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Average game, bad hardware. I wanted to like this game, I had never tried a hunting game before, this was a new game and came with a really cool looking gun, I really wanted to like it, but I was alas disappointed.
To be honest, the game is okay. Rather than just having a game like a shooting gallery they try to make a story and give some purpose to what you are doing. But in the end, most of the time the game plays like a rail shooter where the actions comes and goes off the screen and you don't have to move about in the game. But like I said you get a story with what is going on in the screen, which can be nice for some. There are some more generic challenges and safari type shoots if you don't want to deal with the story mode (Which you can also skip through).
The hardware is the real failure on this though. You have the gun, but you also have to install a sensor bar on top of or below your television screen, it requires batteries (Not included) and then I believe syncs with the gun. It only has an on button and a sleep timer, nothing else. They couldn't think to put an actual on off switch on this? Then I was excited to use the gun like a real gun and aim down the sights, but the sights never line up with what is on the screen, it just moves the symbol/reticle around the screen. So what is the use of having a cool looking gun what senses your heart beat if you can't aim down the sights? Also I had problems with the sensor turning off randomly. I tried to figure out what was going wrong but the instructions (While written in 8 different languages was pretty minimalist,) offered no help.
So even with limited play modes I was hoping to have this maybe be a fun party game, but no luck. The hardware problems and lack of imagination in using the game means it will probably just stay on the shelf.
If you have any questions about the game or you would like me to clarify something just leave a comment and I will try to answer. | video-games_xbox |
When it works, it's great. But it has some serious problems that have not been addressed by Microsoft. I'll be honest. This controller is significantly better than the Xbox 360 controller. The D-Pad is by far the best change. The triggers are weird at first but pretty easy to get used to. Overall it feels better in your hand, and is lighter. It's a great controller.
So why does it only get 2 stars? The analogs have serious problems. They are very likely to start drifting after a month or less of usage. This is a serious problem that has not been addressed by Microsoft in any way. There are a plethora of complaints about this, just Google "Xbox One Controller Drift" and you will find tons of complaints. They haven't done anything about it. This is something that makes the controller completely useless. I've had two of these controllers. The first drifts upwards. The second drifts downward. Both on the Left Analog.
If you intend to use this controller as a PC controller, beware. The drivers are modified X360 drivers. There are no real official drivers for the X1 controller. I am required to activate the drivers every time I plug in the controller or restart my computer (through Device Manager). When I do, old X360 driver applications instantly crash, but the controller does work. There is absolutely no way to alter the deadzone for the analogs, and in fact there are no options what so ever for the drivers. Controller firmware updates cannot be installed via PC. If you don't have an Xbox One, you cannot update the controller at all, which is ridiculous as the most likely way this would be fixed is in said updates.
A coworker, who owns an X1, tried to help me with this issue. He installed the firmware updates for the controller on his X1, and returned the controller to me. They didn't do anything. Which means that Microsoft has not addressed this issue. It even drifts on his X1. The X1 forums and subreddits are filled with complaints about the drifting issues, all of which has gone unheeded. Customers have gone to such lengths as taking apart the controller and dealing with the issue from the inside, something not everyone is comfortable with doing.
Essentially, as a controller, this controller is great. If it worked as it should. But it doesn't, and nothing is done about it. As such, you may enjoy the controller for a few months, but when the analog goes off center (which will happen eventually, because the deadzone is abysmally low), you won't be able to use it at all.
I gave this 2 stars because I paid $50 for a controller I was only able to use for 2 months. My previous controller lasted for 7 years. | video-games_xbox |
Best Next-Gen Tiger to date! A detailed review. I have played every game in the Tiger Woods franchise and I have to say this is the best and most engaging Tiger to date. The total swing control takes a few hours to get used to but then its becomes clear that this was the change that the franchise needed. Many argue that the physics of the swing/putting are too demanding and frustrating. And maybe to players new to the game they might seem daunting, but once you catch on they are consistent and rewarding. And sure you can still drive the ball 400+ and break 50 in a round...but really only on the easier difficulties, which in turn rewards you with less status, coins and exp. Now, as for the whole coin system...
Many amateur and pro reviewers have bashed to coin system (the in-game currency) for being a misleading and insulting tease by EA. I can't disagree enough! Coins are earned by playing and playing well, and can be redeemed for Pins (more later) and for rounds at DLC courses. Now once a DLC course is mastered (takes at least 6+ rounds) it is unlocked for unlimited play. This is where the critics say the (6000 coins for a round, 3 for 12000) system is just a "tease" and baits players into just buying unlimited round for 400 Microsoft Pts. BUT, they all fail to mention (or maybe realize) that by buying just one round with coins -and downloading the course- you can also play the course during you PGA Tour season if the course shows up. That means you can play 4 rounds + Training and Sponsor Challenges at the course WITHOUT even spending the round you had bought. So it is actually possible to master any DLC course while only having to "buy" 1-2 rounds with the coins. And then the course is yours for unlimited play!
I say that is a pretty good deal, and something that was never an option on previous versions. TW 13 allows you play your way to free courses. I now have all 37 courses (Yes 37 courses!) with unlimited play and I didn't pay an extra penny to get them. Also, if a course that you do not have (yet) comes up during your PGA Tour season, you have the option to change the course for the event, so there is no need to skip it. I know this was an issue on last years game, but I still find it repeatedly in reviews for this edition. It makes me wonder if all of the reviewers have actually played the game, or at least give it a fair chance!
So I need to ask: how is this years TW considered to be an outrageous showing of EA Sports disdain for the consumer and a new level of greediness?? This new system is the most fair and balanced way to integrate the DLC courses, and just about everyone I play with online completely agrees. Like I said before, all previous games required the player to buy the DLC courses with MSP and they were not cheap! I say kudos to EA for rewarding the gamers who are taking the time to enjoy all aspects of the game and its longevity. I honestly can not remember the last sports game I have played this much (even after reaching 1000 GS). This is in large part due to the coin, pin and country club additions...
The Country Club system in a priceless addition to the franchise. Up to 25 players join and work together to level up their club. There are daily and weekly club tournaments (set by the club GM on the EA website), head-to-head club and inter-club play, weekly leaderboards and more. The Club system is just great as it gives players a more involved experience vs just playing another yourself-against-the-world sports game. Our club is now in the top 35 in the world, and we are constantly congratulating and motivating each other to play well and keep playing. Each week the highest scorer of the club is crowned the Club Champ and is invited to a Club Champ-only weekly tourney where the top players from every club go up against one another. The top 5 players below the club champ are named the Club "pros" and they are also invited to a club pro-only weekly tourneys. Good, good stuff.
Finally, the new pin system adds another clever feature across all game modes. There are 3 main types of Pins: Boost, Player and Course. Boost Pins can be added to your "bag-tag" for a single round to boost your players stats. There are also Player Pins that give all-around stat boosts to the associated player. And then the most innovative new pins; the Hole and Course Pins. Every hole in the game has a pin that can be acquired, well actually 3 stacking pins: Bronze, Silver & Gold. (A few years ago they dabbled with this idea in the form of course exp, which would increase your "Luck" and caddy knowledge of a course the more time you played it, but this is a much better system) Each pin you have on a course increases the exp and status you receive after playing a round. Once you have all 18 pins, you get a course pin which increases the value of any boost or player pins you use at that course. And, of course, these all stack from bronze to gold. Once you rack up some course pins, you can really start raking in the exp, status and coin rewards. Very addicting and adds a greater incentive for continuing to play the game.
The pins are bought in packs from the store using coins. There is a variety of different "pin-packs" available for the pins you are after. Special offers also pop up from time to time. Extra coins can be purchased using MSP but I never found this necessary if you play the game enough and want to progress proportionately, but is a nice option for those who want to level up their player/courses quickly.
Online play remains the same for the most part, save for the addition of the country club features. Daily and weekly tournaments galore, plus the "Play-the-Pros" and a few other special events such as "Tiger Balls" where the top players are basically entered into a lottery drawing for a large coin bonus-pretty cool. Head-to-head matches also have an improved "skill" rating system used for match-making, etc. Sadly, the "GamerNet" system is gone, which is kind of a bummer b/c it was always quite satisfying to be able to save and post those miracle shots that you can pull off. I guess it was passed on to make room for all of the other extra features.
All that being said, the game in not without its flaws. The game is still plagued by glitches such as ball placement and physics in certain areas of certain courses. The only good thing is that they do seem to be consistent, so once you know where they are you can avoid them (ex. your ball clearly lands in a bunker but you are placed in the rough, or the ball may take unrealistic bounces off the flagstick). The glitches are really not that big of a deal in normal gameplay, but can be frustrating when you have a great round going. Far from a deal breaker to me, and I think some reviewers get overly upset about this. If you consider that the game has THOUSANDS of SQ/ACRES of playable land, to me it would be quite a programming feat to have every square inch function 100% properly. The game does freeze a little more often than should be acceptable, mostly during loading screens. Again, frustrating, but not a deal breaker. I think many of the errors are due to the rushed release of the game, and that being considered, it is for the most part an impressive final product.
So I'm sure you can tell by now that I highly recommend this Tiger Woods. As a golfer and a gamer, this Tiger is a huge step in the right direction for EA Sports. Please take the negative reviews with a grain of salt as so many of us have become accustomed to games that are at or approaching perfection. This is incredibly difficult to accomplish with a golf-sim, by EA is doing a great job and getting better every year. The negative reviewers overemphasize the games issues and unjustly dismiss this excellent game. So give it a try yourself and you can be the judge of that!
Hope this helps anyone on the fence! | video-games_xbox |
Doing the Zombie Shuffle. Stubbs is a decent game but definitely has a few problems. Basically, you control Stubbs, who of course as the name suggests, is a zombie. The graphics are good although there are some slight pixel problems here and there. Controls are easy to learn and the game uses the halo engine, which essentially eliminates the typical camera problems. The music can become a bit repetitive but I tend to tune it out anyway. Voice acting, is also decent although hearing "brains, brains" over and over does get a bit tiresome. Basically a platform game, you do get expansive areas to search but there is nothing to find. The slow pace, even when Stubbs is supposedly running is also quite irritating. I mean, I understand he is supposed to be a shuffling zombie but it takes forever to get anywhere and really slows the game down. I don't expect him to have a jet pack but come on. When you are able to use a vehicle it's a huge relief (unless it's a tractor which is even slower than Stubbs) because you can finally MOVE.
The game reminds me of 'Destroy all Humans' for a number of reasons: the futuristic yet retro setting and general look of the game, playing the bad guy and purposely killing any human that crosses your path and one other reason: it gets really old fast. While the game isn't bad, it is monotonous. It fails to ever get you really involved and it is basically the same thing over and over. There is a puzzle element in the game, in that you need to know when to pull your own head off and use it as a bowling ball to get through tough areas, or rip your hand off so it can skitter across the room and open a door or possess someone, etc. Unfortunately, you have limited use of these items so it's back to shuffling along, swiping at the bad guys while they use guns to blow holes in your already mangled body. Again, not a bad game especially if you need some mindless entertainment for about an hour or two. After that, the monotony will probably turn you into a zombie. Pick it up as a rental first as it has a hefty price tag unless you find it on clearance. | video-games_xbox |
20 bucks, xbox live? Madden's gone fishing. I can't believe the price of NFL 2K5!! It's less than half the cost of Madden, no brainer to me. Bye bye madden, happy trails. I don't care if you're the #1 selling franchise w/ 99 trillion sold. I know we'll see many Madden lovers in here writing reviews trying to bash 2K5 though. I bought it (ESPN NFL 2K5) the first day it came out. I've owned previous versions of the 2K series and I felt they were awesome and superior to Madden, but last year I decided to go w/ Madden 2004 mainly because of the incredible new owner mode. I wish 2K5 had the owner mode cuz it's so addictive and so fun! I like the crib feature and the use of the celebrities, that's more fun than Madden's boring Bio thing. The graphics in this game just blow me away! I don't care for the first person football stuff though, I'm used to the 3rd person point of view, but maybe some people like it. Also, this game features a generic 1 question interview by Kolber to the player of the game, it's pretty lame - they could've left it out. The half-time & post game shows by Boomer are amazing; complete w/ stats & highlights from the game you play! I wonder why they didn't use real video instead of animating Boomer in the studio. ESPN 2K5 won best of show awards this year @ E3. Even the cheerleaders got a face lift and look much better than the stick figures they used to be. During the game the screen breaks away briefly and shows fans in the stadium, thats a cool new idea that just adds to a more complete football game experience. One thing that's lacking this year is a season mode for people who don't want to get into the depth of a franchise mode. I would've like to have seen color in the manual, not just black & white...also I wish this game waited to be released until after the preseason games in order to have the most current roster updates. Visual concepts, Sega Sports , and ESPN did a great job on this game. In closing, this is a great game at an unbeatable price, save 30 bucks and get 2K5!! | video-games_xbox |
Shallower than a Kiddie Pool. This game has some amazing graphics and gunplay, but it is seriously lacking in depth and story. The game is apparently a direct sequel to the first Crysis, and Crysis 2 doesn't make any attempt to recap what happened or anything about the world. All you know is that New York is under attack and you're there to fight against the aliens. I really couldn't make heads or tails of the story, but behind all of the BS and plot twists you're basically just going on a bunch of gopher missions in an attempt to power up the suit, which when it's full powered spontaneously kills all of the aliens in the city. In reality though, I didn't expect an amazing story from a FPS, and what really disappointed me was the depth of the gameplay. They created a unique system with the suit's powers, but the upgrade system was much too simplistic and annoying. There are I think 4 upgrade trees with only 3 upgrades, only one of which you can equip at a time. The cheap ones are essentially useless, and the others are so expensive that you can only buy them near the end of the game. I would have loved to see more of an RPG upgrade system where you choices actually mattered, and you could enhance the way you chose to play the game.
As for the actual gameplay, my biggest problems were with the suit powers. I understand the concept of active camo, and why it would require more energy when moving fast, but I can't understand why it would immediately drain all of the power if you shoot a gun, even if it was silenced. I understand this was meant to minimize people overusing the camo, but I found it very annoying and it brought me out of the game. Worse than that, once your camo is gone you're incredibly vulnerable from enemy fire since you can't use your shield. So most of the time that I died it would be when switching between the powers. I also thought that the jumping and sprinting powers were way too weak, I don't see how they would drain so much power. I feel like they should have recalled the rechargeable battery the suit uses. When you think about it, the whole reason for wanting an awesome powered suit, is to feel overpowered. I wanted to feel like a badass, and hiding behind a wall waiting for the suit to recharge doesn't seem very bad ass.
In the end, there is some amazing stuff in the game, and you should try it out if you can get it for a good price, just don't expect a mind blowing game changing experience. | video-games_xbox |
Wow! How could the developers find this game fun. I really wanted to like this game. I'm a huge Family Guy fan, so I was excited to see a new Family Guy game. I liked the older one on PS2/XBOX <a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/Family-Guy/dp/B000GDJJP8/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">Family Guy</a>, it wasn't the greatest game ever, but it had enough original material and decent enough gameplay, that it won me over. This game is the polar opposite of that older game.
The voice "acting" is mostly sound clips from the show, most of which doesn't even pertain to what's going on around you. Heck most of what Stewie & Brian say during gameplay, I had on a soundboard type key-chain back when the show was in cancellation! Talk about phoned in! I will admit that the cut scenes and mission briefings are original material. The problem is that it makes little to no sense, and is not funny in the slightest.
Now the gameplay... Oh gods how could the muck up gameplay so bad? How is a shooter any fun when hoards of enemies constantly run right up to you? How are you supposed to shoot someone who is right up your butt? Not only that but there are endless waves of them coming from all directions! The older game had a similar problem (not nearly this bad), but it was broken up by stealth missions & some platforming. This game has none of that, as far as I played it was constant shooting wave after wave of carbon copies that mindlessly run up on you, faster than you yourself can run I might add.
Also, Bertram has got to go and stay gone! What ever happened to Stewie's nemesis being Lois? That was funny because sometimes it can seem as if a toddler IS out to get it's mother. Bertram is annoying and wore out his welcome after the second episode with him in it. I thought we were finally done with him when he was killed last season, but no, he's back from one of the Multiverses (Multiversi?) with his own Multiverse remote. Hence the plot of this game. Well, I guess if there is anything Family Guy excels at it's beating a dead horse...
I feel ashamed of myself for spending $45 on this game. I have no doubt it will be around $10 in a few months as word of how awful it is gets around. I could have picked it up then to put next to my Family Guy DVD collection, because that's all this game is to me now. An oddity that completes my collection, not something to be played and enjoyed, just a case to look at and say "That is exactly how to make a bad game, right there!"
Still after one mediocre and one horridly awful game I still have faith that there is a decent video game to be made from the Family Guy universe. This however, is absolutely not it! Save your money folks! | video-games_xbox |
Best of the GTA Wanna-Be's. Look, this game is not as good as GTA, especially the amazing experience that is San Andreas. However, this game is still very good and will hold over GTA fans until IV comes out later this year. If you enjoy playing GTA, chances are you will enjoy this game, especially where this franchise made some significant improvements. If you didn't like GTA games and are offended with overt violence, strong language, and direct sexual references, then steer away from this game. Here are the pros, cons, and "washes" as they compare to GTA:
Pros:
Better graphics
Better sound effects of cars and weapons
Cars are cooler
Superior implementation of the map functionality.
Save system is improved, but I can not understand in today's day and age of gaming why RPG-action games like this don't have a "save-at-any-time" functionality or at least provide reasonable interim mission save points - which this game did not.
Ability to save up to 70 cars in your garage
Insurance Fraud missions are arguably the most enjoyable missions ever envisioned for a sandbox game.
Some other missions that were direct rip-offs from GTA are arguably more fun like the pimp missions, hijacking, and hit-man.
Cons:
There is no mistaking that overall feeling of an awesome atmosphere you get in any GTA game that just wasn't present in this title. I can't put my finger on it, but you will see what I mean if you get to experience this game vs. any GTA game.
Story was a little better in San Andreas
No planes, boats, motorcycles, helicopters, or bicycles.
Voice acting is superior in GTA San Andreas. With that said, there was just way too much cursing. Cursing in any game or movie is good for adult entertainment when it is appropriate for the setting. This title just went way over the top on the cursing and was mostly out of place.
Music selection is superior in San Andreas in both amount and quality.
Washes - neither better or worse than GTA:
Open world sandbox environment enabling diverse ways to execute missions
Driving mechanics of the cars
Despite popular opinion, weapons functionality, though different, have about the same difficulty/ease factor.
Map size and mission amount/scope is more epic in San Andreas, but this title is probably a little bigger that GTA III and possibly Vice City. Not too shabby. | video-games_xbox |
Great graphics, absorbing plot, and completely overhauled combat and dialogue make this the best Bethesda offering yet. Although I have played many video games across different platforms, I have never written a review. I've played every genre of video game, to include many RPGs. For me, Bethesda games were always very densely populated with quests, missions, and locations, but I cared very little for the shallow dialogue, undeveloped characters, and clunky combat systems, which ultimately made me quit playing them before finishing. Fallout 4 breaks the mold in the following ways:
Robust character development with player's character actually talking during conversations. In-game terminals and tapes are interesting and add depth to the apocalyptic atmosphere.
Refined mission and quest tracking and mapping makes it much easier to see what to do next and where to go.
The controls are much improved so the game can be played like a shooter if desired. Still not Call of Duty, but much better than Fallout 3 or Skyrim.
In addition, the settlement facet of the game inserts a little bit of Minecraft light into the game, allowing for resource scavenging and allocation for the development of buildings, power generation, crops, and defenses.
I was hesitant to buy this game after reading many reviews critical of the graphics. I have been pleasantly surprised by the quality of the lighting, climate changes, and especially the color. Gone are the drab runs of incessant gray in Fallout 3 and in with vibrant blues, greens, and neons of towns and settlements. It's a beautiful game in its own way without being ultra-realistic.
I have played for 13 hours and have not experienced any bugs, crashes, or hiccups in frame rate.
If you're on the fence about this game for fear of bugs, poor graphics, or reticence of being a Fallout 3 clone, you have nothing to fear. Of Oblivion, Skyrim, and Fallout 3, this is by far Bethesda's best offering. | video-games_xbox |
Fun but Different. My boyfriend and I who are pretty big gamers picked up this game while taking a vacation as something to do while sitting at home, away from work. We are also big fans of all the Lego Games and have really enjoyed playing each game.
If you've played the first Indiana Jones then you know how it's set up. However with the 2nd installment things have changed. One brilliant change is that when you're playing in two player mode and one player wants to wander off without the other, it turns into a split screen allowing you to roam as far as you want away from the other player. In the first Indiana Jones you were stuck with each other and could only travel through the levels together never able to branch off. This is great until you try and do a vehicle challenge, then I would suggest having one of the players drop out. Driving/Flying around a level in split screen mode is almost impossible since the split screen moves with the player making it difficult to see checkpoints you need to hit to complete the race.
Also, if you've played the first one you might be disappointed in the amount of material in this game. While there are more levels, it seems to focus more on Bonus challenges than the material from the movies. The Movie-Levels are drastically shorter and there aren't very many of them. There are also 10 bonus levels in each stage that are quite simple and easy to solve. You also lose the ability to switch between characters once you've acquired them during game play. You get the characters by beating challenges and if you discover you need a certain character you have to go find them. It's frustrating at times.
Like other reviewers have said, this game freezes and glitches often. We played it (and beat it) in a week and had the game freeze on us several times losing all unsaved data before the freeze. There were also times where a vehicle was lost and did not regenerate in the correct spot or come back at all.
Considering we still have unfinished missions/challenges on the first Lego Indiana Jones shows that this new updated version doesn't measure up to the first one but the game is still fun. I would say to rent this game instead of purchasing it since it's much easier and simpler than it's predecessor. | video-games_xbox |
It Grows On You. I originally purchased the Ps2 version of Madden 06, but when I finally played the X-Box version, I had to switch. First off, the X-Box version runs so much faster then the Ps2 version, and the game flows very quickly. As for the Ps2 version, navigating the screens are a pain and online is extremely glitchy and choppy.
But on to the game itself. When I first purchased this game, I was extremely disappointed. Nothing at all was updated from last year. It seems like the lazy monopoly over there at EA headquarters just took last years game, added a few players and slapped it on. No changes. Except for the unpredictable QB Vision, which can be turned off. The same bugs from last years game is in this years, and its not like they aren't noticeable.
But for all the EA haters, this game grew on me. As I played it more, I kept playing it. I started to like the NFL Superstar mode, which you create a player and go through your NFL career. Online was descent, even though it took them until Week 3 to update the rosters. As for graphics, they are improved slightly, and the new animations are fun. The franchise mode is still the same thing as last year, but it's fun anyway.
Now, the biggest, newest feature, the NFL Superstar mode. You can create a player using genetic materials from your parents. The problem with that is you cant change how your face looks, and it is randomized. You could import a race for the Heisman guy fron NCAA 06 and get drafted. The problem with that is that your character model changes, including your skin color, hair and height and weight. Once you finally get a character, you go through your whole career, with agents, endorsements and all that other fun stuff. Negatives... you can't like sim to your next game appearence, and it seems hard to improve. Also, you can change the depth chart, so if you are a 65 quarterback on the Colts, you can make yourself the starter over Peyton Manning.
So, the final verdict... I like it and if you play it, it will grow on you. But this is what I say... If Madden 07 is the same, then I will never play Madden again, and I will never play EA games again. Also, if you don't care about pros or college, the better game is NCAA 06. It moves better and there is less glitches. | video-games_xbox |
Great fun in sweet home Chicago. First of all, most of the previous reviews that you have read are by those who have not experienced the entire game itself. They merely played the introduction and made judgement based upon that first glance. So, hopefully I will be able to further your insight into the game and help you in your purchasing decision.
Story- The story of the game is pretty in depth and makes you curious from the start. You are immediately immersed into a setting that generates feelings of mystery and intrigue. As Aiden Pearce, you manipulate the setting of the city to your advantage through the use of a high-tech network that he is able to access through his phone. With this hacking ability, you quickly learn the background of Aiden's struggle of trying to protect his sister, nephew, and his past. After Aiden went through a tragic event (I won't give away spoilers to what it is) you are on a hell-bent mission to gain your revenge. It is the internal struggle that Aiden takes you on that sets the tone of the entire game.
Gameplay- The mechanics of the game are a crossbreed between Assassin's Creed, Grand Theft Auto, with a hint of Splinter Cell (the newer versions like Conviction and Blacklist). Most of the other people that reviewed the game felt that this was a bad thing, but in my opinion, what the hell is wrong with a combination of those three games? The free-running mechanics are smooth and sometimes Aiden's moves will make you say, "That was pretty damn cool". He may not be as swift as his Assassin's Creed brother titles, but he still gets the job done. The gun play is simple, yet effective. You can brandish a weapon and shoot any person you please, but you can also pull out your gun to serve as an intimidation factor (which exemplifies the ability to choose good or evil in the game). The car chases are fun and they serve the purpose and sometimes it feels as if you are actually hiding in the shadows from the authorities. The hacking is incredible. The ability to seamlessly hack damn near everything in the city while not having to stop to do so is incredible. It is a revolutionary trait that will probably be perfected and explored over the years.
Design/Presentation- The city of Chicago feels real and alive. You will walk down the streets and see people rapping on a corner, drinking a cup of coffee, talking on the phone (which you can hack and listen to), washing windows, and doing many more activities. It is the crowd mechanics where Ubisoft shines and allows you to immerse yourself into the game. The weather that you see in the game is great. A simple rain shower that blows through, to setting of the sun allows the city's design to really show. The graphics in the game are fantastic, although they may not be the next-gen experience we are looking for, are utilized very well. However, the physics that are in the game are stunning. The way the wind can blow Aiden's coat or dust in the street is something that should be noted and is refreshing to see. The lighting in the game is also exceptional and moves according to the surroundings.
In the end, if you are looking for a great game to buy on either the last gen or the next gen consoles, get Watch Dogs. It is an experience that can tailor to everybody's interests and there is always something more to do. I have played the game all night long and well into the afternoon (this is probably 14 hours so far) and I feel like I haven't scratched the surface. At this rate the campaign mixed with a handful of side quests should allow give you around 30 hours of game play. This doesn't include the online capabilities. I would review the online aspect of the game, but the servers were overloaded and I couldn't get through more than two games. From what I saw/experienced, it is fantastic and is an entirely separate game. So, the answer to the million dollar question (or 60 dollar question) is: Should I buy it? My answer plain and simple is, yes. You would be doing yourself and injustice not to play the game.
Here are the aspects of the game on a 1-5 rating.
Story: 4.6
Design:4.7
Gameplay: 4.6
Presentation: 4.8
So what are you waiting for? Get out there and start hacking. | video-games_xbox |
Some interesting new game mechanics, but ultimately "just" a shooter. Overall I think this was a decent game. But it falls flat on many aspects.
I did enjoy the good sci-fi story that feels a little bit like The Fringe (Lance Reddick and a university setting probably have something to do with that). The actors are top notch and many are known from other works in the Sci-fi/fantasy genre; Aiden Gillen and the above mentioned Lance Reddick being the too most recognizable.
I was also intrigued with the concept of a TV show being integrated into a video game where your choices matter. However this fell flat on several points. First of all your choices don't seem to matter that much and they do not result in the story branching out one way or another. In others words the story is very linear and your choices don't seem to impact to overall story arc (I need to confirm this). Sure a character or two may or may not survive but I do not believe your choices result in seeing entirely different content nor outcomes. Secondly the TV show just simply was not that good. It felt very much like a hokey low budget show that was made for just, well, a video game. Lastly, unlike my beloved Wing Commander 3, the live action video is only for the 20+ minute episodes. Live action was not integrated into the story play. Instead you had these hard breaks where the game essentially says "now you will watch a TV show for the next 20 minutes until we return to the game". This took me out of the game quite a bit and it felt like I was watching extra and optional content. It felt disjointed. In WC3 for example live action was peppered through out and you had more interesting dialogue choices with consequence.
Also there was little nuance between the game and the show. Although the game had a lot of good optional content in the form of emails and letters and what not, never did the show nor the game really require nor reward you for picking up on hints. There was no point where something in the TV show gave me insight to approach the game in a different way. You could just zombie your way through this thing and not have to figure anything out accept for an occasional jumping puzzle.
Overall I was also disappointing that this game is not an action/adventure game. It's JUST a shooter. Your special skills are mostly optional and for being just a shooter the shooting was not that good. No load outs and poor (or no) weapons management. Also a lot of grind and filler in the form of a bit too many guys to mow down to progress the game. At one point I felt "ugh here we go again, gotta kill 10 annoying guys ... didn't I just do that in the last room?"
Net-net I still enjoyed the game, mostly for the story, the acting and the setting (we need more games in a University setting). I liked the attempt to mix TV and video games where choices matter. Yet it left me a little let down that it devolved into a simple basic shooter that you could zombie your way through and not even need to follow the story. | video-games_xbox |
Disappointing to say the least. When I preordered this product in March 2011, I was completely stoked. I ordered 2 and received a free hat. With all of the great PC gaming products and reviews from friends/coworkers, I was also looking to try out a new product for my business to sell to prospective clients. I work in the IT industry, and my clients/associates are commonly discussing gaming and devices. However, now after a year of playing hopscotch with razer tech support, added on with cutting the cables on my 2nd and 3rd controllers (they like to save shipping return fees by having customers cut the cable and take a picture), not only would I not sell or recommend this product to ANYONE, I want my money back. Unfortunately, their policy is to only allow refunds within 30 days of purchase (which is funny, since that is about 10 less days than the life of this product). If it were made with quality materials and tested throroughly, I would love this controller. However, it wasn't. It was made with crap. Crap from a quality company is sickening. I am now turned off of their PC gaming and have sold my keyboards, mice, and headset (and even gave away my free hat) via craigslist. I will continue to return these controllers, if for no other reason to get them to admit their product is faulty. After writing this review (and many on other sites), I will be heading to their BBB page to file a complaint and I suggest others do too: [...]
Pros:
For the month that they worked, the controllers responded fast, felt great in my hand, clicked great.
Cons:
HORRIBLE QUALITY! THEY BROKE AFTER A MONTH OF USE! REPLACEMENTS BREAK THE SAME WAY!
To be more specific: the poorly constructed joysticks fail and cause movement even when the controller is not being used. Which in the game makes your character constantly walk or look in whatever direction the controller decides to break in (all of my controllers have had joystick problems)
Plain and simple: save $20, buy yourself the factory microsoft controller. Sure there aren't light up buttons or MFBs, but you can play your game after 30 days! :) | video-games_xbox |
A fantastic Xbox Live Experience. There is a lot of great things to be said for this game, and only a few downfalls; making it a great title to play. So if your interested in buying this game, I hope this review will help you out on a purchasing desission.
First of all, I would not recommend buying this game if you don't have an xbox live account where you play online with friends/other xbox live players around the world. This game was designed mainly for online play with your friends, and it does a fantastic job of that for sure.
First, a little about the game. It is your tipical zombie movie story line come to life. We've seen it all before in the movies. Dawn of The Dead like situation where the entire city is infected with zombies, and 4 survivors are trying to continue to survive by working together through out the game. You have a typical set of characters to choose from. A biker, an older war vet, an office desk junky, and a spoiled rotten princess. All 4 struggling together to survive the zombie fest.
There are 5 sinerios in this game, each having like 4 to 5 stages in each one. They play out as short movies, where after each one you get credits that roll down the screen, showing you stats of each level such as who killed the most infected, who took the most damage, ect. This isn't exactly as decked out as I was hoping, as it only takes 30 to 45 minutes to beat each sinerio, leaving the possibility of beating the game in a couple of hours. Before you judge the game on how short it is, trust me.... the game makes up for it in many ways! Especially if you play online with friends.
Valve made a great move by making the AI director advanced in this game. You could reply each sinerio over and over again without being in the same situation twice. An example of this is, lets say you and 3 other friends are doing major damage to the zombies coming your way at the beginning of a sinerio. The game will boost up the challenge a bit and double or maybe even triple the amount of zombies you will encounter in the following sections of the sinerio. Or, if your not doing so well, the AI may take it easy on you; giving you less Zombies and more health packs and ammo to reload with. So, even though there are not as many playable levels in this game as I was hoping for, it makes up for with the advance AI director. There have also been rumors of downloadable content to add to the game, but I have not seen anything confirmed on that.
Another way to play this game is in a single player mode where you play with 3 bot controlled characters. Although this is fun and challenging, you will find it harder to play as you can not communicate with the other computer players like you can human players. You are at the front of the line, and pretty much leading the way of the other 3 computer controlled players. Meaning your first in line for any infected enemies to feast upon.
If you don't play on xbox live, but have a friend over, you can jump in with a split screen setup and play locally with that friend like you would online. Bringing another fun factor to the game.
Another mode on the game is the versus mode. I have only tried this online with xbox live friends, and we found it to be a great fun play. You can have up to 8 people playing. 4 people pick the human survivors, and the other 4 pick to be infected players. The survivors will go through the game like normal to try and survive, except the other 4 people who are on the inffected side have to try and take down the survivors. So its basically playing the game like normal, except you have human players controlling the major boss like infected people. You can't play as any zombies however, just the bigger 'boss' like infected. Either way, it is still some wholesome fun.
Overall, this is a fantastic online game. I myself played it on single player mode a few times, but it just isn't the same as online with friends. With a high speed Internet connection to Xbox live, and the headset to talk to friends while online, this game delivers in a huge way. It is a very intense game at times, expecialy on the harder skill levels. A group of friends and I played on normal and it took us over 2 hours to beat one sinerio. So it does have its challenging ways!
Over all, the game is great. It is short, but the game play itself makes up for it. Graphicaly, it is pretty good as well. Nothing like 'Assasin's Creed WOW', but great for a nextgen console. The lighting in this game is amazing. Your player has a flash light on there gun to light the way, and it mocks that of a real flash light in an amzing way. If you reload your weapon, it even takes the beam of light upward making it hard to see anything directly in front of you in certain sections of the game. Great feature.
All in all, if you an online player... BUY THIS GAME. | video-games_xbox |
Prototype? I barely know her. Prototype (excuse me, [PROTOTYPE]) is a bit of a mixed bag that, for all its faults and foibles, works far more than it doesn't. The end result is something that feels a bit unfinished, a bit unpolished, and more of a dry run (in the same way that <a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/the-first-Assassin-s-Creed/dp/B000P46NMK/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">the first Assassin's Creed</a> turned out to be); almost as if the developers stopped and said "That's all well and good, but... let's make sure it works before we spend TOO much time and money on it." Which is an approach that's bound to create at least a few flaws: an open city that feels a bit sparse, flat, and untextured, enemies that feel repetitive, lightly varied side quests, unimaginative story and uninspired voice acting... you know, a small grocery list of things that just all feel unfinished or rough around the edges.
