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Good Game, has Flaws. Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising is a great game, there are, however, several things that could be fixed with DLC or a large patch.
Difficulty: This game has shown me that war is not only dangerous, but frustrating too. Don't get me wrong, it's a great game, but you cannot customize the difficulty, there is only normal, experienced, and hardcore. I only play on hardcore, to get the most simulation out of it as possible. But since I play on hardcore, that means that there are no checkpoints, no respawns. If you die, you restart the level. It's as simple as that. I, however, would prefer to have no HUD, but have checkpoints. I know respawning is not realistic, but it would make it far less frustrating. This is my biggest complaint with the game, and it isn't really that much of a problem.
Variety of Environments/Mission Types: Since Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising is set on an island; don't expect a huge variety of environments. However, there is a nice variety of mission types. You go from extracting a downed pilot, to disabling fuel depots, to search and destroy type missions. There are also different fireteams you play as. There is a spec-ops fireteam, with more stealth-based missions and there is an assault type fireteam.
Weapon Variety: There is a great variety of weapons in Dragon Rising; ranging from rifles, to sub-machine guns, to light machine guns, to sniper rifles, to anti-tank and anti-aircraft weapons. My personal favorite is either the M16 or the M4, they are both effective from long range to short range. Also, there are air strikes and artillery strikes which are very...Very satisfying.
Graphics: I'm going to be honest with you, Dragon Rising's graphics are not beautiful. Compared to Operation Flashpoint: Elite's graphics, they're spectacular; but they just don't compare to other recent first person shooters. There is a reason for Dragon Rising's poor graphics, though. The only reason games like Modern Warfare 2 have such great graphics is because everything is extremely close range. In Dragon Rising, however, you may be shooting enemies from incredibly far away. So, Dragon Rising has quite a bit more to process at once than Modern Warfare 2 does. I have one last thing to mention while we are on this subject, the smoke. Codemasters promised us great looking smoke that stayed around for a long time. The smoke does stay around as long as they promised it would, but it doesn't look very good if you are in the smoke. When you are inside it you can tell that the smoke is really just black, wispy walls. So there are spaces between you and the smoke, once you are inside it. That is not a huge problem, it just doesn't look phenomenal when you are in it.
Sounds: Codemasters really did a great job with Dragon Rising's sounds. I found that the game sounded best with the settings at this:
Master: 100
Music: 75
Effects: 100
Ambient: 69
Speech: 70
It sounds incredible if you set them at that.
But anyways, the game sounds awesome. End of story.
Multiplayer: Dragon Rising's multiplayer is a hard thing to review because all people ever seem to play is Annihilation on Chokepoint. Annihilation is basically a team deathmatch, and Chokepoint is a great map, but there are other great maps! Chokepoint is not the only one! I bought both of the DLC packs, the Overwatch pack includes two new game modes, along with new maps for those game modes. I have only had the opportunity to play one of the two new game modes. The new game mode that I tried was great, I don't know why people don't play it more often. And Infiltration, the other game mode included on the disk, is even better than Annihilation, in my opinion.
The Verdict: If you like challenge, and you like realistic first person shooters, buy it. If not then you should rent it. This is a really great game. I give it a 4/5. | video-games_xbox |
Great technology, poor design, cheaply constructed. I was so excited when I ordered my Turtle Beach Ear Force Elite 800X fully wireless headset for the Xbox One! When it arrived, I immediately opened the box and started reading the setup instructions, which were well-written and clear, with diagrams and illustrations in the right places. It included 4 USB cables, two cables for connecting the headset and the receiver to a PC for firmware updates and feature settings, one USB cable for connecting the receiver to the Xbox One, and the fourth USB cable for charging the headset. Also included was a standard optical audio cable for connecting the receiver to the Xbox's optical audio out to the headset receiver, which is required for 7.1 surround sound on the Xbox. It took some work to get the software installed on my laptop in order to initially configure the headset and receiver, as well as updating the firmware on both devices. I had trouble initially, but I was finally able to get it working only when both devices were connected via the USB cables to my laptop at the same time. It would not let me just plug one device in at a time and update or configure it by itself. After updating the firmware and choosing my initial settings, I was easily able to connect it to my Xbox and start using my headset. I quickly found the Turtle Beach app for my Android phone, which was much easier to use for configuring the specific setting for the headset by utilizing the Bluetooth capabilities of the headset for wireless configuration of the various settings. This app (also available for iOS) is absolutely required, because changing the settings via the headset buttons (if you can call them buttons) was nearly impossible and extremely laborious, cycling through settings one by one for each aspect of the headset, like the audio profile, microphone profile, noise canceling, chat/game volume settings, Bluetooth on/off/pairing, microphone mute/unmute, and so on. In place of buttons, the entire outer surface of each earpiece is a "floating" button plate, quickly tapping near the top, bottom, left, and right on either earpiece to change some settings, and pressing + holding near the top, bottom, left and right on each earpiece to change other settings. I found this to be completely tedious, often having to press, or hold, the same part of an earpiece half a dozen times to get just one setting where I wanted it. Every time you change a setting, a nice female voice announces the new setting. This soon became annoying when having to repeatedly re-set settings that were accidentally changed while using or handling the headset, cycling through settings one-by-one. Press-up, hold, lady speaks... press-up, hold, lady speaks... press-up, hold, lady speaks, press-up, hold, lady speaks... ahhhh! After changing one setting, it was nearly impossible to change another setting without accidentally changing yet another setting. This is where the phone app really helps. I learned that each time I put on the headset, I needed to use the phone app to re-configure the headset settings because it was virtually impossible to put on, take off, or otherwise handle the headset without changing multiple settings that would take a good while to re-set correctly using the cumbersome button plates on each earpiece. Once configured the way I wanted, there is no "button-lock" or "settings lock" to prevent the accidental changing of settings. When a setting gets changed, I often had to press-hold-release the same button 4 to 8 times for *each* setting accidentally changed. It felt like trying to find a particular channel on a hospital room TV for each setting I tried to configure using the button-plate on each earpiece. I also had tremendous problems just wearing and using the headset without repeatedly changing settings accidentally.
The sound quality and options were outstanding. I felt my money was well spent the first time I heard the sound quality while playing Halo 5. It wasn't until I used them for a few more minutes that I started noticing how easy it was to accidentally change settings, and how difficult it was to change the settings back to my preference. I figured I would get used to the "delicate" nature of the button-plates, but after 5+ months, I still accidentally change settings dozens of times each time I use the headset for a couple hours or more. After about 3 months, I started experiencing parts of the expandable headband falling off, soon leading to one of the ear pieces becoming completely detached from the headband. Above the second earpiece, right below the expandable portion of the headband, the piece that connects the earpiece to the headband has cracked (just like the other side), and has loosened. I have resorted to using super glue to repair these parts. However, these parts are very weak and experience a lot of stress each time I adjust the headband size or when putting on or taking off the headset for normal use. I have now used glue to repair portions of the headset 7 or 8 times. The plastic construction of the headset feels very cheap and delicate. There is so much technology used in this headset ... it is such a shame all that wonderful technology is housed in such a flimsy plastic frame. This could have been a 5-star headset if only it was built more sturdy, and if it had more realistic thought put into the button/setting design. I get the feeling Turtle Beach was trying more to create a "cool and different" design for the buttons/settings instead of making it convenient, reliable, and efficient. I wish they just had regular rubber buttons that might not get pressed by every slight movement or handling of the headset.
I feel let down. This headset looks so good on paper. It has a ton of great technology and audio performance. Too bad it was all put into a flimsy and poorly designed package. I have used other Turtle Beach headsets that I really love! They don't suffer from the same delicate construction and poor button design. I wish I could take the technology out of this headset and put it in the body of one of several of the lesser expensive headsets made by Turtle Beach.
I would have liked to run through all the audio qualities of this headset, however, even the best audio qualities cannot help but be overshadowed by the poor construction quality (falling apart) and completely clumsy design of the buttons/plates.
I would not recommend this headset. I hope Turtle Beach soon releases another model of similar specifications, but with a sturdy and usable design. I can't repeat this fact enough to accurately illustrate my disappointment. I tried and tried to find ways to cope with it, but I failed. | video-games_xbox |
Good Headset. I received an X1 headset for Christmas. My buddy got an XBOX and we wanted to play Modern Warfare 2 online together. I went back and forth about whether to use the XBOX wireless headset, 360 headset or the Turtle Beach X1. What initially turned me off was the lines running across the living room floor. There are separate connections for audio, USB to XBOX and your controller. I actually had planned to use the 360 headset but when I got the X1 as a gift I decided to give them a try.
The lines have disconnects so it is easy to disconnect/connect them when playing or storing the headsets without having to go behind the TV stand every time. I planned to wire the audio inputs into my Onkyo HT-R560 receiver. However, I couldn't get the sound to only go through the headphones. I was stuck with sound in both the headphones and the wall speakers. I decided to use the sound input on the TV as part of the component video and it fixed the problem. The cable length is 16' so you have a bit of wires to wrap up when done. I found that there is a generous amount of cable separation to hook up the various connections, which is good since I have a wide stand and the XBOX and TV are a bit far apart.
Where the headset really shines is during game play. Like many others have reported, you can really hear sounds you haven't heard before. The sounds are amplified enough that I really didn't miss my surround sound effects. One of the best features for me is the privacy they offer. I don't want my 9 year old daughter hearing vulgar language from other players and the dirty looks that would follow from my wife and the X1's do a great job of preventing both. Bass is a bit deep but does not bother me. I find them very comfortable. Voice seems very clear and understandable from others.
Overall, I am really glad to have the headset. I hope they hold up for at least a few years and give good service. If you don't mind contending with 1 long cable across your floor and another to your controller, then I highly recommend trying them out. | video-games_xbox |
Rezet's Xbox 360 Game Review: Quake 4. Sometimes, very rarely a 3D shooter playes better on a console than it does on a PC. Well, it's not one of those times. As a matter of fact for those who have played a PC version of Quake 4, playing it on Xbox 360 will be a huge step down. Surely the HDTV graphics are there and overall the game looks similar to the PC version, but controls are again the weakest link here.
Well, since the opening was about the "bad parts" of the game, let's go ahead and get though them before we get to the "good ones".
Having played Quake 4 on PC, and deciding to be a hot shot by start the Xbox 360's verion right away on the "corporal" difficulty, I quickly realized how bad of an idea that was. Aiming is certainly something that takes a good time to get used to with a controller. But even after about 5 hours I was still no where near good at locking into enemies and strafe dodging shots as I was on a PC after only 10 minutes of play.
Surely by switching to the "private" difficulty I was able to get though the game with a relative ease but the excitement wasn't there. All underminded by the fact that 3D shooters are meant to be played with a keyboard and a mouse.
The graphics in this game while not "Half-Life 2" realism like, are certainly pretty. And if you enjoy watching people get cut in half with saws, you will certainly appreciate all the character, textures, particle effects (yes, blood) and lighting quality of this game. (On the same note, if you enjoy it TOO much, you may want to see a doctor *wink*).
The problem, however, lies in the inconsistent FPS (Frames Per Second). Many times FPS plunge into low teen numbers, making the game a slide show for a few seconds. It wouldn't have been a problem if that happend every now and then but frames don't stay consistent for more than a couple of minutes at a time. Combined with already hard to work with targeting system, it can bring pure hell in certain situations and quickly lead to death. Which then leads to perhaps the last big problem in the game - long "loading" times. Loading times can last in excess of 30 seconds. And although they don't appear often if you progress though the game (about once every 30 minutes), they can become enormously irratating if you keep dieing. In situations where it takes more than simply shooting at the enemy (usually boss fights), it may lead to situations of running into a room, getting nailed with one hit and looking at "loading" screen. It can test a patience of those who are not sure what they are doing and die in seconds only to look at spinning Quake logo for half a minute, over and over.
On the good side, however, the game is a well made 3D shooter from the point of level designs, overall graphics, and a relatively deep storyline for a what most would consider "mindless shooter". The story is easy to get into: Stroggs are continuing the fight against the human race. So as one of the marines you get dropped off on their planet to show them who the boss is. The missions are the ones that tell you story from a "brotherhood" military point perspective. You know that the war is going on, but inside the game it's more about surviving together with fellow marines. Assigned to the squad, you constantly on the move to help others, and AI (CPU controlled NPCs) do a surprisingly good job helping you as well. Which certainly takes away the feeling many other shooters give you that you are actually "baby sitting" the NPCs instead of working as a team.
Through out the game you get to know quite a few peronalities and spend most of the game fighting along side of them. Never knowing who will live and who will die. It isn't until you get deeper inside enemy bases that makes you understand why this game deserves a strong "M" rating. The images of graphical torture of captured fellow marines, blood and gore are everywhere. But what can you expect from a complex called "Strogg's Medical Facility"?
The level and environemt designs are good, but at times can get a bit seamless. And the fact that many missions force you going back and forth though same rooms - certainly doesn't help. But it isn't significanly de-valueing the game overall.
There is a good choice of weapons in the game that get modified through out the game for a bigger punch. And there are a number of vehicles available for the use through out the short missions (usually outside). It seems fun but certainly nothing you haven't aleady seen before in other 3D shooters.
Multiplayer is pretty good and certainly adds a good amount of fun to the game. However, Xbox 360's version suffers from the same problems mentioned above. Where things like precise controls play bigger role than they do in a campaign mode. Making a PC version truly shine and leaving 360's version in the dust.
Overall, this game is an almost perfect example of what you would expect from "big hitter" companies like Raven Software and Id Software. But I wish they had taken a slight risk and tried to add something new to the game to spice it up and make it stick out from the rest.
PC version of this game strongly deserves 4.5 our of 5 stars. Xbox 360 version, however, is proabably somewhere in between of 3.5 and 4 stars out of 5. Mostly due to problems mentioned in the beginning of this review. One thing can be guaranteed is that you will have a blast playing it if you are into linear Gory, and Bloody 3D "twitch" shooters. The only suggestion here is to get the game for a PC if you have a powerful enough computer. If you don't, you will still have a blast on Xbox 360. Just probably not as a big one. | video-games_xbox |
Very Nice Base. What a nice upgrade this is. I really do like what this base does for a more life like racing experience. It comes neatly packed into it's own box and not hard at all to get placed where you need it and setup. With a steering wheel added your ready to go. I enjoy playing Forza 6 and just getting started with a couple of other racing games and the level of realism you get from this base is smooth and adjustable through settings in the game and on the base itself.
While playing Forza 6 on Xbox One S I find this base to be a welcome addition to an ongoing buildup of items needed to enjoy the racing game experience. I have it mounted to a home made adjustable mount painted black I built out of wood and it works perfectly for my needs...minus a nice racing simulator cockpit. While I'm currently content using a gaming seat and sitting in front of our 55" HDTV for viewing I would like to actually have a cockpit to use while playing where you want it and can use it without setting up and taking it down. This base is smooth and the ability to adjust settings makes it easy to enjoy what your looking for in force feedback and sensitivity. I'm not an expert by any means but I know when I'm using something that is built well and has a quality look and feel to it. I have it mounted using the included mounting hardware to lock it down onto the mount I'm using. This was an excellent purchase and I'm very glad I bought it. As for a few details about it I grabbed these from the web page where the base is found here on Amazon.
About the Product:
* 900 Degree Next-Gen Force Feedback Racing Simulator Base for Xbox One and PC (no wheel or pedal set included); Rotation angle adjustable up to 900 degrees
* Compatible with the Thrustmaster product ecosystem (wheels, pedal sets and shifters sold separately)
* Super smooth and seamless Force Feedback; Ultra-responsive and realistic Force effects, with no latency; New dual-belt, friction-free optimized mechanism Internal memory and upgradeable firmware (via PC compatibility), Xbox Guide button
* Metal central attachment system included, compatible with all desks and tables; Built-in screw threads for attachment to all cockpits
Here are the steering wheel and base I purchased together and am now using.
<a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/Thrustmaster-VG-Ferrari-599XX-EVO-Wheel-Add-On-Alcantara-Edition-for-PS4-PS3-Xbox-One-PC/dp/B014US048A/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">Thrustmaster VG Ferrari 599XX EVO Wheel Add-On, Alcantara Edition for PS4, PS3, Xbox One & PC</a>
<a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/Thrustmaster-Racing-Wheel-Servo-Base-for-Xbox-One/dp/B014US043A/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">Thrustmaster Racing Wheel Servo Base for Xbox One</a>
And I added a picture to show it installed on my home made adjustable wood mount.
Thank you Amazon and Thrustmaster for making these available online!! | video-games_xbox |
A perspective on the negatives. After reading the different reviews, I am submitting mine to give a perspective on the negative opinions. I have completed the game and enjoyed every second of it. My recommendation, buy it. It is a similar to the stealth games, Splinter Cell and Thief, which I enjoyed.
If you play primarily FPS games and your tendency is to play fast and take the shortest path to the end, this game is probably not for you. This game is most enjoyable if it played the way the designer intended, slowly, by experiencing all the quests before the assassination. If fast is your style of gaming it will become repetitive because you are just checking off a mission to get the finish and not enjoying the scope of it all. It is only necessary to complete two investigations before permission is granted for the primary assassination.
What I liked, everything. You can read other reviews about the good stuff so I won't repeat them here. I thought BioShock was a wonder to behold, but this equals it on many levels. Some of my favorites:
- Finishing moves with the assassin's blade during fights.
- Throwing guards off rooftops and listening to the commotion below.
- Killing crusaders in low profile mode
- Knife combos
- Strolling the streets looking for trouble
- A high profile kill in a crowded street
What I disliked. I didn't dislike anything, except for tedium of collecting flags, I just think some things could have executed better. Here they are:
- The overall storyline and the unique story for each assassination are great, but there is little local story or background information for each city. This could have been an opportunity for a lot more depth.
- The 2nd to last end boss(s) fight was a little clich, but I still enjoyed it.
- The ending could have been tidied up so I actually knew it was the end; so many comments are valid there.
- I wish there were more to do down among the streets so to spend more time there.
- There were some low res textures and character clipping, but I noticed it maybe 5-10 times throughout the whole game. That's a non-issue for me. For every visual flaw there are plenty of visual examples of beauty.
- The fighting was unique and I never got tired of it. There were good variety of moves and weapons. Try fighting with your assassin's blade and watch your counters with that. I prefer the timing method because I'm tired of playing twitch-response games. The best parts were the counter and finishing moves. The camera would frame them as you finished for your viewing pleasure and, yes, sometimes the view would end up behind a post or foliage. This happens when the fight was in a tight space with walls and the camera got irritating at times.
- Knife throwing was clunky. If you are not targeting perfectly the knife would hit something in the way. Targeting can switch to the wrong target when you are under duress and can frustrating.
- The missions before the assassination were enjoyable. The eavesdropping and pickpocket missions are easy and draw you into the game. The intimidations became more difficult as the game went alone when ruffians would join the fray. The mini-assassinations were the best. You had to try different approaches to beat the time limit. The problem I had with all the missions were that they were plotted on your map after climbing a tower and syncing. If they gave you a count or a general area so you would have to go look for these missions and get more engaged in the streets. I thought they were too easy to find. Oblivion did it the best. You had to walk around and talk to people to discover information.
- I wanted a save system. I wanted to try the 9 assassinations with different approaches and see how they worked out. I would actually die on purpose so I could try again.
You have not played a game like this before, ever. This is a stunning game. I never got tired of looking out over the cities from all the different points or fighting. It was total immersion just walking the streets. It felt like a living city with all the people walking around and the sounds that go with it. The smooth physical movements of Altair makes this game better than all others. What I liked best is that I could enjoy watching him in action without concentrating on landing or grabbing perfectly like other games. I would wander around just to create an opportunity to experience them.
The review scores swing wild because this game crosses boundaries in play style. Different players had different expectations and reacted accordingly. I highly recommend the game. I could easily suspend my disbelief and engage in the story and not be disconnected during the game because of any poor design. If you spend time looking for inconsistencies you will find them. If you compare against perfection you are going to find flaws. I forgave them all and played a great game. | video-games_xbox |
Good, but. This game was toted as being a dead-on competitor with Bethesda Softworks's Morrowind. In many ways, these two games are very similar. However, the concept falls short for Fable. In many ways, the game disappoints the hype given to it. To be fair, I will list what I thought the best and the worst of it was:
Pros:
* Dynamic charisma-based reaction by NPCs. Very nicely done, however - the clapping and calling out to you like some sort of rock star gets a little old about 3/4 the way through the game
* Your actions affect how the game plays out - LIMITEDLY. You are given choices of how the auxillary quests play out, however - the basic quest of the game is strictly followed, which could be helpful for those who get lost easily. I know a few times, I felt a little lost
* You can play your character any way you want, within the confines of the game engine of course. If you like hack-n-slash action, pump your strength and speed up. If you like the 'pick-em off at a distance' aspect of things - you can increase your speed and accuracy to make yourself deadly with a bow and arrow. Finally, if you love magic - you can make yourself a force to be dealt with by funneling experience into the learning of magical spells.
* Armor and weapons are clearly marked, so you know all the advantages and disadvantages to them - as far as how they might affect your appearance (attractiveness and scariness, respectively). Armor even has an alignment adjustment, which can enhance or degrade your character's appearance to the NPCs.
Cons:
* Game is way too 'leashed'. While you do have some leeway as far as your optional quested - you cannot really leave the main quest line for too long - and locations are often very tightly tied together that there really isn't too much exploration involved. Those used to the open exploration of the countryside in Morrowind will be sadly disappointed to see it absent in this Lionhead offering.
* Game is WAY WAY too short. I am an average gamer, and I finished the game to completion in less than 18 hours without a strategy guide. I am betting that those who got the strategy guide finished in under 12 hours. In real life terms, I finished the game in 2 days. That is WOEFULLY short, and leaves me feeling empty after it. Yes, you can continue to play after the main quest is completed - but there is little point. There are no goals to achieve, and many of the side items noteworthy to explore are cut off at the aftermath of the game.
* The whole marriage concept is useless - it achieves nothing.
* The whole house concept is nearly useless - all it can nab you is a free bed in that town when your there, and a place to stash your tropheys. You can also rent them out - but at the end of the game - you already have enough money to buy a small island for yourself - so more money just seems....like more... not better.
* Many story loose-ends are never tied up. I won't spill the beans, but there are a few important story elements that just don't get much attention after their plot device has played out. No wrap up - no summerization, no end. This game NEEDED an end, and they just left it off to make it SEEM like it was open-ended.
* XBOX Live support - it doesn't seem to serve a purpose. The game is single player - there is no mechanics in the game for multiple players, and XBOX doesn't allow patching - so it seems to be in there to fill up space. Not a good thing to do.
Overall, the game has the feel of something that could be, and still might become, something very special. However - it has gaps, it feels like a large portion of the game is missing - and those of us who come to love the open-end RPG genre when we began our gaming love affiar with Morrowind will find this game a shallow substitute. DEFINATELY worth a rental - but I cannot recommend a purchase - unless you find you really like to play the same story over and over again - just from different characters. | video-games_xbox |
Don't bother reading the 1 stars, seriously, they're idiots. If you want a really good review, read Big Al's review, it's as good if not better than one that I was going to make. I have about 3 hours into the game, and oh my god, loving it. Let's put it this way, I wasn't planning on even playing it yet really, I just wanted to plop it in and make sure the Cerberus code worked and the other one for the Terminus armor, ending up playing, and playing, lol, I literally had to force myself to stop, saved then just exited to dashboard, because I needed to make some supper (made chicken noodle soup from scratch, well, the noodles are store bought, lol, trying to fight a cold currently).
It's as though a lot of the complaints that people had with the first they either got rid of entirely or revamped it. I however want to address some things that weren't mentioned I believe. There's no looking at equipment on the pause screen (where Squad, Journal, Save game, etc are), the inventory system is 1 that was revamped, you only change your gear and gear for your comrades on the ship (that I know of so far). You can customize the armor (the one you get when you start, can't customize the Terminus one) for Shepard, but no one else.
Someone else mentioned the minigame with planets, where you have to scan them, if you've played Splinter Cell, it's sorta like that in a small respect, when you get near an area of a planet that has something of importance (something you can mine, or, a place that's of significance allowing you to land there) you start to get a rumble (trying not to spoil too much) and have to try and get closer to it, then launch a probe. I've done it once so far, found I think 6 maybe 7 spots on 1 planet, and I personally love it so far, though some might find it a little annoying and tedious after a while. I think it's great though, a very inventive way to do it, and you never quite know what you'll find, you might keep scanning a planet and just get some mining ores (used to enhance/upgrade weapons, etc) then find a spot where you can land and get a sidequest you weren't expecting to get, you can't tell me that's not exciting.
I think I read a while back you're supposed to be able to upgrade your ship as well, but I'm not sure exactly or in what manner, what I do know is, you have an aquarium in your quarters and can collect different species of fish for it, so in a way you can furnish a little.
One thing I like but that I also have a complaint with, is now when you get a codex entry, pickup an item, get paragon/renegade points, or anything else going on, you get informed with a quick pop up box on the right side of the screen. If it's a quick message, something that you need to read, it stays on the screen a little longer then say, a pop up box letting you know you just got +2 Paragon points, but I still feel the pop up boxes informing you of something could stay on the screen a little longer, even the ones letting you know of something simple, my only gripe really so far. For example: you get an achievement called Scholar for getting 15 codex's (the 1st 15 you get in the game) and I really didn't know what it was until after the 2nd or 3rd time it popped on the screen (yes, it will keep popping on the screen for each 1 you get, at least for me it has so far, eh, no biggy), because it didn't stay on long enough to really read it that quick, especially if you're not waiting for it to pop up, 2 more seconds would be better I think, at least, or have it fade out instead of vanishing that quick. There was another thing, something about make 10 enemies scream when they fall off something..or something like that, can't remember exactly, do that to get an achievement, could barely read it, that's why I'm not exactly sure what it is, lol, only on the screen for like 2 split seconds, gone by the 3rd second.
There is fuel that you have to restock to go to far away places, if you try to go somewhere and you don't have enough fuel, well, you'll be notified. You actually maneuver the ship on the galaxy map too, and see your fuel go down, it's different, I like it, a nice touch, not sure what happens (if you can) if you screw around and use all your fuel up w/o a fuel station nearby though, lol.
Highly recommended that you import your save from ME1 if you have 1, you get bonuses including credits. I had a lot of credits in ME1 and it said something about being "rich" (I have an achievement in ME1 called "Rich" because I amassed 1,000,000) and so because of that I got I think it was 100,000 credits (I have 152,000 and only 3 hours into the game :o) yes, you read that right. Being level 50 also gave some other small bonuses, don't wanna spoil everything.
Anyway, that's pretty much all I have to say about it so far, I wanna go back and play it a little more before bed, have it booted up already, oh, and definitely get the Normandy crash site dlc, because aside from the fact it's free (yes, free) it's ...well, really good, you have to play the game and go to that point to see why (you'll need to get fuel to go there, it was the first thing I did after having access to the galaxy map). | video-games_xbox |
The must-have launch title for Xbox. Half-Life really didn't INVENT the sci-fi first-person shooter, but it sure did succeed at doing it well and popularizing the genre. The Playstation 2 had their stab at it known as Red Faction (a first-rate game, might I add) and now XBox is boarding the gravy-train with Halo. And I can safely say, after playing more 1st-person shooters than I care to mention, that Halo is a smashing success, as well as a benchmark by which future progress will be measured.
The graphics, though not running at the desired 60 fps, are still enough to make you stop and simply scan around using the right analog stick. The worlds in this game are awe-inspiring, as well as chock full of landscape objects and detail. And some of those landscape items make all the difference in the world. THIS is really where Halo shines, because you no longer need to stand toe-to-toe with an enemy to combat it, nor do you need to play peek-a-boo around walls & corners. Success at Halo depends on using the terrain & surroundings to your advantage as you progress. Duck behind a rock, circle around the rock to the nearest tree, sprint across to an indentation in the cliff face, the plethora of objects makes fighting so much more realistic and fun.
And it isn't only the terrain that makes it interesting, the enemy AI is extremely logical and doesn't pull the typical "charge right into you at gunpoint" or the "run around without any clue or reason to where I'm going." If you duck behing a tree, the opposition fire ceases, but take a peek and expect some fire to come your way. It's so simple, but rarely has the enemy AI been done this well to the point where it looks like they are following some sort of battle plan. And that goes for your backup also. The good guys will fall in behind you, lay down cover fire, strafe from point to point, and generally act like a real combat battalion instead of like simple cannon fodder. Refreshingly accurate!
The only disappointments are a fairly limited roster of enemy unit types, some atrocious control on the jeep-type vehicle, and the fact that often you won't really be informed of exactly what needs to be done next, though the game remains linear enough that aimless roaming does not last too long.
The XBox hype machine has been in high gear for this particular game, and rightfully so. It is certainly the launch title to have for the system (like Soul Calibur was for DC, and SSX for PS2) and is so far THE killer-app for the XBox. If you are at all inclined towards the 1st-person shooter genre, then by all means this should be at the very top of your must-buy game list. | video-games_xbox |
It's very good but BAD on a legendary scale as well. I am usually pretty fair with video games because i've been gaming since 1980 and i've, pretty much, seen them all. This game you will both love and hate....mostly hate. While it has the most incredible par court system out there, it's story line, characters, and general play are kind of boring. The modification on weapons isn't really all that original and it's predecessor, Dead Island, may have been superior in that right.
Now, where good goes to bad, bad goes to worse, and worse just goes to plain obscene. The play level will increase exponentially toward the end of the story and you will have zombies that....well, they might as well be wearing "tanks" for clothing.
The worst part is the "climbing" system, it's buggier than a bait store and it will screw you so badly you will wish this game came with lubrication. At times things you've done a million times will fail, jumps where you KNOW you land in a safe area...you will die from....and and totally cool as the grappling hook is....it will fail MISERABLY at times. It could also be called a "cheap" rip-off of Far Cry 3 in many parts of the story line.
Also, quick warning, do NOT get the "Tic-tac" ability, it will make you eventually wish you never played the game...What it's supposed to do is help you scale walls....what it's infamous for is scaling you so far then pushing you off where you often fall to your death or into a crowd of zombies.
There is so much that this game COULD have been that it just failed horribly at.
Here's a last thought, the bugs in this game are SO bad, in certain spots, i could almost accuse the game of cheating. Things you KNOW you did right, hand-holds you KNOW you grabbed and the game lets you slip, zombies you KNOW you should have killed with less effort...somehow push through the blades...
There is a particular mission where you have to climb the inside access area of a giant bridge, which i had done a dozen times...Suddenly, out of nowhere, my hand-holds just wouldn't happen on one session. It took over a dozen tries to make it happen. There are also times that key combos won't work correctly.
The worst, Worst, WORST part is killing the big, bad guy at the end. It uses the dreaded, annoying, NO-SKILL "real time event". Basically all you do is keep memorizing the right buttons at the right time to kill the bad guy.......I like to win on skill, never on when i push a button in a cinematic...
If they were to recall this game, take a month or two to iron-out it's flaws, it would be so much better.
This game is so addictive yet SO very frustrating... | video-games_xbox |
Bioware has Jumped the Shark (Spoilers. Well it's time to bite the bullet and write a review on the most disappointing thing I have ever encountered in a game. As has been echoed here time and again Mass Effect 3 is an amazing game. I had relatively few glitches, nothing game breaking, and the graphics were great . The story was amazing and that makes the ending all the more disappointing. Some have made the argument that because that game is so amazing that the ending should not warrant an artificially low score, I have to say that by the same token it should note get a an artificially high score either. The ending is everything it is what we played through five years and three games to get to. I mean truly, when was the last time you sat down to watch a new movie and then shut it off just before the last ten minutes and said "well that was great!", or when did you last sit down to your favorite meal, chew every bite and then spit it all out saying "wow that was amazing!". All Zen philosophy about the journey aside we really do things most of the time to get to the ending and what a letdown that ending is. It has been a week since I finished the game and I have given a great deal of thought to this review.
