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Pretty much the best controller out there. <div id="video-block-R1EPN4P7WJW1MD" 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/C1pE2Uphx2S.mp4" class="video-url"><input type="hidden" name="" value="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/71DnXczo9aS.png" class="video-slate-img-url"> We all know that the xbox 360's controller was very close to a perfect controller and it was universally liked and it was hard to improve on top of it but Microsoft still did it. They managed to create an even better version of their controller and this is my experience so far.
Good:
Trigger improvements: Microsoft included what they called `Impulse triggers" under the triggers for a very unique result while playing games such as Forza 5
Better D-Pad: The main complaint with the past controller was the squishy D-Pad it had which was not very precise and hard to press. All those bad things are gone with the new buttons.
Analog sticks accuracy has improved considerably and their grippy texture feels amazing. You'll notice the difference especially if you have sweaty hands
Battery life is impressive. I've yet to deplete the duracell included AA batteries after a more than 6-7 hours, which is the time it took my PS4 controller to die. The space to put the batteries in the back is not as prominent as the 360's controller reducing the bulkiness appearance. Even after your batteries die, you will be able to use the controller with a wired connection using the micro USB port.
According to what I read, the Xbox uses the Kinect to know when you've put the controller down, to watch TV for example, and puts it in a state which consumes less power than usual.
So-So:
Analog sticks are smaller and you might like that and you might not depending on your hand size I guess. For me, I wouldn't mind them being a little bit bigger, but it's not really a bad thing, just wanted to mention it
Bad:
The bumpers have changed and I wouldn't say it's a deal breaker with this controller but if I had to say something bad about it, it's this. They are more difficult to press/click than the 360's version so depending on the game you're playing, if it has heavy use of the bumpers you might need some extra time to get used to them.
It doesn't come with a rechargeable battery out of the box so you need to buy it separately (like in this item you're reading) but as I mentioned before you won't need to do this very often. | video-games_xbox |
Broken passing game holds the title from becoming a great game. Like many of you diehard football fans out there, each year I become really hyped up about the latest installment of EA's NCAA football title. And each year, I would try to stay optimistic that EA would make all the changes necessary to deliver a true sim college football game. Yet each year when I popped my game disc into my Xbox 360, I would walk away disappointed. This year is no different.
No, please don't get me wrong, I'm no EA hater. In fact, I've been a fan of the company for almost a decade. But I'm really beginning to wonder why the firm almost takes 2 steps backward after taking a small baby step forward. True, the new locomotion engine makes the running game fun to play, but now the passing game is broken. For example, as the IGN editor puts it, the Corners, SS, FS, and "LBs now have stone-cold hands to knock down balls." If you put the game on All-American difficulty, not only are you challenged with defensive ball knock-downs, you will constantly be challenged by the defensive rushes. Well you might ask "Isn't locomotion supposed to fix blocking issues?" The answer is no. The A.I. will just simply overpower the O-line and you'll have about 2 seconds MAX on average after each snap to get rid of the ball. It just doesn't matter if you get a good pre-snap read because 1) you have no time to throw, and 2) just as locomotion makes your receivers run faster, it also makes the DBs run faster too, so your WRs are just as covered as the previous years' versions of the game. So in many games, you won't be surprised to see your pass completion rate below 50%. If you browse the EA forum for NCAA football, you'll also find many other fans who unfortunately are experiencing the same problem.
For me, I'm the always the pass-first kind of NCAA Football Player. Therefore the broken passing game is what kills the game. Nonetheless, if you are the type of player who likes to pound the ball or run the option attack, you'll find this game to be enjoyable. | video-games_xbox |
Top of the class AI and Physics. Forza 5 is an excellent racing sim. I have and still do play MANY racing "sims". Whether it's on PC, Playstation, or Xbox I've probably played it or still do play it.
My focus is on physics, AI and the quality of what I get when it comes to this particular series. Typically PC sims deliver quality tracks, physics, and cars...but not a lot of content up front (thankfully there's a good community to add things). Some console sims deliver a lot of content, but lack in quality physics or AI, while others focus on other things.
I'd say while Forza 5 has a bit less content than the last entry, due to a rebuild of the entire game engine and some cars, what they have delivered is incredibly well done. The physics, with all assists off, are incredible. Very few racing games allow you to actually "FEEL" as if you're in control of a real car. You can feel the "edge" in this game. Each car feels unique and realistic. The tracks that are in the game (hopefully we get more son) are very well realized. Feeling the wheel (and seeing it on screen) shake and shudder on certain tracks is right on. Great stuff.
When it comes to AI...I'd say I've not raced any better. It almost seems like the AI is getting better as I play too. I don't mean better as in more difficult, but better as in "smarter'. It's a really interesting experience. I initially could take most of the AI with no problem, however, in some of the higher class races the AI is putting up some serious battles...with me and between themselves. Honestly, this is GREAT to see. I've become accustom to AI that breaks too early (even in my recent experience with GT6 this happens at ridiculous times) or that simply seems to follow a line behind each other like they're on a Sunday drive. This seems to be fading away with Forza 5. The AI can act anywhere from sheepish to absolutely daring and suicidal....and no, that's not a bad thing..lol.
Anyway, this is an excellent racer through and through. I've completed over 100 races and have only used about half of the cars in my garage. I've got so much money I don't know what to do with it, and can't wait to play through all the classes and events. Great game....hope they bring a ton of content in the future. | video-games_xbox |
A Fanastic Tale of Brothers in Arms that Truly Turn the Gears of War. In a nutshell, gears of war is a great game. The story is very interesting and original and it's easy to follow if you pay attention during the game and in the cutscenes. The single player experience is fantastic. The weapons are diverse and unique, especially the Torque Bow. The bow is basically a metal bow and arrow thatn shoots explosive arrows that can stick to targets if they are charged long enough. The chainsaw is awesome, there is nothing more gratifying than seeing your enemy lying in pieces moments after you jacked him up with that chainsaw. The curbstomp move is also cool, but it's gears 2 that really delivers the superior execution display. The cover system is a great idea, and they made it work pretty well, but the huge flaw is that the A button that they use for cover is used for way too many other things as well. I always find myself with almost no health left about to die and a try to save myself by hiding behind a wall, but I roll by accident, since it also uses the A button which costs me my life and I end up in pieces torn apart by a machine gun. This is very frustrating, but the idea is great, so you have to give Epic some credit for that. The checkpoint system is satisfactory in this game and they are frequent enough. The final point I want to make about this is my opinion and I am going to try to be respectful, like I failed to do in my Wii review. The multiplayer in gears 1 is terrible. It is extremely repetetive and always just ends up as a shotgun duel. It's the only gun people ever use in multiplayer and it's really annoying. Also, you don't respawn until the next round in pretty much every mode, so if you get a really cheap death (like a quick and last minute shotgun to your stomach) you have to spend the next 5 minutes doing nothing. It's nice that this edition comes with the map packs though, that certainly allows you to save a couple of bucks. Overall, this is a great game. It's a fantastic game to purchase if you do not have Xbox LIVE. I enjoy gears 1 as a single player package only, but it is a fantastic game. | video-games_xbox |
May not be the most original, but still a lot of fun. I was looking forward to this game for a long time and it did not disappoint me. Most people compare this game to the God of War games, but I haven't played any of those games so I can't comment on that. All I know is that this is a very solid action title that should definitely be played by any who loves the genre, but may not own a PS3.
The story, in a nutshell, is that you are a crusader named Dante who is fighting through the nine circles of hell (Limbo, Lust, Gluttony, Greed, Anger, Heresy, Violence, Fraud and Treachery) trying to rescue your lover Beatrice. If you are a fan of the epic poem you'll probably want to know that this game takes a lot of liberties with the story. Now on to the gameplay.
The fighting is definitely the highlight of this game. You can either use the unholy scythe, you get from defeating Death, or your holy cross. The scythe is your typical melee type weapon and your cross plays similar to that of a gun or projectile. Along with the scythe and the cross there are also magic attacks that you can collect during the course of the game.
Throughout the game you can upgrade either or both the holy and unholy paths, which will improve your cross or scythe, respectively. You can upgrade these by collecting souls, which are basically the currency of the game. Also throughout the game you find holy and unholy relics that can be used for various things that will help you in the game. For example, one allows you to gain more unholy experience when you punish victims and another allows you to gain more holy experience when you absolve victims. There are tons of items to find in the game which should keep you busy if you're a completionist.
There were some issues I had with the game too. First and foremost, the platforming. There are areas in the game that are platforming heavy and some of these got a little frustrating at times. I died way more in this game due to bad platforming than getting killed by the various creatures you encounter. I also was not a fan of the consistent quick time events. For anyone who may not know, these are sections in a game where you have to press a specific button (or buttons) in an alotted amount of time to get your character to perform certain actions. These happen a lot in boss battles and when punishing/absolving your opponents. I also hated having to pound the B button everytime I wanted to break open a health, mana or soul fountain or open a door.
Another thing I wanted to mention was the level design of the game. The first 4 levels of the game are amazing. All completely unique from the next. However, as you descend into the lower circles of hell the levels start feeling very similar, in my opinion. Slightly on the topic of the level design, this game is definitely not for children. Besides the intense violence, blood and gore there is a good deal of nudity in this game. At times it is completely unnecessary and in other instances (the Lust level for example) it makes more sense.
One last thing before I wrap up this review. This game is very short. During my first playthrough it only took me a little over 6 hours to complete and that was searching quite a bit for everything. I didn't find everything there was to find, so if you spend time doing that it will certainly up the play time. On the plus side, you'll probably want to go back and play through at least one more time in order to max out your holy and unholy experience paths. So there is some replayability if you enjoyed the game the first time through.
So to wrap things up, this game doesn't reinvent the wheel and it has its issues, but it is a mostly enjoyable game to play through. Well as enjoyable a game about traveling though the nine circles of hell can be I guess. It is a lot of fun too, so if you are a fan of action/hack & slash type games I would definitely recommend giving this game a try. | video-games_xbox |
Without the extreme gore, it's generic as ever. Certainly, I've played my fair share of FPS games and Third person military shooters ranging from classics like Shellshock Nam 67', the Conflict series and of course Call of Duty and Battlefield without say.
With that said, Soldier of Fortune is as generic as a shooter could possibly be.
I'm not saying this because it's not Battlefield, Counter Strike, Call of Duty, Operation flashpoint etc. I'm saying it because you don't have to have much skill at playing FPS's in order to beat this game. Onto the review.
Graphics-
Honestly, the graphics were really good. I liked the gun models which were reminiscent of games like Black with it's realistic modeling. The weapon detail is spot on. The backgrounds are also highly detailed. I especially liked the South America level in which intricate details like leaves, individual grass blades, rocks and wooden bridges seem to be done with such care.
This game has a lot of gore and although you're bound to see fountains of blood gush out of an enemy after blowing them to pieces, chances are, if you're into gore-filled games, you'd be pleased to know that not only will you see blood spills, but you're bound to see it splatter and stain walls and the ground as well as anything near. Although it somewhat rivals the gore in games like Fallout, some of the damage is a tad ridiculous if you ask me. Being able to make a guy's head explode from a standard handgun is way to over the top than believable.
With this said, I had quite a few gripes about this game's graphics. The first being that there are problems like frame rate lag at times, texture pop-in and slight screen tearing (this is the least of the graphical problems). The frame rate issues can be quite bothersome during the heat of battle; and happens quite often. The animation while good, can be very jerky and lacks the smoothness present in most FPS's. Other than that, the graphics are pretty good.
Sound-
I did not like the sound in this game. Guns sound identical, explosions sound decent, the speech was pretty good, the music is forgettable and it all seemed like a lazy job.
Gameplay-
Knowing that game reviewers and critics complained about FPS's like Rogue Warrior; but not this game is mind boggling.
The gameplay boils down to the following- Shoot, reload and shoot some more while tossing in a good amount of gore.
Strategy's the least bit to worry about in this game being that enemies are damn near brain dead. Enemies will rush at you and take cover right out in the open. Amping the difficulty does nothing more than beef the damage level up rather than improve the AI.
You're also given a melee attack which is reminiscent of CODMW1 via a knife attack, but it looks so weak that it really isn't worth pulling off.
The good part about this game would be blowing enemies to pieces with a shotgun or blowing their limbs off in fast paced levels. It's a shame, because the last SOF game that was released on the Xbox was such a good game while this one pales in comparison and only improves the graphics.
Overall.
Good graphics, lots of gore, fast-paced action that requires little thinking whatsoever, bad sound. If you can find it for the price I got it which was under 4 dollars, then I'd say buy it. | video-games_xbox |
It doesn't do a whole lot, but what it does do, it does well. I am always wary when a different studio takes over a sequel to a solid first game (Knights of the Old Republic 2, anyone?, but fortunately, Monolith and WB delivered! I put off buying this game for a long time, because...well it seems like every game that is released to even marginal success gets at least one sequel.
Anyways, as for the game itself, it's nothing unique, or special. And it doesn't try to be. I will say that this game was, I felt, about half as suspenseful as the first, which is still moderately tense. Anyone who played the first and had the holy hell scared out of them the first time they went down a ladder (boarding the ladder, and turning around to come face to face with a child Alma), will still feel a slight tension every time they go to climb on a ladder, wondering if this is the time it will happen. With this game, there are creepy moments here and there, but nothing lasting. This game is more just a straight shooter.
I didn't run into any glitches, and some of the new things you are able to do will make you grin a little (I don't know about anyone else, but being able to flip over tables or slide couches to use as cover was a nice touch to me). The main reason this game gets 4 stars and not 5 is the story. It's very disjointed. I think if you were reading the novelization it would work well, because there is a lot of jumping back and forth in regards to mission objectives. You spend the first half of the game trying to find this certain guy, and then you finally reach him and he gives you a prototype weapon, and then almost immediately has his head ripped from his body. And you're left thinking...uh, what was the whole point of that? Just to get a new weapon? Genevieve Aristide is also present throughout the game, but again, she is sort of half-assed into the story and then becomes like a ehhh, forget about her (til the very end).
What frustration there is in this game comes not from poor gameplay mechanics or a sketchy framerate (neither of which I encountered), but rather from not knowing exactly why you're doing the things you're doing. Go here and find this, and then go here, and now follow your crazy squad member. I think in their desire to have a game that keeps a lot of the backstory to itself, and have a little mystery, the developers retained too much information, and at the end of the game (the most complained about thing I've read about from others), you are left feeling like...huh? I myself had to Google the end to figure out what the hell happened.
But it's a minor point. Almost all of the weapons in this game are fun to use and very useful (except the flamethrower...what'sgoingon?) The is a lot of blood and gore, and extreme violence. Occasionally it will get annoying how many enemies keep coming at you, but since the action aspect of the game is the strongest point, it really can't be that big a complaint. All in all, this game does more right than it does wrong. | video-games_xbox |
Color Explosion and tons of fun . Sunset overdrive is a game that we have been waiting for. After all the tired , rehashed and unoriginal games we continue to get , insomniac has raised the bar and given us something truly original and tons of fun..
While apocalypse games are typically rendered in shades of brown and grey , insomniac ( the developers ) have created a vibrant color filled playground. Everything is bright and beautiful , its like an explosion of beautiful colors that never stop. It really reminds me of an over the top amusement park that spans miles and miles ( this is a huge open game world ) ..
Insomniac has created a frenetic traversal system that provides you with the ability to grind along power lines , bounce off cars , run along skyscrapers and skim across water , you could literally travel the whole city and never set one foot on the ground. The system is also very forgiving , if you miss your jump there is always something else close by to grab ahold of and continue to grind away..
The sense of freedom in this game even extends to your character. At any time during the game you can change your characters looks , from big or small , shaggy or smooth , white , black or brown.. It can all be changed letting you reimagine yourself at any time. The many wacky and over the top customization is simply mind-boggling.
Your ultimate goal is to take down the evil corporation that unleashed the orange colored swill on the city's population and escape the city. Along the way there are ninja cheerleaders , killer balloons , and spoiled brats just to name a few and you also get an awesome appearance of buzz Osborne.. lol , like I said before , this game is over the top ..
The weapons in this game are various and like everything else over the top and sometimes WAY over the top. You can literally run around with a penis shaped weapon spitting green energy fire as you run around destroying the enemies around you. This kept me laughing to myself for quite a while when I had the weapon equipped. This is just one example of the crazy array of weapons you have at your disposal.
If you want a break from the long campaign , take your play online with some friends with modes specifically designed with co op in mind. This is a game you can enjoy completely alone or with some of your favorite friends , its really has something for everyone..
To wrap this up , if you want an insanely fun games with over the top game play and an explosion of beauty on your screen then this is the game for you. This open world RPG/shooter simply has it all and will not disappoint..
Solid 5 out of 5 | video-games_xbox |
Zank's Review. Story: Aside from the aspect of everything being Chopin's dream, the story is pretty decent. It runs on many clichd ideas, but the main point is what matters and I judge it for what its worth. I guess what I'm trying to say is that I loved the story, but it wasn't really all that unique or original aside from the initial point; Chopin's dream.
Music: This game has got to have the one of the best soundtracks in any RPG or game, for that matter. It's full of beauty and really gets you to feel the area. Sometimes, I would find myself stopping everything to just sit back and listen to the music of the current area. The remix of Revolutionary Etude is something you don't want to miss either!
Battle system: When playing Grandia III, I didn't think turn based battle systems could get anymore addicting or exciting. But after playing Eternal Sonata, I realized I was wrong. This, by far, has one of the best turn based battle systems I have yet to play. Though, that may be because it's a hybrid of real time and turn based mechanics. Its easy to understand and the learning curve is pretty quick. But by far, my favorite aspect is how it changes slightly throughout the game as you get `Party Level Ups'. This, for the most part, ends up changing many of your strategies and can push you to the limits if you aren't careful. Each Party Level introduces something new, and keeps things interesting. All in all, it's the most addicting battle system (in general) since Tales of the Abyss. At least, in my opinion.
Graphics: I never knew that cell shaded graphics could look so beautiful. In this game, you will see some of the most fluid and smooth cell shaded graphics and characters. If there was never a reason to get an HDTV, there is one now. The entire game is full of vibrant colors; beautiful all in their own regard. Even one of the first dungeons, which takes place in a sewer, is just full of beauty.
Aside from those categories, I really enjoyed the characters. Some of the voice actors weren't to my liking, but for the most part, I was satisfied with them. But for those who enjoy the Japanese voices over the English ones have the option to switch between them! Which is a lovely feature in a game like this. So either way, you should be pleased with the voices.
There wasn't an area I didn't like, and there wasn't a moment I didn't love. My only gripe is how short the game is. You can easily beat it in a good 20-30 hours. For everything it had to offer, I only wish it was longer. | video-games_xbox |
Challenging, fun and atmospheric...but it could had been better. Pros:
-One of the most difficult games this generation. It's a part of the game; to die, to over come your mistakes and to head forward. It isn't really a game for everyone, but truly a game for hardcore gamers.
-Addictive. Leveling up your character, weapons, armor etc. And finding new weapons, magic and items always makes you wanna keep on playing and overcome the tougher foes and areas.
-Awesome and unique enemy designs. This is one of the things that draws me into the game, to explore new enemies even if I'm frustrated by the difficulty.
-Epic boss battles. There's tons of boss fights, they make you feel like you're back in NES era where boss fights were actually challenging.
-Solid gameplay. There's no button mashing. There's a health bar and a stamina bar. The stamina bar forces you to plan your attacks wisely and so as blocking.
-A large interconnected world. Unlike Demon's souls, the game consists of a huge world with tons of hidden areas. There is exploration waiting in every corner. There are checkpoints scattered around the world known as bonfires to aid your journey.
-Awesome stages. One of the best things about this game are the stages. Technically, you can refer to them as 'areas'. One of the finest and most unique. None of them get boring and your jaw will drop at times. Games these days make you think that devs ran out of ideas which makes a game repetitive. But not this game! Where do they come up with such great ideas?
-Atmospheric. This is certainly one of the most atmospheric games I have played this gen. The sense of loneliness and the environment around you just sucks you into the game.
-Unique online component. Unlike other games where there's matchmaking, this game has a rather different approach. First of all, players can leaving messages in your path which gives small but vital information (example, new weapon ahead, treasure, tough foe, shortcut etc). You can see bloodstains which shows marks the death of other players in that spot. You can also see ghostly figures running around which are players just like you doing their own thing. You can play co-op but it's nothing like what you think. You need items within the game which gains you access to co-op. Also, you world can be invaded by other people playing online. Meaning, the game spawns another player into your game who try to kill you. It is much more complex and this was just a summary.
Cons:
-Terrible voice acting. Needs no explanation, it's just terrible.
-Frame rate issues. Areas with a lot of detail are prone to frame rate drops. Example, blighttown, an area where the framerate becomes god awful. If this game had a smoother frame rate, it would had been much more imersive.
-Graphics seem aged. There is no contest when this game is compared to games that came out this year. Heck, it looks like a game from 2007-2008. While not a huge con, better graphics certainly would had enhanced the experience since the art style of this game is amazing.
-Not a story driven game. Again, it's not really a big of a deal but Dark Souls isn't strong when it comes to story telling. | video-games_xbox |
Save yourself the frustration. I plan on being as objective as possible in the review of this headset. However, my objectivity might seem a bit harsh...That being said, let me tell you guys a little bit about my reasons for purchasing this headset. Until the day that I purchased this new headset, I had been relying on the old microsoft headset that came with the xbox for about 2 and a half years. I had no issue with that headset and I feel that if a headset can last nearly 3 years, then it is pretty good, especially with my above average use of the xbox live trashtalking feature. Anyway, long story short, the little attachment that connects the mic and speaker to the headband broke off and I am tired of taping it back together. I bought this new mic under the impression that it would be cheap and might last for about 1 and a half or maybe two years. Honestly, I was just hoping that it would last me the summer. I got the headset and the first thing that I noticed was that the sound was only about 1/2 the amplitude of the old microsoft mic. The next thing that I noticed was that I would often have to plug, remove, and re-plug the mic cord in order to get the controller to recognize it. Despite these little quirks, I was prepared to weather the storm so to speak. Well, on the second day, I received complaints from my friends and random people in my game lobbies that my mic was echoing and that it was making a weird static-laiden noises, and on the third day, the mic just completely stopped working. So, needless to say, I would urge everyone who is considering this mic to consider another brand, perhaps a few bucks more expensive, but much better in quality. Honestly, I am just considering buying another microsoft mic for like 12 dollars. It would have been better to have done that earlier and I wouldnt have had to go through the hastle of ordering the thing and then still being without a fully functioning mic for the summer. So that's my advice to fellow gamers. | video-games_xbox |
The fun of The Sims 3 on your 360, if you can stomach the glitches. I'm going to admit that I haven't had a ton of face time with this game. Sure, I know the ins and outs of it, how it plays and such, from watching someone else play it for hours on end (I bought it for them), but I've only done rudimentary stuff with it personally. I will say that what I played of the game is better then I remember the original Sims game being way back when, and very very much better then the original Sims port was for the PS2 when I had that. a game that swore me off console ports of Sims games. The fact that EA decided to simply port the entire game to the consoles, instead of just an objectives based half-port, is exciting to me.
I'm also fairly surprised that they were able to map the buttons needed to play the game to a controller so well -they're a little convoluted, but they work.
But, you might be asking, why don't I play it more then, if it excites you so much? Well, the answer to that is actually where the two stars I've knocked off come in.
While watching the game be played one day, the person I bought it for and I decided to get something to eat and come back later. Okay, fair enough, save the game, turn off the console, go eat. Well, later when we came back to it and they loaded in their most current save -something you'd do with any game your playing. But when the save loaded the game became a choppy, corrupted mess. After closing the game and restarting the 360 multiple times, the game save itself was obviously corrupted.
Obviously angry, we started a new game and built everything up over the next day or so. Next week, when we had more time to sit with it, the game was --again-- corrupted, pretty much everything lost to a horrible stutter-y mess.
Now, we both knew that Sims games do this, its been a series staple to suddenly have your games get funky after so much work is done, usually in spite of your dedication. But you'd sort of figure that if your going to bring a game to the consoles, a game so well known to have bugs like this that its becomes a series wide joke, that a little more care would be taken to weed out the problems.. But, of course, that seemed to be asking a little much from The Sims and EA.
Overall, if the game didn't corrupt on a irregular basis, for unknown reasons, I'd be playing it -and I still might on a separate 360 profile, so I don't net unwanted achievements on a game that I'll never be able to finish out. But the problems so bad that the person I bought it for isn't really even wanting to spend time with it any more, which kind of makes it feel like a waste of money. Tread with caution on this one.
(Side note: As of writing this I'm pretty much 100% positive that EA's never bothered trying to patch the issue, though they did know about the issue when I spoke to them about it about a year ago) | video-games_xbox |
Excellent game, but certainly not for everyone. Record of Agarest War is a Japanese Turn based strategy game, that takes place in the fantasy world of Agarest, you start the game as a traditional hero who is decides to turn his back on his country after witnessing the horrors of the war you fighting. After being mortally wounded, you make a pact with a goddess who grants you the strength to fight against your former allies, her condition, however is your soul, and the souls of your children(this actually is not as bad as it sounds, she is essentially just a guide character). The game features what is called the "Soul Breed" system, which allows you to marry one of three female characters per generation, and from this marriage your child continues the story. There are five generations in total, with three possible love interests per generation, your level of attraction to a character is what determines your child's stats after they are born.
However, this game does have some things that some players may not enjoy(I assume you're ok with Turn-based RPGs), as they could be deal breakers, and I'll list them from most deal breaking to least (I didn't mind any of this, but I thought I should include it)
1. No English voice acting, none, it's all English text boxes with Japanese voices. (Some combat dialogue is not translated at all, this bothered me a bit).
2. The story is told through Visual Novel style dialogue scenes (Anime style characters in front of generic backgrounds) There are no fully animated cut scenes save for the Opening sequence.
3. Slightly broken combat system: This one works both ways, because you can link characters by moving them to specific places in the combat area, which allows any linked character to move to and attack with any other linked character, even if it isn't their move yet, this can allow you to attack with all of your characters on the first move, and sometimes additional times during the turn if they get enough AP back between actions. The enemy can also use this, and often does during boss encounters, enemies also seem to have vastly increased AP compared to your characters, as they can often attack as many as four times per enemy per turn (depending on the move and how much AP you've stored up you'll probably be able to get at most three moves out per turn).
4. Map movement is tedious: Moving to a new location requires that you defeat multiple areas along the way to the destination(these are cleared after you beat them the first time), however you also have to walk along these long, winding paths to get back to an area you've already cleared(to use shops, etc.) and sometimes the game's movement system refuses to allow you to walk down certain paths(this is easily remedied with the quick travel system, but I found it to be somewhat clunky and annoying to use.
5. Graphics leave a lot to be desired, the environments are 3D, but characters and enemies appear to be 2.5D sprites of a sort, which while they are relatively well animated, can sometimes become lost in large groups. Weapon and Magic effects vary wildly, some seem just right while others appear to be much stronger or weaker than they should.
Long story short, I found this game to be incredibly fun and engaging, with a vast and sweeping story line spanning multiple generations of player characters across a vast and interesting fantasy world. While it certainly isn't for everybody, fans of similar titles will certainly enjoy it. | video-games_xbox |
Brilliant Action RPG. Sacred 2 is a niche game, as evidenced by the disparity in its review scores. For every person who thinks this is one of the best RPGs out there, there will be another who doesn't see the appeal. That said, here are the top four things you should know about Sacred 2.
1. Complex, Challenging, and Rewarding Leveling System
Sacred 2 has one of the deepest character development systems you may ever find, especially on a console. Depending on your willingness to commit to the game, this can be a downside, though I believe it is the game's greatest strength. Each of the six characters has unique special attacks and a variety of skills to choose from, and there are multiple ways to build each class. I have pages of personal notes, have spent hours researching online, and have invested 200+ hours playing this game, and I am STILL learning the finer points of each character's development.
There are five difficulty levels: bronze, silver, gold, platinum, and niobium. Bronze and silver are initially the only ones available. When you beat one level, you can start the game over on the next highest difficulty with that same character, all loot and skills intact. This does not mean the game is short, though. You could easily spend 40-50 hours on each playthrough, and over 100 if you tried to do every quest. The average player can use a few characters (Shadow Warrior, Seraphim, Dryad) to begin on silver without too much trouble, though taking a character into higher difficulties requires serious planning and careful development. Be aware that it is possible to inadvertently drive a character build into the ground, causing game progress to become all but impossible. In the case of the High Elf character, this can even happen on the easy difficulties. The leveling is such a joy, however, that I have never minded restarting a character six, seven, eight times to get it right, sometimes scrapping 30 or 40 hours of gameplay to build a "perfect" character. The level cap is 200, and pacing your character is essential to making it to the top.
2. Loot!
To help you build your character, the game offers you a massive supply of loot. Items pop up merrily from fallen foes in small, glittering sacks, and barrels, chests, crates, and other objects can be cracked open throughout towns and dungeons. Characters have around eight equipment slots (i.e. helmet, pauldrons, arm bands, gloves, chest piece, waistband, leggings, and boots), as well as slots for rings and amulets. This means you will have many opportunities to add new, attractive, and powerful items to your character. Many of these can be modified at blacksmiths in town, and you will be constantly adding new equipment through the first 40 or 50 levels of your character. There are also several ways to increase the odds of finding quality loot, and choosing the appropriate abilities on high-level characters ensures you can continue to regularly find new and better weapons and armor.
3. Constant Combat
As may be evident by now, the focus of the game is on building your character. In the service of this, there are endless waves of enemies to be slain, and they respawn quickly. If that thought makes you cringe, keep in mind that the excitement of this game comes from leveling a character, trying out new skills and abilities, and gathering weapons and armor. For me, this means that I am always eager to find a new batch of baddies trolling around. Battle probably constitutes 80-90% of the time spent playing this game, so it is truly an action RPG.
Be aware that this is a PC port. Though ostensibly the same as a console action RPG like <a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/Champions-of-Norrath/dp/B0000CDZBC/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">Champions of Norrath</a>, Sacred 2 does not usually allow/require direct control over attacks. For example, instead of pointing the control stick in the direction of an enemy and pumping the attack button for a melee attack, you simply hold the desired button and watch your character systematically attack whichever foes are nearest. Some spells have an attack radius and require you to target the desired AOE, and initial attacks can usually be directed at a particular group of enemies, but this game is not a button-masher. Despite this, combat feels fast and exciting, and I rarely find my character attacking the "wrong" enemy.
4. Weak, Almost Absent Storyline
The back of the game box claims Sacred 2 has a "rich story," but don't be fooled. Dialogue and plot in this game are the barest excuses to guide your character from one area to the next. Dialogue is short and to the point, and might as well read, "now go here and kill this." Some side quests are quirky and humorous, but eventually you'll probably lose interest in why you're raiding the bandit camp, cavern, haunted ruins, etc. Given the nature of the game, I actually appreciate this, as it lets me dig right into the gameplay without watching emotionless faces tell their 10-minute personal backstories. If story is important to you, however, be aware that this game does not have a good one.
