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It's Another GOW Game. There's really no need to read this review, either you've played every Gears of War game for hundreds of hours and you absolutely love it, you've played some of the games and think they're OK, or you've avoided all of the Gears games. Nothing is going to change your mind, especially this game. By no means is GOW3 bad, but there is absolutely nothing different or new in this game. To me, it feels like a game that receives annual releases like Call of Duty and all sports games. The gameplay is exactly the same as the previous titles, except that it has less crazy and awesome set pieces and battles than in previous games. There are basically only 3 kind of cool moments that are memorable in the game, the Kraken battle at the beginning of the game that is really pretty basic fare, a flying beast battle at the end of the game, and a really fun but short semi-Tower Defense event where the horde are attacking your base. I also found the way that the Lambent spawn is annoying. Previously, the horde coming out of the ground kind of made sense, but now, I can't figure out how the lambent pop out of the stalks with weapons, it just doesn't make sense.
The story, like the previous iterations, is probably the weakest part of the game. I won't go into any spoilers (not that anyone would care), but it essentially boils down to just finding your father who has created a Deus Ex Machina weapon that will destroy all of the glowy creatures and perhaps the horde as well to end the trilogy. There definitely isn't as much glaring machismo in this game, but it's replaced with a bit of childishness, where I thought it was really awkward how Marcus kept talking to his Dad. It especially wasn't helped by the voice actor who sounded really weird in the dialog where he talks to his father or about him. Also, there isn't any character development, and they are all completely interchangeable, making me feel absolutely no emotion when certain characters die. Their deaths by the way were completely pointless, there was no real reason for them to occur, and for one they didn't even explain why it happened, other than for the developers to cut off possible loose ends. The big story reveals are really just obvious duds, and they end up adding more new unanswerable questions than answering old ones. However, no one plays the Gears of War games for the story, so take my complaints with a grain of salt.
The weapons are another thing I found annoying about the games, I almost feel like since they made one of the greatest FPS weapons in the chainsaw machine gun, they don't want to make anything that would trump it. Every other weapon of the game has multiple limitations artificially attached to make it so no one that plays the game will ever not be carrying the chainsaw gun. Most of these limits are obvious and seen in other games, like the kick-ass weapons having very limited ammo and reload times, but the artificial limitations are the most obvious in the new machine gun, with a bayonet instead of a chainsaw. This gun is the most unstable of any gun I've ever shot in a video game, where even if you try to fire it in bursts the reticle will be erratically moving all across the screen. The loading screen says the gun makes up for it by packing a bigger punch, but I didn't really notice any difference. It's a shame though, as charging with the bayonet out is pretty awesome. There is another new gun that is a modified rocket launcher that goes under cover, but it is very seldom available, and felt kind of gimmicky. My least favorite of the weapons is the sniper rifle, which is the worst iteration of it in any FPS. It only has one shot, and when reloading you lose your positioning. It's just really annoying, and I feel like if they can create all of the other weapons in the game, they could make a sniper rifle with a clip.
The multiplayer is the other big part of the game that I'm sure a lot of people would love, but I'm just not a huge fan of. Gears competitive multiplayer just isn't my cup of tea, I find it to be very slow, yet the cover based mechanics of the main game just aren't as applicable in multiplayer. It's also frustrating, where if you die a certain amount of times you run out of respawns. This is fine, as it makes sense that a weaker player doesn't bring down the whole team, but it it extremely annoying when you have to just sit there and watch other people have fun. Then if you get tired of it and quit, the game can punish you by taking away almost a whole level, and the levels take a decent amount of time to increase. For co-op play, the only real disadvantage to it is that the whole gameplay is so tied around the 4 player team, that when you're playing solo the AI can at times be frustrating. The most memorable moments are the times where you're supposed to be stealthy. For some reason, none of the AI characters will pick up a sniper rifle and take out the other guard when there are two of them. So it is practically impossible to get through those sections in solo-play without alerting the camp, and spawning a crazy amount of soldiers. Thankfully though, I didn't experience too many glitches with the partner AI.
So in the end, if you've liked the previous Gears of War games, I'm sure you'll love GOW3. While if you don't like the series, there's nothing that will change your mind here. | video-games_xbox |
Smooth, Sleek, and Sexy. We bought two of these controllers to replace, <a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/Xbox-360-Wireless-Controller-Pink/dp/B000VSDON6/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">Xbox 360 Wireless Controller Pink</a> that we purchased in 2008 with the original purchase of our <a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/Xbox-360-Pro-Value-Bundle-Old-Version/dp/B000W91YTA/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">Xbox 360 Pro Value Bundle [Old Version</a>] and another wireless controller that we have had for years.
I really like this new controller. As a woman, I have smaller hands than my husband and usually look for one of the smaller controllers, but this controller fits nicely in my hands and I can play for hours without any hand fatigue. The triggers and push knobs feel like theyve been texturized, so it is easy to know where your fingers are without having to look down. The 4 way button is a beautiful graphite color which is offset from the controllers shiny body. The standard Y, B, A, and X buttons are just that standard.
The only thing that the controllers don't have that I wish was standard is rechargeable batteries. We have been using them to play <a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/LEGO-Dimensions-Starter-Pack-Xbox-360/dp/B00VMB5VCI/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">LEGO Dimensions Starter Pack - Xbox 360</a> and knew we would be either need to buy stock in a battery company to offset the cost of buying batteries or pick up rechargeable batteries. So, we bought <a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/Nyko-Charge-Base-360-S-for-Xbox-360/dp/B00273Z9WM/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">Nyko Charge Base 360 S for Xbox 360</a> to replace <a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/Xbox-360-Quick-Charge-Kit/dp/B000EYF88G/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">Xbox 360 Quick Charge Kit</a> just in case it was the battery charger that had gone bad and not the controller
I paid full price for this item and I am not affiliated with the seller or receiving compensation for the review. Personally, I feel like you need to know why I chose to leave a review.
I enjoy writing and I have found that I love to review products that are tried and true, new to me, or new to the marketplace in general.
Finally, I chose those to write about this product because I know that a solid review may help others make an informed buying decision.
I hope that this review helps you with your decision to purchase. | video-games_xbox |
A review from an avid user of the Xbox 360 Trash Talk. We've being using these things for several years now ever since we saw video reviews of the Trash Talk and Smack Talk products by Youtube user "CheapyD". Overall, we've been pleasantly surprised by it's performance and have purchased more than just one. Never had any problems installing the software and drivers in either XP or VISTA (32 bit).
Please Note: The product's software and drivers are designed for 32 bit operating systems. We posted a discussion on how you can possibly get it to work on a 64 bit system. As well as a work around for those who might still be having problems in VISTA (32 bit). That discussion thread is located on the bottom of the product page.
Here's a short list of pro's and con's that we came up with...
Pro's:
1. Digital! Uses software to drag and drop the clips onto the device from your PC when connected by USB.
2. Software supports, WAV, MP3, and WMA clips.
3. Small and fits directly into the headset connection on official xbox 360 controllers.
4. Most importantly, DOES NOT require additional batteries. It's powered by the game controller that it connects into.
5. 4 buttons with 4 soundbanks per button for a total of up to 16 seperate clips.
6. No restrictions on length of individual clips. Device has a 1 minute overall capacity.
7. The software can automatically shorten clips that are longer than available memory.
8. You can hear the clips as they are being played through your headset.
Con's:
1. Overall memory is limited to one minute. Would really like to see an updated version with the ability to expand the memory capacity using an microSD card or something similar.
2. The soldered wiring inside can come loose if you do not handle the product properly. We recommend you don't throw it down it on the ground when it's connected to your controller.
3. Quality of clips containing MUSIC is poor. However, this is NOT the result of the Trash Talk, but rather the Xbox 360 voice quality when you record audio or play clips on Xbox Live. Fortunately, regular talking or clips containing someone singing without music come in nice and clear.
Here are a few things to consider when comparing the Trash Talk by Datel to the Smack Talk by GameDR.
1. Smack Talk requires 3 AAA batteries, NOT included!
2. Smack Talk limits each clip to 5 seconds.
3. Smack Talk is HUGE compared to size of the Trash Talk.
4. Smack Talk can only record analog audio from the line (headphone) out of a seperate device (MP3 player, computer soundcard).
5. Smack Talk only has 5 soundbank buttons.
I definitely recommend checking out youtube user "CheapyD" for his in depth review of both the Smack Talk and Trash Talk products respectively. Although the Smack Talk is at least 1/4 of the price of the Trash Talk, you are really limited featurewise and you are going to be spending more time and money on 3 AAA batteries which aren't even included. | video-games_xbox |
Great game, but not quite a slam dunk. Every year, it's the same debate. Should I get the newest incarnation of NBA Live with all it's promises of better gameplay than the year before or should I stick with the reliable, yet bland 2k series? Well this year, I actually find myself playing NBA Live 08 more than I do NBA 2k8. That's not a knock to 2k8, but I find Live 08 to be a more straight-forward basketball experience. There are no crazy gimmicks that detract from the gameplay.
So what's new this year? Everything. The game has been completely rebuilt from the ground up with gameplay being the biggest improvement. Low post players can now dominate the paint with a variety of offensive moves (spins, hook shots, pump fakes, etc.) Cross-overs and juke moves using the right thumbstick are more fluid and realistic and new signature moves are also a nice addition. For instance, while holding the right trigger and pushing either the dunk or shoot button, your superstar will pull off a power move only unique to him that increases the chances of having the shot go in. There's even a nice video tutorial during the shoot around session at the main menu which shows each superstar's primary signature move.
The graphics have been given a complete overhaul and surprisingly, I found that the player models in Live 08 were much better than the ones in 2k8. Facial modeling is superb and dead on. EA really went out of their way to create eaThe courts look accurate and are cleanly rendered. The crowds are also very nice and don't resemble spray-painted card board boxes as they do in other sports titles.
Despite the vast improvement in this year's game as opposed to the year before, there are still a couple of glaring problems that are downright maddening. The worst is the ridiculous loading times before a game. I once clocked it at four minutes. Online games are not much better.
The A.I. substitutions can also be a little loopy as point guards will occasionally be substituted for centers. Point blank shots near the rim tend to clang off the metal and there are instances where a player with the ball will be standing clearly out of bounds and nothing is called.
Despite these bugs, I still enjoy playing Live 08. It's not much better than 2k8, but I appreciate the fluidity of the controls and the excellent visuals and player models. Good job, EA. | video-games_xbox |
Great Controller, Poor Service. Extra buttons are great.
Adjusting the tension doesn't do much.
Mouse click face buttons are great.
Right stick broke after a couple of months.
The controller was great at first. The extra buttons helped with a lot of games, the mouse click face buttons feel much better, and the d-pad is less of a nightmare than the Microsoft controller.
Adjusting the tension didn't work as expected; the tension only increased the further the stick was moved from a neutral position, instead of at all positions. It helped a little, but isn't worth the extra money over the standard edition.
The problem is the right stick started acting up after a couple of months. Actually, it started acting down. I noticed it the night I started playing Skyrim. The stick's default is down, even when it's in a neutral position, so my character kept looking down even while I wasn't touching the button. This made it completely unusable. It also ruined a couple of races for me in Forza 4 because I kept looking behind me.
I can't find a number to call on Razer's website, [...], to ask them to refund my money. If anybody knows how I can do this, that would be great.
UPDATE 03.01.2012
After writing this review, Razer contacted me and replaced the defective device without any problems.
After using it again, I can also say that the sticks are lighter (when loosened all the way) and feel like they have less of a dead zone than the standard 360 controller. I've been using it for Mass Effect 2, and I'm getting more headshots than I ever did with the standard controller.
It would be nice if the bumpers and MFBs had the same "mouse click" to them as the face buttons, but it's not a deal breaker and it's nice to be able to reload and move from cover without taking my thumb off the right stick.
If you are having issues with your Onza TE, go to [...]. In lieu of mailing mine in, they just had me email a picture of the defective one with the cord cut and the serial number visible. I originally gave this controller a 1 star because it broke, but since they replaced it promptly I'm bumping it up to 4, because it's a great piece of equipment.
UPDATE 01.05.2013
After a couple more months of use, my replacement controller had the right stick go bad, just like the first one. I contacted Razer immediately, expecting the same kind of expeditious service I got the first time around. Instead, I was ignored. It has been five months and I have contacted them twice more, and still I have had no response. I plan on never buying a Razer product again due to their lack of service when I contacted them without having written a scathing review first, which is a shame considering how much I enjoyed using my Onza TE. | video-games_xbox |
Not quite what I'd call a RPG. Ok, I just picked up this game in Xbox form from a local store. I've been very excited about this game as Xbox has been sorely lacking in RPGs as most successful ones are found overseas, whose licences are quickly snapped up by the big players over there. So with hopes soaring I pop the thing in. Now note, I've never played any of the previous Elder Scrolls games, and I haven't really seen this one. One things that puts me off is that I feel like I'm playing Halo. The controls and the first person view make me instinctively want to frag some people. The combat is realtime action, which again, puts it further from what I'd consider a regular RPG. To me this game is more of a first person adventure. Now, I still think this is an excellent game, I just think it's not billed properly. The only other thing that really detracts from this game in my mind so far is the character modelling. The characters look like they came from halflife, certainly would have been excellent 1 or 2 years ago, but now just run of the mill, if not mediocre. Look at what the Xbox is capable of in Dead or Alive 3, and then sit and look at the characters in Morrowind, and you'll double checking to make sure you have the right console turned on. Now that the dirty laundry is aired, time to get to the good stuff. It seems the time that they saved with the characters got spent on the rich enviroments. Everything from the ground up is a visual treat. I've found myself very frequently stopping at various points and turning around to look at how cool everything looks. I wish I could say the right words to describe how amazing the scenery is and how detailed. Even the interactive objects are well done, and there are plenty of those to go around. You can pick up just about anything not nailed down. Within the first 10 minutes of the game you get to start looting up silverware, goblets, etc (which helps bankroll some starting gear =D ). Another thing nice is just how little you HAVE to do in this game. If you don't want to go somewhere that someone told you, no problem! Sit back, wander around, go do something else! Kill the person that gave you the task! It really doesn't matter. Supposedly you can kill every single NPC in the game excepting one, and complete the game's main objective, very nice. Heck, if you're evil you can kill that one too. The free form nature though will leave some players wondering, "where should I go now?" This is minimized by an automatic journal that is readily accessible and keeps track of quests and tasks you've been made aware of. Again, you don't even HAVE to go do them! Another amazing thing is the way you can customize what you want your character to be. If you want to spend the time at it, you CAN create that uber battle axe wielding, plate armor wearing, wizard of doom. As long as you have the time to spend working on it, any combination of skills can be had. I believe the total possible is said to be in the billions. Anyhow, I definately would reccommend this game, it's going to be a winner, not something overhyped and underperforming.
Pros:
Beautiful backgrounds and enviroment
Very detailed interactive objects (silverware fork, anyone?)
Very open ended
Extreme degree of customization allowed, with many options available
Cons:
Character models blockier than they should be for a current game
Constantly pushed back release date, this game is going to have to really shine to remove the bitter taste in mouth from that | video-games_xbox |
Best 360 Football Game, however some issue arise. Madden 07, Hall of Fame edition is a just the same Madden 07 with another Bonus DVD with Features. I will discuss that later.
For the game itself, some features include run to daylight which gives the player the ability to set up blocks using the FB/OL, etc. This is useful in game but the CPU RB sometimes makes poor decisions including running away from my block. However it can be remedied by switching really quickly from the blocker to the rb.
Overall, the gameplay itself is improved especially for the deep ball. Before any pump fake lob is easy catch but now it is remedied a bit. Even though, the lob is still prevalent the SS or FS goes over to cover. Running is more fun due to the RTD but running on the higher levels is still difficult.
Mini-games and Practice move back in for the 360 and are much important specifically for tournament players for the Madden Challenge. For any beginning player who wants to improve their skills, mini-games help.
Franchise gets a kick with Mel Kiper Juniors picks for the upcoming draft and the ability to mini-camp your players with the mini-games but to be honest its tough to add anything brand new to a mode like this.
Superstar Mode is in the 360 and for the people who ever wanted to figure out if they could have made it, the mode is challenging and fun. However, ratings seem to be a tad high and you are always the starter this can be remedied by editing the depth chart. The most important part is the camera angles a la ESPN NFL 2K4 First Player mode, you play as your superstar on the field in a first player angle only as that player. If you enjoy playing this mode in Madden 06, this version is much more interesting.
The Major issue with both of these modes is the HOF players unlocked during the game via MAdden Gamer Profile, these players occassionally pop up in franchise and superstar mode. This can be remedied by saving the first default roster and then entering the mode.
Now to get to the bonus DVD, it includes the first eight episodes of Madden Nation from ESPN which shows the best tourney players going head to head for 100,000.
A retrospective on John Madden coaching career which is very entertaining for anyone who has no clue about the coach John Madden.
A look at the music of Madden from MTV2, for the music fan at heart and madden fan.
Finally it includes a behind the scenes look at Madden 07 with ESPN's Trey Wingo which gives players some insight and tips on how to play the game.
Overall the money is a bit steep for the Hall of Fame edition but is well worth the value basing the knowledge that the regular game is only ten dollars less.
If you are a Madden Challenge player, I would suggest buying the game for teh XBOX since that is the current format.
Overall this is the best football game for the 360 and defintely worth the 70.00 including the bonus features. | video-games_xbox |
Again, Turtle Beach delivers a quality gaming headset; looking forward to using it on Halo 5. I really like these headphones for Xbox One gaming on Destiny and Smite. My brother and I had Turtle Beach headsets for the Xbox 360.
Apparently you can get some sort of converter or something that allows use of an Xbox 360 headset on an Xbox One, but I did not know that until I bough this one. I probably would have decided to go with this either way because it was designed to be compatible with Xbox One in the first place. I am assuming there will be better quality and ease of use than in using the converter option.
The headphones are comfortable and offer separate volume controls for the game and chat audio. The wire connecting to the controller is insulated with braided material rather than something with a plastic or rubber feel. This does draw power from the controller; but, on the other hand, it also wireless from the TV which is a nice improvement.
You can hear your own voice as a part of the game chat audio channel. This is helpful to prevent you from yelling (which I apparently did on the Xbox 360) and to make you aware of any annoying background noise coming from your own environment (such as breathing into the mic which I also did on the Xbox 360). I find that really annoying, personally. If only they had told me sooner I would have done something about it... Anyway, if you do not prefer to hear yourself, I do not think that you can turn this feature off.
The buttons used to change the volume are really weird. On the left, you select game or chat while on the right you increase or decrease the volume. This is difficult to use because there is no indicator as to which one you are about to adjust. Therefore, it seems it is best to always select game or chat before increasing or decreasing the volume. I would suggest that they put the game increase and decrease on one side and the chat increase and decrease on the other. That way you would just know which one you were about to adjust every time based on it being on the right or left side. Simpler is always better.
I am happy with these headphones. My brother bought some Polk headphones (as they enter the gaming headset market from building quality audio equipment). He said that others struggle to hear him on his mic. His mic can hide (slide inside the housing and click into place) when not in use. Obviously that is way more cool than a mini microphone boom complete with its own foam cover like on this Turtle Beach, but it apparently might not work nearly as well. In their defense, the mic on these Turtle Beach headphones does detach. This is helpful in storage, but do not lose it!
On a side note, I got this on Amazon Prime Day with "discounts better than Black Friday," and it was an extra $5 off from the day before. I am not sure that was worth all the hype and advertising. | video-games_xbox |
Fallout 3:Say Goodbye to Your Free Time. After playing about 25 hours of the game, I feel I can post a decent review.
I won't waste a lot of time explaining everything, (most of the top reviews covered that) But I will give you my take on the game. This is the type of game that not everyone will love. If you enjoy open ended, go do whatever you want types of games, then this is for you. If you like to be sent on a certain mission and know exactly what you are suppose to be doing at all times, then you might be frustrated. Besides the main quest the game gives you very little guidance.
I've played through most of the fallout games, (Even Brotherhood of the Steel) and I can say that for the most part bethesda did a very good job. The tone, colors, gore and mood that is set throughout the game stays true to the previous games.
The game play itself works mostly like any first person shooter. (There is an option to go into the over the shoulder cam, or the third person cam also.) You are able to use melee weapons, pistols, rifles, shotguns, missile launchers, etc.. Aim with the left stick, zoom with the right.
The only difference is the V.A.T.S. system. I could compare this to something like the system seen in Knights of the Old Republic. When you encounter an enemy, you are able to hit the V.A.T.S. button and time is stopped. Your target is displayed and you are able to target certain parts of the body. Limbs, Torso, Head, or Weapon. When you select the target and fire, the action goes into slow motion and follows the shot. This is by far my favorite part of the game. When you connect on a shot, the slow motion action is better than that you would see in most films. Absolute Awesomeness!
My only minor complaint with the game is this. When you are trying to reach certain area's of the map, you walk off in that direction, but you often encounter broken buildings, or things that are blocking your way that there is no way to climb over or get around. So, you have to turn around and walk all the way back where you came from. Now, some may say that this adds to the game by giving you a backdrop of what nuclear war does to a city, or makes you pay for the choices you make, but I feel it was just a way to give the programmers an easy way out, and only giving you one path to a destination.
All in all this game is great fun. Two thumbs way up. | video-games_xbox |
Go Beyond Death (And Have Fun The Entire Way. Sequel to the widely acclaimed Dark Souls and finale to the "Souls" trilogy, Dark Souls 2 puts sword and shield (or sorcery, or hammer, or axe...) into your hands once again in hopes that you can triumph death and despair in this RPG by FromSoftware. Bigger, meaner, and more epic than either of its predecessors Dark Souls 2 represents a stunning achievement in design and execution. It welcomes new players with a friendlier tutorial and improved mechanics, but veterans of the Souls series need not be worried. Dark Souls 2 is brutal and challenging, testing you every step of the way with tough bosses and overwhelming odds. But Dark Souls 2 is also beautiful and stunning, featuring a world that is well worth exploring every nook and cranny, from dark and dead pits to harrowing civilizations long lost in time above the clouds. Dark Souls 2 is nothing short of a masterpiece, through and through.
Story, Presentation, and World 10/10/10 10
The story of Dark Souls 2 is a fantastical tale of kingdoms lost in time, ruled by monsters and hostile forces ready to challenge the player. Similar to the previous games, Dark Souls 2 is a mildly minimalistic game in terms of delivering information; the player must explore and discover most of the world himself or herself. Its an impressive story and world, with a staggering amount of thought behind its deep lore and characters. Its a world filled with mystery, where the players imagination is key to understanding and connecting the loose ties between characters and their place in Drangleic. And Im sure the ending will be something discussed by Souls fans for years to come.
Dark Souls 2 also features a significant upgrade in presentation values. Things are cleaner, nuanced elements in character building are more clear and menus are designed with a greater emphasis on ease of use. Its all still very much like the previous games, just refined and improved to perfection.
Graphics and Art Direction 9/10 9.5
The world of Drangleic is an epic land ripe for exploration. Half of this experience, though, is the staggeringly huge variety of places youll visit while on your quest. Decrepit crypts, castles in the sky, and even the garbage bin of Drangleic itself, the art direction for Dark Souls 2 continues the FromSoftwares creative trend in developing horrendous creatures and placing them in a fascinating world. There are tons of unique bosses and enemies out for your hollow head, and each and every one is animated with a certain professionalism only a Japanese studio could produce. Along with these disturbing denizens of Drangleic, the places youll visit are equally impressive; not simply because of their design but also the character, increased color pallet and pure imagination every new area brings. To say that Dark Souls 2s art direction is great would be a crime; it is simply stunning, and is one of a kind.
Graphically, Dark Souls 2 is superior to its predecessors in many ways. Youll be happy to know that the game runs at a steady 30 FPS throughout (PS3) to 60 FPS (360 version is more consistently smoother, PS3 does hit 60 FPS in enclosed and small areas) and technically performs without a hitch. The big improvement here is the animations, which have benefited immensely from being motion captured. Elements of your character react with realism, and enemies feel lifelike and move like they should. The improved lighting engine creates a surprising sense of immersion (although is not the lighting engine we were advertised last year), and the improved physics engine is icing on the cake (characters armor, such as loincloths and hoods flow in the wind and react realistically). Grainy textures and anti-aliasing problems do occur more often than I wouldve like to see (and are simply limitations of the Xbox 360 and PS3). The dumbed down lighting engine is a disappointment as well as the grainy textures and various visual hiccups, making a next gen version of Dark Souls 2 all the more tantalizing.
Gameplay and Design 10/10 10
Where as Demons Souls introduced us to the impossibly challenging difficulty the series is known for and Dark Souls improved the online and flow of combat, Dark Souls 2 has perfected what the series is known for. Tight and claustrophobic combat headlines the game, while rewarding exploration, online PvP, summoning and aiding other players are all improved. Dark Souls 2 continues the trend of endless tactics with the numerous amount of weapons, which all feel distinct and fun to use. Everything has been improved, refined, and polished. The classic gameplay is still as challenging as ever, too. Fears of Dark Souls 2 dumbing down the difficulty and level of challenge have gone completely unwarranted. If anything, this may be the most challenging of all the Souls games, but also the most fair. Yes, youll die, get punished because of it, and lose your souls (which can be retrieved within the next life) and your human status, if you're human. But Dark Souls 2, unlike its previous entries, clearly explains the effects of items, materials, and penalties. You die because you're unfamiliar with a boss, area, or unique enemy tactic. You only come back stronger, more aware of the dangers you will face and more capable to tackle them quicker with more precision. Of the 245 times I died through my play-through, I rarely felt cheated. Only a few times (fighting optional bosses and online PvP) did I feel this way.
