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Not disappointed. I have to say I was most excited to get this game for Christmas and pleasantly surprised by its performance. After reading all of the reviews for it, I came to expect some of the programming difficulties that would come with any Kinect games at this stage in the process.
Pro's:
1. This game will immediately correct you if you are not going deep enough, do not have your arms in proper form, you are not working within the range of recommended speed, etc. It will pretty much ensure that you are doing the moves correctly.
2. There are, of course, no controllers at all so all you have to focus on is your form, speed and performance.
3. There are voice prompts where they ask you how you're feeling in order to gauge your next moves (is it too hard? do you need a water break? etc.) and all you have to do is answer them.
4. You get automatic water breaks.
5. You can pick how long you are able to work out (under 20 minutes, 20, 30, etc.)
6. They give you a recommended calorie intake and can track that for you throughout the course of your program.
7. You tell them what your goals are in regards to length of program and they customize the plan for you to reach your goals...realistically.
Cons:
1. There were some floor excercises that they were unable to measure my performance because of the positioning they have you in on the floor. No matter how I tried to readjust myself, Kinect was not able to measure me.
2. As other reviewers stated, their body scans were off (for me, just in my height) but you are able to adjust it manually afterwards if there is an error.
3. The controls are much more sensitive than some of the other games we played in that if you just move your hand a little bit, it's hard to make a selection then you have to start all over.
In general, this product is amazing with some technical errors that are definitely expected but can be annoying. In spite of the glitches, I definitely recommend this program. | video-games_xbox |
Dated, and too short. I'm going to fully explain why this title deserves what i've given it, a 2 star.
First of all, i'm not a fledgeling roller, i've played and beaten the previous two katamari games on the playstation. and i have to say this one simply does not do them justice.
-the game gets a star for the menus, and ease of play, the game is directed in a different manner than most hardcore games while maintaining a nose to the grindstone type of play.
- it also gets a star for replay value, while not as high as previous katamaris, If you're really into it you keep trying to beat your times and sizes. Also this game has enourmous amounts of unlockables to find and outfit your cousins with.
-Now is where i'll explain why its lacking,
-It loses a star because of its overall play. The 360 controller feels odd with the sticks so far apart and the ability to quick dash is harmed. That is a vital component to speedily beating the challenges. The game is also very very short, only a few levels are brought to the 360 with loads of cousins and presents in each making the game get very repetitive as you must play the levels large amount of times before finding sometimes upwards of 10 unlockables.
-It loses a star for innovation. Being the third in its series, the game fails to innovate much, the second game brought snoballs fireballs, and even a sumo wrestler to the game for some odd but very challenging missions. This game focuses mainly on rolling stuff up, its much faster too, the katimari moves at a much faster clip and as such the timer is reduced, making the game obscenely quick. you don't roll for long and you have to get to rediculous sizes quite often within a small time limit. The story in this also is quite underthought and has more of a boring quality. The other two were boring as well but in a way they kind of made up for it by making a bit of an inkling where the game was going or just providing a backstory like the second one.
-If i could i'd remove 2 stars for this, in previous games, the king of all cosmos would speak to you in game to say random things as wow or something to indictae the game was moving on. In addition he'd make quick comments about cousins. His head shows up on the screen and he speaks rap sound text for a few seconds then goes away. In this game he commonly shows up and drones for sometimes a minute or two, blocing your vision and speaking so much nonsense that while funny the first few times it becomes so irritating i found myself "telling"(loudly) him to shut up. Especially with the large amounts of presents and cousins, over half of any given objective could have his head in the center of your screen. It wouldn't be so bad if he was in a corner or a ticker tape but he's dead center and takes up about 1/4 of the screen. that's a lot in a game and it really takes a lot from the experience.
-Overall the game felt unfinished, and not complete, namco didn't push the game to even attempt to be better than the previous one and mostly seemed to target fans for their hard earned money rather than giving them a good time. Its a good rental but its not even worth owning, the game can be completed in a few hours with little to no replay value. Buy we love katamari for the ps2 instead. | video-games_xbox |
Nothing like the original RE games, but decent for a different franchise. I am not a big review writer at all but I just want the let the Resident Evil fans from the 90s know that this game is nothing like the original games and the story does not have anything to do with the characters we all loved for over 20 years. I would actually have given the game more stars if it wasn't called Resident Evil. I agree with the other reviewers that the game doesn't play like Silent Hill but the monster bosses are similar to those that you would face in Silent Hill or The Evil Within. I don't consider people that mutate into monsters that then mutate into massively sized monster bosses, to be equivalent to the zombies we are used to as in the walking undead, especially if you played the earlier games. The scare factor is true as other reviewers have said, but you can go a lot of the way through the game before encountering the bosses walking around that you hide from mostly, who later on mutate into the monster bosses you have to kill to progress in the story.
Again, I am not knocking the game itself, it is fun due to the scare factor and you do have to find items and figure out puzzles to progress in the story like the old Resident Evils, but I miss having zombies everywhere that you have to kill and try not dying to or waste all your ammo on. But I could just be one of those 32 year olds that have yet to adapt to the change in video game franchises that I have played for years and years. Similar to how Call of Duty has changed immensely to resemble Halo/Destiny and other futuristic games and is a lot less about modern warfare, but I digress. Could just be me but I will forever miss how the original games played such as RE0, RE, RE2, RE3, RE Code Veronica. RE4, RE5, RE6, and RE Revelations 1 and 2, were good games in their own right too, but it wasn't like the originals. However, these had zombies everywhere so it felt more like RE. This one just feels like a total different franchise I am playing.
Just my opinion, not trying to influence you either way to buy this game or not. As I repeatedly said, it is fun and interesting and worth a play through. But I wouldn't play it again and the older games I have replayed more than 100 times. Have fun and enjoy!
Edit: Forgot to mention the graphics for the Xbox One version do not look that good. Not sure what it looks like for the other versions but there are some parts in the game where it looks decent then other parts where it looks horrible, Mia's hair for one thing (haha you will see) and the grass in the Yard part looks like it all blends to one. I was surprised since the previous RE games weren't bad at all especially for their times when they came out. | video-games_xbox |
What's not to like. Highs: New slick styling, built-in wifi, Doesn't sound like a jet is taking off in my living room
Lows: Still using proprietary hard drive
Most of us who have the original 360 that debuted in 2005 have a love/hate relationship with their console. In fact I compare it to having a spouse that cheats on you but every time you take them back because they say "...this is the last time it'll ever happen!". I've sent my 360 in to be repaired no less than 3 times and each time I asked myself, "why, why do I torture myself like this"? The RRoD's and I were on a first name basis...So it was with no small amount of trepidation that I picked up a new console from Best Buy when they came out. It's been about a month and thus far I must say, I'm definitely impressed.
Design:
The new console looks stunning. Where the old beige box was a gelatinous mass, this new box is all lines and sharp creases and I love the piano gloss finish. BTW maybe it's just me, but once I set it up somewhere, I have no reason to touch anything other than the power and eject buttons (both of which are touch sensitive and open with a pleasant chime), so the argument that it's a "fingerprint magnet" is kind of lost on me. If it was a laptop or cellphone with this particular finish i'd agree totally, but for this? Not so much.
Features:
Built in Wifi-Finally we have built in wifi. It's about time Microsoft! It's one thing I thought was sorely lacking and made doubly worse when M$ was trying to move that wifi adapeter for $100. Really? Anyhoo, thus far, no problems
HDMI- I know, I know, many of you already have this on your current 360, but remember I'm upgrading from a 2005 unit. Again, nice to use one cable to hook up to my receiver. In addition the optical port is on the console instead of the component cable. Nice.
250 GB hard drive: Again, I'm moving up from a 20GB unit, so having this much space is heavenly. One minor niggle though is that unlike the PS3 you cannot just swap in another drive, we're stuck buying M$ stuff...
Ready for Kinect- Not that I'm all that excited for Kinect, but it's nice that I have a port to plug and be done as opposed to using a USB and finding a power cord for the older box
Performance:
The most obvious difference is that I can actually have a conversation with the person next to me on the couch as it no longer sounds like the runway at Hartsfield International Airport! You can still hear the console work when playing games, but it's now more of a low to medium hum now. It no longer heats up like a griddle either (Which may be a good or bad thing if you previously used it to keep your food warm while you play). I don't know if games load faster or not, I really can't tell. The only PITA (Pain in the a$$) is having to transfer over all my save files-Save yourself the money and skip buying the $20 transfer kit. Just transfer to a portable drive or usb stick.
So should you get it? Hell yes if you're still plugging along in an older 2005-2007 unit. If you already have an Elite then it may be less of a sure thing as really the only reason to upgrade at that point is the noise reduction. This refresh was sorely needed. | video-games_xbox |
Way less "thuggy" than expected. Up until last year, I had zero interest in this sort of game, i.e. open world/sandbox/gangster/crime whatever. GTA 3 was my introduction to the concept and it turned me off completely, I never even bothered with GTA Vice City or San Andreas. Saints Row seemed like a bad joke, a GTA rip-off tailor made strictly for lame urban gangsta thug wannabes. My idea of the typical Saints Row fan was basically Jesse from Breaking Bad. "Yo yo yo wassup wear ma homiez at beeotch?" Ugh. Well, as of last year I had somehow ended up playing a few other open world games (Assassins Creed, Red Dead Redemption, LA Noire) and discovered that I quite liked them after all. So I decided it was time to give GTA another chance. I dug out my old copy of GTA 3 and started a new game, and next thing I knew I had completed 3, VC, SA, and IV. I ended up really, really loving them. Right when I was at the height of my new found fandom, the first big official Saints Row The Third game play video hit, and I thought it looked pretty damn fun. I had no intention of buying or playing it, but just the fact that I thought it looked good at all was pretty mind blowing. I resisted for as long as I could, but about a month ago I decided that I had to play it. In my typical anal retentive MO, I insisted on playing Saints Row 1 and 2 first. I completed SR1 in a about a week, and it was pretty much what I expected: a soulless GTA San Andreas rip-off with the "wackiness" factor turned up to 11. In the end I had to admit it was actually pretty fun. Then I moved on to Saints Row 2.
Right out of the gate, I noticed major improvements over SR1, and I was damn impressed. SR1 was very rough and almost seemed unfinished in certain ways. SR2, on the other hand, is extremely polished with excellent production values. It's almost as if SR1 was a beta test, and SR2 is the fully realized version. I was glad to see that the main character was an actual *character* this time around, with plenty of a dialogue and a cool, cocky personality. (I always like it when a developer finally comes to the obvious realization that the 'silent protagonist' approach has outlived its usefulness and needs to die. See also: Visceral Games' Dead Space series.) When I play GTA, I generally focus on the missions and do them methodically one at a time. I've always had the impression that most GTA fans tend to not care too much for the missions and just go straight for the cheat codes so they can cause as much mayhem as possible. Saints Row basically caters to that sort of player and is designed such that there is a point to said mayhem. I have to admit, it's a lot of fun. And thankfully the "YO YO YO WASSUUUUUUUUP **GGA" gangsta thug crap is surprisingly toned down. It's closer to standard action flick fare, actually. That alone is a huge plus in my book. I know I'm setting the bar pretty low here. All in all, even with the boost in quality, Saints Row is still merely a GTA wannabe. If I had to chose, I'd take GTA IV over SR2 in a heartbeat. | video-games_xbox |
Awesome Game, But May Only Appeal To Predator Fans. In the 1930's, a Yatja (a.k.a Predator), sought glory in his tribe by slaughtering mobsters in the hot climates of Louisiana. After succeeding in his mission, he made his way back to his ship with his trophy in hand. As he was about to approach his ship, he becomes trapped and tries to self destruct, but accidentally surviving the explosion. Man learning about the species because of the explosion, he is banned from his tribe for 100 years. Then, there is a chance to redeem himself. He must return to Earth, now the 2030's, and destroy the weapons humanity has created modeled after what the Yatja left behind in the 30's. That's where the game really begins. Basically, you play as the Predator trying to restore his honor.
The game play for this game takes a little while to get used to, but eventually comes natural. They have a training section that you use to learn the ropes which is extremely helpful, without it, it would be difficult to play. Even I still don't understand how everything works, but you learn enough to keep going. It's hard to get lost in the game since most of the time there is a flashing triangle that tells where to go, which is a good help. There is first person mode which you can use to get a closer look from far away.
The graphics are decent, the movie parts of the game are so detailed it's amazing, and the Predators look like real actors in costume. The look of the game is very detailed, especially with the Yatja, but not as detailed as the FMV movies. The Predator and the background look good, but the people could look better. One of the coolest parts is when you are hurt, you receive damage. The more you're hurt, the more you're bleeding, if you're not hurt, no blood.
All of the weapons that you have seen in the movies are here, the combistick, smart disc, everything! You also have the famous stealth camouflage. You live by honor. You don't kill defenseless people or it hurts your reputation. If you kill too many innocent people, you will fail your mission. There are also bonus missions that earn you things like alternate costumes and health upgrades.
My favorite extra on here is the ability to unlock different Predator costumes and you can play Predator from the first and second movie along with others.
This game gets mixed reviews. It's understandable. When it gets down to it, this game could have been better. The look is good, but more detail could have been added. The different visions are difficult to master. To access different weapons, you have to push the select button, but with no load time in-between pushing select and playing, which is a good thing. You can't climb up any building you want, just a few specific ones. So it has a few tedious things, but overall good.
Here's the bottom line, if you are a Predator fan, odds are you'll eat this up. Just being a Predator in a third-person environment with the world at your disposal is fun, I love it. But if you're not much of a Predator fan and you're just a casual gamer, rent this first. I suggest that fans and non-fans may want to rent it first. It's good, but there has been mixed reviews. You'll either like it or hate it, that's for sure. | video-games_xbox |
Very Pleased with the GAEMS M240. Worth a buy. I have been using GAEMS products since the launch of the G155. The G155 was an awesome beginning product that resonated well with people such as myself who were looking for an all in one solution to portable gaming. It was great being able to transport my Xbox 360 to the barracks and GAEM with my brothers. Soon after GAEMS launched the Vanguard and I was there to pick it up. I bought the UNSC limited edition Vanguard and it showed the improvements from the G155 and how GAEMS listened to gaemers in regards to what they wanted in the product.
Now fast forward to 2015 and GAEMS continues to push the mold and is entering the monitor business. Interesting side note that GAEMS shared in a tweet is that most purchasers actually keep their GAEMS G155, Sentry or Vanguard set up on a desk and does not fully use the portability it offers. The M240 is a 24 inch monitor with Dynamic Sound stage technology. But I am not going to get into the technical side. I want to focus in on the quality of the video, audio, usability and coolness.
I have played several games and my favorite movie Batman Dark Knight Rises to test the video and audio. I've played Batman Arkham Knight, Need for Speed Rivals, Destiny, Call of Duty Advanced Warfare, AC Black Flag, and Payday 2. The monitor is fast and responsive. There is virtually no input lag. When I aimed down sights and pulled the trigger, I felt that there was no time between my action and what was happening in game. Need for speed gave me the best test of the monitors video and audio as the game is fast paced and scenes fly by as you are driving down the highway. The audio stage for Need for speed has a lot going on and the Dynamic Sound Stage did an awesome job keeping up to task with the sound of the engine, the music playing in the background and the dispatcher providing dialogue. Batman looked amazing on the M240. This screen really brings out the details in the movie. It handled the dark scenes very well. I had to adjust the audio settings to find the sweet spot. I believe I have the best settings overall for gaming and watching movies on the M240. The bass roars low and treble soars high.
There is a lot of ways you can tweak the video and sound. Video wise I had to make very small adjustments and the audio took a little time to play with to hit that sweet overall sound. Since everyone's eyes and ears see and hear things differently experience may vary.
The M240 has replaced the BenQ monitor I had originally on my desk and it will be my main battle station monitor for my Xbox One and PS4. I spend a lot of time gaming and utilizing all the monitors on my desk during streams and I need a product that can handle the workload and look great doing so. GAEMS has built that solution for me. If I want to game without a headset, this is not a problem and I know that I will have an enjoyable experience.
It is extremely easy to get setup and going. I had mine up and running in less than two minutes which is the about the same amount of time it takes the setup a Vanguard or G155. I streamed from the hdmi out and had not issues what so ever.
In closing, I am extremely happy with my purchase. GAEMS products are well built and as you can see by the G155, it still works great to this day. . GAEMS has excellent customer support and you can feel good about purchasing their gear. I did have thoughts about the price and comparison to other monitors on the market. However once I got it set up and used it exclusively for the last week, I can say it is an awesome product that anybody who games, watches movies, TV or listens to music will be satisfied with the GAEMS M240. | video-games_xbox |
Surprisingly High Quality. This is the nicest CD/DVD wallet I've ever owned.
I purchased my first one almost a decade ago in the bargain bin at an EB Games. It's been filled with 16 games and 16 game manuals and two memory cards ever since then (oftentimes with multi-disc games being stacked two to a sleeve) and it has only recently begun to show signs of wear and tear. The wallet's structure is made of a remarkably high-quality, durable canvas material that is malleable enough to deal with the wallet being full to capacity. This is infinitely preferable to the industry standard "plasticy nylon" material. It also has a detachable carrying loop that locks on to a metal piece separate from the zipper. The "xbox green" stripe on the front, unlike the yellow Case Logic stripe, has not started to crack or discolor after many years of use.
The inside has a nice mesh zipper compartment for holding memory cards or what-have-you. One side of each page has a sleeve for the game manual, and the other side has a padded sleeve for the disc. Game manuals are certainly not that important anymore, but having a full-art cover in the form of the manual is a nice way to deal with not having the original case. It just makes your collection "seem" cooler. The pages are held in place not by flimsy plastic bands but by honest-to-God metal binder rings, three of them, the kind you might find in a typical office binder. They are sturdy, and only after about six years of use did the top one start to bend slightly.
I am consistently frustrated by the chintzy CD/DVD wallets released by companies like (not to pick on them, but) Case Logic. I would recommend this product to anyone who is looking for a solidly constructed game wallet made from quality parts that will last at least a decade with regular use, and will allow you to keep both your game manuals and game discs safe when traveling, or if you don't like the look of the "plastic library" on your wall and you want to get rid of your original packaging. I would not recommend this product to someone who is dead-set on putting an entire large collection into one case (16 sleeve means I've needed more than one of these), or if you're super-particular about logos/brands (e.g. you mind putting PS3 games in an xBox branded case). | video-games_xbox |
Review for CAMPAIGN Single Player of the game. I haven't played multi-player (not big into that), but here is the review for those of you that are interested in the single player mode:
Graphics: OVER-hyped- some of the graphics are excellent, but the insides of building are old technology. I was expecting this AMAZING experience, and frankly there are better graphics out there- Black Ops and Uncharted come to mind. I would give them an 8.5/10 - ya, that is high, but not a 10/10 as I expected.
Game Play: It def adds some new twists to the traditional military shooters; cloaking, infared, shield, etc. You will use every button on your controller- so there is about an hour learning curve. Meaning you will get killed early and often. The game eventually gets pretty repetitive - you will mostly cloak, run up on bad guy and shotgun blast, and hide (repeat over and over). The guns you get are pretty lame-(not much in the way of variation), as they want you to use your suit with special powers. I REALLY like the idea of having all these different abilities you can do, but the fact is only a couple of them really work that well and you will end up staying with them.
Story Line: Kind of lame- It wasn't long before you got sick of this lame brain scientist wacko ordering you around the city while you cover up for his blunders. It just wasn't engaging and you begin to just want to wrap up the game.
Overall: This review may sound kind of depressing in some ways, but the fact is this is a quality well done game. It just didn't live up to other reviews, and the hype. If you like FPS games - then it is a MUST HAVE because it does offer some new things and overall is still pretty enjoyable. Just don't expect too much.
Overall Score: 8/10 It's a very well done game. Make no mistake, this is a big budget title. The problem is it just wasn't as fun as some of the other top games out there. Some games you just don't want to end, this is not one of them. | video-games_xbox |
Do not buy this if you are a Supreme Commander fan. WARNING: It has come to my attention that there is an organized campaign to manipulate the review scores for this game, with posters on the official forums attempting to recruit others to create multiple accounts and write 5 star reviews. Obviously it hasn't been very effective, but be aware that the review scores have been slightly increased by this shilling. I highly encourage you to download the demo and find out the truth.
Supreme Commander 2 is the latest game in a disturbing trend gripping the gaming industry: more and more developers simply have no regard at all for the fans who put them on the map. If you enjoyed Supreme Commander and Forged Alliance for everything that made them unique, DO NOT BUY THIS GAME. It is complete and utter rubbish, in essence a parody of the masterful original. The game has been dumbed down to be almost unrecognizable, although some of the good elements like extreme map zooming and a good unit patrol interface remain. Those who prefer more micro-heavy games like Command and Conquer may still get some enjoyment out of it, but if you want a small scale RTS there are many of them better than Supreme Commander 2.
The problems start with Tiers. In Supreme Commander 1, there were three tiers of units, plus experimental units. The first tier units were like little ants, useful for little other than early game harassment but incapable of dealing any real damage. Second tier units were capable fighters, and third tier units were pretty powerful. By the end of the game, you could have hundreds upon hundreds of units out, yet it was still possible for a single experimental unit to slice through your entire army and kill your commander. It was thrilling to devote your entire economy for a protracted period of time just to get that experimental out, and you would cheer for it as it completely shifted the battle. Supreme Commander 2 throws all of that away. The units now fall roughly along the lines of the dozens of C&C style RTS games, with experimental units being roughly as powerful as Mammoth Tanks. I saw an experimental unit get taken down by five gunships. FIVE. Now there is no longer any strategy in deciding what to build. Whereas before, you would need to make hard choices about whether to devote significant resources to tech up and devote a large portion of your economy to build single units or structures, now you can pump out experimental units in under 5 minutes from the start of a game. In other words, Supreme Commander 2 is now just your standard RTS, but with units far more generic than most. The macro has been scaled back dramatically, yet most units are still one-dimensional so there is little need for micromanagement since you won't affect the outcome of a skirmish.
As for resources, the great system where you used mass to build things and power to, well, power them is gone. Structures and units no longer use up power by being in play. Instead, power is just like mass. When you build something, power is deducted from your cache and that's it. In other words, you can build shield generators and artillery all over the place with no consequence since it costs nothing to support them. This means even more incentive to turtle since a surgical strike on any one area of your base isn't going to damage anything you can't easily replace. In Supreme Commander 1, it was at least a possibility that your generators would be taken out, rendering you defenseless as the shields and turrets shut down. To make matters worse, the old system where resources were deducted as units and structures were built is GONE. Now resources are deducted immediately when you queue up unit production or structures, which means you can no longer queue up a massive base and then let an engineer do his thing. This was one of the two or three most important aspects of Supreme Commander and it is completely ruined.
Now there is a third resource: research. Points are produced by buildings and can be spent in one of five overly convoluted tech trees. This is a terrible system that replaces the tiers from Supreme Commander. Unlocking the best units is too easy, and the pace of the game is killed by having to constantly open up the tech menu to unlock things. It also discourages adapting your tactics to the situation because there are so many minor upgrades that you'll need to choose between specializing in ground, air,or naval units since it will take a very long match to power up all three. It was just flat out stupid to have a menu-based system instead of tying upgrades to buildings. Some games like Battle for Middle Earth make it work because they don't have as many upgrades and don't require constantly accessing the menu, but it doesn't work here.
Normally a sequel is supposed to be bigger, badder, and better in every way. Supreme Commander 2 takes a step back in almost every aspect. The graphics are scaled back. There are far less unit types and the unit cap is far lower. The maps are much smaller. They aren't small just in comparison to the original, they're actually some of the smallest maps I've seen in a RTS. The campaign is very short, with 18 missions that take around 10-30 minutes each. Normally a RTS with such a low mission number will at least have 1-2 hour missions. And as for the much vaunted "story" and "cinematic experience" that was supposedly added? It's terrible. The CG is just video of the normal in-game assets, so it actually looks worse than the gameplay if you have a decent computer. The characters are insufferable, the dialogue terrible, and the story paper thin. The only positive thing I can say is that the art design of the maps is improved.
There is very little to recommend Supreme Commander 2. If you like the original, you're better off playing that, and if you didn't, there are many better RTS to spend your time and money on. To add insult to injury though, once you own this terrible game, you OWN it. That's right, Steam is required for this game, and it will be tied to your account forever. I look at this as a shrewd and cynical move by a developer that knows the market would otherwise be flooded with used copies because most who buy this game will not want to keep it.
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Addendum: If I could revise my score down to 0 stars after what I've seen of the online play after writing the original review, I would. Matches end one of two ways almost every time. In a 2 v 2 or larger match, multiple players will rush with their commanders at the start and kill one of the enemy commanders 2 on 1. Then repeat with the other players. Total match time is around 5 minutes. Otherwise, the match will end in a swarm of gunships due to the weak anti air options. There is no reason to build anything else because there aren't any units or structures in the game that, for the same resource cost, can kill a swarm of gunships faster than they can kill a commander. Also, to clarify something I said earlier, in SINGLE player it is very easy to unlock the best experimental units and pump them out in mass quantities. In online play however, they barely play any role at all. Anyone who tries to build them will probably lose because they are not as effective as normal units, dollar for dollar. There is no point in trying different strategies. Online play is ruled by basic units and whoever has the bigger blob of them wins. | video-games_xbox |
Loved parts of it and hated other parts. Dante's Inferno is a visually stunning game, and the concept of going through Hell slaying demons to reach and beat Lucifer is great. That's why I decided to try the game, even though I am primarily a fan of RPG's. I did love the graphics, the concept, and everything about playing a game based on the classic book. But in the end, I quit playing it because it just wasn't for me. At this price, and as fantastic as the game looks, it might be worth a try, especially if you are a fan of the Action genre. I was hoping it would be a crossover for me, since I do like some Action game elements, but in the end I just don't get excited enough about different combos and finisher moves to master all the button sequencing. I really prefer mastering a bigger variety of spells or weapons and using stealth or situational tactics over the constant gladiator-style, non-stop fighting with the same weapon against wave after wave of enemies.
Pros:
- Fantastic graphics
- Intense, virtually non-stop, bloody as hell action
- Immersive experience going into Hell to beat it and win
- Based on a classic book and fairly true to the concept
- Very memorable imagery and themes
- Puzzles are good
Cons:
- Emphasis is on learning button sequencing and proper timing for different combos and finishers (not my thing; if this appeals to you, this game would be excellent)
- Linear path and really only one way to succeed (there is no stealth option or alternate paths)
- Can only save the game at certain save points
I can see where this would be a 5-star game for gamers who love Action games like God of War. I was hoping that it would have cross-over appeal for RPG'ers like me. The concept and imagery did work and appeal to me, but there is not enough flexibility in gameplay to make it fun for me. I'm just not into combos and finishers enough to work on memorizing button sequencing and perfect timing like this game requires. If that is your thing, you will love this game. | video-games_xbox |
One step back. *Some spoilers*
I really, really wanted to like Dragon Age 2, since I was a really big fan of the first one. While I was generally disappointed by the game, it wasn't without its good points. The combat system has sped up quite a bit, which I appreciated more after going back and playing the first game (which seems almost molasses slow now by comparison). The graphics I think were better than some reviews have given them credit for. I liked that the primary character actually talked rather than just getting to engage in text conversations. And though it took me a while to get used to them, I liked the new menu structures and the new way of advancing skill sets (though I think there were fewer "specializations" than there were in the first game).
But like the problems I had with Mass Effect 2, there were two many ways in which this game was simply "less" than its predecessors.
1. You could only play one race, and which class you played didn't have much impact on the game. Yes, playing mage did alter one of the semi-permanent NPC options, but that was it, and for me at least it wasn't that big of a bonus.
2. One origin . . . this was boring. Not that the origin given was bad or uninteresting, but one reason the first game was so successful was that you could play six times and get a different story each time.
3. Lost the "grand quest" feel of the first game. In Dragon Age 2, it sort of felt like I was running a bunch of non-relate errands. Yes, I know the first game had some of this too, but it just seemed to be a more dominant theme in the sequel.
4. Smaller levels . . . This seems to be a common complaint and one that I agree with. The ability to roam around, both within a level and between levels, was considerably curtailed. I complain about overly linear games a lot and have had people complain, so let me explain. I consider a game to be "too linear" if there is really no room to maneuver moreso than following the plot from "A" to "B" (though I like having some flexibility in this realm too). In Dragon Age 2, it feels like you're fighting in a narrow corridor most of the time, and it just bugged me. If you're okay with a fighting environment like "Dead Space" or something with similar constraints, then you might not mind this so much.
5. Annoying characters . . . okay, I've noticed everyone has an opinion on which characters were wildly annoying, but everyone seems to agree that they were. I thought Fenris and Anders were way too one-dimensional to sympathize with, and I could never quite figure out how to make Carver happy about anything. If one of the goals to increase replayability is to explore different character interactions, it might be good to have the other characters worth interacting with. Seriously, I played the game with each character once, and I looked forward to killing Anders each and every time.
6. Endings . . . boring. Not only were the available endings much more limited than in the first game, they were kind of a let down. I'm interested to hear if anyone else thought that maybe at least one of the two final bosses wasn't nearly as hard to beat as it should have been, and the other was just kind of lame (run in a circle, let your party shoot it, repeat as necessary).
On a positive ending note, it seems that Bioware has a grand plan for Dragon Age, as the ending of Dragon Age 2 hints back toward the happenings of Dragon Age: Origins, and seems to imply that it is all part of a grand plan or series of events. If they take their time on Dragon Age 3 and combine the few improvements from the sequel with the variability of the original, then the next version could be pretty spectacular. But I agree with whoever wrote that if it comes out prior to Christmas of next year, they probably didn't get the job done. | video-games_xbox |
Xbox Live for Halo 2 is great. Xbox Live for this game is awesome. I enjoyed playing the first Halo with my friends. Now I can go online and play many people very easily. You can play with 8 to 16 people in one room right away.
The matchmaking is different from most xbox live games. You choose the gametype you want to play ranging from slayer, team slayer, or other games and it will search for a game to place you in with other random people about your skill level. The only thing you can't do is choose the map you want to play. The rules are all default and that is also chosen for you. I think it's a little harder because most people don't talk alot, and you leave them after the match is over to play another match.
There is a clan feature for this game so you can join or make a clan with a max of 100 people. A clan is nice if you want to get to know people more personally. It would also be easier to play team games with people you know since it would be easier to communicate with them and develope stratagies.
You still have the option to host a game or go to a hosted game, but you can only play with people on your friends list. That's the only way you can choose the map everyone wants to play and customize the rules in deep detail.
Skill level is the ranking system for this game. The more you win, you gain experience points or if you lose, you lose experience points. Your skill level helps you find people around your skill level to play with on matchmaking. Skill levels are also your stats in the game. There is also the leaderboard for the top people on Halo 2
You can view your stats in detail at bungie.com. It shows your skill level for each type of game and the information for each indivdual games you played since the first time you played till the last time you played. The information shown for each indidual game can show you who you played, the winners, and other detailed informations. Bungie made a very nice system for stats.
Overall, Xbox Live will make you Halo 2 experience last longer since you have the ability to play with many people very easily. The campain mode is fun also, but some people complained that the ending sucks. You can also play campain with one friend online. If you love or hate the campain, xbox live will insure your Halo 2 purchase was fulfilling for many months.
P.S.