There are so many other things I could talk about with this game, like the beautiful, highly detailed environments that are found in most areas, the open exploration and hidden boss monsters, or the unusual sense of humor the game has. Sacred 2 also has some terrific non-combat music that plays while you explore. But it really comes down to this: if you want a story-driven RPG with dialogue trees and branching plotlines, don't even consider this game. Go buy <a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/The-Witcher-2-Assassins-Of-Kings-Enhanced-Edition/dp/B006GHA8EE/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">The Witcher 2: Assassins Of Kings Enhanced Edition</a>,<a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/Dragon-Age-Origins-Ultimate-Edition/dp/B0045ZIENQ/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">Dragon Age Origins: Ultimate Edition</a>, or even <a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/Elder-Scrolls-V-Skyrim/dp/B004HYK956/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim</a>. But if you love looting, combat, and exploration, and want to build a unique and highly customizable character over increasingly difficult playthroughs, Sacred 2 is the game for you. | video-games_xbox |
Good Stuff. This is a great headset. To start off its compatible with the PS3, 360, and PC. I use it with my PS3 and my PC. I have my pc like a foot away from where my PS3 is, so when I want to switch it over to my PC for stereo audio output I just take out the USB cable for the mic and put it into the PC. Its also convenient that the mic volume control also doubles as the headset volume control when using the usb as the audio source for PC as I just mentioned.
Games
Modern Warfare 2
I got these while I was still playing Modern Warfare 2. The increased ability to hear people running, walking, reloading, and pulling a pin on a grenade is amazing. I could hear people and pick up their location from about a half the distance of the map Rust, thats 30+ feet. By picking up on all these sounds I was able to wall people more and be snuck up on way less.
Black Ops
Alot of this changed though when Block Ops came out. I have never hated an FPS more than Black Ops. On MW2 all the surface you walked on were wooden, metal, or concrete, these all produced a sound. However on Black Ops you can also walk on sand and light amounts of water. I've found that a third of the time when a is player running they don't produce footsteps (yes, I watch the killcam to make sure they aren't crouched or using ninja). Which is really annoying, if your putting out this type of money for surround sound headphones. All I can say is, this is probably do to the different developers attention to detail.
Movies
I also like to use these when I'm watching a DVD or Blu-ray. You end up getting emmerced in your own little world with the surround sound. These headphones are also very good at blocking out external noises. The only thing to complain about is the lack of a bass control. These headphones are whimps when it comes to producing bass.
How they Compare
I had a pair of Turtle Beach P21's (one of the sides eventually blew out) which I also used on the PS3, they also allowed for the ability to detect enemies that I spoke about above. Not to the same extent but pretty close through the simulated surround compability they offer which can also be turned on or off. The thing I liked about the P21's over this headset is the bass control, this is a big plus for me. Since I play FPS's the ability for my headset to create bass is a deal breaker. The ability of the P21's to rock me through explosions and gun fire is awesome. After I bought these headphones my bro bought some PX21's, which are even better than the P21's because of even richer sound and bass. Honestly I would trade these in for a pair of PX21's.
Pros
Surround Sound
Ability to connect to many devices
Blocks external audio sources
Detachable mic
Cons
Pricetag
Lack of a bass control
Real whimpy bass
Over-all rating
4/5
The only reason I don't give it a 5/5 is becase of they're whimpy at producing bass, and lacking a control for it. I prefer the Turtle Beach PX21's over these. | video-games_xbox |
Brilliant improvement- Upgraded D-pad, Impulse triggers, and ridiculously and comfortably slick. Ok, first, let me get one thing out of the way.
The xbox 360 controller was probably one of the best, if not the best, gaming pads I have ever had the privilege to use. Even after all these years on market, it never gets old.
Now, the X1 controller is, without a doubt, a new standard in the xbox's line-up of controllers. I have bought this one from gamestop and it's in my home, ready to be played with the xbox one, so this review is a summary of using the controller from all of the events that I have attended (xbox one tours, microsoft store xbox one events, e3, gamescom, etc.) so I have had a fairly lengthy time using the controller. The ergonomics are simply brilliant as the controller fits snugly in your hand and it is a bit smaller and tighter so all the buttons are more easily reachable.
One of the best things about the new controller is the impulse triggers feature. Oh, man. These things are just great. They said that they integrated a whole bunch of tiny rumble parts so that when you shoot a weapon, drive a car, run in a game, etc.- whatever you do in a game will match the action to the rumble feedback for more realism. I tried this out with forza and man, this is a world of difference. This feature alone would warrant this controller 5 stars, but the improved grip on the thumbsticks, the more fluid trigger-to-button layout, and the removal of the battery pack bulge on the back add even more value to this controller.
Now, the last thing I have to mention. The D-pad has been finally fixed. It now rests in a depressed setting at the same location as the x360 controller, but now the D-pad is designed to work flawlessly with fighting games and other games that rely more on the D-pad. I tried this out with killer instinct at one of the events and it worked wonders. Huge, huge improvement over the xbox 360 D-pad (which was just awkward).
Overall, the Xbox One controller is brilliant, already piling more improvements and features on top of an already awesome xbox 360 controller.
The improved D-pad, innovative impulse-triggers feedback mechanism, insanely comfortable grip and ergonomics, and other tiny little things make the Xbox One controller a great new addition to the Xbox family of controllers.
Oh, and that sweet looking Xbox logo at the top looks slick as ever.
Hopefully, my impressions/review helped any of you guys and gals out.
Peace and game on. | video-games_xbox |
A new and exciting game, but it won't be for everyone. This game is not for the casual gamers. While you can jump right in and start swinging swords, you won't be successful without putting in time and effort. I have been playing random in matched for the most part to get a feel for the different characters, but there are definite advantages to sticking with one character and leveling them up. There are move sets for each character, and you need to be mindful of what you're using before running into a group of enemies
Pros:
-There is an actual story mode that has an interesting story. It's fairly short. There are three stories (Knights, Samurai, Vikings) and each story is 6 chapters. I would say, on normal difficulty, that you can beat each story in 15-30 minutes based on looking for collectibles.
-Graphics remind me of Ryse based on the grittiness and action on the battlefield. It's a lot of fun to look at.
-Immersive world and many different ways to play. A large variety of battlefields.
Cons:
-Steep learning curve. System built like battlefield where you get upgrades and improved weapons/armors/powerups as you play. The PROBLEM here I have with that system is that while you're trying to learn and improve, you're getting demolished by people who are significantly better due to the time they've put in PLUS they have stronger and better equipment.
-Glitchy controls and loading at times, which can often lead to moves you didn't want to make (or a lack of blocking) and getting attacked or killed before you're even able to get into the game. These glitches also can result in you not getting any match bonuses until you quit out.
-Play styles may be repetitive to some based on it all being part of a two button attack layout.
Overall:
This game is a lot of fun. I am not sure if it was worth the wait or not. Time will tell. I will say that it's a very different type of game for me, so it's nice to have something different in my regular rotation. I would probably wait for it in the $40 range, but if you enjoy the game play, you will easily get your money's worth. | video-games_xbox |
Evil Doers Beware, The Hitman Cometh. Reviewed for Big Boss Games by: LEG
When I first picked up and played Hitman Contracts I didn't know what to expect. I had heard many positive things about the game before, but had no clue it would turn out to be such an awesome game. One drawback to Hitman Contracts in particular is that it is somewhat of a sequel to Hitman Silent Assassin. Since I have not played any other Hitman games, I was a bit lost on the whole story line thing. Instead of worrying about who the Hitman was, where he came from and why he does what he does, I just went ahead and played the game. It is a "game" after all and if I want to get into something with a good story, I'll read a book!
Hitman Contracts is the third installment in the series and is a hybrid action/stealth type game. You can change your view from first person to third person with the press of a button. The learning curve wasn't too bad and once you get a "feel" for how the various weapons work, you'll be killing the baddies in no time at all.
At the start of each of the 12 missions, you are briefed on your "marks" or targets. Essentially, to finish each level you just have to take out your designated targets. This is where the game play really gets fun. Since the game is not "linear", you can basically snuff out your marks any way you want, which adds to the replay value of the game. I ended up replaying each mission several times and each time played it in a different way.
If I wanted to be stealthy, I could knock out a bad guy, take his clothes so as to "disguise" myself as that character and take care of the business at hand. However, I had to be very careful. The enemy AI in this game is pretty good and if you seem to be out of place or act too weird, then you become the hunted instead of the hunter!
I was also able to go in with a blaze of glory and blow up everything and everybody to kingdom come! Either method accomplised my main goals, but at the end of the mission my ranking was directly influenced by my actions. So, I could end up being a coveted "Silent Assassin" or your run of the mill, every day, "Mass Murderer." It was totally up to me!
Hitman Contracts for the PC, PS2 and XBox is rated "M" for mature. There are scenes of very intense, extreme, graphic violence, lots of blood and gore, strong language, strong, graphic sexual content and extreme use of drugs.
Overall Score: 8 out of 10 | video-games_xbox |
Fun until the pads fall off. First things first, these are definitely better than the Rock Band 1 drums, as the heads don't crack and the pedal doesn't split in two. That being said, these are not great drums, even for a toy. I've been through no fewer than 6 different kits, maybe more. The first two were bought from a place with no replacement plan, but then I switched to another big box store, as they offered a 2-year replacement plan for $15. That was the best deal, as, with any amount of regular play, these drums will fall apart in about 2 months.
The two heads that get the most play (red & yellow) will bubble, meaning the kindergarten-approved adhesive that Harmonix used to glue the heads on to the kit gets shaken loose from repeatedly being hit and, before you know it, the heads come completely off the kit and are flapping around like fish out of water. In theory, the improvements are great (quieter, velocity-sensitive heads, reinforced kick pedal), and, while the kick pedal always held up just fine for me, the heads were such a huge disappointment, it dramatically lowers the overall rating of the kit. Again, I got them from Best Buy and exchanged them 4 or 5 times in less than a year. However, they no longer carry these drums (Amazon is one of the few places I've seen advertising them as in-stock), so my replacement plan means nothing now (in all fairness, they did give me my money back for the kit and the remainder of the replacement plan).
Hopefully when Harmonix develops RB3 drums (I assume they'll make an RB3), they'll use a single-piece construction on the heads vs. rubber on top of foam, as that's just poor design that never should have made it to the streets, unless Harmonix was building these things to fail so you'd have to buy more. After all, we're all hooked and what other choice do we have (except the $300 Ion kit, which is starting to look like a deal compared to never-ending replacements of a cheaper kit). | video-games_xbox |
Not as Good as First Medal of Honor. I was extremely excited to receive this game in the mail since I loved the first Medal of Honor. I do play Call of Duty games but love MoH as well since they have the same controls. The campaign for this game seemed rushed. The graphics is worse than the first MoH game and the control seemed fine at first, just a little slow so I adjusted it under the control option. I believe on 3rd level where you snipe the enemies on the roof, the control here was ridiculously poor! I play on a huge 60 inch High Definition TV and I have a clear shot on the target but it only registers 1 out of 4 shots. When the helicopter arrives to shoot the rest of the enemies on the roof two of them shots at the helicopter and you have to shot both enemies before they shot the helicopter with the RPG. I can kill the first enemy (which takes 3 to 5 hits, yes both chest and head shots) but it's impossible to kill the last enemy with the RPG (I shot him 3 times with a headshot) but he does not die and manages to hit the helicopter and the games forces you to start over! Anyone else have this problem? I decreased the difficulty to the lowest level and the hits still do not register. Very frustrating game so far and extremely disappointed with this game. I would highly recommend renting or borrowing from friend first before buying this game.
Update on 28 Dec 12.
Following Jenomonix' advice I was able to complete the game in the campaign mode. I haven't tried the multi-player yet so my rating is only based on the campaign mode. I raised the rating from one star to 3 stars. Being a fan of the first Medal of Honor, I was still disspaointed with this game. Overall I thought the graphics and game play was better on the first game. This game felt like a repeat of other FPS games like Call of Duty series. Nothing exciting but still fun to play. Unless the multiplayer is really good, I don't see the replay value on this game. | video-games_xbox |
Way over hyped, but. I'll start off by saying that this game is way over hyped, with the whole "redefines all shooters" thing. It's a good game, and worth $60, but isn't THAT revolutionary.
What the game does have is beautiful graphics, cutscenes are very well done and grenades are much more realistic, unlike halo, your enemies don't just get thrown up in the sky when they're hit with a grenade, they do get torn to shreds. The blood is a slight issue, I personally I have no problem with blood but it does seem a little overdramatic at some points. For instance, when you chainsaw an opponent, it's okay for them to be ripped up and pumping blood, but do we really need blood splattered all over the screen?
The cover system is done very well, but i felt that while they started out strong with it, towards the end they got a little lazy. You're still taking cover at the end, but you really don't use as many "advance transition moves" then you do at the beginning. The music score is okay, nothing you'll really remember. It really isn't a game that will keep you scared, although there are a few moments were you'll see a enemy and think "holy $@%& I have to fight that!!!". A.I. is good in most places, although allies can be incredibly stupid in some places, and they might force you to start over once in a while (act 2 is an A.I. nightmare).
I really wouldn't recommend this to kids under 13, unless you think your child won't be disturbed by the blood and won't repeat the numerous curses they say in this game. If you feel a little uneasy about you child playing Halo however, I would advise you to stay away.
So overall it is a pretty good game, please don't buy it and think that you are about to play the best shooter of all time. It has decent replay value, you'll want to beat a few tiems to get all the achievements. While I may seem very critical of this game, I still say it is worth $60. | video-games_xbox |
BRUTE FORCE ISN'T WHAT I HAD EXPECTED. After watching the video for this game, I had been excited for the release of this game. The day it came out, I ran to Toys R' Us to buy it. But it definately wasn't what I had expected. The whole four person squad is a great feature, don't get me wrong. You can instantly switch between a four elite supercommandos, each with their own special ability. Tex is a tough soldier whose specialty is using dual weapons. Brutus, an alien, is the toughest soldier and his special ability is being able to see anything with a special vision that makes enemies stand out in bright orange. He can also charge at opponents and kill them. Flint is a long-range sniper whose speciality is target-locking. Hawk is a small, but tough soldier who can become invisible and sneak up on opponents and slice them with her powerblade. The weapons in this game are pretty cool and the sound is great. But the storyline is kind of boring. Here is how I rate the game:
Overall: 7 / 10
Gamplay: 6 / 10
Graphics: 8 / 10 (the stongpoint of the game)
Storyline: 4 / 10 (very disappointing)
Value: 5 / 10 (Not worth the $50.00 I spent)
Sound: 7 / 10
If the storyline could be a little bit more intriguing, this game would definately be 4 stars. But even with a better story, this game still wouldn't be great. The third person aspect isn't my favorite. The enemies are strange and not well explained. The sound is decent, but seems like someone accidently forgot to polish them up. The grenades visuals are very good, but the sound is horrid. The weapons have a flat sound to them. But the music during the game is good and the voice acting is great. The missions in the game are very straight forward and they do not really change over the course of the game. They begin to get repetive. Also, the game is set in six different worlds with 18 different missions. But the missions on each world are identical. It seems like somebody didn't even change the layout of them when they progressed to a new mission. This game did not live up to my expectations.
Save your money on this game: just rent it. Don't buy it. This game is fun and the graphics are the core of what keeps you playing; but with the combination of a poor storyline and repetive gameplay make this game not worth buying. This game is ok to rent though. I was very disappointed with Microsoft Game Studios when they realeased this game. The graphics are good, but with the poor storyline, this game is definately not one of my all-time favorites. Save your money: DO NOT WASTE YOUR TIME WITH BUYING THIS GAME. | video-games_xbox |
Sad excuse of a Halo game. For fans of the older Halo games, and even the newer ones such as Halo: Reach, expecting something better or at least up to par than the previous Halo games, this game is not for you. Halo 4 consists of a poorly pieced together campaign with less "Halo goodness" and more of Cortana getting psycho bitchy at everyone, UNSC soldiers calling scientists "Eggheads", and Master Chief getting thrown around. The story line is a solid meh, and the easter eggs feel forced and unoriginal (for example they more often than not reference an easter egg from an older Halo game, or a RvB quote or something). Rather than Firefight, Halo 4 has a mode called "Spartan Ops", a 50-episode minigame where your multiplayer Spartan must repeat the same 5 missions over again 10 times in the same maps from the campaign, with slightly varying outcomes each episode (for example one episode, you might need to save someone on foot, and in another one you need to save someone in a warthog). A very pissy spartan commander chick yells at you through each episode.
The multiplayer has a few good changes, but mostly it feels dry and buggy. My internet connection isn't great, but I've never experienced more lag-based problems in one match than I have with Halo 4. Not sure why that is. Sometimes the countdown to the game starting will freeze and your screen will be blurred over and you can hardly see your gun for the first 3 minutes of the game. Sometimes the person you were just shooting at disappears and five seconds later it turns out you're dead. The gameplay itself is okay, so long as you aren't used to Halo 3 or Reach enough to get pissed off. They added customizable loadouts, which is a good thing to an extent, except for when that douche who is really good with plasma grenades and armor lock uses that for the entire game. The community of Halo 4 is pretty similar to that of Reach, lots of kids, the occasional racist texan. The maps are also from the campaign and Spartan Ops.
Forge has some tools like magnets and gravity volumes that make building maps a little easier, but it's too bad that none of the maps you can use in forge are anything like Forge World from Halo: Reach. They have something called "Forge Island" which you download separately and is supposed to be their substitute of Forge World. It may just be my opinion, but its kind of a piece of crap.
One last thing I wanna add is the styling. This game has appeared to have downgraded since Reach, making armor, enemies, landscapes, weapons, etc. look less realistic and more like a cartoon. The colors are ridiculously vivid (everything looks like the "Juicy" effect from Reach), much less armor detail, and seemingly mono-colored meshes.
Overall, I was not happy with this game. I understand that 343 is trying to keep Halo alive without a lot of Bungie's support, but they're not doing as good a job as they could be. This is all from my almost a year of experience playing this game, and I just feel like I should give my input on Halo 4. Hopefully Halo 5 will be better. | video-games_xbox |
Best console for now. I've had my 360 for over half a year. I am an avid PC gamer and graphics guru and must say the 360 is very impressive and sometimes more enjoyable to use than my PC, especially when I have friends over.
This console has the best graphics thus far though this has more to do with the developers than with the hardware. Gears of War and Rainbow 6 Vegas look better than the best looking PS3 game, Resistance: Fall of Man by far. This is using the component cables on an HDTV. Even original Xbox games such as Halo 2 look great up-converted.
The console also serves as a media center. Microsoft has made an effort to make the 360 work seemlessly with Media Player 10 and Windows Media Edition. You can stream music and videos off of your networked PC.
Xbox live is amazing. Games like Gears are a blast to play online. You will need a gold account to play the games online but there should be a free 30 day trial membership that comes with the system as soon as you sign up a gamertag on Xbox live. They offer free demos for almost every game online. Demos and other media, such game videos and trailers are available to Xbox silver members. Silver is free to all and gold costs $[...] for a 13 month subscrption. Both memberships will automatically update your games if there is one available. Don't mod! This could get your console bricked.
I can not list all the pros but I can say I have had some pleasant surprises from Microsoft.
While I firmly believe the 360 is the best console on the market so far, it is by no means perfect. Here are some gripes I have:
-The peripherals are high quality but still too expensive. Sometimes there are better deals online.
-The wireless network adapter is FAR too expensive. I recommend buying a gaming bridge from D-Link or Linksys online.
-The price will be dropping but nobody knows when. Microsoft has yet to announce a date for a price drop.
-The console has frozen on me twice. Once because it overheated and once because it just crashed. It still works perfectly now. Keep this console is a well ventilated place.
-The 360 will not upconvert regular DVDs unless you are using the VGA adapter.
-There is no digital output such as HDMI or DVI yet though Microsoft could (and should) make one with little hassle.
-The wireless controllers are my favorite controllers so far for any console but they require 2 AA batteries. I suggest buying rechargeable NiMH AA batteries instead of the quick charge kit Microsoft sells.
-It gets loud but I find it less annoying than my PS2 (for reference).
-The hard drive is needed for original Xbox games because it uses an emulater. This only gives 13 gigs of free space.
-It is not backwards compatible with all of the original Xbox games. There is a list of backwards compatible games on the Xbox website. They are supposed to periodically release updates so that more original Xbox games are compatible.
-Do NOT buy any separate cooler that draws power directly from the 360 in any way. This voids the warantee and causes system failures.
-Microsoft is releasing a new revision of the 360 early 2007. The new 360 will feature a 65 nm manufacturing process as opposed to the current 90 nm for both the GPU and CPU. What does this mean? For those not so tech savvy, a cooler running console that uses less power.
Finally, here are my reasons to buy this over the PS3, for now. The library is much larger due to the early launch and is filled with great games though Gears is the only "killer app." Most of the games which are coming to both the 360 and PS3 are ported from the 360 and are much better on the 360 in every aspect. This will change since the PS3 just came out and developers can work with it more thoroughly. There will be less exclusives for the PS3 this time around as developers are starting to trust Microsoft and it's large installed consumer base. The PS3 just came out and will undoubtedly have problems just as the 360 did at launch and it is probably wiser to wait until there is a truly great game to buy the PS3 (Heavenly Sword). It's $[...] less and gives you and OPTION to buy a HD-DVD add-on eventually. I would recommend waiting anyways because there will be stand-alone players that will play both Blu-ray and HD-DVD disks. While the disks contain less space than the blu-ray disks, this does not translate into better games. Resistance is not on the same level as Gears. In fact, even R6 Vegas looks and plays better. Both R6 and Gears use less than half the disk space of Resistance. Disk space will matter for some games eventually such as RPGs but that's what multiple DVDs are for. I am not comparing either system to the Wii since the Wii does not offer HD. If you truly want to be informed in the pros and cons of each system there's always wiki. | video-games_xbox |
Great set of Headphones. This is my first set of headphones for gaming, but they compare very favorably to the quality I'm accustomed to from my better in-ear headphones for listening to music (Shure SE315, Klipsch S4, Etymotic HF5). I'd never been a particular fan of Sennheiser's earbuds due to fit issues, but this headset makes me want to take another look at their offerings.
Setup: Setup was super-easy and the included instructions are clear and concise. The only quibble is that you need a free USB port to power the headset, but since it's only drawing power and not communicating with the Xbox, you can use any available powered USB port on any device if your Xbox USB slots are all occupied. The cord's length is very generous and I have no trouble comfortably reaching my couch from across a mid-sized room.
Audio: The audio quality is worlds better than the Dolby 2.1 soundbar system attached to my TV. With the headset I was hearing sound effects in games (birds chirping in Assasin's Creed, water drips in Arkham City) that I'd never noticed before. It also seems to offer a decent advantage in first person shooters like MW3 for hearing enemy footsteps. Short of living alone and being able to crank-up a kitted-out Dolby 7.1 surround sound without offending everyone for several blocks, I'll never go back to gaming without a headset. The microphone is similarly quite good and noticeably better than the standard Microsoft offering.
Fit: Very comfortable and fits very securely. Ample room for adjustment for all head sizes. I do note that my ears, which have an undeniably Obama-esque prominence to them, can get a bit sore after extended (2+ hours) of wear. I suspect that would be an issue with any over-the-ear style headphone in my case.
Build Quality: Seems quite high. The plastics feel to be sturdy and capable of standing up to the standard abuse of being tossed about the floor of a living room and into storage bins. Should survive the most assaults by dogs and toddlers.
Overall: Seems like good value for performance versus pricier wireless and surround sound offerings. My wife loves that I can mute the TV while wearing them so she can read in the same room while I game or watch TV. | video-games_xbox |
Definitely worth a try. After heavy deliberation and checking reviews both online and from friends, I decided to buy New Vegas rather than Fallout 3, and I'm very glad I did! The game captures the atmosphere of the first two games while pulling it all together in a first/third person action/adventure RPG package. I got this game because I got tired of Skyrim, but I wanted to play a game it was similar to.
The skills in the game can be frustrating, but then again, I got spoiled by Skyrim and generally forgot how they worked in Fallout 1 and 2. Still, not even being able to attempt a lock or hack due to the skill requirement needed to open it is frustrating, because there's still the possibility of failure when the game lets you take a crack at it. Strangely enough, skill requirements don't seem to matter as much when it comes to handling weapons...which is exactly when you'd expect them to matter most! Yes, you do more damage with a higher skill level, but if a weapon requires 100 and I've got 50, I'm not exactly lacking for an output of pain. I just think it's strange I can use weapons with requirements higher than I've got, but if I find a "Very hard (100)" difficulty computer to hack and my science level is only 99, I can't even attempt getting in. This makes it feel like the minigames were thrown in to make Fallout feel more like the Elder Scrolls games - and as much as I enjoy those, the way certain skills are handled in New Vegas can take me right out of the experience.
That said; the game is a lot of fun. The faces of humans look dated in comparison to later Bethesda games, and end up being a strange mix of Oblivion and Skyrim that, more often than not, lands squarely in the Uncanny Valley - with that said, I should also note that the children in New Vegas don't all possess the same face like they do in Skyrim. However, the personalities of characters are well developed, and even in characters I start out liking or disliking, I can end up finding something redeemable or awful about that character by talking to them. It gives a real sense of depth to the game, and shows how much thought was put into the game's atmosphere by allowing characters who aren't even main-quest necessary to seem like real people.
I originally found the need to repair my equipment annoying, while still noting that it was true to the original games and also fairly realistic for items to need repair over time. This changed as my character increased in level, and I gained more money, and now I typically carry extra weapons and armor around to use for repairs or just go to an NPC that can fix everything at once.
I've had the game for a few weeks now and I've not beaten it yet - but only because I want to see what else the Mojave has to offer. The game exceeded many of my expectations, and on bad days it can be soothing to use the Fat Boy tactical nuke launcher to annihilate my foes. | video-games_xbox |
Kinda like Borderlands without all the loot. Let me start off with I really wanted to love this game. I didn't hear much about it until the public beta was released. I heard it was kinda like Borderlands, I love Borderlands, and figured why not. I enjoyed the beta a bit so I figured I'd jump in feet first at launch. I gave the game a couple weeks to get better before writing this review.
The biggest problem with the game is it feels exactly like the beta. It probably could've stewed a little bit before it launched. The game almost feels empty. It's not bad if you're playing with friends, actually it's almost mandatory to play with other people. Almost all the missions follow the same kill some dudes, find a spot where respawns are limited, fight a horde of dudes. Good luck with that last part if you're soloing it. You die and it's right back to the beginning of the boss fight with you. The very beginning, even if you killed 4 of the 5 waves. Perhaps the biggest sin the game commits is the requirement to be online at all times. If the Bungie servers go down, you're done. There was a DOS attack recently, and I couldn't even play the game for half an hour. I finished a long day of working and wanted to relax for 20 minutes, but the game was not available. This is pretty unacceptable for a full priced triple-A title.
The second issue is the story feels generic and not fleshed out. You start by choosing your race and class, but nowhere does it explain what the differences are between them. It doesn't matter what race or class you are really, they do the same things. The enemies have generic place-holder names, like "goblin" or "hobgoblin;" however they don't look like either. The short guy from Game of Thrones is the voice of your companion "Ghost," I'll just call him Navi from here on out. Navi will mention things like you should know them. Sorry Navi, I've never been to the Glass Vault, WTF is it?
I won't comment on PVP as I'm an adult and don't get too much out of it. My little brother likes it though, and he does all that PVP crap.
The Citadel, I mean Tower is OK. The NPC's are a little too static. There's a robot sweeping the floor, the same exact spot. There shouldn't be any floor there at all as much as he's swept it. The Vanguard giving you missions have no life to them at all. I think the best part is playing with the soccer-ball and beach-ball when they're available.
I'm sure if you made it this far you're thinking to yourself "Jim, you've been complaining for 4 paragraphs, why a 3-star review?" I'll tell you why, the gameplay is pretty solid. The part where you're actually going around shooting things is solid. Loot drops are fairly rare if you don't farm them, but that's good in that it doesn't slow down the gameplay with constant "I gotta see my pretty new items." It's also nice that every so often a community event pops in and you can do it with a bunch of random people. It's optional, but it's nice. I'm also giving a one-star bump as there is supposed to be a ten year plan for the game to keep it fresh. I'm really hoping some of my gripes get fixed, especially the story elements. One hope that they will improve is the console upgrade program they are running. If you get it on 360 or PS3, they will give you a One or PS4 copy gratis. Though this ends 1-15-15 or so, and only applies to the downloaded edition. I really wish I knew that before pre-ordering it on disc format.
Overall, I'd recommend waiting for a sale on this game. It's not quite finished and needs some more time to cook. With xmas coming, it'll probably go on sale soon, get it then. | video-games_xbox |
Going back to TW2005. I had given TW2006 a pass... well, more accurately, I didn't even have my own PS2 until my roommate moved out and took his with him. By that time, I had already been playing--and loving--TW2005 for the better part of a year. By the time I was ready to move on to the next level, TW2007 was out and I upgraded.
And promptly downgraded again.
There are a lot of good ideas in TW2007; unfortunately, the gameplay and game physics are what kills this game.
I do not expect to play this game like I do TW2005; I have worked my way up in the earlier game, and I know I have to start all over again. I do not expect to be hitting 350-yard drives. I do not expect to be able to stick a ball on the back of the green and draw it halfway back to the front. I don't expect to be able to spin it out of the sand or rough. I expect to play poorly again as I work my way through the new game.
However, when a putting meter tells me to aim four inches left and level with the hole, I aim five inches left and miss, and it goes fifteen feet past the hole, that is not a simple misread but a serious flaw in game physics.
I've been playing real golf for twenty-some years, and even when I was a beginner, I never had yips like that. If they are trying to simulate a learning curve, they are doing it in a way that discourages trying again. I can understand sliding one, two, three feet by, maybe even four--I've done that enough times on any number of golf courses under all kinds of weather conditions.
When it rolls twenty feet past and there is no indication of the green being anywhere near that steeply graded, this is nothing I as player could have predicted and prepared for. And it sucks all the fun out of what should have been a fantastic game, and it makes it unplayable. I set my copy aside months ago. I doubt much I will pick it up again. And it does not make me optimistic about TW2008.
TW2007 gets 2/5 for having a lot of really good ideas that, were the game playable, would make this a terrific sim. I love the new courses... unfortunately, we're still saddled with the abysmal Emerald Dragon, Paradise Cove and Greek Isles--at least Greek Isles has the decency to have a couple windmills. Add a clown face into whose mouth you have to put the ball, and it wouldn't be inappropriate. For what a tricky but playable target course should look like, I might suggest Pine Valley--either as a course to include if the rights can be had, or as a course to emulate so Emerald Dragon, Paradise Cove and Greek Isles can be retired back to the minigolf course that doubtless inspired them.
And for a good round of golf, get a copy of Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2005 and give this version a total miss, unless you happen to like being lied to by your caddy. | video-games_xbox |
An Odyssey that should have stayed Lost. When I first picked Lost Odyssey up, I expected to be swept up in an epic storyline involving heavy emotional and political intrigue--I was sorely disappointed. What you have instead is a watered down version of an otherwise good plot; the story itself is fine, but the presentation ruined it.
