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A Superior Sequel from the Team we Love. Ah yes those brilliant gods of the video game world have done it again, in this I am referring to "Black Isle studio". The same studio that brought the PC hits "Baldur's Gate", "Baldur's Gate 2", "Diablo", and "Diablo 2" have managed to make a gaming experiance so simple yet so engrossing and entertaining that it would make you forgive almost any short coming this game has, not to mention almost forget how dispointing the first "Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance" was.
"Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance 2" offers a much deeper experiance this time around by allowing character, which you can select one of five and still unlock hidden chacters like the legendary Drittz, to select multipule side quests instead of the simple one quest that was in the first game. The graphic have been improved slightly but not much. The musical score is dark and brooding which is a perfect fit for the story. The story, now here is one of the real winners, is down right incredible. You will face epic foes from the Forgotten Realms campaign setting such as a Lich, a Red Dragon, a Green Dragon, as well as many many more. For "Dungeons & Dragons" fans this is a real treat, for everone else you most certainly will have some interesting boss fights.
But of all the features this game has the one I keep coming back to again and again is the item creation system. Being able to create +5 great sword of fire is just fun in my book. A fare warning though to the more concervative about this game, as compared to the first, this sequel in much more violent and gruesome. Part of me still wonders how it got away with be rated Teen, especially the level in Bloodmire Manor which was macabre enough to be place in one of the "Resident Evil" games.
In short if you have a x-box and ant a great hack and slash with a good story, and enough RPG to hold you over till "Fable" or "Halo 2" is released than this is definatly you meal ticket. | video-games_xbox |
The New Ghosts. I played the original Ghost Recon on PC all those years ago and I this game makes me feel more like real Special Forces than any of the previous titles.
In GR:Wildlands you and your small team are inserted into a hostile country to assist native forces in overthrowing an oppressive drug cartel that has effectively taken control of the government. You have only what you carry in: a drone, some night vision goggles, and a few basic weapons; everything else has to be found on your own. While previous GR titles focused more on first-person tactical realism and conventional warfare, Wildlands is more asymmetric and more like what the modern US Army's SF teams actually do. You'll need to think smart, cooperate with local forces for support, and stay mobile to accomplish your objectives.
So, does this mean it isn't a "Ghost Recon" game? Not in the same vein as its predecessors, certainly - it has more in common with Mercenaries or Just Cause, but with more added emphasis on stealth and tactical gameplay instead of the ridiculous set pieces of those games. It feels like a fresh take on the series and I don't think that's a bad thing. You're less Future Soldier and more boots-on-ground Tier One operator, with more freedom but less high tech gadgets.
The actual gameplay is why this game only gets four stars. It is definitely better played as part of a co-op, as your AI teammates in solo campaign are rather dull and not very helpful other than their Synch Shot ability. There are lots of glitches and weird gameplay moments, such appearing to run alongside a helicopter instead of riding in it or your rebel support just not working at all. Despite all the different vehicles in this game, you can't store or customize any of them. The voice acting is a little below par, sometimes coming across effectively (I like how the female Ghost says, "Must have been someone else. We were never there" with appropriate malice behind the words) and other times dull and lifeless (Most of the interrogations or your character trying to speak Spanish).
Character customization is a high point with tons of options for weapons and appearance. However, you can't save weapon loadouts the same way you can save outfits, so you'll have to take frequent tactical pauses to swap for a 40mm underbarrel if you like the look of the Magpul AFG instead, rather than just having two loadouts of the same weapon.
Main story missions are pretty varied but the side missions will get repetitive fairly quickly, and the Rebel Radio ones are especially annoying since the radio can take all of a light sneeze before being destroyed.
I didn't really have a problem with the vehicle controls (on console) but they take some getting used to, especially with the APC. Helicopter controls allow for some awesome low-to-the-deck high speed flights but don't expect to do any landing on rooftops without a rudder control (like GTA V's RB and LB to rotate around the axis of the main rotor).
Overall, this game is fun and addicting, packed full of content (some of it repetitive), best played with friends, and feels more like the sequel to Mercenaries we never got mixed in with the stealth and planning of older Tom Clancy games. | video-games_xbox |
Won't win GOTY, Batman fans will like it, Arkham series gamers might say "meh. I actually give it ***1/2.
Gameplay, it's real easy. Same combat forms and play. Same open world format like with City maybe a tad bigger. It'd be nice to fly the Bat Plane (or Wing?). For the life of me I cannot understand why it couldn't have been a true "origin" story?? I'm thinking more like the rebooted Tomb Raider. Start with Bruce Wayne in training and building upon it as he completes training-type missions. At the same time, he could've started piecing together his Bat Suit (or until he has that "revelation" of being The Bat). I think the detective investigation expansion is a plus but they could've made them a little bit harder. Anyway, whining done.
Visually, the graphics are cleaner. In tough combat sitches, the frame rate started getting bugging and it froze up on me twice, once after beating a certain TOUGH but awesome anti-hero then another time in the GCPD building. My cure was to keep the gamesaves off of Cloud and saved on the hard drive. I suspect a patch is coming soon. I think Batman's suit looks a little more mechanical via raiding the combat military closet. It's awesome.
Haven't delved into the multi- too much but so far seems "ok". The Challenges are similar to City with the exception that you can play as Deathstroke who is badass and needs his own game.
I give it ***1/2 only because a lot of us have played this game before. This seems like it could have easily been a DLC add-on. The gaming engine isn't all that different and who knows where Rocksteady would've taken this game. Otherwise, to cater to the masses of Arkham fans and newbies, it almost seems like this game was lazily but hastily put together. However, it is not a bad game. It's a great game because I love the prior series. This definitely would not disappoint the Batman fans.
Update 11/12/13
I kicked this up a notch to 4-stars. ***SPOILERS***
Finally finished up the game (probably about two weeks behind most everyone else...haha). The storyline is great! I think this is what kicked it up back another half star. I mean Bane was bad ass and it took me a while to beat him (two times). Not quite sure what Firefly was all about but the story to get to him and defeat him was fun.
Shiva was a joke. Anarky was ok-to-fun. I think Enigma's jobs were harder this time around then in AC.
Graphics-wise, it is much better than the previoous versions but still quite buggy. The update seemed to fix some of it so make sure you get it. But I had one baddie stuck midway through the wall and I couldn't take him out to finish the Predator challenge so I had to restart the game. That sucks.
Other than the quirks, the one main thing that keeps this game from getting full-stars is that storymode was way too short. It sucks to finish the game way sooner than the side missions. But this implies that we've all played this format of gameplay before. Something needed to be changed to slow gameplay down.
Overall, this game is much better than I previously noted. | video-games_xbox |
Underwhelming, At Best. First off, I have to say that I've only used these for a few days, and in my motherboard's stock sound card, which is the Realtek ALC883. And I have not used the mic feature of these headsets yet, so my review doesn't include this feature.
[Updated - Installed the Creative X-Fi Xtreme Gamer PCI 5.1 card - more on this at the end of the review]
Overall, the highs are clear, but tinny and uncomfortable, especially when the volume is too high. The mid-range is where these headphones really fall short, as everything sounds muffled and the resulting sound stage leaves you feeling like you have a head cold. While the bass is present and fairly clear, it is extremely lackluster and provides very little punch.
It's worth mentioning that these are NOT built for music. Don't even bother trying. I've tried listening to various genres of music with these headsets, and in every single case, they sound TERRIBLE!! So if you want multipurpose headphones, look elsewhere. Despite my warning, if you do want to try these for music, remember to switch from 5.1 output in your setup back down to 2 ch stereo, or headphone, mode. Otherwise, they will sound EVEN worse (trust me on this one).
I setup the Realtek software to run 5.1 ch surround, and when I tested it, there was no discernible difference between the front channel, and rear channels. With that said, playing in game, I was able to to "tune" the volume (lowering the rear channels in comparison to the front and center), so I could distinguish between the two. Doing this seemed to have helped separate the fronts from the rears a little more succinctly, albeit sacrificing a rear volume in the process.
[EDIT - I've read that some people, who have 7.1 sound cards, have plugged the REAR channels into the SIDE speakers and have received much better results - granted, with varying degrees of success. I have not tested this personally, but you may want to try it if you have these]
Which brings me to in-game performance. The first game I tried was BF3, after spending 10-15 minutes standing around as a target, while randomly firing my weapon, reloading, or throwing grenades, I was able to adjust the volume levels to something I found appropriate. When finished, while the overall sound was much better, everything still seemed muffled. Surprisingly, the low ends performed well in-game (versus setup tests). Though a decent pair of 2 ch. stereo headset will deliver a much higher sonic experience.
What I do like about these headphones, is the way it handles positional audio. In MW3 (Campaign), I could turn away while walking to some objective and hear the position of my squad's voices change accordingly in my head. The use of the multiple speakers in this case is where this headset excels. It's just a shame that everything sounds so muffled.
PROS: Easy setup. Positional audio (multichannel speakers setup) work exceptionally well. Amplifier unit has independent center, front, rear, bass, and master volumes. Bass response seems to come alive when in-game. Solid construction. Comfortable during prolonged use (I have a GIGANTIC head). XBOX360 Support (2 ch stereo mode only).
CONS: Mid-range performance is poor. Highs are too bright. Loss of USB port. Bass response is weak. Overall sound quality is lacking. Built specifically for games (possibly 5.1 encoded movies).
Again, I would like to try these in a proper soundcard (perhaps amplified) in order to see if I can drive the mid-range speakers and clear up some of the issues. I'm running crossfire ATI 6970HD's which covers the remaining PCIe port I have, leaving no option for something like the X-Fi Fatality Creative Labs soundcards.
[REVISTED - With Creative's X-Fi Xtreme Gamer audio card]
I've returned the Z6A and picked up the "Modern Warfare 3 Charlie" version, which is essentially the same exact headset and amp as the Z6A with a few additional (mostly, if not all, cosmetic) features. More importantly, I'm now driving the headset with the Creative X-Fi Xtreme Gamer card.
What I've noticed right off the bat, is that the sound quality has definitely improved. Though the "head-cold" type sound that I mentioned still persists. I just don't think the 30mm drivers Turtle Beach uses was the right choice to deliver the front and center channel audio. The bass response has definitely improved, but I could not get the Creative software to test the sub channel during setup (in Windows).
With that said, the bass improvement has been significant. I am actually really impressed by the the low frequency response when playing in game. The highs are still crisp, but overpowering if you don't adjust the volume levels. Again, what really kills these headsets, for me, is mid-range performance.
I have added another star to my review (up from ** to ***) since the performance seemed to spark with the addition of a third party dedicated sound card.
OVERALL IMPRESSIONS: If you're really looking for dedicated gaming headsets, I could make a strong argument for these. Although I could probably make a strong argument for using Dolby Headphone (available from pretty much every soundcard these days) and a good two channel stereo headset. Although you probably won't get nearly the same positional separation you would from the dedicated 5.1 multi-speakers in the Z6A's, you would, however, improve the overall sound quality by leaps and bounds in the 2 channel setup.
I recently ordered the Beats Pro, and will put them through the paces and compare them to these for gaming once I receive them. Again, I could make a good argument FOR and AGAINST the Z6A, but honestly, I don't know of too many headsets under $100 right now with True 5.1 that provides the positional audio performance these provide. So if you're looking to use these just for your games, and really want to experience true multi-positional audio, I would say these are worth a go, just make sure you hang on the receipt and check the return policy just in case you don't end up liking them. | video-games_xbox |
Seriously... The Perfect Mix. If there is anyone looking for a golf sim that does not take itself too seriously, then this is the game for you. As the first golf game of any kind for XBOX, the gang at Hypnotix have set the bar oh so high. Once you get past the novelty of the characters- with their sycophantic caddies in tow- and the low brow humor that runs throughout, you will find yourself playing quite a nice little golf sim. The ambitious and well-done Composure Response System (CRS) takes the simulation part farther than any of the true golf sims. While I am only vaguely familiar with the "Hot Shots" franchise on the PS2, I can confidently say it doesn't touch this. Here is a breakdown of the main components (1 Awful to 10 Great)...
Gameplay (8.5):
The game play is almost perfect. It uses the standard "stick" mechanism of today's sim swings. Pull down on the right analog stick and push up, but you had better do it straight. The wind, club selection, and your player's composure are also factored in nicely- and realistically. Finally, what better way to restore your composure after several bad shots than to beat the living daylights out of your caddy? You have to earn it though. You must acquire Beating Tokens to do so, and you can get these by doing good things such as shooting a birdie.
Graphics (9.5):
This team really tried to tap into the incredible power of the XBOX. Vertex shading and other tools are used to render a spectacular looking environment on all 3 courses. Top-notch.
Replay (9.0):
There is so much to unlock that you could easily not be finished before the sequel comes out. There are so many different types of games to win in Tourney mode, and when you do, you unlock goodies such as new equipment, new games, and (finally) new characters. The multiplayer mode is also excellent with even more diversity in gameplay modes, including Casino, Time Attack, and My One and Only added to the standard fare of Stroke, Match, and Skins. The only thing lacking here is multiplayer Tourney. And don't forget the training course. Here you can complete tasks to upgrade the golfer's skills.
This game is the perfect sim/arcade hybrid. I had been waiting patiently for EA to release the Tiger Woods franchise on XBOX, but I wait no more. I have my golf game and it is a good one because it takes the positives from EA's Tiger and blends in some well thought-out fun. Sure, it does have a somewhat steep learning curve (I won't reveal too much here), but it is well worth it once you pick up on the nuances. The only real complaint I have is that it does not track user stats such as Driving Accuracy, Greens in Regulation, etc. A small blemish indeed. For anyone who doesn't take their golf sims too seriously, this game is definitely for you. | video-games_xbox |
Resident Evil delves deeper into action territory. We finally get a Resident Evil game for the next generation, only its an action game? In a strange twist, Capcom decided to go the Gears of War route and the end result is the new Resident Evil installation, which plays out more like a straight up third person shooter rather than a survival horror game. In fact there is really nothing much that fits into the 'survival horror' theme at all. Sure, there are infected people to kill, and there are giant beast bosses and other crazy things along the way, but nothing makes you jump, nothing scares you.
Resident Evil 5 follows in Resident Evil 4's footsteps, and at times can feel like an extension of RE4. This is not a bad thing, as RE4 is widely considered to be the best Resident Evil game ever made.
Resident Evil 5 is quite the straight forward shooter, with a few caveats. The in game menu is in real time, there is no pausing to grab an item from your inventory. Nope. You have to grab that medical spray can while the hordes of infected swarm around you. Thankfully you can map certain items to the directional pad, making for quick weapon/item switching on the fly.
First off, Resident Evil 5 is the best looking game on the Xbox 360 and PS3 at the moment. It tops every other game in terms of visuals, and even edges above Gears of War in some respects. Realistic detail is everywhere, from the environments, clothes and skin. Animations are smooth and realistic. The environments are range from small desert shanty towns to underground caverns and temples, and each level looks absolutely gorgeous. The character models are insanely detailed and very lifelike. All in all a very impressive graphics package.
One amazing new feature in Resident Evil 5 is the Co-op mode. You and a friend, or you and the computer can play together, and there are even melee combos and group QTE's throughout the game to keep the Co-Op useful. Also, your new A.I (or player) controlled partner Sheva tosses you ammo and health when she feels you need it. The A.I controlled Sheva can get a little too health and ammo happy, but its a nice feature.
Story wise, Resident Evil 5 fits into the cannon somewhere, its not really important, but it involves another company and some infected folk. That's all you really need to know, oh and make sure to conserve ammo! While ammo drops are fairly common, you can run into the occasional dry area, and be forced to use your knife or the shock rod. The weapons are your standard variety: shotguns, machine guns, hand guns, rifle, rocket launcher, grenade launcher, grenades of all kinds. They all serve you well and are a blast to use.
Each time you boot up the game to resume your place in the story you will be prompted to either manage your inventory, buy weapons and sell valuables found in the campaign, or upgrade your weapons. This mini store is a really cool addition to the game and upgrading your weapons is always fun.
The game play can get rather intense as well, at times there will be up to ten infected stalking you, some with weapons of all kinds, others charging at full speed. These aren't your typical zombies, they can use weapons, move fast, ride motorcycles, and do all sorts of things.
A couple of issues arise, you cannot reload or shoot while moving, which is kind of lame but does make sense in a sort of 'risk vs reward' sort of way. Kind of like the real time inventory menu.
A mercenaries mode, a bonus menu and all sorts of unlockables add some replay value, but there is no multiplayer so to speak. Recently Capcom released a download that unlocks a multiplayer variant on your game disc, but you have to pay for it. This is a really cheap shot on gamers, and I think its kind of lame to have to pay for something thats already on the disc.
Multiplayer ramblings aside, Resident Evil 5 is an awesome next generation representation of the Resident Evil franchise, with stunning graphics, intense game play and a semi replayable package.
4/5 | video-games_xbox |
Evolution" could have used more evolving. "Turok: Evolution" is supposed to be a prequel to the earlier Turok games, and the term 'prequel' seems to imply that there is actually some plot going on behind all that first-person action. However, if that is true, I am hard-pressed to detect much of a story at all. I consistently felt as if I was just being dumped into missions that were little mini-games all by themselves. One chapter of the game hardly segues well with the next, and the narrative is almost completely incoherent. Still, it's hard to bash a first-person shooter for a bad storyline since the genre began by completely forsaking this ingredient (see "Doom" and "Quake" for example), but "Evolution" doesn't deliver the best of the best in gameplay terms either.
You will encounter all kinds of dinosaurs and prehistoric critters in "Evolution," but your primary foe will be the reptillian armies of the Sleg. These guys behave very strangely. Sometimes they take cover and shoot at you from around a corner, and other times they stand in place and hope for the best even as you fire away at them with your weapon of choice. Sometimes they duck and roll out of range and proceed to attack from a different position, and sometimes they walk right over a cliff edge and fall to their deaths. The point here is that sometimes they behave impressively, but generally they just serve to remind you that you're playing a video game because, after all, nobody would be THAT stupid. To make matters worse, these half-dinosaur troops all resemble one another to a fault, and vary only in size. I suppose the texture artists just got lazy and said, "Well, we'll take this enemy model and make it bigger, and the programmers will make him tougher, and then we have a new enemy." So, aside from the occasional dinosaur attack, you will square off against the same guys over and over and over again.
The levels fair somewhat better, but even they are inconsistent in their design. It's as if two completely different developers worked on this game. For instance, one very memorable level puts you in the so-called Halls of Battle, where humanity is making a stand against the bestial armies of the Sleg. The good guys are entrenched behind rubble as the bad guys fire away at them. Then you come in and, well, save the day. It isn't quite as cool as those scripted moments in "Halo," but it's similar in its flavor. However, the majority of levels in the game are completely forgettable and uninspiring.
To top it off, aiming isn't nearly as efficient as it should be in "Evolution." Even with the autoaim turned on, you will often miss your target in the heat of battle, and, needless to say, that's not a good thing. To make matters worse, you will sometimes encounter packs of small dinosaurs or other animals that are just too tiny and agile to get the drop on. If they kill you, you have the added pleasure of starting the entire level from scratch, as "Evolution" makes the often-lamented mistake of preventing you from saving in the middle of a mission. Checkpoints would have helped, but these remain absent as well. Oops.
Worst of all, though, is the game's misguided flight mode. Sometimes you will be called upon to take flight astride a winged, gun-toting dino that can pretty much only go in one direction most of the time. I appreciate the idea - it should add some texture to the game and break the monotony of constantly running and gunning, but, in the end, it's far more frustrating than it is fun. You only have a limited amount of control in these instances, and too much trial and error is involved. Worse, if you fly too high or try to throw aside your chains by heading in an unauthorized direction, you will be forced to swing VIOLENTLY back into place, which will often send you whipping into a wall - which INSTANTLY kills you. This flight mode is the single worst part about "Evolution."
The game isn't a bust, though - particularly if you're a rabid fan of shooters. Every game in this series has offered a fine array of original and compelling weapons, and "Evolution" is no exception. Putting these weapons to work is bloody indeed. The damage modeling is pretty good, and enemies will react to the impact of projectiles depending upon the direction from which they were launched. Unfortunately, all that work seems in vain since dead opponents and all lingering gore fade from sight in a matter of seconds. It's a pity.
Despite a somewhat rickety engine, the designers also went to quite some trouble to bring the outdoor environments to life. Plants sway as you pass through them. Birds fly through the air and nest in the trees. Vicious crocs swim just beneath the surface of the water. The list goes on. It's very immersive stuff. The larger dinosaurs of the game are a treat as well, since they are so well-animated and believable.
Multiplayer "Evolution" is quite fun, though it still suffers from some of the single-player campaign's faults. The list of gameplay options, character models, and multiplayer levels is long indeed, and should provide a healthy dose of replay value. In fact, you could get your money's worth by having at the multiplayer stuff all by itself. It's arguable that it's better than the single-player game.
In the end, "Turok" is a pretty decent fps, but its flaws are glaring, especially on the Xbox console since it has to compete with "Halo." Everything "Evolution" does, "Halo" does better. It's that simple, really. If you love shooters and are all finished with "Halo," then give "Evolution" a chance. But don't let your expectations get too high.
Final Score: C (Or 3 stars) | video-games_xbox |
When am I going to learn. I bought a 360 about a year ago. I only feel qualified to review it as a system now because I can safely say I owned this system for the entire length of its functional life, and don't think I'll be getting much more out of it, since it no longer works.
That's an exaggeration. It'll work again. I just have to get an entirely new disc drive for it.
Which brings me to the strange duality of the 360. On one hand, there are some truly great games available for it and only for it. The graphics it's capable of are superb, the standard wireless controllers are outstanding, and they're even designed rather ergonomically. And yet--before something can be good, it has to function.
Let me tell you a quick story for comparative purposes. The first system I ever owned was a Sega Master System. 1986, folks. Being a kid, I kicked the heck out of it. Dropped it. Spilled stuff on it. Treated the cartridges poorly. My brother enjoyed chewing on the electrical cables (seriously). Guess what? It's in the other room right now, still hooked up and functioning perfectly (including the chewed cords; nothing a little tape didn't fix).
On the other hand, my Xbox 360 was treated like it was the statue of a deity. It had its own particular spot, well-ventilated, was never knocked over, spilled upon, or spoken to vulgarly. If I had to move it, I wrapped it up in a blanket so it wouldn't get dinged. And less than a year after buying it...it breaks down.
So--lifespan comparisons. Sega Master System = 22 years and counting. Xbox 360 = 10 months.
Really, if you're going to be charging people hundreds of dollars, at least have the common courtesy to use quality parts. I can understand not building them to military specifications, but can it at least last a year before it breaks down? I may be fixing my 360, but you can bet it's the last time I trust this company with my money.
Next time I'm going with a Playstation--which, given, also break down. But it seems they don't do it with nearly the regularity and predictability of the Xbox. Sorry, Microsoft. You had two chances. (Oh, right, I forgot to mention. I also owned an Xbox. Guess what? It stopped reading discs after...about a year. Seems to be a pattern.) | video-games_xbox |
gave this a 2 star because it's not the worst COD ~that honor goes to Advance War Fighter. I gave this a 2 star because it's not the worst COD ~that honor goes to Advance War Fighter, However If I'm to be honest, this is my least favorite Black Ops to date. I don't want to admit it but it's true, a game that came out 8 years ago is still the BEST ~COD 4 Modern Warfare. If Activision wants a winner they will go back and revamp that game (Updated graphics, new maps, eliminate all the frickin' hacked codes and put the thing on servers that don't have lag issues) Put those with crap internet all in the same room so they can point finger at each other for being cheap bastards. Come on Activision you know everyone would buy the Hell out of that game again just like they did the Master Chief collection (Shhhh we will ignore Halo 5 as if it never existed much like we did with ODST) .
But I digress and I'll return to why this current game sucks: I just played five games and quite all 5 because of latency issues (so much for the so called dedicated servers on this game) I run an average of 120.95Mbps so I know damn well it's not me dragging the system causing the intermittent game play. It truly sucks shooting at someone and they jump across your screen 20 feet each stagger.
Not only that but the graphics and maps are nothing to rave about either, The weapons are lack luster for future warriors and who designed these stupid fighters classes anyway? Lame!
I'm disappointed in the game play (I won't even bother going into the abysmal campaign) and do you really think I'll bother getting the new map packs?.....Not a chance!!!
I'm really thinking about dropping the Call of Duty franchise .........At least Microsoft saw the same thing and decided to give us backward compatibility to these Xbox ones, so at least this unit won't collect dust like my PS4 does.
Update: My son (23) and I just played COD4 right after playing this game (a bit of a test comparison)........we both agree this game isn't worth following further. | video-games_xbox |
Best New Game I've Played Since Bioshock Infinite. Feel like I've put enough hours into Fallout 4 to form my opinion on it. Some spoiler free thoughts:
- Looks great! Graphics are pretty low on importance for me when it comes to gaming, and it looks really great, definitely next gen. Lots of cool stuff with the lighting and environmental events (radioactive storms are really cool).
- The biggest improvement to me here is the combat. I definitely didn't play 3 or New Vegas for the combat, but it's been HUGELY improved for 4, instead of it just being another part of the game, I find myself enjoying the combat quite a bit. Huge improvement.
- The settlement building is TONS of fun, and I've spent hours just building stuff. It's addicting.
- Crafting is great, tons of cool mods and additions you can make to your weapons and armor.
- Probably my only complaint with my previous Bethesda experiences has been the character design and voicing gets super redundant and stale the more you play. There's definitely a lot more diversity here. Neat.
- Character creation and customization is just as great as always, probably even more so. Having the option to change it up after the start is a huge plus, and getting to add some bonus things that weren't there at first is a big plus as well.
- Main character voicing. Like Bioware did with Dragon Age Inquisition, they transitioned from the silent protagonist to the voiced one, and I love it. Know some people are on the fence about it, but I think it enables you to be a little more connected with your character, and it makes interactions more meaningful. They picked someone who fits with mostly everyone.
- Haven't finished the main story yet, but it's very enjoyable. Not sure if it's New Vegas level (which I LOVED), but I enjoy it more than 3 (which I was slightly dissapointed in). Overall, it's very good thus far.
- Sidequests. So many. So much diversity. So many weird, fun, quirky stories which I've come to expect. You don't even have to be interacting with any kind of civilization for one to pop up out of nowhere and take you off track of what you were doing. These are tons of fun and are just eating away hours.
- Exploration is where the real meat of the game is for me. I've spent hours on end just scavenging for aluminum cans and duct tape. If you're actively crafting/building you don't run out and HAVE to go searching for things which is tons of fun because you usually will find something unexpected while doing so, and there's a point to picking up 250 weight of random junk!
- Love the companions thus far, again lots of diversity and options here. Haven't done the romancing thing yet, but yet another thing as an option to spend your time on is alright in my book.
So overall............it's good. Really good. REALLY good. Don't have anything bad to say about it. A little bit of bugginess, but a lot less than I was expecting for sure. I still have MANY hours to pour in, but I love what I've already done. RPGs have become my favorite genre............I was really into the FPS stuff for awhile but when you can finish a game out in 12 hours and then all that's left is multiplayer I don't feel satisfied. This will last hundreds of hours and there still will be stuff to do. Absolutely immersive and addicting. Not sure if it'll be up there with Mass Effect 2/Bioshock just yet, but it's definitely the best game I've played in quite some time. Definitely 9.5/10+ for me. And there's still DLC to come.............. | video-games_xbox |
The Negatives. A lot of people on here have covered the positives of this game, especially the introduction of the infinity engine, the fun new running games and the improved blocking controls. However in this review I will focus on the negatives that I personally have experienced while playing.
Offense:
- Broken Tackles
Tackles in this game seem like they get broken a little bit too easily as it seems on average it takes at least two-three hits to bring down a guy
- Penalties
Some of the biggest parts of college football these days are the pass interference and holding calls, both of which seem to be severely lacking in this game. Part of this builds on having a better pass defense but I'd like to be able to throw a deep lob to my wide receiver and know that he'll either make the catch, draw a penalty, or if I don't have my feet planted properly possibly a pick or an incompletion
Defense:
- Pass defense
Overall pass defense in this game at varsity or above is simply not fun. Defenders are seemingly no where to be seen and it seems like every game I play quarterbacks have completion percentages above 70%. Now I'll be the first to admit I'm not the best at this game, but in most cases wide receivers seem to be open by five to ten yards and the only incompletions are on drops or when the QB has pressure.
- Blocking
While I love the knew blocking match-ups, it seems that a lot of the time, that offensive lineman play above their ability, as running backs are seemingly able to break 10 yard carries up the middle consistently. While I still feel this is an improvement to the 2013 version where lineman could easily reach back and pull down a ball carrier, I'd like to see them be able to get off the line a little bit more often
Overall I enjoy the offensive side of the game but the defensive side gets tiring as it seems the ability to use the ball hawk feature is rare given the pinpoint accuracy and wide open receivers. | video-games_xbox |
Although It's Viva Pinata, It's Not That Great. What this game offers over the original Viva Pinata game is that it includes the actual characters from the Viva Pinata television series. You get variations on characters -- their alter egos, if you think about -- in both male and female versions, such as Fergie and Francine, as examples. The voices are a perfect match, and the pre-race and post-race commentary is exactly what you would expect from Viva Pinata.
This game, however, gets very repetitive, very quickly. After the first hour into the game, it became fairly obvious that there isn't much to the game. For the most part, you pick a "length", and that decision determines the number of races and challenges that you must complete. Once you complete a race, you complete one or more challenges, which are mini games that mostly involve button-mashing. Honestly, the "short" length is just the right length, with any other length getting extremely tedious. The game randomly picks the challenges, so you have no control over the sequence. In fact, during a medium-length game, I had to play the same challenge twice between two races. This gave me the opportunity to practice, of course, but the game should be able to track the challenges between races to avoid duplication and subsequent boredom.
From a control perspective, this game is a mixed bag. The races are easy to play, although my 7-year old daughter complained about the controls being too difficult for her. The mini-game challenges are a completely different story. Before each challenge, there is a summary screen that explains the controls and goals for the selected challenge. The game makes an effort, at times, to display on-screen control tips during the challenge (especially during any challenge that involves drinking soda and burping). But some of the "run and smash" challenges are difficult to control, and aiming in many of the shooting and smashing challenges is tough. At times, things are so frantic, you can't keep track of your own score and you don't even know if you're getting it right. Sometimes I'm surprised when I win the challenge.
What I like about this game are the achievements, which are quite creative and somewhat challenging to obtain. Although after an hour, you might unlock 20% of the achievements, there are quite a few that will require some creativity to unlock. It's not just about winning, all the time.
If it weren't for the multi-player (offline and online) aspect of this game, I probably would not recommend it. Fortunately, it has good replay value because of its multi-player modes. I would not recommend it for children younger than 9 or 10, since the controls are not always intuitive. It's a fun game with a few issues that make it less than perfect. | video-games_xbox |
Eventually opted for rechargeable AA's. So I game regularly, sometimes 2-3 hours a day, and it got really expensive really fast to keep buying disposable batteries. Then I saw these battery packs taylored to fit my needs, and so I decided to try it out.
My first impressions showed me that it fit the controller well, snaps right in and out very easily, and it has no difference in appearance from the included battery pack shell. I plugged it into it's charger, and the little indicator light turned on to tell me that it had begun charging. 7 hours later, the light changed. To be honest, that's a long time to wait for anything, but like I said before, this is to save money. I snapped it into the controller and began playing.
Over the next few days, I noticed that the controller has trouble telling how much juice is left in the battery pack. It would occasionally tell me the battery was low, but it would go away with time. I myself timed the charge to last about 22 hours, not bad for the little guy. But as soon as it went out, I realized I would have to stop play and pretty much wait the 7 hours for the the packto charge again. This quickly became a huge inconvenience. I eventually purchased a play and charge kit to quell this problem, but after only a few months of play, I noticed the batterykfe depletion. It went down about an hour lower after a couple of months, and never required less time to charge or anything.
Then, it hit me. Why had I invested so much into use-specific batteries that weren't really working out when I couldve paid less to just get rechargeable batteries that I could use for many things? The simple answer, is that there is no good answer. I chunked all my battery packs, charger, and play and charge kit, and bought myself a universal battery charger. I can honestly say, that I couldn't have made a better choice. The depletion of life is less noticeable, and they charge much quicker depending on which charger you get. And it's cheaper, so I always have a charged pair lying around anyway.
All in all, I give them 3/5 stars for being cool and convenient, but ultimately price and charge times hurt their Appeal too much. Invest a little more now and get a nice charger, and save yourself some dough in the longrun. | video-games_xbox |
Great game! (contains minor spoilers, but does not reveal Arkham Knight's identity. When I first started playing this game, I was a little unsure of how I'd like it. It felt more like 'here's a big bad villain you have to watch out for, but you obviously won't face him yet until much later in the game so don't worry too much about him, and here's some random crimes to solve and missions to do.' Not to say I didn't like it, but my favorite game in the series is Arkham Asylum, mostly because it was one main idea in one setting. I was hoping Rocksteady could capture that magic again that I felt the first time I played Asylum. I still say Asylum is my favorite, but this was a great game in its own right. The missions weren't too terribly difficult, and I was able to complete them (although some required the assistance of a walkthrough), and it was a fun twist to see who the Arkham Knight really is. I won't spoil who it is, but I will say I was disappointed that some 'fans' were upset over the reveal. Obviously, you can't please anyone, but I thought it was a good move to have it be someone from the past rather than a brand new person who just happens to know everything about Batman.
My biggest complaint of the game is the use (or lack of) of the rogues gallery. From the trailer, my impression was the Penguin, Two-Face, Harley Quinn, and Scarecrow were all out for the blood of Batman. Unfortunately, the only one of those 4 who seemed to have a big part in the main story was Scarecrow. Harley appears for a few minutes at one point (which I was very disappointed about because she's my favorite, and I thought for sure her part would be about as big as her part in Arkham City) and the Penguin and Two-Face are merely part of side missions.
My other complaint is that there was too much of the Riddler's stuff. He has a bomb collar around Catwoman, and you have to gather all 9 keys to unlock it (and it's basically around an 18 step process since you solve a puzzle somewhere and then go back to where Catwoman is and complete a puzzle with her). I was finally done and I got the collar off, but then Riddler comes out for a fight. Then after a few minutes of fighting off his robots, he says he won't fight you until you collect ALL of his trophies and solve all riddles, mind you, there's over 200. His riddles have always been my least favorite part of the Arkham games, so this frustrated me.
Overall, it was a great game. There were pros and cons, but it's definitely a game I'll replay in the future. I can't say I love it more than Asylum or City (I just prefer the actual stories of those 2 games more than this one, plus I think Rocksteady better utilized the characters in the previous games), but it's a great game in its own right. | video-games_xbox |
You call THAT tenderloin . Bioshock is the greatest first-person shooter ever made, by quite a wide margin. But it is not a great game, merely a good one.
The story of Bioshock is passable, and while the style of exposition, in which the player learns more about the story by picking up and playing audio diaries, would have been a great addition to a game that was already story-based, it does not suffice to create a game that is story-based, on its own. There are virtually no cutscenes in the game, and while the diaries and radio transmissions are well-scripted and voiced, their characterization of the inhabitants of rapture quickly becomes redundant and superfluous, while their explication of the chain of events leading to the downfall of the attempted utopia remains oversimplified and unconvincing. Bioshock's is a story which ought to have been told from more angles.
The plot itself, while frequently advertised as revolutionary and ultimately surprising, seems literary only in comparison to those of other action video games, and if Bioshock were a screenplay for a feature film, the plot's resolution would almost certainly be rejected, not because of its self-proclaimed boldness, but rather because within the established canon of science fiction, it would be sen as hackeneyed beyond passability. There are four or five stories that have been told again and again in science fiction, with only the superficial details changed, and the story of Bioshock is one of these, verbatim.