Oh, and thank goodness someone finally had the guts to stand up, take a risk, and make a video game protagonist who's a twenty to thirty something thin, handsome, white, American male who's super smart and/or strong! ...Look, I don't want to dwell on this and I know that's your target audience, but come on, seriously? Would it have been a worse game about someone who can run up buildings and change their hands into blades if they'd messed with that formula even in the slightest? Sigh...
Anyway.
It's strange I should be complaining about your main character since he is by far what works best in the game. Alex Mercer IS the [PROTOTYPE] (a man with super powers from a super virus and super plot-convenient amnesia out for REVENGE... or something!) and his super human running, jumping, gliding, smashing, killing, throwing, and maiming is a blast. It happens intuitively and with surprising ease. I was nervous at first when I saw just how many different things Alex could do (mostly violent things) but the wheel that switches between powers, the hot keys, even the (touchy) targeting system were all pretty easy to grasp making for some smooth, effective slaughter. With a little practice you can become an extremely efficient fighter, able to dismantle some soldiers and tanks, cause some mayhem, escape around a few buildings and shapeshift to go back into hiding in a really fluid and enjoyable way. There's enough variety in fighting styles and enough stealth options to keep things interesting for longer than if this were a simple button masher and the destruction you bring is incredibly satisfying. There's also a really clever sort of "bullet-time" effect that happens when targeting or switching powers or charging attacks that slows things down enough to give you (the player) a few precious seconds to plan your next move. It's incredibly clever and effective, if you can get the hang of it.
I half-mentioned the under-budgeted feeling; the plus side of it is that the game feels very lean, trimmed of fat, and designed to JUST KEEP MOVING! The mission objectives are simplistic and straight-forward, the events are chaotic and colorful and the enemies JUST KEEP COMING. Alex is fluid, he's living mercury, can recover from just about anything and is at his best when on the go. Hit and run, hit and run, run and run, just RUN! The game world has been stripped of the unnecessary (it's almost entirely glitch-free) and left room for lots and lots of chaos to ensue. And that chaos quickly becomes your best friend: pitting the army against the infected while the civilians get mashed in the middle gives you time to complete your objectives and then run and hide before getting overrun by your surprisingly determined and effective enemies.
Oh, and about those civilians...
I've gone on at length already, but I'd be remiss if I didn't mention the poor humans trapped in the middle. The prototype world is an incredibly amoral world and your hero, Alex Mercer, is not a hero at all. He's not even an anti-hero. He's... just sort of a jerk. And it's not just him: every character we meet is at least a little tainted and out for their own ends. There are no 'morality' choices involved and no punishment at all for picking up a hapless civilian just walking down the street and ripping them to pieces. Even Grand Theft Auto has police and the army to come around and make a token effort of trying to stop you. Most games at least acknowledge that you're being bad when you're being bad. Not so in Prototype - it's never even menteioned. The city is little more than Alex's playground and the people in it are his toys. And you WILL slaughter them, you can't avoid it; believe me, I tried. You'll need to absorb them for energy, you can't always pick them out from the infected they're being attacked by, and they have a strange habit of running right in front of your tank while you're racing the clock. The game makes it very clear that 'normal' people are of no concern to you, not even in the slightest. It's a really... interesting feeling and I'd be lying if I said I wasn't enjoying it. Like, a lot. But it's something to be mentioned.
Like lambs to the slaughter, as they say... | video-games_xbox |
Vaguely Disappointing. Like many of the reviewers, I loved Dragon Age: Origins and was honestly sad to see it end. So when I heard about the expansion pack, I couldn't wait to return to Ferelden and get back to my darkspawn-killing ways. Unfortunately, Awakenings was a let-down. It's basically just like DAO, except...slightly off. Others have already addressed some of the big problems with the expansion, so I'll just highlight a few things that really struck me:
Plot - Badly paced, which is pretty strange for a Bioware game. The game starts out strong with an attack by smarter, more organized darkspawn. Where are they coming from? Who is leading them now that the archdemon is gone? Unfortunately, the plot then stalls out, leaving most of the answers for the final hour of the game. In the meantime, there are a bunch of quests that don't further the plot. The Blackmarsh quest, for example, is fun and has some great bosses, but why did I even go there? To look for a man who might have some answers, although he actually didn't? For most of the game, I wasn't working on quests because they furthered the story; I was working on quests because that's just what you do in an RPG. Which brings me to...
Quests - Too many sidequests seemed to build up to a payoff that never actually materialized. The Blight Orphans quests, in particular, seemed like a pretty good joke without a punchline. Another quest involved a problem with the mages, so I figured that I would deal with the Circle eventually. Answer: nope, I just found a mage, who then went off to deal with the unspecified mage problems. Boy, I'm sure glad I could help with that!
Companions - As many people have noted, the companions are promising, but the game is too short to really flesh them out. You basically just keep them in your party until they trot out their side-quest, take care of that, and then replace them with a new party member. Bah. And while I liked some of them, the elf mage was just a dull knock-off of Morrigan, and Anders was just basically Alistair, with magic. Oghren is back, and still irritating, especially since his approval level from the original game didn't transfer over the to expansion; he went back to neutral, which means that all that wine and ale I gave him in DAO was wasted. Although to be fair, Oghren did have the single funniest line in Awakenings, if you take him into the Silverite Mine.
Bugs - Oh, yeah. The game froze a couple of times, forcing me to restart. Some of the sidequests are also bugged, and I never even got one of the companion quests because I had helped a guard with an unrelated matter some ten hours previously. There were also some technical issues, like the screen going black for part of a dialogue, sound cutting out in another dialogue, and yeah, a disturbing shot of Justice's skull floating outside his face. None of these bugs stopped me from finishing the game, but they really break the mood.
Bottom line: Awakenings brings back some of the fun of Dragon Age, and has some neat innovations, including the runecrafting system and some impressive bosses. Still, it lacks the heart of the original, and for every improvement, there's also something to indicate that the expansion was slapped together quickly for a fast buck. If you're a fan of DAO, it's worth getting, but I'd suggest waiting for the price to drop before buying. | video-games_xbox |
Despite the Bugs, Battlefield 4 is Worth the Price of Admission. Battlefield 4 has a lot to offer for people who are used to FPS and those who are trying it for the first time. It offers a wide variety of games modes, weapon loadouts, vehicles, and the maps are vast and beautiful on next-gen consoles. As you can tell, I am referring to the multiplayer portion of the game. Every action you take (killing, healing/reviving teammates, repairing/destroying armored vehicles, etc...) comes with its fair share of rewards. The action can be chaotic or uneasily calm, depending on the circumstances.
Teamwork is an essential part of the game. If you are expecting to complete objectives Rambo-style, get ready to have a bad day. Designating enemy combatants, calling out positions, and tactical spawn points are the keys to victory. Working with your squad of up to 6 friends makes the multiplayer more immersive than most other FPS on the market.
The single player campaign is short and uninteresting. Even from the point system used during the course of the campaign, one can tell that the developers were simply using the single player to whet gamers appetites for what was in store for multiplayer. If they were trying to go for a campaign with an engaging story and characters that players felt they could care about, then they failed big time!
The only thing that is holding this game back from being one of the better ones is the inexcusable amount of bugs that plague the game. Looking to complete the single player (for whatever reason), expect to lose your save files. Want to join a game of Rush - sorry, it thought you should play Team Deathmatch. Better yet, the game, more often than not, will boot you out of the game ENTIRELY and back to the Xbox One dashboard - where you may have to perform a hard reset to get back in.
And if you are expecting to easily play with your friends, forget about it! As of this review, the Xbox Live party, for whatever reason, is designed to interact with Battlefield's party system. So, what that means is, when you are playing Rush and someone else is playing Conquest, a message will pop up asking if you want to jump into your friend's match. However, no matter how many times you may say 'no', it will continue to pop up over and over again. Keep in mind, it does not equate that the server may already be full by the time you finally give in and say 'yes'.
As of this review, EA/DICE has apologized for these unfortunate events and have assured gamers that they are working on a solution for these cross-platform issues. If you are willing to be patient and wait out the storm, then I have no doubt that players will be in for a memorable experience.
Despite the rant (which is well placed), when the game does work, it is a thing of beauty! When it works, it is Battlefield at its finest. | video-games_xbox |
One Step Forward, Five Steps Back. Bottom line, not only does AC Unity not advance the series forward, it makes a few totally unacceptable choices that should have never been added. Assassins Creed Unity is by no means a revolutionary step for the game, rather just the 2014 iteration of this annual title. I got Assassin's Creed Unity in my bundled XBOX One purchase, so basically I got it for free with the console, which you can't beat price-wise. I'm not quite sure how this is any different than AC 1, 2, or 3. Sure the graphics are better, the geography is different, and some game mechanics have been improved, but virtually you are just doing the same thing over and over just as in most AC games. In my personal opinion, Unity takes a several steps backward from AC Black Flag. Every AC game can't have ships, I get it, but that was such a great new feature to lose it hurts and feels like something needs to step into the breech, which nothing does. Unity is a return to the pre-Black Flag games. You're in a major historical city assassinating people. The color scale is back to a more bleak look, with pales and greys versus the blues and greens of AC Black Flag. Other than the sheer grandeur of the city, AC Unity lacks that big "wow" factor to really make it something special that changes the franchise. As a big fan of the franchise, I can't say this game stands out amongst the rest, rather is just the next game in long series of titles.
POSITIVES
+ Controlled Descent: Being able to actual move downward at a fast pace is refreshing when the previous options were going down slowly or just jumping off to your death.
NEGATIVES
- Micropays: This is by far and away the most deadly sin this game has committed. Want to open a certain chest? Sorry, you need to download an app for that. Want to get some loot? Sorry, you need to register with Ubisoft. Want more cool features? Sorry, you'll have to give us more money. For heaven sakes, I just bought this game and you already want more; this is beyond unacceptable.
- Loading Screens: When I heard about ACU on next gen systems, all I heard was about that their was no loading screens; well whoever said that must have been delusional. I've had non-stop loading screens since I started playing. If anything the game is moving slower than any other AC game I've played.
- Boring Story: Their is just no "wow" moment to be had. It reads like something so manufactured because they needed an idea to get out a game in Fall 2014, not because it was actually something smart.
- Doesn't capitalize on being a 'franchise': One of the great things about being almost 10 games deep into a franchise is that they can build on one another. AC II built on the original to not make it as repetitive. Brotherhood brought in other assassins, and Black Flag added ships as a major element. All of these things advance the game, but Unity goes in the opposite direction.
- Big doesn't equal better: They've touted this as the biggest game they've ever done yada yada yada. Yes, the land mass is big, but it is also boring and blends together. Nothing about this land gets me excited. In Black Flag you had to travel to each island and explore where here you are just moving through a bigger land to collect the same useless collectables as always. | video-games_xbox |
Pro mode adds a whole new level of fun. Although I was a bit disappointed with the track list it came out with, I was definitely impressed that ALL DLC that I have are ALL PRO enabled (if that song has a pro mode for X Instrument). Another minus seems that there aren't really many songs that the keyboard can participate in, so sometimes during an Online play, it inhibits the number of songs you can choose from if you get a keyboard player. I've only ever encountered one however
The PRO mode for me is by far the most fun. I've yet to try PRO Guitar/Bass since I am still waiting for my shipment (should arrive sometime this week!) I do have the Ion drum set with all the accessories.
If you're a real drummer this should feel practically close to playing the songs for real in my opinion. Some songs the blue bar at intros may just turn to blue cymbal in PRO. In some songs, there is a complete overhaul of the track, not drastic though, example: Mr. Brightside on Expert Normal, is a drum roll red pad and single yellow pad intro. In PRO Expert it becomes a roll of yellow cymbal to red snare/pad as it was meant to be on a real set.
PRO drums really gives close to the real rush that some people if not all people feel when having at the drums, especially during a complex/fast song like Beast and the Harlot (not hard but still very fun on PRO Expert). You will definately be going around your set hitting each pad or cymbal since of course, you cannot just hit a blue pad when it shows you to hit blue cymbal (basically there are now 7 things to hit including 2 pedals? im not sure. I haven't really noticed anything different when enabling the High-Hat Pedal).
It also allows for players to be added, drop out, and change difficulty in the middle of a game without having to go back to the menu or difficulty selection screen or add a player screen like in the previous RB's. Also has the ability to let you continue, if you fail during a song, from where you failed at in no fail mode (of course the points aren't counted).
Overall it is a great game and I don't think anyone can enjoy it to its fullest without playing the PRO modes. | video-games_xbox |
Has some exciting moments, but is generally flat. I have mixed feelings about this game. I can't say it's exactly a really great game, but I don't feel that it's bad either. Keeping in mind that the game was released in 2006, it's definitely "dated" and therefore different than more recently released games.
The graphics are a mixed bag. The environments are complicated, diverse, and beautiful. There's no repetition, and the levels are large. However, sometimes the graphics seem like a mix of current-gen and last gen, with some of the graphics having really bad 3D textures. There are several instances of texture pop. Quite often, characters will partially appear in walls, pop from one location to another, or hover in the air. These are graphical issues which cannot be forgiven.
The sound effects are good, and they make the weapons seem especially powerful -- they are well-suited to the action and the items. The musical score is present at the right moment, swells at just the right moments, and helps to add to the excitement. However, enemy taunts are annoying -- you hear the same phrases over and over again. And your own squad says the same annoying things over and over again, as you try to figure out exactly what you're supposed to do. These things loop -- and unfortunately remind you too often that you are playing a game.
Gameplay gets quite repetitive. The same enemies spawn and respawn in the same exact locations, and do exactly the same things over and over again. The patterns are predictable. Sometimes, it's really hard to believe that there are that many enemies in a building, yet there they are. As you are able to push forward, the respawning stops, but it just starts all over again in the next area. There are several "quicktime" button-pressing sequences -- such as setting fuses, and engaging in hand-to-hand combat, which add nothing to the gameplay and seem more like interruptions. There's even a sequence when you need to use a crowbar to enter a doorway -- it has no place in this game. These diversions detract from the combat and action.
Most annoying -- you cannot skip CGI cutscenes, and the same CGI cutscenes will play when you load a saved game.
The game, however, plays well and the stories are engaging. There are many instances when this game gets really exciting -- the music kicks in and swells, and you really feel like you're doing something and saving the world. There is one level, in particular, in which you get to drive a tank -- the controls are well-designed the gameplay is exciting. I didn't really feel like I was part of the story until around level 4 (there are 14), so it takes a while to get into this game. The first couple of levels are quite boring. However, the last level and the last battle sequence makes it feel like this game is actually worth playing.
The game's achievements are poorly implemented. Most of the game's achievements are designed for online play, which at this point in time is mostly non-existent. There are several challenging achievements, but don't expect to unlock them on a single play (without some planning, at least).
Overall this is a good game, but not a great game. It has a fairly solid single-player campaign, and is a decent tribute to WWII combat. After two years, though, there are much better games available and this will look dated as compared to newer games. | video-games_xbox |
Defeat the darkness? Defeat the terrible voice acting. NightCaster: Defeat The Darkness, despite being one of the lesser known Xbox titles is one of the most memorable games from my childhood. My original copy was lost long ago, so when I got some money I decided to try it again. Having played it as an adult it just doesn't hold up to what I remember, with the action not being as exciting, or the difficulty as frustrating, but at the same time addictive.
Gameplay:
The game is described as an action/adventure hybrid and I'd say this is pretty accurate. You play as the wizard Arran , who wields spells from the four schools of magic fire (red), water (blue), light (yellow), and darkness (purple). Each school of magic is most powerful against enemies of the opposite school (most enemies are more or less color-coded by school) and completely useless against enemies of the same school. Every school has four spells, for a total of sixteen spells with varying effects (AoE, chain-lighting, homing missiles, etc). Each spell has 3 levels and are upgraded with spell spheres found throughout the game. Getting all the spell spheres allows you to become a green mage with increased resistance and magic, but I've never managed to accomplish this. Spells can be charged to each level for varying power and mana use. The spells are powered with mana, which can be increased by finding mana balls. Spells can be targeted by moving the orb which is an extremely useful feature. There are also four runes that provide various effects in exchange for a constant mana drain. On each level there are 4 school changers which refill Arran's health and give him a different color cloak. Saving the game is can only be done at mushroom rings scattered throughout the level. The spells are by far the best part of the game with the bright colors exploding out in contrast to the dark, bland looking world. All of the sound effects give the spells a feeling of power, especially at later levels. Arran shouts words of power at every level of charge for added flavor.
Now for the bad parts, the game is fairly linear, although you can explore all the areas of the level for more items. Enemies in this look bright and cartoonish, making them look out place in what's supposed to be a dark and serious world. Speaking of the world, its the exact opposite, disgustingly bland and ugly looking, with the sky having a haze that looks like Beijing smog. The developers gave the world a strong Celtic theme, which they did fairly well. Story-wise its fairly unoriginal, The Nightcaster has corrupted the Great Yew Tree and has placed a curse of eternal darkness on the land. Arran must gain collect the 4 elements and increase his power to defeat the darkness, however he must sacrifice his childhood friends and portions of his life to do so. Every time Arran's magic grows he ages some, a detail that I like. I find myself not caring about any of the characters, probably has something to do with the atrocious voice acting.
Ahh yes, the voice acting. The word lame doesn't do it justice. Uninspired and unemotional, I have to wonder if any of voice actors ever did any voice acting before this. One line of a whiny child saying "Daddy I'm hungry!" was so bad I still laugh when I hear it in my head.
Nightcaster doesn't have much of a soundtrack, most of the music is just short sound loops instead of actual songs, a trait it shares with another Microsoft game Azurik: Rise of Perathia. Bosses in Nightcaster are more recycled than urine on the International Space Station. The first 4 being dragons, the first 2 having a single school of magic, the 3rd alternating between 2, and the last alternating between all 4. Finally there is the Nightcaster who steals the elements and puppets Arran's friend Madelyn. You can just throw whatever spells you want at him, it doesn't matter. Finally there's Arran's other attack, a pathetic stick attack where he comically smacks his enemies like he's trying discipline a screaming brat at Wal-Mart. I know its minor thing, but you only use it against one type of enemy in the entire game, which I find annoying.
All that being said, this game is by no means terrible. If you're not a collector or enthusiast for this sort of game, its a coin toss, though I
find some of the flaws to add to the game. | video-games_xbox |
I ordered it through Turtle Beach via Amazon and received an additional 10% off which made the price even better. Quality. Review of Turtle Beach 420X
I have done quite a bit of online gaming in the last ten years or so and have been in the market for a new wireless headset for my Xbox One. I received an email from Turtle Beach announcing their new all wireless model headset is coming out soon. Luckily, it was one of the few headsets that was in my price range at $150, as most others are pushing $300. I ordered it through Turtle Beach via Amazon and received an additional 10% off which made the price even better.
Quality: These headphones did frighten me a little once I received them, as they were all plastic. However I have definitely put them through the paces playing numerous hours of online gaming, tossing them around the house and having my cat even nibble on them some. After all of that, I have not had any problems. They do have a little bit of weight to them giving the impression of good quality.
Setup: The setup of this headset could not have been easier. All you had to do was plug in the USB dongle that comes with the headset into the Xbox and then turn on the headset. You wait a few moments and the Xbox recognizes the headset and you are good to go. The nice feature of this headset is that it has a female voice that tells you everything that is going on. It tells you when it is powering on, powering off and what vocal setting you have it on when you cycle through.
Volume: This headset is nice in the fact that you can adjust the chat volume and game volume separately. This allows you to turn the game volume completely off if you want to just chat with your friends; or you can shut off the chat feature if there are people disturbing your play.
Comfort: When I first put these on they were a little snug but not uncomfortable. After about four hours of gameplay my ears were not hurting from the pressure. Through using these, I have learned that they do stretch out a little so this snugness is no longer an issue. The ear pads are a little stiff but are easily swappable with a different brand if you wish.
Mic: The mic is very sensitive, so definitely be careful what you say. My wife often will be in the room with me while playing and my friends can hear everything she says. You are supposed to be able to hear yourself through the headset with the mic monitoring feature, but mine has never worked very well. If I talk loudly, I can hear myself but just barely.
Sound Quality: This headset is not like the higher dollar sets that offer 7.1 surround sound. This set only offers stereo surround which was more than sufficient for my needs. If you are a professional gamer you will want to look into the higher dollar sets as this will make a difference.
Battery: When I received my headset it did have a small charge but only lasted about three hours. It is charged by a simple USB to Micro USB cord that most people have to charge their phones. The cord that comes with the headset is not very long at three feet. I used an extra phone charger cord for my needs. Once plugged in, the headset only took about an hour to completely charge. I have not ran my battery dead since that time, but I often play for 9+ hour stretches and have not had these die on me or even gotten a low battery warning.
Wireless: The only real complaint is that the wireless distance is every part of the 30 feet that they tell you in the description. Once I walk into my kitchen I lose sound and am unable to talk to my chat group. However, all I have to do walk a few feet closer to my Xbox and the sound immediately comes back. The best feature of this headset is that it is completely wireless even to the controller. There is no longer any getting tangled up in the cord between the headset and the controller; or no longer a long cord going across the living room.
Overall this headset has gone far above my expectations for a completely wireless headset at this price point. It has very good sound quality, a rechargeable battery and is reasonably comfortable. I would recommend this headset to anyone that is a recreational gamer looking for a reasonably priced headset. If you have any questions on this please feel to contact me and I would be more than happy to answer them. | video-games_xbox |
Would give five stars if it wasn't for the bugs it had in the beginning. So.... First to the agry comments about the buggieness of the game. Yes, unequivicably all true, this game was literally unplayable on day one. The queue wasn't working, it took 15 minutes to get onto a MP server and once on you were lucky to get through 2 maps before the game crashed and sent you to the home screen. It was a frustrating nightmare that inspired yelling obscenities at the screen and looking frantically in the forums for some sign of relief...
BUT...
Thankfully, as of about 4 days before Christmas, there was a Batlefield/Christmas miracle. The game was patched and nearly all of the bugs have now resolved. There is still the odd home screen crash, but this is now reduced to once out of several hours of gameplay verses constantly. Now, there is little if any wait (less than 2 minutes at 10pm on a Saturday night for example) before going into the glorious, big 64-player maps and once you get going, you'll never look back.
Game Review (current)
Single Player: There is a short, decent single player campaign. Much longer than any previous Battlefields but noticably shorter then the COD franchises. Not much to write home about here, the SP is what is it is, enjoyable, fun and plot driven but nothing unique or new based on the tons of other shooters out there.
Multiplayer: Unbelievably, insanely great! This is what you are buying the game for, there is nothing on the planet like playing BF4 multiplayer on a next-gen system. Every conceivable vehicle is available to use and they are as fun to play as they are difficult to master (just try to fly and fight with an attack helicopter or land it on a tiny rooftop to deliver your sniper passengers your first time out and you will know exactly what I'm talking about). The environment, with their new (insert brand name here) engine is breathtaking, awe inspiring and mind-numbingly detailed. After playing the "Siege of Shanghai" map 50 or more times for example, I still can't help but stand there like a dummy and stare in amazement as a 40 story skyscraper topples to the ground after one too many tank shells or grenades strayed from their path and hit one of the battered support beams at the base (or more accurately, one more in a series of intentional shellings at the base of the building ment to take down the faction conrtolling it). Parachutes emerge from windows and rooftops for those fortunate enough to jump in time to get out while scores of other players caught in the crumble show up as a sea of skull and crossbones on your minimap - (and the person lucky enough to have fired that last shell gets credit for 20-50 kills). The entire city shakes, windows in adjacent buildings shatter, the sky fills with paper, dust and debris. Moments later, dozens of players mob the rubble to claim the new control point at the end of the armegeddon-like, quarter-mile mass of stone rubble. It is simply beautiful, devistating artistry. I still can't wrap my head around what it took to make that happen and simply refuse to take it for granted even if as another player sneaks up behind me to stab me and take my tags. This isn't just for a single building either (allthough the one in Seige of Shanghai was clearly meant to fall as it does every round). With enough time and C4, literally everything can be destroyed: roads, buildings, powerlines, bridges... ev-er-y-thing...
Things like that remind me why I waited in line and shelled out $500+ for an X-Bone.
If you even kind of like FPS games and own a PS4 or XBone, you must buy this game. I command you, buy this game now! You won't regret it.
(Keep in mind, I hated this game for all of it's buggieness only a few weeks ago but now that it all seems to have been resolved, I'm very glad I stuck it out). Like I said, would be 5 stars if not for that crazy first month. | video-games_xbox |
Feels Good, multi-function wheels are nice but sticks acting up in game. UPDATE:
While using this controller for several days I noticed an issue with aiming and lining up my sights easily and quickly. It felt like the sensitivity was off and that I was just horrible at going quick off the draw or even basic aiming to try and kill someone. I would have a hard time getting my weapon lined up to someone's head/body in order to get a kill in game as if my sensitivity was too low or too high even when adjusting the in game sensitivity. The manual for the controller mentions that the sticks can do some sort of adjustments automatically based on how you use the controller or something, I don't have the manual in hand anymore. Not sure if that is the cause.
I decided to go back to the OEM Wireless Controller with it's Kontrol Freeks and had a much better experience in Battlefield 4. I don't know if it's the PDP controller or just my preference/experience of using the OEM controller with Kontrol Freeks but I decided to return this controller as it was appearing to hurt my ability to take anyone out without the sticks acting either too fast or too slow in game. It wasn't any extreme occurance as I could still do okay in game, it was simply getting annoying to the point where I was questioning my own ability to playing Battlefield 4 and coming right off of Battlefield 3 it wasn't making any sense. I wasn't having this problem in the Battlefiled 4 Beta, it appearing to result from the controller
It may just be an issue with me and NOT something related to the controller any anyone else will experience. YMMV. It's possible it's from my longtime use of Kontrol Freeks that is putting my aiming out of whack, but then again I never had any issues like this with my Hori or Datel controllers which cannot be used with the Kontrol Freeks due to the sizes of the sticks. Don't let this stop you from getting this controller as it may just all be in my head.
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Gaming Headsets and Chatpad:
PLEASE NOTE: Since the controller is a tad smaller and shaped slightly smaller at the bottom you are NOT going to be able to use the Xbox 360 Chatpad or any of the wired or wireless chat "pucks" used by gaming headset's such as those from Turtle Beach. You can however, use a standard 2.5mm audio cable connection for Xbox LIVE communication. Turtle Beach even sells a talkback cable that has the volume/mute buttons in line with the cable and a 2.5mm connection on the end or you can just use a generic 2.5mm cable.
I've been using this controller with my wired Tritton AX Pro+ for Xbox LIVE communication with no problems as it uses a standard 2.5mm audio cable connection for Xbox LIVE chat to the controller.
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Well let's see, it's a wired Xbox 360 controller that has a removable mini USB cable connection. The contorller itself and the analog sticks are slightly smaller than those found on the OEM Xbox 360 controllers from Microsoft. The guide button is noticeable smaller as well. The "Battlefield" and "PDP" logo's seen in the product images are LED lit and are only seen when the controller is plugged in. The "Battlefield" log is always on but isn't any more noticificable than the LED for the guide button so it's not going to interfere with your gameplay. The "PDP" logo lights up whenever you are setting up the button multi-fuction for the scroll wheels on the back of the controller. I wasn't too sure about using these scroll wheels versus straight up bottons on the back (Datel EVO controller) but it actually works quite well.
There are two scroll wheels on the back of the controller. Each scroll wheel has three programmable button functions (scroll up, scroll down and click on) for a total of 6 face buttons that you can assign to the wheels. You setup the remap buy clicking on the "PDP" logo button on the face of the controller so that it is blinking and then you press the wheel and motion you want to set (up/down/click). Then finally press the face button of what you want to program the wheel to. If you want to reset, you simply hold the "PDP" logo down until you see the light flash 3 times letting you know the functions have been reset to default. I haven't tested every button but it appears that you can assign any of the face buttons to the wheels. I have crouch/prone assigned to the right wheel and spot/commarose/knife assigned to the left wheel.
The face buttons are nice and responsive as are the triggers and buttons, more so than the OEM controllers from Microsoft. The surface of the controller is very smooth, more so than the OEM Microsoft controllers but I have no problem with the grips.
Someone requested whether or not this works on a computer so I plugged it in and the controller was auto detected and installed on my Windows 8.1 64 bit PC with no problems. It shows up as a Xbox 360 Controller for Windows, as expected. I don't normally game on my PC with a controller but had no problems setting up the controller to work in the Windows 8 Xbox game Six-Guns. Went into the game menu and set the controller as the controls method and was playing the game right away. There were no apparent issues and it couldn't of been any easier to setup or use.
I normally use "Kontrol Freeks" on my controller's but the analog sticks on this PDP controller are slightly smaller than an OEM controller from Microsoft so the "Kontrol Freeks" are fairly loose and don't stay on. So I used my "Grip-It" analog stick covers which fit snug as a bug on the PDP controller for just some added grip that I am normally accustomed to using since I use those on my "Datel EVO" controllers" as well.
Surprisingly, the packaging is really nice and sturdy. It's made of a thick cardstock material and as silly as it may sound is worthy of being a showpiece in anyone's gaming room or collection. It has a very nice vidual appeal. It's NOT some flimsy piece of paper or plastic. Included in the packaging is the instruction manual for setting up the controller and the Programming fuctions and a card that has a redemption code for a "PDP" dog tag for use in Battlefield 4. The dog tag features the outline of the controller with a large "PDP" logo in the middle. You have to login to the Origin web site in order to redeem the code as it's NOT a standard Xbox 360 alphanumerical 25 digit code, it's an EA Origin code. | video-games_xbox |
Don't Believe All These 5 Star Ratings...Simply Hype Fueled. This game isn't bad, but it has serious problems:
1) No replays unless you quit a race! Makes it tough to learn by watching a turn or 2 in replay, but still be able to continue racing afterwards.
2) If you quit a race to watch a replay, the controls for replays are terrible. You can't do any seeking, fast forwarding, rewinding and you can't manipulate the camera besides a paltry 4 not so good views. Makes replays tedious to use and not all that impressive since you can't move the camera to get cool images of race events.
3) You have to drive from one of 4 bad vantage points. Either 2 harldy different views with you floating above your car, or else 2 hardly different views from you riding with your nose scraping on the pavement. No first person view where you see the cockpit / dashboard! I know there are a lot of cars so that might have been hard, but driving as a disembodied floating viewpoint makes this feel less like driving and more like moving a camera around the track.
4) The braking is terrible. Way too sensitive with no way to adjust it! There is a hair trigger on locking up your wheels - push too little on the left trigger and you don't get much braking force at all, push too much and you come to a screeching halt. Way too fine a line (and I'm a veteran of virtual racing for 15 years of driving on PC / Xbox. I know how to do it!).
5) No weather effects.
6) Why do I have to play and play and play to unlock stuff I paid for? Can't they offer a mode where I can play any car, on any track!!! It is maddening to have so few choices initially and be trapped into having to play so many races in so many cars I'm not interested in just to get to cars and tracks I want.
7) I've played for several hours already, and the longest race offered is 3 laps! One mistake and you can't really win. That's way too short. Races should be long enough that you can bide your time, pass when appropriate, and recover from small driving errors. With 3 laps, you basically are done just when you feel like you are getting warmed up. And like I said above, who knows how long you have to play this game before it lets you drive longer races. After several hours, I still can't!
8) Game is very impersonal. There is very little personality in this game. Feels very bland playing it. Looks good, but it is ultimately very sterile and isn't totally immersive like other racing games have been for me. Even the name - what the heck?
9) There does not appear to be any weight transfer / body roll happening with regards to the vehicles. The game seems to model suspension in this manner - but on all the replays I've watched the car bodies never seem to react in response to weight transfer. That either means the physics aren't as great as claimed, or they are disconnected from the visual simulation and either way that's bad.
10) Bad interface screens. Navigating around this game isn't easy or intuitive. You have to go in and out of many layers of menus to do things, and in and out of actual races as well meaning you ares sitting through loading screens longer than you should be. In general, the whole front end of this game (what you do before you are finally on the track racing) is burdensome.
Everyone is hyping this game. Everyone wants it to be great. Me too. I love the Xbox and I want it to have a GT4 killer. But GT4 has some of these problems too. Developers have innovated some (drivatar and dynamic racing line), but stayed too formulaic and emulative of the GT games. This game was in development a long time with a big team. Should have had more flair, better visual representation of physics, way better interfaces / menus, better music, better camera views / controls, better game saving (not even sure if you can - I've never yet been in a compelling enough race to care to try), weather, and more.
It looks good. It can wow your friends. You'll play it thinking there is more too it for a few hours, but I think it will turn out to be one of those 'good' games that really just sits on your shelf after a week or 2 with it. Not nearly exciting enough to play, and with serious critical flaws related to camera, interface. | video-games_xbox |
Broke within 5 minutes of opening. UPDATE 6/20/2012. I returned the first headset I got for a replacement and it worked for the past 6 months. Mic went bad last week however. The wiring is shoddy so the mic cuts out constantly and causes a loud static noise in the headset. The funny part is the fabric wire housing seems really robust with no visible damage, but underneath the wires must have come loose already. This is absolutely unacceptable because these headphones have done zero traveling - they just sit at my desktop! I have a pair of Shure earbuds that get shoved into every little crevice my work backpack has, and the wires haven't broken. The plastic has even come away on the edges and they STILL work!
It sucks because when they work, they work great. But $100 for 6 months of use is just plain awful. I guess TB will continue to scam the market until someone comes out with a similar product with some actual Quality Assurance.
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All I have to say is that when I opened these, hooked em up to my PC, configured the sound and started listening to music, I had 5 minutes of entertainment then BOOM, they broke. Not the headphones themselves, but the wires. Right speaker went completely out, like when your wires are too old and every time you touch them the speakers go in and out. Except these are BRAND NEW.
Truly a sad story because I have to admit the build quality of everything else is great. They feel great on your head, even the wire housing is a nice soft material that appears to bend really well ... except not.
Why one star then? Because this happens with every Turtle Beach headset I and my group of friends buy sooner or later. Not usually on day one though, hence the 1 star. This is utterly unacceptable for a $100 piece of electronics. I can buy $10 headphones from China that work longer.
Don't be dissuaded by their good sound quality. If you want a headset that lasts, stay far, far away from Turtle Beach. Spend $100 more and invest in a company that doesn't have crap for quality checking their products. | video-games_xbox |
Incomplete privacy solution. I bought this without having the Kinect yet and in hindsight realized it's an incomplete solution to the privacy issue. The problem is right now it's the only vendor offering an option, so I think we're just going for it. But the core issue still needs a vendor to come up with a more complete, and more smoothly integrated solution.
The problem we're trying to solve: We want privacy. A Kinect sensor, and your home network, can be hacked. Like any wifi enabled camera or microphone, if they are connected to the internet and your systems are on, you have the potential to be exposed to anyone with the capacity to hack into or redirect your home network. Someone could, if they wanted, watch you on your Kinect, or record you.
