful at times. It's not as bad as some reviewers would have you believe once you get used to it (the mini-map is your friend), but it is a fault nonetheless. Next, you get most of the best skills early in the game and every character gets the same selection to choose from. So basically, while the characters are customizable, you'll more than likely have most of them with the same stat boosts for most of the game. The good is that those skills level up according to how you play the game with each character and that's very cool. The fact that most of your characters can die permanent deaths puts a big damper on this game as well. There are no revival items and only one character (who CAN die) has magic to bring them back. Two of the characters look similar so at one point I wasn't even aware that one had died until after the hour+ battle was done so I had to restart because who the hell wants to play an RPG without a major character's dialogue? Silly.
This game is hardcore and unforgiving. One-shot kills abound and the fact that the 100% required feature of having a mortally wounded soldier heal themselves with items from their personal inventory is a skill that takes a space away from the other skills I could be equipping is a headache. You are typically (over)matched against a group of nearly- indestructible tanks and an army of soldiers where you have to run and hide until you can bring your slow-moving bazooka troops to bear. Then, out of ammo, out of healing items, and feeling good about yourself after an hour or so of pitched battle, the game tosses another large volley of fresh troops and/or tanks at you in an obvious attempt to make you throw your controller at the screen. However, this does make for a real feeling of accomplishment when you send those Jerrys packing. Each move you make must be carefully planned, each attack carefully weighed for risk, and skillful strategizing is usually rewarded with success. In spite of it's issues, this is a great strategy game.
As well as many historical figures, there are some horror icons that make appearances as well. Jack The Ripper is particularly awesome in his role and vampire legend Carmilla turns up leading the supernatural Nazi forces. One of your comrades-in-arms is a bespectacled <a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/Re-Animator/dp/B00005V9HA/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">Re-Animator</a> known as Herbert East. I KNEW that guy's needle-brandishing pose looked familiar! So cool. You even get a sword-swinging Van Helsing descendant on your team. Add plenty more interesting characters and horror homages to that pile. The story is solid and it such that it never fails to point out that not all Germans were Nazis and many actually opposed Hitler. In fact, your aforementioned love interest is a German citizen, driving the point home. And there you are with your German-hating ways. For shame. I'll take this over 90% of what's out there any day of the week, last-gen or not.
"Operation Darkness" is a great game IF YOU ARE A FAN OF THE GENRE. If you are not, the camera will drive you nuts, the graphics will not impress you, the presentation will strike you as PSP-worthy, and you will not have a good time. But if you read what I wrote and said "hell yeah!" then download the free demo from Xbox Live. It's a level where the camera is at it's worst so if you can enjoy that particular battle than this game is all about you. There is nothing else like this on a current console and I highly recommend it to true strategy game aficionados who are into WWII history and horror films. | video-games_xbox |
Spend More for More. The arcade stick is pretty cool and worked just fine as soon as I got it plugged in. It also worked with my PC which was an awesome plus. However, judging from other reviews (plus friends in the fighting game community), I felt that this would all start crashing down on me...still I took the risk, and what do you know...it did start crashing down.
The main issue was the buttons. After several weeks with it, the 'Y' button had become quite unresponsive. Several weeks later, the same thing happened to the 'B' button. I swapped the buttons with the 'LB' and 'LT' buttons, and the 'Y' and 'B' buttons (though now black) worked like new. Of course, this sacrificed the two buttons on the right...leaving me with 6 buttons instead of 8...didn't hinder me though as 6 buttons is all you need. Then there's the 'Back' and 'Start' buttons. WHY IN THE WORLD ARE THE 'BACK' AND 'START' BUTTONS ON THE OUTER SIDE OF THE BOX?! This makes taunting and pausing such a hassle.
About the other parts:
-The stick was a square gate. It made doing 360's a hassle, but after some time, you get used to it. I can't knock down score because of that.
-Turbo buttons worked wonderfully, but had no use for them.
-The headset jack felt out of place, but I think the same about all arcade sticks with a headset jack.
-Detachable wire in case somebody trips on the chord ensures that the console doesn't come crashing down...though (thank the lord) I haven't had a chance to 'test' it out.
In short, the arcade stick's stock buttons are gonna die out. But the weight is perfect, and it's easily modifiable to bring out it's true potential.
I have friends with the same stick but swapped the parts with Hori/Sanwa parts...felt amazing...and I'll be doing the same.
edit:
After some more time passed, the stick would often have a prolonged input when tilted left. Having an input get stuck like that is such a big headache.
Do yourself a favor, and buy a better fight stick. I mean, buying this, plus paying to mod/fix everything, cost just about the same as a god-like stick. | video-games_xbox |
Headset was great and customer service is AWESOME. I bought these things for $26, so my review is based on that price point. Overall, these things are awesome but there are some notes to add:
Pros: These things are good sound quality, feel great with soft padding (leatherette? soft and nice), easily adjusted, and look great. I have used Polk products in the past and have always had good experiences. See below regarding customer support.
Cons: Xbox One capability is limited based on a lack of the proper cables. The original connector is meant for the 360 controller and thus does not fit with the Xbox One or standard 3.5mm jacks. Audio is clear but bass levels are a bit low when connected directly to X1 controller.
Customer Service Experience: The box I received said that it was compatible with the X1 with a free upgrade kit offer on the box. Since there was no expiration listed on the offer, I took to the Amazon Review and saw that others have followed through with this offer and Polk has made good on it. That is exactly the case here. I went to Polk's forums, found the info I was looking for, and via email with a Polk employee directly (not just a bulk email address), they collected my info and sent me the necessary wiring. I received a 3.5mm jack with in-line mic, headset adapter for X1 controllers (NOTE: New controllers now have a 3.5mm jack on them making this adapter unnecessary, though I still use it so I can control sound from controller rather than dashboard since I can't pause racing games like Forza when I'm playing online), and the also included a micro usb cable which wasn't necessary, but helpful for me to update the controller. I could not be more pleased with Polk and how they handled this. In this day and age, customer service is so important, and Polk reminded me that you can be a worldwide brand and still have a human element. Will absolutely buy future products. | video-games_xbox |
Received as Christmas gift. I honestly don't get what all the nasty reviews are about and some explanations amuse me.
You have GOT to play the campaign before playing anything else. That's, like, a rule; it is to us, at least.
I got my game before my fianc did and I couldn't keep it to myself. I thought it was an awesome campaign and I don't even like campaigns that much. I found myself wanting to play it again, which is inconvenient because my fiance and I usually play together. Oh well.
The campaign is set in the future, obviously, but I didn't think they'd manage to get the graphics that good. I expected Ghost-like graphics, but I was impressed.
Now, I was a bit frustrated with Exo Survival because: still no zombies. But then we unlocked the last tier and were in for the not-so-big surprise because we already knew it was gonna happen, though, I was hoping we'd have to flip the map to get there to make it a bit more challenging because it ends so fast. BUT the new map pack has more zombies so, hopefully it'll be better.
Now, I'll admit, I wasn't fond with the idea of playing Multiplayer because it takes me a bit to adjust, but after all the Exo Survival, I found myself towards the top and my K/D came out negative only about two or three times. So, Survival is really useful sometimes.
People were complaining about the score streaks and how they barely do any damage anyway. (BOOHOO!) There's a reason for that. You can UPGRADE your score streaks so they do more damage, but it'll take more kills, and really, it's not the games fault you've got no skill. (Lol. Okay, I'll stop.)
I don't know about anything else other than Team Death Match because I'm currently busy working on a novel and I barely get time to play, but I never liked them before on Black Ops 2 anyway because they were so annoying. Except capture the flag.
Campers. I don't know what any of you are talking about, honestly. As long as you don't move, no one will be able to see you from far away. At least that's what happens to me (every time I'm on a streak, by the way!!!). Needless to say, it's a good thing I took a break from Hardcore because I'd shoot anything that moves. Then say, "Oops... It was a team mate." But I think it's kinda cool (sometimes) how the team mate's names disappear when they're flying. It makes it a really bit more tricky.
Okay, I keep babbling about random stuff from the game. Maybe I should talk about the guns.
Yeah, some guns are clearly over powered and it sucks when they all suddenly have shotguns that kill you with one bullet. I prefer machine guns, but it took me a while to find one that I liked, which turned out to be the one from Exo Survival, Light Exo, since that had been the one I was used to. Not the most powerful, but decent.
What I don't like about the game is that the lettering is so tiny. I wear glasses and can see perfectly out of them. My TV is a decent size, flat screen, but I can't read anything. I've tried turning down the brightness to see if the letters being less bright wouldn't blend so much into each other, but I just can't tell them apart most of the time.
What I don't get is why people are like, "This isn't call of duty!" when all Call of Duties are supposed to be different. I mean, they're accompanied by a different name for a reason, in my opinion.
I think that's all I gotta comment on.
[Edit: Additions - 02/07/15]
I took my time getting familiar with the score streaks and actually trying to get them instead of running around at random and shooting everyone till I die.
It wasn't hard. The only thing I had to do was watch out for places where they could be blending in or in hiding/camping. I have gotten all the score streaks with no problem. What I haven't tried is upgrading them for more damage, but since I'm not focused on Multiplayer, I don't really care about it.
EXO ZOMBIES
I was excited when the new map pack came out and I have to admit, the zombies are super cool. The map is small, though, so I'm hoping the next map pack is bigger. :)
The characters are funny, in my opinion, though when they talk to one another the order is a bit off.
Death corners... That's what I call most of the corners in the map. If you're in a high round, like 30, and get stuck in one of these, you will die, unless there's an Hyper Damage activated. Not even boost jumps can get you out of these and I thought that was a bit realistic since the zombies are all hitting you at once. When I get stuck, I say to the ones playing, "I'm dead" before I even fall because it is so rare to get out of these. What I recommend is to walk backwards as little as possible.
The guns on Exo Zombies do not amuse me whatsoever. The laser one (EM1?) sucks beyond belief, which reminds me of the Paralyzer in Black Ops 2, because everyone was so answers by it and I thought it sucked. All the other guns stop doing much damage when you get to a round higher than 20-something, even if they're upgraded to the max, and even after you call for help and upgrade it to 25.
They need to fix the reviving thing. When the people get back up they stay bent back at the hip at a 90 degree angle. It doesn't just make me burst out laughing because it looks so ridiculous, but it makes me think that the makers didn't really think of every single thing. I like the "hounds" that come up every few rounds and the toxic zombies that infect you and force you to go into a room to get clear of the infection, within a time limit, or you die.
The way every round is different reminds me of Ghosts' Extinction, but the way it never ends and you can't beat it (so far), makes it like the Black Ops ones.
What I don't like it's the way it's too conclusive and how it doesn't seem like they'll have room to make a second one, unless they change the plot or somehow get rid of all the zombies in future maps. | video-games_xbox |
Well Designed HUHD 2.4Ghz Optical Wireless Gaming Headset with Excellent Sound Quality. My soon to be 15 yr old grandson is an avid "gamer", so when I was offered the opportunity to receive this HUHD 2.4Ghz Optical Wireless Gaming Headset HW-399M in exchange for my honest and unbiased review I accepted, knowing he would enjoy testing the "gaming" quality of the Headset for me.
The Overall Quality of this headset is Very Good.
HUHD has designed them with a Generous Amount of Padding in Both the Ear and Headband sections.
The Placement of the Control Buttons and Plug Ins on Both the Transmitter and Headset are easy to access when in use.
HUHD included a HDMI Cable, A Fiber-Optic Cable, A USB Cable and a 2.5-3.5 Cable.
The Headset comes with an Easy to Follow Instruction Manual, complete with Diagrams that even a grandmother could understand.
Before gifting them to him, I plugged the Transmitter into my laptop to test the Sound Quality and was extremely pleased to learn that it far exceeded my expectations. I was able to crank them to Full Volume Level with No Distortion!
When Power is On, the HUHD Logo Icon on both the Transmitter and Headset Light Up.
The Transmitter Light will flash red to blue until paired with the Headset.
Pairing was Quick and Simple with a Push of the "Pairing" Button on the headset earpiece.
Once Synced with the Transmitter, the Headset Overrides the Volume Control on the laptop and Volume is regulated by a Dial on the Headset, so I was able to walk around the apartment with full volume control. There are separate Volume Control Dials for Game and Chat.
When I realized I could be out on my lanai, listen to my music through the headset without disturbing my neighbors and not lose signal, I almost didn't want to give them up!
However, as any loving grandmother would, I put my grandson's needs before my own, gift wrapped the box and shipped it overnight delivery to his home with a note explaining that he was to call and share his thoughts on how they functioned with his XBox 360 and laptop.
The following evening I received a phone call from my very excited grandson and the first words out of his mouth were, "You are the coolest grandmother on the planet! This Gaming Headset is Awesome!"
He told me he had No Issues with connecting the Headset and Transmitter to his XBox 360 and was enjoying the freedom of walking around his bedroom and no longer being tied to the unit by a cable.
He reported that the microphone worked well when he was on his computer gaming with his friends and that although he did have to reset it periodically, he didn't consider that to be a big deal in exchange for the freedom to walk around his room and excellent sound quality they provide.
Having read the reviews, I can only assume that HUHD has made some improvements to the Headset I received, as both my grandson and I were very satisfied with this HUHD 2.4Ghz Optical Wireless Gaming Headset HW-399M and we are giving it a well deserved 5-Star recommendation. | video-games_xbox |
Everything You Loved About Far Cry 3 but Not Much More. First off, if you haven't played Far Cry 3, I would play that first. They're both about equally good. This is almost more like a massive expansion pack than a new game.
In any case, the best way I could describe Far Cry is to say it's like if Assassin's Creed and Grand Theft Auto had a baby and he grew up to be a first person shooter. Absolutely massive map to explore. Tons of side missions and quests. Lots of different ways to go about accomplishing the main story missions (and the main story itself has multiple paths). Make no mistake, it's an FPS, but one with lots of RPG and stealth elements. It has XP, a skill tree, crafting, hiding in brush, distracting guards, an open world environment, etc.
For a long time I've wanted a game that truly combined the RPG and FPS genres. This, Fallout 3 and maybe Mass Effect are probably the closest I've seen so far. All are amazing games but none get quite what I'm imagining. Fallout and Mass Effect are more RPG than FPS and Far Cry is more FPS than RPG. I basically want something is a full on FPS and a full on RPG. Something with massive skill trees, highly modifiable weapons, armor, etc. and that has combat on par with a top flight FPS.