In terms of design, Dark Souls 2 is built with the player in mind. Beginning the adventure is tough, as is every video game. Healing items are rare in the beginning, and the Estus Flask only offers a swig at first. But as you explore this hostile and beautiful world, youll be rewarded with new and better armors, lifegems, status ailment healers, new weapons and sometimes the rare shards to improve the Estus Flask. Exploration doesnt get more rewarding than this. Dark Souls 2 also offers a huge collection of memorable boss battles; everything from quick thinking to pure dodging skill is required throughout the many, many bosses that stand in your way. And you will take them all out, I believe in you! Dark Souls 2 is rewarding every step of the way; from its improved, tighter combat, intricate level design and unique character building this is an RPG that sacrifices nothing its famous for, but rather embraces its flaws and only improves upon them.
Sound Design and Soundtrack 9/10 9.5
Dark Souls 2 will immerse you in more ways than one, and thats mainly because of its subtle sound design. Some say the best sound design is one that you don't even notice; Dark Souls 2 is accomplished in this aspect. Swords will clash and spells will be cast, and they all sound great. The ambience while exploring each area really shines brightly as well. From creepy distant cackles to hollow and decrepit crypts, everything sounds as it should. Voice acting, a small part of all the Souls games, has been improved and expanded here and it is all delivered very well.
Dark Souls 2 features, hands down, the best score for any of the Souls games. Each boss fight has its own unique theme, memorable and musical enough to listen to outside the game. The tragic and intense orchestration and score really highlights each boss fight, making each an assault on the senses and emotions (and the emotional depth of the soundtrack itself is stunning). And don't worry, the classic finale aria is beautiful and thoroughly composed with a purpose. Mr. Motoi Sakruaba, take a bow.
Lasting Appeal 10
Unlike previous Souls games, once the credits roll there is still more to do. An altered new game plus allows people to continue to explore past the credits which is excellent for those who want to continue their adventure and clear optional areas. The game does have the classic new game plus, though, in which you do less damage while enemies do more. There are multiple new challenges that await players in new game plus, all of which require new tactics and skills. Aside from that, players can re-spec their characters to try different builds, join and work through multiple covenants, beat optional bosses and work your way through PvP. Dark Souls 2 offers a lot to do post-credits.
Final Score - 10/10
Dark Souls 2 took me just about 52 hours to complete (final time - 51:50) and I died 245 times. Oddly enough, though, every minute within this world was incredible. Drangleic is a gorgeous and oddly inviting world to explore, and your adventure will take you to the far corners of this hostile place, fighting off monsters and battling players along the way. It was an immensely satisfying and enjoyable game, and most of all it felt incredibly fair the entire way through. It is not only one of the best games I have ever played, but it gives reasons for video games to exist. Only in video games can you receive the same sense of exploration and discovery that Dark Souls 2 offers, and thats why its such a grand masterpiece and a testament to video games as a medium.
(average = 9.8, rounding to 10 based on 20 point scale) | video-games_xbox |
Dark, sarcastic, humorous, worth playing, not a revolutionary leap in gaming. I wouldn't call myself 'a gamer' but it just happens that I played the <a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/Elder-Scrolls-IV-Oblivion-Game-of-the-Year-Edition/dp/B000TG72PG/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Game of the Year Edition</a> last year and I enjoyed it immensely. Once there was little left to explore in the world of Cyrodiil and the Shivering Isles got fully mapped and pacified the wait began for Fallout 3. I am still hoping for a 'Scrolls of the Elders V' installment some day but, Fallout was what was in the pipeline so all I could do was hope for something wonderful to come out from the geniuses at Bethesda. I will first list my impressions of the game, so far.
The game engine:
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Technically, Fallout 3 inherits a lot from Oblivion. Sure, the landscape is very different but you can do in Fallout just about the kind of things that you could do in Oblivion: walk, run, be stealthy, pick up things, drop them, throw missiles, engage in hand to hand combat, have conversations with the inhabitants and pick up your replies from a a list of possible answers, use potions to heal, be nice to other people and trade or make friends or be nasty and steal and so on. Like in Oblivion, you can fast-travel to locations you've discovered for as long as enemies aren't too close, you can sleep in a bed to regain your strength and heal you wounds, you can get sick and your sickness can be cured. Like in Oblivion, the game can be a series of quests or you can walk the land and live off the land if you don't feel like doing what others ask you to do. You develop certain skills but the skills engine is a bit different - you can pick the skills you wish to develop as you level up and, unlike Oblivion, you won't become a better athlete if you keep jumping up and down one thousand times.
New in Fallout is the V.A.T.S. system that allows you to stop time and pick up specific body parts to hit when in combat. It's not so bad and, from time to time, you get to see pretty good slow-motion shots of your enemy's head exploding, jets of dark blood coming out of his neck. It's fun and it's preferable to real time shooting when you're a little short on ammo.
The Pip-Boy device is nice but it's just a streamlined version of any RPG's status/inventory facility. It does allow you to listen to the radio but, after a little playing with the radio on, I learned that listening to the radio while on a mission can be VERY dangerous to your character's health as you can't hear the bad guys approaching and they CAN hear you, loud and clear, from quite a distance.
Building your character:
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Also like in Oblivion, your past actions have future consequences and this begins shortly after your 'birth'. You have the ability to design your good looks, move 'points' around to enhance or diminish certain attributes, pick 'perks' and distribute experience points as you level up. Again, like in Oblivion, your skills can be enhanced by reading 'skills books' and you can be trained if you find someone willing to do it.
The story line:
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It's quite simple and it's basically 'find your daddy', following some disturbance inside the completely insulated 'vault' where you spent your entire life up to that point. Your father breaks out and your first quest is for you to escape as well and then try to figure out the world outside. Well... it's not exactly pretty. A couple hundred years post nuclear Armageddon, people in the Washington, D.C. area struggle to survive and stay away from mutants, bandits, crazies or political opportunists. The only way to gather information about your father is to do others small favors in exchange for information and you need to keep yourself healthy, fit and well-armed while at it. You fight the bad guys and, depending on what you want your character to be like, you could do bad things to the 'good' people too but, remember, there's a price to pay for everything.
The art:
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The word is a dull-brown-gray, slightly cartoonish version of post-nuclear D.C. You will recognize some of the 'old' buildings: the Capitol, the Washington Monument, the Air and Space Museum. You will encounter quite a variety of human characters and, up to this point, I've been interacting with a relatively large number of 'monsters', ranging from two-headed cows and fire-spewing ants to giant and relatively hard to kill mutants.
The acting:
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The voices are good but, of course, this is a game and all spoken dialog is pre-recorded and, pretty soon, you will notice that characters will keep saying the same thing, over and over. Their closeup shots of their faces are not as bad as what you had in Oblivion but, let's say that there is some room for improvement in this area. The pre-release word was that the Fallout characters were a lot more intelligent than Oblivion's. Maybe they are but most characters' phrases portfolio is not that vast and you can have encounters where one grateful character stops you to offer you profuse thanks and some small token of appreciation for what you've done and, 5 seconds after she says goodbye, if you try to talk to her again all you get is a 'leave me alone' or 'get lost' reply.
The several milestone encounters - with the head of the 'family', with Three Dog, with Dr. Lee are quite well acted.
The monsters you fight are more intelligent than Oblivion's. The more humanoid ones are capable of attacking, retreating when wounded (only to come back at you later), working together toward your defeat.
The bugs:
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And, not, I'm not talking about the fire ants. There are a few. There is the much-discussed G.O.A.T. exam glitch where you end up waiting forever for the examiner to hand you the exam papers - and I had to restart the game because of that. Then, on a couple of occasions, I found myself trapped and unable to move (load a previous save) or, after sitting on a bench, the world around turned very, very strange and the 'reload' was the only way out of that, I've met an invisible trader that I could hear but he wasn't anywhere around but, somehow, I was able to pass through his beast of burden. All minor bugs, except for the G.O.A.T. glitch.
Game's complexity:
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I can see how not everyone will agree but I found Oblivion a much more complex world. There are more attributes to tweak in Oblivion, you can pick from several races, join guilds, train and develop many skills, explore dozens of dungeons, forts, ruins, visit many villages, towns and cities, interact with more characters, operate on several realms but maybe, after only 20 hours or so of Fallout (level 7) I've only scratched the surface and, if that's the case, I will come back to this review and correct it.
The humor:
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There's as lot of it in Fallout. A lot of it is visual, three Stooges-like where you slap your enemies around and see their body parts flying. There is also some very subtle and not so subtle political humor, which I found very fascinating and quite refreshing. And, of course, it's the way characters seem to relate and react to their sordid physical surroundings which could seem 'funny' to us, since we are not 7th or 8th generation inhabitants of the post-nuclear wastelands.
Overall impression and rating:
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I like playing Fallout but mostly because Elders Scrolls V doesn't exist. It's a good, solid game with some improvements over Oblivion but, as far as I can see, lacking a lot of innovation. It's like the big automakers developing a standard chassis and then building all kinds of different models on it. Oblivion and Fallout are both built on the same chassis and it shows - the colors and the shapes may be different and there may be different options but, basically, deep down, they are family.
Compared to Oblivion, Fallout's, positive improvements are its voice acting, there's more humor, the V.A.T.S. system is a new innovation. On the lacking side, the Oblivion is a vast, colorful, hugely complex world compared to which Fallout's feels almost claustrophobic.
I am giving Fallout 3 a 4-star rating (it's really 3.5 rounded up) and I would recommend it as a 'buy' for giving us an interesting story told with more or less the same old tools when, one assumes, much better ones could have been developed.
________________________________
Dec. 27 Update:
SAVE YOUR GAME OFTEN AND KEEP MANY SAVES.
It turns out, the whole adventure can end quite abruptly and unexpectedly. And I'm not talking about you being killed, that is recoverable. I am talking about the entire game ending and, if you don't have a good save, the end is irreversible - no spoilers from me :). Once it ends, it's over so, if you really want to explore more of the Fallout world, your only option is to go to a save prior to a chain of events that would place you on a course that's impossible to change and leads to what I believe it's a premature end. In my case, I had just advanced to level 14 and I was about 80-90 hours into the game when I reached that end. Thankfully, I DID have many prior saves so I am now, that my character is finally well armed and armored, curiously exploring the landscape and engaging in quests that I would have otherwise missed.
I can't help but going back to Oblivion. It took a lot longer to complete the main story line in Oblivion and IT, in fact had THREE separate 'main' story lines (Oblivion proper, Shivering Isles and the Knights of the Nine) on the Game of the Year edition). I am now crossing some 'tees' and dotting some 'eyes' in Fallout but, overall, it's a lesser, shallower, smaller universe. | video-games_xbox |
nick kangs 2nd review. i reviewed this game once, and i explained a lot of the new features that the game had-create a trick, create a deck, etc, but here are some other important features of the game: the past tony hawk games had levels that weren't so thoughtful of great skateability, don't get me wrong, you could skate around, but there were so many limits. T.H.U.G. takes care of that problem. also, the levels of the past tony hawk games seemed more like they were skate parks designed with a city or other place in mind-kind of like a skatepark dressing up as a city area for halloween. but on tony hawks underground, its the opposite, it actually feels like you are in a city or in hawaii. theres so much stuff to skate, climb, grind, drive, skate, skate, skate and skate. oh, and did i mention theres so much stuff to skate? plus the areas to skate, and the methods used to get to places are so creative and flexible, but not to really take away from complete reality. also, it feels like the game is constantly rewarding you, and, unlike the past tony hawk games, you actually get a sense of completion, a sense of getting far. you don't just skip from level to level, theres actually some (at least) partially logical reason for you to head to moscow or vancouver. also, your goals have a LOT to do with the story itself, unlike what someone wrote! need to get back to america, but don't have any money? well, maybe if you run some erands for local russians, then you could make money to hop on a plane to new jersey. its cool, too, because eventually you might have to go back to a level in order to get people you used to know to join your skate team, and, in order to do that, you'd have to show some of them your skills, which is another type of goal pertaining to the story. the game is creative, beautiful, seemingly nonlinear, very cusomizeable, and extremely fun. heres some pros and cons:
PROS:
-story is a nice addition
-good graphics
-highly functional and extremely well designed levels
-tons of extras and bonus things like:
a.videos
b."create a..." modes for decks, skaters, tricks, and parks
c.game demos
-hundreds of tricks
-realistic animations
-in-game elements relating to the real history of skateboarding
CONS:
-bad voice acting
-some things in the park creator could be refined (cant use the street lights near the streets, and the roads don't match up perfectly) | video-games_xbox |
Amazing Halo Deal, Poor Performance. If you're interested in the multiplayer, I'd look elsewhere for now as after multiple patches the developers have not fixed the dedicated servers and user interface crippling online play.
If you're only interested in the campaign then go for it as, for me, the campaign has no solo issues and only a handful of online issues. I was able to complete every campaign online with another friend only running into framerate issues in Halo 3 and crashing in Halo: CE (we played CE at/close to launch). The most detrimental aspect to our play was the user-interface as it was the cause of many screen lock-ups and crashes. We also had to re-launch the entire game after a crash as we could not rejoin our lobby together otherwise. Halo 2: Anniversary is super cool and a blast to experience, particularly the redone cutscenes.
For those familiar with previous online Halos you should remember the fileshare system where you could distribute your maps, videos, gametypes, and screenshots over Xbox LIVE to other players as well as across the web via either the Bungie or Halo Waypoint website. 343 Industries does not have an online file browser currently and the only way for people to download your maps are if they are your friend/follower on Xbox LIVE and you're online or ranked on a leaderboard so they can access your Halo: MCC profile in-game. This is pretty crippling to the custom games community as sharing community content is now very difficult and a multi-step process.
Forge has been improved a ton but is pretty moot without the robust fileshare system of the previous games. It is also important to note that while the new palliate is flexible it is also pretty bland as it only offers human-looking concrete and metal objects with no Covenant scenery to be found outside of weapons and vehicles. Testing maps is also difficult as custom game lobbies end themselves after one game and the host has to re-make the lobby for each match.
This review will remain a 2/5 until all the above issues are addressed. Then it will become a 5/5 as for $60 this is weeks worth of content and fun. | video-games_xbox |
Lead Your Band of Brain Dead Idiots. Where to begin with this train wreck of a game.
First off, there is absolutely nothing original about it. I've only played ONE other Square Enix game and I recognized dozens upon dozens of recycled game traits. The redundancy doesn't stop there. Expect the same old character animations, etc.
Technically, this game doesn't seem to be ready to even be released (and has not been fixed since release). Frame rates drop to almost nothing whenever more than a few enemies are on the same screen. Some armor goes crazy, flying around in the breeze.
Game play - quite simply, this is a dice roll game. There is a strict set of rules that you have to follow. The enemy however, doesn't seem to have to follow these rules. There are random 'raidlocks' where they get extra damage. Also, as stated earlier, the enemy will get about every advantage that they can get. This is especially frustrating later in the game where you have to go from one fight to another and then to another with no saves. Lose that a few times and you will want to say a few bad words.
The fights are turn-based. I didn't have too much of a problem with this aspect. You also several bands (unions) of players. The computer gives you a few options each round for each group. This is where the major problems start. If you are hurt, does the game give you the option to heal yourself (even if you have an entire group that can heal)? Haha, don't be silly! You can only attack! As each round progresses, your band of morons will often have to make decisions. Unfortunately, they will usually make the poorest choice possible, endangering the fight, and their union.
Your idiot party will always be outnumbered, will always be the slowest to fight (turn-based remember), and will hit for an insane amount of damage. However, your enemies will have an amazing amount of damage to counteract your damage. Basically, it's graduated as you progress. Speaking of progression, many of the boss fights are level-based. Unless you are a certain level (good luck figuring out what it is), these fights will go bad quick. Is it due to the dice roll or is it due to the level of your characters that you should be attacking with.
The storyline itself isn't bad. Once you get past the overly-recycled children saving the world story, and the silly dialogue, there is a decent amount of content and side quests (hence the 2 stars).
I paid $15 for this game, which is about right. That's about the amount of effort that the publishers put into it. I hope this review helps. I've finished the game and most of the side quests, and am glad that it's done. | video-games_xbox |
A Must Get (Even If You Don't Care For Survival Horror. Seriously one of my favorite games. I am not someone who is a fan or survival horror. I'm more of the going in guns blazing type of game player, but this game is my exception.
Pros:
The graphics are amazing. The game's environment is designed perfectly for a ship that has recently gone into chaos but doesn't seem totally destroyed yet like you might see in Dead Space. It is very accurate in portraying the first Alien movie type of environment. The amount of darkness that you have to deal with along with the sound effects of the ship and the music that plays makes it extremely suspenseful and will scare you.
The enemies are extremely difficult, and the Alien is a pain (in a good way) and whenever it pops out it gets my heart racing. Sometimes I would be playing and I would be crossing a hall closing my eyes praying that it wouldn't see me while my heart is pounding away.
Ammunition is extremely scarce for your weapons. No running around guns blazing in this. You WILL be required to be sneaky and only want to use your weapons as a last resource. Enemies are tough and sometimes you'll run out of ammo before you can even kill them. Makes gameplay super intense.
The story is interesting and had me hooked the entire time.
There are many other positive things that I could say about this game but I just can't think of any more at this moment.
Cons:
Not that much of a variety for weapons. I mean, there are a few that you can mix up, but I would like to have more. But then again having a smaller amount adds to the scariness.
For me I would experience lag and that was pretty annoying especially when I'm having a stare down with the Alien. But it wasn't a consistent enough problem to ruin the game.
There are a few parts to the game that would have been better as cut scenes rather than having you play which, in my opinion, wastes my time that could easily be saved by just showing the actions in a clip.
As others have said the voice acting was a little stale, but you don't really interact with others to make it a huge flaw.
TL;DR
Alien: Isolation is an amazing survival horror game with amazing graphics and gameplay that will terrify you and keep you coming back for more despite it's few minor flaws. | video-games_xbox |
Not as good as i thought. Although in no ways is it a MW2 killer. This is a good decent military shooter and a lot of fun.
The multiplayer has only 8 maps at launch. But the action is pretty intense. If you are familiar with battlefield bad company, then this is pretty much similar. Ribbons and awards are given for accomplishing nice little daring feats. Up to 25 players can play in multiplayer match so it does feel like an actual battle indeed. Different modes include everything from the classic team deathmatch. To capturing sectors and blowing up certain objectives. The great thing about multiplayer is it's realism. You don't have to empty a clip on a enemy just to kill them like in Halo Reach or Modern Warfare 2. The maps although their are only eight of them, aren't to massive or to small. But their are certain choke points that you will find yourself in, especially during the objective based modes.
Single player is not as good. The campaign is short. You will probably complete it in only 5-6 hours of play time. The AI is pretty easy. I only died once time in the first mission. Unless you charge in front of a machine gun or get to close to a bunch of enemies, you won't die often. If you want a challenge, play this game on the hardness difficulty. Your team mates are not that much better when it comes to AI. They have a bad habit of getting in front of you while your shooting, causing you to hit your buddy and not the enemy.
The sound and graphics are perfect. This is a game to play with the surround sound cranked up. Gunfire sounds and explosions sound very realistic along with shouts and curses from both enemies and friendly. The game does a great job in emerging you into combat. Graphics are also pretty good with showing off nice texture of mountains, dirty villages and cold weather. Although in some areas it looks a little grainy, especially in the large areas.
EDIT- Having played this game even more i can say that the multiplayer is broken. Sniper rifles are god in multiplayer and one shot ANYWHERE kills the enemy. Spawn camping is the worst i seen in any FPS game, it's really bad in the objective based games where you spawn on a particular team mate rather then in an area like in COD. The graphics in both single and multi are bland and lack attention to detail and even some texture, maybe the PC version looks better. I would wait to get COD black ops before trying this game | video-games_xbox |
A SOLID 4 out of 5 stars. So I've just completed The Saboteur, having logged in probably 85 hours and obtained all achievements, perks, freeplay targets, and collectibles. I gotta say that I had a blast playing this game! As some reviewers have mentioned the gameplay is very similar to Grand Theft Auto (open world sandbox) and the setting is Nazi-occupied France. Even if you've never played GTA, there is just something about killing tons of Nazis, blowing up their establishments, collecting this and that, and improving your character's abilities/strengths that make this game extremely addicting. The missions are set up such that you can achieve them using stealth or guns ablazin' and that's what I like about this game: having a choice of what to explore and what to accomplish. The inclusion of several racing missions (given the main character) is a nice touch and mixes up the gameplay appropriately. I wish there were several more since they were quite fun and challenging. The plot and the characters (including voiceovers) are above average. There are a lot of funny one-liners (there is strong language that includes the f-bomb and sexual innuendo); the cutscenes and conversations add to the entertainment value. I played the game on a "normal" difficulty setting, and my only complaint is that the enemy A.I. was for the most part pretty dumb. That being said, there were a few mission sequences that required several attempts to get through. Another negative is that there are many a load screen. However, if you load the game onto your hard drive (it requires about 5GB of space), loading times will be significantly reduced (and your console will run more quietly!). Finally, the graphics are not stellar, though they are acceptable for the current console.
Overall, The Saboteur is a fun, addicting, and entertaining game. Could it have been more polished? Of course. As it is, definitely worth playing! I rate this game only 4 stars because in my opinion this game, while very fun, falls short of 5-star games such as Mass Effect 1 and 2 and the Metal Gear Solid series, to name a few. | video-games_xbox |
Halo 2 was a little Hollow 2. I was expecting a lot with the release of this game after waiting forever and frankly it did not deliver for me. I found the new Aliens uninteresting, especially those flying "Yanme'e Bugs" we have never seen before. The story didn't introduce them in any way; Bungie just threw them at you and they looked so "done before"! The Brute's were a little better but having so many choices for a new Alien I kept asking myself why did Bungie choose this one? It was because the guy that created them modeled them after himself and they let him get away with it! The flood is in the game again but I felt they shouldn't have been until maby the next Halo to keep fans guessing. I found the overall story development very poor. Also, I found Bungie deviates a lot from mr. Nylund's books. That is a bad thing because he is a very talented writer and they are not. The levels are also repetitive. On the Earth level where you drive for ever, there is an alien vechile called a "Shadow" that you don't care if you use? I found that strange; why would you put something new in the game that is useless and only seen one time. It would have been more productive to power other more interesting aspects of the game. For instance, the useless eye candy "Morter Cannons". Why not let the Chief do some indirect fire or take down some incomming ships with one. For the other morter Cannons just Laying around the Chief could have called in fire to take them out; like in the game "Mercenaries". This was an origional concept that Bungie dropped in all their "Take forever to produce a lame sequal" wisdom. Also, I wanted to drive and shoot the Scarab. They could have worked that in some how; let me knock the wing off a Covenant cruiser or something! The chief should have been able to use one of the Star fighters at some point as well. You cant fire the lazers in the Covenant Morter Tank but the Covenant can? In the "Multiplayer levels" you cant fire the fuel rod cannon if you are in a "Banshee"? I found that the multiplayer level's were not very good and seemed thrown togeather? You will have to wait for downloadable content to get some good new levels. As for the new weapons: It didn't make sense to change the Pistol, it sould have just been left out of the game, you never use it. I found the Plasma Pistol very weak, and the Brute Shot was not very well done or interesting. I never used these weapons very much at all? The dual weilding was "ho hum", if it wasn't in the game I wouldn't have missed it. I enjoyed playing as the arbiter and thought that was a good addition. I also enjoyed most of the music but some made me want to go to sleep; an example would be the load wait before missions. Instead of going with something new, Bungie couldn't come through. Ultimatly, they went with the old concept, using uninteresting additions and subtractions! A lot of people I "game with" were very dissapointed and the Collector's Edition returns in the gaming stores are huge! That should tell you and Bungie something. | video-games_xbox |
Never seen a game quite like this. Sure some can compare this game to Bethesda's previous attempt The Elder Scrolls IV, but at the end of the day I have never seen such a damn convincing world of a post apocalypse . Almost everything succeeds in this game, the story of the Lone Wanderer is not wholly original but what makes the gamer interested is the mythology of the Capital Wasteland, you will find dozens of interesting characters that will make you care deeply for, may it be a Super Mutant Poet warrior named Fawkes, a loyal canine companion by the name of Dogmeat, or even a Super Patriotic Fascist news-casting president by the name of John Henry Eden. The music is eerily perfect for the atmosphere of Fallout 3, the happy upbeat music from the 30s give you a sense of hope and comfort even after your being attacked by a pack of Deathclaws or Ghouls (avoid the Deathclaws if possible). The gameplay is standard FPS or Third Person(in whichever way you want), but with RPG mixed into the gameplay. But what makes it stand out is the V.A.T.S system which allows you to slow time and aim for you enemies extremity parts, some may feel it takes away the challenge but if your a casual gamer you will heavily depend on it to fight packs of large creatures or humans with guns. Another thing that makes the game really stand out is the open world you can explore, and oh boy is it huge. If you play the game 24/7 it will take you days to find every single city, landmark, and settlement. But if you play casually you will spend weeks finding every single place from basement to roof, the architecture of the buildings have elements of steampunk, and a lot of the building themselves have some character of their own may it be the city Megaton, or Oasis, or to the ever creepy Dunwich Building. Fallout 3 is one of the games that come every couple of years that gives us so much replay value that after 10 or 15 years later you will still be playing even after the PS3 and Xbox 360 are long gone. Don't hesitate in buying it, it is worth the price. | video-games_xbox |
Tour de Force Multiplayer, and Not Much Else. If you are a fan of Halo, then you probally know about the multiplayer. It is the corner stone of the Halo games. Long after people blew up the first Halo, they were still shooting each other in Blood Gulch.