My gamertag is Jetfalcon, just in case you see me in matchmaking. | video-games_xbox |
On It's Own Merits. It seems to me that if you have to qualify an RPG as a Japanese RPG on the XBox 360 to apply the word 'best' then somehow the point has been missed. So before I give what will really be a positive review let me point out that Magna Carta II is not the best RPG on the XBox 360, and arguably not the best JRPG either. And if the rushes for FF XIII are any indicator, even if Magna Carta II was a 'best' it wouldn't be so for very long. All that being said, MC2 is actually a good game with a lot going for it and a few things going against it.
The plot is intricate - Juto, a boy who has lost his memory is building a life on an island. His friend (and boss) is Melissa, who is charged with the defense of the island. A revolution is in process and Juto finds himself thrust between opposing forces as the war overtakes the peaceful villagers. Tragedy strikes and Juto chooses his side (the Southern forces) and swears revenge. He meets his teamates - spell casters and combate specialists - and the game is off and running. The female lead is Zephie (Princess Rzephilda) who is trying to regain the kingdom she lost when the inevitable, evil prime miniter kills her mother.
The plot is complex, but fairly linear. There are any number of quests to clear to provide breaks, and you can often get away for some level building. However, for all the twists and turns, progress is often forced. And the quest structure does not always harmonize with the main story. The characters take a while to grow on you. All of them are irritating when they start out and they can take over half of the game to become likeable. Still the story tries to show an occasional bit of originality and captures the players interest, which is a vast improvement over a few other games.
The artwork and music are several steps above average. Lots of good CGI clips, the use of several styles to mark differences in narrative, and good looking characters make up the visual environment. Characters actually have gestures and expressions. The battle artwork is a little less satisfactory but is almost good enough. Occasionally I found it hard to make out what was what in a busy scene. Like when you are trying to pick off the healers in a crowd of enemies. But that's the only real flaw, and the backgrounds and buildings ate very nicely don't. This is a good game to look at.
It is a less good game to play in when you find yourself in battle. Magna Carta II has one of those inordantly complex fight systems that take forever to adjust to and send fingers flying over the controller. You are perpetual shifting characters, changing spells and attacks, and working up to combinations. Usually by the time you get a character lined up to deliver the final blow the freeze from exhaustion and you have to bring up andther character and fit them in as well. There never seems to be a rhythm to the battle, and if I were to pick out the game's worst flaw this would be it.
Another issue I have is being dragged thru conflicts with little or no access to a save area. This doesn't always happen, but it's tedious to have to run back and several scenes in order to save and then run forward again in order to slay more enemies. Over all, though, there are more good things than bad in Magna Carta II. If you like intricate plots, curvacious heroines, and frantic battles you will find the game to your liking and I'd happily recommend it to RPG players | video-games_xbox |
Great choice for old school and hardcore gamers without XBOX Live. This 3-pack has 3 very diverse games included. They are all basically 2-D platformer type games (think Super Mario Brothers or Mega Man), Trials HD has some 3-D camera work, but there is no actual control of steering. Throttle, brake, lean forward and back and bail off are the only controls. Each game ramps up difficulty quickly, so even hardcore gamers won't get bored with this pack for many, many hours of gameplay.
Trials HD is a game based on motorcycle trials type racing with obstacles of varying degrees of difficulty, in fact, on some of them I had to depend on luck to clear. There are also special events that are unlocked by winning medals in the standard races. I won't spoil the surprises on those, but I will say many of them are loads of fun. There is also a track editor, where you can create your own tracks and share them on XBOX Live, and run custom tracks made by others.
Limbo is a hauntingly beautiful puzzle type game. All played basically in silhouette, there are only two buttons to memorize, jump and interact (grab, push, pull, etc.) with the left stick for movement. Limbo took me about 6-7 hours to do the first time through. Some of the puzzles were pretty difficult to figure out. Luckily, there are unlimited lives to use up. In fact, I would wager nobody will ever finish the game the first time through without dying at least once(without help). The second time through only took me about 2 hours, so not a lot of replay value in this one. However, it is still fun to watch someone else play it, which is rare in single player games. Once you figure out all the puzzles, it makes for a pretty entertaining show for spectators.
'Splosion Man is a very fun and often amusing platformer. As simple as the controls are for the other two games in this package, this one is even simpler. Left stick to move left and right, all other buttons, 'SPLODE! There is no jump button, if you want to get off the ground, just 'splode. Need to kill something, 'splode. Need to break a pane of glass, 'splode. I could go on, but you get the picture. There are unlimited lives in this one too, but if you get killed a few times, you can take the cowards way out and skip the level. The only thing is, you'll have to wear a tutu for the next level. Guys who are secure in their masculinity and ladies shouldn't have a problem with that though.
This package contains three games you could play with only NES or Atari experience, as a matter of fact first and second generation system players would probably master these games in a matter of minutes. | video-games_xbox |
I want my money back. After WWE 2K14 came out I was impressed with the features it had. My thought was that the next game can only get better. I actually went as far to preorder the Xbox 360 version because I was excited about it. Needless to say, I'm regretting that decision. This year's game is nothing more than a stripped down carbon copy of last year's game. With an emphasis on the "stripped down".
Most of the features in this game are identical except for the things they removed. I love to create wrestlers in this game. All of my created wrestlers have created moves & I almost always use custom theme music. For whatever reason 2K decided to remove it. THAT SUCKS! The creative features is what I have loved about the WWE games. To make it even worse, they removed many of the entrance motions that they had in the previous game. WHAT IS WRONG WITH EVERYONE at 2K!!??
If you liked the nostalgic factor that WWE 2K14 had, you won't find it here. There are a few classic wrestlers like Ultimate Warrior, Stone Cold Steve Austin, & Sting is a DLC. However, you aren't going to find loads of classic wrestlers that they had in the last game.
I also am not crazy about the 2K Showcase. It only feature two rivalries. One of them is between John Cena & CM Punk & the other is between Shawn Michaels & Triple H. Why not expand beyond that to include other famous rivalries?
I think it is interesting that they included some of the NXT Roster, but the Got NXT mode is hardly enough to keep my interest. It's very similar to the 2K Showcase where it focuses on various NXT wrestlers.
Most of the features that they left in the game is very much like the previous game. If you really have to get this game, whatever you do, wait until the price drops. Don't make the same mistake I did. Don't pay full price for this game. It's not worth it. If 2K comes out with another WWE game next year, I'm going to be extremely cautious before buying it. | video-games_xbox |
Lost Planet = Found Fun. First off I did not buy this game from Amazon, although I have purchased many games in the past through this great website, I feel I need to review this item as I still have not seen anyone provide feedback to one of the finest games now available for the 360.
I was not anticipating too much from the game although the online demos gave us a great taste of what the game would be and the final product is surprisingly great.
The Packaging of the Collector's Edition is slick. The outer-side feels cool to the touch hinting at the game play environment. This edition comes with a bonus disc that is more aligned with using on a PC than on the XBOX 360. The bonus disc contains wallpapers, a complete soundtrack, Game trailers, Webisodes, icons, and website building tools I have yet to explore. It also comes with a special art book.
The game play is great with tons of things to blow up as well as special tokens to find on every level. One of my favorite things of this game is the grappling hook. Wow, once you start you can't stop. Use it to travel, use it to hang down from a ledge and shoot your enemies below you, it becomes more of a vertical game as well as horizontal broadening the way one thinks about a "shooter". I have played 8 levels so far and have only one complaint- I have lost sleep.
Online is ridiculously addicting. The first few games I played I was totally engrossed into the online game play much like Halo 2. In fact I can't remember playing an another shooter online that is this much fun. The maps are huge, the game play is intense, the options for weapons are many, and the satisfaction is real. I haven't had a desire to play online like this since Halo 2.
It seems this game was lovingly made for me. Every aspect about this game has been pleasing from packaging to game play to online play. There are a ton of shooters that have been (and will be) released that won't be able to touch the aura of Lost Planet and it's varied game play.
Last but not least, the graphics are certainly some of the best the 360 has to offer. I am the first to admit that graphics don't make a game fun, but I do mention it because it really is great.
I would suggest any 360 owner to seriously consider this game as an integral part of your game library. Don't hesitate, buy this game now and I will see you online! | video-games_xbox |
My experiences in the gates of hell. I picked up my reserved copy of Doom 3 CE the first day it was available to the public. First person shooters (FPS) are not my favorite genre but the demo version of Doom3 on the PC gave me such a friggin big scare that I felt compelled to do something about it.
Doom3 for the Xbox is a chilling, thrilling, (add your favorite ..ing here) game where the Mature 17+ rating is simply an understatement.
Be prepared to watch flying corpses, limbs and bones. Expect guttural sounds and demonic whispers next to you in pitch-black tight corridors. No need to feel paranoid, there ARE actually monsters all around you.
The game is scary at first when you only carry a wuzzy pistol, a flashlight and the shotgun. Oh, but when you start finding macho weapons such as the plasma gun, rocket launcher, Chaingun, BFG and the big ass chainsaw, the scared turns to startled, then to upset then to piss*d, and you really want to get even.
Too bad for the easily scared is that you can not turn into a cowboy and start running and screaming Jeronimo! If you don't want to come back to a Quicksave every 5 seconds you must explore every nook and cranny for a piece of protective armor, a few shotgun shells or a devilishly hidden PDA with the necessary codes to open the infirmary or an ammo locker. You really have no choice here but to go slowly, carefully and with your tail between your legs.
So you cannot carry a weapon and the flashlight at the same time? Boo-hoo, I'll let you in on a little secret... (whispering) This is a design feature... (/whispering) Don't you think there were a gazillion beta testers who had complained about it first? Don't you guys think that fumbling the flashlight with your weapon adds more to the tension? I think you get the picture. Oh, but don't worry, the flashlight won't help much after finding Hell (if you get there before telling your priest to exorcise the Doom box)
The campaign mode takes about 20-25 hours to complete, which is enough time to either make you pee on your pants or convert you into a KISS member. I played with the default settings, only that I reversed the vertical aim (up is down and viceversa).
So, go buy it.. now!.
And Kids, remember to play under your mama's supervision (as I did) and don't try any of the things you do in the game at home. | video-games_xbox |
Great game, but has its flaws. Ryse: Son of Rome does an excellent job at showing us just what next-gen graphics truly are. The attention to detail in character faces is astonishing, and the look of the environment is beautifully done. Unfortunately, this is not enough to save the game from some major flaws. Since this game has quite a mix of good and bad qualities about it, I will make a pros and cons list.
Pros:
- Graphics are impressive, and gives us a taste of what to come for next-gen consoles
- Cut scenes show amazing detail to character faces
- Crytek clearly worked hard to show expression in character faces to better display emotions
- The lighting effects of this game are phenomenal
- Storyline is intriguing, and does well at playing with player emotions
- Plot has a slight "twist" that intensifies the gameplay
- Cut scenes, at times, have a very interesting "300" (the movie) feel to them
- Kill sequences are impressive and fun to accomplish
- Over 100 ways to finish a kill
Cons:
- Constant hack and slash can make the game rather repetitive
- The color coding on finishing kills does not offer much consequence for pressing the incorrect button
- Story is rather short and can be completed in around 6 hours
- Good storyline, but certainly not original - plot twist is somewhat predictable
- Very linear gameplay, room for exploration is practically non-existent
- Replay value is rather low (though you can replay at different difficulties)
- Multiplayer is limited to 2 player co-op Colosseum matches, no other maps
- Game allows you to purchase upgrades to advance in multiplayer - for real world money
My recommendation: Wait for this game to be available through a rental service. It is far too short to warrant a $60.00 price tag, but excellent for someone to play through over a weekend. Since the game does not offer much of a multiplayer or any replay value, there is no sense of actually keeping it. Remember that originally the Xbox One wasn't going to allow us to do such things, so express your freedom to rent! | video-games_xbox |
WAY better than expected . I actually purchased this game at launch and took the game back the same day, I know that sounds crazy but I will tell you why and why I gave it another go.
I'm sure from all the previous reviews you know that the Bat Mobile is used heavily in this game, not exclusively but it is used a lot. This was the source of my frustration when I initially purchased the game, it just didn't feel like Arkham asylum or Arkham City ( I never played Origins ) because of the extensive use of the Bat Mobile. Well as it happens, I simply didn't play the game long enough before returning it. Even though the game initially relies heavily on the Bat Mobile in the beginning, the game opens up and lets you feel like Batman again.
After the first bit of the game you will be swinging, gliding, kicking and punching your way through this game just like the previous Arkham games. Now I'm not telling you that you will not be playing portions of the game racing through the streets and completing puzzles in the Bat Mobile, because you will. Sometimes it is irritating and others is completely satisfying ( more on the satisfying sided of things most of the time ).
The story is well written and engaging, there are MANY things you can do in this game and tons of side quests to complete, but I liked the main story so much I didn't do a lot of the side missions until I completed the main story. This is where I ran into a surprise ( not a good one ) , after you complete the main story you will see not credits to let you know you have beaten the game, you actually go into a game plus mode where you have to complete an additional step that requires you to capture seven notorious criminals around Gotham ( and it takes a while, as in HOURS ), then you will be treated to an additional cut scene the furthers the ending of the game.. After that you still have not really ended the game because to see the final cut scene you will need to complete ALL of the riddler challenges, and there are MANY.. This is where I quit playing and went to Youtube to see the true ending, because the riddler challenges seem like nothing but a boring grind and get old quickly ( in my opinion ) . So really you need to 100% the game to see everything, and this is a point of the game that makes me want to detract a star from my review, but simply cannot because of the shear enjoyment I had while playing.
Conclusion : If you are hesitant of purchasing this game because of some points I mentioned above, I recommend you purchase the game anyway, because just like me, I think after the initial part of the game you will feel that old awesome rush that you did when you played the previous titles. As I said before, a few of the negatives made me want to detract a star, but because of the over all quality and gameplay I simply cannot, because the positives far outweigh the negative..
Solid 5 out of 5 | video-games_xbox |
GRID 1 was better. First of all, as someone that for a time, built and drove real race cars, I LOVE racing games and have tried almost all of the Xbox 360 racing games as well as PC racing games. So I'm not new at this.
After playing the original GRID on the Xbox 360 3 times (and I STILL love playing it), I could not wait until GRID II was released, hoping against hope that the developers would improve an already great racing game. The only thing I didn't like about GRID I was the Touge and especially, I hated the drifting. I know a lot of people like the drifting (I don't know anyone of them personally though), but I don't consider it racing. Especially considering the name of the game....GRID....as in 'racing grid'...meaning more than one or two cars. I was doing drifting when I raced go-carts, which was WAY before drifting was turned into a contest.
Anyway, not only did they include drifting in GRID 2, they made it an integral part of the game. Ugh. But that's really a personal opinion.
And so far, I haven't tried multiplayer, but from what I've read, it's just as annoying as any other multiplayer racing game if you think you'll actually be racing against someone serious about racing. (as opposed to wrecking)
Pros and cons:
Pros:
Graphics, of course. They look great but I doubt most developers will never learn that great graphics don't make the game. Great game play makes the game.
Tracks. They're not bad and I haven't yet seen them all. I've only just started season four. I don't think that they are better than the tracks in GRID 1. So far.
Cons:
The concept...this WSR garbage is lame. Who cares? Those ESPN like videos are lame, as is the concept.
Races: That is, the few times you actually race against other cars as in really racing. Why on earth would little sports car being racing against Mustangs, Camaros and Chargers? Lame again. And sometimes when you enter a race, you can choose from almost every car you own. Really? There's no rhyme or reason for that. What not keep cars in classes like GRID 1? Or other racing games. This tells me that the developers didn't have a clue, nor did they care.
Audio:
The narration in GRID was kind of lame...dull and uninformed. And sometimes wrong. It WAY worse in GRID 2.
And the crowd noise in GRID 1 was OK...I almost liked it. In GRID 2 it's also lame....just really dumb.
Navigation (user interface):
In GRID 1, if you didn't want to deal with the drifting contests, you could drop down in difficulty rather easily and zoom through that part and get it over with. Not so in GRID 2. You have to back all the way out the the beginning and then go forward to the event you would like to compete in using a lower difficulty. I actually hated doing this (making it easier), but if I don't like the event, why force myself to suffer through having to compete? In a 'real race' I always kept my difficulty at medium or higher. Usually higher.
Also, in some 'events' in GRID 2, you choose a car before you know what the event will be...lame.
And...the car specs. Lame. Use numbers, not lines. (graphs). There's no real way to compare whether say, the Audi is better than the Honda. Sheesh.
Physics:
GRID 1 had it almost nailed. Driving those muscle cars through the streets of San Francisco was downright exciting. And there was one European track with a long sweeping bend in a town that you litterally had to hang on for dear life, it seemed. So far in Grid 2, not even close.
Summary:
If you love racing games, this is a good one, as racing games go (sad but true). But it no where near as good as GRID 1 or Forza Horizon, for that matter. Wait until it's discounted to buy. Unfortunately my wife pre-ordered and therefore over paid.
And so I ask...who on earth beta test these games? I think the answer is probably that it's done mostly by the coders or people that don't usually play driving games. Otherwise, this game would not have been released in this state. Very disappointed. (but I'm still playing it....hoping it will some how get better) | video-games_xbox |
Dont Waist Your Money. Purchased Christmas 2010, when my children were 5 & 6. After being "wowed" by the technology and the graphics, but the games themselves aren't much fun. The fun part is saying "look what I can do". The tracking is poor and causes lots of frustration with children and adults. In 10 years when this technology is perfected it may be fun, but in 2012, my children prefer the free video games on Nick Jr and PBS. In perspective, Kinect should be free and Nick Jr and PBS should charge. We have tried several of the Kinect games, each which comes with glowing reviews to be disappointed. I wonder if the reviews are written by people in the first hour of playing or by the games companies themselves. We also bought Skylanders which has been a bigger hit with my kids than any of the Kinects games. These are the Kinect games we bought in order of best to worst:
Kinect Sports: The best Kinect game. Tracks the best, user interface is best, the only Kinect game my kids want to play (occasionally).
Kinectables: Frustrating tracking, cute and the second best game. Easy to get lost in store or house and not be able to find way back to map. My children might play this for an hour every couple of months. Was not able hold their interest after the first few days.
Carnival: One of the best. Tracking seems better on this game. Annoying barker.
Dance Central: Ok, but not really a kid game
Kinect Adventures: Ok, but my kids are not interested in paying it more than once every couple of months for a 1/2 an hour
Disneyland Adventure: Not very good. Tracking not very good. Nice graphics. You have to work through ten minutes of tedious interaction with Mickey and Goofy before you can play any games. My kids played it for an hour and have no interest in playing it again.
Joy Ride: Absolutely awful. Small kids would like to have the feeling of driving a car. This is just crap! Your not driving, you are not doing anything. Terrible controls, terrible tracking, my kids were done with this piece of crap in about one hour. I gave it to the thrift store. They should pay you to play this game. | video-games_xbox |
A Must Have For All Mature Gamers. What an amazing game! In all of my years of playing games I have never seen a multipayer anywhere close to the one in Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory. Especially multilayer mode. It isn't the average 1st person shooter/3rd person action game, it is a hybrid of the two. You are able to play as either SHADOWNET Spies or ARGUS Mercenaries.
The SHADOWNET Spies are in 3rd person and take on the roll that is somewhat like Sam Fisher's. You are able to snap the necks of, jump onto and pull Mercenaries over a railing. Even with Thermal Optical Camouflage, this is a very difficult task in deathmatch mode [new and the most popular mode in Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory].
The ARGUS Mercenaries, on the other hand, are equipped with either an assault rifle, a submachine gun or a double-barrel tactical shotgun. Equipped With Grenades, Smart Mines, Motion Vision and ElectroMagnetic Vision, they are spy-killing machines.
New Spy Abilities:
a. Rail Grab
b. Lethal Drop Technique
New Spy Gadgets:
a. Thermal Optical Camouflage
b. Heart Beat Sensor
New Mercenary Abilities:
a. Humiliation
b. Bezerk
c. Lethal Drop Technique
New Mercenary Gadgets:
a. Weapon: Submachine Gun
b. Weapon: Double-Barrel Tactical Shotgun
c. Camera Net.
d. Poison Mines
e. Backpack
Pros And Cons OF Multilayer Mode:
Pros:
a. Promised fulfillment of gameplay
b. Easter Eggs
c. Vast, detailed and large multilayer maps
d. Unexpected Realism: Pupil dilation in a dark room, after rain: your helmet will fog, etc..,.
Cons:
a. Games have a maximum of 4 players
b. Party leader cannot launch unless everyone is ready
c. Almost no way to tell if someone has already entered your game
Overall Rating Of Multilayer Mode: 5 Stars/10 Out Of 10/100%/A+/Etc...,.
I have just started to play story mode, even though I bought it in March. The multilayer mode is just that good. Also, because it isn't your regular multilayer game, it will take some skill [unlike games like Halo]. Do not get discouraged: instead, get Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory Today [M, an ESRB rating issued by ESRB, means that Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory is for mature players, 17 and older only and is not intended for gamers under 17 years of age, multilayer requires; a crossover cable, subscription to X-Box live, router and internet service {preferably DSL/Cable}: sold separately. Needed accessories; X-Box Console, 1 X-Box Controller, Television with three line in jacks and a Power Outlet. ESRB states that gaming experience may change unexpectantly during online play. 2005 Ubisoft, All Rights Reserved. Online rules may vary: Restrictions Apply.]! | video-games_xbox |
Almost but no cigar. To start off with, this is actually quite a good controller. It offers some standardization for PC controllers so that developers can have some sense of direction, is light, and an absolute pleasure to use.
I do, however, have some gripes:
1) My controller arrived damaged through no fault of TigerDirect. The right analog joystick does not appropriately snap to the center so the stick will cause the point of view ingame to drift to the right if I don't correct it and reposition the stick myself. However, this is a minor issue, and probably not present on most of the controllers shipped.
2) Z-axis. Both of the trigger (not shoulder) buttons share 1 axis so no game will register correctly if both are pressed at the same time
3) Game support. The problem is not actually having buttons respond ingame - even if game controllers are not supported, programs like JoyToKey will make the controller work. The problem I have is that rumble capability is not fully supported at all in most games, for example, Halo PC will not send any rumble commands to the controller. In fact, I have to map every button to the controller manually in Halo, the game does not automatically set up the controller for you. However, the rumble feature IS supported in Windows. In Flight Simulator X, the rumble motors appropriately jostle the controller when the plane lands or crashes. Ideally, Microsoft should go back and release updates for some of its older games, like Halo (in this case Bungie/Gearbox then actually), although support will be much greater when Vista comes along: Bungie has promised native support for the Xbox 360 controller, including possibly autoaim, in Halo 2 Vista.
Microsoft has released a small Xbox 360 Accessories program that will allow you to use the Ring Of Light button in the center of the controller. However, the program doesn't do much yet: it is supposed to tell you when you have accidentally disconnected the controller but it doesnt. Apparently, with this new program you can however attach up to 4 controllers to one PC at once, but given how few PC games support co-op play this isn't that major either.
a BIG note though: Xbox 360 Wireless controller drivers are currently available on Microsoft's site. I don't see anybody selling a "Wireless Xbox 360 Controller for Windows" yet, but from looking at Microsoft's site the Xbox 360 Controller Accessories program mentioned earlier does support the wireless controller, so I would hold off on buying until the Wireless controller is released to retail with the driver CD.
Also, stable beta drivers are available on the internet for using this controller on a Mac, and they're supposedly even better than the ones Microsoft provides for the controller on Windows. Just Google for it and you'll find them. | video-games_xbox |
3 stars...for now. Let me start out by saying I do not consider myself a gamer. I went from owning a Sega Genesis in the 90's to being coerced into buying a PS3 in 2011. That's when I played Fallout 3 and Fallout New Vegas and fell in love with the Fallout Universe. I could not wait until Bethesda released the next one in the series. When my friends asked me, "When are you going to get a next-gen console?" I always replied, "I'm not getting anything until the next Fallout comes out." And that's exactly what I did. Last night, at the midnight release in my hometown, everyone else walked out with just a copy of the game. I walked out with the Fallout Xbox One Bundle.
I literally upgraded just for this game.
So maybe my hopes were set a little higher than everyone else. I don't know.
***THE FOLLOWING CONTAINS MINOR SPOILERS***
Here are my grievances
1) When I first saw clips of F4, I was thrilled to see that the green, boggy, Matrixy look of F3 had been replaced with a shiny, happy, look. It had always seemed to bring me down while playing the game. However, today I found myself missing it. I didn't feel like I was walking through a world that had been devastated with nuclear warfare. Instead, it reminded me of footage I'd seen on the news after a natural disaster, or maybe the desert metropolis of Detroit after the recession. Needless to say, it doesn't feel post-apocalyptic (PA), but rather, post-"state of emergency." Nothing feels irradiated, just...damaged. It's almost as if this world is "too hopeful." I don't have a sense of dread while playing it; I don't feel like saying, "Man, how is this world ever going to survive?" Because it just seems obvious that it will. There's no despair.
2) I am very disappointed that Bethesda apparently copied and pasted the entire playlist of Galaxy News Radio into Diamond City Radio. That's just lazy in my book. YES, there are some new songs and artists and YES these songs are very good but I wanted my ears to have a completely new experience, not a mix of old and new. Sound is not as strongly associated to memory as smell is, but it's still associated, and the last thing I want to be thinking about while I am scoping out this new game is F3 because I hear "Bongo Bongo Bongo" coming through my surround sound.
3) The absolute best thing about Fallout in my opinion is the exploration aspect. I love looking out over an expanse of the Capitol Wasteland or the Mojave Wasteland and seeing something on the horizon and saying, "What's that?...Let's find out!" Well, you can't really do that in this game--at least not as often--because there are so many trees! They're blocking my view! With the exception of coming out of Vault 111 in the beginning, I haven't really had a good view of the landscape. Sad.
4) The map is way too small. It seems like it's on par with F3. It's definitely not as big as Skyrim and I'm pretty sure NV is bigger, too. Keep in mind, I bought the bundle today; it was the first time I'd held a next-gen controller in my hand or seen next-gen capabilities face-to-face. I was expecting a map AT LEAST the size of Skyrim, but it's maybe a third of the size. Very sad.
5) Another thing I love about the Fallout Universe is how cooky and zany it is. Some of the characters and quests you come across are just downright ludicrous. And I can't explain it, but it just works for Fallout; it wouldn't work for any other PA game in my opinion. That being said, I don't feel like this game will have that quirky sense of humor in it. I see no signs of goofy conditions to come. So far, the game is straight-faced and taking itself very seriously. That's fine and dandy for any other PA game, but not for Fallout! I want my tongue-in-cheek, Easter egg humor! I hope I am premature in this observation and the "Wild Wasteland" experiences start happening soon.
6) The Diamond City Radio DJ is getting on my nerves, fast. You see, first we had Three Dog, and he was awesome, what with all his Apostle Paul "fighting the good fight" references. Then came the one, the only Mr. Wayne Newton Mr. Las Vegas Mr. New Vegas!!!!! Who could ask for anything more?!?! How Bethesda/Obsidian got him to agree to doing that game is one thing I would love to know. Now, we have this little turd who has the self-confidence of the comic book store owner from The Big Bang Theory. Man, he is really rubbing me the wrong way.
7) In the previous installments, you were almost guaranteed to come across a raider/radscorpion/mutant/ghoul every 2.5 minutes while roaming the wasteland. F4, not so much. So far--at least in the northwest corner of the map--I've seen nothing but mongrel dogs and a group of raiders. That's about it. I've been told that it gets more populated the further south you go. Let's hope it does, cuz it's kinda boring, walking through this no-view-because-of-the-forest wasteland.
8) As I stated earlier, this is my first next-gen experience so I was expecting awesome, groundbreaking graphics. Well, the scenery is really spectacular, especially inanimate objects. However, the people....meh. The Last of Us and LA Noire had better facial expressions, and how old are those games? I was expecting next-gen and I got...typical Bethesda. Oh, and don't forget the trademark glitches! They're everywhere!
9) I like the crafting, but I don't like that it's taking me away from the rest of the game. To me, that's a bad sign: when I'd rather build beds and plant mutfruit than explore and find new side quests, something's gotta be wrong. I didn't buy this game for that; I don't want THAT to be what I'm looking forward to doing in this game. I hope that makes sense.
10) I'm not really digging the Boston vibe. It's not doing it for me. It has the "futuristic colonialism" (just coined that) feel to it that BioShock Infinite had, and that got old real fast for me. If you like that, then you'll probably like this. What can I say? New Vegas spoiled me. There's nothing like looking up at a star-laced, desert sky at night, hearing fire geckos playing in the canyon below, and having "Stars of the Midnight Range" playing softly on your Pip-Boy.
***
Please keep in mind: I've only played 8 hours and 17 minutes so far. I'm writing my review very early, perhaps too early. But if I had written reviews for the other Fallout games this early, they both would have received my highest recommendation. Does this mean that I'm going to stop playing F4? Of course not. Could I possibly change my mind about all of this by the end of the week? Indubitably. Will I end up buying the Season Pass? Hmmmm....
Good question. | video-games_xbox |
Good for a while, nothing like other 2k sports titles from this year. I was originally expecting something like NBA 2k11 or MLB 2k11. I wanted a deep my player mode where you could control certain aspects of your character, as well as get new apparel and upgrade stats. Let me start by saying this game is a huge improvement over the last Top Spin game. If you liked the last game I totally suggest it because it is a lot like Top Spin 3 only more so. I did enjoy the game for the first few days but at the end of the day they hadn't added enough character customization features to keep me interested. In terms of actual game play it becomes fairly boring after a while. Hold A for a power shot. Hold B for a Down Spin shot ( I know that probably isn't the correct term) and hold X for a side spin shot ( again probably not the correct term). Overall I would say the game is fairly good for a bit, but it does not have much lasting appeal. One thing that I didn't like was that you have levels and when you gain a level it asks you which area you would like to improve in. When you pick an area it will effect several stats. For example If you want to pick the volley choice (Your choice is offense, defense, and volley) it will add a few skill points to your serve, volley and reflex skills. You don't get to max out stats individually. All I wanted to do was to make a super powerful server (Which even on easy mode it is hard to serve up an ace). I will admit I have never played tennis competitively and I bought this game because I love sports games so if you have a special love for the game of tennis this game may apply to you as well. Like I said the game is ok overall. I wouldn't try to compare it to other 2k titles (it is made by 2k Czech), because the game play can't hold up. As far as I could tell it was a decent tennis simulation, however, if you are looking for long term entertainment you won't find it here. | video-games_xbox |
Beautiful gaming console, but BEWARE the disc drive. Lets get this out of the way- this is a really handsome gaming console. Very cool with the R2D2 console and C3PO hand controller. There are lots of reviews out there that tell of its looks and other superfluous aspects, but there is a dark side to all this, and it is NOT limited to just this version of the Xbox.
The first day I received it I plugged it up and set it up which took a little while but was seamless. I checked that all components worked before I gifted it to my kid for his birthday. I pulled it out and set up quickly and we all had a ball for a few hours. Then on changing the disc to another, of which ALL were new ( some still in packaging now...) the console showed disc unrecognized, telling me to clean disc and restart unit. This did not help. A little research online revealed that this is very common problem. It just isn't working anymore. I'm gonna ring up Amazon on their A-Z guarantee and discuss my options, as I really really like this thing, but if isn't playing discs, I can't justify spending my hard earned bucks for something that's defective, probably on a design basis. Please do some research on this before forking over your cash. Just think, this thing was on for the second time since I own it for a total of 4 hours use before being plagued with a major problem
Another thing. I think I was sent a returned item, as when I registered this product MS claims that this unit has less than a year warranty left on it. Aside from that, the retail box looked like it was at the bottom of the stock pile on a really dirty floor. Red flags did went up in my mind, but all looked in pristine condition the first time checked it out, so I didn't bother making an issue. Ah well, next time I'll be listening to my gut instincts a bit more carefully.