If you've played Far Cry 3, here's what you need to know about 4:
IMPROVEMENTS:
New ways to get around including a mini-helicopter that you can use to unlock bell towers (same as radio towers) without climbing to the top. Some people like climbing up those things but I found them a pain in the butt.
More likable characters and IMHO, a better story. I really didn't like Jason Brody or his friends and family. Stereotypical spoiled LA brats, like they were pulled off the set of the OC. I chose to kill them at the end.
More weapons, including multiple types of bows, though also a lot of the same.
Streamlined hunting and crafting. New features like autocrafting health syringes and the ability to throw bait to attract predators.
Wingsuit available for purchase in the stores almost immediately. I love that thing.
Autopilot driving to waypoints. Just get on a main road, turn it on and kick back while your car does the driving for you.
Ability to shoot from cars.
New types of enemies shoring up gaps in enemy abilities. For example, Hunters, which sneak around, can only be tagged for a few seconds and can charm animals to attack you.
CRITICISMS:
No Vaas. He was the only character in the last one I liked. Hoyt was kind of funny with his indecipherable accent, but Vaas really made that game. Vaas's replacement in this one isn't bad, but I still miss Vaas.
Ubisoft kind of laid it up instead of going for three on this one. They did a great job preserving what I liked about 3 but I think they played it a little too safe, not adding a whole lot more to the game. Like I said before, it feels more like a massive expansion pack than a new game. Still, it's just as compelling as 3 and if I hadn't played that one I would have thought this was 5 stars without hesitation, so that's what I'm giving it. | video-games_xbox |
True To Your Dreams. Castlevania Curse of Darkness is a true gem, among xbox games. I think, it was more designed to be a bridge for a game that's coming out in the future, that be two player (Probably xbox360 or Play station 3). So they have get you (the gamers) used to someone other Trevor Belmont. One Dracula Is NOT DEAD. He get's reborn, he needs one of the devil forger masters to get reborn. So its either Hector or Isaac who has to die to bring forth Dracula. So since your Hector and that leaves only Isaac who becomes Dracula. (Dracula is mad at Hector for running off during the big battle, thus blaming him for his down fall to Trevor Belmont.) But here only point in the whole game that gets me Hector is way up in the army of evil and he has a change of heart just because Dracula wants to kill every human who wants them destroyed. That part brothers me but who cares its fun game anyway hacking and slashing all the creatures of the dark. So its like a complexed stories line. But along the way you don't know what's what's. It come to you in the movies and not all what you see is what is. Like in the beginning you meet Zead and Saint Germain. Now Zead wants to help you on your quest and Saint Germain wants to try and stop you. They both hate each other, Zead seems so nice and Germain like a total pain. Why not any help that helps you average the death of your wife to the town people who bur her as a witch sounds good. You have to fight Saint Germain latter, and to tell you the truth he is hard, he pulls out a gun try's to shoot you, when he near death. Latter you find out Zead is Death "the Grimm Reaper"., after you fight Isaac and Zead takes Isaac and turns him into Lord Dracula, for the final fight. When you beat Dracula you seen the ending. Now everyone says this game is to short. When actual its two games you can play as Trevor Belmont and its totally different then playing as Hector, as game play is concern more classical Castlevania from the NES and SNES days. So if you don't like the devils and want a more classical game try beating it once and play as Trevor. But you also find out in the ending from Saint Germain there will be another finial battle (hint another game of Castlevania in the works). So honestly the game play is cool, the battles are fun and if you play long enough you can truly enjoy this game and its plot twists. It took me 30 hours to beat it, with hector and I'm finish play it with Trevor Belmont, but can say its good. I cant campare this to the play station games my last Castlevania was Castlevania X for SNES. It reminds me a lot of that game the stages do, but these are more in detail and more fun 3d. One more then there is a love stories at the end, yes I know not what you where expecting, between Hector and Julia Laforeze. Doesn't it melt your heart. Yes Isaac sister and the hero. How ironic. There hidden stages more bosses after you beat it and its truly a gem among xbox games. Some will be mad cause I wrote this but the cheesy plot line about Dracula being death and fighting for so long to beat this game figure ill just go ahead and tell it. Its great game. | video-games_xbox |
A New Look To An Old Franchise. First and foremost, I do like the Dragon Ball series. I enjoy the stories and shrug off the unrealistic fighting. This game is for the fans and fighting genre players.
First, let me talk about the Story Mode. There are only 3 story arcs: Vegeta, Frieza and Cell Sagas. This is where I have a problem. There is plenty of room for the Buu Saga. A casual gamer can beat the Story Mode on Normal (including the bonus modes) in about 3-4 hours (real time). The Buu Saga could have added another 2 hours.
The difficulty levels range from Very Easy, Easy and Normal. Once you complete the entire story, Hard and Very Hard will be unlocked. Lastly, the Z Mode will be unlocked. The difficulty levels of the AI is very balanced and once players find their comfort zone, they will really enjoy themselves. The only flaw I noticed was the last 5 or so levels in the Cell Saga. The difficulty jumped abruptly and made the final stages take a half dozen tries (at times) to beat. Sure, it's the last few levels and they should be more difficult, but not jump such as this.
The fighting system is fluid and unique. You have a light attack for speed/light damage and a heavy attack for slow/high damage. There is one block button which can block attacks as well as counter attacks. You zip behind your opponent and you can attack them. Be careful though! They can counter your counter. Lastly is you Ki button which can do special moves depending on which way you move the left thumbstick. For example, if you press B while moving the thumbstick towards your opponent, you can do a Kamehameha attack. If you press the stick up and press B (when your energy bar is full) you will unleash a special Ultimate Attack. This deals huge amounts of damage!
There is also a few other modes you can play including Survival, Time Attack, and Verses Mode (VS Mode is against the CPU or a Human). I tried Xbox Live around 10:30PM EST. I had no lag what-so-ever. This may change if you try to play it during peak hours of 3-9PM.
The graphics are amazing. I've always loved cell-shading and this is very crisp and colorful. The cut-scenes are a little underdone but the gameplay graphics are to die for.
All in all, the game is great. I have to give it 4 stars due to the short story mode. For the $60 price tag, it's just too short. I have to suggest renting it first and you truly like it, buy it. DBZ fans will be in their glory but for the fighting game junkies (like myself), it's something which is nice to play; not a must have in your library. | video-games_xbox |
Best Stealth Game EVER. Now -this- is a game that can give Metal Gear Solid a run for its money. Both of Pandora Tomorrow's single or multiplayer modes are amazing by themselves, and taken together this game is one of the best -ever- in this generation, on any console. Stop reading and buy it!
SINGLE PLAYER:
The cutscenes are better than Rainbow Six 3, and the missions are SOOOO cool. Wait until you see Sam crawling under a train going 120 mph, or infiltrate a guerrilla camp in the jungle during broad daylight. There aren't any generic alleys like in the first game, ALL of the missions take place in exotic locations like Jerusalem or Indonesia. The plot has some cool twists that I won't give away, but they even managed to work the multiplayer mode into the plot. Graphics are such a huge improvement, the whole games looks like some high-budget James Bond movie. The production values are astronomical. Other observations:
-Controls are tigher, gadgets are easier to access when you need them.
-You actually have a use for Sam's cool acrobatic moves in this game.
-Plenty of ways to approach any situation. Nothing is linear, play the way you want.
-Lighting is more useful, you can visual tell what places will or won't hide you.
-A quick flash of the stealth meter tells you if a body is in a good hiding spot.
MULTIPLAYER:
One-of-a-Kind. Four players max. Spies vs. Mercenaries, each team has radically different strengths & weaknesses that play off each other very well. Mercs can use the inplace security systems and set their own traps, plus they are armed to the teeth, but they are blind compared to the spies; Spies hide in the ceilings and air ducts, places the mercs can't go, and have lots of diversion gear from the single player game, but they are physically weak. The emphasis is on stealth and outwitting your opponent, not action. There are lots of environmental details you can use to your advantage. Some other observations:
-Two-on-a-team makes for very close, intense teamwork. Best game to make friends with.
-Spies play in 3rd-person, Mercs in 1st person. It's not a gimmick, it's an inspiration, and it works perfectly.
-Huge maps give you that scary "somethings out there" feeling, a la "Predator"
-Lots of variety on each map because they are so large and complex.
-You need 1 game/Xbox/TV per player. No split screen. | video-games_xbox |
EA Sports Finally Got It Right. I've been an avid hater of the Madden Franchise since they bought out the NFL license in 2005. I've been a 2k guy for a few years now. My hatred has been solidified with every time I pick up a friend's copy of each Madden series installment riddled with poor gameplay, features, bad AI, and an over emphasis on graphics. Heck, I've been playing ESPN NFL 2k5 since 2005 regularly for my NFL fix. That was until this edition came along.
I have to say I'm extremely impressed with Madden NFL 09. Yes, the graphics are great, but the gameplay and presentation and features are all there as well. Something that the 2k series has had Madden beat on for a very long time.
This game is great in many areas. For example: staying in the pocket to make good throws. Gang-tackling. Consistently changing computer AI that adapts to how well or how incompetent you are in the game of football; oh and it actually works very well, too. So you're always challenged on a consistent basis. Something that really appealed to me for this version was the ability to import plays created in Head Coach 09.
Another thing that really hit me was the ability to scout out college prospects throughout the year. I always hated in previous years of any football game (i.e. NFL 2k and Madden NFL) how you had to gather up all the info you needed for a draft in a span of a few simulated weeks in the off-season. Now you do it all season long. So it's easier to make a good decision on what guys you want during the draft.
All in all Madden 09 is great, but not perfect. I've made through an entire season, and I'm very satisfied with the product I've purchased. Sure there a few nit picky things that come up. One is when the clock gets down to 1:01 left in a half, the computer will virtually always call a timeout when behind. But like I said: that's nit picking.
And this FREEZING thing people keep talking about? Yeah, I haven't seen it on my XBox 360 console. I do have the new one with the HDMI on the back, so maybe that's why. I don't know. But I've left my console on for hours while keeping a game on pause, coming back to it later, and it continues without a hitch. Honestly, I've seen my copy of NFL2k5 freeze way more often in the span of a season (about 2 to 3 times) compared to Madden 09 (0 times).
I'll go out on a limb and say it might be the best Madden yet. However there were things I really liked about the 2005 version and even the 2000 version, too. Actually, Madden '93 was actually my favorite Madden of the 90s, and that leads me to something disappointing I'll reveal.
Madden '93 for this game is not the real Madden '93. It's actually a dumbed down version with the current rosters and teams, and there is no other mode to play but exhibition mode.
I actually liked Head Coach 09. I managed to get a copy of the 07 version, and it was okay. I thought it had potential, but that was it. The 09 version made some improvements. Picking your staff is easier. The games are actually 15 min long per quarter instead of 2 min per quarter. I don't like how during halftime you can't motivate your team or make adjustments. I'd go further into it, but the bottom line for people on the fence about purchasing this version of Madden to get Head Coach 09 need to understand one thing. This is a simulation of the heart ache that comes with being a Head Coach. I admit, it feels like a job sometimes when you play this game. But it is a simulation of what being a head coach in the NFL is kind of like. Unfortunately, there are things about Head Coach 09 that you can do that really only the GM has control over in real life. But I'm weird like that how I know that, but I love Pro Football. Since I'm a nut about it, I do appreciate playing a game like Head Coach '09.
The special features disc is nice to watch and then store. That's about it for that. It's nothing you can't find on YouTube or on a re-run of a show on NFL network.
Overall, I'm very impressed with this product. I found my copy online for 65 bones brand new, and it was worth every penny. It's safe to say that my copy of NFL 2k5 is going to be collecting a lot of dust over the next couple of years or so. This Madden is that good for a 2k lover to cross over to the "dark side" and enjoy. Heck, if you're weary because you are a Madden fan and have been burned by bad games since Madden 06, then don't fret. At the very least, pick up a copy of Madden NFL 09. You won't be disappointed this year. | video-games_xbox |
Fun for All Ages. Viva Pinata is a sandbox style game where you raise innocent pinata-style creatures and plant grass, flowers, food, and other items to decorate their world.
You start very simply. You have a fairly small patch of run-down soil, filled with weeds and junk. You have a broken-down shovel and have to destroy the junk and turn the soil. Over time you build up your skill set. You can plant the land with a grassy meadow. You can start adding in flowers and food items. You can build structures.
As you do these things, you draw a variety of creatures into your garden. Each creature type is given a cute name and an even cuter look. There are worms and birds, deer and moths, and everything in between. Each type of creature has its own needs and desires. As they become a part of your world, you can name them and create an environment that makes them happy.
This then leads to some tough decisions. Here you are, happily caring for your worm family who you have named and raised through generations. Along comes a bird. The requirement for EACH bird is that they eat a worm before they'll have a baby bird! So now you're having to sacrifice your beloved children to your new pets. It's certainly the circle of life - but it's also a bit sad.
The game goes through busy and slow times, just like real life. So sometimes you're frantically trying to keep up with all the requests coming in, and then when everyone (or mostly everyone!) tucks in for sleep at night you can finally take a deep breath and have a snack while the moon drifts past.
The game is great for all ages. Young kids can learn the value of managing resources and keeping track of "virtual pets" with needs. Older adults are also drawn into the logical challenges presented.
Clearly this is a "raising a world" type of sim, so it might not appeal to those craving bloody shooters or fast car chases. But for those who do enjoy world-building style games, I recommend giving Viva Pinata a try. Just don't get too attached to those cute little worms.
Rating: 5/5
I purchased this game with my own funds in order to do this review. | video-games_xbox |
This game is like meticulously waxing your car for a hot date and then forgetting to pick her up. GTA series is easily my top 3 favorite but this game leaves something to be desired.
PROS
-- Attention to detail is absurd. My head almost exploded with the amount of detail. Well worth the wait. The realistic physics and environmental detail is just phenomenal.
-- Good graphics.
-- Realistic vehicle mechanics, even though they suck from a game playing standpoint.
-- A lot of content. Many missions, side missions; will keep you busy for hours.
-- It's GTA! Mowing down pedestrians with a dump truck should bring a smile to everyone's face!
-- City is huge.
-- GPS is such a major addition, I can't stress it enough. I'd love to replay San Andreas and Vice City but they both lack GPS thus forcing me to memorize or lookup the streets...thanks but no thanks.
CONS
-- A lack of checkpoints makes this game almost...almost, unplayable. I don't mind if a mission takes 8 minutes to complete, but don't make me repeat the same 4 minute banal driving route when I fail the final shootout.