In that respect, Halo 3 does not disappoint. I cannot praise its Multiplayer enough. Of course it has its flaws, but it is so incredibly fun that you rarely notice them. Sword duels were a stroke of genius. I play a close range game, i've spent full minutes locking blades with one guy until he (or me) made a mistake and died. Great, intricate level designs, ranging from the multi-level ambush frenzy of Blackout, the vast sniper-paradise of Last Resort, and the intimacy of Isolation, every level is well made and fits different game types.
The weapons are equally fun to use. You have your regular assortment of sniper rifles, assualt rifles, laser beams, and a few new things such as the maulers: one handed shot-guns, duel wieldable; and the gravity hammer, a rival for the energy sword in terms of close quarter dominance.
There are very minor problems. You can customize your character with different armors, unlocked by meeting achievements. There are vastly more armors for the Spartans than Elites (i think its a ratio of like 10:1) but it seems there are more Spartan players than Elite players, and what we Elites have are freakin awesome, so that's not a huge problem. Other problems include the balancing of weapons: you can no longer duel wield Needlers, but duel Maulers can rip a person apart at close range with one shots each.
The biggest problems aren't with the multiplayer, the problems are with the story, which has consistently been bad. It is incredibly typical sci-fi stuff, which wouldn't be a huge problem if people didn't constantly say its such an incredible story. Humans are apparently the descendants of aliens (Forerunners). Who the hell is writing this? L. Ron Hubbard? You don't have an interesting villian, at all. The Covenant have never been made interesting. I applaud Halo 2 for allowing you to play as the Arbiter and opening an interesting story. Now that the Elites are on your side, so you go back to an unsympathetic, underdeveloped Covenant.
The Phrophet of Truth is little more than a Bond Villian, laughing sinisterly through out the game. You don't have an interesting Brute like Tartarus. You don't get to kill Truth, he dies in a cut scene. For the rest of the game, you fight Gravemind. But mind you, you don't have an epic showdown with a gigantic swarming mass of Flood. You fight a silver ball who shoots laser beams at you. I'm not kidding.
Half-Life 2 took the Earth in ruins thing and did it incredible well. You saw first hand the destruction that the invaders had caused and the brave humans who resisted. Playing through this, you never get the sense that Earth is really in peril. We may get more of a glimpse at a ravage Earth in Halo: Recon coming out Fall 09, but why should we have to shell out sixty more dollars for the rest of the story? Not to mention the length, playing through normal I beat it in about six hours. Heroic is a bit harder, but it just a matter of ten hours. Beating it on Legendary, you get a little easter egg which is not worth the time taken.
If you like Multiplayer, this game is second to none. I've spent hours online fighting or at my friends house playing teams. Its fast paced mayhem or slow and steady sniping. Every map is different, however slightly. But until Halo starts investing in its storyline and campaign, i will not give them the coveted 5 star ranking. | video-games_xbox |
A Great Headset from Turtle Beach.... and it has Groot. Turtle Beach is a brand name that has become well known in the quality gaming headset market and the Ear Force Disney Infinity edition is no different.
The Ear Force Disney Infinity: Marvel Super Heroes headset is obviously marketed towards children, it fits my 7 yr old daughter perfectly and she loves using it with her android tablet. However it can be adjusted to fit adults as well, both my husband and I can wear these comfortably.
It's compatible with pretty much every gaming avenue out there from the xbox 360 and Pc to the Ps4. Even handhelds like the PlayStation Vita. For the pc and tablet it's pretty simple to use just plug and play, depending on which game or software you are using you may need to go through specific set up process's in game.
Since this is the Marvel Super Heroes edition it comes with 3 sets of earpiece skins, iron man, black widow and groot and rocket. These are easy to apply basically sticks and can be pealed off and changed if you want to switch up your character in the future.
The sound quality is great in full Stereo. They also handle bass well when needed so good when listening to music or just gaming background music. The Mic quality is pretty cut and dry you can hear voices clearly without static which is great.
As far as value for money when it comes to Universal (multiple gaming platforms) Turtle beach sets they are all about the same price. However if you're strictly a pc gamer and are considering this headset i would look elsewhere as you would be paying for the fancy Disney style and not the sound quality. For the same price you could get a Turtle Beach 7.1 headset (strictly pc).
Overall my daughter and I both found this headset comfortable and I enjoyed using it for gaming online. It's a great option and if you're looking to introduce online gaming or Skype to your child this is a great headset. | video-games_xbox |
The Hori EX2 is a great fighting stick. I've been playing fighting games for 15 years now, and when I couldn't stand the 360 dpad anymore a few days after buying HD Remix on my 360, I went and bought my Hori EX2. I have played with various joysticks on the Playstation and Dreamcast in the past, as well as occasionally in the arcades, so I believe I at least have some idea of what a stick should be like :D
I thought it would take me a decent amount of time to get used to playing with this fighting stick, since I have not regularly used a joystick for fighting games in about 8 years, but I was pleasantly surprised how easy it was for me to do my moves again. Dragon punches, fireballs, hurricane kicks, etc, all work perfectly while I played Street Fighter HD Remix. It only took me a day or so to get used to using the stick. I tested this game out with Dead or Alive 4 and it also worked fine.
Many people here criticize the 4-corner square "gate" on the joystick, but it is strictly a matter of preference. In contrast, I was never good at performing moves with the 8-corner octagonal gate. Additionally, the ball on the joystick is again, also a matter of preference, and the buttons are as responsive as can be. I do not have any trouble performing quarter-circle motions or diagonal motions with this stick, as some other reviewers have noted. Ultimately, I believe any stick, if it is your first stick, will give you trouble regardless and that it takes a decent amount of practice to get proficient at using a fighting stick.
I have not played any other fighting games with this stick aside from Dead or Alive 4 and Street Fighter HD Remix, but I can honestly say that I did not regret purchasing the Hori EX2 and that for the price, it is an excellent fighting stick. There may be better sticks out there, but I am definitely not going to shell out almost $200 for the Street Fighter IV stick when it comes out in February.
EDIT: One of the buttons on this stick became sporadically unresponsive only about a week after normal use. I have since returned the stick and I am encouraging buyers to beware about the possibility of this joystick breaking soon after purchasing it. | video-games_xbox |
One of the worst game I've ever played. So glad I didn't actually pay for my copy. I was lucky enough to get this game for free from a friend who happened to absolutely hate it. I've been playing COD titles since the first MW and really haven't found the single player campaigns to be exciting...in fact, they're horrible; some of the worst single player campaigns I've ever played. For $60, I've always expected more, but I don't get that from the recent COD games. Sure, they're essentially multiplayer games, but at some point, we won't be able to use those modes once the new wave of consoles hit the market, and we're stuck with a very, very bad set of games.
The multiplayer fixes some of the bugs that ruined MW2, such as constant bombardments from the air, grenade launcher madness, and the ability to hack (although it's still early enough to where we could see some of this in the coming months). However, there are new problems: Maps that are poorly designed to the point you will experience many matches getting killed within a matter of seconds after spawning, terrible spawning points, low health/taking only 1-3 bullets to die.
While I've enjoyed the nerfing of such things as grenade launchers, and even grenades themselves to a certain extent, it still is extremely aggravating to when you do use any of these weapons, they detonate right next to the opposition, and don't die. I can't even count how many times I've died where it has only taken a couple of bullets to take me down. It's terribly frustrating. The map layout is poor where they run more in a circle with various catacombs. This makes it easier to die more often and a bit easier for people who like to camp.
The Spec Ops modes are still fun, but some of them are way too difficult even on the easiest difficulty. The new Survival mode is pretty fun, especially if you get in on it with some friends.
Otherwise, COD has run its course. I can say enough how grateful I am to have not spent any money on this bad game. The campaign is still terrible and the multiplayer has seen some improvements in areas that really hurt MW2, but come with a new batch of issues that still make the experience frustrating and the improvements pointless. I would save your money. The COD franchise isn't what it used to be. The entire franchise fell apart after the first MW; although Black Ops wasn't too bad. In any case, I would advise not to buy anymore of these games. Spend your hard-earned money on better titles.
Edit: After playing more multiplayer, I have come to the realization that hacking does occur now. The ability to play fair is impossible in these horrible games. COD has completely lost its fun mark. These are the worst games I have ever played. Period. | video-games_xbox |
Good Workouts. This fitness program is set up fairly well. You can choose open workouts with various focus (cardio, strength, flexibility) or do a pre-scheduled 30 or 60 day program to lose weight, gain strength, or lean out. I chose a 30 day program and set about going about completing it while using the open workouts to supplement. This review focuses mainly on the 30 day program.
The pros for this program are that the workouts at least for the 30 day cut weight program were efficient and about 30 minutes from boot up to finish. It was a cardio strength style which really worked for me and my goals. Another pro is that the 30 day cycle while a little repetitive wasn't boring. I didn't ever feel like I was doing the same thing, which was important for me to last the whole 30 days. I liked that the workouts were short enough that I could supplement with the open games and really build a fun workout that I got a good calorie burn during. I liked the videos and in game achievement system as it really was motivational. Sometimes I would skip a video when it showed up as I work out in the mornings before work and don't want to spend the time watching then, but I did go back and watch them later for the info. All said - this program for the kinect was designed to give you results if you follow it and to help you really get in shape. It's not all cardio based, so you do get a leaning out. I did this during the holidays while not really watching my diet and was surprised that I did not gain weight and actually felt pretty good. I'm sure that if I start up another 30 or 60 day round while actually watching my diet I will lose weight.
The cons were that you have to dig a little into settings to turn off the tutorial mode where the trainer demonstrates each exercise while explaining it and makes you do 3 practice reps. I think in a 30 day program it should shut off automatically after you do each exercise once as the all or nothing made it difficult as new exercises were introduced but necessary so the workout didn't take twice as long. This was frustrating, but as I'm fairly familiar with exercising it didn't hinder me and after a rep or two I could figure out the range they were looking for to count as a rep. I can see someone brand new to exercise getting frustrated with the lack of direction if they turn it off but anyone on the program after a few days getting tired of repeating everything as it really does interrupt the workout flow and makes a 20 or 30 minute workout into a 45 or 60 minute workout. Another con was that the kinect really struggled with many exercises. One move, the forward lunge with a twist never actually worked for me as my arms or legs were never in the shape even with adjusting each rep. So I would just do them on my own count then wait for time to run out. I also had the workouts kick me out to the "player are you there" screen where it boots you out of the workout and you have to stand up, punch the screen and be re-recognized or sometimes pick your player profile. This again really interrupts the workout flow, especially when sometimes it would happen over and over again during a workout.
Last note - make sure you finish the workout on the 30 or 60 day mode completely to the screen that says workout completed and the game says you have finished. If you shut down earlier than that it will record your workout as a miss for that day and the next time you log on it will repeat that workout until you officially finish it. I learned that the hard way.
All in all, I think this is a well designed fitness program and will help you with your goals if you stick to a program so for that it is 5 star quality. It does get marked down because of some of the issues with the kinect sensor and some mechanics of the programming that interfere with the ability to complete the workouts. | video-games_xbox |
That soundtrack tho. Mafia III had some big shoes to fill from the moment it was announced. The first game of the series presented an open world, crime-riddled adventure that took a distinct approach compared to its competition (Grand Theft Auto). Instead of being filled with diversions and tons of civilians to kill, you got speeding tickets and roamed around looking at historic sites. The second game changed things even further, serving up a much more linear narrative in its open world. They were different takes on what make open-world games so captivating without copying the tried and true formula of the biggest name in the genre. Releasing in a post GTA V world, Mafia III had to figure out how to do the same. How to stand up tall and appealing without just playing it by the numbers. Thankfully, Hanger 13s latest manages to achieve this goal, though it does stumble a bit along the way.
Players step into the battle worn boots of Lincoln Clay, a bi-racial war orphan and veteran who stops fighting for his country overseas only to fight for the right to exist in his very home of New Bordeaux (Hanger 13s fictional take on a 1960s New Orleans). After a happy reunion with old friends, now members of the Black Mob and the Italian Mafia, it appears that things are looking up for everyone until betrayal sets in, leaving the Black Mob decimated. What follows is a quest for revenge that sets the entire city of New Bordeaux ablaze.
A post-betrayal revenge quest isn't exactly a fresh plot. At first glance, Mafia is taking the easy way out, giving you a simple, arguably overdone, catalyst to get you killing things. However, that tried and true formula is uplifted by what has to be the best narrative backdrop Ive had the pleasure of playing in recent years.
Mafia III takes place in America during the 1960s, a time when racism was a ingrained norm. Martin Luther King Jr. had recently been gunned down for being virtuous in a time of contempt. Riots by a people long overlooked were met with violence from those who sought to oppress them. It was a world where a man like Lincoln Clay could fight for his nation overseas only to be treated like less than a second class citizen when he returned to the home country that didn't want him. Walk around, and you will hear slurs tossed about more often then you see the words bae or fleek in the current age. When you look like Lincoln Clay, simply existing is a challenge unto itself. While you won't run into trouble in the bayous or the predominantly minority-populated neighborhoods, expanding out into the more affluent realms of New Bordeaux means dealing with much more than increased difficulty.
Hatred and a palpable tension fuels the world of Mafia III, but more remarkable is in how many forms. At first youll notice the n word tossed about as if it were childs play. A simple, scathing title that reduces a man to nothing more than his color. Even in the digital world, it is foul and demeaning, and it is only a fraction of what players will face. Discomfort rests greater with what lies under the surface insult, a societal norm that stuck with me even after I put the game down. I was told to leave a store as soon as I walked in, simply because my kind didn't belong. I was followed by not only the police, but by civilians who for some reason wondered what I, as a free man, could possibly be doing strolling around a public area. Even worse a feeling was being attacked by members of Sal Marcanos crime family, only to have the police show up and join in on the party, completely ignoring that I had done nothing wrong and had even yet to brandish a weapon.
Everything I did was wrong. Not by any ethical virtue, but because of who I happened to be and, most importantly, what I happened to look like. Even in the face of my eventual crimes, it never mattered that there were hundreds of individuals doing the same if not worse than me within the citys limits; they were white, I was not, and so I had to carry the brunt of the punishment. Adding tremendous insult to injury was the fact that I was committing nightmarish acts all to protect my people, the minorities of the city, yet it all seemed to be in vain. My vengeance wasn't helping anyone out there. Hell, it was barely helping me. The more I reduced the Italian Mafia, the angrier both they and I became, us both lashing out at others bearing the same rage that had first consumed me.
That background, forever pushing against me and reminding me that no matter how hard I tried, I would never fit here, is Mafia IIIs shining star. And that star is punctuated by a stunning soundtrack that manages to capture the action and times. However, the experience does become somewhat muddied due to the gameplay that is far from unenjoyable, but feels largely safe and repetitive. While the story and world goes through leaps and bounds to provide something that is uncomfortable, thought-provoking, and memorable, the activities spattered through the story are simple and seen before.
Shooting is serviceable, but it isn't anything to write home about. You aim (with some assist, depending on the difficulty you chose) and you pull the trigger until the bad guys drop. You have other options such as explosives, vehicular combat, and even intimidation, but none of them feel particularly fresh in the grand scheme of things. While it all works well, it just feels like filler to lead you from major plot point to major plot point, something that struck me as odd for an action game.
Even the mission structure comes across as uninspired. You go to locations and wreck them until youve done enough damage to bring out the boss. After that, you kill or recruit them then give the area to one of your underbosses. The underbosses do add a bit of strategy to the whole affair, since you must keep them happy lest you find yourself standing at the business end of one of their guns. Its a mechanic that sounds amazing on paper, but in practice it feels just okay. Not bad, but certainly not why you will remember Mafia III years down the line.
The power to leave Mafia IIIs world burned into your mind belongs to New Bordeaux and its atmosphere alone. Even with the seemingly tacked-on gameplay, I couldn't help but be pulled back into this troubling cycle of hatred and tough choices. I had wanted to use stealth as much as possible, a ridiculously easy route in most combat scenarios, but witnessing women being kidnapped and drugs being peddled to the poor often pushed me to fire a lot of bullets and cause a ruckus. At times, I think stealths ease was meant to show just how irrational hatred and revenge could make me. Whenever I came across a group of gangsters or some backwater drug dealers, I had the option of sticking to the shadows or showing them exactly who came to reap them from their mortal coil. The shadows works pretty much all of the time, and carries none of the threat of death that the guns-blazing alternative. All neon signs point at the nonlethal, but in the end I chose pools of blood and the scent of gunpowder lingering in the air.
Thats what Mafia III left with me, a bunch of dark decisions in a dark world that wants me dead in a way no other game does. Its easy to be the bane of your enemys existence when you're some hero coming to save the world from annihilation, but if the unforgettable target on your back is painted only by who you happened to be born as, its an altogether different experience. I was angry through a lot of my time with this game, and thats a good thing. For the first time in a long time I was going after virtual enemies for my own personal reasons, not because the game told me I should. I wanted to see them dead, I wanted to watch their blood pool around them, and it was a frightening thing.
In the end, my vengeance did little more than beget more pain in the city I made mine. Mafia III took me through a grand tale of loss and, in the end, after all of my macho escapades, I was left more empty, realizing no amount of killing could change what was done. For that reason, Mafia III is not a game to be missed by anyone. | video-games_xbox |
Much better than expected, even for a racing enthusiast. I got an Xbox 360 and Forza Motorsports 4 for the holidays and being a pretty big racing enthusiast I had to get a steering wheel.
I originally had purchased a different wheel, one with pedals and that clamps to your coffee table (Thrustmaster Ferrari 458 Italia wheel) but I ended up returning it and getting this wireless one instead. And I'm glad I did, here's why:
What I realized in researching steering wheels is that for the most part it's an "all or nothing" proposition. Either you get a dedicated setup with a racing chair, pedals, wheel, etc or else you just play with the standard controller. I have my Xbox setup in the living room and I don't want a wheel permanently displayed like a piece of furniture. Nor do I want wires running all over the place. At the same time, setting up one of those "full on" wheels takes a lot of work and you're unlikely to want to go through the effort just to play a quick game or two. As you can imagine, you have to get it out, hook up the cables, plug it in, clamp it to your table... The other downside to those big setups is that you need a ton of space to store them. Even if it's just a wheel and pedals that clamp to the table, they are still bulky and have a bunch of cables so you need a closet or something to store it in.
So that leaves you with the standard Xbox controller, which frankly, isn't great for racing games. It's OK but not great.
This wireless wheel though is the first thing I've seen that's right in the middle of the standard controller and a full, dedicated racing setup. It's small so it can be stored easily in a drawer and there is no time consuming setup process whenever you want to play. Just turn it on and your ready to go.
Considering that though, I figured it couldn't be very good in terms of gameplay but I was wrong! This wheel far exceeded my expectations. There is a bit of a learning curve associated with it, but the steering response is great and very realistic. The portability, lack of wires, and easy setup make this a winner for me. Note that from what I read online, this wheel was designed in close collaboration with Forza 4, so I suspect that it may have better gameplay with that game than any others.
But there are a couple of cons to be aware of:
- When playing on the couch, your arms can get tired holding the wheel up in front of you since it's not mounted to anything. But I find this doesn't happen as much if I play standing up.
- As noted in other reviews, it's missing the left and right bumper buttons. Not a big deal for gameplay, but in Forza 4 these are used when applying graphics to the cars and doing some other setup stuff.
Overall, this is a great wheel but I'm only going to give it 4 stars because of the lack of the bumper buttons. | video-games_xbox |
Better than 11 but less than advertised - Updated. Updated - 11.3.11 after patch...
EA has mastered the art of scamming hardcore and casual football fans. We buy it every year because we love football and have NO OTHER options. Madden is great ONLY if you want to play a head to head single game with a friend. The controls are good, the visuals above average and that portion of the game is indeed fun.
HOWEVER if you have any desire to run a franchise, play general manager, et al then this game is frustrating and lazily coded at best and atrocious at its worst.
The worst parts are the following:
1. Free Agency is a mini game that in NO WAY resembles realism.
2. The NCAA draft import is all but broken for a large percentage of players.
3. The draft AI is non existent. Expect first round kickers ahead Andrew Luck and the like.
4. The trade AI is horrendous. You can get anything you want during the draft (almost like there is no AI).
5. If you EVER want to watch CPU vs CPU, the bugs are numerous including no QB scrambles.
6. The game has invisible walls that will block passes... literally like there is a wall in front of the ball.
7. By season 3 or 4 of your draft, the league will be populated with fake players while drafted classes are cut.
8. The fake player pictures are limited, so in a few years EVERY player has one of 10 of 15 faces.
9. The announcers are the worst of any football or sports game ever... literally 989 games from 2000 are better.
10. The lack of full player editing is stupid and controlling for no reason.
11. If you take full control from the player, then at least know when a player is black or white. Really EA?
12. Stat bugs still exist after 15 years... yes the same ones... linemen with rush and pass yards, etc.
This is a partial list of the bugs... and NONE of them were fixed with the two weak patches. This game is a pile of potential that is unrealized and developed by people that have no clue about anything more than ARCADE football.
Please save us 2K... your 2k5 game is STILL better than this game... by far.
First let me give Amazon credit for release day delivery. I arrived home from work and the game was waiting on me to dig in.
Preface:
As a pretty hardcore franchise player who uses coach mode and CPU/CPU mainly I thought last years version was the worst iteration since the horrible Madden 06. Also I am biased against EA and the Madden series most generally because they seem lazy and still do not have features that were present in NFL2K5 from 2K sports.
With that out of the way, I was fairly excited to see if Madden 12 lived up to the hype of having "25 new and updated features" specifically the update to the franchise mode. So I setup my franchise last night, played one game, coached one game and did a few CPU/CPU games just to gauge the results. The results were all over the board but I am playing with the sliders still.
The Good:
- Graphics are improved and the presentation is much more like a broadcast
- The menu interface while still trying to hard to be slick, is better than 11
- Franchise mode is much improved with cut down days and a better free agent system that acts like a mini game
- Game plays pretty well. No suction tackles, momentum feels good. You can tell its a new engine
- The new dynamic performance model seems good but I need to see more
- Player roles are a nice touch to help separate player abilities
- The Dynamic Performance models are pretty nice. Sack a QB a few times and his abilities for that game diminish
- Trading future draft picks is nice
The Bad:
- The audio is horrible and in fact worse than 11 if that can be believed. Maybe the worst of the series
- There is a apparently a bug that screws up names with the announcers (Phillip Rivers was often called Abraham) and many "stars" are often called by their number only.
- While better than 11, the engine needs reworked. The players are still stiff and unnatural at times. I definitely recommend playing on slow or very slow to reduce the effect.
- Why does EA lock down the look of the default players when they apparently employ people who have NO IDEA what some of these players look like. Some players who have massive arms in real life look like corner backs, skin colors are wrong on many players and NOT ALL LINEMAN look like fat Albert Haynesworth. We should be able to change these features EA!!
- This year, rookies and import drafts get random pictures from what appears to be a range of people from EA employees to maybe minor league players. While I appreciate the effort and they seem to get the race correct for each player; it can be VERY disconcerting to see a well known player like Trent Richardson look like some African American developer nerd who works in a cube at EA versus a 230lb beast of a human.
- I have not experienced this yet, but I have heard that the Draft Classes can get all mucked up with incorrect names or none at all and the jury is still out on the progress of the imported NCAA 12 draft classes.
- The game is completely lacking in presentation and feel outside of the stadium view/player entrances that are new for 2012. The draft is barren and has no excitement. How about the commissioners podium and announcements? Maybe some spectacle or tension? Honestly Madden 2005 and NFL 2K5 did a much better job 7 years ago!
- No halftime show, no analysis... very VERY dry and disappointing.
- Trade logic is bad "in season" (I traded a 36 year FA pickup Terrell Owens for a 1st round pick) but even worse or probably flat out broke during the draft where other teams will take ANYONE for a first rounder... VERY BAD.
Summary:
Overall Madden 11 was the worst year since the mess of 06 so Madden 12 seems like a moderate improvement in terms of gameplay and franchise options but a step back in terms of audio, trade AI and presentations outside of game start. There are some obvious bugs that I cannot believe were tested so a patch must be incoming.
The game plays better and i like the running game, but its not nearly the radical change that EA would have you believe. If you hated 11 and want better franchise features then 12 is a decent (and only) choice.
Here is hoping 2013 brings an end to the EA monopoly on the NFL license. They are pretty lazy with the cash cow. If the 2K series were still around these last 5 or 6 years, both games would be light years ahead of where we are now. | video-games_xbox |
Meh worth the price. First off, If you don't have a remote to your TV do not get this remote, it will not help you with your TV controls.
It gets the basic uses done (turn your Xbox 360 on and off) The controls are easy but they are the same as your Xbox 360 Controller as many reviews have said.