Take for instance the main bad guy: Gongora. Not only is he probably the least terrifying villain in the history of RPGs (complete with cliched evil laugh) but the overall difficulty of the game makes you want to laugh at him. Lost Odyssey is absurdly easy, I'm on the fourth disc and have only ramped up 21 hours of game time: compare that to something like Final Fantasy IX (at least 40 hours) and you have one short, easy yawn fest.
The rest of the cast isn't too memorable either. There is, most likely, only one line spoken that stood out--the rest faded into the background as melodramatic "imma gonna get chu!" or "imma gonna save u!" dribble. The line is spoken by Seth towards the beginning (you'll know it when you hear it). Characters are also often introduced too hastily or without reason, I can probably pick out at least 3 characters that, if removed from the cast, would not have any real impact on the story.
For instance, when Kaim meets his daughter for the first time in years, the whole thing suddenly breaks down into a tear fest for the next 2 hours of gameplay or so. The whole event comes way too fast--just as players are getting used to Kaim--and so we kind of just look on and say "well, okay, what the blazes does this have to do with anything?"
Humor is injected into the script at the wrong times, and often the constant jests become simply annoying and false sounding.
All this culminates into the fact that when the game FINALLY gets challenging enough you'll go from aggravation to mild disinterest in a short span of time.
It's not terrible, but, it just does so many things wrong. | video-games_xbox |
An improvement, but many little frustrations. Fifa 2010 is a pretty solid soccer game. Allow me to break it down some:
Decent AI:
Playing on the harder difficulty levels, the AI still makes awful decisions from time-to-time. Defenders under no pressure make awful panicky clearances, forwards make runs while keeping a defender close and between them and the ball, et cetera. That said, overall the AI has improved greatly from earlier versions, and it makes the game that much more fun.
Improved physics & 360 controls:
The high points of this game are the physics and 360 controls. As opposed to previous versions, you have very precise directional control of everything. This is also somewhat frustrating, because it greatly increases the sensitivity of everything you do. The ball movements, player movements, and player clashes seem more real than ever before. It feels much closer to real soccer than any other game I've played before.
Manager mode:
They made a big deal out of how improved manager mode is. Frankly, I see little difference, except simulating games takes longer, I'm guessing due to the increasing number of variables taken into account. But I still see outlandish results, but like Fifa 2008, it seems fairly reasonable a majority of the time. Of course there's some things like salary caps going on here, but nothing makes a big difference in my opinion. I still enjoy manager mode, it's just not a very big change from before. The one thing here that I still find frustrating, is even if you start with a 5-star team, it's incredibly hard to transfer star players. They simply don't want to play for you until you have many stars. But by the time you can get these manager stars, some of the star older players (e.g., Ronaldinho) have retired.
I do find some frustration with the auto-coach mode in manager mode. The idea is that auto-coach will rotate your squad based on fatigue and injuries. This is great, but it makes a lot of changes. This is annoying because I generally have 1 set of players I consider my top starers. I would like to be able to save this lineup, and quickly reset my team to that lineup for big matches. Instead, I have to redo the entire squad manually. I would turn off auto-coach, but fatigue seems to be a very big factor now, so that would be even more frustrating. Also, sometimes the auto-coach does questionable things like put a midfielder into the goalkeepers position, when the goalkeeper is fully energized and not injured.
Be A Pro:
I created my own pro player, and have been working to increase his attributes. This is a painful and annoying process--by far the most frustrating thing for me in Fifa 2010. First of all, you need to play on the harder difficulty levels to unlock accomplishments. This is fine, but it should explicitly warn you about this, especially if you're playing a game on amateur and you navigate to the accomplishments menu. In addition, I feel like the logic to determine when you are achieving these accomplishments is dreadful. For example, consider these two accomplishments:
1. Find your team mates with 2 different crosses in a match
2. Set up 2 goals with crosses in a match
I just played a match, and unlocked accomplishment 2, but not accomplishment 1. Uh what? Other accomplishments are equally frustrating, especially the "beat x players with skill moves." It seems you must be painfully close to the defending player when pulling off these moves, before it will credit you with beating him with a skill move. This is annoying because you can clearly throw off defenders with skill moves from further away and even the announcers comment on how you just rocked that particular defender, but you get no progress for it in the accomplishments.
Seriously, I could go on and on about the accomplishments not being picked up, it's a very buggy detection system. Or if it's behaving as intended, it needs to be more clear to the player about why they aren't picking up the accomplishments.
Overall Fifa 2010 is a solid game, but I still expect more from such a high-budget production. | video-games_xbox |
To the hardware designers: my home theater has some standards. The two powerhouses of this console generation are vying for a spot as end-all entertainment hardware for the personal home theater. I gave both platforms a try and found blatant lapses in design integrity with the Xbox that bothered me enough to sell it at a loss and get a PS3. Here are some parting words for the Xbox and Xbox design team that I've just posted on craigslist:
* If you are going to be a part of my A/V setup, you have no right to be so incredibly loud. Not only did Microsoft fail to secure a consistently quiet optical drive manufacturer, they didn't bother engineering any auto-thermostat controls for the fans. Their solution, even after transitioning to a cooler chipset, is to blast the fans as high as possible - all the time, for the entire duration of the Xbox's life. So it matters not whether you have it on a cold tile floor, inside an actively ventilated cabinet rack or mounted in a freezer, it won't wise up to the circumstances and just dumbly works itself to death trying to disperse its exhaust. Fans only get louder with age and dust accumulation, and MS thought it prudent to start each of their consoles off at an already unacceptable volume.
* If you want a spot in my home theater rack, please don't bring along the biggest AC adapter I've ever seen included with a piece of consumer electronics. MS even took the time to design the gargantuan and grotesque adapter in such a manner that it doesn't resemble the Xbox hardware at all, a seemingly devious deception to distract you from the fact that it's the Xbox's baggage.
* Next time you revise the hardware, actually test out the possible home theater configurations. Want to send video to your TV by HDMI and sound directly to your receiver by optical? No. The provided and ONLY breakout cable that provides optical completely obscures the HDMI port.
* Yes, Xbox, you have some really decent games but I can't help but think that the console is simply disposable. Your reliability is awful, there's no indication that you're here to stay for more than a few years before Xbox 720, or that you will live long enough for me to show off the ancient visuals and control schemes to the son I may have in the next fifteen years. I like my electronics with confidence, and you exude little of it. | video-games_xbox |
I Am Serious.........And Don't Call Me Shirly. Opening Statement....
It has been a long time since I have written a review. So I thought I would come back strong. So before I review one of the most anticipated games of the year, I thought I would review the two that we released before the newest one. This is a game that I picked up because it got a lot of hype. So I thought I would give it a shot. I wasn't sure what I was getting because I was always a fan of the Ghost Recon series. But this game proved to me that I could like first person shooters again....
Graphics....
Well this game does the graphic part pretty well. I really can't find a lot of flaws. I think a little more blood would be nice considering this is a war based game so you can't have a war game without blood kind of weird. I think the looks of the guns and other players and the towns and such look pretty good. This does a good job with graphics... I give this category a 4.9/5
Audio...
The games audio is very good in my opinion. I think the sounds of the guns firing, the background music is epic and the sounds of people getting shot and dying are also very good. Some of the music that gets played while doing missions is just awesome gives you the hero feeling really. Everything in this department is fantastic. I rate this category a 5/5
Game play....
The game play is good very easy to pick up if you are new to the Call of Duty franchise like I was when I picked up this game. Not too many combinations of buttons do you have to push. Everything is pretty much self explanatory press a button and it does what you want. Farley easy to pick up and play. Good part of this is that everything is well explained if you need it to be. I rate this category a 5/5
Story...
The story itself is pretty good but I have a hard time following it because you move around to different characters way to much in the game, that is a huge thing to me because I like to have a storyline to follow and know why I'm killing the people I am. So this is a huge downfall of the game they really don't tell you whets going on they just throw you in there to fight. This is a huge setback to me but others might enjoy it more than I do. I rate this category a 3/5
Presentation...
The overall look of the game is good, you can navigate around the menus pretty easily which is a good thing, even the multiplayer menus are self explanatory. Therefore I think the whole look of the game is well set up. I rate this category a 5/5
Final Thought...
This game was the start of something huge for me, I never thought I could get into a first person shooter after I started playing the ghost Recon series but this game kicks some major butt in that department. This is also a game that has a multiplayer so addicting you can find yourself playing it for hours on end. I love the multiplayer. The overall campaign isn't that great I can't see myself ever playing the campaign again so I don't like that part. Over all not a bad game. My final rating on this one would be a 4.5/5... | video-games_xbox |
Expensive Thrills and Cheap Tricks. "Ninja Gaiden 2" probably will not be remembered very fondly. A game blighted by terrible camera, cheap difficulty-raising tricks, and a game engine generally hailing from the previous generation of consoles, NG2 nevertheless has enough of the magic dust of its XBOX predecessor to make it a fully worthwhile purchase.
Everything about "Ninja Gaiden 2" is intimidating. From the sturm und drang Tecmo video intro sequence to the final boss fight, the game retains the fearsome seriousness and difficulty of 2004's "Ninja Gaiden". That game was possibly the greatest action adventure of the 3D era. To attain success, "Ninja Gaiden 2" has to follow that and add the requisite gloss of current-gen gaming, whilst fixing the original's annoying camera and tweaking the controller-damaging difficulty level. In this regard, NG2 is a failure: the graphics are often bland and barren, the camera sits too close to the player character, and the admittedly lessened difficulty is soured in many places by cheap hikes in difficulty which the player cannot possibly avoid.
However, there is a big "but". The gameplay is as thrilling as NG, as beautifully detailed and rewarding as the rest of the game elements are shoddy and perplexing. While the sequel incorporates close-up Obliteration moves to kill wounded enemies and a regenerating health-bar (a nod to making the game more accessible), it is still fundamentally the same game engine as the original...but more. More blood, more fighting, more all-round violence.
The point is that the wonderfully fluid and responsive controls actually make the gamer feel in control of a master ninja. It makes you feel proud to have accomplished a tough boss fight or to have countered an enemy attack. This element alone makes this charismatic game worth paying serious attention to. And, having played such cutscene-heavy games as Metal Gear Solid 4 recently, NG2's non-stop action shines particularly brightly for me; the game represents a big gold star in favour of action gaming. Perhaps having realised this, Tecmo have gutted out the often tedious and obtuse puzzles from Ninja Gaiden in favour of added enemies.
To be clear, Ninja Gaiden 2 is a deeply flawed videogame. There are plenty of elements to the game which are not really good enough. In keeping with Team NINJA's Mount Fuji logo, the game is either peaks or troughs.. The peaks are fantastic, and the troughs are "fantastic", too. The camera, it must be stressed, is awful, locking up terribly especially in tight corridors and on flights of stairs. Graphically, the game has bland backgrounds, although the detailed character animations make up for this in large part. The story is the usual tosh about armageddon that game developers so love, with demons and devils spewing terrible dialogue -just ignore them. But Ninja Gaiden 2 has the magical charisma of a game which just knows it is special, that can treat you badly because it knows you will come crawling back. | video-games_xbox |
Rainbow Six Vegas - Set-up for sequel. The game was a blast to play. The final battle was far easier than I would have expected and I was somewhat disappointed when it was over. In fact, I was still moving from cover to cover thinking more terrorists were going to pop out somewhere - especially after the seemingly large number of tangos that took over Dante's Inferno.
The ending is a drag. . . No real set-up, no closure just a single line designed to pimp the sequel. I am OK with game sequels and many are better than the originals. But I do like it when the game I am playing at least reaches some level that ends rather than awaiting resolution later (although I already have my copy of RS: Vegas 2).
Gameplay is easy to learn if you follow Jo's instructions in Mexico. The complexity builds so that you're not killed all the time from the outset. You cannot let your teammates die - which is slightly unrealistic - and to prevent that from happening you have an unlimited number of revival shots for them - also unrealistic. Your team never runs out of breaching charges, flashbangs, or ammo and, as such, make great bait.
You, on the other hand, can easily run out of things if you don't notice the stock-up crates placed throughout the game. I was new to the RS franchise and did not really notice the crates initially and, instead, took the weapons from dead tangos. Not a bad plan, but not the best plan either (although, it did seem odd that there were supply crates strategically located throughout Las Vegas for use by special forces teams).
A number of battles seem ovewhelming and the team can end up dead pretty quick. The game requires some good small unit tactics to avoid these replays and provides you with the tools necessary to make it happen.
The only glitch I found was when i backtracked because I believed that I missed something and it re-set my save point to an earlier one but would not re-save again when I passed the later save point.
Overall, it was a fun an rather satisfying game. | video-games_xbox |
Green Man For The Fans Only . If you are into the Hulk then you will enjoy this game. Smashing, crashing and wreaking havoc on environments, dogs, larger enemies and guards is alot of fun. The storyline is average but the creators have captued the sprirt and look of the more recent film, mixed it with a good level of comic book scenerios and cel-shaded the entire mix to please those green loving individuals.
However, non-Hulk fans and casual gamers beware. This game is repative, frustratingly annoying as Banner and short in length.
I found the Hulk parts to be amuzing and semi-engaging. The first few hours of crashing and breaking everything was fun but soon narrowed itself down to " another room, more to smash yawn".
The storyline is good but predictable and there are no real surprises here.
The much talked about Banner sections ARE annoying and break up the momentum felt playing the Hulk in previous levels. Banner uses really simple stealth tactics and no matter how good you are there is no way you will get through these levels in one go. The AI seems super sensative in these areas and it doesnt take much to make one guard aware of yah presence and then you will have many running in your direction. When this happens don't both, just let them kill yah cause Banner has the weakest fighting system i have ever encountered. Your punches are weak and often miss as you are surrounded by enemies. I mean even the scientist can kick you into the next world. Don't get me wrong, i have no issues with hard stealth action, (Splinter Cell was great and challenging), but these give you no chance are ill conceived as part of the gameplay. This to me seems like sloppy development. You go for being a strong bone crushing green menace with a above average fighting system to a small, weak loser that can't battle his way out of fight with a Backstreet Boy, (no there are no Backstreet Boys in the game but wouldn't it have been cool to pick one up and swing him through a window).
The overall game is not that lengthy nor has an epic feel as described in other reviews. This epic feel may be due to the many restarts for the Banner sections, which may give the game a more lengthy feel that what is actually there.
The first time i played this it took me about 12 hours over two nights. The second i played with cheats and got through it in about 6 hours. Overall, not a lengthy game and i only played it again cause i was curious to how the cheats would assist me in the game. It helped in getting through the game quicker but it was still repative and dare i say it a bit boring.
The only real benefit to the cheats is that you can get through the Banner sections quicker though even if you get seen with cheats it takes some time to finally knock out all the guards surrounding you by doing flips and punches. Also i noticed that in some levels all doors will lock on you when you are spotted, so forget about running through a door to get away. You are stuck there for the long haul, so FIGHTING is yah only way to unlock the doors. Even with cheats this becomes frustrating because guards are relentless and will butt u with the butt of there rifle. It still quite difficult to punch as well cause the guards move about frantically. Once again i don't mind a challenging fight but these are just frustrating and really poorly excuted. The Banner section really needed more work done on it and really kills what is a fun average smash em.
So, in conclusion, unless your a die hard hulk fan i'd rent the game over a weekend and gey yah moneys worth. There are just too many faults, short storyline and no repeat value to the game. You play it once your done. There are much better fight games out there that have environment crumple, excellent controls and good storylines to waste yah time on than this. Granted the fluro Hulk looks good and for some reason the green colour peaked my interest but what we have here is another average movie tie in that really needs some re-working...
Rent it !!!!!! | video-games_xbox |
Carnage, frustration, awesome. All words to describe Blur. Let me start out by saying that I raced almost 300 races in the demo and won almost 150, that's a 2:1 ratio. So far in the full version, 45 races, 8 wins. The ratio is much worse as the game is tougher. Developers did something to even the racing out a bit more. No more 8 straight wins, your lucky to get 1, and super lucky for 2. I've yet to see anyone win 3 straight. All in all, the game is great and a lot of fun, but also frustrating at time. Like leading the entire race only to lose because the rest of the field picked up lighting bolts which become impossible to navigate. The fact that people don't brake and just smash into you around turns is equally frustrating. A lot of the times the race is determined by the first lap. If your able to get away from the carnage, your ok. If your stuck in the middle or the back, no chance to win since everyone is fighting for 10th place. It's great though have a lot of cars to choose from, although I don't agree with the car classes. Dodge Viper and Ford Focus in B class? Focus should be in C and Viper in B if not A. If your looking for a fun game to smash around and enjoy with your friends, this is it. It feels great to win because you really have to work your tail off. If your looking for a simulation racer, steer clear. Also if you get frustrated easily, not the game for you.
The Good:
- Tons of licensed cars
- Lots of mods or perks to change the way you play
- Tons of challenges to complete which help you level up
- Tough, this game is not easy to come in 1st every race online
- Power-ups are a blast to use, literally
- Graphics are very good
- Lots of tracks, all are different and have their own feel to them
- Fast paced arcade style racing
- Lots of game modes
The Bad:
- Can be very frustrating at times
- Learning curve although not steep, is not something you can pick up 5 minutes in
- Power-ups tend to get out of control, like 10 cars picking up lighting making it impossible for leader to drive
- Once you fall to the middle or rear of the pack, race is over. Everyone crashes each other for 10th place
- Car classes. How does a Camaro SS have the same rating for speed as a Hummer?
- With all the racing games out there, not sure how long this game will stay around
- Lots of "BS" moments
- No lead is ever safe | video-games_xbox |
Worth the Upgrade. Tiger Woods 2005 is worth buying and or upgrading. Please note I don't have LIVE and I think it's worth it. I bought and rated LINKS last year higher because of the realism. However it got boring really fast without the live. Yes buying gold sponsored nose rings and tones of other junk at least gives you an incentive to play a lot. I do appreciate them adding LIVE without forgetting about the people that don't have it. Too many games are just geared for LIVE play.
FIVE REASONS TO UPGRADE
1. Tournament Play
I liked the addition of the PGA tour Calendar last year. But it pissed me off that in 2004 you could not play multiple players in tournaments like you could in 2003. The tournaments got boring quick smoking the competition. But now you can go through the season with a friend (up to 4) and play tournaments. You kill the computer guys still but you can have tourney parties with friends. I am sure live is just as good because you can pick competition.
2. Less Face Time
Now I don't like when people complain that it's not like real golf. There has to be some arcade fun in a game. If you're looking for real golf buy a set of clubs and go out and play. One of the arcade aspects of the game is that you can spin the ball after your shot. I think the spin element ads to the game play after a shot. It keeps your attention during the entire shot. It seemed like in 2003 - 2004 they would show you the player reaction almost till the ball landed. It's seems this year they are following the ball more. Might just be my feeling and not a fact. . I agree with the person early who complained that even in the new tour mode it's easy. Tour mode is where they don't give you Caddy tips (like links). You also can't hit a spin after hitting out of a bunker and or out of the rough. I wish they compromised though I wish you could still have the rough and trap penalty and still have the caddy tips in that option.
3. Playing the Legends. That's new and it's another fun goal to unlock
4. Tiger Proofing. I like changes courses. Once your friends all hit prestige level they can play your courses. If you build a course that is realistic but tough the Legends come and ask you to play.
Well I can't say that I am upset that ESPN is coming out with great sports games for $20. Hopefully they will bring down the overall price of games. However I think EASports has been dominating in golf branding. It's fun. 2003 added improved console golf. 2004 added a little more unlockable stuff. 2004 addition of tiger proofing is great. I don't know what they can do next year except maybe add a second disk of more courses.
ONE COMPLAINT
It easy enough to crush the computer they didn't need to ad tiger eyes. | video-games_xbox |
If I wanted aggravation I would go to work or my mother in laws house!! In a game I want enjoyment and sadly this game lacks. This game is, above all, two things: Frustrating and Forgettable. If you are a fan of Assassin's Creed and Batman, then you likely would have liked the game more than I did. I never liked AC and only played Batman when my wife couldn't finish a mission. If you are like me and enjoy games like Skyrim, Dragon Age, KOTOR and liked the LOTR books and movies then you might be wishing you had never gotten this game.
-I don't really judge on graphics, sound or camera work as a good story and engrossing environment may make up for those being dated. They did not, but were not the reason for the bad review.
- The game started out very strong with an intriguing plot and what one would expect in an action game. Immediately after the tutorial you are dropped into an open world (which I love, from my many hours of Oblivion/Skyrim) and immediately I ran into not just one but two major named enemies. Within 3 minutes I had died. I could live with that if it were not for the nemesis system. More on that later. But, it was the first of many frustrations. Most open play worlds give you a little more time before you stumble into something that will obviously above your level. This game will not. During missions I would run into these bosses (cool) but when you have two or three of them on you at a time you will likely need to abandon ship or risk getting killed.
-Stealth kills are fun! As are hunting with Bows. I absolutely loved the satisfaction of killing a major named Orc up close. Sadly, immediately afterwards you are often assaulted by his 8-12 buddies and have to flee the scene.
-Unless you are a master at these type of games you will flee a lot. And I mean a lot. At first it was neat to skulk around causing mayhem, eventually it became tedious and trite.
-The Wrath Character and abilities are a nice touch. Other than the LOTR character who's in the game its the best aspect of the story.
-Consequently, The story is not very good. Perhaps as a fan of the books, I expected too much from the game, but Batman was vastly superior in this realm, I even found the story on Diablo III to be more engaging. There is literally no one to talk to in this game. The Wraith Character talks at cut scenes other than that it's fleeing slaves or Orcs who are mocking you...that's it.
- I initially thought the worm system of interrogating certain Orcs for info on bosses was a nice touch. It's a little too difficult to get info from them leading me to choose to go in blind instead. I rarely had trouble killing one boss, if I could get them alone.
-The side missions and power struggles are monotonous. Kill this, disrupt that... it gets pretty dull
-At the urging of others on these reviews, I decided not to quit too early and kept playing, expecting that it will get easier as I level up. It did, but it never became any more fun. Kill another Orc, or Ghoul. Flee and recover... repeat
All of this would not be a 2 star if not for the nemesis system. If a boss kills you it get stronger. If a random Orc kills you they also get stronger. If you are fleeing combat because you are unmatched and a random Caragor gets you, they get stronger. If you accidentally fast forward, you get the picture. Eventually the game becomes unplayable if you die too often. The designers seem big into hazing their gamers. If you want to challenge yourself with pointless repetitive quests, go for it. For those of us who are seeking an enjoyable escape into the world of Middle Earth then you are going to be disappointed. The only thing I will not quickly forget about this game is that I will never again buy a game using this nemesis system. | video-games_xbox |
Titanfall without the titans, Possibly halo. DO NOT BUY THIS GAME IF YOU DO NOT WANT TO PLAY A HALO/TITANFALL(minus the titans) CLONE.
I could not in good conscience recommend this game to any seasoned call of duty player.
I bought this game after watching live streamers for hours. After much debate I decided to go ahead and buy it. I heard it was much better than ghosts which in my opinion was the worst call of duty ever made. Until now..
Before I get into what I consider to be the heart of the call of duty franchise (the multiplayer/online play) I will discuss the campaign briefly.
Campaign: The campaign was beautiful and exciting. A great story with famous familiar faces to back it up. I very much enjoyed the campaign and all of the cool gadgets you got to use, and toys you got to operate. The only part I didn't much enjoy is many missions seem to use the same spawning method for enemies that they did in world at war. Which is, enemies continue to spawn until you advance to a certain "Checkpoint" type area.
As for the multiplayer... Now after call of duty ghosts, my expectations weren't that high to begin with. I'm not sure what exactly happened between black ops 2 and ghosts but after months of play the game never felt right. I was never able to succeed on the level I had been able to in every call of duty dating back to MW1. It was hard for me to imagine that AW could be any worse than Ghosts was, but somehow, Sledgehammer and Activision managed to pull it off. If you are thinking of buying this game but are skeptical having seen the gameplay trailers and futuristic features that this game has to offer, heed my warning: DO NOT BUY THIS GAME IF YOU DO NOT WANT TO PLAY A HALO/TITANFALL CLONE.
This game was in my opinion, the newly worst call of duty to date. While Ghosts managed to "Never feel right" by me or my friends, or the hundreds if not thousands of people I've conversed with in game. Call of duty: advanced warfare multiplayer isn't even recognizable as a call of duty game. Honestly, if someone were to show me a multiplayer match of call of duty without me knowing it was call of duty, I would honestly have to guess it was a Halo or Titanfall(sequel).
Maps:
The maps are incredibly small, I'm guessing because they have built most maps to be more vertical. Just to get an understanding of how small these maps are.. You can easily cross from 1 spawn to the opposite side of the map in roughly 5 seconds, on just about any map.
Guns:
The arsenal feels smaller then previous Call of Duty games but at the end of the day, the BAL or the ASM are the guns I see 80%+ people using. The AK12 seems to be pretty popular in small circles as well. I forgot to mention originally: The guns you get from leveling are pretty much useless. As you can obtain better versions of each gun from loot crates. Which is to say that, The standard BAL is a good weapon, however you have the potential to receive a significantly better version of this gun (Increased damage, fire rate, accuracy, handling etc) from a loot crate. So basically, you are playing with a handicap with the standard guns until you get a good gun from the loot crate.
Killstreaks:
The killstreaks are really dull and boring in my personal opinion. There are a total of 12 killstreaks you can choose from. The care package comes in at 500 points rather than 400.(5 kills VS 4) The UAV at 400. (4 kills vs 3) The sentry gun type killstreak reward is the first offensive killstreak reward you get that doesn't require you to control it during its duration. The sentry gun is available at 550 points. (essentially 6 kills, or 5+ assists/tags etc) The only good killstreaks I've seen require much higher killstreak bonuses to acquire. However, depending on what game mode you play it may not be that hard to acquire them for you. Also, which style of play you prefer. I personally have never been content with head glitching over AC units and dumpsters waiting for some poor bastard to come into my line of sight. I feel much more accomplished turning a corner on someone and getting the better of them in that engagement. Making it harder for me to get a 7 kill streak that is essentially required to obtain the missile strike at 650 points.
Perks:
The perks system is a TREMENDOUS step backwards from Ghosts which probably had the most advanced perk system (out side of specialist) of any call of duty to date. The perk system allows you to choose 3 perks, 1 from each category. This is without using a wildcard that would allow you to take 2 from a single perk category. Same point based create-a-class system that has been used since Black ops 2. They have added exo abilities like the Exo-Cloak which lets you remain invisible for a certain duration *COUGH* titanfall. Exo-stim which allows you rapid health regeneration like juggernaut type perks have allowed in previous games. The exo-mute ability to silence your footsteps. Exo-Overclock which increases your movement speed. These are half of the exo abilities you have access to. Now, these are limited use abilities. They are active abilities meaning you only gain these bonuses when your exo-ability is activated. You can activate and deactivate your ability on command however using your ability drains your battery power per second and once that power is gone you cannot get it back until you respawn. So basically, you no longer have the ability to silence your footsteps permanently, or move faster permanently. 2 perks that I personally used religiously in previous call of duty games and I know others have as well.
I've gone over a few things here and individually they are kind of a let down but collectively they are what I believe to be destroyed this game. Halo has been around forever, those who are interested in halo, play halo. Now that Call of Duty has gone this way, it feels as if there is no call of duty anymore. Just another halo. Or perhaps another titanfall without the titans. Maybe activision thought that without the titans people would've loved titanfall? Maybe they thought the Call of Duty brand name was all titanfall needed to succeed? At the end of the day, there is only so long you can let your fans down before you run your brand into the ground. It won't matter if you make the best call of duty ever if people no longer trust you or recognize you for producing a quality product. I don't know whats happening over there maybe its Sledgehammer? Maybe its Activision? One thing is certain my mind: the call of duty name is dying without Infinity Ward and Treyarch behind the wheel. THERE IS A REASON WE BUY CALL OF DUTY AND IT IS NOT BECAUSE WE WANT TO PLAY TITANFALL! Please activision... PLEASE! Go back to your roots to what Call of Duty was from MW1 to BO2. THAT was call of duty. Not this...
TL;DR Version:
This game received a 2 star rating because it functions as they intended it to(I'm assuming) It looks beautiful, and the story/campaign mode was excellent. If you are a seasoned call of duty player, looking to play a call of duty game online, you might as well pick up titanfall or halo over this imitation. This game is not call of duty as we knew/know it. | video-games_xbox |
Real martial arts self-defense moves, but bad cam angles & animation. (((**EDIT**))) Menu
The loading is about average, it's not long, but not short. Using the menu by punching to select & swiping to the the next/previous on the list expects a real full one shoulder to the other swipe. You can also use the controller.
There are MANY real videos with the woman from the trailer (She's a black belt) about several topics of basic self defense. Quick instructions on how to make a real fist, which part of the hand for palm strikes & hammer strikes. Also, how to walk w/o looking like a victim, how to stand correctly so you don't loose your balance, etc. Unfortunately, these were buried under the Profiles/Extras menu & then again more swiping to find in that sub menu. Also you have to EARN these videos by doing the self defense, cardio, reflexes game modes first to unlock them. They are very informative & she has a good presence & isn't boring, but having them so buried & having to do sometimes 3/4 or more of the game to unlock them (though you don't have to be perfect at the attempts) is wrong. (((**END EDIT**)))
Self-Defense
It teaches you about 2-4 moves that is shown for each segment & you do the first move, then the first 2 moves & so on.
The problem here is the CAMERA angle & teaching. I'm looking over my avatar's shoulder & cannot see how EXACTLY I'm suppose to rotate my hand. Also it's not always fully explained how forceful, or what part of my arm or hand I should use & what part of theirs specifically.
There is some verbal instruction, in fact, what is said is VERY good & not watered down. Such as at first, he will say to just, "...slam down your foot on his." But as you do it, he does explain further, "...make sure you hit the tip of his toes, which are the most vulnerable & cause the most pain."
These are real karate & kung fu (more fluid arm turns rather then hard blocks which are less jarring on the body) & other martial art moves that DO work well, but it leaves me wanting more instruction to know exactly how the attacker will react more. Here, the attacker always acts like he is so shocked by a defense move, he's like a deer in headlights which is the opposite of real life.
(((**EDIT**))) Now, a lot of people make fun of this game because at first it's always "Kick the guy's nether regions" but there are many palm strikes, back fists, circling the arms to get out of holds, etc. which are great. (((**END EDIT**)))
There is enough said to get the basic idea, don't get me wrong, but those like me who like more knowledge will want more. Also, on detection, sometimes I couldn't get the move right, though rare, but other times, I'm suppose to swing an attackers arm out by swinging mine, I just did wrist circle & it counted.
Cardio
It works well, though there is some fluff of step touching (lame) & clapping (really? really?!?!?) which I wasn't happy with at all. But there are punches, elbow strikes, uppercuts, etc. There are also back kicks & side kicks which I was happy to see, but wish there was even more emphasis on it. The classes are all about 2-5 minute each is WAY too short & about 10 of them. These are easy classes, though the animation seems a bit too sped up more then real life in that you might lose form keeping up or lose balance on the unfortunately few kick portions.