-- Game is too long (due in part to the lack of checkpoints!). I'm 50% of the way through the game and already on hour 40.
-- Friends feature is brutal and pointless. Friend calls me to go to the bar, I agree. I have one game hour to pick him up but I find out AFTER agreeing to hang out, that he's 2 game hours away! Pick up friend, get grief for being late. Drive to the bar and drink. Get out of the bar and wait 5 minutes to sober up. Then I have to drive my friend to wherever he wants to be dropped off. 12 minutes of my life wasted. Rinse and repeat. Friend never meets you at an activity, you have to drive him/her EVERYTIME! I still have yet to see the benefit of maintaining positive relationships.
-- Way way WAY too much driving. You are EVERYONE'S personal chauffer. 70% of the game is driving! I'll buy some crappy NASCAR game if I want to drive. Still waiting for a mission where I'm shooting out of a moving car as a passenger.
-- Shooting while driving is impossible. Seriously, there has to be a better way to implement this.
-- Camera angle needs to be permanently adjustable. There are multiple camera views but I like to scan the road ahead of me. The game resets the camera position if I'm not actively adjusting it. One thumb drives while the other thumb adjusts and holds the camera angle. Annoying.
-- Money is pointless. I have $300K banked and nothing to spend it on.
-- You are everyone's lackey! Everyone talks down to you. Humbling at first but now annoying.
-- Missions add little to the main story line. Half of the mission-givers die anyways, the rest become friends which you want nothing to do with when they call.
It's almost like Rockstar focused all their resources in the details and simply forgot to appropriately handle the major items. I'm 50% of the way through this game and debating if I want to finish the rest of it. Replay value seems low. The bottom line is a game is suppose to be fun and this one isn't; it's become more of a chore than anything. Not what I've come to expect from Rockstar. Here's hoping GTA V is an improvement. | video-games_xbox |
Finally solved it last night. ...so I feel I can properly evaluate the game in its entirety.
And it ain't no GTA 3, Vice City, or San Andreas, and thats a good thing.
Now, not to let it be said that I didn't love/hate all those games and spend far too much of my young adult life playing them, but my major gripe with the GTA series was one that carried over to ever game until IV: linear games trying to act non-linear.
Let me explain...free roam games like this should, in theory, give you the option of progressing on the path YOU choose, not bogged down by some random mission (races that are damn near impossible to beat, flying some remote control helicopter for some random task, etc) that you find yourself spending hours trying to solve. Those types of missions from the past games, while also seeming slightly ridiculous, cancelled out the fun I had with the rest of the game that seemed more or less rooted in reality.
Frankly, after playing Saints Row, I was expecting the GTA-type-game crown stolen and not returned by the SR developers. Saints Row was simply more fun, the missions seemed to make sense and have a clear payoff and impact on the game.
Saints Row also wasn't bogged down by game components that I thought were unnecessary, like having to eat and lift weights in San Andreas. I was expecting the same pointless missions, the same pointless activities in this installment of the GTA series.
But I was wrong. Rockstar chose to base this game a little more in the real world (as it goes) and focus quite a bit more on character development. Rockstar also seems to have included quite a bit more extra content, such as the internet, TV, games, etc that are probably more a result of more powerful consoles being available for their developers.
At the end of the day, these types of games are pure escapist fun. For probably the first couple hours of GTA IV, I was concerned maybe Rockstar had really slowed things down too much, but as the game went on (and the hours and hours piled up I'm sad to say), I found the trade off was a much more immersive world where you cared about things a little more than the past GTA editions.
When the game was over, I can honestly say I'll probably play it through again, if for no other reason than to focus on the parts of the story I didn't get to this time and to take the other paths and choices that the game offers you. If I went right, this time I'm going left.
And really, thats the goal of a game developer, right? To keep you coming back for more?
Great job to Rockstar, great game, and great choice of direction to take the series - you almost sank it, but I think there will now be even more GTA converts lining up to pre-order GTA V thanks to some smart decisions in development. | video-games_xbox |
Worth the $$ for my family (it can add up though. Where the story missions may seem a bit short overall, I believe - like with 1.0 - where this game really shines is in the Toybox. The addition of having little builders that you can set out to build things for you is great, also the fact that you can build flat terrain in 1/20th the time it would take you in 1.0 with the terrain builder tools. Also being able to put on the 1.0 playsets and instantly unlocking all the Toybox items from 1.0 was great. Unlocking the toybox items you want is much easier now - you don't have to take "spins" but you get to purchase the items you want from the money you receive in the playsets. All of the money earned is shared across the playsets, so no more mindless grinding in Toy Story to get more coins since they were so few and far between - while your Incredibles playthrough is sitting on a 20,000+ nest egg.
I do enjoy the level up system so far with the super heroes, being able to customize where your character's strengths are is a nice touch - you actually feel some progress (unlike in 1.0 where your level was just a meaningless #). I also like how in each playset you can unlock Cross-over characters (Nova and Rocket can be unlocked in the Avengers playset / Iron Man and Hulk in Spiderman / Iron Man and Nova again in Guardians of the Galaxy). Also starting missions doesn't bog down the 2nd player in coop as much as it did in 1.0 - this helps alleviate possibly squabble between my kids when someone starts something that another doesn't want to take a part of. The worlds are pretty big too - although Spiderman and Avengers seems exactly the same (technically its 2 different parts of the same city) - the free roam is easily able to keep my kids entertained for hours (sort of like Lego Marvel in a way). The city for an adult though can get kind of old - especially as the Spiderman and the Avengers playsets seem basically the same (one you kill frost guys, the other you kill symbiote guys). Kids really haven't noticed though.
The one reason against this game I could see is mainly the cost. It costs quite a bit compared to other games out there when you add in the figures. If this matters to you, there are better alternatives out there for cheaper. - If you enjoy collecting trinkets and especially if you have kids and like to buy little toys for them - then there is really no issue.
The durability of the figures has increased as well from 1.0 - I remember how frail Violet and Mrs Incredible were that you really didn't want kids playing with the toys... All of the figures so far have passed the 2 year old test I ran them through.
And well - its Marvel and Super heroes - If you like anything about anything Marvel, you'll like this game.
Although if this was a purchase JUST for myself, perhaps justifying the cost might be a bit harder - but since this is a purchase for myself AND my 3 kids, the amount of gametime in the levels and especially in the Toy Box alone will be totally worth it. And since I'm a collector at heart as well, buying those game discs and extra characters can be quite fun.
~ If you haven't tried anything Disney Infinity yet and you are curious on if you're kids will like this, feel free to either look for a 1.0 set (would be cheaper now) or wait for the stand-alone toybox to come out in a month. | video-games_xbox |
Filling the gap between the Slim and the One. In case there was any doubt, the 360 E is a reduced-cost console, although not necessarily reduced price (more on that in a minute). It gives buyers something new to look at for a few months until the Xbox One gets into the stores. Undoubtedly its purpose is to give xbox sales a little boost between now and Christmas, when the Xbox One will probably be in short supply.
Considering this, its definitely not for hardcore gamers who want the best and the latest.
The Xbox 360 E is for a very specific niche:
1) Parents who want to pacify their kids with "something" new without buying the newest and the best.
2) Businesses/youth groups that want to have an Xbox on the premises but don't care about the Xbox One.
3) People who actually need a new xbox 360, not an Xbox One and not a 360 Slim, at this moment (I fell into this category)
Microsoft has done a good job of tailoring this console to that particular market. There are a lot of gamers who are NOT in the group I just described. If you are a gamer and you don't fit nicely into that group, you really shouldn't be looking at the Xbox 360 E. Its not made for you.
In short, the Xbox 360 E is purely about marketing and distribution. It is NOT about raising the bar of gaming. It doesn't even try to be the best Xbox 360 ever. Fortunately, it doesn't pretend to be anything its not.
For those of you who are considering the Xbox 360 E for one of the reasons above, I think its a pretty good console. It fills the gap between the Xbox 360 slim and the Xbox One, which is yet to be released. As a "gap" device that is probably only going to be available for a year or two while the Xbox One is offered, so you do want to consider purchasing it carefully.
The Xbox 360 E has most of the features the "general public" needs, and everything else has been removed. I think Microsoft has done a better job than the recently released Wii Mini <a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/Nintendo-Wii-Mini-Console-LIMITED-EDITION-Bonus-Wii-Remote/dp/B00AJZNUUI/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">Nintendo Wii Mini Console (LIMITED EDITION) + Bonus Wii Remote</a> in terms of what they kept: the Xbox 360 E is a fully functional console, even if you don't get optical audio, RCA A/V jacks, and other things that are still in use in homes today. If you buy this unit, you should intend to hook it up to your TV with HDMI. Thats a major change, and, if you are still using an older TV you may want to take note.
Its pretty safe to purchase it because there is an enormous library of games available for it, both new and used.
And what about that price? Well, there is only one way Microsoft and the Retailers can keep a low cost solution in the news: to highly publicize price drops when they happen. They are still in a "start high and lower the price over time" strategy.
Expect to see the Xbox 360 E go on a discount before Christmas. Thats just so they can say "reduced price" which catches the ear of many a parent and grandparent. As I said, the xbox 360 e is strictly about marketing. And now that you know this, you should know what decisions to make going forward. | video-games_xbox |
At the same time there are so many options when it comes to a certain niche market products that its often so hard for a buyer. In our extremely progressive tech world, I can imagine that manufacturers are constantly challenged with balancing consumers general expectation for comfort, convenience and value while keeping the demands of nerds (like myself) in awe with high-tech design and feature rich components. At the same time there are so many options when it comes to a certain niche market products that its often so hard for a buyer to find the best bang for the buck. This is much the mind-set I went out with when I went out looking for a wireless headset.
My shortlist ironically turned out to be quite long and I was faced with what Id like to call the BBB dilemma (Best Bang for Buck). BTW ,with me this feeling can get quiet chronic with and it often leaves me procrastinating and can even escalate to full withdrawal from my intention to buy.
Upgrading from: Logitech G330, a really nice headset, good value. After about 1 year of use it developed a known issue with one of the speakers where it would stop working or distort when the cable is twisted in a certain position. I would imagine that this was fixed on later versions or that Logitech offered some form of compensations for this with other customers, but I've never really had a chance to notify Logitech (more on this later).
Reasons for the upgrade:
To fuel my complicated lifestyle I spend lots of time gaming of which a lot goes into playing a game called EVE Online which by choice often involves long (sometimes uninterrupted) PVP sessions of up to 3 hours. I get off my chair during gameplay to grab something in the kitchen, deal with dogs or give attention to my wife but at the same time to avoid a galactic ingame catastrophe I need to stay on comms with my teammates. A wireless headset would be the perfect solution to keep the volatile EVE universe in balance. ;-p
Ive put together a list of requirements and an overflow of nice to haves that I ended up with.
Requirements:
Wireless Range - range to extend reasonably in the area of kitchen (7 meters/23 feet) or living room (6 meters/20 feet) each divided by one wall.
Wireless Rechargeable - to be able to recharge while using if battery runs out.
Wireless Battery Life - use up to 3 hours before recharge is required
PC Compatible
Good Sound Quality (including speakers and microphone)
Comfort - comfy fit for up to 4 hours of gaming
Build Quality - One of my earlier headsets, the Cyber Snipa SONAR 5.1 was a great headset with awesome sound, especially the bass quality was superb but, one of the hinges where the earcups attached broke off within less than 8 months of general use. I need something that can perhaps endure some short periods of rage and occasional outbursts of frustration during gaming; ok, I may be exaggerating, but you get the idea.
Nice to Have:
Price tag $100 or less
Multi-platform compatibility with Playstation 3 and/or Xbox
Surround sound
Removable Microphone
Given my requirements and generally high expectations it was a fair challenge to find what I was looking for. After lots of research, procrastination and several withdrawals while deciding on a headset, our cute little puppy ate the earcups off the Logitech G330; you can guess what happened next.
So, did the Gioteck EX-06 meet my requirements and expectations? Well, lets look at the list.
Wireless Range 8/10 It reaches the kitchen and living room on most occasions but understandably if I open the fridge with my head halfway in to grab another brew, the signal distorts.
Wireless Rechargeable 10/10 It met my requirement perfectly, the only thing I can fault was the length of the cable but with a USB hub built into my keyboard Im able to get close enough to use the headset while its charging. The cable is a standard micro USB cable so if I ever really needed to I can go purchase a longer cable from the local electronic shop.
Wireless Battery Life 9/10 - The battery life is really good, it exceeded my needs. Ive been using it for about 11 months with average daily use up to 6 hours, the lifespan of the battery seems reasonable thus far. I get about 4-5 hours of use from a single charge; from what Ive observed the wireless life hasn't diminished since the day I received it. The only reason Im giving a 9/10 is because I cant really score on it just yet as I haven't used the product long enough to provide an honest opinion on the battery life, and from what I know it cannot be replaced if its at the end of its life.
PC Compatible 10/10 - I use it on windows and haven't had any trouble with drivers or setup. Ive played a few games like Battlefield 3, Total War: Rome II, GTA V and EVE Online and haven't come across any compatibility issues yet.
Good Sound Quality 9/10 - I cant fault the sound quality from requirements perspective, the bass is really good and the overall quality is actually quite impressive for a headset within this price range so Id say its great value for money. Some ability to fine tune would be nice. One thing Ive noticed when using it on surround mode is that the bass is not as well tuned as with normal stereo mode.
Ive recorded myself with the microphone and overall, the replay sounds good, its not wow but with what the general gamer uses it for you don't need more than what it offers. Ive never heard any complaints from my team mates that they couldn't hear me or anything like that, in fact Ive only received compliments on the quality when I asked what the clarity was like on the receiving end.
Comfort 7/10 - Due to the rigid build quality it doesnt fit as snug as most headsets Ive tried in the past however it is a remarkably better than the Logitech G330 which I used.
Build quality 10/10 - The build quality on this thing is absolutely unheard of. Every component looks and feels firm, and this was one of the biggest selling points when I decided on a headset. I don't think many tech products come from the UK but this one really echoes what other British brands offer consumers.
Overall Verdict 9/10 - I am very happy with this product, I cant speak for the other options as I haven't tried them yet but for me, this was the best bang for my buck. Its not perfect but with everything you buy there will be trade-offs you will need to make like, with comfort there will almost always be some compromise on build quality and/or price. Eventually you just have to find the right balance in your list of requirements. | video-games_xbox |
Unfinished, repetitve, but beautiful. Use Game Pass free trial to play. Shallow game with repetitious quests.