If it wasn't for this BIG problem, I'd give it 4 stars, as I find that having to pay a membership fee to MS for Gold Account to utilize YOUR own membership to stuff like Netflix and Hulu are just bogus. You have to pay this fee even if you want surf the web. If I didn't have to pay an arm and leg for the unit I could understand a nominal fee, but the Wii which sells for 3 time less and has most if not all expandable options like Xbox does not require a membership fee to access your own Netflix and Hulu account, etc.
All in all, great idea for a product, but poor execution on reliability and, well, value for money. | video-games_xbox |
Final Fantasy XII Review by a fan girl. Overall rating 4 out of 5
Graphics rating 4.5 out of 5
Storyline rating 3 out of 5
Game play rating 3.5 out of 5
I've been playing Final Fantasy games since I was six years old, I own just about all FF games and spin offs released in the U.S. So when I got a Xbox 360, the first game I had in mind to get for it was XIII. The CGI graphics are quite stunning. They rival that of Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children. And the game play graphics are very nicely done. And if your one for scenic views, then your love this game. But the reason way I didn't give the games graphics a 5 out of 5 even though they are amazing is because there was still room for improvement at some points. Also, the Xbox 360 and PS3 graphics cards are out of date, so they did the best they could with the graphics on outdate tech.
The story was alright, it seemed to be more of a mix mash of the past games from VII though XII. Lighting seems like a mix of Cloud(VII), Leon(VIII), and Paine(X-2). I give Square Enix two big thumbs up for backing another female lead character(first one that I remember was Yuna in X-2). But to me there seem to be little originality to the storyline. It really hard for me to explain, but if you've played the other games then play this one, you'll see what I mean.
The game play wasn't perfect, but also wasn't all the bad. If you played VII: Crisis Core, you'll be very thankful that they didn't keep the leveling system from it! They keep the real time battling from XII, and Crisis Core. But mixed it in with the battle style from X-2. They added this system though where you change the groups 'class' or what you wanna call it during battle, it can be a pain in the butt, bit it isn't all the bad, I found it to be a nice addition to the series battle system. Outside of battle, it is just about the same, at least to me, as Final Fantasy XII, just cleaned up. But if it isn't broke, don't fix it, right? haha!
Over all, it is a good game. A view to many cut scenes maybe, but a nice addition to anyone's RPG collection. | video-games_xbox |
Meh. First and foremost Fable the Journey is a Kinect game. It is not a part of the Fable series but a story that takes place IN the Fable world. While the premise is great the execution isn't. When I first saw the demo of this game I was as excited as anyone who is a fan of the series so when I got my game I immediately powered up my Xbox and...took a seat? More on that later.
First, the game is very much an "on the rails" experience. It follows a set path from point A to point B with scheduled events set to take place when you hit certain locations. Oh sure there are "optional" stops you can make, but they're very much limited to a mini game, or a tiny cut scene, etc. You can also make pit stops and care for your horse. When you do that you enter into a prompt driven mini game. Meaning it's not free style but you do what the prompts tell you. "Wave your hands slowly and use calming words to calm your horse." Once you do that, you're taken back to your cart so you can resume your trip. Fine, the rest stop is exactly that. A stop to rest and recoup some healing energy and some stops are even "larger" so you can...pluck an apple; fill a trough with water, etc. Then back on the rails you go.
Majority of the game is spent driving the horse cart, while you sit on a physical chair. And when you come portion of the game where your hero walks around, you don't get up and mimic walking. You remain sitting and the game moves you around to where you need to be. You do your task, and then it moves you to the next one. The only things you really have control over is which spell to use and to me that's just silly. This is a Kinect game! You should use it as such! Not sit on a chair/couch/etc and wave your arms. For a game that had such hype around it, it failed miserably to utilize the full capability of the Kinect by having the player sit the whole time. Why not....make it motion based? Jump to avoid attacks rather than just lean to the side. And where's the chicken kicking game? In previous Fable games you could kick the chickens. Here's the game's golden moment to shine and make kicking chickens an interactive experience and what do they do? Nothing, you sit and you guide your horse around trees.
The story is also flat. It's your basic hero grind. Here's an average kid, here's a tool and your marching orders to save the world. We've been through this so many times it doesn't even feel remotely fresh, but then again it is just a Kinect game set IN the Fable universe. As a fun game, it's a fun game, but it's not a memorable game. The controls are iffy. Since you spend your whole game sitting, you need to adjust the Kinect settings to read you as at a different angle than when you, probably, set your Kinect to the "look at me while I'm standing and jumping around" mode. The graphics are old, they look more like the original Fable than the last installment. The voice acting is good but then again that was the only thing the Fable games ever got right consistently. The magic is pretty. You can shoot bolts, and push and then you can customize your magic but you still use it only when the game allows you to. If this game was a half and half. Half standard controller, half Kinect, it'd have been better, alas....no.
Fable the Journey should be its the cost since it's only half the experience that was promised. | video-games_xbox |
If you're looking for THE rugby game, here it is. Jonah Lomu Rugby Challenge is hands down the best rugby game available today.
Let me clarify some things: in comparison to major titles like NBA2K, or NCAA, or almost any EA title past 2009 - no it's not the greatest. But given rugby's inherently poor franchising, there won't be an up-to-par rugby game out for quite some time.
Playing this game is a pile of fun.
-The first day I got it I couldn't put it down. The tutorials were clear and beneficial. They teach you pretty much everything you need to know, and reward you with some $$. Someone who has never played a rugby game can easily pick it up and know the game in 15 minutes. Someone who has, can do the same.
I've had teammates over for tournaments and now everyone wants a copy, if you can look past it's pitfalls it's an amazing game.
Pros:
Wide selection of teams - they have the Super 15, Aviva Premiership, World Cup, and everything in between. Of course, due to licensing rights, some of the names of leagues, tournaments, and players have been changed (as well as some jerseys unfortunately) but you can certainly find your favorite team. And even though, say for you Irish fans Brian O'Driscoll isn't 'in the game' (except on Lomu All-Stars), Irelands centre is exactly like O'Driscoll across the board, just a different name and face (which can be customized, but we'll get to that.)
The tournament play is exciting, the World Cup's rights went to Rugby '09 so the title is different, but the pool play is the exact same.
The Pitch - Very well done. There's dozens of stadia to choose from and each are accurately done. If it's your dream to play as an All Black at Eden Park, it can happen... and here's why:
Career Mode - You can choose a team (club and/or international) to play with and go through a full season with. From the Harlequins, to Stade-Francais, to the Crusaders, you will certainly find your team to play with. (Unless you want a USA Super League club... but let's be real) And, the reason YOU can play with them is thanks to the...
Customization - That's right. You can build your character, exactly as you want him to be. Position, height, weight, face, definition, size, skills, strength, stamina. Then you can draft him into club play, and international squads. Now, it differs from NCAA's variation of Career Mode where you play as 'YOU' the entire season, in Career Mode you merely play as the whole team like normal, but your player will be on the pitch, though you are in control of everyone.
This is also where you can customize players' names to fit who they actually are. It's tedious, and I wouldn't recommend it. I've accepted that the All Blacks, Australia, and a few other teams will have realistic line-ups, and most others won't.
You can also customize entire squad attributes, changing their style of play (though most are already very accurate.)
Cons:
Lack of Set Plays - while your AI teammates will loop and scissor occasionally on their own, there is no way to create a set play off a ruck or scrum, this is frustrating but easy to over look once you enjoy the game.
No Eight-Man picks - A very frustrating aspect (but once again, it can be gotten over). Out of the scrums (which you can wheel) you sometimes want to just pick it and take off up field, can't be done. You can pick it with the scrummie then pass back inside to the 8, but it's not the same.
Offloads - when you first get the game, every team will offload a ridiculous amount. This can be changed (and SHOULD be changed) in settings. It's overwhelmingly frustrating making a tackle and just watching them offload continuously until there's a huge gap in your line. Change. This. Setting. And all will be well.
Overall:
I loved this game. The goal kicking gets ridiculously difficult on Pro, and drop goals will forever be pretty darn easy with a talented kicker. But it's a blast. The slow down "bullet-time" style of kicking I found very beneficial. A lot of non-players have complained it's unrealistic but if you take the time to analyze a situation in game and do it right, it makes sense on how they balance out the speed with the time to make a decision.
Whether you're new to rugby, or have played all your life - this is the one rugby game I recommend getting.
Don't expect an expensive EA Sports production, expect a rugby game. The passing isn't as difficult as everyone keeps making it sound, it's quite simple once you get the hang of it.
The tackling is great. Don't understand the complaints about it. Unlike football games where you can collide with them or push x to dive, you actually have to push A (regular tackle) or Y (strong tackle) to make the hit. Rugby '06 users complained about this difference (mostly when they were getting their butts kicked) but I like this feature. No one goes into a tackle and doesn't do anything. It requires form, and in the off-season my perfect form is pushing A. And the textbook form is exactly what you'd expect to see. No dump tackles or anyone getting laid out. If you bought this game to see huge shoulder charge hits - you don't understand rugby union. Or rugby.
All in all - 5 stars.
it might not be the best game, but it's the best rugby game OUT right now. If you're looking for a game, this is it. | video-games_xbox |
Great console. Add a HDD from Amazon and get a better deal than the 250GB. I have been a PlayStation fan for years. I never really disliked the XBOX, I just preferred the PS. However, I was unaware of the Forza Motorsport racing series until I heard about Forza 4. I was playing Gran Turismo 5 on PS3 and I thought it was great. Then I saw what all Forza 4 had to offer, and that spiked my interest in the XBOX 360, as it is an exclusive title.
I also saw that Skyrim and Crysis 3 were generally playing better on 360 than on PS3, and that kind of surprised me, because the PS3 has a superior processor. The difference though is that the PS3 has a static 256MB of graphics memory and static 256MB of system memory. The 360 has 512MB total memory, and that is dynamically allocated, so depending on how the game is using it, you could have more than 256MB for graphics, and I think that is why those games were playing better. Now, I will say that Skyrim still runs better on PC, but overall, it's pretty smooth on the 360. The only time it hiccups is when you use certain shouts.
Pros (vs PS3 CECH-3001A)
- More available graphics memory, depending on usage
- Faster WiFi (802.11n vs 802.11g)
- Capacitive touch buttons (PS3 got rid of those for some reason, but I think they're cool)
- More USB ports
- Forza and Halo
- Nicer user interface
Cons
- Inferior processor (PS3 Cell Broadband Engine is roughly comparable to earlier model Intel Core i7)
- No Blu-Ray drive
- AV connector that comes with it covers up HDMI port, so you either have to do some trimming or get a different connector if you want your video going over HDMI, but your sound going over analog AV (I have my console connected to my computer monitor. The speakers are separate)
- XBOX Live Gold membership required to use any internet apps.
- No support for Logitech steering wheels (this was rather disappointing, as my 10 year old PC steering wheel worked just fine with Gran Turismo 5 on PS3)
- No ability to re-assign controllers on the fly
But all in all, it is a nice console and it has better exclusive titles available for it. | video-games_xbox |
A game unto itself. Evidently it helps -- as with so many things -- to approach this game without an expectation. Not having played any previous game with a similar title, I had no complaints about what it wasn't.
The pros: the Bard has real character, for better or [mostly] worse. Ignoring the Widow MacCrary, it's nice to hear characters talking the way characters might really talk. Loot the bodies of previous heroes and you get a taunting song reminiscent of the Oompa Loompas in Willy Wonka's factory. Occasional trite moments are often enlivened by commentary or incident that keeps things fresh. If nothing else, you can choose a different response just for variety.
Variety is this game's reigning quality: not in weapons, but in the creatures materialized via song. Many have some crucial strength and weakness, best used in shrewd combinations [once one can summon more than one at a time]. The dog can be a crucial help, once trained.
While this is not really an 'open world' game, there are opportunities to do some areas out of sequence. The game I would compare it to most in this regard would be FABLE, but focusing more on character and humor where FABLE leans more heavily on trade and reputation.
Cons: the overhead view is never really welcome, especially near trees, and sometimes movement gets sticky if not outright glacial. This largely happens when your character is under heavy attack and at risk of death -- a fairly significant glitch. Save points are sparsely distributed, generally upon entering or leaving a new zone; I found it wise to slog back & save after any major engagement, however far I had to go.
Much like JADE EMPIRE or ARX FATALIS, you are invited to augment your character's strengths before you even know how to play the game. I suppose this isn't necessarily a con -- it gives you a very good reason to replay -- but easily leaves you wishing you had decided otherwise [hint: start by putting it into Strength].
This game is a good example of how good scripting can make a decent game into a really good one. It has its flaws -- what game doesn't? -- but the ultimate measure is whether or not it gets played. In my house, it does. | video-games_xbox |
Disappointing. The good:
- SO: TLH has one of the most satisfying fighting systems of all the XBox JRPGs. Simply put, Blindside never gets old. Compared to Tales of Vesperia, you have less skills, but this makes it easier to concentrate on the ones you like. Battles are also more about strategy and less about mashing buttons like in Tales or Eternal Sonata.
- Battles are in real-time and enemies can be seen on screen (no Random Encounters). Lost Odyssey could have been the best RPG on 360 if only did not have Random Encounters.
- Despite what game reviewers have said, the voice acting is good enough. I would put in on par with Tales of Vesperia, Lost Odyssey and Eternal Sonata. Not as good as Mass Effect though.
- There are multiple difficulty settings, which make it easier for anyone to play this game. Easy is easy, so - if you never played this type of game before - fret not.
- While very linear, maps (planets) are huge. Maps are easy to read, albeit when you bring the whole map on screen, you cannot scroll.
The bad:
- The worst thing about SO:TLH is the uncooperative camera. It moves all the time, zooms in and out by its own, making it very confusing to navigate the maps. It's so bad - you can hardly walk in a straight line, without jerking or zooming in. In battles, you are given options to have a better control over the camera, but even that doesn't work as intended.
- Graphics - while not the selling point of any game - do ruin the experience here. Battleships look same or worse than KOTOR2. Planets have poor textures and have limited color palettes. Main characters look great though. Overall - the game just doesn't have the next generation polish that Mass Effect and others have. By comparison, Lost Odyssey looks gorgeous.
- Story and dialogue are very poorly written (or translated??). Yes, even Eternal Sonata was childish, but the story had a soul and you could connect with it. Lost Odyssey was mature (well - most of it) and kept you interested to the end. Tales of Vesperia was witty and had great characters. SO:TLH tries to fill big shoes and just doesn't. It starts cheesy and only gets cheesier.
- Game comes on 3 DVDs. Unlike Lost Odyssey that - with the 4th DVD - allowed you to return to any previous location, in SO:TLH, you will need to swap disks. Not a deal killer per se, but should have been better thought out.
Bottom line:
- if you do not mind turn based battles and random encounters, buy Lost Odyssey - probably best JRPG on 360.
- if you like fast real-time fighting and an engaging story - get Tales of Vesperia.
- if you like real-time fighting and want a more sensible story, get Eternal Sonata.
- if SO is your thing, wait until it hits the bargain bin. | video-games_xbox |
BEST WORLD WAR II GAME EVER MADE. Let me tell you, I have been waiting for this game ever since I saw the first trailer for it back in July of 2004. And it was DEFINATELY WORTH THE WAIT! This is the most realistic, fun, intense, and historically correct war game ever made. CAUTION: PARENTS, THE LANGUAGE IS PRETTY INTENSE IN THIS GAME. But this just adds to the realism of World War II. In this game, you play with a squad of soldiers that were all real soldiers of the 101st Airbourne Division. As the game progresses, you begin to sort of bond and have a relationship with each of your squad members unique personalities. When I lost some of my soldiers later in the game, I was sort of sad. But when you just lose your soldiers in a battle, they will be back in the next day (This is the one unrealistic thing about this game, but this game would be impossible if when they died, they were gone for good).
This game combines the best of Medal of Honor Frontline, Call of Duty, and Full Spectrum Warrior. It combines the first person aspect of Medal of Honor Frontline, the very intense fighting and the realism of weapons as Call of Duty, and the tactical strategy of Full Spectrum Warrior. This game makes you use real military strategies to defeat the Germans. You are equipped with a 3 person fire team and a 3 person assault team in this game. (In the beginning, you just start with a fire team because the rest of your men are scattered over the German countryside due to a misdrop on D-Day). This game basically follows a four step basis: 1) First you must find the enemy, 2) Then you must suppress the enemy with your fire team, 3) Then you must flank the enemy with your assault team, 4) Then you must finish the enemy by moving in with kill.
Here is how I rate the game.
Overall: 11 / 10
Gameplay: 10 / 10
Storyline: 10 / 10
Graphics: 9 / 10
Value: 10 / 10
Sound: 10 / 10 (Once again, INTENSE LANGUAGE)
Realism: 11 / 10
Addictiveness: 999,999,999 / 10
I own basically every single World War II game ever made, and this game is easily my all-time FAVORITE!!!!! Anyone that has watched the popular Band of Brothers series will instantly discover the relationship between this game and the series. I believe that lovers of any genre of war game, may it be World War II, Vietnam, Gulf War, or basically any war game should DEFINATELY BUY THIS GAME!!!!!!! If you're concerned about the price being $50.00, which I was too, DON'T WORRY, IT IS WORTH EVERY SINGLE PENNY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! THIS GAME IS EASILY THE BEST WAR GAME ON THE MARKET!!!! | video-games_xbox |
Don't judge this game with negativity if you don't know what your saying. Resident Evil:ORC for me was a great game but to a lot of reviewers a bad game. I thought the game was fun and entertaining. Remember just because a game got negative reviews from others doesn't mean you review it that way as well. Everyone has their taste in games and as we know, what games people think are bad, others think are great and vice-versa...
Now to the review...
Campaign: By yourself you'll notice that it can be difficult to play because of the lack of support your ai provides but I know that the first time I've played, the ai actually did great for me and healed me when I was hurt. The zombies remind me of left 4 dead zombies, they're very aggressive and dangerous, just how they should be. You can complain that they take more bullets to kill but so what, in some fps, you can shoot someone in the head perfectly and not get the headshot, you know what game I'm talking about. The other Bow's are much weaker than what they were in the original's, lickers suck, no worries about getting your head cut off from them and hunters are a pain because they move around a lot, tyrants are about the same as it was in RE2 and Nemesis was little disappointing because he doesn't sound the same nor attack with the aggression he did in RE3.
Graphics: Typical xbox and ps3 graphics, meaning the game looks great, no complaints there...
Multiplayer: I haven't played all but from the ones I played like,
Team Survivors- Much better than RE5's because not only are you getting points to kill the other team but you get xp for killing zombies and other creatures. You can also upgrade your characters abilities so that's really cool and the maps are big and suited for it.
Biohazard- Basicallly capture the flag
Heroes- You get the team of villians or Heroes, most of the time I'm villians:( but this game type is best described as Search and Destroy. Watch out though because players be sticking together a lot.
Survivor- Didn't play but the title is self explantory
Playing campaign with friends or strangers is so much fun but it's hard to really get a full 4 man team, the online campaign is the best thing about the game!!!
My only problem:
Campaign- too short, glitchy
Multiplayer- hard to focus your shot on target because they're constantly moving anf zombies get in your way, people act like kids and quit just like RE5 when they're loosing:(
Overall: This game is worth buying if your a person that makes his own review on a game and not listen to what other's reviews say about it. I admit, if you had a choice to buy this or Resident Evil 4 when it first came out, lets say both were $6o, I would take 4 over this without question but the game is still worth buying:) | video-games_xbox |
awsome price worked lika charm. I am a computer expert I run a computer business from my home I had a friend that has a son with autism and the belt on his sons Xbox broke so I told him I would come to his work and pick it up so I did.
I read another review that said they replaced it without opening the Xbox I don't recommend that you take it apart completely including removing and opening the drive to replace the belt it takes about 5-10 minutes to open with a jewelers flathead screwdriver a t10 fork but and a small Philips screwdriver.
Be careful opening the Xbox don't force it open take your time.
Thisvwas a 2 yr old Xbox Remove the hard drive after that there are a series of holes under the hdd same on other end as well in those there are release tabs you'll need the tiny flat head to release them just goto to you tube there are all kind of vids that show you how to open it completely.
I replaced the belt and had it back together in about a minute and tested to make sure it worked and well your at it while it's apart take a vacuum I use a small shop vac to vac out all the dust then Remove the rear fan clean the dust of the blades to the fans note the direction of the fans for reinstalling the fans or look on the side of the case to the fans it shows the direction of the airflow with arrows. Also clean the top of the cpu heat sink
These belts fit great unlike what some of the other reviews say they worked like a charm.
My friend payed $80 just to ship it to Microsoft to have the belt replaced plus what ever the charged to replace it unless it was under warranty.
I charged him $40 to replace the belt and clean all the dust out he was really happy and so is his son he texted me when he got home after picking it and texted me a pic of his son playing a game he said pic of approval I said sweet!
So don't look any further buy these you'll have extra for later Xbox is prone to break belts.
Great price worth every pennies I paid and more for nextime.
If your a bit Leary of doing it yourself goto to my Facebook page high performance pc of cape cod and like my page cheap rates great repairs quality work.
This review is being posted on my wife's account she's a student so we get the student prime acct. My name is Glenn see you there I Build and repair pcs as well as i sell tablets and laptops. | video-games_xbox |
Finally a 360 controller that works great on fighting games. I got it today and already I think it was worth the 40 bucks I spent on it. I've been playing Super Street Fighter IV Arcade Edition on Steam and it hasn't been much fun trying to find the right controller for it. A regular 360 controller felt to sloppy, I had a Versus Fightpad for PS3 which was nice until the up-left and down left directions stopped responding all together so games were fun until you get stuck on the right side. A PS2 controller with a USB adapter was fun but I heard about the Razer Onza and read enough good reviews to decide to order it. I have the Tournament Edition and I admit I haven't played with that long but Super SFIV is the best way I can think of to test out the controller and make a solid judgement call on it.
Out of the box, the controller feels very good, it has a really nice grip to it and the overall feel is very good. The cord is like nothing I've felt before, it feels very sturdy and well made, it has kind of a rope texture to it. The face buttons feel different than a regular 360 controller they feel like they take less to push down on, very quick response and great for fast paced gaming, there are four shoulder buttons and two triggers which is cool choice. The four shoulder buttons remind me of the L1 and R1 of the PS3 controller and the triggers are interesting, they protrude more and have kind of a spike design but they press down the same as 360 where it has that attention to how much pressure is applied to the trigger. The start and select are down low on the controller and that kinds some getting used to but it's nice having it out of the way. The D-pad is the star of the show, each direction is split off like any good d-pad which makes it great for 2D fighting games when you want the precision to pull of all sorts of special moves from the Ryu style to M. Bision's charge style. The Analog stick is also very nice, I like the 360 controller but it really is a controller for FPS games and racing. The Onza really feels precise with analog control and I found myself pulling off special, super, and ultra moves with total ease. The controller feels very well made and sturdy, I hope it does last as long as it sounds like it was made to last for. It also works great for PC games since games detect it the same as a MS brand 360 controller, even the Xbox button will bring down the Games For Windows Live sign in menu. If you don't have 200 bucks to spend on an arcade replica fight stick then this would be the best controller alternative that I've used. | video-games_xbox |
A great story that spans across the universe. After taking on the "Star Wars" universe with the Xbox game "Knights of the Old Republic", seems developer Bioware wanted to get in on the space-faring, race-conversing, quest-taking type with their own universe and they went all out as their next big project, "Mass Effect" has a long-reaching mythos and detail that is quite impressive. Bioware has always been known for being excellent storytellers and this game is one of the top stories on the next-gen consoles not because it's rather simplistic but because it's so compellingly written that it does have a "wonder what'll happen next?" feeling about it. The gameplay on the other hand works but then it could've needed refinement and is one of those games that works despite the flaws it has.
Story: In the year 2183, Mankind has been able to get further into space exploration thanks to a cache of technology discovered on Mars. Now able to land on other planets and encounter other races, they mainly work out of the massive space station known as the Citadel which houses the Council, the main governing force of known citadel space and Spectres, elite agents who can get through government red tape and rules to get the job done. But when Saren, one of the top Spectres, goes rogue and allies himself with the malevolent synthetic race known as the geth, it's up to Commander Shepard to travel all over the galaxy to bring him to justice and stop what he's planning.
Graphics: Here's where it gets dodgy since graphics can be divided into 2 categories: the look, or aesthetic, and the performance which is framerate, slowdown, screen tearing and such. On the looks side, Mass Effect is incredibly detailed, great cinematics and photorealistic characters. But then again the framerate gets very chuggy when more than several enemies and powers are on-screen, areas load in the middle of play and textures will arrive seemingly one at a time but then again the Unreal Engine usually has this problem. From a looks standpoint, this game is very impressive but there are quite a few performance details that knock it down.
Sound/Music: The soundtrack to Mass Effect largely consists of space-y synth music, akin to what you'd hear in 80's sci-fi movie soundtracks. It's not that the music is bad mind you it's just that it's somewhat forgettable, working fine in-game but disappearing from your head in the next area. However the voice acting is top-notch with actors such as Family Guy's Seth Green, Star Trek TNG's Marina Sirtis, Lance Henrikson and the Arbiter himself, Keith David. The male and female Shepard's also do a good job with their roles and it does avoid the Bethesda problem of having soundalikes for NPC's.
Gameplay: The bulk of Mass Effect is conversations where you'll talk to almost everybody. Responses can range from helpful and appreciative to downright beligerant and nasty. This can affect parts of the game as diffusing a situation can add some paragon, or good, points whereas being confrontational but actually lead to a full blown fight. Though they are times where the good side has a strange end to the conversation and you're like "this is supposed to be a good thing?" Some of the sidequests also follow this such as one you'll run into where you have to save a crazy woman from killing herself. To be helpful, you have to gain her trust, step closer to her and give her a sedative so she can use it on herself. However if you want to get rough, you can just force it on her or if you're particularly brutal, just ask a sniper to shoot her. It helps to have the choice too unlike say Fallout 3 where it was really "be the softiest saint in the wasteland or the most evil son of a ***** ever", you can be nice to one person and tell somebody else to shut their mouth. Got to love a system that does that.
For the actual gameplay aspect of the game, it's a 3rd-person shooter RPG where you and 2 others run through different terrains and buildings and fight enemy soldiers. The d-pad gives you the option to tell your teammates to take cover, regroup, advance to a specific location or concentrate fire on a target you select. Sometimes I'll press regroup repeatedly and they're nowhere to be seen but generally they're quite helpful. Guns in the game work differently in that you don't have ammo but rather the gun overheats, requiring a few seconds to cool down. Keep firing and it's no good but it's good we don't have to search everywhere just to find that one clip of ammo for that one gun we need to use. It's decent shooting and slightly fun though continuously pausing the game to press LB (weapon changes for the team) or RB (biotics...magic, if you will) kind of breaks the game's flow.
One other part that is unfortunately my least favorite is when you pilot a vehicle called a Mako and travel a planet's surface to get somewhere, find things to salvage or shoot either small geth soldiers and turrets or massive worms. These sidequests are frequently short, repetitive and the Mako drives incredibly poorly but to fully explore the Mass Effect universe you have to drive these things so it's one of those "if I have to" type of deals. That being said there's quite a few planets, some good incentives to look all over the galaxy and they're quite brief so they're not that bad.
Mass Effect's achievements encourage multiple playthroughs which is a good thing because this is a fun game to go through more than once. If you can get past the nagging graphical issues, you'll see Mass Effect is one of the best games you can own for the 360. | video-games_xbox |
The Good, The Bad, & The Reviewed. Red Dead Redemption - Circa 2010
GOOD:
- A good story that mixes elements of historical fiction and a frontier drama epic.
- Really impressive graphics and first-rate animations, that looks just as good as games like Uncharted 2 on PS3 and Gears of War 2 on 360 and Assassins Creed 2 (on both systems).
- Great vistas and sights really drive home the idea and theme of the epic nature of the landscape and the era, the graphics really help bring this game world to life.
- The game world is about twice the size of Grand Theft Auto 4 (and it even comes close to rivaling games like Fallout 3)
- A good variety of missions and missions/side missions/challenges, where you can solve them the way you want in the classic sandbox (aka GTA) fashion.
- A great amount of guns of different types - twice as many as what is found in Grand Theft Auto 4.
- like the first title this one has great sound track too that mixes music of the era during the clam points of the game and more modern cinematic "chase" type of music during the action and shoot outs points of the game.
BAD:
- While you can be a total evil jerk outside in the game world this is at odds with the story missions which paint your character as honorable loving family man. If you choose to play as an outlaw then it's really odd to see in story missions that you're helping others right wrongs and care about justice, but outside these missions you can still kill innocence people and cause all types of mayhem. This could have been fixed with more choices and branching paths in story mode its self like in games such as Mass Effect.
- The second half of the game seems to drag (this is the part which takes place in Mexico, during the revolution), when compared to the first half.
- While the traditional online player modes (like Death Match & Capture the Flag) are all here and lots of fun, they are not adjusted or balance enough for hardcore completive online gaming titles such as Call of Duty and Halo franchises (this was the case with GTA4 as well).
- Watch out for bugs, glitches, and game freezes (hopefully a patch should be out soon enough).
IF IT FITS YOUR TASTE:
- A third person (camera behind the player character) action adventure game. With a focus on shooting, riding horses, and letting beat missions how ever they see fit - it's a very open ended game, gameplay wise.
- A historical third person action game much like Assassins Creed or that takes place during the early 20th century American west.
- If you can stand the structure and nature of Grand Theft Auto games you really may not like this game very much.
- The story is linear, much like GTA4 (and most action/adventure games) you get a chance to make some limited choice story wise, but for the most part the story is like a movie script that you can't change. It's in the actions outside the story where you make the most impact and have the most freedom.
- The game is broken up between two different styles of play, first there is the main story adventure missions which will take the average play 20 something hours to finish. Second there is doing all the side missions (which there are tons) and challenges (also tons) which will unlock more story and items for your use - you can do these at your own time. And let's not forget about the Online Free Roam with other players, which is like a mix between traditional online modes mixed with the freedom found in the single player mode.
- The gunplay is similar to that in GTA4 (in this game you can not turn on/off the target lock system, when its off you can free aim), but reworked to make it work smoother.
- Like in the previous game Red Dead Revolver you can do something called Dead Eye Mode (bullet time), which makes everything turn red and in slow-motion and you can then mark a person with icons, which then at the end of Dead Eye Mode your character will automatically hit those icons really quickly. You build Dead Eye Mode by making regular kills without it.
- The wilderness is filled with all types of wildlife. There are over twenty different kinds of wild and domestic animals. Some will ignore you other might try to eat/kill you if you get to close.
- You can kill and then skin just about every animal in the game (yes even your own horse) and then sell the skins to a fur trader in towns for money.
- There are several different breeds of horse (and one type donkey) you can ride. When you first get a horse, you first have to break in that horse in order to ride it. Also the more you keep to one horse then more it will trust you and the easier it will be to ride and it will follow your commands quicker (this will become more apparent with better more powerful breeds of horse).
- If taking your horse across the land still takes too long (note trails and paths make your travel quicker in the wilderness), you can always use warp points found at camps (that you set up while out in the wilds), as well as use stagecoaches as taxis.
- There are about 15 different outfits you can wear. Some of these outfits give you bourses in areas like combat (increased damage and ammo count), better prices at shops, ect.
- You can not swim in what is considered deep water (any water that can go above your head).
- A sample of activities you can do in this sandbox style game is, save people form gangs, follow up on bounties, hunt animals, watch a silent movies, search for gold, herd cattle, picking herbs and desert flowers, playing poker the old west way and more.