The soundtrack to Bioshock is superb. Blasting one's way past drug-addled mutants in the ruins of restaurants and hospital waiting rooms, to the sound of pop hits from the 40's and 50's creates the kind of thematic redefinition of music seen in films such as David Lynch's Blue Velvet, and Quentin Tarantino's Reservoir Dogs. The art direction and virtual architecture in the game are also superb, but a couple of production issues detract from the player's enjoyment of being in Rapture. First, although the game supports surround sound, the direction of the speakers used to play the various sounds within the virtual environment, does not consistently correspond with the direction of their source, relative to the player. Being fired at from the left might result in the sound of gunfire being evenly mixed throughout all speakers, leaving the player with no audible clue as to the direction of the ambush. It is absurd for the game to support 5.1 and 7.1-channel sound, if it is not going to take advantage of obvious opportunities to use it. The second major technical flaw is in the lighting. Light sources in this game illuminate to an unrealistically high degree at close range, and an unrealistically low degree at long range. Frequently, a light bright enough to clearly illuminate its immediate surroundings, will not prevent a section of the same room, which is only fifteen feet away from the light, from remaining completely dark.
The gameplay is excellent, and although the enemies in this game are frequently stupid enough to come rushing into a corridor where they have you pinned, allowing you to engage them all from the front, rather than waiting in the adjacent open area for you to emerge from the corridor, the great physics in this game's combat more than compensate for the lackluster AI, which is partly explained by the game's story. There is a realistic feel to using the weapons, and at any given time, there are a few different feasible tactical approaches to combat, of which charging in Rambo-style is usually the worst. Compared to games like Resident Evil 4, there is almost an overavailability of ammo and healing items in this game, which makes returning through rooms that have already been cleared of enemies to scavenge for them, whenever the player has been weakened from battle, almost too powerful of a strategy, which detracts from the necessity to use ammo and Eve efficiently and take a minimal number of hits. There is also no penalty for dying in this game, but it's not as big of a problem as the overabundance of items, because players looking for a challenge can always choose to return to their last save position every time they die, rather than taking advantage of the infinite, free respawns which the game offers them.
If you're new to First-Person Shooters, this is a good game to start with, because it was designed to be finishable by almost anyone. If you like great stories, but for whatever reason, you never read or watch movies, then you might like this game for its story, because it is actually pretty decent by video game standards. If you're a hardcore gamer, you might like this game for a while, just because it's fun, and it has interesting level design and combat physics. And if you're a first-person shooter fan, you'll almost certainly like this game, because it excels in most areas, compared to other first-person shooters. I can't honestly think of many categories of gamers who wouldn't like this game at least a little bit. But like the majority of other games, it would be very hard to argue that this is a work of art, and harder yet to argue that it is an important one. | video-games_xbox |
It was a good game until EA showed their true colors. Last EA game I will ever buy. BY NO MEANS WHATSOEVER A REASON TO STOP PLAYING COD MW2. They want you to cough up $7 per class to unlock guns because they realized that they made it take forever and then some to level up and unlock things. They could've just given double xp weekends or something. But, NO. They want the player to pay for their mistake. And people complained about the map pack price for MW2! This is like a 10th prestige lobby in which they collect the money. So , it's pay up or be at a disadvantage to those who have. What EA has done is lower than low and I won't buy any of their games again (not that any were really that good to begin with). Also, they have an office near here where they pay their testers nothing and keep them as temps for years (literally) so that they never have to pay benefits. They were doing this long before the economy even got bad. I know this as I know someone who worked their for over 2 years as a temp. Below is my review before they really sunk so low. Before this, the game was 4 stars. Now it's 2.
PROS: awesome sound that is great to crank volume up, explosions are great, vehicles, good degree of realism, conquest mode is a blast, graphics decent, teamwork is encouraged.
CONS: bad A.I. in single player campaign, only 5 maps for Conquest mode, I don't care much for Rush mode, few game types, cannot quit playing after match without waiting for next one to begin, weird movement, no prone.
***Below, I've answered questions that one might ask about how the game compares to predecessor and MW2:
HOW IS THIS GAME BETTER THAN THE FIRST BAD COMPANY?
They have made the game more COD-like with level structure and regenerating health, more game types, movement doesn't seem as 'floaty'.
WHY DOES THIS GAME NOT REPLACE COD MW2?
They are two different games. I wish that they could make one game with the good from both games. It would be as good as a game system with awesome online, bluray player, built in wi-fi, netflix without disc, that forza 3 and uncharted 2 could be played on. Basically what MW2 is missing, BC2 has. And vice versa.
HOW DOES THIS GAME COMPARE TO MW2?
*BC2 is better in these ways: sound, vehicles, more teamwork centered, explosions, destruction, less known multiplayer exploits, less camping.
*MW2 is better in these ways: graphics, gameplay, action, movement, guns, campaign, more gametypes, better ranking system,killstreaks, better when playing solo, game menus.
I guess the 'floaty' movement in BC2 is the main reason why I prefer MW2 over it. Still, BC2 is great and definitely worth buying. It's a great change of pace and I plan to juggle playing the two games. There is still a lot of camping going on in the BC2 but, at least half the people aren't sniping like in the 1st BC. Please don't take the COD-haters' postings as gospel as far as it being better than MW2. It is completely different and doesn't beat it in my opinion. Go ahead and mark my review unhelpful, COD-HATERS.
UPDATE: If one thinks that this game is an escape from camping that happens in MW2, think again. Except in this game a medic can camp with sniper and continuously heal him. Also that spas really has some range on it. Just a few annoyances I observed after playing for longer. Also, I remember reading peoples' reviews saying how this game takes more actual skill. My somewhat noob-ish female associate plays MW2 and this game with me all the time. My MW2 k/d is twice hers but, we are about equal as far as k/d in this game even though my rank is higher. Hmmmm makes me wonder as I am not a camper in either game. The title remains unchallenged for king of the online shooters. | video-games_xbox |
Best Solution for Traveling Gamers. As the title suggests, this product is without a doubt the best mobile solution for any traveling gamer. I am a college student who doesn't live too far from home so I go home quite often to visit. Got my first real test run of it over the weekend and, I have to say, the Vanguard definitely exceeded my expectations.
Whats awesome:
- The display is absolutely gorgeous. 19" is an excellent screen size for on-the-go gaming and this one really shines. Luckily, I did not encounter any dead pixels on my screen (yet) as this seems to be one of the biggest problems most users have. Other than that, I really can't elaborate enough how awesome the display looks. Very crisp, no detectable latency, and the matte coating is a must have. I love the blue accent lighting around the display too, as it just adds a really cool touch to the unit.
- Sound quality is crystal clear. I was pleasantly surprised at the volume these little drivers are able to deliver and, as such, had to actually turn it down when I first used the Vanguard. But for those of you out there that like to game loudly, fear not as these drivers deliver powerful and crisp sound without distortion. The included remote is a convenient bonus to throw in as well.
- The overall build of the unit is also top-notch. Very durable plastic molding and ample rubber feet all around to make sure this thing isn't going anywhere. Secure latches are a definite plus to make sure it stays closed wherever you're going and the handle is very solid and easy to grip. The straps inside of the case that hold the console are also extremely well designed with perfectly placed rubber pads on them that hold the console in place while ensuring no scratches. I'm not much of a carrying strap person so I didn't really try it out but it is pretty solid material and the cool UNSC branding on it is neat and pretty soft for comfort. It gets a little heavy with everything in it, but hey, theres a ton of stuff this box holds inside it. All in all, I am confident in the Vanguard's ability to easily and safely transport my console.
- The little mesh bags included for accessory storage are pretty nice too. They're made of soft, spongy material that doesn't feel like it's going to rip or fray over time. I suppose they hold as much as possible given there really isn't a lot of room in the case to hold a bunch of stuff but, like other users, I too was a little disappointed there wasn't room for a second controller. But it's definitely not a game changer. Either way, when you get it all packed up it's a nice and snug fit and I'm pretty amazed all that stuff fit in there.
What could be improved:
- Theres no dedicated place for game discs. While this isn't the worst problem to have, it is a little bit of a bummer to have this amazing case that elegantly stores all the cables, adapters, and a controller but had zero space for a few discs. I feel like the foam base included could have had some pockets/sleeves stitched on the back of it to hold the discs. I'm not asking to make room for the actual cases for the games, but basically forcing you to take an additional bag/case for games along with the Vanguard seems like a step backwards. Again, not a game changing problem, but I feel that a solution would not have been hard to implement.
- As said above, if there was anyway for GAEMS to squeeze in a little extra room for another controller it would be pretty awesome as gaming is always more fun with others, but frankly I am not sure if that's even possible given the tight confines inside the Vanguard.
- Having an integrated power supply for the console and display would have been really, really cool and could have made room for other accessories (like that controller!) but I know this is probably not GAEMS' fault. Microsoft would clearly have to be involved in the development of this as to ensure the product would not damage the console and comply with the warranty. But I believe I saw a post somewhere that this is a work and progress and GAEMS is collaborating with Microsoft on a solution.
- I really like the idea of the kickstand for the display to give multiple viewing angles. However, it'd be nice if the kickstand were designed in such a way to work better on soft surfaces such as a bed. If it were a bit wider I feel like it could have propped up the display a bit better but its essentially useless on a bed, couch, etc. Also if the kickstand supported a couple more angles, maybe if some sort of locking mechanism were incorporated into it, I'd be even more pleased with it. But if you're on a hard surface like a table, the kickstand works perfectly.
- I also hope GAEMS rolls out a line of the Vanguards that don't feature any Halo branding on it. While it wasn't a terrible nuisance to me, I would have preferred to have a solid black or navy colored case with no graphics on it. But it's not a huge deal as I am indeed a Halo fan, but I'd hate for this to be a turnoff to any potential customers out there as the Vanguard is pretty sweet.
Personally I feel this is a top quality product that obviously had very meticulous engineering work put into it and the negative aspects outlined above are honestly not even close to outweighing the positives. The price is steep, but for what it is, I seriously challenge anyone out there to show me a quality product that does everything the Vanguard does in such a sleek, compact, and downright cool package at a cheaper price. I am also blown away that one of the top dogs at GAEMS goes out of his way to give feedback to customer's feedback on Amazon. It is rare to find this level of appreciation for the customer and I must give the highest of praise to GAEMS for doing so.
So far the Vanguard has proved to be an amazing solution to transporting my Xbox around. I have a PS3 as well but have not yet stowed it in the Vanguard, however I am confident I would have the exact same experience. The Vanguard is a solid piece of work that does exactly what it advertises very well and I am sure any hardcore gamer out there will appreciate this fine piece of gaming hardware. | video-games_xbox |
A Must own Exclusive (Make new Memories and Recall Old Ones. A Flawless Collection Spanning 30years
This is without a Doubt the BEST Collection put out on any Platform in a very long time....... 30 Games for $30.00 you can't go wrong with this collection! For the people still c/o 'Cause there is No Golden Eye 64 (That's simple the license rights made it impossible to offer this Great Deal!) Plus Golden Eye64 really hasn't held up in terms of 3-D FPS..... Donkey Kong Country also being held back from this collection is mostly Nintendo's doing (They allowed other exclusive from the Original NES through the N64 on here But, God forbid Nintendo can step into 2015 and play nice with a American company! Minus those two titles You still can't go wrong with this Collection...... Hopefully Microsoft does the smart thing and bundle this title with the XOne 1TB Console for the Holidays 'Cause that would move major units.
30 Games for a buck a piece can you go wrong!
The opening cut scene/animation is really slick (even though the music seems to be to high and the dialog of the song seems to low)
Also some of the older games have really weak music (Must be mono) Even If you have your Console hooked up through a home theater
many of the older titles don't sound that impressive
The Negative: The first 5-8 games are basic and very hard (mostly the arcade ports) some do need a patch to play better
I don't remember RC Pro Am controlling so odd back in the day!
When you play the XBox360 titles from the collection it's hard to figure out how to save files
The Positives: You get lots of stuff to unlock the more you play you'll get stickers when you have enough stickers you can unlock These awesome Mini Documentaries all in HD (very cool bonus)
Battle Toads Arcade (Super Rare and just amazing)
Conker's Bad Fur Day (The Uncut N64 Version)
Killer Instinct Gold
These 3 games alone are worth the $30.00 everything else is a bonus
There will be DLC coming down the pipe (I can see Rare putting Conker Live and Reloaded on the dlc) Maybe even a certain Nintendo property?!?!?
One thing that makes this a must have If you are in your 30's or older playing some of these titles will make old memories come flooding back to you! While playing one of the older Arcade titles
This very old memory came back to me I remember having to go up to Chicago to a family funeral (my older brother, Sister and myself went into this shady looking arcade and I played this Rare Arcade game I sucked at it lost the quarter super fast But, i forgot all about it
It was just very cool to recall that memory
Video Games are very much like music in the sense you have a specif place and time attached to a certain game
That's very cool if you played one of these titles with a friend or family member who's no longer with you
Stuff like that really is Priceless (as lame as that sounds)
You're also get a taste of the backwards XBox360 titles on your XOne
If you have a XOne this is a REAL Must have in every sense of the word
There is a reason this has been the number one selling XOne title
Despite the small problems you can tell Both Microsoft and Rare put a lot of love and detail into making this a great collection
I hope this starts a trend in gaming where Publishers start doing this more
Like Capcom doing a 8-16bit Collection
What are you waiting for it's time to celebrate Rare and praise them like you should! 10/10 Collection Insane value
P.S. I strongly believe Nintendo dropped the ball with this if they gave Microsoft the rights to Donkey Kong Country and allowed for that title to be put on a Non Nintendo Platform most Hardcore gamers would've cut Nintendo slack!
The whole thing would've been Great PR for Nintendo | video-games_xbox |
The Battle for Normandy France has begun, are you ready. I've been syked for Brothers in Arms since I first saw it's trailer in June 2004. When I finally got it, an extreme feeling of excitment came over me. I knew I was in for something extrodinarie. Before I continue, let me just say I wasn't wrong at all in thinking this. After completing the game about an hour ago, i feel as though I have made friendships and also lost several. The men of Fox Company 502nd regiment of the 101st airborne come alive in Brothers in Arms. They aren't dumb ai bots running into walls and getting killed for not returning fire. They are smart, almost to the point of creepiness. Level after level I was continuely worrying about the welfare of my men. Not because I couldn't survive without them, but because I didn't want to survive without them. I wanted to see all of my men through to the end. Sadly not all of them can be saved and your always wondering who is going to die next. As you get closer to the end of the game you begin to feel that the rest of your "dozen" has a chance. The game's opening scene is intense with violence as well as profanity. It is brutal and sets the mood for the scene that follows. Don't go into Brothers in Arms thinking its another "Americans win everything" game. Many of the levels are sad and some moments are downright scary. If you've viewed, no, experienced and enjoyed the film Band of Brothers, this game will appeal to you. The story is so gripping I literally played it for 24 hours straight until I beat it. The gameplay in Brothers in Arms is solid enough to get use to fairly quick and both the game's sound and visuals are top notch. The weapons in Brothers in Arms are true to life weapons that feel more real than ever before. You need to be precise in your aiming, be careful where you take cover, and think like a soldier because two well placed shots is enough to drop you. Over all, Brothers in Arms on the Xbox is very nice and offers split screen multiplay, online play, and tons of extras. Check this game out, its incredibley good.
Thanks for reading. | video-games_xbox |
Meh. Have had this a few months now. I upgraded from a 360. The design is typical Microsoft, a plastic box that can't be opened, even to clean out the dust. I like that it has a slot-loading dvd drive, which may prevent loading issues that plagued the 360. I don't like that the fan vent is on top, so you can't have it on a narrow shelf. It is quieter than the 360. The operating system is a complete mess - again it's Microsoft so no surprise there. It takes quite a while to recognize an inserted disc and will ask you if you want to buy it if you don't wait long enough. There are tons of menus that aren't organized in any way. Some give duplicate information and one game will show up in three places or more. There are lots of ads and lots of "features" for so-called social media. Of course none of it can be deleted - Microsoft. The 500gb hdd is too small from day one. Half of it is filled with MS junk. I was able to install 8 games before it was full. I got a WD 3gb external, which works fine, but adds another $120. The games play fine, as they did on the 360. I don't notice any big improvement on definition since I went from a 360 on an old tv to the One S and an hdtv. The big difference is that you can stick a disc into the 360 and be playing two minutes later. With the Xbox One you have to spend 8 to 24 hours installing a game before you can play it, depending on the size. Some games are 45 gigs or more. The help section has a bit about download speeds which shows a 150 mb/s download speed - like we all have that. Mine is 6 mb/s.
The controllers are cheaper than the 360 and the thumb sticks are more sensitive. It took several days before my weapons stopped moving past their targets. Of course I had to get a charge and play because MS is too greedy to include one. It's a pain because of the micro, mini, tiny usb connection to the controller. You're in the middle of a mission with other people and suddenly your controller goes dead. You try to plug in the charging cord, but you can't tell which way is up, literally, without getting magnifying glasses. Then you're dead and your team mates are pissed. Obviously there were no gamers involved in the design of this system.
I see no difference in game play between the Xbox One and the 360. You still get loading screens and hesitations. Some games have better graphics, but graphics don't make bad games good and good games bad in my opinion. It's too early to tell if the system will have problems due to the internal (hotter?) power supply or if the dvd will go south. All in all it's just more plastic from MS with about as much thought as it takes Bill Gates to pick lunch from a five star menu. | video-games_xbox |
Good for a laugh. Got Wipeout and got home to play with my 6 year old and wife. We all signed in and we played through an episode. WOW! Lots of fun and laughs. Even replays funny shots/hits to the avatar.
Second game, new level. Hmmm. I'm signed in but wife and son have to register again even though we picked play again. Haha, the replays are funny but a lot.
Thrid game, new level. Wife didn't want to play but son had to reregister again. Really?!! Man the replays are a lot and getting on my nervers. Found in options you can turn off. That's better.
Overall it's good family fun and is a party game. I've played through all the levels and think a few things are missing.
1 - Would like to set funny hits/replays to be after an episode or calibrate to not be as much. It's all or nothing.
2 - Would like the replay level option to keep everyone registered and allow you to remove players as needed.
3 - Would like a build your own course scenario.
4 - Camara angles for some obstacles (side view for big balls to behind for spinning obstacles) switch without warning. Tends to cause a wipeout till you learn a level and motions. Guess that's the game being Wipeout ;) But it was the one thing that made the wife dizzy. Camaras switching up obstacle to obstacle quickly.
5 - After replays it takes a second to know you're back in game and the clock is running.
Wait till price drops to around $25-$30. My 6 year old is almost done with all the levels and he's only played the game 3 times.
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Read some reviews of the game not tracking, not stopping, having to jump for avatar to jump or this game is a workout. Tracking issues can be fixed by lighting. Know the avatar commands is simply playing the tutorial; arms out to stop, arms out and jump up to climb... etc is not that hard to learn. You need to jump to get the avatar to jump. Not sure how to respond to that expect, yeah. As for this game being a work out or getting the heart going. I suggest Your Shape Fitness for a month then pop this game in and then you'll blow through all the levels in this game within two days.
The Kinict games we have I'm comparing to; Kinictamals, Fantatic Pets, Your Shape Fitness and Dance Central. This game is not on par with these games when it comes to timing. Kinictamals maybe. Even though this game came out after these games don't expect the same on key reponse. Seems to be minor lag but the game I feel gives you time to recorrect if you are erring. But that's the fun of Wipeout. You're supposed to wipeout. That is till you learn the level and camra switch ups.
Had friends over who played and had to stop cause the camra angles were too much. | video-games_xbox |
Good, but not great. I bought this game on a whim based on all the hype I'd heard. It was fun to play through, but I felt like it didn't take advantage of the opportunities that it presented itself. The story was good, but anyone who had previously played a Bioshock game knew to expect a twist and I guessed it straight away and so for me it was nothing mind-blowing but was more of an " I-told-you-so" moment. I thought the Lutece characters were fantastic and I felt that they should have played more of a role. The game could have been so much trippier and mind-blowing and for me, it was really disappointing that the creators didn't seek to throw the player off a cliff in terms of reality and what to think. It honestly felt very pedestrian. Additionally, it was really not that "open" of a world, going by the modern gamer definition of an open-world. Empty pathways of nothingness until you reach the "open" battlefield. Sure, there are multiple vantage points and ways to tackle said battlefield but in the end, it's still very linear. I thought the character development was really nothing special. Booker rescues Elizabeth. Elizabeth instantly trusts him completely. Booker tries taking her to New York. Elizabeth hates him. Booker rescues her again and trust is instantly restored. Minimal character growth. Additionally, the game was very short. It was maybe 12 hours max. As I could sense the climax of the game building, I kept telling myself that surely there would be a twist and send us on a roller-coaster and continue the game. But instead, the credits rolled and my initial impression wasn't about how shocking or anticipated the twist was, but rather shock that that was it.
The logistics of the game are good and the combat is well developed and enjoyable, but I can't see myself playing through it ever again. There were no moments where I thought wow, I wish I could do that again. At this point, I should add that my views may be biased because I am subconsciously comparing the game to Far Cry 3 which I found to be outstanding.
Let me be clear, the game is not bad. Some may even call it great. For me, I just see wasted potential. They could have done so much more. A game of this caliber should be an emotional roller-coaster for the player. Something you want to talk about with people afterwards. Instead I felt it pandering. Gladiator's Maximus could have popped up and shouted "Are you not entertained" and I wouldn't have been surprised.
My advice: Rent it or borrow it from a friend. Otherwise you'll play through once and then it will gather dust on your shelf. | video-games_xbox |
Unbelievable Microsoft does another red ring of death. Updated, my conversation and response to Microsoft. They told me they did not receive the kinect and are going to charge me an additional $150. After 10 hours of back and forth I finally found my tracking number which they should have but can not. seems they are being crushed with returns.
Please follow the review updated
Glad I found the tracking number, So I can help you guys do Your job ! wtf Microsoft !!!!
[...]
As I side note, I have had 5 xbox 360s with red ring of deaths, one Xbox one that did not work from day 1 since kinect was broke in the box and still is and I had to return it to toys r us. I am giving up on any Microsoft products since the second kinect you guys sent me did not work as well. Reminds me of x360 when I would return my box and get another one that would work for 2 days.
I have spent 10 hours talking to technical support trying to get these charges off my credit card.
In addition I had to buy a $60 gold membership that I will not use now.
Over the last 10 years I have been an xbox customer with 2 accounts my wife's included. We have bought the online service from 2002 to 2012. I figured Microsoft would learn lessons from putting out crap hardware. The original xbox was perfect never had any problems, xbox 360 was total trash 5 in all over 8 years. Xbox one is following in the same footsteps.
Good luck I wish to never touch a Microsoft product again. I paid way too much money and received little back in return.
I will forward this on to anybody that will listen.
Thank you an x hardcore gamer.
Jay
Sent from my iPad
On Dec 31, 2013, at 8:50 AM, Xbox Customer Support <XBOX.HARD.NA.00. EN.MSF.SEA.TS.T03. SPT.X2. PI@css.one.microsoft.com> wrote:
Dear Jay
My name is Cheramy, and I'm contacting you from the Microsoft Corporate office with the Customer Advocacy Team. I am calling in regards to your concerns about being charged for the Kinect, and the whereabouts of the shipment itself.
I reviewed your case, and I see that you did the the replacement Kinect. Now, in order for us to be able to go any further, we are going to need the tracking number to the Kinect you sent back to us. If you could provide us with that information as soon as possible, then we can begin to resolve this once and for all. Only when we receive the shipment back from the courier, can we lift the hold on your card, so you will not get charged again.
If you have any questions or I can help further, please reply to my email, and I'll be happy to assist you.
Hope you have a good day.
Sincerely,
Cheramy L.
Xbox Customer Advocacy and Exceptions Management Team - Hardware
This communication, including any attachments, is intended solely for the use of the addressee and may contain information which is privileged, confidential and exempt from disclosure under applicable law or subject to copyright. If you are not an intended recipient, any use, disclosure, distribution, reproduction, review or copying is unauthorized and may be unlawful. If you have received this transmission in error, please notify the sender immediately. Thank you.
Below is my original day 1 experience.
Unbelievable Microsoft does it again!!!!! Ok where do I start. I am so angry. My kinect worked for 30 mins and then just stopped working. I have tried for hours resetting the box and nothing helped. Microsoft sent me another kinect and that too worked for 2 hours then stopped working. I literally have two kinect sensors and now they both are broke or shorted out. The first xbox in 2001 was great, I have had 5 broke Xbox 360s over the coarse of 8 years and now I get an xbox one that is basically broke right out of the package. I will try to return this heap of junk for a refund and my relationship with Microsoft is done. I will never ever deal with this crap again. Sorry guys I loved Microsoft for like 7 years but after the red ring of death I have had little patience and this I thought Microsoft would redeem themselves but it is up to their old tricks again.
Xbox fitness will not load with out kinect as some apps just can be played without kinect.
Sorry guys I buy all types of gaming gear and love them all but this is just not right. Xbox fanboys deserve better!
If you buy this take your chances this will be a long ride for Microsoft. | video-games_xbox |
Good Game / Horribly Buggy. The game itself is pretty fun, but just riddled with buggy elements (I bought the full version with the season pass). It's like the last Fallout, and there is a lot of depth to this game. You get a lot of game and a lot of quests for your money.
Still, from the moment I began the game, I ran into so many bugs:
*The sound cutting out completely where I cannot hear anything in dialogues or radio broadcasts
*Sometimes I can barely hear the character even if I'm right in their face.
*The Nakano residence and other DLC elements are not displaying correctly on my map, I had to just keep going north to find it
*Probably the worst of all was when I got to the basement of the insane asylum on the "Secret of the Cabot House" quest. After battling and scavenging drawers, etc. I'm in a spot that I cannot get out of and need an NPC to open a door. The problem is, he didn't follow me, so I have to start from a spot I saved several hours before the quest.
*On another quest I would be in the middle of a dialogue and robots would start attacking me, halfway through the conversation
*Sometimes when I fast travel, I'll pop up in the middle of a firefight. If I die during the fight, I have to go back to my last save. If it was at another location, I have to wait for the game to load me at that location and once again when I fast travel to where I wanted to go before.
*In my house in Diamond City, I constantly get stuck going up the stairs
*And these are just a few of the problems I encountered
Another criticism are the tedious RPG elements:
*For me, I do not like being stuck in menus figuring out what armor is best, and what weapon is best. In my humble opinion, too many choices just take up too much time and ruin the flow of the game for me. (but of course I realize this is just my opinion)
*Finding computers to play holotapes can be annoying, because they all don't, and I have to search. "Was it here? No. Was it here? No." I must have spent an hour going to places trying to find a place to play a holotape before I just gave up.
*Limits on the vendors - I got used to this in Skyrim, but another annoyance to me is getting all this junk because I need it, and then having to go to 15 different vendors because they all have low limits on their money, or storing it in my house and waiting
One new interesting aspect to the game though is the workbench mode. When I first tried it I was a bit skeptical, but after a bit, I kind of liked the idea of building communities. Still, once again it requires finding gears and ceramic, which means going through every drawer and file cabinet in the game. For me, it severely slows down the pace of the game. "Is it in this drawer? Is it in this drawer? Is it in this file cabinet?"
I take it all with a grain of salt, but some part of me wonders how much time I'm playing the game and how much time I'm equipping / unequipping / storing and selling stuff.
All-in-all, the game is a fun RPG with shooter elements. It's big and expansive with a ton of missions, but the bugs and the redundant RPG elements really take away from it being a truly immersive and fun game. Still, even with its flaws, it's a good game to play. | video-games_xbox |
Call of Duty is Call of Duty and not much has changed. Call of Duty is Call of Duty and not much has changed. I want a lot to change, but not a lot has. CoD will continue to fill that void in your life when you just need to put down another game or paper you're writing, and just shoot someone in the face. I am pleased to say that BLOPSIII is a decent installment of CoD versus the last two for X1. I am hoping one day they are forced to actually change some things for the better, but this is at least back to being fun.
Single: Not too much to say. The story is interesting (unlike Ghost where I still have no idea what was happening). The gameplay is the same old campaign but it's a fun few hours of gameplay. Otherwise, there's not that much to do, though we all know CoD is built for MP.
Multi: Let's start by saying that they have co-op campaigning. This is something that all games should have where it makes sense. Obviously Tomb Raider is a solo thing, but if you're fighting in a war, it's great to have non-AI buddies. This is an awesome feature that should continue being in the game. The actual multiplayer matches are fun. Other than having different classes and abilities, there isn't much to the game that will be unfamiliar to CoD players. What I AM happy about is that they are back to the weapon leveling system. I want to like the idea of being able to buy any gun and attachment you want in the game early on, but the reality is, everyone unlocked a few standard classes and then it's the same thing match after match. I like the leveling system because if I'm having a bad match, I can pull out whatever gun I want and go bananas.
Cons: The only thing that bothers me about this game is the lack of varied maps. All maps in this game are small and tight. This allows for a lot of opportunity to run on the walls and triple jump (Titanfall is still a million times better with the free running and where it allows you to actually go to on the map). This also prevents you from actually utilizing sniper classes and other long range classes. Lack of weather/lighting changes also make it questionable for them to have put thermal scopes in the game. I prefer a mix of small fast paced maps and large distance maps. This is clearly following the trend to make 5 minute match maps, which is a little too cluttered to have fun sometimes.
To sum things up: I would buy this again at around $40 or full price with all DLC. | video-games_xbox |
Award winning game . When I heard Bungie ( the developers of this game and the Halo series ) was making a new game I was instantly interested , because Halo is one of my all time favorite game series. I knew with the quality of product they produced bringing us Halo that they couldn't mess this up , and to my relief I was right , they have done an outstanding job in what is just the beginning of a new series.
Story/campaign - You will be utterly engrossed in the story so much that you have to force yourself to put the controller down and take a break. this isn't one of those games where things get slow and boring where you have to force yourself to play through one chapter to really get to the better stuff. It is intriguing from the very beginning and full of action. As a matter of fact , at the very beginning of the game you are thrown into combat and even though the beginning is meant to be a tutoral it really doesn't feel this way and does nothing but set you up for the real fun ahead.
Sound/Audio/Music - If you have played the Halo titles you will already know that the sound track in those games create one amazing atmosphere, it is utterly amazing , and Destiny is no different , they have put the same time and care into this game as you will be able to tell because each theme/song that is played throughout the game fits the situation and emotion perfectly.
The guns , like in Halo have an absolutely satisfying sound and punch that you would expect from Bungie , from the smallest hand gun to the largest rifle each have their distinct an satisfying feel.
Graphics - Everything has tons of detail , from your character to all of your surroundings , its highly polished and very , very pleasing to the eyes.
Multi player - Coming from the Developers of Halo you already know that this had to be a part of the game , whether you choose to delve into it is up to you. Halo is one of the most award winning multi player games ever and they have not disappointed in destiny in this department. Like in Halo everything is balanced and just feels right . there is nothing that cannot be over come , everyone is on equal footing..
I did not want to write a long drawn out review but just wanted to give my opinion to everyone , This is one of those games that you will literally be able to play for years and years and years. Bungie even stated that this game will evolve and continue to get bigger , better and more in depth over a ten year span.. Yes , they have plans for this game for the next TEN YEARS !!!! I Know I have compared this game an awful lot to Halo but it is the same Developers after all and it does have a bit of that Halo feeling to it in the visuals , the excellent sounds and even the game mechanics themselves. You simply cannot go wrong with this game..
Solid 5 out of 5 | video-games_xbox |
Prepare to boo me, I found the game a bit underwhelming. I know I am going to get ripped for this review
I love the beatles, I love their music, but their music doesn't seem to translate into great game play. I think the problem is that they beatles songs are very simply constructed and I don't feel any real challenge when playing the guitar. Going through the game is a breeze and the only real challenge is to see if you can get 100%, which you can on most songs. As one review put it, you don't get any special achievements for getting 100 percent, which is a drag. Now, I have played it on single mode and maybe it would be more fun with other people. But there is a big problem, in my honest opinion, about The Beatles Rock Band. It soooo simply (and a bit dated). How are you going to get people who didn't grow up with the music into it? Too tell yo quite honestly, I perfer to pick up guitar hero with challenge rock tunes from 70's to the 2000's because frankly, its more challenging and entertaining.
Now I will say this, I do like earning the photos and finding out facts about the Beatles. I do like that use the beatles image as you are playing the songs and from the appropriate time of the songs. I think when you go into Beatlemania, the crowd could be a little more amped up.
But overall, these are some great songs and if you are a Beatles fan, yo uare going to love the game because you get to BE a Beatle. But I just wish it was a bit more exciting. It's not the game fault though, The Beatles were the masters of the 3 minutes song with the simple song construction. I just don't think I am going to go back to the game once it is done... I don't know.. it doesn't really hold my attention that well. I found myself looking for other things to do or thinking about other games WHILE in the middle of playing one of their songs. I don't think it's going to be that fun for anyone in their 20's, possibly 30's. Sorry. | video-games_xbox |
Bland and dull. When I first grabbed this, I was expecting a call of duty/splinter cell mix, a combo of stealth and fps combat. What came out was a painfully linear FPS that tries in vain to be a stealth shooter. Following the supposed exploits of the founder of SEAL team 6, you're dropped into North Korea to obtain information on a missile program being run by the DPRK. After your team is wiped out, you carry on by attempting to depopulate a small city with your knife and silenced pistol.
Graphics are barely tolerable. While the motif is captured nicely, and the ongoing day makes it almost feel like an episode of 24, so little was attempted with regards to graphics, which still manage to have a plethora of clipping issues and poor lighting effects. Detail is also substandard, and should have been a crown jewel given how small scope the levels are.
Audio is a combination of swears, slamming the officer corps, and whining about who's snafu the current issue is caused by. While this doggerel could have been saved by some switch up in tone or direction, I never came across one.
Gameplay is boiled down to stealth kill as many as you can, then do cover to cover combat to kill everyone else. The stealth aspect is awful, and your radar makes little if no sense for being essentially a SOLITON from metal gear. There's little else to mention, apart from vulturing every thing the enemies drop.
Overall, this was a colossal let down. Had it had more of a mission to mission feel, it probably would've turned out okay, but they apparently wanted a main character who spits nails and bleeds raw masculinity. Even this wouldn't have completely butchered the game if they hadn't made the character one dimensional to the point that you wouldn't be surprised if all of his lines devolved into "thog smash stinky gooks." Multiplayer is also a vestigal failure, with abysmal setup, uninteresting maps, and the classic problem of trying to find people who know the map better than you. | video-games_xbox |
Best game of 2013. The best game of 2013. It's AC4 meets Far Cry 3, with a dynamic pirate component. It's a great deal of fun, highly playable.
One of the areas of this game that has impressed me is that our hero is not invincible. One of the flaws of the previous AC games is that after a ramp opening, your player becomes nearly invulnerable to nearly any enemy. In AC4: Black Flag, your ship needs a plethora of upgrades, combat skill and simply time to become adept in war at sea. For the exploration and combat portions, the game also has increased the challenge in terms of combat. It's not Arkham City refined, but the combat and action has improved noticeably.
For 60 dollars, you get your money's worth. There is a pirate ship game, an exploration game in Mayan Ruins and Shipwrecks, a Captain Ahab hunt for sea creatures along with some jungle hunts for rare animals. All of it works. I am well past 10-12 hours on campaign, and have many side missions and a few more memories to complete.
What doesn't work perfectly is the narrative. It doesn't have the romantic component of AC2. Edward Kenway is a badass, but do we care about him. I am 80% through the campaign, and there hasn't been a significant plot twist yet. Considering how his character doesn't have a sexual prowess in a classically inclined setting, I could see his character being revealed to be a priest or something. Also, there isn't a strong emphasis on the war between the Assassins and the Templars in this go round.
The visuals are outstanding. It's the best looking AC game ever made. Though it would be interesting to send Edward to Africa, or even the England before the trip is over. I think there is ample room for a surprise, but the story is running out.
Ubisoft makes excellent games(Splinter Cell Blacklist, Assassin's Creed Revelations, AC2, AC Brotherhood), and this game is no exception. I really liked how they brought into the series a Far Cry 3 aspect of taking down fortresses, a stronger arc for the protagonist, a lush tropical landscape, and hunting ferocious creatures. You get your 60 dollars worth. I look forward to what UBI delivers for the Xbox One/PS4 in the coming year, Fall 2014. I hope they return to very tall structures and gigantic tombs to explore. | video-games_xbox |
My favorite game. I am not a serious console gamer, my husband has always been the video game enthusiast in our house. But one night I watched him play Mass Effect (the first one) and decided to give it a go. As soon as I played, I was hooked. The amount of interactions and choices you have in the game is phenomenal and kept my interest. After finishing the game, I immediately purchased Mass Effect 2 and found it even better.