The game has the usual great characters and dialogue and as you make your way toward the final confrontation with the Reapers for the destiny of the galaxy, everything brings home the relationships Shepard has made. Those relationships both personal and societal are what has made Mass Effect great, and they are part of what makes the endings betrayal so heinous . Now a great many people have said that this is art and we as the consumers should have no say in the outcome, this is the creators vision after all . Were this a film or a book I would be inclined to agree, but Bioware had sold us from the beginning on the idea that we had some control over the story (regardless of how slight) and how it would play out. In the end they betrayed that and reneged on the deal. It's what Con Men call a bait and switch and it is one of the oldest scams in the book and one I did not expect from Bioware.
Let me say at this point that I "got" the ending, yes I agree with the theory that it was all a Hallucination/Indoctrination and still it stinks. We were sold all along on the idea that "our" Shepard was going to win out, be the hero/ruthless SOB who would succeed in the end, sure he/she might die trying but that death would mean something and leave the galaxy a clearly better place. Instead everything we saw was a fever dream so that in truth we don't know what happened to the galaxy at large or those we have fought along side and rallied to save the galaxy. Because if at the end of the "good" ending Shepard awakens after never having made it to the Citadel, then Joker and crew never made it anywhere, the Mass Relays are still intact that the Galaxy is still being pillaged by the Reapers, and we spent 5 years getting nowhere. If we did "save" the galaxy as shown in one of the 3 unsatisfying similar endings, the our companions abandoned us to die, we destroyed galactic civilization to save its component planets, possibly killed EDI and the Geth after spending all that time to get them on our side and trapped the Quarian fleet clear across the galaxy from where their home world that we had just helped them reclaim. Yeah that sounds so much better (yes that us sarcasm). For those of you who liked the ending I'm happy you did (that is NOT sarcasm, I truly am) I hated it.
Casey Hudson the Director defends his ending as unforgettable, true but in a sad way. Not sad because the ending was sad but because it seems writers have forgotten how to make a positive unforgettable story. To this day I remember the ending of "It's a Wonderful Life" and other Capra greats far more than any "downer" ending I can recall. Not that a sad ending can't be good or unforgettable but far to many poor writers use negative emotion, such as bickering and infighting and a shocking ending where the hero dies as easy roads to drama. They seem to forget that drama can be had in many other ways, sure it's harder but in many ways if done right more rewarding. As Cobb said in the most excellent film "Inception"' "No because I believe that positive emotion trumps negative emotion every time." Something Bioware, and sadly a great many other writers have forgotten.
Yes Mr. Hudson your ending is unforgettable sadly that is not synonymous with good.
Lastly let me say that while I wish the retake Mass Effect movement luck I don't think Bioware owes us anything by way of a new ending. That said I don't owe Bioware another dime of my hard earned cash either. That saddens me as I was once a staunch supporter of Bioware, and while they had made missteps before it was nothing that was not easily overlooked, with this ending Bioware has Jumped the Shark. I preordered the Collector's Edition of the game in June but from here on out I will take a wait and see what people are saying attitude before I consider another Bioware game.
Like so many have said without the ending a 5/5 but since you simply can't separate the ending from the whole I can't bring myself to give a score better than 2/5---yes the ending is that bad. | video-games_xbox |
Great game for the entire family. <div id="video-block-R13EEVD3VTPK2N" 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/B1-E0gnxw7S.mp4" class="video-url"><input type="hidden" name="" value="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/21dztBWWGsS.png" class="video-slate-img-url"> I thought that all you did with this game was to insert video clips of you acting into a video. It's not. You actually play mini-games using your image through the camera. Then the game will take clips from you playing the mini-games and make it into a short movie about 1 minute in length.
Every "game" has between 1 - 4 players. If there is less than 4 players in the mini-games, the "movie clip" will fill in the other slots with "actors", so your movie will contain random actors.
If you want to make the movies directly, you can go to Director mode. This way you can make the movie without having to play the mini-games. In Director mode, you control the script, the shots, the background audio, the narrative overlay, and the film FX. Pretty much everything. The clips are still about 1 minute long. You will not be making feature length films with this game.
Lighting and background tip - Many people complain about the lighting. I figured out if you have a plain background, then have a lamp/light in front of you so you are clearly illuminated, and close your curtains so the light from outside does not vary, then this camera and software does very well. When we first tried it, we had blankets on the couch and the window open and I think all that "noise" is just too much for the software, although it did OK.
Just so you know, I am the one in the black long sleeved shirt, so you can get an idea of the quality.
I got it on sale at Target today for $29.99. You can beat that given the camera alone cost $39.99. | video-games_xbox |
The Real Arcade Pro delivers. I made a post recently about the Madcatz TE stick and have had a positive experience with it. Having some experience with arcade sticks, I had some idea of what I wanted. I have several others stick, which aren't good enough to get into detail to mention here, like the X-Arcade or Pelican sticks. They're decent but they're tiers below the Real Arcade Pro EX-SE.
As I needed a second stick, I wondered if I should give another brand a shot and how it would compare to what I already like. After quite a bit of reading and review watching (some other great comments by other people on the RAP EX-SE), out of all the Real Arcade Pros, this one seemed to fit the bill - I wanted to try out the Seimitsu setup instead of the Hori or Sanwa buttons and stick.
Here are my thoughts after some play-time with it:
Pros:
+ pleasantly weighted
+ size is almost perfect (not as wide as the Madcatz TE but just enough)
+ buttons are fantastic (ever-so-slightly heavier than Sanwa)
+ square gate & stick were solid
+ construction and design were solid as well
+ price around ~$100 is reasonable
Cons:
- headphone jack protrudes from the control panel
Other:
~ some artwork would have been cool (yes, there are a lot of other Hori setups with lots of artwork)
~ no button lock was no big deal
~ select/start buttons on face with other buttons were not a problem
~ no compartment for cords was nothing to worry about
~ the uniform color buttons on the other models was cooler
~ square-gate a concern? Practice, practice, practice! (I'm right there with you).
The one negative for me isn't enough to take a star away. I'm still going to give it 5 stars as it was a fantastic arcade setup all-around. Even though the headphone jack wasn't what I wanted, everything else made it top-notch. Those buttons were awesome.
The only other item I would change is if it was a tad wider, like the Madcatz TE. It may be perfect for everyone else.
The price may be higher than what one would expect to spend but it's completely worth it.
Would I buy another Real Arcade Pro EX-SE? Absolutely. Do not settle for anything less than the Real Arcade Pro EX-SE or the Madcatz TE. You'll be disappointed! | video-games_xbox |
Overall, this is one of the nicer kits you can buy. Solid construction and a superior finish. Ordered this for my son's personal controller and he's thrilled. It appears to be a well-crafted piece - not like some of the flimsier cases I've seen. And I'm very impressed with the glossy finish and the feel as well. Overall, this is one of the nicer kits you can buy, and I think justifies the slightly higher cost. And he loves the look and feel as well, so everyone is highly satisfied.
It comes well-packaged with the necessary screwdrivers (2 sizes of Torx; small and smaller) in order separate the cases (small) and remove the circuit boards (smaller). Only mistake I made: the controller I was installing this on is one of the newer controllers with the 3.5mm headphone jack on the bottom. Thankfully, you can still use this case! I simply re-used the original, black underside from the controller. My son actually liked it better this way because 1) he gets to use the headset still and 2) visually it's a little more interesting. Alternatively, you can leave the headphone jack out (it's not a static mount; it stays pressed in place and will most likely fall out when you take it apart anyway) and I assume the red back will still fit. It also comes with a new set of optional thumbstick covers with larger, more profiled nubs on the top for more positive grip.
The only thing I think should've been included with the kit was a tool for removing the snap-on sleeves on the sides of the controller. Luckily, I had one (several) from previous kits. But if you're not worried about re-using the old side covers, then I guess it doesn't matter.
One note on re-assembling these controllers - not specific to this kit, but anytime you open up any Xbox One controller: there is a small, inconspicuous and rarely-used button used to 'program' the controller (synchronize it with the Xbox console) which sits next to the mini-USB charging port (just above the battery door, in between the bumpers - closer to the left bumper). This button actually slots into the piece of plastic that holds the large central 'X' button in place. You'll notice there's a small grooved tongue on the button, and that fits into a specific slot on the controller - NOT on the case. Once the case is placed, you'll find the button is perfectly aligned and can still contact the small micro-switch on the board. So don't beat yourself trying to fit it into case; the subframe on the controller holds it. | video-games_xbox |
Worth it for the price i paid. I'm sorta a new to the gaming headset craze the only other headset i owned before this one are the x12's. They were wired and only used them for a whole year. I quickly got tired of the long wire and the binary way of hearing sounds. I did like the bast boost but it wasn't good enough.
I really wanted a wireless one so i looked around and saw most were expensive when it came to surround sound, to be honest i really didn't know the difference at first between the regular stereo and surround sound when I bought the x12's.
Sorry for the history, long story short I really like this headset. I bought for $173 recertified. It was used but everything came packaged well minus the TB sticker. I really don't have anything negative to say about it, but if i had to choose one thing negative to say just for the sake of being critcal I would say that it eats batteries fast(this can vary) by batteries I'm not too sure. It came with a pair which i used of course to see how long the batteries would last they lasted for about 15hrs although i did use them across days so my estimate could be wrong(i apoligize if it is). I eventually switched to eneloop batteries which I would hardly used so I'm glad they're of use now.
So in the end the only thing that I would see turn buyers off is that it uses batteries, yes it can be looked as last century design but it really isn't a problem as the headset will warn you if the batteries are running low plus this sort of design is future proof so you won't have to deal with any internal batteries dying on you like other rechargable headsets that will no doubt turn into wired headset in the future. Again great headset, tons of options too many to list plus you probably already know about the features. Just my experience with the headset, so far I've had them for 2 months now no problems. Give it a shot if you have the bank, but if not wait till a price drop or look for other turtle beach models, there's tons to choose from. Enjoy | video-games_xbox |
WORSE THAN THE FIRST GEN AFTER ONE YEAR AND TWO MONTHS. CURRENT REVIEW 9/16/15 -- DON'T WASTE YOUR MONEY
After a month of having issues with the optical part of the mouse not working intermittently, the mouse is pretty much unusable due to me actually using this controller to, you know, play video games. To be fair, in the last six months I have played about 60-70% less as I work more and have a newborn baby to love and support; however it's increasingly frustrating that EVERY TIME I play something (mainly Battlefield 4 and some Fallout 3) I hit a brick wall where I can no longer aim. No matter how many times I turn the mouse controller off and on, repair the mouse and dongle, replace the AA barttery in the mouse, it just seems like it works whenever it wants, mainly being never. This is the second FragFX I bought from SplitFish and the last one -- somewhere I have an old mouse and dongle (LB button stopped working) but I'm sure they're not compatible with the newer, better, fancier V2013. Even if they are, I have a new home for all four of their controllers -- you guessed it! -- the garbage can.
Unless you want to buy a new one of these every year in the hopes that the new controller works better than the old one, which was my whole reasoning, you're better off spending your money with a competitor's product to see if their controllers suck less, or just accept the fact that you're too poor to game on a PC, like me!
OLD REVIEW AUGUST 2014
Mouse and chuck both work quite well overall. RB mouse button is getting sticky only after a week of use. It's a shame that this did not come with a mouse pad as the first gen Shark 360 did come with one.
This is an excellent controller for improved target acquisition and recoil control for FPS's and third person shooters. If you play a game like Battlefield you may not like how this controller works with the vehicles. It's responsive enough to pilot choppers but the turrets on all ground vehicles rotate entirely too slowly while using this controller, even with max sensitivity within the game and on the controller. Haven't bothered with flying jets yet.
Only gets 4/5 stars due to sticky buttons after short term usage, problems with vehicles in Battlefield, and lack of a mouse pad. | video-games_xbox |
Shamelessly in love with this kids game. The developers of Skylanders said that when they first approached a new Spyro game, they wanted something dark, bloody, and violent. After a while, they realized that's not what gamers wanted from another Spyro game, so they went back to the drawing board and came up with the ingenious idea of interacting with physical toys to power a video game. That idea works brilliantly, but as an adult gamer, I can also see where their original desire to create a game for older players shines through, even if only a little bit.
Make no mistake - this is a game designed for kids. But any geeky adult, of either the standard hardcore gamer or the action figure-collecting variety, will likely fall in love with the mechanics in play here. Especially if you've got friends (or your kids have friends) that pick this up, too.
In a nutshell, the game is powered by your physical action figures, which load up your in-game characters when they're placed on the "Portal" pad. The figurines have memory chips, and your in-game progress and awards/power-ups are stored on the physical pieces themselves, meaning you can take one of the figures over to a friends house to hop into their game.
And here's the kicker - it doesn't matter if your friend is playing on Wii, PS3, Xbox, or even 3DS - because the figures store their in-game progress, it doesn't matter what console or device you play them on. I plan on picking up the 3DS version as well, so I can play with my characters on the big screen at home, and them bring them with me on the road whenever I can.
As far as actual gameplay goes, the first hour is slow, but the platforming and puzzles start to get much more interesting after that. And after you start opening up the world, it really feels like an old-school Spyro game (PS1 era, like the original).
This starter pack includes 3 figures: 1 tech, 1 magic, and 1 water. Those are 3 of the EIGHT elements in the game. So make no mistake: if you want to play 100% of the game, you WILL have to purchase at least 1 figure from each of the other elements. They can be easily found for $8 each, or $20 for a 3-pack. There are also "Adventure packs" that are $20 and come with a character, a level (more like a world), and some extra bonus items. Those adventure packs are the worst deal, in my opinion, but it looks like they'll almost be required purchases if you want to collect all 32 of the Skylanders figures.
All things considered, I'm very pleasantly surprised by this game. It's got some depth for the pen-and-paper gamers out there (represent), but will also really light up most kids. Very interactive and original. Can't wait to see how they expand this franchise. | video-games_xbox |
Very fun game, with only a couple flaws. When i first got this game, i wasn't expecting it to be very good. The cover of the game didn't look that interesting, and as i was flipping through the instruction booklet, i was thinking the same thing. The reason i bought it was of course because i am a huge starwars fan, and it is a "must" for me to buy every starwars game that comes out. However, when i first turned on my xbox and started playing the game, i was seriousely doubting my first thought.
Graphics: The graphics in Republic Commando are not that great, this aspect of the game being one of the couple flaws. The character models are extremely average, and the background design is extremely simplistic, with no real "wow!" to it. However, the cutscenes are pretty good as they deliver way better graphics then the actual gameplay does.
Gameplay: The gameplay in Republic Commando is probobly the best aspect of the entire game. The A.I, as The Official Xbox Magazine puts it, is probobly the smartest/most intelligent A.I that you can find in a game now a days with the exception of Tom Clancey's Chaos Theory. Chaos Theory takes A.I intelligence to a whole new level...There are many guns that you can choose from, over a dozen, there are over thirty playable missions, you can do anything, from customizeing the difficulty, to inverting the controls, and to using high-tech gadgets which include lock pickers, state of the art grenades, and much, much more. The other good thing about this game is that their are checkpoints like halo 2 where it saves automatically for you. So by the designers enabling this feature, you do not have to wait to completing the mission in order for you to be allowed to save. All in all, the gameplay aspect of this wonderful game is great.
Audio: The audio is another wonderful feature in the game. With music similar to the classic halo chant, you will just be sitting their without playing the game, but just listening to the fine music that Republic Commando provides for you.
Online: Is there online capability? You bet there is! And its one of the best online games i've ever seen in my entire life. You can quickmatch or optimatch. The optimatch verifications include gameplay type, which includes Team deathmatch, deathmatch, assault and CTF. You can also specifie the amount of players in the room which ranges from 1-15. Overall, the Online aspect of the game is wonderful!
In conclusion, i highly recomend the new Starwars game due to its great gameplay and graphics, plus online multiplay! | video-games_xbox |
So much potential. ...completely wasted. To begin, the game starts out ponderously slowly. You do little but make a character walk and watch cut-scene after boring cut-scene. And the story isn't even that interesting. I got so bored that once I could go climb buildings (a basic in the previous 4 games), I actually got excited.
Don't read further if you don't have a clue of the series' premise.
The Templars are in the New World. Whoop-die-do. I knew that from the first game of the series. Or from another perspective: Of course they are. Otherwise, why are the Assassins there?
And while the scenery is stunning and the graphics beautiful, the controls are like trying to steer a drunken yak with a toothpick. Once the game picks up our protagonist... I still didn't care. He's a drip, with little personality, other than whiny and annoying. Oh, but I did get to play computer hide-and-go-seek. Because I've been dying to do that, said no serious gamer ever. Many of the missions (in order to achieve perfection) seemed arbitrarily difficult or just poorly executed. I stopped caring, after a while. Even some of the side missions are boring. Like going around watching people farm, chop wood, or make butter. Or going wild-flower picking. For some other guy to woo some other woman. (Not kidding). I got mauled by wild animals several times and randomly launched myself out of trees and off cliffs in addition to being unable to execute certain fighting moves as desired because the controls are, as I mentioned, awful. This awfulness infects all aspects of the game. Fighting, tailing subjects, climbing a building or tree an oddly specific way to reach a collectible, horse-riding, walking into rooms at an oddly precise angle to trigger the needed cut-scene. Or diving into two feet of water off a one foot rock because...I don't know why. I haven't screamed at a controller or game in quite some time; this game brought that adolescent rage back, time and again. During one particularly boring stretch of colonial movie hour, begun immediately after introducing a new city to explore and new side missions to accomplish, I almost stopped playing entirely. But I didn't and here's why.
The best part of this whole game are the naval missions. It's an interesting addition, the controls work well, the missions are fun, and it played better than any part of the rest of the game. This is the only reason I gave it a "three" for fun, rather than the "one" the majority of this game so richly deserves. I only continued the story to be able to get to do more navy missions. Otherwise, this game isn't worth the disk it's burned to. Ubisoft had a solid control system, worked out over multiple iterations that rarely acted weirdly in the last game or two and they went and threw it out the window for God knows what reason. If you've never played the series at all, DO NOT PLAY THIS GAME FIRST. The earlier games are much better, both from a story and control perspective. If you've played the others before, borrow, rent or somehow otherwise acquire a copy and save yourself some cash. | video-games_xbox |
EA Wants More Money From Us. I used to be a die hard gamer playing every game in the market to eventually becoming a casual gamer. I only play one genre it seems these days.
Sports.
NBA 2k & Madden.
What do these two franchises have in common besides being the ONLY games in the market for their respective sports? Fantasy Drafts.
Madden took that out.
That's all I was really playing. In 2k12 & in Madden 12. I love creating my own team. My own unique combo. I love simming the season to see how my teams do. How did it fair when I have Rookie Cam Newton with amazing receivers in Cruz & Fitzgerald? How awesome would it be to have Justin Tuck & Suh on your line with Revis & Bailey shutting down receivers? Imagine the possibilities!
But of course Madden realized the small majority of us who do this don't really matter. We are the "Free loaders" to them. But how are we free loaders? Didn't we purchase the game?
We didn't spend enough.
Madden has this really stupid(imo of course) mode called "Madden Ultimate Team" where you spend Microsoft Points (XBX) to purchase packs. In these packs you get cards. Those cards represent players from various teams and eras.
Instead of making this mode FREE (FANTASY DRAFT IN SEASON MODE) You want US (THE SUCKERS) TO CONTINUE TO SPEND MORE MONEY ON YOUR PRODUCT SO WE CAN ENJOY THE SIMPLE JOY OF PLAYING A FANTASY TEAM.
EA has NEVER done this to me. I'm one of those people who have ALWAYS picked up a Madden game. REGARDLESS of how COPY & PASTE their games were, I always continued to buy their product. For the simple reason of playing the Fantasy mode.
Can't do it this year.
For the folks who don't care about the fantasy option. Go ahead. Pick the game up. They improved their game play TONS. I got this game. I pre-ordered it. Didn't even think I needed to see a review. I thought the game would have my favorite feature. It didn't.
Disappointing.... | video-games_xbox |
Finest Game of all time. As a long time gamer, when I stop and look around at the landscape of gaming, I am truly amazed.
From the Atari 2600 to the XBOX 360s and PS3s it boggles the mind.
I spent much of the 90s getting back into gaming after a layoff while I went to school and was busy with all the things you get tied up in, in those years. I gamed mostly on PC, and the Fallout, Fallout 2 and Fallout Tactics were replayed countless times in my house. When I heard the franchise was being revived on the current generation of platforms, I had mixed feelings. I was worried the game might become another series of yearly almost identical releases, that just melt into one another. I need not have worried.
Having played the originals on PC, the post apocalypse RPG aspect is what I found most interesting, and that part translated without a hiccup to the current platforms. Some of the humor didn't make the jump. For example - you spend 50 or 100 hours in Fallout, looking for a water chip to keep your vault going - it is the whole point of the game. So in Fallout 2, while looting containers you come across a room with HUNDREDS of water chips loaded into almost every corner of the level.
In a pull out your hair kind of way, that is FUNNY!
There are no Dr Who phone booths or encounters with King Arthur in the wastes of Fallout 3. You will not come across a spaceship with a ray gun and velvet Elvis painting, nor will you have to recreate the Monty Python bridge keeper dialogue to save being cast into the void.
On the plus side, you will also never find your Highwayman trunk randomly appearing with no sign of your car at all, or vice versa.... And when it comes to freezing up, I do not think Fallout 3 froze up in all my PC and XBOX playthroughs (15 or 20 of them) as many times as Fallout 2 did the first weekend I played it. SAVE EARLY SAVE OFTEN is a mantra for a very good reason. Although I did did "stuck" in a subway tube between a wall and train once or twice - the bugs were kept to a minimum in my experience.
I am glad I stuck with it, because even as a fan, I have to admit, this game starts out SLOW while you are still in the vault, setting up the story to come. I don't know how a game and the music and radio in it can make me feel nostalgic for a time I never experienced, but this game pulls it off - all while shooting up ghouls, raiders, super mutants, and mis-guided para-militant survivor groups.
And talk about a sandbox game, once you are out of the vault, you can do whatever you want.
For something different you can even just wander the wastes, ignoring the story and killing every thing, and every one in sight.
So, if you have a couple hundred hours of your life that you don't have any plans for, and you have never played this game - what are you waiting for? | video-games_xbox |
Frustrated. I'm in a complainy mood. This is my first Xbox One console. I'm a fan of the Limited Editions, and I've held off purchasing an Xbox until they released a LE.
First, my issue with this bundle. You don't get a physical copy of the game, you get s digital download. Fine...unless you live somewhere that isn't a city. I live in rural Montana. I can play online multiplayer just fine for the most part, but a 45 GB download? Forget it. My mistake was thinking the game was preinstalled and the download code would unlock it. When you use the activation code it says "installing". This is misleading, it's not installing it's downloading first. After 8 hours (set it to download and went to bed) I was only at 2 percent. It was here I realized this was never gonna happen. So even though I own the digital version, the size prohibits downloading so I had to go buy a physical copy. Get home with the physical copy, IT HAS TO INSTALL FROM THE DISC!!! Before inserting the disc I cancelled the previous digital installation and (I thought) cleared that out. But it's not installing from the disc. It wasn't doing anything. So I ejected the disc, powered off the console, unplugged it from the wall, plugged it back in, powered back on, inserted the disc, said no to the update, and it seems to be installing and at an appropriate speed. I hope I'll be able to get at least my classes and character set up before I have to go to work. At 25% it'll say the game is ready to launch, but then brings up that required update which might conflict with the install process.
Looking over this experience, here's where Microsoft/Activision/Sledgehammer went wrong. The Day Zero edition was a great idea on paper, and it was appreciated. But we are not living in an era where everyone in every part of the U.S. has high speed broadband. We just don't. You can't sell a console, advertise day zero access to the game and not include a physical copy. Based on past games I've downloaded to my 360 from games on demand (Halo 3 at roughly 4 GB's took about three days) it very well could've taken me a week to download the 45 GB that the game is. That's not "Day Zero" access. That's not even Day 3 access. And requiring an installation from disc in order to play? Seriously? On a "next gen" console? Give me a break. I've heard mumblings that Halo 2 Anniversary/Master Chief Collection is going to require a 20 GB install. I'm really hoping it's from disc and not an over the Internet download.
And as for the Xbox One system itself. I don't like the dashboard GUI. It's that Windows 8 style which a lot of people I know (myself included) don't like. It's ugly, and as with Win 8 on the PC, things are hard to find. But another issue is Avatars. The One has been out a year now, and there's still no discernible Avatar Marketplace. I've seen in forums where people have said it could be implemented at some point in 2014. Well, we're fast approaching the end of 2014, and I would like some options for my Avatar. I can go to Xbox.com on my computer but to purchase anything and it sends me to an error page.
This has been a very disappointing experience overall but it seems like it could work itself out, it's just frustrating as a gamer to buy the "Day Zero" edition, expect that "Day Zero" access, and not be able to play with everyone else until probably day two. | video-games_xbox |
Brutal Legend has a great story but is lacking in gameplay. The Good: Creative and unique artstyle, superb voice acting, awesome tribute to metal
The Bad: RTS elements are out of place, a tad short, repetitive side missions, just feels like something's missing
Ahh good ol' metal. That is exactly what you'll say when playing Brutal Legend thanks to Tim Schafer's genius imagination, and Jack Black's great voice acting. Brutal Legend isn't exactly revolutionary, but it does have some ideas that are interesting.
When it comes to the story this is one of Brutal Legend's strong points. You play as Eddie Riggs who is a roadie and gets sent to another world, and that world is full of metal. Eddie runs into many characters, but his main goal is to find out why he is there and defeat the evil lord Diviculus.
The game starts out strong and shows you the ropes of combat and your Deuce. Yes the vehicle you drive around in the big open world. Combat consists of a strong attack and a normal attack followed by your axe. Your axe can shoot lightning upon foes or burn then. Along with this you can smash down on the ground to send foes flying. There are some upgrades you can get that will extend combos and lead into using your axe, but combat is pretty shallow. Nothing ever really evolves, and it can even be a bit sluggish at times and a tad unresponsive. Upgrading the pain and strings on your guitar can make certain attacks more powerful. Not only can you upgrade your axe, but the Deuce as well (more on that later).
While you may think combat sounds shallow you can also use "super powers" which are little riff mini-games that can do certain things. The main ones you will use will be the one to summon your Deuce anywhere. Another is the face melter which is followed by a great camera cut of melting faces! There is even one to rally your troops, block your enemies from creating more troops and so on.
Finding the relics for these powers is a huge pain since the world is so big and finding these rare relics can be tough, but wait a second I'll get back to the open world later.
First let's finish combat. Yes you can upgrade your vehicle with weapons to help shoot down foes and even get a secondary weapon such as mines or flame throwers. The main focus of the game is RTS...wait...what? RTS? You're kidding me right? I thought this was a God of War type game...I'm very sorry, but this is true and while it works it is the game's biggest let down. I too thought this game was all action adventure until I got hit with a tutorial on how to do this. Well to make things simple all your basic RTS elements are here: Creating troops, upgrading your "base" to create stronger troops, and collecting "resources" to fund all this. With a unique take on RTS you have to build "merch booths" on green holes in the ground to create fans which in turn let you create troops. Upgrading your base, up to two times, lets you create greater troops like roadies, bouncers, and even fire barons. You have basic troops (head bangers) and chicks that shoot fire out of their guitars. There are a lot of units, and while you command them around the map via a light you can tell them to hold, attack, go to, or follow you. Eddie gets to fly around the map and when you need to aid your troops you can use any of your "special attacks". If you Eddie dies he respawns at his stage thanks to his fans.
Now while all this sounds simple it really is TOO simple and could have been cut from the game. There are "in between" levels that have you fetching these troops, or going from A-B and I really liked those missions better. The RTS just took too long and felt out of place in an action adventure type game. I was also disappointed to see only two boss fights which were at the beginning and end, thus the developers using side missions as fillers in between story missions. These side missions are interesting at first, but become extremely repetitive since there isn't much of a variety.
Side missions vary from helping the Ironheade (yes with an E so people know we're serious...) members ambush an enemy convoy all the way to racing. Some other missions consist of using your vehicle to fight off convoys and the rare unique side mission. There is even a hunting record breaker, but this allows you to send that creature into battle to help you fight. Of course you get something for completing these missions and that is fire tributes. Think of these as currency to buy stuff at the store.
My favorite part about the whole game is actually the art style. Everything from the trees to the rocks to the animals is influenced by metal from the 70's ad 80's and Double Fine captured the feeling perfectly. The graphics are amazing and the voice acting is top notch, but you can't help but notice the attention to detail in everything. Not only is the art style unique, but the execution as well such as the dry ice mines, and the great wall which is made of amps that are so powerful they can kill you. Everything is pure metal and so is the great 40+ song soundtrack.
Brutal Legend isn't for everyone, but metal heads or people who just appreciate great games or music will enjoy this very much. | video-games_xbox |
Ummm it's Big. Yes it is Big. The Graphics are great the sound is great. But over all the game is so-so. For most of the game it just seems like you are wondering around doing nothing. f you're not good at Battle from the start forget about getting into a fight Even with an old women becuase you will die with ease. Once you do increase your skill it does become easier but it just takes to long. There are many different groups to join and once you do you will get a task to do. The only problem is half the time it turns out you can't complete the mission because you lack in a certin skill...so there you are wondering around doing nothing. And the little side missions while easier get you side tracked and it's easy to forget what you're doing. Another problem i have is if you choose to kill and steal from a shop owner even if there is no one else around some how your crime is reported and you become a wanted man. I could go on and on(just like the game). There are positives but far to many negatives. It's far to Big for it's own good. And did i Mention Loading time? That's almost as long as the Game itself. Just a little Hint. If you do kill shop owners or anyone else and steal all their goods or gold and you become wanted to wear the guards will chase you. When captured you will have the choice of going to jail and or paying a fine either way they take away All your stolen goods and gold. Well to get around that go outside of town and dump everything except the gold you need to pay the fine. After you pay go back to where you left your stolen goods..they will still be there. Another HInt. Pick up a friend. Along the way you'll come across some charactors that ask for help. Say Yes and They will follow you. If you get into a fight they will help protect you. This is a big help if the charactor is a good fighter. All though sometimes while following you they will become stuck in certin places. | video-games_xbox |
Games. TV. Movies. Music. All in One. If I'm going to plop hundreds of dollars down on a device, it better do a ton of awesome stuff. The Xbox One is that device. Whereas Sony stuck with the boring route of slightly updated specs (yawn) and a myopic focus on games, Microsoft went for all out entertainment--and it is awesome. Not only do they have amazing games (ironically, a much better launch lineup than the PS4) and a better online network (Xbox Live > PSN) to play them on, but the extra features of the Xbox One are superb: Skype in full 1080p HD, SkyDrive, Internet Explorer, Netflix, Hulu, ESPN, NFL, Redbox Instant, Xbox Video, Xbox Music, Blu-Ray discs, DVD discs, CDs, and, best of all, live TV integrated seamlessly into the experience. All of those features are easily accessible thanks to a fantastic operating system that allows for multitasking (you can snap an app to the side while using another one) and quick switching between apps using the built-in voice commands ("Xbox, watch TV." Xbox, call Mom."). The built-in voice and gesture commands are amazing. They're highly accurate and highly efficient, allowing me to navigate around the system much quicker than by remote or controller. It's so nice to be able to walk into a room and say "Xbox, on" and watch your Xbox, TV, and cable box power up instantly. I love sitting at the table and watching TV on my Xbox One while I'm eating--hands are greasy and occupied so I don't want to mess around with the remote. No problem: "Xbox, watch CBS." "Xbox, what's on Fox?". The Xbox One also connects to nearby Windows 8 PCs, allowing me to stream content from my PC to my Xbox One (Charms > Devices > Play > Xbox One). There is also a companion app called SmartGlass, enabling me to interact with my Xbox One from my Surface tablet, Windows 8 PC, and Windows Phone. Here I can control the system, navigate the dashboard, launch apps, send messages via keyboard, and see exclusive in-game content that complements gameplay. Simply brilliant. Well worth the money. | video-games_xbox |
Truly for the Fans. Ridley Scott sent waves throughout the cinema world in 1979 with his sci-fi horror film, Alien. Audiences were startled, shaken and terrified. Yet many look back on the film with admiration, making it much more widely popular than the typical cult classic. In recent years, Alien fans who are gamers have been watching games release under the same name, eagerly hoping for those familiar elements and the success found in Scott's masterpiece. However, much like the sequels to the original movie, most of those games have fallen flat.