You'll notice the core issues are SOUND and IMAGE. The Pritect only resolves one problem - IMAGE. You can cover the camera if you want, but someone could still hear you talking, moving, etc. You'll notice the Kinect sensor settings also prompt you to differentiate between sight and sound, and it isn't always easy to tell when one is really working or not. At the same time, Xbox would love to collect stats about how you use and interact with both the microphone and the camera - all of which are great for Xbox, and could in the long term improve the Kinect and Xbox design, but which, in the end, use you as a guinea pig and will require you to give up privacy.
I knew this buying the Kinect, so my plan was to make sure the Kinect couldn't see me when I wasn't using it. But then I realized there was a mic, so I had to send this back. Also, sliding this on/off your kinect works easily if the kinect is not on top of your tv (mounted on a wall) or in a place you deliberately put it to keep it out of the way and stable. But, doing this also messes with the equipment so if it's aligned a certain way, you risk basically misaligning it, every time you put it on/take it off.
I think they need to redesign this thing to totally mute the mic (I think there's probably some mic coverage but not ensured silence), and to probably have a flip top option where all you do is lift/drop a front plate so you're not messing with your kinect's positioning/alignment.
Or, even better, the Kinect should probably come with an on/off button and a camera shutter and mic mute button, directly on the unit.
So now, I'm using the surefire method - just unplug the kinect. :) | video-games_xbox |
A disappointment. I played this game at a friends house around the time it came out and I hated it. Years later, I find out they are coming out with a new GTA game so I decided to look into this game a little more. I didn't spend to much time playing this game at my friends house 4 years ago because of how bad the game is so since the game is only 20 bucks at decided to go more in depth.
As I said in the description, this game is a disappointment. I don't know what Rockstar was thinking. The first 3 GTA games were very good, especially san andreas, but this one is wayyyy off.
The controls are a little different even though you can go back to classic mode. Shooting seems a little more difficult and the cars handle HORRIBLY. That is probably the biggest problem with this game is the controls of the cars. The damage effects is nice and the cars no longer explode when flipped on their roofs. But the cars are difficult to control around corners. I hate the fact that you can't set the default to "run". You have to press and hold "a" in order for him to run and there is no way to change that.
The graphics are not as good as they should be. The city is huge and has a lot of detail in it. The people reacts more life like in this game then in previous games and I like how some of the people can actually die in car accidents if their car gets hit hard enough. If it rains, you will see people running, some will have umbrellas, others newspapers. Thats a nice touch. You can do burn outs in cars and if you do them too long the tire will explode. You can still drive the car of course but it will make the cars more difficult to handle even though they are already difficult to handle. No more paramedic and firefigher missions. If you get a cop car, you can check the cars computer to see crimes in the area that you can take on.
The acting is good in the game. Lots of cursing which I see is the norm in todays games. The movie scenes seem to be longer this time around too which I like. The missions are pretty repetitive though. You will probably get tired of this game before you even finish it. I actually have to use cheats to make the game more enjoyable for me. You die so easily in this game and body armor is hard to come by. I don't mind the character Niko.
There really is no point in buying this game since part 5 is coming out soon. I just bought it cuz I had nothing else better to do. Hopefully it will be a 1000 times better then this junk. I am glad I only paid $20. | video-games_xbox |
Let That Be A Lesson To You . When I got an Xbox this past Christmas, the game I wanted most was none other than Buffy The Vampire Slayer. A game which is based on a tv show starring Sarah Michelle Gellar that's based on a movie starring Kristy Swanson. However, when playing the game, YOU become the star. I found myself imediately drawn to this concept and when I began playing the game, it was better than I had imagined!
Easy to use controls let you move around and explore Buffy's world to it's fullest. Whether you're jumping off of a cliff, opening up a door, fighting for your life or interacting with other characters, game play has never been made so simple.
The fighting style of the game is also easy to learn. Unlike many other fighting games where the combos are so intricate and complicated, these combos are made simple just by holding down certain buttons that make Buffy's moves deadly.
The graphics on this game are so amazing, any fan of the tv show will be drooling over them. From the facial expressions of the vampires (squinty eyes, wrinkled face, pointy and blood dripping teeth) to a simple walk in the cemetary (where the moon casts detailed shadows of trees onto the ground), the sights will leave you in awe.
The sound to me is what's most impressive. Granted, I have my Xbox hooked up to some kick ... speakers, but you can tell just how much thought was put into this game just by turning up the volume. Obviously, there's the repetitious, but humorous voice overs provided by the stars of the show (SMG, Nicholas Brenden, Alyson Hannigan, Charisma Carpenter, David Boreanaz, Anthony Stewart Head, James Marsters and more), but what you'll really wanna sink your teeth into are the sound effects.
Such ear candy includes Buffy grunting and panting as she jumps or falls, in some parts you can hear the sound of her flesh sliding against steel as she "shimmies" across poles from one rooftop to another, the deep throated growlings of a vampire/demon continuously give the game it's creepy vibe and listening to the eerie and unsettling sounds of children laughing while your down in the dark underneath the church may give you more than just the wigs.
Basically, this game is a ten star game. I got it about two weeks ago and I've almost got it completed. Not to say this game doesn't have it's challenges, I just love it so much I've been playing non stop.
I really enjoy being in Buffy's world and becoming the slayer. I've been waiting for a Buffy game way back since the Sega Dreamcast was making it. All I can say is thst it is well worth the wait. You won't believe how good it is. All I could ask for after this is a nice sequel. One that takes place in the tv show's present where Buffy is taking on the first evil who can shape shift into anyone that's dead including past baddies such as Drusilla, The Mayor, Adam and Glory. Also, it would be really fun to be able to interact with other characters such as Joyce Summers, Faith, Tara, Anya, Jonathan, Riley, Dawn and those 3 creepy bad guys from the Emmy nominated "Hush" episode. | video-games_xbox |
Victim of hype but still fun game. While I first had the Wii, I didn't get a Playstation 3 or an Xbox 360 (price for former, reliability for latter) till awhile later but once I finally bought one, there was several games on my list as far as "games I want to play but couldn't" and one of them was Assassin's Creed. Seems like everyone else had this on their list to play too because the game sold an insane amount of copies and got a lot of hype and anticipation. Well nowadays the game has gotten such a bad reputation thanks to its repetitive mission structure and maybe too ambitious for its own good but with the sequel coming out in just a month's time, I thought I'd revisit the game and see whether or not the game really is that bad or whether people just overreacted. I'd say personally that everyone overreacted because they expected a masterpiece and they got a good game instead.
Story: It's 1191 and there's a conflict going on between Crusader and Saracen forces with 9 men in particular really being the key major players concerning the turmoil to the lands. Al Mualim, leader of the Assassin's Guild, entrusts arrogant and recently demoted member Altair to kill the 9 men and help the conflict and bring some kind of resolve. But the real reason why Altair is doing anything at all will be revealed and it turns out it has nothing to do with the problems in the Holy Land. The story got criticized for being a bit too ambitious concerning its plot twist, it's unfinished-feeling ending and for some people, the lack of coherence since there's no subtitle option to get into the larger plots concerning the intended targets but it's an interesting story, just I guess not properly told.
Graphics: One thing you can never fault - well, least not frequently - is Ubisoft's lack of graphical prowess and Assassin's Creed is the kind of game that not only has a really beautiful and unique look and aesthetic but the horsepower behind the engine as well with incredible draw distances, crowd animations not only in groups but on individuals and especially Altair's parkour animations, Assassin's Creed is certainly a beautiful game which unfortunately gets marred when some screen tearing pops up but it's minimal. But doing the Leap of Faith where you drop practically 10 stories down to a bundle of hay in one camera move is quite impressive.
Sound/Music: The music isn't necessarily buy-worthy but it's a likable soundtrack with some of-the-times type pieces but for the most part it's all the crowd din as you hear the rustle and bustle of the city and it's all incredibly realistic and really puts you in that place. However, the voice acting is incredibly spotty with the intended targets doing admirable jobs with their roles yet Altair is one monotonous and unlikable bugger who really needs a kick in the ass (and who sounds strangely American for a Middle-Eastern character) and the repeated lines will drive you crazy. That one beggar woman who constantly cries out "just a coin, sir I'm sick, I haven't any money" will most likely have you wanting to put her out of her misery more than once, in addition to the lines civilians say when you rescue them. How many times have I heard that the whole city will hear of my sacrifice? 50 times too many.
Gameplay: The city has been described as an open-world game which basically means "do whatever you want" but in a way, Assassin's Creed doesn't fit the mold. Whereas a lot of these kind of games offer you plenty of variety of things to do (Grand Theft Auto series) or a massive map to explore (Fallout 3), Assassin's Creed gives you huge areas to explore, just not as much stuff to actually do in them. When you come across the 3 key cities, Acre, Jerusalem and Damascus, it's predominantly the same thing in each city: view points to help fill out the map, saving citizens from brutish guards, eavesdropping missions where you sit on a bench and listen in, pickpocketing people's pockets (yay, alliteration) or roughing up someone for information. There is a tad bit of repetition but it isn't so bad but people might not and didn't like how same-y it got. The other gameplay extender is flag collecting and if you're one of those types that hates finding stuff for achievements than Assassin's Creed will drive you batty because there's 100 flags to collect and not just in one city either and unlike say Infamous which had a similar thing but gave you a radar to locate them, some flags are so well-hidden you practically need a map and cross them off.
A large part of the game is parkour where Altair climbs up down and around buildings to get to where he's going and it's one of the more funner elements of the game since not only does it look so realistic and easy to use (though too many platforming games have me pressing Jump to climb higher that I keep jumping OFF buildings whereas this game just requires you to hold the Up button) but it for some reason actually feels that fun. But should you run into guards on your voyages is where combat comes in and this is where it gets a bit dodgy since you get to counter attack, grab them and throw them away, sometimes straight off cliffs and high roofs too, but face multiple ones at the same time but the AI has a habit of just standing there and sometimes they even pose, as if they don't want to attack you so much as mock. In addition, it's way too easy to actually start a fight and more than once you'll be riding on your horse and people will assume you're up to no good and chase after you and bizarrely they actually don't stop so you can ride 2 football field lengths away and eventually they'll be right behind you slicing your horse's feet and it's like "go away already". City guard AI is worse since sometimes they don't even see you assassinate a guy right near them and yet you can be on a ledge above the street and be like "assassin!" and you'd be like "what did I do, haven't killed anyone for....3 minutes" but it's way too inconsistent.
One of the low points of the game though is strangely part of what's actually not set in the Holy Land but rather the future. While I don't want to spoil the entire story and its concept despite others having done so, the segments where you're not controlling Altair are so linear and really just walk around, chat to chick that you wonder why this wasn't just cutscene. Is this a fun game? It strangely is when your brain isn't thinking about what wasn't included, why one was etc so it's not an outright bad game and maybe not deserving of the huge amount of hype people put onto the game since that kind of influenced what we were expecting but I did find it fun, just maybe not flawless. | video-games_xbox |
So many great ideas, but just as many flaws. I wanted to love this game. Between its fast-paced combat, huge cast of characters, and incredible dungeon design, it certainly could have been great. But its clever plot is rushed in all the wrong places, the AI is abysmal, and there are just far too many glaring design flaws in the gameplay that ruined what could have been one of the better JRPGs Ive played in the past decade.
The plot is strong, as one should expect from this team. The main character, Capell, is a wandering minstrel (or so we assume) who is mistaken for Sigmund, the leader of a rebel force fighting against the evil Order of the Chain. After he is captured, one of Sigmunds allies, Aya, comes to his rescue (making the same mistake the Order did). Though she quickly realizes that he is not Sigmund, the two are forced to fight their way out of the prison and back to where the rest of Sigmunds forces are waiting for her. Capell is eventually dragged unwillingly into the fight against the Order. There are a few notable twists as the game progresses, and definitely some emotional moments, but there are many moments that just don't make a lot of sense. Characters will react to each other in illogical ways or make absurd choices that are either out of character or completely nonsensical. While early on the large cast of characters (16 or so by the games conclusion) is handled well, right near the end the game throws 5 characters in the party that only have a few moments of plot relevance. The games villains suffer a similar fate. They never stand out as individuals and are never developed, giving no sense of victory when they are defeated. Even by the end of the game, their goals are only vaguely explained. Important back-story details are barely flushed out in passing, and much of the game world feels only vaguely developed. I want to blame this on a rushed development, which is definitely the feel I got from the end of the game.
The combat of the game had a lot of promise. Gameplay adjusts seamlessly from exploration to combat. The player is able to sneak up on enemies to get a few combat bonuses, but enemies are able to do the same to the party. Performing repeated attacks on the same enemy will give the player AP, which can be used to perform combo attacks that can knock most enemies into the air or onto the ground. Continued attacks on airborne or grounded enemies give bonuses in the form of increased EXP or HP and MP recovery. Through the entire game, the player controls Capell. You can assign two connect abilities to each party member in order to quickly give them commands in combat, but for the most part they will act on their own. You can also give commands to the entire party, such as requesting healing, telling the party to focus on one enemy, spread out, act freely, conserve MP, etc. On paper, this system should have been a breath of fresh air, keeping combat fast-paced, without a constant reliance on giving commands through menus. In practice, combat is a mess. You have a few characters capable of ranged attacks, but when trying to sneak up on enemies, a lot of times the other members will rush in, alerting the enemy before you have a chance to ask the ranged fighter to act. Ranged fighters have a habit of sticking close to the rest of the party, even when everyone is right next to the enemy. This leads to spell-casters and archers getting killed with some frequency as enemies use area of effect attacks. Healers will occasionally focus on healing the party, but sometimes they will decide to go all-out with their attacks, allowing the entire party to be slowly wiped out. Thats where heal commands are supposed to come in, but characters tend to use the most powerful items in your inventory when not necessary, and one heal command might cause the entire party to heal the same character (wasting at least two items in the process). If Capell is defeated, the player can no longer give commands to party members, leaving the player to hope someone will eventually use a revival item and bring them back to life before game over. The player is also able to use items, but opening the menu does not pause the game, and with the vast collection of usable items available, attempting to use one often results in death, since you are unable to move when the inventory is open. This might have been forgivable with some sort of customizable item hot keys, but these are inexplicably absent.
Crafting in Infinite Undiscovery can be tedious, but rewarding. Most characters have some sort of crafting skill. A few characters can cook, a few are alchemists, a few are blacksmiths, and a few can make books (a weapon for some mages and a source of money). While there is some overlap on what the different characters can make, each character has a few recipes that are unique to them. As the characters each craft more items, they unlock further recipes to create better stuff. All crafting recipes have a chance of failure based on the characters crafting level, but the failure chance isn't shown anywhere, which can lead to some unexpected disappointment. when trying to make a few of the late game items. Cooking is mostly useless until mid- to late-game, when you gain the ability to make items that heal large percentages of HP and MP simultaneously, or even revive and full-heal the entire party. But characters will never use food in battle, forcing the player to navigate through a menu to find the necessary item. Also, food has a somewhat lengthy cool-down, making it something of an in case of emergency option. As for smithing, the ability to make new weapons and armor from (relatively) cheap materials is great to have, however many times, by the time materials are available to make a certain piece of equipment, something much better is available to be purchased in a shop. SquareEnix released a pair of optional add-ons in the XBox Marketplace that give an increased inventory to shopkeepers in order to address complaints at how tough it is to find crafting materials. Unfortunately, these add-ons give ALL shopkeepers every piece of ore and leather/cloth material available in the game (but no wood, for some reason). This means that the player can conceivably outfit nearly every character with close to the best equipment in the game shortly after reaching the second town.
One of the most unique features of the game is the multi-party system. For some areas, the player divides their full group of characters into multiple parties in order to tackle larger dungeons/battles. In one instance (the best use of this mechanic) the group splits into three parties for one area. One party is focused on taking care of the respawning enemies while the other two are hunting down and destroying a number of crystals hidden in the area. Other times, the split parties are each taking a different path through a dungeon. The multi-party system is really cool in larger battles, where there can be many powerful enemies that your entire team is tackling at once. While the game takes into account the strength of the weapons and armor team members in other parties are using, it seems they have unlimited HP. No matter how much of a beating they're taking, theyll stay standing. This leads to some moments in a few of the bigger fights where you can have your party hold back while another deals with the monsters/bosses. Multi-party fights for bosses are rare, however, so this mechanic isn't overly exploitable.
The games graphics are decent. The level design is gorgeous, and each level feels different from the last. Also, though there aren't a large number of areas in the game, each one is massive. Some dungeons can take upwards of half-an-hour to traverse from one end to the other. Unfortunately, theres no quick system of traveling between areas, which can make returning to old locations (something that is valuable near the end of the game) a daunting task.
The music is mediocre at best. It isn't annoying, but tends to fade into the background and be forgettable. While traveling and in battle there are often times when party members will talk with one another. These little touches are great and help give life to the characters, especially their reactions to the deaths of others in the party. One of the best touches comes late in the game with Capell. A certain event causes a shift in his personality, and from what I could tell, ALL of his in-battle dialogue was changed to reflect this. It was subtle, but went far to show his growth as a character.
All-in-all, I'd say this game is worth playing if you're a fan of action JRPGs, especially since it can generally be picked up for $10 or less. It has a fairly strong plot, and several moments where you'll really feel for the characters. Just don't go into this expecting a masterpiece of storytelling and be prepared for lots of frustration. | video-games_xbox |
Would you want a product to only half work. Pro's:
Cool story
Cool characters
Voice acting works really well for the characters
Aesthetically the game is pretty snazzy.
Music is decent
Magic attacks are pretty cool and work well.
Con's
Gameplay
QUICKTIME EVENTS (INSERT SLEW OF CURSE WORDS HERE ON THIS GARBAGE)
Camera Controls (ESPECIALLY during one particular boss fight later in the game where you can't move the camera around.. and get your bearings..)
No Jump Button
No Run Button
Save System (or lack of one to some degree)
Okay, this game is a hack n slash, with a bit of RPG elements.. you can level up your magic, and you can level up a couple of the Knights attacks.
Like most games that fall short, the developers pulled some douchebag moves.. IE around Chapter 9, or their about in Rapunzel's castle, you gain an item that lets you collect more souls when you defeat an enemy. When game creators do this...you know something is wrong, having to have an item to get an ROI(return on investment) on defeating enemies.
Anyways, since the game revolves around combat.. gameplay/character controls needs to work, and it needs to work well. I constantly felt like I was fighting against the controls of the game.. another words my character was sluggish... activating man hole covers and ladders and switches was annoying.. because it only half worked. You've also got a lot of ground to cover in the game.. and your character moves like a brick. I know what your going to tell me probably.. "But he's big and muscly..etc" Well, you guys have seen elephants and lions and linebackers charge right? yeah when you got muscle's you can move fast.. in burst if nothing.
So Heinrich's move set as far as moving and combat.. could have used some vast tweaking.. to get him to respond better, and be a better fighter. Because you face some enemies in the later game, where his.. floundering about in combat.. will having you foaming with anger. And it would be nice to be able to block attacks with a shield or something.. what the heck?
Anyways, over all I am not happy or sad I bought this game. I some how ended up at a "meh" kinda place mentally.
Try it out. It's pretty cheap. | video-games_xbox |
Decent at best. I've used multiple controllers and joysticks. I prefer controller overall, I never saw an improvement in my execution with a stick, then again I don't main charge characters in fighters. I suppose if you're main is someone like Bison (Dictator) or Balrog (Boxer) then the stick would be better for you. I've been playing fighters since 2007 so I like to think I know what I'm talking about. There's been a lot of talk about the Madcatz fightpad and I decided to take the plunge. I should point out I'm using the Xbox 360 version, though I'd make the guess that there's no massive difference between the 360 or PS3 version. What I like is the button layout. Gives you a lot of options. Plus it has turbo input. Now the negatives, and there's quite a few: The shoulder buttons are stiff, I've been using this controller for about a week and I notice that they're inconsistent. For example, I do a taunt (normally I map HP and HK to the shoulder buttons) and about 8 times out of 10 I get that taunt. Not good. Next up is the D pad which looks decent enough, but I've found that more than a little stiff. Normally I can pull off an SRK (dragon punch) move no problem, 10 times out of 10 it will come out. Here, I have to make an over-exaggerated effort to get that out. It's a little difficult to explain but to do the SRK in most modern fighters you do: Forward, Downfoward, Foward and Punch/Kick. That rarely works with the fight pad. With the Fight pad I have to do: Forward, Downfoward, Down, Downfoward, foward. Doesn't sound like much of a difference, but it can make a huge impact on your performance. Just to give you an idea, the fighters I main are: Street Fighter 3: 3rd Strike, Garou: Mark of the Wolves, Samurai Shodown V Special, KOF XI, and occasionally Street Fighter 4 or some Mugen project.
There's a lot of weird things like I'm pretty decent with Yang from 3rd Strike, and Yang has a basic combo: Crouching MK, followed by the Tourou Zan (QCF+Punch 3 times). Really easy to do. I can do that combo maybe 5 times out of 10 with the Madcatz. If I do it with the madcats, I do the Crouching MK, then when I do the follow up I get Yang's SRK move (which doesn't combo) or I get only 1 Tourou Zan instead of 3. The Tourou Zan is incredibly easy to do, you can mash it out and get it 10 times out of 10. With this pad, I get it out maybe 8 times out of 10, maybe I get one Tourou Zan and no follow ups. A lot of weird stuff like that. However with my Main Alex in 3rd Strike, I have almost no problems.
More issues: Because of the layout, sometimes you hit the turbo button or 360 Home button. Another annoyance is the switch on the back of the controller that changes if the D pad corresponds to left or right Analog stick, this is prone to being accidentally switched.
So I wouldn't recommend this controller unless you find it really cheap (maybe $20) I spent about $35 and I feel I got ripped off. My recommendation for PC users would be the Logitech Dual Action controller. Perfect for GGPO. The controllers are pretty cheap too, you can get them for maybe $12 with shipping on Amazon. The Logitech's D-pad is fantastic, and the buttons are really responsive though a little smaller than the Madcatz. One thing, the Logitech's tend to last for about 1-2 years before the D-pad stops working. But for $12 you can't really go wrong. | video-games_xbox |
Simply the best. Soul Calibur 2 is the best fighting game ever in this reviewer's opinion. Great graphics, interesting characters, awesome gameplay. It doesn't get any better than this. The weapons-focused combat is also an absolute plus for me.
Pros:
-Some of the best graphics out there.
-Sound is unparralelled. Necrid especially can realy rumble the subwoofers if you have any decent surround sound setup.
-Controls are easy enough that new players and button-mashers can latch on instatly, while still offering tons of depth for experienced players.
-Tons of unlockables reward you for playing the singleplayer mode, which is fun and worthwhile in itself. Yes, you "buy" most every unlockable in the game- but trust me, the system works.
-Lots of stages and unlockable costumes/items/stages/etc make multiplayer an absolute blast.
-XBox gets a unique custom character, Todd McFarlane's spawn. With an axe, fireballs, and levitation moves, spawn brings a new twist to Soul Calibur (while remaining a surprisingly balanced characer)
-Everything has a counter. The game featues tons of options for sidestepping or blocking or counter-attacking. There is no "one attack" that can win a game. But, every character does have a core set of good moves- meaning everything is balanced and both offensive and defensive tactics are perfectly valid in this game.
Cons:
-The controls are a little too forgiving for beginners. Some players wind up claiming you can get through the whole game just mashing buttons. And you can, but see my note at the end.
-Only one "unique" character per system. XBox got Spawn, and Spawn rules, but if you want Link or Heihachi you'll have to check out another version.
-Fans of hand-to-hand combat and "Tag" style multiplayer need not apply. Soul Calibur has tons of modes, just not these modes.
Note on button-mashing: Although you can certainly do fairly well, I can personally attest to the fact that someone who masters the controls really has an authorative edge. When my button-mashing fiancee (who could beat quite a few of her friends) told me I wasn't allowed to take it easy on her, I beat her something like 20-0, and did it "playing fair" and choosing random characters. So yes, button-mashers can fair well but they can't hold a candle to someone who bothers to really learn the control system.
If you're looking for "that one fighting game" you can play, this is it. The graphics, the gameplay... it's just good. Did I mention there's a decent story line behind it all? SC2 is worth what you pay and tons more- I can't reccomend it enough. | video-games_xbox |
Just right... Great Value... but you may need a cable. I have an older Xbox 360 20Gb hard drive (HD) model and purchased this kit to upgrade the disk size. This is a GREAT value IMHO.
While I don't need the headset nor ethernet cable, they will be used by others in my family. The bonus is the 3-Month Xbox Live Gold membership card included in this kit (a $19.99 value).
Unfortunately, the kit does not come with the cable and software disk required to copy the information from my existing 20Gb HD to the new 60Gb HD.
If you have a Xbox 360 with a 20Gb HD, Microsoft wants you to buy the 120Gb HD upgrade, which DOES come with a transfer cable. For me, it wasn't worth the extra $50 for the 120Gb HD (you can find it here at Amazon for $134.99). This kit is at the right price point for me and includes enough disk space for my needs. If you DO own an arcade version of the 360, you can get a 20Gb HD from MS for less money. I'd recommend this instead because you will find, as I did, if you intend to download many Arcade titles OR simply want to install more than ONE game to your hard drive, you need more than 20Gb IMHO. And you are going to want a Xbox Live Gold account, at least try it out for more than the 30 days you get when you first get the console. Again, my humble opinion.
Fortunately, you can get this "Xbox 360 Data Migration Kit" in one of two ways;
1) Find one on Ebay or Craigslist. Search for "Xbox 360 Data Migration Kit" and you will find many for sale. Expect to pay $20-$40. You may find it for less but there appears to be a number of folks wishing to corner the market on these things (I'm guessing for pure profit during the holidays). I paid $20 for mine found on craigslist. I intend to resell it on Ebay for at least what I paid for it (there were 12 sold this weekend on ebay alone with at least 26 others to bid on!).
2) Get it for free from Microsoft! As the user above reported, you can call MS and ask for one, they will send you one. Or, you can go to xbox dot com, search for the xbox data migration kit as shown above, click on the "How to obtain the Xbox 360 Data Migration Kit" link. You'll have to click on a couple of links to get to the final page as Amazon won't let me include the actual links in this review...
Go to the bottom of the page to "Related Links" and click on the "How to get your free Transfer Cable" link. Fill out the form and where it asks for the "new console serial number" write "on order". Mail it in and wait a few weeks. (update; I mailed the form on 11/21/08 and rec'd the kit on 12/11/08.)
I didn't want to wait a few weeks, hence the craigslist purchase.
I am perfectly happy with my 60Gb Starter Kit purchase. I copied the data from my old HD (took about an hour - it was FULL!), connected the new drive in place of the old one and everything works great.
If you don't have an Xbox Live Gold account yet, this is an excellent way to "test drive" the service while giving your 360 an needed disk upgrade. Particularly if you plan to stream Netflix movies, install games to the hard drive (available now with the "New Xbox Experience" upgrade), rip more music to it, or just need more room to download Arcade titles. | video-games_xbox |
Could have been perfect but just missed it. Let me preface my review by stating that RPGs and Shooters are my 2 favorite genres of games.
I struggled in my mind over 4 or 5 stars for Mass Effect 2. I ultimately went with 4 stars for the reasons stated below.
The game is outstanding and when taken as a whole is practically perfect in every way. Gone are the texture pops from ME1 and the odd shadow effects. The shooting has been greatly improved. The dialogue wheel is as fluid as ever and voice acting and facial expressions are amazing. I love the fact that each planet is unique (at least the ones you land on). I'm in the minority here in that I actually kind of enjoyed the rover. Music and sound are great. Inventory system has been improved somewhat. I wouldn't call this a major improvement, but it sure beats having 10 different assault rifles that all look exactly the same. I would have liked more than 3 though. On that note as well, the clips rather than having your weapon overheat is a plus.
Now for my inner struggle. ME2 loses points with me for the absolutely horrible levelling system. The RPG lover in me was hugely disappointed with the way you level up. In ME1 I would level up and get my "talent points" and would actually look at the skills and think about which ones I wanted to improve on. In ME2, all I did through the whole campaign was hit "Y" to auto-allocate my points. It really rips the heart out of the RPG side of this game. Levelling up is the essence of an RPG and it was outstanding in ME1. It is severely lacking in ME2. It takes no thought or consideration at all, and I didn't see that it really made any difference at all. Also a disappointment is the fact that you can't equip your squad with armor or change their armor for that matter. Equipping your team is another staple in the RPG genre. I really hope for ME3 they keep all the game play improvements that were made but go back to the drawing board on the levelling up. A lot of people gushing over how "streamlined" the levelling system is now have blinders on, and the rest are straight up shooter fans who wouldn't know a quality RPG if it smacked them in the face. Just because a game has a deep and immersive story line doesn't make it a great RPG. One last minor gripe is the scanning mini-game for the planets. It is certainly better than the first game, but becomes tiresome pretty quickly. As a shooter it gets 5 stars, as an RPG it gets a pretty weak 3. That averages out to 4 stars. If they had just left the levelling system alone it would have been perfect.
PROS
+ Graphics
+ Story line
+ Conversation wheel
+ Building Relationships
+ Inventory System streamlined
+ Upgrading weapons and armor is simple
+ Combat is amazing
+ Planets are varied
CONS
- Levelling system has been dumbed down to the point that it is almost non-existent
- Very little armor customization for Shepard
- No armor period for the rest of the team
- Scanning for minerals becomes tedious
- Little variety of weapons.
***Update***
I am now on my third play through of ME2 and I do have to say the levelling has grown on me a bit. I still stand by this being a 4 star game as the more I play it the more little glitches jump out at me, but now that I've actually worked with it levelling system makes more sense. I've read that you can actually finish the game without Shepard surviving. Haven't quite figured that one out yet. | video-games_xbox |
it is comfortable, and it functions very well. The Ear Force Recon 50x gaming headset from Turtle Beach is the right product for you! If you are someone who is just getting in to the competitive gaming scene or is just a serious gamer, look no further. This headset will cover all the needs and expectations you have for your first legitimate gaming headset because its price is low, it is comfortable, and it functions very well.
Since Turtle Beach is one of the most respected headset makers, you know the quality will at least be better than most. However, Im here to tell you that this is the best low-end option. If you are anything like me, you will look at buying a gaming headset one of two ways. 1) Buy the best headset you can at the lowest price possible, or 2) just go out and buy the very best headset you can for upwards of $300. Since I was a beginner, I chose to stay relatively cheap and go for just an OK headset. I ended up with AMAZING value.
A huge worry for cheaper headsets is comfort. I cant say the Recon 50x is comfortable as the very expensive headsets, but it is quite comfortable nevertheless. The headset is easily adjustable and has a good amount of padding. Personally Ive used the headsets for hours on end with no comfort problems. One very minor nuisance is that if you have older Xbox One controllers, you will need a headset adapter. These are fairly cheap but they do slightly make the controller more cumbersome in your hands.
I have now had this headset for four months and everything about it still functions perfectly. I have not even treated it that well. When I bought this headset, the main thing I wanted it to do was enhance the way I hear the games I play. You really can hear the improvement! It is much better then playing without one. Even though this product does not have noise canceling, it does dampen outside noise considerably.
In conclusion, I would definitely recommend the Turtle Beach Ear Force Recon 50x for any serious gamer just coming on to the competitive scene. It really does all you could ask and more for a headset that is affordable. | video-games_xbox |
Definitely within the top 10 games of all time. There are games that come around every once in a while that completely suck you in to the point where you feel like you're actually in a real location taking part in something bigger than you could ever be a part of in real life. Bioshock is one of those games.
From the very start you get sucked in with the amazing graphics and sound. I won't go too far into the details of graphics because everyone is quick to point out how great they are. The sound is incredible... from the period music, to the depressed and anxious sound of the splicers, to the announcements over the PA, to the ambient sound of a city slowly being consumed by water.. all of which sucks you in and you start to think that you're actually there!
The gameplay: Intense at first and then mostly pure fun later on. In the early levels when you don't have much in terms of weapons, you will be on the edge of your seat, especially when taking on the Big Daddy's. I had to take breaks every so often just because it's such a sensory overloading experience. Later on when you get really powerful the game turns from being survival horror to "lets see how creative i can get with killing."
The Story: great stuff. Probably one of the best FPS stories ever.. possibly one of the better stories of any game. The way it's delivered is pure genius(i know, System Shock 2 had a very similar style). You are almost never taken out of your perspective--all story elements happen in real time. Any extras in the story are found on optional tape recordings(which would be a shame to not listen to for many contain very funny or very creepy monologue/dialog.
Bioshock is one of those games that I got a feeling while playing.. a feeling you don't get too often... that feeling you get when you're completely sucked into a good movie, book, or game. It doesn't happen often, but when it does then all you think about is getting back into that world and seeing it to completion.
I tip my cap to thee Irrational 2k. | video-games_xbox |
Homefront aka Frontlines FOW 2. So I recently purchased Homefront after waiting quite a while to actually consider getting it. In short, I was pleasantly surprised by this title.
If anyone's familiar with Frontlines- Fuel of War (which was an excellent FPS), then you should feel right at home. Homefront cashes in on the possibility of war in America, except this time you're fighting against Koreans whereas, Frontlines, you fought against the Russians.
The theme itself is highly comparable to FFOW, but in all honesty, Homefront doesn't accomplish the same "gritty" war atmosphere the way FFOW did.
The story's quite forgettable, however, some events will happen which are included to give this game a "moral factor. The very beginning of the game is epic and I must say that some parts were particularly brutal to say the least. Definitely reminiscent of FFOW, but that's where the similarities end.
Onto the gripes-
Graphics- In some levels the graphics seemed better than others, but to be honest, Homefront doesn't hold a candle to most FPS's. This is not to say the graphics are bad; because they aren't. But the little things which got on my nerves such as- Washed out colors, texture pop in and dull textures are not what I'd expect from a THQ game. Especially considering the vast library of games produced by THQ with good graphics.
With that said, Homefront has it's moments but in comparison to Battlefield, Medal of Honor or even COD (the series I'm absolutely tired of playing), it doesn't stand a chance the least.
Weapons- I wasn't blown away by any of the weapons besides the Shotgun, the "Goliath" and the "Rocket Launcher". Other than that, there are too many assault rifle variations for my taste. Some that have scopes, some with red dot sights or with "flashy" COD style lenses. You're given two types of handguns from what I saw and one type of Shotgun. But to be fair, there are a lot of different guns.
Melee- I like a little melee in all my games. If I ever played a "pure shooter", I'd drop the controller altogether. With that being said, Homefront gives you a single melee move which is the same as COD, that being a quick knife stab. I wasn't particularly fond of this move being that it looks exactly like Call of Duty's melee.
Story- The Resistance versus the Koreans in America. This was a decent concept and during some of the campaign it's pulled off nicely. However, I felt the story wasn't given enough of anything other than the feeling of being a rebel to free America. Your character isn't even given a decent background story other than him being a "pilot". There are certain points in which some characters display feelings for certain events (no spoiling), but again, not enough.
My overall feeling of Homefront's story would be that it was loaded with potential and could've been a lot more.