What's better in Mass Effect 2
- The shooting is much more intuitive and closer to what you'd find with other games. Unlike Mass Effect 1, you need to pick up ammo and head shots are very effective
- You don't need to change out your gear to upgrade it, the game does that automatically so you aren't constantly having to change it into omni-gel
- The maps are much more intuitive. I found myself getting lost in a maze in Mass Effect 1, especially if I got turned around after putting my marker down. You don't have this problem anymore in Mass Effect 2.
- The biggest upgrade in Mass Effect 2 in my opinion is AUTO SAVE! I can't tell you how many times I wanted to break my controller after I died in Mass Effect 1 and forgot to save. Mass Effect 2 constantly auto saves for you, so you don't have to worry as much
- The graphics are better, which of course may be expected since this game came out later...
- The love interests. There's more of them and it's a little more of a challenge. In Mass Effect 1, you only had to show a little interest and they fell for you, in Mass Effect 2 I found it a little more challenging, especially with Jacob.
- More places to go. Besides missions, you can also go to planets and scan them, where you'll sometimes find signals you can go check out.
- And of course, the suicide mission. The first time you do it, it's the best. Since, assuming you didn't look it up online, you don't know what to expect or if there was anything you could do to improve your chances of survival.
- Paragon or renegade options. Every choice you make affects whether you're a renegade or paragon, which can also limit or expand your conversation options. There is also a neat option where you can interrupt a scene to do a renegade or paragon option (like hug or punch someone).
The game, for me, is different every time I play. I've played through 7 times before and I really feel like I have a different experience every time. And although you're not required to play Mass Effect 1 before you play 2, I'd highly recommend playing it anyway so that you'll get the additional assignments that convert over to 2, plus everything will be more customized for you and what you did.
I've also downloaded all of the expansions and would highly recommend Lair of the Shadow Broker, Overlord, and Kasumi.
There is only one negative note I have, and that is I feel like the dialogue is trying too hard to be funny, especially in Lair of the Shadow Broker. They cracked a lot of jokes and it feels somewhat forced. I appreciated it a lot more when it was subtle... | video-games_xbox |
Fun and entertaining! For adults. Want to start off by saying I have not watched episode of South Park in years. It's not that I dislike the show but I don't really have time to sit down and watch the episodes. When I first heard about this game I was very intrigued that they were going to finally have a South Park game that looked like the show. I am happy to say and that aspect in and many others they have greatly succeeded.
Gameplay: if you're expecting a boring RPG with a South Park skin over it you will be disappointed. You can tell a lot of time and dedication went to this game from the show creators writers. The game plays like a turn based action RPG. You are walking around freely around South Park which by the way is mapped out to perfection, and on your venture you will see that there is other enemy characters and if you go to them and hit them or if they come up to you and hit you the battle will begin. But don't worry you can avoid the enemies if you don't feel like battling at that particular moment. The gameplay is fluid I was playing on the Xbox 360 and only saw a few frame rate hiccups but mostly that was when I was moving from location to location. The game lets you start out by to creating your own character you get to choose between a wizard,a mage, warrior, or a jew. Other than a few dialog changes this will not affect your gameplay greatly, each of the characters has there own special abilities but it will not change a storyline.
Story: the story is very well written and you can tell a lot of time and effort went into creating this elaborate story. Without giving too much away the basis of the story is you are The new kid on the block in trying to make friends you start off meeting cartmen and find out that they are playing a role playing game would like you to join. The basis of the game is whoever controls the stick of truth controls the universe. You'll spend most of the game running all over South Park completing different quests. there a lot of side quests in this game as well that if you complete will give you bonus XP and perks that will help you in battle. The whole story took me about 14 hours to complete on my first Playthrough that was completing all the side quests and the main game.
Graphics: I think the greatest accomplishment with this game as it looks exactly like the HD version of the South Park show. You'll find a hard time telling the difference between the normal gameplay and the cut scenes. There is no HUD on that your screen except during battles. Which I was very happy about since I played on a plasma tv and wanted to avoid any potential burn in.
Replay ability: although I enjoyed my time in South Park and thought the story was very funny I don't think I would play it again at least not right right away. The game is like a long South Park movie. Once you complete the main game unless you have any other side quests there is not much to do around South Park. The only other option is to reset create a new character and playthrough the story again.
I recommend this game to anyone who enjoys the show or anyone who is a fan of crude humor. Also want to add that this game although it is animation parent you know this is not for children by any means. I don't want to give the story way to other people but if you don't want your child hearing bad language and learning how to perform a virtual abortion on a male then keep them away from this game. So if you're a fan of the show or want to sit back and play a funny movie on your console you should get this game. | video-games_xbox |
Good, cheap headset. NOT SCUF-COMPATIBLE. Great sound. I love the bass boost option and the mic-monitoring ability. I have owned several pair of headphones in the past to play Call of Duty with. These headphones are clearly meant to be entry level; they are very light and a little fragile-feeling. Don't get me wrong, they are sturdy and comfortable on the head, just a little more thin than I am used to. The ear cups are rather small, and sit on top of the ear as opposed to the over-ear style. I purchased them when they were on sale for $39.99 to give them a try on the Xbox one, and perhaps to replace my outdated TB XP-500s.
In general, the adapter puck that plugs into the controller is much nicer than the basic Microsoft one. The puck has a rubberized coating on it, and was very easy to pick up on the mic mute, bass levels, and mic-monitoring levels (off, med, high).
There were things that I did not like about the controller, and ultimately I am returning them because of the following:
The talkback cable is attached to the headphones.
This does not seem like a problem at first glance, but if something ever went wrong with the cable itself, it cannot be replaced. One would need a whole new headset (not a problem under TB warranty though!).
The mic had no wind guard on it.
I spend most of my time playing matches in a party. The microphone on this headset does little to nothing to prevent picking up on breathing into the mic. When I placed the mic far enough away so that my breathing would not be audible, my voice was too quiet for my liking. If you have another pair of headphones with a foam pad that covers the mic, I would recommend sticking it over this microphone as well. You can buy one from Turtle Beach, I used one of theirs and it worked nicely.
And for the final problem, the ultimate reason for my returning of this product.
The sound puck interferes with paddles on a scuf controller.
I am not saying that the problem only arises with a 4-paddled scuf controller, which some other controllers have problems with. This adapter interferes with a 2-paddled controller as well. I was quite disappointed when I found out that there is not room for both on this controller without physically sanding down the thickness of the back of the puck, or trimming the scuf paddles. (I do not recommend doing either). One last time, this headset cannot function on a scuf controller.
If you do not have a scuf controller, you should be entirely fine using this product and I recommend it as a nice upgrade to the Microsoft headset. I would even place it above the Turtle Beach XO-Fours, and on par with the Polk-4 Shot | video-games_xbox |
Day of the Dead" in game form. If you've ever see George Romero's "Day Of The Dead" then this game may look familiar but there the similarity ends. This game is far more unique, entertaining, and inventive than the movie. Just like Romero's movie, survivors are trapped in a shopping mall fighting for survival. The game had the potential to be the best game ever designed (at least by Capcom). I would have given it 7 stars because it's that much fun. However, there are 3 things that are frustrating about the game. The first is a 72 hour time limit (7 hours real time) and a strict schedule of events to be completed. If you don't rescue hostages and meet certain characters within the time limit, you cannot unlock secrets and discover the story behind the zombie apocalypse. If your a competitor and like to win, score points, and build prestige on XBox LIve -you're in for a long, hard struggle. You must budget your time wisely. Adding to this problem is single slot-overwrite saving and dumb A.I.s. If you fail the complete a task you can't return to a previous stage. Once you save a stage your stuck. No going back. If you fail at certain tasks and cannot unlock game secrets you have to start a new game and try harder. The A.I.s are hard to keep alive and fight zombies at the same time. You can give them weapons(which they don't use), take them by the hand and lead them, even carry them over your shoulder and and they will still stop in a horde of zombies to be eaten. This cause a lose of points and the player can't improve attack/defense skills. For these reasons, I'll give it 3 stars. Trying to be a winner makes you miss 99% of the fun of this game. On the other hand, I love this game. It has astonishing sound quality from the bone crunching blow of a sledge hammer to wet gushing noise of a katana slicing off a zombies head. It is amazing at the amount of work that went into making each zombie and mall store unique and different as possible. Each zombie has it's own behavior and personality. There are clothing stores for multiple costume changes, hardware stores, sports, toy, and home improvement stores. Everything you would find in a super mall. The mall is a huge and a rich environment for exploring and experimenting. The possibilities are endless. Melee weapons a liberally distributed throughout the mall. Anything can be used as a weapon. Cash registers, garbage cans, park benches as well as tradition weapons like pipes, axes, 2 x 4 s, hunting knives, swords and a few firearms. I prefer acoustic and electric guitars. When a zombie is brained by one the strings make a funny sound. Hilarious. The graphics are good but they are much better in game daylight hours than mall after hours darkness. Zombie movements are also funny. Falling to the bottom of a flight of stairs and walking off the end of a construction platform or stumbling around only to fall in the mall pool. They become extremely lethal and vicious if a game character gets to close. The cutscenes and game play are especially bloody. Frank, the main character,is literally drenched in blood after slicing through several hundred zombies with a sword as well as the thoroughfares of the mall. I can play this game again and again and find something I haven't done or someplace I haven't been. That"s why I'll never win at this game. Never discover the secret of the apocalypse. I'm having to much fun. I would rather brain a zombie with a potted shrub, knock them out cold by beaning them with cans of Mountain Dew, Shred them with the big mall lawn mower. I'll always be a loser. To corrupt a line from Cindy Lauper---gamers just want to have fun. One more note. I order the import game and it plays perfectly on a Japanese XBox. I have not done any research to verify if is available for the North American XBox. | video-games_xbox |
Best game out right now. the reason it's the best game out there right now. I just stopped playing my gamecube this week. I only have amazon to thank for that. Because I can get this game for $3 now on Amazon to. So there is no hold out and stick with the gamecube platform anymore. I also just got two xbox 360 Halo 3 Platforms with HDMI,{ very rare sold out} except rebuilt on ebay for $200 with a needed bigger fan and 20G HD.
The only problem to my plan is I'm really spending more money than you probably. I bought $100 worth of games yesterday for the old Xbox like all the Tom Clancy games that got your best reviews. And they were all less than $6+ the $4 shipping. Yea I don't have to buy COD 6 I got more than enough new games to me to play all winter long. But I did pick up COD 4 for $35 shipped w booklet and artwork. And Halo 3 for $30. I don't care telling you either cause there are like 40 used games on every game on Amazon. except the new ones. And ebay isn't any cheaper and you have to wait days for some stupid fake auction that they get what they want anyway for don't sell. What kind of Auction is that? And your obligated to buy. And you still have to go to the reviews on Amazon, Ebay don't have review on products. I'll just look it up on Amazon for $3 and $4 shipping and order it. I'll admit this isn't the best of reviews. But just to inform you even if your on the right track. Youtube is where you want to go to review games first I found out.
I'm left handed to so computer games are out of the question trying to use the mouse and keyboard with left hand at the same time. Anyway the computer games 5 years ago didn't have programmable buttons or the controler didn't. But this new Xbox 360 controller is on USb if I read correctly and plugs into a computer . So now I'll even be able to play computer games.
I was going to order it but my bad. It's the computer game that's $3. The xbox360 game is $9 cheapest but its new. | video-games_xbox |
One of my favorite call of duty games in terms of multiplayer. One of my favorite call of duty games in terms of multiplayer. Actually, if not for nostalgia I might actually say it's my favorite of all time. The only flaws I have with multiplayer are the M27 being a crutch weapon and the thermal hybrid scopes which are cheesey. The guns are all very well balanced and there is good variety. The base maps are complex, but controllable for a smart player. However, many complain about the base maps so I would recommend the DLC as they completely fix this issue. The second DLC in particular is great for shotguns if that's what you prefer (also maps like Tremor and Strikezone are great for shotguns as well). I like the variety and fact that every map feels different. Many players do not like that though because they are used to treyarch's three lane style. These maps can be most compared to MW2 maps in their style because they have a lot going on and different flank routes. It's really all about mastering angles and field of view. The only negative is that the playerbase is smaller on xbox one than 360 and there are more campers. On 360 I could easily deal with campers and players were generally less annoying, but on ONE you need a class to counter it. Gametypes here are lacking as they removed some fan favorites, but most of the core gametypes like TDM, Domination and Infected play very well. This game does have quite a learning curve so if you are this late into its life cycle I wouldn't go buy Ghosts without a friend who also owns it to help you level.
Campaign is done well except the story has some major flaws and a dues ex ending which is only there to leave room for a sequel. If you are looking for a great story campaign then the Modern Warfare games do a much better job. However, gameplay wise it's still decent even if extremely scripted the setpieces are done well.
Graphics. I have played this game on 360 and One and PS4. I can tell you the PS4 version (which I do not own) is highly superior in graphics. This is by far the best looking COD if you are looking at it on that console. For whatever reason, the graphics suffer quite a bit although they are still a lot better than the last gen versions.
Sound. Sound design is terrific. The gun sounds are not perfect, but they are good. The footsteps and direction of gunfire is very accurate and walls and surfaces you walk on do sound different to yourself and others. Dead silence negates all sound for yourself which I recommend in multiplayer. Music is alright. It's standard of every other COD in music which means it sounds cinematic with orchestration and powerful electronics, but also pretty generic. | video-games_xbox |
Seems unfinished. This game does one thing well. You fly down beautifully rendered roads at very high speeds and having to listen to your copilot in order to know what's coming. The terrain looks simply incredible - almost photorealistic at times.
I've been playing the game for a day now, and the thrill has started to wear off already. The terrain looks incredible, but it is not varied enough - the game engine seems effective only for grass, trees, and road. The buildings, fences, rocks, fans, etc. don't come across well at all. The levels get monotonous very quickly. I was frankly shocked by how bad the cars look.
The best part (and premise) of the game is flying down these roads having to rely on your copilot. Just like real rally driving, it is truly intense and takes a lot of concentration. But once you've learned the courses it's not like rally driving anymore, so the best part of the game is done with! I would have like to see something that could generate new courses so that you couldn't get to know them. Yes I know it's a lot of work putting these courses together, but they could have at least strung together prebuilt sections. They could have at least done more courses.
Multiplayer - no map? Or could I not figure out how to get one. Since the navigator is turned off the players need to know the courses.
The sound is passable. The music is completely, inexcusably lame TB-303 stuff. I didn't realize the 303 was dead until I heard this game. Luckily it's mixed way back.
The camera angles don't zoom out very far. I would have liked to have seen different cockpits for different cars, but there isn't really a cockpit view at all.
Playing against the computer: The opponents AI doesn't seem to respond to your driving - they seem to robotically follow a predetermined path. In fact the opponents ram you from the side right off the starting line!
The game is the stodgyness of a simulation, but not the realism. You're not on rails, but you can't stray from the main path. There's no room for exploration here. There doesn't seem to be anything hidden. On the other hand, the physics don't seem very realistic - there's very little understeer. Furthermore, there is nothing like "kudos" to reward you for good driving. There's no penalty for cutting a corner.
This game could have been great if they had had time to properly flesh it out. I'll probably be playing more Gotham a week from now. | video-games_xbox |
Lots of content, some what teadious, but worth completing to me. I have played all of the games in this franchise. I believe they were revolutionary in the gaming world. Single player only, sandbox-style RPGs are hard to find, and this franchise has been attempting to provide this feature from the get go.
This series has been notorious for the incredibly bad graphics, way bellow their time. This game is no exception. The face models, lighting, textures, and general graphics aren't very good. I expected this, so this influences my view little.
The sound and music is adequate. I don't mean that in a bad way, it's just not something that stands our in one way or another. They use the same voice actors for most characters, which is a bit of a let down, but the voice acting that IS there, is adequate. Oh, Patric Stewart, best known for the movie Jeffrey, and who has also voiced many characters in games, adds an appearance - this was exceptional! Oh, and he was in some sort of TV show called Star Trek.
The physics on the game are good in some regard, especially for an RPG. I feel like they suit the game, but often break. For example, picking something off of a table causes the whole physics of every item on the table to trigger, often times falling on the ground. Some objects (see the paint brushes) are broke and float in mid air. I know and have worked with the physics system used in this game, so I say it's, well, adequate.
The main story line is interesting, not too unbelievable, and somewhat compelling. Side missions, which is he bulk of what the game designers intended plays to spend their time with (I believe) are pretty good! Especially compared with the Last Elder Scrolls, where missions were very formulaic and, well, boring. Mostly fetch or kills in the last game. These side quests can be memorable, and even make pretty good water cooler conversations - well, if like myself, you are a game programmer and don't intend or try to fit into the real world. I put most of my rating points into this system. I hope the next sequel "Skyrim" improves upon this. A major dent and well worth removing a star is that quests can be completely broken. I have at least one quest that can never be completed, as an item that was supposed to drop, did not! And, having researched how to fix this issue, it lead to several other quests. It was incredibly disappointing.
The combat system is simple, you can use up-close and personal melee, archery, or magic. It's much more simple than previous games, with the exception to melee. It's melee feels a little more dynamic than the previous games, but not so dynamic to be appreciated. Adequate.
The inventory system is tedious. You have to traverse lists of thousands of items in an attempt to find the one item you need to use. They give you categories, but the sorting system is sub-par. This same system is used for spells as well. With spells, however, it is almost impossible to recall which art they fall under, and what order will get you to the spell you desire the quickest. Most of the time I would simply avoid using more appropriate spells, instead relying one "close enough" or simply drawing a sword to avoid the "where is that blasted spell!" frustration.
The map system is horrible! Often times you can look directly at a map and not know WHERE on the world map you are even looking. Names of places are sort of odd, so it doesn't help much. It's slow to work with, but the rest of the game content made me suffer this system.
The skill and experience system is very nicely done! I like the "improve through use" paradigm utilized in this system. I do wish I had a -little- more choice, perhaps being able to buy or train to acquire abilities would have been nice. Training in Oblivion is not very useful,
I own both the PC version and 360 version, and I believe the 360 version better simply as you can't mod it! I, unfortunately, added a mod that included world changes that made the PC version, well, boring. This is a WEAK point, but I include it here.
I really liked the addons for the game. I would like to point out my frustration when my internet went out for a month, and Oblivion, on the 360, requires an internet connection to play the game with addon content and inventory items. So I was unable to play my single player only game for lack of an internet connection. It's not Oblivion specific, but worth mentioning, and Oblivion is where I first learned of this practice.
All in all, I had mix feelings about this game after its initial launch. I hated it at first, then liked it, then stopped thinking about it, and eventually felt compelled to get all the XBox achievements and complete the game. This process took years, so I would say I invested years into this game, with several months of breaks. It is in investment, but I found myself proud for completion of the game, all achievements (they did FEEL like achievements). The achievements aren't too hard to get, pretty straight forward. Some are limited to branching choices (mostly DLC achievements), so I had a second limited play through for those, once I had completed he game.
I recommend this game on this platform (the 360) to the RPG fan who isn't looking for a next gen. title in hardware usage. | video-games_xbox |
A Stellar Addition to a Stellar Game. I have been a DDR fan for about a year now. I have loved EVERY mix since the 7th (the mix that got me to start playing). I liked the 7th for, specifically, Twilight Zone, and Candy - the best songs, in my opinion, on that mix. The 8th sported Cartoon Heros - another fantastic song.
There are a lot of new songs on the 9th mix. There are atleast 10 new ones that atleast I have never seen before.
I will list some of the things I enjoyed about DDR9:
To begin, some of the songs are quite good. This mix includes lots of songs from one of my personal favorite writers, L.E.D. Light. I like the techno songs from DDR. I personally really don't like the Pop songs, the songs with vocals, the songs that are bright and cheery - it isn't my music style and it isn't my step style. All the songs from LED are exactly towards my taste - progressive and dark techno. These songs generally have faster, and more heart-pumping beats. They contain harder and more advanced steps. If you love these songs, then this is an automatic must-have for DDR fans. These songs are of an abundance, and they should definitly be considered when making this purchase.
Additionally, I liked the different modes of play. To begin, I have never played or owned any home-versions of the DDR games - I always played at my local arcade. To start, the workout mode is great for people that would like to burn those callories and have fun doing it. To my surprise, it keeps track of how many callories you burn every day. It then tallies up that total (one total for every player you play with in the Workout Mode - meaning you can have a tally of up to 4 players each and every day. I love this idea - keeping a graph of the workout you recieve is an excellent idea and is sure to motivate many people in to shedding some pounds. I also like the fantastic Xbox Live play. You and friends can battle other players online to your favorite songs. While this isn't as sensational as playing against a person dancing right next to you, it is a great way to play against others if you, A. Want to play with more than your friends or B. Don't have anyone else to play with at the time. I also love the fact that you can download customized steps, songs, skins, and etc. That's a great feature, and it is sure to draw a huge crowd. This game is a great value if you have Xbox live. If you were thinking about purchasing Xbox live, then this game is a great reason to get it.
I also like the new idea that you can play with up to 4 at a time. On the PS2, you can only play with one other person because the PS2 only has 2 controller ports. On the Xbox, you have a total of 4 controller ports, meaning, if you have enough room of course, you and three friends can battle it out on the same screen! Some may think that the split screens will get too small for people to see, and therfore distracting players. I didn't find the screen to be too small at all. Atleast on my TV (Sony VEGA 32inch HDTV), I found plenty of room to see and my concentration was as good as ever whilst playing against three of my friends. And think of the possibilities on Xbox Live!
Now, there are some shortcomings:
I really don't like some of the other songs on this mix. The song, Candy - a song that I love (mentioned earlier), is infact included on this mix, but in a much worse way. See, as I mentioned before, I don't like songs with lyrics - especially ones that are all cheery. No, I am not a depressed person nor am I a mean person - it is just my taste. See, the song Candy was one of my favorites because I liked the beat and I thought the tune was catchy. But once they added the abnoxious female vocals to the song (therfore deeming it a different and "newer" version of the song), I lost all interest in the song. It just didn't have the same feel I am used to. On the topic of a short-coming of songs, I found that many classics of DDR, such as Twilight Zone, Holic, Cartoon Heros, and etc., were not included in this mix. I mean, the 9th mix isn't THAT spectacular. They should have kept some of the classics in the mix that made the game what it is today. I'd much rather have fewer songs that were better than have an abbundance of songs that half I don't like.
But overall, I found this to be a very worthy buy. This especially goes towards Xbox Live users. They have the opportunity to not ONLY earn the extra songs included with the game, but they can download even more song packs. This, in my opinion, makes the game's life almost imortal. Xbox Live users will be in heaven with this game. Simply put.
If you are a DDR fan such as myself and have an Xbox, then I still recommend this game. Even if you don't own Xbox Live, there is plenty on this game to keep you going. And this game also is a great excuse to buy Xbox Live - in case you were looking for a valid reason.
Why not 5 stars? Simply because I think there is not a large amount of content for non-Xbox Live users. There is plenty, but not a LOT. Also, I think the 9th mix should have more of the classics, and they definitly shouldn't have ruined Candy like they did. They should have at least included the original version to keep the fans happy. I would have given this game a 3 if it had not been for the fact that there are NUMEROUS, and I mean NUMEROUS, songs from LED Light, a fantastic song writer that has yet to fail me. If you have a good taste in DDR songs, you will greatly appreciate this addition to the DDR serries. If you own Xbox live, then you will never want to go back.
Xbox Live + DDR Ultra = Heaven! | video-games_xbox |
The best multiplayer game on Xbox one. a great experience, you can play solo campaign or multiplayer modes. Versus modes can be player vs player or team vs the computer generated enemy. And the wildly popular Horde mode is back with some cool updates.
Campaign is single player or 2 player co op. There is matchmaking if you want a human gamer to help out. The team is 4, yourself, and 3 other characters, one of whom can be a friend or a random because matchmaking is available.
Mic use seems to be less of a "thing" this time, which is great, you just play without intrusive voices or obnoxious chatter. Since it's just two gamers in campaign there is less confusion and it's easier to manage a quick no strings attached half hour gaming session without feeling like you're abandoning a team in campaign.
Horde is classic but different. You have classes now, and choose your class according to your play style or your mood that day. You load out with different weapons depending on your class. And abilities are different class to class. Again, mics don't seem to be a real "thing" this time, great!!! The maps seem a little harder to defend and aerial assaults can be expected. Casual mode feels like normal mode in gears 3 so be prepared for a challenge.
You can revive dead teammates by picking up their COG tags (bright glowing beacons, can't miss em ) and returning then to the fabricator which is basically your "home base". That imo was a huge improvement because we've all fallen in battle, this way you get a 2nd chance to fight with your team.
Horde stands out as one of the most addictive game types out there, it fosters a sense of teamwork and accomplishment between gamers who often are complete strangers, various ages, abilities, nationalities etc etc, you fight together and as long as you aren't keeping score your team can take out 50 waves of enemies by working together. Matchmaking seems fine, there is a problem with dropout/dropoff where gamers might get disconnected and you are down a gamer or 2 or 3 which sucks but I'm NOT seeing a lot of rage quitting which is awesome.
You unlock new abilities as you level up and progress and there is a card system that you need to be patient and learn but it's not too complex and it does offer some really cool options to enhance your gameplay.and customize your character. Some of the unlock able abilities give you extra firepower or capacity or health, really valuable enhancements.
I'm loving it, they brought back the special events like gearsmas and that's lots of fun, this year we have Santa hats and Christmas skins for weapons and 3 characters get Christmas armor. | video-games_xbox |
Just like CounterStrike. Encourages teamwork and communication. Pretty good for an e-sport style fps. It doesn't feel anythinglike a rainbow six game,but it's still good.(it would be more appropriately called "Swat 5" or something like that) There is no real singleplayer mode,so you should avoid this title if you don't like 5 v 5 matches.
Pros:
>A slower paced,tactical fps.
*Ironsights are delayed by a second so it won't play out just like every other twitch shooter.
*You can also LEAN which is a feature not present in allot of console FPS games
>Has great destruction mechanics.
>The gameplay mechanics encourage teamwork and communication.
*Markers can be placed to make it easier to point out locations where you have either spotted an enemy or need a charge placed.
(The game gets even better after you add decent players you encounter to your friend's list. You'll find the occasional teamkiller but you won't see them anymore when you add all of the good players to your friends list.)
>Comes with free copies of Rainbow Six Vegas 1 & 2.
>Ranked mode makes finding decent teammates much easier.
Cons:
>Not a single-player game (Avoid at all costs if you only like single player games)
>Blurry visuals.
*The resolution,even at 1600x900 ,looks worse considering the washed out,blurry textures.
(The game is really being rendered at 800x450 then 2x msaa compensates for this,resulting in a blurry look).
*Runs at less than 60 fps (probably in the 30-50 fps range)
(The fps seems to run the smoothest on 5 v 5 matches)
>Call of Duty/Battlefield fans won't like this game.
(You won't find any campaign,you won't be constantly grinding for attachments,you won't move at superhuman speed,you can't instantly aim down your sight,and you won't respawn if you're shot down)
>Hardcore fans of Rainbow Six Vegas may be disappointed. (There's no third person cover or nightvision/thermo vision here.)
*Most of the time,matches end by one team annihilating the other,rather than fulfilling the objective. The objective mostly just keeps the teams from camping in some random,far off corner the entire match, or being too zealous with explosive gadgets.
>Generic uniforms for offense/defense. (This is a very minor aesthetic quirk as I would have preferred than the defense classes looked like terrorists)
>>All in all,if you really want this game,you should get it on the PC,as you'll have higher framerates and sharper textures than you would ever have on either of the consoles. Expect short rounds and quick class unlocks. Play it for the teamwork,not for the unlocks,or "rank-ups". | video-games_xbox |
MASS-terpiece. Mass Effect 2 improves on everything lacking from the Original!!!
Story: 10/10
The story is told through Hollywood Quality Cinematics, compelling dialogue voice acted by some top quality actors, and beautifully animated cutscenes. Two years after the first game takes place, quite a bit has happened. As Commander Shepherd, you must return and rebuild a crew to assist the morally ambiguous organization called Cerberus in their quest to stop an alien race from raiding human colonies and kidnapping the colonists. You can import your character from Mass Effect 1 and continue with this game. One of the primary features of this game is the use of Dialogue Trees. Whenever you talk to another character, you can control what Shepherd says. These decisions affect the outcome of the story.
Gameplay: 8/10
The game plays like Gears of War, where you must cover and shoot. The random die roll hit / miss stuff from the first game is gone and now your guns are more accurate and responsive. During a firefight, you can pause the game to switch weapons or use your abilities like Warp, Throw, Slam, Incinerate... Or you can play the firefights in real time by mapping your special abilities to buttons. The combat has been greatly improved over ME1, but it feels like there's still some room for improvement. There isn't enough variety in the enemies and the "spells." It's too easy to just duck, cover, and use biotic powers to throw enemies around the room. The combat could use a bit more decision making and some more complicated spells or spell combinations.
The awkward Mako Range Rover from ME1, does not appear in ME2!!!
Instead, you can scan planets for resources. This is somewhat tedious, but it's fast and the rewards are great. You basically move a cursor around a planet and when you detect minerals, you press a button to launch a probe and collect them. These minerals are used to upgrade your weapons.
Level Designs: 9/10
Most of the Level Designs are great. They drive the story and put YOU in the action. The designs are also straightforward so it's almost impossible to get lost in the levels.
Graphics: 10/10
The Cutscenes are amazing.
The Science Fiction Worlds are amazing.
The alien races are amazing.
The special effects are very good.
Mass Effect 2 looks great!
Replay Value: 8/10
You can import your character from ME1. You can play as good or evil. When you finish this game, you can keep your current abilities and explore the galaxy, or start over with your ME2 character. There are different difficulty modes for greater challenge. You pretty much have to play this game twice to see everything. Each play through could take anywhere from 16 - 32 hours, depending on how much you want to explore.
Flaws:
There is one minor flaw. The button that you use to skip the line of dialogue is also used to select an option from the dialogue tree. So, if a character starts talking and you want to skip to the next line of dialogue, sometimes you press the button as the dialogue tree appears and accidentally say the wrong thing, which may affect your quest, reputation, etc... I'm astonished that Bioware didn't use the B button to skip to the Dialogue Tree, X to skip everything, and A to select. In the grand scheme of things, this is a minor complaint.
Weapon Upgrades: 10/10
No more sifting through 400 different guns to find your favorite. There are basic weaponry that you can upgrade by finding schematics and minerals as you play the game. It's very simple. As you and your allies go up in level, you can also unlock new powers. It's nice and streamlined, allowing you to get back into the action and save the galaxy.
Maturity: M
The violence is mild, there is some harsh language, and some mild sexual situations. This is a very light M.
Overall: 9.5/10
If you want to play a Sci-Fi RPG, this is it! There isn't a better one.
If you love Bioware games, buy this now! It's also much better than Dragon Age.
If you like easy shooters and want a game with loads of story, you should also buy it.
If you're a fan of RPG's, this is a must buy.
Avoid this game if you hated the first Mass Effect.
Avoid this game if you want really difficult deep shooting mechanics, too. The combat here may be a little light for you.
If you enjoyed story of Mass Effect 2, check out Oblivion and Fallout 3! | video-games_xbox |
First Person Stealth. General impressions: I had a lot of fun with this game. I tend to lean toward action games be it FPS or third person cover shooters, action RPG (diablo) or some RTS. Playing this was a pleasant surprise and breath of fresh air. It can be as much action as you want or straight up stealth. To me it felt like Bioshock with more open environments and objectives. I really enjoyed the multi-approaches to all the different objectives in the game and how there is no wrong way to play. You can be as deadly as you want or be completely non-lethal. My first play-through was stealth based and mostly non-lethal with only occasional lethal force. I plan to do a kill everyone play-through and kill no one play-through in the future. Now on to the meat of the review.
Graphics: 4.5 stars
First is the graphics. I will be the first to admit that the game is maybe not on the bleeding edge of graphics but there is a reason for that which I will get to. On a technical level the graphics serve their purpose and on the xbox 360 minor to no slow down is observed during the action. There are lots of partials and interactive things on screen at a time and effects look good. The artistic side of the graphics is really were this game shines. As I said earlier the game is not really pushing the ultra realistic look. Textures are soft and the overall look to the game is more "oil painting" like. It serves the setting of the game very will and I don't think this game would be the same with a more realistic approach. Characters have expressive faces and good use of body language that is easy to see with the smooth animation. All in all very good.
Gameplay: 4.5 stars
Gameplay is very smooth and robust. Corvo, the character you play as, is easy to control and actions are logically mapped to buttons on the controller. This is not a FPS and gun play is not a primary focus of the game. Your main weapon is your sword and you use powers or guns/crossbow in your off hand. Sword play in first person is never an easy thing to pull off in games but Dishonored does a good job with it. Blocking is easy and your swings have some weight to them (unlike Oblivion which weapon blows feel like you are swinging a feather). That said once you get more than one or two bad guys around you fighting with your sword gets difficult. The game does this kind of on purpose to encourage a more stealth approach but you are not hindered significantly to the point of making this type of situation hopeless. Were the gameplay really shines is when you use your powers and combat skills in together. There is a lot of experimentation to be had mixing your powers and other skills to either engage in combat or get around the map by avoiding bad guys. An example of this is that you can summon a rat swarm, place a razer trap on a rat, then posses the rat which you move towards a group of bad guys. This springs the trap killing the bad guys while you remain unseen (very cool). Visual cues are clear and really help you know what your actions are going to do. This allows you to really open up your playbook to try several approaches to a situation. Plus with the ability to save anytime you can try out things and always reload your save if the outcome is not what you wanted.
Story: 3 stars
The story is ok. Nothing to write home about. It is the same kind of revenge story told several times in the past with typical twists and turns but it is entertaining and does not hinder the game any. Plus the voice acting is very well done with some high talent actors giving good performances. There are two endings and the one I have seen is ok but does not really satisfy me. I will say that you don't really play this game for the story. It is only there to put reason to your actions.
Replay Values: 5 stars
As I already mentioned I have plans to play through this several more times with different goals in mind. Do to the flexibility of your situations you can really attack your in game goals from several angles and if your like me, you will want to try to do that. There are collectibles in the game but the need to play the game again and again to get them is not there. You want to play this again to see what happens if you do things differently how things will play out.
Overall: 5 stars
I really enjoyed this game. It is not a run and gun type of game which to me is a nice change of pace. This game take patience and planing. It then rewards this by allowing quite a bit of flexibility in the gameplay. I would highly recommend this game. It is really one of the best games of 2012. | video-games_xbox |
Free Roam Gaming Revolution. To say the least, Rockstar has delivered again, and you could've expected that from the Kings of Free Roaming Console Gaming, but Red Dead Redemption has set the bar for all future free roaming games. For a broad sweeping statement of the game, it's action packed. From random encounters with angry bandits, wildlife attacks, sidequests and quests filled with anti-climaxes this game will keep you satisfied way more than the 20-25 hour estimated time to finish the campaign.
Singleplayer Gameplay: Like GTA4 it is pretty straightforward, use LT to aim, RT to shoot, the cover system works the same (fire from cover or blindfire) and then the Dead-Eye targetting system allows you to paint any human or animal anywhere you want (you can disarm a guy, take off his hat, take off his head to shoot out his kneecaps). The game isn't too easy or too difficult, some missions and activities are challenging but it isn't overbearing and the game doesn't really feel like its playing itself that it's so easy.
Mulitplayer Gameplay: First off, open your NAT otherwise you will be continually booted from public free roam sessions. Rockstar incorporated the GTA4 free roam but with much more activities to do and sort of set it like an MMORPG hub, you can fight amongst other players for xp, kill civilians and law enforcement, or organize actual mulitplayer games like free-for-all, team deathmatch amongst other gamemodes. Sure, it's annoying to be riding your mule and a max level character charges up to you with a legendary mount (like an albino buffalo) and blows you away, but free roam provides many extra hours of fun
Ambience/Environment/Audio: I guess all of this is the same, how the game feels subtracting the gameplay and AI, just the world as it is. I think it's a masterpiece (especially in HD, like 1080p, but it can be enjoyed on Plasma, DLPs and even Composite-HD settings) the spectrum of colors, the shadows and shading, the voice acting (which also sets an industry standard), the original music score which accompanies moods, the day-night and weather patterns are all done superbly. The enviornment feels real, the grass rustles and moves in the breeze, you and your horse leave footprints and dust clouds in the deserts, the animals, guns and other sound effects sound real, it's breathtaking, really.