This has changed with Alien Isolation. Creative Assembly has perfectly captured the atmosphere of Alien and Scott's 1979 vision of the future, and they have just as perfectly transferred it to gaming consoles. The Sevastopol feels as alive and menacing as the Nostromo. Visually (and audio-wise assuming you have a decent suound system), CA completely nailed the art direction.
***QUICK REVIEW (LONG REVIEW UNDER GUIDE)***
You should buy this game if any two or more of the below are true:
- You are a die-hard Alien fan (If this is true for you, disregard all else and buy this game).
- You have a strange affinity for sci-fi horror and enjoyed the Dead Space and System Shock 2 entries.
- You are a horror-game connoisseur/collector.
- You enjoy unforgiving/tough games and do not mind dying a lot a la Dark Souls.
You should NOT buy this game if any two or more of the below are true:
- You did not like Alien (the movie) at all.
- You do not enjoy being 100% stressed while always playing a game (or while doing any other activity, for that matter)
- You did not enjoy the barebones, hide-focused mechanics of Outlast.
- You are not a fan of sci-fi or retro sci-fi.
- You can't stand backtracking in games.
- You did not play or have fun playing Dark Souls solely due to the frequency of dying.
***LONG REVIEW***
Throughout Alien Isolation you'll be roaming in first-person around the Sevastopol as Seegson Engineer Amanda Ripley, actively avoiding and hiding from the Alien. Along the way, you'll encounter humans and androids, called "Working Joes", but due to their hostility it's best to avoid both, too. I say you'll be avoiding and hiding, because your character doesn't really have any effective weapons. You can craft various gadgets (Smoke bombs, noisemakers, etc.) with materials you'll loot in each chapter, but mainly you'll use them to buy you time or get you out of a pinch. Also during your journey you'll use 8-bit, retro minigames to hack doors and rewire systems as you complete the basic puzzles in each level. I especially enjoy these minigames.
The overall gameplay mechanics are simple despite a somewhat steep learning curve, and that's likely because every moment of the game is unrelentingly stressful. Aside from a few specific chapters, you'll notice just about every room has both vents where the Alien can drop in and plenty of hiding spots. This, coupled with the Alien's sporadic AI, makes the game completely unpredictable. Unless you are in one of the scripted sequences/chapters, the Alien can drop in and out of your level at any time (and it definitely will if you make a lot of noise sprinting or using your gadgets). You truly are dealing with an apex predator here. If it kills you, it will act differently when you come back. If you use any one gadget too much, the Alien will adapt, ignore your tricks and kill you. Speaking of which, the Alien will find and kill you a lot. So, if dying repeatedly not unlike Dark Souls significantly bothers you, take that into your purchase consideration.
This is much of what makes the game so stressful and brutal. You're not safe anywhere, and you'll never feel like you are. The game requires you to manually save your progress, but the Alien can find you even during saving as each station makes an audible beeping noise. You will want to save often, though, because when you do die you'll go back to your last save. So keep that Motion Tracker handy!
Going back to the Alien AI, it is certainly impressive. However, it isn't "sentient" as I've seen some major review-sites say. The game mentions the Alien has heightened senses, but it seems it only does with the player. There were many times where the Alien was snooping around a room I was hiding in, but despite the human NPCs loudly talking in the room next door, the Alien only triggered to hunt them down after seeing them.
Indeed, as good as Alien Isolation is, it is not perfect. The plot is nothing special beyond the we-are-stuck-and-need-to-get-off-this-ship type. When human NPCs talk in-game, many times their mouths don't move at all. A handful of times in each chapter, there will be audio and visual stutters despite how smooth the gameplay is overall. Lastly, the cinematics are near-ruined due to significant frame rate drops that chop up sequences. However, those last two points might be due to the Day 1 Patch as I have not seen this issue apparent in any major reviews. All these noticeable flaws did take me out of the game's presence a number of times, though, which means for I can't give this 5-stars. On a funnier note, every time an armed human NPC is killed by the Alien in game, their revolver is always left floating above their body.
Some of you are just horror buffs and are considering picking this up for your library of horrors, simply curious if the game is scary or not. Everyone is different in what scares them, so just to give you an idea of my mentality, PT & Outlast definitely scare me. I can't play Silent Hill games. I love the Dead Space trilogy, but I must admit the first two games were also scary to me in their own right. Alien Isolation, despite its similarities to a game like Dead Space, doesn't scare me. There aren't really any jump scares, and knowing who all my enemies are from the outset lends to this (I will say the Working Joes are pretty creepy with their glowing red eyes and continuous, slow gait). However, the movie doesn't scare me either.
I ultimately believe how you view and feel about the movie is likely going to have a big impact on how you'll enjoy the game. Did you greatly enjoy Alien? You'll probably really like this game. Is the movie not really your cup of tea? The game probably won't be, either.
Another great aspect of Alien Isolation is that it is long. It will likely take the average player 15-20 hours to get through the campaign, and if you get any of the DLC missions you'll tack on more time. Also once the campaign is completed players unlock Survival mode, which is a time trial to get from A to B with the Alien lurking around while completing various objectives. Even if you only run through these elements once and don't return for a long time, you'll likely be putting in at least 20+ hours in your first go, making this a decent bang for your buck.
Being an avid fan of the movie, this game is the Alien game I have been waiting for. Easily a 9 out of 10 for me personally. I am extremely happy with it, technical issues aside. However, like the movie, Alien Isolation is not for everyone by its nature, and this reason coupled with the aforementioned flaws holds me back from giving it a full 5-stars. If you do pick it up, good luck and be sure to get real friendly with the Motion Tracker! | video-games_xbox |
This. Is. AWESOME. Here's the gist: You plug a real guitar into your Xbox and play along with some great rock songs, the game scaling the difficulty up or down depending on your abilities.
That in and of itself is a pretty cool idea and for those interested in playing a real instrument makes this a step up from <a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/Rock-Band-2/dp/B001BX6JUA/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">Rock Band 2</a>.
Yet simple ideas are also the easiest to botch.
They don't botch this one. Rocksmith is essentially a guitar teacher in a box, walking beginners through all the basic concepts while also providing experienced guitar players with a fun way to learn how to play the included songs. A simple tutorial gets folks up and running. Experienced Rock Band players will need a song or two to adjust to the slightly different visuals, but once that clicks you're off and running.
The very best feature is how the games adjusts to your experience. I am a more experienced guitar player than my son, for instance, so it didn't take long before it was asking me to play note-for-note covers of The Rolling Stones, The Black Keys, Silversun Pickups, and more. He's newer at the guitar, and the game automatically adjusted to that, giving him more stripped down versions that still had him playing along but in an "only the basics" kind of way.
The game is a little more challenging than your standard music rhythm game. If you've never held a guitar this might not be the best place to start. However, even newbies to the guitar should catch on pretty fast -- and they might even benefit.
In addition to the usual shtick of playing through a career and unlocking all sorts of guitar gear, the game also provided a slew of mini games, many of which are essentially guitar practice sessions to help you master various techniques.
Rocksmith falls into the category of music rhythm games, yes, but it's an evolution of the genre, providing players a great blend of gaming and actual musicianship. A great bridge between playing games and playing instruments. I love it. | video-games_xbox |
A mediocre run 'n' gun shooter in need of improvement. Western games, it's one of the genres we rarely see in video games, and it's one of my personal favorites. Anyway, when I finally got my 360, about 5 months after it came out, GUN was #1 on my rental list, because I wasn't sure about it. The game was practically no where to be found in Blockbuster or Hollywood Video. So I ended up buying it. GUN was a great game...before I beat it the following day.
Basically, you play as Montana hunter Colton White who he and his father Ned hut game, until one day the steam boat they were traveling was ambushed by renegades. Before Ned was killed in the attack, he told Colt that "He ain't his father", and then threw him off the boat. Now Colt is on a quest for vengeful justice. That's basically the whole story in a nut shell. And now Pros & Cons
-THE GOOD-Free roaming old west: good graphics: horse back riding and combat: loads of different, interesting side missions: realistic western age weapons: perfect voice overs: "QUICKDRAW"-a feature that allows you to slow down time and accurately take out multiple enemies at once: virtually no learning curve: save anywhere
-THE BAD-Enemies can almost kill you in a couple shots: Just how unoriginal and stereotypical is this story?: The graphics look good, only from a last-gen perspective: A bit short: overly gory and messy for a game of this genre: boss battles are basically the same, shoot them full of lead until they die
-THE UGLY-Worst free-roaming game ever, the area is like a small, free roaming path: What? No classic western Standoffs like in Red Dead Revolver? Music is cheap: A casual gamer can beat this game 100% in about 3 to 4 days: Story is seriously derived: Why is that my pistols have infinite ammo, but my rifle, sharp shooter, shotgun, and bow do not? Absolutely, positively no multiplayer what so ever
I really wish I rented this game when I had the chance. Now I'm just playing it to unlock the achievements, then after that, trade it or sell it. If you have a PS2/PS3, Xbox, or a 360 that can play Xbox games, try out Red Dead Revolver. I found that game a lot more satisfying than GUN (plus it has mulitplayer, Standoffs, and a cooler name for the slow-motion feature, Dead Eye). GUN is a definite rent.
NOTE TO PARENTS: This game is seriously not for children, it's more bloody than a SAW film, there are many sexual references, some gambling is involved, and the characters curse and swear constantly. | video-games_xbox |
Screen tearing issues in Pre-Sequel, framerates dips in multiplayer. I've been a critical supporter of Borderlands from the release of the first game. The series is loads of fun to play with friends, there's loot for days, decent skill trees, and good quality content. If you want a review of the games contained in this package, you can find them elsewhere. I'm reviewing this bundle to address a significant technical issue with the Xbox One version of the game.
There are massive screen tearing issues in the version of Pre-Sequel included in this package. It happens almost all the time when rotating your view horizontally, unless you're turning so fast that the motion blur kicks in. These problems don't seem to be present in the Borderlands 2 port. There is an official Gearbox support forum about this issue, located here: https://gearboxsoftware.zendesk.com/entries/65026570-Screen-Tearing-During-Gameplay. It was posted on March 24 and hasn't been updated as of April 4. There are also reports that framerates drop below acceptable levels when playing split-screen, but I haven't confirmed this myself.
For a remaster, I would expect the screen tearing to have been taken care of pre-release. I've already played Borderlands 2 to death and so my interest was mostly with the Pre-Sequel, but at this point it is visually unplayable. Hopefully Gearbox will find a resolution to this issue, but I'm a little concerned about the length of time since their last update on the issue, and ultimately annoyed at getting suckered into buying a $60 bundle of software in which the main title of interest to me is unplayable.
UPDATE 4/18/15: I noticed they silently updated the Gearbox support forum post: "A solution that should help resolve a lot of screen tearing issues is in final testing and is on schedule to be deployed next update." I'm sill waiting for the patch to be pushed as of 4/18...
UPDATE 5/5/15: Patch is still not released. No further updates on the support thread. I have now tried multiplayer in Borderlands 2 and joining an online game drops the framerate significantly. This looks more like a shoddy port than a remaster from where I'm sitting.
UPDATE 5/20/15: They finally pushed the patch last night, two months after acknowledging the issue. The support page still has not been updated. The framerate looks smoother in the Pre-Sequel, but the image quality is blurrier and there seems to be a lot more popping in of textures. My friends with whom I intended to play this game gave up on waiting for the patch last week and slogged through with the visual glitches, so now I'm back to playing solo. I think I'd rather cut my losses and play the Destiny DLC. I'm not updating my rating because it took too long for them to publish the patch, and the image quality compromises make this look like a poorly polished title. Better luck next time, Gearbox and fans. | video-games_xbox |
Not nearly as good as the original. I hate to say it, but this game is a total dud. The experience after purchase is as follows:
1. Install the game
2. Wait for four hours as a gig of downloads come at a crawl through Steam. (This has nothing to do with the bandwidth on your end.) Apparently some heavy-duty changes to all the major DLLs were necessary after publishing the title.
3. For certain video cards (not indicated on Square Enix site), if anti-aliasing is disabled, the terrain textures won't render, making the game unplayable. Try finding an FAQ or patch that fixes the issue... (that's rhetorical, you can't.) Spend a couple of days trying to troubleshoot this bizarre error, with no guidance from tech support.
4. Finally play the game, yay! And be utterly, totally disappointed. This is already stated in numerous reviews but bears repeating, just in case you didn't believe it the first two hundred times you read it, or in case you like my style of prose better.
Two factors made the first Supreme Commander a truly great game. The first was a twist on standard RTS gameplay, where instead of having total QUANTITIES of resources available to expend, you could both collect and spend resources at a given RATE. For instance, you could start building a huge experimental unit when you only had 1/10th of the required resources... as long as your rate of collection from all mass and energy generators was faster than the burn rate for building the unit. This allowed you to "over-utilize" your resource collection & storage with unit building and led to a really fluid, moment-by-moment strategy for resource management that was totally engrossing. In SC2, this entire concept is gone. This is a basic "harvest resources first, then spend in one big lump sum" RTS. Nothing like SC or Forged Alliance.
The second factor was the enormous, expansive maps. These environments were phenomenal, with complex terrains giving you both the opportunity and the challenge to design smart defenses. A poor defensive design or poor base layout meant you basically had to start over. It was challenging, engaging, and different than many other RTS games. This feature is completely absent from SC2. The campaigns consist of tiny, localized maps with a single blatantly obvious choke point. Your goal in each is to build up defenses around the choke point. There is literally no challenge in this, no discovery, no strategy; it's pure tactics. Build units, take control of choke point, build defenses at choke point. Anyone who has played a half-decent RTS game in their life will be crestfallen with the unimaginative, challenge-free nature of this game's singleplayer campaign.
The remaining observation are "nits", annoyances that are really obvious and avoidable, but hardwired in to this game. The cut scenes can't be skipped. If you try something non-standard and end up blowing up your ACU or building a crappy base, by far the worst punishment is having to watch the entire cut scene again. Additionally, the game continues running in the background of the cutscene, but you have no control. That's right - meaning - your defenses, your units are fighting away in the background while a lengthy cut scene plays. The enemy could be mowing through a weak point in your defenses and you just watch it for 30 or 60 seconds. By the time you regain control over your forces, it literally may be unsalvageable. The first part is annoying; the second is just ridiculous. Like in a fighting game, having a cutscene where your opponent can keep kicking your ass while you watch it happen. WTF?
If you want a really rudimentary and short RTS, almost as "training wheels" for better games, this would be an advisable choice. Don't buy this if (or because) you played the first one and loved it, and DEFINITELY don't buy this if you're an RTS fan and enjoy a good, interesting challenge. Other than the names of the factions, this is not a Supreme Commander game. It's a generic knock-off. SC fans, wait for SC3. Hopefully somebody will realize that they royally screwed the pooch with this game and make a proper enhancement & elaboration on SC / Forged Alliance, building on the things that made that game stand apart, and truly great, rather than getting rid of everything that differentiated it from the crowd.
Major, serious, indubitable sequel fail.
Now for the obligatory snide remark: my major regret is that I bought this and it counts as a "sale". I don't even care about my wasted money. I just care that I falsely contributed to a statistic that might tell Square Enix execs that they did a good thing here. THAT makes me feel rotten. Seriously, don't support this garbage. Wait for SC3. | video-games_xbox |
Just get it already. The new kinect is pretty sweet, and it does get better over time so when you first get it don't freak out if it messes up occasionally, and also, make sure when your tuning your kinect you turn your volume way up or you will have issues (it tells you to do this in directions, not a secret.) The OS is fast and multitasking is great. We were playing the jet ski game on kinect rivals and it never mixed up our voice commands, what I mean by this is when other ppl in the room said a voice command it wouldn't use it unless it recognized my voice (this was after the kinect learned my voice for a bit). As far as games go they all look great can't notice much of a difference between this and ps4. The new xbox live is great, it really does give you a superior online gaming experience.
Reasons I went with xbox one:
1. Microsofts cloud service is easily one of the best, and will only get better, for those of you that don't know, in the future the xbox one could use remote pcs to process a lot of the data reducing the load on your xbox. Sony's cloud can't even spit at MSFTs, and msft is investing heavily into making it even better. (your console will become more powerful over time.)
2. Next gen gaming machine + every other multimedia/entertainment device you could want, it even makes you a personalized tv channel, can pair with just about any device to push your screen to the tv, and who doesnt wanna be able to search the web for something real fast while watching tv without having to touch a remote, pull a phone out of your pocket, or anything.
3. The Kinect. This thing is a beast, it can track 6 ppl close together, it can get a friggin EKG of your heartbeat, has IR, plenty of other stuff im probably not listing, its just a beast, I feel like if someone else made this device it alone would retail for $500, and I hear all you gamers saying, I don't wanna dance in front of my tv to play a game. Well, it also integrates voice commands and gestures in to games, making the amount of "buttons" practically limitless. PS. we weren't able to shake this things motion tracking, flawless.
Almost forgot: The Xbox off and xbox on commands just feel great when you use them, xbox off, your whole entertainment system follows suit, xbox on, your whole entertainment center wakes up. Might not sound cool on paper, but it just feels great. | video-games_xbox |
The XBox 360: Not ready for the marketplace due to rampant defects. My new Xbox 360 pro bundle is going back to Best Buy this afternoon after a problematic 7 days at home. I have owned every single major console gaming system since the 1976 Magnavox Odyssey 2 and I have never experienced such poor quality like the Xbox 360 currently has. In 7 days, my 360 has locked up mid-game dozens of times, each requiring a reboot. Even worse, it has also put deep circular scratches in my $60 COD2 game disk. Like everyone else, I had read about these 2 problems already online and figured that those who camped outside and bought their 360's around its Nov 22 release date got some buggy first run consoles. I'm here to tell you, the quality problems are very much still there, 5 production months later. And before anyone accuses me of wrapping my 360 and brick together in a wool blanket, shoving it into an enclosed cabinet and then flipping it from horizontal to vertical rapidly with a spinning disk inside...uh, no.
My 360 build date was Jan 14, 2006. It was placed alone out in the open on a table with no heat sources nearby. The power brick was placed 18" away on a separate hard surface with excellent cooling. The 360 brick was plugged into a new $80 Monster Cable power conditioning surge protector, and the TV is a 6 month old 16:9 Sony WEGA HDTV. All 7 days the console was horizontal and never moved while powered on or accessing the disk. Despite these precautions and extreme care, it still locked up and even worse, repeatedly physically gouged the (nonrefundable) game disk surface.
I don't trust Microsoft to remedy the situation as the thousands of blog entries by similarly afflicted 360 owners all say the same thing: that MS will quickly exchange the unit..usually with another "refurbished" 360 that has the same, if not worse issues. And God help you if your 360 dies 91 days after purchase, you have a $400 paperweight.
Bottom line, as much as I wanted to enjoy HD gaming and love this new console, the Xbox 360 is flat-out not ready for the market because of the numerous poor component quality issues. I'll carefully reconsider again at Christmastime 2006. Hopefully MS will get these problems fixed. Until then, buyer beware. | video-games_xbox |
Good game, but way over-hyped. This is my first Call of Duty game. All my friends and buddies had it, so I thought it would be pretty good, but I was only partially right. This is a good game if I'm able to play it. After three weeks or so of gameplay, I have decided that Activision should really fix this slop. Okay, I'm going to split it into parts and rate each out of 10 stars.
Graphics and Sound: 8 stars
The graphics are good considering how old the Xbox 360 is, but they could be better. Considering that Modern Warfare 3 has the same engine as Modern Warfare 2, the graphics are decent but not the best. The sounds are overall also pretty good. The sounds in the campaign really immerse you in the gameplay as you hear people yelling and explosions in the background, but on the other hand, the sounds in multiplayer are not really that good, but it is multiplayer.
Controls: 9 stars
Not much to be said, the controls feel smooth and similar to other games. They are good but not the best.
Campaign: 8 stars
Overall, the campaign is alright. It's pretty good but may get a little boring half way through. I know this is a shooter game, but I think that Activision could have put a little more time and effort into the campaign. Personally, I think the storyline is kind of stale, but the gameplay is fun and exciting with explosions in the background and cool slow-motion scenes.
Spec Ops: 9 stars
To me, spec ops seems like a great addition to the game and reminds me of Firefight from Halo. Basically, you have to survive waves of terrorists, attack dogs, helicopters, and juggernauts to gain money to buy air support, guns, grenades, etc. The objective is to survive as long as possible to gain points, unlock weapons, and get a new high score. This part of the game I find really addicting and fun. You will have to move strategically throughout the map to exterminate the groups of enemies while dodging helicopers and juggernauts the whole time.
Multiplayer: 6.5 stars
Now to the core of the game, multiplayer. The multiplayer is fun, but has many flaws. To start off, the weapons, perks, and attachments are decently balance, but some are still overpowered. It is really frustrating when I'm still a low level, and I see people killing me with one burst from the type 95, or three quick shots from the Striker, or using the Fmg9 akimbo. The killstreaks are also a little too powerful in my opinion, and I am sick of the large amount of campers and quick-scopers in the game. Now to the maps. The maps are mostly pretty well-balanced, but some are outright ridiculous; Downturn is very cluttered with junk and has few lines of sight, Arkaden has so many places for campers, and in Resistance, so many people camp inside that one building. Another thing is joining games. Most likely instead of starting a new match, I will join a game where the other team has three helicopters and predator missiles raining down from the sky. Lastly is lag. This game lags so much, it seems like they do it on purpose. Oh, wait, they do. My internet connection is really good and I always have all green bars, but with the Lag Compensation, I will put 6 or so bullets into someone who's not even facing me, they will turn around and shoot me once with a rifle, and I die. The killcam will say that i ran past them, and that they shot me the 6 times. In the middle of a game, I will frequently be kicked out because I "lost connection to the server/host." Because of me joining games and the frequent lag, half the time, my k/d ratio will be negative. Due to these things I might just sell the game or keep it to play spec ops.
Overall: 3/5 stars, 6.5/10 stars
Overall, this game is alright, but until Activision fixes the lag, I will stick to Halo and Battlefield. If you are going to get this game for campaign and spec ops, then i suggest it. If you are going to get it for Xbox live, forget it unless you have a horrible connection, then Lag Compensation might help you. I still doubt it thought. | video-games_xbox |
Rent but do not buy. Lucky for me I had a free rental credit at my local video place when I went to try this game.
I'm all for button mashers. Not a darn thing wrong with them. Sure, there's naked prisoner chicks that offer to "repay" you. Conan gets it on with the hot Amazonian-esque protagonist. Lop people's arms and heads off, grab them and slam then on the ground or into a pike barrier or off a cliff, go into a Cimmerian bezerker frenzy...
Then completely screw it all up. Annoying jump angles and camera views, little scrawny guys with shields spiking the mighty Conan and botching his sword-wielding mojo, boss battles that some idiot employee that has probably never played a video game in his life said, "Hey...this is a button-masher! Oh Noes!!!!111!1one! Let us put in a challenge...I know, we'll make it so that you have to press a certain button when we tell you to!"
What the frick is that!? Do NOT interrupt the monotony of my button-mashing, naked chick rescuing, head-severing melee frenzy! I want to grab little wimpy guys and slam them against the ground until I see brains...I do NOT want to watch Conan fall off scaffolding over and over and over and over just because nobody bothered to play that part of the game and realize, "hey...this actually sucks."
Forget God of War. God of War's specific button presses were integrated to a point that you felt you actually achieved something. It happened often enough that you were ready for it but not so often that you wanted to go 80's metal with your controller.
Conan lets you get relaxed and start to enjoy the mindless slaughter and then BOMBARDS you with that crap. The final boss battle? I have never NEVER returned a video game early...until I rented this one. It's a trend that I'm starting to notice with newer video games, unfortunately. You still have a gem every once in awhile but it seems that, more and more, companies are relying on the system WAY too much. Here's an idea, video game worker people, forget about the system and make a GOOD GAME. I don't care that the flowers are pretty if they smell like raw sewage.
Thomas Kinkaid could paint a little perfect pile of dog poo surrounded by cottage-ey snow covered perfection with a little poem running down the side of it written by John Ashbery explaining how that in another reality the poo is our childhood imagination and then have a little digital box on the side of the picture that plays the voice of James Earl Jones reading the poem and in the end it would still be just a pile of crap.
In the end...that's really what this game is. A pile of dog poo. You may get to walk through a pretty yard and play with a few decent toys, but it's not worth the cost of admission and the nasty smell that will follow you around for awhile. Not to mention what it will do to your carpet when it's stuck down in the treads of your shoe.
Get it cheap if you insist on playing! | video-games_xbox |
Worth the price. UPDATE - 12/9/2015 - Reduced stars from 5 to 2
The headset was serving me well for the first 8 or 9 months of use. There would be occasional drops of signal but easily remedied by resyncing or shutting off the headset or unplugging the receiver. Around month 9 and 10 I would have to do this on a daily basic. It finally got to the point where I had to do this several times per night, sometimes several times per game. Friends would often tell me "you sound like a robot" or the chat and/or game audio would drop completely. Sometimes I couldn't even tell that the chat audio had dropped (I just thought everyone was being silent) and sometimes it would be indicated by a hissing/humming sound.
After just over 13 months of near daily, but gentle, use I was playing Black Ops 3 for a few hours one day. Sat the headset down on my desk to take a break and get food. When I picked up the headset again the right side plastic had snapped and a large chunk broke completely off with wires exposed. I looked and the left side also had a crack in it. I suppose both sides had cracks in them for a while but I never noticed until one side completely came off. Now trying to wear the headset, the right side does not fit snuggly over my ear and is very floppy. I think I can hold it together with superglue but this headset was $250.
In my opinion, these are of very cheap. I'd rather shell out an extra $50 for Astros.
Reducing stars from the original 5-Star review to 2-Star.
ORIGINAL POST
So far I love my new Turtle Beach Stealth 500X headset for Xbox One.
I've been asked if it is COMPLETELY wireless and the answer is yes, you do not need to plug it into the controller or console to hear game audio or chat, nor do you need a chat adapter. The only time it would be connected is via USB if you need to charge the headset (just like anything else you need to charge).
They are pretty comfortable but I haven't played with them on for very long (maybe 3-4 hours so far).
It came charged and synced to the transmitter out of the box so essentially ready to use. The only thing I had to do was change some system settings. One think that is not mentioned in the Get Started guide is that I also had to go to Settings->Kinect and UNCHECK "Use Kinect for chat audio", after that I had to do a hard reset.
It definitely enhances the gaming experience (I played on Call of Duty Advanced Warfare"). I've never used a headset for gaming audio but only the generic xbox/playstation headset for chat. You get directionality so you know when shots are fired from the right or left without needing the mini map as much. Pick up on sounds that would otherwise get lost such as footsteps, etc. | video-games_xbox |
Great Wheel . I am a Verified Purchase customer as is one other so far. Sometimes I wonder why a person would come to Amazon to give a review when they didn't purchase the item from Amazon ????
Anyway, I am an Old Fart, a Gamer that started in the Atari and Commodore Days. I have owned many different Wheels. My current favorite for the PS3 and X Box 360 is a Fanatec Wheel. I was bummed out that they didn't make one for the X Box One so I decide to get the Mad Catz Wheel.
I was surprised with the bad reviews as what they describe is not the wheel I have.
Pros......
- All the buttons are distinct and very quick in performing their specific duties.
- The wheel is very smooth during gameplay. You cannot tell when you pass through center position as the control is very smooth and precise.
- The different types of feedback like when cornering and driving over cobblestones is a perfect amount of strength for me. This is a personal preference and for me it is perfect.
- I like the feeling of the Wheel and its construction. The wrap on the wheel to me feels like leather, inside out.
- The paddles are precise.
- The pedals to me have a good feel and I did not have to adjust them.
- I bought a Wheel Stand Pro from Amazon and it works really well with the wheel and pedals. The Wheel bolted up to the platform using the existing holes and hardware. The pedal platform I used Cable Ties and it is a strong solid mount. There are many different types of Pro stands and I am sure if you bought the one made for this wheel it would bolt up instead of using cable ties.
- Operation is smooth and no noise or heating up of unit.
- the helical gears and bearings should make for a long lasting wheel.
Cons
- I guess it would be better to have less plastic components but until that becomes a problem as in breakage of pieces there isn't a problem..
Bottom Line, I Love this Wheel :)
Wheel Stand Pro I purchased from Amazon (GREAT STAND !)
Racing Steering Wheelstand Compatible with Mad Catz Wireless and Force Feedback Wheel, Original Wheel Stand Pro V2. Wheel and Pedals Not included. (Not intended for New Wheel)
I bought it to use with my new " Mad Catz Pro Racing Force Feedback Wheel "
- The Wheel bolts up nicely to the stand platform using the hardware and existing holes in the platform.
- The hardware provided does not work for securing the pedal unit. It fits the area on the stand for the pedal unit perfectly where I used big Cable Ties in the existing holes in the pedal platform. It is very solid and secure and does not move.
It would be nice if they updated their hardware package to include the new Madcatz wheel but it still works.
Racing Steering Wheelstand Compatible with Mad Catz Wireless and Force Feedback Wheel, Original Wheel Stand Pro V2. Wheel and Pedals Not included. | video-games_xbox |
The mixed bad that is KoF XII. This is definitely one of those games that are difficult to rate. What is does well, it does REALLY WELL. What is doesn't do well, it does horribly. KoF XII is definitely a mixed bag. Before I start, I will definitely recommend anyone interested in what this game has to offer to wait until KoF XIII. Otherwise, keep reading.
Once again SNK Playmore reinvented the franchise, for better or worse. The fighting system and the controls are some of the best ever in a fighting game; any fighting game, just pick one. Controls are very tight, being just about as responsive as they could be in a 2D fighting game. The new fighting system allows players to be offensive or defensive and still be effective, since it kept the dash and roll moves but also introduce counterattack and intercept moves. In addition, the fighting has been sped up a bit, making for a more up-tempo pace (to my liking). Lastly, they have added a "clash" feature in which two attacks of similar strength and timing repel each other (a la Weaponlord and Soul Calibur). The fighting system is definitely the strongest point of the game.
The graphics are also excellent. The new sprites make the characters look incredible (although they all suspiciously look like they're on steroids). In a way, it reminds you of Street Fighter 3 or BlazBlue, but the visuals in KoF XII look better and there are a few more characters. The animation is very smooth and the sprites were very nicely done. The only minor complaint here is that when the characters are in a close-up the sprites look a little pixelated. Doesn't hurt the animation though. The backgrounds also look great, although they are a little devoid if life. There are a total of 22 playable characters, although some of the fan favorites (like Mai) are suspiciously absent and some teams (like the Art of Fighting Team) are incomplete. That's definitely nothing like Neo Geo Battle Coliseum in terms of characters, but that's still more characters than some KoF XII 2D competitors (like BlazBlue).
And now, the bad. It's sad to say but I suspect that KoF XII was a rush job, especially for the consoles. For a game with such high production value, why does it not have any game modes other than Arcade or Versus? Where the hell is the Survival mode? How can you have an SNK fighter without a Survival mode? There isn't any. Also absent from this game is a story and an impossibly hard boss character. Basically all you do is fight a few team matches and then the game ends. This seriously reduces the replay value and makes you wish you were playing Mark of the Wolves (which has incredible replay value). This is definitely the worst part about KoF XII. For a fighting game, especially one with such excellent controls and play mechanics, this is completely unacceptable.