It is gorgeous and super fun to play with friends. Because of it's basic structure, lack of content, and sloppy combat mechanics, though, most of your friends will quit playing pretty quickly. Solo play is difficult, but not in a fun way. Anyone can sail around and dig up treasure using an X marks the spot map (the basic quest), but larger crews will overwhelm solo players and steal their treasure, or camp at outposts where you turn in the treasure.
There is no progression system, only cosmetic purchases as is the model for many free to play games. This is not a free to play game. That might be fine for some, but there are also a limited variety of these cosmetics. After a while, if they can stand the fetch and sell quests for long enough, everyone still playing will essentially have everything and look the same anyway.
If you played the beta, you've seen everything. There is no additional content in the release version of the game. It's missing pretty standard, simple game mechanics and playability features. You can play with friends, but you cannot join their servers in a separate ship. If you're playing solo, you must leave your game to join/invite friends.
Combat is sloppy. There are no collision physics between other players or baddies, meaning you'll walk right through them trying to melee them. There is only one PvE enemy: skeletons. Some wear blue hats. Some have plants growing on them, but they're all the same and they all have terrible AI.
I can't recommend purchasing at $48 with the prime pre-order/new game discount. If you've got the free trial for XBox Game Pass, and you want to check it out, do so. It's only got a few hours worth of content anyway. Rare say they will be adding content and improving the game. In the time this take, the game's price, as with all games, will fall. Wait until then to buy. Because there's no progression, you won't even start off behind veteran players. You'll get more content for less and be even with everyone else. | video-games_xbox |
A GTA Clone that doesn't suck. Overview: If you like any of the GTA games you are going to love this game too. Out of all the GTA clone games that I have played this is probably the best. The reason is probably be cause they never really changed anything from the Orignal GTA games. Go ahead and jack a car beat a walking bystander or cop. Almost everything that you loved from GTA is in Saints Row (sorry no having sex with hookers to regain life.)
Graphics 4 stars:
The graphics in this game is a whole lot better than anything you have seen in GTA. The Cars are pretty impressive and the major characters have great detail. Creating your own thug is a nice touch. Although you might have trouble making your virtual thug look like you. Though I have seen some really good copies of some famous people. The Buildings in the city look great also. The look when you blow up a car is awesome you can see the waves of heat coming off of the car makes it look oh soo good. Main point is Saints row is easy on the eyes.
Sound 5 stars:
Just like GTA you can change the radio station while you are driving around in a car. You got your R&B, rap, reggae all that good stuff. When you get out of the car you can still hear the music like you would hear it coming from a closed car (nice touch) The Gun shots in the game are pretty accurate all guns have their own unique sound. Exposions sound really nice too. You can also go too music stores and buy music for your mp3 player so you can listen to music while you walk around. Voice acting is on par with GTA even though your Character doesn't talk and everyone else doesn't shut up. F*CK is one word that you will hear a lot in this game so keep the kiddies away.
Controls 4.5 stars:
HA no more stupid targeting system the aiming control is done as a 3rd person FPS shooter with an aiming reticle. Drive by's are you still use the aiming reticle for more accuracy I found it a little difficult to aim and drive at the same time but I got used to it. You use also use the shoulder buttons to throw punches in the game. Driving is very smooth in saints row all the cars have their own unique turing acceleration and speed.
Gameplay 5 stars:
Just like GTA you can jack cars rob shops shoot innocent and not innocent people. Break in to shops at night break into the safe and sell the good to a pawn shop. Take hostages and make them give you money. Commit insurance fraud snatch hoes from rival gangs drive hookers around so the can get some privacy from the press, race, be a hitman, traffic some drugs, these are just a taste of what you do to earn some money and respect. In saints row you need respect to have the right to do missions. Go to a clothing or Jewelry store to change you clothes or accessorize. Even visit a platic surgeon to change your appearance. You can store tons of cars in your garage and they allways end up back inside your garage even if it was left on the other side of town. You can bring you car to a car shop and pimp it out. Ok so the city isn't as huge as Vice city but you experince no load time whatsoever going to different parts of the city.
So anyway Saints Row is a Very fun game nothing revelutionary but it has everything you love in a GTA clone and no dissapointments. Game not recomended for young children. | video-games_xbox |
All time Favorite. This is an all time favorite game in my house, each year it gets better!
The characters are so realistic and it feels like you are in the game.
My son's love that they can create their own teams and play with their friends.
I will continue to purchase these as long as the series continues.
Product Info.
Battle for Air Supremacy with Total Control Passing - Place the ball where only your receiver can get it with body-relative throws including high-point, low-point, back-shoulder, and the ever-popular touch pass.
Connected Franchise - Whether playing solo or online with friends, your quest to build an NFL dynasty begins with Connected Franchise.
Madden Ultimate Team - Build your ultimate team with your favorite NFL players from the past and present while dominating the opposition in head-to-head seasons, solo challenges, and more.
Skills Trainer - Skills Trainer will teach you not only gameplay skills, but strategy and football concepts as well.
Battle for Air Supremacy
Total Control Passing - Place the ball where only your receiver can get it with body-relative throws including high-point, low-point, back-shoulder, and the ever-popular touch pass. Become the ultimate dual-threat and terrorize defenses with new pressure avoidance and QB scramble controls.
Receiver/Defender Controls - Dictate the outcome of each passing play while the ball is in the air for the first time ever in Madden. For receivers, go for the highlight reel with the aggressive catch or move the chains with the possession catch. On defense, disrupt the outcome of each play using the new play ball and hit receiver mechanics. Receivers and defenders deliver the most authentic exchanges to date with new press and zone-chuck interactions, contextual hand-fighting, and a variety of 2-man interactions at the catch point including pass interference penalties, tip balls, knock outs and simultaneous possession catches
Playmaker Broadcast
Integrated Broadcast Graphics Your playmaker highlight reel has arrived with new player spotlights, dynamic goals and achievements, and innovative on-the-field cameras bringing you closer to the game than ever before. Making plays has never been this much fun and rewarding!
Connected Franchise
Whether playing solo or online with friends, your quest to build an NFL dynasty comes complete with a brand new scouting and draft system as well as all-new dynamic goals throughout each game. Develop players with Game Prep and build your teams confidence through performance and front office transactions. Balance keeping players confidence up, to increase abilities and build player XP.
Madden Ultimate Team
Build your ultimate team with your favorite NFL players from the past and present while dominating the opposition in head-to-head seasons, solo challenges, and more. Earn coins to buy packs through the online store, where you can trade and auction off items on the road to building the Ultimate Team. Engage with the NFL year round thanks to live content and service updates in the fastest growing mode in Madden.
Skills Trainer
With 60+ tutorials and drills, Skills Trainer focuses on teaching the strategy behind different passing and run concepts, as well as how to play Madden for new users to the series. Fan favorite Gauntlet mode returns with all-new Boss Battles, Extra Life challenges and opportunities to jump or fall levels in a single play. | video-games_xbox |
Great Multiplayer, Decent Single Player. Having played all the previous Halo games, this was a must for me. I had been truly curious about what type of story they have in this prequel and also to check out new multiplayer modes. So I have completed the story once and completed first 4 or 5 ranks in multiplayer and here is what I think.
PROS.
AMAZING GRAPHICS IMPROVEMENT: I remember seeing Halo 3 for the first time and my jaws literally dropped; however, that was because we went from Xbox to Xbox 360, a newer more powerful machine. Afterwards, when ODST was released, there was a slight graphical improvement, but now if you compare Halo to Halo Reach, you can see there is clearly a Major difference. Things look so much nicer, sharper. The different colors are very easily distinguishable from each other and most importantly, each character (specially their armor) and object is animated to the very last detail. JUST GORGEOUS.
ARMOR UPGRADE: My second favorite thing in Halo. Completing story and competing online gives you credit and you can use this credit to buy armor, some equipments, logos and whatnot. This truly adds RPG element to the game. Promotes you to play more. Very important improvement.
PERKS: I am not sure what they call it, but I will refer to them as perks. Basically, now your character, can either run fast, fly with a jetpack, have healing shield bubble, can create a decoy of himself or can create impenetrable shield around his body. I loved the jetpack and decoy perks. Just adds a whole new dimension to the play. Love how you can fly over a player and shoot. Love how you can throw your decoy and attract bloodthirsty crowd to attack it from their hideout and just get them big time.
MULTIPLAYER: To me this is the strongest aspect of all the Halo games. Each time they come up with something that will keep players playing multiplayer for ages. This time around you can have many of the previous modes (Equivalent to deathmatch, grab skull and such) , but on top of it you also have new modes such as Infection. Basically, you either have to defend yourself from other team that has vampire like ability (and a freaking awesome plasma sword), if you can't you become one of them. Pretty amusing. There are also other modes that will keep you engaged for a long time.
DECENT AND SORROWFUL STORY: So Halo 1 starts out as Master Chief being the LAST SPARTAN alive. Don't want to spoil much, but Reach story goes into demise of Spartans and they have done pretty good job portraying it.
NEW WEAPONS: There not that many new weapons, but once you get to use are pretty awesome. Don't want to spoil much.
CONS.
VERY SHORT CAMPAIGN: This was huge just huge disappointment for me. I was hoping since this is the last game in the series that have a long campaign for players like me who appreciate Single Player Campaign. However, at most it was 8 hours long. Honestly, I found it to be quite ridiculous. They still have all the awesome vehicles and what not in the campaign, but for most part it is just killing hordes and hordes of enemies.
STILL NO DUAL WEILDING: What the hell? Why did they take it out since Halo ODST. I loved duel wielding weapons and 1-2 combos from needler and charge gun. Why Bungie? Why?
VERY FEW NEW WEAPONS: Yeah I was expecting more new weapons than what they provided in the game. A bit disappointed.
CONCLUSION:
So if you are someone who really dig Multiplayer and not care much about single player that much ADD A STAR to my score, if you are someone who love mainly single player campaign and don't play multiplayer that much REMOVE A STAR. While I personally do wish they would have longer single player campaign, all and all I am happy I bought Halo Reach. Multiplayer truly makes it long lasting experience. | video-games_xbox |
Strategy Game of the Year (2009. What we have hear is a near perfect example of how to make an RTS for a console. The controls although simple, still allow for a detailed and immersive combat experience. Gone are the days of having to micromanage your base building and supply gathering. You start off with a main base that has 5 slots for building your supply and production facilities as well as researching higher technology with the exception of Captain Cutter leader. The bonus for choosing his character allows for a full 7 slot base at start. His additional bases also start at 5 slots while the other leaders start at 3.
There are 3 Covenant leaders and 3 UNSC leaders to choose from and each with their own special bonuses. Covenant is kind of a throwback to Warcraft 3. Their leaders are an actual playable character. Each leader gets one special ability that's controlled by the Y button and aimed with the analog sticks. Covenant are also able to build Scarabs. They take up a massive portion of your population. They have a lot of health and their beam is only second to an army of Locusts. In contrast the UNSC don't have their leader on the field of play but they get a slew of leader powers, accessed by pressing UP on the d-pad. The D-Bomb is one power that's used to neutralize other leader powers within say a 10m radius. It throws down a distortion field that negates any leader powers for up to 2 minutes in that area. Next is an area of effect heal which heals units within say a 5m radius. Next is a troop transport which is used for shuffling units across your visible areas of the map. UNSC are also able to produce Vultures. These are similar to Battle Cruisers from Starcraft but instead of that big fireball, they shoot a huge volley of missles called Mega Barrage. Finally there's the 3 unique leader powers which I'll describe here:
Arbiter(Covenant): Probably the most powerful of the 3 Covenant. His power is Rage. When in this mode the Arbiter's power dramatically increases and he'll hop from unit to unit causing damage. It's hard for units to hit him when he's jumping across the screen. When fully upgraded, Rage mode will heal the arbiter for every unit he kills while making his army do a lot more damage. His special units are suicide grunts. They can counter air like normal grunts but they're main purpose is doing a kamikaze into buildings and blowing them up.
Prophet(Covenant): The most annoying of the 3 Covenant. When fully upgraded the Prophet has flight capabilities along with this Cleansing Beam. It's a laser that comes from the sky that you use to beam down anything from ground to air units to buildings. He also gets these protector drones that follow him and shoot enemies at random for extra damage as well as his main plasma weapon. His special units are elite honor guard. They're just anti-infantry covenant with swords. They are able to cloak and have shields.
Brute Chieftain(Covenant): The most battle hungry of the 3 Covenant. His Vortex is probably the most devastating power when fully upgraded. It's sort of like a black hole in that it sucks up debris and will instant kill units at low hp if they get sucked in. The debris swirls around the distortion he creates and will damage nearby units. When you release Vortex, the debris explodes in all directions and damages everything within say a 10m radius. The BC also has a hammer that will stun units and his full upgrade will allow him to draw in one unit at a time and one shot them. His special units are the Brutes. They're a very balanced unit for dealing with air, ground and buildings. They are able to randomly stun units and they can jump to a target that's half way across the screen.
Cutter(UNSC): Along with the upgraded bases, he gets the Elephant unit which is basically a mobile barracks with turrets. When planted down, it's defenses increase to that of a building and allows for training of infantry units. Cutter's super unit are ODST. You only need tech level 3 to upgrade to them. They can be dropped in from the sky or produced from the elephant. His unique leader power is the MAC blast. It drops like a giant meteor on the ground and can be upgraded to 4 shots. It does massive damage to anything it lands on and can easily turn the tide of battle.
Anders(UNSC): Her economy bonuses are halved cost to research new techs plus halved research time. Her main building unit is the Gremlin which is used for disabling vehicles. It also does anti-vehicle damage. Her super units are Hawks. They are an upgraded version of Hornets which are kind of like attack helicopters. Hawks are basically faster Hornets with Gauss canons. Her unique leader power is Cryo Bomb. It freezes "any" units in it's area and will instant kill air units at random. The more upgrades it has, the longer the freeze lasts and the more units that will be instant killed.
Forge(UNSC): His eco bonus is the ability to build heavy supply pads from the start. He saves money by not having to upgrade normal supply pads and his resources will come in faster than all the other leaders. His main building units are Cyclops which can repair other units and do anti-building damage. His super units are Grizzlies. They are tanks with very high hp and their main guns can lay waste to most infantry. Forge's unique leader power is called Carpet Bomb. A plane swoops by for a bombing run in the direction you tell it to. I mostly use Scorpions(tanks) and it comes in handy for weakening Hunters so I can finish them off with Y buttons from the Scorpions.