AI/Game Performance: The AI in this game is greatly done, its is like Elder Scroll IV: Oblivion's "Radiant AI" except much more smoothly done (and with an extra 4 years of video game mastery behind it) the AI is very realisitc, no more standard gun fights, the enemies will provide covering fire, flank you, fire form behind cover, use sniper postions and other tactics to make your life very miserable. The physics system is great, if you knock someone out in a drunken bar fight, when the land against the window sill, they will bust open the glass with their head and crumple on the ground like a cheap suit. When you pull a gun on someone to rob them the fear animation (or aggession, as sometimes they pull a gun back out at you in return) are realistic, and you may never see the same animation twice when you kill someone.
The game performance for the 360 is spot on, it is smooth sailing the whole way. I have only seen a few bugs that aren't too serious, sometimes a character may perform an animation and then the game will spawn the same charcter doing a differnet animation causing a funny ghosting effect (have only seen it once), sometimes characters will appear cross-eyed in cutscenes and sometimes when you call your horse it'll jump off of a cliff - none of which are game-breaking, but if you are picky about those sort of things, there they are
Miscellaneous: Other things the game includes (as written in all synopsis' of the game) a social club that links to xbox live to give you news about public events and updates, a bunch of side things to do from hunting, the herb-gathering, to arm wrestling and bounty hunting or escaping US Marshals or kidnapping civilians or getting into drunken brawls or duels, there is much to do in this game, some people clocked 200+ hours in Oblivion and Fallout 3, this game you might easily surpass that, with the multiplayer experience including free-roam and organized traditional games, you will ALWAYS have something to do
Overall: If you're a fan of action games or shooters, get this. If you're a fan of westerns, whether true westerns of B-Movie/Spaghetti-Westerns, get this game. If you like rockstar or even GTA4 (even though its different, in a good way, this game deserves better than the "Grand Theft Horse" nickname it got), get this game. I'll give it a 10/10, 5-stars, top-of-the-scale, whatever you call it, this game deserves it, 5-years in the making and its one of the greatest videogame experiences I have had to date. Plus with DLC and community planned gaming you will never go bored | video-games_xbox |
Buying guide to Xbox One bundles. Edited 9/28/15 - lowered rating due to bundle becoming more costly than items purchased separately. The products on this page are great, but paying this much for the grouping is not, that is the reason for the low rating.
I wanted to create a guide to help those interested in purchasing an Xbox One, since there are so many bundles. I'll attempt to keep this up to date as the bundles change. This is NOT a comparison to Playstation 4 or Wii U.
A short list of features that may interest you, current and upcoming (November 2015), shared by all Xbox Ones (more details can be found in product descriptions and Microsoft sites) -
HDMI pass through. You can hook up an HDMI device to the back of an Xbox One to view the content from that device without changing inputs or leaving the X1 interface. This allows for split screen viewing and if a cable box or the official TV tuner, you can view the channel guide, watch TV, and set recordings.
It is backwards compatible with some Xbox 360 games. This is great for those with backlogs (like me...) or those who want to revisit finished games without having another console plugged into the wall/TV. In the fall, owners of publisher approved disc or digital 360 games will be able to play them emulated on the X1. Some X1 games also include their 360 precursors with purchase for play on the X1 in case you missed them. Gears or War Ultimate Edition includes all 4 Xbox 360 Gears games and Fallout 4 includes Fallout 3, for example. List of games and other info here - http://www.xbox.com/en-US/xbox-one/backward-compatibility
It will stream content to Windows devices.
Xbox Live Gold now applies to households instead of individuals; meaning that multiple accounts on the same console can have access to the same features but have differing account restrictions (I.E. parental controls). So you can let your kids play Garden Warfare online, but not Gears of War.
External USB 3.0 storage. This is great because, 1) you don't need to open the console and replace a hard disc to add storage, just plug in and the X1 will format the drive, 2) even disc-based games have compulsory installs and can be upwards of 50GB each, eating storage space quickly, 3) external drives can be spacious and cheap, and last but not least, 4) USB 3.0 is actually faster than the internal hard disc interface. This means that a game on an external drive will load faster than one on the internal drive, usually by a significant amount.
The bundles-
The bundles can be split into 2 different groups based on onboard storage (500GB and 1TB). The 1TB bundles also include a newer controller that has a standard 3.5mm audio jack built in. There are no other functional differences. All bundles include a controller, HDMI cable, chat headset (with exceptions), and a 14 day Xbox Live Gold trial membership (paid $60/year service to play online and download the Games with Gold, a monthly rotation of full games you're free to download and keep (forever for 360 games and as long as you have Live Gold in active subscription for X1 games).
Upcoming bundles -
1TB Holiday Bundle - $399. Includes 1TB console, Gears of War Ultimate Edition (as well as all 360 Gears games if you play online before the end of the year), Rare Replay, and Ori and the Blind Forest game downloads, the new controller, and doesn't appear to include a headset. Releases October 27th. A rating.
1TB Rise of the Tomb Raider bundle - $399. Includes 1TB console, downloads of Rise of the Tomb Raider, DLC, and its predecessor, Tomb Raider: Definitive Edition, new controller, and doesn't appear to include a headset. Releases November 3rd. B+ rating.
1TB bundles (with rating based on what you get for the money)-
Halo Master Chief Collection 1TB bundle. $399. Standard console, plus download code for the Master Chief Collection (the four numbered Halo games in a single package). B rating.
Forza 6 1TB Bundle. $399. Custom Forza-inspired console with racing sounds and controller, and download code for Forza 6 and extra content. As Forza 6 is a newer game than MCC (and thus more costly) I'm according this bundle a higher A- rating, though some may not like the custom design and sounds.
FIFA and Madden 16 1TB bundles. $399. I'm grouping these together because other than the type of football you prefer, they are the same. Both include either the latest Madden NFL or FIFA soccer game download and a year of EA access, a paid ($30/yr) service which allows Xbox One users early access to EA releases, extended demos with progress that can be saved if a full game is purchased, discounts on EA games, and free access to the Vault, currently 12 full games. Great if you like EA's games. A- for each.
Halo 5 Limited Edition 1TB bundle. $499. Includes custom console with Halo sounds, and custom controller, with the Halo 5 Limited Edition (steelcase, guardian figure, game download and add-on content). Why a limited edition would come without a physical game is beyond me... It may not bother some, but it will upset many. This is a higher premium than the Forza 6 bundle (charging an extra $100 for an extra $40 package). C rating.
Xbox One Elite 1TB bundle. $499. Includes a console with a 1TB hybrid SSD and hard disc for quicker load times for the items you access the most and the Elite controller, which has replaceable/customizable sticks, buttons, and triggers for the professionals or tinkerers. While the internal storage on this will be better than the standard HDDs in other X1s, the performance increase PROBABLY won't match external USB3.0 drives, due to the continued use of the SATA interface. There's little information about the size of the SSD partition and many hybrid drives don't allow you to choose what content is on which partition. The elite controller isn't yet available, but will retail for $150 (about triple the price of a regular controller). If you want the best/most storage and best controller out of the box, this is the bundle for you, but you won't get any games with it, or a headset, from the looks of it. B rating. Also note that this version releases earlier if purchased from the Microsoft Store.
500GB bundles-
Halo Master Chief 500GB bundle. $349. Looks like this being phased out. If you can get it at the retail price, I'd consider it an A-, since the cost to upgrade storage to 1TB or greater is around or less than the $50 to get the 1TB model, and it'll perform better.
Gears of War 500GB bundle. $349. Includes Gears of War Ultimate Addition download (as well as all 360 Gears games if you play online before the end of the year). This 500GB model includes the new controller, but does not include a headset. B+ rating.
Keep in mind that the lowest prices and best bundles tend to happen around the winter holiday season, so unless you really want to get one now, you're probably best served waiting till around Black Friday, when multiple stores will be trying to entice you with lower prices and more pack-ins.
Hope you found this comparison useful. | video-games_xbox |
A Bit Rough Around The Edges, But Otherwise An Enjoyable Game For Anyone Interested In Dark/Fantasy Set/Action RPGs. I actually bought Bound By Flame on a whim, the primary reasons for that being the case were that I'm a general fan of Robin Atkin Downes' voice acting, and it was cool to learn that he'd be voicing the main protagonist, and I read that one professional reviewer actually compared the game to Fable and Kingdoms of Amalur, and I liked both those games. My expectations for this game were at least relatively low, especially as I learned that the average professional score was approximately 55%, though if I were to grant a definitive positive percentage I'd probably give this game an 80%, most heavily due to the depiction of its plot and universe, where one is completely convinced that there's little hope of overcoming the antagonists and saving the world of Vertiel, until the demon enters Vertiel, and even more accurately its very reluctant host.
The protagonist (referred to as Vulcan throughout the game regardless of whatever you might name him/her) becomes possessed by a demon very early on within the game due to a botched ritual performed by the Red Scribes, the only real surviving body/organization of Magi left within the universe of Vertiel, the game's setting (other than of course the Ice Lords, the game's primary antagonists, though one is granted the greatest focus of them all, that being Lord Blackfrost). I'd be embellishing if not outright lying if I said the player is granted several choices (when in fact there are only a few) tied with either further allowing the demon to possess them or to do one's best to preserve their humanity, though there are a few instances in the game where the player can choose between the two ideas, which is the greatest source of appeal and most unique idea as far as the game's plot goes.
If one chooses the demonic path the changes that occur to Vulcan both aesthetically and as far as voice pitch go are drastic, though relatively gradual. If I had to define that the most gradual change is definitely the alteration in his/her voice, as when I first allowed the demon to further possess me, I barely - if in fact at all - noticed that there was any change in Vulcan's voice pitch, but after I played for approximately an hour or so it was more apparent. The changes to Vulcan's aesthetic model are much more rapid/prominent/ostensible, as right as the player first allows the demon to further possess Vulcan, Vulcan's eyes become distinctly red. As the player progresses further through the demonic path, Vulcan's general complexion becomes darker, and at the pinnacle of possession they're nearly completely black, with horns on their head, and that even mildly affects gameplay, most notably as the player is no longer able to wear helmets due to the presence of the aforementioned horns. Other than what I just referenced, most of the changes tied with possession are almost exclusively limited to the cosmetic/aesthetic, though Vulcan does gain an increase in magic regeneration and/or max magic if they completely follow the demon's path, once again at the expense of less physical resistance to some degree. Although this doesn't happen as frequently as it seems like it should, and even when things do occur the reaction doesn't seem as prominent as that seems like it should be, there are occasionally negative reactions to Vulcan - when he/she is predominantly possessed - by his/her allies, as it's true that it's hard to believe that such an entity as terrifying as predominantly possessed Vulcan can be could be a force for good, though Vulcan ultimately - at least ostensibly - seems to have good intentions in mind regardless of which moral path the player takes.
Despite - or maybe even because - of the fact that the human path depicts a more virtuous/traditional hero that one would expect within most heroic fiction, the human path is probably the less interesting of the two in terms of plot and dialogue, though it was interesting to play through to notice the distinction in dialogue contrasted with my first (demonic) playthrough, so I would recommend most people play through both moral paths of the game to get a completely comprehensive experience (I don't know if this could be considered a mild spoiler, though of the two moral plot lines only the humanist playthrough grants a more formal epilogue or even general ending, which is pretty comprehensive so that once again adds to the appeal of choosing that moral path).
Overall, at least beyond the first hour or so within the game, I enjoyed the game's combat (enough to have fully played through the game twice and partially once anyway, and I'm intending to at least attempt to play once more on the highest difficulty which I have not done yet). The game's learning curve is pretty steep, and generally speaking if one chooses the warrior stance over the ranger, they'll be at least mildly handicapped throughout the game. The coolest/most unique aspect of the game's combat for me though was the effect that occurs when one makes use of a parry or dodge, or performs a critical hit. Beyond the point that one of those things takes place, the game is characterized by really prominent slow-motion, which simply looks really cool, and really makes one (or at the very least me anyway) feel like they achieved something, and so it seems that the developers encourage the player to make use of those gameplay elements more so than within other franchises.
If one wants to play the game with a general amount of ease and have a generally more enjoyable time, although there are some options tied with building a character whichever way one prefers, it's definitely most beneficial to focus on the ranger skill tree of three possible leveling trees, with a secondary focus on the pyromancy build of those three possible. I learned what I just said the hard way, as within my first playthrough (predominantly on the second lowest of four difficulties - I actually had to lower the difficulty because the final boss fight was that difficult) I played predominantly making use of the warrior stance and skill tree, which the parry is correlated with, while I learned through my second playthrough that the dodge ability - exclusively tied with the ranger stance/skill tree - is much more eclectically useful in general, though especially against the final boss fight which being brutally honest at least borders on excruciatingly difficult.
Although it's very clear that the main protagonist and by extension generally most well defined character is Vulcan, the player is granted a pretty eclectic and overall well defined group of companion characters which are present through the majority of the game's plot, though a couple the player gains relatively late in spite of those characters being pretty major. With reference to characterization, of the companions my favorite character is Edwen. It's difficult to grant many details about her character without revealing some pretty key aspects of the plot, but it's relatively obvious to discern that she has more knowledge about the game's antagonists than she makes explicit to most, though if the player goes out of their way to get to know her further, she will reveal more about herself and her background if properly questioned/generally spoken to. Next to her, my favorite of the companions would be either Mathras or Randval. Mathras is actually a 6000+ year old lich, and by extension is generally erudite and knowledgeable, and his vast knowledge proves interesting to listen to while interacting with him. Randval is a knight of a now otherwise extinct order, who most notably always speaks in the third person to better depict humility. On the surface he seems obsessed with sacrificing himself for the greater good, though if Vulcan can influence him enough it's possible that could change. The weakest and overall flattest characters in terms of characterization are Sybil and Rhelmar. I would define them as the most virtuous of Vulcan's companions, though consequently that seems to make them the most boring, but Sybil at the very least is depicted as very benevolent and innocent and seems to care the most about Vulcan preserving his/her humanity in spite of the lure of giving into the demon's powers.
While speaking about your allies/companions within the game, ostensibly Sybil might seem the most useful as she's the only one of Vulcan's companions that can heal, which generally does help, though if I had to single out the most useful companion in the game I'd consider that to be Edwen, as she's able to "curse" enmies, or very simply can completely incapacitate them one at a time. The person who's most useful succeeding Edwen would probably be Mathras, who can actually turn enemies against each other, though part of why I was reluctant to use him on an avid basis was due to the fact that's he's actually a lich, and so is actually decomposing and has bones sticking out of his flesh which most could infer is not pleasant to look at whatsoever. Randval is the companion who's only mildly useful, as his special ability is that he can taunt enemies to get their focus away from Vulcan. The most notable time that's useful is if you're low on health, which can prove to be a lifesaving asset on occasion. The overall least useful companion is probably Rhelmar, as he's an archer and his only unique ability is simply focusing his shots to make them more powerful.
To encompass the game's audio quality, overall the soundtrack wasn't of consistently high quality, though there definitely were highlights. My favorite theme within the game would be the "Steppes of Caraldthas" track, as it features a really somber piano which correlates well with the desperation of just barely surviving and living within what's pretty much a minuscule refugee camp. My second favorite theme would be the "Swamp Southern Delta" track, as it's very ambient and even features a female vocalist who sings within some of the game's tracks, and the ambiance actually proves to be a contrast as the music itself was very serene in spite of the fact that the swamp that it plays within was decently eerie. I would say that the composer - Olivier Deriviere - deserves more acclaim than he seems to receive. The voice acting was overall pretty good too. I suppose to some degree I already praised Robin Atkin Downes' acting, though I thought he did a commendable job as the hero (or anti-hero if one chooses the demon's path) throughout the entire game, and of the male actors was overall the best. The second best of the male actors would probably be Gideon Emery (in actuality the only other credited actor) who voiced Randval, as his acting job was generally positively noteworthy. Of the actresses I would easily name Edwen's actress my favorite - I actually really wanted to learn who voiced her as they are not credited on IMDB, though anyone who's a fan of Claudia Black's acting and even furthermore Morrigan's depiction within Dragon Age will probably really enjoy Edwen's acting as she sounds very much like Claudia, and in many ways Edwen and Morrigan are very similar (I've even seen one person characterize Edwen as being similar enough to be Morrigan's long lost sister). The only relatively weak actors in the game to encompass that much would be Sybil's and the female Vulcan's, but even then, neither of them were absolutely terrible, just weak compared with the rest of the cast by my standards.
There was a lot more I wanted to encompass within this review (the graphics, crafting system, stealth system, general criticisms other than what I might've already mildly criticized), though this review is already lengthier than I originally intended it to be and I don't want to make anyone excessively bored by everything that I want to convey, though anyone who has any specific questions for me is definitely welcome to ask me those within any possible comment section of any site where I post this review. Very simply though, anyone who's interested in any combination of dark/fantasy set/action RPGs should probably enjoy this game and obviously should purchase it, especially for the price most can get it for now. If I had to compare Bound By Flame to other franchises that I've played, I'd say it's most comparable to Dragon Age in terms of plot, universe, and characters, and Kingdoms of Amalur in terms of gameplay, in case comparing it to other games will help someone make up their mind as to whether or not they really should buy this game (even more specifically, only the very best elements of each of those franchises are encompassed, as overall I like this game best of the three that were just referenced). Overall, I definitely think Bound By Flame deserves more praise/acclaim than it originally received, as do Spiders (its developer) especially acknowledging what little staff and most likely funds they had to work with, as they've definitely created an enjoyable game with a decent amount of lasting appeal/replay value. | video-games_xbox |
Hooked. Elder Scrolls IV has definately succeeded where Morrowind fell short. This game has so many different possibilities its amazing. As stated in other reviews, the character creation process is very similar to that of Morrowind. The character creation system was one of the few things that I greatly enjoyed about Morrowind, so this is an excellent plus. There are a multitude of premade classes to choose from as well as the ability to create your own kind of hero. The game is very intuitive about suggesting class types that will fit the way that you have been playing the game at the time of class selection.
The graphics are phenomenal. On that same line, I have huge issues with first person games. Every first person game that I have ever played has caused me motion sickness. I have noticed that the frame rate is what causes the sickness, the lower the frame rate the more ill I become. I had figured that I enjoyed Morrowind, and had heard so many good things about Oblivion that I would just have to suffer through it and only play for 45 minutes at a time. Oblivion is so well done that I have, at times, played it for 3 continuous hours and not felt even the slightest discomfort. I was more than pleasantly surprised to have this added bonus to playing.
Another feature that I find great is the ability to select which quest you want to be your current quest. It may be that I simply did not know how to use the journal feature in Morrowind, but I don't remember being able to select specific quests as my primary quest and having only that quest highlighted and guided. You may have 5 different quests running at the same time, but can easily focus on one, and switch mid quest to another one. The game guides you along your quests and doesn't leave you fumbling around, trying to figure out where you are going. You almost always know where you are going and how to get there.
I only have a few very small complaints about the game so far. The loading times are a bit long, but they are understandable considering the amount of information that needs loaded. Every now and again when walking through the terrain, the game will hiccup. Again this is from the loading of new information, but again is forgivable. I also don't like how few enemies there are that attack you. When wandering the forests, you may go 5-10 minutes without finding an enemy to deal with. This makes it difficult to level certain skills. and at times can be boring. The great compensation for this is that you can also warp to areas you have already discovered and towns in the area.
Aside from a few very minor complaints, this game has been extremely satisfying and well worth the 60.00 paid for it. I can see myself playing this long term, and going back and playing it again as a different character and class type. | video-games_xbox |
Same thing, yet refreshing. To start off, I relize I'm being assumptious, but if you're reading reviews for this game, you've either never played it, or are bored... and that's ok.
In a nutshell: Guitar Hero II is a DDR (Dance Dance Revolution) with a guitar controller. 5 different color "notes" come towards you on the screen towards the corresponding color holes, your goal is to "hit the note" right when it reaches the hole. This is done by pressing down on the colored button on the guitar and "strumming" (or flicking, for you non-guitar players) the button-lever thingy near the bottom of the guitar (to mimic a guitar pick).
You go through campaign mode, playing "live" concerts, earn cash thus being able to buy additional songs, guitars, characters and costumes. While playing you must keep your "rock meter" in the green/yellow or you will fail the song. (the more correct notes that are played, raises the rock meter towards the green. Wrong notes move it down towards yellow, then red, then a "song failed"). Star power can be activated by lifting the guitar up, this not only drives the fans crazy (it can save your "rock meter" from failure) but it doubles whatever point combo multiplier you currently have.
A Little more complicated: As far as song difficulties range, it's extremely well balanced. There are some songs that are so slow, and so easy, it's almost boring to play. There are others that are so fast and hard that it could take as much as 2 weeks to pass a song! (Mind you, you can adjust the difficulty; easy, medium, hard or expert)
If you're looking for something different from the PS2 version, sorry, you're outta luck. Other than a few new songs and the "achievement points", this game is identical to the PS2 version. Graphics are still nice though :)
For the people who care ALOT about achievements (myself being one of them) there are ALOT of them! Again, the challenge ranges. Some are incredibly easy (fail a song on medium, reach a 8x combo, beat easy mode, etc.) Others are much more difficult (buy all guitars, get 500k points in single player, get a 1000 note streak in multiplayer, 5 stars on all Expert level songs, etc.)
And finally, the Co-op. Co-op mode is fun. You can go head to head against another player to see who is the "true guitar hero" or you can team up (one on lead guitar, one on bass or rhythm)and try to get an awesome highscore on a song. (Many achievements lie in co-op mode...) The unfortunate part is that the guitars are so expensive, not many people have two. Also, after about 40 hours of gameplay, it gets old. Same thing, over and over again. Other than that the game is great. A Great Buy/ Must Get! | video-games_xbox |
Where did it go so wrong. The price was around $30 when Amazon.com put The Last Remnant up for preorder, and considering my positive experience with most of Squaresoft's (excuse me, now Square Enix) RPGs, I thought that this new IP would be even better, so $30 seemed like a bargain. Had I known what I was getting into, I probably would've asked them to keep the game. Alas, it was too late, so I decided to swallow my pride, ignore the mixed professional reviews of the game and give it a shot.
First, I will say that the battle system does have decent improvements over most of Squeenix's previous titles. Granted, the combat is still turn based, but the formations and placement of the units actually do play a small role in the battle. There are no magic spells or physical attacks that are completely useless like in RPGs (for example: you can poison or paralyze an enemy just as they can do to you.) The spells look pretty cool and there's actually some strategy involved in selecting the list of attacks for your union. Do you risk attacking the enemy and try finishing him off? Or do you eat a turn to heal and let another Union pick up the slack?
Also, another thing I really like is that you can (usually) pick and choose your battles. No longer do you have to fight a dire wolf every five steps because the AI felt like it (I'm looking at you, Lost Odyssey). If you don't want to fight a monster, you simply dodge it.
Unfortunately, that's where my praise ends. Now here's the things I didn't like about this game:
-The story is pretty generic as far as Japanese RPGs go. You play a whiny young brat named Rush with a rather unhealthy attachment to his young sister. Despite his age, he's able to wield a variety of weapons (depending on your equipment) with exceptional skill in his quest to save his sister and rid the world of evil. Upon spending all of one minute meeting the Marquis of Athlum, the conversation goes like this:
Rush: "Can you help me find my sister?"
David: "Sure, and I'll tell my four Generals to help you out too."
This was another thing that annoyed me: Rush's propensity to speak in modern-day anachronisms with a startling naivete that would make any sane person want to punch him in the face the moment he opened his mouth. So it figures that he becomes The Hero of the story. On a related note, the voice acting is atrocious. From David's awful faux-Aussie accent to Pagus sounding like he's still going through puberty, whoever did the directing for the voice actors should've been locked out of the studio.
-Graphics-wise, you've probably heard the complaints about major slowdowns, 10-second loading screens with every scene change, and the noticeable pop-in textures everywhere. They were right. Did they really need to use the Unreal graphics engine for this game? Seriously, why would ragdoll physics even be necessary in a game where you don't even control how the characters fight? It's not exactly a gamebreaker on its own, but combined with every other negative it becomes more noticeable.
-The weapon crafting system is a good idea in theory: customize some of your weaponry in order to create weaponry that either you can equip or hand off to other party members. In practice, there's a sword you can pick up halfway through the first disc that makes almost every other sword irrelevant. Yes, Rush is mysteriously capable of using everything from spears to axes, but I haven't felt the need to switch from that one sword yet, and I've gotten halfway through the second disc.
On a related note: sometimes, your teammates will ask you for items or weaponry to strengthen themselves. However, even if you want to give them a weapon or item you aren't using from your inventory, you can't. You have to wait for the AI to decide it wants what you have. I thought part of RPGs was the ability to manage your characters and their equipment. So much for that.
-Sidequest monsters: Occasionally, you will get a request from a guild asking you to kill a certain monster in a certain dungeon. Sounds simple enough, right? Except that once you enter the dungeon and slaughter hordes of weak monsters, you realize that the rare sidequest monster doesn't show up. According to GameFAQs, the possibility of these sidequest monsters showing up for you to kill is itself an act of random chance you can't control. The only way to make the monster show up is to keep entering and exiting the same dungeon over and over until he appears. That's not a challenge, that's artificially lengthening the game!
-Party list attack system: I know, I'm being a bit of a hypocrite here. I really did think the battle system was fresh and I still find it good. However, the one thing that ticks me off about it is the fact that you can't choose your attacks individually, you have to choose from the list that the AI feels like giving you at the start of each turn.
In conclusion, if you really, really like Squeenix or Japanese RPGs, then chances are you've bought this game already. If you're trying to decide whether you should jump in to the wonderful world of console RPGs, then I would suggest you start with Mass Effect, Persona 4, or even Lost Odyssey (depending on what system you have). All of those titles have a much better plot and gameplay (ok, Lost Odyssey is debatable on that point) than this sloppy, unfinished game. | video-games_xbox |
CH-CH-CH-CHAAANGES. Time to faaaace the change, ch ch chaaangesss. Ok.
In short: Mass effect, an RPG with action elements, Mass effect 2 an action game with RPG elements. I completed just about all of the side quests and the story in just under 28 hours. Overall the theme with this sequel was more detail less ..... quantity. Quality over quantity here (ex, no planet exploration). Some people might disagree but I would like to see more of both, and I don't mind juggling two discs in my xbox to handle that. I like the detail put into the environments in this one but the galaxy just didn't seem as big this time around. Not a knock to the game though I still loved it. Also I somewhat preferred the elevator load scenes as opposed to the loading screen, but again, that is another one of the differences between the RPG and action game elements here.
PROS
-more action, lots more
-Miranda Lawson
-way more detail in the environments
-graphics are amazing
-new powers are awesome
-no pointless planet exploration
-Miranda Lawson
-you get to team up with a geth
-heavy weapons
-less quests that involve only talking
CONS
-less credits in my pocket
-guns don't pack as much umph
-no pointless planet exploration (a pro and a con for me)
-no loot (don't give me a ton, but give me some)
-environments are more detailed, but smaller
-the new leveling point system leaves me with points left over (i'm not wasting resources....)
-theres only going to be three of these
The cons are really just things I would like to see improved on in mass effect three. I loved this sequel and I think it would be great if 3 fell somewhere in the middle. Overall though I love this game and if the third one turns out like this I wouldn't be disappointed. I recommend this game to anyone. I love this game, they should have called it "Isaac Asimovs foundation", changed the story a little and made 7 of these because I'm going to be sad after the third one comes out. :( | video-games_xbox |
It is a generic First Person Shooter. Save your money and rent it or buy it used. First of all, let me say that I have not played it all of the way through yet and have not played the multi player at all. But I wanted to give my opinion to prevent people from wasting money.
I rented it last night and played it for a while. I could only play it for relatively short periods before taking breaks because I got bored. This is just a very generic first person shooter that uses characters from Halo. You go through corridors and paths that only have usually one route and leave you feeling like very little creativity was put into the maps. Like every other first person shooter, when you go through the corridors, you come a across enemies that just stand there until you enter their fighting area and notice you. Like every other first person shooter, you are given simple objectives (such as reaching a control station) that must be completed to move to the next part of the map. So, like any other FPS that lacks originality, you just blast your way through the corridors, shooting anything that moves, until you reach your destination and press a button to activate whatever your objective was. The same thing that has been done in every generic first person shooters for at least 15 years. Perhaps something will change later in the game, but I am a few levels in and have not seen any sign that this is anything but a very generic first person shooter with the character models and building styles found in previous Halo games.
Visually, the game looks quite nice, especially considering the Xbox360 is several years old and games are limited in what they can do on outdated hardware. The character models appear to be a bit more refined and the textures used on them are nice. However, a few nice visual and lighting effects will not make up for a boring game.
Perhaps the multiplayer gameplay will improve my opinion, but I doubt it. So far, I would recommend that you just save your money and either rent it or wait for it come arrive at your local used-game store. I rented it and am VERY happy I did not waste $60 on it. | video-games_xbox |
READ READ YAY. With the introduction of Xbox live and the online play that it offers, one game stands above the rest, Halo 2. Multiplayer on Halo 2 is a completely mind-blowing experience. It is possible to play anything from capture the flag to a completely custom game and still have it be entertaining for hours, days, or even months on end.
The area of online play is where Halo 2 far surpasses the original Halo. Halo could be played online, but it was no where near as extensive as it is today, and as widely played. Halo 2 offers many new weapons: Battle Rifle, fires a three round burst with 2x zoom; the M6C pistol, a major downgrade from the original with the loss of its zoom and power; Beam Rifle, the Covenant's version of a sniper rifle. Not to mention the Plasma Sword, a weapon that can kill in one swing, which some view as a highly controversial weapon (mainly the unexperienced gamers). As with any other weapon this can be countered quite effectively.
Unfortunately the campaign play suffered incredibally in the transition. When discussing with fellow gamers a conclusion was made that the developers decided to almost completely disregard single-player from the game. Gone are the amazing levels that could be played over and over using different stratagies. Halo left an incredibal legacy with its campaign mode. It had an amazing storyline for a FPS and was no more extensive than it needed to be. Halo 2 loses all of its grandeur in its extremely lackluster story. It instills a sense of apathy so much so that it is hard to find a purpose to even complete the campaign mode.
The Covenant, the enemy aliens in the first game, recieve a huge new role in the new storyline. This could be understandable move but they failed miserably. They focus so much on the covenant that Master Chief becomes some erroneous character. So for some reason the developers chose not to stay true to the original Halo. Now gamers play as the Arbiter, an elevated Elite in the Covenant forces.
In the original Halo the introduction of the Flood was a major plot twist, and was also quite scary. It left gamers feeling like they were living the life of Master Chief instead of playing him in a video game. The current Halo offers no such things and it was just a major disappointment, in regards to the storyline and campaign mode. As far as multiplayer though I yet again praise the game that is Halo 2. And if you allready have or are contemplating purchasing an Xbox Live subscription this game is a must have solely based on its online multiplayer abilities. | video-games_xbox |
A fitting end to a fantastic world. As a big fan of Dead Space, I didn't come in to this installment thinking "horror", and I believe that it's because of this that I found Dead Space 3 so entertaining. I first fell in love with the first DS not just because of the horror element but because of the enriching lore and mystery behind the "markers". I can tell that Visceral games really tried to throw in the scares throughout the game, but, after playing hours and hours of any of the DS games, you kind of get a sixth sense of when these jump tactics are going to be used, so any veteran of this series should not be surprised or cry foul when the game doesn't make them jump. The core mechanics of the game are still intact. Running, aiming, stomping ect. remain unchanged so any returning fan should jump into the action with no problems. The old structure of upgrading and finding weapons and suits is stripped away for a new crafting system that requires "resources" to create, enemies and boxes drop these "resources" but if you're impatient you can use real money to buy boosts to your resources (no doubt a system that EA came up with to nickle and dime us to death)but luckily these resources are plenty to the player IF they take their time. Suits are now only a cosmetic change and no longer provide any real upgrade to what you already have like in dead space 2, this is due to the upgrades you (once again) buy using resources, the upgrades are applied to all the suits evenly. Now on to the co-op. Co-op is not as they say "seamless" drop in drop out. You must start a co-op game and invite friends or set it to public just like any other game, but, when someone joins your game (if its already in progress) sends you to a loading screen there by interrupting your game, the same thing happens when they leave. The game itself is designed with co-op in mind as the enemies require more ammunition to bring down and number more than in previous installments, there are side missions you can tackle on and I recommend to do these as they offer plenty of goodies and count towards your total completion percentage not to mention it adds to the overall time, there are also co-op only side missions that require you to have a partner to access. These missions add to the mystery that is John Carver but ultimately fail to inspire anything besides collecting more goodies at the end of the mission. One big complain I have is that these co-op only missions could of easily been tackled on your own,but, seem to be an excuse to try out the multi-player. I really enjoyed this game and took my time, and took in all the lore. The game itself isn't scary, but, the atmosphere is unmistakeably Dead Space. If you don't mind spending full price I recommend to pick it up, if you pick it up cheaper, as it will happen, then you're getting a deal. | video-games_xbox |
FANTASY ALL-STARS. One of the things that makes Dragon Age: Origins (DAO) such a fun and realistic fantasy game is the fact that it actually draws a lot of its inspiration from some of the best fantasy writers.
Both DAO and Robert Jordan's WHEEL OF TIME series feature characters named Loghain, towers where magic-users go to study their craft, a Blight that threatens to destroy everything in its path, and dreamworlds where death in that world is the same as dying in the real world. Both also feature rings in the shape of a serpent eating its own tail.
The Grey Wardens are reminiscent of The Night's Watch who guard The Wall in George RR Martin's SONG OF ICE AND FIRE series. The warrior and his mabari warhound storyline is also similar to Jon Stark and his dog Ghost.
TOLKIEN references abound in the forms of orc-like creatures, elves, talking trees, sprawling underground cities inhabited by dwarves, and huge battles that often involve dragons.
If you talk to Leliana in the camp she'll tell you a story and mention a character named Cormac. This name comes from a character by Robert E. Howard, who created CONAN.
Indeed if it weren't for the inspiration of such masterful writers, the story may have been rather average. But fortunately that is not the case and it's nice to see that the developers put as much emphasis on the story as on the gameplay.
The music by INON ZUR sufficiently captures the mood, making use of heavenly female chants and dire war drums.
As for the gameplay, although I am no newcomer to RPGs, I have played neither Baldur's Gate nor any other Dungeons and Dragons games. There is a slight learning curve for the first few hours. Those that have played OBLIVION will find quite a few similarities in terms of inventory and quests and veterans of FINAL FANTASY 12 will find the AI Tactics to be rather straightforward. Even once you "get" the gameplay, you'll find that a second play-through is more than worthwhile since you can go back and pick up some things you missed the first time.
The characters come across as something you would find in a typical Dungeons and Dragons novel, which is not so strange. The banter between them is great to listen to and really makes you feel like you're on a quest with friends and not a bunch of mutes.
Perhaps one of the most enjoyable aspects of the game is the decision making. I've spent many a minute scratching my head trying to figure out what's the "lesser of two evils" in regards to the dilemma before me. Knowing that your actions have real, irreversible consequences really makes you stop and think about how you want your story to play out and encourages you to experiment.
I really have nothing negative to say about this game, merely two-nitpickings that I hope they address in the sequel coming out in MARCH!
--Although I appreciate their homage to the great fantasy writers, I would like to see a few more original beasts and locations. I've yet to see a fantasy novel or game take you to a tropical island . . . it seems that almost all fantasy primarily takes place in environments that can be found in Europe (dark forests, cold mountains, etc).
--The Codex, although informative, gets cluttered way too easily.
If you're looking for a worthwhile gaming investment this is about as good as it gets. I had just finished beating it once when the very next day I sat back down and gave it another spin--it's been a long time since a game has made me do that! | video-games_xbox |
It's About Time!! Well, It's a huge start anyway. EA for the first time in a decade does NOT put lipstick on a pigskin. When the 360 first came out, the game I most anticipated was Madden, especially after seeing the Video preview on my original Xbox. I was blown away by the intro graphics. Luckily, I didn't buy into graphics alone because that year produced one of the worst Maddens since its debut. Pretty graphics don't equal gameplay. Seldom did I play Madden on the Original Xbox or the 360, I highly enjoyed Microsoft's NFL Fever and of course the infamous 2K series.