I have also heard bad things about the online play although I have not gone multiplayer myself. The lag is supposed to be incredible and there are no players to even fight against.
Verdict: I give the game 4/5 stars in the fun department. This is a fun fighting game that has great mechanics and the controls are super tight. When you actually want to pick it up and play some of it, it is incredible.
I give the game 2/5 stars overall. Two great ideas in this game are trumped by the lack of game modes, a boss(es), and a story. They took a great concept, rushed it to consoles, and destroyed whatever they were trying to accomplish. They had an idea that could have become a legitimate contender in the fighting game genre but they blew it.
Recommendation: if KoF XIII turns out like what SNK Playmore originally wanted KoF XII to be, then I definitely recommend not buying this game and waiting for KoF XIII instead. If you still want to play this one, rent and do not buy. If you are not a KoF fan, stay the hell away from this one! | video-games_xbox |
Overwatch has many great game mechanics giving the game a fresh vibe to . Overwatch has many great game mechanics giving the game a fresh vibe to other games on the market, with tons of interesting characters to play as.
The problem with Overwatch though is that even though it has been out for a year it still feels like a game that's in beta testing.
The creators are constantly updating the game with new skins for characters, dialogue, Maps, and on the rare occasion a new game mode.
But with the constant updates they seem to create new problems each time. For example character balancing is a major issue, as some characters are overpowering at times making it feel broken I you step out for battle only to be killed by the same overpowered character again and again.
On top of that teamwork is a must, so solo playing the game with random people tends to bring unneeded stress.
However, the absolute worst thing the game does is throw you into another groups game in progress. It would be okay if it only did this at the start of a match if someone quit, but NO! The game will make you wait five minutes to be put in a match, one that has thirty seconds left for example (54 times one day no joke), while it takes around twenty seconds to even get a character picked and loaded not including the 30 seconds it takes to trek to the point if you aren't killed instantly first. Afterwards, a loss is placed on your stats along with any unnecessary deaths, messing up your Kill Death Ratio, and you are set back into waiting to do it again.
But if you think that, "hey I don't want to be in someone else's loosing battle, I want my own match start to finish!", and try and leave well guess what, your slapped with a leaver penalty.
Grant it you have to leave a few times, in so many matches, but Overwatch has this nasty habit of putting you right back in the match you tried to leave...over and over and over and over again. So you get a penalty, BECAUSE SCREW YOU FOR TRYING TO FIND A MATCH THAT YOU MIGHT ACTUALLY ENJOY RIGHT JEFF!!!!
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I must apologize for my outburst, but all of the bad of the game tends to outweigh the good.
Let's just say it's a fun game in moderation with a group of friends, and you should consider it a game in permanent beta testing. | video-games_xbox |
Outstanding Mech Game. I'm not a HUGE fan of the Mech genre, but I do dig it. I've played 3-4 mech games over the years from pc to xbox. This has got to be the top of the line. The graphic and physics are superb. The single player a bit short, but very educational and it takes you through the entire gambit of all the different general types and roles of mechs as used in the game. Honestly, it really is just a glorified trainer for online play and if you don't have a Gold membership online the game is pretty pointless. I can't imagine having a 360 and not having a gold account though.
The real strong suit of the game is online play. While there are an apparently infinite number of pop-up messages and alerts with information I really didn't find useful, once you get through those you're golden. You can be a single player and do match-ups or you can join a squad. That's where the game really shines. Develop and use squad tactics with all the different types of mechs that you can build.
The amount of customization you can do is really amazing. It's really a game in itself. It's easy to use and fairly intuitive and supports folks who just want to slap something together quickly or folks who want to watch and compare stats on various pieces of gear.
There are currently somewhere over 300 unique parts each with a unique size, weight, attachment option, durability, heat generation, etc. Each of these parts can be placed in a dizzying array of orientations. Weapons often have multiple types of ammunition available with options to carry extra ammo at the expense of weight. Chassey units (wheel, biped, tacks, etc) all have weight limits, top speeds, rotation speed, etc. while cockpits have a set number of devices you can attach, internal power supply, various degrees of armor, etc. Cockpits also support 3 types of modification chips that let you trade off statistics between tying together multiple weapons in a single trigger pull, top speed and acceleration boosts, aim and cockpit stabilization, etc.
To really get a feel for the game you have to pay attention to the details on the parts, but for the beginner it's easy enough to just build and shoot. You can even spend your mech $ earned in battles to buy pre-configured mechs. You can also spend your money (which honestly comes flowing in pretty easily and is almost always in abundant supply) on upgraded parts or even enter a lottery for experimental parts that are given away daily.
You have control down to the paint jobs, camouflage patters and a nice selection of customizable decals to polish off your masterpiece.
Once you have your mech put together you can select from a number of ongoing battles to drop into with your squad and match up either against the computer or human opponents. Eventually you'll learn to pick your map and battlefield situations to best suit your mech's capabilities. Then you work out a battle plan with your squad members.
Graphics are superb as you would expect with the 360. Of course it's not perfect, but pretty darn good where it counts. Online play is amazing as far as mech games are concerned. It's not as fast paced and nerve twitching as say Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter, but it's 110% cool as far as mech games go. IMHO there's a LOT more strategy involved in Chromehounds as opposed to something like GRAW.
Oh, to the DarkDan who commented that he couldn't find the menu options he was looking for in the middle of a mission, he's right, you can't access some options in the middle of a mission but if you hold down the BACK button on the controller for 3 seconds your mech will self-destruct and end the mission so you can exit the game. | video-games_xbox |
A Fantastic game....depending on who you are. Fallout was my first introduction to the RPG genre so it is indeed my favorite RPG series of all time. Everything from the story, the atmosphere, the choice, loot, and characters made me put so many hours of investment into 3 and New Vegas. I was anticipating 4 with such enthusiasm and the game is Fantastic! but not for everyone.
Story: Without spoiling anything basically you're a pre war survivor of Vault 111 and after leaving you need to go find your son. Now there is so much more to it but I will not spoil it here. The story is similar to 3 in some regards but is better and has a BIG plot twist that I did not see coming but you may see it coming. The Companions and supporting cast of characters are also great though some are better than others. Now on Xbox One it runs at 1080p30FPS but the performance is not stable and we will get back to that later. So yes I enjoyed the story very much and is definitely a selling point for this game.
Gameplay: The gunplay is vastly improved so much that you won't even have to depend on VATS anymore but vats is slowed down so it doesn,t completely stop the tension of the game. Now the RPG elements are streamlined, there are no more skills instead every time you level up you get a point to spend on a specific perk but that's about it. The dialogue wheel has also been simplified which I did not mind too much but it does seem like your words don't matter as much. Now there is a Fantastic! crafting system for guns, armor, power armor, etc. that makes all of the junk in the game have purpose. The sidequests are a great distraction but while there are many they do vary in quality. The open world is phenomenal and a blast to explore and look at most of the time. There is also a settlement building system that is fun depending on what you like but does have problems. Overall the gameplay is great but the RPG elements have been simplified in a good amount of ways.
Bad Stuff: Bugs, Glitches, and frame drops and after this much development bethesda does not get a pass they need a new game engine for this one that they use is aging. The settlement crafting system also lacks any real tutorial so if you're not the creative type you may end up ignoring it. Also he sidequests tend to repeat themselves for a certain faction that can get repetitive and ultimately just becomes a good way to gather crafting materials.
Final Verdict: If you are not bothered by the simplified RPG elements (no more weapon degradation btw) and its missteps like I was it is easily worth 60$ and is so far my favorite game of the year. If you are though the game is still worth playing but not at 60$ I would say 50$ at most but more around 40-45$ especially hardcore fallout fans from like Fallout 1 and 2. | video-games_xbox |
The New Generation of Forza Motorsport Arrives. Believe it or not, the arrival of the Xbox One marks the first time that Microsoft's exclusive racing franchise has coincided with a console's day one debut. With that, there are some growing pains that Forza fanatics may not be too pleased about; but, it certainly kicks off the beginning of a new generation of console racing on the Xbox platform.
Let us get many of the negatives out of the way, first and foremost. There is no auction house. There is no vehicle gifting between gamers. There is no more Storefront, in the form that fans have come to know it as. Furthermore, Forza Motorsport 5 sacrifices much of the 400+ vehicle roster that existed with its predecessor, while scrapping some the series' more popular racing environments. To these points, some have, understandably, become disheartened with the sudden turn of events; however, it may be worth noting that this is only the start of (presumably) the next decade of the Forza brand.
Immediately, Forza Motorsport 5 establishes itself with its detailed racing locales, all of which (with the exception of some fictional environments) have been completely reworked through the use of laser scanning techniques which replicate the racing surfaces and their surroundings to any accuracy measured in mere centimeters. Those vehicles that did survive the cut have, too, been revamped with more detailed textures than the four previous Forza Motorsport iterations combined. The result is some of the most stunningly replicated automotive icons and racing environments seen in any videogame and on any platform.
Making a return is the renowned livery editor which allows designers to create intricate images and paintjobs using abstract shapes and vinyl art. What comes of this seemingly abstract feature are the most remarkable community-created content pieces in all of videogaming, of which can be shared through the newfangled Storefront that no longer charges users a share of their Forza currency per download and, instead, pays out Forza credits to the creator for the use of their designs.
Simply put: the above remains to be the only aspect of Forza Motorsport 5 that provides an online economic system; however, any mediums where Forza credits or vehicles can be exhanged has been removed. Whether this decision on behalf of Turn 10 Studios was to minimize opportunities for cheating or was impacted due to the change in Microsoft's Xbox Online online policies, prior to release, is uncertain. Whether or not this is expected to change with Forza Motorsport 6 is also unknown.
One additional piece that has caused Forza gamers some grief is the Drivatar system - a new take on an old feature that attempts to mimic the driving style of Xbox Live gamers through artificial intelligence used in single-player racing modes. The concept is brilliant, in itself, but the execution has proved a bit wonky. Drivatars are seemingly over agressive and, in two to three lap career races, the computer-controlled Drivatar tactics are far less sportsmanlike and more bumper car-esque. To be fair, on some occassions, Drivatar offers up some rather intense racing action that beats out any experience prior artificial intelligence has had to offer.
Where Forza Motorsport 5 sticks true to its brand is in its vehicle physics, tuning and sound design. Each car has unique driving characteristics that are emulated through a complex system that calculates the vehicle's inherenet capabilities and tire performance, derived by way of thorough testing and modeling. While there are some faults, it is difficult to deny how realistic the physics simulation is in Forza Motorsport 5. Toss in the ability to cutomize and hand tune specific vehicle components, and the racing experience comes to life on the Xbox One.
In terms of sound, Turn 10 Studios has always been notorious for its exceptional quality and realism. Vehicle sounds are crisp and representative of their true nature. On the user interface side, the Turn 10 Studios teams has opted to continue with a more dramatic and orchestral soundtrack.
Speaking of the user interface, Forza Motorsport 5 sports an entirely new yet familiar look in the menus. Reminiscent of the new Windows tile look, navigation is clean and sensible. Unfortunately, loading times before and after races have not been significantly decreased, while other aspects have seen improvement.
All-in-all, Forza Motorsport 5 is a satisfying debut to the Xbox One console; but, it should be expected that its efforts on the new generation hardware are a work-in-progress. It won't take much time for future iterations to catch-up where Forza Motorsport 4's vehicle and track list left off, and new bugs and glitches are sure to be worked out, moving forward. For those yearning for their new generation racing title, Forza Motorsport 5 is the one to beat and still features far more licensed models than any other game currently in its market.
I encourage Forza Motorsport fans, new and old, to pick this one up with the understanding that things are changing - while it may take some time to get used to, the future is very promising for this fan-favorite franchise. | video-games_xbox |
Grippy, but requires you to put some work into putting them on. iMP Gaming saw a need and came up with a solution to try and meet it. Triggers on controllers can often get a bit slippery. Some games hardly use the triggers, relying heavily on face buttons, but shooters and racing titles in particular lean every heavily on the triggers. Unlike the shoulder buttons just above them, triggers have a tendency to be held. While the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 controllers have a nice contour to their triggers that make it harder to slip off of them, the idea behind Trigger Treadz is a solid one - add some traction to those hard plastic surfaces.
I had a chance to try these out on both the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One controllers. Each Trigger Treadz package comes with four adhesive backed pieces of rubber - a left and right for two different patterns. Sticking to the tread theme, one set is referred to as Racing Rubber and the other as All Terrain. They each have a different texture to them, though their functionality is the same.
Applying the rubber pads is easy due to the adhesive under the pull away sticker on the backs of the 3M silicon rubber. You do have to pay attention to two details, however. The first is which side the triggers go on - they are designed for a specific side. There is just a bit of lip on them where the trigger's surface is larger than the pads, but not much and I certainly do not feel that edge when I am using them as the pads of my trigger fingers are settling right on the rubber.
The other thing that you need to take care of is properly cleaning the triggers on your controllers. I have read reviews that claim these come right off after application, but I find that unlikely on a clean trigger given my own testing. The Xbox One triggers are very smooth - so they are easier to clean but also benefit the most from the Trigger Treadz for this same reason. I like the contours of the Xbox One triggers better, but they are very smooth on the controller, so the Treadz immediately address that concern. Also not that there are two different kinds of Trigger Treadz. Given that the controllers have different shaped triggers, make sure you get the right one for the proper brand.
Cleaning the PlayStation 4 trigger is a bit more work, but that is because it is textured, almost porous surface. They clearly retain grime and hand oils better - something I had never considered before cleaning the controllers off before applying the Treadz, but there was a notable amount of grime that came off of the cleaning cloth I used on the PlayStation 4.
I decided that racing games would be the best test of these, so there is frequent, prolonged squeezing of the triggers to accelerate (or to brake suddenly, requiring a different kind of rapid, hard pressure on the opposite trigger). After nearly two dozen hours, there was no evidence that any of the eight treads (two PlayStation 4 controllers, two Xbox One controllers) were slipping out of place. The adhesive was doing its job well, and the triggers themselves certainly feel better.
Now for me personally, this was more about the texture on the triggers. I have large hands and long fingers - I was not prone to slipping off of the controllers when I played games. Not that my son himself is prone to it, but he has much smaller hands as he is still a teenager, so I had him using them as well. He played more shooters using them, but his overall impressions matched my own. While they do not seem to produce any sort of direct gameplay improvements, they are comfortable and his fingers were able to stay on triggers longer more comfortably. This was especially true in shooters that had lengthy periods of holding down the trigger for 'spray and pray' scenarios, though less pronounced when using short burst weapons.
For me the Xbox One Trigger Treadz were a bit more noticeable, just because they made such a significant difference with the surface texture. Both console controllers benefit from them if you are a gamer who is looking for something different to try with your controllers, or like me actually enjoy a textured feel over a smooth one on the triggers. The Trigger Treadz are sturdy and they stick well, though they do take just a bit of preparation work to apply them. Hardly a must-have accessory but of a personal preference item that does exactly what they advertise and do it well. | video-games_xbox |
A Fantastic Close to the Series --- COLLECTOR'S EDITION. Despite what all the other butt-hurt fans are saying (and unfairly doing with reviews), the ending to this game did not ruin the game for me. It was disappointing in some respects, yes. It was depressing. It needs better closure and explanation, especially for some of the endings. However, I believe the general concept of the ending is entirely appropriate to a game involving this kind of scale (the ENTIRE galaxy is at WAR; bad things happen in war). And the game more or less drops hints throughout the entire story about what's going to happen, so for the most part, everyone who was "surprised" was just in denial. The worst part of the ending isn't necessarily what happens, but what DOESN'T happen (better closure to a lot of other side story lines and character stories).
Overall, this game adds improvements to the series, and takes away in other areas. For sake of a quick read (because I could make this into an entire essay), here's some quick bullet points divided into PROS and CONS:
PROS:
--- Weapon customization is brought back (from ME1)
--- More weapons for each category, and more weapons now than ever before, each with their own unique attributes, sounds, and style of use
--- No restrictions on what guns what class can carry, merely a penalty to power recharge rate (you can fully load out an Adept, but you'll be waiting around for their powers to recharge after each use).
--- Graphics have taken another step up, and textures are now highly detailed. Add in a few new animations as well.
--- Powers used on a target simultaneously can now be combined into explosive additional effects ("combos"), so setting a guy on fire then popping him with a concussive round results in a fireball explosion.
--- All weapons and armor that have ever been available in the game series are now available for in-game "purchase", so no need to have any of the previous DLC or pre-order bonus codes.
CONS:
--- Bioware has all but gutted the RPG element out of the game, with the majority of most conversations being automated, and when a decision does come up, it's usually just a simple "bad" choice versus a "good" choice. Renegade / Paragon persuasion and interrupt choices are few and far between
--- The story is more linear and guided than ever before; there's not a lot of room for variability or custom pacing here.
--- Collecting most war assets is entirely shallow and boring, and LITERALLY, involves going to a planet, following the indicator arrow on the scanner, picking up the item, rinse, repeat, without ever actually doing anything to get it.
--- There are only two enemy factions in the entire game: Cerberus and the Reapers. Granted, they each have entire classes of bad guys with different techniques, powers, and weapons, but it gets kind of stale after awhile.
That's a short list, but it covers some of the biggest issues.
I pre-ordered the Collector's Edition on here, which, I think, for $20 extra, was worth it. All of the in-game bonuses and real world extras you get are nice; the free soundtrack download and metal case are especially cool. The extra N7 guns you get aren't anything that special, and I've hardly used them at all in the game for various reasons. The N7 hoodie is kind of cool, though, and looks surprisingly natural and not out of place in the context of the Mass Effect 3 universe. Additionally, it's must better than other clothing options. Finally, the day one DLC, "From Ashes", adds a new character (ALWAYS an awesome bonus) and brings some new perspective to the events occurring in Mass Effect 3, although the actual process you go through to get the character (the specific mission) is kind of shallow, short, and lame. The day one DLC for Mass Effect 2 (Zaeed Massani) was much cooler and more fun, not to mention it gave you major decisions to make which resulting in awesome results. | video-games_xbox |
Best game I've played this year. The game got me hooked pretty quickly. I'm usually not a big fan of these huge open world games, but this one has a few big things going for it.
1. There are lots of different types of missions and things to do to progress through the game, so you never feel like you don't know what to do next, and there are always lots of things to try out.
2. The difficulty of the missions is pretty good, there are a few easy ones, a bunch of medium ones that take one or two tries, and enough difficult ones so you're not just blowing through everything. You actually feel like it's a real challange.
3. If you ever get stuck on one part, or just feel like driving around and blowing stuff up there's lots of targets all over the place just waiting to get smashed. With the great destruction engine it's very satisfying to destroy buildings, and there's a whole bunch of different ways to destroy things; explosives, walkers, trucks, sledgehammer, etc. Plus random destruction helps you get further in the game.
4. Unlike the GTA where you're a criminal just killing random people left and right, in Red Faction you're a freedom fighter, so you feel good about smashing all their junk. And you can't just randomly kill anyone, most people on the map are colonists just like you that you have to avoid/protect. And if you're doing a good job, they'll pick up arms and start helping out.
5. This might seem silly, but there're lots of background comments made by other colonists, or overheard on the radio that really help set the tone. things like "I don't understand people, if you want things to change, you need to fight for it" - and I'm like yeah! lets fight for it!
I actually haven't played the multiplayer as much as I would like, just because I've been playing through the single player so much, but the online play is lots of fun as well. All in all a highly recomended game. | video-games_xbox |
After all that negative press and PS4 players trying to convert people over. The console:
To be perfectly honest, I didn't expect a lot from this machine. I kept telling myself that both consoles are still inferior to a modern gaming PC ( which is still true), however, being a long-time Halo fan and other "xbox only" exclusives, I unwillingly followed my heart. I am so glad I did.
Kinect:
At first, I thought I would never be using the Kinect at all. I thought it was a useless piece of hardware that just inflated the price. Wow, I was dead wrong. The voice commands and capabilities of this machine were spot on. I have always been the guy who would always take forever finding the controller. I can shave the time loading up a game, just by talking to my xbox while I start my epic search for the controller... a minor plus but it was fun when it happened the first time. Now with other functions, such as recording gameplay and browsing, AMAZING. Granted however, it is difficult to record sometimes. If you say "xbox record that " without any pause, you will have no issues, but if just say "xbox" and wait too long, your voice command bar will rise up in the middle of your game. Its easy to get used to though. I would say the kinect exceeded my expectations greatly. Also, you can record 30 seconds ( the prior 20 seconds after the command and the 10 seconds after) . Or a whole hour with the snap window ( have not tried this function yet) .
Graphics:
Now I hear this argument a lot about the PS4 vs X1 graphics. If this is your deciding factor in a console... you need to read a science book. Unless you have a digital eye, digital neurotransmitters with a digital brain, you are NOT going to see a difference in graphics. The difference in additional pixels put into the PS4 cannot be processed by the human brain, they are identical. With that said, the graphics are amazing on the X1, and if you say that PS4 is better then you are a robot troll. It was a genius selling point to unknowing PS fans however.
On a side note: If you have never had the pleasure of trying out either console and you are a die-hard FPS fan, prepare to have your mind blown by real-time. I actually started to go negative because I got dizzy from turning so fast.
Quality of Service:
Now one of my selling points was Microsofts claim that they would have dedicated servers for near-zero lag. WOW. I had to install BF4 first ( because when I played it on the 360... horrible lag on 36 player Conquest). Sweet mother of all that was beautiful... 64 player conquest with NO LAG. I was in shock when I loaded up my first game. The fact that I forgot about the match itself and decided to wonder around a war zone like a lost puppy says a lot. The graphics...the smooth play... and highly detailed chaos. I almost lost my job that day because I couldn't move away.
Now I would like to point out another service microsoft offers, namely its warranty. If you are one of those worried about first-gen system failure ( and yes this happens), Microsoft is willing to fix for free, extend your warrenty, additional xbox live months added to your account, and if available trade out your system for the next gen.
This has always been the point of sale for me when it comes to xbox's. Between the point when Playstation and Xbox first came out and now, I've had 6 playstations and 3 xboxs fail on me. Guess which company never helped me with a broken console? Thats right, the one that broke the most.
This should be the deciding factor for YOU. If you had only nothing but a positive time with Playstation, then go Playstation. Otherwise, your decision should rest on the exclusive games and what your online buddies can agree on.
TV:
I wish I had a DVR to hook it up to. From what I can see, its amazing what can be multitasked while watching TV. So far all I have is just a basic cable going through my wall... So I'm trying to figure this out still.
TITANFALL :
Amazing game. I don't even know what the campaign was about. I was to busy playing a Halo/Mirrors Edge/MechWarrior beast of a game. Something to to about fuel and irish space people... and mechs that look like Big Daddy. Its a free game with the console btw :P . | video-games_xbox |
Very nice console bundle, with a few cavets. UPDATE - 01/03/2016
So after a little over 2 months with this thing I just have to say I'm very satisfied with my purchase. The Xbox One in general is amazing, I love the new OS, it is very easy to navigate and has all the features I want. I love that you can record gameplay and screenshots, and overall this console is just awesome. As far as the Halo edition version itself not much has changed as far as my opinion of it. I love the looks but am still very disappointed in the "custom" sounds that it has. I really think it would have been way cooler and "custom" if they had used Cortana's voice to say "System Initializing" when turning on the Xbox or something like that instead of the weird laser sounds it makes. It just feels like a missed opportunity in my honest opinion.
- END OF UPDATE -
So I'll start off with the good, as there are many good sides to this console and only a few negative sides. First thing you should know is that this is my first experience with the Xbox One, so some of the comments I make may not be specific to just this Halo console but for the Xbox One in general.
So to start off lets talk about the looks. This thing just looks amazing, it's very nicely designed and will make any Halo fan giddy. The controller, is very cool. Besides the design, I love that you can plug any 3.5 mm headphones or earphones into it and listen to the actual game-play and not just multiplayer chat. Very nice if family members are making a lot of noise or you are playing late and don't want to wake anyone up. The Xbox one itself is very nice, while coming from an Xbox 360 I do feel like the Xbox One user interface is a tad hard to navigate. Many of the features that you would assume would be a button click away are hidden away within many menus. However I do love that you can switch between apps without having to restart them.
The only cons that I have found with this console are:
-The fact that it doesn't come with a physical disk (I did know this when I purchased it, so I won't dock any stars for this fact)
-The custom sounds that the console make (kinda left a little to be desired)
-The overall price. Like others are pointing out, you can save quite a bit of money if you just buy a regular Xbox One and the Limited edition version of this game. You're paying a high premium for the custom design, so make sure that you are in love with the design before purchasing or wait for it to drop in price.
-The statue that came with it. You have to put it together and it's fairly complicated. I hate to sound like "OMG I have to put something together, this sucks" but some of the pieces are very small and they are super easy to bend so if you have big fingers or you're not very steady it won't be too fun.
Overall this limited edition Halo console is very cool and a nice conversation piece for your buddies when they come over to play Halo. And I'm pretty satisfied with my purchase. But there are a few things that keep me from giving it 5 stars. So if you're a Halo super-fan and love the design I would say go ahead and purchase it, it really is a cool console. But if you aren't or you're a little hesitant I would say trust your instinct and buy the regular edition and get the limited edition version of the Halo 5 game or wait for it to drop in price. | video-games_xbox |
Another great game for Bethesda. I know im late to reviewing Oblivion, but I didn't know about it untill I finished Fallout. Now that Ive got around to playing this game, I can say this is a great game. But I cant say its as good as Fallout. I will be comparing this game to Fallout through this review because i have played it first. You have been warned.
Oblivions has some beautiful grafics and looks great. Its filled with great outdoor scenes and at the same time balances it out with dark hell like graphics (seen when you enter gates of onlivion). If you have already played Fallout the control scheme is very similar, so it won't be hard to learn.
Oblivion has a story which is quite interesting, it is quite fun to watch it unfold. I inperticularly like how the story starts with you being a prisoner. The game also has a great world set up, just like Fallout it feels like its own universe and feels very life like.
Though this game is very good and well crafted it still comes with some problems that I couldn't get past. I would like to stress these problems most likely will only bother you if you also played Fallout 3 before this game and or are unfamiliar with games that have combat revolving mainly around using melee weapons.
When you buy the game of the year it comes with two expansion packs. I found both of these to extend the play quite bit and were a bit more enjoyable than the full game in my opinion. Im not going to go into detail but im just going to say there just extended fun and if you max out your charecter stats this is a great thing to have.
If you are the type of person who loves custimize things this is right up your ally. At first you are able to choose from a selection of races each with their own specialties. You can also create how your character will look, this can be quite fun, especially if you create a character from another series. After that you'll be able to choose different abilitys along with creating your own stats.
The first problem with the game is it can take a lot of hits to kill most enemies you see. Though this might vary depending on the class and stats you give your character, but im still counting this because 14 direct hits with an axe should be more than enough to kill a common wolf. Secondly if you have played Fallout 3 before this game you will probably want to use projectiles instead of melee. So you would use magic, but if you only want to use magic you'll have to wait after you run out of magic for it to refill (if your out of potions). Lastly you must light your way with torches in dungeons, and if you like to play games to get the most out of them you go into dungeons often. So if you run out of torches its hard to see enemies attacking you.
For the overall game the only problem is that game performance can lag, but due to the massive ingame world its forgivable.
Though this game isn't as fun for me as I wanted and , I couldn't say in good concious say it wasn't a quality game. It definitly deserved the game of the year and is worth buying. | video-games_xbox |
A great start to a new generation and a solid foundation for the future. Madden NFL 25 on Xbox One is an excellent start to this generation of football games. The graphics, presentation, and gameplay are all noticeably improved and the package is undeniably a step-up from current generation (X360, PS3) football.
Madden 25 on X360 and PS3 plays a pretty good (but not perfect) game of football. Madden 25 on X1 simply improves on the current-gen game in all aspects, which I'll quickly list here:
-Graphics. Madden on Xbox One is a gorgeous game. If you've been following the pre-release hype, you've probably heard (and maybe laughed) about EA mentioning the "blades of grass," but damn it if the grass isn't beautiful in this game, especially around center field logos. Realistic lighting, higher resolution players, coaches, equipment, and gorgeous stadiums highlight a really fantastic looking game. You definitely have to play it on a big 1080p TV to appreciate how good the game looks, since the ESPN MNF clips certainly didn't do Madden next-gen any visual justice.
-Gameplay. The big innovations here are "war in the trenches," "contextual awareness," and other miscellaneous improvements, most notably side line catches, which it seems like EA finally got right. War in the Trenches is a fantastic upgrade that people have been asking for for years and EA has done an excellent job with this feature, as the first time you see a DE bust straight through a double team is a sight to behold. Contextual Awareness is also a great feature, as it helps your RB's not run straight into their linemen and WR's and DB's make smarter plays on balls in the air. It doesn't always work, and there's some debate about how much user control should be taken away for the sake of "realism," (running, for example, is much harder on next-gen than current-gen, although this is undeniably a good thing) but I'm really digging the way next-gen Madden plays. Dropped the game speed to slow and been having a blast for two straight days.
-Presentation. There are a lot of cool new camera angles, the commentary is *slightly* better, highlights are back on Xbox One, and the crowd looks great. There are some issues here, however, as the commentary is still often inaccurate, which shatters immersion, and the Living Worlds feature hasn't lived up to the hype. I feel like the lack of women in the stadium (you get 40-60,000 men and men only) might be a bug because it seems like such a bizarre oversight. The sidelines are much improved, but still lacking, and I'd like the crowd--whether all men, all women, or both--to be more invested in the game, as it seems like their heads do not track the action and their reactions to big plays are often delayed or non-existent. Although the "Living Worlds" feature is underwhelming, I'm still happy to give Madden 25 a 5/5 on Xbox One based on the amount of fun I've had w/ the game the past 24 hours.
Overall though, this is a great looking, great playing game of football, and I haven't even begun to fool with sliders, dive into a Connected Franchise, or even figure out Coach Glass, which is Madden's unique and dynamic companion app for tablet devices using Xbox SmartGlass. There's a lot to play and do here in Madden 25 on Xbox One, which is remarkable when you think about what a stripped down, empty game Madden 06 was, which was the first Madden game on Xbox 360 and PS3. The potential for this generation is limitless at this point, and if you love football or are just looking to get the most out of your new Xbox One, then you'd be silly to pass on Madden this year. | video-games_xbox |
Lacking polish, but still a ton of fun. I had high hopes for this game. I'll admit that while I feel a little let down, I still like this game despite some of its shortcomings.
The campaign: I beat it in around 5 hours. That's unacceptably short. That being said, I was hooked start to finish. So much that I beat it in basically a single sitting. Some of the moments in the campaign were pretty epic in scale, capturing the intensity of being in a firefight against overwhelming odds. The length of the campaign is really the only area that I feel justified in criticizing. Some seem to feel that the camapaign is too easy or just plain boring, and while I can understand why they would say that, I don't feel that way. Well, ok yeah it was pretty easy, even on the hardest difficulty. But not so easy that you can just charge out running and gunning.
The multiplayer surprised me; though EA's servers were down for most the launch day, I was able to eventually get on and I was pleasantly surprised by the smoothness of the game play. DICE really did a good job. I experienced very little lag, no real glitches to speak of (yet), and the though the customizeable options are slimmer than battlefield or call of duty, it's still enough to keep me interested. Medal of Honor multiplayer achieves a delicate balance between the fast-pace of Call of Duty Modern Warfare 1 & 2, and the slightly slower paced, bigger environment feel of battlefield bad company 2. The pacing is somewhere in between, the maps are mostly call of duty sized, with a few being a little bigger. One thing that I'm ecstatic about is that there are no lightning fast ninjas that can lunge 20 feet to kill you faster with a knife than with a machine gun or shotgun.