(((**EDIT**))) The later classes have a lot of knee lifts & kicks & was a good workout. I actually liked the shorter workouts as you have to get near perfect on everything to score a lot of stars to get an achievement & if they seem short, you can just load more classes. (((**END EDIT**)))
Balance
To clarify, this is NOT yoga, but is Tai Chi, though it's not Short Yang style, which I know, but some other style. It IS more authentic then Your Shapes which is more half yoga, half Tai Chi in a random order. This segment really needed some commentary about the moves & how it helps the body. For people who don't want it, a simple ability to turn it off would appease all audiences. The later classes do have some small kicks (you don't have to kick high to get credit) & snake poses & was relaxing.
Reflex Training (best part)
Very extensive, takes place in a boxing ring, it has it's own levels for:
Dodging - dodge right/left, never always left & right, it does random which is great & even has you lean twice in succession.
Punching - basic, hooks, uppercuts
kicking - side, high & others
Block punches - blocking the trainers' punches to your face, side of the head & body
Blocking kicks - blocking the trainers' different kicks
I like that they show your body in the corner, though I had a little issue with the arrows (diff color for left/right even when he's hitting straight to your mid line (face/body), though practice fixed that. I also love they really emphasis form, though only a few verbal reminders, but the model shows it in the first level of each type. Again, more emphasis on verbal instruction & even more levels would have made this game a definite recommendation.
(((**EDIT**))) The later levels at 8-10 really ramps up the speed like real life & since the punches are random, you really need to have reflexes/think fast to block them in time. Although I wish there were more punches & blocks to add more variety which a real first person or see through very close third person would allow. (((**END EDIT**)))
This could have been such a great title. The people they used for knowledge on martial arts is well done & the fact form & it not being watered down is refreshing. The movements you need to do are like real life & is great. But the presentation, the animation, camera choice fails. The animations for your character & trainer are terrible. The camera angles are terrible.
This would have been great if your avatar was just a shadow outline of your own body & not some made up character & even first person view with red graphics to tell you where you did it wrong.
The instruction portion would have been better with a real video & highlighting or pausing the screen at key moments during the instruction portion. Even using a video during training would have worked to feel more real life. Even the animation of the speed in the cardio section seemed a bit too fast unless you already have extensive training/practice & each class was only a few minutes long.
I hope this or another company picks up this type of non-watered down martial arts & learns from this games mistakes to make a great game. This is a pretty good game & the only one of it's kind, so it's worth it for the small content. If Dance Central can do dancing with great detection & showing feedback, martial arts can be done as well.
There are videos of gameplay from the site 123Kinect & their review & is posted on youtube as well. | video-games_xbox |
Cutting makes me feel good. Metal Gear Rising Revengeance. What a terrible name. Luckily, it's probably the only terrible part about this game.
First off, most gamers will probably know what the Metal Gear series is all about before going into this game. If you count yourself among these people, then try to forget what you know about Metal Gear. This game stands alongside other games in the franchise, but it is worlds apart in gameplay and tone. Metal Gear Solid games are primarily about stealth and story. Revengeance is about action, plain and simple.
As for the actual gameplay, the best way I can describe it is very similar to Ninja Gaiden or God of war. Basically, you are Raiden, a cyborg ninja (which I can assure you, is as badass as it sounds). You have 2 primary attack buttons, a jump button, and a blade mode button (more on that in a moment). That's basically it. And notice I didn't say there was a block button. Blocking is handled via a parry mechanic that asks you to press your light attack command, plus your thumbstick toward the attacker with the correct timing to avoid damage. This system does work, and it keeps you as a player actively engaging enemies rather than holding in a block button for half the game. It works as intended, but it does take a bit of getting used to.
As mention above, there is also a button for "blade mode", unquestionably Metal Gear Rising's killer feature. Blade mode slows down time and allows complete control of Raiden's sword. While fixed in place, your left stick controls your camera and your right stick controls the plane of Raiden's sword. So, for example, hold the right stick to the right and release, and Raiden makes a sweeping horizontal cut from right to left. What truly makes this mode awesome is that anything you cut in this mode will be severed at the location of the cut. If you are fast enough, you can quite literally make minced meat out of your enemies. It's awesome. Overall, gameplay-wise, the game is fun and never frustrating.
The story is rather ho-hum. Basically, it's you versus some bad guys. Very forgetable stuff. But what the characters lack in depth, they make up for with fantastic boss battles. Each is unique, and I don't want to spoil anything here, but suffice to say, they will all put you to the test and force you to creatively use your blade mode.
It's a good thing the battles are so fun, because arguably the only real fault that I can find with the game is the length of the story. It's short. Really short. Like, 5 hours short. Normally this would be a big deal, but there are saving graces. As mentioned above, the boss battles are a blast, and you will replay them several times because of that. Also, there are a ton of collectables scattered about the games levels that unlock new skins and a few new weapons. Also, there are VR missions included in the game that are both addictive and fun, thus upping your overall play time with the game.
The last thing I want to mention is audio/visual. From a graphical standpoint, Metal Gear Rising looks great. The only sniggle I have is that the framerate can chug, but the only time I noticed this is when I cut an object into hundreds of pieces (literally, hundreds). And the soundtrack in this game? Amazing. Well, the soundtrack usage is what is actually the star. The songs here are mostly industrial metal, but they are dynamic. As an example, during an early boss fight, you get some crunchy guitar riffs during the fight, but as soon as you trigger the final quick time event of the battle, the lyrics kick in and are timed perfectly with the action. This makes the fights very cinematic, and go a long way toward making the player feel like the ninja-badass that you are. Honestly, I have replayed this first boss fight about 20 times, and alot of that has to do with just how well this is done.
To wrap up, Metal Gear Rising is well worth your money. It looks and sounds awesome, it's replayable, and it's damn good fun. It may be a short ride through the story, but it's one you will repeat over and over. Have fun, and cut what you will! | video-games_xbox |
Not bad for the 1st next gen release, but needs more refinement. First off, I am not a 2K fan boy, and DEFINTELY not a Madden fanboy. Know that this is my FIRST 2K football game ever. I never got a chance to play NFL 2K5 as I was still playing Madden/NCAA 03 at the time. After being disappointed with Madden/NCAA for the 2003 release I skipped over the 04 and 05 editions, and because it was so late in the season I decided to skip NFL 2K5 as well, planning on getting NFL 2K6 the following year, but EA changed that and I was stuck with the EA football titles for the foreseeable future. I decided to give EA one last chance, and they failed again with Madden/NCAA 06. At this point I decided I was done with EASports and since they had the monopoly I figured I was done with football games for good.
Then 3 years later 2K decides to get back in the football gaming market and I was very excited, finally a choice in football gaming again and true football fans wouldn't have to be stuck with EA's monopoly.
I picked this game up recently, in fact a couple of days before I got my XBOX back from Microsoft. I was finally able to play one game last night, and I must say I am pretty impressed.
When you first start up the game, you are instantly prompted to build you own team, there are no predefined teams on this game so every team you use, you have to create them from scratch. You are allowed 2 Gold, 3 silver and 6 bronze rated former NFL players to build you team. The rest of the team is filled by generic players. You have over 240 former NFL players most of them being all-stars during their careers. Some notable names include Jerry Rice, Joe Montana, Steve Young, John Elway, Reggie White, Barry Sanders, Walter Payton, and Williams "Refrigerator" Perry. While you might recognize many of the names included in this years release, you will also notice some missing, some right of the top of my head are Howie Long, Michael Irvin and Jim Kelly. That is not to say the list provided is disappointing, 240 players is plenty especially considering 2K had to individually sign these players.
After you select your players and choose the generic players to fill you team, you are taken to a screen to select your city, team nickname, logo, and stadium and after your done, you then go into actually editing your teams uniforms all the way down to how many stripes the players' socks will have and the color of their shoes, helmets and face masks. You can even change the colors of the team's logo. There are tons and tons of different combinations you can choose and this can be very long and drawn out considering how much you care about how your team uniforms (home and away) look on the field, but the game already has predefined color schemes so if you just want to get to the action, you can skip this all together. If you do decide to edit your team, then just know the menu is very cumbersome and admittedly not very intuitive as it should be. In fact it took me a while to figure out how to change my team's helmet colors from white to black.
After your team is created it is saved and you are ready to go. You are then taken to the game's main screen where you can either choose to play a quick exhibition game against one of the computer created teams or go into season mode. I just wanted a quick game so I just choose a quick match in my home stadium.
The first thing you will notice about the game that these are not truly Next Gen graphics. Even in HD at best they look slightly better than HD regular XBOX games. But believe me there is much more to a game than jaw dropping graphics, and I found that out after the ball was kicked off in my very first game. As soon as the ball was kicked off I knew that this was going to be a football game like none other I have experienced before. First off the players move realistically. I hadn't noticed and robotic like movements of them running like they are trying to make it to the bathroom before they have an accident. The tackling animations are also quite more realistic than I have seen in other games. There is real gang tackling here and not anything like the "hey, I'm going to hold you, while my teammate comes and hits you" crap. There are no sled animations or seeing receivers skate to the ball either. Even the sidelines have animated players that react to plays on the field and attempt to get out of the way if they see a player out of control flying towards them. Other times, they'll step in and grab him to stop his momentum.
The game plays like football is supposed to be played. No longer can you back up 30 yards and throw 80 yard bombs all day, because chances are you will be sacked or more often than not your pass will be knocked down if you're lucky. Your linemen block who they are supposed to block and don't miss an obvious block just so they can go block a free safety 15 yards away who is not even in the play to begin with. On the defensive end of the ball players react well to both the run and pass. Don't expect 20+ yard runs on every single possession, if you do manage to get a long gain you better believe the D will adjust incase you try that crap on the very next play. In the running game you have WORK for your yardage, you have to find the hole and hit it hard. If you just dance around in the back field you WILL get your bell rung. Take a hole and go for it. Passing is also quite realistic and very rewarding when you complete a long pass play on 3rd and long. The defense reacts pretty well to the ball and will knock it down if they can't quite get two hands on it. If you throw in double coverage too often you will pay for it, if your throw is too late or too early the D will knock it down. As good as the AI is on both sides of the ball, I never got the feeling that it was "cheating" like other games I have played in the past. I remember in the said game, I would be running for a first down, clearly beating the defender and all of a sudden he makes a dive for me at the wrong angle and then while in MIDAIR, he body changes direction just so he can stop me; this is not the case in APF2K8, if you have a man beat you have him beat, and the only thing he can hope for is that he has enough foot speed to catch you. Another thing I used to hate on the "other" game is that when my defender had the perfect angle on a guy going towards the end zone and I will dive towards him clearly expecting at least some contact between my defender and the ball carrier only the have the game take over and cause my guy to dive in the complete opposite direction of the ball carrier. I can't tell you how frustrating that was! But that is no longer the case in this game, if you have an angle and time your hit right, you will at least make contact with the ball carrier getting him to go down is another story if you are dealing with the bruiser gold/silver/bronze star RB's.
Another thing I like about the game is that the halftime show shows actual video highlights from the game you are playing and the same is true for the post game show. While the commentators start getting repetitive after a while, its still good to go back and see the big plays of the game without having to rely on your saved replays all the time. Other things I like about the game are the stadium mascots that do various things after the home team makes a big play, if you are the Assassins and score a touch down, the giant hooded "assassin" at the end zone will perform a stabbing motion, if you are the Firebirds the bird will squawk and flap its wings, there is even one team that has two battle ships that shoot off its cannons! In addition to this the crowd always seems to be in the game, you make a big play they respond with ecstatic cheering, if you make a stupid play, then you will get booed....loudly. Another final thing I would like to mention is that if your XBOX is online while you are playing a game, you will get up to date sports tickers from the real world of sports. Even though it really does not add to the game you are playing its still a cool feature. It's nice always being in touch with the real sports world while I'm playing video games.
As much as I like the actual game, there are handful of flaws that are disappointing and one that is downright frustrating. First of all if you already didn't know, there is no franchise mode. So the team you create for offline play can only go through one season and that's it. No continuing to a next season, and no tracking career stats etc. The most you can do is take that same team though the same team again with a slightly different scheduled, or just create another team all together. In addition the Season mode itself is pretty limited. There is not even an ability to "watch" other games that your team is not playing in, and even more, you can only bring ONE of your created teams into season mode. This was a disappointment, especially for someone who primarily plays offline 99% of the time. I've tried online play before with other games, and if you have read my last reviews you will see that I am not a big fan of online play, playing people I don't know, most of who are cheesers, whiners and glitchers. The only time I will play someone online, is if I know them in real life. The lack of franchise mode bothered me, but not enough not to get this game. I have always heard 2K made the best football games, and if APF was anything like the NBA 2K series, I knew I wouldn't be disappointed in the game play. The other limitation is a big one, even bigger than the lack of franchise mode in many ways. You are only limited to creating 8 teams in the game, meaning that at any one time you only have 8 teams to choose from as you can't play with any of the CPU's teams. This is not a big problem in itself, because I would have expected some sort of limitation on the amount of teams you could create. However, this 8 team limit is PER storage unit, and NOT per profile. This means that no matter how many profiles you have on your XBOX, there are only 8 teams to go around for all of the profiles as the roster file with your teams is not saved to individual profiles but to the memory unit itself. If you have a memory unit, then that is another 8 teams, but a bigger problem is that only ONE roster file can be loaded at one time. So say you create 8 teams on your Xbox, and your friend creates 8 teams on his memory card and brings it over to your house, there is no way your teams can play your friends' teams as its one roster file or the other. If you friend loads his roster file to your game, then YOU have to play with his teams, and vice versa. The only way this can be done is if you play over XBL, and in the case that your friend or family member live in the same house, then you are pretty much SOL if the two of you want to play your created teams against each other. This is a big oversight on 2K's part, it's like they completely forgot about the offline gamer to focus on online play. I can deal with no franchise mode for the first year, but only being able to choose from 8 teams at a time is a big minus. I'm pretty sure person A's friend wouldn't want to be forced to play with his friend's A teams when person B spent so much time creating his own teams and vice versa. There should be no reason why person B can't take his MNU over to friend A's house and have a blast pitting their created teams against each other....but you can't.
I agree that the actual game play in this game is much better than Madden has ever been and when playing it's no doubt the best football game I ever had the opportunity to play. If you are an online gamer, then this is a no-brainer. However if you are only concerned with offline play, then think hard before you spend $60 on this because if you don't know all the limitations before going in, you will be quite disappointed. Personally I am pleased with the game overall, but to be honest the lack of offline features is quite a disappointment. I am by no means a Madden supporter or an EASports supporter in general, but have sense enough to know if 2K expects to make in the football gaming market which they no doubt should, they really have to appeal to all types of gamers, both offline and online. One strike against 2K from the get go is that EASports has a monopoly on the NFL and NCAA Football. Adding to that fact, the suits over at EA are way too rich and have a very big fan base for 2K to continue to leave important features out of their football games. I don't EVER expect them to outsell Madden even though to me 2K football's game play is light years ahead of arcadey, unrealistic game play of Madden. However if they don't start to appeal to all types of gamers then many fans will have no reason to "take a chance" with 2K and will end up buying Madden instead. Others like me who can't stand Madden will just do without a football game all together, as I have been doing for the past two years.
This game has a solid foundation with superb game play (which is the most important part of any game). It just needs more stuff to go with it; and no I'm not talking about the gimmick crap Madden makes a big deal out of every year, I'm talking about things that will actually improve the game, (i.e. Franchise, ability to play two profiles created teams against one another). I like playing with the Legends, but if the Legends are what's holding 2K back from doing a franchise, then I say scrap the legends and go with all generic players, many fans who don't care about the NFL license or using "real" players would still no doubt appreciate the game play. Maybe even have a single season mode with Legends and a franchise mode with all generic players. The possibilities are abundant with a little creative thinking. A bigger issue is only being able to choose from 8 teams to play with. At least give gamers the ability to load more teams from separate profiles to increase the choices! This limitation is bad enough in the first release, and will be unacceptable in all future releases.
This is 2K's first year back in football gaming in a few years, so I will give them the benefit of the doubt this year, giving them some time to work out the many missing options. Despite the disappointments, the bottom line is that this is a very fun football game. However if 2K wants to continue to produce this series and have "success" with it, they will really have to bring it in the future. I desperately wanted to give this game 4 stars, but my conscious won't allow it. I'll put it this way, if you are an offline player like me, this game gets 3.5, if I was primarily an online player, then the lack of feature in offline wouldn't bother me so it would get a four at least. In either case, it gets a perfect 5 for fun.
All that said, welcome back 2K! It's about time we have a choice in football gaming again! Let's just hope EA doesn't figure out how to license the sport of football itself so they can take the easy punk way out again by buying their way out of competition. | video-games_xbox |
They do the job just fine. Audio. Okay. Let's get one thing straight. These are NOT high-end gaming headphones. If you walk into a room full of competitive gaming fanatics, they may or may not judge you because you don't have a visibly expensive set.
Now, with that out of the way, what about the rest of us that just want something that we can use to chat with friends online, listen to the game audio, and maybe, just maybe, use them as music headphones in a pinch? They do the job just fine.
Audio: Game audio comes through fine. I've never really tried these with my PS3 because I don't play online that much anymore. On my PS4? I simply plug the headphone adapter into the designated port on the bottom of the PS4 controller and they're ready to go. The PS4 automatically recognizes the presence of the headphones and the microphone. While I'm sure there are expensive headphones that give an jaw-dropping level of audio quality, that's not really what I expected. These do the job just fine and sound almost as good as some of my higher-end headphones that I use for music.
Microphone: It's detachable. It works fine. Friends have told me my voice comes through without noticeable compression or distortion.
Comfort: This is what lost a star for these headphones. The lack of padding on the headband can sometimes be a bit of a pain, though not so much that it impedes your ability to game. That being said, I have hair. If I was bald or kept my hair cut short, I would probably consider investing in a set with some more padding in the band. As that's not a problem for me, I focus more on the padding on the ears. They're fine. They do a good job of providing comfort without causing heat. Don't expect noise cancellation, though.
Overall: Good for the money. If you have kids, a significant other, or if you yourself are looking for a set of gaming headphones that will do the job without breaking the bank, these are a good choice. The lack of padding on the headband lost a star for this setup, but that isn't a deal breaker. | video-games_xbox |
A serious disappointment. What a devastating disappointment this game was. If you're a big fan of the Assassin Creed series, I'm afraid there may be a chance you will be sorely disappointed when you play this. I have played all of the AC's and this is not only the absolute worst game in the series but is now on my list of worst games I've played overall.
To start, for some reason the geniuses who developed this game decided to "fix" (a.k.a. change) a lot of the controls and game play. I don't remember it being broken, do you? There is actually a statement in the game about how the changes that were made to the controls were going to make gameplay better: false. There is no "free run" anymore so when you get within a certain range of a wall/tree/crate you will veer to the object and begin the free run, whether you want it or not. The left button or trigger (whichever system you have) is now a useless, slow moving reticule so now there is no manual lock-on. This makes things more difficult, not less.
The game has far too many glitches. I honestly don't know how this game was "okay-ed" for release. Even after several patches it has many, many glitches. Your horse will come to a dead-stop for absolutely no reason (a pebble in the road perhaps?), missions on the map will appear and disappear at random, locations and missions you've found will not appear on the map, etc. The many glitches with the map alone are unacceptable: if you've played these games you KNOW how important the map is.
Next is your homestead/income. The way the designers have decided to make money in this game is awkward at best. It's hard to navigate and not intuitive at all.
I somewhat enjoyed the story-line but that's about it. I have been a loyal fan of the series up until this game. I will not buy the next game until I've borrowed it from a friend to make sure that overall the game plays better. It's really unfortunate how "they" have completely ruined this game.
If you decide to buy, enjoy. | video-games_xbox |
Could Use a Tune- Up. I play racing titles, its what i do, and believe me, there is a special place in my heart for the arcade racers. If you like the feeling of speed, and challenging opponents (cops or otherwise), and a good reason to play (immersive story or awesome unlocks) Look Past this title.
First off, the graphics are miserably bad, pro street looked better and to tell the honest truth, so did carbon and most wanted. Everything is grainy and jaggedy in HD, but is actually a bit better on a SDTV. On top of that the bloom lighting tends to make those problems worse. To make things even worse, the game has serious framerate and pop-up problems. The frame-rate slows to a crawl after using your speedbreaker (X) or (square) and when going through dust, smoke, dirt, a wreck, or lots of traffic. AKA 50% of the time. Its horrible.
The soundtrack is a joke, and i promptly disabled it. But the motors, and tires and the ambient sounds are wonderful. I love the whoosh sounds you hear weaving in and out of traffic.
Gameplay is more or less unchanged, nitrous returns to its controllable state (non burst nitrous) but the game falls victim to de-ja-vu, its feels like need for speed, but the formula is still the same word for word as before. The gameplay has several flaws in racing, and when not.
Racing first:
Cars more or less handle the same, meaning that none of them seems to be different than another other than the outer shell, its makes the game easy to pick up but kind of defeats the point of more than one car. The Slowdown can mess you up really bad, since reaction times matter so much in racing, being off by a little can mean the difference between winning and losing. Finally, in tight races when its hundredths of a second between a win and a loss (the master races) you often will be spun out by the AI who A: never really screws up in normal races and B: follows thier line no matter what which means they'll nail you in the rear and spin you out getting into a corner. It makes races frustrating losing like that.
Freeroaming is now what i'll cover.
There is no garage/safehouse, just the pause menu. uh.. i guess my cars are stored in my pocket?everything is done trough the pause menu, purchase of cars, tuning, changing cars, whatever you need. it screms why. Why go through all the effort of making a big world and then put no reason to explore it? This is further compounded by the lack of discoverables (that's right you can drive by a shop 300 times but it won't be accessible until you boss tells you where it is, and even then it doesn't matter where it is because all of the parts are right there in your pause menu.) The free roam is pointless, there are no events listed at were the races are actually, but there is a gps event reminder at the bottom of your screen, by pressing down on the d-pad you are thrust into a event which is either the next part of the story, a shop reminder or a cop chase. The reminder is big, annoying, and is a shortcut to the gps shortcut race menu. There is absoluely no point to the open world at all, which makes the game just like prostreet essentally in race selection structure (pick a race, race it, pick next race.) its boring.
The story is played in over-acted snippets and is predicatable and is about as interesting as watching paint dry.
Undercover has what it takes to interest a younger child as a rental but its so ugly and unchallenging. The game will take sereral days to complete, i almost beat it in a day. not even 20 hours. It just doesn't have what midnight club los angeles does in terms of immersiveness and challenge. Its just a whole lotta average in a badly animated package. Y'know what though? it does have a lot of what Most wanted did and it feels a lot like that game did. thing is EA, if i wanted to play Most Wanted, I would. And if i didn't have it already i'd buy it for a quarter of what Undercover costs. Most Wanted was a great game, but that's no excuse to make it twice. | video-games_xbox |
Solid 360 controller for PC, for those of us who need a D-PAD. I finally caved to the pressure to buy an xinput compatible controller for games on my PC. Previously to this, I had been using a Dualshock 2 controller through a USB adapter. I refused to use the official XBox 360 controller due to the d-pad which is built on a wheel of lies, pain, and suffering. While the dualshock was a great solution, microsoft's push for xinput was so successful that many games don't support it, or won't let you remap in the case of the dualshock being mapped incorrectly, so I eventually gave in.
On to the actual review:
First, it's smaller than I expected. As in, this is smaller than the dualshock it replaces. I don't have much experience with 360 controllers, but for people who do I imagine the difference will be even more pronounced. This doesn't bother me, but keep it in mind.
Second, and this might again be because I'm coming from a dualshock, the digital facebuttons are snappy as all hell. I hardly had to think about pressing a button before the game reacted to what I wanted. I'll get used to this, and there were no accidental button presses. The dualshock's face buttons are analogue, so they require you to /really mean/ to press the button before they activate.
The analogue sticks also give you the full range, so even though the gate is circular, if you view it in windows's game controller panel, you'll be able to hit the corners of the joystick's square. This may or may not be a problem depending on the game you are playing.
I was unable to discern a difference between the analogue sensitivity settings.
ALSO, Contrary to what I was lead to believe from a certain gawker media review (probably kotaku, don't remember) the trigger buttons /are in fact analogue/. This means that even though they feel like digital buttons, they report anything from a light touch to hard presses as different analogue values to the computer/console. This is good if you want to use this controller as your daily driver for say, racing games or something as well (though you can't be as precise as a trigger-based solution, but this isn't the point of this controller in the first place).
The d-pad feels like your general run-of-the-mill d-pad, from playstation, snes, or classic gameboy. It behaves in a similarly snappy fashion to the face buttons, and I was able to navigate menus with ease (I never use the analogue stick for this, don't know why). Again, I never had any accidental button presses with it, so it seems good. A vast improvement over the official d-pad-disc-thing, but then that isn't hard to do. I have yet to test it in any fighting games, which is probably where it will prove it's mettle (or not). I leave this up to another reviewer, as I still have to up my fighting game skills.
My only wish is that the d-pad and analogue stick were in the non-swapped position, but that's only available on the PS3 version of this controller. (which of course, wouldn't work with games expecting the xbox360 controller, which is why I bought this in the first place). Playstation-esque layout is more comfortable for me (esp on smaller controllers with LT and RT buttons instead of triggers) but this is probably more opinion than anything else. If anyone ever finds an playstation-style 360 controller let me know.
I wasn't able to get the controller to work with mac, so I'll be keeping my dualshock around. The dualshock was never an issue on mac anyway, due to native support for the bluetooth dualshock 3 and other USB controllers. This controller should work with mac xbox360 drivers soon, as the only thing stopping it is that the current drivers don't yet recognise this as a 360 controller (give it time, it only came out this week). This is probably just a matter of adding the vendor and product ID of the Gem Pad EX to the existing drivers. However, if you primarily game on mac, I would recommend a PS3 controller anyway, as OSX has native support (beginning with 10.6, I think) and the less drivers on your computer the better. (Shady 3rd party drivers for the dualshock 3 is what drove me to purchase this in the first place.)
All in all, a solid controller so far (only owned it for a day). Time will tell how it stands up to wear and tear. Analogue controls are solid (unlike that #@&%ing OUYA controller I tried (seriously, triggers could influence analogue stick values and vice versa, learn to electrical engineer damnit!)). I may revise this as time goes on. Watch out for ham hands; it's smaller than you think. | video-games_xbox |
Stunning Multiplayer And Campaign. (Multiplayer Details and highlights)Exciting Top notch well balanced online play,lag is nonexistent .There's a Party System plus a ton of game modes like Deathmatch,Search & Destroy,Domination,one-on-one duel, a one-shot/one-kill hardcore mode,Heaquarters,Oldschool mode,etc. Also Matchmaking playlists, 16 multiplayer maps right out of the box,Four player split screen. Also your online player will get 'upgrade' perks like faster re-load,detect claymores through walls,asorb more damage,all this is gained through playing and gaining experience points which is a part of the fantastic online leveling system in which everything you do while playing gains experience points that leads to new ranks. And once your promoted to new ranks you'll get added player bonuses like calling in air-strikes,temporary radar,new weapons and attachments,matchmaking playlists,and create-a-class. You MAX out at level 55 but your able to create-a-class at level 4 ,which includes,primary-secondary weapons-grenade type-etc,With 5 slots total to customize. You can tweak your custom class between rounds,according to your tastes for each map and gametype,things like radar jammer-steady aim-sleight of hand/juggernaut-quiet footsteps,etc. All In All Multiplayer is awesome ,COD4 is a must own if your a XboxLive FPS fan. Onto the single player portion ,wow what can I say its beautiful and each mission looks better than the last. There's the standard intense COD action that you'd expect as well as some new 'stealth' type missions (with newly introduced night vision)that makes the game all that much more immersive. The weather,lighting,and textures all look fantastic, and all at an impressive 60fps. The only negative (if there is even just one) is that the campaign is only 10 hours give or take depending on difficulty and how much you explore the levels. But that being said this game hits it on all levels ,fantastic gameplay,stunning graphics,excellent multiplayer,COD4 has all the right things a FPS fan needs and wants. There are some kool 'cheats' too after you collect the (30) laptops scattered throughout the campaign that have the usual cheats like infinite ammo and a wierd but funny cheat that when an enemy gets killed they explode into a pile of car tires..lol..and with the same cheat if you shoot down a chopper the sky rains Goodyears..lol. Also another perk, after beating the campaign 'Arcade' mode opens up , you now get scored on the camapaign based on performance like headshots-blowing up cars-string togeter kills,like mutiple headshots etc. You'll see a score meter that tracks your progress in 'Arcade' mode. What an awesome game the campaign alone really is worthy but its the multiplayer that seals the deal as COD4 is one of the best FPS to hit the consoles in a long time. Definitely 'do not miss' this stellar game. PEACE | video-games_xbox |
Step into Nosgoth . . . _Legacy of Kain: Defiance_ was a step into new genres for me. First, this is the first fantasy-themed game I've played since _Thief_. Second, it is the only hand-to-hand combat game I've played since _Enter the Matrix_ (which has some great fights, no matter what other flaws it might have). I have to say that both of these switches worked for me. The sword & sorcery setting is done nicely, with plenty convincing magic and powerful combat moves. The enemies are varied and visually impressive, though aren't all that smart, making them pretty easy to defeat in droves. The look of the landscapes and graphics in general are good, if a bit dated. The storyline is exciting, with plenty of drama and some nice twists at the end--maybe one of the better plots I've seen in a game in any genre. And the switching between characters dynamic makes for interesting, dynamic play.
I only have a few complaints about the game, and though they're relatively minor, they are pretty annoying. The first (and biggest) problem is the camera: you have no control over it. Mostly, this isn't a big deal, since the camera moves in interesting ways to give cinematic-feeling views of the landscape. But when it's a problem, it's really a problem. Sometimes the camera will move behind a pillar or something, so you can't see the battle you're trying to fight. Or the camera will just be at the wrong angle, making it tough to jump from one platform to the next, especially if you're like my and trying to navigate using only the keyboard. Depending on the camera angle, pressing "A" to move left may actually move you at some angle between left and up or left and down. Minor problems crop up with the camera angle throughout the game, but none are so bad as to keep you from finishing a level. The good part is that the camera will move into different places in replays of a given situation, so you're rarely stuck to a single angle.
The other thing that annoyed me about this game was its timed puzzles. Now I'm new to platform jumpers (though I used to play _Donkey Kong_ on Colecovision), so it might be a common feature of this kind of game, but I was frequently frustrated by the close timing of some of the puzzles. One, for instance, barely gives you enough time to complete it even once you've figured out what moves you need to do, meaning that you'll fail many times as you figure out where you're supposed to jump next. Add to that a dependence on the camera angle being just right and you'll end up repeating many of the puzzles 20, 30 or more times until it all falls together perfectly.
These flaws shouldn't keep you from playing _Legacy of Kain:Defiance_ if you're at all interested. The problems are localized to certain parts of the game, while there are plenty of exciting, satisfying moments in between. | video-games_xbox |
Time to Split. The third entry in the "TimeSplitters" series, "Future Perfect" is by far the best. This simplistic yet highly satisfying shooting gallery has excitement and humor in equal parts, and one of the best lead characters to ever grace a game of this type. If you like to bust caps and laugh out loud, then this game is most definitely a bullet with your name on it.