After EA consumed the NFL license like a three headed NFL Video Game Monopoly monster, NFL fanatics were left stunned and with no choice. We needed our fix and EA was the only one now producing our favorite drug.
With little hope or promise due to no competition, we just reluctantly waited for EA to do the right thing. Each year in great anticipation bringing great disappointment. Each year bringing it's own ugliness with 08 being a slight exception. Each game with all-inspiring Graphics that bogged down heavily on fluidness and gameplay because of intense choppiness.
This year EA finally dealt us cards that could bring in the big pot. Number one change being the overall fluidness of play which feels still a lot like Madden (Graphically and style) but with 2K-esque speed. Now we're talking. Graphics are barnone the best I've seen, which is usually the case with Madden but finally they paired in with decent gameplay.
Graphic Score: 5 out of 5. Fluid and numbing realistic animations from tackling to celebrations all hone on playing your favorite team and players down to style and mannerisms.
Gameplay Score: 4 out of 5. Finally Madden sees the light. With 2k-esque speed and Madden style control, we get the best of almost both worlds. Madden is the Microsoft Windows of Video Game football, that could either be taken as an insult or praise. Passing has always been one of Madden's strong suits and it is no different here. After all, Madden paved the way with button-assigned receivers and routes. Hold Y to possess a catch, tap Y to make a big play on the ball such as diving catch or a leaping catch. This is a great feature because you can secure the ball on a pass that's in your bread basket or make a tremendous play on a ball that is just out of your reach with one button. It's also great for making picks with your secondary. Routes are fantastically done and are no less remarkably fun to run or to pitch to. Madden also gives you a tremendous amount of on-fly options with no-huddles, audibles, sending receivers in motion and hot routes. The running game has always been somewhat weak. Especially for me considering I'm a Giants fan and that has always been 70% of our offense. However, because of the lack of balanced speed between the line and the runner, Madden makes the running game unrealistic. Let's take Jacobs for instance. He's fast, real fast, rated a 90 but I'm constantly getting caught by opposing defensive lines or backs who somehow close in on him out of nowhere. Which I guess would be fine but Jacobs is also notorious for his bull rush power and knocking guys over. Very seldom am I able to break tackles with him in Madden and think they should make some re-adjustments. If I'm one on one with a guy, there is no question Jacobs will win the battle but this is not the case in Madden. Furthermore, if I take a big hit with Jacobs, he goes flying like a rag doll (would never happen, the guy is the biggest RB in the league) and may lose the ball (also would almost never happen). But this is a bias opinion because you could easily say that a) I'm not good at controlling the runner, despite my rushing IQ being one of my highest attributes (All Pro). b) I just feel that my favorite player doesn't get the respect he deserves.
Sound Score: 3 out of 5. The commentary in 09 is by far the best since John Madden himself did commentary (with Pat Sumerall and Al Michaels) on Madden which to be honest I still miss, especially after a big hit "booom!" -- that never got old. Chris Collinsworth does a superb offering here as it feels more like a live televised event with his color commentary. I always liked him. The crowd noise seems flat not offering a whole lot of depth nor excitement.
AI Score: 4 out of 5. I really like Madden IQ despite some of its criticism here. I like the idea that the CPU AI dynamically changes based on your score and keeps things balanced not making Madden overly difficult nor too easy. Hey, if you don't like it- turned it off or set it to the predetermined difficulties. You have options so there is really no room to complain. If you do well in a certain area, your IQ in that area rises making slightly difficult for you in the next game and vice versa.
Overall: 4 out of 5
Fun factour: 5 out of 5.
Roster: What I especially don't like is that you have to be a Gold member to enjoy roster updates. For me, this means the Shockey is still on the giants and Boss is second string with no one behind him. It should Boss and Mathews. Also mind boggling, Strahan is still on my team. Didn't he retire. Furthermore, the Jets still have Pennington.
You can update the roster but you have to create a game on Xbox live to be able to do so. Furthermore, you have to be a gold member to play Xbox live.
Madden should just have made that option on the regular menu. I don't like that they went this route, I'm sure Microsoft had a hand in this.
Pros:
++This is the Madden of old with updated graphics and animations. That's a compliment.
++Addictive Franchise mode. "Keep it comin'" is the thought that's keeps provoking as you progress through each season. Player Training before each game makes progression fun both on and off the field for your team and individuals.
++Select your end zone celebration (sort of) by moving your player to a certain highlighted box after a TD.
++Minimal delayed jukes, stiff-arms, bull-rushes, spins and other maneuvers to burn your man.
++Tap Y to make a big play on a ball (diving, leaping etc), Hold Y to securely possess the ball if it's your bread basket.
++Madden IQ keeps difficulty balanced, making it seamlessly challenging each game based solely your current skill level
++Smart AI, re-adjusts and adapts. Will shut you down if your play calling becomes redundant. Forces you to be a dynamic and smart play-caller.
++Great in-Game commentary. Chris Collinsworth and Tom Hammond behind the simulated broadcast booth makes for familiar NFL territory making it feel more like a live televised event.
++Rewind reverses WTF moments. I like to salvage at least one "Rewind" aka mulligan play because every now and then things happen in Madden that seem beyond your control or just plain absurd.
++Bluffing Play Art is a neat way to display the wrong routes and play calls, do a few with one being the correct play-call only beknownst to the player calling the shots.
++Realistic environmental conditions and effects add to the Grid-Iron dynamic. Grass, stadiums, domes, crowds are lushly well-done. Intros to each stadium are fantastically captured. Feels like home.
Cons:
--Running game feels slow and inadequate in comparison to rest of the game. DBacks shouldn't close-in so quickly, especially if they are sputtering out of a block. Passing, despite your real-life counterpart's style of offense, will be your primary offense in Madden.
--Kick Returns are terribly redundant. It seems no matter how you run it (defensively or offensively) they always end up on the 25-30 yard line.
--Roster update. You must have the ability to create a game on Xbox live before you prompts you for a update. Non-Gold members get the short of the stick (Thanks EA, Thanks MSoft). I paid $$ for the game, I should have the ability to have updated rosters regardless if I'm online, a gold-member or not. Bah humbug to whoever made that decision.
--Still some player control delay either slight delay after a button-press or conflicting issues with what the opposing player is doing. | video-games_xbox |
Shovelware. Since the 7th generation of consoles released, games like Sniper: Ghost Warrior 2 have too frequently forced me ask two questions out loud. Who the hell was this designed for? And how the hell did this POS make it to market?
S:GW2's single player mode basically provides 10 variations of COD: Modern Warfare's All Ghillied Up mission. So the game is as much about stealth and close quarters combat as it is about sniping. The problem is the title of the game is SNIPER: GHOST WARRIOR 2! Making matters worse, City Interactive (the developer) apparently didn't think it was important or necessary to provide players with the weapons, equipment, tools, mechanics or interfaces needed to deal with, or to make sniping, stealth or CQB based gameplay immersive, compelling or fun. So you spend half the game crawling prone on the ground at a snail's pace trying to avoid detection and the other half chasing after a squad mate that literally sprints through levels leading you into CQB traps and choke points. Traps and choke points which magically reveal your exact location to every enemy npc in the area so they can bull rush you with automatic weapons. Which usually results in death since the sniper rifles in the game don't have a first person cross-hair for use in close quarters and the only other weapon available is a highly inaccurate pistol. City Interactive added insult to injury with false difficulty created by allowing npc's with short range weapons to kill the player at sniper rifle distances. So in the seven hours it took to complete the single player campaign on "casual," I was killed 55 times trying to get past one idiotic choke point after another.
I almost always complete at least two play-throughs of the games I buy, including games I don't necessarily enjoy. But S:GW2 was so bad that I couldn't even stomach replaying a single mission. This the type of shovelware that erodes consumer confidence in the games market. It is below average in every category and not worth your time or money at any price. | video-games_xbox |
Value Bundle is a fitting name. Overall, this bundle is excellent. The value of the package is considerable when you price it out individually and compare it against other bundles. I is definitely the most bang for the buck.
The system was very easy to set up with the included cables and instructions. It comes with an HDI cable, but can easily be connected to an older non-HD television or monitor. I have not really used the XBox Live Gold subscription that I have on free trial. But the included Free Silver membership is sufficient for updates and general use. (I do wish it had come with a second controller and if I buy a second controller seperately, I'll probably buy a wired controller since it can eat battery life quickly and you'll have to keep reconnecting the controller until you replace the batteries.)
As for the included games; Marvel Ultimate Alliance is about my least favorite game. I hated it because it is tedius and requires absolutely no strategy or thought. It's more of a button masher where you walk around pounding on things. That being said, my niece and nephew seemed to like it a lot.
Forza 2 is a great game to get you going on the XBox 360. It's fun and has an endless amount of replay value since you can play it in so many different ways. There's also a way to sell and buy cars on the Live Marketplace, for people who want to tweak cars to get the best performance and then sell them or whatever. This game is addictive and worth months of fun.
As fun as Forza 2 is; I also ordered Hitman Blood Money and Assassin's Creed. I finished Hitman the day before Assassin's Creed arrived so it worked out perfectly. I'll write reviews of those games seperately, but let me just say here that both games are awesome! Assassin's Creed is one of the best games I've ever played. It isn't flawless, but it is so much fun and I can't tear myself away from it. I've spent a lot of sleepless nights since I first started playing.
I bought this system specifically to play Fable 2, but Fable 2 has had the release date pushed back until next year. I'm not dissapointed however, because I have plenty of hours worth of fun games to distract me until it is released. I would reccommend this bundle to anyone looking for a new XBox 360, especially if you aren't sure what features you will need. It has a great combination of elements for everyone.
I also reccommend (at least renting) Hitman Blood Money and Assassin's Creed to anyone into stealth type games.
<a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/Hitman-Blood-Money/dp/B000FBMITA/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">Hitman Blood Money</a>
<a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/Assassin-s-Creed/dp/B000P46NMK/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">Assassin's Creed</a> | video-games_xbox |
Undone by Poor Design. PSI-Ops is a third-person shooter, which seem to come out in droves these days. To be exact it's a futuristic styled third person shooter where bad guys want to take over the world. To be honest, the story is pathetic; the developers tried to make a good "conspiracy" theme here, but it's laughable. The sound effects are good enoug--the speech is pretty good too--and the game looks good. Not Doom 3 good, but visually the game holds its own. Now onto the gameplay.
I, for one, was thinking of buying games for my newly purchased Xbox (not XBox, as many dumb folks think--on a side note, people who say XBox piss me off to no end) console. I sifted options through my mind, coming upon PSI-Ops as my choice. I figured "What the hey--it looks like something new, and I'll be damned if I don't think games are getting really stale these days (points at Madden 2005, Madden Rip-Off 2005, 3000 Generic Platformers, and THUG 2)." So, I ran off to Ebgames, picked me up PSI-Ops and Max Payne 2, and ran home, eager to play.
So, I start to play, and it's pretty cool. The PSI power element, in paticular Telekinesis (the ability to throw things with your mind) adds an awesome element. Most of the other powers are pretty crappy, but Telekinesis is well implemented and is cool. So, I continue to play. As I delve further and further into the game, I start to realize this game isn't revolutionary at all. Sure there's the PSI powers, but under those is a cliched, generic 3rd person action shooter design. Note the availability of only five generic weapons (Assault Rifle, Shotgun, Sniper Rifle, Machine Gun...and the Pistol), which hurts gameplay a lot, given that all the weapons suck. I suppose the developers thought this would make the player use the PSI powers...but here's the problem.
As the game goes on, the design, is terrible and cheap as hell. They put enemies in the game that can't be lifted with TK, and take five shots with a sniper rifle to kill. They put these guys all over the place, to cover the fact that their A.I. engine sucks. It is this cheap and cliched design that killed PSI-Ops for me. While fun for a while, it just spirals into generic 3rd person shooter-dom. Worth my 20 dollars? Probably, if only to throw guys against walls using TK. Worth the hours I spent to beat it? No, I actually want them back. The game is completely trashed by cheap ass design. It's a damn shame really, but it's a fact: I'm officially sick of dying five times because of restrictions the developers put on me. With PSI-Ops, it's a sort of 1 step forward, 2 steps back deal. There's TK, then linear level design, poor A.I., and restrictions placed on the use of TK. Argh! Another game nigh-ruined by cliches. 3/5.
Final comment: Don't believe the hype from game mags. They play their games about 1/3 of the way through anyway. The game is worth a rental, if only for TK. Throwing stuff all over the place is an absolute blast, but alas, it does get old. | video-games_xbox |
You will not regret this headset. Read for a true, honest review. Ok, first and foremost I have been gaming for years. Used to be strictly turtle beach back in the day. When Astro first came out, I thought it was stupid that people bought headsets the same price as a console. Then I waited until a sale and picked up the Astro A40 TR with Mixamp M80. They are legit. I almost got the A50, but didn't want full wireless because of the Buzz you will get in the earpiece sometimes. I then looked at the A40 TR Mixamp pro. That one was about $50-$75 more and based off of reviews I stuck with the M80 version.
Sound: sound is great. Equalizer can get you where you want. I do recommend getting the Mod kit down the road. This is because the headset is not noise canceling without it. That means you will hear outside noises and if you have your headset cranked up, it can bleed into your mic. The mod kit eliminates this. Bass is great, you can hear footsteps 360 degrees. One note, this is NOT Dolby surround. I did not want Dolby. If you have used a headset with it, I think it tends to blow out sounds and muffle them. I would always turn it off. That is the main reason I chose this model over the A50.
Comfort: this is by far the most comfortable headset Ive worn. I can play 30 minutes to 6 hours and not even notice it. Not heavy, not sweaty and its truly comfortable.
Quality: winner winner chicken dinner. This is NOT another plastic turtle beach design. These are metal framed people. They will not break. I have seen reviews on here of people having issues with mic breaks and headset issues. If your going to spend money on a headset, take are of it! Its. Its not rocket science. When you get sniped in COD or somebody gets a touchdown on you in Madden, don't throw the headset off.
Battery: luckily this plugs into your headset so not batteries needed! However, this will eat the two AA batteries in the controller quicker running this headset. Solution, chargeable battery pack or buy bulk batteries. The sound you will get supersedes the controller battery drainage.
Finally, I just want you to know I am not bias and Im not doing this review for any rewards or free crap. I did it so average people get an honest review. I get tired of reading garbage reviews about products, or reviews where people are just getting free products. (Astro, if you want to throw me a freebie Ill take it though lol). Go check one of these out in person, hold it so you feel the quality, put it on to feel the comfort. Seriously places like Gamestop will let you do this with returns or floor models. Im sold on Astro, especially this headset! If you have a question please ASK!!!! | video-games_xbox |
Great Story Line . I think that this game has great reply value because you can go through the game all over again and be a different character everytime. Although the storyline never changes and the same enemies keep popping up in the same places, it causes you to rely on different moves and strategies in order to get through certain scenes. One of the draw backs to the game is that its a good idea to have Storm or Cyclops with you alot throughout the game because they can weld things shut with lightening (storm) or with an optic blast (cyclops). The draw back is that Storm takes a few seconds longer in throwing her lightening than other xmen characters do when they execute a special attack and you end up getting beat to a pulp trying to hit one enemy with one bolt of lightening. However Storm is a much better melee fighter than Cyclops is in this game. As you go through the game, Storm can add lightening to her punches and kicks whereas Cyclops is only punching and kicking without any special powers. Alot of his hits get blocked by the enemies he is trying to fight, which leaves him blasting everything with his eyes. Which is not effective if you have a room FULL of enemies and he is trying to take them out ONE enemy at a time.
Another drawback to the game is that it is also a good idea to have Iceman or Jean Grey with your team as well as they can both build bridges (Ice Bridge) or (Psychic Bridge)... but the good thing about both of them is that they are pretty good melee fighters as well. Like Storm can add lightening to her hits, both Jean Grey and Iceman can add psychic damage or ice damage to their punches and kicks, which helps out in the long run when fighting enemies that have ALOT of health to deplete in order to defeat them. One great move that i like to use alot that Jean Grey has is a Telekinetic Shout. If you are being overwhelmed with attacks, Jean Grey can shout telepathically and cause all enemies around her to slam against the wall and then when they get up to fight, they are moving slower and weaker than before, making it easier for other x-men on your team to defeat them. Also, Jean Grey has the ability to make a telekinetic shield around herself and her teammates protecting them from damage from their attackers. Wicked Cool!!
Some other things i noticed about the game that i found to be a drawback or just down right incorrect is that Beast, Rogue and Colossus are ALL strong players, however, they walk and fight much slower than the rest of the group (they walk and fight like they are trying to fight while covered in paste) and they cannot add extra damage to their punches or kicks. They are simply relying on their fists and feet the entire time. Also, Rogue and Colossus can make themselves invulnerable like in the cartoon (Rogue already being strong enough to withstand many punches and kicks from enemies and Colossus being made from Steel) ... however, you have to keep using up your mutant energy to make yourself made of Steel or invulnerable and it depletes your energy too quickly if everytime you turn around you have to "rearm yourself" with something that should be 'standard' with that particular x-man already.
Even though Jubilee is my favorite X-Men character, i found that in this game, she was not true to form. One thing i found most odd about Jubilee's character is that they allowed you load up your players screen for her with the ability to basically use mind control over her enemies and confuse them to be "nonviolent" for a short while. I don't know about you, but i have NEVER seen Jubilee use mind control before IN MY LIFE!! Also, Jubilee throws out her fireworks all wrong. This game has her throwing out her fireworks like Gambit throws out his playing cards. She tosses these fireworks (the game calls them globules) in a manner of 7 different directions, instead of in a straight line the way it should be. Her fireworks blasts should be like Cyclops' Optic Blasts, select your enemy and fire at will. Not randomly throwing them out and praying that they hit your enemy. You can level up Jubilee's Fireworks so she can throw out 7 Globules at a time but you practically have to be standing RIGHT by your enemy for it to be effective. Jubilee is not a good melee fighter, so she basically is committing suicide trying to defeat these enemies, while she is throwing her fireworks all over God's creation and using her fake mind control to win. But i still love her special X-men attack (Independence Day). It's pretty cool and effective.
My favorite character to use is Gambit. This game allows him to build up his fighting style with kinetic energy which makes him a much better fighter than Cyclops, and you have the ability to basically "recharge" yourself with more kinetic energy and it effects your teammates on the screen as well, allowing them to add kinetic energy to their fighting style and speeds up all characters so they move and fight faster than in normal mode. Also, Gambit has a staff slam ability which allows him to slam the ground with his staff and it knocks down all enemies that are near him, which comes in handy when you are being overwhelmed with attacks. Another great thing about this game is Nightcrawler... although he is not a good melee fighter, he is GREAT at his attacks when teleporting. Teleport Frenzy is his special attack and its good to use when they are many enemies in a room and you want to hit each one of them in order to get some of their health down a little. He goes around the room hitting everything on the screen (at least once, sometimes several times) and then comes back to his original spot. You can also make Nightcrawler almost invisible when fighting, which is good because enemies don't know he is there and don't go after him and try to attack him. If he gets hit, its only by accident and/or randomly.
I do not like playing with Wolverine, Magma or Psylocke AT ALL. First off, Psylocke doesnt even get unlocked until the game is about 70% the way through and her fighting style is too much like a wet noodle and not very easy to control in my opinion. Wolverine's fighting style is somewhat ok, but you have to play him for about the first 15% the way through the game and by that time, im sick of using him. The only good thing about Wolverine is his healing factor... when low on energy, he will heal himself, other players cant do that, other than that, he is pretty much useless if you ask me. As for Magma, i don't use her cause first off, i have no idea who she is or where she came from and her fighting style is almost exactly like Storms. And i like using Storm alot better because she has the ability to make a storm shield around herself and teammates when fighting and all Magma can do is turn herself into Lava and only can protect herself.
When playing this game, i find that the best team for me is Gambit, Iceman, Jean Grey, and Nightcrawler.
All in all, this game is GREAT.... i find myself playing it ALL the time and trying new and different things with characters. It makes it challenging and fun. I strongly recommend this game for ALL X-men fans and even for those who just like a good fighting game with a good storyline. Two Thumbs Up!!! | video-games_xbox |
Not a big review but to the point. I'm not going to write a huge review right now, just started playing this and will add more as I go. So far don't NOT go by what the demo shows you. In game is WAY better than the demo just in the first 5 minutes. It gives you the feeling of really being there in world and in events as the story makes you feel this way. This is NOT Forza 4 remake so don't expect that but it shines in what it is. It is a sim to a point. You can go around cruising and sample all the cars. Be in cockpit just like Forza 4. I think the cars have a more real feeling with them turned on NORMAL VS Simulation in the difficulty settings. TURN ALL OTHER ASSISTS OFF! The car just feels more planted and not like you are on ice all the time. You will have more fun this way, less frustration. I am glad I got this and didn't let the demo turn me off of it.
I'd like to add, driving at night is AWESOME! The headlights, dash lights.. just the whole feeling gives you a 100% accurate simulation. Win the Boss Stang, head the the freeway at night all out topend in car view. Just run it like you stole it!!
The more I play it the better it gets. Night time does last what seems to be in real-time almost, not just every 5 minutes like some games with the sun up and down. Also, get in the suburbs, theres quietness. Dogs barking, sprinklers going. Off the the distance you see the moonlight with fireworks going off from the fair. Very cool scenery!!!
Roads have to be traveled and explored 100% just like Test Drive Unlimited to see the whole map. So this game IS basicly TDU + with Forza cars. The details of the car are just as good as Forza 4. DO NOT GO BY THE DEMO! In game the cars look way better! The roads are all smoothed out rolling hills, you won't see rough or choppy roads like there was in TDU. Get behind the wheel of a muscle car, in-car view and you swear you are really driving it. At high speeds, you can almost feel the wind and the car vibrates from the high speeds. They totally mastered the feel of driving. Add the perfect tire sounds, engine sounds.. it's all there. I really can't say enough good things about this new game. As far as cars, they keep giving me so many free cars I have yet had to buy any. Plus will all the car packs coming AND an add-on pack ( more map ) this will be a fully loaded game soon enough. | video-games_xbox |
2.5 stars...Bobby Kotick is probably at it again. Although EA is no stranger to this, Activision certainly is a master of milking a franchise to death.
To be fair, COD MW3 does what it sets out to do and that is to complete the story arc established in the first 2 games.
What it fails to do:
1. Graphic engine. It still looks great, don't get me wrong. But when DICE updates their own engine (Frostbite 2) to make lighting and texture improvements look slick, Infinity Ward (or what's left of them after the Kotick debacle) fails to update anything significant.
2. Story. The single player's story is wrapped up but, again, it's short.
3. Multiplayer. My biggest gripe. I recently played with 3 people LOCALLY on a 4-player split screen Death Match. It looked blurry. I'm almost ashamed to say that Black Ops actually looked a little sharper. That's a major OUCH for me to say. The whole "kill confirmed" mode, while a novelty aimed at reducing campers, is not that much more significant than, say, blades of grass in EA's Madden 12. It's kind of an "oooo" for a few seconds, then I'm looking for the other novelties...and they're not there.
I won't dwell on the complaints too much. Others have done a remarkable job covering that here. Is it a 1-star game? No, although this game has polarized its audience unlike COD titles before. It's 2.5 stars at best, and future releases have a long way to go to earn my trust again. I paid under forty dollars for it, and I'm 100% glad that I didn't pay full price. At a full price, this title would have been a travesty.
Bobby Kotick is falling into the same routine again of relying on the coat-tails of previous good work to carry his cash cow forward. The same thing was evidenced in the swan song of the Guitar Hero franchise, which Kotick had the audacity to blame DJ Hero for. Yeah, DJ Hero killed Guitar Hero...it had nothing to do with the 3-4 releases of Guitar Hero each year.
That said, COD has grown into such a monster that Kotich is unlikely to see past the black accounting values to realize that he will ultimately make a fatal error...again. Why no one deposes this clown in his own company is beyond me.
It's sad since I loved COD MW 1 & 2 immensely. While COD MW3 provided a cathartic ending, it seems like a death rattle to me. Infinity Ward is not the name of quality that I once knew. Here's to hoping that they have the tenacity and legal capability of orphaning themselves from Activision...at least one can hope. | video-games_xbox |
Its made by Gearbox, thats all you need to know. I won't waste time retreading the same ground everyone else and point out one simple fact, it's made by Gearbox.
Gearbox is and always has been a mediocre game developer. Their big claim to fame is borderlands which is essentially if you put world of warcrafts boring quest system into a wasteland, put it in first person mode, then tout how it has millions of guns but the fact is 1 out of 10,000 are actually an upgrade (repainting the same crummy pistol 5,000 times doesn't make 5,000 different guns) and finally start pimping DLC for the game before it even releases and then keep releasing more to nickel and dime your customers to death by turning a 60 dollar turd into a 100 dollar turd. They also made duke nukem forever which as we all know is a giant steaming pile of you know what and is a god awful abortion from start to finish. The best games they actually made were the brothers in arms games which aren't as terrible as those other two games but its still incredibly sterile, generic and uninspired. BIA is your basic mediocre WW2 shooter and nothing else. They have a few other games under their belt but they are all titles no one really cares about and faded into obscurity as soon as they were released. Bottom line is Gearbox is a terrible game maker and this is a terrible game.
Now for a quickie about colonial marines.
The story is nothing short of fan fiction written by someone who cannot write but still posts to their blog and believes themselves to be a great writer. It's kind of like how a young girl will take pictures of furniture sitting in a shadow in black and white and then think they are really deep and brooding for taking such artistic photographs when in fact it's just garbage. They tried to wink at the fans so hard their eyes have fallen out because of it. Everything about it feels very amateur, boring and forced. It feels more like they did a sci-fi channel original aliens movie, or something that went direct to video.
The game is buggy as you can get. I've flown out the side of things and floated high in the air stuck. I've had allies that would stick in walls. Hell I found out in section you were supposed to be stealthy starting out and I just ran past every alien and once I passed them they forgot about me and I finished a level without firing a shot. I see environmental objects get stuck in things and so on.
All the pretty and cool looking screenshots and videos I've been seeing for over a year from now weren't from the same game they released. You can easily find comparison videos showing the game released looks just awful compared to the "in game footage" they showed in the past.
Multiplayer is very sterile and pretty much what you'd expect. It's so boring in fact that multiplayer will be a ghost town in 2 months.
The game play its pretty much call of duty. It's just a mix of "it's the last stand....again" and "quick run through fast as you can" with some boring corridor stalking in between.
I could go into great depth, I could go on and on naming other things I didn't like but you can read other Amazon reviews and see exactly what I've got to say.
So really if you must play this, wait till its 10 dollars. Trust me it won't take very long before it gets there. And next time, don't pay full price for a Gearbox title. | video-games_xbox |
The best Rock Band yet what are you people smoking. This game is just awesome. Played it all day the day of release. Personally I love that they took away the money and added it so you unlock things. It makes me want to play it even more. The character creator has improved ALOT over Rock Band 1 + 2. I also love the fact that you can finally put whatever character you want in your band. Another added feature is that it take 10 hours to load a song like the first 2 Rock Bands did. Keyboards are also a wonderful edition. Although they are extremely hard at first it will take time to get use to just like the drums. I only have 3 minor complaints but they don't bother me to much. The first disappointment for me was the fact that I couldn't use my avatar. Guitar Hero has this feature for a few years now and I was hoping to finally be able to use him in Rock Band 3 but that is not the case. The 2nd complaint which is been stated by several users is the set list. You can't please everyone personally I don't mind it but they could have thrown in some bigger name bands like Aerosmith or Van Halen. I also love that there is more 80's music this time around which was lacking in Rock Band 2. 3rd I really hate the fact that you can't use the new DLC in old Rock Band games. I do go back to them from time to time and its going to be annoying that I can't add the new DLC to my library just because there are keys and vocal harmonies I wish they would do something about this. I do have another complaint but this isn't about Rock Band 3 its about the Rock Band 2 export songs that didn't make the cut. Why can't I play Give It Away and Anyway you Want it when there is already RHCP and Journey DLC? This doesn't make sense. I understand Soundgarden since now they seem like a Guitar Hero exclusive for some reason which I don't understand why anyone would want to be exclusive to that game is just beyond me. So for those who are rating this game 1 star are either Guitar Hero Warriors of Rock fans and Call of Duty fans who don't know how to play a music game. I also forgot to mention I love the new updated menus it looks fantastic. I also haven't got to try out the pro mode which I am sure is great. Another thing I like about this game is it actually teaches you something UNLIKE guitar hero. So don't think twice pick up this game if you liked Rock Band 1 + 2 its worth the $60 price tag and then some. Also I am not a Rock Band fanboy I like the Guitar Hero games as well its just I think Rock Band blows Guitar Hero out of the water and I prefer Harmonix over Activision. | video-games_xbox |
An amazing surround sound experience. I am very happy to say that my extremely stylish white Astro A40 2011 audio system arrived recently and after much time pouring over it, I can safely say that it was worth every penny I spent. I noticed no one has reviewed the white ones, which I will now remedy. My wife and I live in a smaller-medium sized house divided into three apartment sized living spaces. I'm surrounded on two sides by in-law relatives. It's not a very soundproof house, and I sometimes suffer from insomnia or just want to play a game really loud. Until now, I've always had to turn the sound way down and could hardly hear anything. I've also never lived somewhere, ever, with an up-to-date surround sound, high fidelity sound system. Well, I decided I was through with that and so my wife and I got this package. It may be my best entertainment-related choice all year (at least tied with the PS3 I bought in Spring).
Immediately grabbing is the presentation of the A40s, even starting as early as the very slick, stellar packaging that is very reminiscent of an apple product. It's an impressive, clean introduction to Astro as a company. The Mixamp itself really has a retro-futuristic vibe to it and is very enjoyable to look at. In fact, the Mixamp's gorgeously simple design is immediately striking, just sporting two knobs, one for volume and the other for chat control, and two buttons, one for power and the other to activate simulated 7.1 surround sound. The buttons light up red, and really accent the black & white sheen of the Mixamp. Keeping up with the quality aesthetic design are the headphones themselves. The white ones remind me very much of the black & white droids with the red LED face screens from <a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/Mass-Effect-2/dp/B001TORSII/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">Mass Effect 2</a> (I hope you know what I'm talking about). Again, a very cool retro science fiction look that reminds me of the aforementioned Mass Effect, Star Wars, and Star Trek series. It's very neat. The speaker tags also look very stylistic and the way they click into place is always satisfying.
The build quality of the headset, as well as the Mixamp, is very sturdy and well built. However, without batteries, the Mixamp is very, very light and can easily be jostled around if you're not careful. Keep that in mind. Each headphone can swivel to rest comfortably around your shoulders when you need to take a break. The quick disconnect cable included allows you to quickly and comfortably get up and walk around with the headset still resting on your shoulders, if you so desire. The headset itself feels heavy in your hand but feels extremely comfortable on your head. I have had long, long gaming sessions with these on and my ears stayed cool and dry, and it still felt great all-around. The package includes every wire you would ever want or need except the most important one for surround sound, an optical cable. Fortunately, there are very high quality ones dirt cheap here on Amazon, like <a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/this-one/dp/B0006HQ7HC/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">this one</a>, which I found to be particularly high quality. It's also worth noting that the new-and-improved 2011 edition microphone easily molds and stays in whatever shape you want relatively well. It can plug into whichever earphone you want, which is a very nice feature. There are also foam inserts included that you can put in each headphone, sandwiched between the magnetized speaker tags and the open-back headphone themselves. These will lower outside noise by 6 decibels, and really add to the privacy of your sound experience. It also greatly lowers the sound that escapes out when you're playing. This is good for those of you with sleeping wives or girlfriends next to you, or if you want to keep from disturbing anybody nearby. It's also important to note that, despite being a wired set-up, this system is very streamlined and doesn't clutter my house or get in the way at all. I haven't once been inconvenienced by it.
The overall audio sound of the headsets by themselves is excellent. The 2011 edition utilizes new foam in the headphones themselves that is supposed to bring out more bass (the biggest and pretty much only complaint of the prior A40 models were a distinctly poor amount and quality of bass). They do not disappoint in any way. I've sampled various headsets and audio systems in my life, and the overall mix and focus of these headsets are very, very balanced in comparison. Overall, the headphones have a very warm, embracing tone that really brings out the lows, the mids, and the highs in an excellent mix without any being overwrought and abrasive, but still remaining distinct and clear. It's very much like an old, aged acoustic guitar that has settled over the years into a distinctly warm, full-of-character charm, with a loving sound that embraces your ears. It's a little hard to describe, but this thick and creamy tone is great whether in stereo or in surround sound. One reason I really love the Astro A40's is the variety of uses you can have with it. It's not tethered to a base that transmits audio like wireless systems require you to. You can plug the headset itself into your iPod, your 3DS (or just plain DS), your PSP, your laptop, pretty much anything with a standard jack, and that was a major selling point for me. It's nice that I can go anywhere I want, plug my A40s into my iPod, and enjoy the music. The audio from any of these other sources sound amazing through these headphones.
The Mixamp takes what was an already amazing audiophile set of headphones that performed at $350+ quality and turns them into an overachieving, $1000+ quality surround sound theatre system. It is a remarkable little box. To test out the 7.1 surround sound function, I played some multiplayer in <a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/Halo-Reach/dp/B003IT6E8C/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">Halo Reach</a>, and was promptly blown away. I could FEEL the rumble of an engine, the discharge of a plasma rifle, the power of a running stream and waterfall, and the impact of a grenade. The bass was punchy, the mids were tasty, and the highs were distinctive. It was quite the experience. I stopped to pan the camera around and marveled as the sounds traveled from ear to ear, front to back, side to side, with a realism that genuinely convinced me I was there myself. The newly improved microphone worked very well in multiplayer as well. Having this audio system engaged gave me a distinct edge in multiplayer, which is what I imagine most people will buy the headset for. The award winning Mixamp is critically acclaimed for a reason, it is incredible. For me personally, I didn't buy this audio system for multiplayer efficiency though. Rather, I bought it for the surround sound immersion factor, with more focus on grand single-player experiences, which is what I tested next.
I went through some other games from a broad spectrum of genres and focus from my collection to test the audio quality and the 7.1 function of the Mixamp with the headset. I tried <a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/Okami/dp/B000Z9A95M/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">Okami</a>, whose artistic, zenlike focus in the music and sound was made even more spectacular by this audio system. <a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/Halo-3-ODST/dp/B001HWB68K/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">Halo 3: ODST</a> became even more immersive, running around the lonely streets of New Mombasa in isolation and anticipation, newspapers blowing in the wind and rain drops were distinct. The charming ambient noises of Albion and lovely music in <a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/Fable-2/dp/B002Q21X7Y/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">Fable 2</a> and <a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/Fable-3/dp/B002I0JGDM/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">Fable 3</a> were a delight. So many of my favorite games have so much detail now, I can't help but wonder if I was deaf before. It's a miracle, Astro healed my ears! Dramatic joking aside though, I cannot wait to play <a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/Mass-Effect/dp/B000OLXX86/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">Mass Effect</a> and <a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/Mass-Effect-2/dp/B001TORSII/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">Mass Effect 2</a> again. This audio system makes me want to go back and play my favorite games again, just to hear all of the details I never had a clue about. One of the biggest factors for me in my favorite games is the immersion, taking me to another place and time to marvel at and enjoy. This audio system made even the most immersive games with the greatest atmosphere so much better to enjoy, and that's what's most important.
Well, are you still here? I know this review is really long, but I gotta tell you, when I was trying to figure out whether I wanted TB X41s, DPX21, PX5s, XP500s, Astro A30s, A40s Wireless, or the wired Astro A40 audio system, the long reviews that went into extreme detail that covered every topic the reviewer could think of are the ones that helped me the most. I hope that's what this review was like. My recommendation: buy this audio system if you can afford it. Astro is a great company to do business with, very personal, very much focused on your satisfaction. I can personally attest to that fact. The only downside that I can think of for most people is the price of the Audio System, but I can tell you that in my experience, the splurging was well-worth it. These headphones, combined with the mixamp, take a $250 price and stretch it out to being the equivalent to a very expensive, high-fidelity surround sound theater system. As a matter of fact, Astro purposefully chose to be their own seller because if they sold their products through a third-party retailer, the price tag would be 400$ OR HIGHER! Yes, $250 is a steal, and you'll get every bang for your buck in the best sound for anywhere near this price range. It's excellent. Buy it, immerse yourself (or "pwn n00bz" online) with it, LOVE IT!