Programming your remote to your TV is really easy (after you do 2 or 3 buttons) yes you have to program each button 1 by 1 using 3 AAA batteries, you program the remote by Syncing your Old TV remote and/or Cable remote to the Nyko remote (They probably added that feature because of the Zune). Even though this makes the setup very easy, if your remote doesn't do some of the things you would like it to do, you are pretty much out of luck with this remote. (I don't have Input for my TV on my cable remote so i can't get the right Video line without getting up and walking to the Tv, which is the same with this remote).
I haven't had any problems with the Remote (yet) but there are some delays, its not smooth clicking or movements. Like the volume doesn't go up or down as easily, nor does the channels. (oh after Programming the remote to a key sometimes you have to switch it to xbox 360 and back to tv for it to take affect).
But there are some great things about it,
1. Like the back up light is great for dark times (only stays of for a second so its not annoying)
2. The programming saves up time and helps you make the keys to your liking
3. The second you put batteries into the controller for the first time, it automatically syncs to your xbox 360
4. Makes DVD watching easy
5. Can turn your TV on and off (if you set it)
6. Feels good in your hand unlike the original Xbox controller (black and green)
But again there are problems with it,
1. The xbox 360 can use all the keys where on TV mode it only has half of the controls
2. If you press volume on Xbox mode nothing happens
3. You have to point the remote straight at the TV or Xbox
4. The 360 button makes nose if you move the remote
5. If you don't have a TV remote or Cable remote you are screwed
6. The Green light goes into other buttons giving you the impression that you have more set keys
7. DVDR or Tivo users the record, Play, rewind, etc can't be synced with the Xbox 360 buttons (which would be a nice feature)
8. Can't tell what mode you are in until your press a button
9. Other things can interfere with the remote
So i guess what i am saying is There are a lot of buttons that could really make cable and Tv use very easy but you can set. You could just use your controller to do 98% of the Remote features. So my opinion if you have like $15 laying around or have Game credit (like i did at Gamestop) then Get the remote. At least the price went down from $30 to $14.95 | video-games_xbox |
Saw some bad reviews going to set the record straight. Well.... were do i even start?
Even though I do like this game I will be fair and balanced and will weigh the good and bad and even throw in some pointers while im at it. I will start with the fact that I absolutely love this game!
Gameplay - The biggest plus for me on this game is the mechanics of this. It is not a pick up and play kind of game nor is it a button masher so you kids who just want to jump in and beat guys like me after you beat the single player better think again. The hardest setting of the single player is nothing compared to a high ranked online player. The gameplay online is superb but Offline is another story. Single player mode has to be my biggest gripe, if your not planning to play competitively online or with friends don't even rent this game because its not worth it.
Story - The story mode in this game is absolutely worthless its the run of the mill create a fighter and rise up in the ranks to win a belt which might be fun if it wasn't so cut and paste done it before with no plot, its so uninspired and stale that it feels like work just getting threw it. There are little to no cut scenes and the side stuff is so boring that you will skip it despite. Also the create a fighter mode is about as advanced as SmackDown on the original Playstation unless you really tweak the settings most of the time you will end up with a similar looking guy I cant even count how many CAF's online I have seen that look the same. The game also flows at a horrendously slow pace and is based around an event calender and basic training that also barely gets you anywhere. Needless to say despite how much I love this game I absolutely hate the Story mode, the only reason to play threw it is to make a CAF that is fun to play online and can hold up to online fighters and you can barely even force yourself to do that.
Graphics - I have to say on the graphics side of this game they nailed it really well, the fighters look pretty much spot on and while fighting it looks fairly realistic although there are some clipping issues that are especially noticeable during slo'mos and replays but most of the time when you hit the guy he feels it. The only aspect of the graphics I think could improve is the crowd, it is 3d and people do have decent expressions and cheers but it is not as good as other games with crowds in the current gen, also its always the same people which also takes a little bit out of the realism of the game.
Multiplayer - Now this is really were the game shines through for me although there are some issues the multi is so fun and competitive and not to mention addicting that they don't really affect much.
The Good - It has about everything you could want in an MMA fighting experience and as I mentioned earlier the game mechanics are very in depth my favorite thing about the controls is the ground game. It very easily separates the serious from the casual so online battles between two proficient grappler's can be an all out chess game just like the real thing and it usually comes down to patience and timing. Like I said also the single player is not proficient in teaching you enough to prepare you for the online aspect and that is an understatement. To fight most "World class ground fighters" you better use the practice mode a hell of a lot, practice reversals a lot and try not to spam. All in all if you get good at ground fighting you will be good online. Standup is pretty good its no fight night but its fairly balanced and there is a good mix of all classes (Bjj, Wrestling, Boxing, Jujitsu) and so on. It is fairly hard to make it a stand up only game though if your opponent's dedicated or has a proficient wrestler, but if you can mix up your strikes with your takedown defense fighting flows pretty good. The best thing about Multi is the competitiveness... I have never gotten so many angry messages in a game which could be a good or a bad thing to you depending on your sense of humor. I personally think its funny and fun that so many people get so angry. I would warn against this for children or teens though because the smack talk is vulgar and happens often in this game.
The Bad - There are a few things about multiplayer that I really hate. One of those things is something they semi fixed when the creators patched it that stops people from leaving in the middle or at the end of a game they were loosing and not get a loss which used to happen a lot, but you also don't get the win either even if you technically won. They did add a DNF feature to the offending players record so at least you can see who leaves games a lot with a number of "Did Not Finish'es". I have also had issues in multiplayer with the game freezing up while looking for an online game although it does happen rarely, but it is an annoying problem especially since the only way to get out is to either quit the game or sign out of your profile.
Besides all these issues there are the normal gripes of any online game that people take advantage of exploits like that its easier to get out of half guard by spamming than anything else and also that when you get a guillotine it has way to high probability of success regardless of players attributes which I think is really dumb.
Again I will stress how horrible the single player is in this game. It is quite possibly the most boring thing in any game I have ever played and I never want to do it again. If you have no internet connection and no friends to play this with don't even rent this game.
In Conclusion - This game is a great competitive fighter and if you love MMA as much as I do you should own it. The pricing on it right now is great but it was even worth the full price that I payed. The next UFC game thats coming out in May will be great if they fix these issues and work on single player. If they do all that the next game will be a 5 out of 5 to me.
If your thinking about getting this game just get it... The replay value is great and the game is a true MMA experience.
UFC 2009 4-5 | video-games_xbox |
Sound Card & Headset Upgrade Saga. Ok, here's my saga trying to upgrade my old sound card and headset. To put some of the following challenges in context, I've been in IT for over 20 years, so if I had challenges, expecting the average Joe to have some too... My old sound card was a Sound Blaster X-Fi Model SB0460 and my old headset was a Razer HP-1 Barracuda. I ordered a Turtle Beach Ear Force Z6a headset directly from Turtle Beach and it hasn't arrived yet. Below is the saga of my sound card trials (installed on Win 7 64 bit system)...
Round 1: First I tried SteelSeries 7H USB. It comes with a USB sound card so thought I'd kill 2 birds with one stone (get new headset & soundcard together). Well the only problem with the SteelSeries is that software does not appear to be their strong suit... The 7H driver on their website is about a year old and it does not install like normal drivers/software. I spent a couple days to figure out that the only link to the driver is in the "Notification Area Icons" (aka the task bar). There is no link from the Windows driver, it does not create a folder in the Start Menu, nor anything on the desktop. The only way I figured this out (nothing in their documentation or email support) was when I installed in on my son's computer and he had the task bar notifications set to always display. Got it working fine on the son's computer and just left it there as this model was on his birthday gift list ;-)
Round 2: I bought the Asus Xonar DX PCIe 7.1 Sound Card. Like others, I found the external power connector flimsy and even the card itself didn't seat in the PCIe slot very firmly (the back screw is what gave it stability). I downloaded the latest drivers from their website. First, they wanted me to connect the 5.1 back connector (black) to the "side" jack?? Then, as much as I played with settings, it sounded terrible (not usable). I have an ASUS MB and love it; obviously I wasn't as impressed with their audio card.
Round 3: I returned the ASUS Xonar and got a SoundBlaster X-FI Titanium Fatal1ty Pro PCIe. Back to Sound Blaster. Yes, their software can be bloated, but I installed the card downloaded the driver and a few essential Aps (not everything they recommend) and I was up and running with awesome sound (tested on BFBC2).
The biggest challenge with all three of the above soundcards is that the driver software is not intuitive/user friendly.
UPDATE: I received the Turtle Beach Ear Force Z6a headset, and the combination with the Soundblaster X-FI Titanium Fatal1ty Pro soundcard is awesome! Crisp sounds, deep bass, and superb directional sound! I am extremely happy with the combination!! Also, the Turtle Beach headset is much more comfortable than the SteelSeries headset; the SteelSeries was a little too tight for my liking. | video-games_xbox |
Five Stars. 4K, The Only Way
I have been a gamer since the original Nintendo. Ive always tried to stay up to date with the current consoles and games. So naturally when I heard about the 2 terabyte 4K Xbox one S (S), I preordered it. Prior to upgrading to the S I already owned the Play Station 4 (PS4) and Xbox One Elite Edition. The generous storage capacity, gorgeous picture, slim design and new 4K features make this one of the best consoles Ive ever owned. This why I believe you should upgrade to the Xbox One S as soon as possible.
Once I hooked up the console to my 4K TV, I got started on the process of transferring my profile and all my games to the hard drive. On my old Xbox One and PS4, my hard drives were near maximum capacity. I had to make hard choices on which games to keep on my hard drives and which to leave available for download. Now on the S I have double the space, and am able to have all my games playable and ready. This leaves me with plenty of storage space left for more games, digital downloads, and apps.
With the new 4k output I can see my games in a new light. The picture is so gorgeous and clear, compared to my old Xbox One and PS4. For example, player versus player (PvP) is now more enjoyable due to the clarity of the environment. The picture has actually helped my kill to death ratio (K/D) in first person shooter (FPS) games because I can see where players are hiding and moving across the map. If you do not have a 4K TV this box may not be for you because at the most, due to your TV, you will be running at 1080p.
At 40% smaller size compared to its predecessor the console is truly slim. With the Xbox being smaller and lighter it can be displayed vertically with the aid of a stand. Microsoft has also removed the old, outdated external power supply in favor of an internal one as PlayStation consoles have for many years. This has made placing the box easier since you no longer have to worry about finding space for the bulky power supply. Transporting the console is now much easier because you can fit the S in most backpacks and large bags.
The new 4K feature on the Xbox One S make this one of the best deals on the market. This unique capability of the S makes it much more preferable to other consoles like the PS4 and the Ss predecessor. Due to its ability to stream in 4k resolution, you can now watch Hulu, Netflix and many other streaming services in brilliant 2160p. With the built in 4K Ultra HD Player you can enjoy new movies in 4K. Plus, with the upscaling feature you can watch your old DVDs and Blurays in a higher resolution. So DVDs look more like Blurays and Blurays scale up closer to 4K Ultra HD quality. If you wanted to buy a 4K Ultra HD player that would stream Netflix and other applications, you would be spending close to $350. The base model Xbox One S with the 500GB hard drive sells for $299 and you have the 4K features along with ability to enjoy all of the great Xbox games.
The Xbox One S with its beautiful picture, awesome storage space, slim sleek design and 4K features make this one of the best consoles on the market. I rate it a 5 out 5 stars, I would recommend this console to any gamer who is looking to upgrade from their older consoles for a superior gaming experience. Do not miss out on this incredible product, order yours today. | video-games_xbox |
Still My Favorite Game. I bought this game over 1 year ago and have decided to finally write a review (which I never did after the initial purchase). I have played many games in recent years on the Xbox and Xbox360 format and I have always come back for a round of fun with GTA4. Having played through the entire campaign mode and done a fair amount of multiplayer I felt it was timeto go back and add my thoughts on one of Rockstar's most beloved (and controversial at times) GTA series.
This game has incredibible content and there are so many side quests and activities you really can't get bored. In fact it is the only game I own that I can honestly say that will draw me into sheer mayhem. By that I mean I will put in my game console and not even think about story missions or mutliplayer ....... just put it in and head to a weapon shop, and buy unlimited weapons and fly around the city in helicopter, landing on rooftops .... and surviving 4, 5 or even 6 star onslaughts from the cops. I will add that I competed GTA to 100% and got the "Key To The City" achievement to unlock the unlimited weapon ability ...... but its worth it if you want to load up a game just to cause an hour or 2 of mayhem. It's crazy and insane yes, but I love it !!
I agree with a recent reviewer about the friends, yes they were a pain at times but the special abilities they unlock can benefit you greatly while doing the story mode. In fact the "Liberty City Five" is one of the achievments I unlocked that I am most proud of ...... when you get the character Packie on board and his "like " rises his bomb planting ability is a hoot. Its done by cell phone and I laugh every time I have used it !! I would encourage anyone to take him to an activity, he's very foul mouthed and his comments were among the best, especially when it came to drinking with Niko ..... try this and listen to his rants, it can be hilarious !!
Online is pretty fun but admittedly this game seems to draw some of the rudest players I think (maybe the criminal element breeds that style of play online too !!). Its a great game, and I pre-ordered GTA5 because of my love of GTA4 ..... not San Andreas, which I have also played. GTA4 is a bit hard edged compared to other previous entries, but its a good buy. I hope GTA5 mixes a little more "over the top fun" like San Andreas, but in case they don't .... "Niko Style" GTA works too. | video-games_xbox |
Promotion now being honored after customer complaints. Update 2/02/2015:
The adapter and boom finally arrived as Ken had said they would, in new and working condition. It's good to see a company like Polk honor their deals even after discontinuing them. Overall, a quality headset that I'd recommend. It only took 3 months to get everything right. Adjusting my review to 5 stars.
Update 1/23/2015:
While waiting for the free adapter, I passed the return period for these headphones and decided to open them and test them out on my Xbox 360. The sound quality is great, as expected from a Polk Audio product, but the max volume does disappoint a bit as other reviewers have mentioned. The voice chat function on Xbox 360 works well and the volume mixer keeps sound balanced to my likes. The build quality and overall aesthetics are excellent and instill confidence in the longevity of the device. Unfortunately, I have yet to be able to try out the voice chat on Xbox One.
I received a response regarding the promotion in early December and was told they are now honoring the free adapter again (presumably due to customer complaints), and that I just needed to register the product on their website. The CSR gave me a quote of 6-8 weeks for delivery on December 4th. Approximately 7 weeks later, I had yet to receive any response.
Browsing Polk's forums, I found a thread discussing this issue with a moderator recommending sending an email to Ken. Carter@soundunited.com with the serial number and my mailing address. I shot him an email yesterday and received a response today requesting my phone number as well. He indicated that he would be mailing the adapter today.
On a side note, a friend of mine purchased the same headphones at the same time and registered them the same day I did. He received the adapter on December 20th.
Due to the quality of the product thus far (disregarding the adapter issue), I have raised my review to 3 stars and will adjust accordingly when I hear more about the adapter. It basically comes down to the principle of the situation for me, as a company should be willing to back their marketing claims fully. It seems as if Polk Audio is doing that, albeit very slowly.
Original Review:
Unfortunately the promotion mentioned on the product page, as well as my new, unopened box, indicating a free Xbox One adapter is false and Polk is no longer honoring it. Buyer Beware. I submitted a ticket to Polk customer service and will update if anything changes. Worst case scenario I return the headphones and get my money back, but this is blatant false advertising. | video-games_xbox |
Awesome. First impression:
This game is smooth, easy to play and get the hang of (still challenging, though), and open ended. The gun and gear upgrades make this game just as addicting and rewarding (if you think that the whole online gear thing is rewarding) appealing. You'll immediately encounter the comedic relief of a claptrap and the other inhabitants of Pandora, so you get flung right in to the action and laughs. The scenery is still the same graphic novel style as the first, but wow does this game look good. They took everything that was so amazing about the first Borderlands, and improved on those features (along with some nice playability tweaks).
Warning to you PC gamers who have switched to console:
This game plays a bit differently on the XBox. It's not bad, you just need to get used to it. I played through the first one on my PC, so this was a bit of a change (took a few deaths getting used to things and fumbling with the controller a little).
Overall, this game packs less of a punch in the side of the face, and more of a brass knuckled uppercut to the jaw/nose. But it does it in style -- enough style to make you ask for another.
Update:
Yeah, this game improves on the first. Here are a few things you have to look forward to:
1) More side areas and track multiple quests at once.
2) The desire to explore that strange side area that you barely noticed pays off, but expect to pay for going that way (this happens quite a bit).
3) It definitely makes you form strategies to take on various scenarios. Some seem quite impossible.
4) Comic relief. It's not just Claptrap getting his butt kicked anymore. There are quite a few places that will make you chuckle/laugh.
5) More guns. More guns. More guns. More shield and equipment types. More customization.
I'd write more about this game, but I don't want to ruin the experience. Have fun, play the game (give it more than 10 minutes), and take your time with this one. It's worth it. | video-games_xbox |
Best birthday gift to myself ever. Could have had a better story (from experience so far. I understand that Microsoft studios funded most of the development of this game, but I would still like to give my hats off to the true developers at Square Unix and Crystal Dynamics for the development of this game. I have been a fan of tomb raider for quite a while although the first one I bought was in 2013 when Lauras origin story (at least one of them) was told. At that time I was impressed by the amount of realism and physics that was put into the game. I got this game on my birthday hoping that this will top the last game. Needless to say, I have never been as satisfied as I am now with it. From the moment I hit that start button, I could not let go of my controller as it would continuously shake in accordance with the actions taking place on the screen. Is it a little repetitive? Perhaps, but I guess we would expect a little bit of repetition in this title as with any other game (Im talking about you Ubisoft and Assassins Creed).
Physics:
The physics are pretty flawless, with exceptions of the snow not in sync with the footsteps by Laura or any of the crew members and the enemies.
Particle effects:
In my point of view, particle effects can either make a game incredible, or it can easily make it a flop show. Rise of the tomb raider brought this to my attention as the particle effects worked in tune with the environment.
Lighting:
I did not have much problems with calibrating my display to match the gameplay style. I know weak starting point lol. For a first go, I have to say I am impressed with the style of lighting used to simulate the sensations of agony, pain, and and even happiness.
Story:
My favorite style of adventure video games have been those who have a story to tell. In tomb raider 2013, the story was easy to follow, and I looked forward for this title to continue to excel in this area. However, this is where I feel a little laggy about, because as it turns out, I couldn't really follow some of the storyline as the game moves along.
Overall:
I give my hats off to Square Unix and Crystal Dynamics for this title. Tomb raider has come a long way from when it was first released. I am honestly surprised with the lighting, particle effects, and the physics engine. Coming from an amateur but rising game developer, I feel that there is a lot of potential in this game. I honestly hope this game wins the game of the year award, after Assassins Creed Syndicate that is. Good job guys, and I hope the next title will be even better. | video-games_xbox |
Well written, fun combat, lots of near-misses in design. I really enjoyed three things about this game: the writing (the story is above average, and the dialogue of the main NPCs is far and away better than any other fantasy RPG game I've played -- and I've played quite a few), the art design (really quite beautiful), and the simplicity of the combat. Having one button for each of your three combat types and being able to switch between them seamlessly is just excellent, top-notch design. I liked not having to worry about mana or armor class or inventory management and just focusing on looking cool while I took out some bad guys.
I had a lot of fun with this game. I just finished the main quest, and I might actually bother to play it again someday. The developers clearly want you to be excited at the prospect of playing through multiple times, though (at least twice), since they have this much-touted karma system and constantly bombard you with reminders of how "your choices shape the world," so let's look at why I think this game falls short of the developers' visions of greatness.
LOVE AND ALL THAT CRAP: Peter Molyneux apparently had big ideas of putting love into the game with a pet dog and the option to get married and have children. I guess if you love playing the Sims, you might enjoy having a much-diluted version of that in your RPG. Personally, I just found it irritating. I was playing a good male character, so for the last half of the game I couldn't walk through towns without having every female NPC begging me to have their babies. I might have enjoyed that if sex was appealing at all, but the process of selecting a character, selecting a bed, and then watching the screen go dark for a minute really didn't make it seem worthwhile to me. Adding to that the joys of a nagging wife and kids with a habit of glitching out of the game made the whole relationship aspect actively unpleasant for me. Even the dog got on my nerves. He can't fight worth a hoot, and the crap he makes me dig up was seldom if ever worth the trouble.
KARMA WEIRDNESS: Plenty of other people have said that your choices in this game come down to saintliness or cartoonish super-villainy. That's partly true, but I think it's more of a problem when the game pretends something is a moral choice that really isn't. There's one quest where you get good points for convincing some random woman to marry you. What? There's another where you get good points for helping someone else cast a love spell on a woman and marry her. Also, you get something like 600 evil points if your wife divorces you, but only like 15 if you murder her.
DIFFICULTY (OR LACK THEREOF): This game really needed a difficulty setting. To make it harder. I'll be honest, I often play through games on the easy setting because I like to feel powerful, and even I wanted more of a challenge. The problem is in the enemy AI: they just don't attack enough until you're literally at the end of the game (and then it's more a function of the number of enemies you're facing simultaneously). I was trying to perfect one of the advanced melee moves, and I could not get enemies to take a swing at me more than once every 15 seconds. It's like running around slaughtering mannequins. People on forums often suggest not leveling up your abilities to make it harder, but that doesn't actually make it more fun - it just makes it take longer for me to make the mannequins lay down.
LACK OF ITEMS: For a game so intent on getting me to collect things (what with the barking dog telling me to dig up buried treasure and all), this one really needs some help. It's not even entirely that there aren't enough items, it's more that after about the first third of the game, you'll never again find anything you'll want to use in a random chest because you already have something better. This is really unacceptable because some of these chests are only accessible once you reach a certain point in the storyline or gain enough experience. It's easy to earn money in the game, but it's sort of hard to spend it, as the merchants don't stock enough items. I went through two-thirds of the game in the same outfit because I couldn't find anyone selling any clothes I didn't already own. I'm sure that was partly just bad luck on my playthrough with their item randomizer code, but it would have been nice if one of the hundreds of items I dug up could have been a nice new coat or something.
COMBAT RESPONSIVENESS: I really do like the combat system a lot, but the melee skills don't entirely deliver on their promise. The highest-level skill is a powerful counterattack that has to be done exactly as an enemy is about to hit you. It looks cool when it happens, but I found I had to perform the move just slightly before the enemy tried to hit me for it to actually work (so it was more of a random event in fights than a skilled maneuver). I don't know if that's because my controller is just unusually unresponsive or my reflexes just aren't as good as I think they are, but the move would definitely take practice even if you didn't have to be able to see the future to use it reliably. (I realize there are people out there who can do it, but as far as I can tell, they're working off pattern recognition in the enemy animations rather than responding to the actual attack movements.) Also, the more powerful enemies (i.e. the ones you would really want to use the most powerful move on) are immune to it according to the FAQs I've read. Since the lower-level melee moves are effective enough to get you through the whole game pretty easily, it makes this one essentially useless. It's a shame, because this would be a cool move if the control for it had been tweaked a little bit to make it more practical (like instead of having to move the left stick toward the enemy and push X at the same time during his attack, you could be holding X to block and then move the stick toward the enemy while he's attacking).
CONFUSION: This isn't a hard game, but there are a lot of things to learn (like the expression wheel) that the tutorial, the help screen, and the manual just don't adequately orient you to. I had to look at a FAQ to figure out what one of the opinion meters NPCs have measures, and also to figure out if I could start a new character without saving over my old one (since you can only have one save per character, and the warning message doesn't say "per character"). The menu screens are unforgivably difficult to navigate in some cases (like when you pick up a book and then have to guess where in the list of books it will fall, as the order is random and changes each time you open the list). And the lack of a world map is really disorienting.
On the whole, I enjoyed this game a good deal. It just seemed sloppy to me in some key areas, and I wish they had cut down on the number of things they tried to include in this game and made the core ones really fantastic. | video-games_xbox |
Great package... better than nothing. Okay, so I will start out by giving you a little background here. I am a gold member of Xbox Live previous to purchasing this package. My subscription was running out early 2010 and I needed to renew. I got an email from Microsoft (M$) regarding an automatic renewal using the credit card I have on file with them. I like to buy the points to purchase DLC (downloadable content to those who don't know all of these acronyms yet). I am not a fan of auto-renew, not because of the ease, but because M$ is not the best deal in town for their own service.
Generally, you can find 12-Month subscription cards for less than the $49.99 M$ will charge you. In fact, Amazon and Walmart (am I allowed to say that?) had a price war recently where the 12-Month card went all the way down to $30! So, I figured if I was going to spend that kind of money, what else can I get?
I found this package and figured it was time to add to my xbox toys. I had a headset already, as well as PGR 4 (Project Gotham Racing 4, but the 12-month card and the text pad were new to the collection. So, I purchased the bundle. Overall, if you don't have any of the stuff in the package, it's a great thing to have. I am going to break it down piece by piece for future buyers:
-12-Month Subscription - Xbox Live is great. I can't say enough about it. The only negative is the yearly price. Others do not charge to use their system to play games online. M$ does. I feel it's worth it still, but I have hopes that one day it will be closer to that $30 mark direct from M$. This is why the package did not get a 5-star rating.
-Headset - This is the same headset you get with every console. It's your basic headset but it does the job. It's certainly not a Turtle Beach headset, but it's good!