- You can play as a saint or sinner, kill just about anyone and decide the outcome of the fate of innocents; you can also rob peoples, homes, and trains. A type of karma meter (next to your fame meter) tracks your actions and those you help/hurt after a while new people you come across will begin to react to your based on this.
- Building "fame" will open up new missions, and new areas to explore. You build fame by doing story missions and by completing side missions or challenges.
- Break the law and a lawman (sheriff) will come to get you, keep breaking the law and he will form up a posse with other lawmen to hunt you down. If you get away then a bounty is put on your head, then you gotta watch out for bounty hunters.
- You can play a few mini games of the ear such as Poker, Blackjack, Horseshoes, Liar's Dice, and a game called Five Finger Fillet (where you take a knife and stab between the fingers as fast as you can - like that scene in the famed 80's action movie aliens). You can also cheat at these games, but if you get caught by other players they will want to fight you.
- In the game you meet plenty of "Women of ill repute", but unlike GTA4 (and all other GTA games) you can not sleep with them.
- There is also a multiplayer aspect to this game called Free Roam (think of a really graded lobby from the GTA4 multiplayer). Free Roam works by putting you and your party (up to 16 different players per room) in a version of the world of Red Dead Redemption, where you can go anywhere and do almost anything together (see from the sample activities and mini games above). You and your party can also do more traditional activities like death match, team death match, capture the flag (but now it's a bag of gold), cops-n-robbers (from GTA4) and more.
GAME ITS MOST ASSOCATED TOO:
- Gun (360/PS2)
- Grand Theft Auto 4 (360/PS3/PC)
- Assassins Creed 2 (360/PS3/PC)
- Red Dead Revolver (PS2)
ADDITIONAL NOTES:
- This game takes place in 1908, well after most other western titles, "wild west" was already "tamed" by this point. Example the Wright brothers already built and flew the historic first airplane (The Wright Flyer) and this was the same year that Ford Motor Company put out the Model-T to the mass public and World War 1 was about ten years away. Despite this most people in the American mid-west still didn't have electricity and still had never even seen a car - life in most of these then considered rural areas looked as if it was still 1860 until about the 1920's.
- This game is the sequel to Red Dead Revolver on PS2, but has very little to do with that game story wise.
- There is a co-op downloadable content pack for this game coming out sometime in June and it's free.
- As far as preorder downloadable content goes those who got it on Amazon (here) get Golden Guns which builds fame quicker and look cool to boot. Those who got this game from Gamestop get a new 16 outfit called the Deadly Assassins Outfit which makes your Dead Eye meter fill more quickly thus making you more Deadly. And those who got this game from BestBuy got the War Horse which is the strongest and fastest horse in the game. You cannot get theses preorder downloadable content items with the game normally and this is the only way to get your hands on some.
- If you're a member at the Rockstar web site known Social Club ([...]) you can complete extra challenges not normally found in the game for more unlockable goodies you can't get any other way, like in-game power ups (example: getting an ability for your shots to do fire damage) and even Xbox360 Avatar items. | video-games_xbox |
Get ready for the next battle. After a year since it's annoucement for the XB360, Namco's venerable fighting game series has finally debuted and it's definately worth the wait.
I'm sure most of you are familiar with the current storyline which involves Jin kazama's quest for global dominance so I'll skip the synopsis and just get to the basics.
The Good:
Scenario Mode is part brawler as in final fight and part RPG in which you can upgrade your charater's attributes and appearance. throughout the game you will unravel more of tekken 6's story.think of it as an extra game besides the arcade and ghost mode option.
Fighting controls are much better on the XB controller than it's PS3 counterpart.the combos are easy to pull off and with a bit of practice, the controls are second nature.
Customization!! This is the best part of the game next to arcade and scenario mode. i have spent hours upon hours conjuring new characters from my own ideas and a few iconic characters:Dante from Devil May Cry,Rambo,Snake Plissken,The Terminator,Soultaker,Kenshiro,Snake Eyes,Bionic Commando,Bruce Lee,etc.
what's cool is that the weapons like bryan's gatling gun or miguel's pistola are not just for show, you can actually use them by pressing three buttons simutaniously.
The Bad: Poor camera during scenario mode,Lagging during some online matches (however Namco is working on an updated patch that should fix that problem.) and the only way to see the ending of each character is through scenario mode. The music is kinda weak although the yodolling song is cute. Thank god for xbox's custom soundtrack option. (NuMetal Band Disturb's song Decadance is perfect for the final boss round.)
The Ugly: Bob! online players who rely too heavly on cheap/desperate moves.and speaking of cheesy, the last boss Azazel is a pain in the ass. For those who refuse to Man up, try easy mode.
Overall, Tekken 6 is a contender for fighting GoTY and a great diversion from all the FPS as of late. When compared to SFIV, I would give tekken the edge as there are more characters to choose from, more moves,bonus ingame and customization with more colors and features that don't require shelling out MS points. *Cough*Street Fighter 4*Cough* Great game at a great price. You can't go wrong with this gem.
Four Stars! X-Play only gave it three out of five, but then again Adam sessler is a bit anal when it comes to revived franchises;DMC4,RE5,Bionic Commando,etc. | video-games_xbox |
True Crime?......More Like False. I liked the first True Crime a lot so when they announced this game I had high expectations for it. I got it and started to play it and I loved it, I was like YEAH! another True Crime, but then after the first 5 minutes if gameplay it turned into crap. It was kind of like the creators put all there effort into the first five minutes of the game then they were just like "alright lets finish this already." The first five minutes of gameplay are non-stop actionu are in a warehouse killing all these gang members for revenge or something with these two sick Uzi's, BUT THEN a cut-scene happens and all of a sudden alakazam......its crap. After the cutscene you are a cop and it is two years or something into the future and you and your partner are set to go on a mission. You drive there and your partner walks in alone and the whole place explodes. Your cop expectations go down and now oyu must work your way up doing dirty work. Thats basically the whole game, doing dirty work and its not fun at all.
Probably the most fun out of the game is just running around on foot, because the driving is horrible, and arresting random people and showing them your badge and shooting your gun in the air. Everything else sucks. The story-line missions are so boring and pointless. All you do in the story missions are go to this random guy and get told about this bad guy who needs to be in jail but its your job to figure out where he is. So the random guy gives you a list of poeple who might know something about the wanted bad guy. So you go to a warehouse and kill everyone in it and make the person tell you something about the wanted bad guy and then you go to another warehouse and do the same thing about three or four times till you have found enough info on the guy to take him out. Then once you have got that guy the random guy gives you another guy you need to find info about. And thats over and over till the story missions are done, sounds boring...right? Well it is! There are side missions but they suck and are also boring. Like doing missions for your father or taxi missions and racing missions.
The environment is horrible, now i know New York city is awesome and what not, but NYC sucks in a game, like really sucks. First of all the place is so freakin huge that if oyu want to do a mission you have to drive for like five minutes just to get to the person who tells you the mission. Then you have to drive to where the actual mission takes place which is another five minutes. This will keep you from doing the other missions because you will be like....eh i don't want to drive all the way there lets just do this misssion. The car crashing is also horrible. When you crash you most likely do a 180 degree turn, which gets really annoying when you are in a cop chase. Also the place is just boring, its the same looking buildings over and over again and its like never day and ther is always garbage flying across the screen, its like a dump.
OVerall the whole story-line sucks. Basically because there is no specific storyline. The game jst feels like someone regular, normal life, the normal life of a cop. The sound sucks too, especially the cars. When you crash it is the most irritating noise and the cutscene volume is so low while the gameplay volume is super high. So you will turn up the volume while in a cutscene and forget to turn it lower for gameplay and your ears will blow out from the noise. The controls are also bad. Since its like just based on a normal life of a cop you are able to do all the normal things making you use all buttons on the controler. I mean the back button shoot in the air, now when is the back button ever used except for menus. The fighting stile is cool but it kind of gets confusing with all the buttons you have to press.
You are able to do all the same things as the first like badge showing and arresting and fighting moves and shooting in the air. Really the most fun i have in the game is driving at full speed in a car and when someone does that stupid thing, like in all games, where they change lanes and get infront of you to make you crash; so i slam into them from the back and then make them get out of the car and arrest them, because in all other games you can't do anything about it, like GTA.
Overall this game is bad and not what it could have been or should have been. I would not recommend this game to anyone, its just so bad. IF you True Crime fans want to try it be my guest, but you will be surely disappointed. All you other people if you want to rent it just for the first five minutes of the game go ahead. This game is M for Mature: Blood and gore, intense violence, strong language, strong sexual content, use of drugs. | video-games_xbox |
Microsoft will lose sales overall. I wrote a seller review stating it came earlier than it was supposed to arrive, and that they gave me exactly what I ordered, figured I would open with that.
The console itself drove me nuts for several days and to a point still does.
First thing on my list that annoyed the living crap out of me was the fact you need to install literally ever game you play, disk games included. That doesn't seem so bad at first but when you realize you are missing out on over 100GB of storage space from all the crap microsoft put on there you start sweating when you look at the list of games you want to play. After installing the 2, A.C. Unity and Black Flag (I don't care for Unity by the way), games I got with the console and then adding in "Halo Master Chief Collection," to the hard drive I started looking at a few other games like I was about to play a game of real life vs digital storage style Tetris.
When I finally decided what games to have frequent access too vs uninstalling a game and installing something else to play something two hours into the future.... My next major complaint was the install/update speed. Now I have an ASUS AC3100 with over 50MB connection speed, I run my PC on wireless all day and never have an issue. However watching the install/update times was a lot like watching paint dry and literally about the same speed.
Also you can no longer send voice messages to people, only text messages. In order to voice chat you must use party. That might be something that microsoft sends out a patch for later.
Final complaint was the horrible dashboard, the navigation is terrible and nothing is simplified. It seems Microsoft forgot the phrase, "more options is no options." No I don't want your terrible Microsoft Edge browser on my Xbox, I don't want to stream videos, or games, I don't want widgets and gadgets I will never use taking up that precious 500GB for my video games. (382GB with all the stuff they have on there) I bought the console for video games, I did not buy it for a computer, I have a computer for that.
The good news is, I can play games on it now, only took a few days to get going on it. | video-games_xbox |
Very good game, but not as good as original; way too short. I had this game on preorder for nearly a year, and when it came out I purchased the HALO 2 special edition box that came with, the tin case and two CD's one with the game on it, and one with a DVD showing the making of Halo 2. I was also told that there would be a CD with the Halo 2 soundtrack. When I first opened the tin case, I expected a separate place to store each CD, however, the two CD's were stored in the same place on top of each other. Not a big deal, but its kind of cheap that they would do that. Also there is no soundtrack in the special edition case.
Overall Halo 2 is a very good game, but not as good as the original in my opinion. I originally thought this game was painfully boring, but the later levels in this game were in fact very fun and involving. I just wish it could have been a little longer and also the middle levels to be as fun as the last ones.
Graphics: The best part of this game is the graphics. The graphics in Halo 2 are much clearer and crisper than the original, and is the best of my XBOX collection. If you don't look hard enough, you will think that you are watching a movie. The characters and textures in this game are rendered near perfectly and also the lighting effects were done very well. The scenery looks almost lifelike especially when you are outside. These are the best graphics I have seen in a game ever in my opinion. Graphics get a perfect 10.
Sound: The sound in this game is also very well done; the biggest disappointment here however is that the sounds of the guns do not have the "punch" as the weapons from the original game. Everything sounds like a BB gun, the only gun that sounds pretty good is the sniper rifle. The voiceovers are a nice touch and I like them fairly well. Even though some of the Covenant voiceovers are cheesy. The music is also pretty well done, but falls a bit short of the original game.
Gameplay: This is what hurts the game the most. Bungie did not do a good job of getting you involved in the game on the first and middle levels. I mean you are there, but you don't feel like you are there. The game does not really have any distinct mission goals and is basically a shoot everything that moves game. There is no shortage of enemies you will often find you run out of bullets and have to run around picking up guns off the ground. The annoying flood is back and they are still very annoying, they even made those flood "bugs" stronger, and they will kill you if you don't shoot them. In the first Halo, you could just let them pop off of you and your shield will only be damaged a little. Now if you do that, you shield will go down fast and you will die fast. Another annoying thing about the game play is that you have no idea how much energy you have left once you loose your shield, expect a lot of "random" deaths because you just don't expect something just brushing up against you to kill you. The middle levels are looooong, repetitive and boring. Good thing you can save at anytime your last checkpoint so you don't have to sit at the TV for an hour just to complete one level. However, like I mentioned earlier, the later levels are very fun to play and once I got past the last boring level in the game, I played Halo all the time.
Another thing I must mention about the game is that I really don't like how the game switches control between the Master Chief and a Covenant arbiter. It sucks and makes the game a bit confusing. The corniest part of the game is that every character can drive every vehicle, yep, Covenant can ride in Scorpions in the human warthog. If you think that is bad then please let me finish, the flood too can ride in human and covenant vehicles. They can't walk straight or barely shoot, but they have enough dexterity to operate a tank or jeep? Please!! Get the hell out of here!!! When I first saw a warthog driving towards me shooting at me, I thought it was the covenant, but when it got closer, I saw it was the flood riding 3 deep in the warthog! One in the driver's seat, one in the passenger seat and one in operating the turret!! When I first saw that I nearly burst out laughing, it had to be funniest thing I seen in a video game in a long time.
I pushed through the boring levels, and was very impressed with the final ones. However the ending was very disappointing. I could not believe it was over that quick. In fact, when I first beat the game, for some reason my XBOX did not play the credits, and I was returned the to main menu after a final cut scene, so I played the final part of the game again, and this time I did get the credits. I just stared at the screen in disbelief, as I could not believe that this game was over so quickly. On top of that, it leaves you hanging, I guess that was Microsoft's idea, in order to get even more anticipation for Halo 3, which almost certainly will come out based on Halo 2's ending!
I am pretty satisfied with the game overall, does it live up to the hype? Not in my opinion, but it still is a great game. I originally said I hated it, but I am glad I did give it a chance.
I don't plan to play on XBOX live because it is saturated with immature kids who act stupid and mess up the game. Not to mention all the lame cheaters on XBOX Live. In fact I am going to cancel my subscription before it renews next year! | video-games_xbox |
This is a game still in development. I hope. Based off of these reviews and those I found on IGN, I chose to wait on the purchase of Horizon. When I saw the Microsoft Store had it on a Black Friday sale for $14.99 I picked it up. Like many others I believe this game is an initial launch and should have been treated/cost as such. Think of the Gran Turismo 5 prequel. It initially cost $40-$50, but they, like Microsoft, soon realized it was not complete and should not cost as such. Plus GT5 was a complete waste of time. Now Microsoft, Turn10, and Playgound are gouging MS Points and Tokens to expand the game appropriately it comes across as a thinly veiled attempt to obtain more revenue to bring the game up to par.
I have high hopes that over the next few months they will release more locations (which will cost $$) and up to date vehicle packs (again more $$), but for the moment it works very well as a $15 game and with the expanded packs, should they come, it may balance out to a full priced game.
For those who paid full price or worse yet got the Limited Edition I would actually inquire with Microsoft to see if you can be refunded in MS Points or be given some form of credit for helping to establish the Horizon community. If I paid between $50-$75 for a game and then saw it a month after release at $15 I would be extremely upset. Horizon has the potential to be a great game, it just needs to grow. I think Turn 10 and Playground are relying too heavily on there being an always expanding online community. As we have seen with other driving games this is never the case...See 'Need For Speed Hot Pursuit' for clarification.
While online communities are great, they always fluctuate and there is little incentive to keep going back if your rivals never update and you and your friends move on to other games. You need to have a solid standalone mode to ask for the kind of money they want for this. It is not Call of Duty or other FPS games that already have established online systems. Online racing is still developing and will likely take a step back after this release. | video-games_xbox |
Advice From a former Gen 10 Level 50 Pilot. TL;DR:
Titanfall 2 is a decent FPS that has a MUCH better campaign than the last game in the series. The campaign is short but good, and the story is engrossing. Multi-player is a mixed bag. There are some good and bad maps, but they generally lack the vertical nature of the ones from the original Titanfall which means you won't get as much use out of your jump kit and wall-running as you used to. The matches are slow compared to the original but on par with what I've experienced with CoD games. If you're new to the series and like FPS games, pick it up. You'll like driving a titan. If you're a returning veteran, see if you can buy it used. Like so many other games / movies / ect, it's not as good as the first (multi-player only).
Full review:
I played the first Titanfall for way more hours than I'd probably like to admit. I love that game. So much so I couldn't stop until I was a Generation 10 Level 50 pilot (for the non-Titanfall crowd, that's the highest rank you can get in the game). There were so many things to love about the original I was hopeful the sequel would carry the torch. In some ways it has, and in others it falls short.
Gameplay:
It plays pretty much the same as the first, which is to say there's a big focus on your jump kit and wall-running. That works great for the campaign, but I was surprised with how it integrated into the multi-player (more on this in a moment). Outside of that, they added a slide maneuver when you're playing as the pilot reminiscent of the one in CoD: Ghosts. It comes in handy and is a great addition.
Titans:
Okay. Some people will probably really like the changes they made with respect to the titans. I am not one of them, for the most part. In the first game there were 3 titan chassis to pick from, and you could modify your chosen chassis in a multitude of ways. In Titanfall 2, there are 6 different kinds of titans to choose from, but each has a set weapon loadout. I cannot, for example, choose the Ronin (a fast, light titan with a sword) and outfit it with a chain gun. It comes with the weapon it comes with and that's that. You can make it look pretty with a fancy paint job or nose art, but you can't change the basic weapon kit. You can also choose your perks but those don't work the same way they used to. They now have a "warm up" period before you can use things like the electric smoke which, in the first game, was available as soon as your titan hit the ground. I'm not a fan of this change as it slows the game down. Which is a theme you'll see in the multi-player section as well. Each titan also has an "ultimate" ability which we're seeing more and more in FPS games these days (CoD, Overwatch). A concept like this was present in the first one too, which was also driven by the choice of titan. The new "ultimates" aren't bad and can be pretty powerful if used correctly. Assuming you survive long enough to use them, anyway. Regardless, the titans feel really restricted now since I can't make it my own. They've really limited the creativity players can use when putting together a loadout that the opposition wouldn't expect.
Campaign:
The first Titanfall had a "campaign" if you can call it that. The lack of a real campaign was probably the biggest critique out there. EA and Respawn certainly heard that as they included a better campaign this time around. Don't get me wrong, it's not a long campaign. Not by a long shot. Unless you're cautiously creeping through each mission and never using the sprint button I'd be shocked if it took you longer than 6 hours to complete. That being said, it was a very engrossing plot. It lived up to the hype of exploring the bond between pilot and titan, and I found myself very immersed throughout the missions.
Multi-player:
This is where I love the game and hate the game as the same time. For a lot of reasons. Time for sub-sections.
1) The leveling up system in multi-player is different but not terrible. You level up as a pilot for the merits you earn (essentially XP) and you level up the weapons and titans you use based on your performance with them. Each time you level up your pilot or your weapons, you get access to a previously locked option. In some cases it a new pilot perk or a new sight for your weapon. In others it's the ability to paint your rifle like a tree.
2) Despite the fact that it seems to be a higher time-to-kill than last game, the matches feel SO SLOW. As I mentioned before, there is a major emphasis on your jump kit and wall-running in the campaign mode just as there was in the first one. Many of the maps in Titanfall 2 encourage this as well, but not nearly to the level of the first game. Last time we had industrial complexes, small cities, and maps with lots of vertical objects to run on/around. This time the maps feel a lot less vertical and some don't really have much use for wall-running at all. Which leads to slower gameplay. Titanfall was known for it's run-n-gun, break neck match pace. Titanfall 2 put the brakes on big time. Not only with the map design but also with the amount of time it takes to get your titan. So you end up with more of a stalking match than a hit-and-run match. This is especially true once you get your giant metal beast. They feel a lot more fragile than the last game so I've noticed a lot of players will be very conservative with them, not wanting to get into the mix because it takes FOREVER to get another one.
3) I miss the challenge system of old. I remember the days when I was stuck at Generation 5 level 50 because it took me FOREVER to shoot the requisite number of pilots out of the air after they ejected from their titans to complete the "Gooser" challenge. In the first game you not only had to earn enough XP to get all the way to level 50 before you could move on to the next generation (essentially starting back at level 1 and having to work your way back up again...CoD calls this "prestige"), you had to complete various challenges along the way. Some of these were freaking hard. And I loved it. But alas, that's not present this time around. Which is too bad. That was part of what made regenerating so much fun.
If you read past the TL;DR, I hope you found the rest of this helpful. Overall it's not a bad game, but it's not what I (and a lot of other Titanfall fans) wanted it to be. If this is your first foray into the Titanfall series, you'll probably enjoy it. If you're a veteran, it'll make you miss the first one but you'll be able to tolerate most of the differences. | video-games_xbox |
Former PS3 owner loving the Xbox One experience. Although I would have never considered myself a fanboy, I did own a PS3 in the last generation and loved it for everything from first party titles, free online play and a blu ray player
BUT I now find myself a happy convert to the Xbox One and here's why....
Consumer tech has made serious strides in the past 7 or 8 yrs since the last gen consoles and for $400-$500, I wanted something that did something more with all that hardware than an upgrade in graphics and a few features that PCs have been doing for years already. The reason I buy consoles in the first place is because they integrate into the living room better than PCs.
Controlling the console with your voice, skyping with friends and integrating interactive apps with TV is amazing. Of course it is not perfect but it will constantly be improving and it worked well enough for my tech illiterate dad to use it over christmas break. Seeing him use voice to control the TV Tony Stark style and celebrating MSU's rose bowl win with a friend cross country via skype on the same screen I'm watching the game gives me future chills. It is AWESOME!
NOW FOR THE DOWNSIDES...
-The controller requires batteries that you have to replace. That's a pretty cheap omission Microsoft. Sony has had rechargeable controllers since the PS3! The one saving grace is that the batteries don't run out of juice nearly as fast as you think they would.
-Needing to pay for Xbox Live to stream Netflix is a dirty slap to the face for the people who paid $500 DOLLARS for a console. There is really no good justification for that. The only reason that it didn't offend me more is that I planned to buy gold and knew about the policy prior to buying.
-Micro-transactions. The only thing that could really sour my next gen experience is the emerging trend of micro transactions that are quite present in games like Forza 5. Due to inflation ($60 game in 2013 represents about $50 in buying power at the start of last gen, basically a $10 per copy up front revenue decrease right for the gate) and the cost of making more advanced games, I realize that developers need more revenue from somewhere but there HAS to be a better model out there.
If anything changes I'll be sure to update the review. Loving the "one" so far! | video-games_xbox |
Just what I expected from Crytek . One of the things that I have learned over the years is that Crytek ( the creators of this game and also the developers for the Crysis series ) Makes some of the best games you would ever want to play.. This game is no exception , from start to finish the game had me so enthralled in the story I just didn't want to stop playing..
If you are one of those people that think this game is just a game of quick time events ( QTE ) you would be completely wrong.. You have to initiate the QTE .. The fighting machanics of this game can be easily compaired to the batman games , they are fast and fluid.. You will need to rely heavily on your blocking/shield , without it you will die very quickly. Once you get the block , stagger , and attack combonations down its pretty much smooth sailing from there on out.. Im not saying it's completely easy from there but everything is alot more managable after you get everything down. YOU WILL STILL DIE THROUGH OUT THE GAME !! You will run into hords of ememies that at some points seem overwhelming , but after you die a few times you will see the things you are doing wrong and correct it.
The graphics are nothing but amazing in this game and simply something that could not be accomplished with the previous generation ( Xbox 360 , PS3 ) . Everything is just so detailed and beautiful to look at. I have found that after clearing an area of enemies I like to stop and just look around and appreciate the surroundings I am playing in..
In my opinion this game is nearly flawless and deserves nothing less than a 5 out of 5.. Don't listen to the paid professional reviews , if you want a real honest and truthful review , just read the user reviews.. There have been so many times I have seen profesional reviews really trounce on a game and give it poor reviews but doesnt reflect the actual user reviews that are much higher. One of the worst reviews I have ever seen was by Adam Sessler from G4 tv reviewing Darksiders.. I can't remember exactly what score he gave it but he gave either a one or two star review.. That was a totally inacurate review of the game.
<a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/Darksiders-II-Xbox-360/dp/B0056WJA30/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">Darksiders II Xbox 360</a>
Look at the actual user reviews. What I'm trying to tell you is to look for yourself and play the games you want instead of listening to the '" professional " reviews.. As a matter of fact Sessler even gave this game a bad review and even admitted in his review he didn't complete the game..
On a final note , just pick up the game and play it if you are interested , it really is an excellent game and one that you will always remember.. | video-games_xbox |
A decent B-movie title. I bought it sight unseen, just saw the box in the store and decided to give it a try.
The reviews have been mixed, but it's a fun game. The game is a mash up of the Rocketeer, Indiana Jones, and Stargate. You get trapped by the Bermuda Triangle, wake up in a jungle that has no business being there, and then find out... well, that would be telling. The music score has some really nice moments. It was written by Bear McCreary, who did the scoring duties on Ron Moore's Battlestar Galactica remake, Terminator: The Sarah Conner Chronicles, and currently, the show Human Target.
It's some levels of third person shooter, some of flying in a rocket pack blowing up baddies. The flying thing takes practice to get good at, but it's worth it. I'm really enjoying it from a playing perspective. Yeah, the game is about the length of Ghostbusters, but as you get better weapons and used to the interface, I find it has a fun replay value.
The mixed reviews are somewhat justified, and it's mainly about the little things. Like Batman AA or Bioshock, you pick up journals, but you have to read them yourself, and the interface to do so is clunky by the standards of those other two games. To the Devs: the point of journals should be fun, to add to the audible landscape while playing. At the very least, the fragments could have arranged themselves to single documents or even order for ease of reading.
As I said earlier, the story isn't groundbreaking, but there is a fair amount of exposition, though I thought the voice acting held to a pretty good standard. By the end, you just wish it would have gone up to the next level. If they had added a few more scenes showing the story of Ava and William, maybe more of an intro to William's life as a pilot for hire instead of a clumsy intro to the rocket pack, and not had Ava disappear for no good reason for a portion of the game, it would be the title it could have been. As it is, I wouldn't pay console prices for it, but the PC title, to me, was a fair value. | video-games_xbox |
Never In A Million Years. For those of you that haven't seen the movie (and there's many), let me lay to rest all of your speculations about this game. I know them because I had them as well.
The seventies sucked. Playing as members in a street gang during the seventies, surrounded by afros and leather vests sucks as well. But believe it or not...this game is good.
Flawed, yes...but damn good.
The fighting engine in this baby is incredible, as are the combo moves and the general elements of mayhem open to the player.
At any given point you can mug people, steal car radios, break into jewelry stores, etc. etc.
The story mode itself is a plethora of (pinatas) mini-games that are actually well-imagined and fun. After every mission you return to the "hangout", where you can choose to advance to the next level, free-roam, workout, or enter "rumble mode"---which is worth the price of the game itself.
You can create a gang from the many members of every gang featured, and pit them against a CPU gang or against your pals.
The game is extremely brutal, even more so than the GTA series, and it has moments of hilarity. Your fellow gang bangers are not outside of your wrath. While chilling in the hangout, pick up a chair, start a conversation with another gang member, and then halfway through his rant break the chair over his head. Unlike most games, you'll actually interrupt his conversation to hear him yell, "WHAT THE F@#$ MAN!" or "COOL OUT, MAN!"
This alone is worth my $50. Pound your gang members long enough, and they'll actually get tired of your crap and beat hell from you.
Best Rockstar game yet? Let's not forget GTA3 so quickly. And despite how groundbreaking and innovative this game is, at it's core it is still a fighting game, and can get hackneyed within eight hours of gameplay or so.
However, is "The Warriors" a large step forward from Rockstar titles like "Manhunt" and "Red Dead Revolver"?
Oh yeah. | video-games_xbox |
More of the same whether you like it or not. I've enjoyed the Assassin's Creed franchise up till now. The platforming, the city, the crowds, the missions...there really isn't new anything here you haven't seen before. If you're new to the franchise, this probably won't be such a bad thing and you will probably enjoy this game immensely. For me, though, this game feels more like add-on content for its two predecessors than its own game.
Action games and movies don't let a good story get in the way of fun, and the story coming out of this franchise is all over the place. From the "present day" where Desmond is (the guy who has ancestral memories locked away in his DNA), to the hidden modules in the Animus (the machine that reads Desmond's DNA and recreates the sequences of events from his ancestors), to whoever the bad guys are in the actual period gameplay (you're typically introduced to the bad guys right before they die, so who even cares who they are?), this story would fall completely apart if not for the free-running fun that the game builds its foundation on.
But if you've played either of the two AC games that came before it, you may find you're playing the exact same game with different window dressing, because that's all this is at this point. If you're looking for boss fights, well there really aren't any. Most of the people you kill are wimps, even the powerful political figures in the game, they just have a few more guards. There isn't a point in upgrading weapons because you can just counter kill your way through as many people as they throw at you. It appears the greatest chance you have at dying in this game comes from controller and user having different ideas of where "jump here" means, sending you careening to your death.
Don't even get me started on the tedious and boring "defend your hideout" missions or the regularity you need to check in on your Craigslist assassins who do jobs for you in other cities. (If you don't know what I'm talking about here, don't worry, it isn't any fun)
If you're looking to try out this franchise for the first time, I'd recommend trying out Assassin's Creed II first, as it is the intersection of where the best gameplay and story was to be had (not to mention you can find it pretty cheap this holiday season). The Italian locations were much more refreshing and exciting than going through a very bland Istanbul/Constantinople. Please don't take this advice if you are shopping for your kid, however, because kids are very specific and don't look very highly upon substitutes, especially if they want the "new one" and all you can offer is the "old one." | video-games_xbox |
A Step In The Right Direction. This game is a step in the right direction and a good start for a first game by a first time developer, the AI needs some tweaking but overall is a big step in the right direction. The graphics are satisfactory and are respectable enough, especially for this studio being new and this being their first game. The career mode in NASCAR Heat Evolution is a tremendous step in the right direction, team management, and building up to become a good team, it is a great career mode. The physics are generally very good, they do need to do some work with restrictor plate racing at tracks such as Daytona and Talladega, drafting, gears, and speed need some minor work. Cars also are bouncy when you bump into each other making contact Ravi g hard and unrealistic, if you bump into another car you basically ping off them, which is a minor issue they plan to address. The console controllers handle NASCAR Heat Evolution very well, the developers put a lot of work into making the steering, gas, and brake controls excellent in this game and they certainly succeeded in that.
Overall this game is worth the buy, it has some annoyances which are to be expected for a first game by a new developer. I believe it to be a step in the right direction and have potential to become an amazing game. Future NASCAR games by this developer will certainly be impressive.
I encourage users to tell developers at DMR what they don't like and what they want that way future updates to this game can address it, it can also influence future NASCAR games by DMR. They need feedback.
There are a lot of negative reviews, they look at the minor negatives and ignore the many positives. I'm sure DMR will address the annoyances and issues in the game as they are brought to their attention.