*Below is supplementary information in addition to the main review, which I finished above. I figured I would include some information about this system and my own personal preference to try and give you as much helpful information as I can. The following really didn't fit anywhere in the review, so I put it here, enjoy:
After hours and hours of research into the different high quality headsets out there, I really settled on either Turtle Beach's PX5 or the Astro A40 wireless system, or this one. The PX5's are wireless and boast a ridiculous amount of features and customization. The A40's boast simplicity and ease of use, variety of use, and being of the highest quality. I just didn't feel I needed all of the things Turtle Beach claimed the PX5s could do for me. I'd prefer to avoid wireless, I don't care about bluetooth, I don't care about customized presets, I don't want my headset to be anchored to one base source, etc. I'm really glad I got the A40s.
In the end I went with this wired version, and I want to let you know why exactly I chose the wired Mixamp system over the new wireless Mixamp 5.8. Some may think this is a weird choice, because the 5.8 Mixamp supposedly has every good feature of the wired one, plus some new, exclusive features like a bass boost function that the wired Mixamp does not have, as well as the obvious perk of the convenience a wireless system inherently has. Despite these facts, I deliberately chose to get wired for two main reasons:
1.) Call me a hippy alarmist if you want, blame it on the fact that I live in Portland, OR, the emerald city of weirdness and ecoloving-naturalist-hipsters, blame it on my natural-health focused wife rubbing off on me, but I really didn't want yet another wireless system broadcasting micro/radio waves in my house. It seems every year they come out with studies proving how harmful the background radiation is from wireless things we use everyday (cell phones, wireless routers, etc) and I just want to avoid as much of that in the house as I reasonably can. In our house, we only have one wireless router, and that's pretty much it. I don't judge anyone who uses wireless systems, and if you love high-quality wireless devices and detest wired systems, then the <a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/A40-Wireless-System/dp/B004N7TQ2O/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">A40 Wireless System</a> is probably the way for you to go, but as for me, this wired system was exactly what I wanted. I may get a lot of unhelpful votes for this paragraph alone because people hate those who seem to be hipsters (I'm really not), but I just wanted to explain one big incentive to go the wired Mixamp route for me. There's also one more big factor for me, and it is my biggest reason...
2.)The quality of a wired audio system is still the best you can get. Despite the fact that newer wireless headsets are getting better in better in quality, perhaps nearly as good as wired systems, I still prefer a wired system for headphones. There really is no better way to transfer audio data that translates to higher quality sound than in a wired system. Maybe next year that won't be the case, hell maybe that's not the case right now, but I just figured I would go wired because after much research, it's a general consensus that wired gives the best quality. According to my experience with the A40s, this is true. This way, there are absolutely no risks of pops, interference (although that really shouldn't be the case with the 5.8 Mixamp as it uses a different frequency than every other wireless device out there), and all of the cons of a wireless system.
So there you go, the two biggest reasons I went with the Mixamp over the 5.8 Mixamp. I traded the convenience for worrywart health precaution and audio quality, but I'm glad I did.
Finally, I'll give you a really nice pointer that helped me tremendously. I have a two-year-old Xbox 360 Elite and a relatively new Playstation 3 slim. Instead of buying accessory plug-ins for the 360 and then unplugging and plugging the optical cable every time I want to switch between the systems, I did something much simpler. Both systems are hooked up to our HDTV via HDMI cables. All I did was hook my optical cable into the optical out on the TV, plugged the USB power cord for the Mixamp into the TV, set up each system to output dolby digital, and voila! It's easy, it's super effective (lame Pokemon reference aside), and now I don't have to bother with it anymore. It's a great set-up! I hope that is helpful to somebody out there.
Ok, I think I'm all out of words to use for the product. I hope all of this was helpful. Take care. | video-games_xbox |
Choose Your Own Adventure: The Walking Dead. Talk. Talk. Talk. Choose one of four responses. Flounder about with awkward controls. Sit idle for lengthy cut-scenes. Repeat.
I was cheering on the zombies within 20 minutes.
This could be the video game that weans me forever from purchasing another licensed game. The victims here will be fans of <a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/The-Walking-Dead/dp/B009FZZFME/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">The Walking Dead</a>, looking for a fix now that Season 3 is finished and faced with a seven-month gap until Season 4 begins.
The game centers around Lee Everett, a former professor and convicted murderer, and an eight-year old girl named Clementine (I'd describe her plight more but, frankly, it is unoriginal).
Lee is almost unaccountably dumb, a character as shallow as Scooby Doo. The comparisons have merit as early in the first episode Lee inexplicably slips in a pool of blood and clips his head on a kitchen counter, making what should be a mundane exit from a house into a life-and-death struggle with a zombie babysitter.
Yeah, your read that correctly, the protagonist can't handle an undead teenage girl.
Ruh roh.
The shallowness of Lee's character is such that it makes him nearly as soulless as the titular zombies he's fighting. At each moral dilemma, I was presented with four responses from which to choose. These choices can often be categorized as honest, dishonest, abrasive and evasive. This simplistic gameplay evoked memories of <a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/The-Cave-of-Time-Choose-Your-Own-Adventure-1/dp/0553269658/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">The Cave of Time (Choose Your Own Adventure #1)</a>, described by Wikipedia as "...a series of children's gamebooks where each story is written from a second-person point of view, with the reader assuming the role of the protagonist and making choices that determine the main character's actions and the plot's outcome."
My attention span waning, I stuck with it for another 20 minutes as Lee met more thick-headed characters (each I quickly rooted against), embracing zombie attacks as a release from the wooden dialogue. After retrieving the disc, I searched out other reviews of this game to see how my experience compared. Clearly, I was more severe than most and much less forgiving of the writing. My patience with the AMC show is also fading, so my lack of enthusiasm for the video game may be a casualty of zombie saturation.
Rating: Two stars. | video-games_xbox |
The Alien Game We've Been Waiting For. I must admit; it was hard at first to look forward to another Alien game after last year's appalling "Colonial Marines" but Creative Assembly passes with flying colours! They clearly put time and attention into this game and it shows. From the attention to detail in the environments to the fantastic lighting and audio. Resisting the urge to create a fashionable, contemporary vision of the future, Creative Assembly have instead looked to the production design of the original film for inspiration. Say hello to big bulky computers with VHS quality resolutions.
Set some 15 years after the events of Ridley Scott's original Alien film, Isolation has you playing as Amanda Ripley the daughter of Ellen. Your an engineer working for the mega-corporation Weyland-Yutani and is given an opportunity to travel to the space station named Sevastopol when she learns that the flight recorder for her mother's lost ship, the Nostromo, is being held there--a potential clue to her whereabouts. However when arriving on the Sevastopol you quickly realise something is horribly wrong. Creative Assembly have mastered the atmosphere here. You immediately feel vulnerable upon arriving on the station and get the feeling that there is danger around the corner. You will spend most of your time traversing the ship as quietly as possible using your wits simply trying to survive. Gameplay is a mixture of hiding, sneaking, hacking past your enemies; humans, synthetics and the Xenomorph, the worst of all. Don't rely solely on The weapons in Isolation because in true survival horror fashion they're slow and inaccurate and ammo is really sparse. More than that, they're worse than useless in most situations.
However, some flat voice acting and poorly developed characters are the main disappointments here. The story could of also been better too, its basically just a means of getting you from place to place. It's ultimately the journey and the moment-to-moment experiences that define the game, not the overall narrative. The Alien itself is genuinely terrifying and will outsmart you. It has no pattern and is unpredictable appearing with little warning to punish you for running, shooting and just being alive. You can't learn its patterns because it doesn't have any. Nearly every encounter is different.
Alien: Isolation is a tough, terrifying and an ultimate thrilling game that's old-school in its approach to survival horror. The result is one of the best survival horror games in recent memory. It's funny that it took the developers of a well known historical RTS to finally create an authentic Alien game but they did and its damn impressive. | video-games_xbox |
Great Game. This is one of the best produced games I've ever played. The character models and voice acting are fantastic, ESPECIALLY the "Illusive Man", voiced by none other than Martin Sheen. The tone of this is much darker than the original. Gone is the "Star Trek"-like squeeky-clean atmosphere, replaced instead by morally hazy characters and choices. It's not so much a change in the universe you play in, so much as a change in the crowd you're running with and the locales you visit. If "Mass Effect" was inspired by "Star Trek", this one is much more "Blade Runner". Fans of cyberpunk fiction will be particularly thrilled.
The gameplay is a mix of the original Mass Effect and some entirely new elements. The combat is very similar to the original, with a few of main differences: the cover system is better, you can vault over obstacles, you no longer have unlimited ammo, and your character auto-heals faster. There have also been a couple of simplifications/consolidations of functionality, e.g. the medigel system is now combined with the Unity ability. Further, the galaxy map is much more in depth, e.g. you now manually navigate your ship once you've arrived at a mass relay, which means you must burn fuel to travel between local star systems. And, last but certainly not least, most who played the original will be thrilled to know that the ground vehicle stuff has been eliminated. These changes are pretty easy to get used to despite what some say, and if you've never played the original, you don't know what I'm talking about anyway so it won't matter.
My one issue so far is that the "most helpful critical review" writer was somewhat correct in his assessment of the mission structure: everything does seem to revolve around building your team. But the side quests and atmosphere of the locales you visit are more than enough to add variety to the experience, and the stories and moral ambiguity are riveting.
EDIT: I *strongly* recommend downloading the "Lair of the Shadow Broker" content, especially to those who played the original Mass Effect. It is more than worth the price and plays out a major event in the overarching Mass Effect universe. I would even consider it mandatory.
Pros:
-Very good graphics
-Great storytelling
-Fun combat system
Cons:
-Slightly less *perceived* sense of freedom vs. the original
-Instructions don't do a great job explaining everything
-Disk swapping even when installed to the hard disk...uuuugh... | video-games_xbox |
The Saga Continues. Yes, this is the best, most satisfying game of the three. So there.
Mass Effect 2 is probably the best the Xbox has to offer when it comes to blending story into gameplay. It's not the best shooter you'll ever play, it's not the most robust RPG (not even close), but somehow all elements come together in what is one of the most compelling, most satisfying experiences you can get from a console game. Much like its predecessor, the biggest payoffs come in the third act, and the more time and effort you've put into team members and side missions up until then, the more compelling and satisfying an experience it is. It's also one of the few sequels I've ever seen (and this is a hallmark of the series) that's BETTER if you've played the original.
That's something, isn't it? I mean, is Gears 2 better or worse if you've played Gears 1? Marginally, maybe. But Mass Effect 2 is an exponentially more satisfying game if you've taken the time to dig through the first one. In effect, the sequel adds replay value to the original, which feeds replay value back to the sequel again. If that isn't a masterful stroke of artistry and brilliant way to get the most out of an interactive medium, I don't know what is.
But that's all high concept stuff. Let's strip some nuts and bolts.
Visually, the game's a treat. Colors are richer, but still in the same palette, so the world still feels like the Mass Effect world (which is nice). Locations are busier, with a great deal of added detail and the NPC's are more dynamic and mobile, which is a nice touch. The locations that are supposed to be crowded now feel it and your inundated with things like advertisements and news reels when you're on the Citadel or in any major population hub; it's really smart design all the way across. Wealthy areas feel posh and poor areas feel shady and dangerous. The wilds are wild and ruins are ruined - I can't think of a location or character that doesn't employ some sort of successful design element. The world we knew has been bumped up, polished off, enhanced and yet is still the world we knew. That's no small feat.
Combat has been GREATLY improved. For better or worse, we now have a dedicated cover button, which works well enough (some will like it, some won't). Enemies are where we see the greatest improvements and they now employ a variety of strategies and you'll have to adjust your survival tactics based on the type of character you're playing. The baddies have also been given a series of different skills and protections, like armor or biotic barriers, which forces you to readjust the types of weapons or ammo or skills you chuck at them. It's a much richer and more immersive experience overall. The redesign is most effective when it comes time to square off against a Krogan. A huge chunk of the games mythology is dedicated to just how powerful and dangerous the Krogan are. And yet, in the last game, fighting them was just like fighting anything else. But now, watching a Krogan charge down the aisle, shields up and shotgun out, will just about ruin your day! It's a nice touch and another layer of rich gameplay.
So, the action's been bumped, is what I'm saying.
I do lament the loss of some RPG elements, I must say. Instead of the dozen or more skill sets you could balance in the last one, we now just level up about six or so different 'powers'(even less for team members). An infiltrator is no longer different from a soldier because of how you choose to develop it, but simply by virtue of having completely different 'powers'. It's a narrower approach that's going to bother a lot of people (myself included). It's not BAD, or BROKEN in any way, it's just an unnecessary step to the side. I don't really understand it, myself, but there it is.
Other things have changed, but it's not all that important: the Mako's gone, as is the barren planet exploration. Take that for what it is. The hacking mini-games have been replaced with some different ones. Whatever. Inventory's gone and replaced by a few armor upgrades and a few different weapons. Eh, it is what it is.
And, wait, what's this 'thermal clips' crap? One of my favorite little Sci-Fi touches to the previous game was the idea that guns had advance so much that they didn't even need bullets anymore. They literally ripped chunks of metal from a block you put in them, so they could essentially carry thousands of rounds at a time and all you had to do was keep it from overheating. Now I'm back to bullet hunting and ammo hording? Boo, I say, boo.
All that aside, what the game is really about is character and character development. You've got a team of about 11 distinct individuals this time around, a big jump from the last game. And that's because building your team and gaining their loyalty is almost the ENTIRE focus. Yes, there's a main enemy - the Collectors, a group of creepy-ass bug-alien-things that are abducting humans by the tens of thousands from around the galaxy. They're a worthy addition to the series and their mythology just adds to the tapestry... but you only encounter them three or four times throughout. The rest of the time is wholly focused on building (or ruining) relationships with the people around you. You come to know them, come to care about them and, by extension, the piece of the galactic stage they represent. We have avatars of Turian stubborness and frustration, Quarian desperation, Salarian genius and guilt, Krogan ferocity and hopelessness - it's all woven so well and we get a ton of information in really efficient ways. Add onto that some seriously effective voice acting and when the endgame comes, when the lives are in your hands for the first time... Well, the way the final mission plays out is VASTLY variable and immensely satisfying. It all depends on how much effort you've put into your crew and how successful you were at building them up. The many branches you can take and their spread of outcomes adds a great deal of tension to the final scenes and lends itself to multiple play-throughs.
Again, as I said before, it's a masterful blend of story and gameplay. To the point where any problems it may have are almost completely dismissible. It's a must play, as simple as that, awkward sex scenes and all... | video-games_xbox |
What I come to expect from Irrational Games (2K. After nearly three years of waiting, BioShock Infinite has released. The latest installment of The franchise. I bought it on Wensday and finished it in around 12-13 hours of playing. And it was well worth the wait.
The Story takes place in 1912, almost half a century before the original. You play Booker DeWitt, a former Pinkerton agent who must resuce a girl named Elizabeth from the floating city of Columbia. Along the way you learn how and why Columbia went from being a shining example of American Engineuity to ceceeding from the union and dissapearing into the clouds. Plus its dark secret of the purpose it was built.
First arriving in Columbia is worlds away from your first arrival in Rapture, Instead of arriving in a crumbeling underwater city filled with crazied splicers waiting in dark conners to ambush you, you are met by seemingly friendly people and nothing appears out of the ordinary (Hell, their is a praide going on and the suns shining), No crumbling store fronts, no random fires, no gun shots, seems like a nice place to live.....Until, the inhabitants find out why your their.
Other differences are Booker actually response to conversations (unlike Jack in BioShock one who said one line on the plane and only gave shouts and grunts when he was hurt), plus for most of the game, your not by yourself, Elizabeth actually accompanies you providing lock picking for lock doors and safes,giving you money to buy items. But unlike in the demo (which isn't part of the game at all), Elizabeth doesn't use vigors to assist you (she doesn't even fight, she runs for cover) however, she will toss you ammo, salts and first-aid kits when your low. Another difference are the Vigors and Salts (Plasmids and Eve), while similar to their Rapture counterparts in apperence, you can buy new Vigors anytime with money (no adam needed to harvest, but cost alteast $1200, pretty damn high prices for 1912!), The weapon upgrades also take cash and you can find them as often as a regular vending machine (no need to hunt them down like in the previous games) and they take cash and you can upgrade as many times as you can afford (4 times each weapon). Speaking of weapons, you have about 6-7 types of firearms with atleast two variations of them. Only problem is, you can only carry two at a time, but as you progress, their's guns all over the place, so you can change almost anytime you want.
Choices? a few, but not many (atleast that really mattered). But their are a lot of twists thanks to the fact that the game gets into alternate universes. So what appears like a pretty stright foward job for Booker, turns into.....well a NOT straight forward job.
Overall, I loved the game, granted it doesn't have the same creepy/tragic feel of the first BioShock but then again, this ISN'T the first BioShock. BioShock Infinite stands on it's own and the story of Columbia is tragic (or Booker rather) in their own way, but no less. And creates many possiblities for future BioShock titles. | video-games_xbox |
Not perfect, but far better than most. I'm sure anyone who's reading this review has already read up on this title. The comparisons to other games (Bioshock, a "steampunk" Fallout, etc.) are inevitable.
GENERAL: Dishonored is one of the more polished games that I've played in 2012. While it doesn't innovate,it successfully implements the stealth, action, "spellcasting", puzzle solving, and exploration aspects of many of its predecessors. The story tends to be dark, but you can affect just how dark the ending will be.
GAMEPLAY: Probably the most polar aspect of this game. There are times when I'm absolutely in love with the controls. Other times, I'm frustratedly trying to get the "press A to climb" prompt to come up. Combat can be a lot of fun, but wonky controls can get you trapped in a corner occasionally.
GRAPHICS: The art-style is incredibly reminiscent of Brink (which I know was developed by a different company, despite being distributed by Bethesda)...a "cartoon-ish", charicaturized realism (imagine the drawings you see done at street fairs, etc...now turn them into a photograph). No cell-shading, but facial/body features are often exaggerated. I've run into some texture issues, but overall it's easy to be absorbed by this world.
REPLAY: This is definitely a game that I will play through several times. First, because it's relatively short...12-15 hours for a fairly direct play-through, double that for explorers/completionists. Second, it is VERY difficult to build up a "max level" player in one playthrough (disclaimer: I have not started my second play-through...so I'm "assuming" the second time will be "new game +"). Oftentimes, power-ups (runes, charms, etc.) are inaccessible early-on...and you may need power-ups that you don't have in order to get to them.
With multiple endings, I'm sure to try many approaches to affect how dark the ending will be.
As a 30-something year old married gamer, my budget for this entertainment is a fraction of what it was when I was younger. That being said, I'm exceptionally careful of my choice in titles.
I thoroughly enjoyed this game, and look forward to my next play-throughs. | video-games_xbox |
Sadly, just as problem-stricken as the original. My boyfriend got the original 360 the second it came out, and it finally succumbed to the "red light ring of death" about a month ago. It had a pretty good run; it lasted over a year. He sent it into microsoft for repair, and starting going into crackdown withdrawal.
After a sad couple of weeks, a friend and I decided to get him an Elite for an early birthday present. He is one of those supposedly "few" people who have a really nice TV, and really, really care about HDMI and 1080p, so he wanted an Elite. We figured sooner is better than later, so he could play the Elite while waiting for the old 360 to be repaired. After an exciting hunt, we bought an elite. Yay!
He was happy for exactly one week, until it broke. He downloaded the spring update and crackdown patch that is now known to mysteriously cause your system to die for SOME but not ALL people. Despite the fact that this bug seems almost impossible, there it is.
And here I thought that even with their known flakiness, if we owned two systems, we'd always have AT LEAST ONE xbox working at all times. MS wins this round.
And no, I'm not a PS3 fanboy. I don't want a PS3. I like the xbox games. I like the system. We have the HD drive add-on and everything already. I am not an xbox hater! I'm just annoyed. I've never bought anything that cost over $20 that broke so quickly.
Edit: MS fixed the old 360 surprisingly quickly, and it seems to work fine. The Elite is still broken. It sits in the living room, mocking me. I can't exchange it because Elites are still out of stock here. Also, Microsoft recently extended the warranties retroactively and will supposedly repay the fee to fix my original xbox. Despite my decades-long hatred of Microsoft, I must say that they are handling things very nicely. It's inarguable that there are reliability issues with every xbox model, but they are all getting replaced, usually for free. You can buy with (relative) confidence. | video-games_xbox |
The Reason I Bought XBOX. Back in the day (around May) when I was still looken for a game system, I headed over to the demo section, and tried a game for the Gamecube (Rogue Leader), the PS2 (NCAA Gameday 2002), and and XBOX. Unlike with the other demos, XBOX had several games you could try. I tried DOA3, and I was amazed:
1. The options are amazing! There must be 3 or 4 dozen moves to try, and I still haven't figured them all out yet. To begin with, there are over 12 characters to choose from, ranging from fighting styles of former wrestlers to ninjas. The envirements to chose from are incredible! Half the fun of the game is looking for secrets in the 2 dozen levels. You can either do story mode (my least favorite part), versus mode (fight each other 2-4 player), team battle, survival mode (my persounal favorite), tag battle, and movies. In the versus mode, 2 to 4 people can fight tag team against each other. It's a real blast. My persounal favorite in this game (besides multiplayer), is survival mode. Beating as many openants as u can. Each oponnant gets harder until you're literally fighting for your life. A great game in terms of options, you'll spend hours upon hours fighting DOA3 style.
2. The gameplay in this game is awsome! It never gets to easy, and I still can't beat the computer on the setting >very hard< after a 100 hours of gameplay; it's mouth watering! The moves are fun and graceful, and the overall gameplay in just about everything (survival mode, story, team battle) is good enough to keep u entertained. The gameplay, I'm very happy to say, does not fail here.
3. The graphics: what really made this game! Every single fighting arena is huge, beautiful, and has the best graphics I've ever seen. When your fighting in a snow covered forrest, your feet leave footprints, and being knocked into a tree causes snow to fall from it in clumps. In an aquarium setting, whales and dolphins actually glide by you while fighting. In hill top setting, you can knock off the oppenant for dozens of stories onto lower hill tops. Water in this game looks like real water, and the crispness of everything is just amazing! The people look so real you'll grimace when they get hit (well, maybe not quite that much). No gore, but it seriously looks like a real fight is going on.
Overall, you should get this game. Especially counsidering the price drop recently. A classic game, this was the reason I bought XBOX, and it may be the reason you should to! | video-games_xbox |
A rushed buggy product for launch and many issues. Do not buy the Limited Edition. Forza 5 was probably Microsoft's Premier launch title. I've owned and played all the Forza series up to this one and was honestly looking forward to it. Did it live up to the expectations and hype?
The answer to that unfortunately is a resounding no.
First the good. The graphics on Forza 5 are stunning to say the least. The tracks, reflections, cars and attention to detail are very well done (however some do get annoying). Sound wise, there isn't very much to the game apart from obviously the engines.
When playing the game, Turn 10 have decided to make a lot of the races in the early morning which means there is a low sun angle. Now whilst this may look very pretty it very quickly gets on your nerves. For example, you are racing against the clock on Road Atlanta doing a cone slalom race on the short track. You have to weave your way through a bunch of cones and get over the finishing line in a prescribed time to earn gold, silver or bronze. Every cone gate you miss adds 5 seconds to your time. So you are coming up over the rise on the short circuit and turning into the sun which effectively whites out the road. You get so much sun glare that you can't even see the cones that you are trying to drive through so you miss 3 or 4 gates and have to do the lap again, this time remembering that there are gates that you basically can't see.
Now whilst this may look visually great and "realistic" for that time of day, in reality it is just annoying. I noticed Turn 10 starting this trend in Forza 4 and they have taken it to the next level in Forza 5. It really adds nothing to the racing and is just there to make the game look prettier.
At the end of each race you have to sit through a 30 second or so animation of your car coming to a stop from 3 different angles, I guess to show off the damage done to the front of your car. This is nice the first few times you see it but again it quickly becomes annoying as you can't skip it, especially when you have seen it 100+ times.
Split screen 2 player mode is very buggy with texture tearing and in a lot of races the sky textures completely disappear to be replaced with just black, almost as if you are racing in the dark. But this only happens on the bottom of the split screen, not the top one. Another bug when you are playing 2 players is when your friend picks up the controller and connects (for some weird reason the game insists you sign into the Xbox itself as a guest), then it says the initial controller has been disconnected. You reconnect the initial controller and now that controller is no longer the primary one and you have to swap controllers with your friend. I'm not sure however if this is an Xbox issue with the Kinect trying to be too clever for itself or whether it's Turn 10's fault, but again it is annoying.
For the most part, driving the cars seems fairly similar to Forza 4, although I'm certainly not convinced that these are modeled after real world car handling. Driving a Ferrari 458 at just over 30 miles per hour into a turn and the back end starts sliding away. No way, my SUV won't do that and it's not a supercar. If the handling of a real world 458 was that bad Ferrari wouldn't be able to sell any (I've actually driven a real 458 around a local track here and I can tell you it does not handle in that manner, it is a superb car to drive).
I bought the Limited Edition game for the extra cars, the 1250 credits (which should have bought you any car in the game but doesn't even come close) and the VIP membership. Like others here, I have not received my day 1 cars, my Limited Edition cars etc. This is something Turn 10 needs to fix ASAP. Why spend the extra money for no benefit?
Track wise, there are two excellent new tracks, Abu Dhabi formula 1 race track and Prague. These are simply superb and if you ever get the Lotus Formula 1 car that is available in the game, excellent to drive around but overall there just simply aren't that many tracks (maybe about a dozen) and some of the tracks don't even have alternative routes. It feels like there are around 1/2 the number of tracks that Forza 4 launched with. Rather than try and make more money with micro transactions and car packs Turn 10 should release more track packs as you quickly get bored with racing the same 10-12 tracks and configurations again and again and again.
The game overall just feels rushed and buggy, like Turn 10 weren't quite ready to release it but were under pressure due to the hard deadline of the console launch. Hopefully they will release patches soon to fix quite a lot of the problems that appear in the game.
Overall it's a fairly fun game to play even though IMO the game is not finished. It's not as good as previous Forza games and Turn 10 should stick to what they are good at, car handing, tracks etc. and stop with the silly visual effects like reflections and racing into the sun.
Given the amount of problems with the game at this point however I honestly couldn't really recommend it unless you are hardened racing or Forza fan. A disappointment. | video-games_xbox |
After many moons of playing. If you have played the first Halo video game by bungie, Halo 2 will not bring many big surprises. Features include:
1) Better Graphics. Although currently games such as half-life 2 have surpassed Halo 2 in graphics, it is one of the most well done games on the xbox, almost never experiences graphical glitches, and features well done textures and models.
2) New weapons. Everything has been changed with weapons. Most noticeably for most veterans will be the relative weakness of the pistol. The rocket launcher now tracks vehicles, and the human automatic weapon is now the smg. There are a mulititude of added weapons, most noticeably the plasma sword and several covenant weapons (sniper rifle, carbine, brute shot)
3) Dual wielding. Whether you like it or not, dual wielding changes the game of Halo 2. Needlers, sub machine guns, pistols, plasma rifles and plasma pistols are the most common dual wielded weapons. This really adds another element to the game, and opens up more strategies for you to use.
4) New vehicles. Nice, but nothing extremely innovative. I wanted the ATV! All vehicles work well and are a joy to drive, like in the original, but not alot hugely new added.
5) New camaign: i liked the original better, but this one is still excellent.
6) New multiplayer maps. The maps are soooo much better, i simply love them. RIP blood gulch. RIP sidewinder. Long live Zanzibar. Good maps are gone, but good maps have replaced them.
7) Sound. Uhh... new sound... i don't really know because i don't use sound that much when i am playing. Except for Land parties. All noises work well. All gun noises are appropriate, if not realistic. Most are satisfying. The plasma sword *swish* and thed sniper *bang* *woof* either make you grin or start running in fear. Sry i couldn't tell you more.
8)Customization options. You can customize your character more. You can play as an elite. You can have several colors. You can make your own emblem. Everyone loves custmization.
9)Replayability. Very high. Best console multiplayer + Great Campaign + Lots of "extra content" (special skulls you can find) make you keep on playing.
Even after a long long time of playing, i still love each and every match i play. The tight controls and multitude of features make gameplay fantastic. The mutiplayer mode is huge with literally hundreds of options to set up games. I recommend this game to anyone who has an xbox and who is allowed to play violent games. I recommend the xbox to anyone who has this game. | video-games_xbox |
The Spiritual Successor to the Thief Legacy. I have been waiting years for a game of this quality and type. Dishonored is the love child of Thief, Half Life 2, and Bioshock.
The city you run around in is a dystopian police state paradise, plague having ravaged most of the inhabitants. The style is similair to Bioshock and maybe even Borderlands in art direction, and at first the sights seem muddy and drab, but after an hour or two, the city starts to breathe and come alive in a truly disturbing way. As you come into the powers of Corvo, a master assassin returned home early (nothing good can ever come from such things!), stretching your "legs" as it were, you reach places you didn't think accessable, and trust me, after playing this game, other open worldish type games will be a drag after the pure ease of mobility that Dishonored brings to the table.
While stealth is aways an option, doing people in is such a pleasing action, it's a shame the game doesn't reward you with the more violent path. And speaking of stealth, it's kind of bare bones. There are really only two choices for non-lethal: choke em, or hit em with sleep darts. No poison gas bomb? No club to the back of the head for a faster take down? No noise-maker distraction type tools? More options would have been nice in that regards.
While Thief may have done a better job with the stealth options, Dishonored shines in confrontation. Blink (the first magic you learn in the game, a teleport move basically) gets you close up with the quickness, allowing you to make the killing stroke with your dagger, and after you upgrade Corvo a bit, with silent footsteps and a power that turns enemies to ash before they hit the ground, you truly feel bad-ass, but watch out! Get surrounded and you'll go down pretty fast. Time your blocks well, and you can send the enemy into a stumble of sorts, allowing you to either blink, or run up to em (man Corvo is fast!) and shove the blade in their throat. Man it feels good to be a Gangsta!
Dishonored is very steampunk in design, and guns are especially lethal, as they should be. Nothing withstands more than 2 shots from your pistol, and that goes for you as well. Thank goodness, only officers of the Watch (city guard, most common foe) carry guns. Also, they're one shooters, so you'll rely mostly on your sword skills to do the thrust of the dirty work. The biggest, baddest enemy, a Tallboy I think they're called, is straight outta Half Life. Remember those tall skinny robots with the authoritarian glowing red eye in City 17 that constantly stalk the streets? Yeah, they're here too, but get this, if you can get above them, with good timing you can one-hit assassinate them. Sweet.
As games have evolved, I, like many gamers, do little tests to check how the state of things has progressed. Individual grass blades, the brick pattern on a wall isn't a 4x4 pattern repeated endlessly, good facial animations, realistic water, etc. One that I now want added onto FPS style games from here on out is the auto ledge grab in games that is to great effect put on display in Dishonored. You feel like a monkey on a mission, almost the whole of the environment is something to be placed under your boots, and with a Metroid Prime style double jump, traveling is a breeze, only once was I ever stopped by a little ledge. It's like if Assassins Creed was translated into FPS sorta.
The game is fairly short, though. Like if you were to stretch it out by taking the time to collect everything, it might take you 10 hours, probably more like 8, but, Dishonored does what it does so well, it leaves you with an urge to revisit Dunwall atleast once more, your previous stay just wasn't long enough. I paid $25 for this, and feel I got my moneys worth. I wish they had added just a couple more missions, but from what I hear, DLC coming out shortly will be adding more to the main tale, as well as an obsticle course style portion.
Dishonored is a well crafted story of revenge, definetly a shoe-in for GOTY, a sleeper hit that will probably be passed up by most gamers, I hope I'm wrong on that last point.
Bottom Line: Dishonored needs you, and you need Dishonored. | video-games_xbox |
This is focussed more towards the Multiplayer. Summary: So in short, the problems with this game: (which could have been ironed out with perhaps a beta?) Sluggish controls (I'm not talking sluggish like Killzone 2 or BfBC2's intentionally heft like feel either). Sluggish as in, it feels like it wants to be fast but cannot due to how poorly designed the engine is. The general feel of running and then when you aim down the sights is done horribly. If you're trying to be a COD and Battlefield hybrid, use an engine that can do it right, otherwise stop wasting customer expectations and money. THE WORST matchmaking in my history of playing games (with claims regarding fixes coming). Pop up scenery (and overall broken engine) for a first person shooter? Really?!? WHY?!?! It's severly Unbalanced!! How do they make these games without thinking hmm..this might be a bit over powering?
Be sensible. Don't waste your time on this absolutely terribly broken product. And if you have, make your voice heard and be honest. It is this kind of game design, that lets people like Cliff Blezinski make claims that there are no rooms for average games. MOH was an average game. This is an absolute piece of garbage.
*** If you want to feel the anguish I felt, and WHY I got this game (for $30..thank GOD) then read on**
I know how it goes. So for some reason, you have a thing for military shooters. COD 4 was what REALLY got you in on it, and you played the heck out of it (I myself sadly clocked in over 8 days of game time). Then MW2 happened, and the cycle happened all over again. But gradually, you started seeing the well known problems with MW2 as well, unbalanced, hacked, quick scoping, multiple kill streak in the air/kill streak stacking just made you HATE playing it. But it's the feel of the game, that sense of speed, accomplishment of racking kills up and the buttery smooth frame rate is what kept you hooked, despite the aforementioned problems.
So sticking to this military route you gave BFBC2 a whirl, and man you realize that game is awesome. Truly something that can stand toe- to-toe with Kotick's raging ape of a franchise (see Call of Duty). My only gripe is that the game isn't 60 fps on consoles (understandably with the amount of work the engine has to render and such). But on the PC yes it is TRULY remarkable (unlocked frame rate).
So then you go to the route of Medal of Honor. Now the problem with Medal of Honor was that it was truly a mediocre multiplayer experience. One of the modes completely encourages camping (the mission based mode, can't remember the exact name). Long story short, its not TERRIBLE but it doesn't do anything revolutionary. It's fun if taken as is and serves as a distraction from your next shooter addiction. But you being a military shooter fan, salivating at the mouth of something that has a similar feel to COD but ISN'T as broken (as MW2).
You even sample out Cod:Black ops and wow it's a solid game. But something feels off. It seems to lack the gritty precise feel of MW2. It's def not an awful game by any accounts (none of the games mentioned above are unless we are referring to HOMEFRONT), but you just can't place your finger on it. Still fun for the occasionally hour worth of play though no doubt.
But you want to be hooked like the MW or BF franchises did. And the wait for Battlefield 3 or the next COD is agonizingly long.
So what do you do? You are curious about Homefront. You check the Metacritic score, scope out a few videos on Google, and notice that everyone keeps mentioning how the Multiplayer is serviceable if not our right fun.
I wholeheartedly disagree with anyone who has given this game's multiplayer a thumbs up. It has great ideas, but AWFUL execution. Here are just a few of the problems:
Like some users have said, hitting matchmaking in this game is like hitting the lottery. You will normally stare at the `reserving slots' screen for a usual of 15 ~ 20 mins. Regardless of the modes i.e. skirmish etc. Next up, if you DO magically get in a game, there is ZERO guarantee that your connection will give you a green signal (mine was on the red almost every match). So yes LAG is tremendously afoot in this game.
Ok but still..there is this glimmer of hope in your eyes..You're thinking, I really am tired of playing COD:Black ops against a**hats who have spent 15 days playing the game, and camp, knife throw across the map and such. Maybe wait for the price drop then try?