I never played through the campaign but I'm sure it's good. Multiplayer consists of 1v1, 2v2, and 3v3 for standard play as well as other game types. There's also a Deathmatch for 1v1 and 2v2 for players who just like to get max tech level before fighting. Everything starts off fully upgraded and you start off with a lot of resources. /walloftext | video-games_xbox |
More of the same. Only it's just not the same. Main Game:
I've played Left 4 Dead for HOURS on end on both PC and 360. My friend and I worked hard to beat every campaign on Expert and acquire all of the achievements on the 360. I found L4D2 on Steam for $20+ so I bought it. It's fun, it has more weapons, and more campaigns. But it only makes me want to play the original again. My friend doesn't play it much anymore and none of my Steam friends are online when I am so I'm stuck playing Left 4 Dead 2 since I had not played the game completely by myself. But just like L4D1 the game can only be so entertaining alone. You need friends to play with.
And well, I'm not too big on the new survivors in L4D2 and the game just doesn't thrill me like L4D1 did. I personally dislike the skins for the new L4D1 infected (Hunter, Smoker, Boomer, Tank). I have friends considering getting L4D and I suggest to them to get L4D1 because they'd already have a friend willing to play. I'm DYING to play L4D again but can't find anyone to play with. I'm not big on just finding a random person to play with, that's never fun to me. To me, a part of the Left 4 Dead experience is the personality of the game. Louis was likable, Bill was likable, Zoey was likable, HELL, even Francis was likable and I disliked him for whatever reason. Playing as the new survivors just makes me want to play as the old again. In L4D everyone had a favorite.
In L4D2 people just seem to pick the least irritating character. Usually Nick. And others just pick Ellis because he's humorous, not a bad thing. He is funny, just, rubs me the wrong way. I merely pick Coach because he's one of the lesser picked characters. He's no Louis, I was ALWAYS Louis, even if I had to quit the game, have my friend kill Francis and Zoey, then re-invite me so I was forced to play as him. So really, all in all, L4D2 is a really fun game and can be addicting, but to those who played and loved the first it just leaves them yearning for the original again.
There also seems to be the problem of always being up to your neck in infected. There's no point to catch your breath and heaven forbid you get boomered on. I can guarantee you that if you get vomited on you will get spitted right after. There's no moment of safety. In the original if one of us got vomited on we led them to a closet or small hallway and helped defend him until he could see again. This was essential in Expert since infected did so much damage with a single hit. Don't even try that on L4D2 or you will get spitted and be forced to run, breaking your formation and leaving the poor boomered sap alone to die.
Tl;dr translation: L4D2 is cool and has more to offer, but leaves a bit of a bitter taste and a longing for the original if you played and LOVED it.
DLC: The Passing
Overall The Passing was a decent campaign which could have been better had Valve not gotten it's fanbase excited for the biggest letdown in Valve history since Half-Life 2 Episode 3 wasn't hot on the heals of Episode 2. (What happened to faster releases?) Valve got everyone excited for the original survivors' return. What we got was a "We can't help you, you have to get to the other side to lower the bridge." and then "We'll provide you with support from up on these inaccessible rooftops." Thoroughly killing any excitement we had of fighting side by side with our favorite characters. And my sincerest condolences to the Bill fans. I'm gonna miss that man and his gun. At least he died as he lived, with an assault rifle in his hands and a cigarette in his mouth. The only thing I can say is, why couldn't it have been all 4 of the new survivors instead? | video-games_xbox |
One of those games you can enjoy for years. Yes, its been a few years since this game came out, but the fact that I am still enjoying it a few years after I purchased it goes a long way to show how much I love this game.
My love affair with the game Pirates goes back a long way. When I was 10 years old or so I tried the original Pirates on the that "powerhouse" computer system Apple IIC. For the time, it was a simply amazing game, with great graphics and amazing depth. A played this game nonstop for a couple years. Ten years later when I was 20 or so, Pirates Gold was quietly released on the Genesis. Unfortunately, the Ps1 had just come out, and the Genesis was in its dying phase, so this game was hard to come by.
I was thrilled when I heard they were bringing this game to the Xbox and the PC. Both versions are pretty similar, however, the PC version is slightly more in depth. What amazes me is that this version holds all the charm that the original had. You can play in several different time periods during the 1600's. The early part of that time frame is more difficult because there are fewer ports, and the Spanish cities and ships are much better organized than later in the century. To further enhance the challenge, you can select 5 different difficulty settings. The easiest setting allows you to pretty much dominate the seas without much difficulty. The hardest setting can have you groaning in frustration at the TV.
Whether you decide to be a pirate and plunder everything in sight, or a loyal privateer to a certain country is totally up to you. Or if you want you can try and be a peaceful merchant who trades items among cities, only fighting when attacked.
My only complaint is that the Xbox version lacks a few of the goodies that the PC version has. Mainly overland travel and the port of Panama. Frankly one of the best aspects of the old game was growing a force big enough to travel over land and capture Panama.
This is the type of game that only gets better with age. I imagine I will enjoy it for many years to come. | video-games_xbox |
Buyer Beware. Picked this drive up for a couple of reasons.
1. Wanted increased storage for my sons' Xbox 360 E console (4GB internal storage)
2. Great price for a drive w/ enclosure made for the 360 E/Slim consoles.
I purchased the drive and console 2 weeks ahead of my sons' finishing 1st grade (7 yrs old). His last day of school I surprised him with the console and hard drive. I installed the drive into the system and the console recognized the drive. The drive was displayed with Chinese letters, so I had the Xbox format the drive. After formatting, the drive indicated 240GB or so of free space as expected. Everything was great.....or so I thought.
The first game I attempted to download data for was Destiny: The Taken King Legendary Edition (expansions and all). This is quite a large download. It contains multiple files/updates that are around 2GB each. The Xbox was constantly freezing up and just seemed to refuse to write one of the files to the drive. I have another Xbox (mine) so I copied the files to an external drive and was able to finally get them to copy over to this drive. That whole process took around 8 hours (seriously....).
I thought all was ok, but I had suspicions about the drive itself. In my experience, when drives have issues writing with the same thing over and over, it's often a bad sector on the drive. I wasn't 100% sure though as the Xbox and HDD were both new, so I wanted to allow the drive the benefit of the doubt.
Turns out I was right about the drive. It's garbage. Yesterday (6/15/16) the drive was exhibiting the same problems with an update/expansion for Plants vs Zombies. The drive would fail to copy/download the update. I fought with it for a couple of hours (I'm a hard headed engineer that believes I can solve almost any problem). I finally threw in the towel and decided to use one of my external USB drives that I had extra with a very old 80gb Hitachi drive in it. I took the HDD out of the Xbox and the external old Hitachi drive had no issues downloading or transferring any content.
At this point, I was quite disgusted with this HDD. I checked my Amazon account, and wouldn't you know my 30 days warranty had expired on 6/14/16. I'm not surprised - that's how things work out sometimes. So next I decided I would disassemble the this 250GB drive and put it in my desktop to see if it was a faulty drive. Upon removing the HDD from it's black case, the drive was marked with quite a few Chinese characters. I figure the drive was probably a grey-market drive or something, but that doesn't matter. I placed the drive into my PC and the PC recognized the drive. I placed a MBR partition on the drive and then started a quick NTFS format. The format never completed. I let it go for around 2 hours, but it never completed. I just decided to cut my losses at that point and throw the drive into the waste basket. Hindsight being what it is, I should have sprung the extra money on the Microsoft branded one and saved my son all the headaches this drive caused. Looks like a new SSD is in his future - at least I can reuse the case. | video-games_xbox |
An underrated, well-written and fun hybrid. Here's the thing, folks. The main reason Sudeki has been underrated by so many people is that the developer is not Japanese. Lovers of traditional Japanese rpgs are ready to poo all over Sudeki simply because it is the work of a western developer. What they fail to see is that Sudeki is anything other than a traditional rpg, and thus should not be compared to traditional rpgs. Sukeki is a brilliant mix of traditional rpg and action/adventure. It controls like action/adventure and yet features a deep combat system that allows you to switch between four different characters and direct their combat style. While the combat is not turn-based, it is still reminiscent of traditional rpgs because the action slows to bullet time when you change weapons, use an item, or unleash a magical attack. Some strategic planning is required every time you go into a battle because there are so many variables that influence how the battle plays out, as well as its outcome. You have to know your weapons, characters, enemies, spells, and items very well. So you don't have to worry about Sudeki being shallow.
The only blemish on this beautiful gem of a game is that the melee combat controls for Tal and Buki are sluggish and unresponsive. Also, the camera does not work as well as it should for melee combat. Given time and practice, it is possible to overcome these deficiencies, but they should have been ironed out in testing. Most of the time you don't even have to play as your melee fighters. You can play as Elco or Ailish, who do all of their fighting in first-person. In this way you act as kind of a director, watching the action unfold, helping each fighter as they need it, and unleashing Skill Strikes when things get a bit too hairy.
The graphics and animations in Sudeki are top notch. It is clearly one of the best looking Xbox games ever made. Visual effects for magical attacks are heart-breakingly beautiful. The writing and voice acting is high caliber, and the story is quite unique. Do yourself a favor and stop listening to all the voices in the media that tell you what you should and should not like. Give Sudeki a chance and I think you will be rewarded. | video-games_xbox |
Halo 3: ODST to buy or not to buy. First off, I am here to say that at one point the Halo franchise took over my life. During the release of the original Halo 3 I found myself playing online more then most MMO's. This is 100% a good thing. However, ODST captures a new side of the halo universe in which I'm very glad bungie is exploring. All in all one thing makes this game succeed besides a short-yet very interesting campaign, is the small changes to the actually game play which makes this game feel different to its predecessors yet you'll still be comfortable with it.
But to buy or not to buy?
Well to be honest I am quite surprised they did not have this campaign as DLC for Halo 3. I just feel like it would have been fun to seamlessly go from co-op on halo 3, to a mission in ODST. Maybe just my opinion. But other then that, this game is well worth the $60, IF you TRULY are interested in the campaign and firefight. If you have just picked up an Xbox 360, or do not own Halo 3, this is truly a MUST buy. It comes with over 20 online maps (including three new ones), as well as the new addictive firefight in which we'll be discusing later in the review.
CAMPAIGN
The story is well told, and gives a sort of suspense. It's told better, and is more interesting then the original Halo 3 storyline. However, it may not come off as epic as Halo 3, which I don't think they we're trying to push with this game. Basically you wake up 6 hours after you and the rest of your ODST (Oribital Drop Shock Trooper) squad have landed in a mysterious city. I'm not going to go too much into the story, but all I can say is there's a new aspect of free roaming which I'd love to see bungie explore with more in the future of the franchise. You will have certain markers on your hud you have to travel to, in which you will find a clue or "beacon" and then re live the events of your squad mate. It makes the game feel less linear then it is, as you can in some cases play missions in a different order (although not with all of them). Also yes, it is 100% possible to die while you are not in a mission, which brings even more suspense with the story of ODST. I recommend playing through this game alone at first, to really get a challenge, and really get the vibe of being alone in a strange city, which bungie has trying to push much with this release. Aside from all that, this game is also more challenging yet rewarding then past halos. And to say that this game is the best looking halo game to date is a down statement. The environments are amazing, and the character models are very well detailed. The game itself is impressive and the new addition of the visor HUD (for nighttime fighting) brings a new and unique look that even hardcore players of the franchise will come to love.
Campaign-9/10
+Graphics Revamped
+New but comfortable game play
+Interesting story
+New guns are a blasty blast
-Shorter then Halo 3 Campaign
FIREFIGHT
Wow this mode really surprised me. Basically its bungies approach to the popular Gears of War 2 mode, Horde. And I'd have to say my friends that they succeed in doing just that. I'm not going to go into TOO much detail with it. But I have to say it is funner, more fast paced, and more challenging then the GOW2 mode. Again this is my opinion I love both games but I feel like Firefight is awesome. Countless waves of enemies drop in, from the small grunts and flying bug-like drones, to Hunters, Wraiths, and invisible brutes! The game also randomly activates skulls, giving a sense that you won't know to expect every game you play. Some games you will have tougher enemies with extra health, while other times you'll have enemies throwing hundreds of grenades at you, and the only way to recharge your shield is to melee them! Very fun mode, very well done. I can play this for hours.
Firefight-9/10
+Very fun
+Challenging take on GOW2's Horde
+Best with friends
-Not exactly original
-Sometimes you will be extremely overwhelmed (hahahaha)
MULTIPLAYER
And this brings us to the multiplayer which is no doubt amazing. You get every halo 3 map as well as 3 new ones (including the classic Halo 2 map, Midship). SO I'm going to keep this short and sweet since the majority of people reading this have at some point experienced halo online. If you already own Halo 3 and spent money on all the maps. You may feel a bit ripped off. However It is cool to have all the maps on one disc (free up some hard drive space?). BUT if for some reason if you have never played Halo online this will be you favorite part of this otherwise, outstanding package.
Multiplayer-10/10, if you already own the maps 6/10
+Every map ever made!
+Forge and theater modes are also a plus
-Feels like a rip to original Halo 3 owners
Thats my review I hope you enjoyed it! Overall I give this game a 9/10! | video-games_xbox |
Overall GG. I've only played the Black Ops Call of Duty before this one and this game is very good.
I'm strictly an online multi-player person (Only finished 20% of campaign on Black Ops in a year),
but the campaign on this game is pretty good. The story line seems to jump around a lot (seems random), but
it's because you are going around the world. They made certain scenes more interactive and realistic
which pulls you into the game. The weapons are nice also.
The online multi-player is good, but definitely could use some balancing on some of the weapons. Overall,
it's the same feel as the other Call of Duty except for new killstreaks, weapons, and maps. Most of the same game
modes, excluding hardcore headquarters (which was what I played mostly on Black Ops). One of the new game modes is
Kill Confirmed which is pretty fun. The concept is basically kill someone and pick up their "dog tags" after you
kill them.
If you hate "Noob-Tubing" then it will take a little getting used to this game (unless they balance the damage explosives do).
Explosives do more damage on this game compared to the other Call of Duty's. On hardcore if you get hit with a "noob-tube" you
are dead, which on black ops you could survive one explosive hit (with flack jacket). Some people say it's just a part of the game, but I think
it's a very cheap and lame. It takes skill to actually aim and focus on a spot rather than shooting at an area. Grenades aren't as
bad because they take time to actually explode and they take time to throw. Noob tubing is like shooting an exploding bullet.