In conclusion, this game is very solid in all aspects, but it's missing that extra layer of polish that makes the Halo's and the Call of Duty's so spectacular. Frankly, I'd probably recommend it as a rent unless you're just dying for something fun but different to hold you over til Call of Duty: Black Ops comes out. | video-games_xbox |
This game is TERRIBLE. This terrible game PROVES that EA does *not* deserve to have the NCAA exclusive license for making football games. Even NCAA 04 for Gamecube has much smoother animation than this junk for the 360. Aside from having more resolution and more detailed stadiums, I'd say the graphics and gameplay in NCAA 07 for XBOX 360 are actually *worse* than NCAA 04 for Gamecube. It's THAT bad.
The graphics are choppy and slow. The framerate OFTEN drops below an acceptable level. This is the much-vaunted, super-powerful XBOX 360 -- there is NO excuse EA! NONE! It should be 60 FPS the *whole time*, like Call of Duty is. But instead it's like 20 FPS on a good day.
The camera movement feels heavy and jerky, overly ponderous of the glisteningly clean stadiums. The players -- especially in online mode -- feel like they're wading through molasses, not playing football. Well maybe they're playing football in Aunt Jemima's nightmare. But it's awful! I can almost see syrup dripping from the ball!
Further, they took out the "Create-a-School" feature, which was my favorite feature in NCAA 04-06. My real-life alma mater is a small school which doesn't even have a football team, and it was a blast in the previous versions to be able to make a team of all 7'1", 315-lb. monsters. OK, that sounds dumb, but it was FUN. Why remove this feature? It's a $60 game! It costs *more* than the last version, yet has *less* features, and runs slower! Hmm, lets see... slower, missing features, less fun, more expensive. You do the math!
Worse, they added the lamest feature ever: "momentum." Who came up with this, a bunch of sports announcers who actually think that their rhetoric about football has basis in reality? There is no such thing as momentum, people! It's just a myth of sports announcers who are trying to explain the extremely complex interactions between 22 players, a bunch of coaches, and 80,000 fans. Momentum is not a "real thing," though, like a football or a field or a yellow flag. It does not actually exist. And it has no place in a video game, as if there were really some way to measure it.
The new "momentum" feature just messes up an otherwise (conceptually) decent football simulation by imputing a magical force to the game. Sure, emotion plays a role, but the emotion of the players playing the actual video game should be enough to simulate that. I don't want to feel that, when I'm losing an online game, my own ability and determination to come from behind and win is being overriden by some stupid sportscaster idea that some invisible "momentum" is actually preventing me from doing so. I want it to be the other player who beats me, not some invisible "force." This is NCAA Football, not "Knights of the Old Republic."
EA programmers said they were inspired to make the "momentum" feature after watching USC lose to Texas. They claim USC "had total control" before they went for it on 4th down, and failed. But in their own system, USC would have had "the momentum" at that point in the game, and would not have failed, because the invisible force would have helped them. Really, the fact is that EA programmers were USC fans and just could not get over the fact that their team lost. Boo hoo. It was not because of some magical force, guys. It was because of a bad call by a coach, and an awesome player named Vince Young.
Which brings me the other stupid thing about NCAA 07 Football: the rosters. It is dumb for EA to make these rosters and then not update them throughout the seasons as it becomes obvious which players are better than others. These rosters are a bunch of guesswork. I would much rather that they make the online version of the game reflect the season which has just passed, since it would be much easier to make accurate judgements of players' skill from their performance in the previous year, if you were simulating the previous year -- as opposed to trying to guess from that how they will perform in the following year. Plus, anyone whose team was really good last year, but who the EA roster idiots gave bad stats to, will never have a chance to play online as their team as good as they really were that year.
Further, there ought to be a mode in online play where players could play created schools against each other, or play teams where all the players have all 100's or all 75's in every stat, so that there would be the chance for perfectly fair games. There also ought to be user-created leagues with imaginary schools online, not more of the same boring thing year after year. Come on EA, get creative! NCAA 07 is just a bad rehash of every previous version.
The only good thing about this game, which makes it deserve the 1 star, is that they added a lot more plays and formations, and removed the stupid "In the Zone" feature (where particular players would turn into super-beings after making a couple of decent plays).
However, all the playbooks that you scroll through are drawn as if on a chalk-board, and are very hard to read on my regular TV. Plus, the game wastes lots of time showing stupid close-ups of the players before each play (just like lame Madden for XBOX 360). As a result, you have far less time to switch defenders and call defensive audibles before the snap. Worse, the controls for calling audibles are very unresponsive in online play, and very laggy. Worst, you can only cycle through defenders in one direction -- this is a downgrade from NCAA 04 on Gamecube, in which you can cycle backwards and forwards. The point of being able to also cycle backwards, is so that when you inevitably go past the guy you wanted, you can quickly go back to him without going through all the other players first. EA seems to have forgotten this, even though they still have a button on the controller that does absolutely nothing, to which they could have assigned this feature if they had not wasted so much time making the stadiums look so good that it slows the game to a crawl.
On the offensive side of the pre-snap ball, things are worse as well. Sending a man in motion is no longer a simple matter of pressing down on the right stick. Neither are "hot routes" (one of the games better features) easily accessed from one button. Now, you must "switch" to the man you wish to send in motion or designate for a hot-route, and then issue the command. However, if you switch to a man who is off the screen, on a regular TV, the game does not pan over to him, so you have no idea which wide-receiver you just selected. It's a terrible bug! Further, the process of switching men in online play is extremely sluggish, and you are very lucky if you can successfully switch to a man and issue the proper command within 10 seconds of the game-clock. I received so many delay-of-game penalties that I just gave up trying to make a hot-route.
There are so many other bad things about this game that it's not even worth wasting time discussing them all. But the additional one I will mention is this: in online mode, in-between plays, players mill about in ultra-slow motion and occasionally vibrate erratically as if they suddenly switched from alcohol to caffeine (to use a euphemism). It just leaves the impression of a glitchy, buggy, slow game that was never fully debugged, never fully tested, and released to market way before it was ready.
Look, if you ever loved to play NCAA Football, do yourself a favor and buy NCAA 04 or 05 for PS2 or Gamecube or XBOX. Or buy NCAA 06 for PS2 or XBOX. It's a crime that Microsoft has not made NCAA 06 or 05 for original XBOX compatible with the 360. It's also a crime that EA used a "handwriting"-style font for the menu selections in NCAA 07. It is a crime that they have the NCAA exclusive license as well, based on this garbage that they are putting out. Maybe if they did not have a monopoly on the market, they would be forced to actually make a decent game for fear of people buying a competing product. I fail to agree that any company should be able to have exclusive rights to the sports of primarily PUBLIC universities! THAT is the real crime!
Don't buy this junk. | video-games_xbox |
Modern Warfare 3, now available on the Xbox LIVE Marketplace for only 1600 Microsoft Points. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 is the third game in the Call of Duty: Modern Warfare series which directly continues off from the end of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. Despite the fact that it has a continued story to it and other features, nothing else is quite new. I wish Activision had placed more effort into this game rather than taking 85% of the content in Modern Warfare 2, adding some new stuff, and coming up with a name for the finished sequel that is so clever that anyone could guess what it is. There isn't much to say about this so let's get to the pros and cons and get it over with.
~Pros~
-Story is quite deep, since it features a dramatic death
-An all-new Spec-Ops Survival mode
-Newer Spec-Ops missions
-Some new mutiplayer gamemodes, such as Kill Confirmed
~Cons~
-Sounds are slightly worse than MW2's
-Same visuals, nothing new here
-No new engine, same weapon model bobbing animation and such
-Multiplayer features the same things all over again: sprint, shoot, die, and repeat, with no teamwork
-Does not feature a "credit" system like Black Ops did
-Does not feature the custom player card like Black Ops did
-Does not feature the sprint-dive from Blacks Ops
-Over-powered killstreaks which can turn the tide of the match easily
-Same killstreaks, some are featureed from Blacks Ops as well
-Same attachments from MW2, maybe some new ones but no one really cares
-Same guns, maybe some newer ones but they're mostly the same with different models
-As most people say, it's "copied and pasted"
-Same map design from MW2, just different textures
MW3 has nothing new to offer and most gamers would buy it just for the multiplayer experience. I don't see anything that's different from the previous game and if I had wanted to experience the same thing, I would have played MW2 and saved myself $60. If you do want to play this game, you'd play for the newer Spec Ops modes and for the singleplayer campaign.
1 out of 5, don't expect anything new. | video-games_xbox |
Great system. I just bought my pro bundle about 2 months ago and I love it!!! For the price its great! And for those that complain about it not having wi fi support already just THINK it came out before all the other systems! This is a great system let me show you.
1. The system supports 1080p graphics.
2. The system comes with games that are very good unlike the other systems that come with either none or lame ones.
3. Back in the time that you had to buy the old 360 it didn't have a wireless controller, no hdmi support, they were priced at $399, didn't come with a mic, no games, no Xbox live gold trial. This is a great bundle.
4. If you put a price on the all those extras, in the past you'd have spent over $600.
5. Xbox Live is great! Not only do you have great gaming with friends but you have movie rentals, video purchases, game add ons, free stuff, themes and other great stuff!
6. The Xbox 360 controllers are redesigned and better than before. They are more comfortable than the original controller and the Ps3 controller and unlike the Ps3 controller they have rumble and can be purchased for $50 or less, Ps3 controllers with rumble are $80.
7. The graphics are just as good as Ps3 and now the system has a longer warranty including all the old systems that had the red ring of death!
8. It has more games than all the other systems and Umm duh Halo 3!
9. And on to the system overheating, the system is now more like a computer than a gaming console and with that said you don't leave the system in a tight corner where the heat builds up. This is not a design flaw because you wouldn't do it with a computer either!! Unlike the Ps3 you can stand this system up which saves on space.
10. On to the statement it is noisy, the dvd drive revs up just like a pc drive and aside from that it is quiet. Just crank up your surround and you won't even notice it.
11. The audio. The 360 now has full surround support through the optical out on the back so good news full Dolby surround.
12. New video updates support both wmv, and mp4 video, so you have support for wmv, wma, mp3, jpeg, jpg, mp4, divx, and media center. So overall great multi media support plus you can plug in your mp3 player and cameras into it for playback support!
13. Unlike the old systems you now can turn system on and off from the controller so great news for lazy people who don't want to get up to do this LOL!
14. Overall its a great system! You won't be unhappy and if yours has problems there is a warranty for it. | video-games_xbox |
Not Riveting, but Entertaining. I've had this game for a little under a week now and I've enjoyed it. It's not a game I find myself wanting to play for a long period of time, but then it really isn't designed for that. The premise is that you will complete three exercises every day. You can play any of the exercises whenever you want, but you are recommended to play three specific exercises each day, and the choices change around a bit each day. Whenever you want, you can also take a test that will measure your current brain age to see if your regular exercises are paying off. If I don't choose to play extra exercises, I'm usually done for the day in under 15 minutes.
The games are cute, and they don't bore me, but neither would I consider them riveting. Once I've completed my three exercises, I'm usually ready to move on to something else. Note that I have only played in single player mode. I'm sure competing against somebody else would increase the entertainment factor. However, I don't really consider it a bad thing that I don't spend a ton of time playing the game. I do my daily brain exercises, and then I move on to one of the more physically active Kinect games that I find more entertaining.
I haven't had any real issues with the interface. When navigating menus, if you read the manual, it tells you it will not activate any buttons when your hands are close to your body. You move your hand around to where you want it, then push your hand in front of you a bit further to make the program activate the button. On the one hand, I often find myself forgetting to move my hand further out because the other programs I've played with don't require this. But I quickly realize my error when this happens, and one benefit is that I haven't once accidentally selected the wrong thing like I have in other programs. When playing the exercises, I haven't had any issues at all with the program recognizing my movement exactly the way I expect it to. One thing I particularly like is that, while arrowing through instructions or comments, or while scrolling from left to right through multiple screens of choices, the arrow is activated instantly when you put your hand over it. This makes it faster to read through the material. Other buttons have the typical delay while it fills in the little wheel to give you time to change your mind.
Some reviewers have expressed concern that the comments from the Dr. can be overly harsh when you don't do well on an exercise, and that the difficulty can be high for younger children. I can't speak from a child's perspective as I've only played this myself and I'm in my mid-30's, but I can see where some of the exercises would be difficult for a child. That doesn't mean they can't improve if they practice them. As far as the comments go, I haven't found them to be particularly harsh. Usually I've found I agreed with his comments. On the rare occasions when I received an F on something (I'm horrible at that Pacman game!), the Dr. said something along the lines of "I thought you'd be better at this." And I had to agree with him -- I did too! I guess if negative comments from a video game can hurt your feelings, then that's something to take into account when deciding whether to purchase this. But they don't bother me. Yes, my avatar looks sad when I do poorly. But I don't go around grinning like an idiot when I'm doing poorly at something either, so why should my avatar? She perks back up quickly enough after her short moment of pouting. | video-games_xbox |
Just as bad as the xbox 360 version, this franchise is dead. First, I have over 680 hours in battlefield 3 and it has been pretty much the only thing I have played since it came out. I am a big fan of the battlefield series since I started playing bf2. I am a squad deathmatch player and I mostly play hardcore. For the xbox one version, all my play has been standard sqdm or domination.
After really looking forward to this game and being completely disappointed w/the xbox 360 version, I was really hoping the game was just designed for the next gen consoles and would be better when they came out. Sadly, it isn't. Ignoring the lockup issue, which still happened to one friend last night on bf4(thankfully his xbox one failed gracefully and didn't lockup completely). Player control still feels deadened, it is still very difficult to tell who your teammate is, game chat(not party chat) was horrible(think every third word) at best making the teammate identification even harder. Weirdly, the game gave me a massive headache after about four games and caused me to get very flush(this did not happen w/the xbox 360 version). I have had this happen before, but it has been very rare and usually will go away after I soldier through a game for a few days. I mention it because a friend once told me it sometimes has to do w/frame rate issues.
Anyways, I really cannot believe that this game is even on the market. Paying a total of $70 now for it in this condition really makes me think that Microsoft should start checking the work of some of these development houses before they allow a game to be released for their console. This game has been a disgrace from the launch on 360 and, in my opinion is, now on the xbox one.
Ea/dice have put out a message that they apologize for all the launch issues and that because of them, they are giving double xp to everyone for an extended period. To me, that is even more insulting. I could care less, about your double xp. I hadn't picked up the 360 version of this game in 2.5 weeks before picking up the xbox one version of it up last night and I used to not be able to put bf3 down for more than 1-2 days even after it had been out for a year. I am truly going to trade in this game for forza 5 this morning. | video-games_xbox |
Demo Review. Ok, I downloaded the demo of this game and after playing it, one of the most frustrating parts of the game is the user interface. Unlike the wondeful user interface kinect adventures provides, Body and Brain connection's interface made simple tasks like menu navigation nearly impossible and extremely frustrating.
As for the one game the demo allowed us to play...
The game was to use your arms as bridges to recieve and deliver cars from 3 roads of different elevations.
So basically the layout was: 3 roads on the left side (stacked one on top of each other), you in the middle acting as a junction switch (similar to how a train changes tracks), then 3 roads on the right side (Stacked one on top of each other). As the game started a car/truck/or bus would drive from the left hand side of the screen towards you (in the middle). The car/truck/bus would be 1 of 3 different colors corresponding with 1 of the 3 tracks on the right hand side. Your job was to adjust your left arm to catch the car coming towards you from the left and re-direct it so that it corresponds with the correctly colored track on the right.
The mroe you get correct, the faster and more cars/trucks/busses come at you, until you get one wrong and then it slows down little by little.
The game was fun, replay factor would probably be low. The mini game lasts about 30 seconds to a minute (didn't time it), but it felt like it was over real fast.
Bottom line...
I assume the other mini games in this game will be of similar duration and enjoyment. Little to no exercise intensity. Not sure if it is worth the hassle of putting the disc in the Xbox, playing for 5-10 minutes, then ejecting it.
My Opinion: if you are looking for a brain game, get one for your phone or DS.
Not worth $60, would have been better as a $10-$20 XBOX Live download where I could just access it through the Live Menu and not have to use a disc.
Hope this helps | video-games_xbox |
A Solid Game for Gamers. The game is unbelievable; simple as that. The storyline is rather intriguing how it is from a perspective other than Dante's, but it keeps Dante in the picture rather well as the story progresses. At first, it seems like Nero is an immature punk who is possessed with demonic power; as the story unravels, we learn that this is not the case. He does have a human side, and he does care, and he wants to know the truth. The mechanics of the game are awesome; thankfully, I purchased the XBOX 360 controller for PC and used that. This was the first Devil May Cry game that did not use pre-rendered scenes, nor were its movies pre-rendered either. This was able to push the graphics to a whole new level, especially with my Geforce 8800 GTS. The game never once glitched or stalled; the porting of it from console to PC seems flawless. I also liked the option to choose either DirectX 9 or 10 for Vista users (I always used 10, naturally). The soundtrack fit the game perfectly; the hard rock and industrial sounds gave it an edge. The game is split into two segments; the first part is Nero's perspective, while the second half is Dante's. When Nero is rendered helpless and needs rescuing, the player takes on the role of Dante and saves the day. Dante's part, unfortunately, is a little redundant, as we are forced to backtrack and cover the same ground that Nero had already covered. I think Capcom believed that this wouldn't bother some of us as Dante's mechanics and weapon usage are slightly different from Nero's. This part was boring to me, as I grew to like Nero's weapons and moves, and found myself disliking Dante's; this issue may have been due to the fact that Nero's moves and weapons were fresh and different from the traditional ones we've seen in the previous Devil May Cry games, while Dante's moves and weapons bring us back to those moments. The game ends well, and as always, it leaves it open for another future sequel. The replay value is addicting; the survivor mode has me coming back for more, and the weapon upgrades make the game much easier when used from the beginning. It can be rather irritating in the harder modes when a mob kills you and you have to start the zone from the very beginning, which could've taken you at least 10-15 minutes to get that far (there comes a part where resurrection orbs get expensive). All-in-all, it is money well spent; I'm not sure how the game functions without the XBOX 360 controller, but I can't imagine playing the game without it. I give the game a perfect 5/5 because any game that can keep my attention for hours at a time, and not bore me, is worthy of having such a score. | video-games_xbox |
Halo with heart, and guns, lots of guns. I wrote an extensive review on tumblr, and thought I should repost it here. Take heed, there are minor spoilers, though I say nothing about the ending or end-game plot specifics:
Halo 4, quick pros and cons and thoughts:
Things I liked:
- The graphics. The environments were amazing. It's kind of remarkable to see what we can do nowadays with the same technology as Halo 3. The 360 is capable of a lot. I'm proud to own the art book.
- Lighting! It started out really high contrast and dynamic, and then kinda fizzled to ye olde Halo Matte Gray. But I'm glad it was toned down. I can only admire the blinding glare to much before it gets me killed.
- Plot - Nice to see things develop between those two. I've said this on twitter, but I'll say it again. I totally love Halo CE. Their relationship makes sense. But I agree with Halo 4's more emotional take on things, mostly because it's what a modern audience expects nowadays! Crysis is the best looking game hands down, ever, no rivals. But there's little plot, and pretty much no character. It's not what the modern audience expects, an expectation created by drama games (Heavy Rain) and plot-driven adventures (Uncharted's always solid plot comes to mind). The best part is, 343i didn't need to make up plot where it wasn't there before. They elaborated the plot and connection between Chief and Cortana in a natural way from CE to 2 to 3 to now. Bravo.
- Acting: one word: Dr. Tillson.
- Weapons design: Wonderful, just wonderful. Keeping aesthetic of old weapons while bringing in new detail. My fave, the Cov Carbine, for instance, is just stunning. The green clip is so visceral looking, but it's still a carbine. Feels and looks like one, but is just shinier. The new forerunner weapons blew my mind. My only quip is that they only "assemble" once. You CAN shoot them while they're building themselves. So there was no reason to not keep the effect when you pick one up.
- Gameplay: I am not a fan of the Mantis, no no no. But the LB options were super fun, as were the new heavy weapons. Chief doesn't jump as high as I remember, and I laugh like crazy when I fall off a ledge. Vehicle sequences were good, but not as great as Halo 3. Shooting stuff was satisfying as usual. Then there's the particle cannon. Helpful tip: stand back. Wayyyy back.
- Covenant to murder: YES I LIKE MURDERING COVENANT. It's a staple of Halo games, man. You gotta go there.
Things I Did Not Like:
- Game length: Halo games are beefy. 10 chapters, usually takes a week of dedicated play to beat. Halo 4 had 5 chapters, and I beat it in less than a week, trying REALLY HARD to play slow and not every day. Boo. If they had added like, two chapters on the surface of Installation 03, it would have been perfect. You know, missions to take down AA guns, or chase the Didact pointlessly. That silly macguffin chasing that is a huge part of ALL Halo games. I'd be so okay with that! It's a chance to show us more beautiful environments, give us a chance to use more gravity hammers, and would give the PLOT a chance to be fleshed out to a proper length. WHICH BRINGS ME TO MY NEXT POINT:
- Plot, Things I Didn't Like. It took homework to even begin to understand the plot. If you're a casual Halo player like me, who's played the campaigns and a lot of mp, you'd be lost. I had to watch the Halo 4 movie, read a ton of wiki, and ask questions to get my bearings. The biggest fault in the plot was the lack of proper reason why The Covenant was there. If the game were to spend two chapters on Inst. 03, that plot could have been explained naturally, while progressing the tension of Cortana's rampancy. UGH.
- Mustache Twirling: The Didact was a s***ty villain. He was pointlessly evil, even though the waypoint videos show him as altruistically good. He had red eyes and an evil suit. He traveled in a stupid orb that made no sense, and didn't even match with Forerunner architecture. At the end of the game, he cackles menacingly that he's going to come back to seek revenge on the meddling humans. Really. GTFO, Didact. I get they're trying to make a new mythos for the Chief to fight, but.... why? Who cares? The forerunners were always the GOOD guys. At least, neutral. Remember that idea I had for 2 chapters on 03? They could have told us 1. Why the didact is uh, alive and 2. why he's EVIL.
((YES I watched the waypoint videos on youtube. NO it did not explain it enough for me. I want my game experience to be whole without me having to use wikia))
- No Boss Fight: SUCK IT, QTE. This isn't Heavy Rain. I don't know about you guys, but I wanted to shoot him in the face. A lot. Jump on his chair and beat him up. And the game robbed me of that for a dramatic suicidal crawl that I have played TOO MANY TIMES. Crysis 2, Dead Space Severed, and Mass Effect 3 spring to mind. Boss fights aren't passe or bad, imo. They're fun, challenging. They get your blood hot and let you take your revenge out on the bad guy yourself, instead of being told it happened.
- Waypoint locked unless you have XBL. Suck it, blues!
- The Mantis
- It's Balls Hard to Hijack Vehicles >:(
the end | video-games_xbox |
Awkward Writing, Buttery Vehicles. I was pleased to see that EA was finally taking players' requests into consideration, and developing what I thought would be the first in-depth, quality NFS game in years. I shouldn't have been so naive. Let me begin by saying that the customization is the best since Underground 2. The developers truly went all-out in this aspect. Where it falls flat, however, is absolutely everywhere else.
The cutscenes and phone calls in the story are written so poorly that I cringe after every three sentences. It's as if they hired an anti-social writer who had no choice but to Google "school appropriate 2000's slang terms" before crafting the characters' lines. When is the last time you heard a 20 year old criminal refer to something out of the ordinary as "cray cray?" That's right, never; because even preppy middle schoolers don't use that kind of cringe-worthy lingo.
The graphics leave something to be desired. They aren't bad, but simply don't hold up to the standards set by other next-gen racing games. The reflections are great, but I often find it difficult to see. Perhaps if the game wasn't night-centric, I could actually appreciate the textures and models more than I currently do.
As for the gameplay, I was very disappointed. It honestly feels like your vehicle is dipped into a vat of Vaseline before every race. Your car bounces off of walls and other vehicles like butter. I believe that it is impossible to damage your vehicle beyond anything cosmetic, and totaling police cars seems to have become a thing of the past. I understand that NFS isn't a racing sim, but the physics should still resemble something similar to what you'd expect.
Aside from the customization, this is just another over-hyped cash cow that I've come to expect under a "Need for Speed" title. The quality has progressively went downhill since the release of Most Wanted in 2005, and this game is unfortunately no exception. | video-games_xbox |
Impressive.... Just Impressive. First, I like to admit something. I never really liked GTA series before. I can't quite put my fingers on the reasons. Maybe it was the ugly graphics(/art directions). Or perhaps, their clumsy control in general threw me off. In any case, past GTA games never really appealed to me at all.
However, I finally decided that I am gonna give it a try once more even though I only barely finished half of San andreas and was too bored to go on. And wow, I have to say I am so glad that I gave this game an another chance because this game fixes whatever problem I had with the series and improved beyond my expectation.
Graphic
-While I would not say this is the best looking game on Xbox 360 platform, I have to agree that it still looks fantastic. Especially, fictional liberty city looks absolutely stunning. If I consider the freedom that is given to player to mess around the city, this game might be the most impressive technical achievement on console side so far.
Simply, this game looks gorgeous. Even though I did notice some texture pop up here and there, it is not constant as it was with mass effect and it is likely that you won't be bothered by it unless you are one of those people who obsess over minor graphical flaw. It really is a minor thing and doesn't effect game play at all.
Control
-I hated shooting in 3D GTA games before GTA IV and I don't think I was the only one. Well. REJOICE!! Shooting mechanic is better in GTA IV. Okay. It is sooooooo much better. Two major additions (Lock-on and cover system) works pretty well and makes combat a lot more fun rather than frustrating. Unarmed combat has some depth as well but I won't get into that since I usually just prefer shooting or blowing things up. The control for driving is not exactly racing game level but it is serviceable and you get used to it pretty quickly (different cars indeed handle differently)
Story
-I think I won't say anything whole a lot about story since it is even more subjective than other issues and I don't want to spoil anything but I will say this. I personally liked the story. It is driven by cut scenes before each missions just like how Rockstar did with previous title. Voice acting is excellent as expected from Rockstar(Although I was having some trouble understanding some characters due to heavy accent. I had to turn subtitle on. I actually recommend this.)
And I actually cared about Nico as main character. I don't think I can say the same for previous GTA main character. Personally, that prove to me that story is done well.
Multiplayers
-I can't mention anything on this since I haven't gotten too much into this. perhaps, I can add more in the future but not now. I am just impressed that they actually added multiplayer mode for the first time on top of excellent single player portion of the game. By the way, I found a promotional card for one month of free xbox live inside of the game case. It was a nice surprise and kudos to Microsoft on that one.
Conclusion
-If you played previous GTA games, then you know the basic gameplay of GTA4. It is a sand box game that allows you to utilize a whole city as playground. GTA IV is fundamentally a highly refined game that has improved upon GTA formula to near perfection.
I can't say for sure if this game can convert those players whom never liked GTA series ever. But I doubt anyone would disagree that this game is indeed a great improvement over past GTA games. As for me, GTA IV in fact did just that. It turned me into GTA fanboy. If you are a gamer, I wholeheartedly, recommend checking GTA IV out. Maybe you will like it or maybe not. But I guarantee you that you will be impressed one way or another. | video-games_xbox |
It works. My oldest 360 after being repaired by Microsoft twice for RROD died again outside of the warranty period with another RROD. I had heard about repairing them yourself but all the links on Google seemed like a scam. I stumbled on this kit on Amazon and figured for $10, I might give it a shot. I have Amazon Prime which is nice this kit can be shipped using it. Instead of the standard 2 day delivery, it showed up at my door, unexpectedly, in one -- thanks Amazon! I got a little yellow pouch at my doorstep with all the tools necessary inside -- except for a phillips head and flathead screwdriver. The XBOX unlocking tool included is very handy. There is a slip of paper that instructs you to download the PDF instructions off a website. The instructions are nothing fancy and the production value is cheap but they are good enough to get you through the project.
The entire process took me about 2 hours to complete while watching TV and taking little breaks. It was a fairly simple task which surprised me. The most difficult parts for me were removing the X clamps and screwing the heat sinks back on. I was concerned that the force required to torque the X clamps off would either crack the motherboard or cause the flathead to gouge it. I finally figured out that holding the motherboard vertical made it easy to hold in the screw and washer combination to secure the heat sinks to the CPU and GPU. The most time consuming process was cleaning the old thermal compound off the heat sinks and chips. It looked burnt and had exploded across the chips. Fortunately, I had purchased bulk Q-Tips from Amazon in the past. The two supplied with the kit were not enough for the mess in my Xbox 360. The cleaner and purifier supplied with the kit cleaned well.
The moment of truth came as I put the motherboard back into the metal case with the DVD-ROM hanging on the side and turned on the Xbox 360. GREEN LIGHTS!!! I was shocked. So I did what the instructions said, leave it on till they turn from green to two red lights then fired off my stopwatch for exactly two minutes then shut it down. After I turned it off, let it cool off a bit, I tightened up all the screws and put the unit completely back together.
Once I had cleaned up the mess I made from the repair, I put my repaired Xbox to the test and played Call of Duty: Black Ops for two hours. No issues what-so-ever. I will see how long the repair lasts. If it happens again, I know what to do and have the tools to do it -- I will just need to buy some thermal paste. I highly recommend this product if you find yourself with the blinking three red lights. It does the job and the instructions are clear. A lot cheaper than paying Microsoft to fix their design flaw.
UPDATE (June 23, 2011): The fix is still working which has surprised me greatly.
UPDATE (December 2011): I finally got another "Red Ring of Death". I purchased some Arctic Silver and re-did the XCLAMP repair using the instructions from this kit with the original parts supplied and I was able to revive my XBOX 360 once again. I also took the opportunity to add a Talismoon Whisper Fan to help quiet the XBOX as well. It does make a difference and if you are doing the repair it is a perfect time to swap out the fan. One tip, tape the screws down when doing the repair. | video-games_xbox |
Weirdly addicting. If you want a pretty good RPG, stick with it. The game will do everything in it's power to deter you at the beginning with it's lackluster FMV sequence, the way too short tutorial that doesn't prepare you to deal with fighting groups of enemies (hint: use the dodge button), and showing you one of the worst voice acting sequences in the game. Your first encounter with a villager will make you cringe at the voice acting and dialogue. Most people give up, as you can see by the various negative reviews posted here. I know, I almost gave up myself. Dying by angry wolves and boars and talking to horrible looking NPC villagers wasn't my idea of fun.
Once you get a handle on fighting, and stick with it for a few hours, the game mechanics and world will grow on you. The quests are entertaining and avoid cookie-cutter fetch quests like so many RPG games. Also while the NPC characters look butt-ugly, the world is very well done. Probably the best thing about the game is amount of cool gear you can get, and the ability to make your own weapons by stacking them as you can combine two similar items and make them more powerful. This makes looting more fun and gives the game it's most addicting quality -- the need to get better loot and explore the map. It's a bit like Diablo in this respect. The armor graphics are really nice as well, giving it a kind of gothic medieval quality. It's a shame though that item stacking isn't in the manual. You'll have to visit gamefaqs Two Worlds forum or the official Two Worlds message board to find this out.
There is new downloaded content for the game on XBOX Live and I think maybe new patches as well that'll fix some of the game bugs. If you have the patience, and a love for sandbox RPGs like Oblivion, you may find this game pretty fun. Albeit be warned that the beginning of the game will not endear you. Also also note that because the graphics are high quality and the world is continually loading, there are framerate issues, however after awhile, this issue wasn't enough to deter me from playing the game. I'm definitely looking forward to a sequel if there is one. | video-games_xbox |
Lots of Options = Lots of Fun. I was relucant to buy a new flying game on the xbox 360 after being disappointed by the last few games I bought. Fortunately the reviews convinced me to give Birds of Steel a shot. At the core of the game there is a robust multiplayer component that will give this game lasting value.