PS:
The AI is unlike any other and races you smart, which will take some getting used to. Give the game a day or two to get used to, once you get used to the game and how it handles it becomes a lot more enjoyable. | video-games_xbox |
Still Alittle more room to improve. After playing this game, I felt that it is definitely an improvement over the first "RAW" title on XBOX. However, there could still be a little more improvement made to enhance the game. The good part of the game: more wrestlers, you can find most of the wrestlers wrestling in this time to be in the game and the good thing is you can edit their costume to update them. GREAT GREAT CAW mode, RAW 1's create a wrestler mode was definitely lacking, you creat big ugly looking wrestlers that just look like real wreslter wresling a doll, in this model NO MORE, you can upload your own music and make your own Titantron, although in that field it was still a tiny bit lacking because there is only certain moves you can show in the titantron. Moves: there were alot new moves added, and even if you are creating a wrestlers whose move is not in the selection, you can probably find something like it. Now the downside, there are still UGLY UGLY models of wrestlers in the game. Triple H was ugly in RAW 1, they have fixed that problem but if you look at the noses of Billy Kidman and Goldberg in this game you would think Triple H in RAW 1 model was actually detailed. Lack of variety of matches: RAW 2 definitely has more types of matches than RAW 1 where it was either Pin only, submission only, and hardcore, but RAW 2 still just stuck with the most basic of basics of matches (table, ladder, tlc, hell in a cell, cage, handicap, battle royal, and royal rumble) they did not come up with anything creative like Smack Down did. Stupid AI: sometimes computer gives you a good match, other times computer stands around and look at you, other times when you almost beat the opponent they charge at you with rampage of attacks that will keep you down, other times they just pin you OVER and OVER and OVER and OVER AGAIN! Ladder Matches are also very difficult to win (TAP LIKE CRAZY!)Sound: there still isn't any commentary, the annoying music in the back is irritating, and the wrestlers somewhat sound alike. Storyline: there basically isn't a story line, the part where it says wrestlers personalities tells it all, you find ones with opposite personalities and it is real hard to challenge someone to a match right off the top. Overall, this still brings the thrill of a wrestling game, but it is still lacking in some fields, but it still cuts it if you are just playing matches not trying to discover features.
Graphics: 7.5
Sound: 7.0
Gameplay: 9.0
Storyline: (not much storyline so Ima skip this catagory)
Replay Value: 9.0
Overall: 8.125 | video-games_xbox |
The Chief returns . at the end of halo 3 when master chief told cortana to "wake me ..when you need me" it signified the end of a fantastic trilogy in gaming and pop culture history..but we all knew that the chief would come back sometime... because well, hes just too cool to never hear from again..
when it was announced that bungie would not be doing another halo game after halo reach..fans (myself included) was concerned..but 343 studios knew what they had here and treated the halo universe with respect..and now we have the start of a new chapter in the chiefs adventures..
picking up 4 years later after the events in halo 3 the chief is still in cryosleep abord the ship " forward unto dawn" where something goes wrong..cortana is activated wondering what to do ..she takes action..the cryo tube opens.. and let the fun begin!
the graphics in halo 4 are outstanding..and they really push the xbox 360 to the limit and then some... for example.. the prologue where dr halsey is being questioned about why the spartans were really created and we see john117(thats the chief to you newbies) as a child being adapted into the program....well, its almost lifelife! top notch graphics rendering...proving once again why the xbox 360 is still a force to be delt with ...
the gameplay here is the same as you know and love..no big changes..which is a good thing..I got this on christmas morning and 10 minutes later im blasting my way out of the forward unto dawn.. later on you'll get new weapons also..some that will take a few to get used to.. but everything else that you love about the halo saga is here..from engaging characters to kick ass weapons to the master chief himself...its all here.
we also meet a new threat..one thats a bit more hostile than the covenant ever was..bottom line halo 4 is worth picking up.. this is THE game of the year for the 360..
i haven't had the chance of going online to try the spartan ops or multiplayer as of yet because im still enjoying the single player mode..but i will shortly.. :) Bring on halo 5 | video-games_xbox |
A mediocre hack and slash. I really wanted to like this game. I was itching to play a quality hack and slash like god of war and saw some positive reviews for this game. Sadly I was disappointed by the overall experience.
Gameplay:
It's your basic hack and slash full of combos, a leveling system that allows to you unlock more moves and some spells that you gradually gain as you progress. The combat is definitely fun for the first few hours, the finishing moves look awesome and the little effects and contrasts between holy and unholy really pop. However, as the game drags on, the combat just becomes a chore, as yet again you are trapped in an arena to finish off a wave of demons. The puzzles that are peppered throughout the game are extremely basic and awkward at best. Weird camera angles and somewhat unprecise platforming controls make for a frustrating experience.
Graphics:
The visual style of Dante's Inferno has high points and low points. The 2D cutscenes are well done and just as good as the 3D cutscenes. The design of some of the levels and the enemies is both fantastic and gruesome when you look at the attention to detail. The different circles of hell are appropriately themed and styled very differently. Unfortunately this creates a sort of hit and miss situation. Some backgrounds and levels just look boring, as if the developers just decided to stop caring and slap something together. A lot of times, the overuse of dark, demonish colors of red and black (it is hell after all) simply gets unappealing. In certain situations the graphics just look unrefined.
Replay value:
Sadly this is something I cannot comment on. I wasn't even able to make it through the game once. I really tried, but in the end it just was 100% not fun for me anymore. I know there potentially is some replay value if you choose to go a different route (holy vs unholy) but this is trivial at best.
Overall, Dante's Inferno was a disappointment. I knew before I bought it that it probably wouldn't compete against the likes of God of War, but it was still a major letdown. Definitely rent this game before you decide to buy. | video-games_xbox |
Minor gripes but otherwise Fantastic. Works great so far. It has a decent look to it, as there really isn't much else they could have done to make it look better. The HD fits in easily, the product sits on top of the Xbox pretty nice, and the cord for the USB to Xbox is nice how its cut and grooved to fit around to the back of the Xbox. I installed a Seagate 2TB SSHD and games and apps load up just as quick, if not quicker than they would have on the console's internal HD. So there really isn't much of an issue as to what games should get preference on the internal HD or the external, except maybe if you wanted to go to a friend's house and didn't want to wait to download the game.
I would have given this five stars but there are very minor things that take away from the overall experience of this HD enclosure:
1) It doesn't make up for the use of one of the USB slots. Other enclosure's have made up for taking up a USB slot by adding extra USB slots to the front or sides which is really nice since there wasn't too many to begin with. Although a lot of those only take 2.5" HD's it was just a nice thing that this company could have added to the enclosure that would really set it up in comparison with those.
2)It needs its own power source as it doesn't use power from the Xbox to run the HD. This isn't a major issue, as generally there are plenty of available power outlets around a TV or gaming area, but it would have been nice if everything was less cluttered. The plug is also a little bigger than a normal plug, so it might overlap onto outlets as well. This isn't a reason not to get it, as its not a huge issue, but its worth noting that other enclosures don't need an external power source. But again, many of those also don't support 3.5" drives either.. so its something to keep in mind.
3) It makes a verrrryyy slight noise. This is expected. In fact, this isn't even a problem on the enclosure's part. The SSHD I installed obviously has moving parts and that's the source of the noise. And this might just be me being really picky, and asking for too much, but it would've been nice to add sound insulation to the insides of the enclosure to nearly eliminate any noise that could come from an installed HD.
Id give this a 9/10 if I had to be specific. Other enclosures have had some complaints from some users and I would just like to say that this was painless and a breeze to install. No special prep for the HD or enclosure was needed. just plug everything in and you're ready to go. If I had to recommend an enclosure to anyone it would definitely be this. | video-games_xbox |
Absolute Value for Money - Great Product. I recently bought a sony Blu-Ray DVD player <a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/Sony-BDP-N460-Blu-ray-Disc-Player-Black/dp/B002PHM0XQ/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">Sony BDP-N460 Blu-ray Disc Player (Black)</a> as a part of package with an LCD HT tv. Although the Blu-Ray player claims you can watch streaming video content on it. It is missing an integrated WI-FI and a USB drive to buffer the content. These have to be purchased separately.
To connect the BDP-N460 to a network would be easy if you have an existing wired network in the vicinity of your DVD player. Any lack thereof you would need to get an ethernet bridge or a Gaming adapter to talk to your wireless router.
Sony recommends Linksys WET610N Wi-Fi bridge (which i am sure is a fine product albeit being more expensive).
Hence I bought the more affordable TRENDNET Wireless N Gaming Adapter <a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/TRENDnet-Wireless-N-Gaming-Adapter-Black-TEW-647GA-V1-0R/dp/B0024G48VA/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">TRENDnet Wireless N Gaming Adapter-Black (TEW-647GA) (V1.0R)</a> (Version 1.0R).
This product is surprisingly small in size and slim in aesthetics. Can easily be hidden in your media cabinet.
Set is very easy. If your WI-FI network has a straight forward configuration. <a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/TRENDnet-Wireless-N-Gaming-Adapter-Black-TEW-647GA-V1-0R/dp/B0024G48VA/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">TRENDnet Wireless N Gaming Adapter-Black (TEW-647GA) (V1.0R)</a> has a simple set up button on top.
However, if your WI-FI configuration is more complicated, TEW-647GA ships with a setup CD/DVD, that will take you through a few easy steps to get <a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/TRENDnet-Wireless-N-Gaming-Adapter-Black-TEW-647GA-V1-0R/dp/B0024G48VA/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">TRENDnet Wireless N Gaming Adapter-Black (TEW-647GA) (V1.0R)</a> configured for your secure settings.
It took me less than 2 minutes to get it first configured on my laptop and connect it to the BDP-N460 blue-ray player. I was able to watch streaming Netflix movies in HD in no time. The steam rate was so good it played like a DVD.
Am sure it is a great delight for Gamers as well. In case you need to share this with other devices in your entertainment array. use a network switch between your devices and <a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/TRENDnet-Wireless-N-Gaming-Adapter-Black-TEW-647GA-V1-0R/dp/B0024G48VA/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">TRENDnet Wireless N Gaming Adapter-Black (TEW-647GA) (V1.0R)</a>.
In short a great product that gives you value for your money. | video-games_xbox |
Impressive, but could be better for beginners. I'm fairly decent at playing guitar in Harmonix' Rock Band, but I've never played a real guitar before. After spending a few hours with the game, I can confirm that if you really want to play guitar, but you're bored with videos or books, then this game will teach you how to play guitar. However, I found that playing real guitar is actually quite difficult, so I don't think that I'll be mastering it.
Some reviews have blasted the dynamic difficulty, but I think it's great. Unlike Rock Band, this game does not punish you for missing notes. Everything about the game is geared toward improving your real guitar skills. Rock Band, on the other hand, offers no assistance -- your only option is to keep practicing (and failing) until you get it right.
There are a few quirks to the gameplay that could be fixed. Since you're using a real guitar, you also have to have a standard Xbox controller. Sometimes you're asked to strum your guitar to continue even though you have the controller in your hand. The load times are long and frequent, and the screen doesn't show anything while you have to wait, so sometimes you're wondering if it's expecting you to press a button. The menus are also sometimes hard to see -- at one point all I saw was "Resume", but the other menu options were too dark to see, so I was confused.
My brother-in-law is an accomplished guitar player, so I asked him to review the game as well. He agrees that the game is pretty good ("it's 80% there"). His major complaint is that the game can be too discouraging for new players because it doesn't have an option for correcting the pitch of the played notes. As any guitarist knows, even if the guitar is in tune, a proper playing technique is required to make the guitar sound good. If you don't strum properly, it will sound weird. Well, Rocksmith picks up the actual sound and plays it as-is, which means that a novice will sound bad even if he's technically in tune. Instead, the game should try to "correct" the sound so that it at least sounds good.
So in conclusion, I would recommend Rocksmith only for people who want to learn how to play guitar. In fact, I'm hesitant to call it a game. The initial difficulty for new players can be really daunting, and there's no way to avoid that. If you have no real interest in playing a real guitar, you won't last long with this game.
There are rumors that a future update to this game will include support for bass guitar, which is something that I can play. I took lessons for a year, and I find bass to be much easier to play than guitar overall. If/when that update is available, I will revisit this game and update my review. | video-games_xbox |
Blue Dragon Delivers what I want. After reading some of the commentary on Amazon.com and "professional" websites, such as IGN, I've come to the conclusion that certain people shouldn't be allowed to review anything.
The biggest complaint that I've seen so far is that "this game doesn't deliver anything new or groundbreaking".
What kills me about this commentary is that nothing new or groundbreaking has existed in the RPG sphere since Advanced Dungeons and Dragons 2nd Edition for Pencil and Paper / Final Fantasy 7 for Videogames. Of COURSE you're not going to get anything that's groundbreaking - BECAUSE EVERYTHING HAS ALREADY BEEN DONE! Honestly, people who put that complaint in any review for RPGs should have their reviews immediately rejected.
In regards to storyline and feel - This game feels like Final Fantasy 7. I liked that game, and I liked the feel of the menu system and materia optimization.
Each character can gain the classes/skills of any other character, this is true, HOWEVER, certain characters have baseline states that are more agreeable with certain classes. Having said that, I want to remind all of the detractors out there this fact: These characters are KIDS. Kids should be relatively the same. They haven't "grown up" to "specialize" in any particular field of combat or knowledge. I like the idea of customizing my characters in this fashion. This level of customization also prevents what has become a standard level of accepted sexism and racism in many RPGs out today.
In regards to some complaints people have regarding leveling up, all I can say is they must be smoking something. It's exceedingly easy to level up characters. All you need to do is put on the "attract monsters" skill, run in circles, grab about 3-4 monster groups together and "fight all". It's that easy. The leveling certainly is not anywhere near as atrocious as Secret of Mana (Seiken Densetsu 3), nor Final Fantasy 7 (dear god, it took me 6 solid hours of game time of running around in circles with Knights of the Round just to be high enough level to face the final boss). I'm having NO WHERE NEAR that kind of issue in this game.
Yeah, this game is a bit easy if you start exp farming early on, I don't mind. If given a choice between a game full of Tonberrys and a game that's a bit easy, I'll take the "bit easy" game any day.
Again, that's only easy if you actually farm for exp before heading out. If you don't, there are several places where you'll get pimp slapped hard.
In regards to some people talking about slowdown - I didn't notice. I've got XBOX 360 Arcade Version, and I've noticed that a number of games where people complain about clipping issues or slowdown don't happen on my machine. I think it has to do with the fact my machine is not backward compatible with original XBOX games (unlike certain other models), and so I almost never experience that kind of problem.
Battle Music - yeah, ok, this needs some help, but I usually play with my sound down low so I don't notice it. The other music is just fine, however, so it's just a minor nit pick.
Map system - yeah, it could be tweaked a little more. Just a nit pick.
Inventory system - would've been nice for more sort options. Just a nit pick.
Now, I can see how some people who LOVE the recent RPGs on PS3 would dislike this game. Quite Frankly, a lot of the newer RPGs which give false claims about being groundbreaking have fallen flat on their butts from my perspective. So, there could be an RPG style preference there.
If you do enjoy any classic RPGs, if you enjoyed the play style of FF7, if you like DragonBall artwork, then grab this game, you won't be disappointed.
If you absolutely love Crisis Core and hate anything that came out before it, then you won't like this game.
If you're in love with RPGs, as long as they make sense, world exploration, simple but fun storylines, have some puzzles, don't pretend to be something they aren't, then grab this game.
If you only want the next big thing and don't care about just relaxing to a fun game... then stay away.
That's pretty much my review.
I love RPGs in general, although the newer ones have been putting me off lately (due to artwork and fail mechanics). This one didn't put me off at all.
I can't give half stars so I just gave 5 out of 5. My only detractions are the nit picks mentioned above. | video-games_xbox |
Great camera; fun while maddening game. As mentioned, the camera is a very good 640x480 camera. Some large background white areas may bloom but the picture is otherwise very well balanced. Unlike the EyeToy, the camera does not contain a microphone. The Live Vision Camera package that people are saying is more expensive contains a headset (originally, perhaps still, an XBOX headset with an adaptor). <a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/Xbox-360-Live-Vision-Camera/dp/B000GCGB3M/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">Xbox 360 Live Vision Camera</a> *** So this is not necessarily a bargain way of getting the camera. ***
The "green screen" effect is done by shooting a picture of the actor-less background. The actor must not look like the background. This is normally a very effective method (see YouTube). ... as long as you don't use daylight; any shift in the sun or the sky will make the background appear changed, but without the expected result (is the software is thinking too hard?). So it works best at night with fixed lighting on the background (with separate light on the actor). (NOTE: movies need a real green screen because the cameras move and the monochrome green key isn't affected by light reflections. Shadows must be avoided in this game.) I repeat, optimal usage is only possible in a room completely cut off from *any* sun light (Even light from a blue sky changes.). Make a movie to feel the pleasure before you bother trying to fix things. (Be prepared to wait 5-10 minutes for it to store a modest movie (optional); the new video encoding saves significant disk space).
This game has great potential and as the only one available for XBox 360, it is the most fun. It's pitiful designed compared to the lamest PS2 EyeToy game I've every played. Nevertheless, I feel a fairly big gleeful rush seeing myself in the movie and feel I come across better than in real video.
Because of the project that it is to set up the background, it's best as a group effort. I believe a youngster will have more energy to set things up by themselves (most adults won't have a room where they'd leave the necessary lighting set up all the time.
3 stars for the unique, if crazy-making, game (The disc spins loudly non-stop in my new cool and quiet Elite; This game feels like it was abandoned after the first draft.).
5 stars for the microphone-less camera (which is very small, and much easier to focus than my 2 different EyeToys. The EyeToy microphone is essential to me during normal webcam chat. Gamers always wear a headset while chatting to distinguish themselves from game sounds, perhaps not an issue with UNO). | video-games_xbox |
Madden NFL 15 is a gem. If you are reading this review and others from random internet guys like me I get it as I do the same thing for many games Im just not sure about. Its especially the case with yearly release titles like Madden as we all wonder is this version worth putting my previous version to bed or is it skip year?
This review isn't for the hardcore, you buy every year without fail and nitpick it death. I get that, as I have my share of guaranteed must-buys. My words are for those like me who are football fans and video game players wanting to see if EA SPORTS can make those 2 worlds collide and offer something that feels, looks, and plays like what we watch on Fall Sundays but is also fun to play solo, with my buddy next to me, and possibly with others across the world. We want depth while at the same time not be bogged down by complicated controls. We want to see amazing catches, savage hits, and nail-biting endings but we also don't want it to be too over-the-top nor feel like our actions on the field aren't properly rewarded or penalized. If you can relate to those ideals then read on as this short review may prove helpful for your buying decision.
Im going to make it real simple if you are on the fence. Madden 15 is The One. You know what I mean. Run, don't walk this is the version you need to have, there is no reason to wait for next year. The amount of love and detail that has been added to this version is nothing short of amazing. It looks absolutely beautiful on next gen consoles. The animations are smooth and full of variety. Defense is finally almost as much fun to play as offense. EA SPORTS has put together a package that has an overwhelming amount of depth while at the same time keeping menu navigation and gameplay controls easy enough for anyone to understand. One of my favorite new parts of the game is the training which provides a better understanding of not only how to play the game but also the chess match that is going on between offensive and defensive play-calling in real life. What you learn could fundamentally change the way you have been playing video football and also give you a new appreciation of the sport itself.
I haven't played all the modes offered and likely never will get to them all. There are plenty of reviews out there that will go into particular details that you may want to investigate further. Others may focus on glitches but Ive yet to find anything that is a buzzkill. What I have done is go old school and played my boys head-2-head on our sofa and we have had more fun in the past 5 days than we have had in the past 5 years of Madden releases. The NFL should be very proud to see their league brought to life so realistically in a video game.
Bottom line Madden 15 is a gem. Im going to stop writing because you need to stop reading and go get this game! | video-games_xbox |
Pushing the bill for multiplayer, but single player? Not so much. Soul Calibur IV was a game that shelved its story mode and other assorted single player modes for the ability to utilize online play. With its rather rough netcode and odd decisions in the fighting system that Soul Calibur is known for, it wasn't exactly the best in the series; most criticized it. Does Soul Calibur V learn from its mistakes? Both yes and no.
First off, the most important aspect: Online play.
They have truly set the bar high in this installment with what they have laid before us in terms of multiplayer. The netcode is extremely efficient (almost frighteningly so) and leaves very little lag if you have a respectable connection. There are three different modes to fight other players upon: Ranked match, player match, and the strikingly clever one, Global Colosseo (GC). Ranked and player are basically what you would expect, while GC stands out. You can even chat via text in player match and GC lobbies, in case you have no mic. You can use your custom characters if you want, and with the refined Create a Soul mode, you may get some laughs (some players even made Dragonborn from Skyrim and he looks next to perfect). To make things short, if you're a fan of online fighters, this is a must buy. I suggest this to them wholeheartedly.
HOWEVER, I've yet to touch upon another large part: Single player.
If you intend to buy this for the single player aspects, then I would actually avoid this. Single player simply consists of Training, Story, Quick Battle, Legendary Souls (AKA super murderous difficulty mode) Arcade, and Create a Soul. That's it.
Arcade is what you would normally expect: a timed run through 6 to 7 computer enemies. Nothing mind boggling there.
Quick Battle has 240 different AI opponents you can face, each with their own title you receive when you defeat them. You can fight from an extremely easy difficulty, to insanely difficult. I surprisingly liked this mode.
Story, the main aspect of this single player experience, is sadly a joke. The plot is VERY short (about 3 to 4 hours, if you play it without stopping) and is overall laughable. Almost all the cutscenes are still images with audio applied to them, and the plot is something akin to a terrible fanfiction. It's generic, and the brother/sister bond in it caters to the standard anime stereotype of "brother loves sister too much." It's eerily close to incest. Also, there are no endings for any of the other characters. Just Pyrrha, the Mary Sue who is extremely wimpy in her attitude, and Patroklos, the generic "I'LL NEVER FORGIVE YOU!" brain dead anime hero.
If you want a short version of the review, then go for this: Multiplayer is meaty and full of potential. Single player is a horse being violently strangled by a savage pack of rabid accordions, although it has its moments.
I bought the Collector's Edition at Feb 2nd, and play it almost nonstop (enormous fan of the series). And to answer one thing I've seen other reviews mess up on: You unlock items through leveling. The meager selection you have at the starting of the game for Create a Soul is greatly built upon. | video-games_xbox |
Great Gaming in the GTA Style. In the style of Saint's Row and Grand Theft Auto, Just Cause lets you free a stereotypical Caribbean island from a drug-lord-connected corrupt president.
You're not a secret agent, nor a tough-talking street punk. Instead, you are Rico Rodriguez - smooth, suave, and probably decked out in rich Corinthian leather.
The island map you explore is HUGE, made up of many smaller sub-islands with roads, jungles, bridges, coastlines, and tons of villages. Everything is a mix of bright, tropical colors and run down, Cuban / Haitian slums. Compared to some of the grey, dreary games on the market, you might think the colors here are too cartoony. However, if you're ever lucky enough to visit the Caribbean, you'll realize that the sea really *is* that blue ... the lush jungles are really a brilliant green.
That's not to say you're in an eden here. Rico has been brought in by the CIA to mingle with the local revolutionaries to topple a corrupt government. You're not bound by many laws while you do this. You quickly start stealing cars, motorcycles, boats, helicopters and anything else that strikes your fancy. You can hop into the back of open trucks, ride along on the top of moving vehicles, and do numerous 'stunt moves' to carry out your missions with flair. You have a magical unlimited parachute pack on, so any time you find yourself falling into trouble, POOF your parachute opens up and you sail to safety.
This definitely enjoys its action movie lack of realism with great gusto. The cliches abound, as does the peppered-with-key-words Hispanic dialogue. There are numerous side missions - find the 10 boxes of coca. Find the 10 sniper scopes that were washed ashore.
I had both good and not-so-good feelings about the graphics. On one hand, they dida good job of showing the run down nature of many of the towns, the style of cars available, the vegetation. But on the other hand, we have seen some awesome graphics on our XBox 360 - and this just wasn't up to the same quality level. Many items in nature seemed blocky. The shadows were often jagged. I suppose it's a trade-off - they created a HUGE world, far larger than pretty much any other game I've seen - so perhaps the detail in that massive world wasn't quite up to other games. I think I personally would have rather had a smaller world - so you weren't running across vast empty wastelands to get to destinations - and kicked the graphic quality up a bit.
Still, there is a lot to enjoy here. There are a ton of vehicles, a ton of locations, and lots of main and side missions to work on. If you're into the GTA style of gameplay and want to take your show to the country, definitely give Just Cause a try. | video-games_xbox |
Ugh. First off, I love RPGs and I was once near-fluent in Japanese and lived in Nagoya for a year. I studied the culture and was at a time really into anime, so I understand a lot of the pitfalls that typical Americans don't really get when it comes to entertainment from Japan. I played the demo and while it was pretty short, it seemed fun and light-hearted. I didn't want to try to play the game in Japanese because I'm a bit rusty, so I bought the English version. And I want to be real clear: this game just sucks. I'm about to get mean.
There's a lot of the prototypical childishness that's present in almost all anime. However, this isn't Studio Gibli quality "wonderment from a child's perspective" kind of childishness. No, it's the "a 5 year old came up with this story" kind. These characters are cardboard cutouts borrowed from the infamous one-dimensional list of archetypes that constitute most anime casts. The characters are trite and hackneyed and make the game feel like it was intended for very, very young children who can't appreciate deeper characterizations. And they're not helped by the dialog, which is poorly translated from Japanese. If you happen to speak the language, the game plays with a constant and ever-gnawing sense of "I could have done better." If you don't, I have a feeling that it plays with little more than a sense of "What? The? Eff?". I can always tell exactly where the errors are and how they were made. It's like someone attacked the original text with a first-year dictionary, picked the first possible translation on a word-by-word basis instead of translating the whole sentence and picking the best ones, and then didn't bother going back and trying to actually make the story make sense in English. And the idioms are horrible. A lot of Japanese idioms are culturally ingrained and just do not work in English, but, in true first-year fashion, the translator tried to force it, which results in this constant flurry of "why did they just say that?". And then I have to remember that this wasn't originally in English. On top of that, most of the script is barely even grammatically correct. I don't understand how the voice actors said most of this stuff. Do they have no self-respect? Did nobody question the translation? Do they turn their brains off when they read their scripts? This seems the most likely, as most of the dialog is delivered extremely stiffly, which makes me question the reviewers who said it was good. Were they reviewing the original Japanese voice cast? Because the English is terrible. Just. Terrible.
There's almost as little feeling in the speech as there is in the characters' faces. The character models just run around the screen like vaudeville idiots, with more lanky-armed slapstick humor than actual witty dialog. It might be that the wit was consumed by the horrendous translation, I don't know. Either way, it wouldn't annoy me so much if there was some expression, but the faces on the models Never. Change. They just blink with this wide-eyed, blank-faced stare that's pure, unadulterated creepy. The only time there's ever any expression is when you get to watch the pop-up cut scenes that randomly trigger throughout the game. And even then, it's not animated. It's very detached with individual pictures for the characters that are involved. Whenever a character "reacts" to what another one is saying, their picture might change, or move around the screen or shake. But it's never *animated*. For me, that just creates a big disconnect. If I wanted unanimated character stills, I'd be reading a manga, not holding a controller.
White-knuckled holding a controller, I should say. I'm not a controller-chucker, but I have to fight the urge for most of the game. In typical JRPG fashion, the bulk of the game is extruded through near-constant combat encounters. You can pick and choose what you fight just by avoiding touching enemies (except on the world map, where monsters can just appear in front of you before you can dodge). However, once you're in the combat cloud you'll find pretty quickly that it's atrocious. Your role in battle is very much active, and you have to constantly perform combos. Most of your combat will involve using basic attacks so that you can charge your TP meter and perform special moves. However, the character can only perform a maximum of 3 strikes in a row. And no matter how many strikes you choose to use, wheter it be 1, 2, or the "full" (pathetic) 3, once you're done he does this incredibly idiotic dance where he tosses his sword around his body. During this time you cannot do ANYTHING. You cannot move, block, use items, or use abilities. Not that blocking is ever really useful, but this means that you're left defenseless EVERY SINGLE TIME you use a basic attack without leading into a special move combo. And even then, I think he still does his sword dance after special moves. Either way, you're defenseless for a hugely asinine amount of your time in combat. I cannot get over how @#$()@#)$%(&* stupid this is.
During the opening hours of the game, it's not a problem because enemies generally drop quickly and are very weak. Within a few short hours they'll drop with just two or three hits, making these short combos useful. However, once you get up to the first real boss fight, it starts to get very annoying. Like a lot of games that have come out in the past decade, this one makes bosses several times more powerful than the surrounding area's enemies (something that annoys the hell out of me: make the normal enemies harder or the bosses weaker, but don't surprise me with a random pounding... that's not what I'm paying for when I buy a game). So you may think you're doing pretty daggum well, kicking butt and not bothering to take names, and then you turn a corner and find your own familiar seat-warmer sitting cheeks-side-up on a platter being served back to you for lunch with a side of whoopass. During boss fights, your TP meter runs out in a hurry because you're trying to use as mnany combos as you can while ineffectually dealing damage. Meanwhile, your party members are dropping like flies because they're utterly useless AI-controlled trash. So once you run out of allies, any means to revive or heal them, and finally out of TP, you're stuck trying to recharge with ultra-short combos that render you defenseless. If you attack and get blocked, you're doubly screwed because not only have you not dealt any measurable damage, but then you go and do the "I'm @#$%@#$% Stupid" sword-toss dance. This is the exact moment that the boss opens up with a much-more-than-3-hit combo that punishes you for spending any amount of money on this crappy game.
Once you're done surgically reattaching your rump, you're free to try to level up. But most areas just don't have powerful enough enemies, and the game will concoct some bizarre reason why you can't leave the area to go find stronger enemies. After scrounging for 20, 30, 60 minutes to get a single level, you go up against the boss for a rematch and last all of an extra 10 seconds - maybe taking an additional 5% of the boss' health - before the same thing happens. I squeaked by the 1st boss on the first try, had to retry the second boss (some kind of golem) 2 or 3 times before I got him, and finally got to the 3rd boss (some kind of cokatrice-looking mofo). Once you get stuck on the route to this SOB, there are all of 5 enemeis that will not respawn unless you run to the save point, save, and reload the game. This makes grinding out that level extra-stupid-annoying. I spent some insane number of eye-clawingly boring hours trying to get a level that ultimately didn't matter, and I saved, turned off the Xbox and haven't picked the game back up since.
I hate games that force level grinding, and this one is pretty bad about it. It wouldn't be so bad if it weren't for the fact that for however many hours I've forced into this pile of garbage, there are only about 8 enemy models that come in 2-3 flavors each. It's bland. Just bland. The only thing good about fighting so many monsters is all the little prizes they drop.
There's a neat little equipment management system that lets you upgrade your weapons and armor, and if you're out in the wild you can 'cook' meals with ingredients dropped by monsters that heal or lend certain effects to your party. However, there's not a whole lot of reward to it and the system gets bogged down in the minutia pretty quickly. It's not quite as bad as Dragon's Dogma in terms of sheer bredth of available items, but I don't remember it being as simple or straight-forward, either. In Dragon's Dogma, you can upgrade any item at any time so long as you have the proper materials (which the blacksmith will identify for you, even if you've never seen it) and the right amount of gold, and "learning" combinable item recipes just involves finding the components (having owned both at some point will tell that you can make something, the first attempt to do combine them will tell you what it makes). In Tales, it seems like upgrades are unlocked as you progress through the game, and figuring out what does what and whether or not it's worth it is a die roll. And the 'cooking' skill is just crap. Even if you manage to learn a recipe, the characters are apparently all inept and almost never get it right. Leveling has a neglible (if any) effect on this, so you just burn through materials. And it doens't seem to matter if a character claims to be a good cook, they still suck. If you're caught with your pants down by a SURPRISE! (super) boss and don't have a lot of useful combat-worthy items, the 'cooking' option will NOT save you.