With that said, I'd still recommend this game. The gameplay's innovative, the graphics are decent, and for it's current price, you couldn't go wrong. I didn't bother with multiplayer being that I'm not a fan of it, but the campaign was pretty good. | video-games_xbox |
The Best game I've ever played. This is quite simply the best game I've ever played. I really enjoyed it, and have played it through four times already. I'll break down my review into multiple categories.
STORY- EXCELLENT. The best story I've ever seen in a game. Its a deep immersive story that draws me in right from the start each time. Its full of plot twists and other unexpected developments. It is believable and well thought out. The story has an excellent ending, something alot of games lack, and its conclusion also lends itself well to the already announced trilogy.
CHARACTERS- EXCELLENT. An rpg isn't very good if it doesnt have well developed NPC's. This one does. Each character has a deep back story, their own personality, and you really get to care for them. I like rpg's where your party characters have their own personality, morality, and agenda, where they will argue with you or each other, where they will join you or leave you based on your actions, and help you finish quests or try to stop you, and maybe even die. This game has all of that. Some might complain that the number of party characters is somewhat limited in this game, however given the quality of the party characters and the fact that this is part of trilogy and will grow, I think the number was perfect.
CHOICES- EXCELLENT. This is where Mass Effect really shines. Every good rpg game give you lots of choices. You have multiple choices for the main missions, but also for many of the side quests which unlike in alot of games, can be just as fun and immersive as the main quest. Your character actually speaks in this game, and you have multiple responses and ways of handling things. The best part is that Shepard doesn't simply repeat the line you choose, but says or does something along the jist of it. So you never really quite know what he or she's gonna do. This is unlike any other game on the market and really adds to the fun. Also the choices aren't always clear cut good or evil, in fact sometimes, its hard to figure out what the which choice is good or evil. Like real life there are difficult decisions to be made and they are complicated by many shades of gray. The varied choices also allow for some great replays of the game.
ANIMATION- EXCELLENT. Some of the best graphics I've ever seen in a game. facial expressions and body language are detailed and precise. The characters and scenes look so real you forget you are watching animation.
MUSIC/SOUND EFFECTS- EXCELLENT. The music is original and well done. It has its own theme, and is perfect for the game. It is well edited into the game. Likewise the sound effects are top notch.
VOICE ACTING- EXCELLENT. This is another area where Mass Effect really shines. The acting is superb. Every character, not just main ones, but even side quests characters get first rate voice acting. In fact, the main character, Shepard, gets voice acted twice, depending whether you play as male or female, another first for a game.
LEVELING UP- EXCELLENT. Every good rpg allows your characters to grow and become more powerful as the game progresses. There are plenty of leveling and powering up choices to choose from, as well as numerous weapon and armor choices.
ACTION/GAMEPLAY- EXCELLENT. This is another area where this game improves over my previous favorite rpg KOTOR. You actually do fight alot in this game, both on foot and in a vehicle. its not the automatic fighting you seem in some rpgs. While first person shooter fans mught not be impressed, I thought the fighting and cover options were well done. The only improvement I can see being made here, is to allow the use and change of abilites and weapons without having to pause. But considering this is an rpg first, it is not an issue to me.
BUILDINGS/SCENARIOS- EXCELLENT. The main storyline's buildings and backdrops are original, detailed and well designed. Absolutely no complaints. The side quests maps and building are unfortunately a bit repetitive. Considering the sheer number or side quests, and the fact that they are all optional, I cannot fault them for reusing similar backdrops and structures. However this is probably one area that could use some improvement in future games. Another con includes repetitive maps for exploration in the mako.
If you like rpgs with immersive stories, compelling characters, and multitudes of choices you should love this game. Some other Great rpgs include, Knights of the Old Republic (KOTOR), (which is my second favorite game) KOTOR II, Jade Empire, Neverwinter Nights II, Mask of the Betrayer, and Baulder's Gate II | video-games_xbox |
A slight return to form to days of yore. Word of mouth is slightly tricky when trying to figure out something is worth your time. There's always somebody condemning the popular well-made game because it's "overrated" (which by the way, is quickly becoming the quickest way to complain rather than detail why) and the occasional game that was taken apart by critics yet you go "oh come on, that game was pretty fun, what's the deal?" However, what do you do when that game is "Sonic Unleashed", another entry in the malighed 3D Sonic games which by all accounts, haven't been good since the days on the Dreamcast and coming after the colossal failure of "Sonic the Hedgehog"? Well showing mild reluctance, I decided to give the game a shot with the hope it will surprise me. And you know what, it did...that is not entirely but it did.
Story: Just like Bowser, Eggman can't seem to take a hint and he's still up to trouble so up in space (in a fantastic FMV cutscene), Sonic does battle with his minions only walks into a trap: Sonic's Chaos Emeralds are drained of energy and wreaks havoc upon the Earth and literally tears it in pieces. Side effect is that by night, Sonic now turns into a clawed, furry beast named a Werehog so with the hope of his buddy Tails and new support character Navi...sorry, Chip, Sonic has to put the world back together.
Graphics: My previous Sega game was "Nights: Journey into Dreams" on the Nintendo Wii which I felt looked stunning and colorful and this game is no different. Colors are vibrant, animation is pretty consistent and the speed is stunning. FMV's are particularly amazing and the in-game cutscenes look pretty good too. Only problem is that sometimes during the daytime races, the rings, traps and general level layout make it difficult to avoid missing the rings or hitting spikes that came up too quick. But other than that, the game looks great in HD.
Sound/Music: Anyone who's played Sonic games when they introduced voice knows how generally painful they were to hear. Well in this game, hearing that there was Japanese, I went straight to it and it was actually pretty alright, considering. While Chip is young sounding, the voice acting never becomes ear-closing like the English ones. And thankfully, Sega did the same thing with Nights and actually did a orchestral score which is thankfully worth listening to. Some tracks don't gel and don't really do anything but the big dramatic numbers work well. And of course the ring and checkpoint sounds are the same which also brings up nice nostalgic moments.
Gameplay: Many games over the years have always tried to add variety to keep you from becoming bored. Whereas previous Mario, Sonic and the like titles were standard 2D platformers, the 3D stuff always tries to add more and more and in Sonic Unleashed it comes down to 2 gameplay modes: the daytime where Sonic runs his blue self as quick as he can and the nighttime where he's a beat-em-up werehog. The daytime levels are to be blunt, fast as hell, and when things get going, that energy and speed of previous games return only there's a price in that it makes it that much harder to avoid traps and more than once I ran into spikes or tripped causing a decrease in speed and naturally, you're graded at the end so if you're not a fast little bugger, be prepared to get at best a "C". Trial-and-error or just blind luck are the key ideas here and worse, hidden in the levels are medals and when you're travelling at no pun intended, supersonic speeds, missing these things is quite easily done.
The other is the werehog levels where Sonic travels through levels beating up bad guys with DMC or God of War-style combo chains and it somewhat works but it's quite repetitive however the biggest complaints are really 2 things. One, they're a bit too long with some lasting 20 minutes and to spend that long brawling is a bit buzzkilling. The other is that to kill enemies faster and with cooler skill points you gotta do the ol' quicktime events and there's not a whole lot of button presses for some but the problem is the speed. Imagine a button coming up as well as a timer where you have to hit the buttons as quick as you can lest you take damage and enemies gain some of their health back. Now imagine a timer that's wildly inconsistent where it'll either be slow and manageable and other times will be a missed button press because the time it took to move your thumb to the right button and press it was not fast enough. It made quite a few encounters trying but then again, they've always been like this in games. The camera woes are back as well where the camera will sometimes change to new angles and mess you up and you're like "gah, let me see what I'm doing!" but at least the platforms aren't as far and thin as other games but it's still a gripe.
So with near damning reviews available to read on websites, does Sonic Unleashed require an ignore; a pass because of its awfulness? Not quite. It's not quite a perfect Sonic adventure but it's not the travesty some claim and it's certainly better than the last outing. Give it a shot but this isn't an unjustly maligned gem nor awful to the extreme, it's just in the middle. | video-games_xbox |
A Swashbuckling Good Time. First of all, let me debunk a couple of rumors here, perpetrated by people who, in all probability, haven't played the game yet. No, Crimson Skies is not MechAssault in a plane. It's not Halo in a plane, either (except for the whole flying part of Halo, which is really a rather insignificant part of a game that is really an FPS). It's not even a flight sim. It is, however, an entertaining, action packed game that is a tremendous departure from the FPS/TPS shooter-heavy line up of available X-Box games.
I'll save the debates of the plausibility of the premise of the game for others; because there is certainly some suspension of disbelief necessary to buy into the game fully...but that's 1/2 the fun, isn't it? Basically, you and your buddies run around a fragmented, post-Depression North America in your sooped-up fighter-planes and your Zeppelin-type air ship; going on missions against rival gangs, avenging a death here and there, and trying to make money. Essentially, you wind up blowing the hell out of pretty much everything that isn't part of the natural environment.
Speaking of the natural environment...this is one place where this game shines. The water, sky, and earth effects jammed into Crimson Skies are nothing short of breathtaking. The water shimmers as the setting sun reflects off in pools of gold, the clouds form and dissipate with eerie realism, and the magnificently detailed spires and pillars of rock scattered throughout the landscape look as if they were designed by an especially vengeful god. All in all, it's a tremendously satisfying environment in which to fly around and blow stuff up. The rest of the graphics mesh (reasonably) seamlessly with the natural environment to make this one of the best looking console games available. The detail of the 11 planes is agonizing in its complexity. The ailerons, rudders, and elevators actually move with each control input and, as your plane gets damaged, it burns and smokes just like you'd expect it to. Explosions are satisfyingly violent, with pieces scattered to the wind and hapless pilots parachuting into the sea/desert/city. The action in the game moves pretty quickly and there are often lots of fast-moving polygons of varying sizes on the screen at once. This makes for a bit of "clipping" and frame-rate glitches that can be annoying, but not entirely unexpected, given the game speed and the level of detail that the developers stuck into the game. All in all, graphically-speaking, it's a beautifully done game.
An especially nice thing about this game is the fact that the developers actually took the time to get the sound right...which is saying something, considering the fact that everything is moving around so rapidly. Hopefully the designers of Project Gotham 2 will take some cues from these guys and not repeat the dismal sound of PG1. Anyhow, some of the dialogue is a bit campy and the fake "tough girl" accent of your flying partner gets annoying, but that's not the point. The point is, the gunfire, explosions, and engine noises are all very well done and sound great in 5.1 surround sound.
Oh, that's right...it's a flying game. That whole flying part is definitely hard to master. If you're used to playing flight sims, you already know the basic premise; but that doesn't make it much easier. In fact, it makes it harder, because you're coming at the game from a "simulation" perspective, as opposed to an "arcade" perspective. You're also locked into a third-person, "above and behind" view of your plane, which is frustrating if you're used to playing sim-type games from the first-person perspective. Anyway, the left analog stick controls the direction your nose is pointed in (you can flip the Y axis if you want), while the right stick controls your roll. The triggers fire your weapons while the "Y" button gives you a speed boost and the "B" button acts as a brake. Click the right stick and pull it and the left stick in various directions to execute "special moves", like Immelmans, snap rolls, and Split "S"s. Strangely, there is no "throttle" per-se. Just point the nose of your plane where you want to go and you'll go there. Speeding up with the boost will get you there faster and using the brake will slow you down, but the designers have conveniently ignored the phenomenon of stalls. Thus, crashing is nearly impossible, as long as you don't smash into something. All in all, putting this stuff together takes you through a somewhat steep learning curve; but it's worth it when you're faced with the prospect of dogfighting enemy fighters.
Dogfighting is what this game is really about; and is also one of the more frustrating aspects of it the first few times you play. It is maddeningly difficult to actually blow up an enemy fighter until you get the hang of it...which may take a while. Thank the gods of video game design that you've got a seemingly unlimited supply of ammunition...at least primary machine gun ammunition. Secondary missiles...you're not so lucky. The dogfighting is somewhat realistic in one critical respect, though...the faster you go, the less likely you are to get shot; but speed increases your turn radius, so the faster you go, the more difficult it is for you to draw a bead on whatever it is you're trying to shoot at. So, just like in a true-to-life air combat sim, you're stuck balancing your speed with your desire to fill the air with burning airplane wreckage that doesn't belong to your plane. The firepower available to you is satisfyingly devastating and you will definitely grin when that plane you're shooting at finally blows up in a shower of twisted steel and fire.
Anyway, Crimson Skies is most definitely a great game. But, it's not perfect. The minor "clipping" and the somewhat spotty application of gravity to the physics make the game stop short of truly excellent...but not too far short. | video-games_xbox |
Just Expect to Have Fun. As someone who has played every single iteration of Need For Speed, as well as every Gran Turismo, Forza, Burnout, and all the small-name titles in between, there's an awful lot that I can compare this recent Need For Speed title to.
I felt something as I played the demo. I felt a return to the simple, point-to-point races from the very first NFS, the adrenaline of those tight, narrow-margin photo finishes from Burnout and the last Hot Pursuit titles, and from Most Wanted, the absolute thrill of running from - and often into - The Man...
And that's what Hot Pursuit is - plain and simple. Don't boot it up expecting hardcore driving physics. Don't expect to blow away the competition with highly tuned supercars, and don't expect to spend hours tweaking the layout of vinyls or leafing through dozens of aftermarket wheels and wings. What you can expect is some sweaty palms as you drift the last corner to the finish, a twisted face as you plow into that guardrail you saw one second too late, and a grin from ear-to-ear as you watch the cop car you just plowed into rolling down the road, raining shrapnel along the asphalt.
It's not perfect. I'll concede that. The rubber-banding is still pretty strong - I'm zipping at top speed down a straight as an opponent in the same car cruises on by... In addition, the cop chases are still treated too much like a race. I took a gorgeous shortcut in my cop car, got ahead of my suspects, spun the opposite direction and prepared for a head-on collision as the words "WRONG WAY" suddenly lit up the screen... What'ch'you mean wrong way?! I AM the Law!! (Granted, I hit my target at somewhere around a buck-fifty and INSTANTLY wasted the guy... So I wasn't really complaining.) Also, it appears that you're supposed to bring down your targets in order. During one cop event, I wound up between the 1st and 2nd place racers, and could NOT catch up to the first place car. Once I dropped back to take out the 2nd driver, suddenly the first place target was right in front of me. It's a bit more scripted than a flat-out cop chase should be.
But then you round a corner in your six-figure exotic, see ol' Smokey sittin' on the shoulder, and aim for the pig while pumping your engine full of nitrous oxide... A second later you're watching his twisted wreckage flipping down the road, only to be slammed into by your AI opponents who are subsequently knocked off their own course, and as control of your car is returned to you, you just can't help from laughing.
That to me is worth 4 stars.
Don't forget to wear your seatbelts! HAH! | video-games_xbox |
Wow this game is terrible. I say this as someone who really liked Shattered Dimensions. I heard that Edge of time was not as good so I held off on buying it when it came out and just got around to it after it went on sale on XBL recently. I figured well hey Shattered Dimensions was pretty underrated too so maybe people are just exaggerating about this one too. No, it really is that bad. You've probably already seen many other reviews talking about the confined spaces and repetitive qualities of the game, but I think that's far from the worst of the problems with it.
What was once smooth flowing combat in Dimensions has become a horribly awkward button mash fest, made even worse by really bad targeting and camera.
Web swinging controls are much the same, yet are for some reason much less responsive now. Again, bad targeting and camera makes this even worse. Not that you'll be able to make much use of web swinging anyway since you're stuck inside a building the entire time. A lot of the rooms you find yourself in will have room for about one swing at the most before you smack into a stick onto a wall.
The well made web of challenges from Dimensions has now become a series of frustrating and generic timed challenges. It usually rotates back and forth between "get from point A to point B in X amount of seconds" and "beat up X amount of guys in X amount of seconds without getting hit more than 2 times". The bad web swinging controls make the racing from point A to point B challenges extra frustrating and in turn, the bad combat controls make the timed and graded combat challenges more frustrating too. This is not to say that they are impossible to achieve, but it will typically involve reloading and retrying over and over again and not because they're too difficult, but usually because something will go wrong with the controls and screw up your ryhthm.
On top of that, the weird new way challenges unlock usually end up making them even more frustrating. Challenges aren't viewable until they unlock and they don't unlock until they have already begun, which means when a little text message up in the corner (which is easily missable if you're doing anything else at the time) to tell you that a new challenge is available, that means that the challenge has actually already begun and time has already started counting down. On top of that, a lot of challenges seem to begin DURING cutscenes. There are times where 10 of your 30 seconds will pass during unskippable conversations and/or animations where you are unable to move. That is some horribly sloppy programming.
So in short, everything good about the previous game has been removed or mangled beyond recognition and we're just left with a generic and broken beat-em up. The only nice thing I can say about it is that the graphics are a bit nicer than the previous game. The story is ridiculous, which is somewhat forgivable in a superhero game, but it's absolutely not good enough to be worth forcing yourself to play this for. You can blame everything on Activision for allegedly rushing the devs on this game if you want, which seems to comfort some people somehow, but that means nothing in the end. It doesn't matter how or why it happened, the game is still just plain bad. Edge of Time is utterly worthless to anyone except the obsessive Spider-Man collectors who will buy absolutely anything Spider-Man related no matter how awful it is. | video-games_xbox |
Really fun, and super slick. Although I have played a fair number of various shooter games in the past, the older Rainbow Six series was not, and is not, something that I ever had a chance to try. Hence, R6 Vegas was my first venture into the lineup, and I was definitely impressed.
The premise of Rainbow Six, which derives from a Tom Clancy novel of the same name, is a team of highly skilled operatives, hailing from various NATO nations, who are assigned to stop terrorist attacks and subdue threats of that nature. In the case of R6 Vegas, the threat is a group of terrorists who have laid siege to "Sin City," largely as a diversion to a bigger scheme. This game is a few years old, but if you haven't played it I won't spoil the ending, because it actually has a really good storyline. More and more of today's games are beginning to have movie-like plots, and Rainbow Six Vegas delivers with an engaging tale.
The real fun, though, is in the things you can DO in this game. Obviously, shooting guns is the primary idea, since you are taking out terrorists, but there are some seriously slick action features that make your battles seem all the more intense and generally contribute to your feelings of being "a total badass." The first and most prominent is the cover system. It's actually not really realistic, because you can't view yourself in third person in real life (needless to say), but it plays well into the game. Rather than hiding behind something and strafing quickly back and forth to spot and shoot enemies without getting cut down yourself, you can pull the left trigger when near a wall, pole, door frame, box, car, or whatever, and your character (Logan Keller) will take cover behind it, cutting to a third person camera which allows you to see enemies over his shoulder. While still holding the trigger, you can then pop out (which reverts you back to first person view) and, having aimed while in the third person perspective, quickly take out enemies one by one without getting killed. That might sound like it makes the game too easy, but Ubisoft was sure to make the AI very tricky so that the experience wouldn't come off as a breeze.
The second cool action move is rappelling. Since Vegas is the main locale, there are lots of tall buildings, which you usually infiltrate by dropping onto the roof from a helicopter, so you sometimes need to rappel down the side by hooking your cable onto a railing. The great part about rappelling is all the features you get (along with the realistic character movements, which is always a nice touch). You can lower yourself down quickly by taking big jumps and letting out lots of line, or you can basically "walk" down, or even up, the rope. Furthermore, you are equipped with your pistol while doing this, and can take out enemies inside while you are still hanging on the rope. Finally, you can actually turn OVER so that you are hanging upside down, and continue to cap people. I'm not sure how practical this is, but it looks awesome. Its best use is probably shooting enemies by appearing just below the top of a window, so that they can't easily shoot you in return.
Other nifty game aspects include the ability to put on or remove a silencer from your weapon at any time, various door entry commands which determine how your two teammates will handle the terrorists within (you can even look under the door with a snake camera and mark terrorists for immediate targeting by your team), and a full screen map overlay that you can activate, showing the locations of terrorists who are firing at you, or who your teammates have spotted.
The visuals in R6 Vegas are spectacular. I gathered that Ubisoft was using the game to show off a new graphics engine, or something like that, and it is definitely a win. Vegas is, of course, a very glitzy, bright, busy location, and the game designers put a phenomenal amount of detail into their maps. Ornate wall decor, hundreds of blinking, dinging slot machines, carpet details, and destructible furniture are all carefully reproduced. In addition, character appearance and movements are very realistic. The game also features a great musical score which makes the scenes more intense.
I have not played this game online, but I thoroughly enjoyed the single player campaign and got some good replay value out of the terrorist hunt mode. In addition, split screen play is possible and it's a nice touch. The game generally tends toward large, arena-type battles, separated by mostly uneventful transitions. The arenas are countless, ranging from slot machine parlors to a 3 story theater to a rooftop restaurant. Various strategies can be employed, especially when the arena is a closed room which must be infiltrated (a classic example being a very challenging level inside the dining area of a fancy Chinese restaurant).
The game isn't perfect, though, as few games ever are. Most of my complaints relate to regular gameplay mechanics (as I don't play online). You can't fire a pistol as fast as you can pull the trigger, as on Call of Duty. There is absolutely no melee feature, which is quite a disappointment for close range combat. The game features an all-too-common spawn triggering system which causes enemies to pop up from nowhere. Your teammates have unlimited ammo, which is a bit sketchy (on the plus side, they are also very skilled). You can't run, jump, or lie prone. There are a few other tidbits as well, but they are mostly nitpick details.
Overall, this game is great. The environments are spectacular, the gameplay mechanics are clever, the plot is engaging, and the replay value is high. It's definitely one for the collection, so don't miss out! | video-games_xbox |
An Examplar of Controller Excellence. The $2 billion that Microsoft poured into improving and modifying the Xbox 360 controller design and style and functionality, paid off well. The new controller is a home run for sure. The new triggers are heaven on your fingers, as you can now wrap them around the trigger and controller smoothly. The triggers also have very nice quality rumble motors in them individually, as well as a dampened/muted contact point when pulled all the way against the controller. An issue I am having with the triggers is that my right trigger squeaks occasionally when pulled toward to the controller, but that may be an isolated case and shouldn't be present on every one of them, so I wouldn't worry about that. The new buttons look great. They are every so slightly closer to each other on the controller layout, and seem slightly smaller in circumference, and have a more "buttony" feel when pressing them down, as they seem to have a slightly noticeable actuation point.
The bumper buttons are a decent improvement over the old controllers, however I do have a complaint in that they make much, much more noise than the old ones did. Be warned, they are very "clicky." The new battery pack housing is the second best improvement, as it now sits flush with the back of the controller and doesn't protrude as the old one did, which makes holding the controller much nicer. The start button and back button were replaced by the "menu" and "view" buttons, but they essentially function the same way as before when in most games. The Xbox "guide" button got flattened and moved up the controller on its own little section and now illuminates white instead of green, and does not show which controller number it is, nor is there an indication on the Xbox One itself either, which is a slight disappointment.
The analog sticks stayed the same distance from the controller I believe, however the actual part your thumbs go on got smaller, but the improved textured rubberized edging on them makes up for that because it allows for great grip on the sticks. However, I can imagine someone with bigger fingers having a problem using this controller's analog sticks. If you have this issue or are concerned about it, I would look into Kontrol Freek's analog extensions, as they may help. They seem to move and click pretty much the same as before, but I am noticing a slight wear in the left analog stick towards to front of the shaft from holding it upward/forward in games like Call of Duty and Assassin's Creed. So far it is not impeding on anything, but a forewarning, in case it becomes further worn and becomes inoperable or impaired after a long period of extended daily usage.
The D-Pad has been improved as well, getting it's own little crater to reside in so that it is not so obtrusive from the face of the controller, and now makes a very distinct "click" when pressed, which is something I love dearly about the new controller, as I hated the completely muffled D-Pad buttons from previous controllers. Some may find it too loud or maybe slightly annoying, but I can't foresee anyone having a major issue with it.
All in all, the new controller definitely shines, and the $2 billion in research funding and tinkering definitely went to good use and will not go unnoticed. This controller should go down in history as the best ergonomic game pad created thus far, I feel. 10/10. | video-games_xbox |
Ok I never give a game five stars, but. I can't believe I did it. I sunk to to the level of giving something a perfect review, but this game deserves it. Now I'm not saying Kotor,(Knight of the old Republic), doesn't have it's flaws, it does. However I'm willing to over look them in the face of some much needed inovation in the relm of RPGs. I don't know about you fellow gamers, but I have a hard time finishing most RPGs. It's not the story lines, or the side quests, or the hooky voice acting that you get now a days, no it's the simple repetitive combat that does it to me. For those of you out there who have every played a Final Fantasy game you know what I'm talking about. "Attack, Attack, heal squal, Fire 3" And all you get for you serries of buttion presses is the satisfaction of seeing your guy walk up to the baddy swing once and some numbers pop up over his head. Well thank god Kotor has figured out that we gamers want action! Now instead of you simple swing and casual jog back to rejoin your party. You character duels with the the enemy, parrying, faining, the the clank of metal on metal. You actually feel like you fighting for your life. And the sense of urgency fuels my interest though what would other wize be repetitive buttion pushing.
Kotor, unlike most RPGs of it's size and scale, gives the player options as to how s/he wants the game to unfold. As you play you begin to pick up Light or Dark side points depending on how you handel certain situations in the game. These points accumulate and begin influnceing which dirrection the story takes. Now I'm not saying the game doesn't have it's linner moments, most events in the game take place no matter which side your on. The real change is how you get to those events thats really effected.
Besides these 2 new things Bioware has also giving Kotor: fully spoken diolauge with good voice acting if you can belive it; beautiful graphics, the abillity to create your hero/or villian, unlike most story intense rpgs; a reason to put points into charisma; a good story; ; wonderful sound effect and score; loads of ENTERTAINING side quests and mini games; a fully playable homicaldal C3P0; and did I mention one hot Mission (those of you who played the game know what I'm talking about). Just to mention a few of the things one can expect when playing Kotor.
Dispite all that bioware did well with this game I still found a few flaws. Like the Frame rate dropping to near piss poor levels when the action gets to heated. Which can pull you back into reality real quick.
Also for the game reuses NPC character models alot. Yes I know that on a game this scale it's impossible to model every given character. However it would have been nice if they could have varried the rate at which we saw each model a little more. I mean every time the script calls for a Tweilik do we really need to reuse that same Green Fruit loop colloured one. I mean serriously.
And the alien diolect can be obnoxious. Real abnoxious, and Bioware didn't even have the curtusy to make up more fake alien speak. They just keep reusing the same 6 or 7 paragraphs of alien speak and randomize it for diffrent occasions. For example the same line of Twilek speak, which sounds like something some dopped up scat master might make up after a solid week of vomiting, has been used for at least 50 diffrent things, which include excellent, may the force be with you, good day, don't bother me anymore, I have a job for you, and not now I'm busy.
Dispite these flaws, the game is solid and the story rocks. This game is a must have for any true RPG fans. A revelution in RPGs is upon us and it's name is Knight of the Old Republic. | video-games_xbox |
Not that bad. Just a little background, I have played the 2k series since DC, the Madden series for the past 2 years, and this year decided to check out Fever.
First off the graphics are very impressive! Smooth animations, not as many animations as Madden, but none the less enough to get the job done. You got swim moves, dekes, spin moves, show boating, diving catches..you know all the basic catch, throw, tackling animations needed are there. Not as much variety in those animations as Madden, like my favorite the popping off of the helmet when you deliver a big hit, but the necessary ones are there. Decent detail in players, unlike last year when receivers and QB's looked like linemen, they fixed that up this year.
Graphics:4.5
Now after playing Madden for so long, it took awhile to get used to the Fever controls. This is probably why so many other people dislike the game is it takes some time to get used to the controls. I've lost many games by pressing the wrong button to tackle or throw to the wrong receiver. Very frustrating! The speed of the game is also fast when compared to Madden. I'd have to compare it too NFL2k series speed. So in Madden where you can actually see the holes open up, It happens a little faster in Fever and closes just as fast. The controls are responsive but do take awhile to get used to, especially if you've been playing other football games. One thing I don't like is only certain plays have motion...I like to use motion in all my plays to see what the D is playing or exploiting mismatches..but thats just me. The AI of the game is pretty tough. I think that the gap between rookie and veteran is big. I kill in Rookie but get killed in Veteran, well sort of. The DB's are pretty tough to beat deep. You get the occasional big play, but not as many as I get in Madden. It seems if the DB is anywhere near your receiver it's gonna get deflected, even if you have a great receiver..I think Microsoft left out the idea that superstars make big plays from time to time regardless who's covering.
Gameplay: 3.5
This years fever has Dynasty mode, practice mode, regular season mode, create your own player, create your own team and online play. The commentary is not bad, nothing special. I like the design your own play option in this game.
Tangibles: 4.0
Fever is a cross between NFL2k and Madden, taking a little of both to become its own. Great Graphics, decent gameplay, plenty of extras with create your own team/player and dynasty mode. Bottom line is Fever has what it takes to be a good football game. It's not as polished as the other football games but is worth a look. | video-games_xbox |
the Good old days. this game was the First Xbox game i Bought back around 2003 or 2004 i didn't even know about it tell the day i went to Buy my Xbox i have played all 3 of the Dino Crisis games and this had to be by far the Hardest of the first 2 games and there are 2 outfits to unlock 1 for Patrick and 1 for Sonya 1st one u unlock is for Sonya if i remember right its after u beat it on Normal or hard its a Red Dress and then after u beat it again on a harder setting i think you unlock the outfit for Patrick but i cannot remember what the outfit was i could not beat the 2nd or 3rd part in the beginning of the game with the new outfit for Patrick for it is the hardest setting to play on when u use his new outfit u have no Weapons to use at your own free will there is a Random gun box that has all the Weapons that you would Normally get though the game but only last for so long then u have to get it again its somewhere in each room. yeah the game was a Pain in the butt to play at first but after playing it for Hours i got used to the way of the Annoying Camera view but never the less to me it was a lot of fun even tho i died a lot but no game is Perfect and yeah i sucked at it i don't Know how many People tried to get through the game like i did i got stuck in a part that was Simple that i took about a month to Figure out i think most people would give up but i didn't and once i got past that part it was a lot of fun maybe not for some of whoever has played this game it has been Many years Sense the last time i played this i hope anyone who gets this game can Enjoy it as much as i did when i had it and i will once again when it gets to my house. all i can say for me its a great game to get annoyed from playing at first but give it a go for a few Hours get used to how it Plays and once u get better at it u just Might enjoy it a bit more then the First time you played it just like i did | video-games_xbox |
great idea, but a letdown. The brand new out-of-the-box price told me that it wouldn't be a great game, but a good one. I love sniping, and was really looking forward to this game. It was a bit of a let down.
Pros:
Who doesn't like the fallout 3 type of bullet cam that follows the bullet straight into your opponents head? (single player only)
The realistic feel of shooting your rifle taking into consideration wind, heart rate, visibility, and distance.
The shell shock effect from a nearby grenade explosion was pretty cool.
Multiplayer is fun.
At least you can lie prone. (single player only)
Training is short and sweet.
Cons:
Graphics- While not too shabby I don't like thinking I see the glint off of an opponents gun and come to realize that it is just some flashy graphics.
Terrain- I hate running away from overwhelming odds and suddenly being stopped, unable to move, and looking down to find that my character apparently couldn't run or jump over the 1 1/2 foot tall rock or log.
Not exploreable- I read a review that this was an open world type of gameplay, where you can choose where you would like to shoot your opponents from. That is not the case. You do have some options, but you can't climb up that slope, or shoot from that tower because the cursed invisible wall blocks you from exploring better sniping areas.
Straightforward missions- On different levels if you are "compromised" aka enemy AI spots you failed the mission and have to replay. You can't keep fighting or search for an alternative solution.
Unhelpful allies- I'm talking about the computer AI allies who shoot and hit nothing, who tell you they have you covered and leave you for dead, who will run right past the enemy and let you handle the entire mission on your own. Then they have the nerve to get captured and you have to rescue these useless guys! Aaaarghhh!
Enemy AI- Everyone has heard of this already, so I'll just give you my 2 cents: "It is pretty realistic when the enemy can see and shoot you with an AK74 from almost 1 mile away through a hole in the fence covered with thick shrubs in a ghillie suit on a hill under the duress of seeing his drinking buddy get shot in the head amidst explosions from aircraft... sounds pretty realistic right..? guys..? anybody..?"
Multiplayer maps- Not enough of them. Downloadable content in the future? fingers crossed. (They did come out with some, but not many people bought them)
Friends- No coop? No split screen multiplayer? Seriously?
Disappearing bodies- This is just me personally. I want the enemies bodies and gear in single player to stay where they lay. It just feels more realistic to me. Plus it's nice to see how much havoc you caused.
Game types- Multiplayer only has deathmatch, team deathmatch, and VIP. More variety please.
The single player isn't very fun. The multiplayer is the only reason I don't feel that i just wasted $40 dollars. Here is why: You don't have any assists in multiplayer (red dot, enemies are red, slow motion cam) but I think that was for the best. Also can't lie prone in multiplayer (which I think is good, they are hard enough to see as it is). Small choice of gear to choose from (no assault rifles, explosives {save grenades} , mounted guns) which is good, it is a sniper game after all.
FYI: I don't play Halo, or MW2 so I'm not comparing it to them.
If you really want to buy it, wait until it is $20 or less. | video-games_xbox |
A Masterpiece. Bioshock Infinite is a masterpiece, to put it simply. I fell in love with the Bioshock series the second I entered Rapture, and I enjoyed every minute of it. Infinite, I assure you, did not fall short of the expectations that the first game created. It has it's fair share of faults, don't get me wrong, but if you even slightly enjoyed the first game you won't be disappointed.
The Goods:
Well, where do I start? Bioshock Infinite is assuredly a game that is as fun as you want to make it. I'm sure if you wanted to you could easily beat the game in about 7-10 hours, but if you want to truly make the experience Infinite's Columbia is a city worth exploring.
Vigors (or plasmids if you will) have also seen their fair share of complaints. Many people have complained that you can make it through the game with just Shock Jockey and the Devil's Kiss vigors, and while this is true, you are denying yourself the beauty of the array of vigors you are presented with. Devil's Kiss with Murder of Crows, Bucking Bronco with Charge, Undertow with Shock Jockey, all combinations that enhance Booker's abilities to combat certain foes. On top of this, you are now only able to hold two weapons, and although this is odd given the freedom of weapon choice in the first two games, it feels right in Infinite. It requires you to make choices based on upcoming encounters and to best prepare yourself for the fight to come. Infinite is all about understanding your foes and adapting to their strengths. Handymen can tank just about anything, but the appropriate application of Murder of Crows and the Devil's Kiss vigors as well as a fair number of shots to the heart will take them down. Every enemy, like the Handyman, has a weakness and a strength, and part of the excitement is to determine the best method to dispatch each foe.