-Text Pad - If you have friends on xbox live, this is well worth it if you pass messages back and forth. I prefer this over voice messages. The text pad is great and allows you to type and use symbols quickly. Also, it's light and does not interfere with using the controller unless you hold it in the middle somehow. It's backlit too for those who game in the dark. Big fan!
-PGR 4 - I would read a separate review for it, but for the price you get it for here, it is well worth it. PGR is one of my favorite series. It includes high end sports car manufacturers as well as motorcycles this time around. It also has a more arcade race feeling versus a simulator, which makes it more fun for those who like to drift and button mash their way to the finish line.
Overall, 4-stars, but closer to 4.5. | video-games_xbox |
An interesting action adventure with lots of style. The Good: Great graphics, voice acting, characters, and story, fun and gory combat
The Bad: Monotonous combat, very short, broken platforming, tough boss battles
Afro Samurai is just one of those comic/cartoons that you never really hear of until it's a video game. Afro Samurai is about a ummm...samurai named...Afro...who is trying to find the #1 headband from the person who killed his father. Anyone who holds the #1 headband becomes a god and only the #2 bearer can challenge #1. While the story has interesting developments and great characters the game is mainly focused on combat. Afro, and Ninja Ninja, are voiced by Samual L. Jackson (you may have heard him as Officer Tenpenny in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas) along with Justice being voice by Ron Perlman (Hellboy fame).
There are a lot of elements to the combat in AS, but the whole thing becomes very monotonous after a few levels. You have three basic attacks: Light, Heavy, and Kick (along with jump). You also have Focus attacks (which slow down time) and if you hold either heavy or light you with instantly slice in enemy to bits. Not all enemies can be easily succumbed to the Focus so some will have to be weakened before using this. There is also a Parry technique in which you can "mount" an enemy and slice their head off. Parry is essential to most boss fights (more on those later) and to staying alive.
While the combat is very satisfying only because of the sheer amounts of gore that are spilled it does become very repetitive. There are combos you can learn but they aren't really necessary since you can just button mash most of the time. I particularly loved the gore since it isn't canned and any part you slice off WILL come off. If you slice just the toe that comes off, slice a piece of a guys' skin it comes off. The whole theme is very mature with lots of cussing, sexual innuendos, and nude polecats. Yes, nude female samurais...nothing's hotter than that. Anyways, there are some platforming sections, but this part of the game is somewhat flawed since Afro likes to stick to things a lot and the controls for this can be somewhat unresponsive. Controls for combat are spot on, but they seem to become sluggish and sticky when your platforming.
Another great aspect (that I'm glad more developers are doing) is there is no HUD. Just like games such as Dead Space everything is on your main character to tell what's going on. The more Afro glows red the closer you are to dying, when your focus is charged up Afro's pendant sparkles...and that's pretty much all you need. You do level up and learn new focus moves such as bullet slice (reflect and slice bullets in slow-mo), mounting etc. There are some different enemy types, but there could have been more. You'll see a lot of the same ones half way through the game and it tends to add to the monotony.
Enemy AI is actually pretty good and you will have a challenge fighting off enemies by the dozens. Thankfully Afro is fully equipped to take on all these baddies. Combat doesn't tend to get to frustrating until you get to bosses since the windows for attacking are so small it takes so much patience to kill them. While your character does level up it doesn't really make a difference since it's all set on auto really. The game is fairly short clocking in at about 4-6 hours depending on how you play the game and your skill level. There is zero replay value since there are no extra modes you unlock or anything. I just highly recommend Afro Samurai as a fun weekend rental. | video-games_xbox |
Great for your PC too. If you own an xbox, the choice here is fairly obvious. There isn't much to say other than if you don't have a wireless controller already, get one. If you only own a PC however, or play games on your PC as well as your 360 like I do, then things get a little more interesting.
I wholeheartedly recommend using a 360 controller in combination with the Xbox Wireless Receiver for Windows. The range on this thing is great and goes through walls. You can tuck the receiver behind your monitor, under your desk, or in a drawer and you'll get perfect reception. The support for this controller is excellent in all applications I've tried, the drivers are minimal, and the controller even turns itself off after not being used for a while to save battery life. In a Games For Windows title, all buttons automatically work like they would on the 360, no muss, no fuss. Hitting the Guide button even pops up the Windows Live overlay if you're playing a game that supports it like Fallout 3 or GTA 4 (normally the Guide button just gives you a summary of your battery life).
It is also possible to install a third party profiler app that lets you bind keystrokes and mouse movements to the controller, like XPadder (free). This lets me play a movie on my PC, and then sit on the couch and use the controller play/pause/ff/rewind,etc. I've had zero problems using this controller with xpadder.
If you like emulating old games on your pc (nes/snes/n64/etc), the large number of buttons lets you map the controller to pretty much any retro console controller you can think of.
As for the merits of the controller itself, there are plenty of reviews here that praise its comfort, feel, and reliability, and revile the D-Pad, so I won't go over any of that.
Summary:
+ Most comfortable and reliable controller I've used.
+ Wireless, great range, good price on amazon.
+ Good battery life and auto-shutoff feature.
+ Great game & app support with little to no headaches or installs.
- D-Pad is nearly useless, but there are few games where this makes a difference, like fighting games.
- It can be hard to find the proper wireless receiver driver if you are running 64-bit Vista, but its out there if you search hard enough.
edit:
Works flawlessly in Windows 7 x64 without having to hunt down the driver!
The D-Pad can be improved by following these instructions: [...] I tried it on one of my controllers and can verify it works great and feels much better, but be careful, and remember that you'll be voiding your warranty and can damage your controller. | video-games_xbox |
Sniper Elite Has What it Takes. I think a review is subjective so, if you don't like shooters or war themed games then don't bother to read further.
I purchased Sniper Elite because a game junky who understands my penchant for shooters said it was easily worth the money. He was dead on.
The premise is that it is the end of WWII. The Russians are taking their first steps toward the atomic age and as a member of the OSS it is your job to infiltrate, whack the baddies or destroy equipment and exfiltrate.
I played this game all the way through alone and in two-player mode with my son, who at 11 is a better shot than me darn it. I actually liked two-player better because you really get a team feel. Multiple shooting points can really help in some missions.
The last thing to mention is the shooting itself. Through the game you progress through three rifles, each better than the last. You have to account for gravity, wind, rain and AI. It can take more than 1 shot if placement isn't good, but there is a great feature we refer to as "bullet cam". Spectacular shots change the point of view to that of the bullet. You follow trajectory all the way to the target and watch the bone smashing damage, followed by a heads-up message indicating the type of shot and the distance. It really makes you competitive and awards "Points of Fame".
In short:
AI - decent to spectacular depending on the difficulty level
Graphics - pretty good (remember this is xbox/PS2)
Storyline - Fair enough to support the missions.
Controls - Easy and make pretty good sense
"The Shot" - Most fun shooter I've played.
Only negative I found was that on XBox there are verbal communiques that come across as high pitched static screeches. I'm not sure what the dialogue is supposed to be, but I learned pretty quickly to drop and break out the binoculars :)
If you like shooters and/or war games you've paid for worse. I can only say this is the only game I ever played start to finish and re-played immediately at the next level. | video-games_xbox |
This Game is Wicked Fun (offline, story-mode review. I purchased this game soley on the advice of a friend. I had not viewed any trailers, nor had I played a demo version when I purchased it for full release price. That's how highly recommended it came to me. I'm here to tell you that the game definately lives up to the hype.
The story is based on an older comic partially created by Garth Ennis. Anyone who knows anything about comics knows that anything touched by Garth Ennis is pretty much worth its weight in gold when it comes to quality and entertainment value. The game based on his creation does not disappoint.
Let's start at the beginning. As the game opens you find yourself (Jackie Estacado) in the back seat of a convertable. Two of your fellow mafioso-types occupy the car with you. Within moments you're on a high-speed chase through a tunnel with police shooting at you while you frantically try to load your shotgun. One of your partners dies (in a satisfyingly gruesome way) before you even reach the end of the tunnel sequence. When you do reach the end, the game begins in earnest, with your other partner laid up with about 3 inches of bone sticking out of his leg. Fan-freakin'-tastic. Then the game actually begins.
As first person shooters go, this one is fairly unique, though not so much in design as in concept and ability. The perspective is good (though the excessive head-bob does occasionally grate on the nerves...) and the movement relatively fluid. To me the controls seem a little loose or sluggish (but that may be influenced by how much I play Rainbow Six : Vegas, which has impeccable control) but don't really hinder your progress through or enjoyment of the game itself.
Visually the game is stunning. The darks are dark...very dark, but still textured and vivid, and the lights a very bright. (It may be my imagination but they seem to get brighter the longer Jackie is possessed with the Darkness) Blood spatters, bullets ricochet, and your Darklings are amusingly disgusting. They (the Darklings) also provide some of the more amusing sound bites in the game, as well. For instance, upon summoning a Lightkiller Darkling, he might say "Got a light?" and then chuckle in a thoroughly pleasing demonic little voice. (It's especially entertaining when one of your Darklings chooses to relieve his bladder upon a fallen enemy!)
The story is engrossing. Once you start playing through the game you won't want to put it down. It has a linear story line, and updating objectives that must be completed to advance the story, but there doesn't seem to be any time limit on accomplishing said objectives, as far as I can tell. This is nice because there are a number of side-objectives that are not crucial to the completion of the game but give you more Collectables (of which in the game there are 100) which unlock extra content from the main menu. Some of this content includes digital reproductions of original The Darkness comics, concept art, add covers, and more.
If you're thinking of buying this game, follow these simple steps:
1) Quit thinking about it
2) Buy the freakin' game.
If you're not thinking of buying this game, Start thinking of buying the game and then go to step one. If you like dark-toned, gory first person shooters with an interesting story line, fun abilities, and lots of blood, this game is definately for you. | video-games_xbox |
Endless laughs with friends. We have spent probably hundreds of hours on this game, either just my husband and I or with friends on a galleon. Theres a few comments here that I have read which are inaccurate.
You can play alone. Youre not forced to group up with a random crew of you want to play alone.
There are ships out there that are going to want to sink your ship. Thats the point of the game. The more you get into it, get good, and actually try to fight back, the better youll be. Continuously running doesnt help you get better at ship battles. Even a sloop (1-2 person boat) can take down a full crew if they know what they're doing.
Dont take your questing so seriously. Its hardly the point. Going to different islands to fight skeletons and dig for gold is like the base line of the game. Theres so much more here if you don't worry about your quests. Ive shot my own husband while he carried a gun powder barrel across a beach. Its hilarious when someone explodes with no warning.
Theres also a new faction that is always changing, the Bilge Rat faction. This changes monthly where you get special coins to buy specialty items. This tends to be way more fun for me. Finding thrones, giant sharks, and mermaid statues have been the crux of our play in the last several weeks.
Again, if you're going to take yourself seriously here, you're not going to have fun. Share some gold with some of the other players if you see them on an island alone. Drink until you puke on your crewmates and play a bad herdy gerdy tune. Its not about beating every quest and finishing the game. Its about having a good time. And if you lose a few skulls and chests because another crew took you out, get better. Practice more. Its funny. Its not meant to be like an elder scrolls game where your quests matter and you have to complete everything.
At its core its a pirate game. So the expectation to play without losing here and there is just not feasible. I will say the one down side is it can be difficult to sail out alone, at least for me. I enjoy playing with other people and if I was to play alone I WOULD join another crew. You can leave any crew you join. Its not worth staying in a lame crew.
I also will note that there is a bit of monotony here, but with the next update coming out soon, I do expect that will make a lot more gameplay. I haven't found myself bored even when just grinding out quest after quest because I do enjoy being goofy and sabatoging my crewmates from time to time. Weve defeated the Kraken and also died because we sailed off the side of the map. (Whoops). Killed the megladon a few times. But Ive been blasted more times then I like to admit by gun powered skellies. Dying can even be comical when you come across other people in your server on the ferry of the damned. You can interact with them and even talk through game chat. Most of the time its hilarious.
Overall those who find this boring are looking at it like an elder scrolls level game. And its not. If this isn't your cup of tea because of that, makes sense | video-games_xbox |
Best Xbox 360 design yet, except for one thing. I'm hoping people who buy this realize how useless 4GB is. Don't get me wrong, the console is great, and the redesign looks stylish and is the quietest, lowest-power-consuming Xbox 360 yet. But I bought one of these along with a 320GB hard drive. The 4GB comes from the factory filled with some bloatware (arcade game trials) and the full version of the Hexic arcade game. But even if you delete all of this, you are left with FAR less than 4GB. That's not even enough to download a single full retail game; not even close.
If you want to take advantage of the free Games for Gold (if you have a Gold subscription), good luck downloading any of those games. If you want to use the cloud game saves feature, well that takes up half a gigabyte to activate too. Even if you download nothing, some games download fairly large updates just to be playable at all. Your 4GB will easily be eaten up by any of these things.
Unless you plan on buying this console only for non-gaming purposes, like using the Amazon/Netflix/Hulu/etc apps, or only playing very small Xbox Live Arcade games, you NEED to buy a hard drive with this. Or just buy the one that includes the hard drive. But for me, 250GB wasn't enough on my Xbox 360 S, so I bought this 4GB along with the 320GB hard drive.
Now, other than the hard drive space, here's what I think about this compared to the previous Xbox 360 designs.
- Quietest design yet. I can't say for sure if it is quieter than the 360 S though or just tied, since both designs are nearly silent and I can't hear them at all when any sound is coming from my speakers. I could easily hear my launch 360's fans over my speakers, even when they were playing something relatively loud.
- The power brick is the same size as the S, but smaller than the original
- The power brick is not interchangeable with any other 360 designs, since the connector on the 360 is a small round one instead of the fairly large semi-rectangular ones from the past
- No optical audio out. This would have been a problem for me until I upgraded my AV receiver, which has all the HDMI switching capabilities I need. If you currently use optical out to pass your surround sound, and don't have an HDMI-switching AV receiver, be aware of this.
- One less USB port (4 total) than the 360 S (which had 5). One more USB port than the original Xbox 360 (which had 3). Not a problem for many, but I think you can't have too many USB ports, and would have strongly preferred they didn't remove one of them.
- Eject and power button are not touch-sensitive. You have to actually push the buttons in (I prefer this).
Now the only serious thing I'm actually a little disappointed in compared to my launch 360 and 360 S (yes, I've purchased three 360s...), is something I haven't really heard anybody else mention yet. The green ring around the power button is either fully on, or off. You can't see what player(s) are connected by looking at the lit-up ring quadrants. Interestingly enough, my Xbox One is the same way, but the Xbox One controllers don't indicate which player it is either. I really liked having a way to see what players have their controllers connected. Not sure why they cut this feature.
The design itself is quite nice, and matches my Xbox One quite well. But just like the Xbox One, half of it is a glossy surface, so you will need to be careful with it. Glossy consoles always age much worse than matte consoles, since they are easily scratched and scuffed, and show every last fingerprint. Keep it carefully dusted and don't put things on top of it if you want it to stay nice-looking for longer than a couple months.
But the important thing is this final design of the 360 is solid, reliable, silent, and will not overheat on you like the original version. A very good redesign, especially when it is in close proximity to an Xbox One, since the designs complement each other well. BUT 4GB IS NOT ENOUGH! Hope I was clear on that. :) | video-games_xbox |
A lesser known Collectathon that can stand with the big boys. Ty The Tasmanian Tiger came out at the tail end of the Collectathon Hay Day. The game is able to stand up with the Big Boys of Collectathons, such as Banjo Kazooie, Super Mario 64, and Jak and Daxter. You play as Ty, a Tasmanian Tiger in the land down under on a quest to stop Boss Cass from taking over the world, and to save your Tiger brethren in the process. TTT features tight and responsive controls, likable characters, colorful and vibrant environments, and music that is catchy, and fits every environment/scenario well.
Ty battles his enemies with a set of Dual Boomerangs. Having both Boomerangs allows him to glide by holding A during a jump. There are several types of Boomerangs, each has its own practical use, and some have extra uses that can aid Ty. Some are collected by beating bosses, others by collecting Golden Cogs and bringing them to a friend. Here is a rundown of the boomerangs.
Boomerangs: Normal, middle of the road weapons. Have no special functions but get the job done.
Flamerangs: Burn things, melt ice, and deal extra damage to enemies.
Frostyrangs: Can put out fires, make ice platforms in water, and freeze enemies.
Zappyrangs: Can power electric switches and shock enemies.
Aquarangs: For use under water.
Zoomarangs: Have much longer distance and allow Ty to hit buttons and enemies that are far away, even zooming in with first person view
Multirang: Allows Ty to throw several boomerangs at once. A good crowd control weapon.
Infrarang: Allows Ty to find invisible crates which contain extras. A chime is heard when a secret item is nearby.
Lassorang: Only used in one area to rope up runaway emus. Nothing to write home about.
Megarangs: Attack all enemies in range
Kaboomerangs: Explode, can destroy large rocks, and do major damage to enemies.
Chronorangs: Slow enemies down, making them easy to defeat.
If Ty throws both Boomerangs, he cannot use them again until they return, and this means no gliding. However, Ty is also able to chomp enemies. The attack will only work in close range, and some enemies are able to dodge this attack, but it is a powerful attack and means Ty isn't a sitting duck when he throws both boomerangs.
Ty has a limited number of lives, but getting more lives is easy. Ty can take four hits before dying, but collecting all hidden rainbow shells in the Hub World adds an extra four hits to the meter. If all lives are depleted, the player will be taken to a continue screen, where a thirty seconds are ticking down. If the player chooses no, or lets the time run out, they will be booted back to the title screen, no Boss Cass victory game over in sight. However, whether coming back from a lost life or continuing after a game over, the player respawns at the last passed checkpoint with all collected Thunder eggs, opals, cogs, and everything. The game is challenging, but fair.
This game is actually fairly addicting. I would sit down to play for a few minutes, only for hours to tick by without my notice. The game is kind of short, but does provide a fum and challenging ride. However, the game does not demand perfection on the players part. The player must collect Thunder Eggs among other pickups to progress. But not all are needed to finish the game. Is that Thunder Egg too hard to get? Then skip it. But for the player who gets everything there is to get, the game has a few rewards hidden. One nice, helpful feature is that Ty will automatically look at objects of interest. He might just look at sign posts which point you where to go to the main objective of the level, or at picnic baskets which contain health pick ups, extra lives, or an opal magnet powerup, but he may also look at Opals, Cogs, and even Thunder Eggs.
Also there are race missions. Some are a simple sprint from point A to point B, while others have you racing an NPC. The unifying theme in these races is that there are checkpoints. All must be passed for the race to count. If Ty misses one, takes too long to reach the next one, or the opponent crosses first, the race is over. But some of these missions take place on slides, where it is impossible to retrace your steps if you miss a checkpoint.
But the game isn't perfect, there are a few blemishes to be found. Such as getting stuck while swimming, and having to maneuver and shoot off in another direction get out. There is an underwater race where this Glitch prevented me from winning on more than one occasion. Or the platforming demanding perfection. If you miss a jump by even a few inches, you won't make it. This isn't a hindrance when Ty grabs the ledge, but he does not always do so. Lastly, the camera can snap in certain directions, but if you want to go a different way, you will have to wrestle with the camera, and this has caused me a few deaths and missed jumps. However, these do not hold the game back from being great.
All complaints aside, the game is quite fun and is worth picking up. If you love collectathon platformers or want to play a game with a lesser known mascot, this game is for you. And it can be played on an Xbox 360, the only real issue is that the cutscenes stutter slightly. | video-games_xbox |
An improvement over Mass Effect 1, you must play this game. This review is for Mass Effect 2 Xbox 360.
I played through Mass Effect 1 on the PC and was disappointed to learn that had I played Mass Effect 1 on the Xbox, I could import my save game and get some nifty bonuses, along with the Long Service Award achievement. In order to get this achievement without importing a ME1 save, one has to play through ME2 twice. I will cut to the chase and say I really liked ME2, but not enough to play through it again immediately and possibly not on the Insanity difficulty (to get yet another achievement). The default actions from ME1 include Wrex dying on Virmire, and the Alliance Council being led by humans with Udina as the ambassador. When I finished ME1 on the PC, Wrex was alive, and the original Council was saved with Anderson being the ambassador.
Initially, managing 5 resources gets very tedious as your character can't afford to do research or buy upgrades without resources like credits, element zero, iridium, platinum, and palladium. Once you use probes to obtain these resources on planets (once you get to about 50k for element zero and 150k-200k for the metals, you can stop) it isn't as big of a problem but obtaining upgrades still requires credits. Playing through ME2 once, my character was still about 3000 experience points away from level 30 (which would have yielded another achievement) even though I explored every single planet and completed every side mission I could find. Managing the fuel and probes for the Normandy while exploring star systems was something I would have eliminated. It was unnecessary and didn't add anything to the gaming experience. Once you run out of fuel, EDI uses some palladium to tow your vessel back to the mass relay - not a big loss to be honest.
The use of thermal clips is somewhat of a pain because in the later and more difficult stages, you quickly run out of thermal clips. Even with the Revanant Light Machine Gun (which has lots of ammo), I ran out at the final boss and had to finish him off with the pistol. In ME1, your weapon has unlimited ammo and just has a tendency to overheat which requires a cool down period. In ME2, you use thermal clips which in effect is ammunition.
The mini-games are an improvement over those of ME1, but they are still tedious and waste time. They net you mostly credits with the occasional upgrade, and are often used to continue the mission (door, computer, etc...) The data hacking and bypass games require matching icons or screenshots.
The Hammerhead is gone, and in its place is a shuttle that you can't fly/control. The Firewalker DLC gives you a hovertank, which is easier to control than the ME1 Hammerhead. I hear there is a ME2 DLC that gives you the Hammerhead.
There are several DLC that have their own achievements, which makes it impossible to have 100% achievement completion unless you pay for the DLC. Adding up the cost in Microsoft points to purchase these DLC add-ons, it is the same price as the full game and the DLC just add a few side-quests. The Lair of the Shadow Broker has received high ratings, but I am not about to pay that much to find out.
I also enjoyed the music soundtrack from ME1, which is sorely lacking in ME2. The ME2 music is typical video game stuff, while ME1 reminded me of the movie Blade Runner. Many of the main planets/stations are significantly smaller than the ones in ME1. For instance, the Citadel is now basically Zakera Ward and Captain Anderson's office in the Presidium! Tuchanka and Illium are major planets, yet your character only gets to visit one tiny portion of each area.
Besides the DLC achievements, 2 achievements that require a lot of time/patience to obtain are the long service award (unless you import a ME1 save) and completing the game in insanity difficulty.
The voice acting in ME2 is top notch! Martin Sheen is the Illusive Man, Yvonne Strahovski (Agent Sarah Walker from Chuck) is Miranda and Miranda is even modeled to resemble Yvonne, Adam Baldwin (Animal Mother from Full Metal Jacket, Colonel Casey from Chuck) is a Quarian commando leader, Claudia Black (Pitch Black, Farscape), and Carrie-Anne Moss (Trinity from Matrix) are just a few of the celebrities that lended their voices for the game. I noticed that the Collectors resembled Pilot from Farscape. And yes, I did look up interviews of Yvonne on YouTube to hear her real Australian accent!
The controls are intuitive, and the AI isn't too bad. Your squadmates generally obey your orders but sometimes get in the way or enjoy getting killed by disobeying your commands. The loyalty factor in your teams is a good touch but it starts to get confusing when you have such a large team. I liked how a Geth joins your team, and there are more options for relationships in ME2.
Pros: Fixed a lot of the issues I had with ME1, intuitive controls, easy inventory and upgrade system, excellent voice acting
Cons: Too many resources to manage, thermal clips, mini-games are annoying, DLC add-ons are rather expensive and have their own achievements, lack of good music to set the mood, there's no way to port my ME1 PC savegame to ME2 Xbox. I know this is a silly request, but doing a Google search shows a lot of people asking the same thing.
Overall: 4/5 stars! If you're into RPG's like Elder Scrolls IV Oblivion, but also enjoy Sci-Fi, and 3rd-person shooters, definitely play Mass Effect 1 and 2! | video-games_xbox |
Amazing game, one or two glitches don't take away from the fun. Elder Scrolls: Oblivion is one of those games that comes along once in a lifetime and is so overwhelming that household plants die, relationships are destroyed, pets starve, and you don't care because you're inside an oblivion gate trying to close it, and that's just one tiny aspect of the game.
So far I've had two characters. One was a large, sword-weilding, Imperial and the second one is a thieving Nord. The original character, my Imperial, was my test character, and I spent over ten hours in the game not even touching the main quest. I did thieves guild quests and some side quests, some dungeon and cave exploring, and in general, stole a whole lot of stuff, became a vampire, and had an awesome time. With my Nord character I'm taking on the main quest and am loving every minute of it. The storyline is detailed, interesting, and in general, amazing just like the rest of the game.
You start out in Oblivion as a prisoner with luck on his side. However, when the Emperor is killed, you may change your mind about the whole luck thing, because you have just been tasked with finding his lost heir, an illigitimate son, and closing the gates to Oblivion (a hell-like dimension, ruled over by 16 different lords). You spend about twenty minutes traveling through sewer and catacombes, collecting weapons, learning about skills, and for someone that has played Morrowind, everything is very, very similar. Then, when you get out of the sewer you realize why Oblivion is so different. You exit overlooking a beautiful lake, in the shadow of the Imperial City and it's looming walls. Across the lake their lies the ruins of an old structure, gleaming in the midday sunlight that glints of the water of the lake. Clouds move across the sky, tree leaves shudder in the slight breeze, and you spend ten minutes just standing there and taking it all in, and you haven't even stepped off the sewer exit. So, let me break it down a little for you:
Pros:
Beautiful graphics, it really maxamizes the 360s power and is just amazing, everything is detailed to the smallest knot in a tree and the fletchings on an arrow.