I'm not really looking forward to finishing the game, either, because even if I do the rest of it perfectly I won't get all the achievements. I have to play through at least twice, maybe even three times. I just don't like games that force multiple playthroughs to get all the achievements. A game should stand on its own merits to warrant a second visit (like any of the Halos), not numb players' minds with a full lather-rinse-repeat that lacks any difference, takes just as long to complete, and yields some arbitrary and insulting paltry amount of "gamer score" for your effort (like Mass Effect 1 & 3). This just compounds my annoyance with the game, because I can't be one-and-out if I ever DO bother to pick this turd back up.
There's very little here to be enjoyed. In my opinion, save your money. Play something else. | video-games_xbox |
Campaign Review: An adrenaline rush like none other. PREFACE: I'm an "old school" gamer in my 30s, who plays games only for their campaigns. Multiplayer looks like fun, but I simply don't have the time to get into it, given my job, obligations, and other interests. All of my reviews are based SOLEY on campaigns, and they are simply my own opinions. I typically enjoy games that can be completed in an afternoon or evening, due to my schedule, and the fact that I grew up with games like "Bonk's Adventure" and "Contra". Nowadays, I like shorties like "Journey" and "Limbo". If you can live with this, please read on!
Wow... just wow. Activision did what seemed like it may very well be impossible, and delivered their most exciting campaign yet, besting even MW2 and Black Ops. The intensity of this game, and its breakneck pacing, simply cannot be adequately described in words. By the time the final credits rolled, I was actually sweating and shaking a little bit- I felt like I had been in the heat of the battle! Time to debrief with a couple of cold beers!
Unlike most of the COD games, they don't ease you into this one with a nice, slow tutorial. In a stroke of genius, you hit the ground running in this game, and experience an intelligent "on the run" tutorial that works much better than the previous installments (while NYC is blown to pieces all around you, by the way). From that moment on, it's one mind-blowing level after another (submarine takes the cake), offering variety, visual splendor, and the most excitement I've ever experienced in a game.
The campaign is nice and short- about five hours, which is more than enough for me, particularly considering that it's five hours of straight action, as opposed to any backtracking or filler. There is not one wasted moment in this campaign, and I liked it so much, I played through it a second time within days. I know a lot of people complain about the linearity and the "roller coaster" effect, but like a lot of other gamers, I love that! I like roller coasters, and to me, games are like interactive books or movies. I want to enjoy a ride that has been lovingly crafted, from start to finish. For those of us who grew up playing the original "Doom", MW3 is a remarkable testament to how far the FPS genre has come in immersing the player.
If you're looking for a game that puts you into that "action movie experience", it would be hard to do better than MW3, in my humble opinion. "We're Oscar Mike!" | video-games_xbox |
Bloody ultraviolence at its best. Once in a while, a game comes along that justifies lying about going to a meeting so you could take off early from work and head home to play; Ninja Gaiden 2 is one of these games, and this was exactly what I did. It wasn't a complete lie however; I did have a meeting, a meeting with Ryu Hayabusa.
This game is bloody, the major selling point of the game and I absolutely love it. The bone-crunching, flesh-slicing action is intense and fast, and unlike anything in previous hack n slash games. Both graphics and audio are tip top, and the controls are smooth and responsive.
One function I particularly like is the convenient weapons and item menu that can be easily accessed in the middle of heavy combat. This is important, as enemies outnumber you 6 to 1, you will inevitably take some pounding and as your health drops to dangerous levels, you can immediately hit the D-pad to consume various herbal remedies to stay alive. Furthermore, you can switch weapons in the middle of a fight - so if you've been clobbering some poor dude for half a minute with your Lunar Staff and want to finish him off by slicing his throat from ear to ear, you can do that by switching to your Dragon Sword.
Concerning the difficulty, the hand-to-hand combat is very fierce and gets a little overwhelming at times; typically enemies attack in waves and by the time you're done with half of them, not much of your health may be left. The good news is that dead enemies' souls help restore health. The AI is pretty smart and injured enemies adjust their AI from aggressive to sneaky and psychotic - just waiting for you to turn your back and plunge that sword or talon through your chest. So remember - don't expect an enemy with only one arm left to just happily sit there, finish off him.
Unlike a lot of other games, bodies of dead enemies don't disappear off the screen, so bodies, limbs and chunks of bloody meat litter all over the ground after you've been through a wave of attackers, this is nice effect.
Also, blocking in this game is like taking cover in Gears of War, you can't do without it. Yet, while blocking you can either execute a counter attack after the enemy has finished his moves or dash away to escape. So, there is a huge number of fighting techniques and tactics that you can experiment with. Other aspects of the game are pretty conventional and straight forward - occasional save and heal points in the form of a dragon statue, a shop to purchase weapons and items, boss battles (which will REALLY test your wits and reflexes) etc. There isn't too much of a learning curve (which is good), all you need is to come to grips with the pace, various combos and pick out your favorite techniques.
This is one of the best games on the 360 ever, right up there with Gears and Devil May Cry; NG2 certainly edges Devil in the fighting department. For those into achievements, NG2 provides some 60 achievements, and what's fun is the ease of gaining achievements - you can earn achievements just by discovering and executing new skills, but as expected they are valued at only 5 gamescore points each. By the time I completed the first level, I've gained 11 achievements.
I knocked one star off because of camera issues, although awkward angles can be easily fixed by hitting the right trigger. Also, frame rates aren't entirely smooth and tend to slow down at various points, but this isn't too big a problem. Some levels will come across as just plain and ugly, and it seems level designers were lazy in this respect.
Another problem is the 'cheapness' of the levels, as others have mentioned, for example frequent and unexplained explosions on certain levels drain away your health - a clear indication that level designers were too damn lazy to think of challenges to test your skill.
But my biggest problem with NG2 is that you can't replay past missions, that is a real disappointment as mission replays are crucial to the replay value of the game.
Overall this is a great game, certainly an intense experience; as an above-average difficult game, you can feel satisfied that you'll fight many enemies and bosses many times before finishing the game, so getting your money's worth. | video-games_xbox |
Best Ninja game you will find HAND'S DOWN. This game is bloody, the major selling point of the game and I absolutely love it. The bone-crunching, flesh-slicing action is intense and fast, and unlike anything in previous games. Both graphics and audio are tip top, and the controls are smooth and responsive.
The hand-to-hand combat is very fierce, enemies attack in waves and by the time you're done with half of them, not much of your health may be left.
One thing I love about this game is that as you choose a harder difficulty level, you will encounter more enemies and they will drain your health much faster if you are a button masher.
The Difficulty "Way of the Acolyte" is easy to get through (for Masters of Ninja Gaiden), it gets you through the game with a great first time experience and just enough of a challenge for you to want more blood spilled and limbs to go flying.
"Way of the Warrior" is where the challenge starts, more enemies come after you and you really need more than buttun mashing to get though this difficuly.
"Way of the Mentor" Many have quit because they complain this difficulty is too hard. Skill is required at this difficulty setting, button mashing will only get you killed in mere seconds.
Path of the Master Ninja. Better dedicate yourself to at least 100 hours of Gameplay to get you though this insane difficulty level. Like the previous Ninja Gaiden's (Black and Sigma), a very few in the WORLD has been able to complete.
"MISSION MODE" Unfortunatley you have to pay 800points on X-box live to get this. But it is well worth it. Challenges are very fierce and I spend most of my time here. Plus more achievment points are available to unlock in mission mode.
Some of the missions are
Boss challenges
Survive through 100 enemies without dying "the only way to heal is thorugh your enemies blue essence"
Survival mode for each weapon,
you will face an unlimited amount of enemies with the weapon you select. The longer you last in survival, the more difficult your enemies become, allowing yourself a higher achievment.
I love the Old/New Weapons and Moves for each weapon. 10 out of 10.
The problems are minor and I can deal with.
PS: THIS IS NO BUTTON MASHING GAME!!!, DOING THAT WILL ONLY SET YOU UP FOR FAILURE.
PEOPLE WHO CLAIM TO BE PRO GAMERS AND ADMIT THEY BUTTON-MASH ARE PRO WANNABE'S | video-games_xbox |
I love this game. I originally set out to purchase the Zumba Fitness game because a friend of mine lost weight playing it. I wanted a game that would give me a workout to burn some extra calories. In my search for videos of Zumba Fitness gameplay, I came across videos of people playing Just Dance 3. The game looked so much fun, so I bought it instead. I do not regret it. The songs come from several different decades and different styles of music, which I'm very happy about because sometimes it gets old dancing to the same style of music over and over again (like on other dance games). The dances are also different styles. It has hip hop, pop, Bollywood, African, 80's style, disco, jazz, etc. It even has a Halloween-like dance to the song This Is Halloween from the movie The Nightmare Before Christmas. I also bought Dance Central 2, but I find it boring compared to Just Dance 3 and the Dance Central characters make me cringe. Just Dance 3 has better characters. They are real people put through a filter to make them almost psychedelic looking and are very entertaining. The characters have more variety in clothing/costume style and also are in costume for each song (for example: the Apache (Jump On It) dancer is dressed like an Apache). I had never danced a day in my life and was very uncoordinated, and I realized just how uncoordinated I actually was when I first played the game. It seemed so hard, but just after playing that day and the next, I already noticed I was getting better. Since I've had it, I already notice a big difference in my coordination and I actually have some rhythm and can dance better now. It has different difficulty settings if you're not feeling comfortable at first. You can put it on easy where it's only tracking your arm and top half movement, or you can put it on easy where it's tracking only your leg movement, and so on. Besides just general dancing, it also has other modes you can play. You can choreograph your own routines and dance to them as well as other choreographed routines. One mode can record yourself dancing next to one of the dancers on the screen and play it back for you to see what you were doing wrong in comparison. You can play Simon Says. During Simon Says, you do one of the normal dances, but every once in a while a random command will pop up telling you to jump, twirl, stop, etc. and you have to do it just like in the regular game Simon Says. There is also a Sweat Mode to get you sweating (even though the regular dancing gets me sweating). Every time you dance you earn Mojo points. These points unlock more dances and games (like the Simon Says game). Some of the dances that are unlocked are new and some are mixes of the old dances, which are very fun to do. There are many different songs/dances on this game, but you can also buy more individual songs later from the XBox marketplace if you get bored of these routines. I don't exercise much because I get so bored with it, but this game is so much fun that I find myself dancing for hours and still don't want to stop. It definitely gets my heart rate going and makes me drink more water and burn calories as well as getting toned muscles. One more plus, this game is multi-player so you can have partner dancing or group dancing (up to 4 people). You can even do the group dances alone. You just pick which dancer you want to mimic and follow their movements and the Kinect will track you. If Just Dance comes out with more games for the Kinect I will definitely buy them. I really love this game, and that's coming from someone who thought dance games were dorky. I didn't think I would ever play one, let alone buy one and love it. | video-games_xbox |
Finally, something new. In a year filed with FPS games, Assassin's Creed is something truly remarkable in the amount of new gameplay mechanics and choices it brings to the table.
***Possible Spoilers***First off, your character is Altair, a member of the Assassins Order led by Al Mualim. However, his first mission goes wrong and Altair is stripped of his rank. Given a second chance by Al Mualim, he then has to eliminate nine men in the area to be restored his rank. These are nine men throughout the cities of Acre, Damascus and Jerusalem (all re-created VERY accurately to represent their history) who have been using the Crusades to make personal profit. However, all is not it seems and an avid player will love the plot turns and twists that occur throughout this visual masterpiece.
In terms of gameplay, AC yet again raises the bar on innovation. Every action you do in the game is deemed high profile and low profile, giving the player a multitude of options to kill their target. Is he a truly evil man? Then make it high profile so the entire city can see his misfortune, but beware of the amount of guards that will chase you. Hungering for stealth? Then make a lowprofile assassination with your hidden blade and blend into the crowd as if nothing happened. Combat in this game is very fluid as well, and special kills will earn you gory animations of Altair dispatching his enemies.
In conclusion, this game is a must have for any Xbox 360 or PS3 owner, and it is a refreshing change from standard games like FPS. It's only downfalls are repetitiveness and lack of replay value, as your missions to gain information on each target are essentially the same from mission to mission, and others complain about not having anything to do when the final assassination has been made. To remedy this, you can look for the 400 flags hidden throughout the land for Xbox 360 Achievements, or hunt down the 60 Templars who will give you a run for your money in fighting as well! Completing the latter task will earn you Gamerscore as well on the Xbox, or you can just roam the land on horseback and marvel at this masterpiece Ubisoft has created. | video-games_xbox |
Best zombie game EVERRRRRRRRRRRRR. Escape Dead Island is an awesome game, anyway you put it. It puts Left 4 Dead (and Resident Evil) to shame. If you can look pass the childish graphics, you have a very good zombie slaying game. I bought Escape Dead Island at GameStop yesterday, and almost beat it I think.
-STORYLINE:
This is 2 days before the Banoi outbreak (Dead Island and Riptide). On the island Narperal (or whatever it's called) is where the outbreak first started, with a group called "Geoharm" who MEANT to make the virus.
-MAIN STORY: You play as Cliff Calo, son of a famous reporter, Tom Calo. Trying to impress his father, like Cliff's sister. You bring along your two friends, Devan, and Linda. But when Linda dies, she gets inside your mind, so the world would become red and black and everything will be destroyed at a few times in the game (They aren't random, they happen when you get to a spot in the game, like the end of a mission) (Look at pics to see what I mean).
-WEAPONS: Ah, at LAST! My favorite part. The weapons! The first weapon you get is a screw driver, (for sneaky kills), then a makeshift led pipe thing, then, a pistol.. That's the first 3 you get. Then you get the axe, advanced axe, silenced pistol and shotgun.. THEN HEHE, you get Rob's (some Spec Ops guy) sword, then a Lever Axe! Part crowbar, part axe, part tomahawk! Three in one. Best zombie bashin' tool around. There might be a few more weapons, but those are the ones I have.
-PROS: Half decent open world, epic weapons, funny cartoon graphics, gore filled, full of language (mostly the F-bomb and what not), not sure if thats a pro or not, but oh well! Close enough.
-CONS: Open world kinda it sucks a bit, and BUTCHERS! Once you get farther in the game, (like Lever Axe far or Advanced Axe far), there's SO many Butchers and Spitters. Good thing you got ol' axey or good old trusty shotgun!
-ZOMBIES: You have your normal stupid walkers, and guys in lab coats that run faster.
-ANNOYING..UM SPECIAL ZOMBIES: Spitters, they put acid.. And it burns. Badly.. Then you have Sirens.. SCREEECCHHHH!! Ow, my ears are numb. Butchers, they are insane, but they (just like walkers and special zombies), can be killed with sneaky kills. The best way to kill a butcher, is to dodge when they jump at you, then STAB 'EM. KNIFE THEIR INSIDES OUT! | video-games_xbox |
Makes your 360 a much more functional multimedia player. This is a very functional remote for the Xbox 360. I got it because I often use my 360 as a media player, watching .avi's off of a USB hard drive (a must have for anyone that watches downloaded television and movies). I also sometimes stream videos to my 360 from Netflix (highly recommended), which has a very annoying interface to navigate with a controller. If there is a hiccup in the internet connection while watching something on Netflix, you lose a second or two of video and you have to back up. This was particularly annoying as you had to rewind by gently pressing down on the left trigger. Push too hard and you go to 160X speed rewind and have to wait twenty seconds to rebuffer when you resume. This remote gives you a much higher degree of control when rewinding and navigating menus. It can also controls your television, which is useful. The inclusion of the A, B, X, Y, and XBOX menu buttons make this thing fully capable of browsing any menu Xbox live can throw at you, be it Netflix, Next FM, the Marketplace, or any of the other random and mostly pointless content Microsoft puts on there to sell ad space.
The backlit keys are a useful addition as well. The buttons are fairly responsive, and it has the advantage of always being "on", so you don't have to wait five seconds for your wireless controller to power up before you can pause. One thing to be aware of however is that this remote uses an inferred sensor to communicate with the 360, unlike the wireless controller which uses radio waves. Because radio waves don't have directivity, the wireless controller will function anywhere within a 20 foot (or more) radius. This isn't the case with the remote. This remote has a particularly focused beam, meaning it must be pointed right at the inferred sensor on the 360 console (the black oval next to the two memory unit slots). If there isn't a direct line of sight between you and that sensor, then it won't work. Pointing the remote takes some getting used to if you (like me) have gotten spoiled on the controller, which works from any position or angle. I like to watch stuff on my 360 while I exercise and shoot pool. I was irritated to find that I had to move my console up higher and rotate it so that I had a clear shot at the sensor from across the room. Keep this limitation in mind before you buy.
All in all this is a very decent remote for the ten bucks I shelled out for it on Amazon. If you use your 360 to watch anything more than the occasional DVD then you should really consider this remote. Don't let controller keep you from enjoying all the great multimedia features the 360 has to offer. 4.5 / 5 stars. | video-games_xbox |
Just ok. I actually bought a 360 because of this game. Now from the trailers, it looks like an amazing game, but once you get into it, it's not all its hyped up to be. Dont get me wrong, the game is pretty fun to play, but I almost feel like I could have spent that $50 on 2 different games and got more enjoyment.
The gameplay is well thought out, but it does get old after a while. You have a flashlight and a gun, maybe a flare or two, thats about it. Your flashlight is used against people or objects who are possessed by the darkness. You point your flashlight, weaken them until the darkness no longer possess them, then you shot them, nothing real special. The first couple times, its different but fun. After a while though, it gets old and for the most part it gets annoying when you have enemy after enemy coming after you and your flashlight is low on batteries. The atmosphere was incredible. Probably the best part about the gameplay. You couldn't help but look around when something made a noise in the game. Although the enemies did get old, you never quite knew when they were coming so it added a lot to the atmosphere of the game. The music really does help set the mood as well.
The graphics are amazing. No really big issues with them, so if your not paying attention to the gameplay, your probably checking out the detailed surroundings.
At times, the lip syncing is terrible. There is one scene in particular where Alan Wake's wife is talking and the voice is so out of sync with her mouth that it doesnt even look like shes saying the right words. But for the most part, the voice syncing is fairly decent.
Overall, I gave this game 3.5 out of 5. As I said, I feel like I could have bought 2 cheaper games with that $50 and gotten a lot more fun out of them, but Alan Wake is a fairly decent game. It plays out like a movie. I would recommend renting it first and if you like it, buy it. If not, well at least you know! | video-games_xbox |
Bytor and the Snow Beast. Dead Space 3 isn't causing the major heart attacks that Dead Space 1 & 2 gave me, but the anxiety level is still in the red. Fans of the Dead Space franchise should be thrilled. I'm not gonna lie....With Dead Space 3 I'm definitely used to where to expect the scares or enemies to pop out at me, but I was still literally crying out loud during the many ambushes and battles that occurred in Dead Space 3.
You'll recall in the first game that each chapter ended with a tram ride, so there was never any question as to when a chapter ended and a new one began. Dead Space 3 is like 2: chapter changes are subtly spelled out on the screen, so if you're not paying attention or just recovering from the latest attack you could easily miss one.
Dead Space 3 is a lot more action oriented, but there are still many moments of terror. And everything is presented (once again) terrifically! You're Isaac Clark and you're again plunged into a necromorph-infested world of nasties.
What's really cool is that Visceral Games listened to those screaming for a co-op version of the campaign. But with co-op there's good news and bad news. The good news is that...well...there's co-op! The bad is that it's only online co-op, meaning my only choice for co-op is to play with some stranger versus playing locally with a friend or one of my sons. So for me...as of this writing....there has been NO co-op. I took a star off my initial overall rating for that, but I put it back because of the super-coolness of the new feature of being able to construct your own awesome weapons that don't require any specific ammo type; all ammo is universal.
The creatures in Dead Space 3 are familiar and scary. When they're not scary they're disturbing. When they're not disturbing they're viciously ruthless, and there are some new ones to look out for. The background sounds are again creepy and send chills down your spine. The background music is orchestrated precisely, and it builds you right up to an anxiety attack when the action starts. The graphics are great and the environmental layout and surroundings are super realistic.
Dead Space 3 is just awesome! If I had to try to find another flaw it would be that the save stations are gone and replaced with auto-save points. If you don't quit at an auto-save, only the inventory that you quit with is saved and you go back to the last auto-save point to start your next session.
Visceral has done it again. Sick. Game. Sadly, Visceral has announced the cancellation of Dead Space 4 due to lagging sales of 3. Too bad...so enjoy this final chapter in the series. And by gosh, if you're new to the series, by all means get Dead Space 1 & 2 as well (they are pretty cheap now here at Amazon!). You don't really need to play the series in order, but it helps ever so slightly. | video-games_xbox |
Saving Issues. I have had to fully beat this game 3 TIMES because of crappy saving. I don't recommend buying this game unless you want to rage so much that you will want to snap the disc because of the crappy saving problems. Spend your money on something else, like Forza Horizon 2 coming out soon. SOOOO Many people have contacted EA about this problem, and I did too, 2 months ago when I first beat the game then switched games and came back as a level 1 racer. EA said "We will try to fix this," to me, and I've just been waiting and sometimes getting on this game JUST to check if it was fixed (not looking for my stats to be back to normal). I get on, Level up once, switch games, come back, then I'm level one again. When they fix this bug that's been on the game ever since it's came out, I will update this review. You'll have a better bet just waiting until Forza Horizon 2 comes out, but I promise you will have this problem. Maybe not as much as me, but you will. From now on, I'm only getting Need for Speed games by Criterion Games or if my friend strongly suggests it to me. Some people might have a problem with the Grand Tour because they get wrecked every time they get to it (and I do too), but it's supposed to be hard. I hope this review helped everyone that read, and from what I know, the saving issue is ONLY on Xbox One.
**UPDATE**
Need for Speed only crashes because I scratched the disk somehow, but I sort of found a solution to the game saving problem. The Game never saved after I did the Grand Tour (Racer Career). After I did the grand tour, I just switched to the Cop Career and did a mission there, then it saved my Grand Tour Progress AND the cop career progress. Bumping up the stars now.
**UPDATE #2** The saving issue is gone to me now, I have finally beaten both the cop and racer careers, and both of them are saved. Now my only problem is Host Migration in multiplayer. | video-games_xbox |
Meh. Bungie got caught up in their own ego. Right now, This game is getting a TON of play time in my One. So why only 3 stars? The content is just not there. This game is meant to be a hybrid FPS, MMO, etc etc etc. Once you've spent a couple hours beating the campaign (seriously, it was shorter than a call of duty campaign) you are let loose to do... well, honestly, all the stuff you already did. Only now, you are grinding locations and mobs of gear. Anyone familiar with MMOs knows the loot grind. If you liked Halo, then you will recognize the art in this game as it appears to have fallen almost directly out of an unreleased Halo game. If you liked Mass Effect, you will notice that the load screens are almost carbon copies. I could point out a couple of other games that Destiny pulled directly from, but you get the picture. Destiny feels very familiar because IT IS. This makes it derivative but playable.
The loot grind in Destiny would be alright if it actually made sense. Here, you are stuck with a random number generator for every single thing you do. Kill the highest level non-raid creature? So what, no loot. Run by a low level and accidently kill it? High end gear. There is no reasoning behind the loot system at all. They've updated the game to include better potential loot from their "Strike" missions. These are missions you already played only now you can up the difficulty. (The highest isn't difficult because you've already played these 5 or 6 levels 30-40 times already and know them like the back of your hand)
That is the basic theme in Destiny, repetition. They mask their old missions as new missions by throwing on random buffs and debuffs to make it "interesting" but really, you've already done it all before. Speaking of content... There is content on the disc that you paid for that you will unlock by paying more money. That's right, at least one mid-level boss, the "Ultra Captain" has been found in the game that can only be reached via a wall glitch. You can play through the level and trigger spawns till you eventually kill the mid boss. This, it has been insinuated, will be part of the PAID content in the first DLC.
The PvP in Destiny is easy to pick up and is quite enjoyable, but the reward system is again a problem. A person who essentially almost causes your team a loss by dieing 30 times and getting only a single kill has the same potential to get a super high end reward as the person who carries the entire team. The system is completely random and just adds to the frustration. Meanwhile, Bungie decides to devote their time to fixing up a limited time mission set that few people bothered to participate in.
The Story... What story? Take yourself completely out of the game experience. Remove yourself from your console completely and hop on Bungie's website. Link your gamer tag to their website and you will have the POTENTIAL for there to be a story in this game. This may sound a bit confusing so here is how it works... You play through the campaign in what amounts to 2-3 days worth of casual gaming while Dinklage, in the form of a floating rubics cube, tells you that you need to wait on him and kill random things while phoning in his poorly emoted performance on a poorly delivered story. After you've completed the campaign and finished the 4 or 5 optional strike missions (think boss missions) you may realize you've been earning Grimoire Cards. What are these? The game flashes a quick note each time you earn one that tells you to go to their website for more info. The problem is that you're usually in the middle of something so you don't really read the message and miss the point. Assuming you DID read it and went to the site and jumped through the sign up hoops, you must now sift through these "cards" on the website to find the story. It is there, sort of. If you've earned enough cards you may start to get an idea of all of the things going on in this game. Likely you won't though. The cards aren't in any particular order, and bungie, being caught up in their own ego while creating a story bible, felt that the best way to deliver information would be through random conversation snippets taken completely out of context and condensed to a paragraph of text on a card buried in a deck of cards the may not have anything to do with anything.
Sound fun? Don't get me wrong... the game is actually fun to play it is just INSANELY repetitive. What will happen is, you will complete the game in a couple days, then spend the rest of your time grinding the same couple of things hoping for the single item you need, all while making fun of Dinkalge's performance and wondering why you have no idea what the story ACTUALLY is. | video-games_xbox |
Panned for no good reason. I bought this game against the recommendation of reviewers. Why? Most of them mentioned the repetitive play as their primary reason. Tell me the game is broken (ahem, Battlefield 4) and then I'll listen. But, if you read the reviews for Battlefield 4, they don't mentioned anything about the issues with the game...and unlike Battlefield 4, this game just works. So who is to believe? I suppose you should believe me...
With that being said, here is why I like this game.
1. Graphics are stunning. Lighting, reflections, particles, animations, and quick-time events all look amazing. I knew the game would look good, but I was pleasantly surprised just how good it looked. And, for those who love to argue 720p/1080p, the invented 900p this game runs is absolutely fine. Did we all forget that Xbox 360 and PS3 also run games in 1080p and they don't look NEARLY as good as this game in 900p?
2. They story is enthralling. I wanted to keep playing this game because I needed to find out what would happen to my character. The developer did a great job not leaning on the typical video game storytellers and instead turned to Hollywood...good move in my book.
3. Controls aren't complicated and don't get in the way of the fun. I hate playing games and forgetting which button I'm supposed to push. Ryse prompts you during quick-time events, but otherwise, the system is very similar to the way the Batman Arkham games play. If the formula works, use it. Sure, there are times it is repetitive, but there is satisfaction seeing the different ways to execute your enemies. I'm on my second play through and not once have I thought "I'm getting so bored of these controls." When you start to get the timing down, that's when you really build up your XP and you will be infinitely better at multiplayer.
4. Kinect. The much maligned sensor needs to get some love in this game. I'm still getting used to talking during my game, but it's rather nice to sit on the couch, continue to fight and instead of lifting my finger to another button, just calling out "fire volley" or "archers cover me." It's probably not the best implementation of Kinect 2.0, but it's a pretty seamless, non-jarring start. I wouldn't mind some minor gesture controls for blocking, but I'm sure other developers will tap into the sensor's potential.
5. Go to YouTube and watch some gameplay videos. The game looks great, it runs great, and it's just fun to play.
If you want a set-piece for your new Xbox One, get this game. Your friends will be amazed at it's beauty and you'll easily get sucked into the story. | video-games_xbox |
Bioware has another fantastic franchise under its belt. Dragon Age: Origins feels like a mix of the creation and customization in Neverwinter Nights mixed with the dungeon Crawling of Diablo II and the branching conversations/story of Mass Effect. Its the best RPG of 2009, and one of the best games overall for the entire year.
in the beginning you have 6 starter characters to choose from: the Dwarf Commoner, the Dwarf Noble, the Human Noble, the Human Mage, and two different classes of elves, one has adapted to the ways of man, and the other stays close to their ancient tradions, including hatred for mankind.
character creation/customization is probably some of the deepest ive seen from Bioware, much more detailed and diverse than the creation engine in Mass Effect. you choose your race and class, followed by appearance, which includes hair, facial features, ect.
once you begin the game their are 6 separate openings, depending on which race and class you chose, each lasting approximately 6 hours, before fully opening up the world branching off to the main storyline, which is 40+ hours total. when you consider the possibilities of the different characters and the outcome of the story depending on who you choose and how you play, this game could keep you busy for months on end. it truly is an outstanding role playing game.
gameplay, battle in particular, plays out like a traditional PC (could be compared to Diablo II or most MMO's) RPG with a little more finesse and polish. click on your targeted enemy with "A" and your character will continue standard attacks untill its fallen, throwing in specials/spells as you see fit with the other face buttons. rushing into some conflicts will result in death. strategy is key in the more challenging battles.
graphically theres really nothing to complain about, but theres nothing to write home about either. its a relatively good looking game with tons of enticing lands to explore.
Concept: 10/10
Story: 10/10
Gameplay: 9.5/10
Sound: 9/10
Graphics: 9/10
Overall: 9.5 | video-games_xbox |
Fun game; Sunday Ticket works about 99% of the time. The game is nothing too special in my opinion. New rosters are always somewhat fun to me though. I would say the gameplay is a slight downgrade from last year, but I am still not used to the new version. In a month I could like this new version more than the old since I will be used to it by then. That's usually how it goes. Just seems too easy to run and too hard to pass when in reality it is the opposite in my opinion. I buy Madden yearly though and always enjoy playing online.
But really....who cares about the game? The value comes in here with the Sunday Ticket deal. Just do exactly what the insert with your game says to do and BOOM! Sunday Ticket is on the laptop. Be sure to bookmark the login page, save your name and password in more than 1 place, and DO NOT change them. The video quality was normally good (I'd guess 80-90% of the time it was HQ), but it did go to low quality sometimes for apparently no reason at all. The fantasy stats update thing didn't work. It said my firwewall blocked it. I don't care about that anyway. It also would not let me do full screen PiP or full screen multi-game layout. Again, who cares? Since my Ravens played last Thursday (sort of) I watched RedZone nearly all day Sunday on my big screen in full screen with a HDMI hookup. Flipping between games didn't cause an issue either.
This is the real deal. This is not some foreign stream. This is legit DirecTv Sunday Ticket for the entire season. Worth much more than the extra $40 to get it with this game. Hopefully they make improvements on the vid quality and stability next week (but like I said, it was 80-90% HQ).
Update week 2: The Directv site was totally down until 10:55pt/1:55et in week 2. I was PISSED this morning. After that it was ok for the rest of the day, but man was that 1st hour frustrating. Just clicking refresh over and over. I swear next week this better not happen again.