NOPE! Here's why:
Another AWESOME reason that you won't be able to enjoy the battle points as much as you'd like is that this game features an ABNORMAL amount of pop up scenery. I'm talking complete textures and walls and even buildings appearing MAGICALLY as you run around the scenery. While this isn't the case for every major asset in the game, its sucks when your running around trying to flank an enemy, when you are graced by the presence of a wall, from lo and frigging behold and enemy pops out of. What's that you say? The wall wasn't there to begin with? Sucks to be you guy, you paid to buy this rubbish. No suffer. For what it is worth the kill streaks are fun if you manage to avoid spending money on flak jackets because you feel your too much of a bullet sponge (plus your crappy connection doesn't allow for your bullets to take a guy down). However, go ahead and join a team mate as a gunner on the hummer. It is a JARRING experience. The frame rate drops down to what feels like half of what the game (barely) runs on to begin with, and the sense of immersion just vanishes.
There are other glaring issues with the game in general. Spawn camping is a NIGHTMARE. Its worse than Killzone 3's beta to be honest. And GOOD LUCK trying to take a helicopter kill streak down once its called in. And if there's two called in by an enemy it basically becomes the broken game that mw2 was, only with a crappier frame rate (IT MOVES WAAAAAY too slow..I COULD NOT believe how off the feeling was), terrible hit detection (though that could be my connection) and HORRIBLE matchmaking.
So..hold out. I know you are craving a military shooter. Something that hooks you again like the other franchises. But DO NOT SUPPORT developers like this. Instead what they deserve is nothing but harsh critics. The reason is simple, if you want to be the best and offer something else to the community that can rival Battlefield or Call of Duty (as the CEO said), then listen to the feedback, make a better engine and have servers in place on day one. Otherwise, sit back and watch that stock drop in price (which as we all know it did by 20% on the day of its release). The only place it will resonate with consumers, is when it comes time to find $10 stocking stuffers. If that's how KAOS studios and THQ wanted to be remembered, then so be it. | video-games_xbox |
One of the best RPGs ever made. I traded in my old Skyrim for the new Legendary Edition. I prefer to have the game with the latest patches along with all of the released DLCs on disc just in case my Xbox 360 crashes. It took me only about 10 minutes to install all 3 DLCs, much faster than downloading and installing them. The game does not come with a manual but a link to download it is provided. A large foldable paper map of Skyrim and a button layout pamphlet is included. I highly recommend the Legendary Edition especially if you have limited or no internet access and do not have the expansions already.
This version of Skyrim can be played on a 4GB Xbox 360 console but you will not be able to play the expansions because those require a hard drive to install to.
This game does have a higher than average glitch rate but it is also one of the most ambitious games ever made. I have not noticed any difference in the frequency or severity of the glitches compared to the regular version (with patches). I have played for about 300 hours so far since I purchased the Legendary Edition on June 4th and I have not had any quest breaking or game stopping glitches. I got an occasional freeze (only 3 in the 300 hours I played), some graphical glitches such as flying creatures and floating furniture, and some minor miscellaneous glitches such as voices not matching mouth movement or various weapons not making contact with enemies. None of these issues bothered me too much and in fact some were quite hilarious. I was still able to enjoy every minute of playtime except for the incredibly long load times, which can't be helped due to console limitations.
The expansions add many hours of entertainment. I completed Dawnguard (all quests) in about 20 hours or so and Dragonborn (most quests) took over 25 hours to finish. If you are an achievement hunter you will spend even more time with the expansions. | video-games_xbox |
Good Game with Room For Improvement. This is a really good game. I purchased the game after I accidentally purchased all of the add-on content through the XBox Live Store. I had played the Forza 5 title prior to this, but this is a very different game in a lot of ways.
The Good:
- Large selection of cars (especially with the add-on content)
- Ability to customize the cars look and performance characteristics
- Open Game World -- if you don't feel like racing, there is still plenty to do
- Multiple Race Events and Types
- Seamless transition between offline/online play
- Assists and difficulty settings allow my 11 and 9 year olds to play successfully while still providing a challenge for me
- The ability to "pose" your car and take photos that are uploaded to forza's servers
- Free spins unlocking either in-game credits or free cars
The Not So Good:
- Drivatars have no concern for damage and will ram your car, breaking up a good line or causing you to spin out
- Drivatars in offline mode have an unusual ability to take turns at speeds that cause your car to spin out or lose the line
- Drivatars can totally miss checkpoints and continue racing without penalty
- No matter how well you are doing in an offline road trip, you always start in position 8
- Cross country events are next to impossible to win in some events, often because of the above mentioned items
- Online races tend to lack any punishment for intentional griefers, so you will often get rammed as you slow to take a corner
- Infected and King events only further encourage ramming and hitting an opponent
- Online road trips tend to be focused on A, S1 and S2 classes with any other class being very rare
- Graphics are grainy in some cases, causing pixelation on what should be sharp lines in the liveries.
- Random crashes or lock ups
- The occasional stutter or lag while in the middle of an event
Let me explain a few of the cons a little more in detail.
Online griefing is a real problem in this game. Forget the idea of "clean" racing as it simply isn't rewarded enough. Yes, there are penalties but the penalties for ramming another player are simply losing skill points. Both players involved in the accident are penalized -- so if you are running a clean line, slowing to take a corner and get rammed, you lose out on those 8,000 skill points with a 4x multiplier. Not only are you now challenged to reclaim any lost positions -- you were penalized simply because you were in front of the person who decided ramming you was a better option than trying to take the corner.
Drivatars are an interesting idea and they seem to be better implemented in Forza 5. It is great to see people from your friends list in your races, and getting rewards for your drivatar's participation in others events is nice. However, in this game the drivatar is worse than a bull in a china shop. They have no regard for damaging others, have an uncanny ability to take corners while not suffering from the same physics your car suffers from and can totally miss checkpoints without any penalties. Added to this problem is the fact you always start well in the middle of the pack -- so you are forced to battle through the worst of these drivatars in order to have a decent race.
Online road trips allow voting for the next location. There are three locations displayed and everyone gets to vote. However, most of the choices are between A, S1 and S2 classes. On the rare occasion, you might see a B or a C event -- but now you are at the mercy of those voting which often tends to go to the highest class presented. It would be nice if the system presented a single class, just different locations from time to time forcing players to bring out their D, C and B class cars more often. | video-games_xbox |
TRUTHFUL, UNBIASED MADDEN 13 REVIEW. I seen the 2 star ratings on the panel for the reviews, and I would've honestly thought that this was for Madden 06. I'm consistently seeing "no franchise mode" throughout many of these 1-2 star reviews. If you fall into this category, then you clearly NEED TO WATCH THE FOLLOWING VIDEOS:
Madden playbook for Connected Careers
[....]
Connected Careers 101 video by Josh Looman (designer of CCM)
[...]
Me personally, I'm about gameplay first, as that's the foundation that makes everything around it enjoyable. I can honestly, and FINALLY say that for the FIRST TIME that I enjoy playing Madden on next gen consoles, and will be playing it for the entire year!! The introduction of the physics (Infinity Engine) is huge and brings forth that realism aspect that brings the gameplay experience closer to real life emulation. While the physics do act funky at times, no game is perfect. The addition of the various pass trajectories and leading receivers into space and being able to fit passes through tight windows is giving that MUCH NEEDED user control that was limited or missing in previous madden titles. Also with the read and react for both offense and defense is huge as I've enjoyed playing on All Madden and can see as to why I would win or lose on certain plays and it would be due to lack of awareness, slow reaction time, or would perfectly read the play and just not make it regardless of the action performed. All in all these elements give what's truly needed to deliver that replication of what happens on Sundays.
Now, this game doesn't go without its share of flaws, as there are RARE times (from my gameplay experiences at least) where I'll see an instance of a "super LB" or "psychic DB" on ANY DIFFICULTY! While they did state that it was eliminated from the game, I can tolerate the fact that it rarely happens, but it honestly shouldn't happen at all. Also, there are instances where the physics will act very crazy and give unrealistic outcomes (remember, Backbreaker suffered the same problems at times too). The key aspect to understand here is EFFICIENCY!! Madden 13 is honestly giving you efficient gameplay and modes/features that actually work at an efficient rate (75-80% in general regarding gameplay).
I understand the frustration from some regarding the lack of fantasy drafting, and editing players equipment/ratings for CCM, but think about this scenario:
You edit all 32 teams player equipment and ratings to your liking, then you start up a Connected Career (formerly Franchise Mode) as a coach or player. You go check your player ratings on that desired team and you see that virtually ALL the overall ratings that you personally adjusted now changed. Now you may ask yourself "Why/How did this happen?" or state things like "I didn't know about this!!" or "How come EA never said anything about this?".
The truth is that the player has to match the scheme that's ran, so the player ratings change accordingly. the information is out there and it was publicly stated by Josh Looman himself at E3 in multiple youtube video interviews and blogs across the web. Like the CCM mode, Infinity Engine, and the Read/React technologies, they're all FIRST YEAR IMPLEMENTATIONS!! They should be judged as such.
In conclusion, I'm not judging this as "EA has duped the consumer yet again for the 8th year" as some people may feel and I respect your feelings, as I was in that crowd too! I's be lying to deny the honest, efficient progression toward the true replication of Sunday football offerd in this installment. I can honestly play this game and see this game as a solid foundation to build from by EA Sports for the first time in years. | video-games_xbox |
Well... Back to Black Ops. I bought this game thinking it would be awesome only to be disappointed by the lack of effort that was put into it. I like to keep playing the latest CoD because there are always more players on the newest version, but it's getting to be more trouble than what it's worth.
The only thing that I don't have many negative thoughts on is the campaign. I actually enjoyed that more than I thought I would. Even though the story behind it is starting to become a drag, it was pretty fun. The ending made the 5 hours straight worth it. I usually don't play for that long, but I wanted to get the campaign over with because I knew what was going to happen in it. Yes, you are led very easily to your objectives every mission by waves of enemies with marksmanship comparable to that of Ray Charles, but at least it's more action-packed and climactic than any CoD campaign to date. There are a few very memorable moments along the story line that kept me playing like the gunfight inside the nose diving plane. I found the whole thing typical, but definitely worth playing.
Spec Ops is the same old crap but with a new addition that was supposedly IW's comeback to Treyarch's Zombies. I kind of liked Spec Ops in MW2, but it's not as good this time around to me. Survival Mode is pretty cool. You are put in the multiplayer map of your choice and are forced to fight off endless waves of enemies. Each wave is harder than the last, and, unlike Zombies, you level up, unlock new perks, air support, and weapons, and there are different enemies that come in as the rounds come and go. Eventually they throw in dogs, juggernauts, soldiers with toxic gas, and some others. It's not bad, but Zombies got me more into the game.
Of course the main reason I bought it, like it is for what I assume is the majority of CoD players, is the multiplayer. What sucks is that this is the aspect of the game which is the most lacking by far. I could write a friggin' novel about the online issues, but I'll just list some and describe them some.
Lag: They put in some new thing that is supposed to lessen the host advantage I guess. Apparently, it sucks, and this combined with the theater mode recording (Yes, that adds lag, too) means you'll be dying in places where you were about half a second ago. Sometimes it's worse than that. I'm sick of running around a corner and thinking I avoided enemy gunfire only to fall dead well past what looks like the line between getting pumped full of lead and safety. I usually have a 4 bar and am sometimes host. If your connection isn't great, you probably won't be either.
Maps: If you want to dominate this game, you'd better either spend all day every day playing it and learn to sound whore like a champ because it is much harder to tell where people are coming from. Unless you want to sit in a corner, you'd better hope every second you're alive that no one finds you with your back turned. There are just soooo many hallways, rooms, obstacles, and other crap that it's not only hard to know the map and work it well, but it's also impossible to just say, "on the stairs" and have people know what you're talking about.
Weapons: Many of us CoD players have heard people whine about snipers being OP. I disagree entirely, but there is no way that the creators of this game were so freaking stupid that they made quick scoping as easy as it is. People can't just make a crosshair pop up in front of their faces and kill people like that in .2 seconds. Black Ops did a little work on that, but even in that game it was too easy. This BS needs to stop. It's pompous, and it isn't fair to people who use guns that actually belong in a fast-paced FPS. To make it even worse, IW made sure that shotguns were very under-powered because people whine about them. That's also BS. For one thing, nine out of ten shotgun users go slightly negative at best usually. For another, when the Striker was supposedly OP, it wasn't, and it was unjustly patched to have much less power. It was fair before, but AR and SR users who destroy shotgun users can't quit complaining because of the few times they get killed fairly by shotguns. That doesn't help anything at all.
Explosives: They nerfed noob tubes, which is good. However, they also nerfed grenades. I use semtex all the time, and I have to say that having a semtex blow up right next to a guy without blast shield and just getting a hit marker is ridiculously aggravating. I used to play a lot of Domination. Now, I don't as much because I can't defend objectives with my grenades like I used to.
Kill streaks: You don't have to go for just kills to help your team anymore. That's good. The bad part is the stupid air support. There's too much of it. I'm tired of carrying the weight of terrible players (not that I have anything against those who don't play much) just to get owned by predator missiles, attack helicopters, precision airstrikes, AC130s, AH-6 Overwatches, Pave Lows, Osprey gunners, Strafe Runs, or Reapers that my teammates who can't quit dying give to them. That just pretty much encourages you to waste more time with the game by getting a group to play with or quitting. The MOAB is just a nerfed nuke. The second best thing that happened to kill streaks I think is that the nuke is gone. The first being the support package, which you can get rewards from even if you can't get a kill streak.
Graphics: I don't care about graphics, but I think they should be mentioned because many people dislike the fact that MW3 looks exactly like MW2. | video-games_xbox |
The best ergonomics in 12 buttons controller science (excluding the untested Dualshock 4, Xbox One and Wii U Pro controllers. (... that I have left to try)
By 12 buttons I mean the Dualshock and Xbox controllers basically. I love the ergonomics of the GameCube controller but it only has 8 buttons.
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The Controller S is full of wonders and unique features that makes me return to it over the more modern offering like the Xbox 360 controller which I think has mediocre ergonomics in comparison.
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Analog triggers:
They have more tension/resistance than the Xbox 360's and Gamecube's but still a lot less than the Xbox Duke. You are pressing against a spring and not a cantilever (like on the Xbox 360), so the resistance goes up linearly the deeper you dig the trigger. Resistance is good for precision but the effort of holding it down completely at most times in a racing game get tiresome until your index strengthened and adapted themselves.
They are situated on the back of the controller and at the end of its handles like on the Dreamcast and Xbox Duke controller, but they do not rest on the shoulders of the controller, like on mostly all others (SNES, N64, Playstation, Xbox 360/One, Wii and Wii U). In other words the Controller-S reaches above its triggers. This is great, because when resting your fingers above the triggers (whether you need them or not, this is the intended way of holding the controller) you can support much of the weight of the action (on the controller) with those two strong fingers.
Con: I never liked or found any uses to these racing analog triggers - for me the second analog stick serves as an even better gas pedal than the triggers; the Dualshock 2 added pressure-sensitive buttons which could also be used, which the Xbox controller also featured. Unfortunately all the best controllers (except the Dualshock1-2, Wii Classic controller Pro and Wii U Pro Gamepad) have them.
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Size:
(
A controller that has poor ergonomics or that is too big will, during specific in-game actions/button sequences-combinations, won't conform to your hand grip and play style.
The Xbox Duke controller does suffer at action button mashing and precise d-pad presses from being too big, because it doesn't leave the muscles in their stronger/ideal length. Still that massive grip helps controlling the analog element of the controller, the sticks and triggers.
The Xbox 360 controller, which I hate and despise for its ergonomics - I'm always fighting to secure it in my hands, I often need to re-think and change my grip in order to do different actions in a game or play different genres, and I never use it the way it was intended and sadly, forced upon you. Why? because I think it's not optimal. The stability, the center of gravity, the button placement at the top edge, the handles, the battery pack, the bumpers, are all very poorly placed or formed in mutual relation to the other. Yes, Microsoft totally failed at trying to make an evolutionary step in the good direction.
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The size of the Controller S is perfect for my hands slightly smaller than the average of a Western adult male. I would be living in Asia my hands would be slightly bigger than their average. My finger are lean, but not long. It's perfect in that it gives you a lot of contact-area surface along with access to some extra plastic and bulk at the top when you need to do some heavy button mashing (you just press your left thumb on the rubberized jewel and I promise your steadiness will be unparalleled).
This size is perfect, in this department it's a more even compromise than probably everything else out there. It's important to note that small hands-types might not like it as much as I do though. The bigger Xbox Duke controller lets you do a few select things better. But overall, for all the buttons, d-pad, analog sticks and triggers this controller as to offer, its size let's you use them in a more than satisfying optimal way. It's a big controller relatively to the modern standard. As the last descendant of the Sega controllers lineage, the Sega Saturn controllers, the Dreamcast controller, and made by the same Japanese designer(s) who also conceptualized the Xbox Duke controller, the Controller-S (initially an alternate of "the" Xbox controller only for Japan, because they had requested for a smaller controller) is the best and most versatile.
Also, get this: today and future video game console controller are getting smaller only to be smaller. Smaller doesn't mean more ergonomic or strictly better, it means sleeker looking first and foremost.
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Ergonomics:
Geometrically the handles (' bulge, where your hand's three leftover fingers grab) are shaped differently than the handles of a Dualshock1-2-3 and a Gamecube controller. The Dualshock's are flat horizontally, and the Gamecube's are flat vertically (they have no rumble motors in them). The Controller-S are really rounded but not Dualshock 4 round. Their bottom (the surface that makes contact with your holding fingers) is, best I can describe, shaped like an egg.
The thickness of the controller (Dualshock1-2-3 being relatively thin, but a SNES and NES' pad being too thin, for example) is, like I said, size-wise, the perfect compromise between all things analog (thumbsticks and triggers) and digital mode (the action buttons and d-pad). All of them can be used very efficiently thanks to that well calculated dimension.
Con: it's a bit too thick to be used unorthodoxically to (for example) throw grenades (melee, crouch, you get the picture) with the right index while keeping the right thumb on the right analog stick. It's not a big con because I don't think a controller was ever designed with that style of play in mind. If you play FPS this way, which I do, I recommend you use a Dualshock 2 in those games; because of the profile of the buttons and the leanness of the Dualshock1-2, it allows for much easier and faster execution.
The memory card slots makes the controller longer on the Y axis, and like I said earlier the fact that the triggers are resting about halfway instead of resting on top of the height (shoulders) of the controller in the case of the Dualshocks and later Xbox controllers, gives you a massive grip advantage with your indexes. Using that type of Sega-like triggers (now extinct from the present day market) feel more arcade and more like using real gun triggers.
It took me until very recently (when I played a modern FPS [a very prominent genre, these days], Borderlands 2, at the end of the seventh generation of consoles) to understand the point of doubling the amount of bumper buttons available at the time on the SNES controller (which Sony did and as since then become the standard). (The point is because your thumbs are always busy on the analog sticks, so you get more functions to your indexes). Having played a lot more retro games than 3D ones, I always thought these buttons were naturally awkward to use because of their location on the gamepads. Needless to say, I'm a fan of the black and white buttons on the Controller S and all the six buttons fight pads.
Asymmetrical stick placement: this is good, left position give you left-right swiftness, and stamina for doing many full range motions like running at full speed; and right position give you all the strength in your arm to control the force gradient of the recoil springs inside the soldered thumbstick part with more precision.
Thumbstick caps: (same part as on the Xbox 360 first variant; the other variant of caps accompanying the transforming d-pad not featuring them anymore) the four cardinal tactile nibs are a nice plus but they do not survive friction/corrosion from normal to light use and they fade out completely after a few months. The Xbox Duke thumbstick caps have the best geometry, as far as that concept goes. The left one needs to be slightly concave, and the right one convex. I don't like having concave caps for aiming, convex are better and smoother. They are rubberized but not textured like they are on the Dualshock 1-2-3.
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Action buttons: the first (mainstream) controller to make them "biaxially equidistant" (that is to say A and B are equidistant to Y and X respectively on the Controller-S, which has never been the case previously; not even on the Dualshock 1-2-3 where the button cluster forms a slight horizontal diamond shape; on the Xbox Duke controller the vertically oriented diamond shape of the button cluster is obvious).
I like their rounded, bead shape better than the flat ones on the Dualshocks, it makes their center of gravity much easier to grope for. They are really close together. I think even closer than on the Xbox 360 (they were brought back closer again on the Xbox One controller). Along with the black and white buttons they are pressure-sensitive and register 255 levels. They have more travel than the Dualshocks and prior Nintendo controllers, so you really feel the rubber domes under them but they stay smooth and snappy for years of use, so they are durable.
Note: Less travel (a Dualshock for example) is better for button mashing, speed wise, for me. To every other ends, it's a matter of personal preference.
The four main action buttons all have a different sculpted profile to them, to fit the shape of the controller. The profile of the B button is too sloped to be depressed at a right angle; that's a con. They all have a "high profile", they stick out of the controller much more than they do on a Dualshock 1-2-3 or Xbox 360 controller for example. It makes them easier to find and, adding the fact that they are also really close together, actuate in a simultaneous and coordinated manner (for example run + jump in Mario or hold a charge in Megaman X or 2D Metroid), which I really like. Also helping the the concave dome around which the buttons are laid out, this ensure your thumb never rubs against that area while holding down and/or rapidly going over other buttons.
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Black and white placement: I like it better than on the Xbox Duke and the arcade layout, you don't need to leave the four main ones, the bony part of your thumb can use it quite accurately, and even do a bit of mashing.
Start and select placement: another unique feature of this controller that I really like. These buttons are metal clickers (like on the Game boy advance SP, PSP go, PSP Vita, Xbox One d-pad or your computer mouse, but unlike the first three PSP models) and not rubber domes. They have a digital (0 or 1, with nothing in between), ie. on and off feedback; which I think is acceptable considering the lowly uses for these two button names.
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Analog sticks:
They have less travel than both the Gamecube and Wii controllers as well as the Dualshock 1-2-3. As far as durability is concerned they are far more durable than those Nintendo ones I named. I've been playing Borderlands 2 and breaking in my Xbox 360 controller (the model with the gray colored action buttons) a lot more lately and the left analog stick cap developed a looseness in how it sits on the analog stick printed circuit board part. That is detrimental to the smoothness and precision of every left to right and right to left motions, as there is a slack and a knock you need to go over every time. None of my five Controller S have that, and all of them have endured a lot more use.
In terms of quality the Dualshock 1-2-3's joystick are my favorite (high travel, symmetrical, convex meaty tops), but I can't vouch for their durability as I have very little experience with this controller.
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The directional pad! (That's where all the magic lies):
Arcade champion, the last one to be seen on an home console. The four diagonals are readily available. This is the best eight-way I have ever found to play Shoot them ups, even though that's not putting it to best use. I imagine that in Fighting games there is no way you ever miss a diagonal in your quarter turns and circles.
The parts consist of the same rubber domes than the action buttons but the d-pad part itself, the black ABS plastic, is engineered in a marvelous way. Unlike the Xbox Duke controller's which feels seamless between the contiguous directions, it doesn't give feedback at the cardinal points during rotation around the center, this one does, while keeping the same diagonal presence. The d-pad features a pivot in the center (a feature present on the Nintendo d-pad, allowing you to depress the four rubber domes partly, without actuating any, by pressing in the center of the cross) and is smoother to use and depress than all of Nintendo and Sony's effort.
Comparing the Xbox Controller-S' d-pad diagonals to that of Nintendo's and Sony's is like comparing a square arcade stick gate to an octogonal one. On the Controller-S', even though the diagonals are bigger on the map, I've never experienced false direction input (a diagonal while I'm trying to go straight, or a mismatch between the pressed and the registered direction) while I'm, say, running in Super Metroid -Samus doesn't point her gun up or downward while going left or right-, which means the four main directions are well isolated. I find this fact remarkable, that this highly potent (for arcade and d-pad heavy games at least) directional pad performs so well in every other casual and not so casual games. It almost lays Nintendo's and (more drastically so) Sony's effort in isolating those four main directions in their d-pad design to waste.
The Controller-S' d-pad clearly was designed for more than just scrolling through menus and swapping weapons.
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Last word:
I find that the killer Gamecube controller's ergonomics (sheer performance, just look at the action buttons panel) could best even that of the (cozier) Xbox Controller-S'.
I'm talking about my two favorite game controllers, and I take videogames, to which the controller is an integral part, at heart. I started playing video games I had a Super Nintendo which I compared to my friend's Genesis, then I had plenty of access to a N64, and from there I tailored my controller preferences and opinions about controllers up to the seventh generation of consoles).
While I like and appreciate the creative thumbstick caps, octogate analog sticks (consider that the analog stick parts have octogate-like movement suggestion implemented in their physiology, it's not just the plastic upper shell that acts as the eight-way gate), action buttons placement and triggers, those don't provide substantial benefits in the games I know.
The Xbox controller, in direct competition with the Dualshock, offers more buttons (makes them pressure sensitive), higher durability analog sticks, triggers better suited for racing games, highly satisfactory placement of exactly every single function/buttons, and a more holistic sizing approach (in an small-gadget era where I would call "compressed" all of the same generation rival controllers, the ones that came after, and possibly those of the future) which allows for a more versatile style always left with an abundance of gripping surface. It is its unique features such as the start/select placement, the added fifth and sixth face action buttons, and it's trump card of a do-everything directional pad (in an absolute sense the best that I could find for d-pad heavy arcade [fighters but especially bullet hell shoot them up], fast-paced/reflexes [geometry wars, tetris attack/panel de pon], and anything isometric top view and retro [Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past for example]), that make me reach for this controller the most (and I own all of those I named in this review). | video-games_xbox |
Xbox 360 Is A Steal. To all of you whining about the sky high prices of the Xbox 360, listen up! I read an article in the papers a few days ago. It said that it actually cost Microsoft $550 to make each Xbox 360 premium. They're selling them at a $150 loss for each unit! Its most expensive components are (no surprise) the multicore CPU and the ATI GPU. Apparently, Microsoft is willing to take the loss because they figure they can more than make it up on the sales of games, peripherals, and other extra stuff. Microsoft gets $6 of royalty for each game sold. Also, the costs of making each 360 will go down as more units of Xbox 360 are made.
I've heard a lot of people crying about the thousand dollar plus prices of the 360 and how much Microsoft is ripping off people. Guess what people, once that 360 is sold by the store, it's out of Microsoft's hands! The one making all the dough is the cunning scalper who thought ahead and bought multiple 360s so he can hoard it when the stores sell out and make a killing on all the people desperate to own a 360. That hoarder makes all the profit because he, NOT Microsoft, owns those thousand dollar plus 360s at that point.
Supposedly, one more shipment of 360s will arrive at stores prior to Christmas. I suggest you pre-order them now if you want one. They're probably sold out already!
For those of you who could wait, Sony will probably try to undercut Microsoft by selling its PS3 at a price below that of the 360. This will force Microsoft to also cut prices. I expect the 360 premium to then retail for $350.
Lots of people diss the 360 because its games lineup is supposedly weak. Not true. Sure, it doesn't have as many as the PS2, but so what, the 360 just came out. Also, the 20 games that the 360 came out with are pretty high quality. COD2, Morrowind IV, Dead or Alive 4, Quake 4, etc. Plus, the 360 premium's hard drive also allows backward compatibility with the original Xbox games. I am a big fan of KOTOR 1 & 2. I'm glad Microsoft LISTENED to the public outcry and included backwards compatibility in the 360 premium (the emulation software is in the external hard drive).
Some Microsoft haters are also predicting that the PS3's graphics will beat the 360's. Not likely folks. It will be more likely that the graphics of the two systems will be just about even. Both systems have multi-core GPUs designed by IBM, tons of memory, and a kick butt GPU (by the rivals NVIDIA and ATI). One point I'd like to make is that the Xbox was technically superior to the PS2 yet the PS2 still outsold the Xbox easily.
In the end, it will all come down to two things:
#1. Which machine comes out first. Last time, the PS2 came out in 1999. The Xbox came out in 2000. This time, it's the PS3 playing catchup. Just like the PS2 was already heavily entrenched in 2000, the 360 will have a hefty 8 month lead by the time the PS3 comes out.
#2. The games for the consoles. This was one of the biggest advantages the PS2 had over the Xbox. The games for the PS2 simply sold more. Personally, my favorite games happen to be Xbox exclusive (KOTOR1 &2 and Elder Scrolls). I also like the GTA series, but those eventually came out on Xbox also. However, I think the PS3 will still have more games which will sell more than the 360 games. It won't be as big a lead as it was in the previous generation of consoles though.
For all the Microsoft haters out there, I urge you to stop judging the 360 using only your out of control, knee-jerk hatred of anything Microsoft. Don't lie to yourselves. Judge the 360 by its merits. DONT focus only on the negative.
P.S. As soon as it becomes available, I plan to pre-order 2 or more PS3s. I will then wait for it to sell out in stores, then I will auction it off online for $1,000+. Bwahahahahahahaaaaa! | video-games_xbox |
Stylish controller with textured finish and you save batteries to boot. Two sons. Two Xbox players. And two different gaming experiences with the PDP wired controller.
First off, there were no complaints from either of my sons about using a corded controller versus the wireless Xbox controllers they typically use with their Xbox One. They typically sit on our hardwood floor in their <a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/Merax-Multi-function-Folding-Floor-Cushion-Chair-Sofa/dp/B01534QEI4/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">Merax Multi-function Folding Floor Cushion Chair Sofa</a> about six feet from the screen.
My youngest son, Kou, tested the <a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/PDP-Wired-Controller-for-Xbox-One-PC--Camo/dp/B01GOK30NI/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">PDP Wired Controller for Xbox One & PC Camo</a> with <a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/Divinity-Original-Sin-Enhanced-Edition/dp/B0114I3PS0/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">Divinity: Original Sin Enhanced Edition</a>, an online multi-player CRPGs. My son said the turn-based gameplay worked well with the controller.
LIKES
The audio control button allowed him to control his game and chat levels through his headphones. The controller has a 3.5mm audio jack.
The textured trigger and shoulder buttons were stylish and comfortable during gameplay.
My oldest son, Kai, tested the <a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/PDP-Wired-Controller-for-Xbox-One-PC--Camo/dp/B01GOK30NI/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">PDP Wired Controller for Xbox One & PC Camo</a> with <a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/Metal-Gear-Solid-V-The-Phantom-Pain/dp/B00JKM06FI/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain</a>, an open world, online stealth multiplayer.
LIKE
He expected the textured camo design to be a garish green-black color and was impressed with how much better it looked out of the box.
DISLIKES
The triggers are shorter than those on the original Xbox One controller.
The straight edges below the triggers rubbed against the inside of his index fingers during gameplay.
Overall, the <a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/PDP-Wired-Controller-for-Xbox-One-PC--Camo/dp/B01GOK30NI/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">PDP Wired Controller for Xbox One & PC Camo</a> left a positive impression on both of my sons. They agreed the controller is stylish and the textured finish is comfortable. They didn't agree on the straight (read: sharper) game lines below the triggers. Comfort probably depends on your hand size and how you hold the controller.
Rating: Four stars (averaged 5 from Kou and 3 from Kai) | video-games_xbox |
Sunset Overdrive is definitely in my top ten. This game is very addicting (to a certain point). I would consider this game to be on my top ten games of all time list: For quite a few reasons:
Traversal, Guns, Customization, Enemies, Humor, and Visuals are all top notch!
Traversal takes some getting used to and may be a turn off to some. I was nervous that I would not like the traversal because I've never played a game where you have to constantly be jumping/bouncing, grinding, dashing, and wall running. However, once I understood the controls for the traversal, all I wanted to do was jump, bounce, grind, dash, and wall run for two reasons. 1. It's fun as hell and 2. You increase your style points/combo meter by doing these things which makes killing enemies so much easier! Traversal surpassed my expectations and I'm glad I was able (and still able because I still play this game) to experience this very original style of moving around.
Guns are awesome! At first when I started this game I only used a few guns because they seemed to work well for killing enemies ("tnt teddy" for example because it does a lot of damage). However, once I upgraded these few guns to the max, I wanted to max out the levels on my other guns. Some guns that I did not originally like, now, I use all the time because of how good they are once upgraded ("the dude" for example because it takes out the biggest OD enemies so quickly). Basically once a gun is maxed out at level 5, it does serious damage to enemies.
Customization is sweet as well. I love being able to change everything about my character at any point during the game. I have been every type of body type throughout the game, male and female. I have also worn the most crazy and ridiculous outfits. I know before I ever played the game I assumed that I wouldn't wear crazy outfits, but rather, I would wear clothing that matched (like you wear in real life); however, it was so fun to mix and match outfits to your liking.
Enemies are varied and add a certain depth to the game. There are many types of enemies, all of which can be killed faster or more efficiently depending on how well you know the weapons. Each weapon has a 4 star rating of how effective it is against each enemy. You will understand this once you play it! The enemies look awesome and are sometimes a challenge to kill. For example, the blowers will really mess you up if you are grinding on the same rail and are not changing up traversal.
Humor.... :-) this game is hilarious and my type of funny. There are so many jokes about video games in general and a bunch of easter eggs that will make you laugh (assassins creed and arrested development jokes). Mostly everything the characters say in the game is comedy.
Visuals are amazing. The colors in this game will blow you away. The colors of the environment, guns, explosions, and characters are so vibrant and pleasing to look at. The graphics on this game are just fantastic.
The only thing that somewhat upsets me about this game is that now that I have collected all the achievements, upgraded all my guns, and completed every mission possible, it is hard to keep me from continuing to play this game (but keep in mind creating replay-ability is one of the hardest thing for game companies to do). My only suggestion for Insomniac (other than continuing to come out with new dlc) is to keep coming up with new missions for chaos squad (online multi-player) so that we aren't doing the same missions over and over... like Bungie's Destiny...
Anyways, like I said this game is definitely in my top ten! | video-games_xbox |
Solid racer that falls short of living up to its hype. The games graphics are nothing but stellar as most games now a days are. Though the xbox version could look a lot better than the ps2, but it doesn't. Take the game wreckless for example. Look at the ps2 version as compared to the xbox. Now look at the two copies of underground. I rest my case. If you own a ps2 get the game for that, there is no need to upgrade to an xbox.
The sound in the game is probably my favorite part and the reason I gave the game a 3. The soundtrack is pretty tight with tracks from Lil John, to a more harder sound from Rob Zombie. I also enjoy the tracks that were specifically made for the game (the Petey Pablo song needs played on the radio!! lol)
The games fun factor is what luster's. Yea sure the races are fun, fast and give a sense of speed. But i felt this in the last need for speed game. The urban city idea is cool, but not for every single track. No matter what the marketing information for this game claims, there is only like 3 or 4 main tracks not 20. All the others are just mirror, reversed or in drag situations just straight always pulled from the main 3. Sometimes they'll even take a track and add in a different turn, and call it a new track. It just gets boring; I mean how many times can you jump over the same stupid bridge! The weather is set to be clear and at night in EVERY race. Mourning never comes in this game. It seems as almost Ea focused too much on putting enough body kits and vinyls in the game than it did on track design. One more quick note the drifting tracks are just plain out stupid and become more of a hassle and annoyance than they are fun. I found myself saying, damn not another one of these, or arr I wish this stupid race would be over. Drifting is something you during a RACE and is boring if singled out. If they wanted to be realistic anyways, a real car would have no tires left after one of those objectives.
Overall the game fails to be better than the previous installment (High Stakes 2). The short incomplete list why is as follows:
1. There is no police in this game, none at all (a Big BIG part of the street racing scene is cops, which do not exist in this game). You guys at Ea are getting lazy.
2. There are no damage modeling as was in High Stakes 2
3. The physics are a lot worse than H.S.2; I find my car flying through the air as if it had wings when only hitting a silly mph sign.
4. How can Ea leave out Xbox Live support but yet put online play for the ps2 version. Xbox already has an online community set up that is much stronger than the ps2.
5. There is no "real" tuning in this game. The only tuning there is, is the ability to layer vinyl's using a downgraded version of Photoshop. Real tuning would involve being able to say adjust the points on an Apexi SAFC, that they're of is not in this game.
6. The shortcuts are as boring as watching my grandma knit!! In H.S.2 the shortcuts were exciting, filled with large jumps, and giving a major cut in times. The shortcuts in this game just suck and most of the time I find myself just staying on the main course. They give hardly any time cut and are just about as long as the main way. Some shortcuts even just slow you down! And are not worth taking (for example on one track you can jump down into a subway, in the subway though there are barrels, and water. If you decide to miss the barrels you have to drive through water (which SLOWS your cars speed) if you decide to go through the barrels (it SLOWS your cars speed Dramatically) and thus when you come out of the shortcut you are not going slower than you were when you entered. Just silly isn't it? Oh yeah and there is no excitement in them either, their just simple turns or roads (the most exciting one is being able to jump a very small dirt hill which gives you hardly any air).