The system of travel in Oblivion allows you to fast travel (immediatly go from point A to point B) or purchase a horse (in the main quest you are given the most inexpensive horse but it gets the job done). Anyone that played Morrowind knows how borring traveling for hours got, and you don't get that in Oblivion.
Characters speak, which means you don't have to read an entire novel to discover the storyline.
The game progresses as you do. Starting out as a level one, the creatures you encounter are not impossibly difficult. But as you level up, so do they, so the game is always challenging, but never overwhelmingly difficult. They do have a difficulty slider, however, just in case you aren't getting enough of a butt-kicking.
The journal system is awesome, arranging your quests in terms of completed, active, and avaliable, and you can switch active quests if you want to do something new.
Pro and Con:
The map markers are a blessing for some, a curse for others. I like them, Morrowind was almost impossibly hard at times because they sent you out into the middle of nowehere saying, look for the rock, and all around you, rocks, but now you know exactly where to go. Some people find this too easy though, take it as you will.
Cons:
Sometimes the game screen graphics have glitches that make them pop and shift unnaturally, it's like little black pops on your screen basically, when something goes wrong.
Also, this game has frozen on me three different times, in 15+ hours of gameplay mind you, but still, with the 360s power, it shouldn't do that. This is the only reason why I'm giving it four stars instead of five. | video-games_xbox |
I can't stop playing this game. Don't confuse these critiques with criticisms. This is one of the best games I have played in years. While the graphics are not on par with some of the better FPS games this is still a solid game. The story line is a little lame but the game play is great once you master the tactics. I love the ship and fleet actions. You can play the same mission 100 times and you are never guaranteed the same outcome. Your actions and tactics are never the same therefore the outcome of the mission is never the same. The golden BB to your engine at the wrong time will make you crazy. The airplane and sub missions can be difficult as the same control often is used for more than one action. This is especially true during combat when you are trying to fire the guns and steer. The sub missions are made overly hard by the difficult to read dive plane indicator. Defending against air attack is a realistic nightmare. WOW! It's like watching old WWII footage. Wave after wave of enemy aircraft stacked up for attack on your ships. Your ship AAA and AA are surprisingly realistic. Trying to hit a small fast moving object at long range with a 2 inch bullet or explosive shell is not easy. Overall the graphics are really good. The explosions and crisp images are a pleasure. The sound is clear and life like. The action is fun and intense.
Just try to engage enemy capital ships while fending off those pesky fast tin cans and their swarms of torpedoes. You MUST manage the Damage Control Parties (DCP) or you will not last long. (Fire aboard a ship which carries high explosives is not a good thing...) Swapping broadsides with enemy Battleships is literally a blast. Holy Molly! Watch what happens to a Destroyer when you have it bracketed with 12 (16 inch) guns. You will feel sorry for the enemy when it happens and desperate to get the hell away when you are on the receiving end. The sight of an enemy ship slipping under the water after an engagement is also realistic. Thank goodness the designers decided not to have sailors abandoning ship and adrift at the mercy of the ocean.
I've gone on enough. Buy this game and you won't be sorry. Suitable for all ages. | video-games_xbox |
No practice, poor gameplay, overpriced. If Titanfall is considered a good multiplayer FPS, then the standards for what is good have dropped significantly since the genre's origin over 15 years ago. Despite an obvious increase in conspicuous production quality, this game comes up short where it counts - in repeated playability.
It is instructive to compare Titanfall against the much lauded classic in this genre of multiplayer FPS: Quake 3 Arena. Three specific examples of where Titanfall falls in comparison to a true titan: Quake 3 Arena.
1. Lack of practice mode. Titanfall's tutorial is a half-assed substitute for a practice mode. There's only one map in the tutorial, it's crappy, small, and doesn't reflect the actual in game experience. Q3A's practice mode (AKA single player) is an excellent place to learn how to do everything. You can fight in any of the maps in the game, choose any of the weapons, and adjust the level of your AI opponent(s).
2. Poor game balance. Good game balance is a hard problem to solve, much harder than all of the other problems in making a game. There is no excuse for Titanfall's crappy gameplay though. The first team to grab their titans wins. Period. Weapons are not varied enough, and there is rampant spawn fragging. The last few minutes of a match is the "winning" team stomping the retreating team at their drop point as they attempt to run the gauntlet. As a contrast, the weapon and level design for Q3A are so good, that Q3A is still used with very few modifications in professional FPS tournaments (see Quake Live). I doubt Titanfall will be around in 5 years, let alone 15.
3. Cost. It's bad enough the damn game costs $60, but there's a $10 a month mandatory Xbox Live Gold subscription. This is probably the real reason for no single player game - a single player mode would deny a significant revenue stream for you-know-who. I'll just mention that there are still Q3A servers out there, and that they have always been free. Oh, and you can install and run your own server locally too, play some friends, etc.
In summary, this game is a giant step backwards in FPS fun. All of the problems listed were already solved over a decade ago by smarter and more generous people. | video-games_xbox |
A Stunning Conclusion. Mass Effect is a series to which I owe my love of games. The first game made a gamer, and the subsequent titles continued that streak. The conclusion of the epic trilogy is indeed summed up in one word: epic. While there are complaints - repetitiveness of mission goals (land on planet, find thing, run through ruins to find thing, secure thing, rinse repeat), some stickiness with the power controls, and some minor clipping issues - overall, I find it a deeply satisfying conclusion.
With a level 30 imported character from the second game, I jumped right in to gun for level 60. Approximately 30 hours for my first play through was an outstanding experience, and excelled in all areas. Old story lines were closed, character plots were resolved with flash, humor, and sometimes heartbreak. The combat mechanics are for the most part fluid, and with the various weapon upgrades, my engineer was dishing it out as well as the burly soldiers at my side. The level up system has been streamlined tremendously, building on Mass Effect 2's simplified system, though each set of points put into a power this time around dramatically improves it, sometimes in new and interesting ways - my combat drone developed an ability to launch rockets, and an overload attack could leap between multiple enemies, causing quite the lovely light show.
The musical score for the game is stellar. I was a bit hesitant upon hearing that there would be a new composer, but Clint Mansell's score is beautiful, lush and filled with delicate piano, understated strings, and that ominous noise that I've come to call the 'Inception BLAP' that gave me chills every time I heard it. The music suits the game perfectly, and is a fitting end.
This is the first multiplayer game that I've engaged in, and I must admit that it's addicting, exciting, intense, and sometimes downright frustrating just to stay alive. Four player online co-op works smoothly, and the mixture of races and classes makes for a good amount of fun. I admire it, and I'm not much of a multiplayer person. This won't necessarily turn me into one for future games, but I certainly enjoy the addition more than I thought I would.
Overall, I find Mass Effect 3 to be a satisfying conclusion to one of the finest video game trilogies of this console generation. | video-games_xbox |
Play the game. I mean it. If you are going to give this game a try, play the game. Don't put the disk in and play some other action RPG in your head while going through the motions in Dark Souls. You will inevitably be disappointed. So many of the Amazon reviews, even the 5 star reviews, betray this fallacious approach to gaming. No, this is not Skyrim/DA2/KOA:R/Fallout. If you want to play those games, great -- go do that, but don't put in the Dark Souls disk and then be disappointed that it's not like some other game.
I've even seen people complain that when they die, they lose their level-up progress (souls). That's deliberate! You understand? The game designers made the game that way on purpose! If you read a reviewer who gives the game four or five stars but you didn't like losing your souls when they die - that's a bad review, as that's a major part of the game.
Dark Souls is really a PUZZLE action RPG. Not a puzzle where you push buttons and put pieces together, but I add the puzzle aspect because while there are (almost) always multiple (action-based) ways of solving any problem / beating any enemy, much of the gameplay involves a logical trial-and-error aspect of trying different things and seeing if they work. That's the puzzle. Can you block this attack? No? OK, can you parry? No? Okay, well then you can dodge. Hm, very strong enemy with a leaping attack on a narrow bridge...could fight him normally but wonder if you can get him to jump off? Hey, this enemy doesn't take damage from fire! Okay, well what about lightning - ahah! And so on.
Some key points:
1) This game is fun if your response to dying is, "Ha ha ha that's awesome, let's try that again and see if I can get it right this time."
2) You are, I think, a Souls fan when you find yourself deliberately making the game more difficult just to add to the challenge and suspense. "Okay, I'm going to fight this next guy, who can kill me in one hit, by bare-hand-parrying his attack without a shield...[splat] Ha ha ha that's awesome, let's try that again and see if I can get it right this time."
3) Pay attention - very, very, very close attention -- to everything. There is a rich story in this game, but it is not spoon-fed to you; it is contained in item descriptions and dialog trees and most especially in the placement of enemies and items and statues and paintings and paths in the game. The story lies behind why that particular ring with that particular item description is found in that particular spot which was mentioned by that particular NPC who sells another item that says...etc.
4) Forget about standard RPG min-maxing/ level-seeking. Fans of the series often keep our level low ON PURPOSE just to make the game harder, only adding ability points when we have to (e.g., I want to use what looks like a cool weapon, but I need a certain strength stat to pick it up.) You can beat the game using any weapon/armor combo and you can beat the game without ever gaining a level, it is just more difficult. A weapon that does more damage is not necessarily better, armor that blocks more damage is not necessarily better, the only thing that makes one weapon or armor or spell or playstyle better than another is - do you find it more fun?
5) Most video RPGs are based around the concept of making your character an immensely powerful unstoppable fighting machine by the end of the game, giving you the satisfaction of vicariously beating enemies with your character's awesome abilities. Dark Souls is based around the concept of you, the player, getting better at playing the game, such that it is you and your choices and timing and reactions and quick-thinking that save the day, not the abilities of the character you play. In this it is much closer in spirit to the original table-top RPGs, where you might randomly roll a weak, stupid, unhealthy oaf and you played it anyways, because the point wasn't "winning" but having fun, and sometimes roleplaying the crazy idiot who charges blindly into the final battle while your player-character companions are only half-way into their armor and look on in shock and mutter "You idiot Leeroy, now we're all going to die" -- is fun.
In the following, I am just going to address some of the things I have seen in other reviews that are simply wrong. In no particular order.
-- "There's no/not much story in Dark Souls."
Dark Souls has an extremely in depth and interesting storyline, it just doesn't spoon-feed it to you. If all you do is kill enemies, skip through dialogue, and ignore item descriptions then you will think there is no story. If you pay attention to the game world -- where enemies and items are placed, what statues and paintings depict; if you pay attention to NPC dialog, I mean really close attention, including not believing everything everyone says; if you read the item descriptions and relate these to what NPCs say and what you observe in the game world -- then there is a very intricate and involved story.
-- The difficulty/dying thing.
1) The ONLY reason you ever die in Dark Souls is because YOU made a mistake.* Admittedly, it is very easy to make a mistake when enemies or traps only telegraph their moves a half-second in advance, which is where the trial-and-error gameplay comes in, but there is nothing "unfair" - no randomness, except in item drops (when defeated enemies drop items you can use), and you really don't need any dropped items to have fun playing the game, and there is a findable item that increases the chance of drops anyways, you decide that you really want a particular item (which is a personal choice, again, you don't need any random items to win the game).
2) When Souls fans die in Dark Souls, our response is, "Ha ha ha that's awesome!"
* Except Bed of Chaos, which everyone legitimately hates, including the chief game designer.
-- Invasions/Co-op/(Humanity)
A. If you play online, you have the option of inviting strangers into your game to help you on a difficult level (or just for fun). This is hit-or-miss, and complaints about connectivity are legitimate, but that's a server issue not a game issue: having dedicated servers is an up-front cost the distributor chose not to pay. You also run the risk, however, of getting invaded by a stranger who hunts you down and tries to kill you. This is an intended part of the game and adds to the difficulty, which is fun -- do you understand, difficulty is fun!
If you don't want to get invaded, or you were trying to summon help but got invaded instead, there is this little cable attached to your console, your computer, or alternatively there is a switch on your computer/wifi router. Unplug that cable or flip that switch and I GUARANTEE you will be able to quit the game and not have to fight the invader. Really.
B. People have complained that in order to do co-op you need a consumable item, Humanity, of which you can find or buy a few but you mostly get as random item drops, and that "farming" for Humanity in the game is boring (to them). Well, there is this part of the game called PvP combat, wherein if you win you get humanity, and there is an item you are given in game (not a random drop) that lets you do PvP without using consumable Humanity. So you can use this item, enter PvP combat, have a fun battle, and if you win, get the Humanity you needed to summon help.
-- Various things that make the game hard: Tight walkways/cliffs you can fall off, enemies that attack through walls, homing spells.
Well, yes. Yes, indeed, there are deliberate game design choices that make the game harder! However, all of these difficulties can be overcome. You can dodge ANYTHING in the game if you time it (exactly) right, and if you don't walk of the cliff, you won't fall; yes, some enemies can hit you through walls/cover, just as in a realistic shooter 7.62 NATO goes through cinder blocks and sheet metal: adapt and overcome.
-- Tricky dialog trees / accidentally making a mistake that prevents you from completing some quest line or getting some item.
There is, in fact, no way to complete every aspect of this game in one playthrough, and yes it is possible to say or do the wrong thing and close off a side-quest for the rest of the playthrough, although there is absolutely no mistake that you can make that will prevent you from completing the main quest and finishing the game. Look, a major part of this game is playing through the exact same section over and over and over again until you get it perfectly, and then doing it again without a shield (bare-hand parry) just to prove you can. And then doing it again for the satisfaction of proving to yourself that you can still do it perfectly, knowing that it's always possible to get just a little too careless and die to an enemy you have beaten 100 times before. If you don't like this aspect of the game, you will not like the game; if you do like this aspect of the game, the fact that you can't complete every quest line in one playthrough doesn't matter, after all, the way the game ends is SPOILERS
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It starts over, only harder. | video-games_xbox |
Nice Bundle. My nephews always want to play Fruit Ninja Kinect whenever they come over. It is fun and mindless, and you can play one or two at a time. You have to slice stationary bits of fruit to make menu choices. Sometimes for the kids it's hard to both aim correctly and get the Kinect to register a swipe, but gameplay is fun. For extra amusement the Kinect may register kicks, long-hair swings and makeshift swords as swipes.
Gunstringer is a different kind of game that makes everybody look at it crossways (also known as "WTF") at first. It doesn't have a menu and instructions. It starts with live-action video of people setting up a live stage show with a marionette and then the camera settles behind the animated marionette as it walks into the animated story narrated by a gravely voice who sets the scenes. Screen prompts and funny narrator nudges indicate what you should do next to control the gun-slinging marionette protagonist. The narrator doesn't speak to you directly (he's narrating for that live audience, I guess) but repeats himself and uses emphasis when he's trying to tell you to do something. It is funny, but the kids don't seem to get it, and it can be tiring holding your arms out in front of you to keep walking or shooting. But I want to play it some more. It has adult humor--not as in inappropriate for kids, but as in funny for adults and not necessarily for kids, and maybe some over-the-kids'-heads inferences on adult behavior.
I remember playing Kindect Adventure some, but I don't recall it catching my interest, and I haven't bothered to go back to it.
Kinect Adventures comes on a DVD, but the other two games have codes in the box that allow you do download them from Xbox Live. You don't have to have a gold membership, but you do have to have the downloaded games on your hard drive to play them.
The Kinect itself is a cool idea, but so far I think I prefer the Wii-style motion control. The Kinect allows voice control in the main menu screens, and you can use gestures to navigate, too, but I found neither of these more convenient than using the regular controller.
I gave it 4 stars, but I'm wondering if I should give it 3 after reading what I said above. I'll stay at 4 because I really haven't played many games of any sort lately, but I will gripe a bit about product photos and on-box photos that strongly imply DVD boxes for all three games but have a small card inside with codes to download two of the three bundled games. | video-games_xbox |
best xbox one exclusive so far. I purchased this game based on reviews that said it was good. I was not disappointed. Having recently finished GTAV and State of Decay, I couldn't help but draw comparisons about the open world combined with the zombie survival aspects of the game. The game is great. I was pleasantly surprised at how much fun the game is.
Finally, we have a game that takes the usually serious topic of zombies and doesn't take itself seriously. I laughed out loud many times while playing it. For example, you can put on ANY clothing item you find (male or female). Or, as you learn to craft better zombie-killing weapons, you start to build things that are just ludicrous - early on I taped a rotary saw to a sledge hammer (makes sense), later I added a gem to a flashlight to make a lightsaber (doesn't make sense, but AWESOME).
Unlike most open world games, there is a story-based time limit that is always hanging over you (it is plenty of time, but you feel pressured the whole game to keep moving). I like the feel it creates - IF there ever was a zombie apocalypse, you would want to keep moving, and the game simulates that feeling.
The story of the game was actually deeper than I thought it would be. This is my first Dead Rising game, and there were plot points that drew on previous games, but I never felt lost and I quickly was caught up to understand what was going on.
The graphics showcase what the Xbox One is capable of. Textures look great. Furthermore, with the next gen hardware, they are able to put HUNDREDS of zombies on the screen at the same time without the system slowing down. It looks great, and the sheer number of zombies is incredible (and you'll end up killing thousands of them before the game is over).
Overall, this is a great game. Lots of fun, deep play mechanics (some people say it gets a little repetitive due to excessive zombie fighting, and it can if you want to kill EVERY zombie, but the game clearly seems to say that there are times to fight and times to run). I highly recommend this game, you won't be disappointed. | video-games_xbox |
The Witcher II - RPG Excellence. I really enjoyed The Witcher, but it had some rough edges that were sometimes a bit of a nuisance, but The Witcher II does away with the first game's issues, expands upon nearly everything, and delivers what is easily one of the best role-playing experiences of recent times. Every other RPG developer should take note of the successes by CD Projekt Red with The Witcher II.
Positives:
- Excellent Story, Well Realized Characters - While other role-playing games can often suffer due to being developed on lower budgets, The Witcher II is a grand title with stellar production values. The story is well-told and keeps the player involved. The characters are well voiced, interesting, and just well done all around. This is a story for more mature players. CD Projekt Red didn't pull any punches with this one.
- Gorgeous Art Direction, Stunning Technical Graphics - The Witcher II is no doubt a showpiece for the Xbox 360. Not only is the the art among the best, but it's technically a masterful experience in terms of graphics. The graphics are detailed, including nicely rendered characters and environments, well done texture detail, stunning lighting, and it goes on and on. And like I said earlier, the art is absolutely wonderful and only lends to the beauty of this title. The world of The Witcher II feels like a living and breathing place packed with detail. Just make sure to install both discs to the Xbox 360's hard drive to get the best performance.
- Hardly Any Recycled Assets - The Witcher II doesn't use many recycled assets in the game world. There is a lot of variety to the texture work, NPC models, environments, etc. This world must've taken a long time to fully realize, as it's a thing of beauty and doesn't wear out its welcome.
- Wonderful Gameplay - Different from The Witcher, The Witcher II goes for more simplistic gameplay, which it definitely succeeds at. Gone are the mouse-clicks in favor of a more 1:1 combat system that keeps you in the fight in a more natural way. You have weak attacks, strong attacks, and you also have an evasive roll mechanic that allows you to dodge out of harm's way. In addition to the melee combat, you have Signs, which is also known as the magic attacks. The combat menu is slick and works well. The overall UI is just so well done in The Witcher II. Leveling up has been made simpler with 3 areas for upgrades: Signs, Alchemy and Swordplay.
- Top Notch Packaging - Within every copy of The Witcher II: Enhanced Edition, you'll receive the game (2 discs), the official soundtrack via disc, a double-sided map, an in-depth manual, and a quest guide all together in a cardboard slipcover.
Negatives:
- The Witcher II still has some rough edges, but the edges are getting closer and closer to straight as an arrow. This feels like a top notch production from a AAA studio, so even its flaws are very minor.
The Witcher II is a compelling and rewarding role-playing adventure that'll immerse you in a grand world, with delightful characters and an overarching story. If you're searching for a role-playing game that is of high quality, you need not look any further, The Witcher II is for you. | video-games_xbox |
Addicting and Fun. First things first... this game is outstandingly better than MANY games i have played in my life. I bought an XBox just to play this game. Its sad that they no longer make this game, it is a masterpiece in my opinion. The game starts out like many other games, you are one person against many. That one person is Buffy The Vampire Slayer. The games begins with you speaking with Giles (her watcher) outside a Spanish Courtyard and its a 'training-like' scenraio preparing you for the actual game you are about to play. There are a few puzzles you have to figure out, but they are simple, there are a few vampires you have to stake and dust, and you learn certain moves and combination with punching and kicking. Then the real fun begins....
You start off visting Sunnydale High, from there you go to The Bronze and then to a few back alleys, Sunnydale Cemetary (You visit this place many times) Angels Mansion, the Sunnydale Shipping and Docking Harbor, the Local Foundry, back to the High School again. You even get transported by The Master to a 'dreamers realm' where you face some of the toughest challenges i think the game has. But the good thing about this game is that it is not one of those IMPOSSIBLE HARD TO BEAT games. It has its difficult moments and be a challenge, but it can be beat.
I think that the graphics in this game are very life-like and the characters voices are the actual actors from the show (except buffys). When Buffy is fighting a Vampire and she stakes them, the stake comes out the other side of the vampire and as it turns to dust and the vampire screams, bones come crashing to the ground and then it fades away, exactly like in the show. Also there are many weapons that Buffy can pick up along the way and use against her enemies. You find crossbow bolts, rakes, shovels, baseball bats, holy water vials, sledgehamers, and bottles of hellfire. Also she has bottles of elixers that she can carry with her along the way that help replinses her energy. You can also combine some of you weapons together to make them stronger... for instance, if you have crossbow bolts and a holy water vial, you can combine them and have 3 blessed bolts to fire at enemies and watch them go up in smoke. WICKED COOL!! Sometimes, if you are low on weapons, you will come across areas where there is sunlight and you can grab vamps and toss them in the sun and they will go up in dust quick.
You can also save students/teachers/cilivians wandering the school halls or out in the city and they will give you elixers or other things to help you along the way, however some of them you cant save, no matter how hard you try. But save the ones you can for a prize.
Also be aware that certain weapons work better on enemies than other weapons do... for example, if you are fighting zombies don't try staking them, it doesnt phase them! Try using crossbow bolts that have been dipped in hellfire. That really lights them up!
The story line in this game is AMAZING and would have made a GREAT movie. The story is set somewhere in the begining to middle of the 3rd season of Buffy, before Cordelia and Angel left the show.
All in all this game is ACTION packed and full of funny one-liners from the characters and will leave you laughing sometimes so hard it will be hard to fight the vamps on the screen. If you aren't even a Buffy fan, this is a great game if you like beat'em up, save the world type games! Great Family Fun! | video-games_xbox |
Time to get down again. I'm an old lady, but I love the Dance Central series. And DC2 is a worthy -- better than worthy -- successor to DC.
Like in DC, you'll get to learn new dance moves and choreographies, sweat, and generally have a good time set to good music. But there are a few differences.
1) Graphics. The graphics are a lot better this go-round, from the backgrounds to the way the characters move. Instead of being set in a gritty city setting, they've moved down to a Cali/Miami-styled place, with richer and brighter colors. DC2 looks amazing. The incidental music feels more sophisticated.
2) Instead of dancing as a particular character, you dance with a "crew," whether that means the athletes of Riptide, the club kidz of Hi-Def, or one of the other styled crews. I haven't seen Dare or Oblio, two fan faves from DC, so far in a few hours of play. Boo. However, the crews mean there's a campaign mode. You select the level of difficulty for the dances at the outset (Easy, Medium or Hard), then cruise from one crew to the next dancing their routines with them. This means you get to go through the campaign three times, if you want, and the personalities of the crews come through.
3) Fitness is tweaked. There are playlists, which load pretty rapidly, so you can either do a 20-minute low-impact workout or a 50-minute "long hall." The game estimates calories for you, though I'm curious to know how it does so since a medium-sized old lady like myself burns a vastly lower amount of calories than someone significantly larger and a lot more than a skinny kid. You can also create your own playlists. If there were a "shuffle mode" that would have been perfection.
4) Break It Down mode is WAY better. You can actually get through it faster than in DC, and using voice commands can slow it down, video your movements and check against the dancer, and focus on one or two moves you may need to get through. The only reason I'll never have all the achievements on DC is because one is "get 100 percent on all songs in break it down." If this tech had existed for DC, I might have gotten it.
5) Import all your DC songs. This is great, but 400 MSP? Come on. I'm glad I got the pre-order free points to do it. But the instructions were wrong -- don't redeem code from inside the game for this, go through your XboxLive account. Seriously, there are too many digits for the in-game code redemption, which works for the 240 MSP card you get inside the package.
Speaking of songs, there are some really good ones on DC2. Lots of them are not family-friendly, even with words blipped out. And there are a lot of "meh" songs. I think my biggest disappointment in the DC series is that there is a lot of great dance music out there, but a lot of what DC licenses is ... "meh." What's up with that? Why don't they get a whack at better songs? They get a lot of great songs through "Rock Band," why is a dance game such a challenge?