You assume the role of Cortez, who might initially seem like little more than a Riddick (see "Pitch Black") rip-off born from the generic action hero generator. As Cortez finds himself hopping through time in an effort to thwart the evil plans of a madman and the titular alien race known as the Splitters, you gradually come to realize he's got a personality all his own. Despite being a capable bad@$$, he's also a lumbering oaf that would rather dive into a swimming pool headfirst without a second thought than check to see if it's first filled with water. His interactions with other characters in the game, themselves quite memorable, as well as his interactions with himself (yes, I said himself!), range from charming to hilarious. He's not so much as rip-off of other action heroes as he is a parody of them, and that makes him one of the best protagonists in the history of the FPS genre.
Gameplay in "Future Perfect" is similar to previous entries but more polished and, ultimately, more entertaining. Without a jump button of any kind, the game basically tasks you with old school running and gunning the likes of which are rare these days. And the guns themselves, they are plentiful, varied, and fun to use. In fact, if there's one problem with the game's arsenal, it's that there are too many weapons to choose from! For instance, you'll only get to use the so-called time grenades in one mission, and given the slow motion blast that they emit that's truly a shame because they alone or more fun than most entire FPS games' entire catalog of arms. The same can be said of the stake gun, which fires spikes that impale opponents, and these are only two of many examples.
Few games have such delicious variety, point of fact. Each level, or time period, is essentially a lengthy episode that feels like its own self-contained mini-game. Each one has its own very intriguing personalities, storylines, themes, weapons, and opponents. For instance, one episode is essentially a survival horror scenario (or parody, one that successfully rips both "Resident Evil" and "Doom 3" with efficiency) in which you combat zombies and other assorted beasties with baseball bats, flame throwers, and the aforementioned stake gun. The following level is a science fiction futurescape (still in Cortez's past) that puts you up against robots and mutants with high-tech weapons that include the also aforementioned time grenades. The look and feel of each individual episode is exclusive to that episode, so that it feels as though you're playing through vignettes instead of missions. It's brilliant, and more games should take note.
Interestingly, other games in the franchise were rated "T", but this one gets an "M" with its satisfying gouts of blood and cartoonish violence. Scoring a headshot on a enemy is extremely gratifying, while so to is exploding mutants with serum-injected bullets, or burning through undead with a flamethrower. None of this feels overly vicious, however, as the game's tongue in cheek flavor spills over into the bloodletting. It's all in good fun - and good fun it is. It never really asks you to take it seriously, and yet it never really deteriorates into "Serious Sam" ridiculousness either. The balance is almost perfect.
And as fun as playing through the game alone can be, playing co-operatively through the story mode with a friend is sometimes even better -- though both are worth going through, as events in the story and objectives in the game can change depending upon which mode you're using. The landscape of gaming would improve tremendously if more game designers took note and included a co-op mode in every game. And the multiplayer suite on the whole is as attractive as ever, offering plenty of incentive to go beyond the campaign and take on other players head-to-head if that's your cup of tea.
Despite all the praise, though, "Future Perfect" has its problems. For starters, the story mode is brief at best. More would have been appreciated, but that's mainly because what's there is so good. Also, some niggles in co-op play include an annoying "feature" that causes one player to teleport closer to another if he/she has progressed in the level, which can be extremely disorienting and is only rarely helpful. Also, the lack of a jump button keeps you feeling unrealistically grounded, and given the progression of shooters in this day and age, it's time this series let you take both feet off the ground. What's more, a few technical niggles show their ugly faces from time to time. One glitch sent me falling through the floor to my demise.
Despite the fact that it's not revolutionary in the slightest and brings little new to the FPS genre, "Future Perfect" is still an absolute blast. The characters and their antics even make the cut-scenes imminently rewatchable on repeat viewings, despite all the good gameplay to be had around them. As far as console blast fests go, they just don't get much better than this. This is a classic example of how to make a basic run-and-gun fun again, and one of the funniest games ever made to boot. Play it if that sounds at all like your bag. | video-games_xbox |
Good, but didn't live up to its potential. Rainbow Six Vegas was, in my opinion, a fantastic game. It combined very slick gameplay with stunning graphics and an immersive story, and threw in nice touches like an epic soundtrack and a fun "terrorist hunt" mode.
With this as a basis, Rainbow Six Vegas 2 should have been even better, but unfortunately it falls short of the mark. On the one hand, Ubisoft improved nearly every aspect of gameplay (I'll get to that), but on the other, the game is just MISSING something.
On the positive side, there are plenty of new touches that fix most of my gripes about the previous game. Melee is still missing, much to my annoyance (there are plenty of opportunities when it would be preferable), but you can now sprint in short bursts (handled in the standard CoD manner, but with the left bumper). I couldn't honestly tell if pistol firing was as fast as your finger could pull (the old game had a very low firecap which was very irritating), but it seemed faster anyway. The graphics are impressively better; original Vegas had some great visuals, so seeing even more detail and lighting effects is a nice touch. There is an improved assortment of weapons, including the SR-25 sniper rifle, a favorite of mine ever since SOCOM: US Navy SEALs. Unfortunately, as before, you can only put one attachment on each weapon, so you'll have to choose between things like "recoil stock to prevent ridiculous muzzle climb" and "sight/scope to get any remotely useful benefit from LMG at ranges greater than point blank." I suppose that too much weight would slow down an operative, and this is the reasoning, but it's kind of annoying at times. You can now see how many breaching charges and grenades your team is carrying. Checkpoints seem to be more frequent, which is a plus considering that the enemy AI is also noticeably tougher. In fact, this game proved to be very challenging even on "Normal" difficulty; enemies have razor-sharp senses and very good aim.
A new and considerably extensive feature is character customization. Instead of playing as a standard-issue "Logan Keller," (you'll be playing as "Bishop" anyway), you can alter your appearance including facial features/race, facial hair (not really visible in-game), and clothing. The latter is the most notable, because your clothing is also topped with body armor, and there are about a dozen different types, with varying levels of protection and encumbrance. You can put on the heaviest armor possible and take a few more bullets, but you'll move slower and respond more sluggishly. You can also change your helmet and choose to wear sunglasses or goggles, which I personally think is cool. A silly detail of this, however, is that even if you opt to go with no helmet at all, you'll still have access to thermal and night vision, as if by magic (even looking at yourself in third person with NVG on reveals nothing over your eyes, although the goggles do flip down if you are wearing the standard issue helmet). The "equipment" lockers placed throughout each level now include clothing and armor, as well, so you can change your setup mid-mission. This is actually very handy as you may encounter a very heavy firefight after a segment where stealth and speed are critical, and wish to bulk up your armor.
Another new feature is a level-up system that takes effect during all modes of gameplay, including the campaign. Each kill that you get adds to your XP, with various types of kills and actions counting higher than others. As you level up, you'll advance in rank and unlock new weapons and armor. This adds to the replay value, because modes like terrorist hunt continue to advance your level.
The co-op modes are a nice feature, with the challenging (VERY challenging) terrorist hunt mode being a fun split-screen pastime. I haven't played online, due to my lack of a connection, but it's an option as well.
Despite all these good things and improvements over the original, Rainbow Six Vegas 2 just doesn't quite hit the mark. The reason isn't quite apparent, but I have a few theories. First, the original game ended in a cliff-hanger that definitely warranted a sequel. After setting themselves up nicely for future sales, however, it seems that Ubisoft got tired of working on it and rushed it to completion. Despite being much more difficult than the original, I was stunned by how quickly the game was over. I expected to unlock most of the weapons by the end of the campaign as I advanced in rank (although it was probably designed more for multiplayer), but I was still a lowly Staff Sergeant when I finished, and I was left with a hollow feeling, kind of like when you prepare to eat a meal and then have it taken away halfway through eating.
What's more, while the first game had an introduction in Mexico and then spent the rest of its time in the glitzy, slot machine and neon laden Las Vegas for which the game was titled until the grand finale, "Vegas 2" starts in Europe, briefly visits Vegas, hitting a few casinos, then heads out to the Nevada desert and finally to Central America. Since I really enjoyed the atmosphere and ambiance of the Vegas setting, this disappointed me too. The new locations fit the storyline, but Vegas still should have been the focus.
Comparing the concurrent storylines of Vegas 1 and 2 justfies my complaint about game length and locale. In Vegas 1, after the introduction in Mexico, Logan Keller joins Michael and Jung for the entire rest of the game (90% or more). In Vegas 2, Bishop works with Michael and Jung until they leave to join Logan, then performs a solo mission in an oil refinery. Right after that, he's back with Mike and Jung to find Gabriel (after the events of Vegas 1). This oil refinery mission does not constitute 90% of the game, hence the overwhelming feeling of a large chunk being left out. In general, the story was weak and the game felt like an expansion pack rather than a sequel. The finale was challenging and meant to be emotional, but came off as fairly cheesy. While Logan, Michael, and Jung played an epic role as the first line of defense in Vegas, kicking the terrorists in the teeth and foiling their plans to micropulse everything (and consequently making you, the player, feel like a hardcore hero), Bishop and his various companions in Vegas 2 seemed like a second-rate backup force, wandering around and failing to accomplish anything noteworthy (and failing, per script, to accomplish many of their initial goals). Of course this makes you, the player, feel lame as well.
My last broad complaint is about the graphics. Earlier I said that they were better and more detailed, which is true. However, for whatever reason, everything seemed too clean and perfect, even when it was destroyed. Shapes are simple and the whole game resembled a very obvious Adobe Illustrator graphic. Replete with detail, but lacking some aspect of realism that made everything toy-like. I played Vegas 1 and 2 back-to-back (my second time going through the original), so the fact that I noticed this in Vegas 2 indicates that it's a new and different thing, likely a result of the new graphical touches.
Other complaints are minor, like a soundtrack that lacks the power of the original, heavily recycled enemy dialogue from the original (although the comically repeated "Chris ain't here" line is absent), and a few gameplay details I already addressed.
In conclusion, Rainbow Six Vegas 2 is a very slick game that provides good entertainment and replay value via modes like terrorist hunt, but lacks the clout of its predecessor, due to a weak plot, unimportant player role, short duration, oddly toyish graphics, and lack of Las Vegas content. You may want to rent this one, or buy it used. | video-games_xbox |
So Much To Do, So Addicting Gameplay!!! A Must-own. The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (the game) by EA Games is sooooooo much fun in so many ways. From the fantastic graphics to the breathtaking story, this game will keep you interested for many hours of gameplay to come. Here is why you HAVE to buy The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers for the Microsoft XBOX.
1. Gameplay: So much fun! The basic story is well...you start out on Mount Doom (in the Fellowship of the Ring. You play first through the first movie, then the second in the Two Towers. Great deal ($$$)), where u take on as the character Isiledor (don't know how to spell his name). You learn all of the basic moves: block, attack, fierce attack, etc... Then u are ready to begin your battle to destroy the ring!
Before each level u choose a character: either Legolas, Gimli, or Aragorn. Gimli is EXTREMELY strong and high on health, but is a very slow attacker. Legolas is fast, quick, with swift attacks, and very strong moves. Unfortunantly, he is the weakest of the 3, and dies much quicker. And last, but not least, Aragorn, with a swift and cunning sword, and an awsome bow and arrow, is the most balanced of the 3. Strong, a good fighter, and pretty fast, Aragorn will get u through almost any obstacle. A very good fighter indeed.
When u beat a level, it gives u points on certain things. How well u fought, your health, your supplies, how many kills u got. With the "points" u earn, u can buy upgrades for each character and boost their level up to a 10. You can sometimes buy new equipment, new moves, new powers, etc...it's really cool. And u can go back and do each level as the other 2 characters, so u can get all of them up to a 10. In the end u have an awsome fighter, and it's really cool to see a super strong Legolas fighting dozens of Orcs, or to watch a powerful Gimli cut through dozens of Orcs in Dwarf style.
As for the gameplay itself, it's sooo much fun! Battleling through dozens of Orcs, shooting arrow after arrow, and defending your other soldiers. Imagine Helm's Deep brought to life, trying to stay alive as Legolas, shooting Orc after Orcs with arrows, and using fierce attack when it they get too close. This game is a blast, and the ability to earn points and upgrade your character just adds to all the fun. The gameplay is so addicting, and I always come back within a few hours of stopping for MORE!!!
2. Graphics: While the screenshots didn't look all that impressive, during gameplay, they look fantastic! You fight dozens of Orcs, each with the horrible, menacing teeth and face, body, and the armor to go with it. Flaming arrows fly toward you from hundreds of yards away. Respond with arrows of your own! Fight off the Ring Raithes from decending on Frodo, or fight with man-kind as you battle through Helm's Deep! It's soooooo cool, and the graphics bring it to life. Don't judge it by the screenshots, just trust me. During the game, they look AWSOME!!!
3. Replay Value/ Sound: To go with all this is the voice acting from the movie it self, and the sounds are awsome. Here an arrow THUD into an enemy, or hear swords clash in a huge underground battle. The sound was fantastic, and to go with everything else, wraps this up in a perfect package. But that's not all! When completing certain challenges, u can see clips from the new movie itself, and watch even the making of the game, and interviews of the men and women who made the whole Lord of the Rings experience so fun to be a part of! Very well put together, the unlockables will keep u begging for more!
As for the replay value, it's just so much fun to go back and try to beat it again in a new game, and of course, to raise the difficulty setting (easy, normal, hard). All in all, it's a true blast! Or tryin to go back and earn more points each time!
I hope this helped, and helped convince u to pick up this incredible game. You won't be dissapointed! Through all of the awsome gameplay, the incredible fun, and the overall depth this game dives into, this is a must-have, a classic, and a game no action loving gamer should be without (not to mention any major Lord of the Ring fan).
Thx! | video-games_xbox |
Double Bass action. Since this is the official replacement Rock Band 2 bass pedal, you would expect it to perform identical to the orignal that came with the Rock Band 2 drum set, and it does.
The pedal can be used as a replacement pedal or as a second pedal with the included double bass adapter. (needs 2AAA batteries, not included) When using the adapter, you plug both bass pedals into the adapter and then plug the adapter into the drum set. There is a selector switch on the adapter that lets you change the compatibility mode (360/PS3/Rock Band/Guitar Hero/etc).
Now, there's a catch to using the adapter, which makes the adapter work much better when drumming but you'll lose a tiny bit of functionality when navigating the song lists. The catch is that the adapter sends a short "on" signal to the drum set telling it that you pressed the pedal down and then turns the signal back to "off". This is great when using two pedals at the same time because it keeps them from interfering with each other when going for those lightning fast bass hits. In essence, you can press one pedal down and keep it down and then press the second bass pedal at the same time and it will still register a bass hit. This is a much better solution that simply using a splitter because when using a splitter, if you hold one pedal down you will get no response from the second bass pedal until you release the first pedal. It's easy to miss notes when using a splitter, but you won't have that problem with this adapter. Without trying to sound cliche, it rocks!
Here's the downside to that catch I was talking about; since it only sends a short "on" signal before turning the pedal back to "off", you can't use the pedal to navigate your song selections table of contents because that requires you to hold the pedal down. (there's a note in the instructions that tell you this also) The only thing the pedal will do when using the adapter is to "page down", which is what it always does when you press it once, with or without the adapter.
To me, it's not a big deal considering I gained a vast improvement in my double bass note hits and completely removed the leg fatigue I'd get when trying to play really fast songs on hard and expert. It does take a little practice to get used to it if you're not used to using both feet, but keep at it and you'll wonder how you managed with only one foot for so long.
I think the adapter alone makes this replacement pedal worth the cost. If you're only playing drums on easy or medium then it may not be worth as much to you because you don't really have any need for fast bass hits. But if you're like me and want to use the regular Rock Band 2 drums with the standard pedal you already have and just add a second pedal to it, this is the cheapest way to go.
So obviously there's other pedal choices out there and the other option you have is to just buy a better replacement after-market pedal. If you broke your first pedal from being too rough on it, you might want to consider this route instead. The quality of some of them is vastly superior to the stock pedal, but remember you're still using one foot in that situation, it's more expensive, and you don't get an adapter. To me, it's just easier to use both feet to get those really fast bass hits. And honestly, since we're just smacking around fake drums anyway, I'll use the method that gets me the best scores, which is two seperate bass pedals. Plus I figured if I buy an expensive pedal I'd still have to use a generic Y-cable splitter if I wanted to use 2 high-end pedals at the same time, which means you still have the limitations I described above.
Sorry for the long winded review, but if you're bothering to read all this in the first place, you're probably seriously considering all your options to improve your game. I think this is a really good option for the money, especially if you already have a working pedal and want to try out double bass pedals. (The splitter sealed the deal for me. It was worth the cost alone.) | video-games_xbox |
The Greatest Star Wars Game of All Time. Since the Star Wars series are often considered to be the greatest movie franchise, tons of video games based on the Star Wars and its Expanded Universe have been released. The genres for each game are very diverse to choose such as flying simulation, side scrolling adventure, action, FPS, RPG, real time strategy, and etc. Then, which games would be the best star wars games ever? In my opinion, there are three greatest games that every gamer, including Star Wars fans, must play at least once. Those are "Star Wars: TIE Fighter" for PC, "Star Wars Rogue Squadron II: Rogue Leader" for GameCube, and this, "Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic" for PC and Xbox.
Knights of the Old Republic (KotOR) is an RPG which its style is distinguished from Final Fantasy or Diablo, and the story takes place 4000 years before the rise of Darth Vader. Basically, the main character is supposed to gather companions and fight against the Sith army led by a Dark Lord named Darth Malak. As the game progresses, there are various routes and directions, and you can focus on either light or dark side of the force which determines the relationship with other characters and eventually the game ending.
KotOR is little bit hard to get used to play at first. But when you catch it up, I guarantee, it will be one the greatest RPGs you have ever played. The story is very awesome, and there is a huge plot twist in the end. Although it could be predictable, BioWare surely knew how to develop that twist very properly. For that reason, I think KotOR is the best game based on the Star Wars Expanded Universe. It proves well that Star Wars games without original characters like Darth Vader, Luke Skywalker, or Han Solo, etc, could be the greatest if the story, systems, gameplay are awesome. If you have the Xbox 360, get this game! Even nowadays KotOR is absolutely mind-blowing for all gamers. | video-games_xbox |
Skip this game, even in the clearance bin. First of all, I love board games. I also love family video games you can load up on the big screen, kick back, relax, and have some family laughs. This game is none of that. It totally misses the mark. I really thought this game would be a cool twist on some classic games, somehow, they were able to make playing the games a huge hassle and sent 4 of us attempting to play "just one more" in hopes at least one would save the night.
This game is one disc, and if you want to switch between FGN2 and FGN3 games, you must exit all the way to the dashboard and relaunch the disc. At the disc launch screen, you choose if you want to play FGN2 and FGN3. There is no way to play all 10 games in one sit down without exiting to the Xbox dashboard and reloading the disc. It doesn't help that the menus are horribly slow and there are a thousand cut scenes before, during, and after turns, the game begins or ends, etc.
Achievements: Although it is 10 games, this disc only has 1000 achievement points. They are separate from any other FGN achievement points so if you played DLC on the first game or own FG3 disc, you can pick this up for an extra 1000. The achievements seem really easy. I am not a huge achievement fan, but I was hoping this would have 2000 points since it is technically two games.
Here's a sample review of the games offered:
Twister: 1/10 - Nothing like real twister. In this game you must push a sequence of buttons in order as they come across your screen. A very dumbed down "memory" type game which really has NOTHING to do even with the rhythm. There are basically 3 genre's of beat... funk, pop, and disco. The beats are terrible, to the point you will want to turn it off quickly.
Life: 4/10 - Closest game to the real thing. We managed to play two games of this one. They actually almost pulled this one off except the game makes you press "A" for so many notifications it takes a lot of the fun of the "flow" of the game. For instance, you will get a notification, "It is your turn, press A", then you press A again to spin, then you land on a place on the board, "This is how to play this game notification, press a to play", Now you play a mini game where you press A again 5-6 times, *end of turn*, "You have $100, opponent %10, end of turn press A".
I would go on with some of the other games, but I think this proves my point. | video-games_xbox |
Play At Night in a Silent House - Quite Scary. Some games are mature because they have swearing. Others are mature because they are really scary and nasty. Condemned - Criminal Origins falls clearly into the latter category.
Condemned - Criminal Origins has you in the part of FBI Agent Ethan Thomas, tracking down a serial murder. Don't think that this is like Law & Order or Criminal Intent. This is about the nastiest, grittiest, scariest areas of a city that you can imagine.
Somehow it's as if a maximum security prison was turned into an area of town. You go walking through buildings that are covered with gang signs, crawling with addicts who kill police offers on sight. Most of these insane bad guys lurk in the dark and call out profanities before bashing you with 2x4s or other weapons of convenience.
Of course a wise police officer might call for backup. But in the first "situation", you're told backup will take 10 minutes to show up. Instead of hanging tight for 10 minutes, you go trekking through the building on your own with only a gun and a flashlight to keep you safe. It's not long before the gun is in the hands of the bad guy and it's you and your flashlight against numerous enemies. This is wise?? Where's your radio?
You have a helpful friend - Lt. Rosa - who helps to talk you through using your forensic equipment. However, she waits until a madman almost kills you before chiming in with some information about how all the madmen on the streets are insane and worthy of slaying. Thanks for the help, Rosa.
The game is definitely very scary. The screens are quite dark, the flashlight only lights up small areas, and there are a ton of corners for the madmen to hide out in. You see them run across the screen, take cover, lurk in the corners. You never know when they'll launch an assault. Again, it really makes me ask why a lone FBI guy is roaming around in here without any real weapons. I realize it's for plot reasons, but I want a better plot :) Surely if I was really tracking down a serial murderer, I'd have more backup and more weapons than this.
That being said, if you're looking for a scary game that isn't all-and-all out combat a la Quake 4, this might fit the bill exactly. It's you against the enemy - and the enemy is truly insane. It's not about tons of ammo here - you're lucky if you even have a gun sometimes. You have to find crowbars, planks of wood and whatever you can to stay alive. If you play this at night, with the house quiet around you, the HD TV showing you the full detail and the 5.1 surround sound tuning you in to the slightest noise, it really can get to you.
Well recommended for the mature set that enjoys being scared! | video-games_xbox |
NFS Underground Meets NFS Hot Pursuit. This is by far my favorate Need for Speed game yet. I loved the others, but I was always wishing for EA to try to put together some of the great aspects of their games. Whenever I was playing Need for Speed Hot Pursuit 2, I wanted to be able to customize my cars. When I was playing Underground, I wanted to have the police chase me around town. In Need for Speed Most Wanted, you get both of them along with fairly good graphics, an excellent sense of speed, and a giant, wide open city to explore. The story is ok, and overall there is actually more of one than in NFS Underground. You are playing as an anonymous street racer who lost his car to his rival in a race. Throughout the game, you have to build up a new ride and beat other top street racers in order to get to the top of the most wanted list. The wide open city is very detailed and VERY large. It's much better than EA's first attempt at making a free roaming city in the not-so-great Need for Speed Underground 2. The only real gripe that I have about Most Wanted is the customization options, which aren't nearly as detaled as the first Underground game. In the original, you could pick out your front bumper, rear bumper, side skirts, head lights and tail lights separately. In Most Wanted, you have to get a body kit, which is basicly just all of these things pre selected for you. While the kits are still well done, you can no longer mix things up to your liking. However, you can still choose spoilers, rims, hoods, ect. The new edition to the Undergroung series (the police) are also a great part of the game. I find the police chases so much fun that I spend more time just driving around the city causing trouble, trying to start a police chase than I actually race. The police are the best I have seen in a game. Other games that have police chases usually just have them bumping you every few seconds. The police in Most wanted do all sorts of things such as setting up road blocks, spike strips, special souped up units, and of course, helicoptors. This may all sound very familiar to fans of the NFS Hot Pursuit games, but they use these tactics with much more intelligence. The police units also use a very effective tactic in which one police car will get in front of you, one will get behind you, and one will get on your left and right side. Once your completly boxed in, the car in front of you will slam on the brakes and trap you. When you get arrested, you can either use a get out of jail pass that you earn in races or you can pay the fine. If you don't have a pass or enough money, your car will be empounded. If you get in a big police chase, head for one of the red triangles on your map. They indicate objects that can be knocked over and used to get the police off your tail. For example: One of these objects is a water tower. If you rip through the support beams, the tower will collapse, cutting off or trapping your pursuers. The graphics aren't the best, but the cutscenes are excellent, and Need for Speed is still king when it comes to delivering a great sense of speed. This is a great racing game with cool cars and crazy police chases, but if you are looking for a game with great customization options, I recommend Midnight Club 3: DUB Edition, which has the best customization out there, along with free roaming cities to play in. | video-games_xbox |
A great addition to your arsenal for a FPS player. I will do my best to make this review as honest and unbiased as possible.
First off, shipping from this company is in no way rapid. I suppose I might be a little bias since I am used to prime, but it did take this company 3 days from the moment of purchase to ship the control. Ultimately, no big deal, the control did arrive within Amazon's allotted window, and it was well packaged.
The various functions of the control are very easy to use and program, and also not a problem to switch up on the fly for games like GOW and COD. Where this product shines the most (especially on BO2) is using the far more powerful semi-auto weapons using rapid fire. If you were a fairly decent COD player before, this function alone will no doubt up your game. However, I would caution you to be prepared to have people in various lobbies complaining that you are using a moded controller. While the device is not detectable as far as microsoft is concerned, your fellow COD players are not stupid either. They know unless you have a serious meth habit there is no way in hell you can get off rounds that fast. Just a heads up.
Drop shot, which forces your player to the ground after firing the first round, is also handy on certain maps that are fairly wide open, and if you are more of a "rusher" styled player. If you are the type that is constantly taking a knee behind cover, or if you like to camp constantly, this will not be an advantage to your style of play. If fact, it will probably get you killed a great deal.
The jitter function is handy when you are in a confined space and will be firing from the hip (as it will not allow you to aim down the sight). You can spray an entire room with an SMG at a rate of fire that is astounding. This also, proves highly useful on certain maps.
as far as the build of the control? It is well made and manufactured, and these folks obviously take pride in their workmanship. I have had no problems hooking up my Turtle Beach set or my chat pad to the control. The grips are also a welcome edition over your stock 360 control as well.
Overall, I can recommend this control to anybody who is heavily involved in FPS games. It is well built, easy to program, and gives you a definite edge over the competition. | video-games_xbox |
A true XBOX 360 vs, PS3 review. Ok I am a video game freak I admit it, so even though I already had an XBOX 360 I waited in the rain for 18 hours to get my hands on a PS3. I have now owned both for over 6 months and let me tell you there is NO comparison. The XBOX 360 is miles ahead of the Sony. Sony was way over confident when they decided to release this polished graphics, old school controller, no vibrate, slow over heating, red light flashing hunk of trash. I am so sick to my stomach that I wasted $600.00 on it. First off don't let numbers fool you into thinking the PS3 is a more powerful machine then the XBOX360 because it is not. There cell processing might be the future for data computers but not for video games. I am now on my 3rd PS3 due to the red light coming on and the system totally freezing up. Not to mention the first one smelled like something inside it was burning. Also I rented two of the same games for both systems and compared them. Not only to my surprise was the XBOX 360 had better graphics then the PS3 on both games, but it ran so much smoother on the 360. The only thing Sony did that was smart and may save this system from being the next Game Cube is the blue-ray player. But everyone knows in a year from now or so Blue Ray players will come way down in price and this will not be a big deal then. I have never been an Xbox fan boy and to tell you the truth I liked my ps2 better then my Xbox, but Microsoft did it right this time. It is a far superior system then the Sony and now that GTA is not only on PS3 Microsoft smokes them in exclusive games. Gears Of War, Halo 3 etc. I'm sorry but Resistance: Fall of Man is not even on the same planet with Gears of War. It's a failed clone; I was so disappointed in it. I keep waiting for a great title to come out to change my mind but games like Rainbow 6, and Fear which I have had for close to a year already on my 360 don't excite me. I hope this helps people from making the same mistake I did. Dont let the blue ray player make you buy a PS3 you can get an HD DVD player add on for $199.00 for the 360 and enjoy the by far greater system. I have now decided to trade in my PS3 and my 360 to GameStop for the new XBOX 360 elite. I see no reason to hold on too the PS3 when ever time I look at it I hear in my head (why did you buy this you idiot!) | video-games_xbox |
A great reboot of a tired series. The Good: Beautiful and stunning graphics and soundtrack, excellent cinematic combat, great controls and acrobatics, open world is very well designed, amazing story
The Bad: Combat and exploration gets tedious towards the end, that damn cliffhanger ending
The Sands of Time trilogy was probably one of the best games series ever made, let alone a few diverse series, with each game completely evolving from each other. When the series started with The Sands of Time every completely freaked out on their consoles with the game's great acrobatic moves, enticing story, and beautiful graphics. The game just felt so good and played so well the controller almost melted in your hand. With the return in Warrior Within the Prince kind of went to the dark side with a grungy, heavy metal, gory sequel that was either a hate or love it type thing. I however considered that one my favorite, but fans were pleased again with Two Thrones when the Prince actually got a dark side and went back to the style of the first game. If you loved this game you should go back and play the previous trilogy because I promise you'll fall in love with it.
The PoP we are playing has a completely different story, and hell the Prince isn't even a prince; he's a thief who wound up in the wrong place at the wrong time whilst running into Princess Elika. The Prince and Elika are major roles in this wonderfully made game and it all actually works. The first thing I need to explain is that the core of the gameplay is like the previous PoP games with the whole acrobatic aspect still intact. However the Prince now has a Gauntlet that he uses to help him with all of this. The controls have been simplified where everything is just one button press...yes let go of that analog stick because you just use it to point the Prince where you want to go; not guide him. He can run across walls, run up walls, swing around poles, climb on vines, shimmy across ledges etc. The game controls so incredibly well with a few minor issues you really won't hate the controls. Another major change is the game is open world so you can go anywhere you want in this humongous world.
The point of the game is to stop Arihman from destroying the world with Corruption and in turn save Elika's father Ormazd. While there are over 30 areas to explore you can go to them however you want using the acrobatic moves. Yes this can get tedious after awhile because once you discover everything you'll have to backtrack to the Temple to acquire new powers. These are four powers that are activated on various colored power plates on walls and they are key to access new Fertile Grounds. Each section is a "mini-level" with various obstacles to cross and just before a fertile ground is a boss fight. Navigating the world can be a bit confusing in the beginning since you'll be relying on a "compass" that'll guide you to where you want to go depeneding on what area you selected on your map. The point of healing each area is to rid of the Corruption killing that piece of land. Of course you can't touch this corruption or you well...you don't die in this game. Elika saves you if you fall off a ledge so consider any flat ground a checkpoint.