Finally, we come to the story. It's difficult to review the story without giving too much away. To say the very least, the story is brilliant assuming you are able to understand what exactly you are being presented with. Piecing the story together through the voxophones and through the cinematics is part of the experience, and I assure you the ending is something you won't expect (unless you're smarter than I am which is quite possible).
The Bad:
Although I love this game, and virtually everything about it, that isn't to say it is without fault. Keep in mind that this is a review for the 360 version, and this version isn't exactly graphically impressive. Although it has it's moments, the graphics are very underwhelming and at times seem to be outdone by the original Bioshock which is rather disappointing considering the first game was released almost 6 years ago. From what I have heard, however, the graphics are as impressive as one might expect when experienced on the PC (which should come as no surprise).
The story is also open to some criticism. Although when it comes together at the end the brilliance of all of your actions comes to fruition, up until the last 25-30% of the game the story seems somewhat dull. Booker, get the girl and pay off your debts. Easy enough until the last few hours of the game when your mind is blown, and I assure you if confusion hadn't set in around that point, the last few minutes will surely leave you puzzled. Why? Well, primarily because so much information is thrown at you in a period of about 10-20 minutes that, while it ties everything together perfectly, requires a careful amount of attention that is difficult to devote when so much happens.
Finally, and as I'm sure many of you have already heard, there is no save feature. The game, like many other games of it's genre, now features auto saves at various checkpoints scattered throughout the levels. My guess is this was intended to make the game more difficult and therefore appear to be longer, but it seems rather unfitting for the more open nature of Infinite's Columbia.
Regardless, overall I absolutely loved the game.
Graphics: 8/10
Gameplay: 10/10
Story: 10/10
Sound: 10/10
Overall: 9.75/10 | video-games_xbox |
My Gateway Drug. I had not played any Frogwares titles and only started with this one because
A - I like Sherlock Holmes
B - It was on sale
I have since played two of the other titles (Jack the Ripper and Testament) and I am honestly glad I started with C&P. Unlike the other games, C&P is a series of mini-mysteries that you solve instead of one over-arcing plot, and as far as I can tell, you don't need to have played the other games to get the full experience. EXCEPT that you'll meet characters or go places that Watson (always Watson, it seems) will remember from another game and mention it. Like, 'Oh, we met her on the Jack the Ripper case, did we not?' It didn't do anything more than make me want to play the previous games.
Let's get down to brass tax. Keep in mind I'll be comparing this to other current games, the Sherlock games themselves, and the tv series, the books, and the movies.
CONS:
- VISUALS: While this is 15 steps improved from the previous title (Testament of Sherlock Holmes), it is a little sore compared to current gen games.
- GAMEPLAY: Whoa boy. It seems to have dumbed everything down a lot. I sincerely wish there was a difficulty setting and an option to turn 'help' off. If the game thinks you're taking too long or you picked the 'wrong' thing, it'll point you in the right direction. It'll repeatedly remind you how to do things even if you've done them 20 times already with great success. This is compared to the previous two titles which gives you a quick rundown of how to do a few things (Testament) or just plops you down and lets you figure everything out on your own (Jack the Ripper).
- LESS TOBY: Heartbreakingly, you only play as the dog once and you do nothing but follow a trail. And, as I mentioned above, it is way easy. In Testament, you had a few parts where you had to solve mysteries as the dog while following a scent. The 'scent' barely showed up and I found myself wandering around before an action prompt appeared above something.
- STORY: The stories are engaging and fun, but there isn't a whole lot of difficulty. The other games were like, 'WHAT IS ACTUALLY GOING ON I AM SO NOT PUTTING THIS GAME DOWN UNTIL I FIND OUT!' It was missing some spark.
- WATSON IS IN THE WAY: More than once he was standing in the doorway or directly in my path and I couldn't get around him. This didn't happen as often in the previous titles and this time it's almost like he's doing it to be ornery.
OVERALL: I think if they had taken off the 'help' and maybe given the players some credit, the game would be a lot better. I loved the mini-mystery aspect but I do wish they had made the stories a bit more complex.
PROS:
- ACTING: The voices are the same as Testament and (I think, though I'm not completely sure with Sherlock) Jack the Ripper. I can't really say much here except the acting is flawless.
- ANIMATION: I know I mentioned that the graphics are just so-so compared to other games, but compared to Testament holy tomato batman! The lips move with the speech and people don't gesture at weird points in dialogue.
- DETAILS: There's lots of stuff you can do that adds some much needed nuance to the game. At some points you'll have to choose disguises, interrogate prisoners, go through their belongings, etc.
- DEDUCTION BOARD: This is my favorite compared to the others. It's much easier on the eyes visually and makes choices a bit more interesting. I think, going forward, the rest of the Sherlock games should have a similar style.
- CONTROLS: It is interesting going backwards through the other titles because you get to see where the developers started to improve and change things about. This control scheme is the most intuitive of the three (though Testament isn't much different) and responds well.
- PLAY AS WATSON: Enough said.
- VISUALS: They stuck to the classic canon descriptions of the characters for the most part. Holmes especially is almost exactly how I imagined him in my head while reading the books (it surprised me enough to pull me out of the game for a second). But, and this could just be me imagining things, they seemed to have pulled from the tv series and movies. Mycroft has a vague Stephen Fry-ness about him, and the flat itself is laid out similar to the BBC series.
- CANON?: Honestly, I love the classic movies, the BBC show, the RDJ movies, but they are interpretations and take their own liberties with the series. These games feel incredibly true to the original characters and feel of the area.
OVERALL: This game felt less like a game and more like a visual novel. You 'play' enough to feel completely immersed and like you're not just watching a story take place, but most of it is you hitting a button or pushing a joystick to advance the plot. Honestly I think this is for any Sherlock fan above all. It is a love letter to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, the original work, and to the fans. | video-games_xbox |
People need to stop complainin' and start respectin. I got this game a few months after it came out. And now, as it approaches its fourth anniversary of its release, I figured I would put in my two cents. Since I have owned it for a long time, I hope to make this a relatively comprehensive review. So please, sit back and enjoy.
I love the GTA series. Trust me, there is nothing better than after a long week of work/school/intensive labor/whatever might be stressing you out than to come home, grab a snack and a beverage, and play some Grand Theft Auto. Imagine that guy crossing the street is your boss who has been pestering you when the second quarter financial report will be in, and you really want to give him a piece of your mind, or that gal buying a hotdog is your ugly coworker who keeps asking you out and you want to show her what rejection really feels like. Do not listen to the media, Bill O'Reilly, Glenn Beck, or Jack Thompson. We can't even live without our favorite and universally respected politicians like Hillary Clinton or Joe Lieberman wanting this game banned. I know, having virtual human lives at stake was a major issue our founding fathers knew we would be facing. I simply can't see where they are coming from. I would RECOMMEND playing this game and taking it out on pixels rather than a real human life...sheesh.
Anyways, on to the real review.
If you don't know beans about the game, I will fill you in. You play as a fine man named Niko Bellic, a Yugoslav/Kosovo war veteran, enticed by his cousin Roman to come here to the good ol' USA, where his cousin promises him right off the bat big luxuries like hot tubs, sports cars, models, penthouses, you know, the American Dream.. Needless to say Niko arrives in Liberty City, his cousin's residence and main plot area of the game ready to turn his backwards, war ridden, cynical perspective on everything life around. Although, right off the boat, it turns out Roman's very enticing e-mails to not only to Niko but to Niko's mother was essentially BS. You start at the bottom of the "food chain" hoping to work your way up. The rest you will find out when you begin playing the game.
Now, I have read some of the negative/average reviews to see what the peanut gallery over there has said about this game. So on that note I have hand-picked some of the most highly b****** about things seemingly all of their reviews have in common.
Friendships: Over the course of GTA IV, you have the ability to meet friends, just like in real life at school or the office. Naturally, these friends will want to do activities, like eating or drinking, pool, darts, bowling etc. Now folks, yes, this can become a major pain in the behind at times, but seeing one star reviews just because of this? Thats a bit absurd. There is no obligation to take out any friend, male or female, at any point of the game. Yes, it does decrease your "like" factor with that particular person, but if you don't need that certain NPC's ability they have to offer when you achieve a high liking point, it's simple, don't do anything with them. If your liking is high with that particular friend, when they call, accept their offer to go out, and then cancel it for very minimal to no repercussions.
Cars: Another big gripe I saw in many of the poor reviews. Do the cars handle different than in the past? Yes (and I'm not saying this without knowledge, I have played every single GTA game on this green earth to know.) Does it apply to every car? No. This complaint is in nearly every single 1, 2, 3 star review. Who cares? Does it really effect the game that much? The answer? NO! If you wanna go fast, just like in real life, you get a sports car. Just wanna go for a nice mellow drive? There are plenty of cars for that. I don't expect every time I drive a compact car/ Geo Metro lookalike that suddenly I am wearing a seat belt and helmet becoming a racecar driver. This is not a racing game.. If you want a racing game where every car goes nice and fast, invest the money in Need for Speed. There are plenty of good, fast cars to mow down pedestrians with.
And just adding to that point, while the main thing in Grand Theft Auto most people do is wreck havoc (which of course I do) the main purpose of the game is missions, it's not just sandbox. If they designed a game in which your only objective was to kill the average joe, every car would probably be fast or dangerous. I typically when looking at real cars do not see advertised "great for mowing down people with" on the specifications sheet on the window. Rockstar and Take Two wanted to add a bit of realism to fantasy.
Now, the graphics. Of course they are not "photo realistic" but no game is. No game is, that technology is simply not around yet. No, while these new 2011 games look great, they still have not reached that point yet of photo realism. The graphics in this game are still superb. A full, 24-hour night and day cycle with the occasional sunny days and rainy days, evening and morning, night and day, just as God intended it in the real world. The NPC characters in this game also react to the climate change, like when it rains they cower for cover under an awning or use their newspapers to cover their heads or use umbrellas.
Plot and Overall gameplay wise, excellent. I love the plot in this story. While I love GTA San Andreas and Vice City, the whole point in Vice City say was having it all and in San Andreas really it was the same. (and don't worry they are still HIGHLY recommended games.) In GTA IV, you start at zero and have the possibility to have it all, penthouses, fast cars, money, girlfriends, you know, the dream originally promised in the beginning? You just gonna get there.
I would extremely recommend this game, sure, it has its flaws and kinks in some areas, but if you are looking for a solid and enjoyable plot, characters, and a great stress reliever at the end of the week, GTA IV is just what the doctor ordered.
S.O. | video-games_xbox |
Halo 4 the Reclaimer saga begins. Halo 4 is an awesome game and it shows no contest as a great game. 4 reasons why this game is good. 1 story, 2 characters, 3 controls & weapons, and lastly 4 music.
Story:Four years after the events of Halo 3, still floating in space, Forward Unto Dawn drifts towards Requiem. Cortana wakes Master Chief from cryonic sleep shortly before rogue Covenant forces board the vessel. The remnants of Dawn are caught in Requiem's gravity well and pass through an opening on the planet's surface to crash-land on its interior.
As Chief and Cortana explore Requiem, fighting hostile Covenant and Prometheans, Cortana malfunctions. She reveals that she is past the usual operating period of an AI, and is becoming "rampant", a declining mental state where AIs slowly "think" themselves to death. Chief promises to get Cortana to Earth, believing that Cortana's creator, Doctor Catherine Halsey, can prevent or reverse Cortana's condition.
Chief and Cortana pick up garbled transmissions from a human ship, Infinity, who have picked up Dawn's distress call. Cortana attempts to warn Infinity away from Requiem's gravity well and directs the Chief to deactivate what she believes are communications jammers. Instead, Chief releases the Didact, an ancient Forerunner warrior, from imprisonment. The Didact takes control of the Prometheans and Covenant and attacks Infinity after it is dragged into Requiem.
Chief makes contact with Infinity and brings the ship's weapons back online to repulse the Didact's attack. Chief and Cortana recommend attacking the Didact while he is vulnerable, but Infinity captain Del Rio orders them to destroy the gravity well so the ship can escape. In the process, Chief is contacted by a Forerunner known as the Librarian; the wife of the Didact, as well as ancient humanity's protector. She explains that the Forerunners were split on how to combat the Flood. After failing to discover a way to immunize biological beings from the parasite, the Didact used a device called the Composer to convert the warriors under his command into digital versions immune to infection. Requiring more soldiers, the Didact forcibly converted captured humans into Prometheans, before being stopped and imprisoned by the Librarian. The Librarian, who has guided humanity's development, accelerates the Chief's evolution; this grants him immunity to the Composer. After destroying the gravity well, Del Rio orders a retreat back to Earth, doubting the Chief and Cortana's testimony. The Master Chief disobeys orders to stand down and relinquish the malfunctioning Cortana, and stays behind to oppose the Didact. Infinity XO Commander Lasky gives Chief an armed transport and wishes him luck.
Chief and Cortana attempt to sabotage the Didact's ship before he leaves, but when they are unsuccessful they follow the Didact to a Halo ring, Installation 03. The Composer has been moved from the ring onto the nearby Ivanoff Research Station, which the Covenant attack. The Chief defends Ivanoff, but the Didact retrieves the Composer and uses it on the station, composing every individual except the Chief. Chief and Cortana use a fighter to follow the Didact's ship through slipspace towards Earth. Aided by Infinity and the UNSC home fleet, the Chief boards the Didact's ship with a nuclear warhead. Cortana inserts copies of herself into the Didact's computer systems to overwhelm the Didact's shield, but not before the Didact directs the Composer at Earth. With the help of Cortana, the Chief defeats the Didact, who falls into a slipspace corridor generated underneath the Composer.
Chief detonates the bomb, and finds himself in a blue realm where Cortana appears. She explains they were successful in stopping the Composer and that she saved Chief from the blast, although she cannot return with him. Cortana touches Chief's armor, backs away and disappears; the Master Chief is found by a UNSC rescue team and is taken back to Infinity, where he, mourning the loss of Cortana, talks with Lasky about Earth, duty, and what his duty as a soldier means. Lasky repeats something Cortana said earlier about not being just a machine driven by duty to protect humanity.
In a post-credits cutscene, UNSC forces descend on the city of New Phoenix, the location the Didact used the Composer on, to find its inhabitants dead. In a narration, the Didact proclaims the Forerunner's role as custodians of the galaxy having to bear The Mantle of Responsibility, and humanity as the greatest threat in the galaxy. Master Chief removes his armor aboard Infinity; if the player completes the game on Legendary difficulty, the Chief's eyes are briefly shown.
the characters are well designed and voice acting really shows greatness new enemies, old enemies, and lots of character development.
Master chief is the same voice actor thats awesome same with cortana before her utter demise.
the control is amasing the control shows the improvement with this game and it's awesome.
Weapons: the weapons have improved or have been customized. thats saying alot
music: Music is great with a little halo theme music outside installation 03 though i would have a little longer Halo theme.
There's terminals just like in Halo 3 and the Halo Combat evolved annivarsary these terminals give back story on the forerunners and the Halo rings also the flood. if you have played the other Halo games then this game should be a cake walk if you just started with this one and haven't played the other games the first terminal will give insight on Master chiefs adventures in the previous Halo games its located n the first misson Under master chiefs cryo pod.
Story 5/5
Characters 5/5
Controls 5/5
Weapons 5/5
Music 5/5
total 10/10 = A+
This game is great and I can't wait for Halo 5 and Halo 6. | video-games_xbox |
I like Halo 4 more. I was part of the vocal minority that spoke out against the decisions that 343i were making in regards to Halo 4's multiplayer... I saw myself as a classical Halo truist, and didn't feel comfortable seeing the beloved game I grew up playing stray from the tried and true formula that Bungie has created a decade prior. I was even a fan of Reach, having little over a month's worth of playing time just in multiplayer alone, I saw myself siding with Halo's original studio and developer and following whatever decision they ended up making as a result.
So when I finally gotten around to getting the game a month after it came out, I had entered the campaign with high hopes, but I already had my mind made up about the online component. I think my personal opinion was swayed by the plethora of online discussions and arguments over Halo somehow turning into a call of duty-esque experience and how 343i were lacking any creative liberties, and were instead following what was apparently the industry standard in game design. While there's some parallels with what has been said and done, I feel like in my mind that this game does in fact create a sand box in which grants players a new way to experience and participate in Halo in a new and creative way that is not only exclusive to Halo but perhaps in gaming in general.
It wasn't until AFTER I have unlocked all the loadout weapons and options that I have started to discover what makes this game so great... everything has a counter and nothing should be taken for granted, and the best part is that the community is given the room and chance to evolve their tactics to fit the environment that the players ultimately create in the game. How the game will be played a year from now will be drastically different then how it's generally played today... the fact that Halo 4 has these hidden possibilities and opportunities waiting for the player to take advantage of suggests that Halo may still be on the cusp of being the industry leader in online multiplayer design. That is of course the developer fails to see what potential lies in this direction and instead opts for a more conventional and streamlined approach.
A lot of fans are making a ruckus about being able to create `load outs' and that there are certain weapons that are more efficient in taking out opponents over the other, while these complaints do raise valid questions and concerns... one would need to delve in the mechanics of the game and dissect the game on a technical level before making such conclusions. With each weapon I have found there is a reasonable counter, and how these weapons interact with each other may not be so obvious or apparent to the typical gamer who are not as discerning in how the game is set up. As of right now I feel that the options are moderately weighted in congruence with each other and that one particular tool or option carries enough importance to consider being used without completely making other counterparts seem unnecessary.
And perhaps that's why I'm having fun with this game, I like seeing how different options render different results... and how that the game caters almost meticulously to specific playing style. However, I must admit that the latest Call of Duty offers more options and more freedom on how a player goes about playing, but I honestly can't play that game without wanting to put in Halo 4 instead... unless it's zombies, I like zombies.
So all in all... I love this game. | video-games_xbox |
Simply brilliant. Anyone who experienced Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic on the original XBox has been eagerly anticipating Mass Effect. Developed by KOTOR creators BioWare, Mass Effect may get off to a bit of a bumpy start, but once you get the hang of it, you'll be in for a real treat with this action/RPG. Playing as Commander Shepard, you are in the middle of interstellar and political turmoil in what turns out to be one of the most engrossing and intelligent stories to grace a video game, well, maybe ever. Without giving too much away, you'll meet tons of imaginitive alien races in an even more imaginitive universe that is brilliantly realized to say the least. The RPG elements are where Mass Effect really shines brightest, as you customize Shepard and decide your actions. Here you just don't pick from a list of replies or orders like usual in the RPG world, but when you do pick, your character actually thinks them out. Little touches and elements like this are what sets Mass Effect apart from other RPG's to hit the XBox 360. Where the game also shines is with it's visuals and effects, not to mention the incredibly good voice acting and dialogue. The production values are incredibly high as well, and there's just a feeling of freshness to be found here that usually isn't in most games of Mass Effect's ilk. However, Mass Effect isn't without it's flaws. There are some moments of graphical slowdown that while not overly apparent, can still be noticable. Also, the enemy AI isn't particularly good, and the game's action elements are nowhere near as polished as the RPG elements. Those flaws aside, Mass Effect is still an incredible game that is a simply brilliant sight to behold. The story alone is enough to suck you in, and you will be playing for quite some time. Even if you're not an RPG fan, you should still give Mass Effect a look, you will not regret it. | video-games_xbox |
only buy if you like to run strictly carrer mode. ok this truly is a forza game! what do I mean by that? first off you start with all assist fully turned on. I forgot about that and finally figured out what was going on after the second race. Ok I haven't played forza 4 in about a year and its was at least a year before that since I turned off the assists. also note I am out of practice with my racing not blind! even after you turn off all the assists for some reason the game every once in a while forgets and tries to help you anyway!
Now above all else my biggest complaints are that I don't like to run career mode preferring to go in and choose my races by car type and level etc. You can not really seem to do that in this version. you also have to play on line. The worst thing about playing on line is that you have to put in your password every time you go to play. also it is using other players recorded info to run racers against you. Excuse me but I don't really want other people seeing how bad I drive especially when I am so out of practice.
The other thing to be aware of is that any true gamer knows that they pout cheat most in most these games, that fine I understand that and actually agree that it helps keep up the challenge. however this one has its cheat modes set way to low in that they start cheating after you have taken first in about 5 back to back races, and it doesn't mater what difficulty level you are running. Now most of the cars you will never really notice this part in effect but I was running the Olds (there is only one and its a muscle car) with two tire upgrades and full suspension upgrade that was all and yet I had to restart one race and fight for about 20 minutes to let me race because no mater what I did the nose of my car was planted to the wall. That is after taking 1st in about 20 races and on the second lowest driver difficulty setting. now this is normal I have seen it in every Forza since 2 but ever to this level this early in the game. I wish I could have recorded that race and posted it for reviews just so you could see I am not BSing you. I am sure they will fix this with patches but yea just beware if you do to good to long you will have stupid stuff happen.
So basically I give this a very low rating because its either free play or career mode no other real choice, you have to play online and log in everytime, and its still pretty bugy at this time. if you like to choose your races and have freedom to race what you want when you want it stay with the old forza's this one sucks bad. if you like to just run career mode and nothing else its ok? The graphics do seem to be ok? I personally think 4 had better graphics? | video-games_xbox |
An honest review of Dark Souls. Is Dark Souls one of the best games of this generation? Yes.
Now, is it a game you will actually want to play? That depends.
I'm sure that, if you're reading this review now, a year after the game has been released, you are most likely someone whose interest has been piqued due to A) the $19.99 budget price it's at now and/or B) it's near legendary status on the internet (wikis, forums, etc). You've heard that it's hard. You've heard that it doesn't hold your hand. You've heard that it's the hardcore answer to a gaming generation dominated by mindless shooters where you walk in a straight line as enemies line up to get shot by you and, if you get shot yourself, you just hide for awhile until your health regenerates (which, by the way, is exactly what happens in real life). You've read reviews that proclaimed it a modern classic of gaming, and also reviews where the reviewer didn't even give a score because he or she couldn't finish the game. Now you want to know if it's actually worth picking up. Should you give this $20 game a fair shot?
First off, you know how, if someone gives a new Zelda game a 7.0, the internet explodes because it's too low? Or if someone gives a game like Final Fantasy XIII a 9.0, the internet ALSO explodes because it's too high? I want you to know this about Dark Souls: every single review you read, whether or not the score is a 3 or a 9.5, is accurate. You can't say the game sucks on a technical or artistic level. It has way too much character, personality, and detail to be accused of being "phoned-in." The developers at From Software knew exactly what kind of game they wanted to make and they succeeded in making it. That is without question. The thing is, their vision was to create a game that doesn't care if you like it. Enjoy it. Figure out how to play it. Figure out where to go and what to do. So you have a game crafted with the kind of personal detail and singular style that most modern big-budget games don't have anymore due to sales pressure and huge development teams who work separately from each other, but with that comes two huge barriers to entry: level of difficulty and method of storytelling, which is also related to gameplay in ways I will explain later.
On difficulty: There are many reasons Dark Souls is hard. One, your character is just one of many that roam the dying land of Lordran. Absolutely ANYTHING can kill you in a few hits if you are not careful because,in the context of the game, you are basically only as strong as any one of your enemies (and naturally, we're talking non-boss characters here). Leveling also scales as you reach higher levels, so in essence, it is very difficult to become overpowered at any stage in the game. This is unlike other RPGs where, by the end, you have so many meteor-summoning, turn-into-a-dragon abilities that it becomes a cakewalk. Dark Souls is hard, and hard all the way through, because you are always fighting an uphill battle. Your enemies, from a lowly undead soldier to screen-filling demons, are all REALLY good at fighting. They come at you mercilessly and follow you outside their zones. They fight without abandon. They want you dead, period. Yet, in classic 8-bit style, they all have specific attacks that they telegraph. Their respective animations are the same each time and almost always have a visual cue that you learn to pick up on and anticipate. You learn when to have that shield up,when to dodge out of the way, and you learn to NEVER turn your back on anyone. You see an enemy, lock on, and strafe around until they miss and you punish. You treat every enemy with respect because any one of them can end your life. And, anytime you have more than one enemy coming at you, the threat of death is exponentially greater. You have to be aware of all your surroundings because you and your enemies are subject to the same rules. A specific example:
I walk into a dark and foreboding castle called "Sen's Fortress." I step onto a trigger in the floor and three arrows are shot at me, doing damage because I didn't have my shield up. Little did I know that, as soon as I triggered the arrows, I also triggered two serpent soldiers, who step out of the darkness and down the staircase, right towards me. Unprepared and in disarray due to the arrows, they flank me. I am helpless. I don't know their attacks at all. I have never encountered them before.
You Died.
I re-spawn at the bonfire closest to the zone and try it again. I have my shield up, this time prepared for the arrows. They bounce off my shield. The two guys come at me. I have an idea. I back up as they follow me. I lock on and, all the while facing them, back all the way up, outside of the castle and onto the narrow bridge I walked on to get here. About halfway on the bridge, the two huge serpent men stop. An invisible wall is now blocking them, one erected by the AI. They are still running toward me, but they aren't getting any closer. I gloat. I initiate a gesture that looks like a shrug. I have beaten them. I have broken the game. For fun, I switch my shield and weapon and hold a bow two-handed. I shoot an arrow at them. They can't do anything to me, so I can just pick them off at the other side of this AI wall. I zoom in, aim for snake brains, and let go. As soon as the arrow lands, taking off a mere 32 HP, the invisible wall is lifted by the game, seeming to say, "This is what you get for trying to cheat me." They rush at me as I struggle to put my bow away, go back to two-handed mode, and re-equip my shield and weapon, which is a 3-4 step process in that exact order. They bumrush me before I can even get my shield up.
You Died.
I put the game down. I take a deep breath. I go back in. I walk ahead of the tile in the floor that triggers the arrows. I trigger the serpents. They come at me. I go back to the tile. The arrows shoot them this time. I still back up to the narrow bridge outside, but only to siphon them so I can engage one at a time. I block the first guy's attacks and hit him while he recovers. I do the same for the second guy. It takes probably 4-5 hits to take each one out. This is the same sword that I was killing most enemies with in 1-2 hits in the previous zone. It's a new zone now and the game is telling me that there's going to be a difficulty spike ahead and that I should prepare myself. I kill them both. I go back to the bonfire again to re-spawn them. I kill them again. I do this for awhile, farming souls to level up a little bit and upgrade my weapon. When I am finally comfortable entering the zone, I do so very carefully, having learned from the very first encounter that things are going to get sticky. The zone is the most trap-filled in the entire game. Everything is dark and you have to traverse narrow ledges that get higher and higher until you are at a height where one wrong step means instant death. There are also boulders rolling down everywhere that you can't disengage until you get to the top. I probably die 50 times or more getting to the boss. I want to quit every hour or so. I make it to the boss. He is a huge iron giant. I take him on. He's easy. His attacks are slow and easy to dodge. I forget to take out the giant above us that has thrown exploding fire boulders at me the entire level. He keeps throwing them at me as I am engaging the boss. I curse myself for not taking him out beforehand, being lazy, and I barely survive the boss encounter when he mercifully falls down the platform we are fighting on to his death. I beat him but the giant is still slinging his fire rocks down at me and I have to be careful to navigate to a section of the platform where I won't get hit, as I am almost out of health from the boss battle.
Victory Achieved.
Those two words are enough to ease the pain of the previous 50 deaths. To make me feel a little bit better about that giant, still tossing explosive rock boulders down at me. I touch the ring of light where I fought the boss and two gargoyles fly down and carry me to the next zone. Anor Londo. The city of gods. It is the largest and most beautiful zone in the game. It is a majetic city with sky high towers bathed in warm sunlight. I will go back and trigger this cutscene another five times to marvel at its beauty.
I'm ready to die again.
On storytelling: I think people use a lot of inaccurate terms to describe the plot and story of Dark Souls, so let's be clear about a few things. Dark Souls takes place at the end of days of its fictive setting. The entire game is, essentially, the endgame. You spend your time discovering new zones, new characters, and more about how this world has gotten to this point, but your purpose is always exceedingly simple: kill the old gods and become one yourself. While the plot is made simple, the "story" is not. You see, in Dark Souls, the story is really your character's journey. Each battle you win or lose, each place you visit and treasure you find, coalesce to tell the story of Dark Souls. The rest of the game is not storytelling; it's setting and atmosphere. You'll meet NPCs along the way, and some might steer you toward a specific direction or goal, or give you some insight about the world, but in the world of Dark Souls, no one is an omniscient authority on anything. They are telling you about the things they know as they have come to know them, and that's it. You know how, in Mass Effect, you discover the Reapers are coming, you discover their goals, and you know in definite terms that they are a threat to the universe and you have to stop them? Yeah, that's not Dark Souls. In this game, you save a thousand year old magic girl by smashing her out of a crystal golem at the end of a lake, and she tells you she's been stuck there a long time, as well as her name and where she's from. Then she sells you spells. And that's it. Everyone you meet in that aforementioned beautiful city named Anor Londo is a liar, protecting a secret, but it's up to you to decide if that's really a bad thing. There are two possible endings, personified by two characters who are both probably manipulating you for reasons you never explicitly learn about. One of them, and thus one of the endings, you probably will not even stumble across unless you specifically read about it somewhere, as it involves a specific set of steps that most players won't perform, as well as defeating one of the hardest bosses in the game at a level before you are really equipped to take them on. Everything is presented incidentally and by chance and happenstance, and it's up to you to come to your own conclusions about things that are mostly mentioned in passing, or at least not in detail, and colored by a very murky, ambiguous sense of morality. NPC questlines can be a pain because of this. There are two characters, a father and daughter, who wear distinctive onion armor. You will save them a few times because the game suggests that they are both pretty inept. You meet the father first and save him from a few dicey situations. You then save his daughter. When you see the daughter again, she will be by your central hub/bonfire called "Firelink Shrine." She asks you if you've seen her father again. If you haven't seen her father recently because he has moved to a zone you already cleared and answer no, guess what? You can't ever trigger that answer again and her questline is over. You will never see her again and you can't undue it.
Yes, even the dialogue trees are brutal in this game.
I chose to use specific situations to illustrate the actual experience of playing the game and hope I was successful. Here are a few more relative pros and cons to help you make your decision:
+Weighty combat that is always tense and satisfying...
-...Except when the lock-on mechanic chooses the wrong enemy, swings the camera around awkwardly so you fall to your death, or when the game cheeses you with hidden enemies (which it does all the time).
+Extensive leveling and equipment system with tons of options...
-... With tons of stats, represented by small numbers and icons with no headers, that have a huge impact on your performance. Plus, sometimes the game is so hard you often feel like it doesn't matter what your gear is because you're going to die anyway.
+An inventive multiplayer system focused on assisting each other through messages left on the ground...
-Tempered by untimely invasions by predatory advanced players that will cause many who just want to play at their own pace to unplug the network cable.
+Intricate gameplay systems that are incredibly sophisticated...
-...That almost never explain themselves and reward twitch players heavily. The best and most efficient way to play Dark Souls is to use light armor, two-hand your weapon so you don't have a shield at all, know the hitboxes of your weapon so you don't even use the lock-on mechanic, and use parrying and dodge rolling as your sole defensive options. It is near impossible for the average gamer to play the game this way, and I can't help but think that this kind of breaks the game ultimately, especially in pvp, where strength/tank/defensive builds are basically helpless.
Sitting with the guide right in front of me, as well as the trusty iPad, I completed Dark Souls at level 92 in about 60 hours. The truth is, I don't think I would have known where to go and what to do if I didn't have a guide. I honestly think I would have quit, and even with the guide I still died countless times. Yet, I look back at my experience fondly and consider Dark Souls one of the best games I have ever played. It's going up on the shelf with Persona 3, Dragon Force, the Ninja Gaiden remake, Fire Emblem, Fallout 3, Final Fantasy XIII (yeah, yeah) and Castlevania: Symphony of The Night, where it will remain to collect dust forever in tribute to my gaming life. What a treat to play such an original and uncomprising game.
And I am never going to do it again. | video-games_xbox |
Worthy of consideration. I won these in a gaming raffle and, even though I really don't have much use for a headset, I thought I'd give them a go. They have surprisingly decent sound. Having a closed-off stereo sound stage without having to drive the volume so high as to bother others in your home or next-door is quite nice. The advantages of getting true stereo accuracy is superb. The headset is loud enough for just about anyone - I wasn't sure it would be good enough at first, but after I got into a game of Black Ops 3 I realized they're plenty good enough. The ability to feed your smartphone into the headset is a nice touch. The bass response is punchy instead of overbearing and overall the sound quality is respectable. I will say that there are a few too many cords available (since this can also be used as a PC headset, a USB connector is included). Some parts don't feel as well constructed, and the headset itself isn't all that comfortable but isn't uncomfortable at the same time. For long sessions of play, I don't expect this will be a headset I'd turn to. If that's a big selling point, you may want to consider looking elsewhere. Maybe 30-60 minute sessions will be reasonable though. I'd cater my review toward more of a 3.5 because these can be had for under $75 and, if you do see them for under $50 somewhere they might be worth a purchase. But with other headsets being available around the same price, you're eventually going to land in both wireless and surround sound territory. If wires aren't a deal breaker, I'd suggest the surround sound setup for competitive players or audio enthusiasts because you can hear footsteps and gunfire in sound-accurate spots that could give you a leg up on the competition. So you just need to ask yourself what it is exactly that you are looking for in a gaming headset. These are better for entry-level, budget-minded gamers. | video-games_xbox |
GIVE THIS GAME A CHANCE. I'll be honest this game is not that bad..
Graphics: 2/5 okay okay the graphics really are not good, the animations are not that smooth during cutscenes and most of the player models don't look like the player, especially their build. I'm a big graphics person but I've come to realize sometimes u have to scarifice graphics for gameplay.
Controls:5/5 controls work great i haven't had any problems with anything. The show's (while I have yet to try 2011 which i am going to )controls are boring and old school and it never seems like i am hitting the ball where i want.
presentation:4/5 The presentation is what sales this game, I bought ther show the past 2 years and got bored so quickly, sure it has AMAZING graphics, but the commentary sux (matt vasgersian? SERIOUSLY?) the show is so repetative i can hit 10 fouls in a row and see the same cut everytime. The show is just really boring to play even though the graphics are great it's boring to sit and try to play 9 innings.
camera:5/5 i don't know why people are bashing the camera angles on here u have control over camera angles for everything they even have about 5 dif angles for everything, hitting, pitching, etc. u can also control zoom and tilt.