While I'm on about song choices, I think one of the things that hampers the series is its music choices are all in a limited genre -- hip hop, classic disco/funk and pop. Why not bust out an occasional jazz standard, rockabilly or country song, at least for DLC? Here's where having characters and crews kind of limits the range, one way that the Just Dance series overcomes these limitations. Of course, Just Dance 3 is way more family-friendly than DC. But my point is that if you're going to limit your range, you need to get the best of what's available from that range, and I don't know that Harmonix necessarily does that (I mean, three novelty songs -- the Numa Numa song, "What is Love?" and "Baby Got Back" are supplemented with the Humpty Dance. This is too much novelty. At least they're fun to dance, if not to have stuck in your head -- damn you, Haddaway.)
6) Two people can dance at the same time. Yay! Party time! And there are mini-games in the multiplayer mode.
7) You can shut off Freestyle mode and just do programmed moves for all the DC2 dances (not so much the older stuff you have).
8) The way it reads your moves seems to have improved. Although going "down" in a scroll menu you can still have a rough time of it getting "stuck."
At any rate, there were reasons that DC was the best, most-popular Kinect title on the market forever. And those same reasons -- fun, fitness, challenge, friendly multiplayer -- are still around, and even stronger, in DC2. | video-games_xbox |
Good workouts, a couple flaws. Overall, the game is ok and serves its purpose. There are a lot of options, you can do your own personalized routine or choose from pre-set ones. You can also do challenges. So, a lot of variety to keep it fresh. I did the personalized test and did a couple routines and challenges. I broke a sweat and felt it was a good overall experience.
A couple things that are frustrating - 1 is the menus and how you go thru the menus. There seems to be a flaw with this game as other games do much better with the sensors and your hands. You spend an awful amount of time cycling thru menus cause the cursor on the screen doesnt end up matching where your hand is. It got very frustrating at times. Also, the menus are not marked well. There are pictures and when you are first playing you have to scroll over them to figure out what they are. At the same time you have to take your hand off quick otherwise you will select it. Couple that with the mismatching of where your hands are vs where the sensor is on the screen, makes for some difficulty. They should have just had the words of what the menus are instead of pictures so you don't have to figure them all out first.
The other thing is this - a lot of the game focuses on you 'following the trainer' in matching their movements precisely. BUT, they don't show you the move ahead of time or give you a few seconds to match the trainers movements so you can get that rhythym down. And, the game is inconsistent in aspects where it should be consistent. If you are doing run in place and you lift your left arm goes up, your person on the screen's right arm is the one that moves. But in other exercises it is flip-flopped, you move your left arm and your person on the screen moves their left arm. This makes it hard to match the trainer. I think this would be greatly improved if they simply gave you about 5-10 seconds in doing the move and get feedback before they started 'evaluating'. It might just take some more time to get used to.
However, considering this is the first set of games to come out with kinect, i don't expect it to be completely perfect and its pretty cool that the game can give you feedback, even if it is a bit off at times. By and large the feedback being off was only on a few exercises out of many, and I would recommend this game, especially now that the price has dropped.
You might want to check out the other exercise game (Your shape, or whatever it is) and you'd probably be happy going either way. | video-games_xbox |
Like a rollercoaster: Great highs and awful lows. The Last Remnant is a game thats hard to shove entirely into a single box. Rush Sykes, son of two famous researchers, watches his sister kidnapped by a flying flamethrower and a wizard, and bumbles into a massive battle near the Mark of Athlum, where he makes a total embarrassment of himself at meeting the marquis of Athlum, who, rather than break his legs for gross breach of etiquette, takes him under wing to help find his sister.
The world of tLR is gorgeous in the extreme, and breaks away from the Tolkien realm enough that you'd be extremely hard pressed to accuse of plagarism. The species are fairly unique and well characterized, but not falling through the stereotypical cracks. The technology is a mix of steampunk, cyberpunk and magic, and the Remnants themselves are as gorgeous as they are gigantic. The remnants are also one of the major failings, as you're never given any understanding of what they are, apart from they can be anything, do anything, and be found anywhere. While this gives the magic a pervasiveness that would be charming, when you're told treasure boxes are remnants that you have to "bind" to open them, you're running well on the wrong side of asinine and pointless. Also, some are ridiculously named and poorly explained. Its like having an incredibly shiny, incredibly artistically rendered box: beautiful to look at, but theres almost nothing inside.
The characters of the main plot, and Rush Sykes himself, oscillate wildly between fantastic and awful. Rush himself is sadly in the traditional main character stereotype: the body of an 18 year old, the intelligence of an 8 year old, and the attention span of an 8 month old. He varies between willing to walk away from the support of an army to look for his sister alone, to adopting a happy-go-lucky, we'll find her when we find her attitude an hour later. Some of the characters are played well and too the hilt, namely the feline general with the mother hen mantra, and the tough faced lady general who's more fragile than she lets on.
Gameplay is again where the greatest highs and lows are found. Combat is run by squads, called unions, of up to five members, which are given general orders rather than the traditional final fantasy setup of selecting every individual action. That makes sense, given in the swirl of a real melee, you couldn't give more than a three or four word command. But the commands are fluid, meaning you can only heal when the option is present, rather than all the time, unless you're willing to retreat, and you can't control where you attack a enemy squad from, or placement, or any of a dozen other things that require any strategy, which boils the combat down to picking the command which has the highest AP cost, as normal attacks are completely worthless. Area attacks and group support? Better hope you're crammed in like sardines and you don't accidentally kill your enemies, since every action following is canceled, including the area effect spell you were hoping would hit five units. You only manage Rush's equipment, and every other member takes care of themselves, looting items from combat to improve their gear. Sounds interesting and simple, right? But they can only pick items from combat loot, meaning you can't provide them with what they need to improve, much less will they tell you what that is, resulting in you running through a level 40 dungeon with level 15 equipment since you didn't pick up a piece of copper ore in a dungeon from five hours ago. And enemies are always a threat, even in ones and twos, as certain attacks are nearly unstoppable even at higher levels, meaning a runt monster fight that's ten levels beneath you could still kill you if the timing is right, or if you're slightly outnumbered, resulting in a lot of pointless reloading.
All told, this is definitely worth a look. Innovative, new style combat where the polish and innovation blurs out the faults and a story that manages to intrigue and frustrate by turns will quickly shove you into either a love or hate category. | video-games_xbox |
Loose controls mar an otherwise great idea for a game. Oh, what could have been. Prototype was was obviously a home-run swing for Activision. The idea for the game had tons of potential, the plot was fresh and the game play was going to be innovative. Unfortunately, due to an uneven difficulty spike and the worst controls I have used in recent memory, this game is ultimately a strike out.
The game centers around you, Alex Mercer, as a military experiment gone wrong who can morph his body into weapons. Think the terminator 2 villain but flesh blades and hammers instead of metal. Alex is trying to unravel the events that led up to his change since he has no memory of what happened until he woke up in a morgue. That's the gist of the back story, which isn't all that bad, it's just lacks some depth. But this isn't a plot review, it's all about the game play.
You begin with crazy powers like the ability to run up buildings, jump over entire city blocks and glide from rooftop to rooftop. All of Alex's abilities can be upgraded, allowing you to run faster, dash in mid air, and gain extra health. The problem is you will immediately feel like Alex controls like a Ferrari driven by a 12 year old. He makes wild turns if even the slightest flick of the joystick is made and it's very hard to plot where you want to land. Granted, with the right trigger held, you still continually run though streets and buildings with ease, but if it takes you twice as long to get where you're going, then who cares? The game also makes a huge difficulty spike about 10 missions in. Soon you get surrounded by tanks, helicopters firing machine guns, and tons of monsters/military who make your life miserable. There's not a whole lot you can do, as these people seem to be able to track you no matter where you go. So when the game says "Fight or Flee," you have to fight. Side note, if you find it morally reprehensible to kill thousands of military personnel, then skip this game, the military are the bad guys.
It's not all terrible though, some of the side missions are fun especially the sneaking ones that have you go out and absorb people to gain new powers. It's fun to sneak up behind someone in a crowded military base and take them down quietly without anyone seeing you. Adds a lot of suspense to the experience.
In the end, the game feels rushed by Activision to compete with games like inFamous (much better in my opinion) and Crackdown (a lot more bang for your buck). It's muddled controls ruin what could have been an great gaming experience. If you can get it for $5 - $10 then it's worth a go. The controls won't bother some people, but it was deal breaker for me.
But hey, at least you can dropkick a helicopter out of the sky. What other game can say that? | video-games_xbox |
A final fantasy mmorpg. I've started my third year playing this game after a six month break and am now enjoying it more than ever. This is a game that requires a lot of time for everything. Time to go from place to place, time to level up your jobs (I don't say character because you play any job you want to and switch from job to job without making a new character). It also takes a lot of time to make money and there are many ways to make money in the game it just requires ALOT of patience.
Getting started in this game can be very difficult and frustrating at times but if you talk to people most of them will help you out and guide you to where you need to get to. The game starts you out with you choosing the race you want to play as throught the game. The races you get to choose from are Hume's (male or female), Elvaan's (male or female), Mithra's (female only), Galka's (male only) and the Tarutaru's (male and female). Although there aren't a lot of different races there are many different combinations you can make for each character so running into a similiar character isn't so frequent. This is also where you will pick your main job and there are six jobs to choose from when you first start. After that you choose which country your character lives/comes from and there are three to choose from. The three countries are Bastok, Windurst and Sandoria. Bastok is made up of the Hume's and Galka's, Windy has the Mithra's and Tarutaru's and Sandy is home of the elvaans but you can choose whichever one you want.
Races: Depending on what job you want to do might help you choose the race you want to play as each race is proficient in certain jobs. The Galka's are made for jobs such as Paladin and Warrior classes (tanks jobs in pt's), Elvaan's are geared towards Monk and Dark Knight (Damage Dealer's in pts or DD's if you will), Mithra's are for the Thief and Ranger jobs (support or pullers for ur party), Hume's are the basic all around character and are proficient in any job but don't specialize in a paraticular one and Tarutaru's are the magic wielding jobs such as the White Mage and Black Mage jobs (healer's and debuffs in the party). However, you can pick whatever race you want and whatever job you want just remember that Galka's are not gonna be as good as Tarutaru's in magic and Tarutaru's aren't gonna be as good as Galka's for tanking.
Jobs: The player is given six jobs to choose from called your basic jobs. They are warrior, thief, monk, white mage, black mage and red mage. I'm not gonna go into details because that could take to long. There are 14 other jobs available once the player reaches 30. The player has to do quests to unlock the other jobs and can find out how to by asking someone or just looking it up online. The other jobs are ranger, dark knight, paladin, blue mage, samurai, ninja, corsair, bard, beastmaster, puppetmaster, summoner, scholar, dancer and dragoon. Also for jobs you get to have a subjob which means you have a main job and a job to support it. For instance, say the player is a paladin, the player then gets to choose a job to support that. The player will want to choose a subjob that will support the main job, so that player will most likely choose warrior for the defense bonuses and job abilities that warrior has. Also the subjob is half the level of the main job so if the paladin is lvl 30 the warrior will be lvl 15 with all the abilites the warrior gets at 15. Also by adding warrior as a subjob extra hit points are added onto you're character because of the job warrior. Each subjob presents its own pros and cons, so the player needs to know what subjob best supports the main job.
The storyline progresses at the players leisure and since there are tons of quests and missions that the player will be doing its easy to forget what you've done unless you're progressing really fast which is highly unlikely. Doing missions earns your rank in your home country and quests earn you fame in different countries which definately benefit the player. One example is the "Lure of the Wildcat" quest in each town (Sandy, Basty, Windy and Jeuno) when completed gives the player to get teleported to Aht Urghan Whitegate from whatever town they teleported from which will save a lot of time and only costs 300 gil per teleport.
The game is definitely geared for the hardcore people who can spend a lot of time in the game. This is definitely a game where you reap what you sew. If the player just wants to casually play the game and just party and level and talk to friends they can. The thing is that by playing casually the player will most likely not get the really best gear in the game and around level 50 will either start another job or just slowly stop playing the game. The game requires a lot of time, gil and patience for the good armor and weapons in the game if the player is willing to sacrifice it.
This particular edition of final fantasy xi combines the original release plus all the expansions up to the latest wings of the goddess. Each expansion has added new jobs, areas to explore and more missions and quests. I'm not sure what all was added with the first three expansions to the game (rise of zilart, chains of promethia, treasures of aht urghan) as I did not start playing this game till well after the release of TOAU. I do know, however, the Wings of the Goddess expansion released two new jobs: Dancer and Scholar. It also let the player travel to the past (20 years to be exact) through things called Cavernous Maws. WOTG expansion is aimed at the higher level players and I suggest not traveling to the past unless you are 60+ or have someone that can guide you.
I found this final fantasy XI a really good buy when it first came out and now that its twenty dollars its well worth the buy. I've heard people complain about the monthly charge of the game on top of the xbl charge. *For your information:you can play this game on the xbl silver account.* Thing is that most people don't just play this game, they play others as well on xbl and the monthly fee is from the maker's of the game. Alot of mmorpg's have a monthly charge and this one is no different. The updates and installing can take a really long time, maybe to long but you really shouldn't let that deter you from at least trying this game out.
There is so much more to this game and is hard to put in a review, I really don't think its possible to review even half of what this game has to offer someone who really is interested in playing. The only areas that I can think of where this game suffers is the exceptionally hard to make money or gil for weapons and gear and the long installing process and the sometimes very long updates.
All I can really tell you is try the game out and decide for yourself whether or not its a game you want to put a lot of time into. Just remember if you get stuck there are people you can ask to help you out and most of them will be more than happy to. Don't be quick to judge the game from just the beginning, it takes awhile to really get into the heart of the game itself so get out there try it and keep at it. | video-games_xbox |
Great games, but the condition of the disc was horrible. First of all, I LOVE the MGS games, but my disc came with 2 ring scratches and a few other scratches on the edge of the disc. I have sent the game back and will be receiving a replacement. Until then, I will keep the review at 2 stars. Anyway, for the actual review:
MGS2: This game didn't work but I have this game for PS2.
The game starts off with Snake crossing a bridge, ready to board a ship that contains the new Metal Gear. Snake jumps aboard the ship with his stealth camouflage and it goes bad and is no longer active. Your mission is to get visuals of the new Metal Gear. (You take pictures of the fronts, side-angles, and a Marine logo.) After that the ship is hi-jacked by ocelot, blowing the ship up with C4 and snake is left for dead...
The game then places you 2 years later in the "Big shell" a cleanup facility due to the Tanker sinking. Solid snake is dead and you play as Raiden, a new FOXHOUND member, sent to rescue President Johnson. The President dies and you are now supposed to take out the new Metal Gear Rays.
MGS3: Your mission is to rescue "Sokolov" a man developing a new weapon known as the Shagohad (basically a first version of Metal Gear). You are supposed to rescue him because he is held captive by Colonel Volgin, a man wanting to take out Kruschev and gain Military strength. Your a CIA agent known as Snake (Big boss- Solid, Liquid and Solidus snake's dad. After your first attempt at rescue you left for dead by your teacher of CQC "The Boss". You're badly wounded and picked up by Major Zero and brought to a hospital in the USA. After that you have a new mission, same objective. Except this one is more detailed. (and harder.)
Over-all, the new graphics and wider perception, it makes an already great series, greater. The boss battles are always epic, plenty of gear and weapons. A lot of Easter eggs. You also receive the Substance version of MGS2 (so you also get VR missions and snake tales) and the Subsistence version of MGS3 (that means the original Metal gear and Metal Gear 2: solid snake)
Oh, and I forgot Peace Walker, i'm newer to it, so sorry for the Lack of review.
EDIT: I ordered a replacement from amazon, it came free of charge. As long as the original gets back to Amazon before 30 days after you buy something, it's free. The new copy worked without problem. | video-games_xbox |
Square Enix Ends the Final Fantasy 13 Saga With A Giant "Screw You" To The Fans. Square Enix must have spent years planning how to best alienate their fan base before releasing this title. This must have been how their meetings went: "OK, we've spent tons of time and millions of dollars developing an RPG fantasy world with compelling characters, rich wildlife, an epic (though a little bizarre) story. How can we dangle this in front of our fans' faces and then yank it away? I know, let's put in a countdown clock that makes everything that people like to do in RPGs impossible. Wait, they still enjoy leveling up and getting more powerful? OK, let's take that away too. Now ship it!"
Seriously, this is the worst case of screwing up what could have been a great game I've ever seen. Like I said earlier, all of the elements are there for a great RPG experience, But clearly, Square Enix didn't want us to have it. I know you've heard this before, but read it again and let it soak in. THERE IS A COUNTDOWN CLOCK THAT IS CONSTANTLY RUNNING THAT INDICATES THE END OF THE GAME! So, you want to explore every facet of the world? TOO BAD! There is a countdown clock that you're racing against. Want to talk to all of the NPCs to develop their backstory? TOO BAD! There is a countdown clock that you're racing against. Want to listen to the dialog with your guide to help explain the state of the world? TOO BAD! There is a countdown clock that you're racing against. The clock actually keeps running while he's talking to you, and because of the speed of the clock, you might "waste" over 2 hours of the world's time if you to actually stand there and listen to him. Want to take on all of the side quests? TOO BAD! There is a countdown clock that you're racing against. Seriously, I didn't even have time to turn in all of the side quests that I completed the requirements for because of that clock. But at least you can fast travel to save time, right? Of course not; that would make it less of a screw job for the fans. Well, let me be more accurate. You can fast travel, but it costs 3 EP, which you'll see as you play the game is an enormous (and completely unnecessary) cost.
I've played a lot of crappy games, and they didn't bother me nearly as much as this one, because it could have easily been great. The combat is fun, the world is vibrant, the stories of the NPCs are good (as least the ones i got to go into), and the enemies are challenging and varied. But they completely and totally blew it with the countdown clock. Seriously, that might be the worst idea I've ever seen in a video game, and it made what could have been a great game one that is barely passable. | video-games_xbox |
FINISH HIM!!!!! just don't do it too cruel. By far the best game ever. Call me crazy, but I enjoy this more then the new MK.
I've been playing MK since the arcades. After seeing the fatalities, I was hooked. Then i owned it for SNES, and then for ps1, and for ps2. I especially like UMK 3.
If parents are worried about violence, then the problem is solved. Not only are the violence tuned down, you can even turn off blood, which is found in options.
OK. the game carries 20 characters (I think, LOL.) I'll list all I remember
MORTAL KOMBAT (my fav)
sub zero
scorpion
kitana
sonya
kano
jax
liu kang
raiden
baraka
shang tsung
DC
flash
batman
superman
flash
deathstroke
wonder woman
cat woman
green lantern
joker
capt. marvel <--- lmfao
omg i was right :D
and prolly more to unlock :3
it has plenty features that will keep you having fun for endless hours.
unlike the new MK, which is only classic 1 on 1 fighting till one dies. no wall bashing, no air combat...
in this game, if you use the right combination, you can knock off your enemy off a low wall, and then punch/kick the enemy in mid air. then after that, use your special attack, adn you can turn em' into ice, and smash em to the ground. or, you shoot a roped spear to your enemy's chest, then ank em to the ground. and many more.
or, if you use the right combination, you can kick/punch someone thru a wall, then push them through 5+ walls.
controls: good, easy to learn, respond well. 5/5
graphics: crystal clear, good. 5/5
gameplay: fun. 5/5
replay value: very good. 5.5/5 :D
overall: get this game. NOW.
_______NOTE FOR FANS AND PARENTS________
FANS: if you like this game only because of violence, then don't get it. sub zeros' fatality isn't spine rip, its simple turning someone into ice, then breaking them. no blood.
scorpion's stays the same. spitting fire. kano doesnt heart rip. there's no gore at all.
PARENTS: this game does not contain gore. the fatalities (a move to finish off your enemy) is NOT bloody. or gory. so don't go thinking organ ripping, decaptipating, or anything like that. if you have enough and your kid wants it, get it. | video-games_xbox |
Shoot and Loot without a lot else. Borderlands is at times one of the most frenetic shooters I've ever played. There are moments of standing, reloading my monstrous color-coded arsenal when I've got to stop to wipe the sweat off my palms before continuing into the fray of psychotic roaming enemies ready to stomp my skull in or blow me to smithereens with their big guns. There are so many enemies converging on you at once, screaming, bantering, firing off incendiary rounds. It's madness, mayhem, pure gaming bliss.
There are also a lot of little touches that bring the game world to life. Not as much of a sense of humor as say Fallout 3, but still dark and clever enough to satisfy even jaded gamers. I won't ruin anything because finding out for yourself is part of the fun of the game. The other part of the fun, of course, is laying waste with the game's highly-touted amount of weapons, all of them slightly customizable. Pandora is not an enormous planet, but large enough. You'll get a Halo-ish dune buggy type deal to drive around in. It's fun. You can smash dudes. Drive around and find new quests, new guns. Etc.
I keep coming back to comparisons to Fallout 3, as this game shares quite a bit in common with it, ie: RPG+FPS elements blended together to create a more immersive gaming experience. Though Fallout is the better game with more areas to explore and less repetition, Borderlands still manages to provide a high entertainment/replay value for those out there who don't quite mind a fairly boring story and enjoy massacring large hordes or insane enemies and ravenous desert animal life. You can restart your game at any time with your stats intact, which is nice. Enemies level up too, so you don't have to start over fighting level one enemies when you are level 50 or whatnot.
Overall its a bloody good time with a high body count, but not a lot of deeper truth behind the proceedings. | video-games_xbox |
Give it time. Maybe not brand new but still a good deal, especially for casual, first time gamers. OK STOP EVERYONE, STOP JUMPING ON THE RROD BANDWAGON.....!
Ever heard of innocent until proven guilty?
Let me begin by saying I'm from Europe originally and in Europe practically everyone has grown up with PSX. I had a PS1, a PS2 and now in the good old USA have owned a PS3 for about 18 months. So if anyone should be anti Xbox it should me...!! The PS3 is CLEARLY a better system on paper but after all this time I grew frustrated at the lack of EXCELLENT games, the fact that previous exclusive titles are no longer exclusive and the fact that developers haven't yet been able to harness it's true potential so finally I decided to fall to the "dark side" and buy an Xbox 360....
This package IS a fairly good deal for a casual gamer who doesn't risk overheating his or her machine by 10 hours of play a day... This package IS a fairly good deal for people who don't know anything about falcons, zephyrs or whatevers and this package IS a good deal for people who want 2 excellent games for free. It is also worth noting that the library of games for Xbox 360 & Xbox (Yes, with the 120G HDD included with the elite, it is backwards compatible unlike the newest versions of the PS3) is immense and for RPG fans this is a real incentive.
I think we should wait before giving our final verdicts - barring any technical issues this is a good deal - Think about it, a 120G HDD costs around $150, a HD cable around $40, a DVD player, maybe $100, 2 games around $70 so if you've never owned a games console before I would say this is the best deal around.
Don't get me wrong this ISN'T the PERFECT deal - SURE, it should not be advertised as the "newest version" as it is not (manufacture date of June 2008), SURE the machine is a lot noisier than the PS3, the 2 games come stuffed into 1 box which is just not professional and the controllers are battery operated, which, with technology available nowadays, is ridiculous. It's also worth noting that if you want to use a router for WIFI you have to fork out another $75 for the USB adapter and to be able to play games online you have to pay for Xbox Gold which, although isn't going to break the bank, is shameful considering PS3 offers free online gaming. And yes it could be worth buying the newer 60 GB versions at $100 less but this is where the main decision lies.
So it's really a question of faith... Is it worth paying $400 for a machine that risks breaking so soon, of course not, but Microsoft offers a free, 3 year warranty for the RROD problem, so I say wait and see, or at least find an ACTUAL reason not to like it, not a POSSIBLE ONE.....!? | video-games_xbox |
It's not perfect, but it's right next to actually going to Disneyland. Let's be honest, Disneyland is one of the greatest places on this planet. Disneyland Adventures in a nutshell is Disneyland on an X-Box disk. You are given the freedom to roam the entire park, interact with characters and play mini games related to actual rides. The game attempts to bring the magic of the actual place into your living room, and with a few flaws it succeeds.
If you love Disneyland, you will love this game. It doesn't matter how old you are, it's Disneyland, it can and more than likely will bring out your inner child. You play as a child avatar, given the ability to roam Disneyland and do pretty much anything you'd do in the actual park if you were that age with no restrictions. The game is absolutely huge. It gives you a lot of different things to do. The biggest two things to do is interact with the characters and "play" the rides. Believe it or not, the character interaction is better than that of the real Disneyland. Interacting with these characters is interacting with the actual characters. Where as Disneyland you're giving a hug to probably some sweaty fat guy in a Goofy suit. Sure it's not as cute as seeing your 4 year old hug the air in front of them, but for those who know that it's not the real deal, this game is actually better in that aspect.
The rides are good at best. There are about 18 (give or take a few) attractions represented here, and they are all fun but don't do the actual ride any justice. On top of that, there are a few attractions that are noticeably missing. Indiana Jones and Star Tours are missing, but those were due to licensing issues that they couldn't get on their side. There are a few other more minor attractions such as the Go-Coaster and Autopia that are not represented, but for the most part they got all of them. A lot of the attractions consist of on-rails flying/running type sections where you have to avoid obstacles and collect coins. The controls, like most Kinect games, are marginal at best, but the inability to lose mini games is kind of nice.