During combat you can not die either and you may think this is absurd, but it is a blessing. Trying to find Light Seeds (after you heal a ground you go back and collect these to gain new powers) can be kind of hard so you jump off a cliff to reach one and if you fail no big deal. This is better than restarting a level, but of course if it's open world you can't technically restart a level. Elika is also a big part of your acrobatics because if you can't reach a ledge you press Y when you jump and she'll give you a boost. This is also true in combat where she is basically your "magic" attack. Moving through the levels is fairly easy and I didn't once have to resort to a FAQ of any kind. The compass is a great way to find out where to go since it's a little light that kind of goes along a path and you can follow it. Of course find all 1001 Light Seeds isn't necessary since you'll find plenty to acquire all powers without having to hunt and search for each seed.
Now when it comes to combat you're in for quite a treat since combat is very cinematic. Everything is "one-on-one" and each enemy has a life bar that you much deplete. You have four major attacks: Magic, Acrobatic, Grab, and Sword. You can combine any four of these to make huge combos. Of course the corruption plays a huge role, so if the enemy changes status you can only use a certain attack to break through it. While each character technically plays the same you have to use time button presses to fend off their attacks. This can make things fun and challenging at the same time. The combat is very rewarding with the dramatic sweeping camera angles and beautifully scored music. Of course after awhile it starts feeling really old, but not enough to really bore you since it always keeps you on your toes.
If you want to talk about cosmetics PoP is probably one of the best looking games ever made so far. The game is just stunningly beautiful and there are high perches you can stand on and just look out to this beautiful vista that is amazingly rendered in real time. I don't know how Ubi did it but they pulled some amazing stuff to get the game to look the way it does. The soundtrack is really stunning as well (even though there's not much of it), and the voice acting is top notch and you really in love with these two characters and they struggle with the world around them and with each other. The Prince tends to be a sarcastic hot headed wanna-be hero and Elika is a confused woman/goodie two-shoes who is always putting the Prince's fire out. There are so many amazing elements to PoP you just have to play it to really know it all. With a great cliffhanger ending, a great way to control the ending, great controls, cinematic combat, and beautiful graphics you will spend a good 10 to 12 hours exploring this world. | video-games_xbox |
Perspective from an X-4 Owner. This review is from the perspective of one who had the X-4 headphones and bought these X-42 headphones to replace the X-4 model. I am disappointed that the X-42 isn't really better than the X-4 from two generations earlier.
On the plus side:
- the headphones do block out much more external noise than the X-4 did
- no power receptacle is required - runs off the X-Box 360 USB port (can be considered a plus or a minus depending on how one looks at it)
- more choices for customizing the surround sound experience (six possibilities)
On the negative side:
- the X-42 ear cups are less comfortable than those of the X-4
- the X-42 has dropped the signal for a second or two on numerous occasions from a distance of 6-8 feet - the X-4 never dropped the signal for as long as I owned them (three or four years) until I got about 25-30 feet away.
- the on/off button needs to be held down for two seconds to turn the headphones on or off - a pain if one needs to leave for a short break and wants to conserve the batteries. And when turning them back on, it takes a few seconds beyond that two second button push to completely power up. The X-4 was an instantaneous on/off and took maybe a second to fully power up.
- it was not paired upon receipt. When attempting to pair them (I have two sets), one set paired relatively easily (not intuitively though - had to break out the instructions), but the other set would not pair up. The LED on the transmitter would "rapid flash" and the headset would flash twice instead of once like it should when properly paired. Went to the TB web site and there is no information on what a "double flash" on the headset means. Maybe it is defective?
- not thrilled with the bass and treble boost. With the X-4, the difference in the bass (there was no treble boost on the X-4) between the normal mode and boost mode was startling. I really liked the bass boost on the X-4 much better.
All in all, I really was expecting something way beyond the X-4 in performance - and I was sadly disappointed, especially after months of anticipation waiting for it to come out. It isn't a bad headset, but two generations after the X-4, the X-42 should perform much better than it does.
Jim
Update: After using these headphones for some time now, I have found the dropout rate of the connection a bit excessive - the X-4 never dropped out. Also, the "surround sound" sometimes reverses and left becomes right and vice versa. I have to turn the headset off, then back on, to reset. The headphones fit much more loosely than the X-4 also. When I bend by head down, they tend to slip off. If I shift to get up, lean back, or bend over for something, I have to hang on to them to keep them from falling off. Last item - a minor one - but the X-4 had a stand the headphones could be placed on. The X42 does not have one.
Overall, sound, when not disconnecting or getting static, is of better quality than the X4 and it does a good job of decreasing the distracting environmental sounds, but in all other ways, the X-4 was a much better product. | video-games_xbox |
The newest EA Basketball game is a hit. This is definetely by far the best NBA game to ever hit any game system up to date, made by EA Sports, NBA Live 2005 is definetely a hit sports game and always will be. I will now break down my review in terms of graphics, gameplay, audio, and online play.
Graphics: The graphics in this game aren't actually all that great. They look very similar to those of NBA Live 2004 which is very dissapointing considering the how good the graphics could have been, or at least a little bit better then 2004. I'm not saying however that the graphics are bad, i'm just saying they should have been better. The player models are pretty good as well as the court designs, they look exactly the same as the real arenas especially the Key Arena and Madison Square Garden Arena, they did a wonderful job with those.
One problem though with the graphics is that the players don't show that much emotion when they foul out/injure themselves/(they just hop around like kangaroos when they hurt their legs or they bend down a little bit and walk when they hurt their upper body or back)or miss a really important shot. I think they could have done a little bit of a better job with that aspect of the game.
Another problem with the game is that the team coaches look exactly the same, the only difference being whether they are black or white. Also the coach movements are exactly the same everytime he is talking to the team which can get very repetitive and g@y to watch once youve already seen it.
Overall though, the graphics in NBA Live 2005 are amazing and definetely not ones that you should complain to much about.
Gameplay: The gameplay in NBA Live 2005 is definetely the best out of all the NBA games up to date. There are way more moves that you can perform, more dunks and by far way more realistic. You can set your plays anytime you want which make this game very easy to work your way around.
One new feature about NBA Live 2005 is the all star weekend feature. It includes the following.
Dunk competition- A tournament to see who can bust out the best dunk. The better the dunk, the higher the scores will be that the judges give you. This can be complicated though, as you have to sometimes press a long sequence of buttons if you want a full 10/10 points for the round. The A.I actually plays extremely well in terms of difficulty, its not like their are consistently performing the same dunks over and over. Overall, a super fun gameplay mode to play.
Three point shootout- Another fun gameplay mode to play. where you basically take turns shooting three point shots from each angle at the three point line. Whoever makes the most three point shots in a minute wins. The only problem with this is that it is extremely easy to make the shots, you have to just release the shoot button just as your player reaches the height of his jump, not that hard, but definetely worth playing.
Rookie challenge- I personally hate this kind of mode. You basically just play normal five on five with rookies that can hardly anything. You minus well just play a normal 5 on 5 exhibition with real teams and real players, thats much more fun. Not recommended.
One problem with the gameplay i find in exhibition modes is that the A.I is quite stupid, frequently running out of bounds and not driving when they have the perfect chance to. Also, the teams aren't really balanced in terms of statistics. When it comes to the highest rated team, would you think of the Memphis Grizzlies? Didn't think so.
But overall, the gameplay is really fun except for issues with the A.I and that the rookie challenge is a waste of your time.
Audio: The audio in NBA Live 2005 is all rap. I guess that if you like rap, you will like the audio, but for those of you who don't, you will definetely play the game on mute. Also, the rapstars are very untalented and half of them i didn't even know about. For example, has anyone here ever heard of 5pound? Didn't think so. But stars like Young Buck make the audio listenable, but not great. Another issue with the audio is that most of the time when you first get into the game, it is the same song playing every time by Young Buck which i thought was retarded considering that he has no talent whatsoever in the rapping business, sort of like Chingy, but maybe just a little bit better then him.
Online play: The online play for NBA Live 2005 is amazing. The only problem with it is that you can only play online on a normal exhibition mode, not a three point shootout/rookie challenge/dunk competition.
But besides that its great. You can choose whether it is ranked or not, you can create your own private rooms inviting all stars or rookies, there are downloadable rosters, (sometimes to many) and you are able to use your communicator headset to trash talk your opponents when your winning which is really fun.
One other problem though with the online play is that it frequently lags which can definetely affect the game if your trying to get the most accurate of shots or shoot your free throws, where you have to be completely accurate. You also get disconnected quite frequently, but no where near the amount of disconnects that you get with Mortal Kombat Deception thankfully.
In conclusion though, the online play and the entire game is a huge success and definetely worth playing for all of you NBA fans out their, or even some of you that don't even like basketball, it is still an incredibly fun game to play when your talking about any terms, whether its the new features or the old. | video-games_xbox |
Great idea but horrible controls and play area. I was really excited to get this game after I saw a demo video on how fun it appeared. So far, I have only been working through the fitness adventure levels, so I am commenting mainly on those.
2 major complaints (as many others have said):
1. The navigation is horrendous. Countless times I had to swipe and re-swipe over and over again, and back and forth as the controls were very touchy and it is easy to choose the wrong option by accident. Once I read another review and realized I could use a controller to navigate through the options, I now do it that way. This however defeats the purpose of the kinect at this point!
2. Play area. I use quite a bit of room (or so I thought) for my Dance Central/Just Dance etc games, but this one needs a lot of room in front of the kinect. If you get too close especially if your kinect is on top of your TV like mine is, then your image gets ghosted out and the moves don't register on the game. It's frustrating that I have to go certain moves 2 or 3 times in order for them to register. What's even worse is that it isn't accurate in detecting the movement either. For example, for the traveling pushups, I can only do pushups using my knees at the moment, and it doesn't like that. There should be modified options for moves or something. I ended up so frustrated that I started moving like crazy all over the place and it detected that and let me move to the next set of exercises. Wow.
1 major plus is that this game kicks your butt! If you have ever done the Shred DVD's or some of Jillian's other videos, you will notice some of the exercises are the same and they work your body good. When the game works well, I feel more enjoyment out of this game than I do with the same DVD over and over again. Just fix the interface when/if a new one is released, and it will be a much more enjoyable experience! | video-games_xbox |
It could have been good. Alright so here is the deal with this game. This game could have been good if they didn't take it in the direction they did, it had a wonderful premise.
Graphics - It has wonderful graphics, it feels like this is where all the budget went in fact, the graphics are so pointlessly good.
Level Design - The levels, that is all the areas, all the dungeons, are extremely simplistic or needlessly long, it hardly feels like an environment which is bad for an RPG. All of the planets have large areas to explore...with nothing in them, you view the graphics that is about it, any points of interest tend to be grouped together so you really have no need to go through any of the land scape. The level design was horrible.
Voice Acting - There's good and there's bad... By this I mean that all of these voice actors have done great in other roles, and some of the characters in this game are even voiced well, but for the most part what comes out of the characters' mouths feels extremely recycled and monotone. Rather than the voice acting is bad, the script is horrible, you won't be able to hang on to or care about a single word any character says, it is for the most part pointless.
Story - The story almost immediately throws you into the whole "Big evil force is going to destroy the universe" shtick, unlike other more well developed stories, that take time to develop detailed problems, enhance on them, then tie them together before the resolution, or lead you into the story, SO4 just says, yep big evil force is going to destroy the universe and you have to collect the 7 dragon balls or whatever to stop it... Seriously it feels like they didn't even try.
That is my review of this game, it has it's good points but it still isn't worth the time you invest in it in my opinion, there is no suspension of disbelief, you won't care about the characters for the most part, and you will find this game a mediocre experience over-all. My recommendation, get Tales of Vesperia or Eternal Sonata, those games are much better developed, if you already have them try something American like Assassin's Creed or Mass Effect it will keep you much more interested than this. | video-games_xbox |
Worth picking up regular edition if you can find a deal. The only thing worth while in the collectors edition is the Double XP which plays as a game type (Officers Club). You can bring a game party with too so everyone can enjoy double xp which helps fill game types, but you will still have issues finding matches on off hours (Nobody bought collectors basically). The double xp only happens when the company feels like putting it up and so far I've seen it twice. So I'd be wary about buying the collectors at this point since you can't redeem the code to get Double XP at any time you feel like it.
The Canteen is a joke, you can't drink from it. The top is either glued or welded on. It wouldn't surprise me if the canteen contains lead since it is made in China and that is why they don't want you drinking from it.
Early level FG42 access as a preset class you can't edit perks or anything, so it is as good as worthless.
Tin game case is over sized and looks pretty cool but it's just a case.
Overall the game is enjoyable, graphics/audio, plenty of maps, weapons, tank fun. The single player is excellent and 4 player co-op is worth buying the game alone. There is also a bonus co-op game type zombie mode where you fight off Nazi Zombies wave after wave that is a ton of fun. Regular multiplayer though will keep you replaying the game so it has plenty of replay value.
The biggest gripe though I have with online game play is hit boxes & hit detection. If you played Call Of Duty 4 it is painfully obvious how different/off it is at times but you can adjust to it. Toss in the map glitches and some bugs that the company is slow to update, it will at times make you yell out WTF and get you worked up a bit but that might just be me.
With all these complaints I still like the game and feel it is worth picking up, but I'm pretty biased to World War II themed games and prefer them to modern combat. I'd recommend getting the regular version on sale or lower price and avoid collectors edition because it is simply not worth it. | video-games_xbox |
Don't buy this unless you're friends have it and by now are still willing to play it with you. I haven't read too many of the other reviews, so pardon if any of this has been repeated.
Achievement problems:
There is some bug in this game where you might meet the qualifications for an achievement, but never get it. Gearbox's solution is to tell you to just start a new game and try to get it with your new character.
The game itself was fun in one playthrough, but to get a few of the achievements would require you to play the first hour or two of the game 4 times.
What bugged me:
I think the thing that bugged me the most about this game was that the boss fights were too easy. When you are playing multiplayer, the game increases in difficulty, the bandits, the boss fights, everything will start to kick your ass. So I'll admit that playing multiplayer actually was fun, but the problem with this game is that it seems it was made strictly for multiplayer. So, back to the boss fights. If you are playing this game in single player, it is retardedly easy, and the boss fights are even easier. One should not be able take potshots of a boss, with a sniper rifle, and it seem like he never even knew you were there. One should not happen upon his most anticipated battle, and it be as easy as turn right, shoot a bit, turn left shoot a bit, back and forth and you never take hit.
The whole loot concept, where there is like millions of weapons, it's pretty much bull. You'll find more weapons you want to just throw back on the ground than one's you'll actually want to use. And the game boasting millions is just a joke. There's maybe like 100 looks and color combinations, the rest are just slight fudges to the stats of a gun. I think that once I started getting a steady supply of elemental weapon pick ups, I never used a standard gun again, and there are plenty of those.
The quick bad points:
1. The game is basically a bunch of fetch quests, with a map marker and compass that tells you exactly where everything is and where you have to go, so there is zero thought or strategy behind getting most of this stuff done.
2. I am offended at how easy some of the boss fights were, I'd say some of the "badass brutes" were better at chipping off my health than most of the bosses, and even fighting badass brutes can be summed up as lets stand here and see who can unload the most ammo into who the fastest, and may the guy with the biggest gun win.
3. The story wasn't anything special, and the ending was very disappointing.
4. Oh, and funny story. I had a Siren who i set up first as an elemental. At the end of the elemental attribute track, you can get this ability called "pheonix" that makes fire surround you for a time after you kill an enemy. I thought this seemed like a rather cool ability to have, since everything that tries to melee you would catch fire. Well, bad news is that if you happen to kill an enemy while standing next to explosives, or run around near explosive barrels just after you kill something, plan on getting blown up yourself. Pretty annoying ability if you ask me. And if you don't like it, you'll just have to pay a ridiculous amount of money to change it.
Anywho, if you decide to buy it, then i bid you best wishes. But there are so many better games out there, so many better rpgs, so many better fps games. In the end, this is a pretty lame attempt at combining the two. This game came out a month ago, and I've already traded it in. | video-games_xbox |
Nice graphics. This is my third-favorite video game, a distant third behind the Sims and Phantasy Star Online, but a good game nonetheless. My favorite thing about it is the graphics, especially inside the towns, where I can really imagine being in medieval England (the story is set on another planet, but it resembles most people's idea of medieval England). I enjoy creating multiple characters and taking them down different paths. Some of the quests are fun.
One thing about it that's good and bad both, this game is REALLY REALLY easy. Unlike, say, PSO, where it might take months to beat the whole game, I can beat Fable in three hours if I don't do any side quests, or 12 hours if I do every single side quest I can find. All you have to do is get Physical Shield and Enflame, master the Card Sorting game in Bowerstone South, stock up on Will Potions, and you will level up so fast that combat is really never an issue. Whether this is good or bad depends on whether you want to be challenged or whether you just want to go in and blow things up.
I find the stats, such as "best chicken kick" and "number of times had sex," to be fun and amusing.
My least favorite thing about the game is how hard it is to be evil. Stealing 3 tattoo cards from someone's bookshelf carries the same number of evil points as MURDERING someone, for crying out loud. Even sacrificing innocent people to the evil god only gets you 40 or so evil points. I sacrificed 4 people the other day and still came out with "good" alignment. Hello?!? These folks are far too forgiving of misdeeds. Stealing and occasionally committing random acts of violence can be fun, but being evil enough for horns and flies is boring, and disturbing too if you have a conscience.
I would say that the game itself is kind of boring; however, I have wasted about a month of my life creating new characters and playing them in different ways, so it must have [...] me in somehow. It's pretty fun, actually. | video-games_xbox |
Return of the Gabbits. MUNCH'S ODDYSEE is the first game in the Oddysee franchise that I have played. The first two games in the series were released on Playstation formats, but MUNCH'S ODDYSEE came out on X-Box and was one of the launch games of that system. I first played this game at a friend's house not long after it came out. I was fascinated by the amazing graphics and having different characters in the world literally follow the main characters around. It wasn't until recently, however, that I was able to get the game myself and play it all the way through.
MUNCH'S ODDYSEE is the third game in the Oddworld series. If you're like me and have never played any of the other games in the series, that's okay because there's a movie at the beginning of the game that explains Abe's adventures in the first two games and the connection between Abe's race, the Mudokon's, and Gabe's race, the Gabbits. Munch is the last living Gabbit, but is captured by the evil Vykkers, a race of creatures bent on domination, consumerism, industrialism, and environmental destruction. Munch is taken captive and one of the early levels of MUNCH'S ODDYSEE involves helping Munch escape from the Vykker's labs' ship. Once Abe and Munch meet up, the general storyline of the game involves getting back to the Vykker's Labs ship to rescue the egg crates full of Mudokon young and save the last can of Gabbit eggs in existence.
The graphics in the game are amazing. It feels and looks like you are playing a movie. This shouldn't come as a surprise because the Oddworld series was originally conceived as a set of films. However, the company, Oddworld Inhabitants, started making video games instead. Oddworld Inhabitants has gone back to their original plans and the first Oddworld movie is apparently in production.
As for game play, MUNCH'S ODDYSEE is simple enough that even most beginning gamers can play along fairly easily, yet the game has enough challenges to make it interesting enough for life-long gamers. The game is fun to play and appeals to children and young adults, but has enough humor and oddity to appeal that it appeals to older gamers, too. Now that I've experienced Oddworld, I'm looking forward to the cinematic tales Oddworld Inhabitants will bring. | video-games_xbox |
Fun while it lasted. After owning this headset for 11 months, reality finally caught up with me and the dream was over. This product was fun, but only OK while I had it.
The initial setup of this requires you to have a 5.1 surround sound card and an available USB port to power the amplifier. Setting the 5.1 sound up in Windows 7 can be tedious because even a slight adjustment of the speaker location in Windows will completely throw off the entire sound reproduction of the headset. As a gamer, this can be troublesome if you "hear" a noise coming from your left only to find out it was actually coming from your right or vice-versa.
The sound quality is pretty good once you find a decent balance between the amplifier volume and the Windows volume so you reduce as much "noise" or hissing as possible. The microphone seems to be top notch as I've not had any complaints from Vent users or in-game players.
The reason I am finally "breaking up" with this headset is that they've recently broke on me. They are still under warranty, but Turtle Beach's Support dept. is saying it's going to take 14-21 days to send a replacement once I've sent the broken headset in, which they aren't paying for shipping. I understand why they operate this way, but at least some companies have the decency to pay for the shipping of a defective item back to them. The product is defective due to the left speaker becoming detached from the frame of the headset and is only "connected" by the internal wires for the speakers and microphone. This product has not been through any traumatic experiences to cause this kind of separation and due to the price, I made sure to take extra care of them.
Also, these aren't the most comfortable headsets. I do have a rather large head and wear glasses but these do hurt your ears after an hours use. I guess these issues eventually outweigh the benefits of owning a 5.1 surround sound headset and if you want a decent 5.1 surround sound headset for relatively little money, this will be your best bet once you sort out the speaker placement and hissing. Otherwise, there are better alternatives out there. | video-games_xbox |
Pretty much Lego Marvel, but with a twist. So, like the inner child in me that loved Legos, I had to pick up the newest Lego game: Lego Avengers. Even though there's a similar game released over a year ago by the name Lego Marvel, this iteration visits familiar territory and adds some more interesting stuff.
Gameplay:
Expect to play the same way you did before. There are some new moves (I think they're called Avenger Moves) where you tag team with another character to do a big move. It's really nice to see when it's done and it's also very easy to pull off. The game is not difficult at all (provided you ignore the still horrible flying controls and vehicle driving) and like other games in the past, you can pick up and play locally with a friend...or not.
Presentation:
Graphically, I don't think it's anything special. It's the same as it was before. I really like, however, that they've based it off some of the more recent Marvel films. The audio is straight from the movies, with every character sounding like their movie counterpart. Some of the more adult jokes either disappear or get worked into a Lego, kid-friendly environment. It's really funny sometimes to see how they come up with these things as you play. I think the camera follows you a bit better in Free Play in Lego Marvel, but that's just me.
Everything else:
In game, there's over 100 different characters from Marvel, some that have never been in the Lego Marvel game before. While it is nice, it can be a bit frustrating to unlock some of the ones you may like to play. Granted, they are there for the taking. Just like before, Red Bricks can be collected and used to unlock different features during gameplay. Yes, you can still create your own character. Yes, you can pretty much do everything you did in Lego Marvel. And omitting certain graphical changes, it's really the same map in Free Play.
All in all, if you have Lego Marvel, I don't see a big reason outside of the fact that you're a big fan (and/or someone else in the household is telling you to get it). I don't think you'll be disappointed. | video-games_xbox |
Best of both worlds. If you ever wanted to learn to play guitar, but couldn't handle the slow pace of a teacher and learning songs you really don't want to play in the first place. This is the game/teaching tool for you.
Now don't get me wrong, there are things a this cant teach you, but it will get you far past the basics and up and playing great music in no time.
They also come out with new down loads (new songs) every week. So the library is always growing. Granted, you have to pay a little extra if a new song, or band comes out that you want.
Ive been playing Rocksmith for about a month now, and I actually cant play any games on my xbox anymore because I feel guilty that Im not spending more time learning...lol
The game works with practically any electrical guitar. However there does seam to be an issue with acoustic electric guitars. So if thats all you have I highly recommend picking up a cheap electric guitar on craigslist.
Ive always wanted to learn to play guitar. Im 40 now and in the past Ive bought videos on how to play, and I even had a few friends try to teach me over the years, and I just couldn't get over the bordem of strumming the same note over and over, or trying to learn a handful of chords (because just learning one chord at a time is boring also).
Whats great about this game is it picks up on what you know. You may start out playing one or two notes over and over in a song you like, but after a couple of times the game will add more notes. If you cant keep up it removes a note here and there. So basically its gradually teaching you a song.
If you get tired of doing that there are lessons you can take, or games you can play. One of my favorites is some zombie/monster game where you have to play the correct cord in order to shoot the zombie.
I would recommend this game to anyone who has ever wanted to learn to play guitar and anyone that already knows how to play but wants to try something new. | video-games_xbox |
open-world is welcome, but why remove CRASH mode. My credentials: long-time gamer, played many a game, many a racer, have my Burnout license and nearing the Elite license. Burnout, in my opinion, has always been the most fun and easiest racer to pick up and play. It's not a SIM and of course isn't trying to be...So here's the pros and cons vs other racers, other arcade racers, other Burnout franchise releases and the 360 vs PS3 versions.
PROS
- Burnout is easy to pick up, easy to understand, easy to play...obviously there is some challenge.
- open-world racing is the future and it is a much better presentation
- ROAD RAGE takedowns are easier and more fun
- realism of the textures, physics and the environment seem to have been improved. The attempt here is for a real city, not fake arcade racer routes with the gigantic "for dummies" lighted arrows telling you where to go
- they've added some more things to do such as parking, jumps, crash through billboards and gates, etc...there are tons of these.
- it wipes the mat with other "fun" racers like Flatout, which can be so difficult and frustrating (for some) the fun is simply turned down to zero...
- racing games are probably the most frustrating of any gaming genre (RPG, FPS, whatever). Burnout is the least frustrating of any racer ever.
- crashing into things doesn't (always) crash your car as per previous Burnout installments
- achievements (360-only) are no longer impossible, as it was with Burnout Revenge...
- popping in-and-out online is easy
- you can put your own face on your license if you have a cam. Mine has my middle finger.
- helpful "turn indicators" letting you know when you need to turn (because you are flying at a million miles an hour - you'll need `em)
NEUTRAL
- open-world racing isn't new. Criterion seems to think they have created some kind of next-gen revolution here. Test Drive Unlimited did this already and did so successfully (and technically so has Grand Theft Auto if you allow it to partially be in the genre). TDU clearly isn't as much fun as Burnout, but it isn't supposed to be. Criterion could learn some things from Eden games and vice versa.
- no upgrades. TDU has a tinge of SIMs flavor where you collect money, properties and cars. Win more races, collect more cars, upgrade upgrade upgrade. Upgrades give you more to do. Sort of like an RPG. Burnout has none. You just get a new car, done, that's it.
- TRAFFIC ATTACK has been removed, but in REVENGE, the dollars would pop-up blocking your view making that event difficult and annoying anyway
- ELIMINATOR is gone, but I don't miss it that much
- TAKEDOWN REVENGE is gone. Whatev.
- PS3 vs 360 versions: barely a discernable difference and hat's off to Criterion for caring about both platforms. 360 gets achievements; PS3 gets sixaxis (which could be a blessing or a curse if they don't know what they are doing...see LAIR). Whatev.
CONS
- some idiot thought it was a good idea to remove one of the most fun things in the most fun racer of all time: CRASH MODE. They replaced it with this horrible Katamari-esk "SHOWTIME" thing where you just perpetually roll and bounce off of cars because that's definitely more realistic and fun... This is unforgivable. CRASH events were formerly an integral (AND FUN) part of Burnout in which you couldn't progress through the game without completing them. I could giggle for hours doing these events where you cause millions of dollars of damage by slamming into huge tanker trunks. Now, you don't need to even do them at all, and why would you, since they're no longer fun whatsoever. They had a great opportunity to create some epic accident scenes here where hilarity would ensue. This is like playing HALO and discovering they took out plasma grenades...EPIC FAIL!!!!!!!!
- AFTERTOUCH is gone. Another one of the most innovative, cool and fun things to do...GONE. FAIL!
- CRASHBREAKER is gone. Yet another EPIC FAIL! This was incredibly fun to both do and watch...
- the little trophies for performing this or that trick are gone.
- the BURNING ROUTE events which are supposed to give you better versions of your vehicle often give you equal or even worse versions...
- stats for some vehicles don't seem to make sense. The 4x4 truck is supposed to be as tough, but faster than the van, but I've played with both for quite awhile and there's simply no way in h*ll the truck is faster than the van.
- no instant retry/restart race. What? Why? You have to drive all the way back to restart...
- no split-screen vs. Huh? What's that about? I can't have a buddy sitting right next to me play with me? WTF?
- DJ Atomica is a massive tool. I have nothing against his sexual preference. Frankly, I think it's none of our business. I fully support gay rights 100%. But aside from all that, this guy is completely annoying.
END RESULT: Criterion has given with one hand but taken with the other. Open-world is a nice and pleasing presentation and takedowns are as fun as ever, but the removal of MANY of the things that made game fun to play in the first place is puzzling... | video-games_xbox |
Vaguely Unsatisfying. Let me square this away:
Halo 2 is a good game. It's the best xbox live game to-date. However, it's not perfect. It's not the greatest game of all time. Most importantly, the only mark it has made on history is single day sales.
That said, let's get to the bottom line about Halo 2.
The Good:
-Graphics
-A good online multiplayer setup
-Fun
-Sound/Soundtrack
-Dual Wielding is pretty cool.
The Bad:
-The Ending.
-Weapons are still unbalanced, just in a different way.
-Levels are still repetitive.
-Some Xbox live players are, for lack of a better term, annoying as sin.
-No tanks in Multiplayer (in optimatch, at least).
Some Elaboration on the Bad Points:
I will not discuss the ending, as to not spoil it. It's just bad. Really, really, really bad.
The weapons are kinda irksome. If they had left the pistol as what it was in Halo 1, it might have balanced out what they've created. The problem is the energy sword. Most of the maps have 1. Short of the rocket launcher, or a well placed grenade (and that is assuming they don't hit you from behind), good luck getting off enough shots to kill someone with the sword. Granted, if you can keep your distance, sniping is an option. Or if you're lucky the shotgun will do it, but for the most part, it's pretty unstopable. Which is annoying.
Equally annoying is the lack of tanks in the multiplayer. The tank balances out the warthog, ghost, and banshee. Without it, the only balancing item is the rocket launcher. Just seems lacking.
One big complaint in Halo 1 was the levels you had to repeat backwards. While this never happens in Halo 2, the levels themselves are internally repetitive. For example, big room, corridor, identical big room, identical corridor, slightly different big room, slightly different corridor, etc. There could definately be more variety.
Finally, while I like xbox live and the rank/optimatch system, there are a lot of annoying people on xbox live who you'll run into. It's unavoidable, and there's no real way to fix it, but it's there, so be ready for it.
Bonus DVD: While cool, it's not essential. Pretty interesting to watch, though, and makes a lot of sense of the news and delays we saw waiting for this game. But, don't watch it until you finish the game, it has plot spoilers.
Bottom Line: Good game you should probably have if you have xbox live. | video-games_xbox |
A shameful offering from a once respected franchise and team. As my other review was plagued with the inane rantings of the cognitively destitute, it would appear amazon deleted it. Which is fine by me.
This does not change the fact that the game itself is lacking in nearly every facet that attracted me to the series early on. Where soul calibur 3 made the game as a whole far too easy, it at least spruced up the mixture with some laudable single player content (and the inclusion of CaS) that peaked my interest and engaged my inner geek.
This installment does not do that. Despite the half witted assertions of fanboy types and game elitists, the "new" fighting styles are really, honestly just minorly tweaked renditions of the staple characters'. The developers were so lazy in their approach to the game, that they simply reused the edgemasters revolving charge of move sets 3 times, one of them on Kilik of all people. The "story mode" should simply be called the ""hour and half long who cares" mode", as the actual canon for it is "boring" to say the least, and upon completing it I couldn't help but think to myself "what the hell did I just see?" I've heard from some people they found the dialog engaging, I didn't, to the point I skipped it every chance I got.