The list goes on. To sum it all up. The game is good right now because it's all we have. There are no other import games out there, thus it has no competition. If you were thinking about buying this game, as you are a fan of the NFS series, I would skip this one and get High Stakes 2. If you already have H.S. 2 then rent this game. If you're an import fan than you're going to have to shell out the $40+ for this one. I hope the new upcoming Fast and Furious game (which is based on the 2 movies) is done right!! | video-games_xbox |
Kane & Lynch 2 isn't even better than the first. If you're looking to buy Kane & Lynch 2 you should refrain from it because it's not a good game. To make a long review short but still concise, Kane & Lynch 2 is just a Wack-a-Mole with better graphics: the gameplay consists of waiting until someone exposes a part of themselves while waiting behind cover (that is, if they don't want to flip a coin by running into the open and seeing if they can press the R trigger faster than the guy who's going to shoot back at him) and then get shot at when they do, or maybe have a projectile thrown at them that can be found scattered across the level.
The campaign is a cliche' story of two dumb criminals--Kane and Lynch--who shoot the wrong person at the beginning and then spend the remainder of the game hiding behind boxes or walls shooting at Asian gang members on linear streets of Hong Kong. The dialogue is almost in-coherent and very bland and predictable, and the campaign lasts just two hours. Needless to put simply, it's downright terrible.
The multiplayer, incorporating the same bare-bones gameplay, is at least somewhat good because it's partially built around the game theoretical concept of risk versus reward, spread out in three mode types: Fragile Alliance (you're criminals and you're on a heist), Cops & Robbers (you're either a crminal or a cop and want to kill the members of the team you're not on, or die as a criminal and come back as a cop to kill the remaining criminals), and Undercover Cop (you're either a one-man crew whose objective is to kill all of the members of your team, or as a non-undercover cop, to kill the undercover cop). But again, when the gameplay of these modes is just about flipping a coin or flipping something slightly less than a coin (like hiding behind a wall and testing your luck instead of getting in the open or shooting from long distances) the original, mildly creative concept behind these modes isn't enough to offset how extremely average the multiplayer is, as well as the entire game. Kane & Lynch 2 is not worth your time. | video-games_xbox |
Great game BUT. Dark Souls possesses a tremendous blend of strengths: unique, challenging and ultimately rewarding. One of the most frequently described aspects of the game has been it's incredible difficulty. But I do think that's a bit misleading, while the game is difficult, I think it's better described as oppressive. The thing is, dying in Dark Souls is as integral as dots in Pac Man. So, the frequent deaths aren't a matter of the game being too hard rather a core aspect of Dark Souls' universe. Most non-bosses can be dealt with through patience and planning. Rushing into a room blindly will most likely get you hacked to death in a hurry. If you die, you'll most likely understand exactly why you did and correct it the next go around and then move on to the next group of baddies. This kind of slow and methodical advancement will fray your nerves but it's definitely rewarding when finally you crack through a difficult stretch and hit a save point.
As the title of my review suggests, there's a huge "but" involved. Simply put, this is a niche game. It's not for everyone. I understand no game is for everyone but this one wil be an extreme. It's not your run of the mill RPG and if you liked, say, Oblivion (my favorite game of all time) you won't necessarily like this RPG. This game isn't exactly the traditional way you'd think of "fun" when you think of videogames. It's a dark and depressing push that immerses you in a stunning world of gloom and doom. It's relentless and punishes just as much as rewards. If you can't deal with repeated deaths and a complete lack of levity then you'll probably want to save your money. On the other hand, if you're looking for a one of a kind game that will give hours and hours of merciless gameplay, you're in for a treat.
Now, I'd personally put this game in my top 5 of the year and though I like it more than some games I might rate 5 stars, I had to give it 4 stars for a few reasons (if that makes sense). I hit a couple frame rate issues for one. The graphics in general are underwhelming though there are a couple of stunners in the game. And finally, you don't get much help with instruction or guidance. You'll play the first few hours a little confused (especially if you haven't played Demon Souls) because the manual isn't all that helpful and the in-game tips seem incomplete at times. Maybe it's supposed to be part of the mysterious ethos of the game but I found it a bit annoying. Finally, the locking and targeting system gets buggy once in awhile and you end fire projectiles at odd angles even if you're locked onto an enemy directly in front of you. Doesn't happen often but just enough for it to be noticeable.
Final word: a truly memorable experience that's not for the squeamish. | video-games_xbox |
Great FPS. This is one of the greatest First-person shooter games I have ever encounted playing. For various reasons such as, non-stop computer AI situated throughout the whole mission. This develops a fast-paced game, which allows more action for the player because of more shooting involved.
The difference between this game and the Rainbow Six 3 original game, is that there is more weaponary available, more missions taking on different landscapes. The mission landscapes are a lot more intricate and well thought-out, than the original Rainbow Six 3. Other than that there are not many other changes made to this expansion.
The play is really fun. You control a team of 3 other members, while at the same time you also are able to fire with your guy. If you like the idea of controlling your teammates, such as the game Full Spectrum Warrior than this is somewhat similar. Lots of complaints are coming from Full Spectrum Warrior that there is no capability where you, yourself can fire a weapon. In Rainbow Six 3: Black Arrow, you are allowed to control teammates and are capable of firing just as well. So there is good variety.
The graphics are not anything very special. You won't care about the graphics much because of how much fun and excitement you are putting forth into the game. The graphics are decent, but nothing over the edge such as maybe Full Spectrum Warrior in which more time was probably spent into making the game as realistic as possible.
One of the greatest things about this game is its multiplayer capability. In all the other Rainbow Six games there was no option allowed for you to play multiplayer. You are allowed to play cooperative with another friend of yours. You can even play against eachother up to 4 players. You can play capture the flag and king of the hill which are all really fun. This is one of the great advantages of this game. The campaign mode is really fun, along with the multiplayer mode which could give a change to the game so that your not always playing by yourself.
If you have XBOX LIVE, then you should deffintely get this game over every other xbox live game out there right now. These shooter games are great on-line.
The Rainbow Six series have had a great reputation for great First person shooters, so you can't go wrong buying this game. If you have played any other Rainbow Six games, I suggest you just go ahead and buy, there is no reason to rent because it is pretty much the same as the other Rainbow Six games except for different weapons and missions, smarter terrorist AI, and the great multiplayer capability. There are so many options you could play having this game. It's only 40 dollars too. | video-games_xbox |
Great product, if you're lucky. Before I describe the product itself, I must mention why I gave it a mediocre rating. Frankly, Mad Catz's customer service is horrible. I was excited to get the fightstick because I got a very good deal on it. Unfortunately, it arrived with a broken Heavy Punch button. It just wouldn't work. I bought the fightstick from Amazon via [...], so Amazon was not responsible to replace the product, which meant I had to get a replacement from [...], but they were out of stock. I could simply take a refund, but I still wanted the fightstick, so I called up Mad Catz to see what they could do for me.
1st Call: They told me to go talk to Buy.com.
2nd Call: They tried to help me fix the stick myself over the phone. This did not work since the cables inside were too tightly connected. In the end, I wound up damaging the button beyond (home) repair. They said I should send it to them and they would repair it themselves, but they wanted me to pay the shipping! I couldn't understand why I should pay the shipping costs when it was their fault it was broken in the first place. (Obviously, no one tested the unit before it left the manufacturing facility.)
3rd Call: I managed to talk to someone who would send me a new button and cable set free of charge, so long as I did the repairs at home. I figured this was better than nothing, so I accepted. After I received it, I rewired the new button into the circuit board, but I soon discovered that the button was never broken at all. The circuit board simply wasn't receiving input from it. I verified this by connecting a different (normally working) button to the same spot and finding it ineffective.
At this point, I was so frustrated that I then rewired the Heavy Punch button into the 3 Punches contact point and just change the button configuration accordingly, something I could have done days ago. In other words, Mad Catz did almost nothing to help me. Yes, I could have had them repair the fightstick themselves, but it would have felt wrong to me. How can they sell a defective product like that and then just expect someone to pay $10 or more to ship it back?!
Also (just FYI), there have been a good number of reports of fightsticks of this type being broken to begin with or becoming broken faster than a user would expect. Buyer beware.
That said, when it's working, the Street Fighter IV FightStick is one of the best ways to get the arcade experience at home. The buttons and stick are as responsive as one would expect and (so long as one is used to using his fingers to hit the buttons) it should not be a problem to pull off most special moves.
So, in summary, only buy this product if you buying from a company besides Mad Catz who is able to replace the fightstick for free. Amazon.com itself would probably be great to buy from. | video-games_xbox |
Good Game, (a few glitches) but NO PRE-ORDER CODE. So I just bought this game, already level 15 as warrior (add my GT: MuzzaHukka), but I was expecting it to come with a special unlock code which would unlock Ratchet (which you can unlock by completing the campaig, which is really short if you move on) which, from what I hear, Amazon.com did get but Amazon.co.uk didn't. As stated at [ ... ], which of course Amazon is to evil to include.
The site says;
Purchase from Amazon to gain immediate access to RATCHET(tm)**
Click Here to BUY NOW!
**RATCHET(tm) unlockable for Xbox 360 and PlayStation3 computer entertainment system ONLY. Immediate access through Amazon purchases. Character playable in multi-player only on these systems. For a limited time only. While supplies last. Code received at time of purchase.
What a load of !"$%^&*.
So, enough with the moaning. The game system (well at least the online) system is perfect. The controls are near-twins of that of Transfomers War for Cybertron, in fact they're the same. The only differences that there are are; you're playing on earth, you're a car/plane/tank/truck (earth vehicles not futuristic cars) and there's a Stealth mode, a hybrid mode which allows a player in his vechicle mod access 80% of the abilities and the weapons from his robot mode. This is helpful for running away from someone in car mode while shooting them as they're running behind you. The campaign is EASY, SHORT BUT OMG! IS IT HARD. It took me several times to get through most of the missions and there is no; a) option to select a charachter, b)choose what fraction. So what this means is, the online mode is 10/10 but the campaign (which is THEE most important part of the game) is 3/10
Unless you're a die hard fan of Transformers, War for Cybertron, or you can get this game purely for Multiplayer or best of all to see a brother suffer and get angry cos' the game has so much glitches | video-games_xbox |
Great Mouse/Keyboard Option. Another PC Gamer checking in and wanting to give feedback: I believe I have some experience which may provide relevant answers to mentioned problems by other reviews.
First off, the Eagle Eye product is fantastic in my opinion and the best option I have found so far. I own both an Xbox360 and a PS3 and there are differences how the Eagle Eye products perform! So keep reading:
1) The Eagle Eye Adapter
The setup is very easy: Insert CD, punch in the keys you'd like for the according function/button, hit "send" and the software programs your eagle eye adapter for you.
The adapter works very well and I have not experienced any dropped sensitivity/rate throughout gaming like other people have. This may be because I use a quality mouse: a Logitech G500. I once tried a cheaper mouse and it performed far less well. The responsiveness suffers greatly with a cheaper mouse and this may be an issue other people have had. Using a cheap wired keyboard from Walmart has worked just as well as a more expensive gaming keyboards so there is no difference there. The G500 works PERFECT with the Eagle Eye, I highly recommend it!
I previously have tried 2 different nun chuck + mouse setups (AIMON XBElite & FragFX) before and they both were garbage compared to the true quality mouse + keyboard feel us PC Gamers are used to.
I have NOT used the XFPS setup but based on reviews across the internet I am not tempted to because the Eagle Eye adapter gets better ratings throughout the board and I am very satisfied with my experience.
2) PS3 vs. Xbox
I own both systems and prefer the PS3 in many ways. However, most of my local friends own Xboxs so I do a lot of gaming on it. A HUGE problem with the Xbox is that it simply is far inferior to the PS3. Leaving all the system vs. system arguments aside, let's look at issues specific to this product:
Starting off with the connection, you DO NOT NEED a wired controller for PS3, but you do for Xbox. So the product itself is not at fault, unfortunately it is a system issue. The Eagle eye adapter (PS3 version) connects flawlessly to the PS3 system while for the Xbox360 (Xbox version), you need a wired controller and the connection can sometimes be a pain. This is a system issue IMO and NOT the adapters fault.
In regards to headsets, again, the issue is the Xbox system: While with PS3 you can use any USB headset and therefore go on with your gaming, the Xbox requires Xbox specific headsets (which plug into the controller)...so if you are not using a Xbox controller you are SOL with wired headsets. I have not yet found/tried a wireless Xbox headset. I understand the controller connected headsets are great when playing split screen but who honestly wants to share a screen & experience lag anyway ;)
Overall I have been extremely satisfied with this product and as mentioned I own 2, one for Xbox and one for PS3. It works better on my PS3 setup (plus I can use my USB headset) but also on Xbox it works fantastic...although I still have to figure out the headset dilemma.
PS: My 2 best scores on Xbox so far was 38-11 and 38-6 back to back but I usually float around the 25-10 range | video-games_xbox |
GTA meets Crackdown meets Infamous..no wait. At first glance prototype may seem like another mash-up from previous game genres, but what sets this game apart from most Superhero games is the ability to hijack tanks and copters, consume NPCs (be they enemies of civillian pedestrians)as a method of "blending" in, and upgrading your powers and capabilities.
You play as Alex Mercer a former scientist of Gentek who is responsible for leaking a dangerous virus in NYC and in turn is given powers: shape shifting,super strengnth, claws,hammerfists and the ability to leap tall buildings in a single bound. (with the help of a dash run.) throughout the game Alex unravels more and more about who really caused the pandemic as when a target is consumed there are flashback clips that further reveals a conspiracy between the Gentek,Alex and the Blackwatch army.(and some of it is quite shocking as well as speculative.)
graphics are not really up to par compared to the newest games, however this is a sandbox title so when adding plenty of scenery there are bound to be comprimises. The gameplay itself is what makes this game so much fun, wether it's soaring about the city,collecting orbs based on real NYC landmarks, or taking on both the military and the hivemind creatures.
However i wished the programmers have added a block button as oppossed to a dodge button especially during heavy combat with those damn Hunters.
The music isn't that memorable and at times can be repetitive. Thank god for 360's custom soundtrack feature as i at times use the Cure song; Take the power during some boss battles.
although this game is favorbly Compared to Sucker punch's inFAMOUS, there's not much simularities with the noted exception of both being superheroesque sandbox games, however I prefer proto over the PS3 exclusive inFamous. (and yes, I own both games.) Prototype has a more adult themed plot/story arc which I am a sucker for conspiracy plots and not to mention the hijacking and skyjacking of vehicles that help complete your objective. There's also the various skins your character can don from the Blackwatch to the armor mode that looks something out of the Guyver anime series.
One major gripe however would be the product placement of gamestop and gamecrazy with these "ADs' paying Activision, you would think they would lower the price for this game. All in all, I think Prototype is worth the hype. | video-games_xbox |
Great, if it's what you like. This game is going to cause quite a bit of controversy for RPG fans. Before I get into it, I'll just let you know what old school, turn based, stat heavy RPG's really arent't my thing. I enjoy the occassional one, but generally these games aren't viscerally exciting enough for me to really get into and play through to the end. I did however, really enjoy the first Dragon Age title and its subsequent expansions. Mass Effect 2 is my favorite game ever, and I'm a big Bioware fanboy.
For Dragon Age 2, Bioware decided to make some "improvements" to the game. Some of these really are improvements, some turn out not to be, but the way you feel about them depends on what type of player you are.
COMBAT: The biggest change is that rather than hitting "A" once and letting your character have at it until the enemy is toast is now gone. The combat in this game requires a button press for every attack, similar to a standard 3rd person action game. I personally enjoyed this, as it gave a lot of flexibility. For instance, if you are surrounded, you can direct every attack in the direction of the opponent you want to direct it to. This makes for some really dizzying and impressive combat if you play as a rogue. You'll be flying around the battlefield decimating everything in your wake at ridiculous speeds while maintaining complete control of what your character is doing. The way spells and talents work is not change at all. You select them from a radial menu or attach them to a hotkey on the controller, activate them, and go. The combat isn't hugely different, but it is much more action focused and a lot less strategy is required, though it's there if you want it.
INVENTORY/LOOT: Here's something I have a big problem with. Hawke, your character, is the only one able to equip different types of armor, which means your party members will always look the same. This is irritating yet bareable as their costumes are very good and fitting of their stories. Where this becomes a problem is that you will still pick up TONS of loot, and 75% of it goes to waste. It's all well and good finding mage armor that boosts your mana, but if you're playing a warrior you can't do anything with it but sell it. Your inventory fills up quick, and the customization level is really not on level with DA:O.
ROLE PLAYING: Here is where people will disagree, as most of the changes Bioware made also have a trade off. For instance, you now have a fully voiced character a-la Shepherd in Mass Effect. This does a lot more for getting you emotionally involved in the story. The trade off is that you can only choose male/female human and you will have a set backstory. All of those cool different Origins from the first game are totally out the window. Now that your character is voiced, you use a conversation wheel to talk. Very cool, except you don't ever know exactly what Hawke will say. Sometimes the result is not what you necessarily wanted it to be, whereas in the first game you knew exactly what the other characters would hear. What I did like was the high level of interactivity with the companion characters and how developed they are. Each of them has a great backstoruy and interesting things going on. Your relationship will grow organically, and you will grow to love and maybe even hate the people that you are with. Great stuff.
SETTING: I can't even fathom anybody that would not consider this a step back. Kirkwall. That's it. One city. In the first game, you can travel all of Ferelden. In this game, you are stuck in a relatively bland city and go to the same locations over and over again. Everytime you go to a cave or warehouse or mansion, it's the same exact layout. It's very frustrating, but the story is compelling enough to make it not ruin the game. Speaking of which...
STORY: The story here is much more focused and personal. Instead of a blight coming to wipe out the world as we know it, you're dealing mainly with Hawke's family and friends and the politics of Kirkwall. I enjoyed it, as I like to really get emotionally involved with the characters, but going to a smaller scale might disappoint some people. The story has some great twists, many decisions that can have huge consequences, and lasts for a good 40 hours at the least.
So overall, it's going to be split down the middle. I found that some of these improvements were really great, and some not so much. It's still one of the best games I've played in a long time. What I'd say is remove your expectations and enjoy it for what it is. When you eventually become the Champion, you'll be glad you took the journey. | video-games_xbox |
Adjustments made, but sometimes unnecessary. Burnout Revenge. The next incarnation of a great series. I couldn't wait to get my hands around the XBox controller and race a few computer cars and friends. Well, I got what I wanted. The problem, however, is that I got a LOT more than I wanted. And all that extra pushed me right into the pit, and contentedly so.
All of the good elements are still in this edition. The sense of speed is unmatched; adrenaline still flies through you as your car weaves in and out of other cars/traffic (a rare occurence here) to be first across the finish line. The car models are sleek and shiny. The crashes are nasty and involve other cars. This game overall looks really good. Maybe too good, but more on that later.
I soon discovered the first annoyance: Racing along at 190 miles an hour, miscalculating a turn, and flying towards a guardrail and.... No crash! Instead, a dead stop! No violent wreck that produces a sports-car comet with debris-tail. That would be at least acceptable. You go head-on into an obstacle, you crash. Such is the Burnout way, right? Not this time. The clock ticks away and you have to hold down the brake to slowly back out of the corner you're now stuck in. This is a common occurence with this game, and I'm frankly surprised it is so obvious. Deduct a fair amount of fun points there.
Now to the looks part. Burnout Revenge is eye-candy. It's a beautiful array of rich scenery and (nerve-racking)light effects, which I guess are supposed to add to the ambience of the experience but only end up hindering the path. Which is, to say the least, very distracting. Rarely can the driver clearly see the road ahead (save for a few tracks) until it's too late and he's about to slam into something. If the point of a race is to win, or have fun trying, this is not the way to do it. There is simply WAY too much going on at one time visually to try and have a serious, competitive race and expect to progress markedly. Couple this with the fact that no CPU driver really ever crashes unless you bump it off the road. So much for race mode. Crash mode would surely be fun! Uhh.. kind of.
New to Crash mode are an utterly pointless half-moon power-guage start thingie, which if not done right every time will somehow blow up your motor on the Starting Line, and the shameless plug of a Carl's Jr. Mobile Diner(?). Here, the crashes are more challenging, and the payoff is spectacular, but you'll need a lot of patience. Tweaking the Crash mode with this "startup meter" was a mistake. Who really cares how you start? You are there to careen towards traffic at an insane speed and cause insurance damage, not make a pretty start!! Give me a 5-second countdown and let me step on the gas! Also, if you want a preview of the crash route you're about to embark upon, and it shows you the complete route, you have to sit through the WHOLE thing as it winds back up to the starting line, and THEN you get to start. All in all, crash mode still playable, but lose the product placement and the startup gauge. Both needless.
New mode: Traffic attack. Another step in the wrong direction. Until now, the protocol of Burnout racing is DO NOT hit other traffic except for the cars you're racing.. Now it's suddenly OK to hit traffic going the same direction as your car. All of this while fighting to keep a clock going.. Whatever.
Summarily, this game feels rushed. The new "shortcuts", provided you can steer into their path, are a toss-up as to whether or not they'll actually help you in the race. Every opportunity to get ahead of the others is met with some building or piece of map that juts into your path at the wrong place, causing a crash. Frustrating it is, especially when you're finally passing that car ahead of you! There's no room to boost freely and enjoy pure speed and traffic-weaving.
Whomever tinkered with the formula adjusted the wrong spots. Burnout Takedown is easily a better and more fulfilling game. Takedown isn't so flashy and is more engaging, and in less time. I dislike excess tedium in any game, especially a racing one. Burnout Revenge needs to take more pages from its big brothers. Only then would it be more enjoyable. This game has its good points but they're few and far between. San Francisco Rush did it better. I hope someone else has a good time with this installment. | video-games_xbox |
Just Try to Stop Playing. Just Dance 3 for Kinect is well worth the price of the game, and it's tons of fun for the whole family. Unlike Just Dance for the Wii, players do not need to hold a remote, they just need to stand up and get their groove on. Up to 4 dancers can participate at one time, and some songs have been choreographed especially for 4 dancers. This means that the dancers aren't all doing the same thing at the same time; each dancer has his or her own role to play, and the end result (depending on your abilities or lack thereof) reminded me a lot of the episode of Friends where Ross and Monica performed a dance routine they'd made up for Dick Clark's Rockin' New Year's Eve. Hilarious! To begin, Dancers stand in front of the kinect sensor and are recognized by the system. If the song is choreographed for more than one dancer, each dancer will be assigned to the character he/she is in line with. Once the song starts, follow your character's moves as closely as possible. The kinect version didn't seem to give as much direction/forewarning of moves as the original Just Dance for the Wii did. Although there are a few hints thrown out ahead of time in the form of stick figure-like representations of the upcoming moves, by and large, you have to just do your best following along. Performing a dance more than once is a huge help, and the scoring system is pretty lenient, so everybody will feel like they're doing fantastically. We played with: my 68 year old grandmother; my 4 year old niece; my 12 year old son who "does NOT dance!"; and myself - a rhythm-challenged 40 year old. As for the selection of songs, I thought they were fine; others might not love them. I suggest reading through the song list before buying if you're dead-set for or against a particular type of music.
There were a few minor inconveniences to the game - the first being that you really have to make sure that your playing field remains clear of extraneous people. The kinect sometimes confused people walking by in the background for dancers, and scores were affected. The second inconvenience was that, depending on the size of your playing area, it can be difficult to squeeze 4 people in front of the kinect sensor and still remain 6-10 feet back. We had to be very close together, which resulted in some bumped elbows and accusations of taking up too much room, but we quickly got used to the close quarters.
Overall, this game is a hoot! My whole family (even the one who "doesn't dance!") got into the action and had a great time. | video-games_xbox |
Seriously. This review is for MGS 2 & 3. I have yet to try Peace Walker.
I passed on the Metal Gear series on the PS1 & 2 consoles but I remember reading and hearing wonderful things about them, MGS3 especially. After purchasing an Xbox 360, I was disappointed to find out that the critically praised MGS4 would be a PS3 exclusive. I picked up MGS HD collection thinking "YES! Finally! Now I'll know what everyone was talking about when they complained about Raiden or The End in MGS3. KOJIMA I AM PREPARING TO BOW TO YOUR GENIUS!!!"
Going into MGS2&3 I expected out of date controls and a convoluted story line. I generally can adapt to any controller scheme given a few hours and I'm a fan of Resident Evil and other Japanese games, so I'm used to crazy stories. Oh how was I wrong. To aim in first person you must hold down RB or R1 and change your view with the left stick. In order to lean left or right, press LT/L1 or RT/R2. In order to bring up your aiming cursor, push in the left stick or old down X or square. I'm not sure about anyone else but just thinking about doing this cramps my hand up. Oh and the tranquilizer gun will drop back down after you fire so you will have to raise the gun back up! In order to lean into cover the left stick needs to be held up the entire time or you will pop out of cover revealing yourself. It would have been great if they added pop in & out cover mechanics.
The story just has waaaay too much exposition. I'm sorry, I do not want to hear about an extended tale about Godzilla or the Creature from the Black Lagoon every time I save. Deadly Premonition at least allowed me to drive while I heard about York's favorite movies. You lose all control during conversations and most of the time the story is being repeated by another character:
Boss - Snake remember the close quarter combat I trained you in. This is also known as CQC and will be essential for taking down an enemy in close quarters. You can use CQC by using the B button.
Snake - got it. I should use CQC in close quarters to save ammo. All I have to do is press the B button.
This wasn't word for word but god damn it I swear the exchange was at least 4 minutes long. Not engaging at all! Visually nothing occurs during these conversations. MGS3 takes some time to explain the Bay of Pigs, Cuban Missle Crisis and assassination of JFK. Seriously? If I wanted a history lesson I would either read up or watch one of the numerous specials on the History Channel. Please Kojima, believe that your user has some intelligence. If they don't know what these events were, maybe you would inspire them to learn more. Not ever detail needs to be included.
Game play - eh? I haven't gotten that far in either MGS 2 or 3. I've beaten Fatman and just saw EVA hit Revolver in the face with a motorcycle. Both games have a lot of great ideas but either the controls hold it back from reaching it's true potential or it's hindered by movement. There's nothing here that's really satisfying. Looking back on reviews, most critics seem to be in love with the story and have little to discuss on the actual game play.
If you're looking for a great stealth action game do yourself a favor and go play Batman Arkham Asylum or City. You'll find truly great CQC, story and stealth there with out the heavy handed exposition, cliches and clunky controls. I'm going to keep pushing forward with these games to see if something finally clicks. | video-games_xbox |
Another XBOX Must Have. Panzer Dragoon is a game of great depth, incredible action, superb graphics and amazing sound. Why is Panzer Dragoon worthy of your purchase? Let's go over each of the areas above.
Panzer Dragoon gives you a choice of three dragon forms each with its own strengths and weaknesses. You will have to switch forms several times per level. Learning when to use each dragon becames crucial. Also important is learning when to use their limited Bezerk attacks. These attacks, which cause major damage, are best used in certain situations. You will want to explore when to use them. Because the action is so intense you'll be tempted to use them as soon as you can, but it's often better to restrain yourself : ) Lastly, even though the concept of flying around in a pre-dertermined path may not appear extremely exciting, the urge to continually improve your performance becomes addictive. It's the same feeling you get when you beat a fighting game but continue playing to master the character.
The action in Panzer Dragoon is non-stop. You are constantly bombarded with enemy bullets, acid spheres and countless other flying objects. Because the game is so intense and so much concentration is required, it's the best thing I've discovered to help me take my mind of work when I get home. It draws you in and when you're done you're ready to go on about your day. The easy difficulty level is not to terribly tough to beat; it will however take you a couple hours. But don't fret, once you're done you will want to move onto the higher difficulties. Those will test your abilities but won't feel cheap. The game gives you the tools and you need to find a way to use them. Even as I replay levels time and time again I never get frustrated.
Panzer Dragoon has the best graphics on XBOX, even better than those on Splinter Cell. While it's true that they are very different looking games, there were many instances where I paused the game and just stared at the screen. This is truly a work of art. The best part is that each level looks completly different so the look never gets stale. Best of all the framerate stays smooth even when the whole screen is full of enemies.
Panzer Dragoon has always been known for its revolutionary sounds and visuals; the sound on this game, particularly in 5.1, is breathtaking. The orchestral score is great and you can really hear the sound effects all around you. Level 4, the Gigantic Fleet level, should be used in how to properly incorporate sound into a game. I truly makes you feel like you are participating in a great battle in the sky. The only bad part about this is that I often find myself humming the tunes and unable to get them out of my head.
There are many other great features in Panzer Dragoon, such as Pandoras Box, a tutorial guide, which reveals how deep this game really is, and a flight log that keeps track of your performance and keeps you trying to better yourself.
As for negatives, some of the boss battles in the higher difficulty levels get a bit tiresome. You know how to defeat the boss, but you have to fight it a long time because of its abundance of health. If they could have made the battles a little shorter that would have been great.
Every XBOX owner needs Panzer Dragoon. Classic gameplay, non-stop action, great graphics and sound, and more replay value than you can "shake a stick at". This game is truly a work of art and a labor of love on the side of the developers. | video-games_xbox |
Different type of wrestling game. I must say I was anticipating this title ever since the last iteration of SvR came out late last year. So, the result? A mix. I like what they did but at the same time I didn't.
The main thing more than anything else in this game are the controls. Completely different from what we're used to. It's a pretty basic, more arcadey style which I like, but at the same time they should've added more variety. The thing I like about SvR is that there is such an array of moves and types of moves to use. In this, I feel I'm using the same moves over and over again and can get tedious. One suggestion if they continue to do this again is while you can import wrestlers, why not be able to choose to be able to play it like SvR OR like this control scheme? I think that would make both the casual and hardcore wrestling gamer happy.
Wrestlers. Pretty good selection, although there are definitely some major wrestlers not included such as Macho Man Randy Savage and Razor Ramon. The latter I really don't understand since the ladder match between him and Shawn Michaels is one of the most important matches in WWF history. Other than that, the roster is good. However, I find some don't exactly match correctly. Some honestly don't look anything like the real life versions and some look similar but more like chariatures. The one I really don't get though is Shawn Michaels. They did a perfect job on him for SvR yet on here his face doesn't match at all.
As for the gameplay. I like it. It's cool to have a more arcadey feel. I just feel things like taking it outside the ring should be easier, as with obtaining weapons. Wrestlemania World Tour is done very well, whether reliving, redefining or recreating your favorite matches. I do wish though that there more matches in each, which I'm sure is due to only 40 wrestlers. Legend Killer mode while has good intention sucks due to how long it takes. Guantlet is a cool feature but the problem is that you can't save it and trust me, 10 matches in a row takes a lot of time. As with my problem with SvR there needs to be a quicker way to upgrade attributes because that's one of the most important part of wrestling games and there's no point if your wrestler pales in comparison with the actual wrestlers.
Overall, I suggest this game highly. I just think there should've been more features and done better in other aspects. | video-games_xbox |
Almost a year a half since it's release...Very underrated. I've had this game since I bought my Xbox in August of 2008, and it's never really grabbed my attention. I've always been more of a Street Fighter/2-D Fighter guy, and I had only given Soul Calibur 4 one shot way back when. While trying to start selling the majority of my xbox games, I found this, and figured I would try to get as much achievements as I could before I send it off into someone else's hands.
2nd time around I got hooked. Now, this is my first ever Soul Calibur game, so I can't compare it to any of it's predecessor's... There are many characters to choose from, and you can customize their appearance with armor, and colors which is a very nice and appreciated touch. The character creation is a lot better than expected, and is definitly one of the biggest pros of the game. Going online with it is even better. Huge Brownie points.
So let's start with what I feel are the pros and cons of this game.
PROS:
Achievements - This game is definitly an obtainable 1000G's. It's not too easy but not too hard, and should be taking you a minimum for 30+ hours. It's definitly a game you should be proud of for maxing it out. The most annoying thing you'll have to do is beat the game with each character (30+ characters) so that you unlock everyone's weapons which is needed for a certain 50G achievement.
Create/Customization - As I said before, one of the biggest pros to this game. Stealing a line from "WWE Raw vs. Smackdown 2010", Soul Calibur 4 "It's your world now". Quite a bit of options for clothes, armor and colors.
Easy to pick up - This could be considered a pro or a con. This game is newbie-friendly, Controls are easy, maybe too easy for those who want a game that can't be won by button mashing.
CONS:
Story Mode - Trash. There is little to no story. Think of somewhere in the midst of Left 4 Dead, and Street Fighter IV. Each character has their own ending cutscene and cutscenes in between fights, that show hints of where the next battle will take place, but that's it. There's your story. There are 5 fights to each character's story and takes about 10 minutes to complete each. I love having the Star Wars characters in the game, but I still have no idea why they are in the game, and why the Lightsabers aren't destroying everythiing in their path.
Ring Out - I despise the dang Ringing out in this game. So many times have I been smacking the CPU around like a rag doll, to have them counter, and then ring me out so that I lose. Online, a lot of people will abuse it, and try to force the ring out. In my personal opinion, the game would be much better without the Ring outs.
Online Leveling system - I personally don't like it. You get points per match, and it'll tell you how much points you have now, and how much to level up. If you have 200/400, you need to max out your points (400/400), and then win a game. If you have 399/400, and win a match, get 200 points, you don't level up. You have to max your points first, and then win. I personally don't like it, it would be much more fair to level up automatically once you obtain the points.
I feel the pros outweight the cons, and it's a fun game if you give it a chance. An obtainable 1000 G's, and I would at least rent the game, or pick it up to keep if you can find for $20 or less. | video-games_xbox |
Clumsy and Ridiculous. I've been anxiously awaiting "Jaws Unleashed" for months now despite not really hearing much about the game. No reviews or the like have influenced me; my excitement simply comes from the idea that I can play as a dangerous shark rather than be the helpless victim trying to avoid said shark.
Now that I've purchased the game and have spent some time swimming around and destroying things, I wonder why I looked forward to this game. Only an hour or so into the game, I've become annoyed with several gameplay issues.
Controlling Jaws is a tough affair. Even with the "Shark Vision" lock-on style, aligning the shark with boats, swimmers and sea life is clumsy and frustrating. To have to hold down a button to swim, direct yourself with an analog and hold down a trigger button to charge is a handful. ..and all to simply miss and have to turn around to try again is even worse. Some may find the controls to take but a small amount of time to learn, but others may get overly frustrated.
Levels are set up so that therein, you can take part in minor missions or story-related ones that'll progress the game further. Beating missions will grant you points to spend on improving your skills at swimming, hunger control and other shark-related abilities. This is very cool, though I am not sure how practical it is.
Also, finding scattered body bags (!) and license plates add to the fun of exploration. However, since you have to eat fairly often to stay alive, exploring is a bit of a bear. Real great whites don't have to eat as often. Yes, this is a game, but hey, games should be fun, right? Hunger should have immediately been a slow process...not requiring to spend your points on keeping Jaws "full."
Early in the game, Jaws is captured and taken to a lab for observation. Of course, you have to get loose and swim back to the sea. Strangely, however, you have to grab a scientist and take him over to a card reader that will open an underwater door for you to escape through. This seems very, very complicated and silly and I found it a bit ridiculous that I had to complete this task in order to progress the game. I'm sure that if I were a scientist and I had been attacked and pulled around by a deadly shark, I'd have the ability to swipe my key card for him. Again, this is a game, but having to do this is beyond stupid.
At a "low" price of $29.99, this game is barely worth it. I'd suggest renting it or waiting 'til used copies start flooding your local game trader because unless you're a Jaws fan, there's really no reason to play this game. I may recommend "Jaws Unleashed" to Dreamcast-era "Ecco the Dolphin" fans, but that's a stretch.
AT LEAST, after keeping the game on pre-order for months, I was able to score one of those nifty Jaws keychains. It's not cheaply made, as it doubles as a bottle opener! Very nice! (Better than the game.) | video-games_xbox |
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