Update week 9: This has turned out to be a great deal. Nothing about the game is "perfect", but what game is? The game is very fun and the DirecTV deal is well worth it. No issues with DirecTV since week 2. Could the video quality be better? Maybe a little, but it sure beats illegal streaming. Very pleased. | video-games_xbox |
A mix of Zelda and Metroid leads to repetitive boring segments. The Good: Zelda style puzzles are fun to solve, looks great, decent story, fluid combat
The Bad: Zelda puzzles are too frequent, story is hard to follow, could have looked better, gets redundant after about three hours
Norse mythology. That's what drew me to Darksiders, but don't just jump into this thinking it's a God of War clone. In fact its a mix of Zelda exploration and puzzle solving, and combat similar to God of War, but not as good or as epic. The story goes a little something along the lines of you playing as one of the four horsemen, War, who is chosen by the Council to find these broken seals and kill whoever did it to bring back Balance because the bad guys want all the realms aligned and made into one. The story is stretched thing between the long winded levels, and it never picks up until the last hour, but by then you have forgotten what has happened because there is little story between levels. It almost feels as if the story was an afterthought and Vigil just concentrated on the puzzles and combat.
That being said there is a lot of puzzle solving in this game; almost more so than any other I have played. The game takes a lot of ideas from other games such as God of War, Zelda, and even Portal and puts it to good use. While the game isn't 100% original it does have is originality in certain areas. While starting with the combat its pretty simple. You start out with your Chaoseater sword which is mapped to the X button. Later on when you get the scythe you can map that and any other secondary weapon to Y, and your tools to RT. Combat moves can be purchased by using blue souls gained from killing enemies. There are power moves, and multiple combos you can pull off and its all fluid and fun to use so there's no problem there.
You have a yellow Wrath meter which is War's "special powers", then you have have health shields which are bars of health. Some times when you weaken an enemy you can execute a kill move by pressing B (God of War anyone?), but no QTE (quick time events) are displayed. Instead you just watch War butcher the enemy. I love QTE's and would rather participate in the killing than just watching, but some people may prefer this. You can also ride your horse, Ruin, through the last 3/4 of the game and swinging your blade while on him kill demolish enemies.
Now combat is neat and fluid I just wish there were QTE events and a more fixed cinematic camera, but after explaining the puzzle solving you'll see why it's a user controller camera. The puzzles are so frequent and so complicated that is drove me nuts. It was just puzzle, after puzzle, after puzzle and never ending. While this doesn't ruin the game it just feels more and more like Zelda with every hour that passes. You have free roaming world that are broken down into sections that you can warp to. You have to find tools such as a grappling hook, Mask of Shadows (to see hidden objects), and a portal gun (yeah ripped straight from Portal, but its a gauntlet instead of a gun), as well as a glaive (Dark Sector maybe?). As you discover each tool you use them to solve puzzles accordingly. The portal gauntlet is probably the most unique. There are orange circles plates that you can attack portals to, and if any Portal fans are reading this you know what happens. However, there are a few unique touches such as in the Black Throne area (mostly puzzles and hardly any combat) where you guide a beam from across a level though different room and solving those puzzles to allow the beam through more rooms. Yeah its a bit in depth and complicated, and don't fret because most puzzles are pretty easy to solve, but there were the few brain scratchers and resulted to a video walkthrough.
A lot of the puzzles are pretty unique, but there are a few things thrown into the game that will surprise you such as the ride on the dragon, and using heavy guns that enemies drop. There is even a pistol that you can use in the game, but it kind of useless except for the boss in The Ashlands level, but other than that the pistol was pretty useless. There are just a lot of unique puzzles in the game, and they are pretty fun, but the fact that there are so many make the game redundant, and that's why it didn't score as high as I wanted it to be. The combat is pretty repetitive and there's nothing outrageous about the gore level, it's actually pretty mild; its nothing close to the gore in God of War III. The kill animations are pretty repetitive since there is only once per enemy, and even the enemies are recycled. While there may be about 6 or so different enemy types; they are just recycled with different "costumes" and are more powerful as you progress through the game.
The boss are pretty epic, but they aren't too hard to beat. They repeat the same pattern over and over, and even the last boss is a pushover after you learn the strategy. The graphics are actually pretty nice. The character details are excellent, but the environments tend to be lacking. There is a lot of aliasing (jaggies) and I know the game could just look a whole lot better. This is also a game for people who like collecting since there is hidden crap all over the game, but I tend to not go searching for this stuff, since I'm not good at it, but its there for Zelda fanatics to find.
Overall the game is worth a purchase, but people who want just the action should steer away since this game is very puzzle heavy, as in like Zelda type puzzles. The game gets very redundant after awhile, and only the hardcore will continue playing, but Zelda fans, and puzzle fans should check this out. You anywhere from 10-20 hours of gameplay depending on if you're a completionist or not. There's lots to love in this package, but a bit more flare would have been nice. Bottom line: This is an adventure game for men, not elves. | video-games_xbox |
Just OK. How this game got so many awards is beyond me. I will admit that I'm a hard person to please when it comes to video games and movies, but just hear me out. I'll start out with the good aspects of the game:
The game certainly is gorgeous. A tropical setting somewhere in the Pacific ocean, the island is sprawling with soaring mountains and deep blue oceans. Trees, wildlife, and villages adorn the landscape and make the immersion real.
The stealth aspect of the game is by far the best and most rewarding way to play this. There are a variety of unique stealth take downs that make you smile a little sadistic smile when performed correctly. My inner 12 year old boy is pleased every time I sneak up on an enemy below me and jump onto him, my knife plunging into his chest as I land on him.
The plot is kind of cool, you're a college athlete on vacation with your brother, girlfriend, and other group of friends. They skydive onto a small island and find themselves kidnapped and trapped in a civil war between a murderous pirate army and the local inhabitants trying to fight for their freedom. You escape, and it's up to you to learn how to fight and become a warrior to save your loved ones.
The way you upgrade your ammo capacity, medical syringe capacity, and inventory sack is by hunting down and skinning a variety of animals, then using the skin to make these new and improved storage items. I thought that was very unique and well done.
The attention to detail was impressive too. Jason Brody, the character you play, is an athlete. When you run, you can hear him inhale through the nose and exhale out the mouth. That's what athletes are taught to do in order to increase oxygen efficiency in real life.
Now for the bad:
Along with the graphics came a shadow like appearance that accompanied a good number of the lines and curves in the game. It was supposed to give the appearance of something behind the object, but I thought it was just overdone. That was very distracting.
The gun combat is very blah and generic. Aim down the sights, pop pop pop, bad guy down. All the weapons kick around a frustrating amount so it's very hard to get a good shot down range after the first 2 or 3.
The enemy dialogue is very dumb and bland. I think Ubisoft wanted to give the player the impression of how uneducated and animalistic the pirates were. Every time you sneak up on an enemy, they'll say something about how much they hate the island, how they're craving another hit of drugs, or how the last woman they slept with gave them a STD (and there's only 2 or 3 varieties of each topic). When in combat, they either scream "I'm gonna **** you up!", "You're mine, ****head!" or "You're dead!". That's it.
By the time I had reached 22% progress in the game, I had already unlocked all the guns and a significant number of the skills. I had to go from Warrior (Hard) mode to Master just to make it somewhat of a challenge. Even on Master, I limited myself to just a Handgun and hunting Bow to make it a decent challenge. If I didn't have it on Master and handicap myself, I would just mow over all the enemies in my path. The enemies didn't level up with you or really change in difficulty which was disappointing. In short, you just level up way too fast and you don't need to reach a certain level to unlock anything besides a few skills (and even then, you don't have to level up, you just have to complete missions which will inevitably level you up because of the XP earned)
This might be just me being picky, but the poker mini game is absolutely rigged. I can't tell you how many times I'll be playing on the Novice difficulty and I'll have something like a straight flush and then raise the stakes to $150 or so, then we show down and someone else has a Royal Flush and I lose all the money. Money is really easy to come by in the game so it's nothing to lose a couple thousand but the principle is what I care about.
All in all, it's a decent game. I'd give it a 7 out of 10, nothing special. | video-games_xbox |
343 is trying hard but they're not quite there yet. It's pretty good but Halo 5 has lost some of the great elements found in the previous games. I have played the previous halo games and this game is an improvement over the their last halo title but there were some serious missteps in this iteration of the franchise. In single player, the story has become more convoluted and there is a lot of material from the expanded universe that is needed to understand where all of the new characters, as there origins and backstory are never explored in the game itself. There was a whole novel that explained the events that occurred between Halo 1 and Halo 2, but you didn't need to read it to jump into Halo 2. Whereas Halo 5's new characters are never found in any of the previous games. Now this could be excused if the characters themselves were interesting and contributed thier own unique perspective to the story, but as it stands, they are all very flat characters with no real motivations, no unique dialogue or any sort of though provoking actions. Furthermore, The voice acting is NOT up to par with previous releases, just compare when cortana literally yells at you to get into the longsword in Halo 1's finale with the Locke at the end of Halo 5 saying, "lower the shield..." in such a wimpy way. The actors themselves could probably put a great performance on but the direction and the production of the story overall is poor.
One positive is that 343 has attempted to fully leverage the power of the Xbox one and this can be seen in the game's environments. There were a few levels where I was impressed with the scale of the maps. Previous Halo games also feature large outdoor and indoor environments but Halo 5 can have significantly more AI in these large spaces than any previous Halo game which makes the world feel a little bit larger. The AI themselves are a let down in this regard. Halo 4 ran on the 360 with very limited resources due to the using 7 year old hardware and this limited the scope of the AI actions in that game. Halo 5 running on Xbox one should mean that we get the aggressive and intelligent AI from the earlier games like Halo 1 and Halo 2, AI that takes cover, reacts quickly to your actions and can quickly kill you if you rush carelessly. None of these things have really made it into Halo 5, with AI that feels like lots of cheap filler AI that doesn't challenge in any unique way. The Warden Boss is the best example of this, he is one of the WEAKEST points in this game, both in gameplay and story. There are lots and lots of enemies to kill, but they're pretty easy to take down, even on Legendary difficulty.
While 343 has set a good goal of using all of the power the Xbox one offers, there efforts have come up short in more than one way. Simply put, the Xbox one does not normally have sufficient resources to run Halo 5 in 60 fps, which is precisely why 343 decided to develop a dynamic resolution system that would enable 60 fps at all times by lowering the resolution of textures in game to maintain the locked 60 fps. The problem is that is came at the huge cost of removing any possibility of split screen multiplayer entirely from the game which, for me and many many others is a huge letdown. There's been plenty of backlash on this decision and I'll let youtube reviews answer why no split screen is so bad for a halo game, BUT even if your a single player who doesn't care for multiplayer, you still have lost out. In the Halo 5 Beta, the game did not have dynamic resolution but it did have dynamic lighting. Compare images of the beta to the final product side by side and you will notice that the Beta has much much better lighting than the final product. Dynamic lighting was scaled down tremendously at the expense of dynamic resolution.
Why does this suck so much? Well because the environments themselves in single player just don't have the polish that Bungie's single player levels had. Compare the really detailed and well crafted levels from the first two games: " Halo, Truth and Reconciliation, and 343 Guilty Spark from Halo 1 and Gravemind, Delta Halo, and The Great Journey from Halo 2. These levels had lots of elements that don't appear in 343's levels if you pay attention. 343 Guilty Spark is arguably one of the best story telling levels of the original trilogy and nothing 343 has done even comes close to it's atmosphere of tension.
On the multiplayer side, 343 has taken what works from Bungie's titles and finally put it into Halo 5, instead of trying to reinvent the wheel with the previous game. The combat in Arena is quite fast, and matches and in some cases exceeds the level of speed and intensity of Halo 2's MLG game types. The maps are not very great though, to build up the competitive scene, 343 has tried to make many competitive map types, but they don't have much excitement or strategy since all of the maps are symmetrical. That doesn't mean thy're bad, but there is a reason Lockout and Ascension are considered among the greatest maps of the halo multiplayer lineup, because they were competitively balanced for both sides and were absolutely unsymmetrical and nonlinear in their layouts. Forge on Halo 5 is a big area of improvement because of the ability to forge on windows 10 and the increased options for all players. There is loads of customization, for those who want it.
Another positive is the loads of free content and new maps that are added without the need for any paid DLC, that is very nice.
Warzone is a fun mode, that is very enjoyable at first but becomes repetitive quickly. It's also not a new concept at all. Warzone is like really Star Wars battlefront conquest mode that has command posts that need to be controlled, mixed in with some AI that can be killed for some extra points. This is also where the micro transactions come in, but overall I don't feel this game has really pushed microtransactions very hard like in other games and since the packs are randomized, there is some balance in the system. It is actually more satisfying to get the packs by winning matches and getting them with the points you earn.
Halo 5 is a decent game, but other than single player (and I really mean a SINGLE player because there is no split screen) you will not get much replayability from this title if you don't have an Xbox live gold membership. If you want to get Halo 5, the sub $20 price range is a good price to buy it. | video-games_xbox |
Campus legend mode. Normally I just dig right into the dynasty mode expecting to lose a few games learning the particulars of the game engine, but this time I started by trying out some of the other features. First I tried the minigames of Tug of War (you get 1 play to move the ball and then the opponent gets the same, first to touchdown wins) and also Bowling (10 yards to goal, each yard is a pin with two shots at the end zone).
Next I moved on to Campus Legend Mode. And to be honest it is good enough that I have not left it. First you start out by designing a player and picking a position for them. Next you select your home school and state (high school that is) and you get put right into the high school state playoffs. I picked ROLB to start with figuring that defense is a good place for me. So first off, the only person you can control is the player you have created, so many plays are just not going to involve you. Although there is a lot more pressure because when you blow a coverage or tackle you can't switch to another nearby player to make the tackle. Once you have completed the high school playoffs, you have to select the college that you want to go to. In my case I picked Penn State because I would not be a starter, but I also wouldn't be 3rd string.
Your college career consists of 2 things per day. First is practice where you get 10 reps at various plays (coach calls all plays in both practices and real games). When you make a play it is worth points. These points eventually will earn you a spot on the starting line. For me, I earned my starting spot right before the 3rd game in the season. The different strings make it interesting in the game as well. When you are second string, you are hoping for a blow out so that you can get some field time other than on special teams, where as you hope for a close one during regular play.
One of the nice things in this mode, and frustrating is that the games tend to be really short. This gets a tad annoying as the load times in this game are incredibly long. Another drawback to this mode is that you may play your heart out and do an incredible job, but the team could still lose because the other half of the team is unable to get the job done. Besides the long load times, I have also seen a lot of very screen stutters and lots of xbox 360 fan and drive noise. Just seems to be slightly too intensive.
Graphics wise, this game is good, but not really something you are going to shout from the mountain tops about. Sounds are incredible and after 9 games, I can't complain about the announcers yet. So with all the problems, I still give this game a must buy for Football fans. It is just as fun as it's previous versions (I have played NCAA 01, 04, and 05). | video-games_xbox |
Battleborn comes up short, not as good as Borderlands games. If you are expecting the fun of Borderlands, be prepared for a bit of disappointment! I loved all of the Borderlands games, mostly because they had fun storylines, a decent amount of customization with guns/gear/skill trees, and tons of hours of gameplay. Even though you have 25 different characters to play with, your weapons and other gear remains mostly the same and rather quickly lose the intrigue of killing enemies and opening up chests to find the best loot. That said, you are able to equip tokens or badges (or whatever you call them) which give you different perks as you go into battle, however you have to earn the shards required in order to activate them and that isn't always easy. Much of my time in missions was spent trying to collect shards as well as opening up chests to collect as many points as possible so that you can eventually purchase more tokens/badges. This often felt like a serious waste of time as loot packs costs quite a number of points, as does purchasing an extra 40 slots for token/badge storage.
The story missions are fun...for a while. Overall, they are fairly similar to a defense type game where you can build turrets and drones to help you fight off waves of enemies. There is an occasional variation on this like escorting minions to an objective point, but that also turns stale rather quickly, especially with the overwhelming influx of enemies at those moments. The missions start out easy enough but get progressively harder towards missions 7-9. I played through it solo and each of these last 3 took me at least two attempts, sometimes 4 or 5. It often seems to be a matter of choosing the correct character that can most effectively handle the situation and the enemies, with the caveat that if you beat most of the mission but fail to protect one last objective, you will fail the mission as a whole and have to go through the ENTIRE level again just to get back to that point; there are checkpoints, but it doesn't 'save' your progress as many other FPS games do. That gets super frustrating on your 4th or 5th go around.
As for the storyline, it is rather unsatisfying. The missions, while all part of an overarching plot, are not clearly connected with one another. Instead of really following a story, you bounce around from one planet to the next in order to impede the various parts of the villain Rendain's evil plan. It is lacking the coherency of the Borderlands games, where you can easily follow the game progression despite the huge number of side missions you can go on. Although the boss fights and humor are appreciated and very much reminiscent of Borderlands, I felt the development of the characters in Battleborn was less complex than in the BL series. Even Mr. Torgue seemed more developed in BL2 than Rendain feels in this.
Perhaps the most enjoyable feature of the game is the leveling up system. This system has two parts: 1) the individual characters level up outside of the missions by earning XP. As they level up, they unlock variations in the second part, that is their DNA. 2) the DNA system allows you to alter your hero's traits during a mission or match. As you earn XP, you can choose between 2 mutations which effect your character's abilities in battle (e.g. make your gun shoot fire bullets, but increase the rate your gun overheats or maintain an ice bullet shooting gun and decrease the rate your gun overheats). As you level up your character, you can unlock a third option for certain levels of the DNA. This system is really fun and gives you quite a bit of variation within a single mission. Couple this with the tokens/badges and there is a lot of mayhem which ensues.
Multiplayer is only slightly fun in my opinion. In the couple games I played, I had players of levels less than 15 on my team and above 30 on the opposite team and my team got romped on fairly consistently. I don't know if this is simply because those players have had more experience, because they are more skilled than I was, because there are better unlocks for characters at higher levels, or because they had unlocked more powerful characters, but it often felt lopsided. No matter what character I chose, I don't think I ever managed more than 3 or 4 kills. Perhaps there is a faster way to level up DNA in multiplayer matches, but if so, I don't know it. Also, on a side note, finding matches and players often took upwards of 2 or 3 minutes, plus the time for choosing a map, characters and load out. If you are looking for fast-paced battling, Overwatch has Battleborn beat!
In the end, the game was fun for about a week before I felt that it got old. I didn't unlock all the characters or even played as all the ones I had, but I had already beaten the story and couldn't really get into the MP. I didn't feel like the story here had as much replay-ability as the Borderlands games have which is a shame because there are so many characters to use in Battleborn, each with unique skills and abilities. Looking forward to BL3! | video-games_xbox |
An expensive rental due to draconian DRM. Red Alert 3 the newest installment in the red alert series is probably a good game. However I am not paying $50 for a RENTAL. Let me explain. Electronic Arts (who took over the Command & Conquer franchise from Westwood Studios) has bundled RA3 with SecuROM. SECUROM is a draconian DRM system that requires you to activate over the internet, and limits you to a grand total of 5 activations. If you reach that limit, then you'll have to call EA in order to add one extra activation. That's not as simple as it sounds, since when you reach that point EA will assume that you, the paying customer, are a filthy pirating thief. You will need to provide proof of purchase, reasons why the limit was reached, etc, etc (it has all happened before with another recent EA product, Mass Effect and Spore). EA, of course, is not obligated to grant you that extra activation or even provide that service. In a couple of years they might very well even shut down the general activation servers, because "it's not financially feasible" to keep them running. What you will be left with is a nice, colorful $50 coaster. And you will be required to pay for another copy/license if you want to continue playing.
This basically means that you are actually RENTING the game, instead of owning it. The game WILL stop to function in the future. That's inevitable, because even if EA keeps the activation servers going, there IS going to be a time when EA will simply cease to exist because of financial issues or federal laws (like most businesses eventually do).
You've heard of SecuROM right? The program that's supposed to defend against pirates but they always hack it anyway and all it does is mess up legitimate customer's computers? Things SecuROM has done in the past include
-not allowing access to your game if you run process explorer ( an application that comes with windows)
- older versions do not let you delete 16-bit exectuable files, so if you get a virus that's an executablefile, you can't delete it!
-SafeDisc which was used with SecuROM on other EA games led to the prevention of proper launching of games, disabling of CD/DVD/Blu-ray disc burners, and disruption of antivirus programs. Some users have reported severe damage caused by SecuROM, resulting in system failures that required complete system reformats to fix (which would use up your installs!)
I personally feel EA has crossed the line with what is considered an acceptable protection scheme. What they have done is essentially created a rental for the price of the full game, and after 5 activations you have to call up EA and beg them to reactivate the game. I REFUSE to have to call up any company and have to beg and prove that I rightfully am entitled to an install. As a paying customer I expect to be able to install the game infinite amounts of times on MY computer without any DRM disturbances. Whats worse is that this DRM considers any computer upgrade, BIOS update, and some patches as system change and thus requires an additional activation.
EA needs to get out of the 20th century and into the 21st. The only practical purpose of the DRM is forcing honest people to pay for the game again if they decide to upgrade their hardware, or get a new computer. EA really should be ashamed of itself for this despicable business practice. Treating their customers like criminals.
They need to learn a lesson from stardock which has developed a Gamer's Bill of Rights which includes:
...4. Gamers shall have the right to have their games not require a third-party download manager installed in order for the game to function.
....6. Gamers shall have the right not to have any of their games install hidden drivers.
7. Gamers shall have the right to re-download the latest version of the games they purchase.
8. Gamers have the right to use their games without being inconvenienced due to copy protection or digital rights management.
9. Gamers shall have the right to play single player games without having to have an Internet connection.
If only EA was as smart as Stardock and concentrated on its customers and not the pirates who were not going to buy the game anyway and is now scaring off customers like me who bought every previous red alert but now will not. | video-games_xbox |
Quality over Quantity. Depending on your playstyle you will likely complete your first run through Dishonored in 10-20 hours. This is not a game that extends itself through countless sidequests or backtracking. If quantity of content is what you are looking for in a game then you are best served looking elsewhere, if quality is your top concern then give Dishonored a try.
Dishonored is a throwback to the Thief series of games, there's even an Easter Egg reference you'll catch in one of the later missions, in that it lets you control your experience. You can progress through the city of Dunwall, a plague-infested steampunk-esque city created by the mind behind Half Life 2's City 17, killing everyone or no one. The latter is more difficult and more time consuming but it does pay off by lowering the level of chaos which results in fewer plague victims and a brighter ending. There are three possible endings depending on your actions but the bulk of the story changes too as for the most part you are creating your own narrative through your choices.
Without getting into any spoilers, I will say that the first half of the story is stronger than the second. However, the city of Dunwall is a deeply alive setting and rich experiences can be found throughout simply by paying attention to your surroundings and a willingness to explore off the beaten path. This is not an "Open World" game but it is still provides plenty of opportunity and motivation to explore.
One note for gamers who desire to achieve the "Clean Hands" (complete the game without killing anyone) achievement: make sure you think through the consequences of ALL your actions. Unconscious bodies left where rats can find them may not survive. Also completing certain tasks may result in deaths. I won't say more, again to avoid spoilers, but you may wish to consult the Dishonored forums or a strategy guide if this achievement is your goal.
If you are playing on the Xbox 360, like I did, I also strongly recommend that you install the game to the hard drive - it significantly reduces load times and on any stealth run you'll likely be saving and loading frequently. | video-games_xbox |
Good, but a little touchup to the online would make it better. The game is great, it's kind of similar to Powerstone for the dreamcast, except in Powerstone, the controls were a little bit looser, whereas the controls for Anarchy Reigns are tight
The online multiplayer is sick, which is what I bought the game for. The only qualm I have with it, is, say that you have an 8 player game of TDM, and you have 6 players total, 3 on each side, the game won't start. You HAVE to have 8 players in order for the game to begin. There's another mode that requires a minimum of 12 players, where the maximum is 16. In that mode, you can't start if you have 8 players, 4 being on each team.
The problem with that is, the game doesn't have an insanely huge player base to support this, so you're going to be sitting in a lobby, waiting for it to get filled sometimes. Sometimes you or someone else will get sick of waiting and leave, which further extends the process of actually PLAYING the game
Another thing is that there are no sub lobbies. When I say that, I mean its like Call of duty, in that sense that you select a game mode, and you connect and thats it. You don't see the actual room you're joining, you don't see the connection of the host, you're just automatically patched through into a game, which a lot of the time, either disconnects, or you get a "Lobby is full" message. This process would be just fine if, in my opinion, the player base was larger than it actually is.
The reason why Halo and Call of Duty can do that is because their player base is large enough to warrant it. On top of that, even if the lobby isn't at max capacity, the game can still start, while that is not the case with Anarchy Reigns
Don't get me wrong though, when you're playing, it's actually pretty fun, even if it is complete chaos at times. I gave it a 3/5 because the online, which is a major part of the game, isn't smooth in my opinion. Sometimes it takes a while just to get in a lobby and get a game going | video-games_xbox |
The force is occasionally unleashed, other than that just hit things a lot. Story: The story in this game is actually entertaining and about the only reason I found to keep wanting to play through all the nonsense levels. The player takes on the role of Star Killer. A "secret" assassin that Darth Vader kidnapped (after killing his father) as a young child and trained him in the ways of the force to help Vader overthrow the emperor. Of course since this is a star wars cannon (its part of the actual star wars universe i.e. George Lucas approved.) story our plucky anti-hero eventually starts to think for himself and that's when things start to kick into high gear. Story wise anyway. I'm not going to spoil the story for those who play the game or read the book (I'd say read the book even though I haven't had a chance yet.). Suffice to say that it does fill in some gaps and there are some "so that's why that was like that moments" along with some of the star wars twist and turns that are expected. Now on to the actual (when are the going to stop beating poor star wars to death) game play.
-----------------------------(some spoilers)
To start off any level that generally lets you run around and hit things, smash things, fry things or some combination of the above is fun. What is not fun is having the above interrupted by annoying button sequences and go break /move that thing to open this door so I can go fight another annoying boss that involves more button sequences. In my opinion if they could go back and rewrite this game as a open world /sand box game (ala mercenaries 1 or along the lines of mass effect) and give me the option of figuring out how to recruit forces against the emperor and cause merry havoc along the way this would have been a much better game . Or on the other hand make it so I could play like a actual assassin and I don't know, be able to do things like the mind trick or make myself invisible or make the bad guys shoot each other. Instead the developer came up with this half polished hack and bash game that showed me occasional glimpses of what could have been. I guess the reason I'm irritated with this game is because while I was playing it there were points where everything clicked and I actually felt like I was playing a scene out of a Star Wars movie about a conflicted dark side assassin and then I would run into one of the many bugs or game play issues and go "why?". On the bug front, there are many. I only ran into a few show stoppers that made me get up and restart my console. The majority are what a good QA run would have caught and are generally along the lines of clunky controls and bad hit detection. The clunky controls were obvious in the first level. Trying to actually pickup anything and aim it and throw it while dodging laser fire is darn near impossible. For some reason it was decided that the camera should lock onto what your throwing and not what you are throwing it at. In my experience that translated into forgetting about aiming and just turning yourself into a force powered tornado. Throw enough stuff and you'll hit something. Most of the bugs I ran into were the ones where the game forgot you should have died (fell off the bridge on the way to rescue Juno and the silly game just let me walk around in the flames for two minutes before I restarted the level) and the ones where for some reason I just lost control of the character and stood there until a enemy got done killing me. Also there are a lot of unnecessary (imo)button sequences in just about every mini boss and end level boss and a really *special* one on the bring down the star destroyer level. Other than that if you can slog through all the nonsense and power up your character the game does warrant a play through (or two) just to find the collectibles and unlock everything. Too sum up this is one of those games that could have been great if it hadn't been rushed out the door. There is a good game under all of the problems that came from the rush job that was done. It just takes till the second play through to see what could have been (unfortunately the second play through doesn't magically get rid of all the bugs) and hopefully if Mr. StarKiller makes it to a second game Lucas arts might skip the doughnuts and coffee instead of skipping the QA. Would recommend to anyone who likes Star wars and action/hack an slash games with the warning that it does take at least till the second play through to really get to the meat of the combat system. M.a.c
Story: A great (if a little predictable) story set before the original story begins.
Graphics: Good. A little choppy hear and there. Nothing major that I came across
GamePlay: Above average. It is entertaining while you can run around and cause chaos, but some levels are broken up with annoying puzzles and button sequences.
Camera/control: Control can be a bit wonky. Aiming is an after thought and the auto target doesn't always work. The camera didn't cause me any problems. | video-games_xbox |
An almost complete offering of Sniper Elite 3 that is great fun but rough around the edges. I had already played both Sniper Elite V2 Silver Star Edition and vanilla Sniper Elite 3 and was curious if the DLC for this game would be better than V2's lousy DLC missions. So I decided to upgrade to the Ultimate Edition and I have to say that the additional content is fantastic and really adds a lot to the game!
First of all only 9 DLC packs are included plus the most recent game updates and multiplayer DLC all on one single game disc. Sadly the Hunt the Grey Wolf mission is not included, which is a shame because a mission based around assassinating Adolf Hitler would have been an excellent addition to the package and it is overpriced on the Xbox Live Marketplace. Two additional weapon packs are also missing but thankfully they are the least important ones. I don't understand why they wouldn't just include everything in the "Ultimate" edition. Seems a bit greedy of the publisher.
The weapons that are included (18 of them!) add an extensive amount of snipers, automatic weapons, handguns, and even a shotgun to your arsenal that you can equip to your load out before missions. What's interesting is that they also include every weapon attachment already unlocked from the beginning which is a nice bonus. Personally my favorites are the Mosin Nagant sniper, MP44, and silenced TDM pistol.
The 3 new missions are rather light on story but this time your mission is to prevent the assassination of Winston Churchill. These levels are the largest that Sniper Elite 3 has to offer taking you to exciting and exotic new places including a military base built into a canyon and colleseum ruins in the sand. Each mission is pretty long and has multiple optional objectives to complete, taking anywhere from 30-60 minutes to finish each one. I was impressed with the side campaign and found it to be very challenging.
One thing I found out the hard way however is that some of the DLC achievements are glitched and sometimes won't unlock. I made sure to get every achievement along the way and noticed the progress bar fill completely up for each one but only 2 of the 10 achievements actually popped up and unlocked for me. This was somewhat frustrating but upon looking online I found that this rather common glitch for the DLC and you just have to try again and hope it pops up. I will update this review when I manage to get them to work.
For not being complete and still having the same bugs and issues that the original game had, in addition to now having buggy achievements, I have to mark it down a star. If you have never played SE3 before than get this game. It's a ton of fun and has a lot of content especially for the low price. If you have the vanilla game and are wondering if it's worth upgrading then I say trade your old copy in and go for it, that is what I did. I think the new weapons make the game a whole new beast and I can see myself playing these new missions a few more times as well as replaying the campaign again. My biggest gripe with the original game was that there wasn't enough weapon variety and this edition fixes that problem entirely. If you have any questions feel free to ask! | video-games_xbox |
Outstanding game. This is by far the best Battlefield game I've played in a long time. The graphics are top notch and the gameplay is very realistic. The single player is heavy hitting and very well done. I enjoyed each mission and really appreciated the humanity they brought to the game.
The multiplayer, however, is the real winner here. The variety of types of play are many. Some days I think it is fun to hang back and play as a sniper whereas other I enjoy provided cover fire in a support role. Each class has a number of different weapons/gadgets so you can customize your playing experience. Personally my favorite is the support class with a mortar.
The game modes are also very well done. The gold star here is the Operations mode. These are large scale games with up to 64 players that take place on maps that include vehicles, planes and horses. There are control points that either have to be attacked or defended. Once those points are taken by the offensive team the defenders are pushed back to a couple more control points. If the attackers run out of lives they have 2-3 more battalions to get the job done. Armored trains, zeppelins or battleships are summoned to assist the losing team. These are massive vehicles that seat multiple players and can wreak absolute havoc. They really can turn the tide of the game and add to the epic nature of the game.