The biggest problem with this game is the fluidness and graphics but i would trade those anyday for the fun gameplay of 2K. i also like the way the menus are set up and the updates daily. at least rent or download the demos to both games before buying/bashing this game..i used to hate 2K but i bought NBA 2k11 which has much better graphics and my brother has played 2k baseball every year and i always wondered why...now i know
just a quick update I played online for the first time and it was smooth as could b I was really impressed especially with the graphics and fluidness...the graphics during a normal offline game are good, they are only bad and undetailed when doing cutscenes...I also played the show 2011 finally and it is horrible, the audio sounds like something out of sega genesis its the same boring matt vasgersian, you can't even tell where the ball is going when hitting and it just fulls flat and dull....yeah there are a few glitches in 2k but overall it's much more fun to play | video-games_xbox |
Fantastic Learning Tool. If you are beginning guitar player and don't plan on taking lessons from a teacher, do yourself a HUGE favor and buy this and do the tutorials. Although it's tempting to dive right into the songs, resist the urge and start the tutorials from the beginning and work your way up. The lessons are fantastic and it is amazing how it knows exactly what you are playing. It gives you little tests as you go along before you can move forward to the next lesson. My only gripe is a couple of times my guitar was just not capable of making the sound it needed to pass the test to move on. I finally figured out a way to get by it, although I don't remember what I did. It was a while ago. When you use the game, it will occasionally recommend doing what they all the 30 day challenge (or is it 60 days?). I forget. But just do it. This is where you stick to the tutorials every day. I didn't make it the whole 30 or 60 days before getting sidetracked into something else, but I will tell you this, I learned more in that time than I did in 4 years of just teaching myself to play from Youtube videos,etc. The progress was amazing.
The songs are great too but I really don't care for the note highway system Rocksmith uses for feeding you the notes. I also own Bandfuse which I MUCH prefer for learning songs because it uses a tab format for the notes and is much more intuitive to follow. Unfortunately Bandfuse is now defunct (grab one cheap while you can) and there is basically no downloadable content. So you are stuck with the songs it comes with which are great by the way. You just can't get more. Rocksmith has TONS of DLC, however it is expensive.
In summary, I prefer Rocksmith for their amazing tutorials and mini-games to learn skills. I prefer Bandfuse for actual song play given the choice. If Rocksmith had a tab format option I would be in complete heaven! These games are SO MUCH FUN!! | video-games_xbox |
Spawn: Armageddon. "Spawn: Armageddon" is an action platformer based upon the "Spawn" comic series that casts you as the super anti-hero formerly known as Al Simmons. Despite a boast on the box that claims that the game's storyline is ripped from issues 1 through 99, there is very little storytelling behind the game's action. What there is describes a strange angelic weapon that bores a hole into Hell, and unleashes demons upon New York City. If it's any deeper than that, I must have missed something. At any rate, it's a good excuse to take Spawn into battle and kick some arse.
If you like your 3rd person action titles simple and repetitive, "Spawn: Armageddon" is right up your alley. That's not to say it can't be fun - it can be, in short spurts. There are a variety of cool weapons at your disposal, after all, and there are plenty of demons to be mowed down by them. The guns are cool, and ammunition is rather plentiful, but you may still find yourself relying primarily upon Spawn's chains (which launch from his belt and rip foes in half). His axe, Agony, is also a handy death-dealing device, though it offers a disappointing number of attacks. Even so, the combination of melee, semi-melee, and ranged attacks is a good one, and it sets the stage for the engaging, if not breath-taking, action.
The title's core gameplay revolves around throwing Spawn into an enemy infested arena which is sealed shut until all enemies within are slain. Only then can you progress to the next area. Those few levels that don't rely too heavily upon this basic concept incorporate platform-jumping sequences that, while forgiving, are just not that much fun. This is the basic formula, and "Armageddon" does not stray from it. The combat is interesting enough to at least keep the game moving when it might otherwise slow to a mind-numbing crawl, but the action certainly harbors wasted potential. The name of this game is repetition, repetition, repetition... you get the idea.
"Armageddon" is a slick-looking game, rife with vibrant colors and detailed character models. The sound effects aren't bad either, but the soundtrack is hideous. It's not so much because the music is grating in small doses, but instead because it plays so continuously. When there are enemies onscreen in the game, a generic, repetitive heavy metal riff kicks in... and there are almost ALWAYS enemies onscreen. I highly recommend turning the music volume down, or clicking it off entirely.
Given the game's shortcomings, its length is a mixed blessing. If you're all about replay value, "Armageddon" has virtually none, and it's a very brief game besides. Still, even if it offered several more hours of game time, would that necessarily make it better? Not really. It is what it is, and sometimes that's enjoyable. Sometimes it's not. "Armageddon" harkens back to coin-op games from years past with it frenetic but monotonous action, and if you're a fan of that (and I am) then I suggest giving it a look... but not without reservation.
Final Score: C | video-games_xbox |
Clunky but Acceptable. I just got this wheel today from Best Buy. In fact, I had to drive an hour and 1/2 just to pick it up because we didn't have one where I live. Anyway, as everyone knows the Microsoft Wireless Wheel for the XBOX 360 is not made anymore so this is pretty much all there is for a 'reasonable' price. That being said, here are my observations.
The wheel and base are quite large. I'm a small guy, 5'7 and the base rests heavily on my lap and is about 19" across. It's fairly solid and definitely not light weight. I find it bulky and uncomfortable. Not only that, but the wheel itself seems to tilt too far forward and down for my comfort but its acceptable. The Green A button and Red B buttons are on the LEFT as compared to the XBOX controller where the buttons are on the right so that took some getting use to. The foot pedals are fine but the pedals themselves are fairly hard to press down. Especially the brake pedal. I guess Madcatz was going for realism in that department. I have them on carpet so they don't slide.
The pros: Works with every game I've tried, Burnout, Dirt, NFS Hot Pursuit/Shift, Grid, Forza and Test Drive Unlimited 2. However, on some games the hat switch in which you look at the car from a 360 perspective is disabled. It seems to work best with Need for Speed Shift/Hot pursuit and Grid. You have to over steer on Test Drive Unlimited but that might be fixed in the controller menu. There's also vibrational feedback which isn't too bad. Also XBOX immediately recognizes the wheel and no calibration was necessary.
The Cons: Bulky and big. Not a 'nice looking' wheel. Looks kind of corny with the stickers glued on for the label and speedometer. Another HUGE con is after using the wheel for a while there was a horrible screeching sound coming from the metal shaft inside the wheel. It got so bad my cat came in to see what I was doing. I mean, it was REALLY grating like plastic on metal. I actually tried WD40 and then Vaseline. Yea, I know, but it worked. If you use headphones I guess that doesn't matter to begin with. The other cons are no forcefeedback and it's not wireless. It also doesn't work with the GTA IV series.
All in all if you HAVE to have a wheel this one would do. It's DEFINATELY better than a controller or joystick. On the negative, this wheel should be priced around 45-50 dollars. For almost 100 bucks it should at least be wireless. I hope this review helps someone. :P | video-games_xbox |
Great for FPS. I bought this after rerturning my TurtleBeach headset because I felt the TurlteBeach was too flimsy. Bought my Tritton from Bestbuy for 59.99 but you can find it cheaper on Amazon, I just don't like waiting on shipping. I initially bought these so that I can play COD at night without waking up the household. Now, I cant play without using a headset. The gaming experience is greatly improved when playing with a headset because you can make out small sounds like enemy foot steps and gun reloading. There have been countless times where I find myself running through a building and I hear someone running towards me from 2'oclock, I stop running, aim and bamm, get him as he turns the corner. I can even hear enemies reloading behind walls, so I simply fire through the wall and get them. Keep in mind that this headset is NOT surround sound, you merely get better differentiation between what is left and what is right as appose to sound blasting at you from the tv.
This headset is wired but the wire is pretty long, enough to keep you a good distance away from your tv whle playing. There is a control dongle on the headset wire to change the game and voice chat volumes, you can also quickly mute yourself when someone comes up ask you something in the heat of battle. Which brings me to my next point, I use to use my jawbone 2 for chatting, but I kept getting compliants that my jawbone was picking up background noise even when i am not talking, not to mention i had trouble all the time with the bluetooth paring whenever i turned on my ps3.
Now that I have this headset, every works as soon as i turn on my ps3. A must have for any FPS fan. If you decide not play with a headset, just don't cry camper when i get you turning the corner simply because i heard you coming and you didn't hear me. I've had this headset for about 2 years now and still have no problems with it.
Rating: 4.5/5 stars | video-games_xbox |
The OG of COD. It's more than a few years old at this point, but this has been THE go-to WWII shooter for me since the first time I've played it.
While there are many options out there, this one has always stood out to me in both atmosphere and gameplay. I'll come back to this one again and again over the much more powerful Modern Warfare series just as sure as you might return to the original mario over his 3D options, and for the same reasons: increased power and hardware doesn't necessarily make it more playable.
One thing Call of Duty used to do which set the games apart from Medal of Honor (and which they've recently lost touch with in Black Ops and World at War) was give the feeling of being one small part of a much larger conflict. One man in an army as opposed to a one-man army, if you get my drift. For years, FPS had relied on the old standard of making you into a super soldier and god of the battle field before whom the enemy crumbles like the Berlin Wall (too soon?). And that's all well and good, but I've been doing that since Doom for crying out loud and a change once a decade or so can be a good thing. Call of Duty switched things up and did an excellent job of dropping you into a CHAOTIC battlefield with often vague orders ("Soldier... go take that hill, don't ask how, just do it!") that made you feel almost insignificant. You were never alone on the battlefied (if you were, you were about to die) and the feel was as close to being in live battle as part of an army as I would ever want to come.
Call of Duty 3 took some serious steps backward in gameplay; quick-time events and loading animations frequently reminded you that, yes, you are playing a video-game. Call of Duty 4 (otherwise known as the game that change the face of the FPS) took great strides in many, many directions and recaptured that sense of being as small, fragile portion of a larger conflict; but for me it came with this hard-to-describe uneasy feeling. The murder has become too real for my taste, it's official. Fantasy has slipped to far away and takes away from my overall enjoyment and desire to ever play the damn thing again. The Modern Warfare games are undeniably marvles of the format... I just never need to play them twice.
Call of Duty 2 has kept me entertained for more hours than I care to admit. The level designs are memorable and engaging, the AI is just fine, the game physics are satysfying without being disturbing, and the sound design is as top-notch as anything you'll find (tell me you weren't pumped when your Russian Comrades lead an all out charge against the retreating Nazis in the second level; tell me that battle cry after some frantic sniping didn't make ya tingle!). It's easy, guilt-free (moslty), and exciting warfare that can be picked up and put down or explored in depth as you wish. It's an extremely playable and effective game that stands up to it's overpowered younger brothers and a definite needed addition to any game library. | video-games_xbox |
Madden 06 Is Best 360 Sports Launch Title (3.5 Stars. I have no doubt that EA will really beef Madden up for the 2007 season, as that will be the first full season the 360 will be on the market: things like create a player, micro management, and hopefully a broader range of control over the onfield camera will take this game over the top. Still, Madden 06 is a great sports game for being the first to go next-gen.
GRAPHICS: 4/5-
Madden 06 doesn't fail to deliver when it comes to visuals. True, it isn't quite the video EA was showing off at the gaming expos, but it is closer than anybody really thought it would be to that footage. In the cut scenes between plays you can actually make out the jersey knit patterns on the players' jerseys, and outlines of the different padding that each different position player wears underneath their uniforms. Even during actual gameplay, the fields look amazing - hashmarks and yard-lines actually resemble the chalk residue that they are really made of. So many critics have been citing NBA Live as the 360 sports game that looks the best, but I believe Madden is far and away better looking, and will look even more polished by the time the 07 edition is released.
AUDIO: 4/5 -
As always, Madden delivers the goods in their soundtrack and special effects. The sounds of the crowds and commentators make for a chillingly realistic feel to the games - I almost felt like I was watching my favorite team live. The accompanying music is top notch and relevant as always.
CONTROL: 3/5 -
If Madden 06 had an achilles heel, it would have to be the controls. But I would hardly call the controls a problem. The only minor issue that EA really needs to address is the camera controls, or lake thereof. Madden 06 allows players absolutely no control of the camera. When the huddle first breaks, you get the closeup view from right behind the quarterback. But as soon as you start your cadence, the camera snaps back to way overhead. Then, when the ball is snapped it comes about half-way back - this is the best vantage point. Like in NBA Live 06, I am perplexed as to why the Madden team would eliminate all of the great camera control progress that they had made in previous versions - however, unlike NBA Live 06, the camera views that they do give you aren't really that bad. In fact, once you get used to the scheme, it really works pretty well. Other than the cameras, the only other minor agitation, and I do mean minor, is the layout of the menus. Some normally simple functions, like looking at stats, are now almost cumbersome.
VALUE: 3/5 -
Madden 06 is a solid game, but for the hefty sixty-dollar price tag, EA could have given us more: a major disappointment is the lack of the create-a-player function that is a staple in sports games. Considering this game is a launch title, it is the best version of Madden ever offered for a new system.
The only downside for experienced Madden gamers who are picking this up, is that the artificial intelligence is totally toned down from what you're used to. If you are a seasoned Madden veteran, you will find that you will need to set the difficulty on All-Madden if you want something of a challenge.
OVERALL: 3.5/5 -
While there are a few little kinks in this first-ever next-gen edition of Madden NFL, the overall result is a game that meets all expectations of a new-generation launch game - and even exceeds to some extent. If you buy this game now, you won't be disappointed in the least - in fact, if you are looking to get a sports game for your shiny new 360, look no further because this is the best one the market has to offer this year. This game is so impressive, that it will easilly hold you over during the wait for the first totally complete next-gen Madden game next summer. | video-games_xbox |
Good Game, Questionable Support. You will hear people rave about Forza 4, I'm not one of them. The game itself is fun, but you only get half of what you pay for. The Forza Motorsports server is unavailable much of the time which means no online racing, no winning credits or points, no saving anything and messages about the wonderful challenges to win "unicorn" cars arrive days after the event is over so no unicorn cars. Complain about it on the heavily censored Forza forums, odds are you will be banned, as I was(for having a "bad attitude"), even though you will see people complaining about Forza servers being "unavailable" all the time. They should cut out all their online marketing crap associated with the game and free up the bandwidth for people who paid for the game. If you are a new player, forget about racing online. According to the experts on the Forza forum, you have to "pay your dues" and the forum moderators will tell you to NOT play online until you are up to their standards. Are you kidding me? You paid for the game, why can't you play? What's left? Single player against AI cars and if you're lucky, you might even get credits if you win, depending if the Forza servers are "available" or not.
Update 8-12-13: I want to be fair about this, especially in light of people deciding to buy the Xbox One or not. Forza 4 and Forza Horizon, when they are working, are great video games for the motorsports enthusiast. I stand by my comments about the heavy handed censorship of the Forza Forums and you should not expect any support from Turn 10 or Microsoft if you have problems with your game. You can be banned from the Forza games for any reason with no appeal.
I enjoy playing the Forza games, but the experience with Turn 10/Microsoft has made my decision on buying the Xbox One console easy; no way. Spend $600 and hope things work? Forget it. I won't spend another dollar on Xbox or Forza products until I get my money's worth out of the stuff I already bought from them. | video-games_xbox |
Delivers on all fronts IMMENSELY EXCEPT lacks gameplay variety and controls depth/responsiveness. Too easy on insane difficulty. A fantastic game, I must rate it as 5/5 but my only gripe with it is that I wish the gameplay was more responsive.
Pros: What it really delivers on superbly.
Graphics: Gorgeous extremely well optimized visuals, best on the xbox one of any game I've seen. Full forests, lush vegetation, variety, artwork, models,
Voice acting: like a movie in many senses that just keeps going when you want
Story: fleshed out characters from previous games even though I'm new to it.
Bang for your buck: one of the longest lasting RPG's. full of side quests and content.
Cons: Semi Low skill cap, I finished this easily on the hardest difficulty insane) I could have bare fist the final boss to death. Way too predictable enemies. While I understand the need to appeal to players who don't have the patience to get good enough to take a challenge. The game was just too easy and cut away from the immersion of the game.
-The gameplay is enjoyable and definitely enough for those blasted casuals, but it gets repetitive soon enough, eventually considering how long they made this game. They need to make the controls and fighting mechanics much more responsible and creative; theres just plain not enough combat variety. Ninja gaiden had lighting responsive controls on the original xbox and was amazingly and really engaged you into the characters real abilities, not some grunt who hacks and slashes some mindless predictable NPC's. Ninja gaiden came out in 2004 FOR HEAVENS SAKE!
Overall: An amazing game that spends perhaps too much on every game element (yet succeeds wonderfully) but cuts down on gameplay challenge, combat variety, AI, and controls which aren't responsive enough for what is supposed to be a legendary fighter. If your playing an RPG you should be able to have the ability to learn eventually be a master player throughly enjoying a deeply engaging and equally challenging game. | video-games_xbox |
a masterpiece. This is truly an epic game regardless of what people say, if you go to any game site or watch any video game show you see that they all agree this game is simply remarkable.
From single player to an untouchable and unbeatable ,in my eyes multiplayer that will have you addicted like a crac addict with an 8ball. From the first five minuites your playing until the 3 days later you put the controler down you will be hooked.
The music score in this game has got to be in the runnings for game soundtrack of the year, absolutly stunning. And actualy the whole game feels more like your playing through a movie than a game. The cut scenes/movies are very good, though some are 5 mins +,thats not a bad thing, you don't want to skip through them because there such an important part to the story you'll want to hear every word. There that riviting.
Now I wasn't a die hard Halo 1 fan though it was and still is an excellent FPS that even till today id hard to beat on any home console and many PC shooters. But HALO 2 is definetly the best and most fun I've had with a video game this year.
Well , thats enough I guess so its back to woopin covenant but baby. Damn this game rocks
Now this is all my opinion and I'm sure many will feel different, but to bash people for there ideas and opinions is very childish. Everyone is intitled to there own opinions wether you agree or not but if you do disagree with what I write and want to make your own points, please have some actual reasons , facts and intelligence to back it up and don't just type what and unmentioned person wrote.
Man that was pretty weak mr. SIMON that you have to resort to name calling like a 5 year old ,your just mad because you know EVERY word I wrote in my previous review was 100% true,lol either that or he's played Halo 2 and he sucks a$$.HA HA.just jokin. Grow up man and next time have some actual facts or intelligence to back your statments up instead of just saying that 'I suck ' lol. | video-games_xbox |
LVL 5 Fills the Void Between Good and Inexpensive Gaming Headsets. Gaming headsets and gaming go hand in hand with each other. If you know a serious gamer out there (or are on yourself) chances are they have a gaming headset. When one thinks about a gaming headset they think of 3 names, Turtle Beach, Triton or Astro. Along with those big names, you get a big price. Yes, these headsets are very nice, but what about the average gamer? Most gamers aren't looking for the absolute most elite gaming headset just to hear Atom Bomb Baby on Fallout 4 for the 1,000th time. The average gamer looks to spend about as much as a game on a headset that they hope works well enough that they shouldnt need to take out a loan for a headset. That is where PDP comes in with the LVL 5; a tough, yet good sounding stereo headset that works with both new gen systems out today.
The PDP LVL 5 looks to toughen up the inexpensive lineup coming in at only $50, yet somehow PDP included a few extras that aren't even included in their own lineup of flagship headsets. This review covers the Xbox One version of the headset, but if you would rather the Blue lights of the PS4 version, that is the only difference, so if you are a gamer on either system, please read on!
Upon getting the package from PDP, I was surprised how well built the packaging was. Once again, PDP has made a tough, durable outer shell for the headset. My previously reviewed AG 9s were not this well packed so finding a less expensive headset this tightly enclosed surprised me. Upon cutting the two dot pieces of tape, I was onto the headset itself. Between two pieces of molded plastic (one clear and one black) was the LVL 5 headset along with the 3.5mm headphone jack (non-removable) and two AA batteries for the LED lights in which we will get into in a minute. Once the plastic was removed I noticed how hefty they were. While no, these headsets won't bog down your ears in long gaming sessions, they feel like they were made well enough to take a beating from those long days of Black Ops 3. From there I proceeded to put the included AA batteries in the left ear cup and started gaming straight away.
Once Fallout 4 started up I plugged the headset into my controller and noticed the sound was playing immediately without me turning the headset on. Surprisingly they were passively as well-meaning they don't need to be on to have music play through them. No worries about having batteries in those long gaming sessions! Great work on that one PDP. However, when I turned the headset on an explosion happened (a super mutant blew up a car a few meters from me) and BAM! The headset nearly rumbled off of my head! This little headset has a haptic bass feedback system that really rumbles your head, making explosions nearly come alive. I was caught off guard and loved the extra added immersion the headset gave me.
f you are looking for a bass-heavy headset look no further; this is THE headset to buy. One thing to note however is that you do need AA batteries for this feature, so I recommend buying a 4 pack of rechargeable AA batteries (Duracell preferably). With the Bass feature turned up all the way Im on hour ten without a hint of the batteries dying. There are warnings before hand, so it doesnt die directly at the way so that is a nice addition. If however, your headset dies in the middle of an epic battle just turn the bass feature off on the left ear cup and you can listen to your games passively without the bass heavy feature, and in all honestly they sound just as great. While these do have just 40mm drivers, they sound great just in passive mode. One thing to look out for, however, is that when the bass feedback feature is on a sound levels drop like a brick. Passive mode makes things much louder, and Im not entirely certain why this would be. No, they do not have the crystal clear technology of the AG 9s they sound great for the price they are and they CAN go toe to toe with any one of my less expensive Turtle Beach headsets and they actually do sound better than my previous JBL headset I have come to love over the past few years. There are a few buttons on the sides of the ear cups for volume and muting of your game as well, but this only works on the console in which you buy the headset for, unfortunately.
Chatting with my brother over Xbox live proved to be a highlight for this headset. I have tried talking to him with my Bluetooth speaker playing right next to me, I tried whispering, I tried everything for him not to be able to hear me, but every time I came through clear and concise, if a bit softer than the loudness that were the AG 9s. These are a dream to chat with the non-removable mic, once you are done, just flip the microphone up and your voices is muted, flip them down and you are able to talk again.
Comfort is something every gamer needs in order to expect good immersion, we don't want to feel a lot of weight on our heads when we game and the last thing we want is a headache. The PDP LVL 5 has a good mix in durability and comfort. The on-ear hybrid type ear cups are comfortable and they do a great job with noise isolation from your surroundings. Once you have a game playing through the speaker, it is hard to distinguish any sound from just about any audio source within reason. Once the sliders are set up correctly for your ears the faux leather pads on the ear cups immediately block noise and are also very comfortable to wear. However, it is worth noting that your ears will sweat as there isn't much breathing room for your ears. This isn't horribly bad like the Triton 720+s are, but something to note for those long gaming sessions. The band is made out of the same material as the AG 9s and shouldnt present any problems in the future.
As stated before, this headset will work with both systems for gaming and voice chat. Both consoles will be able to use the haptic bass feedback system and you will be able to be called a noob on both systems through voice chat. No matter if you bought the PS4 version or the Xbox One version, both will be able to be used on both systems. This not only saves you from having to store two headsets but also saves you another $50. The lights on the side of the headset do NOT turn off unlike the AG 9s, this isn't nearly as noticeable while gaming at night however, so this shouldnt be a problem for gamers like the AG 9s LEDs were.
Overall, this stereo gaming headset is impressive for the price. For the low cost of $50 you are getting a haptic feedback bass system, LED lights and a balanced audio experience when in passive mode. PDP really did a good job with this headset, while it isn't the best sound quality the LVL 5 fills the void between good and inexpensive gaming headsets.
You can find this review and more at my website Gamersftw.co.uk.
I was given this product in exchange for an honest, unbiased review. | video-games_xbox |
One of my top ten favorite games on the 360. For a starting game in a planned trilogy, Mass Effect gets you hooked from the beginning.
Story: Set in the year 2183, humans have expanded in the milky way galaxy establishing colonies on multiple planets. Mass relays were discovered making it possible to travel great distances in short time. The citadel is home to the council that governs all of space in an alliance of several alien races. A mysterious force is threatening all sentient life and you must locate the source. Spectres are elite warriors sanctioned by the council. No human has ever become a spectre yet. Humans want to be a part of the council, but there race hasn't proven itself yet.
Gameplay: 3rd-person shooter. You travel around the universe as an Alliance military soldier named Commander Shepard tracking down Saren, a rogue spectre, trying to unravel the mystery behind his betrayal to the council. Once you take on the job, you become a spectre yourself. You have a space shift named the Normandy with a full crew. You have missions that advance the plot and tons of side missions along the way. Some of the side missions include exploring each solar system for metals and supplies. Each solar system has a planet that you can land on to explore. You explore the planet in a motorized vehicle and on foot. You have a radar that lets you know what is nearby such as deposits of medal. Once you examine the deposits, they are flagged and collected by the Alliance. There are tons of planets to explore in this manner, which can become more tedious over time. You also examine the solar system from space, scanning planets and asteroids for deposits and usable materials. On plot-advancing missions, you are generally on foot and have 4 different weapons to use including pistols, shotguns, assault rifles, and sniper rifles. You can also use grenades. You can buy weapons on planets with an armory but most of your weapons and armor upgrades will come from searching enemies' corpse, containers, etc. You have multiple party members but only 2 can be with you on missions. You have to upgrade their weapons and armor. Each character levels up and you can choose multiple categories to distribute your talent points such as each weapon class, bionics, tech, and special class abilities such as soldier, spectre, etc. There are multiple locations to explore including the citadel. Each location has unique side missions. Dialogue is a choice based similar to Jade Empire and Knights of the Old Republic. You can converse with all your side kicks and get to know them (you even get to share a bed with one of them if you talk to them enough). Conversations are the method in which you can be good or evil based on your dialogue selection. In Mass Effect 2, they call it renegade as bad. You are given several choices in plot missions that affects last into the next game, such as saving certain people, creatures, the council, etc.
Conclusion: the controls are easy, the graphics are excellent. The story is engaging. It definitely leaves you wanting more. Pick up Mass Effect and start the trilogy off right. You won't regret it. | video-games_xbox |
Somehow, it betters PGR2. Anyway, PGR was always a brilliant idea. When it comes to that warning about not using these driving techniques in real-life that devs whack on the front of racing games these days, it lurks somewhere in the gap between Ridge Racer's "because you will die" allusions and GT's "because nobody's this good". When you clamp the accelerator and fishtail the back of the car and then wrestle it straight, it isn't just forgiving, it actually awards you points. Applying this to exiting tight turns and using a model that rewards sharp braking and traction loss was inspired.
It was inspired in Metropolis Street Racer, it was inspired in the first PGR. It's still inspired. It's not a realistic game - you bump and scrape when you should be deflating like a turbo-accordion, and the collisions between cars on the track and the AI drivers' apparent lack of concern about them and the way you're all bashing past each other is wrong, but that's easily overlooked because the core skill that it asks you to develop is so satisfying. And that clicking of the Kudos meter, which tots up points for drifting, drafting, riding the curb tightly, and comboing it all together and suchlike, tickles your ears with the promise of points to go with your podium positions.
PGR3 arrives on Xbox 360 with surprisingly little to add to the mechanics and structures that underpinned PGR2. Career mode allows you to pick one of five difficulty settings before tackling each challenge - and your daring or confidence in your ability informs the choice, because if you don't live up to the goal you've set you won't bank any points. Challenges range from racing and time trial affairs that are about speed to more technical cone and drift challenges that are about stringing Kudos-heavy moves together, and each adopts a different route through one of the game's city areas - London, Vegas, Tokyo, New York and Nurburgring (Ok so Nurburgring's not a city, but it might as well be for the distance and range it offers). On top of that, every single task synchs ever so elegantly with global leaderboards, so even the highest-ranked will have something more to push for.
Its principle divergence is in the way it separates these tasks from car classes. Now you simply go to a shop and buy yourself a car with credits earned by completing challenges - the idea being that you can use your favourite car throughout if you like. Along with the five grades of difficulty, this gives the game a level of accessibility that would've been alien in MSR or PGR, and even PGR2. You can make easier progress and move off tougher tasks by brushing them aside on lower difficulties, and the balance is such that even an accomplished racer will need to work for those Hard (gold) medals, which lurk tantalisingly just out of reach when you first attempt them, and their credit benefits, and Hardcore achievements are just that. Collecting cars as you go rather than having them prescribed will please everybody who ever whinged about the truck class in PGR2.
But you know what? I hate those bastards who whinged about the truck class, given what's happened. The concessions have bred profligacy by design. You gain enough credits by smashing through the relatively easy silver-medal band of races that you can amass a garage of Enzos, DBR9s, TVRs and other high-end machinery within a few short hours. The central Kudos mechanic of having to put your own imagined potential where your BHP is by selecting a target score before a race remains good - although personally I preferred the way you played with your shades of ambition by more closely defining your goals in the older games, half-second by half-second - but this is now more of a personal quest than a predefined one. It lacks incentives beyond the colours of medals, the ranks on Live and the badges you can earn that celebrate 360 spins and tasks completed in one combo. These are good incentives admittedly, but they're not as good as cars and new tracks were in the olden days.
PGR3 also plays with the separation of offline and online, and does this to better effect. Live's integration in single-player is limited to leaderboards and downloadable ghosts in Career mode (two of the best things ever done with Live, frankly), but now there's a distinct Online Career, with its own Live-specific Kudos-accumulation. There's a range of events to join in with at any given time. You can also set up your own Live races of course, in the game's Playtime area, and the way the game matches your connection speed and skill level to random opponents seems to work even at this early stage in the console's life.
The Route Creator, meanwhile, opens up a great many possibilities. It's simple to set up routes between start/finish and the waypoints available, and the results are easily distributable. But while the selection of cities is decent and the number of possibilities is barely conceivable (until a load screen somewhat comically suggests you "create over 100 million"), and nobody's questioning the devs' meticulousness in modelling each environment, the area covered is actually surprisingly small. Take London for example (since I live here) - the area covered is a fairly small section about ten minutes from my front door (by foot, mind you - not in a DBR9 or anything), and runs from Victoria Embankment through Trafalgar Square, loops round Piccadilly Circus without reaching upper Regent Street, and then circles back down to Pall Mall, St James's Park, and straight back to Big Ben. It's not that big. The Getaway's mapped area was many times the size and you could do the in-between bits. What is included works well - each city section features several memorable turns, straights and distinctive sections that combine to good effect, and to be fair Vegas and the winding sections of Tokyo feel more varied than London - but you have to wonder whether all that time wireframing buildings might have been better spent.
Which leads me inexorably to the question of how the game looks. This is undoubtedly the main thing people know about PGR3 at this point: the cars are enormously detailed, the environments are thoroughly mapped and modelled, and the visuals are presented in resolutions hitherto unseen on console hardware. And yeah, you've picked up on the tone - this is the point in the review where I say I don't think it makes as big a difference to the play experience as everyone's been so breathlessly declaring elsewhere.
Someone asked me a whole bunch of questions about PGR3's graphics yesterday. If it was true that the tarmac was virtually photo-realistic, if it was true all the pedestrians were 3d models, if it was true that you could stop and read the hoardings on the buildings, and see the light bouncing off windows and so on. Frankly I don't really know. My recollection of the tarmac is that it passes under me like a blurry grey conveyor belt, because I'm moving so damn fast. The spectators I only see when I stop, and that's only when I've screwed up, and when that's the case they're hardly my priority. The things you notice are the big things - the sun creeping over the skyscrapers in Shinjuku, the incredibly pronounced and sometimes blinding effect when you emerge from tunnels, the trees lining a road, the wealth of scenery. In terms of providing a world around the track, PGR3 goes the furthest so far, and yes, everything's presented in ways that other consoles can't present it, in a game that even PC owners who can reach these visual heights haven't much to compare directly to.
But you're only really going to notice where most of the grunt went in replays. Or on Gotham TV. The latter is a nice idea, but kind of ignores the unspoken truth about replay modes: they are boring. Watching the best of the best do their stuff is interesting, but watching eight mediocre players bashing into each other is not. Being one of as many as 30,000 people doing so simultaneously is a technical accomplishment, not an extra point on the score. Then if you look around, you're forced to admit that the spectators are automatons, and the trees aren't moving. It's quite a sterile environment, for all its definition and the wealth of objects outside the track boundaries.
But let's say you view it as a spectacular whole - even at this, for the most part the enormous amounts of incidental detail presuppose that you aren't actually racing. When you are, the key things are being able to see the next corner, or the next cone gate distinctly, and here the game is no better than any other. You'll notice far more impressive effects and depth of background material than you ever have before, and when you fiddle with that Photo viewer mode and actually marvel at the vehicle exteriors, you'll be hard pressed to think of another car model that includes as much. It's like watching those GT videos before Polyphony actually had to run them through the ancient PS2 graphics tech.
But we do still truly love the clicking of the Ferrari.
Hop into the cockpit view, which many are eulogising, and you'll certainly feel more immersed than you have elsewhere, owing thanks to the terrific engine sounds and enormous amount of in-car detail. But it's also kind of peculiar, because when you're in a car you don't find that half of your view is taken up by steering wheel, dashboard and the frame of the car; you focus on what's outside of the windscreen. The windscreen filter here is lovely, but unless you really divorce yourself from the interior modelling it feels more like you're leaning forward from the backseat, and the viewing window is quite restrictive. In the end I preferred the bumper cam, as I often do, not least because it's much easier to get a handle on the precise demands of the Kudos challenges and see what's coming when the track ahead fills the whole screen.
Let's give it its dues: when played from this perspective, PGR3 is an excellent, well-refined racing game. Cone Challenges, Drift Challenges, Street Races, Hot Laps, Eliminators, Time vs Kudos (where you stop the ticking down of the clock by playing up to the Kudos system - an excellent idea) - all are good, most are ridiculously compulsive thanks to the superb balancing of the medal targets, so much so that you'll happily pause and restart them every time you spin off and the chap ahead quickly builds up an unassailable lead. And while the range of challenges will probably feel a bit narrow to people who have stuck with the series since its birth on the Dreamcast, the temptation to try and scale those greater heights will appeal to the arcade mentality that still lurks within a lot of players. | video-games_xbox |
All drivers to your cars. There are racing simulators, and then there are racing GAMES. I read a preview and an interview in two issues of Edge magazine discussing the new direction Codemasters was taking in this game, and by the time I finished the preview I was so exited I knew I had to preorder the game and make the first full-price purchase I've ever made of a 360 game. The reason is simple. As one of the game's creators said, the racing genre has become a collect-a-thon with very little to do with the joy of racing. We've come to invest massive amounts of time into things like Forza and Gran Turismo without actually enjoying the races, just trying to win enough money to buy that next car or rank high enough to unlock that next track. The Race Driver series, like the Colin McRae Rally series, has been trying to gain a foothold in the west for some time. Personally I have no problem with TOCA or Rally (I love every Colin McRae game I've played except, strangely, Dirt), but everyone else seems to need some convincing. Codemasters have been trying to do this for years by throwing all kinds of crazy modes at you in the Race Driver series. With Grid maybe they'll finally get your attention.
The first thing you will probably notice is the graphics engine that powers this game (the same one from Dirt). These are next next NEXT generation graphics. Flags wave in the breeze, crowds cheer and jump up and down, and huge clouds of smoke shoot from your tires when you spin your tires. At the starting line, there is a fog of exhaust from the idling cars. But when you start racing, you realize that everything is also faster than greased lightning, giving you that sense of speed previously only seen in the movies.