The multiplayer has a variety of co-op and versus modes. You gain experience and points you can use to unlock hundreds of vintage war planes. Moreover, you can customize your plane with decals and art if you so choose. There is also a very cool mission editor that allows you create your own missions to fly with friends. 4 players can play co-op. Or 8 on 8 versus mode.
The single player mode consists of a historical campaign which is great for letting you get the hang of flying. The simplified mode is a good place to start. Realistic mode makes flying considerably trickier as you will stall a bit more often. Simulator mode is very difficult--I found too difficult using the xbox controller. The idea in simulator mode is to finesse the controls, so you'll never push the thumbstick all the way when turning or dogfighting or else you'll push the machine and your character beyond their limits (ending in a black out or tail spin).
The graphics are solid. There are 3 main angles you play with: cockpit view, "virtual cockpit" and an over the shoulder 3rd person point of view. Personally, I prefer the cockpit view. The enemy aircraft are detailed; however, you have to be VERY close to see those details.
This is a fun flight game. Certainly the best vintage flier on the xbox today. My brother and I each own copies, and I can say we're happy with the value as we've spent hours flying sorties in the Ruhr vally, over Midway, and Wake Island. As of this writing Birds of Steel has offered the first bits of DLC including more missions (Battle of Britain) and more planes. I love to see a company continue to support their games. This game is a great purchase! | video-games_xbox |
If you have a 4k this is a must. If you are thinking of buying a UHD Bluray player buy this instead. No 4K? Get the cheap One. <div id="video-block-R1UKCWNOVT7QHZ" 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/D17GwgINjLS.mp4" class="video-url"><input type="hidden" name="" value="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/914wZowK2dS.png" class="video-slate-img-url">First off, if you have an Xbox One, and don't have a 4K TV don't upgrade.
Secondly, if you have a 4K TV, and don't have a UHD BluRay Player, OR a TV that has Netflix with 4K built in, this is a spectacular buy.
On to the review. This is an Xbox One. It does all the Xbox One things that all the other Xbox One's do, but it doesn't come with a Kinect, and it comes with a new controller that is not the Elite Controller, but is better than the stock controller from the previous version.
Gone is the power brick so this takes up a lot less space. You could reasonably mount this in your car under the seat. (I did this with the 360). I wouldn't, but you could because it is smaller, and doesn't have that annoying brick.
It is quieter. Not by much but some. It has a 2TB hard drive so you don't need an external drive if you want to have like 40 games installed. Soon there will be smaller sizes of drive, but the 2TB is nice. (See the comments I talk about actually testing this)
It's white, and that doesn't go with my home theater, or likely yours. It also shows the dust more, but fingerprints less.
I'll post pictures and such, in addition to the "what's in the box" video later, but the long and the short of it is that the reason for this as an upgrade is you want to watch movies in 4k.
Games too. And HDR does make some of the games better. It makes some of them worse. But most of them better. There is not supposed to be any CPU / GPU gains in this version, but there are. Hawken that crawls sometimes plays smooth on this.
Play back on Hulu is not any better from a bitstream standpoint, unlike NetFlix which has 4K, but Hulu "tears" less. This is when you see a line about half to a third of the way up where part of the frame is ahead of the rest of the image. Not noticeable on small screens, but on my projector it is, and this doesn't have it any more so things look better.
HDR is supported at 1080p so if you have a HDR 1080p Display, (like a really good computer monitor) you can get some benefit without a 4k display.
Finally if you are debating between this and the $250 Xbox One and you don't have a 4k. Get the cheaper one and the Elite Controller, or 3 games, you will be happier.
If you are thinking of buying a UHD BluRay player, buy this instead, it is a better player than the one or two on the market right now, and Microsoft will keep the software up to date. There are some comments about Dolby Atmos. It will pass bitstream Atmos to your receiver it will not upconvert, or side convert to Atmos. You wouldn't want this anyway it is better to take the audio that the sound guy mixed for 5.1 or 7.1 and use that then it is to fold 7.1.4 down using an algorithm.
Hints:
You may want a USB Stick for moving your games and such. I found that while cloud storage works, for things like my Forza replays it was going to take days to move. A 128 Gig USB stick made short work of this. You can also use a USB Hard Disk.
The Controller is Bluetooth in addition to the proprietary Xbox wireless protocol. This is cool because you can pair it with your laptop if it had bluetooth, or your Android device. I don't have one to try, but I believe this means that it would work with some of the inexpensive Android Game Consoles. On my Laptop it worked flawlessly.
The vertical stand seems like a good idea. The temp of the air coming off of the Xbox is pretty warm, and it is a good sized opening I worry that on a dark shelf it would fill with dust and burn up. This is not substantiated, only an inference.
If you are upgrading get the Kinect connector for free. xbox.com/XboxOne/KinectAdapter you have to register both Xbox, and even if you don't use the Kinect much you don't want to wish you were going to have a Dance Party and not have it.
That's all for now, will do more update after I have had more time to play with it.
Comments regarding HDMI, Dolby Vision, HDR10, and 12bit:
(If you don't know what this is you won't miss it, and if you do you still won't miss it.)
Xbox doesn't support Dolby Vision. This is not likely an issue for a number of reasons that follow. If DolbyVision does become the dominant way of encoding for HDMI Microsoft could ad it since Dolby Vision doesn't require any additional hardware. The HDMI Signal Path is the same but a header is added that specifies the range for the given content. In theory this allows for 10bits of color but allows for a custom curve for the color, and for the Min-Max-Median values to be set differently.
The Xbox supports 12 bit color at 4k, and that allows for 10bit plus the gamut adjustment found in Dolby Vision. But enabling this requires a license.
Because Xbox supports 12 bit, a movie is encoded for DolbyVision, unless you have an extremely high end system the decode should allow playback with no loss of clarity if your TV supports 12bit. I don't know of a TV that supports Dolby vision that doesn't support 12bit, and many 1080p systems support 12bit but don't recognize the "HDR" flag, but will give HDR results if they are better than the standard and return the proper HDMI handshakes for describing their capabilities.
To enable this you may need to Force the Xbox to HDMI PC Mode rather than TV and Autodetect. This is generally a good thing to do unless you move your Xbox a lot as it also enables you to set 24hz, and a few other options which are often not always available.
Things that make me sad:
Xbox Video Market doesn't include 4k Version of Movies. It would be nice if I could Rent/Buy 4K on demand.
I don't use Kinect much, but I notice that I miss voice controls for movies. I wish they had included a mic so that it did the "Alexa thing". (which is surprising because I'm paranoid about things listening) | video-games_xbox |
This is an HD remaster worthy of your time. After Bungie's departure from the Halo franchise, Microsoft rounded up a rag-tag squad of code monkeys and veteran developers that just couldn't let go of the series. Together these people formed what we now know as 343 Industries, dedicated to continue bringing your frequent Halo fix. Their first order of business was to win over the fanbase with a special HD remaster of the one game that started this whole thing -- Halo: Combat Evolved.
First announced in conjunction with Halo 4 at E3 2011, Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary is a faithful recreation of Halo: Combat Evolved with high definition screen resolution, revamped current generation graphics, virtually UNTOUCHED gameplay so as to remain faithful to the original game, Xbox Live achievements, 3D capabilities, Kinect interactivity and special features, and brand new inclusions to the game such as Skulls (game modifiers) and Terminals, which unlock special videos to uncover hidden Halo lore. This complete HD remaster is the near-definite version of the game despite one downside that knocked off two stars on this review:
343 Industries, presumably on a dead line, neglected to include the original game's multiplayer modes or maps. In order to appease hardcore fans with their choice to not include the original multiplayer, 343 designed their own multiplayer mode. To achieve this, they used the Halo: Reach multiplayer engine, remade seven of the most popular Halo: Combat Evolved maps in that engine, and modified the Reach gametypes to emulate the feel of the original multiplayer. It sure isn't the same, but it's close enough for the time 343 was allotted.
If you're interested picking up a copy of Halo: Combat Evolved for just the single-player features, definitely consider picking up this Anniversary copy. The special features, new graphics, and new goodies justify the price tag. The Reach multiplayer is a simple bonus, depending on how you feel about the original multiplayer. | video-games_xbox |
Broken game, locks up all the time unresolved for users after 2 months of this issue. A great trainer but locks up 3x an hour. This game is amazing when it works but the reason the 60 day challenge is only an HOUR a day is because with 3 lock ups an hour that all you can stand to play, you set a new highscore record and just before the game is over locks up, no reward. You almost finish a song and it locks up, you are doing the training videos and it locks up, you pause the game to use the tuner on the screen really quick and it locks up, you go to the options to adjust display lag... guess what it locks up. I and 5 of my friends have the game we now have a rule 3 lock up and we play a new game, sometimes you get like 3 hours sometimes you get 15 minutes its a crap shoot, and support has been less then helpful this has been an issue with the game since october and they have no solution for the repair and have done nothing to resolve the issue, do not support this product expecially since it can not be returned as it is software its exchange only so for the low low price of $70 you can be a BETA tester of this game too, i am so sick of game manufactures quality control being "oh we will patch it after it ships"
BROKEN BROKEN BROKEN GAME!!!!
this is my conversation with tech support Still unresolved its 2 months on and no fix for any gamers yet
Robert 12/7/2013 5:13:26 AM
Thanks for reporting this freezing issue. The Rocksmith team has requested some additional info from you to help diagnose your freezing. Please update this ticket with the following info. Please be as specific as possible. When/where does this freeze occur? What game mode/song/etc. were you playing? Example -- "I was in Riff Repeater for Everlong with the entire track highlighted." How long had you been playing Rocksmith in this session? (Since the last time the game was launched) Example -- "I'd been playing Rocksmith for about 45 minutes when the crash occurred." What had you been doing before the crash occurred? Examples -- "I started the game, played a few songs in Learn a Song, then some guitarcade games (Gone Wailin, then Return to Castle Chordead), and finally session mode." "I started the game and immediately went to Learn a Song, the crash happened on the fourth song I played in there." "I started the game and went to Session Mode, and had been playing Session mode for two hours straight and then tried to play Everlong in Learn a Song" Version number from the Options menu Rocksmith 1 status (save game? Import disc songs?) Owned and installed DLC status Xbox Model Player Path (Rhythm, Lead, Bass, etc.) Amount of Rocksmith 2014 progress Playing connected to Xbox Live? If so, what is your Gamertag? Is Uplay enabled? If so, what is your Uplay username? Are you playing with the Kinect plugged into the console? Please do the following steps to update your ticket with us. 1. Click on the url (web link) for your incident in this email. [...] 2. Enter your Uplay account credentials then click Login. 3. Click on the question you wish to update. 4. Type a response in the "Add additional information to your question" section. 5. Click "browse" and find the digital image or files you saved earlier and click Open if they were requested. 6. Finally, click "Submit" to complete the incident. Once received, we will examine your information and get back to you as soon as we can. Thanks! | video-games_xbox |
1 star repetitive game with 5 star hype. My boyfriend got this game as a gift from a friend and so since it was free he bought the dlc pass for it and it's just loaded with bugs and design flaws. I've watched him play it for hours and grind away to upgrade stuff just to have the first dlc be released and then everything he worked for was basically obsolete. So he had to start all over again around xmas after putting hundreds or hours into the game. The newbies that got the game around this time were able to buy the same gear he had spent countless hours grinding away to get and upgrade within their first week of playing the game and then they were the same level he was.
If you want to do the raids you have to have a team and it doesn't do matchmaking for this so you have to find the people yourself, - 1 star
if you don't buy the expansion pass for the dark below you won't be able to do the weekly strikes and some of the daily missions, - 1 star
If you start a strike and 1 of the 3 people doesn't do anything at all they can and might get a better reward at the end of the strike mission even if you did the best and most work overall on the fireteam, - 1 star
If you do really good and get exotic weapons and armor you ca only equip 1 of each at a time and some of the exotics aren't any better than the legendary weapons ad on top of that they take like 4x's longer to level up, -1 star
You can buy weapons at the tower but you cannot buy the materials to upgrade the weapons, - 1 star
All the missions are repetitive and basically the same, you run to point a shooting enemies along the way and then shoot the boos or defend against a horde of enemies and that mission is over.
99% of the time when a special event is happening it's the crucible which is pvp.
Whenever an update is released to fix 1 problem they change another aspect of the game which usually makes it worse.
Overall it was a great thought and could have easily been a great game but due to the poor design the game just feels like it's always lacking something. They really hyped this game up and once it was released it just failed to live up to it. In some of the early videos they mentioned being able to trade and gamble as well as other planets being available but on launch day those things had been removed.
Now the game sits on a shelf collecting dust and he's just burnt out and doesn't want to play it anymore. If you like to play games were you feel like you're doing the same thing over and over check this game out. He's not happy with it and says that if a second one is released that he won't even consider getting it. | video-games_xbox |
Great co-op, but not at the expense of solo campaign. Despite giving the impression of a "more of the same" sequel prior to launch, RSV2 managed to win my heart in ways the first could never imagine. There are still a few problems, but overall the game is adequately polished and highly addictive.
A tactical shooter, by definition, is geared toward teamwork and strategy. It only seems natural that such a game should offer a truly superb cooperative experience and RSV2 does just that. Be it split-screen, co-op campaign, or even terrorist hunting, there is a heap of great team-oriented play to be had here.
The best part is that in delivering a co-op smorgasbord, RSV2 (unlike certain other co-op focused games) didn't sacrifice the single player campaign. With seven acts consisting of several scenes each, you've got hours and hours of solo play available as well. The scenes and environments, though not particularly unique to Las Vegas, are extremely detailed and offer wide variety. My favourite place involved an indoor rock-climbing facility- an extremely creative idea, in my opinion.
The pice de rsistance for me was the character development through experience. Your character, complete with the myriad of possible unique armour, clothing and weapon combinations, are persistent throughout any game mode- online or off.
For all its glory, though, the game is not entirely without flaws. As cool as most of the unlockables were, some just didn't make sense. Who thought that pink camouflage was a great idea for a high-level reward? The AI is also still more A than I, with terrorists stupidly running into your crosshairs despite how many already felt your wrath. Your teammates can also be complete dolts when it comes to ordering grenade tosses or staying within the cover of their own smoke.
In spite of these minor blemishes, the bigger picture of RSV2 is still quite magnificent. Online or off, there is enough replay value here to last a very long time. If you can only buy one shooter right now, this may be the one you want! | video-games_xbox |
I am VERY Dissapointed. I love racing games and i must say if you like racing games with a lot of crap put into it then you should choose this game. I personally never liked Forza at all there steering has been terrible and their gameplay is unrealistic to many extremes. I was told that they had fixed their handling issues that they have had in all their other games, lied. The handling is still pretty unreliable as always. I had bought a wheel with this game hoping to have some fun; it makes the experience better but not as it should. If you were brought into real street racing games when you were a kid like me and played need for speed. Then i suggest NEVER buy the Forza games. The worst thing about Forza in my opinion would be that if you drive 1ft off the track into grass or even more asphalt in some cases your speed dwindles down to nothing in a second flat. I drive a Nissan GTR '10 going at 230 mph and i hit the grass just a bit when going on a straight away and my speed drops to 30 mph within the second and it takes forever to get out of the grass as well so by the time I'm out I'm in last place when I'm 1000ft ahead of the ai's behind me. The good thing about this game is the cars though 5 out of 5 to the car graphics. Also the car editing system is as well great but the process of getting what you want with customizing your car can take hours and can be frustrating when want to have certain manufacturing logos that are not already giving to you like Pilot Automotive, MOMO and Street glow. To top it off the selection of cars is great they left out many of the powerhouse car manufacturers like Ascari, Atom and Noble. Overall this game gets two out of five stars due to the lack of realism and concept of basic driving knowledge.<a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/Need-for-Speed-Undercover/dp/B001AZFSG0/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">Need for Speed: Undercover</a> <a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/Midnight-Club-Los-Angeles-Complete-Edition/dp/B002MED6EO/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">Midnight Club: Los Angeles - Complete Edition</a> | video-games_xbox |
Nice graphics and Co-Op, Poor Gameplay and Story. This review was written by my son, James Shea
A radical departure from the rest of the Kingdom Under Fire series, "Kingdom Under Fire: Circle of Doom" changes the series from a RTS game with some hack-and-slash elements to a pure hack-and-slash.
First, some history: Kingdom Under Fire started as a PC game that was basically another Warcraft clone. Later, it moved to the Xbox with KUF: Crusaders and KUF: Heroes, which had a really unique system - most of the time it was strategy, used from a third-person perspective from your different platoons, but when you got into melee with your leader's group you would take control of your leader and hack-and-slash your way through the crowd. This helped you win battles that would otherwise find you outmatched.
In Circle of Doom, the series has moved entirely to that Hack-and-Slash mechanic. There are six characters, all of whom are from previous KUF games (4 from the Xbox titles, and 2 from the original PC one). These characters differ in their speed, their strength, and the types of weapons they can use. In the beginning, five characters are available, with one more being unlockable. Their storylines mostly revolve around their disappearances at the end of their respective games - now they are in a new realm, devoid of humans besides themselves. The only characters in the "real world" are the three idols that you encounter at rest points. These act as the game's merchants, selling you different gear depending on which idol is there (the bubbly Idol of Love, the dark and shrouded Idol of Death, and the Buddha-like Idol of Greed.) Furthermore, you can fall asleep at rest points, and in your dreams you will be transported to the Realm of Darkness, a subdimension that holds the dead spirits of the game's other characters. These spirits are also recognizable from previous games. They assign quests, teach abilities, and provide general story information. Other than those two minor sources, there is almost no story or interaction in the game.
The gameplay should be at least the redeeming part to the game, but for the most part it's not. Swinging a weapon requires "SP", or "Stamina Points", which recharge naturally. This means that most of your hack-and-slash actions will be punctuated by waiting for your stamina to recharge. This really takes you out of the game and is downright frustrating most of the time. There are lots of magical abilities to be learned, and this requires not just leveling up but also doing quests (most often "kill X number of this type of enemy"). For the most part, the gameplay lacks a lot of the combo attacks and excitement that the Xbox games held in their hack-and-slash sections. It's also possible to do a co-op mode with up to four people over Xbox Live, using head
The graphics are without a doubt the game's best part. The characters - friend and foe - are all really detailed and textured, and all the effects are really fantastic. The lighting, especially, looks fantastic. The environments - including a forest, a ruined city, and an underground area - are all rendered impressively, with lots of little details and side parts. Blood - which can be turned on or off - is shown as artistic sprays of color. The music is also very haunting and beautiful, conveying the sense of a dead, empty world. The voice acting isn't great, but it comes up so infrequently that it doesn't matter.
As a whole, this game has a lot going for it (the graphics and the co-op option being the main two) but also a lot more not going for it (the gameplay, the lack of story, the comparison of this game to other KUF games). Even as a hack-and-slash, it's not a whole lot of fun. It seems like a lot of wasted effort on the parts of the development team.
Rating: 6/10 | video-games_xbox |
Outstanding game but ruined from some flaws...Big Flaws. Halo 2 is one of the biggest and baddest Xbox titles to hit the X box systems since...well...HALO! And of course some other awesome games. The game has bin hyped since 2002 and finally the wait is over as they announced the official November 9th release date. Does this game live up to the hype?..does it outdo Halo one? To answer your question my friend Yes!....and no..
Ok first lets get one things straight. Bungie did an excellent job with this amazing FPS shooter. The games visuals are breathtaking and the new dueling systems is just superb. The game did get some pretty good scores like 9.8 on IGN but that's besides the point...HALO 2 is truly an amazing game. It will be rememberd as one of the biggest Xbox games ever. I salute you Bungie for this awesome game. Visuals PERFECT, Gameplay PERFECT, Um....Good lengh NO. Lets just get this down and over with...Lets start
Graphics
Graphicly this is the best looking Xbox game to date. The graphics can be comparable to Doom3 Trust me. Sometimes you'll just stop and look at the brilliant visuals on the water, mountain anything. The lighting effects are unbelievable.. This game looks simply....AMAZING
Sound
The music from the original is back but with more of a remix and more rock(something like that) and that it self deserves a star. The sound is extreamly detailed. The gun shots from from shotgun sound simply....Real..
Bungie made no flaws on this part of the game....1 star for this one...
Gameplay..
The campaighn is wonderful with a pretty odd story that is a little different then Combat Evolves. The game not only gives you the role of Masterchief but you also get the role of an Elite and once that happends it really starts to pick up the pace. Bungie added some great features in this...
You can use the tank more often now unlike Combat Evolved were you only used it in one level. Some of the most amazing parts in the game is when your on Earth(which is only 2 levels sadly)
But don't worry for all of you people who wanted to use the tank more often HALO 2 is here for you. The campaighn earns a star.............and loses one(Uhhh I think)..
The campaighn is short...not(only 13 hours short) it's more like(7 hours and less, short).. And it ends very abruptly so if you're expecting a huge ending that was very cool and remarkable don't expect it in Halo 2. It just.....ends...Or as most people call it a cliffhanger. And No I don't have Xbox Live but I have played some good wholesome mutliplayer with some budds of myn at his house and it was friggin terrific. Now besides that If Bungie didn't worry about the Xbox live stuff and worked more on the story it could have bin better. I know I'll probably get negative reviews by some but This..
Is not the best FPS...C'mon it's not
It was a bit overhyped..
I thought EGM said on there really early HALO2 Cover stroy issue(it was when Vice City was just begining to get hype for the Ps2 before it's even out)that We would get to no more about Masterchief....HE BARLEY SAYS ANYTHING ATLEAST HE TALKED MORE IN HALO 1!
Over all verdict
+
Amaing Graphics
Cool Multiplayer
Superb Gameplay
Awesome campaighn story(yes I liked it unlike most game mag reviews)
YOU PLAY AS AN ELITE! You can't beat that now?
Cons..
Just way too short
Cliff hanger ending...Just...ends...dammit..
Halo 2 has the potential to be the greatest Xbox game ever but ultimatley fails with its short campaighn and horrible way of an ending..IT's not even an ending if you think about it! Lets not forget the superb multiplayer(man dueling weapons and using energy swords rule) This game is plain great and yes it was a bit overhyped but it does not dissapoint..
Halo 2 is fantastic and that is why I give it a...
4.7 out 5....
You must own this game if you have an xbox...that's it..I'm done
Lates.. | video-games_xbox |
Fun diversion but not the game I'd hoped for. After playing "Mafia" I couldn't wait for The Godfather game to come out. The screen shots and videos looked a lot like Mafia but with all of my favorite Godfather characters. I basically loved the missions and interacting with the original characters and story line but I have to admit there were some huge dissapointments. My first dissapointment was how the developers used (and over-used) the same exterior and interior spaces, I would see the same buildings and sets so many times that I would get confused as far as what part of the city I was in. The draw distance is also very low; buildings, cars and people appear out of no where as you are walking and driving, this lack of continuity really takes away from getting into the game. Driving is a huge hassle because many of the streets are so narrow that you either get stuck behind slow drivers or crash into them to push them out of the way. I also had problem with game play; the game advertised that you can be as mean or nice as you want but there is really no way to play this game without putting a lot of hurt on shop owners. I mean it's a given that you'll kill or hurt other gangsters but there are way too many beatings of civilians in the game. One thing I like about Mafia was that all throughout the game the character was getting drawn deeper and deeper into the gang but there was always a sense of "is this right?". Even the ending of Mafia showed that the gang life doesn't always end happily. In this sense the Godfather movies are much more like the game Mafia then like the game The Godfather. As far as the character models go they were pretty good, even better than Mafia, I just wish Pacino had given permission for his likeness because the Michael Corleone model doesn't look or sound anything like him, and that really sucks because he was really the main character of all 3 movies.
If you're a big Godfather fan and want to interact with some of the movies characters then go ahead and buy this game. But if you're really looking for a gangster style shooter with a great story and better city graphics then buy Mafia. | video-games_xbox |
So you're looking for a first-person shooter. But you don't know which one to get. Well if you own an XBOX, and soon hopefully a computer if Microsoft decides to release Halo on the PC and Mac, then this game is the way to go. Halo is based in the very far future during a war between the now intergalactic human race and an alien race called the Covenant. The majority of the battles take place on the ring world of Halo (hence the name of the game), in fact, I think all but the first one do. The game starts of with you on a spaceship called the Pillar of Autumn which is being attacked and boarded by the Covenant. After an overview of the basic controls and adjusting some settings, you're off to the bridge of the ship. You get a weapon and you fight until you're able to get into a lifepod and you crash land on the ring world called Halo. From there, you're thrown into several levels of bloody, FPS shooter warfare.
You get occasional help from groups of Marines in certain levels. These Marines will talk to you, eachother, and hurl insults at enemy covenant. They can get annoying to the point of wanting to turn off the game though because they shout "Hey that's mine! You stole my kill!" at you for nearly every covenant you kill. However, they can be funny too shouting things like "Who's laughing now idiot!?" at aliens that are running away screaming or "Get up! Get up so I can kill you again!" at dead alien corpses. There are a variety of vehicles and weapons to drive and shoot. These range from Marine to alien and all will be available to you at one point or another. Well, almost all. You can drive jeeps with rear mounted guns and a Marine shooting from the passenger seat, tanks, Covenant hover vehicles called Ghosts, and Covenant fighters called Banshees. You can use sniper rifles, rocket launchers, assault rifles, shotguns, plasma rifles, pistols, energy pistols, needlers(shoot sticky homing bombs that explode a second or two after contact), and many more to kill your enemies. As well as two grenade types, fragmentation and plasma(sticky).
The graphics are very good and the levels are usually long and with much variety. Although they can sometimes be hard to beat at certain parts. With you reloading at checkpoint again and again to beat a certain part. The music can be good and sometimes bad but overall the sound is pretty good. Except for the little Covenant that speak english and run around screaming like little girls. Now THAT gets annoying. The multiplayer is really fun. You can create your own game types too and in certain multiplayer maps you can set it so all vehicles are available as well as infinite grenades and such. The game comes with about 10 different multiplayer maps and many different game types to play. The mood during the singleplayer game really shifts a lot. You'll be feeling safe and then suddenly they'll bring in the spooky music and you'll find yourself glancing around frantically, looking for any possible enemy. Heck, I got to one level and had to stop playing for around 2 days because I got too scared lol(I'm not going to tell you why because I don't want to give anything away, but you'll feel scared when you get there).
XBOX is definetly the system for this game and Halo is the perfect game for XBOX. XBOX's graphics potential gives Halo a great feel. It's a very fun game to play which can be proven by the several awards it has. Trust me, if you like first-person shooters, you'll love this game! | video-games_xbox |
Don't Let False Expectations Leave You Sour. Allow me to educate you before you check out this game. This is not your typical Resident Evil title. It's developed by Slant Six, the same team that brought you Socom. That statement alone should pack a punch and shed some light on what this game is supposed to play like. RE: ORC is a multiplayer based game. Going in with the expectations of a typical Resident Evil single player campaign may leave you with something to be desired. Don't get me wrong, it's still a great single player campaign, and even better if you have 3 other friends to plow through it with! But playing the Versus modes are where this game shines, and I see a lot of extremely shoddy 1 star reviews ripping this game apart and they haven't even TOUCHED this part of the game.
Yeah ok, admittedly the campaign will have you shaking your head in amazement at how terrible the A.I. is. Often, the A.I. will yell at me for shooting them in the face as they walk in front of my line of fire, like I'M the one that's supposed to be yelled at?? hahaha. But this is not enough to deter one from going through it alone. But again, aside from that, it is supposed to be played with other human players. So what are you waiting for?? Get some friends and dig in!!
Story wise, the game will take you through some moments in between RE 2 and RE 3 I believe. But if anyone who is an RE fan, you won't really care too too much for the story anyhow. They can be pretty convoluted, this title being no exception. Going through the campaign, you will find and collect several data discs. The more you grab, the more XP (experience) you will gain when you find a laptop and upload the information. Also for each disc you upload, you will unlock an item in the extras gallery. XP will gain you levels where you can then spend it on upgrading each characters abilities and unlocking weapons for both campaign and versus. Once you start doing this, you will start to see how meaty the game really is. Each character has a class. Surveillance, Assault, Medic, Field Scientist, Recon just to name a few. So the abilities you unlock will be according to the class, and these have a very significant impact on how you're going to play. That all being said, it is a very good idea to go through the campaign to collect a lot of XP through discs and level up before playing versus so that you have an upper hand on the opposing team. Huzzah!!
Matchmaking is definitely above average for the online versus modes. You can start a squad A La Battlefield 3, and then take that squad with you to the matchmaking process. It's quick, easy and extremely well done. I can't stress enough at how well done this is because so many multiplayer games are ruined by terrible lobby systems and shoddy matchmaking. No need to worry here.
I think there are about 4 or 5 different multiplayer versus modes to choose from. Team Deathmatch, Heroes, Survivor (my favorite), and another one which I apologize because I forget what it's called. I will edit the review when I get to my home computer. In Survivor mode, the 2 opposing teams are battling their way through opposite sides of the map to get to where the incoming chopper will land. Once the chopper lands, it's an all out brawl to see who's gonna get in and get away. The chopper will only hold 4 out of the 8 players. Once you're in, you're safe! If not, you get left behind! It's so much fun and unlike anything I've experienced online. Kind of like Left 4 Dead but it's done much better. In all of the versus modes, you will gain XP from killing zombies, B.O.W.'s, Headhunters, Lickers, aside from killing opposing human players. You can also get infected with the virus and turn into a zombie, so you better have those anti-viral sprays handy to counter it! There's all sorts of moves you can do as well. You can run at other players and press the melee button to tackle them, or kung-fu them to death while pulling out a knife with successive 'B' Button presses. Pulling this off is very rewarding. In fact, I haven't played an online game in which the kills are so satisfying in a long time!! 'Look at this guy trying to do all this kung-fu on me...I just pulled out my shotgun and blew him away, ahhhh hahahahaha'. Crazy fun!
Ok so this review is gonna close with this statement. If you want to play a single player Resident Evil game, you're going to be sorely disappointed. In this case, wait for Resident Evil 6 in November, which I'll be getting as well. But if you want to play a Resident Evil game or just a great game in general that is a multiplayer extravaganza, this one's for you! But please!!!! No more 1 star reviews from uneducated gamers with false expectations. This game deserves a heck of a lot more. Thank you Slant Six and Capcom, I will be playing the hell out of this game for a while!!!! | video-games_xbox |
What not to do in an action RPG. This game is a single-button button-masher, pure and simple. There's little to no strategy involved in play, just pick your two best weapons and hack and slash through the enemies until you run out of stamina, use a health potion as needed, wait a couple seconds and repeat. There's a charge feature which makes combat a bit more interesting, but it is learned way too late into the game to save the simplistic combat system. The inventory system isn't great, limited space in both personal and long term storage, so you can't hoard items, and as you are cash strapped, the game often devolves in running back and forth between shops to sell items. The inventory system also lacks a sorting feature, so clearing your inventory when it fills up becomes an extensive chore. As for the shops, they suffer from the typical RPG flaw of rarely having any worthwhile items for your character while being swamped with particularly good items for the other classes (guessing this is to facilitate a trading system for players with xbox live gold, but it should be removed for solo campaigns), though you can cycle the shops inventory by leaving the area and running back until you find something useful, but this gets annoying after repeating a dozen times. There are no treasure chests on the map, only monsters drop coin and items, and the map is often linear with side passages that have nothing special, so exploration is not rewarded. Minion type one-hit kill monsters litter the board after you defeat the regular enemies on the map, they're useful for recovering your potion supply but not for much else. The leveling system is a minimalist joke, there's hardly any choices involved, and learning new skills requires a bounty hunt type quest, often for monsters that don't exist on the maps you're traveling on, so knowing which skills to learn first becomes a task in itself. Also, as far as I've found, most of the skills are nearly worthless in the game when compared to weapon attacks, and you can't hotmap your favorite skills to the D-pad, so you have to go through the menu each time to switch skills, which certainly breaks immersion. Lastly, they really should have put more effort into the voice acting, most character dialogues are repeated multiple times in the game. Suffice to say, avoid this game. | video-games_xbox |
The best fighter right now in my opinion. I consider myself a fighting game enthusiast. I spend probably way too much time on forums and sites like Shoryuken, Eventhubs, and Dream Cancel. I own an expensive arcade stick that my level of play probably doesn't justify me purchasing. I've been playing fighters seriously since Street Fighter Alpha 2. I'd only dabbled in KOF during those days, mainly the classic KOF '98. I've heard tons of great things about KOF XIII and decided to take the dive myself. I own and have sunk lots of time into all the big fighters of this generation: SSF4: AE 2012, Blazblue: CS (please note I haven't played EXTEND and don't really plan on getting it), UMVC3, and SF x Tk. In my opinion, KOF XIII is the single BEST fighting game of this generation, and I hope I can make a great case for you to check out this fantastic game.