The offline arcade mode is nothing short of poorly done, there are no "endings" in the game at all, it's a purely mechanical experience consisted of besting the computer six times, and... "restart, character select, return to [whatever they called the main menu]". It's an all together extremely hollow experience, especially for the price tag.
Once you've completed the meager single player offering, you're on to the "online mode", which functions fine. And if you're such a fan that the online fighting experience is all you want, then I'm sure you're already frothing at the mouth, have fun with that.
The graphics are only slightly improved from four, and the difficult spikes between settings is positively harsh to put it nicely. If you're a completionist with a competitive nature as I am, you'll quickly find yourself livid with rage at the cheap AI and implausible loses that come at the hands of the "legendary arcade" offering. I read a professional review where the writer claimed he racked up 900 loses just trying to get to stage 3. He must be far better tempered than I, thinking about my xbox under those circumstances calls the word "defenestrate" to mind.
Had this been an XBLA release, I wouldn't be so hard on it, but they charged premium price for a half assed product and poured salt in the wound with release day DLC that is confirmed to be on the disc, you just have to pay to access it.
My personal "end verdict" is this, if you're willing to shell out 60$'s just to play in the online arcade, do it. But if you're more into the single player and CaS aspects of the game... Skip it and get something else.
At the very least, I don't think anyone should pay full price for this lackluster offering, NAMCO doesn't deserve your money. This sort of wanton consumer abuse is becoming more and more prevalent because people aren't standing up for their rights to receive a polished product, this media managed mindframe of acceptance is a cancer. Vote with your wallet. | video-games_xbox |
Excellent "big kid" system. I actually sold my Wii to get an Xbox 360. and I am incredibly glad I did.
Here's why:
Better online experience, hookup with the ethernet cable to my router was essentially instant. I plugged it in, turned it on, and it connected to Xbox live in a a few seconds. creating the account was fairly painless, though for the amount of typing you do (name, email, that sort of stuff to create an account) it's a wonder they don't include a keyboard.
Downloadable video and game demos are much more satisfying than Wii's minimal content. Even if you only have one or two games you can still try out new games without having to rent or buy a whole game.
Speaking of online... you know how Nintendo said they'd support their games with online content? well, they lied to you... at least compared to what Xbox Live is doing. Guitar Hero actually has downloadable songs, the whole system has customizable content. As dull as Nintendo's online content is/was, Xbox is the exact opposite of that.
Game selection: simply put, the selection is unbeatable. And if you're a "big kid" the game selection couldn't be better. Halo 3, Dead Rising, the upcoming Grand Theft Auto 4(with exclusive downloadable content), Guitar hero and rock band. Sure, some of these are also available for PS3, but some of them aren't and chances are you know someone who already has a 360 so you can play with them.
And, even if you don't have an HDTV, the games look much better than their wii counterpart. Guitar Hero III seems like a different game with the better graphics and effects.
The wii is great if you're trying to convince your parents, little siblings, or other non-gamers to play some goofy tennis for ten minutes at a time. But if you're even semi-serious about gaming, you need to get a 360.
OK,
downsides (just to prove this isn't a freaking commercial): If you are not online, this system is essentially half as good. That's how integrated the online experience is. The system is noisy, even just the difference between the disc drive spinning and and when it's not is dramatic. When you turn it off you'll feel like the room is dead quiet. For some who don't understand the xbox 360, they may not understand the profile system and signing on and off the user profiles for games, but it's a small hurdle to getting in on the fun.
Anyway, if you're into games and want to play a diverse selection. You'll be happy you picked this up. | video-games_xbox |
Not all that impressed. Greetings Amazonites!
The Saboteur had a very interesting premise: be a character aiming to cause havoc to the Nazis in WW2 France. It held some promise of something very different from the slew of WW2 shooters out there. Ultimately, I didn't find the game impressive at all. It seemed bland, uninspired, and not all that different from other 3rd person shooters like GTA, Red Faction, and so on. In short, it seemed to be waiting to impress but never quite got there.
Note for parents: this game does have some nudity and very, very alluring female bodies. The retail version came packaged with a free code to download something that made the cabaret women completely nude (no bras, nada). There's also plenty of language in nearly every piece of dialogue. If you're concerned about this type of stuff, then please be aware the game is not suitable for kids.
ENVIRONMENTS (3 stars): Visually, the game delivered well. Areas that are under Nazi control are black and white, with certain elements in color (Nazi flags and lights, for example). It's a very cool effect. Areas that are free from Nazi control become fully colorized. It's a great visual cue, but I didn't think it added anything extra to the game. I enjoyed the black and white with splashes of color more than the color. All the buildings, characters, and vehicles are all top notch; one of the better visual games for the 360.
Since I've seen a lot of WW2 era stuff in games, movies, and photos, I wasn't amazed by the scenery in Saboteur. There's nothing to separate it from the pack. Everything looked good, but there wasn't anything unique. A lot of the elements could have been lifted from other games, and the enemies were all generic. Nothing special.
The sound and music were good. Some parts, like the cabaret, created a great audio environment. Other parts were lackluster. The quality of all the audio was top-notch, but it didn't really create any WOW moments.
GAMEPLAY (1 star): the controls were poorly organized. I spent too much time trying to remember the different combination of controls required for brawling, shooting, driving, talking, opening boxes, and so forth. There seemed to be a different button scheme required for each scenario. You may not have any trouble with this part, so take it with a grain of salt. I appreciate games that keep the control complexity to a minimum. This game did not do that with any appreciable effect.
Some 3rd person games are easy to navigate and orienteer--this game was not. The camera was okay, but it seemed to move in awkward angles sometimes--like when you're climbing a building or fighting. The focus was not where it should have been for the action. For me, the camera really took away from the gameplay.
Driving was pretty good. Some vehicles were pretty fun to operate. I can't say it was great, but it was better than walking everywhere! The map did a good job of showing you the route to take, but the streets were sometimes hard to navigate.
DESIGN (2 stars): the story held out a lot of promise, but it failed to materialize. The idea was to start harassin the Nazis in France by blowing stuff up, stealing stuff, taking out targets, and so on. The missions were all predictable and often repetitive. If you played any games like this, then you get the idea: go blow this up, go get this thing, go kill this guy, go and meet this person, etc, etc. There was a backstory with the main character losing a brother to the Nazis, but the boring mission setup made that revelation less impactful.
I didn't feel any connection to the characters. The voice acting was great, but the characters' motivation seemed stale and uninspiring. I'm not sure why they were doing what they're doing, when they're doing it. This might not matter to you, but in a game wrapped in a story like this, I expected to understand why it was happening. The opening sequence shows a conversation in a cabaret and then you're told to meet the guy in an alley nearby; there's no where else to go and nothing else to do but go meet him. I found that pointless and irritating. Why not just show all of these things in a cinematic? There's no player choice early on the game--none at all.
There is a skill system in the game. After completing missions, finding stuff, and beating enemies the main character can gain or upgrade various skills. Some include brawling, weapons, etc; there are pre-requisites for certain skills, so you can't really customize until later on. The early choices seemed very restrictive, as well.
Nutshell: I'm not sure what Saboteur was trying to be, or how it was trying to get there. The opening sequence seemed more about the naked woman singing than the character's motivation; there was no choice in the beginning and early parts of the game. The controls were clunky and confusing at times. The game looked good, but it never felt like a believable, engrossing game. It wasn't something I WANTED to play. | video-games_xbox |
An OK game that is ruined by Glitches . If you were unsure if the acquisition of bioware by EA would affect the quality of game they put out, here's your answer. I have played bioware games since KOTOR and have yet to see them put out a such a steaming, bug filled pile as this. If you told me that the extent of their testing this game was one quick play through by some random junkie, who had never played an RPG, and was stoned out of his mind the whole time, I'd believe you. There is a glitch where the player character's attack speed gets progressively slower and slower. Thus turning fast paced button slapping action into an unbearably dull and exceedingly frustrating affair. I hear that this glitch is made worse by being a mage, which I was. I had to replay hours of the game to undo the slowdown only for it crop back up over and over until I gave in. My friend who has this game as well was a mage and was unable to avoid the glitch. He ended up selling the game without finishing it. It is said that you can slow down so much that your character will no longer attack at all. *<*< THIS GLITCH IS CONFIRMED ON ALL PLATFORMS! IF YOU DON'T HAVE A WAY TO UPDATE THE GAME VIA BROADBAND INTERNET, I WOULDN'T BOTHER BUYING THIS UNLESS YOU LIKE GETTING 20 HOURS INTO A GAME ONLY TO HAVE IT RUINED BY A GLITCH. EVEN IF YOU DO I'D WAIT TILL THEY PUT OUT A PATCH<*<* You can read more on the details of this else where on the Internet. Also there is a vertical stretch on the sprites during the cut-scenes that flickers on and off randomly. Once more the kind of thing that testing easily reveal. There's a lot of other glitches I won't get into. All the major review sites don't seem to mention the game breaking slow glitch but, hell screw the hand that feeds you, just take there $60 and give them a turd. I could talk about the lack of central plot or the fact that you can just barely read the text without an HDTV(20/20 vision, with 46" TV) or the obscured fashion side quests are presented (how fun to go into the start menu over and over) but, their obvious lack of adequate testing is obtusely more present in my experience of this game. Thanks for a game that left me pissed off enough to waste more time writing this review. | video-games_xbox |
Same Old, Same Old, Okay Zombies Though. I will start by saying I'm one of the people that doesn't partake in the annual map add-ons that Activision calls "Full Games" I still play World at War and Black Ops 1. I don't understand why a franchise that sells this much can't afford to do some real R&D and develop an excellent game through and through.
I tried playing the campaign it just had a more stale feeling to it than any of the other CoD's I've ever played, unexciting, I played half way through before I was so bored I couldn't take anymore, I've never been too much into the Multiplayer so I can't comment on that.
The only positive side I can mention is the Zombie mode but even that's a mixed bag, on one hand it's fun and interesting, although I'd like it better if those annoying flying babies could be turned off so exploring between areas was fun and strategic, but no, your stuck in these tiny areas.
The Zombie mode now requires friends to get anywhere, running around by yourself good luck with that not as fun as BO1 and WaW Zombie modes in my opinion, hopefully there DLC will breathe more light into the Zombie mode. They really didn't innovate anything here, and those parts where you command units and tell them where to go etc, feels worthless and thrown in as a last minute attempt to be "Different" which failed miserably.
I am done with the CoD series until they seriously do some work on it, these games have become bland and stale. So I will sum it up two stars only cause the Zombie mode is kind of fun (only when you have good people to play with) but the rest of this is a add-on with the CoD name slapped onto it.
Luckily, I didn't buy this game, I borrowed from my brother and had it for a few weeks. He to was disappointed and traded it in the second he got it back from me to get Far Cry 3 (Puts this game to shame). I know there's a lot to be said with the Cod and Halo series, but at least the Halo's aren't every single year, if your not going to change anything give us a break in between at least... | video-games_xbox |
Didn't think it was possible for EA to continue to destroy this franchise... I was wrong. Probably the worst FIFA in years. Most of the other reviewers have been dead on about the gameplay dynamics - they have been changed but not for the better. Instead of fixing the idiotic gameplay issues that FIFA has had year after year - players not running into space properly (even high priced super talented players), AI always having perfect offside traps, players running into each other, players not defending at all -- they simply chose to change how fast or slow the ball moves on passes and make the machine AI harder on virtually every level. Professional now plays like world class and world class is a waste of time to even try and play.
The machine passing is of course perfect once you get to Professional and you run into a patented move where the AI makes a few passes to the middle of the field maybe 23 yards from goal and fires a perfect shot into the upper right corner of your goal unless you stop him from getting the shot off. The defenders standing in front of the player (it doesn't matter who it is) are no concern. It could be some random third world club team and the guy will fire the shot as if he is Messi. Meanwhile, the AI still uses the goaltending to level the gameplay at different skill levels. At professional the machine will lace virtually any uncontested shot into your goal but your players will struggle to score against the machine's third world club goalie.
It is really sad what EA has done with FIFA over the past few years. There are simple bugs to fix in the game and year after year they don't fix them. They are too busy making sure they shut down coin manufacturing outfits so that they can make more money. Problem is, if the product sucks, no one will buy the game and it won't matter at all if someone is trying to manufacture coins. The game is a piece of garbage and I wouldn't waste good money on it and it is clear that players are getting that message - whereas ultimate team used to have millions of transfers, it is now down to about half that on average. Market depth is lower, probably because people are so disappointed in this product. The only redeeming thing about this game is the new draft feature. However, it costs a fortune (15,000 coins) to play and the free entry into the first draft (to try and get you hooked) glitched out and booted me from my first game which I was winning 4-0 so instead of being able to continue in the draft my season was ended for me by EAs awesome programmers.
I got the game for free basically in the 1TB Xbox pack, but in hindsight I wish I picked a different bundle because this game is an absolute waste of time. I would probably stick with '15 which I believe is backward compatible after the update from Microsoft and maybe buy this game used for cheap or once it gets cut to $30 like it does almost every year around Christmas/New Years. It is definitely not worth paying $60 for and you may ultimately end up not playing it after awhile because the gameplay will make you want to put your fist through a wall. | video-games_xbox |
GREAT game play, some faults, but the game makes up for it. The game play on this was much different than any other game I've played. The time-controlling aspects of the game made it a lot of fun. The storyline was long enough to keep me interested, and it was intricate enough that I didn't get bored for at least a few weeks of playing. I also enjoyed that you got to have different cut scenes and aspects with different decisions you made... Definitely gave it an extremely unique feel.
Something that I can see a lot of people NOT liking is the cut scenes can be long enough to make your XBox controller go to sleep... What I'm trying to say is that there are some that are 20 - 30 minutes. It adds interesting dynamics, and the cinematography was actually surprisingly well thought out and done. The acting was OK - it's kind of Fringe-esque. All in all great game, good replayability, and if you're a person that likes to collect all collectables, there are plenty of them to go around!
There are two things that I didn't like (one may be something that I just missed them explain, but ...) there is a piece of the game where you can scan for danger/collectibles in the near viscinity. There are power up collectibles that they call "Chronon particles" that are not visible unless you activate this scanner and are essentially looking directly at the location of the powerup. The way that you know you're close to a powerup is that there is an overlaid circle with a smaller inner circle, and a blip somewhere flashing in there. This is where the Chronon particle is located in respect to your current location. This said, it does NOT display height, only horizontal location. The game does not do a good job of explaining this "heads up" kind of display.
Also this is probably one of the more beautifully done and intricate games I've played ... but to a fault. There were multiple times where the game just absolutely froze and had to be force quit and restarted. It kept the last save, which is good, but that's annoying. The graphics were sometimes very choppy, and if you were resuming the game after not playing it for a while (say you were watching Netflix and then loading back into the game), the sound was almost 100% of the time permanently muted. You have to force close the game to get it to play again. Other than the random freezes in the game (it did it a small handful of times, wasn't constant), I still rate this 5/5 * b/c it was that good. | video-games_xbox |
Sword, Libido, Dragon. All Good. *No Spoilers*
These characters are amazingly suave. One honestly wants to attack, seduce, and interrogate their way through the world. The game obviously needs you to go slashing through the forest, but the story makes you want to do so. This distinction has been successfully achieved in maybe three other franchises.
Pros:
-The fighting and weaponry is so improved over the first Witcher. I'm left speechless.
-Excellent attack cut-scenes. Really, quite fantastic special moves you can unlock that make taking an annoying character out a lot more fun.
-Multiple story lines with healthy, unique flavors that fit your mood. I've played the different some of the endings now, the meat in between your choices and the end is substantially different each time; it's not the same 10 hours of forest running with a different cut scene depending on whom you side with. Hooray! If you are feeling benevolent to a certain group, you actually get to do substantive things *with* them rather than running to and fro between group leaders. Helps with immersion and gives justification to future choices.
-Sex scenes are impressive, dare I say artistic?
-Multi-dimensional characters in the game-world.
-Over 100 hours of game play after pursuing just 3 of the (16?) different endings.
-Load times have been drastically cut (but still too long for most tastes, clocking between 5-15 seconds)
Cons:
Honestly, none. No reason not to buy this Enhanced Edition. The money/time investment is excellent. And by time I mean 'unique game play.'
Flaws:
-There is talk of slow response of character to movement (dodge) during fights. Essentially Geralt feels so benevolent when surrounded by two or three bad guys that he lets them each finish their wound up strikes before dodging out the way --which sort of defeats the purpose. This was not a huge problem, that is it didn't happen in every fight, but in a few pivotal ones I died more often than even a cat could recover from.
-The 'interact with' and the 'quick attack' button are the same for the Xbox. This means I accidentally started fights when I thought we were just going to talk it out more than once. I consider this a real, but minor, oversight. If anything, why didn't they combine the interact and the dodge on the same button?
-I hate a few of the noises in this game world, and you hear them frequently. The sound Geralt's boots make when running in marshland sound like someone ripping up wet cabbage leaves. Irritated the heck out of me. The cries of the flying enemy bird were bothersome too. This is trivial, but memorable after a 100+ hours with the game.
-Difficult to earn money in the world without doing sidequests. The mini-games, which I happen to like, do not yield much in the way of coin. I happen to enjoy the sidequests and feel like doing them all, but if one doesn't, one cannot afford very good diagrams, etc.
-The Chapter 2 maps were a little buggy. By buggy I mean go-to locations would appear that contradicted the actual layout of the world. I resorted to Googling a few key quests to save my sanity.
I await further editions of the story. My one request: could we have a playable female Witcher at some point? Please? | video-games_xbox |
Microsoft...Seriously, do you even care about your customers. I bought this with much excitement but without doing any homework. Why? I trusted Microsoft because I loved my 360 so much. I bought it in 08 and still use it today. Until it died on me recently. Ok, no big deal. It has been a lot of years so no complaint there.
With anticipation I bought the xbox one with halo. So to fully understand my frustration you must understand how much money I've invested in my 360. Dozens of arcade games and even more disc based games including everything Halo. So I bought this thinking I could play all of my previous content and then add the next gen games to it. Only to find out that I cannot play ANY of my previous games.
No arcade games and no old 360 games. Why Microsoft, why?
So begrudgingly I think I'll just play the Halo game that came with it. But it's a download and it's about 50+ gb download which means it takes two days. Then I find out none of the 6 360 controllers I have work either so I have to buy new ones.
And to top it all off the operating system takes up about 200gb of space on my hard drive, plus this operating system is the buggiest thing I've ever used. It froze up on me at least 10 times in two days. Games wouldn't play, controllers wouldn't register, I had to reset over and over. I would select something then wait 20 seconds for something to happen. Honestly at the end of the day this is why I sold it.
What the heck Microsoft? Sell an incomplete system, make me buy all new hardware and software even though I am a loyal customer for years buying your crap??? When I buy a new iPhone I don't have to buy all new apps for it. When I buy a new computer my old software still works on it. So why sell a system with no games?
I am selling this right away and probably never getting one again. Then I read that PS4 did the same thing. Seriously? Where is the gaming console that cares about its customers? I'm ready for something new. | video-games_xbox |
5.5 out of 10 from gamespot, i think not. First off i'll state by saying that Avatar is a third person shooter, nothing more nothing less. But, Gears of War, and Lost Planet(which this game compares a lot to, in gameplay terms) is exactly what they are. You see the enemy, shoot, kill, collect items, reach checkpoints, rid in vehicles, do missions. Avatar is just that, the one thing that makes this game stand out among the others is its shear beauty, and atmosphere, i mean the graphics are just second to none especially on the PC version. The detailing Ubisoft put into this game in working along side James Cameron himself is just stellar, and you find yourself just wanting to take in the sights, even though theres really not much time for it. Basically anything that moves(plants, spores, strange explosive type flowers) are considered your enemy and you gain points and ugrgades from doing so. The enemies are quite unique also to say the least, the hammerhead creature is a favorite of mine, and towers over you much like a giant Jurassic creature straight from the movies, and is so realistic you nearly wet yourself. Most of the animals other than that are pretty easy to kill,the vyperwolfs however run amuck allll over the place and can be difficult to aim down. Many reviews have dogged not only the game but also the aiming accuracy, which isn't true, you just have to be quicker than your opponent, and i guess they just stink at shooting things. Also many critics have said how bad moving around in vehicles is, this i just don't get, i think they are just as good as Halo, or Gears or anything else you do battle in machines. The mechs remind you a lot of lost planet, as do a lot of the collection of items from killing foliage. Its also fun to play as the Na'vi or however you spell it, although most of your killing consists of bow shooting, and melee with a giant club, its still pretty solid for battle. Even though i myself prefer the marines. So by all means if you have the money and want to spend it, and are a fan of Lost Planet, or Gears of War, then pick this up, of course just because of the popularity and selling status of those large titles, is the reason the average rating for this game was 6.5. Don't listen to critics, check out that most actual, "players" of the game gave it an 8.6, and you should listen to people who play the game all the way through, not critics who play it once for a while and judge it based on there opinion because it doesnt sell hugely. They call it repetitive i call it innovative and a good source for fun in the strange land of Pandora, quite a beautiful creative place. And hey it beats just going around killing zombies, and waiting for more to do the same when your done, hmm isn't that repetition? Yep.
NOTE:If you have the gear get it on PC, this version looks stellar, but on PC with direct x 10 and ultra high settings it just looks Godly.:D | video-games_xbox |
Sloppy product. Since the wireless controllers on the Xbox are junk I saw this one, it looked like it could work fine. I've purchased from Razer in the past as well, for PC Gaming. They sell real half-assed expensive products that are cheaply made. They lure you into buying their products by their cosmetic appearance and hefty price tag. It appears here..... it's no different. I hardly play my Xbox as it is as well.. maybe 3 hours a week, I only go this around early May as well. The problem is... the controller has started to become very choppy and unusable. I've noticed that the R Trigger has begun to have input lag, the left stick has start to move on it's OWN as well, the L stick is completely stationary as well. I've tried unplugging solution to controller as well, sometimes even removing it and then shutting the Xbox and then putting it back in, it's hopeless. These are the is the worst and most common errors with these Xbox controllers, hands down.
Pros-
Light-up buttons, easy to see in the dark.
The buttons have a less-delayed pressure timing, it's quicker and ultimately easier to press down.
Much sleeker look than the standard controllers.
The D-pad is has separated buttons. You aren't as prone to slipping your finger and pressing the wrong button anymore.
The gripping is solid.
The L and R triggers are quicker to use. They are not as limited in length as the standard controllers. This proves very useful if you are playing a button mashing type game.
Cons-
The tightening system on the L and R sticks is junky, it weighs down INSIDE the controller as well. It moves more precisely when you move the sticks slowly, when you move it faster it loses the grip.
The macro system is a total gimmick. You do not need macros on console games, it's useless.
The start and select buttons are in a very awkward position.
It's cheaply made and breaks very quickly.
NOTE: Don't listen to those who rated this product with 5-stars. They clearly just opened, used it once.. and rated it. | video-games_xbox |
HALO= BEST GAME EVER MADE. The game Halo in my opinion was and still is the best game ever created for a game system. It's filled with tons of killer fps (frist-person-shooter) action and is nicely complemented by and amazing story-line. You take control as a character only known as the master cheif, a genetically enhanced cyborg with a virtually indestructable suit of armor. (for more information on the master chief i would recomend reading Halo: The Fall of Reach by Eric S. Nylund. It's a great book filled action and sci fi themes that could put any other sci fi writer to shame. Eric Nylund did a great job on this book and I would recommend buying it also. 5 stars as well!!!) As the master chief you can choose between an arsenal of 7 human weapons including a rocket launcher,assault rifle, and shot gun, or 5 alien weapons including a plasma rifle and a gun that shoots explosive needles. Both races also sport grenades. Besides the weopons there are also a variety of vehicles you can use in the game such as a human all-terrain vehicle sporting a 50mm chain-gun or a human tank with a 90mm barral and a 7.62mm armor peircing machine gun. The aliens in this game known as the Covenant also have some intersting transportaion including a one person reconnaissance vehicle that sports 2 plasma connons and a ground assault aircraft that has 2 fuel rod cannons as well as 2 plasma cannons. Besides these vihicles there are many other that you will see but not be able to operate. (Find out about them in the book or in the game what ever u like.) As u play an incredible story unfolds that will be unforgetable, and it even has an unexpected plot twist at the end. But,even with all that I think the best part of the game is the multi-player mode which allows for cooperative play or just playing against friends. But its not just fragging, o no its much more than who can kill who more times, u can play in variety of modes such as king of the hill or capture the flag or a game where u have to have possecion of a ball for a certain amount of time. All are fun and even just that regular fragging style is fun too. In conclusion all i can say is buy this game and buy the book too because they will keep you entertained for a long long time(I've been playing since February) So in conclusion all I can say is you won't regret buying this game and I would suggest playing the game before reading the book, it's better and easier to understand that way.
P.S. if u like the feel and sheer size of computer games better than system games than don't feel sad. Halo is coming out for the pc also. So have fun gamers and buy this game!!!! | video-games_xbox |
The plot is so simple. Kill everything that moves - get better weapons to kill faster - use skills to kill more - rinse, repeat. I give 3 stars for the skill upgrades being so out-of-order (where often the higher the required level, the weaker is each new skill's effectiveness) and the monotony of such limited fighting area ideas (which is usually narrow passages, small rooms, big open spaces or only randomizing the dead-end routes so the path to the next level seems to always be the last one left), but I give 1 extra big star for the incredible replay value of having such very different characters to try out. However, the first time I played I took the advice of a guy online who said that the Monk is the best one of all - wrong! His having no actual range attack abilities or any true magical options (that do much more than just add melee hit points) mainly makes him a weaker Kung Fu version of the Barbarian, which necessitates getting really good at avoidance maneuvers before dying (again). Keep in mind that I am referring to selecting him as your FIRST ever character (because many of the pros really like the Monk once they got the hang of his lightning fast moves). The Witch Doctor is basically a wimp who conjures animals to fight for him that serve more as distractions than dangerous slaughtering machines, allowing him to plink monsters from a distance with blow darts or lobbing high-arcing lava balls. The Demon Hunter's strategy often gets reduced to avoiding toe-to-toe contact with the horrible hordes while using the rapid fire arrows as her entire arsenal (that sounds exactly like a machine gun) and just keep using it all the way to the end. The Barbarian is a brutal creature that smashes whatever gets in his way while shaking off most damage like it's just a skinned knee, yet still has the option to hang back and chuck a few spears if any recovery time is needed. The completely mislabeled "Wizard", who is truthfully a (much more powerful) "Sorcerer", is definitely my favorite. His or Her duty is to stay far away from the fray (since no weapon or melee offense is allowed), never get blood on the pretty outfit, never punch out vomiting Zombies, offer himself or herself as a weak and easy target - then unleash "Spell Hell" to put a major hurt on entire bands of those hideous, evil things all at once (and not waste time with that one at a time crap). I started out at the "Easy" setting, then built up to a Level 35 "Sorcerer" (or "Wizard", if you insist), then the game actually allowed me to play through on "Easy" once again (wow) which gave me the thrill of tearing through every-thing in the way like wet paper. The combination of fire and ice (freezing followed by meteors crashing on heads) works well, the chain lightning is ultra-cool, but the incredibly devastating energy beam (with an extremely helpful side-splitting multiple target option) is, by far, the most devastating offensive apocalypse in the whole game. Am I right or am I right? Just remember the secret for every character class. Take a few steps, put down a large group of monsters (as quickly as possible) until they all stop moving, take a few more steps, repeat the process over and over and over and over - until you reach that Diablo dude who's always talkin' smack about what he's going to do to you. Don't say a word, just bitch slap him a few times until he demonstrates his fear (and half-dead condition) by sending you to deal with the so-called "Shadow Diablo" (who is also scared and sends minions after you to prolong his inevitable ass-whippin'), then surprise the "Big Red Boy" by returning so he can "say hello to your little friend" (whatever that may be). There will soon be an after-party right after everybody who isn't praising you seems to be missing. Collect a huge pile of expensive stuff dropped on the ground (that's too tempting to pass up), go back in time (only stronger and maybe a bit wiser) only to find out that the people back in town forgot you were ever there and listen to them tell you that their biggest problem is a handful of puking Zombies just outside the front gates. What cha gonna do then? Perhaps you could calmly inform them that violence never solves anything (ha)! | video-games_xbox |
The worst game I've played in a LONGEST time and BUILT on the ashes of one of the TOP 3 games I've ever played. I think ur review is a 100 and TEN ! Percent right. I wouldn't have bought the game if I had done the research first but I didn't and I did...
Story is ruined and literally thrown into the garbage. They took 10 years + of work and build up and just said "Screw it !"
Totally in consistent with the previous Halo "5" (Made it look like the Master Chief without Cortana was going to be the next threat to EVERYTHING. Hence the forerunners ending speech and the look in the Master Chiefs eyes when he finishes with "The reclamation, has already begun and we are hopeless to stop it." A.K.A "Master Chief"
Which is what they advertise LITURALLY for this one. It was Master Chief DESTROYS everything saved and you could choose to be him or the one who stopped him. That's what was advertised but nothing less then "FRAUD" is what they actually delivered on. Completely different story and rushed work that completely ended this series for who knows how many people.
Then inconsistenties between Halo 5 and 6. Somehow Master Chief went from 7 or 8 foot badass in Halo 5 (As see in end video sequence) to the average height of everyone else in part 6. Sudeenly ur the bada$$ who saved the world but now everyone's second guessing you and treating you like the new guy. Oh and by the way, turns out there had been CRAP tons of Spartans all along. Hence ur team and everyone else, so ur no longer special or unique and the Fall of Reach didn't matter cause appreantly LOTS of Spartans survived. Oh and the guy who beat the 4 or 5 different races by himself with a little assists here and there. Yeah apparently the new Spartan who has only been a Spartan for a few years. Is on even playing ground with THAT guy LMAO. Which makes TOTAL sense to me, I mean what does experience and genetically superior mean anyway?
I think they just wanted to faze Master Chief OUT and put this new loser in. What's his name "Locke?"
Game play has gone from I can do this alone, to I can barely do this with 4 people. The A.I suck and watch me die even tho I ask for help 5 times. They can't beat even ONE enemy when on legendary. The ONLY purpose they serve is to distract and revive. Which makes game play less challenging AND fun. And more repetitive and boring. The comments they make are boring and not even funny.
I could go on but what I really want to say is WOW, good job ruining the ONLY GAME that people bought an Xbox for | video-games_xbox |
The logical next step. This is by far one of the most interesting and fun games I have ever played online. Where the first few games in the series really just focused on the severity of destruction you could cause, this game adds a huge open ended map that allows and encourages exploration of the deepest sort. The element of auto related carnage is still very much a part of the game, it's just not what I would call the main focus of it. There are an obscene amount of things to see and do in this game and with the ability to play with up to seven other players over Xbox Live, the game becomes something that is quite literally insane in its overall design.