When I first played the demo, the impression I got was that the developers watched The Fast and the Furious, Gone in 60 Seconds, and bunch more like them, and said "We need our game to look, move, and feel like THAT." Just before the race starts the camera does a lightning-fast zoom to the cars from an overhead view. On the replays, the camera shakes and rattles like it's a helicopter shot tracking your car, and your car is itself has the shake and blur of an object rocketing along at incredible speed. Nothing like the Sunday driver replays we've all become accustomed to. The sense of speed is really fantastic, and the game's controls will at first take some getting used to, because the cars are far more controllable than you are probably used to (resulting in a lot of spin-outs and wall-slams because you aren't expecting to turn so sharp). What this translates to is that when you get used the feel of this game it's a non-stop thrill ride as your car flies around corners and takes off from a stop like something out of a forth of July blockbuster.
And let's not forget about the car deformation and physics engine. While I don't think it's possible to land upside down, I have wedged my car on top of wals, flipped end over end, spun my car 360 degrees in the air, and smashed my car till all that remained of the front was the engine (and I can't count the times I've seen my wheels fly off). Yes, this game has damage, and it's way better than the damage in any other game I know of. It's not realistic, but it is TOUGH. If you have a head-on collision at top speed, that's it. Your car is wrecked. Fortunately the new Rewind feature makes it possible to stop time and rewind to before the crash (ala Prince of Persia's innovative time-control system). Is it a cheap gimmick? No. It's a really cool feature and an absolute lifesaver. But of course, it also demishes your score, can only be used a certain number of times, and in higher difficulty settings and record score making can't be used at all. Think of it like the ideal line in Forza. It may be cheating, but it's a game, not real life. And there's no point in playing a game if you can't have fun. And a whole lot of fun Grid is.
The A.I. in the game is also quite good, and not just because cars keep slamming into you and trying to force you off the road (in a couple of races one or two of the leaders kept trying to block the road to keep me from passing and when I got ahead harassed me continually from behind). The other drivers will actually fight each other, spin out, and crash all on their own. This makes everything enormously exciting because it stops feeling like you're racing a computer that never makes mistakes and instead feels like you're racing a wild pack of drivers jockeying for position (thankfully more Speed Racer and Nascar). Realism freaks will cry foul, but people like me who are TIRED of realism getting in the way of having fun will love the atmosphere of the races, where you feel rivalry and desperation in every race, and know that you could go from last to first or vice versa at any time (making every race feel like one of the greastest you've ever seen on TV, because crazy comebacks and smash-ups at the finish line do ocassionally happen in real-life).
While most racing games stick with one mode, Grid has you doing all kind of crazy races, from destruction derby to drift challenges, to one-on-one mountain racing. You'll drive Formula 3, Super cars, and muscle cars. You'll drive everywhere from Long Beach to Le Mans. While I wish there were more tracks (I loved the destruction derby and wish there were a few more of my favorite European tracks), the limited car selection doesn't bother me at all, because all the cars are fast and fun and very usable. Similarly I'm GLAD there's no car tweaking and tuning because in the end it just distracts from RACING. Leave that adjustment stuff to my mechanic, thank you very much.
The sound in this game is roaring, from tire screeches to the turbine-engine whine of your formula 3 at high rpms. The crashes and crunches come perfectly and the music is upbeat and heart-racing. There's also a manager and Crew Chief who talk to you through the game offering advice, and even address you by name (when you create your profile, you select what they should call you from a list).
The only real snag I've hit so far is the unbalanced difficultly in the events. I can pretty much always hit a podium finished in the United States races, but the European track courses are REALLY hard, as is getting anything other than last place in Le Mans 24 hour (which in a really cool move is 24 minutes long). If playing on Easy meant I could always get at least 10th place I would have no complaints.
There you have it. This is the game everyone's been waiting for. There's fast and furious racing action with the best replays in history. Glorious graphics at lightning speed, roaring sound with good music (for the first time in a racing game since I can remember), cool commentary as you race that addresses you by name (how cool is that!?), awesome physics and A.I. that results in cars trying to push you off the road and crazy smash-up crashes, and fun, fun, FUN racing events with lots of variety. If you love racing games you need to buy this one. | video-games_xbox |
Nothing Special. So, is Black as good as everyone was hoping it would be? Not really. Unfortunately, the game screams "mediocre" in just about every way and does not do anything well enough to distinguish itself from the rest of the typical Xbox shooters. It brings nothing new to the genre, and everything it does we have seen done better in other games.
Let's start with the weaponry in the game, as Criterion has said they are the star of the show. The assortment of weapons is your typical shooter selection. You have your machine guns, assault rifles, shotguns, sniper rifles, and your big rocket launcher. There is not much to distinguish each of the bullet weapons from each other. They all appear to do pretty much the same amount of damage, with only the range or rate of fire being slightly different. The weapon models themselves are unremarkable. Sometimes you have the ability to attach a silencer to the guns, but it does not have much of an effect, and this is hardly a stealth game.
Actually shooting the weapons feels pretty good as they can tear into some things, ripping it apart as everything erupts into dust. However, the environments themselves are not that destructible, and remind me of Red Faction II. Only things designed to be broken can be, and you can even see the lines in the geometry where the item will break when you shoot it, which takes out a lot of the fun. There are many situations when you can blow a hole in a thick concrete wall, but a chain fence will withstand a blast from a rocket launcher. As for shooting the enemies, they don't react much to being shot, and there are only a few death animations that you will see over and over again.
The graphics are pretty good for a last generation game. The particle effects like dust and smoke look pretty good, and the environments look pretty decent. The explosions are great as well. Shooting into things like walls, boxes and cars looks pretty cool, though no where near as good as F.E.A.R. looks when you are blowing objects to pieces.
There are eight levels in the campaign, and they are over pretty quickly. Other reviews have said the game lasts about 6-8 hours, but the game timer clocked in at less than 4 hours when I was done. At first the game starts off with a pretty energetic and explosive level, but shortly after you realize that you have seen pretty much everything there is to see after the first level. The level design is pretty boring overall, only the first few missions are interesting. The gameplay itself pretty much breaks down to looking for barrels and other conveniently placed explosives to shoot to take out enemies. The AI is pretty suspect, and you face the same few types of enemies for the entire game. The only difference is that some of them have extra armor or a face mask, which just means that you have to shoot them in the head a few times before they go down. There is not much strategy to this game at all, so put your brain on hold and fire away. Your indestructible teammates don't do much to mix up the gameplay during the few levels that they appear, and are pretty much useless.
There are some secondary objectives in the game, the most of which are pretty lame. You will be walking around a level and find a locked safe randomly on the ground in an empty room that you are supposed to shoot, or you might be walking around and see a random laptop with a red screen that you need to destroy. The secondary objectives feel contrived and completely unrealistic.
The plot is your typical black ops story line and the characters in the game are two dimensional. The story is told by live action flash backs. It feels as if the only purpose of the plot is to try to give you some minimal justification as to why you are where you are and to try to explain what you are doing. It just comes off as a bad excuse to give you a reason to shoot some dudes. Also, the game ends pretty quickly without much closure and the plot is paper thin.
The lack of any multiplayer component also hurts the games value a lot. Since the game is extremely short, at least some multiplayer mode could have allowed you to get some further mileage with this game. Though given the gameplay, I don't think they could have made a compelling multiplayer game unless they drastically changed some of the core shooting mechanics for online play.
Overall, the game is competent and can be fun for a short amount of time, but due to how short and unremarkable it is I would suggest renting this game over buying it. If you were not interested in it before, there is no reason to check it out at all. | video-games_xbox |
Rockin' as hard as a mini-fig can. When I first heard about this game, I thought it was a joke or April Fools trick. As time went on, it turned out that it wasn't just a joke, and my wife and I instantly knew that we would have to play this game, since we both enjoy playing the Rock Band games together (mostly RB2, since we exported the songs, but that's another review), and played the other Lego games until we either beat them or got tired of fighting with each other over collecting bricks. So how does it stack up as a combo of the Lego and Rock Band worlds? Overall, it does a pretty good job, but there are some shortcomings that really bothered us.
Like every Lego game, it has that humor we've come to expect. Conveying their emotions about potential band-mates when you first start out is quite entertaining, and when you get to the challenges it's even better. Destroying a building with the power of rock, fighting off an angry octopus, and getting rid of ghosts from a haunted mansion are just a few of the challenges you'll experience. And here is where the game does something new and, in my view, good; while the challenges are ongoing, you don't have to play the entire song (unless you're vocals), which gives you a chance to witness the antics going on onscreen. I see this as a plus, since I like to watch the background just to watch the show.
The song list is alright, I guess, except for the fact that you will constantly be playing the same songs over and over and over, especially if there's a "Mystery setlist" or something similar (be prepared to play Supergrass' "Grace" until you want to throw the disc against the wall). Some of the songs they allow/disallow from RB1 and the music store are surprising (why are some Coheed and Cambria songs alright, but the others aren't?), but I have plenty of songs, so only 40 disc songs was not a big deal. The $10 to export was kind of steep (going off of precedent of $5 for RB1).
There are two issues that I have with this game, both of which are minor gripes (and only one of which I've seen mentioned in other reviews). The first is the character customization. There aren't as many way to customize your mini-fig as there are in the other games. Of course, the other games don't give you the opportunity to play as a vampire/werewolf/mummy/etc., so that's not really my gripe. My issue is that you cannot change the color of your mini-figs skin on any of the choices. So if you have a non-yellow mini-fig head, and want the design from a torso or legs that are yellow, you'll end up with a non-yellow headed, yellow-bodied monstrosity of a mini-fig. I don't imagine it would have been to difficult to code for this, since there are black and pink torsos/legs, just give you the option to match the colors across all three pieces.
My second issue is the venue selection portion. Instead of being on one giant list like in RB2, you select vehicles (cities in RB2), which then are divided down into different venues. Now, this wouldn't be an issue if every time you went to select a vehicle there weren't a fly-to animation. If you wanted to choose a vehicle three spaces away, it could take you a fairly long time, instead like in RB2 where you just had to move up and down from the city selection list. This fly-to animation also leads into the load times for this game. It seems like the load times are longer compared to RB2 (I also noticed this with The Beatles RB). Small issue, but a little bothersome.
I would definitely recommend this game if you enjoy Rock Band and the Lego games, as it is a perfect match of the two. I applaud Travelers Tales and Harmonix for the wonderful work they put into blending these two franchises together, especially with the "story" of starting a band and your rise to fame. | video-games_xbox |
The Xbox does not suck. Im an Xbox owner And Gamecube owner but seen the PS2 in action. Ive read some lies about the Xbox that aren't true first of all The Xbox is being recalled because Xbox overheated and catches on fire is some what true yet false the Xbox overheats and the cords catch on fire thats because the models before Oct 2003 had a little defect But the models are now safe. The controllers were huge at the time but over the years the Xbox controllers shrank now there are diferent varietys of Xbox controllers. Now the Gamecube I like the GCN for great titles like The Mario series,the Sonic series,Super Smash Bros Melee and Resident evil 4 I agree the GCN has Improved over the years. Sorry Nintendo Lovers But Nintendo..is..DYING and I repeat DYING Nintendo is not coming out with good new titles just plain sequels. It hasn't made a good game since metriod prime. Although maybe a miracle will happen When Legend of Zelda comes out later in 2005. Nintendo just lost the company Rare to Microsoft Because Microsoft has more money and better games than Nintendo. I Know Your thinking Halo or Halo 2 well yeah thats what made MIcrosoft today Before i played Halo I Hated that game I thought it was stupid till i played it. I had my GAYcube for 3 years and it doesnt work at all even on a brand new Game. I like this system but its not all that great.
Now the Kid who wrote Xbox sucks Is wrong the Xbox is a great system And the Controllers don't come in one color it comes in three like See through blue and green and regular black And PS2 and GCN have black controllers but they're not ugly unlike xbox THEYRE THE SAME FLIPPEN COLOR YOU COLOR BLIND IDIOTS. The graphics are better than the other systems the xbox graphic processer has 233 MHz and The PS2 has 150 MHz and the GCN has 162 MHz (wow the GCN has beter graphics than the PS2).The memory is internal which makes it so you don't have to buy a memory card when you first have the system ( unlike the GCN an PS2) you can buy a memory card if you want But it cost $24. You can play online and talk to who ever is online. Microsoft is a very succesful company and if your still not sure don't listen to the Losers who pretend to have and Who buy they're Xbox from hobos cuz they're lookin to get shot by people who have or made xbox. Talk to Xbox owners or talk to video game sellers From gamestop,game crazy, and ebgames or G4 tech tv ( for people who don't know when you see agood system when you see one its a tv show check your local listings) | video-games_xbox |
Great for kids - all of us that never grew up. The original Lego Star Wars was a great little lighthearted romp of a game: an amusing way to play out the three most recent Star Wars films in virtual form. The Lego and Star Wars combo proved to also be a terrific formula for the game space, generating an experience in Lego Star Wars that was oftentimes even more entertaining than the source material it was based on. Like any good sequel, Lego Star Wars II improves on the original in almost every way. But most importantly, it's about the good episodes now. For that reason alone, Lego Star Wars II is one of the most enjoyable games of this fall.
Featuring the story lines and characters of A New Hope, The Empire Strikes Back, and Return of the Jedi, it's hard to believe that any Star Wars fan (which is, what, pretty much everyone?) wouldn't love this game. While the gameplay is pretty standard action fare for the most part, it's somehow made so much more fun because of the Lego characters. Levels that could perhaps be dismissed as lackluster in other games absolutely work here. Star Wars scenes are comically recreated and look and sound great (though, to nitpick, some of the John Williams music samples don't play in their entirety, making you wish for more). But make no mistake, even those without a predilection for Star Wars will enjoy this -- it's the combination of great story lines, characters, and comedic elements provided by Lego that makes it all work. The game's designers clearly had fun with it all -- you'll be continuously entertained by how they incorporated elements of the film into the gameplay (often taking some rather humorous liberties along the way). The Lego brand clearly afforded them freedom to have fun with the Star Wars license.
While most of the gameplay consists of run-and-gun action, there are lots of puzzles to be found -- many of which are quite good, even though some have rather unclear objectives -- and several missions that take place in vehicles (from AT-ST Walkers to X-wings). While the vehicular stages vary in terms of quality, the mere fact that so many exist really adds to the scope of the game. Lego Star Wars II offers a surprising amount of playtime, and is much larger and longer than the original game (which was one of its biggest criticisms). Once again, you control a group of characters that pertain to a scene, allowing you to easily switch between them on the fly in order to take advantage of their unique abilities. Unfortunately, though, your A.I.-controlled buddies are kind of clueless at times and offer little support in battles (while they do fire, it's all for show -- their shots inflict no damage on enemies). The game's far better when a second player joins in to play (a game can be joined at any time); it's loads of fun as a co-op experience. It's just a shame that Lego Star Wars II offers no online support.
What's also neat about the game is that there's a lot to do outside of the standard mission structure. There are lots of collectables to gather, secret items to discover, and hidden areas to unlock (certain areas aren't immediately accessible on the first playthrough -- only on return using other characters can they opened). The option to build your own custom characters with parts taken from others (such as a C-3PO equipped with a Darth Vadar head) is amusing as well.
There's definitely a lot of fun to be had with Lego Star Wars II, making it a good choice for those looking for a solid action-platformer; it's an ideal choice for those fans of Star Wars. It's also perfect for almost all ages, offering a rewarding experience even for younger players. All of the many versions (Xbox 360, PS2, PC, Xbox, GameCube, and PSP) look essentially the same, with the PC version offering better resolutions and the Xbox 360 version more visual effects (though it's unfortunately priced $10 more than the others). Rumor has it that developers Traveller's Tales have more Lego games in the works after this (including one based on Batman) -- here's hoping, as this formula simply works. | video-games_xbox |
Not the worst, but certainly not the best. Let's get something clear up front: I'm an old school WWF fan, I have only fleeting knowledge and even less interest about the wrestlers from 1996 on. As such, I don't buy the Raw vs. Smackdown or WWe games because I simply have no interest in the current roster.
That being said, I've seen many, many pro wrestling video games in my day. A few were good (Legends of Wrestling 2, for instance) a few were passable, and most were terrible.
This one... it's not good, but not terrible. To wit:
* The game has a very simple method of grappling: this is both good and bad. It is good because it makes for a fast-paced game (like Wrestlefest), but its bad because it doesn't give much in the way of strategy. The grappling system is very unrealistic: one thing I loved about LOW2 is that you needed to be in the proper position to do a certain move. Here, like so many other lazy wrestling games, your character just does the move on autopilot.
* The roster is anemic. There are about 30 total superstars. Given the pantheon of wrestlers in the last three decades, there should be many more. A few wrestlers are added via DLC, but not many.
* The game can't even let you have a proper tag team match! You cannot tag out, you are all in the ring together. Seems like an extremely lazy design choice.
* No Royal Rumble, No Survivor Series, and a really dumb version of the Cage Match (which makes absolutely no difference)
* Furthermore, the game offers what appears to be a wide variety of matches, but there's really no difference in the end: everyone comes after you. Even if its a battle royal match, everyone targets you. This is especially annoying when you consider the clunky switch-target control. Often you're getting the crap beat out of you while your grapplers attention is elsewhere.
* This game has the absolute DUMBEST use of a signature move. Your character will not DO the move, but stands there, completely vulnerable, showboating for the crowd for about 4 seconds (at which time your opponent can [and often does] ruin the move with a single punch)... and even if you make it, your grappler will often grapple the WRONG DIRECTION and waste the move.
* Some games like Legends of Wrestling: Showdown were very, very obviously rushed and very little effort put into the game, with no vignettes, story or any kind of atmosphere. This game has three brief (but very nicely done) challenge vignettes -- the Undertaker's, in particular, was good. There is a nice little thread of comparing the old and the new, which leads to most of the unlockables.
Altogether, it's not the worst wrestling game, but it's not really anything special. If they would have spent a few more months adding content, polishing, and (especially) adding different match types that were actually different, this would be far better.
3.5/10 | video-games_xbox |
Unlabored Flawlessness. Often called the "greatest action game ever," and not without reason, "Ninja Gaiden" on XBOX took all the classic action/platform standards of the 3rd-person 3D hack-and-slash and raised them to the nth level of perfection - and then raised the difficulty to near-ridiculous. The result was an incredibly beautiful game for the elite...lol. Unless you either had skills or were prepared to earn them, you were likely to get no further than the infamous Level 5 Incendiary Shuriken-hurling Black Ninjas.
Well guess what - now "Ninja Gaiden Black" is here, the last-minute XBOX remix that includes all the stuff that the developers weren't able to work in for the original release date, which was subsequently issued in "Hurricane Packs" on XBOX Live. Foremost among the immediately noticable improvements is the ability to toggle your right-thumbstick cam between the (basically stupid and useless) 1st-person frozen mode of the original game, and the more typical and much more handy 3rd-person free-rotating cam that lets you look all around Ryu as you move. When you're negotiating timed light-pathways with giant swinging pendulums flying at you, or lining up a series of tricky jumps in a cave, it's nice to be able to see where you're going. Another change from the original within the main game is the fact that you now get the Lunar in Hyabusa Villiage the first time around, which is pretty decent considering that the next comparable weapon you'd normally get would be the Dabilahro many Scarabs later.
But what will make a lot of people happy is that there are now 5 levels of difficulty, so if you get killed enough times to demonstrate that you can't handle yourself, you'll have the degrading option of playing as "Ninja Dog," which is easier but still by no means a cake-walk. On the other hand, if you're totally nuts or some kind of video game idiot savant, you can play as Master Ninja, and if you beat the game on that setting Tecmo should really have to pay for your carpal tunnel surgery and/or electro-shock. Personally I beat the game on the default setting and I feel like I deserve a damn cookie.
If you're willing to stick it out, it's more than worth it. I'll play a hard game if it's challenging as opposed to merely irritating (nothing is worse than when they try to stretch a short game by making it unforgivably difficult). "Ninja Gaiden" is a hard game, but it truly rewards acquired skill. Ryu's basic attacks with the Dragon Sword can be fairly devastating, but the combos with all the other kinds of weapons, not to mention the "NinPo" (Magic) attacks, all of which are upgradable, allow for a great deal of subtlety in the hands of a sophisticated video game dork, and you'll need to figure at least some of them out just to proceed. The upshot is that once you do, you'll feel like a real badass.
Not only that, but you've never seen a game that looks quite this consistently incredible. Every texture in every level is as perfect as the XBOX can deliver. It's so smooth and seamless that I almost feel like I'm previewing an early 360 game. The level design rehashes a lot of cliches, including "Fire" and "Ice" Caves, Tomb Raider-style sham-Egyptian temples, and the inevitable colossal Gothic Church with stained glass window - but when they do it better than it's ever been done, I'm not mad at 'em. As for enemies, the people who complain about the Ninjas might as well quit there, because the non-humans that follow aren't as nice, from the flesh-eating zombie giants to the floating spinal cord-scorpions with sickles to the dragons and worms and giant beetles and worst of all, those freaking parasitic flying ghost fish. The designs are original and well-executed, particularly the bosses (by the way, there are often 3 or 4 bosses in a level). If you're going to get killed a dozen times in a row, it might as well be at the hands of an awe-inspiring enemy in a jaw-dropping environment.
"Black" also includes 50 "all-new Missions," which are basically supplementary battles that take place in unique mini-levels. There are also various other unlockables including outfits and an emulation of the original arcade "Ninja Gaiden."
If you already have "Ninja Gaiden" and you've downloaded the Hurricane Packs etc, there's probably not much reason to buy "Black" even though it's got such a low sticker price, unless you're a truly avid fan. But this game has a lot of avid fans, myself included, so I went ahead and picked it up. If you don't have either yet, this is obviously the one to get, even this close to the advent of 360. | video-games_xbox |
Sequel better than the original. A lot of people were just happy with having only a guitar when "Guitar Hero 3" came out but then in came Rock Band and completely blew people away by not only having guitar but being able to sing and drum as well. Once the face of music gaming, seems strange to find Guitar Hero trying to copy Harmonix and release their own "Rock Band". It's like trying to copy your neighbor's delicious apple pie recipe only not knowing how to actually make the thing so yours is tasty, but the other is pure sex...in food form. Anyway, in comes Harmonix to deliver "World Tour"'s biggest contender, the sequel to Rock Band. With some great song choices, improvements and features as well as past compatibility with the first, Rock Band made not have the name of their rivals but they have arguably a better game.
With a music game it all comes down strictly to the song list and to that end, Rock Band 2 succeeds quite well. From Bon Jovi, The Who, AC/DC, Jimmy Eat World, Mastadon, Metallica, Lush, Lacuna Coil and many others, it's hard not to feel jazzed going through the gigs and have a cool song pop up and go "ooh, I love this one". That being said there is some rather dubious choices as well with a couple of "who the hell are these guys?"-type of bands to song choices that while good, could've had better selection. "So Whatcha Want" is rather...boring on one instrument but then you have this one song called "Rob the Prez-o-Dent" which is just awful. They sound like a Spinal Tap parody only with the hilarity. The bonus about all this is that the songs from the first game can be shuffled over for a MS point deduction and your DLC will transfer over.
The other thing I prefer in Rock Band 2 that World Tour doesn't have is a real sense of audience and interface usage. Be awesome at a song and the audience will actually sing along (which goes amazingly during "Livin on a Prayer") and even hum riffs or guitar solos and you really feel like you're onstage...sort of. In World Tour you only have one shot to nail the song and if someone fails, then poof! Booed and knocked off the stage. Here, you can save or be saved. Overdrive is activated by fills where you can do anything whereas in World Tour you have to do it within the song which can be slightly tricky on some of the more faster expert songs.
Changed around is the tour mode which is different than the "play 5 songs and move to next gig" style of the previous game. Now you can have mystery setlists, themed marathons, playing for extra cash or fans, shoot a music video, do benefit shows, hire staff and the like. This makes it a lot more of a progression than last time. They also added online mode which is also cool though sometimes you run into people who are um, shall we say, less adept at saving and overdrive usage than others. Only thing I wish solo tour had and it's really a small gripe is that your band members keep being replaced. It's like I have this weird rotating cast so one gig I'll have that weird goth freak with the spiky hair for a singer than all of a sudden it's some exercising nerd with glasses and a purple coat? Bah.
With drum trainer and fill trainer modes for practice, battle of the bands and challenges, there's plenty to love about Rock Band 2. Does this mean it's a better game than Guitar Hero: World Tour? Well it's really a matter of preference since the instruments are better on World Tour yet the songlist and gameplay is better here so if you want to experience both, better to just buy a World Tour full set and Rock Band 2 separately. However, if you'd rather not have so much stuff from past GH/Rock Band purchases, better to just stick with this one. Your neighbors will hate you for it and that's the whole point, no? | video-games_xbox |
Took a gamble, wound up disappointed. I really wanted to love this headset because it offered true 5.1 and it was well under a budget that I had set for myself to purchase a new headset for gaming. My initial take on this was that these are substantial, well-built, and sturdy...they didn't seem cheap or flimsy at all. The ability to position the microphone with the flexible boom is really really cool, but I see issues with that and durability in the long-run.
Performance-wise, these sounded great without the drivers even installed on my PC. Once I got the drivers installed, I was pretty thrilled with the sound quality. I put the mic to use almost immediately as well. And...that's when things went downhill.
The mic sounded muddy and unclear, and the background noise in my room was almost as loud, if not louder, than my voice talking IN to the microphone which does NOT bode well for a mama trying to play multiplayer games. So I went in to my device settings and the Harmoniq software and was surprised to see that there is NO option for noise-cancellation or boost or any of the other controls that I was used to having for the crappy $10 headset I was replacing. This, to me, is an absolute deal-breaker. I decided to fiddle with my settings and give it a week.
As the week went on, the performance of these headphones started to degrade. The speakers became crackly, and it almost sounds as if something has blown out which is unfortunate because I was not playing at high volumes. I adjusted settings for a few *hours* to see if something was out of whack, but nothing worked. The microphone also started to get more and more quiet with the background noise becoming louder. I had my friends adjusting settings on THEIR end, but nothing fixed.
There are some really great things about these headphones, like the braided cord, the fabric ear cups included in addition the vinyl cups, the fact that they completely cover my ear and don't jam my earrings in to my neck, and the in-line controls. Unfortunately, the nicest headset in the world with poor performance and quality sound is about as worthless as a pair of gloves to an armless man...
Ultimately, I could not recommend this headset when there are several others out there for the same price *or slightly more* that I feel would perform a bit better. I am returning these and purchasing a different pair. | video-games_xbox |
Very fun combat ruined by completely (edit: somewhat) broken multiplayer. Don't buy this game.
This game's combat system delivers on the promise of complex, interesting small-scale combat. Unfortunately the networking is so broken that you will go entire days without being able to play against any human opponent.
I am not exaggerating. I get errors that drop me back into the main menu when I try to matchmake, when the level finishes loading, or at any point during the match. I also sometimes simply cannot join friend's groups (and vice versa) for an entire evening, and sometimes I'll get into a match but it will freeze for network errors every 3-5 seconds, recover gamestate, then repeat until it finally drops everyone or puts me into a match vs all bots.
Some days are better than others. Some are okay (but never completely error free), some I cannot with another human at all, and most are a mixed bag. I'm using fast, private internet with open NAT, connectivity tests good, and I have no problems with other games.
If these problems were addressed it would be a 4 or 5 star game for me. This is simply unacceptable for a AAA game title from a major studio. It doesn't just have "flaws", it's outright broken and should never have been released. The state of the game is a complete joke. Don't buy this game.
Edit: many months later, there have been some changes and I'll add a couple stars. Stability is improved, though getting dropped from one or more match per hour is still normal. Combat balance is an issue; on console at 30FPS the faster light attacks are so quick, it is physically impossible to see and react to them in time to block them. there are not enough animation frames or millisecond window for anyone to realistically block them, so fast characters can spam you with light attacks until you die or get lucky with a block/parry. Ubisoft continues to refine balance and says they're moving to dedicated servers, which is good. And thank god, they finally added the ability for you to pair up with friends, turn off matchmaking, and play against the AI. So the game is largely playable now, which is more than I could say before. | video-games_xbox |
Madden was great this year. Madden was a great game this year, and while there were plenty of annoying problems with it, or weird decisions that EA made to try to nickle & dime customers, the overall package was pretty great. The Offline Franchise mode was compelling, which is a first for Madden in sometime, and while the superstar mode was the same rehashed garbage, it doesn't matter, offline franchise made up for it. I'd like to see the addition of coaching carosel from NCAA '12 in Madden next year, I think that it would add a lot to the Franchise replayability.
Now, Online Franchise got basically no treatment. It was repackaged from the previous year without any changes, even things like rule changes -- like the new Over Time rules -- were not applied, which is a massive failure. But, that being said, EA doesn't get enough credit for opening up their online franchise API to franchise websites and allowing administrators to tie into the system. This got really overlooked in press, and it made a big difference. Effectively, EA allows website developers like MyLeagueManager and others to tap right into the Online Franchise API and re-arrange teams, so that they can make their own free agent signing system, off season system, NFL draft, and more. It's actually a great, huge change that made Online Franchise fun this year. Most people, though, never got to experience that.
The gameplay in Madden '12 was tight, yet still fun. Passing felt great, not like the chore that it was in NCAA '12, and the running game feels really balanced. The CPU AI on All Madden is ridiculous and cheap, but with tweaked sliders on the All-Pro difficulty, games are still competitive and there was some great balance. The franchise additions of, whatver they call it, where players play differently from one game to the next, I don't know if that is PR hype or if it actually existed, or what, but it's a cool idea and I enjoyed the game this year, so if it's in, then it was fun.
The changes made to the playcalling system are an improvement, it's fun to jump into a game with a friend. The offline mano-e-mano games are still great and if you have a few friends who play in the same area, it's a blast to load up Madden on a Sunday morning waiting for the NFL week to start, and hammer through a couple of the best games of the week.
The audio commentary is a horrible joke, like the greatest abomination in sports gaming audio ever. There aren't enough negative superlatives in the English language to really describe just how bad the commentary is in this game, it's just, horrible.
Madden still suffers from the weird EA decisions to remove items from the game, like the half time show, and other key features from the past. It's really bizarre why they do that, but they do, and whatever, it's just bizarre.
Overall, I'm giving Madden '12 5 stars, not because it's perfect -- it is far from perfect -- but it is the best Madden released in a long time, and I've had more fun playing this one than any of the last 5 or 6, especially in a year where NCAA '12 took a noted step back. | video-games_xbox |
Awesome console, lacking on games. After about a year, I finally decided to get the 360 on an impulse since the store had this version for $100 off after a mail in rebate. So effectively for $299 I got the 360 premium.
The console itself seems pretty solid, it can play just about any CD media, burned or original, and it also has USB ports that you can plus flash drives into to view pictures or play media. On problem I had with the original XBOX was that for some reason mine only played Verbatim branded CD-RW discs and that is after I switched out my thompson and put the Samsung DVD drive in it. However the 360 can read any CD media.
The games look great on the 360 on my 53" Sony HDTV. One drawback is that since my TV is a full screen, there are the movie style black bars while playing the game, but honestly while playing the game, I don't even notice them. I have 3 games with the 360; COD3, GOW and just recently I took my rarely played SC:Double Agent back to the store and exchanged for the 360 version. So far all of the graphics in these game look pretty much flawless in HD; but I have no idea how they would look on regular TV. In addition to the HDTV, I also bought the optional optical audio cable so I could play my games in true surround sound with my home theatre system, and I was very happy with the results. Playing the games is like watching a movie. The sounds shift from speaker to speaker while you turn in the game. In COD3 you can litteraly hear bullets flying by your head. If you have a home theatre system with optical input, then this optional asscesory is highly recommended.
As for the controller, I thought it would be hard to get the hang of it, since I am a BIG fan of the XBOX original large "Duke" controllers, and absolutely hate the Controller-S. However the small 360 controller is pretty easy to get the hang of. Every button is where its supposed to be and the only game that gave me a little problem at first was SC:Double Agent, and I believe that was largely due to the fact that I was so used to playing it on the regular XBOX with the original Duke controller. Another cool thing about the wireless controller is that you can turn on your 360 by just pressing and holding down the "Xbox" button. You don't even have to get up if you are too tired and the game you want to play is already in the console. Similarily you can turn off the 360 in the same manner, witout having to get up. I am not sure if the wired controller can do the same thing.
The amount of things the 360 can do is almost too much to list. Before I got any games for it, I spent all night playing around with it and discovered that it can play media from other PC's on your home network; without any additional stuff to buy. You do however have to download stuff from microsoft in order to use this functionality. Another feature that carried over from the original XBOX is that it allows you to rip audio CD's directly to the hard disc, and best yet you can name your tracks while the 360 is still ripping, which saves time, and something the original 360 could not do. There is other stuff the 360 can do which I may never get around to doing.
Now for the cons. From my perspective there really aren't that many games that I want to play for the 360. I knew this going in, but a $100 off deal was something I couldn't pass up. The only games I am interested in so far are the ones I already have an Rainbow Six Vegas and maybe NBA 2K7. I would like a football game for the 360 but being that my only choice comes from EA, I will have to pass. I am looking foward to Halo 3, and Fusion Frenzy 2, but that it about it. I really hope there would be more good games for the 360 in the near future. To be fair this con isn't really any fault of the console itself, it just seems that not many people are willing are able to make good games for the 360. Another small con about the games are that they are generally $10 more than current gen games; which is why I buy them used and if I don't like them, I can return them to the store and not throw away my money.
I conclusion I do like the console, but am waiting for more games that I am interested in. I also would suggest if you are going to get one, get the premium, that comes with the Hard drive, wireless controller and a couple of other goodies you don't get with the Core. It only $100 more, and by the time you buy all the extra stuff with the Core system, you would spend more than the $400 price tag. | video-games_xbox |
A surprising and welcome addition. Silent Hill: Homecoming is a noteworthy addition to the series for 2 reasons: one, it is not made by long-time makers Team Silent in Japan but rather American company Double Helix. Two, it adds new things never seen in the series such as a new camera style and combat mechanics. Fans were understandably skeptical and thought "god I hope it doesn't suck". While it's not flawless, I have to say I really enjoyed the game and as a fan of the series I don't consider this a blemish or an absolute triumph the way Resident Evil 4's overhaul was. It's entertaining and creepy and that's really all I was looking for when I played.
Story: You play as Alex Sheperd, a young soldier returning from the war when news that his younger brother, Josh, is missing. Coming into the town of Sheperd's Glen, Alex finds the town strangely deserted save for a few residents who act less than normal, a thick layer of fog and strange creatures around. Alex has to uncover the truth of what's happening to his hometown as well as find his brother and almost literally has to go to hell and back to do so. The one issue people might have with the plot is that it's probably the most straightforward of the series. In a series known for being slightly ambiguous, there's really nothing here you have to ponder over or ask people online what it was you just saw. While the actual story is interesting, some might not like that it's a bit easier to "get" a Silent Hill game.