First off, this game looks absolutely stunning. The "baboon hand" art style of the new Street Fighter games has always been divisive, and some people can get turned off by Blazblue's heavy anime feel (though that's a beautiful game as well objectively). The style of UMVC3, which is semi-borrowed from Tatsunoko Vs. Capcom, is pretty stunning as well, but if you're a fan of detailed 2-D, hand-drawn animation with TONS of character and personality, your eyes will feast on the amazing visuals in KOF XIII. There are over 30 characters here, all of whom represent different countries, styles, fighting styles, and body types. These SNK designs have stood the test of time, as characters like Kyo, K', and Iori seem, if anything, cooler and more stylish than ever. The backgrounds are generally great too, like a crowded London street with onlookers on double decker buses and a street market backdrop with massive 3-D elephants that blend in with the 2-D perfectly. There are SOME questionable ethnic stereotypes at play here, but that's a discussion for another day. As well, some of the onlookers get way too "animated," as the game speeds their fist pumps and claps up way too much to the point that it's sometimes distracting.
The most important thing about the visuals gameplay-wise is that powerful moves shake the screen and really look like they hurt. You FEEL the blows in this game, which is a credit to its presentation.
The music, which comes to you in a 4-disc soundtrack if you pre-ordered, is amazing as well, and endearingly old-school. You'll hear the same mix of crunchy guitar riffs and catchy synthesizers that have been the hallmark of this series for years. Note: I ordered the Xbox 360 version a few months after the game originally came out and STILL got the soundtrack, however I can't guarantee that if you buy the game now you'll still get it. I think your chances are better on 360 because it sold less on that platform.
The game has a variety of modes, including a Blazblue-ish "visual novel" story mode if you care about that kind of thing. Given that the "Ash Crimson Saga" was last touched upon in KOF XI on the Playstation 2, you might have already forgotten all about the whole "Ash is a very pretty man who is an enigmatic protagonist and can be good or evil" thing, so story mode is for hardcore KOF nerds more than a general audience. If you're just a fighting game nut, though, there are TONS of modes here, such as an Arcade mode with light story elements (all the characters have intros with each other), a Versus mode, a pretty robust practice mode with a variety of options, a variety of challenge modes like time attack and survival, color edit mode that unlocks more options as you play the game, a gallery that unlocks pictures and other things as you play, and what is my opinion the star of the show: the insanely hard Trials mode. Seriously guys, these trials, where you perform set combos with all characters that ramp up in difficulty, are freakin' brutal, the HARDEST of any fighter out right now. This segues right into my passion for this game: the trials are difficult but SO rewarding once you pull them off.
In my opinion, being a top-level player in any fighter is a difficult task that takes tons of muscle memory, practice, and skill. Where the rewarding difficulty lies in KOF is that timing and inputs have to be EXACT. The basic idea for combos is that, once you have meter, you cancel moves into each other. The way that works is that I can cancel a special move into a super move, but I input the super as soon as the first move hits. Seeing as how KOF has motions that aren't common in other games, such as two half circles back or combinations of diagonals and quarter circles, this is, in a word, freakin' hard.
Also, it feels damn awesome when you start to pull them off.
There are two meters in KOF XIII, one for canceling special moves and another for supers and EX moves, so meter management is huge in this game. Since you fight with a team of three, you can develop great strategies like using your first character as a "battery" to build meter, and pick your "anchor" character so that your last guy can take full advantage of meter. You can also enter a "custom combo" state once the HD meter, or "special move cancel meter," is full, and this allows you to pull off devastating combos by linking special move cancels for as long as the draining bar has meter left. Pulling these combos off is the meat of the game. I enter Hyper Drive mode, chain a combination of specials and normals together, and assuming I have super meter, I end the state by unleashing a super at the end. If I have lots of meter, I can even cancel a regular super into a level 3 "Neo Max" super. When you look at matches online with high-level players, you might think that the game is "broken" since you can effectively pull off close to 100% damage combos. However, I can assure you that you truly EARN all the damage you dish out in KOF. Nothing comes easy and that's a great thing for hardcore fighting fans.
KOF is a very fast-paced game and incredibly strategic. Matches are default at 60 seconds and most end way before that. You can dash, roll, jump, super jump, hop, and hyper hop in this game, which opens up tons of options in terms of spacing. You can also pull off guard counters that take up meter if you're getting pressured and have access to a "blowback" move that comes out sort of like a Focus Attack in SFIV. There's also a guard crush system so you can't just block all day.
Netplay is pretty decent, but not as smooth as something like Blazblue. As long as there's decent connections on both ends though, it won't be that much of a problem. There are absolutely NO game-breaking issues like SF x Tk's awful online though. Take note that there is also not a spectator mode, which is a bummer.
The last thing I'll say about KOF XIII is that, although there are still tiers in a sense, like for example Benimaru being a beast, the game is set up so that all characters give and receive the same damage. A big grappler like Daimon does the same damage to the schoolgirl Athena as he does to another big dude like Clark, and takes the same damage from Clark as Athena would. More than any other game right now, KOF XIII comes down to skill. I'll be honest, I still fairly suck at this game. But I put in the work everyday because it's the most fast-paced and rewarding fighter out there right now. For $40, you can't go wrong if you're a fighting game fan.
Note: In my opinion, because of the unorthodox inputs, this game is almost impossible to get the most out of with anything but a stick. That's just my personal opinion so if you're a diehard pad person, by all means give it a try and see if you can hang. | video-games_xbox |
Dungeon Keeper Meets Pikmin. While the commercials make Overlord seem like a Dungeon Keeper game - a series I *adored* - in actual gameplay, this is pretty much Pikmin with an attitude. This can be great or annoying depending on your point of view.
You are playing a dark lord who looks very suspiciously like Sauron from the Lord of the Rings series. Your advisor and minions are straight from Gremlins, with perhaps a bit of Yoda thrown in for good measure. When you head out on your first world to conquer, you run into hobbits, who live in little holes with round doors, in a village named ... "Spree". Yes, the game goes out of its way to be cute and poke fun at all fantasy stories.
Just like in Dungeon Keeper, you are in control of a swarm of mindless but generally loyal lackeys. You start with just the basic grunts, but as you progress you can unlock a healthy variety of creature types.
Most of your tasks are typical - get 10 minions to push aside a blockade, send your minions in to raze a village, and so on. While you are praised for being "evil", you're also warned to allow at least some innocents to survive so they provide workers for your empire. Meanwhile, back at the Evil Castle, your progress means that they fix up the place so it is worthy of being your home.
I do have to admit the little minions are quite cute. If you raid a pumpkin patch, a few of them will grab pumpkins and stick them on their heads. As they find weapons and armor, they'll equip them, so each minion becomes unique. If you need health, you have to sacrifice a few minions at an altar - and sometimes it's hard to do it, because you've become fond of the little critters. Still, that's the price of being evil. You can generate more, but they start out in their raw state.
The dialogue is appropriately dark and wry, although not nearly as great as some of the lines from Dungeon Keeper. Some of your quests also seem not to make any sense. You have to *save* people from slavery?? You have to get food for people? These don't sound like very evil acts to me. Then, when you run rampant in their town, they whine about the mess. They should be quaking in fear!
I found the Pikmin micromanaging a little annoying - an evil overlord shouldn't have to be telling his minions to clear the way to the next point of attack. I also found the camera to be quite more annoying at times.
Still, since there's no new Dungeon Keeper game on the horizon, this fills the spot admirably and does have a lot of fun in it. Well recommended, and for people who enjoy this type of gameplay who haven't played the Dungeon Keeper games yet - go buy them! See where this genre came from :) | video-games_xbox |
Release your inner musician. My two greatest passions in life have been gaming and music. I still remember the day I opened presents on Christmas morning, and discovered Santa had left me a Nintendo 64. From the moment I powered it up, I knew I had found a life long hobby. I have also grown up listening to classic rock bands such as Rush, Journey, and AC/DC while also developing my own musical interests, with bands such as Good Charlotte, 30 Seconds to Mars, and Fall Out Boy. Naturally, when I heard about Guitar Hero, a game which allows players to play along with some of their favorite songs through there video gaming console, I had to check it out. After my first play through, I knew I needed to invest in my childhood dream of being a "rockstar."
Guitar Hero: World Tour is easily my favorite installment of the series. Since Activision's first release, they have been finding new ways to improve their gameplay with each game, and World Tour accomplishes just that. World Tour's predecessors were limited to a 2-player, guitar exclusive setup, as the original game was released on PlayStation 2 and it only possessed two controller ports. However, thanks to wireless technology this is no longer a constraint and allowed Activision to expand to 4-players, complete with vocals, guitar, drums, and bass. Granted, the microphone that comes with this bundle does need to be plugged in, but for the most part the game has gone wireless.
Thanks to their expansion, some people are now more willing to become part of the band. Before this game's release, I saw many people at parties who would not play for a variety of reasons. Some did not have the hand-eye coordination to strum along with the game, others simply preferred to sing, or there was the more obvious problem of a 2-player game. But once World Tour was released I saw a big shift; many of those people started to become musicians. The drums and vocals widened the spectrum for players, giving Guitar Hero veterans a chance at new play styles, while also allowing new players to join in the fun if the guitar aspect of the game was originally intimidating for them.
The downside to this multiplayer expansion is, just as before, the band is restricted to only one of each instrument. For example, if someone possessed two guitars only one person could play lead guitar and the other had to play bass, or if they had two drum kits, only one set could be used. There are ways around this, such as swapping instruments, but having tried this I realize how cumbersome it can be to switch guitars with another player after each performance.
Activision also enhanced the guitar portion of the game, both with the controller itself as well as the game's mechanics. The controller now has a touch-pad senor on the fretboard, which functions as a different way of strumming notes and can be used during certain highlighted solos. The touch-pad can also change the tone and sound of sustained notes, similar to the whammy bar's function. Because of the touch-pad's versatility, it allows players to add their own personal flair to their performances. As for gameplay mechanics, some guitar solos have been modified and strung together by a purple thread that can be seen during gameplay. This thread indicates to players they can either use the touch-pad, as mentioned above. After some experimenting, I also discovered that these threaded solos do not require the player to strum and they can simply push the frets to play the notes, which again allows rockers to add their own touch. I know I enjoy using both hands on the frets when some of the crazy solos come around, not only because they are difficult but it looks cool.
As for the other pieces of the bundle, the most troublesome instrument of all of them is the drum set. My experience with the drums has been, for the most part, pretty positive. However there are some major shortcomings in this new instrument. The most detrimental issue is the fragility of the bass pedal and its cord. I have gone through two pedals because the cord has a tendency to be pulled out from the pedal itself, therefore destroying its functionality. This can be extremely frustrating, as I know I find the bass pedal to be the most fun part of the drums. The easiest fix for this issue is to purchase another pedal from a third party vendor, though there are other self-fix guides around the web if anyone wants to save money. The other problem I have been faced with while playing drums is the sensitivity of the pads. I have read numerous reasons for this issue, ranging from misplaced sensors in the pads, to hitting the pads too hard or too lightly. In any case, there are occasions when the drums miss a note or two because of this insensitivity, and for those who have played previous versions, that destroys an awesome Note Streak. More recent kits, such as the one in the Warriors of Rock edition, have had this issue corrected to some degree but it is still a work in progress.
Even taking into account the band limitations and drumming dilemma, this product is a worthy purchase. If you are a Guitar Hero veteran and are unsure of how to feel about the new instruments, you should invest in this game. I know when World Tour came out, I found Guitar Hero III to be rather dull because of the static gameplay. But the band expansion allowed me to try new things, and by playing with the drums I found my guitar skills improved because I started developing an even better sense of rhythm. As for new comers to the series, this is the game to buy. With so many options, you're bound to find your niche in this game. Either way, players will be able to fulfill a possible childhood dream of becoming a member of an awesome band, just as I did! | video-games_xbox |
Bioshock Story-WARNING,SPOILER-from Wikipedia.org. <a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/BioShock/dp/B000MKA60W/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">BioShock</a>Story
The underwater city of Rapture
At the start of the game, Jack (the character controlled by the player) is a passenger on a plane that goes down in the Atlantic Ocean in 1960,[37] after ordered society in Rapture has collapsed.[38] After surfacing, Jack finds himself the only survivor of the crash, and swims to a nearby lighthouse, where he finds a bathysphere which he uses to descend into the ocean and enter the failed "paradise" of Rapture.[39] Atlas assists Jack via radio in making his way to safety, while Ryan, believing Jack to be a government agent (though he's not sure which government), uses Rapture's automated systems and his pheromone-controlled Splicers against him. Atlas tells Jack that the only way he can survive is to use the abilities granted by plasmids, and that he must kill the Little Sisters to extract their ADAM. Overhearing Atlas' words, Dr. Tennenbaum intercepts Jack, and urges him to save the Little Sisters instead. She gives him a special plasmid that will kill only the embedded slugs while leaving the girls alive and restoring their humanity, albeit with a much smaller reward of ADAM for Jack. Tennenbaum promises to repay him if he does as she asks.[34] As Jack works his way through the city, he learns about Rapture's fate and history through audio logs, genetically-induced ghostly playbacks of past events, and radio messages. Atlas says his wife and child have been hiding on a submarine, and just as Jack and Atlas reach the bay where it is located, Ryan has it destroyed; an enraged Atlas tells Jack that Ryan must die.
Jack makes his way to Ryan, who offers no resistance to Jack's efforts, but instead reveals why Jack has come to Rapture: Jack was actually born in Rapture a mere two years ago, genetically modified to mature rapidly. He is Ryan's illegitimate son by an affair with Jasmine Jolene, an exotic dancer.[35] Ryan further reveals that, after purchasing Jack's embryo, Frank Fontaine designed him to obey orders that are preceded or followed by the specific phrase "Would you kindly." Jack was then sent to the surface when the war started to put him beyond Ryan's reach. When the conflict between Fontaine and Ryan reached a stalemate, Jack was sent instructions to board a flight with a package. At a designated time he opened the package to discover a gun and instructions to hijack and crash the plane next to the lighthouse, enabling him to return to Rapture as the cat's-paw of Atlas. Ryan calmly demonstrates Jack's lack of free will by forcing him to follow his commands using the trigger phrase, "Would you kindly..." which Jack then realizes Atlas has been using since his arrival. Ryan then orders Jack to kill him, so as to die on his own terms. Atlas, in complete control of the city as a result of Ryan's death, reveals himself to be Frank Fontaine, having faked his own death and adopted the alias and persona of Atlas to throw Ryan off his trail. With Ryan dead, Fontaine no longer needs Jack, and leaves him at the mercy of the reactivated security systems. Nevertheless, Dr. Tennenbaum and her Little Sisters help Jack escape through the vent system, where he falls and loses consciousness.
When Jack awakes, Dr. Tennenbaum has already deactivated some of his conditioned responses and assists him in breaking the remaining ones, among them one that would have eventually stopped his heart. During their subsequent pursuit of Fontaine, the doctor predicts that the only way to get through the last few obstacles would be to assemble a Big Daddy diving suit and follow the rescued Little Sisters through the passageways that only they can open. By the time Jack reaches him, Fontaine has injected himself with vast amounts of ADAM, becoming an inhuman monster. Jack and Fontaine battle, and Jack eventually prevails, allowing the Little Sisters to subdue Fontaine, by swarming over Fontaine and stabbing him with their needles, killing him by draining all the ADAM out of his system. Here the game ends.
Three endings are possible depending on how the player interacted with the Little Sisters, all narrated by Dr. Tennenbaum. If the player rescued all the Little Sisters (therefore saving their lives), the ending shows the rescued Little Sisters returning to the surface with Jack and living full lives under his care, including them graduating from college, getting married, and having children; it ends on a heart-warming tone, with an elderly Jack surrounded on his deathbed by all of the adult Little Sisters. If the player harvested (and therefore killed) more than two, but not all, of the Little Sisters, the game ends with Jack turning on the Sisters after defeating Fontaine, presumably killing them all and taking their ADAM. Tennenbaum's voice narrates what occurred, condemning Jack and his actions. Later in the second ending, a ballistic missile submarine carrying a nuclear missile comes across the wreckage of the plane and is suddenly surrounded by bathyspheres containing Splicers. The Splicers kill all hands aboard the submarine and take control of it.[40] If the player harvested all of the Little Sisters, the player is shown the same movie as the second ending, though the tone of Tennenbaum's voice is angrier.[41] | video-games_xbox |
Truly the best baseball experience to date. Baseball fans, you no longer need to cringe everytime you hear EA Sports and our favorite pasttime in the same sentence. Gone are the days of the lowly (once decent) Triple Play series. Last years offering, MVP 2003, ushered in a new era in baseball games; this game takes it to another, never before seen, level. Simply put, this game is amazing.
First off hitting is easy. Not necessarily easy in the sense of being able to launch a small, white ball over the wall everytime, but easy to understand. The strike zone is divided into nine sections and you simply need to swing towards the section that the ball is pitched in. Of course that's not so easy as the ball comes whizzing in at 95 mph with some nasty spin on it. The hitting system makes perfect sense and really puts you in the eyes of a Major League batter!
Pitching is also intuitive, yet challenging. You choose your pitch, hold down the appropriate button until the meter fills, and tap the button again as it goes through the green accuracy zone. It feels very natural and is fairly easy to execute, but like real life, if you choose the wrong pitch or location...
Fielding in this game is the best of any game I've ever played. Hold the button to throw to the appropriate base. Hold it longer for more power, hold it too long and the throw could go sailing into the stands. It's a perfect risk/reward system. Of course better fielders are less likely to miscue than some 2nd year outfielder turned shortstop.
Among the other details included in this game are intentional walks, sliding to either side of the bag, barreling over the catcher at home, the ability to charge the mound EVERY time you are hit, and countless others that I don't have the time or space to put in here. There is an incredibly deep dynasty mode, several jerseys, players, and stadiums to unlock. (The old time stadiums are absolutely breathtaking!)
Don't get caught in a rundown; run out and pick this one up today! If you love baseball games then this will NOT disappoint you! | video-games_xbox |
Great Game. This is a truly fun game. I received it for Christmas, and could not stop playing it. (I am only not playing it now becuase my fingers aare hurting) Mostly the game is about customizing your car. If you really don't give a rats tail about cars, this game isn't for you. But if you are like me and like cars that aren't like Lamborghini's, you'll like this game. You can customize everything from the base paint to the brake calipers colors, and from your roof scope to what kind of nitrous oxide brand you want. A drawback is that you must wait to unlock visual stuff- you should be able to put stuff on your car as soon as you can afford it. right now i have some million dollars becuase i cant spend it on anything- once you've put one of everything new on yuor car theres no point in buying more glow if you can only put one set on it at a time. Also, the computer players can come out of absolutely NOWHERE, even if you have about a 20 second lead, they can close that to a 2 second lead in a single lap. There are also invisible walls that you cant see and you run into midair that completely throws you off and wastes time. the only other bad thing is that your car can NOT get totalled. the worst that happens is your side mirrors get ripped off. But the drag mode is awesome! its completely unpredictible, yo ucan get burned off the start but some wise usuage of Nitrous and a couple perfect shifts and you can have everyone biting the dust behind you. The graphics in this game are stunning- you almost think its real. If you could take a picture of just a car that you'd created, not the scenary or anything, it wouldf appear to be real. EA really did well on this game. It has an unbelievable sense of speed you cant get anywhere else- I've rented Midnight club II there is absolutely no sense of speed you can be going 120 and feel like its only 30. over all, this game has great replay value becuase you can try it over in different cars and trade cars and always customize. One more drawback- you cant stick vynals on your hood unless its stock and if its stock, your reputation meter sucks. | video-games_xbox |
So Glad I Rented It First. I really wanted to add this game to my Christmas list it looked like a lot of fun and I have always been a huge fan of board games even at 23 but I am so glad that I rented this first.
I was really disappointed on so many levels.
Cons:
*Not XBL compatible I wanted to play online with friends/others online.
*The Achievements are very vague so many times I completed what they asked yet didn't receive my points only to find out you had to be in a certain mode of the game.
* Slow response time/game play. Almost seems rigged? Connect 4 basketball you would have to wait for the opponent to shoot before you could you couldn't just fire the shots off one after another. Bop it after playing multiple times I knew exactly where the computer was going to mess up.
* Had some trouble with it reading the Kinect sensor esp on bop it. However the main problem was that itd pause and then id have to try to get the sensor to recognize me or sign back in again to resume play. VERY ANNOYING. Its also VERY touchy making some games really hard to play like selecting the pins to put back in Yahtzee..the screen was over crowded it would put back the wrong pin (easy to undo) but then you had the point guide on the right side and the confirm button on the left and it (the xbox) just got confused as to what you were trying to do.
* Tutorials.. how am I suppose to know what to do??? Yes it shows you pictures but so many times I did what the pictures were showing with no response. Once you figure it out its not hard but still would have been helpful.
* I HATE the fact that it really doesn't matter how many games you win if you don't have the "cash card" in the end you loose overall even if your opponent only one one match ..its unfair
Pros:
* VERY VERY easy game to up your gamer score with I received over 300 gamerpoints the first day I played.
* Its is fun and family friendly Id play it alot on rainy days and snow days but it wouldnt be the game id pull out to play everyday
* Game play does become less boring with Kinect.
Overall Id highly recommend renting it before buying. I think little kids are going to have a problem figuring out the controls and how to do the different games at first. At 23 and an avid gamer it was frustrating even for me trying to figure out the control on Kinect and getting it to do what I actually was doing but it does have somewhat of a fun factor once you get use to it but again its not something Id play every day but would rather save for those rainy/snow days. | video-games_xbox |
Great ideas, some lazy execution. Supreme Commander 2 is the followup to the niche hardcore RTS Supreme Commander, which is the spiritual successor to Total Annihilation, with a big-robot-leader-unit nod to Herzog Zwei. As with any game with a strong pedigree, fans are deeply divided over whether the sequel is the second coming or an utter abomination- in this case it's neither.
Supcom 1 broke the mold with huge unit counts that readily pushed the thousands (rivaled only by Empire Earth, as far as I know, and Empire Earth is horrible). There was however no way to improve these units, and once you researched tank #2, tank #1 just gathered dust. Supreme Commander 2 squeezes down the number of units available and enables you to improve them with new and augmented equipment. It does a good job compressing the first game's complexity, but fans will be annoyed at the loss of scale, and the lessened ability to create multiple standalone bases and armies. Similarly, while the maps now have more detail and more features packed into every square inch, they are also much smaller. This is most evident on maps remade from the original game, and represents a sad concession to the limits of console hardware.
The sci-fi element of the game, however, has been turned up to 11. Teleporters, flying battleships, and cannons that rapid fire tanks now abound, along with other insane super-science game-changers. However, the small maps and faster action mean that in games between skilled players you won't see a lot of the late-game stuff. Still, it's neat to suddenly bust out anti-air turrets on your tanks or unleash a huge robot squid into the oceans to destroy your enemies. Just don't count on games being the slugfests they were in 1, for better or worse.
I'm a fan of most of the changes to 2 and i could easily say it's better than 1 in all respects, but there are some problems. First off the campaign is rubbish. Supcom 1 gave us 3 reasonably long campaigns with some extra in the expansion. In 2 we get one campaign with some missions for each faction, and these missions mostly feel like tutorials for new units. Only the final mission lets you truly cut loose, and it just plays out as a long, frustrating grind. The cutscenes are also poorly rendered and undetailed, which is especially sad in light of the great video quality one expects from Square-Enix games, and the awesome video snippets in the first game.
The graphics are also a point of contention. With fewer units and smaller maps (and several years of time passed) you would expect that Supcom 2 would look far better than 1, but the core engine is almost unchanged. The art style is a BIT tighter, but overall the visual quality remains the same.
So should you buy it? If you like RTS games with big armies and lots of odd unit choices, yes. If you liked the first game and wished it was a bit faster-paced and more interesting, yes. If you demand huge armies and continent-scale maps, cutting edge graphics, or an immersive plot, you may be better served by Supcom 1 with Forged Alliance, Starcraft 2, or Dawn of War 2 respectively. With a bit more spit and polish, and fewer concessions for consoles this could have been the undisputed king of the PC RTS scene, but as it stands it has some stiff competition.
PROS
-Big unit counts, lots of flexibility in how to play, fun over-the-top endgame units
-Fast pace but battles still feel big
-Detailed, micro-machines-esque units overcome dated graphics somewhat
CONS
-Requirements too high for how dated it looks. Forgettable cutscenes and music.
-Smaller maps make some units game-breaking (on the smallest maps the Illuminate can tactical missile their way to victory without ever leaving their house)
-Poor multiplayer scene, skirmish AI cheats, and the campaign isn't as god as it ought to be | video-games_xbox |
Excellent game. Awesome game. Sick graphics (that means very good). Excellent controls using the standard controller. The tutorial is fun and effective. The campaign mode is engaging and well done. Lots of replayability. Most of all it's FUN!
The main things I look for in a console game are: Can I pick this game up in a short time and start having fun? Yes. Does it have an engaging campaign mode that draws you in and gives you reasons to continue? Yes. Are the graphics decent? Yes. Is the game frustrating for any reason, i.e. poor control layout, lack of save game at the right times, can't do what you would logically expect to do. No.
It's clear to me that a lot of thought went into this game. Flying, which you do most of the time, is very intuitive. The planes react smoothly and you don't find yourself overreacting much (which is common in many other racing/flight games). The cut scenes are superb. The animation is high quality and the voice acting is good. The plot is obviously contrived on the old East vs West theme (Estovakia complete with eastern European accents vs. Emmeria, i.e. America complete with the lost family. But these days what else are you going to do for modern conventional warfare? It's still engaging if not highly plausible.
Compared to many of the other games out there for the Xbox360, this games offers a lot. I didn't want a RPG like Oblivion (don't have the time for it). I didn't want another lame sports game (I have the Wii for that). I didn't want -another- spaced out zombie mutated freak monsters invading the earth and save the world game (saving that for Mass Effect when it comes out). For me this game hits the spot. Plus, it's well engineered and stable.
I checked out a couple other less flattering reviews and I think they are from people who just aren't into the genre. Personally, I don't see this as a flight sim where you have to fully understand how to fly a real plane and you have to have the skill to do it. I see it as more as a game that lets you have fun flying planes and draws you into an engaging, meaningful story. And, the missions are just the right size for me. It's a great game for a casual gamer who maybe can only play for 30-60 minutes. It's also fun for anyone who wants to play longer, obviously.
To sum up... This is a very good game that you should have lots of fun with. If the thought of flying combat planes appeals to you in any way, and you enjoy being involved in a large plot, this game is for you. | video-games_xbox |
Mass Effect 3: Shepard's Choice. Okay, let me say that I really, really enjoyed this series of games. Moreover, I really felt as I started ME3 that I was playing part of the first game again. The game is beautiful, the music is excellent, the story (for the most part) is a wonderful way to end Shepard's story. I really felt that it was a great idea to have so many elements of the series come back and play a part in the lead up to the conclusion. I even enjoyed the multiplayer of this title (which was something I was worried about because I didn't want Mass Effect to suddenly become Halo 3).
I was hanging on to the story and, knowing that this is the end to the series, was hoping for an epic conclusion to the game; which admittedly I got. However, the final end, the absolute conclusion to Shepard's story comes down to a decision that is not exactly paid off by the rest of the story. The whole series to this point has been "How do we stop/kill the Reapers? Can we even do it?", but then, of the blue, the question/point is changed to something that is not quite as fitting. And if I were to tell the complete, honest truth, I was seriously let down by this.
But, let me say that while I (and many other people) found the ending less than remarkable, I am not going to bash this game simply because I feel a little betrayed. The game is great, worthy of 5 stars up until the last 45 minutes or so. It is fun trying to wrap up all of the story lines which we have been presented with and trying to make sense of what is going to happen. The characters had to have their stories concluded in a satisfactory way, and they are. The major conflicts we have seen and the events we have set in motion throughout the series all play a part, big or small, in the way this game is played.
BioWare, I want to thank you for taking me on a wonderful adventure over the last 5 years, and there is no way that I am going to let the last few feet of that journey take away the fun and excitement I have had during that time.
5 stars for fun, nostalgia, and continuity... but, 0 stars for the final let down... Goodbye, Shepard. | video-games_xbox |
Tiger Woods 2013 Beta. This game (like most EA games) is extremely buggy. The game has been out for over a month now and they still have not fixed the disappearing flag glitch. Which won't allow you to see the flagstick when you can hit the green in one. Also the wind is inconsistent, meaning playing online someone might have a fluctuating 8mph wind while someone else has a 4mph. I am undecided on if this is just displaying a different wind and the real wind factor is unknown or if it is just different for each player on the same course at the same time. This is critical when setting up your shot. But by far the most frustrating glitch is that the game will freeze up. The only way to unfreeze the game is to reset your xbox. This is very frustrating especially when playing in tournaments since most of them you can only enter once. If you are forced to reset your xbox due to a lock up you become ineligible for that tournament since the game thinks you quit. This happens to me at least twice a day. Freeze ups also seem more common during the Tiger Challenges, which simply follow Tiger throughout his career from childhood. None of the challenges are very difficult its just a matter of putting in the time. Not to mention putting up with the game locking up in the middle of every 4th event or so.
I've read a few of these reviews, one in particular about this game seemed like you were playing the beta. Thats probably the best description for this inferior product. Someone PLEASE release a new golf simulation game, or ANY sports simulation game that EA has a monopoly on. The people are tired of settling for half finished "Microtransaction" games that try to milk more money out of the consumer while dodging any issues with the game itself. Just type any glitch I mentioned above into google. You will see several links about issues but not one solution on EAs forums. Not even a mention of them aware or working on the issue. Except for the coin glitch in which people were able to use EAs own half ass programming to exploit their coin system, which potentially cost EA money.. They fixed that within a week or so. This is standard for EA.
The people are tired of it. | video-games_xbox |
One step forward and one step back for Bioware and ME. I really enjoy ME2 but I think the game is really only worth about 3.5 stars. The main reason for this is the "improvements" were in many ways not as good as they should have been. First off the xp and money system was completely redone. Now you get xp only from completing quests and no longer from enemies ( Money is gotten from hacking and mission completions too ). In one respect this is fine but when you add in their new game plus mechanics this ends up being somewhat of a dissapointment.
Let me explain further, when you import an ME2 character from a previous game into a new ME2 game you start without any upgrades, resources, paragon/renegade points, or money from the previous game only really keeping your level, weapons, and armor. This is annoying because you cannot make enough money to buy all the upgrades/research in the game and you will have to probe all the resources you will need to upgrade all over again ( the most mindnumbingly boring part of the game ). While you can level to 30, the max, in one playthrough this is only possible if you previously imported your ME1 character over and did EVERY sidequest in the game. These annoyances are only mildly alleviated by the perks you get if you completed some of the achievements but at best they are minor boosts to money, resources, and paragon points. I personally do not see any real point to replaying the same character again just to get max level or attempt to get max paragon and renegade on one character.