BUT, besides the lame "noob-tubing" the game is pretty fun.
The Special Ops missions are also fun. The only thing I don't like about it is that you can only play with 2 people.
The main improvements they could make to this game or future Call of Duty games is:
- add online co-op campaign.
- 4+ online special ops
Overall, if you are a first person shooter gamer then this is a must have game. It's a good game for the single player people and
is the best online because of the community. Playing with friends online is the best part of the game. | video-games_xbox |
A Satisfying Conclusion to an Epic Sci-Fi Trilogy. I went into Mass Effect 3 with incredibly high expectations. From the trailers leading up to the release of the game, you could tell that the emotional impact was going to be significant. The Reapers are finally here. In a universe with such rich backstory, where decisions have a major impact, and you've grown to know and love characters over the dozens of hours of the two previous installments, it would be easy for BioWare to have a major misstep.
Luckly, they didn't. This game is AMAZING!
The scale and scope of the game leaves me in awe. From the skyscraper sized Reapers to the battles that are occurring in the background. From the magical space battles to the conversations with the crewmates, everything is beautifully done. BioWare knew what they wanted to do with this game and they delivered in spades.
Gameplay:
If you enjoyed the feel of Mass Effect 2 more than 1, you're in luck. The gameplay carries over almost verbatim. Squadmates are even more independent than ME2 and that's a good thing. The micromanagement that went into ME1 was tactically interesting but really slowed down the battles. They know what needs to be done and they do it. Getting into and out of cover is at times a little wonky, as in the past, but there are times when it flows perfectly it feels like a perfectly executed maneuver. Then sometimes I bounce around and get shot in the face... win some/lose some.
The only notable addition are the melee strikes. This is helpful, as more often than not you're forced to abandon cover (whether it's a grenade or you're being charged). This makes the battles a little more dynamic than the "pop out of cover when the other guy does" battles of ME2 and makes them feel a little more fast paced. I generally avoid melee unless I have to, but it's an interesting addition nonetheless. I will say straight up that the environments and enemy types vary more than the previous two games combined, and that's awesome. It's nice to face different strategies, keeps things fresh.
There's the Kinect option to use. I tried it and I couldn't get anyone to listen me half the time. I attribute it to the fact that my speakers were cranked so, if this were real life, they probably couldn't hear me anyway. Yeah... that's the ticket. On the rare occasion it does work, it's pretty cool.
Graphics:
The look is a little crisper, the framing a little better, everything looks a little more polished. I absolutely loved the background events, the cinematic space battles, all of the crazy stuff.
Sound:
Everything is very sharp and works well on my surround system. The Reapers make some sort of crazy bass sound that shakes my entire living room. It's awesome. Seriously.
Multiplayer:
If you liked Gears of War Horde Mode you'll love this. Simple as that. I think it's fun but I'm always placed with random since my friends don't buy games very often. Still, it's pretty sweet. Plus, it helps you becomes "more prepared" in the actual campaign. It's not required to play but it's a nice touch. Persistent leveling also gives a sense of purpose. Be careful cranking it up to hard, it gets pretty nuts.
Overall:
GET IT! If you loved ME1 and ME2 this could be a bucket of crap and you'd get it since the story is so amazing. Luckily, it's fantastic. Enjoy! | video-games_xbox |
Frugal buyer. Ok first i would like to say that i spent almost a month reading reveiws and priceing on head sets and looking at what would be the best for me.why i even wished to get a headset was i game at all times in a 24hr period due to me working shift work.at nite i tend to lower the volume on the tv so that i don't wake my wife and kids up. with that being said, i have a surround sound and did not wish to lose that quality. so that made find muti speaker sets limited.i went with these due to them haveing 8 speakers i was going for 5.1 since thats what i have already hooked up to my tv. i bought these on 4-15-2011 and have already put 34hrs on them to really break them in mainy on black ops since that is what i play the most.i must say that they are a great set of headphones took 6mins to setup on my ps3 i have the old 60gb from 2007 and i had no issues with the setup there is only 1 ac power adapter not 2 now i think they company took feedback and adjusted fire to make up for this so now in the pics you see just ignore the 2 power adapters the single one you get has 2 cords from it to plug into the box and the headphones.the sound it very clear on it makeing adjustments for sound/mic is quick and painless the surround sound works reather good all things condisdering my alertness in the game has increased alot do to me being able to hear guys running or walking up to me around cornors.now when you get into the real nitty gitty or the game like stuff is blowing up all around you lots of gun fire its still very good if you know what to listen for. the only cons i have to offer is this. the mic/speaker lev/volume controller has a clip so that you can clip it on the shirt and its good but i don't wear a shirt when gameing so it tangles i solved this by placeing a velco/suction cup onit and stick to my glass table nexted to me and can adjust the mic/speakers very fast since i don't have to look down/ i do like the lights to change colors to let you know the volume lev since i play in the dark its great.the only other thing is that its wired but i wanted wired due to me wanting 5.1 so thats all i got. i got no hissing in the speakers nothing that is not just great sound,they don't hurt my head i wear a 7and 3/4 hat and thats with my head shaved i have only wore them for 12hrs straight but i did take breaks about 5-8mins at least once a 1hr. i say buy them and try them i was going to spend no more than 150.00 max but i just said whats another 20bucks? besides i don't spend alot of money on somthing unless i read up on it,i don't like to waste money on junk and i try not to get burned on anything i buy. | video-games_xbox |
Amazing game if you put in the time. I see a lot of mixed reviews for this game. The problem is that this is a new era of games. Open environments, optional paths, side quests are becoming the norm in gaming. What this means is, you can finish a game in 10 hours if you want, or you can opt to explore all of the "optional" content and put in as many hours as you can spare. Fallout 3 is very similar to Fable 2 in this regard. If all you're trying to do is beat the game and move onto the next big title then you're probably not getting a lot out of the game. You can beat Fable 2 in about 10 hours if you just follow the main quest and do just enough to get passed you enemies. Or you can do the side quests, build your characters abilities, seek out treasures and secrets, gargoyles, silver keys, demon doors, buy out towns, max out side jobs, play the evil hero or the good hero. There's seriously SO much to do in this game and the best part is, it doesn't seem like a chore. Well, Blacksmithing does... but most of it doesn't seem like a chore.
You start off with VERY limited abilities. You can swing a weapon, cast one low level spell, and auto shoot your gun. This is where most people seem to get hung up and give up because they think the whole game is going to be like that. The problem is I don't think a lot of people understand that this isn't just an action game, it's an action RPG. You start off as a young man/woman who has barely ever been in a fist fight. You're not going to be an expert swordsperson, sharpshooter, or archmage from the begining. The more you fight the more you gain experience, allowing you to build your abilities. Like the original Fable, you can achieve all the abilites from all the categories.
-Your spell library can be expanded and improved by putting experience points into it. Spells are aoe by default but pushing your analog stick towards a target will focus the damage. Spells range from fire balls to slowing time to raising the dead and many more. Each spell has 5 tiers of potency. The higher the tier you wish to cast, the longer it takes to charge. However, the more tiers you unlock the faster your spells charge. Charging your spell leaves you open to receiving damage from enemies and possibly being interrupted. It's good to get an idea of the range of your spells and whether the damage you can cause with them will outweigh the damage you will take while charging them.
-Building your skill points increases your weapons speed, allows you to aim your gun (via crosshairs in nearly first person view), zoom in on your target and eventually target specific areas of your target's body. You can take off your targets head, disarm them or take out their leg as they're charging towards you. You'll find that once you start building these abilities up you can take out the majority of the bandit camps before they even know you're there.
-Strength points increase your hitpoints, weapon damage and melee skills. You'll be able to block attacks, string together combos, counterattack and perform devestating unblockable attacks by the time you're done with this tree. This is vital because as the game progresses you're forced to face multiple enemies at a time who will block and flank and fight much more intelligently than at the beginning.
Money comes by either stealing or taking jobs. Jobs are basically mini games designed to make cash and keep your morality in tact. Basic jobs are Woodcutter, Bartender and Blacksmith. You start at 1 star and receive promotions after you've made a set amount of money all the way until you reach 5 stars. Every time you receive a promotion you get more base pay and your pay increases exponentially as you chain together strikes of the hammer, swings of the axe without missing and pouring beer without spilling. It's an easy way to make gold fast and take a break from the main quest.
There are tons of side quests all with fairly interesting stories some pertaining to events and characters from the original Fable. These are a large part of the meat in the game and are well worth completing. I'd give you examples but I don't want to spoil them.
The Demon Doors are back from the original game as are the silver keys. New additions are Gargoyles that insult you until you find and shoot them. Every ten gargoyles you shoot unlock another section of the Gargoyle trove with a chest as a reward and all 50 unlock the final treasure. The other addition are statues whose expressions you have to mimic flawlessly and reward you upon completion. You only get one chance so if you mess up, too bad.
Other things to do in the game are buying real estate. Pretty much every building in Albion is up for sale at some point in the game. Buying a house allows you to move in or rent it out. You can upgrade the furniture piece by piece to increase the value and your spouses happiness with the house if you choose to make it your marital home. If you buy shops you collect rent and if you're a good landlord you'll receive discounts. This is a great way to make money. Unlike the original, the money goes straight to you periodically. No going to every home you own to collect your cash. You'll receive a lump sum every time you load your game based on the amount of time you were away too. You can marry in this game, much like the first, the new addition is that you get to have kids should you choose to have uprotected sex with the opposite gender. These children will grow up (to around the age of 10) and will have opinions of you just like your wife. If you, or a friend, happen to kill your spouse your child will be taken away to the orphanage.
I'm sure there's more to talk about, but at this point you've probably made up your mind. If you're going to put the time into really exploring all this game has to offer, then it's more than worth it. If you just plan on barreling through the main quest and throwing it back on the shelf then save your money. There were times when certain aspects were frustrating to me. For instance I would think, "Why can't I do this?" or "Why didn't they do that?" 99% of the time a couple hours of play later I would either have my answer, or have the ability to do whatever it was I couldn't do before either through obtaining new skills or progressing the story. Give it a chance, take your time and enjoy the ride, have a little patience and you will be GREATLY rewarded! | video-games_xbox |
The Standard By Which All Games Should Be Made. I have read the reviews of those who only reached the city and gave up after twenty minutes, and I shake my head. Twenty minutes?
I have been watching this fully player-controlled mega-movie unfold for about forty hours of gameplay! And I'm STILL not through with this game yet. That's actually the BAD news, believe it or not!! The GOOD news is that every single hour--well, with a few abrupt exceptions I was glad to get past--were THOROUGHLY ENJOYABLE and SO much fun to conquer.
There is more storyline content here than all of my other XBox games combined. The game feels like an interactive movie, it's fun, it's fast-paced enough to be an action game (though it has WAY too much dialog if strictly action is what you are looking for), it is customizable and detailed and thoughtful and creative enough to pass as a complete RPG, and it's immersive enough to suck you in all through the night and weekends.
In fact, it's 2:39am on Sunday morning right now, and I'm only just now taking a breather.
Now don't get me wrong, this game isn't perfect. What game is? I have complaints--the initial city map is a boring start, for instance, but in retrospect I am glad that the game gets better and funner over time, rather than worse. There are also a few bugs and gameplay design flaws. Right now I'm stuck in a level that seems unpassable--I'm certain that after some sleep and some fresh air, I'll be able to return and figure out this puzzle.
But for all the weaknesses of the game, there are several strengths. Some of my favorites are:
- Character development, not just of you, but even more so of all your companions; this game is like a movie, where every character is very unique; unlike a movie, you have full freedom to get to know your companions' thoughts and personalities very well, when you choose, as the game goes on. In fact, the game sort of nags you (encourages you) to remember to do it.
- Content breadth. Here's a spoiler for you (close your eyes, scroll away, if you don't want to read it). Some six or so planets, each of which you will get to know personally, each you will explore, although the explorable maps cover only a small fraction of each. Add hours, and hours, and hours--days, weeks?--of high quality recorded audio dialog. To make dialog fit on the DVD, I must confess, for about half of the dialogs, the creators did a little bit of "cheating", by taking five or ten alien language recordings and randomly playing them while displaying text in English ("Basic"). Nonetheless, there is more real voice-acted content than you could hear on the AM radio for many, many hours.
- Creativity. Originally, I was a little bummed that so much of the story here echoes so many facets of the original Star Wars movies, both in creatures and characters, as well as in storyline. But now that I'm about four fifths (4/5) finished with the game--or so I figure--I'm finding myself pretty content with the level of artistic expression and creativity the game developers produced. (SPOILER...) There are game scenes in deserts, grassy meadows, deep ancient forests, ancient ruins, starship halls, underground "sewer cities", caves, and even gameplay on the ocean floor, and stomping around on the outer surface of a starship using gravity boots and space suits. There's Pazaak--which, if I understand and remember blackjack correctly, Pazaak is very similar to blackjack--there's swoop racing, and there's the old classic spaceship vs. spaceship fighting. There are tens of mini-stories and opportunities to do hero work, from returning a kidnapped stowaway to vindicating a friend's fallen companion. There are several family father/child and sibing/sibling issues and resolutions to watch unfold. There's even a little bit of romance. The list just goes on and on and on!
- Action. This game can slow down and let you do turn-by-turn gameplay, or it can go fast and get you on the edge of your seat. The neat thing is, it's all your choice. If you want to go turn-by-turn, just pause the game, select the moves for your players, unpause, wait for about one second to let the moves initiate, then pause again and select the next move. Or, if you want to sit back and let the players manage themselves, go right ahead. You can be as involved as you want to. But be assured, whether or not you're involved, there's plenty of action. The light sabres and other weapons have excellent sound effects, great action graphics (no jaw-droppers, but no serious weaknesses, either). There are grenades, pistols, rifles, swords, light sabres (of course), and all kinds of "magical" (Force) methods of blowing away your enemies, all of them are at your disposal. Great fun!
- RPG. Character development can be as detailed as you like. You can get started in the game with a character that matches your liking in as little as two minutes or as long as an hour, to fiddle with all the character adjustment settings. A warning, though--KOTOR is LESS about adjusting numbers and toggles and switches and MUCH, MUCH more about gameplay. Your character will become who he/she is to become according to what you do and what sort of dialog choices you make. That is, in my mind, the best way to offer an RPG. Long-time RPG game fans won't appreciate the depth KOTOR goes through in making character development adjust itself according to player decisions rather than bumping numbers around in a control panel. Their loss. Tragic. But good news for them nonetheless: the control panels are there!!