Graphics: Originally the game previously had static camera angles which made it frustrating when escaping from a creature had you running back to them thanks to the angle switch. Now the camera is more free-roam in a 3D environment and it is way easier to navigate the levels. Plus the levels are actually quite detailed and from the peeling paint and missing floors to the grimy and industrial look of the transformed versions of levels look quite foreboding and grimy. Only issue is that character faces look kind of...strange and your flashlight frequently goes from uber-bright to near useless. But the fog outside and the grain filter on several cutscenes is quite good.
Sound/Music: For those who have worries about the soundtrack well no fear, Akira Yamaoka is here with his trademark rock pieces as well as vocals by Mary Elizabeth McGlynn just like always. It's what makes the game quite special since everything about it in the sound mix from the ambience to win a drum piece would start up and the delicate and haunting piano themes help to punctuate certain moments. As for voice acting, everyone particularly Alex is well done that is except for one character: the reason you're playing through the game in the first place, Josh. He barely emotes and he's so flat and disinterested sounding that you can't believe you gotta save the little snot.
Gameplay: Since the camera's changed, the environments are a lot more spaced out, fully 3D so you have to push stuff out of the way, duck under openings, and climb over ledges and whatnot. In addition, the same items return from first aid kits to health packs and weaponry. Your inventory (health drinks, puzzle items) are on the LB whereas combat (knife, pipe, guns as well as option to turn off flashlight and the radio) is on the RB. It's a lot easier system to use than having to cycle through menus though occasionally I'll use a health drink when I didn't mean to. But I quite like the control scheme and camera and I kind of dread returning to the old style now. Only thing I wish was different is the puzzles since unlike Resident Evil's old love of doors that need emblems rather than just, you know, a normal key, Silent Hill's puzzles range from little logic puzzles to the always-popular sliding block kind. They're a bit too flow-breaking and never really sat well with me on this one.
Overhauled is the combat system and it's one of those "works but other times doesn't" additions. Whereas Resident Evil 4's gameplay change helped it for the better, it helps it here but doesn't perfect it. Basically holding LT puts you in combat stance or aim mode and A is your weak attack while X is your strong attack which can be held for an even stronger attack (your log chopping swing for the axe, or baseball swing for pipe for example) and your B will act is the mandatory dodge button. While enemies were easily avoided in previous games, because of the level layout such as cramped rooms, it's hard to escape enemies so you have to fight but some have really cheap attacks such as Siam while the Smog can best be killed using handgun ammo and it's always best not to waste those. It's much better than before but it's still got a few kinks.
In a strange bit of irony, Silent Hill 4: The Room and even 3 was criticized for being too stagnant, too familiar to past entries whereas Homecoming with its changes for the better has people lamenting the old style. I think they just don't like Americans doing it, personally and speaking as a fan I quite like this one but not necessarily loved. For me, nothing beats Silent Hill 2 but as a new entry in the series, Homecoming works quite well. | video-games_xbox |
Great audio quality, difficult to set up, very flimsy. I was initially very pleased with my purchase. The headset is comfortable to wear and while listening to music the sound on the headphones is great, I've never heard better bass tones on a headset, I also got great results when watching movies. When I started playing games with this headset though I started running into problems. First off the surround sound doesn't seem to work very well, sounds occurring on either side of the character were clear, easy to differentiate and the quality us superb, sounds originating from directly in front of you however regardless of any settings I chose were very faint and difficult to hear. When playing Skyrim for example I always had to stand at 90 degrees to the NPC I was talking to otherwise I'd be unable to hear what they said. I also had a number of problems with in game voice chat on a couple of titles, although use of mumble, teamspeak and other voice clients was without issue. On that note I also can't recommend the headset's built in mic either while I was using it people talking to me complained that I sounded like I was talking from inside a goldfish bowl!
My main quibble with the Turtle Beach TBS -2214 headset though is the fact that it fell apart on my head after less then two weeks of use.
As I put the headset on my head the left hand cup (microphone side) just gave way as the slider that allows the cups to be adjusted sheared at the point where it met the main band of the headset. This has rendered my headset completely unusable. This was me putting on the headset the same way that I've put it on before and the same way I've put on my previous headsets which have all lasted for years. This is not me breaking the headset though misuse. This could of course be a one off defect in my individual unit.
I'd really like to give this product a great review as a gaming headset with amazing audio, 8 speakers at this price should be amazing, unfortunately... | video-games_xbox |
Not so great single-player. For a single-player game, I greatly preferred Grand Theft Auto 4 and Fallout 3. I wonder about people who claim to have played Halo 3 the first time through in 6 hours. It may be possible for someone who has already mastered Halo 1 and 2, but for the rest of us, it is possible to spend an hour or two just trying to get through one scene where you are almost out of ammo with no more laying around and tons of baddies rushing you, or where no amount of hits on an enemy seem to phase it/them and it takes a dozen or more attempts to figure out how to overcome it/them, especially those that require you to hit a particular part of an enemy or to attack it in a certain way.
The worst feature of Halo 3 is the way it saves (or doesn't save). When you die, it reverts back to just before you died, so you might think that it has saved that point, but if you save-quit and restart, it goes back to an earlier point, making you refight the same tough battles. So if you are half way through a difficult mission, pause the game and leave it on if you must quit; otherwise, be prepared to redo the same fights you have just struggled through.
And unlike other games, if you just turn off the Xbox, it does not auto-save, so you end up going back several scenes which you already spent a lot of time (and some luck) beating. Nor does it allow you to save the exact point you are at. Again, it just reverts back to the start of the scene/mission. So don't just turn off the Xbox without saving first.
Frankly, the first time through the game was so hard that I couldn't enjoy it. I'm playing for fun, not to have to work so hard nor to take a dozen tries to make it through a scene. It wasn't as bad the second time through because of understanding how things work, but it was no 6-hour walk in the park, either.
Another complaint about Halo 3 is the lack of sound control. Other games allow you to control the volume for music, sound effects, and speech separately, but not H3, so if you want to be able to hear the spoken instructions and hints, you have to put up with even louder weapons fire, explosions, etc., which others in the house may not appreciate. And turning on captions doesn't help that much because not all speech shows up in captions (even with All selectedc), plus a really stupid "feature" is that H3 does not save your captions setting, so you have to manually turn it on every time you turn on the game.
Halo 3 is better than Mass Effect, which spends too much time on talking/reading, and Left4Dead, which is too repetitive, but not as much fun as GTA4, in my opinion. | video-games_xbox |
Not the same as original, but worked. You do NOT necessarily need to disassemble your Xbox. These belts are very different than the ones included in my White HDMI Xbox 360. The difference made me take a star away.
They are much smaller and thinner, so I was a little leery at first but it worked.
Turned out my Xbox 360 had *two* disc drive problems, and this was one of them.
I needed to use a straight edged hemostat (or you could use locking tweezers) to solve both problems and did NOT have to take my Xbox apart.
First, however, you have to get the drive door open. You may need to take off the faceplate, and find the lever and use the paperclip trick. There are numerous youtubes for doing this.
The power off and the door open, but the Xbox still assembled, use the locking tweezers to remove the old belt and slip the new one on. Again, there is at least one Youtube showing this very process. The locking hemostats (or locking tweezers) will prevent a belt from falling into your unit.
This is actually easier done than said.
Guess what. The door worked! But it couldn't read any discs! So I had another problem.
I took my locking tweezers and pinched a Q-tip in it. I had to go in deep for the next part.
I took some 91% isopropyl alcohol (the kind they use for sterilizing needles, not the 70% "rubbing" alcohol) and moistened the Q-tip. I went in with the intention of cleaning everything off, but my 'target' was the disc drive lens which is just past the disc spindle, so I had to reach in deep with that Q-tip.
I pulled it out and checked the Q-tip. It got dirty quickly as it was picking up all the dust inside. I replaced it 3 times while cleaning. The 91% alcohol evaporates quickly and leaves no residue. (you can also use this to clean camera lenses)
Everything now works like a champ.
Before I did this, I was honestly checking out everything from local repairs, to refurbished Xbox's to maybe even an Xbox One.
But my 360 works like a champ now. Being frugal is psychologically rewarding as well as financially. | video-games_xbox |
Simply amazing. It would be impossible to describe everything in GTA IV, because the game is too big to describe in detail. Suffice it to say, if you can think it, you can do it in GTA IV. Previous installments in the GTA series allowed you to interact in a world that was largely oblivious of your presence, only reacting when you made an impression. This time around, Liberty City feels alive, and things happen around you with or without your interaction. The city interacts with you, giving you visual, audio, and sensational feedback on a level that borders realism (or at least as real as an HDTV, 5.1 Dolby surround sound system, and a rumble controller can give you).
The story in GTA is very well done, although if you do the missions in a random order, it does break up the flow of the story, however if you don't choose to do many of the side missions, you feel as though you are missing out. Overall, though, the missions are very fun, ranging from simple pick up and delivery missions to kill 50 rival mobsters by yourself missions.
The gameplay has been improved, and although not perfect, they work well and make the game very playable and fun. You can now take cover behind objects a la Gears of War, and I haven't been able to find a surface I wasn't able to hide behind. The driving has also been improved, making the cars feel more realistic and the damage to cars is incredibly detailed. If someone shoots your tire, the tire will explode and you'll be driving on a rim. If you hit a wall or oncoming traffic at high speed, you'll be hurled through the windshield. If you damage any part of your car, the car will be affected realistically. I even had a tire lock up on the front passenger's side because the damaged metal was wrapped around the rubber. GTA is filled with astounding attention to detail.
The graphics are some of the best on the 360. There are real-time shadows being cast by every object in Liberty City, giving you a sense of time. Weather ranging from fog to rain to intense thunderstorms that send shockwaves through your controller all make the city feel even more real. All of the people, vehicles, buildings, bridges and environments are rendered beautifully.
The sound is equally amazing, with no detail overlooked. Crappy cars will have squeaky breaks, fast cars will have monstrous engines, pedestrians will talk to eachother, pigeons coo, grenades explode, cars crash, sirens wail, and on and on. I've been playing for about 25 hours now and I haven't once seen an action on screen that wasn't accompanied by a perfectly placed sound effect. The music, depending on your own personal taste, is also great. Voice acting is the best I've yet heard in a videogame.
The GTA brand of humor is in full effect, from the advertisements to the radio to the television and even to the internet, its all there. In addition to stealing cars and causing general mayhem, you can also go on dates, surf the internet, watch TV, buy new duds, go bowling with friends, shoot pool, play darts, eat hot dogs from a vendor cart, wash the blood off your new Inferno, pimp out your cell phone, and even get drunk. The amount of things to experience in Liberty City are endless.
A warning to parents: The "M" rating given by the ESRB is no joke. This game is not appropriate for anyone under 17, and should never be played by or around children. | video-games_xbox |
This game surprised me. I've never been a fan of Tomb Raider because of the art direction previous developers have taken with it. However, when I realized Square Enix was the developer for the new Tomb Raider, I decided to give it a try. First and foremost, though the gameplay mechanics are very true to the classic installments of the title, this is not the Lara Croft you remember from your childhood. I loved the way the character was portrayed as a relatively average looking female with fit features and a mind for history and exploration. This is a heroine you can fall in love with.
I read another reviewer comment that this game was like Call of Duty with a Tomb Raider skin. This couldn't be further from the truth. In fact, I picked up this game thinking this and was pleasantly surprised to see that the main feature of the game was Survival. You have very little resources throughout the game. Every arrow you shoot is precious, Ammo isn't littered all over the place, and at any moment - without warning - you could be called to let loose a few to protect yourself from wolves and other fiends.
This game is about exploration, and it rewards the player for doing so. If you go off the beaten path, you'll find large tombs. The object is to discover a lost relic which is just out of reach. By solving puzzles, and finding ways to manipulate the environment, you can reach the objective and be handsomely rewarded. While you're there, you might notice a few other places to explore - but you don't quite have the tools necessary to get in. So, you have to resign the opportunity for later. This let's older environments be reused, and re-explored by the player which is an awesome thing!
Finally - and this is very important to note - That game is dark and gritty. I was not expecting that when I purchased it. The game literally puts you in the most dire of situations. One wrong move can mean death - and I LOVE that! Lara, unlike other video game characters which are supposed to be human, is not super by any stretch of the imagination. She can and will make mistakes often - you as a player will be caught off guard, and if you aren't prepared to defend her, you will watch a very graphically realistic death that seems to satisfy some strange twitch I have in the back of my head.
Great game! It really shows off the graphics the XBOX One is capable of putting out. Voice Controls are spot on - Unlike N4S:Rivals, the voice controls were very accurate, only responding to my voice when I was actually issuing the command to the box. It also makes interesting use of the Kinect.
This is truly the first game for XBOX One deserving of the 5 out of 5 Star Review (Please ignore my other XBOX One Title Reviews - I was wrong!). | video-games_xbox |
From A Fan Of The Films. I'll preface my review by saying that I am a huge fan of the books and two films that have come out as of this review writing.
Saying that, I really enjoyed this game, from start to finish. Most movie tie-in games I've played usually have turned out to be really bad, and just seem to be thrown together to make a quick buck. Not this game. I'll give you my thoughts about what I did and didn't like about it:
The Good:
- The graphics are very well done. Besides the cutscenes that are pulled directly from the film, the rest of the game's cutscenes are all rendered, and look great.
- The story integration between the game and the movie is very well done. There is a good balance between missions that tell a backstory not elaborated on in the movie, and missions that are directly from the movie itself.
- The gameplay is not complicated; no learning curve in mastering the controls. No one will have any problems just picking this one up and playing right away. There are always on-screen directions on what to do next. Simply put: it's just a fun game to play!
- The missions in each chapter do not have to be completed in any particular order to advance the story. For me, I like games that present missions in this type of non-linear fashion, so I don't feel like I'm tied down to completing things in a particular order. If this type of gameplay doesn't appeal to you, then you can consider this under the "bad" category.
The Bad:
- The camera angles can be annoying at times. Not problematic to the point that it hinders gameplay, but noticeable enough to get in your way every once in a while.
- As another reviewer pointed out, there is a lot of repetition with some of the puzzles. The puzzles don't really present as much of a challenge, as they do just requiring the player to collect cranks and levers, and lots of button mashing to advance to the next area.
- The entire game does not take very long to complete. I would say that I spent around 6-8 hours going through the story, then maybe another hour or two going back through the missions to get the remaining achievements.
- There really isn't any replay value once you've attained all of the game's 50 achievements. There are very few extras. There are 4 bonus missions you can unlock throughout the game, but nothing outside of that. You may want to rent the game instead of buying it if this concerns you.
So to summarize, I feel that if you are a fan of the Narnia saga, you should be able to overlook the game's flaws and enjoy the experience as much as I did. If you're not a fan, I would say that you might want to skip this one. | video-games_xbox |
Not perfect, but very nice. Overall, this headset is very well made. There are problems, though, and it's defintely not for everyone. For those seriously considering purchasing this, let me tell you what wont' get from this:
1)Supperior sound quality. For me it sounds good enough, but there is a noticable hit in sound quality from even the regular XBox Live headset (at least through the earpiece). If you're looking for pristine sound, you should look elsewhere.
2)Longevity. If you're the type that likes to game for hours on end, you might want to skip past this as well. The battery lasts between 6-7 hours. For some, that's more than enough. For others, this may not quite fit the bill. On the plus side, at most it only takes an hour and a half for a complete recharge.
Other than that, I have to say it's a darn near perfect XBox headset. First thing to notice when holding it is the feel of the plastic used. It almost feels a little rubbery which greatly enhances its comfort level. Second is that it's pretty light. Considering it houses a Lithium-Ion battery, I would have expected it to be a bit heavier, but it's very nicely balenced. Third is that it's very comfortable to wear. I can't say enough how good it feels compared to other headsets and, for me, it stays put. Even after hanging my head upside down the headset stayed pretty much in place. And, lastly, the wireless capability. This, for me, was what really brought me to this headset. It's very nice to finally cut the cord from the controller.
My only real gripe is that there is a constant "white noise" that will play through the headset even when nobody is talking. This again goes towards how much you want to sacrifce for the sake of a wireless headset. I don't find the noise overpowering, but it is there and for those who can't tune it out I can understand that it might become annoying.
Basically, if you're crazy about going wireless to cut the hassle and mess of cords (like myself), this headset is great with a few drawbacks that show its limitations. If you're seeking perfection in sound, stick to the cords. | video-games_xbox |
A personal attack. I rarely write reviews to personally address other reviews of a product, as you would notice if you were to read a few of them. However, I feel the whiny personal complaints and nitpicking here warrant a counterattack. First off, maybe Halo CE is better than Halo 2 if you like unbalanced weapons and running through the same levels a second time - backwards. But personally I prefer more variety and depth in my games.
That's not to say that Halo CE isn't a great game. At the end of this review, where I actually make my recommendations, you will see that I in fact have lots of praise for it. However, many people cling to sentimentality and familiarity. Maybe Halo CE's campaign was revolutionary in some ways, but Halo 2's is clearly an improvement. I refuse to be blinded by my bias towards whatever came first; Halo 2 enriches the Halo universe and it's storyline significantly. Halo CE by comparison is a relatively simple and typical FPS storyline: "shoot to survive." As far as the Arbiter, I'm sorry if you prefer to draw nice easy to read lines between good and evil, but I personally am intrigued by the idea of playing from and learning about both sides. Also, at least the Arbiter has some attitude - I can only take so much of the Master Chief's cheesey one-liners.
And in the end, all I can suggest is that you stuff your big opinions and just enjoy two games that are both incredibly well made (I can't think of any better reason to buy an xbox than these two games, with the possible exception of Morrowind.) This pack is a great opportunity for people that didn't catch all these games the first time around. In addition to Halo CE and Halo 2, it comes packaged with the Multiplayer Map Pack. I have written an extensive review of this product on its own but rest assured it was almost all positive. So it is certainly no reason NOT to buy this product if you don't already own these three items. | video-games_xbox |
by far one of the worst spinoff resident evil game of all time. this game is so bad that all three trailers is better than the actual game and the sad thing is that slaint six those idiots that made two of the worst socom ever made developed this game capcom stamped there approval by publishing this garbage this is the worst way to debut these interesting characters everything about this game is bad like the health meter going 100% to zero under two seconds to the map that shows enemies in the wrong location and sometimes doesn't show them at all garbage auto aim and auto reload both doesn't work at all even quick draw aims all over the place when u are getting shot limited character selection on heros mode theres only five to chose from in a resident evil timeline between re3 re2 there's no characters from any of the spin offs like re outbreak 1 & 2 no albert wesker they even ruined the combat system its so trash that the hit detection doesn't even register its so bad that zombies does more damage to u than than guns smfh they even made the zombies vomited which never even been in any resident evil games at all even to the re2 & re3 which supposedly be this game timeline and even that zombie vomit takes a large chunk of ur health meter this is the only re game I've ever played that end a session within seconds all the iconic characters like the lickers and hunters all have bad animation and ridiculous awful such as licker had attack me when i was in the opposite side of the room they don't even do that in re5 its like slaint six threw everything together without playing any of the re games and slapped resident evil name into it this game is nothing more than a quick cash grab and the true definition of the word abomination yes its that bad all those new characters that debuted in this game needs some true justice bcuz this game didn't give them any justice at all they ether they should ether reboot this game or just leave this game in the darkness where it belongs | video-games_xbox |
Back to the front. You are caked in dirt and sweating like a pig, the smell of both blood and cordite fills you nostrils, screams of agony pierces your ears like the snap and hiss of passing bullets missing you by inches. Your gun runs out of ammo so you cast it aside and pick up one from the opposing solider you just killed, being an vicious Imperial trooper or a hard edge Wehrmacht grunt.
Welcome to the gritty battle fields of "Call of Duty: World at War". Like the first three games Call of Duty goes back to its chaotic World War Two roots mix in with the gritty and unheroic realism of the "Brothers in Arms" series of swearing soldiers and giblets flying across the screen.
World at War is both a new chapter in the series and a remake. The New material introduces the Marine campaigns in the South Pacific staring in 1942 at the Makin Atoll and then jumping ahead to 44 the Battle of Peleliu, and Battle of Okinawa.
The Soviet missions on the other hard a more or less remake of the first soviet missions in the first game, You fight through the Battle of Stalingrad, again, going on counter-sniping missions, run around in a T-34 blowing up Panthers and Tigers, then charge through Berlin, again, and take the Reichstag, again.
The multiplayer fallows the same leveling and perks as Modern Warfare. You earn points by killing other players which will increase your rank and unlock more weapons to use, performing certain feats like killing x number of enemies with x weapon and will unlock things like silencers, larger magazines and better sights, this also includes unlocking perks that can increase your ammo, your health and your firepower.
Your skill on the multiplayer seems to be in the hands of chances, because in any of the multiplayer maps with the exception of the HardCore setting the ballistics of your weapons are absurdly weak or absurdly strong. The MP40 and the Type 100 are the most powerful weapons in the game, while your rifles and machines guns are hideously weak. In one match I snuck up to my opponent and blasted him the back of the head with the M1897 shotgun, and it DIDN'T KILL HIM, it took to more blast before I finally got him.
Over all World at War is not really that unique of a game. Yes it is fun to play, but there is very little about it that is new. With the exception of the Nacht der Untoten it's come down to `you've played one WWII shooter you've played them all.' What would be unique is precipitation in battles that haven't be done before like Iwo Jima and Kurks, as well as more obscure raids, even more unique is to start off the game as a soldier in Wehrmacht during the opening blitzkrieg of either the Western or the Eastern front then transition to the Allie forces. But then Nazi are evil, and we don't play evil people. | video-games_xbox |
Winter Sports 2: Another infamous wii party game. Winter Sports 2: The Ultimate Challenge is a game that takes you through being a virtual Olympian as you go through many different events. I got this game using a pre-birthda gift card I got, and I bought it mainly because I love Sport games for the wii. The first thing I noticed was that the balance board controls were impossible for me, but things were okay with the remote and nunchuck. I must say, the graphics aren't amazing, the gamesplay CAN be shallow, and the commentary is cheesy, but overall I'm glad I got it. Here is a run down of the events:
Downhill skiing and Super G: 5/5: These are two of my favorite events and definitely my favorite skiing events. The timing and presicion you need to get the best time is amazingly depicted in this part of the game.
Slalom and Giant Slalom skiing: 3/5: it's not the stength of this game for many reasons. A few being that the rules are a little too strict (a disqualification for missing a couple of gates) but with practice I'm sure that it will bemore fun for me and you if you buy this game.
Ski Jumping: 2/5: I really don't understand the mechanics of this one, and quite a few don't either. I try to stay away from these when I can.
Snowboarding Halfpipe: 3/5: One of the more boring games in here, mainly because it's very repetitive.
Bobsledding, Luge, Skeleton: 4/5: These are the triplet games. I call them that because they are all the same styles of gameplay. But it's a good thing that that style of gameplay is fun.
Speed Skating: 5/5: very entertaining and unique style of gameplay. One of my favorites.
Curling: 2/5: I've never liked this game in general, so I tried it once and was done.
Biathon: 5/5: A very fun game that brings a real and exciting feel to the table. There are button to make you glide downhill and the shooting part is very well done.
Figure Skating: 4/5: A surprisingly good event, very similar to most dancing games on the wii. But somehow it still feels fresh. | video-games_xbox |
BioShock 2 Review - The Return to Rapture is Similar, But Better. BioShock was one of those games that left a lasting impression on most of the people that played it. Why? It wasn't a state of the art shooter that introduced new things we've never seen before. The weapons were all pretty standard fare ignoring a few. Why then was it such a huge hit? The atmosphere. BioShock introduced us to a new world, one that exists completely under the sea where all of the top minds in the world escaped society to a hidden retreat to do their work unimpeded upon by governments, religion, and regulation. This land of the free goes by the name of Rapture and is run by a man named Andrew Ryan. What could go wrong in a city that sounds so right? Well, if you played the first game, everything. The city erupted into civil war, but not until scientists created something called "plasmids." Plasmids are a sort of tonic you inject into your body that changes your DNA to give you super powers. They come from sea slugs and eventually make you go nuts if you take too many, which everyone does. Without ruining the first game if you haven't played it, it seemed like it was pretty final. Leave it to 2K Marin to prove us wrong.
The sequel BioShock, named BioShock 2, takes place in the same city as the first game, Rapture. The game opens with you as a big daddy. You end up having your little sister stolen from you by a big sister. Sophia Lamb, a psychologist in Rapture, starts giving you orders and within a few short moments, you are dead. Push forward 10 years and you're magically back alive. The reason for you being alive is explained in the game so I won't give anything away, but you're now back in Rapture. Sophia Lamb is aware that you are alive and doesn't know why, but wants you dead. She has become some sort of religious leader for Rapture. As a Big Daddy, it's your job to find your little sister, who just so happens to be Lamb's daughter Eleanor. Your journey will take you from where you woke up, to an amusement park warning of the dangers of the surface, to an infirmary, night club, theater, and many new places in Rapture. As a Big Daddy, you will be doing what the Big Daddies did in the first game...guarding little sisters. As you encounter other Bid Daddies throughout the city, you can kill them and adopt their little sister. She will join you willingly and you can either return her to a vent and rescue her, harvest her and kill her (nets more ADAM- the currency for buying special powers), or put her to work collecting ADAM from "Angels" (corpses). This is a trade off though as you could piss of a Big Sister by doing so. More on that in a little...
That's as much of the story I can tell you without ruining some pretty good surprises. The thing that made BioShock 1 so great was the ambiance/atmosphere of the game. While this game has the same sort of feeling, it's almost like a been there done that feeling. It's not bad by any means, but it's not as new and exciting as it was the first time we all played it. You're still going to be picking up audio tapes, reading scribblings on the wall, and hearing maniacal musings of the city's residents resounding through your speakers. It's all well done and carefully tunes to present a linear, but solid story on what happened to Rapture after Ryan lost control.
The enemies from the first game are back with some new ones thrown in for some good measure. You have all sorts of splicers ranging from the common foot soldiers, to spider splicers, lead head, houdini, and big daddies. The new forces, a brute who likes to charge, alpha big daddies, a Big Daddy with a rocket launcher, and the Big Sisters, are all welcome changes. Speaking about the Big Sisters for a minute, they are awesome. BioShock devs said that they wanted to create an enemy you would fear. I can't tell you enough how successful they were. The Big Sisters are not regular forces you encounter throughout the game, instead they are triggered. Whenever you find a little sister, you are given the choices I mentioned above. When you rescue or harvest the little sister, there is a chance a Big Sister will come after you. When she does, you hear a loud scream followed by a warning on the screen that says "The Big Sister is coming for you, get ready." That's when the panic sets in as you put down traps and try to get in a good area to remain covered. When she shows up though, it's on. It's very common to find yourself completely out of ammo and health packs by the time the battle is over...and this is on normal difficulty. Can't imagine it on hard. They are a great addition I would love to see more on in part 3 (although it might be difficult with the story).
Something else that's new in this installment is a morality system. It's nothing as major as Mass Effect, but it does dictate how your game is going to end. Everything from killing certain characters in the game after learning about their dark secrets to sparing little sisters will have lasting consequences. It won't make itself known until the end of the game though, besides some extra commentary during. It's a neat addition that at the very least warrants an extra playthrough to see how it would end otherwise.
The gameplay is similiar in BioShock 2 but also profoundly different/better. In the previous game, you were a mere human without a dive suit. Guns took two hands and as a result, you couldn't duel wield weapons and plasmids. Yeah, those days are long gone. Welcome to the world of zapping someone with electricity while putting 2 slugs up their ass. It's a great feeling to use plasmids and weapons together and feels very natural. It doesn't take much time to get used to either. The plasmids this time around are varied as well, but not as varied as I would have liked. It seemed that most of the major plasmids are back with not many new additions. This can be overlooked though since you can upgrade those existing plasmids to do cooler things. For instance, one of my favorite plasmids is the swarm of bee's. Level 1 shoots them out onto people. Level 2 does more damage. But level 3 adds a whole layer of complexity to it. When the bee's finish killing someone, they will hide in their corpse as a sort of trap. When someone walks by, they hop out and attack. This is key to many Big Sister battles and it remains one of my favorite plasmids by far!
The graphics in BioShock 2 are similar to that of the first game with some minor tweaks here and there. It's a beautiful game, but so was the first one. The environments are going to have you taking closer looks to see how life really was in Rapture. All in all, it's a beautiful game.
The game lasted me about 8-10 hours. That's pretty standard for an FPS. You could probably milk an extra couple hours out of that if you aim to find all of the recordings and power to the people stations (for achievements). After you finish the game, you have another option besides playing through it again. BioShock 2 introduces multiplayer into the mix. The multiplayer component of the game isn't anything extraordinary, so if you were looking for a MW2 killer, look elsewhere. What it does do, is offer a unique multiplayer experience that will give you some fun times with your friends.
You begin the multiplayer by picking a character. You can pick one of 5-6 different characters, each with a story. After you pick your character, you are taken to your room. In your room you can walk around, interact with things, listen to sound bytes that unlock with levels, change your appearance (masks mainly), and change your loadout. Your loadout can be 2 weapons, 2 plasmids, and 3 gene tonic slots (think perks in MW2). When you're finished, you can enter a game. Most of the crowd are playing the little sister games where you have to find and capture a little sister or hold on to the little sister for the longest to win, but deathmatch type games exist. The multiplayer is fun because it's something different. Using plasmids to set people on fire and then shoot them is pretty cool in a big setting. You won't be playing it 6 mos. from now, but it could be good for a little while. There are some online achievements for multiplayer so if achievements are your thing, you'll need to rank up pretty high to 1K this game.
So, is BioShock a good game? Yes, it is. Is it a great game? Yeah, I'd put it up there on the greats list along with the first one. Will it win game of the year or sell unlike any other game? I doubt it. It's a great game, but it's not the legendary game a lot of people were hoping for. The main reason for this is because we've been here before. It's not really the developers fault since there wasn't much they could do. Once the decision was made to revisit Rapture, their fate was sealed. Rapture is still a great city to shoot up, but at this point, the shiny new car feeling is gone. Being a Big Daddy and protecting little sisters is cool and everything, but we've seen this being done before. This is a small complaint though as the game as a whole is amazing, this is just one thing standing in it's path of even more greatness, if that makes sense.
So, should you go out and buy this game? I say yes. If you own a 360, you owe it to yourself to pick this up. Even if you haven't played the first, there is a lot of enjoyment to be found in the second. You may not get some of the references to the first game, but it does a pretty good job explaining things. Some references, like when Lamb refers to the "WYK Experiments" would be lost on people who didn't play the first game (WYK = Would You Kindly) but these are few and far between. The multiplayer is a neat distraction that may provide hours upon hours of enjoyment for some, but only a minor distraction for others. It's good, but nothing revolutionary. After completing the game, I'm excited about the possibility of a third BioShock. While the original developers who made BioShock 1 were not the team behind BioShock 2, 2K Marin did a good job in their place. No matter who handles the third, I'm sure we'll have a great game regardless. | video-games_xbox |
An improvement in realism that can take some getting used to. I previously purchased FIFA 14 for Xbox 360 because I could not wait until the Xbox One version was released. Once the next-generation version was released, I upgraded. Overall, FIFA 14 is a subtly improved version over FIFA 13. These changes were made not so much to the visual aspects, but to the mechanics and feel of the gameplay. FIFA 14 is the most realistic soccer/football simulation game on the market today. Players have been upgraded with the ability to be aware of their surroundings, make intelligent runs, and play defense as a unit. The animation variety is increased and the pace of play is much more realistic. Some of the same changes that have led some users to leave less than positive reviews are in fact vast improvements over the old system.
As someone who has logged over 100 hours on the old FIFA 13, I must admit that when i started playing FIFA 14, I was relatively bad at the game. The pace has been slowed down and passes are more difficult to control. Defenders can now muscle their way into good tackling position, forcing smaller attackers to protect the ball instead of just relying on speed to blow by the defense. These changes, while frustrating at first, make FIFA 14 much more balanced and realistic. After getting used to the new physics, I was able to play soccer/football the way it was intended, with crisp team passing and creative through balls. Sure it is still possible to blast down the wings with a pace oriented player and cross the ball to a waiting teammate but just like in real life, speed is no longer everything.
The realism of this new game coupled with the increased shooting and passing animations give the gamer a true experience. On Xbox One the players and their environment look better than ever. While the the next-generation version of FIFA 14 improves the graphics over the 360 version, there are still some gameplay issues that were left unfixed. Every once in a while, characters will run into each other, get hung up, or knocked over in a way that either should not happen or should be a foul. Fouls off the ball are never called and sometimes a player will get hung up attempting to run around or past a defender. This is only slightly frustrating as this definitely happens in real games without being called, albeit with less frequency.
The most frustrating aspect of FIFA 14 is the same as with every other game in the FIFA franchise, while defenders are vastly improved over FIFA 13, they still sometimes make horrible decisions when it comes to who to mark on defense or what area to cover. There will be goals where you will get scored on with your defender standing in no-man's land. However the positives of this game GREATLY outweigh these issues. For any soccer/football fan, this game is a MUST HAVE. You will have countless hours of enjoyment learning the subtleties of this game and it's teams and players.
RECAP:
Pros:
+Graphics
+Realism
+Teams available
+Shot and pass animation
+Corner kick goals fixed
+Ultimate Team and Seasons data carries over
Cons:
-Still has some frustrating animations
-Career mode progress does not carry over
-AI sometimes makes questionable decisions when marking | video-games_xbox |
Small budget, but big on gameplay traditions. I had high hopes for Samurai Shodown Sen when I picked it up, took it home, and started running it on my XBox360.
The presentation overall is smooth, if not a bit simplified in most aspects. And surprisingly, the music adds the right tension and atmosphere for the stages, while the graphics are somewhat last-gen looking; and yet, the character models and backgrounds...still look respectably sharp from those attempts. The character selection is nice and large, with diverse fighting styles and personalities. A good handful of retro choices and a generous helping of newcomers makes this a more notable Samurai Shodown in the interesting character lineup.
The online functions great, but lacks a community, which is sad considering how well the game's mechanics and online functionality are balanced and consistent. Looking beneath the presentation, the gameplay is a more move/combo-oriented style, much like hardcore fighting games of the past. The combat is a lot of fun: with diverse combo and counter lists, decapitations and desperation strikes; some of them even act as a few little tricks for dramatic effect (so it definitely has enough flexibility, and requires practice to master the combat system).
The story mode doesn't offer much excitement unfortunately, but makes for a good way to pass the time while waiting for matches online. A few of the plotlines are interesting, but the narration is a real rough translation sometimes. This game includes survival mode, and pretty difficult achievements, but plenty of gameplay hours if you enjoy the fighting system and character selection.
With an online community, this would be a great pickup. Although, it did just come out a short time before this review, so maybe that will take time to change.
Otherwise, have some friends to play with in versus mode, and you have a recommended title for old-school Samurai Shodown fans. | video-games_xbox |
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