In my playthrough I got to level 30 so my paragon character will not be replayed but I will now be playing my renegade character on Insanity just to finish off all the achievements and see the renegade choices fully. But to me replayability is rather shot to hell unlike how well it was done in ME1. If they had atleast let me keep the upgrades replaying my character on insanity would make alot more sense and would also probably be more fun.
So I touched on this earlier and I am sure you have heard this already, but probing all the planets but Uranus ( for a neat easter egg ) is extremely boring. As an upgrade from the Mako and screwed up planets/mountains in ME 1 this is a huge step backwards. Timesinks are ok but make them atleast a little entertaining... please.
Item management has been redone for the better, no more constantly omnigeling everything end game. However I would have prefered more armor choices and the ability to remove the helmet for the "collector" and DLC armor. Weapons were a huge improvement! Gone is Edge 1/2/3/4/etc. and in its place are unique weapons that all play differently when you use them. This makes for a much more tactical and fun play by choosing the weapon that works for you. My only one little itty bitty complaint about the weapons is not being able to see their stats in game but having to figure them out through trial and error.
While the story for ME2 is a direct continuation from the first release the over-arching storyline in this installment is more filler for the final installment. I had no problem with this because I largely enjoyed the story and the character developement in ME2 was top notch. Mordin took the cake for me in terms of character development and interest... but Tali still puts all the other females to shame in this installment. There are lots of little things in the game that kept me laughing and the voice actors did an amazing job. Martin Sheen my hat is off to you.
I highly recommend playing ME2 for the story and character development. Just be aware that there are a few flaws, but in the end its only a small part of the game as a whole.
Happy playing. | video-games_xbox |
The Most Polished & Impressive Halo to Date. *This is a single player review
Halo 4 is by all accounts an exceptional game. 343 Industries first internally developed Halo game impresses on pretty much every front. From high quality production values, to a buttery smooth framerate 99.999% of the time, to the best graphics the series has ever seen, to a more interesting story between Chief and Cortana, etc. Halo 4 is Halo at its best.
Firstly, Halo 4 plays like a dream. Similar to previous Halo's, gun combat is very satisfying, but now it's more visceral and impactful than ever before. If anyone says this is Call of Duty, that's hogwash. Other than the inclusion of sprinting, this very much feels like Halo, just improved and more polished than ever. The action is much more buttery smooth than Reach was, which makes playing a complete pleasure.
Secondly, the graphics are a massive upgrade from previous Halo's. Previous Halo's lacked quite a bit when it came to character models and animations, but Halo 4 has some of the best looking character models and animations in all of gaming. It's shocking just how much of a leap these two things are from the Halo's that came before it. Going from Halo 3 to Halo 4 shows almost a full generational leap in things like lighting, character models, and animations. In addition, Halo 4 runs in native 720p resolution, which is a first for the Halo franchise, as Halo 3, ODST, and Reach all ran at upscaled 720p. To get that full native 720p resolution, Halo 4 is locked at 30 frames-per-second, and it's a wise choice. Unlike Reach, which had a framerate that varied wildly at times, Halo 4 is pretty much consistent and performs beautifully, even when under pressure from a lot of on-screen action. 343 Industries should be commended for such a technological feat as their first project. It's very impressive.
Thirdly, the story's actually incredibly compelling. While some things aren't always crystal clear, it's mostly smooth and cohesive the majority of the time. The relationship between Master Chief and Cortana will hook you from the beginning of the game and until you reach the credits at the finale. Halo 4 is a tightly knit production that offers excellence in story, visual quality, and sound quality. It's truly a masterful game from a first time studio.
As someone who has enjoyed the other Halo games this generation, I didn't fall in love with them, so it's shocking to me that Halo 4 has hit the nail on the head in pretty much everything it set out to do. Halo 4 is the best Halo since Halo: Combat Evolved. 343 Industries has made their mark on the industry, so I truly can't wait to see what they do next. | video-games_xbox |
Great system that has some strong possibilities. I am not accustomed to owing only one console, I have an original Xbox, Gamecube, PSP, Playstation, and now an Xbox 360 in which I found one at Best Buy for $[...] which beat the bloody prices that are tagged on these system bundles. Oh and I also game on my PC too. With that knocked out of the way it seems more than anything else, an allegiance or a pact to form with a system or console maker is more relevant. On the right we have Sony boys clamoring over their PS3 specification sheets while the M$ boys say we have our system now. Let us not forget about the "We'll see you next year Revolution fans".
My point with all that jargon is that I can shed away any literalism of any bias attitude and just go straight for the review. As much as I am jet to play a PS3 version of Metal Gear Solid 4 and want to play Devil May Cry 4 as well...I am enjoying my shiny new Xbox 360 as well. Bear in mind that this system is meant to be played on an HDTV, games like Call of Duty 2, Project Gotham Racing 3 and Fight Night Round 3 are much funner to glance at higher resolutions that can maintain a smoother frame rate...compared Call of Duty 2 at 30fps at 1080i (Standard TV output) to 720p on an HDTV. I have a Samsung 32' model television that is HD and I can better appreciate the finer details and colors in games like Dead or Alive 4 and NBA 2K6.
The system itself also has a nice dashboard interface which is easy to go online with, via the Marketplace where you can buy downloads and customize your avatar. What helps too is being able to plug in an iPod and then all of a sudden replace that horrid soundtrack with tunes of your own. You can connect the Xbox 360 to a nearby PC and listen to mp3s, view images and watch clips you have stored on your PC (Take it that they are in the right format and codec). All these little perks work just fine in my world of bringing everything together oh and the wireless controllers are ace (Make sure to pick up the charge kit for gaming without having to swap out batteries).
As well balanced as I think this system is, there is no Halo and most importantly there are glitches. The system freezes and two times I had to disconnect my iPod in which that then froze too, I just repaired it by connecting to iTunes. Also about the lack of titles I think eventually some great games will be on the way but for now we'll have to wait although Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion is really good.
I would wait until you have an HDTV set, more games come out and the price dips which would be maybe in summer but if you don't mind the expenses and are ready for it, this system is the way to go. | video-games_xbox |
Unfortunate laziness by the designers hurts what could have been a great game. Mass Effect 3 is an incredibly hard game to rate. On the one hand, BioWare has taken the gameplay a step up from Mass Effect 2, and generally speaking the writing is still top notch. But on the other hand, an awful ending and some lazy design choices derail what could have been the best game of the year.
STORY
For the most part, the story in Mass Effect 3 is very good. There are some incredible set-pieces, and the deaths of certain characters can be very emotional. There are parts of the story that are completely different depending on whether you opt to follow the standard Renegade or Paragon paths, and this go around the Renegade path is incredibly more uniquely evil than it has ever been before, which perfectly goes along with the increased stakes in Mass Effect 3, as Shepherd and company fight for the future of every advanced race in the galaxy.
Unfortunately, the story is also littered with plot holes. From the deus ex machina that is a device that can destroy all of the Reapers at once revealed near the beginning of the game to the terribly-written, completely irredeemable final chapter, Mass Effect 3 is a game of awesome highs and extreme lows. Further, you spend the entire game collecting war assets that are demonstrated by an Estimated Military Strength rating only to find out that those assets don't even factor into the final battle for Earth, or in some cases even appear at all.
The ending itself deserves a special place in Hell for whoever wrote it. It makes little sense and is very poorly written. The explanation for the existence of the Reapers is quite possibly one of the most laughably bad twists I can remember in all the years I've spent playing video games. Really, the entire ending sequence is so awful that one can't help but think that it was the victim of a harsh deadline by the publisher. It just feels totally rushed, as do several other aspects of the game. Sadly, the ending is the one part of a trilogy that people really tend to remember, and the ending of Mass Effect 3 is memorably terrible, and really kills any motivation to replay much of the series since, as it turns out, none of those choices you made throughout the series end up mattering in the end.
GAMEPLAY
The gameplay is one area where Mass Effect 3 mostly succeeds. If you liked Mass Effect 2's gameplay, you'll largely be treated to more of the same, albeit with quite a few refinements. BioWare also added back in the ability to find custom attachments for weapons and custom pieces of armor, giving a level of customization that was sadly absent from Mass Effect 2.
The tech and biotic powers still function largely as the did in the first game, and taking cover is slightly more refined. The game also added in a nice roll feature, which allows you to quickly make getaways when you get caught up close with a powerful enemy. Further, melee has been made a lot more fun and, unlike in Mass Effect 2, actually useful. You can do a great power melee move that can clear out multiple enemies if they are close enough.
One downside is that the OCD scanning from Mass Effect 2 has been eliminated and, sadly, nothing has replaced it (see the design section for more details). Outside of walking around the ship/Citadel and going on shooting missions, there isn't a lot to do. No hacking or circuit minigames either. You can't help but feel that the game was dumbed down a bit even as the shooting became better and more fun.
DESIGN
The design of Mass Effect 3 is a mixed bag. Going on missions is pretty much as easy as you remember it from Mass Effect 2. You find the planet in question, fly the ship over to it, and hit a few buttons. Generally speaking, the galaxy map works as well as it always has.
The real problem with Mass Effect 3's design, though, is the overall lack of sidequests. Mass Effect 2 was filled to the brink with side missions, most of which were almost as well-designed as the main quest missions (and in many cases, were even better). Mass Effect 3, on the other hand, only has a handful of fully realized side quests, and while those are fine, it's the omission of so many more that is really glaring.
Instead, the game has added dozens of fetch quests which involve flying to a planet, scanning it, hitting the right trigger to deploy a probe, and then returning to the Citadel and giving the item to the person who gave you the quest. That's all there is to it, and in many cases the planet you're going to has no reason to contain the item you're retrieving. It starts to feel like an incredibly lazy way to extend playing time by a few hours, and when compared to the awesome side quests in Mass Effect 2 it can be a bit on the depressing side.
Finally, there's the EMS rating (as mentioned above). On paper, this is an awesome idea that could have major implications as to how the final battle plays out. You don't collect enough assets, and maybe the Reapers win the final battle. Sadly, in practice, the EMS rating turns out to be completely useless, as there are only three basically identical endings and your EMS rating only influences second-long clips in each two-minute ending. It's really just a completely useless number, and that's a shame since so much of the game revolves around collecting military assets.
OVERALL
Really, Mass Effect 3 feels like a bunch of great ideas that don't actually go anywhere. It almost feels like BioWare had an epic, branching ending prepared, but either ran out of time or money to implement it, so they put together a pile of crap instead and sent it on its way. Or maybe they decided that branching endings would make it harder to build Mass Effect sequels, so they scrapped the idea of branching endings altogether.
Regardless, the issues with the ending clearly feel financial in nature, and it's a damn shame that more care wasn't put into the finale of a series that so many gamers have come to regard as containing some of the best story-telling in gaming. BioWare had a chance to tell the greatest story in the history of gaming; one that would be talked about for years. Instead, all we're left to talk about is what could have been. | video-games_xbox |
The people with the wheels and all love the game because it's easier and set up for . I own Forza Horizon, Forza 5, Forza 6, and unfortunately Forza Horizon 3. On 5 and 6, I worked my way up in a month or 2 from brand new to Xbox to average and on 6 to some tracks above average to highly skilled using the controller. On Horizon 3 I had to go back to inexperienced to have a remote chance of winning a race. Within a few weeks, all of a sudden I race a hit sure balloon similar to the helicopter race at the beginning and once I win, game over. The credits started rolling by. I started hitting buttons and a window popped up about changing my skill level to continue. Since then it's been a consistent 12th place on all races. They want you to run clean races but use other drivaters that do what they can to make sure you don't win despite the settings. I don't race much anymore because of that. Basically I use the game and cars for photos. If I win a new car off of a spin then I will ensure enough races to add rims and things. I did find it appalling that I had beaten the game before I had received my first car pack out of the 6 I was supposed to get. Now though on average it shows I'm 46 percent through the game after a month or so of the game. I see it doing the same thing that if you don't go up in skill level then it just stops you at a certain part. Top Ten has changed this line of games so much it's appalling to charge what they do for what you get. The people with the wheels and all love the game because it's easier and set up for that level of play. If your not on that level then save your money. When you want to race, then stick with FM5 or FM6. I also would not hold your breath about getting any help or response from Microsoft, Top Ten or anyone involved with this line of games. If you don't believe this review then Google the big name companies that day they have changed this line of games from reaching sims to an arcade type game | video-games_xbox |
Just unique enough. Online gaming is the way I stay in touch with some of my friends these days, and if we play a game together, it's usually an FPS, because that's practically the only thing in the multiplayer space right now (apart from MMOs, which...just no). The point of that little intro is to say I've played a lot of shootersfrankly, too many. They're all so mind-numbingly similar that it's almost sad. When someone tried to get our little gaming group to try Overwatch, I was skeptical, but I got a little hopeful after I looked into it a bit more.
For the genre it's competing in, Overwatch is a breath of fresh air. The mechanics are solid, and the game's key differentiatorits deep rosterbrings some new life to familiar game modes. The characters in Overwatch aren't just different skins firing the same gun; they actually represent different roles on a team and are outfitted with different offensive/defensive attributes to accentuate it. They have different weapons, different abilities, even character-specific menu options, and you're not forced to choose one character as your "primary"; the dynamics of the game types actually encourage you to switch around even within the same match.
Did I mention it doesn't take itself too seriously? That's also refreshing; I'm getting tired of my video game expecting me to think I actually *am* a Navy SEAL, space marine, or whatever the 'roid ragers who shoot the giant bugs call themselves. Overwatch has a fairly cartoony feel and fast pace, and I like that.
I've stuck it at 4 stars for now mostly because it's multiplayer only, and there are only a few game types and maps right now, so it feels a little greedy to charge $60 for less overall content than you get with most AAA games. That, and the matchmaking system doesn't seem so strong right now. Both a lack of content and poor matchmaking can improve, though (and, to that first point, I think there's slated to be some free DLC coming out soon); the foundations of the game are solid, and it's a welcome addition to the pack. | video-games_xbox |
A RPG that Wins by Default. First off, I really liked this game for the fact that i'm a big turn-based RPG fan. So warning to the buyer, Enchanted Arms is an RPG in the truest sense of the phrase. I will start by saying that if you aren't a turn-based RPG fan you should probably rent this game first to see if you like it, it's definitely worth a rental!!! This is a genre that the 360 was missing, though there are other RPG's for the 360, none are Turn based. So let's get started!!
Graphics, Great!! I'd say definitely better than Xbox or PS2, but not Amazing, but I would say "Great". The graphics shine the most in my opinion when in a battle, magic spells and skills shine vibrantly and beautifully!! There are also extra extended skills which are loosely similar to the FFVII limit breaks, which look amazing!! Are the graphics Next-Gen? I would say yes!! Do they compare to other graphically amazing 360 games like Fight Night 3 (just one example)? No it doesn't but at times the game does show 360 power.
Sound, Okay, nothing amazing here at all! Voice over are average, they are good but I have seen better. Background music is typical of your average RPG.
Controls, Great. For a turn-based RPG that is. I mean it is turn based so it controls never get complicated, Menu navigation is really easy and standard I was able to figure out how to upgrade skills, equip, and synthesize golems without ever looking at the manual.
Gameplay, okay this is where and why I decided to give this game a 4 instead of a overall 3. The gameplay is pretty fresh, because of the addition of Golem creating and using them in Battle, which I will touch on a little later. But first the battle system, which is a pretty good combo of Turn-base/strategy, cause your team is place on a grid where you can only move your players anywhere within the grid, of course movements are limited to spaces available and how far a specific character can move. So strategy comes in to play by trying to put yourself in range to attack, heal others, and defend. What really impressed me was the use of Golems, which I can only compare very loosely to Pokemon. Golems are used similar to how Pokemon are used, i.e. to help you fight, heal, protect, etc. This feature adds another level of gameplay to this game which raised this game from "mediocre" to "Very good". Simply because you can capture parts of golems you have fought or randomly find parts to create your own Golems to fight for you. Building different golems is pretty easy and quite addicting, thus far. I am only in the first 25% of the game right now and I am already addicted to creating golems from parts I have found, I only imagine this feature getting better with the ability to build stronger and more interesting golems. Without this feature this would have been a really mediocre RPG. So overall the gameplay holds this title together and great gameplay is what we all look for in a game right?
Story, the story so far seems to be average, like I said I am only 25% in to it so I am hoping this will improve as the game goes on but for right now there is nothing amazing here as far as the story goes.
So overall, if you are a turn based RPG fan and you own a 360 then you will definitely want to pick this game up. But this game is definitely not a ground breaker and definitely not a reason to run out and buy a 360 (there are other games that warrant that). But all in all I can't think of a reason to tell any XBOX 360 turn based RPG fans not buy this game, especially since it is the only one of its kind available for the 360. For others though I would only suggest waiting for a demo or a rental to see if you like what this game does.
I personally am a fan of lots of all Genres of games, with the exception of a lot of strict car driving games, so I thoroughly enjoy this game so far. I could definitely understand an argument for this game not being even close to one of the best RPG's ever, but for the first turn based RPG for the 360 I think it fairs pretty well. | video-games_xbox |
Overall great game but lacking some fundamentals. I pre-ordered this game and have played at least 10 hours on it, have gotten pretty far in the campaign (although it will not let me progress to the next level even though I have beat the previous level 3 times now). Personally I enjoy it quite a bit. The game play is wonderful. The cover system is great, there is a system on the game that allows you to quickly move from cover to cover in the quickest way possible. The controls are good but take some getting used to. The fellow Ghost AI is for the most part smart and will listen to you. There are also challenges in each level in the campaign and by completing these challenges it unlocks different guns and attachments you can use throughout the campaign. Also gunsmith is a excellent part of the game. There is a lot of customization that goes into your weapon. From changing the optics, to changing the barrel length of your weapon, plus you can quickly jump to the fire range and test fire your weapons to see the adjustments you have made then jump back to change your weapon again. You can really feel the difference made by editing your weapon. But this is not a perfect game, it lacks some key components including match making for co-op and guerrilla mode. Plus some of the facial graphics are lacking in comparison to your character. Not to mention some of the back grounds are plain, the game could have used some polishing on the visuals. Also, I was a little disappointed by the lack of customization on your character in multiplayer. I was hoping for a Rainbow 6 approach to this, but instead you can only change what they are wearing on their face. This is a huge step down from Rainbow 6 where you could completely customize everything they were wearing. But for the most part this game is very enjoyable. If you enjoy third person shooters this is the game for you.
Update:
I have just finished the campaigned as of last night and I must say the campaign is a lot of fun it just gets repetitive over time. I do not think I would play it again by myself. But I have been playing a lot more multiplayer and I must say the multiplayer is awesome. Best part of the game. The game is insanely strategic and if you have a good squad it makes it that much better. As a team you have to communicate to take objectives and without doing so, the game is not too much fun. It is hard to be a one man army like various other shooters. You can die quickly and you have to keep the running and gunning to a minimal to be successful. Overall I am happy I bought this game. | video-games_xbox |
Great Fun, but Framerate and Glitches Hurt Enjoyment. Kotor II is a great game, which I recommend to fans of the original. Additions include an influence feature that improves character interactions with crew members and new armor and weapons. Players also are given additional upgrade options for weapons and armor. A reader can find out about specific game features from a variety of online sources, so now I'll focus on the actual gameplay.
I enjoyed the character interactions and voice acting--possibly the best aspect of Kotor I and II. The story is also on par with the first one, but may be a little clumsy at times since it attempts to tie into the events and history of Kotor I. As far as a role-playing-game goes, there is nothing else like Kotor II on the Xbox. Like the first game, Kotor II allows you to choose what type of character you will play as--good, neutral, evil or any combination of the three. But I don't know how much playing as a different character type changes some of the game's major missions. Regardless, it's fun to have the opportunity to choose how you will play. The series is fun because it's like deciding how a character in a movie will act.
Obviously, I like the game. However, I also hold Obsidian accountable for Kotor II's framerate issues. The developer also failed to address glitches that were carried over from the first game, though they were widely known. Kotor II is based on the same engine as the first game, but the graphics have more environmental effects, more characters, and more animations. The expanded graphical content has the unfortunate impact of causing the framerate to drop significantly in certain locations. Locations with a lot of characters and lighting affects suffer the worst, especially during battles.
Some fans have dismissed these problems as the result of a faulty disk, a dirty disk drive, or having an XBox with a lot of saved games. Don't believe them. The framerate issues, glitches, and long load times are facts addressed in reviews by every major video game magazine or online reviewer. Problems with load times became significantly worse late in the game, though the load times are much shorter in the beginning of the game. Save alot because every once in a long while it will crash.
The environments seem more alive to me than the first game, but come at the cost of a better framerate. Nonetheless, an RPG is about story and character development--two aspects that Kotor II excels at. Despite my criticisms, the game is a massive adventure that I loved playing through. | video-games_xbox |
Great Game. My review of Sacred 2 after playing Coop for 4 hours last night.
Graphics:
I must say I was wondering how ugly this was going to look after seeing the review about graphics being nothing to brag about. I think they need to clean their glasses or stop sniffing that glue, because the graphics in this game are really good. The world is alive with waves crashing into the shore, rivers are flowing, fish swim in the water, rabbits hop around, stuff swaying in the breeze, grass moves when you run through it, shadows and lighting. It looks very GOOD to me.
Controls:
The controls took a little the get used to but are not bad. You have 12 slots for spells which is good. I found out you must hold A to attack and while holding it can move the left analog stick to change targets. When opening the interface you can use A button to pick the screen you want to go too or just release the Left Bumper.
Interface: The interface is not bad once you get into it. You use the left/right buttons and bumpers to move around and they have lots of screens with info on skills and attributes. I could not figure out how to use the Compare correctly, but it seems to try and switch back and forth between two items you viewed. Hopefully someone can figure that one out. I don't like we cant trade with offline buddy, but I did hear they are looking at that.
Gameplay:
We had a blast doing quests and finding caves to explore and loot. Some quests give more xp and gold than others and there are tons of them too. We started with Bronze but will restart with silver to make it a little more challenging. Finding new loot and a person to swap combat skills out with was very rewarding. Using the different weapons and skills is where this game id fun. The summoning of the undead with the shadow warrior was cool and they explode when they run out of time too.
Overall:
We did not have any framerate issues while playing, but you do have some screen tearing when rotating the camera view. It was not that bad and did not really matter once we got to playing and having fun. If you like these type of hack and slash games you will like this one. It will take a long time to fully explore the large world in this game. I would give it a 4.5/5. Nothing is perfect but this one is close :-) | video-games_xbox |
I'm pleased with it. I've had this headset for over a month and so far, I'm pleased with it. This is a vital thing to have if you want communication. I don't think it's the best option out there for quality & durability but for me, it was certainly the best option since I wanted the cheapest priced headset I could find. All I needed was clear communication with my friends. If your'e looking for in-game sounds including footsteps, etc, this is not the headset for you. This is meant to be plugged into your Xbox 360 controller for communication so it doesn't offer sounds from your TV.
The mic is decent, and my friends have said that they can hear me loud & clear. It is adjustable to where you can wear it on your right or left side. The only downside is that it doesn't rotate fully 360 degrees, it only rotates a little over 90 degrees to either side. For me, this is a bit of a problem since I'm used to having the mic a little under my mouth. Also, it's not that long & it barely reaches the side of my mouth. At first, I had to kind of adjust the mic or just talk louder since it wasn't always picking up my voice because it's not all that adjustable and it doesn't reach all the way to my mouth. However, after a while, I got more used to it and I don't really have to pull the mic closer to me anymore. A really good thing so far is that this headset hasn't made any "buzzing" sounds that my friends hear. As opposed to previous headsets where they would often make a buzzing sound and my voice would cut off for my friends, this headset has no problems.
The headband is adjustable to comfort smaller or bigger sized heads. The cord is decently long and has quite a nice feature at the end. It has a mute switch and a volume control, which I like since it's pretty much right below your controller and you don't have to reach on the cord somewhere to try to mute your mic. I like that design definitely and would give it a plus just for that feature. The speaker is decent, not too quiet nor to loud for me. The speaker is semi-adjustable to one side.
The build quality is pretty much a "you get what you pay for" type of thing. It is mostly made of plastic but what can you expect right? I like the headset overall for its simplicity since all I need is something that lets me talk and communicate and something where I can clearly hear my friends and other players. For this price point, I'd recommend it to anyone who is just looking for a working headset that lets you talk and hear. As long as your'e careful with it, you shouldn't end up breaking it as some other reviewers have said. This is a great headset for it's price and I wouldn't get anything at a higher price point since I don't need anything more than what this offers. | video-games_xbox |
Same, but what's wrong with that. I just finished the game and this is my impression taking into account I really loved Bioshock one!
Overall, the game is great but lacks the advantage of the first impression that I got playing Bioshock one. Early in the game, I got the eerie feeling of de ja vu playing the game as if it is just an extension of the first one, but later on things got better and the story and game play got much more interesting.
couple of negative points for me:
- The game raised high hopes talking about venturing into the ocean outside Rapture, but really NOTHING interesting comes out of it in the single player mode (I didn't try the multiplayer mode yet, so I don't know if things change there). It is just as riding the train between levels in many games, you don't have any sort of meaningful activity! The environment looks a little bit "Avatarisque" but I preferred the panoramic view that we got in the first game of a real city under water with whales going around.
- The second negative thing is that even though 20 years supposedly passed since the first part, nothing much changed in Rapture! most of the enemies are the same, however you got couple of new interesting and tougher ones. Also, the weapons and the powers are mostly the same. I expected a full overhaul of them when you play as big daddy!
Now, enough of the negative points, and I'll move to why I gave it a full five stars:
- The new enemies are really tough and interesting, and at some moments the battles are really great and enjoyable.
- The new ability of wielding BOTH weapons and powers is really, really GREAT and enhance the game play a lot! its fun to paralyze some enemies with electricity or putting them on fire while simultaneously shooting the hell out of them with your shotgun!
- Finally, lets face it! Bioshock story-telling and voice acting are WAY better than any other FPS in history!
I hope this review is useful for you, as it is my first review ever! | video-games_xbox |
This game is really. Addictive! You have to un-glue me from my seat to get me away from the TV. It's really that enticing. I agree with most reviews that the single-player story line is weak, and the ending leaves a lot to be desired, but this game shines most where it's supposed to...the action. This is arguably the most fun and exciting first-person shooter to be played on any console. I haven't played any other game that gives you such an enormous sense of satisfaction when you stick covenant with a plasma grenade, or get that perfect sniper head shot (If you're new to Halo, the manual explains everything about the weapons and gadgets, so there's no need to worry).
The single-player campaign is nothing out of the ordinary. You get to play as the infamous Master Chief, who goes on a host of missions to save the Earth from destruction, etc... In between the Chief's missions, however, you also get to play as a shamed Covenant Elite who is pretty-much the anti-hero up to a certain point in the game. It's really confusing to follow the story, and how they intertwine both the characters' paths is not very creative, but it's not a movie, and again, it's the action that counts most and makes it a wildly-entertaining experience.
Here is something critical when it comes to this game...if you have Xbox Live service, you will add about 70% more fun to the gameplay. In fact, if you do have XBL, and you finish single-player, there is not much reason to replay the campaign (except for a bit of grunt-shooting fun). Even though this game is not one of those massive multi-player games, the multi-player itself is like a game on its own.
The interface is easy to use and the simplicity with which you can set up a party makes the multi-player all the more attractive. Sending voice messages and party invites is a snap (on some games you have to read the manual to find out how to send an invite). You can also set up your character to look like an elite, or a spartan, and design your own custom icon that identifies you on people's screens. The options are countless, and may sound intimidating, but tweaking the game to fit yourself is a lot of fun.
Unfortunately, as with any ranked multi-player, there are problems. Cheating in matchmade sessions has become a problem that might deter some from playing anything but custom games. But, from slayer matches to some incredible glitching parties, rest assured that the custom games have so much to offer you'll never be bored (Every map is detailed, well-designed, and visually stunning, more so if you are playing on a High Definition TV). And if that's not enough, there is also an expansion pack available now.
In a library of all the best-rated Xbox games, this one is probably played the most. It would be a shame not to play this game, if not for Xbox Live, then for the single-player action. | video-games_xbox |
Not satisfied at all. After a few months using this device I can not recommend this controller for anything other than browsing Netflix on your console. Since owning this product I've continuously uncovered more and more issues with it. Below is a list of problems I've encountered after a few months of use.
~ Sticky thumb sticks
- The right thumb stick of my controller almost consistently pulls down unless given constant input. This not only hinders performance in FPSs, but also is extremely annoying for any game that has the camera mapped to right thumb stick unless your a big fan of ground textures.
~ Thumb sticks not calibrated correctly
- I believe this has been mentioned in another review on this page so I know it's not just my controller alone. The thumb sticks seem to have an inconsistent sensitivity to them. For those who are not familiar with thumb stick sensitivity, load up any game you own and enter the options menu. Once there look for options pertaining to controller/camera sensitivity and play with the settings a bit. Notice that you are often unable to control your movement/camera because you are not used to these settings; now imagine this happenings at random regardless of your settings ingame.
~ Missing a headset port
- Although there maybe a port on the bottom of the controller for headsets, none of mine will fit. This is mostly because most headsets built for xbox controllers have two prongs along with the actual device to help you distinguish your xbox's headset from your PC's headset. While we are on the subject I would like to point out that a normal cellphone headset WILL work in these controllers although I would not recommend using one.
~ Lights work, bit bright
- As advertised the Afterglow does have a function where it will glow while you have it connected to your xbox. Honestly I don't care much for this feature due to the fact that it's very distracting when you are trying to considerate with light shining brightly from under your field of vision. Anyway this gimmick offers no practical use other than make you look ridiculous in a pitch black room.
~ Random shocks
- This could just be my specific controller but over the past few months I've suffered shocks from the controller on three separate occasions. All of which have stemmed from contact with the headset port on the bottom of the device. I cannot claim this is an issue with all copies of the product, but it's happened enough times to me that it's worth mentioning in this review.
~ Random disconnects
- Often coupled with the random shocks the controller will reset as if you just connected it to your system. However, this event also occurs at random with the previously mentioned shocks.
Overall my experience with this product has been beyond disappointing and has alienated me from third party xbox controllers. I cannot recommend this product as anything other than a cheap back up to hold you over till you can purchase another controller. | video-games_xbox |
Great single player, poor multiplayer. As the title of this review suggets, the single player aspect of nightfire has quite a lot to offer. The game touts good graphics, smooth action, and pretty good sound. It does a ggod job mixing up the action (first person shooter with a bit of driving crazyness thrown in to boot) and fans of Medal of Honor will appreciate the "i am riding in a vehicle shooting a big gun" parts of nightfire. The AI of the enemies is pretty good, but not much of an improvement over what the originator of the bond series (goldeneye) had to offer. The array of gadgets is fun to play with and the weapons are well balanced. All of these things are well implimented and run together smoothly adding up to a decent, though very average, first person shooter. What saves this game from this fate and makes the single player a great experience is the non-linearity of the levels. There are several ways to complete most of the levels, and this added depth, with its emphasis on stealth really adds alot of depth to the gaming expereince that nightfire offers. All in all it makes quite a fun little game.
The multiplayer is another option, however. There were some good ideas implimented in the multiplayer portion (bots and lots of cool senarios). However, there is one glaring problem, the weapons are poorly balanced. There are far too many WAY too powerful weapons. I belive that weapons balancing is one of hte most critical parts of a good multiplayer game. Poorly blalanced weapons turns most matches into a game of who has the big gun, not who is the better gamer. It also makes the enjoyment of the multiplayer highly dependent on the set of weapons that you choose, thus eliminating much of the variety that could have been offered. This is pretty much ruined the multiplayer aspect for me.
All in all Bond is an above average game; a great single player game teammed up with a truly disapointing multiplayer game.
But, that is just my opinion. | video-games_xbox |
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