- Forced curiosity. There are not only murder mysteries and such activities where you have to go exploring for witnesses and such, but maps themselves force you to explore the area in order for you to proceed in anything. If you don't know where anything is, guess what--that just makes the game that much more realistic and involving.
I could go on (and on and on, as does the game) with more things to say about this game, but instead I think you should just buy the game and encourage you to play it for about four to eight hours nonstop to get about halfway into the Taris level, before you make a decision for yourself.
A word I might add, though. If you're not the kind of person who has hours to spare, you won't like this game. You'll play it for a few minutes and then turn it off to play a few brainless minutes of an action game. Forget it. This is an RPG, about 30% dialog, 40% running and exploring, and 30% fighting. It is not Halo 2, so don't expect a 95% fighting shoot-'em-up. | video-games_xbox |
This is definitely not a tuner game. As my title states, this is definitely NOT a tuner game. As the guy below obviously makes this point clear, it is however a good game nonetheless...
If however you are a huge fan of the Need For Speed Series like I am, then this is definitely for you.
If you loved playing Need For Speed Hot Pursuit, you'll love this game.
There are some tuning abilities in this game, you can purchase upgrades such as pre-made body kits, 1 layer vinyls (drastically reduced from, what was it, 4 layers in Underground 2?), paint, performance, all of the basics and very limited tuning options, and quite an extensive choice of exotics or tuners to choose from. Also, drifting has been cut but drag racing has been stepped up a notch in this game. It's ALOT tougher than it use to be.
One of the best things of this game is the cops. From there endless, almost never repeating radio chatter, to their crazy tactics of level 5+ heat chase, you'll be loving them as well as hating them as they take away your prized possession, your career car! Don't get me wrong, you can have more than one career car, but if you don't win pink slips, you're going to be stuck buying a new car. It never happened to me though! Get out of jail free cards are the best...
This past weekend I went on a playing binge due to snow, and it took me just about 3 days of almost non-stop playing to beat the career mode 100%, but that's not even including the Challenges option in the main menu though. I can not wait to play this game over x-box live.
Overall, I believe this is a great game, however don't come in to this thinking its going to be Need For Speed Underground 3, it'll be more "Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit 3." This past weekend I went on a playing binge due to snow, and it took me just about 3 days of almost non-stop playing to beat the game 100%. EA has gone back to their roots with this game. | video-games_xbox |
Great Game for Halo Fans. Unreal II - The Awakening is a Halo-like space marine adventure that boasts great graphics, good sounds, an interesting storyline and XBox Live for as much multiplayer gameplay as you can stand!
First, the basic story. You're John, a Marshall out on the fringes of space. You want to be a marine but keep being turned down, and you are bored out of your mind. Your base ship is the Atlantis, which you occupy along with a snippy female pilot, a strange alien dude, and a gnarly weapons master. The usual odd collection of people.
You're sent down on a planet to help in a mayday situation. Soon you're up to your eyeballs in aliens, and the aliens and weapons get more powerful as you go. You meet up with marines, rescue them, find artifacts, and get drawn into the plot.
Yup, you know the story, we've seen it many times. But just like you can read 10 different space-combat novels and love each one, the plotline is really fresh and fun here. The characters are all fleshed out and you really become fond of them. We got caught up in the game, wanting to keep playing more and more levels.
The graphics are really good, although to be honest, they aren't up to Halo's stellar quality. They're more of a Brute Force level. Many objects seem to be 'shapes painted with a single skin' instead of detailed multi-part people or vehicles. The characters themselves, even in the cut-scenes, often seem a little 'squared off'.
There are waving grasses and thick fogs and heads-on-pikes, but much of what you encounter is static. I suppose I still hope that after all these months that ONE other game would finally at least equal Halo's level of quality, but it seems we have to wait for Halo 2 for that.
The sounds work well to get you in the atmosphere. The characters all have distinct attitudes that come through well in their acting. The background noises, the splashes of water, the various types of rounds being fired, all help you keep track of where your friends and enemies are. Be sure to have your stereo system hooked in for this one!
Gameplay is rather straightforward but fun too. The maps are big but they do a good job of helping you know what to do next. You don't spend hours and hours searching over a giant map for that one tiny hidden switch. You know what your objectives are here, and with some planning and strategy you can get to them.
Many of the rooms and situations reminded me explicitly of ones in Halo, but again this wasn't necessarily a bad thing. We would say, "Oh this is just like the cafeteria in Halo" and quarter out the room accordingly. Pretty much all the time, the techniques learned in one helped make the strategy for this game easy.
In addition to all of this, there is the main thing that Halo is missing - XBox Live gameplay! There is a great team-based multiplay system that should get every XBox fan hooking up to XBox Live (assuming you haven't already)! Big note here - Unreal II has a mature rating on it. It actually seems fine for most teenagers as far as alien-violence goes - just spattered blue blood on the walls. But when you get into XBox Live, it seems that every game we played involved gamers who could only speak in swears. Every third word (I kid you not) was a swear word. Since most of it was non-helpful (having nothing to do with coordinating attacks or anything else) it got really tedious, really fast. So I'd keep that in mind if you're playing Live.
Other than that one caveat, this is definitely a game to buy and enjoy! | video-games_xbox |
The first true Next Gen RPG. What is Mass effect?
Mass effect is a superb Role Playing game for the Xbox 360. Mass Effect was created by BioWare, the makers of last gen's Kotor and Jade empire. And if you've ever played either of those games, you'll know the quality of RPG's that Bioware can craft. And this one is no different.
After finding a "Mass Relay" on mars, humans were catapulted onto the galactic scene. There are several different alien races for you're character, a commander Shephard, to interact with, and they are all unique and beautifully rendered. The games graphics are gorgeous, and while there are some graphical glitches here and there (textures taking a while to load and such), it doesn't detract from the overall experience of the game.
The game is fueled by the Role playing aspect. During conversations there is the "conversation wheel" in which you select your response or what you want to say. And yes, these decisions do affect what will happen. And that's one of the best features of Mass effect, what you do will cause outcomes that will change and affect you AND your squad. Forever.
Combat. Combat has been a main complaint of several reviewers. But the combat is fine for an action RPG. While you may think you're shooting someone right in the head, all damage and hit locations are done by "dice" rolls so it might be a bit weird at first. But you'll get used to it.
Now on to the weaker parts of Mass Effect. While the main quests are thought out and action packed, the side quests are bland and boring. Every single one is nearly identical. You're dropped on a remote planet. You drive around for a while. You find a room with bad guys in it (there are 3 different types of rooms!). Kill bad guys. Leave planet. Although there is one level that is different. It's so horrible I don't even want to speak about it. The landscape is so rocky that it'll take you twenty minutes to where your trying to go. You'll see it when you get to it.
And that leads us to the worst part of the game. You spend most of the side quest driving, but driving the Mako (your All terrain vehicle of terror) is absolutely awful. The controls are clunky and weird. Part Halo driving controls, but also part horrible controls. Vehicle combat is incredible difficult. You'll learn to fear vital parts of the game when you're forced to take the hideous beast.
Other than the horrible driving and bland side quests, Mass Effect is a truly good game. The first RPG to really take advantage of the next generation consoles power, Mass effect is a beautiful and epic piece of narration, where your choices make you.
Overall Score: 9/10 | video-games_xbox |
A decent first try, but not great. I purchased this game the first day it was released, eagerly anticipating a great golf experience in addition to some laughs. This is an obvious attempt to mirror Hot Shots Golf 3, a favorite golf game for the PS2, and I fully expected the people at Vivendi (or is it Simon and Shuester?) to have made Outlaw everything that HSG3 was and improve on it, using XBox's superior hardware. Unfortunatly, they failed in many ways...
The Good:
Golf engine - played and felt good, not remarkable, although I admit I prefer 'pressing the button 3 times' to 'pull back and push forward.
Characters - one main selling point of the game, the characters are very cool and of course very fun to look at, but this is a game you play, not just watch
Game Variety - play stroke, match, casino,timed, 1 club only play, and others. Multiple club sets and balls you can unlock.
Commentary - Good stuff from that comedy central guy.
The Bad:
Course Selection - This was one of my biggest gripes. I can turn off the annoying annimations and commentary but with only 3 courses to play, the longevity of the game will surely suffer. (HSG3 has like 7 or 8 courses?)
Course Design - Their was no imagination in the layout of the holes, just hit it straight and you will be on the green in regulation every time. Not much strategy needed to hit a birdie/par. Nothing tricky or fun. Examples: No par fives you can try to reach in 2 shots that punish you if you miss. Nothing in the way you need to intentionally hook the ball arround. No 'shortcuts through the trees and then down a cart path,' that reward you greatly but are very tricky to pull off. Theirs tons of stuff like that in HSG3.
Ball Flite Indicator - As you line up your shot and choose your club, power, and point of impact, arrows show exactly where the ball is going to go and if you are going to hit anything. This takes all of the fun and skill out of figuring out if you can clear some trees or if you can curve your shot arround that dogleg. You don't have to figure out if your going to clear a water hazard or if you should just lay up short. You don't have to consider wind, or elevation or your lie. Just line it up and hit it exactly where you want it.
Putting - You line up the put and then it shows you exactly where the put is going to go, and you get 3 chances to move your target and then see the balls exact path. This takes all the skill out of reading the green and putting.
Strike Point - You set the point on the ball where you are going to strike it before you shoot. Its easy and you can do it every time. This isn't realistic (full backspin on every shot at the green.) HSG3 made it difficult to obtain 'super backspin' and it required a perfect hit. Another skill that adds longevity to the game that anyone can do on their first (and every) shot.
Caddy Beating - Another feature of the game that sounded great on previews but turned into another of the games flaws. Beating your caddy gains compusure when you aren't doing to well. Your composure changes with every single shot. The problem is you end up beating your caddy every single hole. To beat the caddy just hit a button 5 times, timing your hits kinda like parapa the rapper. It's way to easy to get all 5 hits in, fully raising your composure. It takes about 30 seconds (but imagine 4 players beating their caddie 18 times each, way to much time sitting arround watching the same animations). Hit the fringe, water, or Out of Bounds, and your compusure drops all the way down, and then you have to beat your caddie again (or hit bad shots with your poor composure.) Im talking Major Annoyance here: Any shot in the fringe, even 2 inches into the fringe on what other wise was a perfect shot and your compusure drops completely (and then you have to beat your caddie again.) Good example: More then once I was like 10 under par beating my opponents by at least 5 strokes, attempting to reach the green on a par 5 in 2 shots and I roll up on the fringe for an easy chip on in regulation. In real life that would be a good thing, in Outlaw golf, I gotta beat my caddy for the 10th time. Dont get me wrong, I like the idea of caddie beating but make it special by only letting me do it once or twice a game. And have my compusure move slightly up or down with each good or bad hit.
Repititon - Each player has 2 animations, and they are long. The first time they were very funny and all that, but after 18 holes you have seen the same one 9 times each.
The verdict: Alot more bad then good. Wait for something better. So rent it, laugh at the funny stuff, master the 3 simple courses, get tired of the real repetitive 'funny stuff', look at the girls a few more times, then return game to rental store and be glad you saved [money]
Dan | video-games_xbox |
Greatsest game EVER. Halo 2. There is not another game that gives you chills down your spine when you say the title. This was the most anticipated game ever in the videogame industrie. This game definatley lived up to its hype, and in my opion it passed that hype. Many people believe that GTA: St. Andraes is a much better game. I say GTA made 115 million dollars in a week......not bad. Halo 2 on the other hand sold 125 million dollars in a day.........amazing. I think the thing that attracts people most to Halo 2 and Halo 1 is not just the great guns, storyline, vechiles, enimes, online play,etc. It is the amazing entertainment of throwing a plasma grenade into a bunch of covenet then continuing to flank the others while your soliders are cleaning up the stragliers. Also there is no other game that can give "chills" down your spine while entering a battle, and there is no other noise like "oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh" The thing I love most about Halo 2 is that it brings all of the fun from Halo 1, but it times it by 10. There are also new features for Halo 2 such as duel wielding, the ability to steal a ghost or any other veichale from your enimes or your friends, heat seaking missiles, just to name a few. After you finish the campian mode (which really is amazing, but i don't want to say anything because it might spoil the game) there is a bunch of other things to do. Such as, the online play, it really is amazing, the fun of you and your buddies getting in warthogs, ghosts, and banshees and atacking your friends base then when you finally get there flag the challenge of running away while rockets and bullets are zooming by your head is pricless. Even if you don't have Xbox live you can play split screen with up to 4 players. Now while this is not as entertaing as Xbox live it still does have its advantages. They are, being able to see the person you are playing and knowing them personally, the ablillty to braging rights around the people you see everyday, but my personal favorite is the victory dance you can do when you end your friends killing spree with a rocket demolishing the wartghog hes been in for 3 hours. So, in conclusion me and the other 100 million people would probally agree that this is the greatest game to ever be made. There once was a line in the Offical Xbox Magazine that stated that Rockstar had said that Halo 2 will "never come" and "if the game does come out it will be the greatest game to ever be seen, but of course no such thing can be done" they also were stated saying that "Even if Halo 2 does come out Bungie could never put all of the things they say will be in the game by November 9" In Halo 2's comerical they show everything in the game and then at the end of the comerical they say "To all those that said this day would never come what are they to say now" | video-games_xbox |
one of the best. I want to start off by stating that I am NOT a hardcore gamer.
I have read a few reviews by people who would seem to be hardcore gamers that were disappointed with this game and I don't get it. I thought it was great.
I played gta 3 back in the day and I liked it but I didn't love it, I thought it was a little too cartoonish and over the top with its italian mob stereotypes. That is why I never bothered with vice city or san andreas. Gta 4 blows 3 out of the water, the gritty storyline really sucks you in. Its not all gold guns and glory, there are ups and downs for every decision you make. It is like being in a movie that you dictate, you decide who lives and who dies. The cutscenes and voice acting in the game are fantastic. When I finally beat the missions in the storyline after 50 + hours of gameplay my wife said "can I have my husband back now?"
All the detractors seem to be complaining about the friends / girlfriends getting in the way of their sandbox time. You have a few options here
# 1 you can put the phone on sleep mode so they don't call you
# 2 keep the friends / gf's you need and ditch the rest, if you don't use dwayne's backup or packies car bombs then don't answer when they call.