The sheer amount of things you can do in this game is just mind boggling. There are literally hundreds of events you can partake in and dozens of cars to unlock and turn into heaps of broken metal and glass. The city itself is pretty large and has more hidden passageways and shortcuts than most other racing games I've ever played. This is the kind of game I like because when a game has this much to do and this much to explore, it gives the game replay value in spades. In an offhand way, it reminds me of the snowboarding game SSX3 (one of the ABSOLUTE best games I have ever played and I say that with no exaggeration) in how much there was to simply DO in the game. This is a game that I think will keep someone who's not playing it 24/7 busy for months.
Playing this on Live however is where this game takes it to the next level. There's a seamless functionality where you can literally jump online at any point in the game by pressing the D-pad and pulling up the online options. There's something really enjoyable in working together with other players in trying to beat the 300+ challenges spread out all over the island. Couple that with the ridiculous speed and total mayhem that occurs when cars go flying into other cars and guaranteed that you along with your online buddies will be cracking up. You can race each other, create rivalries, steal people's victories... there's just no end to it. Also, now's a good time to mention the Xbox Vision camera's functionality. The game allows you to take pictures for your driver's license and also sends you a picture of any particular gamer who you've just taken down. It's great to see a game use this peripheral in such an imaginative way, something we don't see often enough except in games like the Rainbow Six: Vegas series.
The graphics in this game are absolutely beautiful. Everything from roadside details to general scenery and something small like the glare of the sun in your eyes is replicated perfectly and believably. Just on graphics alone, this game gets high marks. The sound as well is off the wall and if you're playing this late at night, your neighbors are liable to think that they might open your door to find you buried under a 24 vehicle pileup. This game sounds great and the music selection is pretty nice, even if you've heard some of the songs in other games.
I'd like to end by saying that whether you're playing this game alone or on Xbox Live, you are bound to get a healthy dose of satisfaction with this title. There is just way too much to do in this game and to me, that's better than not having enough to do. | video-games_xbox |
Might be worth it. This is a fantastic game with many revolutionary changes never before seen in video games. The most obvious is the advanced face recognition software that was used to capture even the slightest facial movements for you to determine if the suspect is lying or telling the truth. I love how the game is broken up into separate cases, but in addition, there's also a contection from one case to another, adding another layer to victims who have similar M.O.'s. The details in every clue become very important. And all of these factors are thanks to the advancements in graphics and HD gaming.
The mini-cases add a little variety so it's not soley one case at a time. Just like a GTA game, you can enter any car you want and say it's for "police business" but doing this too much will take away from your intergrity.
Though I haven't completed the game yet, I'm worried that the cases are still too easy. The notebook your character keeps organizes the clues for you, but almost too well. It doesn't really leave much room for you to do anything thinking on your own. And even if you completely botch an interview, you'll still figure out who the suspect is because they're the one running away. It would have been nice to have different difficulty levels to add more of a challenge for those who wanted it.
Perhaps the game's biggest flaw is its lack of replay value. Your only motivation to go back and re-play a case is to try and get more questions right to get more stars. But after the criminal is behind bars, why would you? Understandably, it's hard to make a game like this that could be replayed since all the clues are pointing to one person in particular.
Of course, the game is not without flaws, but the 40's LA feel (complete with music), graphics, and game play still make it very enjoyable and completely different than most other games on the market. My hope is that Rockstar will add on to this amazing start and we'll soon see additions similar to what they did with GTA IV.
UPDATE - 5/3/12
Now that I've completed the game and the retail price has been reduced, I thought I'd come back and add to my first review. I'll agree with most reviews in that cases are repeatative, the outcome of a case doesn't change the story at all, and now that the game is beat, it sits on my shelf unplayed. When I first played this game, I had it on the "easy" mode where the controller shakes when you're near a clue and the music changes when you've found them all. This makes the game extremely easy, but I wonder how difficult it would have been without this support. However, now that the price has been reduced to $20, I think it may be worth your money. I think my initial review (and perhaps some of the others out there) would be very different if I hadn't bought it so soon at full price. I think when you consider the price, the value is now worth it. | video-games_xbox |
Excellent Console RTS. This is such a good game! For those who don't know, Halo Wars is an RTS (Real-Time Strategy) game where you control multiple units from a third-person perspective. You can create bases, build units, move them, and fight with them! The controls are very easy to learn with the tutorials. I highly recommend playing both tutorials (Regular & Advanced) before you play campaign or skirmish. THIS IS A NO SPOILER REVIEW!!!
Campaign:
This is a very fun and enjoyable campaign! I haven't done the entire thing yet, but I am almost done. The story is great, and it is easy to know what your objective is. Aside from the requirements for the mission in general, there are fairly easy side objectives that can be completed in the mission. There are 15 missions in the campaign, each taking approximately 15-20 minutes each. I had trouble with 2 of the missions, but I looked up online a good strategy. There is a co-op mode for the campaign, which makes hard missions a lot easier (especially if that friend is very good at the game). So overall, the campaign is very fun.
Skirmish:
Skirmish is a mode where you can play different game modes with different leaders from the UNSC and the Covenant. You can do 1-1, 2-2, and 3-3 games. You can either play by yourself or with your friends against AI enemies. There are 3 UNSC leaders and 3 Covenant leaders, each having different abilities and unique units. With the UNSC, your leader is NOT a general unit. With the Covenant, you can fight with and control your leader. There are tons of maps to choose from! There are 2 DLC packs, but I don't think they're worth buying. They just add a few extra maps. So overall, the skirmish mode is very fun.
Multiplayer:
Multiplayer is also very fun. You can do the same modes as Skirmish, but just on Xbox LIVE.I generally like the 1-1 matches better because if you're doing 2-2 or 3-3, if one player drops out on your team, it greatly decreases your chance for success. There is a rank-up system in Multiplayer as well. The only problem is that only about 5,000 people play multiplayer, so it's really hard to find a match unless you have lots of friends. So I haven't played multiplayer as much.
Overall:
Halo Wars is a great RTS that is fun to play and easy to learn how to play. All of the modes are very fun, but I prefer Skirmish over any other. The price is very good on Amazon, and it is very fun to play with a friend. I would highly recommend this to any Halo fan or any RTS fan in general. | video-games_xbox |
Dragon Aged. With Mass Effect 3 and The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim a little over 6 months away and a relatively slow start to the year (though Dead Space 2 was phenomenal) Bioware has released its sequel to Dragon Age: Origins, a homage to old school PC games. While Dragon Age: Origins and its expansion, Awakening, weren't bad games, Dragon Age II take everything that was good about them and doubles it. Do you like dwarves, elves, and magic? Do you like epic adventures with endless possibilities? Do you like to completely customize your character in and out? Then prepare for the decade long quest as Hawke and company set out on a grand adventure.
The game is narrated by a companion, Varric, a dwarf who likes to exaggerate in all aspects that play into his favor. In the story he is being interrogated by a Templar on the events surrounding the character you play, Hawke, who has fled from his home to the state of Kirkwall. While there are many more details it is impossible to do the game's rich back story and setting justice in such a limited space. If you're a Middle-Earth fan and have run out of canonical and fan fiction alike, this may be the universe for you to sink your teeth into.
For those of you familiar with Bioware's space odyssey Mass Effect, the character customization is in the same likeness as is the revamped conversation system. Unlike the first game the player's character is fully voiced which adds to the cinematic nature of this installment. The individual origin stories from the first game are removed to make room for this welcome addition. However, the same three basic classes are available: mage, warrior, and rogue. If you had a favorite class from the first game it basically plays the same. There are little nuances here or there but those that boast a revised combat system must see something that I do not.
Graphically the game has been overhauled. While it still doesn't look as good as Mass Effect it is still one of the better looking games of this generation, though the art style does take a bit to get used to. It does appear to be much more colorful this time around with enhanced character models. The frame rate almost never drops, even when my party of four is unleashing an onslaught on as many as twenty enemies at a time. The menus and user interface have been greatly streamlined for this entry though it is frustrating that everything but companion quests and side quests don't have waypoints.
The only two gripes about the game is the lack of customization for your party members and the repetitive nature of quests. Though the player is free to customize their character, from skills to armor and weapons, they are rigidly limited in their party members. The game retains the ability to move from party member to party member but this lack of customization (supposedly to keep the characters in character) is frustrated, especially when you have an ample amount of better equipment even early into the game. As for the repetitive nature of quests their just...repetitive. It appears that every quest will take you to a dungeon that you've already been to, just with different enemies.
Is the game better than Dragon Age: Origins? Without a doubt, no. Even with the streamlined menus that led to the lack of "NPC" customization, the story, personal customization, and overall experience is better than the first. It's not that the first game was bad, it was just scattered. Hence, this game is only half (still 40+) as long.
Is it better than Mass Effect 2? Biasedly, no it is not. I love Mass Effect through and through. Perhaps it is my love of Star Wars over Lord of the Rings that comes into play. However, it is Mass Effect's overarching storyline and gripping visuals that really keep that game in the forefront of Bioware's franchises.
Is it better than The Elder Scroll IV: Obilvion? Yes and no. Oblivion, being released in 2006, is just old. While Oblivion does allow for more intriguing side quests, the main story of Dragon Age II is much more entertaining , as are your companions. However, both title feature repetitive dungeons.
Dragon Age II is a solid game that a fan of Bioware, RPGs or even action games should give a spin. The improvements far outweigh the baggage the series is still carrying. When Dragon Age III rolls around, the series should have matured enough to give the Elder Scrolls series a run for its money. For now, it's a great time burner until the two aforementioned games are released. | video-games_xbox |
Gears Of War 1.75 - not Gears 2.0. Ok I am a huge Gears Of War fan and I was extremely dissapointed with Gears 2 in some ways.
1. There was very little upgrades in the game. You have to beat the campaign to unlock 2 skins - who cares? They need a Resistance 2 style upgrade system to access increased weapon capacity or other character attributes. Otherwise, whats the point of playing the campaign more than once?
2. The A.I. is atrocious - I think the Insane difficulty is really weak. I mean all it does it give you less health and your bullets are less hit points. Insane difficulty should mean smarter locust's that flank more and work more as a team. Not to mention if you play alone your A.I. squadmate (Dam) is completely useless.
3. Broken Matchmaking - No more player matches (just ranked public and unraked private??!?!?), no more ready button to enter into a match (just a timer) & the matchmaking priocess it's self is broken as all hell. Takes at least 10 minutes to find a party and load into a game.
4. NXE Party system is borked - No way to invite someone who is not a member of your party into your party unless you go into the in game XMB. Party members get disconnected at random for no reason at all.
5. Hype - All the hype about the new weapons, 100 locust on screen at one time (BS), improved lighting (BS) & improved A.I. (BS) is all a bunch of BS. The new weapons are a nice touch but they are glitchy. In a Horde match you have to re-pick up a planted shield or it will vanish. The campaign is horrible and super laggy and is often interrupted by moments of walking and holding your headset (WTF is that?).
I think the was the most hyped game of the year not named GTA IV and it did not live up to the hype in any way at all. Better co-op experience in Left 4 Dead, better campaign in Halo 3 & better online play in Call Of Duty World At War. This game really does nothing better than the first gears other than the nerfed shotgun. In all honesty it has been a huge letdown and I would only advise hardcore Gears Of War fanatics to play it. Everyone else will be bored and better suited buying Call Of Duty World At War. | video-games_xbox |
Bioshock Review. BioShock is one of those games that definitely leaves you both wanting more and at the same time complete exhaustion. In this game you are an unexpecting passenger of an aircraft that crashes inot the middle of the ocean. Somehow you survive the crash and float to the top. You don't seem to spot any suriviors but there does seem to be some strange tower in the middle of the ocean. You swim to it thinking that at least you'll be able to wait rescue not having to tread water. You discover a door, upon entering you see signs for something called Rapture, you then find a deep water pod, having your curisoity taking the better of you you pull the lever, and into the sea you descend, into the city of Rapture, or what is ever left of it. You will talk to several people on your journey through this city, but you will also have to fend off the splicers, humans so torn up by genetic enhancements that they have lost their free will.
Graphically this game is absolutely stunning the 1940's vibe is alive and well in the city of rapture, but there's this utter eeriness that just hangs over the whole place that will keep you on your toes. The different areas that you get to traverse look amazing, from the market, to the museum, and more you're definitely going to be left with a, "hmm this was probably a really nice place, once upon a time". The enemy designs were perfect. Now of course the most famous one, the Big Daddy and Little Sister combo, is so errie, and yet to awe-inspiring, but the other characters that you have to face all have just enough variety that you don't feel like you're just fighting wave upon wave of clones.
The music in this game definitely has that 1940s vibe to it, its all very old school but seems to fit perfectly in this game, giving it that extra little boost to capture you in the game. The use of ambiant noises is another thing that solidifies this game, there's nothing quite like hearing a spider splicer mumble threats and then all of a sudden having them pop up right in front of you.
The controls a pretty straight forward, you're going to learn how to best use them as you go, but believe me when I say that you're going to be using every button you've got to get through this game. My only issue was when it came to electrocuting something to hack it and accidentally hitting X before the prompt and wasting precious EVE when I didn't need to waste it. Other than that small little thing you're going to find that the buttons go well with this game.
So as stated before you have descended into the city of Rapture, an underground city that was created for the freedom of science, and to be separate from the oppressive governments and religions. Now of course as things always seem to go, this started as a good thing but turned bad. People became corrupted with all the genetic changes that they were capable of doing, thanks in large part to the scientific community, not being hindered by laws. The trick though is that in order to better yourself you need something called ADAM, an ingredient found in the enemies called Little Sisters. Now of course in order to get to them you're going to have to go through th Big Daddy, a giant of a monster that soaks up plenty of damage, and will do anything in its power to save and protect the Little Sisters. When you first get down into Rapture all you want to do is find away to go home, where ever that might be, but as the game progresses you're going to find that there are plenty of obstacles and twists that will stand in your way. Now if you can get through them all you might just get to go home, or perhaps you'll lose the fight and Rapture will wait dormant for another challenger.
This game is something that everyone needs to try. If you're in to first person shooters with a very unique setting, and story, then this is the game that you're going to want to get your hands on. I have to say that its not hard to see how this game got game of the year, and even though this review is out after the second one's been out for a while, with the passage of time, this game has not lost a step. This game gets a 9.2 out of 10. | video-games_xbox |
Excellent new rythm genre but disappointing song selection. I think everybody has played or at least heard of Guitar Hero, where you smash different colored keys on a plastic guitar replica in rythm to a song. Good fun but it really was just a game.
Now Rocksmith has a delightful twist to the genre, rather than playing on a replica, how about with a real guitar? The game is really a mixture of the Old Guitar Hero type games and also a Guitar tutor.
The game comes with a USB cable that plugs into your Xbox or PS3 and the other end is a standard amp jack that plugs directly into your guitar (note you do need to have a jack on your guitar for this to work, so will not work with some acoustic guitars). Once hooked up and the game is running the first thing it does it to tune your guitar (actually you have to make sure your guitar is tuned before every song, lesson etc. which after a while gets to be a pain but I understand why the game requires it). Once tuned, you can launch into tutorials on chords, playing scales etc. or launch into playing the game. It starts off fairly slowly with just strumming a single note but goes all the way to full playing including hammer ons, pull offs, bends etc.
The biggest problem with the game is as you progress through it, you cannot change the difficulty level, so you may have progressed to a certain point in the game but just want to quickly play a song on a slightly lower difficulty for fun, tough you can't.
The other big disappointment with the game is the song selection that it comes with. Most of the songs I had not heard of although the bands I had. You can purchase downloadable content to extend the game just like you could with Guitar Hero and Rock band.
Overall I think this is an excellent idea and a welcome addition to the genre of beat games. Not only do you get to play along with various songs, but you also learn to play a real guitar in the process. Much better than Guitar Hero or Rack Band and worth buying if you own a guitar or want to learn to play one. | video-games_xbox |
NOT A FULL REVIEW. WOW Spidey. U sure have taken a turn for the worst. I followed the development of this game. All i heard were empty promises. Supposedly this game was to be so much different from spiderman 2, built totally from the ground up. New Awesome combat system. Larger more robust city. Deeper side quests. PFFF. THis game is SPIDERMAN 2 with a worse camera and a horrid combat system.
WOW, Bosses haven't been this cheap since MAXIMUM CARNAGE. And I'm only 45 min into the game. OK, so I'm supposed to stop a gang called Apocalypse from blowing up an electric grid. I get the bomb toss it into the ocean and guess what i have to fight a boss but he isn't alone. he has 5 other guys with him. they go down like you would expect and i still have all of my health. Pretty good odds of me taking this guy out right? WRONG. Not only is his health bar twice the size of mine. I have to make use of this horrid new reversal system thats been thrown into this game. Basically as ur fighting an enemy a yellow fist appears above his head. Which is supposed to prompt you to hold down the left bumper to slow time down. When time slows you are supposed to tap X when it appears on the screen. Easy enough right. Wrong again. Since X is the main attack button. I am halfway through a combo when the yellow symbol appears over the enemy. So when the X is supposed to appear im not able to press it because im in the middle of my combo. So i am forced to cheap my way into beating this guy and his goons by sitting ontop of a roof and pulling them up with my web one by one. Now does this sound like a fun and innovative new combat system?
THE missions are set up so bad its laughable. Ok I start the lizard mission. Rumors of the lizard in some park in the city are going around. THe boss wants pictures. SO instead of going to the park. Spiderman decides to go right outside of the office and take a pic of a guy in a lizard suit. No where near the Park in question. So i go back to the boss with the pic and he tells me hes no fool and sends me on my way to the PARK. Useless time wasting mission right? Ok so i get to the park and i am supposed to find a lizard. Thats all the mission objectives say. SO i click the right stick to bring up my Spidey sense and Voila the lizard is in an alley and i can even see his footprints thanks to the power of spidey sense. SO i go in balls to the wall ready to lay the smack down on this chump only to hear Petey say " OH no i got too close." Dun Dun DUNNNNNNN. "Mission failed" pops up on the screen as the lizard jumps into the sewer. WHAT?! are u kidding me. if u wanted me to sneak up on the guy please let me know in advanced. THis game is poorly poorly poorly put together.
OH boy don't get me started on the CAMERA. Just let me say there isn't a Camera Center button so u can snap the camera back behind Spiderman to see whats in front of u. ANd since im not a huge graphics fan i won't even ding it for having the worst cut scenes ive ever seen on a HDTV. U know when a lil child shows u a pic of something they drew. THey tell u what it is and in ur mind u know thats not what that object looks like but since it's a child u smile and say very good. Well Activision isn't a toddler and they should be ashamed of the cutscenes in this game.
Maybe I'm still bitter about the disappointing movie SPiderman 3. So maybe im being too harsh on the game. Maybe i am. but please for the love of GOD rent this game before buying it. In my opinion this game is worst than Spiderman 2. | video-games_xbox |
Funny, entertaining, yet it is missing a lot. I didn't hope for a 5 star game when I bought it so I can't say that I'm disappointed. But it is not what I expected. So lets start with positive things about this game. It is funny. Narrative speeches and dialogs between characters bring back memories of Bruce Lee movies. Moving around the neighborhood and fighting in different places also remind me of Lee's flicks. Action is well paced yet limited. The way that characters are projected gives you a taste of the time when Bruce was around. Plus the strange camera angles when you are fighting girls leave very little to imagination (wink wink nudge nudge) Now the bad things. You have limited moving space. There is about 200 "special moves" which are fairly difficult to master or remember. Controls are horrible and targeting opponents if not hard is little tricky. Sometimes when you fight and your opponent drops an item you can't pick it up unless you unlock your self from the character you are fighting. Limited movement and viewing area make collecting items hard. The fights don't follow any rules and you can loose half your health with two kicks while you can be pounding on the enemy and he will only loose little amount. This is not by any chance a fighting game on the level of Teken. This is a fighting game on the level of Super Nintendo with much nicer graphics. Is it worth the money? No if you are looking for a serious fighting game. But if you are Bruce fan or you want a change of pace by all means go for it. AI is no existent and I find that it takes much less effort to fight big bosses than to fight actual regular street opponents.
Quick hint: Instead of purchasing moves just buy health, attack, ranks plus a faster kick and punch mode. This will make your game much better. Fancy moves are there already so there is no point in buying more. In this game speed and power are what you need not fanciness. | video-games_xbox |
Style over substance. Before I start any review that gives this game lots of stars and doesn't address the AI or difficulty of this game is a fake review. Probably from a person who has a load of boxes full of DOA4 lying around like a bad drug.
I have had the game for about 2 months now and feel I'm in position to give an honest review Firstly the game looks amazing, great interactive backgrounds, character details, a reasonable number of characters and costumes plus great end movies. All this game needed was reasonable gameplay and it would have been a great game, but Team Ninja or as I like to call them Team Numbskull, have failed and kind of ruined the game.
When I first got the game DOA4 was probably the most frustrating unenjoyable game ever! People, who say that this is a good thing, probably pay women in leather to whip them. And that is how I felt when I first started playing the game. I paid 50, which is about $80 and god knows how much yen to get my ass kicked. There is nothing more annoying than a game where the CPU can do things a Player can't do. The CPU can do all these fancy throws and counter throws, while it is near impossible for Players to pull off a simple throw. With a lot of practice you might be about to counter a CPU move once in a blue moon, but it is more down to luck than Judgement. The gameplay also isn't organic. If the CPU player is low on energy the CPU player will pull off a 10 to 15 hit combo out of nowhere to bring your energy down. While that is okay sometimes, when it happens every round it makes the gameplay artificial, predictable and unenjoyable. What makes that worst is the fact that the CPU can counter throw player combos easy, while it is again near impossible for players to block or counter CPU combos. Especial the last boss who can actually throw, not a counter, you while you are punching and it's this unfairness that makes the game unsatisfying. Players are better off just pressing buttons fast because the minute you try to pull off good moves the CPU hits you more. I know a lot of the reviews say it is great that is hard because it sorts out the men from the boys, but I think that kind of gamer elitism is wrong, because if I don't want to fight psychic CPU opponents then there should be an easy option. After a lot of practice I am very good at the game and the game becomes slightly easier. You learn you can't do the same move more than twice in row and with characters (La Mariposa) that have fast combos that hit high and low the game becomes more reasonable. I've finished the game with all the characters, but the game just isn't that fun. Because there is no easy level to experiment and use a range of moves or tactics so the game becomes boring even when you are winning. I play games fun and relax from work. DOA4 just seems like work. The music is mostly Rubbish J-Rock. When will Japanese game companies learn from Grand Theft Auto, we are the Ipod generation, so we want to hear real music in our games, rather than the work of some poor guy in their Music department producing average music. And why the hell do all the characters speak Japanese? I know there are subtitles, but surely given most of the world speaks English it would of made sense to have a game with English voices and Japanese subtitles. There is also something very subversive about the character Zack with I just don't like.
I think useless you are some kind of Professional Games Player then I wouldn't get it. It's an expensive that does not deliver in the most important thing gameplay. If Team Ninja for made this way deliberately then I won't be buying anymore of there games. DOA4 is a beautiful game, but I say if you like nice pictures go to a gallery not and don't pay for this game that becomes dull fast.
Bring on Tekken 5, where the characters speak English, there is an easy and normal level, the throw moves isn't pointless and the game is fun to play. | video-games_xbox |
A notable drop in quality, but it's still Batman. If this were the first Batman game in this fashion, I would have given it 4 1/2 or 5 stars. It's not just that this is the third entry and the series is no longer "fresh", but this game is a C effort from an A+ franchise.
In nearly every category, new developer Warner Bros Montreal apes the Rocksteady formula, and falls a little bit short. No Kevin Conroy or Mark Hamill? Alright, that's a bummer, but I don't blame WB Montreal for that. Combat doesn't flow as smoothly, the pause menu UI is sprawling and hard to follow, and even little things, like the rips and tears that Batman gets on his cape look like lazy, symmetrical patterns instead of the more naturally tattered cape of Arkham City. Batman's suit texture is a flat grey. WB Montreal did not put a personal stamp on this game, just copied all of Rocksteady's moves (even down to Mr. J. singing over the end credits). The "love" isn't there, and the story hums along so quickly, none if Batman's foes feel like a threat. They're just the next thing on the checklist.
On the subject of checklists, the upgrade system is clever, but flawed. To upgrade, you must perform specific actions ("knock out three bad guys") in a specific order (if you "Use your Batarang" before you "knock out three bad guys", you have to use the Batarang again to get the progression). One of the early Silent Predator feats is to use 4 environment-specific takedowns in one encounter. There are, at most, 3 encounters where you can fulfill all 4 takedowns, and at least one of which is at the end if the game. This could have been fixed by letting these encounter rooms respawn, or by avoiding such a limited feat as a goal.
Additionally, major bugs plague the game. My Batman fell through the world, got stuck in walls, and triggered cutscenes for rooms he wasn't in, ending up stuck outside the now-locked room, unable to progress. I played the game over the course of 4 nights, and each time I stopped playing, it was because my game froze.
My review may sound harsh, but that's because this game stands in the shadows of Arkham Asylum and Arkham City, two of the greatest video game titles ever released. The components of those games are all here, just unpolished. If you are unfamiliar with those games, this will seem like the greatest Batman game ever, but it's a step down in quality for fans of the series.
Publishers take note: Dev teams are not interchangeable. | video-games_xbox |
The True Sequel To San Andreas. Wow, where do I begin, this game is amazing! I am a huge fan of San Andreas, I think it was the most complex game ever made, and I have been dying for a true sequel, (GTA IV is good, but can't compare), well this one I think takes the cake. So heres some things you can do in the game.
You can choose to be a boy or a girl (yay) any race, you customize everything, there face, body, clothes, their walk, the way they talk, taunts, everything. This game is action packed, you start out locked in a prision and escape spraying gunfire at anyone who gets in your way, thats a great way to start a game I think.
You ride around completing mission, just like in GTA, the game also has things called Activites, and theres plenty to do, you can go to a fight club and when money with each fight, you can be a bodyguard, you can get it on with some girls (thought they don't show it) You can sell drugs, you can even ride a four wheel engulfed in flames and just drive around causing destruction, for money! I wish that was a job in real life.
You get to own all kinds of property in this game, and you can spend money to pimp it out, you can turn a shack into mansion and have all your gang buddys hang out there. There is all kinds of car customization, you can customize the car to the style of your gang or whatever you want, you can even put spikes on the sides of the wheels that will flatten other peoples tires. You can actually buy weed and beer in this game and smoke and drink and get high, awesome! Also there's planes and helicopters to fly in this game just like in San Andreas but I don't think there's a jet-pack lol
In some ways this game is more complex than Sand Andreas, in some ways not. But overall this game is great and should have been GTA 4. It has tons of replay value and it can take you months to finish everything. If you like sandbox style games with mindless blooshed, check out Saint's Row 2. | video-games_xbox |
Fun game. First I just want to state I'm reviewing this from the perspective of a solo campaign player since I don't have xbox live so I have no opinion on multiplayer. I actually really dig this game. Take some elements from the other RE games (specifically 4, 5, and 6), Gears of War, and Left 4 Dead, roll them around a bit and you basically get Operation Raccoon City. Now don't get me wrong, this game is far from being a masterpiece and is in no way better then the previous games mentioned. However, for basically being a budget game, its actually pretty fun. In the game you play as the USS Delta Team (Umbrella Security Service) dubbed the Wolfpack and your job is to destroy evidence, retrieve virus samples, and eliminate witnesses. There is a total of six members in Delta Team all with there own abilities that can be upgraded through out the game. All members specialize in a specific field such as recon, surveillance, and demolition (which I'm sure is more dynamic in multiplayer). In campaign you choose one member to play as and three others to follow, making this a team based game like GOW and L4D. Now my number one complaint is the AI and lack of a command system for the CPU. There will be times when CPU followers will get ahead of you and engage enemies when your not ready and vice versa. A simple command system would have fixed this, being able to tell your group to hold position or group up would have me giving 5 stars. Another notable but minor (imo) problem is that the base game is too short. You can however buy dlc that gives you access to a completely separate campaign with a different team, Echo Six of Spec Ops (the first mission of this dlc is free to download). As the Wolfpack you will not only be fighting hordes of zombies and other RE monsters but you will also be engaging in gun fights with Spec Op soldiers, with zombies in the crossfire most of the time, making the game never boring and very hectic but in a good way imo. The game has a dark moody atmosphere which it should, its a RE game we're talking about here, the graphics are pretty good (for 360) as well as the voice acting. All in all if you like zombies games I say give it a try, if you like action survival horror with a bit more emphasis on action give it a try, if you're a hardcore RE fan looking for more of that slow creeping horror feeling you might not like this but I still recommend to at least give it a try. If you're someone like me who enjoys the more recent RE games like 4,5,6 and maybe even Revelations this game might be a bit of fresh air to you, giving you something a bit different. I know a lot of people say this game is terrible but I disagree, is it one of the greats? no, but its still very fun so find a cheap copy and you be the judge. | video-games_xbox |
A surprisingly fun movie tie-in. It's hard to say exactly where Enter the Matrix, avaible on X-Box as well as three other platforms, got it's main inspiration. The first impulse is to name The Matrix Reloaded, to which it ties in to, but more careful thought will trace it to Max Payne, the first 3rd-person shooter to use a play device where you slow down time during the game in order to more effectively battle your enemies. Of course, Max Payne got it's inspiration from the original Matrix movie..........
Whatever should get the credit, Enter the Matrix is a very fun and easily playable shooter. You start by picking one of two characters from the movie, Niobe or Ghost. The controls on X-Box start out a tad awkwardly, but are easy to get used to. There is no tutorial, but useful hints on how to play the game pop up as you progress to slide you into the game. The action is so well done that in almost no time you'll be able to jump across rooftops, battle 4 policemen at once in hand to hand combat, and flip off walls while emptying your guns into your enemies. The learning curve is almost non-existenet, and even infrequent gamers won't have much trouble getting into it.
The game uses real life footage actually written and directed by the Wachowski brothers, and most of it creates an interesting backdrop to the film. For example, in the film the freedom fighters attack a power plant. While in the film the scene lasts only seconds, in the game you see how the rebels carried out an attack on the complex in order to destroy it. While the movie and the game aren't crucial to each other by any means, the tie-in is very nicely done.
The graphics are no big deal. A lot of clipping problems and such arise through the course of the game, but on the whole everything is more than passable. The game definitely does a good job of capturing the look of the movie, at any rate, and the feel. The game really shines upon the appearence of the near invincible Agents, where emptying a whole clip in their direction and your best martial arts moves only serve to slow them down. It can be very panicky to run away from them, aware that a slight slow down will result in an unwinnable close fight.
The game does falter when it leaves the first person action. It contains a few sequences that are nothing but driving a car or firing from the passenger window, and another where you pilot one of the ships through the real world. These sequences are very poorly done and lack even the most basic feel of excitement. I'd have been bored back during the days of Super Nintendo! Unfortunately, the game ends at the end of one of these lackluster levels, ultimately leaving you wishing for a much better ending. It also doesn't last very long, but an upside to this is that there aren't any moments where you spend an entire hour looking for that last door to the end of the level.
All in all, Enter the Matrix is a very satisfying experience for shooter fans. If you're a fan of the movie or action games like Max Payne or Dead to Rights, then this is a must get, a rental not even necessary. | video-games_xbox |
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