Overall this is a must have for anyone who enjoys first person shooters. It is definitely a nice change of pace from Call of Duty. The one thing I wish that EA would change is the way they release new maps. You either have to purchase them individually or buy a season pass. If you buy each release or purchase the season pass it costs almost or as much as the game itself. While I understand EA's business model I wish they would provide these maps for free like many other games do now. That being said I will more likely than not purchase the new maps because this game is that good. | video-games_xbox |
BEST headphones available for the price, SO happy I made the purchase. I will be comparing these headphones to the Turtle Beach x41 Wireless Gaming Headphones. By FAR in almost EVERY way, these headphones are superior. I purchased the x41 headphones 6 months ago for $169.00. At the time I enjoyed them, but they had started to have static pops every now and then. Within a few months, the static and interference was so overwhelming, I couldn't even use them. I tried everything to find a solution, but the problem was they ran on a 2.5GHz frequency, which interferes with wireless routers and other wireless devices.
I researched long and hard before I bought the Chimaera 5.1 Wireless Gaming Headset. The thing that attracted me the most was that they ran on a 5.8GHz frequency. I decided to take a chance and purchased them. They are INCREDIBLE when compared to the x41. NO static, NO pops, NO interference!! The design is much better and more sleek looking than the x41 as well. Some people have complained that these headphones are too tight. I LOVE the snug feeling. The x41 always fell off my head when I would look down even a little bit. The Chimera has a much better feel and look!
The sound is incredible! I love the dolby 5.1 surround, and couldn't ask for any better. The charging dock is genious and the battery life is very good. Set up was easy and quick. Chat so far has been really good. I love that you can change the volume level of chat, independent of game volume.
All around, these headphones have completely surpassed my expectations and I am SO happy I purchased them. I paid about the same price as I paid for the Turtle Beach x41, and wish these were out when I had purchased those. They make for a very fun gaming experience, and my wife doesn't have to hear all of my games.
If ANYONE is considering going from the x41 to the Chimaera 5.1 Wireless Gaming Headphones, I say do it! They have made my life so much easier and more enjoyable! | video-games_xbox |
Absolute garbage, do not buy. Absolute garbage. Do not buy. The headphones are not adjustable in the least. The ostensible noise cancelling capabilities cannot be utilized because your ears are not completely isolated. There is open space in the bottom (by the ear lobes) which cannot be eliminated. The microphone is adjustable, but is a little short and tends to resist bending to one's exact preference. Just as horrendous is the included software which is incredibly convoluted. Merely installing was frustrating. It kept failing and looking for the device which it thought wasn't plugged in, etc. While not a problem for myself, many users may be impeded by the fact that the CD does not have an auto-run feature. Once it has finally been installed, one finds that the headset cannot really function without active use of the software, forcing the user to juggle the annoying management software with whatever other tasks are in progress. On top of this, it often takes several minutes for the device can be detected, if at all, and the VIBROS program will not open until it is detected. Even more frustrating is the odd tendency for the device to interfere with other things plugged in through USB. I'm not completely sure why, but my keyboard seems to deactivate for several long seconds following my plugging in of the GS-4540SP. Once it has been activated, it's almost impossible to work with the Windows sound settings to actually get the thing to work. It seems as if a bunch of extra audio devices were added as red herrings. Currently, I have the software outputting Analog Output through the Headphone option (as opposed to the available Speaker option). Next, I had to disable Realtek Digital Output and Realtek Digital Output(Optical) in the Windows Sound options. These are enabled by default yet do not produce any sound even though the rising and falling green sound indicator bar to the right shows that my machine is making sound somewhere. Beneath these two is a device called "Speakers," and with this enabled, I can hear. Below this, a final "Digital Output" which seems to be unused. Again, I am using a pair of headphones with the Headphone option on. I find this to be idiotic and counter-intuitive. Even worse, I cannot seem to pick up on a pattern of activating and deactivating devices in tandem with the software options which reliably produces a quick and positive result. The thing afflicts my machine with short-term memory loss causing it to forget how to communicate with the device properly every time I leave it alone for a bit (restart, unplug, etc.), forcing the user to reconfigure (i.e. guess-and-check) every time. As for the sound and voice, it's OK, but should be better for the price. The biggest problem in this case is the volume not having a wide range. The lowest volume is far too loud. My last complaint is the ugly in-line control. It is bulky and has a stupid-looking X on it which is not even the company's logo and the controls are not particularly easy to use. Sentey sends you an e-mail trying to get you to post a positive review and avoid posting a negative one, by the way. If the product was good, they would not have to do this. Do not buy. | video-games_xbox |
The Essential Fallout 3 Value Pack. Ever wondered how humanity would survive after the fallout of nuclear war? How seemingly normal people would react if they went from a life of relative luxury to that of a hostile, radiation and violent super-mutant filled, environment? The previous 2 Fallout games explored this angle through bird's-eye view RPGs (similar to Runescape and Diablo), but Fallout 3 explores this idea through first and third-person shooter perspective in the wasteland that was once Washington DC and the surrounding metro area. You assume the role of the "lone wanderer," a survivor in Vault 101 that exits the sanctity of his/her home in search of their father. Along the way you battle super mutants, heavily mutated scorpions, crabs, bugs, and robotic remnants of the US Army. You also interact with a large variety of people (with full voice acting) and either help or hinder their efforts to survive.
You can become a bastion of hope, a harbinger of death, or play Switzerland and remain completely neutral with every choice you make. Combining dialogue features akin to Knights of the Old Republic and Mass Effect, you alone, determine the fate of the Capitol Wasteland.
Thus endeth the introduction.
To any of you, who have not played Fallout 3 and wanted to enjoy a great open-ended RPG with a LOT of exploring, I strongly encourage you to check out this packaging and NOT get the original version of the game. Ignore the fact that it costs less because you're getting more bang for your buck here.
Why, you ask? Well, let me explain from the perspective of someone who bought the game (at full price) when it originally came out in 2008.
For a few of us, the Fallout 3 Game of the Year package is a slap in the face since we spent full price on the game and 1/4th that for every expansion set out there (see my review on Broken Steel/Point Lookout) and then this complete package set comes out less than a year after the release of the original game.
Oh well, my heart will go on! :P
In the meantime, the Game of the Year packing has got to be the best idea Bethseda has come up with since they re-released the first two Fallout games and expansions on the PC. It includes not just the game itself but all five expansions including the new Mothership Zeta (which I am currently playing and having a blast with). This means newcomers to Fallout 3 will not have the misfortune of playing the game for 30-50 hours, beating the game and then realizing that the ending sucks and there's nothing else to do. That was the curse of the original game, however, with the Broken Steel expansion not only do you raise the level cap from 20 to 30 but you have post-ending game content with and open-ending game play as well.
While Broken Steel is probably the nicest expansion in the Game of the Year edition, the newest one not yet available for mass (offline) purchase is Mothership Zeta. Released, so far, only as a download on XBox Live, Mothership Zeta was not available for those of us who do not play online so its inclusion into this packing really makes a difference. Not to mention I have heard that many original glitches, such as audio loops causing the game to fail advance the story, have been fixed.
In fact, my Broken Steel/Point Lookout expansion caused my game to go into a dialogue loop at the very end of the game and, since I used nothing but autosave like an idiot, I could not revert and try again. What I ended up doing was erasing all the expansions I had on my Xbox hard drive and, using the expansion disk from the Game of the Year packaging, reinstalled them and the glitch was fixed. If you experience the same problem I had, try this method.
Other than that, the other expansions (such as Operation Anchorage and The Pitt), offer little more than extra quests and more gear including some slick weapons. Point Lookout, however, offers more of the same but with a massive new map for exploration and the farming of new weapons.
All in all, Fallout 3 Game of the Year packaging is a must have for any newcomers to Fallout 3. Not so much for veteran players since we've already spent waaaaay too much on everything already. I only bought it because I was using my brother's copy in the meantime. :P
Peace out! | video-games_xbox |
I liked it. My review is going to be pretty simple.
First off, this is my first review and I have a rule that unless I am completely blown away, I won't give it 5 stars. The game play blew me away, however, the lack of a Fantasy Draft did take away some of the fun of it, still not enough for me to take away a star. Had a good time playing, which is important for me.
Game play was better than '12, although there was an instance where a DL stole the hand-off between RB and QB and ran it back for a TD. That bugs me a little bit, but not as much as my running back not catching a 300 pound defensive lineman when he didn't even get tackled for the ball. Again, if I have to be picky, that would be my only negative. It is more realistic in some ways, but in others, it is kinda' the same.
What completely blew me away (I am easy to please, I guess) was the fact that you can change plays on the line of scrimmage by talking to the Kinect. For example, I am a Miami fan, so I can say "Bess, fly pattern" and the game will highlight the fact that Bess is going to do a fly pattern. Not sure what other commands you can throw at it, but that seems like an interesting addition.
Before you all rip me because I don't mention Franchise, I am going to say that I don't use it, I don't care for it, and I don't miss it. I am not ripping those who have been giving bad reviews to the game. They have a right to do so, because they find a part of how they normally play missing. I like the way the game plays. My son and I, or he and his friends have a good time playing the game and at the end, I like it a lot and hope that they keep this engine as is, or improve upon it.
Hopefully they will listen to the many that liked Franchise and Fantasy the way it was and put it back. I have seen Madden developers take away parts of the game, to later add them back in. I have been playing Madden since the Sega Genesis days, so yes, I have seen it done. They are not stupid people. If they don't, they lose revenue, if they do, they regain revenue lost. Kinda' simple, don't you think?
Anyway, this is my review and I am sticking with it.... | video-games_xbox |
Perfect for kids, a little less so for adults. Having played and thoroughly enjoyed most of the Lego (Insert Movie Property Here) games with my son, and particularly the first Lego Batman game, I preordred this title for us as soon as it became available. Both of us were incredibly excited when it arrived and rushed through dinner so we could open it up and play. My son still maintains that level of excitment every time he asks if we can break it out again. For me, the shine has already worn off.
While very similar to its predecessor, there are some key differences that make Batman 2 a little less fun for grown ups (or at least for me) than it clearly is for a six-year-old boy:
1.) The gameplay is very repetitive and not in the way the last one was (or any lego game can be). Both have you fight through assorted, easy-to-beat generic thugs on your way to a boss battle, solving a few puzzles along the way. But in part 1 those boss battles often required a good deal of imagination and critical thinking to win. I actually had little difficulty convincing my engineer wife that the time my son and I spent playing part 1 was good for him. Here, it's mostly a question of how many times you can hit the big bad before he or she goes down and puzzles feel almost perfunctory. Great fun for a Power Rangers fan, less so for dad.
2.) While many of the fights in part 2 are bigger, longer and arguably more visually interesting in terms of effects, the diversity of settings for these big brick battles is seriously lacking compared to part 1. And it's hard to understand why. After all, you hit many of the same venues...the zoo, the bank...and some brand new ones like Wayne Tower. But whereas the zoo in part 1 felt distinctively different from the inside of the bank or from Mr. Freeze's factory, all of the levels in part 2 have largely the same look and feel going on. It feels like a design shortcut. like the fight complexity issue, not something that bothers my son, but sucks a bit of the fun out of it for me.
3.) The choice to use actual dialogue for this installment bothers me. Part of the charm of the previous game (and all other Lego games we've played) was the lack of dialogue and the way the games' animation more than made up for it. The very expressive gestures and odd combinations of muffled sounds made the games almost as much fun to watch as they were to play. By contrast, Batman 2 feels like watching snippets of a cartoon with some big-name voice actors (that sounds like Clancy Brown doing Luthor) and some terribly bad ones (Superman sounds generic and awful)reading often truly badly written dialogue. Even if the animators didn't skimp on body language as a result of having this crooked crutch, it feels like they did.
That all probably sounds pretty harsh and will make some wonder why I gave this game 3 stars, but there's also a lot of good going on here. The range of familiar characters you can unlock and play is great (some were clearly nods to die-hard fans)and their desgins and powers are very well handled. Also, the game world itself is vast, with lots of hidden goodies and opportunities for distraction, so its not one you're likely to complete in a single sitting.
So, if you're on the fence about getting this for a kid, go ahead and pay full price. It will be worth it for them. But if you want it for your own enjoyment and you are over 12, I'd hold off until the platinum hits version comes out and replay the first one in the meantime. | video-games_xbox |
Needs Work. I will start by saying that this game is OK. However, for current gen, it should have more features and be a LOT more fluid controls.
I understand that the control scheme takes some getting used to. I have practiced and I am actually pretty good at the game now. But the combos are ungodly slow. There is no fluidity to the striking whatsoever. Every attack has a delay and nothing feels organic about it at all.
The moves are all the same for every fighter, which makes no sense. There is no differentiation between fighters, other than the way they look.
Knockouts suck. I hate to say it, but they do.
Rarely do you see a guy get knocked/rocked out and the other fighter just stands there. They would always go in for the finishing blow, unless the ref stopped them and sometimes even if the ref was trying to stop them. Not in this game, they just stand there and you are not allowed to do anything extra to ensure victory. This is not realistic and takes away from the fun factor.
Don't these developers know that we like going in for the extras shots? That is what made Fight Night such an awesome game. You could knock the guy out against the ropes and keep punishing him until his body actually hit the floor. How hard is to understand that we want to see this new damage system that actually shows the shots these fighters take? Instead they give us a cut scene of us celebrating. STUPID MOVE.
Career mode is not fleshed out very much and the training sessions make me want to cry because they are so boring and pointless.
EA servers weren't available the last time I tried to play online, so I can't speak to that. I am sure it is fun when it works. But if there is any lag whatsoever, it would make the already slow combo mechanics a complete nightmare.
I hope they can patch this game and make it the game it could have been, but knowing EA, this is probably the best we are going to get. I had such high hopes for this game too. Really sad next gen experience for me. | video-games_xbox |
Have some spare controllers on hand. As someone who has played tons of other fifa games, this game disappoints and frustrates me to no end, Sure there have been plenty of good changes to where people cannot abuse pace anymore and actually have to work the ball down the field. The defenders are smarter about interceptions as well as the midfielders. Draft mode is cool and adds a new dynamic to FUT, however it has a decently large entry fee of 15k coins or 300 fifa points.
Then the frustration starts.
Some people have praised this game for it's new passing mechanics, but I just don't see it. You have to be a trained navy seal sniper to hit passes accurately. Many times a pass overlooks the player who it was obviously intended for and goes straight to the other team. Other times the power bar (even with a driven pass) means nothing and the ball chooses how fast it wants to go. Sometimes it takes me 4 Y while pointing down to the right-side corner of the field on counter-attacks for the game to realize "OH! you wanted to give a ball to your wing! Too bad! He's now offside and you missed you chance!"
First touches are absolutely dismal. Even while holding LT the ball goes out of control and I can't trust passes between defenders or back to the goalie in fear of the first touch being unpredictable and unreliable. Touches in the midfield or the attacking third have a mind of their own cutting off passes and easy shots.
Any goalkeeper with an 80+ rating is incredibly strong. Andre Ter Stegen (82 OVR) will make 14 saves in the first half and another 7 in the second with ease, meanwhile Mingolet (78 OVR) struggles to block anything. It's nice to have your own keeper be a little smarter now, but to see average keepers make saves worthy of goalkeeper Valhalla is a little ridiculous.
Packs are useless at this point. Good luck finding anyone over 80 because all you're getting is going to be some non-rare 70-something overall player.
The officiating in this game is the dumbest I have ever seen referees. Many many "fouls" happen after barely laying a shoulder on a midfielder, or fouls are called after a clean slide happened to get the ball first, clear it, and just happen to continue into a player. And good luck with PK's, because you can have your fingers off all buttons on the controller and just hold the left stick while bodying a player and your defender feels inclined to shove the attacker down. It happened in 75% of the online games I have played.
The one thing this game got right was expanded price ranges in UT, and the soundtrack.
Most of the other modes play fine but the gameplay itself is incredibly frustrating and you will constantly be asking yourself "Why?!" as you're playing as you question whether or not the players om the field are toddlers or Ronaldo.
This game has a learning curve the size of Everest, and you better have a stress ball on hand while getting to learn it. | video-games_xbox |
Sam Fisher's Rampage is Thoroughly Enjoyable. When talk of his daughter's supposed death seems to resurface, Sam Fisher decides he's tired of hiding, and the people who have betrayed him - the very same people who have ordered him around throughout his career as Splinter Cell - are all going to pay.
While that doesn't sound particularly original, it's certainly entertaining. The plot unfolds more like an episode of 24 than a plodding Tom Clancy novel. Twists abound, and people aren't always who they seem to be. The plot also gives some very interesting insight into Sam Fisher's character, as the silent badass becomes more human. You really get a sense of who, and what he's fighting for, and it's a real treat toward the end-game when his philosophies on revenge, duty, and trust really come to the surface.
The campaign is short - five hours short - but it's very fun, and even finds some strength in it's brevity. After a brief introductory sequence in Malta, Sam spends the rest of his time lurking around Washington, D.C., visiting various locations to unravel a treasonous conspiracy.
Perhaps "lurking" isn't the right word, though. Stealth elements in Conviction have been stripped down to the essentials, crouching in shadows, and watching enemy patrols for the right time. Beyond that, Splinter Cell plays more like an action game with an emphasis on keeping to the shadows. Players can swiftly take down enemies with the push of a button, and if things get out of hand, they're armed to the teeth, or if they're a bit more sneaky, they can make a quick getaway with one of the new gadgets.
Thankfully, even with the absence of some of the older features, Ubisoft has added in quite a few awesome new gameplay mechanics. The first, and most important is Mark and Execute. The player can pick out a number of enemies, and with the tap of a button, quickly dispatch them all, making it easy to get passed overwhelming patrols. But, it's not like it's a win button either, you have to get a melee kill to charge up your Mark and Execute meter, which pretty much perfectly balances out the new mechanic. The second notable new feature is Last Known Position. Upon being spotted, a silhouette of Sam will appear so you can tell where the guards thought you were last. This makes it easier to escape, or even set up an ambush.
There are some spots that change up the formula, and they can be quite entertaining. Chasing a conspirator around the Washington Monument, and, in a throwback to the old style of Splinter Cells, a sequence where you have to maneuver around an environment completely undetected. There are some pretty superb moments beyond that which I won't spoil, but there are some moments which don't work as well. Interrogations are brutally satisfying, but they serve to slow things down quite a bit, and are little more than slightly interactive cut-scenes.
The campaign is quite good as long as you're not expecting a lengthy adventure. The game has changed, Sam Fisher has changed, and in most part, it's for the better.
A Co-Op campaign was disappointingly absent from Splinter Cell: Double Agent, a letdown indeed after its memorable debut in Chaos Theory. Co-Op is back in full force in Conviction, however, in the form of The Prologue, which might just be the best of Splinter Cell: Conviction's three main pillars of game modes.
The Prologue doesn't have as much of an emphasis on story, but it does rather well in leading up to Sam's rampage as seen in the Campaign, and the character development is actually pretty great. Archer, a Third Echelon agent, and Kestrel, a Russian agent working for Voron (an international Third Echelon equivalent) must form an alliance to track down some stolen weaponry. Oh, and there's an awesome twist ending.
In terms of the gameplay, things remain pretty much the same as in the Campaign, however, working together on coordinated strikes against guards is a lot of fun, and, as mentioned before, co-op Mark and Executes are pretty insane, allowing you to clear out quite a few guards with a little bit of team work.
The Co-Op in Conviction is tons of fun, and in my opinion, the best mode the game has to offer. The story is well told, if simple, and the gameplay really lends itself to a co-op experience.
Deniable Ops is the last piece of the Conviction equation, and it doesn't totally stack up to the rest of the game's offerings. It's essentially a quick-play mode for one or two players in which an objective must be completed on one of the maps from the Prologue (as well as one additional one exclusive to Deniable Ops). There's Hunter, in which players must take down a certain number of enemies, Last Stand, where they must defend an EMP against waves of attackers, Infiltration, which requires players to take down guards without being detected, and Stand Off, Conviction's only adversarial multiplayer mode.
Of these, Hunter is the only one that really works, since the core gameplay (as in guard-killing fun) holds up just fine. Last Stand and Infiltration don't work as well because they require either all-out gunplay, or total stealth respectively, which goes against the game's natural balance of the two. Stand Off is a simple spy vs. spy deathwatch, the twist being that A.I. guards litter the map. For the most part, it works pretty well, but it's nothing outstanding.
While it's disappointing that there's no Spies vs. Mercenaries mode, Deniable Ops does the trick when it comes to quick, pick-up-and-play Splinter Cell action, just don't expect anything deep.
Campaign, Prologue, and Deniable Ops are held together by PEC Challenges, which can be completed across any of the game modes. The challenges range from simply escaping from a heated situation, to more whacky stuff like killing a guard by throwing another guard at him. These challenges award points which can be used for upgrading weapons and gadgets (for use across all game modes), and uniforms (only usable in Deniable Ops). These challenges actually offer a decent incentive for replay value, and outfitting your gear quickly becomes addicting.
Conviction's production values aren't stellar, but they get the job done. The graphics run on the now-dated Unreal 2 engine, although it does well all things considered. Lighting effects continue to impress, and the art-style is quite good, however, close inspection of pretty much anything in the game will reveal how low-tech it is. The sound department is decent, too. Voice acting is hit or miss, with Michael Ironside's gravelly Sam Fisher being a highlight, as always. The music is quite good, and really sets the tone for sneaking, or all-out confrontations. Sound effects can get repetitive, but for the most part the game does its job in looking, and sounding fine, but there's nothing amazing here.
From Conviction's Campaign, and Co-Op Campaign offerings, you're play time will probably clock in at around 12 hours, but Deniable Ops, and PEC Challenges can chew up a lot of time as well. The individual pieces of the package won't provide a whole lot of mileage, but combined, this game definitely has the replay value to justify a purchase.
Splinter Cell: Conviction is a very hit or miss game when it comes to everything from gameplay mechanics, to production values. The game is certainly not without its flaws, but the good ultimately outweighs the bad making Conviction a game worth checking out. | video-games_xbox |
An objective view from a huge fan of the series. There are a bunch of review on here that aren't helpful, and seem to be either fanboys or angry trolls, so let me see if I can offer some objective points here as someone who has played every game in the Storm series so far.
First the good-
-Offers a large roster of characters to choose from.
-Some small additions to the story that fans will enjoy (Akatsuki backstory, Mecha-Naruto etc).
-Polished gameplay from years of refining the combat.
-Cool interactions for Ultimate Jutsus with some team combinations.
-New animations and voice overs from the characters you know and love.
-When you finally unlock him, Hashirama Senju is a beast. The whole game is almost worth it just for the updated version of him.
Now the bad-
-Almost no new content from previous games. This very literally could have been a $10-$15 expansion for the last Storm. It feels very much like you're being ripped off if you've played any of the previous installments.
-Boss battles are completely gone. One of my favorite parts of other Storm installments was being a part of huge boss battles that rewarded the player with epic battle sequences by completing a chain of button commands correctly. This is a huge miss.
-Rehashed characters with no updates. Almost all of the playable characters are literally the exact same as every other installment of Storm. This is really sad to see. Characters should at least have updated jutsus and ultimates to spice up the gameplay and offer fans the ability to control some of Naruto's most powerful foes and allies.
-No world exploration. In the early Storm games, you were able to explore the world and be rewarded for collecting items and completing side quests. The last game dropped a lot of this and, in Revolutions, its completely gone. The few areas you are allowed to explore are sterile, repetitive, and completely thrown together.
-Each time you choose a character to battle with, you are forced to pick between Ultimate Jutsu and Awakening types. This means that each battle is ultimately more boring because the player is given less options during combat and can predict the opponents moves more easily.
FINAL THOUGHTS aka. TD:LR
"Revolution" is a thrown-together rehash of previous games in the series that loses the soul of what made the others great. Overall, the game is a major disappointment.
I gave it two stars instead of one because of Hashirama. | video-games_xbox |
I Ain't No Joke. Before Volition completely jumped the shark with Saints Row 3 and 4, the studio gave us a (mostly) down to earth, open world sandbox game that instantly became one of my favorite games of all time. When I first played this game back in the day I was super surprised about the amazing depth this game had. You could completely customize your character and customize basically all of the cars (including adding spinners to golf carts), plus you had free roam of the city of Stilwater.
Maybe it's just me being impartial because I love Saints Row and Saints Row 2 so much, but Stilwater has got to be one of the best fictional locations ever immortalized in video game form. The city is depicted much better in SR2, but I can't hate the first iteration of the city because it's just so memorable. I hadn't played this game since, probably 2008, and I still remembered the layout like the back of my hand. I think that speaks to how good of a job Volition did crafting the city from the ground up.
In this game, we see the Saints as just an ordinary street gang fighting to become the ONLY street gang by eliminating their competition; the Westside Rollerz, Los Carnales, and the Vice Kings. Your character is recruited after a rough run in of gang violence, after which your "canonized" and welcomed into the Saints, led by Julius Little (voiced by Spawn himself, Keith David). You play as the right hand man of Julius, tasked with bringing down the other gangs with help from lieutenants Johnny Gat, Troy (more of a background character though), Dex, and Lin. Each gang has their own series of unique missions, with about 10 or more for each gang, so there's a lot of activities to do that works your way to a 100% completion.
Speaking of activities, the side missions in this game are known as activities. These side missions are essential in raising your respect level, and your respect level is essential for playing the missions because you need a certain level of respect to initiate the missions to begin with. It's not as bad as it seems though, activities are actually pretty fun with a ton of variety. Just to go over a few, there's chop shop, which tasks you with finding a specific (sometimes rare) car somewhere in the city and bringing it back for money and respect. Hitman tasks you with finding targets in the city and eliminating them with a specific weapon. My favorite activity is Insurance Fraud, where you throw yourself in front of cars and rag doll yourself across the world to earn cash. There's a decent mix of serious and, let's be frank here, ludicrous activities, but they're all fun and hold your attention very well. Also, if you completely clear an activity, you're rewarded with either borderline cheats (like infinite sprinting) or something crappy, like your notoriety for a specific gang will drop quicker.
Weapons are handled well in Saints Row. There's no auto target, but the aiming mechanic is good enough that you wouldn't need such a thing anyway. You can hold a bunch of weapons at a time, but only one version of a weapon at once, like, you can hold either a desert eagle or a 9mm in the pistol slot, an AK-47 or an M4 in your assault rifle slot, etc. You can also hold a melee weapon.
The music is composed mostly of rap and hip-hop, and while Saints Row 2 had a better soundtrack, this game has a memorable soundtrack as well, but it'll serve you better if you're a fan of rap and hip-hop. If that's not your bag, just flick the music off, you won't be losing much.
Overall, I'd say Saints Row is a great game with tons of fun, and a good story. If you are, or ever were a fan of the early Grand Theft Auto games, Saints Row plays almost exactly like one of them, it just looks better and has more fun by going over the top every once in a while. I highly recommend it, even if it is getting close to (or is) a decade old now. Good times all around. | video-games_xbox |
Unprecedented expansiveness and detail. I am an avid gamer and have been since the days of DOS games. I'm not a game programmer and I'm not a professional gamer, but I have played many hundreds of games, on DOS, 3.1, 2000, XP, Vista, Win7, Nintendo, Super Nintendo, Sega, Sega Genesis, Xbox, Xbox 360, PS2, PSP, PS3... Not every platform in history, but certainly most of them, and like I said, many by quantity over the last 15 years. I'm a big fan of FPS, TPS and RTS games in particular, with occasional RPG fixations.
Never in my gaming days have I seen a game as absolutely gorgeous, expansive, stunning, detailed, and for lack of a better term, artistically articulate, than Assassins Creed II. The first game certainly had all the right stuff, and was instantly on my best-ever list (comprised of Return to Castle Wolfenstein, FarCry, HalfLife2, Supreme Commander & expansion, Bioshock, Assassins Creed and Assassins Creed II). While I still adore all of the other games on my best-ever list, ACII really just blows all of the others away in terms of the breathtaking, stunning, and perfectly-rendered environments. You are treated to a trip to Renaissance Europe. You will traverse, in every nook & cranny, several entire cities, developed in a scale and level of detail and artistically-refined rendering that is, to my knowledge, completely and totally unprecedented in gaming.
It's still "just a game" but the scope of the environment and the attention to detail in which it is rendered makes it literally an order of magnitude greater than any other. The scale will be similar to a "big" RPG like NWN, Guild Wars, or the like, but the level of detail, the BEAUTY of the environments gets in to every tiny nook and cranny, every corner, every alley. It is truly astonishing to behold. You may spend half a year playing this game daily and still not see every corner & secret of the immense cities presented here.
You CAN NOT be disappointed by this game; so take that as a categorical assertion. If you happen to especially enjoy the style of gameplay (e.g., you liked/loved Assassins Creed), be prepared to have a kind of epiphany, a catharsis. I am still absolutely in awe of this game. I purchased Xbox Live simply to download the DLC for the game. Yes... it is absolutely stunning and beautiful. Buy a copy today. Pay whatever you have to pay. If you're worried that you will miss the $60, you won't after 5 minutes playing the game.
An easy decision. | video-games_xbox |
Warning! Reviews Are Half Lies. This game could quite possibly be my greatest let down of the year. The Witcher 3 had such amazing potential, huge budget, incredibly attractive trailers, immersive giant world. Here are the pros and cons to witcher 3. I really did try my best to become immersed into the game before I made any judgements, even though there were a few things I disliked from the start.
Pros:
1. The painstaking beauty of the landscape is beyond anything I have seen on XBOX one or PS4. The weather, the environment, the time of day(sunset in the woods), the views, just incredible. Within 10 seconds of playing the game you can walk out on a balcony and just stare at the mountains in awe for a few seconds. Incredible.
2. The world is truly enormous, way beyond Skyrim in its size and depth.
3. Voice acting of main characters was decent.
Cons:
1. The fighting system is truly terrible........it is sluggish, redundant, and every mob is stronger than you.......1 wild dog can kill you if you don't roll / dodge 7 times during the fight.......its exhausting. The griffin fight was silly, jsut stand behind him and mindlessly swing, oh and dodge, and dodge, and dodge, and dodge, and if you hadnt already, please dodge another 100 times. Oh and welcome to 4 spells....5.....and you can only really use one per fight because the stamina it takes to use one spell(which are incredibly weak by the way) takes to long to recharge.
2. Health............wow seriously, what the heck.......are you seriously telling me that I need to spend every coin I harvest on food........100s and 100s of food? Your life aka health does not recharge, ever. You must eat 16 potatoes to go from half life to full at level 4 which takes over a minute to work. Oh, and did I mention you have to do that after EVERY fight, unless you some how magically dodge every attack sent your way by the 5 wolves/drowners/ghouls/whatever.
3. Encounters....... For almost every special mob encounter you will be required to make some sort of potion or bomb to counter that specific mob. The spells they tell you to use rarely have any significant effect, and the potion making is grueling tedious and exhausting.
4. Save system.....Yugo better puase and save every second, because one random mob encounter can equal death, escaping from them is very hard, and the auto-save system often sets you back 15 minutes or more of your game play if you die.
5. Repair your gear......I just loves games were you have to repair your gear all the time, and that it is incredibly expensive.
6. Narrator.....How the heck did they chose the narrator, its like they chose the oldest nerdiest guy in the building. It sounds incredibly unprofessional for a game with such a huge budget.
7. Witcher sense.....Its exhausting, stolen from Assassins Creed, and stupid that you have to hold the trigger down the entire time you use it, it also keeps playing the same distinctive creaking/crackling noise no matter where you are, make you not want to use it out of annoyance.
8. Vendors.........Really, the only cash they have to buy stuff off me is what I spend to buy things off them.....can this possibly be for real? | video-games_xbox |
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