# 3 beat all the missions, turn off the phone and the whole map with all the islands and the weapons, cars, motorcycles boats and helicopters is at your disposal.
Overall I like the friend / gf concept I would just make them a little less needy for gta 5
I only have a few minor things I would change but that aren't really a big deal
# 1 something to spend all that money on - I finished the missions with over 600,000 dollars. I owned every bit of clothing from all the stores. I took all my friends and dates to the expensive places. I used a lot of ammunition and I took taxi's everywhere. I would suggest cars for sale that aren't available on the street in game. The ability to buy more safehouses would be nice as well.
# 2 the subway system is neat but unnecessary - I never really used it, I either drove or used cabs once I got stable on the cash. Perhaps if the in game map had color coded the different lines it would have been easier to use but who wants to pull out the paper map to look at subway lines when you can just hail a cab?
You can't go wrong with this game, its a lot of fun. Especially now that its less than 20 bucs. | video-games_xbox |
Good Game. The first thing you need to know is that this is episodic gaming, which I'm not a fan of. With episodic gaming companies seem to make a decent first game and try to hook people on the story so they'll have to buy any mediocre "chapters" (5-6 hours to finish each), at higher prices than we would accept in a single product. Worst of all, it seems like most of the time the company folds part way through and the story is never resolved anyway. Big surprise...this game was supposed to be four chapters but the last two were canceled. The people behind the comic are apparently going to finish story on their website, but the bit I saw was text only and incomplete.
I might be more of a fan if I were familiar with the comic strip, but I came into this game having never seen it before. The "humor" was rarely anything that would make me even crack a smile. That's not to say the dialog was bad; I quite enjoyed it. I just personally didn't find it funny. There were amusing bits like a pie store called "Mediocre Pies" and then its arch rival "Super Pies" which is kind of cute, but that's about it.
That said, though it has its faults there's a lot to like here. If you ever played Leisure Suit Larry on the PS2 or some of the Monkey Island games you have a general idea. It's a 3D point and click adventure (on PC, systems are controller controlled) where you can visit two small locals and two tiny locals while doing quests and fighting bad guys. The quests are pretty easy if you click on everything and talk to everybody. The combat is a RPG style semi-turn-based format with two attack levels and some "minigames" involved to execute the higher level attacks. You have some supporting characters and various items you can use in battle.
The character editor lets you change your appearance both in game and in the comic dialogs. Overall, the graphics are nothing stunning. It's obviously not, and never claims to be, some breath taking beauty. The graphics are good enough to watch while you're having fun playing it and that's what really counts. While it kind of feels like an exceptionally elaborate and fleshed out free flash game, the important thing is that it's fun and not very expensive. If you're a fan of Penny Arade, it's probably a no brainer to buy. If not, maybe look at some gameplay video online but you'll still probably like it. | video-games_xbox |
Kane & Lynch: Xbox 360 Review. From the minds who brought you the hit franchise Hitman, comes Kane & Lynch: Dead Men. Unfortunately, this much anticipated game has been blasted by many of the "big boys" of game publications (IGN, GameSpot, etc.). Rest assured, this is one instance which proves that beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Below, I have broken down this game into the following categories: GRAPHICS & PRESENTATION , CONTROLS, SOUND, STORY, GAMEPLAY, REPLAY VALUE, and OVERALL. Each catory is scored out of 5:
1 - Weak
2 - Below Average
3 - Average
4 - Above Average
5 - Strong
GRAPHICS & PRESENTATION - 3.5
Simply put, Kane & Lynch looks like a previous-generation game that was quickly "glossed-up," and ported to the Xbox 360. However, its solid cutscenes and menu presentation save it from being just "average."
CONTROLS - 3.5
Aside from some grenade-throwing and taking-cover hiccups, Kane & Lynch controls pretty solid. Within no time, you will be sprinting for cover, quickly changing weapons, and melee-ing nearby police officers with ease.
SOUND - 4.0
One of the game's strengths is its excellent voice acting. As for its music, although it is no where in the league of Hitman's superb soundtrack, it is still good... no complaints here.
STORY - 4.5
This game features a story that would easily produce an action blockbuster in the box office. From the instant this game starts, it grabs you back the neck and does not let go.
GAMEPLAY - 4.0
At fist glance, Kane & Lynch is a pretty standar-fare shooter. However, the ability to play the entire campaign offline split-screen with a buddy makes this is game a blast. Although some would disagree, I would go so far to say this game's cooperative mode is better than Halo 3, and rivals that of Gears of War. Why? A game like Halo 3 basically focuses on a main character (Master Chief), while the second player is stuck with an expendable sidekick (the Arbiter). In Kane & Lynch, however, there is not one, but two "main" characters, and the game does an excellent job of making both players feel equally important. For instance, in the middle of a shootout, Lynch (the crazy one) may start to blackout, causing the second player's screen to haze. At the same time, Kane may start to yell out to Lynch, and you will actually see the character turn his head in the direction of the other character. Again, it is the little details like this which make the cooperative mode in this game so fun.
REPLAY VALUE - 3.5
With lmited Xbox Live support, most of the game's replay value comes offline. Three difficulty modes, which vary greatly, as well as a cooperative mode should allow players several play-throughs.
OVERALL - 3.83
Even with its faults, the Kane & Lynch manages to do enough right to make it an easy recommendation. If you are looking for a cooperative offline game with an excellent campaign mode, it does not get better than this. If you are still skeptical, and are in need of an "expert's" opinion, please check out GameTrailer.com's excellent review of Kane & Lynch: [...] | video-games_xbox |
quite simply, one of the best RPGs ever made. Oblivion was released in 2006. We're in 2010 now, with a slew of other great games that have followed suit, and only now have I given this game a real chance, after having bought it back in 2009, already three years late. I was somewhat put off by the game's characteristics at the time, namely the fact that there seemed to be about four voices for NPCs, some of which pretty bad; my refusal to use 1st person perspective made combat seem clunky; the game seemed to have no direction and focus; and after a spectacular failure in my first dungeon foray, I put it in the shelf. One year later, after being duly prodded by people who had enjoyed the game, I decided to give it another chance.
And boy, am I glad I did. Bethesda had crafted a thing of beauty, and I had gone in the wrong way about it. The limited voicesets were quickly offset when I realized that there is no unspoken dialogue line in the game, the 1st person perspective allowed me to really immerse myself in the game, and what I had perceived as a lack of focus was in fact an unprecedented freedom of crafting my own story within a story, which I set out do do with gusto from then on. The lovingly crafted cities, the vast customization options, the lush landscapes that have aged quite well in graphical terms, the fine details that almost make you feel part of that fantasy world, and let you know you've influenced an NPC or a city's life in some way without making you seem like the typical world-saving hero... all of that combines into a sublime RPG experience, which nobody should miss. And this from a guy who'd much rather play a party-based RPG, and who's playing the game four years after its release.
Do yourself a favor: Buy Oblivion, and play it, if you haven't done so. Or give it another chance, if, like me, you gave it a pass at first. You're extremely unlikely to regret it. | video-games_xbox |
It grew on me. -Update-
I originally rated this game at 3 stars which I now changed to 4 stars. Everything I say in the rest of the review applies, but the thing I realized is since the release date I have played no other game besides this. I'm truly addicted to this game. Iv played already a ton of games in my franchise mode, and to be honest I'm enjoying it. I know it's exactly the same as 2k12, but I loved 2k12. I was hoping for 2k13 to have many new additions and revamped graphics but that's not the case, so I got passed that and just started to enjoy what it is, not what it's not. It's not a great looking game, there may be bugs and exactly the same as 2k12, but we don't have the option to play the show so this is the hand we were dealt. If your a true baseball fan, just get the game.
After putting much time into 2k13 I can truly say it is exactly the same as 2k12. Not just similar, with a few upgrades I mean exact. The only new additions in this years copy is new music and roster updates. To prove how exact of a copy this is all players that have a new team this season from free agency or traded all are wearing there old teams hat in there picture. Ichrio Suzuki who has been a Yankee for a while now, still has a mariners hat on. But it's not just him, many other players have old hats on.
To me that's just inexcusable and plain lazy,
No new game modes or any new gameplay upgrades as well, from all the games I played the players faces all look exact as well from last year.
Also 100% of the achievements are the same as 2k12. All 50 of them are the same.
Gameplay-7.5
It's not bad, but I have encountered a few bugs
Commentary-9
They really haven't added much new lines, but it's still really good.
Graphics-7
Personally I think the stadiums look great and so does the field but players look disgusting.
Music-10
I loved the music in 2k12, and I love the music in this game as well.
Upgrades from 2k12-5
Like I said exactly the same.
Overall-7
To be honest I was hoping for more, I know it was announced late but come on. They could have done some thing. I just hope they fix this series on the next Xbox or I will buy ps4 strictly for the show. | video-games_xbox |
great game but you can't buy it. WARNING: THIS GAME IS NO LONGER FOR SALE. You can't buy this game anymore on your Xbox 360 as of February 2009. At least one online netizen who tried to bypass this restriction by buying it here, from Amazon, was unable to redeem their game code. Amazon and Microsoft need to do a better job of clarifying the situation, but in the meantime, be very careful before buying this product.
It's a shame, too, because the game is really a good one. The rest of this review will actually review the product, even though it is currently not for sale.
Lost Cities was originally a 2-player card game from Europe. Though most folks in the US have never heard of it, it's a lot of fun; I personally enjoy it a lot more than Cribbage, Gin, or Rummy. The standard game plays with 2 players and takes about 10 minutes, but you won't want to stop there, you'll likely want to replay it many times in a row. There are 4-player variants if you have two copies of the game.
The deck is non-standard, with 5 suits of 12 cards apiece. Theoretically you could assemble your own deck from standard playing cards, but then you'd miss out on the beautiful artwork and compelling Indiana Jones-esque theme of the adventuring archaeologist.
The rules are simple enough: if you decide to play in a given suit at all (ie, make an attempt to find one of the 5 lost cities), you are immediately down 20 points. For each card you play in suit, your total starts to go back up, so if you can play enough cards in suit, you will come out ahead. Cards must be played sequentially from lowest to highest. (Thematically, 10 represents finding the lost city itself, while lower numbered cards represent finding clues that point you in the right direction.) Before you play any number cards, you can play "investment" cards, which increase the risks and rewards for that suit. If you play a lot of investment cards but too few number cards, you'll lose lots of points, but if you play lots of number cards before getting your investments in order, you won't maximize the value of your suit. Decisions, decisions! Complicating the strategy is the fact that almost every card will eventually come up during play -- is the card you're waiting for still in the draw deck, or is your opponent withholding it from you? Should you burn 15 points in a suit (so lose 5 points overall) just to avoid giving them to your opponent, or should you focus on maximizing your own preferred suits?
As I say, the base card game is loads of fun, so I was delighted when it came out for Xbox 360 and jumped on it instantly. The Xbox 360 implementation is solid, with great graphics and sound and a decent AI opponent. Of course, it also supports internet play between 2 players, complete with voice chatting. I still play this game periodically 6 months later, when I want a short break.
If you enjoy card games, definitely give this one a try. If it is ever really available again on Xbox 360, jump on it, it's a keeper and well worth the price. | video-games_xbox |
AMAZING GAME!!!!! Pip-Boy Edition is a solid pass. The game itself is amazing and while it is buggy, I would give it a 5/5 just from entertainment value.
This 3 star review is just for the pip-boy edition.
I was going crazy months ago when they announced Fallout 4 trying to reserve my pip-boy edition. I was a bit obsessed with it, but it did not live up to the hype at all. Again, I cannot stress this enough, I LOVE the game, but this dollar store quality pip-boy was just not worth buying.
The Good:
It looks pretty cool on the shelf I guess, I mean the lunchbox and bobblehead from the Fallout 3 CE outshine it (the Fallout 3 CE also came with a nice art book and making of DVD) but it does look nice on the shelf.
The inserts are fun, it has an instruction book as if the device were real, and does get you hyped for using it, even if you quickly realize the quality of it and get let down.
The Indifferent:
The metal game case is cool I guess, but I almost wish they would just give the regular case and focus more on the quality of the pip-boy.
The Bad:
Size - Fits most hands does not fit me well. I got this with hopes i can play the game with it, nope. This thing is massive, yet not massive enough to fit my hands.
Mounting Size - The device was not able to house my iphone 5s with its very slim and small case on it. So i would have to go through the trouble of removing the case every time I would want to use the device as intended.... Pass....
Quality - Seriously this thing has the quality of some cheap dollar store toys. The cheap plastic is loose fitting in most attachment joints. All buttons/switches/whatever do nothing besides an LED that lights up (not sure what I was expecting). Attaching the device, the padding to fit around the arm is the cheapest part, it is not even attached to the device other than a snug fit and the loosely attached tether. Padding is beaten up already, I know it will be unseen when wearing/on a shelf, but this thing looks like it is falling apart with poorly executed voids cut into it for the tether.
"Limited Quality" - I went crazy refreshing my amazon page over and over until it was available for pre-order. Bethesda introduced this as a very short run with no option to get more. This created a desire for this item and thus attached expectations that were never met for me.
The Box - The stupid, stupid stupid stupid STUPID box. Why would they ever waste materials on creating a very large vault tech box that is designed specifically to hold the device... Am I supposed to display the box? It does not have the shelf appeal the pip-boy does with its stand. Am I supposed to display the device on top of the box? maybe, but this combination is very tall, limiting shelf space. Am I supposed to use it as a backdrop for the device on the shelf? This thing is very large! Am I supposed to use it for something else? It has padding in it to specifically house the pip-boy/game/inserts and is glued onto the box, this can be removed but the box is bare otherwise, and has a cheap latching system. Am I supposed to care about the box? Hey its in the game, you should love it! No, this stupid box has the same cheap quality as the pip-boy, but lacks all the appeal and functionality. Whatever, this stupid box may just get thrown out for me.
Overall:
Fallout 4 is a great game, I cannot recommend it enough, go pick up the regular edition. Just pass on the pip-boy edition, you are really not missing anything. For the extra $60, the quality is just not there. (On a side note, my heart goes out to those who had to buy scalped pip-boy editions on eBay for $200-$300 because Bethesda wanted a scarce market...I love Bethesda but that was a really dumb decision and them saying there is no way to make more was BS.) Just use the phone app solo, and if you want a nice shelf piece, go buy some of the bobbleheads or vinyl figures! | video-games_xbox |
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