Wandering the park is surprisingly fun as the park looks almost like a shot-for-shot replica of the actual park. You can also do things like collect autographs from your favorite characters, do a few fetch quests for some of the characters, collect pins, and visit stores from around the park. There is a ton to do here and you will get sucked into the magic of the game.
Unfortunately the game isn't perfect. As stated earlier, the controls for the mini games specifically aren't up to par. For the Kinect, they're just what you'd expect, but they still aren't great. Walking around works just fine, but it's hard to stop in one place to take in your favorite parts of the park or take pictures. Also, my least favorite part of the game is the fact that there isn't an option to ride any of the major attractions. All of them are just games, and you can't re-live most of your favorite rides. You can ride a few of the minor attractions, but they're pretty boring, such as the Dumbo ride.
If you love Disneyland, or have kids who love Disneyland, this should be an absolute no-brainer. This isn't as good as going to the actual park, but for the fraction of the price of a one day pass to Disneyland, this game will give you a lot of what Disneyland has to offer, but for the whole family. It does come with its own set of flaws, but it is a truly fantastic game.
PROS:
+ It's Disneyland in your living room
+ Fantastic re-creation of the entire park
+ Character interaction is amazing
+ A ton of stuff to do
CONS:
- Missing a few notable attractions (Indiana Jones, & Star Tours as well as a few other minor attractions)
- No ride the ride option (Not even in DLC form)
- Like ALL Kinect games, the controls aren't all that in portions of the game.
FINAL SCORE: 8/10 | video-games_xbox |
Very, very dark. First off, this is a game for adults only.
And I mean that in no uncertain terms. (This is a game that visits the worst human tragedy in known history - World War I) Violence, language and general depravity considered, even an adult might want to rethink her/his steps when purchasing this item. Some of the actions and environments were so intense, they literally made me feel weird and bad. I truly felt anger at the end and actually cried during the final sequence.
If you can shrug off these warnings, you are in for arguably the most substantial experience on the 360 so far.
Even in its earlier releases, Starbreeze prided itself in challenging the player to think outside the bounds of what was possible within a game, and The Darkness continues that legacy. From a first person perspective, the player inhabits young hitman Jackie's persona as he unravels the mystery of his (unexpectedly granted) powers. The plot thickens as Jackie's battle with his own (Mike Patton voiced) demons escalates as does his confrontation with a previously patriarchal uncle-turned-nemesis. With just enough twists and unexpected surreal moments, the ride is a perfect, if taxing one. For a superb shooting mechanic, sick & constant sense of humor, and moments of shock that truly shock, you can't do better than the Darkness.
On the minus side, there are long wait times between Entrance/Exit points and the map is virtually useless. Glitchy controls with regards to the (Primarily most useful tool of) Creeping Dark slow down the otherwise frenetic pace of confrontations. Achievement Hounds should also be warned: some of the achievements in this game are ambivalent, to say the least. I'm a fan, and have yet to unlock many of them.
Such qualms aside, this is the game people who loved "Riddick" should be ready to expect: A rock solid shooter that feels more like an RPG or sandbox game.
Insane attention to detail, impeccable visuals, and a nasty sense of reality.
The most profound and simultaneously profane experience the 360 can offer.
You have been warned. | video-games_xbox |
Doom 3 Review Xbox.. Few things different, few issues too. Ho Ho.. Doom 3, Doom 2, Ultimate doom, all in the same box! oh yes..
After playing the PC version and really enjoying it, i figured, hey, i have an xbox, i have xbox live, the PC requires updates, and drivers, and crashes, and blah, blah, i had issues with pc version,
I bought doom3 knowing what was in store, and it is still an amazing game.
As for realism - there is something missing from the Game engine, that would have been so amazing if it was there, Some of the lighting in the game cause the enemies/Demons/characters, to cast real time shadows, one of the aspects that bring a new depth of realism to the visuals, except, your character, the main man, does not cast any shadows on walls, or on floor, this would have been quite special.
I still don't know what to make of the Online multiplayer deathmatch - it's really only any good if the players are of a similar skill, a case of, 1st with the rocket launcher, gets the frags, although if you are in the mood for it, it is good fun.
I do love the graphics, and the little spot effects, the tin cans on the tables, that u can shoot, kicking various things around, and watching how the light affects their shadows, i love watching that stuff.
The game DOES make you jump, not any more tho, than a cheesey horror flick, difference being, this is a very interactive horror film, with a beginning, middle and end, there is a set way thru it, its not as free as people would like.
For me, the best way to play it, is, in the dark, at night, with headphones, or if u have surround, it probably is the best way to experience the game.
Sound is amazing, graphics are amazing, gameplay is good, big complaint seems to be the flicking of weapon and flashlight, which is understandable, but it does add 'something' that i just cant put my finger on. The playability does not break new ground, but the atmosphere and graphics certainly do.
It is GREAT that we have the original doom on there, cause i loved it way back then. Actually, gonna play it now!
Overall, a very impressive package.
Ade
;) | video-games_xbox |
Best Soccer Sim (Bad US Distribution Though. This game is the same as the European "Pro Evolution Soccer 4" and if you have heard the buzz surrounding that game then you should know that this is really the only soccer game worth buying and probably in the top three sports simulations of all time.
The problem has been that Vivendi are too slow in releasing Winning Eleven 9, i.e - Pro Evolution Soccer 4, which has been out for months now in Europe. Vivendi really need to pick up the pace there.
The game has been in development since the Nintendo 64 and is easily the best soccer engine out there. All of the players have full character skins that resemble the players in reality (real moving hair!), except some of the names are not the same because of license issues (don't worry you can edit everything in this game).
Apart from the outstanding game engine (replay mode is almost like real soccer on television) the character animations are intricate and extremely realistic. The players respond to fouls by falling in a multiple number of ways, other players throw their hands up in disgust at missing a goal or crash to their knees in exhaustion. Belt in a goal and watch them do a pile up as the crowd goes wild. Some players even have special moves.
Unlike most of the other soccer games this is a simulation rather than an arcade kick-about so if you are not prepared to spend a few days learning the controls and how to operate the environments, including formations and in-game strategies - you might just want to forget about this one, however this is the domain where the master players live and share memory card saved data with one another. In short soccer freaks the world over either have it, want it or plague the family of someone who has it.
The AI is really what makes Pro Evolution Soccer 4 stand out. It is also like really controlling little men on the pitch... what am I saying... they ARE really little men on the pitch (yes the game IS that good). There are 50 national teams and 60 fake teams. You need to go on the internet to find out who Konami imagined these fake teams to really be so you can edit in the right players names and team names (remember Konami does not have a license for everything so be prepared to do a bit of fiddling, however a huge percentage of the teams and players are already licensed).
There are multiple modes/games to choose from (up to 8 controllers/players can be used with this game) friendly matches, team play, match modes, cup modes, leagues, training simulations, edit modes and a Master League mode, each with several options for the type of game you want to play... there is no shortage of cups to win in this game. When you win about 3 cups you then have enough credits to start team transfers (meaning you can update EVERYTHING in this game to resemble actual football teams) and you can also create your own ALL STARS team.
The bottom line is that the manual for this thing is huge and it is everything you could ever want soccer to be. If there is one soccer game to own for the PS2, then this is it by a long shot. It is a great investment considering how many of your friends will play it to death with you over the many weekends to come.
If you play sport and don't own this game, then what are you waiting for? Just get this game, learn it, read the manual and be the best you can at it. This is the universal PS2 game that everyone who loves soccer plays and a really good dream team effort from Konami.
As a note the PAL version hacked for the PS2 with modchips was available for NTSC players long ago. So basically illegal copies where doing the rounds in America months and months before the official version was released. Given that Vivendi had such terrible problems with the release of HL2 it seems that there is a pattern emerging here. I feel sorry for the Konami programmers who will not see their just rewards because of bad distribution. | video-games_xbox |
Like other dance games, but with some nice additions. I also have Dance Central and Just Dance, Kids. There are many similarities between all the games, but there are a few ways this game is unique (as compared to the other 2)
1) Hip Hop Dance Experience (HHDE) allows character customization. The others allow you to choose from a set of characters. This is definitely better.
2) HHDE allows you to control the menus with a regular controller instead of using only the Kinect. This is a BIG WIN if you have small kids that will be using it as they tend to have a really hard time navigating menus with Kinect.
3) Dance Central allows only 1 dancer at a time. HHDE allows 2, so this is an improvement there.
On the other hand
#1 is great as long as Kinect correctly identifies you. My kids were getting annoyed with the Kinect assigning the wrong avatars to them. You can fix it, but this takes a little time and effort.
#2 loses some of is punch when you look at the content of this game--some of the song choices are not entirely G-rated and many of the outfits look like Ubisoft is trying to train our girls to be hookers. Don't get me wrong--it's not horrible, but for a conservative parent, it isn't something I want to give my kids a lot of exposure to, either.
as for #3, I own the original Dance Central, but I understand that newer versions of Dance Central allow 2 dancers at a time.
Game play:
Many of the dance moves in this game are cooler looking, but even on the easiest setting, they were a little harder. This isn't a big deal for adults, but once again, kids may get a bit frustrated with it. I still find Dance Central to have the best interface for showing you what dance moves are coming up next, though I admit this could just be because it's what I'm used to.
Overall:
Another good dance game. I LOVE that you can use a controller and you aren't bound to Kinect, but I'd like to see a kid's version of this game engine. | video-games_xbox |
Evolved?!? Transformed perhaps. I've been a big fan of the past Front Mission titles and was a bit of a skeptic going into Evolved. Turn-based strategy was fine by me and I wasn't thrilled to see the series head off in a different direction. However, the game was presented to me as a gift from someone that knew I've enjoyed the series. What I found was a solid game that stays fairly true to the franchise.
The combat is enjoyable and familiar for anyone that has played Armored Core or Mechwarrior on the Xbox. It doesn't take long to get comfortable with the controls and Wanzers can still be built from the ground up to fit your playing style. The story mode is fun, but extremely short. I've been able to play through the game on the "hard" setting in less than an hour when skipping the dialog. The first play through will undoubtedly take longer for most players.
My only major gripe is the reliance on hidden "sensors" in each level to extend the life of the game. This egg hunt is tedious and simply not fun, but unlocks a variety of items and battle skills. Many sensors are so well hidden that they're almost impossible to see, which makes the game absolutely maddening if you're attempting to find them all without the benefit of a guide or FAQ.
The online play can be fun, but it can take a long time to find a match. Higher-level players have the benefit of considerably better equipment, which leads to some extremely unbalanced fights. The game attempts to balance teams prior to the start of the match. This is, unfortunately, very poor and often results in one extremely powerful duo trouncing severely handicapped opponents. The matches are very enjoyable when the game manages to create balanced teams. Matches also require at least four players for a ranked match. With no option for bots to fill the vacant spots, it can take a long time to get a contest rolling since the game lacks a large following.
Overall, Front Mission Evolved is enjoyable and stays true enough to the franchise. It's certainly worth picking up at the reduced price, or makes a good weekend rental. Just don't expect to be blown away. | video-games_xbox |
Lots of Fun, but the Action Becomes Tired by the End. This was a good game, and there's a lot to like about it, but overall I just didn't love it. The graphics here are pretty amazing, especially if you remember the previous Max Payne games. The bullet time third person gun-play can be insanely fun, but I really don't think it's enough to sell the entire game. I love that every slow jump is controlled by you, leading to either hilarious failures or glorious successes when you kill everyone in your jump. However, the fact that there really aren't any ways to modify the bullet-time jumps, leads to them eventually being very repetitive and boring. I would love different jumps, like maybe a slide, or something else to add a different flavor to the combat. Also, this game relies a lot more on cover based shooting if you want to survive, but it is a little different from the normal Gears of War style. I must say that the AI is pretty intelligent. However it becomes annoying when they stay hidden and invulnerable behind cover for very long periods of time, yet you will be shot/killed many times when you're shooting from cover or even hiding behind it. My other biggest problem with the combat is that it feels a little wooden at times, and Max is like an old man getting up and moving around (when not in bullet-time). After a dive, you are completely screwed if any of your enemies are alive while you slowly come to your feet. Related to this, if you are "killed" when you have painkillers you will automatically enter bullet-time with a chance to kill the person who shot you. There are multiple problems here, where sometimes the enemy can't be shot where they are, but the biggest problem is that if you succeed no matter where you were before you wake up lying on the ground. With how long Max takes to get up combined with the fact that you cannot go right into cover, you have to stand up fully before you regain control, I usually took so much damage that I was right again in danger of dying. It was also incredibly annoying with how much damage the enemies can take, as over and over I would unload into them and turn to continue the fight and then be killed by the guys I thought I'd finished. Sometimes the characters would fall down and get back up, but most of the time they would just absorb multiple bursts from an assault rifle and not flinch.
Now on to other parts of the game. The campaign is relatively long, but it is completely linear with no possible variation (and no reason to replay it) with multiple jumps along the timeline. It was kind of nice to have different versions of Max, but since they didn't control any differently they just made the story more convoluted. I think I would have liked to play the game missions in order, it wouldn't have improved the story itself at all, but I think it could have helped a little bit. The story is idiotic, there's a gigantic plot hole I won't spoil as it's supposed to be the big twist, but it really makes the whole set up of the story incomprehensible. I also wish Max wasn't such a bitchy whiner in this game, he's always bashing himself without realizing all of the bad ass things he'd done (I mean I killed thousands of paramilitary forces/gangsters/dirty police while flying through the air!). I think the biggest problem with the story is that there's no higher purpose for what you're aiming to do. There are parts where it's kind of a rescue the princess deal, but the princess isn't likeable and will always die anyway. Then there's a bit of revenge is best served cold storyline, but the villains are all interchangeable and the game never gave you a chance to like the people you're avenging. I just didn't care about the story other than wanting to kill everyone (which they prevented you from doing in the very end, even though the guy dies off camera in the epilogue).
For the multiplayer, I tried it but personally I just didn't really like it. It just felt too wooden and the best parts of the single player game have to be mostly eliminated to play against/with others. Other people might find a lot of hours of fun here, but for me I played it for a night and was done with it.
So overall, I enjoyed the game but by the end I was just left disappointed by what it offered. This isn't a bad game, but I don't think I would readily highly recommend it to anyone.
Edit: I increased my rating to 4 stars because I did enjoy the game, and I haven't liked some of the other games I've played lately. | video-games_xbox |
Disappointing at Best. I have been a huge XBOX fan during its first two releases. I was excited to get the XBOX One and jumped on it shortly after it was released. I have been SEVERELY disappointed with the XBOX One. Here is my beef with it.
- Kinect: The kinect in the Xbox One seems worse than Kinect for Xbox 360. It is supposed to work as a microphone so you can control the Xbox with your voice but you literally have to YELL at it (even in a perfectly quite room) for it to pick up your commands. It is terrible at recognizing the commands you give it. The new Kinect does not have a motor on it to allow it to pan around to pick up its targets. Microsoft has downgraded it so you have to manually move the Kinect to where it should scan things. When Microsoft released the XBOX One, they sold their console with Kinect. There was no standalone consoles, and they even said they wouldnt sell a standalone console. This was great because if everyone had the Kinect, Microsoft and game publishers would have to build support and features for the Kinect. Then Microsoft black-balled us early customers and sold the console without Kinect. Now publishers (and Microsoft) didn't have to spend the time and resources to make their products awesome using Kinect technology. Nobody has done anything incredible for the Kinect and it feels like a neglected feature now.
- The XBOX One Apps: Microsoft and publishers have created great Apps for the XBOX 360, but MANY of these are unavailable on the Xbox One. In fact, these publishers are STILL releasing new and updated Apps for the XBOX 360, and NOT on the newer Xbox One. This is a shame. It feels like the Xbox One has been abandoned.
- Price Drops: This is good for new buyers, but as an early customer, we got ripped off. The Xbox One debuted at a fairly stiff price, but the "supposed" features and capabilities of this console sold us early adopters. Not only has the product basically been abandoned, Microsoft has cut the price by a ton. It's like they can't sell this POS, so they are practically giving them away now.
- TV Integration: I have my Dish Network hooked up to the XBOX One for what Microsoft touted as amazing things you could do with it. It literally does NOTHING. Now I have to have the XBOX One AND my receiver on to watch TV. There is no benefit of this "Amazing feature".
Seriously folks, don't waste your money. Microsoft has lost a loyal Xbox fan and consumer, and I know many others who have left the fan club too. | video-games_xbox |
The Best "Playground" in the series. If you missed out the first time around, don't be afraid to jump in now!! Used figures are extremely cheap any more, and even if you want new ones, many of those can be found for about 60% or less of what they were going for originally. Just double check to ensure it's one of the 80 characters that works with this game if it's the only one you have. Any figure with a Blue, Orange, or Green bottom liner on the base with assuredly work with this game, assuming it isn't broken completely for whatever reason.
Swap Force is easily considered the best "Playground" in the entire Skylanders series. With Swap Zone challenges, the longest levels in the series, the longest story in the series, PvP battles, PvE Arena mode, Time Challenges, Special Challenges, Great Boss Battles, a plethra of elemental gates, individual Skylander tasks (pretty sure on this one......may have been giants only), and a difficulty slider, most players of the series logged the most hours into this game even if they didn't count it as their favorite.
This is THE Skylanders game to get some play out of your entire collection without getting overly repetitive. The entire story, All PvE Arena battles, and 25% of the swap zones will be available on the purchase of this game. This offers a little above the average offering of content in most A list games these days.
In order to play EVERYTHING in the game (which is not necessary, but fun), you will need the following: 6 Swap Force figures w/ the other 6 specialties (digger, sneaker, spinner, speester etc.), a figure of the Earth, Air, Tech, Undead, and Magic Element (which can be taken care of by the 6 Swappers) a Giant of any element, and the Tower of Time and Sheep Wreck Island pieces (all these last 2 have to do is touch the portal once in your game file and you're good. Borrow them for a second from a friend if they have them.)
The gimmick of "Swapping" your skylander's halves around is fun, but many folks enjoy the characters as they come. The non-swappable Skylanders that premiered in this game are some of the best in the series and a blast to play. You can't go wrong by just sticking to Skylanders with blue bases (and a single Giant of Course).
Have fun!! | video-games_xbox |
Absolutely awesome. This is one the most amazing games I have ever played. After playing the previous burnout games this one came as a sort of shock at first. I don't have xbox live so I don't this review is only based off my experience from playing offline. I have completed the game 100% and there were only a few faults I could find in the whole game. These faults are so minor compared to the overall quality that I felt it would be wrong to take off a star for them.
Faults:
-no more aftertouch/ crashbreaker. The Burnout team tried to make an cool part of the game better by making it it's own event. It was a nice try but it would even better if they had put both things into the game. By itself Showtime is still fun and I love bouncy off of bus after bus in the downtown or in the tourist sections of Silver Lake.
-The open world is extremely mind boggling at first. When you start out, you get lost all the time whether you get turn on the wrong road, getting stuck on railroads or freeways, etc. This however, becomes irrelevent once you play the game enough.
-the finishing points are all on the edges of the map. This is a problem because you quickly beat all the events around the finish lines meaning you always have to drive back to the center of town where most of the events are. It would have been nice if they included a finish line in the center of town maybe at the 5 way intersection.
-no restart option. This is only a problem when you are trying to beat a specific race such as burning routes or when you only have a few events left such as when you are trying to get your elite license. I have noticed many complaints that people can't out of a race. This is a lie because all you have to do is hit the brake and idle for a couple seconds and you will exit the race.
-no split screen. Yes I was disappointed but deal with the fact that it's a one player game, stop whining about it.
I would like to next state the amazing parts of the game that competely negate any of the problems stated above.
-Knowledge of the city is very fun. It is so cool when, in the later stages of the game you have some sections of the city completely memorized and you know special routes to take from point A to point B. It makes the game get better as you go along.
-It takes a long time to beat. I am a person who likes to beat a game before I get a new one. Since I don't like spending big money every week on new games, this game was incredible. I spent a month or two playing this game before I finished.
-great graphics. Any random car you hit is almost as superdetailed as your own.
-huge open world. there is never a lack of area to drive around and discover. While I now know some areas like the back of my hand, others are almost foreign to me and there are some roads I have only traveled down a few times. It was really cool when I beat the and the cedits started rolling and I realized that the whole burnout team has a road or area of town named after them.
-thrill of driving over 100 mph through crowded downtown. It can be very challenging navigating through the downtown in the middle of a race and there have been several times I have come close to screaming at the screen because of what I thought of as an unfair crash.
I could go on for hours about this game but I am getting tired of typing so I will end this. I would recommend this game to anyone as long as they understand that this is not a game to beat in a weekend. | video-games_xbox |
Pleasantly Surprised. I was very disappointed when I found out that my Xbox did not play DVD's fresh out of the box. The growing trend of selling a system in pieces rather than shipping a complete system is one that I'm not very fond of. As much as these game systems cost, they should have everything you need right in the box.
While I loathed doing so, I eventually bought the DVD playback kit because I was going on a trip and wanted to be able to play movies and games during my down time. As it turns out, I like the Xbox so much as a DVD player that I now use it as my primary DVD player. My previous DVD player was an older model JVC and I've had tons of problems with it. It won't play some DVD's and I've had to take it to be repaired three times, twice in the first year I owned it.
I think the compaints in Amazons review are valid. The lack of an eject button or power button on the remote makes it less convenient, but I have to get up to change DVD's anyway so I don't find that much of a bother. I find the in-movie menu easy to use and an improvement over my JVC which basically makes me do the same thign when I want to change subtitles or lanuages. My biggest problem with the Xbox, and not as big as it may sound: for some reason it won't read some disks when you first put them it. This is easily cured by turning the system on and the off again, and it's only certain disks (Donnie Darko was one, Shreck was another) but I was concerned when it wouldn't read the disk and a bit irritated.
The main reson I replaced my JVC with my Xbox is that I think the picture is better, and clearer. With the HDTV cables hooked up, the picture quality on my Sony Wega is crystal clear. Good transfer DVD's like Star Wars TPM look absolutely incredible. I was really surprised at some of the cool high-end features like the ability to zoom. I can't find any documentation to prove that the Xbox is a progressive scan DVD player, but I do know that when you attach the HDTV cables you are given several options for progressive scan viewing in the video section. My TV is not HDTV compatible (although it has component hookups) and I could not play the DVD's with any of those settings. Even though I haven't read anything about it, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that this IS a progressive scan DVD player with HDTV compatibility.
While I don't think the sound is any better than my old DVD player, it's just as good whether playing Dolby surround, Dolby Digital 5.1 or DTS.
While I was originally outrgaed at having to buy the ability to do something that I think the system should already be doing (and still do) I do feel like I got my money's worth. The Xbox DVD playback far surpasses the other DVD playing game systems and even most mid to low end DVD players. The reviewers that have said they preferred the PS2 DVD playback boggle my mind. They either don't own an XBox with the full get-up or are loyal PS2 owners and want it to be true. I own a PS2 and it's far inferior when playing DVD's. Not even in the same league in this particular category. The Xbox is still the best deal on the market and is only going to get better. | video-games_xbox |
Ambitious and worth it. Cant believe some of the trolls that were posting worthless reviews on Dragon Age 2 without even spending time to play the game more then a hour. but as another said trolls will be trolls.
- Gameplay
I'll use DA Origins as a comparison so you can get a good idea of what has changed (or has not) in this fantastic game.
The first thing you will notice right away is that the good folks at Bioware have turned up the intensity and the fun of combat quite a bit. Compared to Origins the battles are fought in much the same way: Fight your enemy using learned abilities and auras while occasionally pausing combat to switch between characters in your party to issue specific orders for them to carry out(like use a potion or cast a fireball spell) rinse and repeat. Boss battles can be more complicated requiring a change in Tactics(Tactics are behavior slots you can customize for each member of your party) for your party to be better suited at fighting them. This all ofcourse depends on the difficulty setting you wish to play on. If you want to Obsessively Tweak your party to fight exactly the way you need them to on Nightmare difficulty you can. If that isn't your cup of tea simply choose a preset or ignore them entirely and slash away. All and all, DA2 behaves in much the same way as Origins, with the main difference being how fast paced and vicseral the action has become.
As with Origins there are 3 main classes to choose from with a number of different talent trees to pursue. Warrior has specific abilities designed to keep the focus of enemies on them as well as being tough enough to soak up the damage, Or you can go the offensive route and wield a 2 handed weapon with ridiculous ease slashing the darkspawn back to the Maker. Mages can choose between a Healer spec, Damage spec or a CC(crowd control) spec, it all depends on your fancy. Rogues are probaly the most improved class from origins to DA2. Remember how in Origins often it felt like your Rogue was just a lightly armored warrior? Not the case anymore. They have a number of high damage abilities, a combo system as well as a variety of other useful tricks. Like aoe(area of affect) stunning and the ability to transfer Aggro from one party member to the next.
- Graphics
DA2 is a step up from origins in every way regardless of what system you choose to play it on. Textures are smooth and precise, Facial expressions look much more realistic this time around(especially on your main character) with stunning enviroments to explore while dismembering the much more evil looking darkspawn. The biggest change however is the Art style. Origins had a rather bland look with little personality, DA2 is completely the opposite. Everything now has a cool Gothic/Comic book sort of style to it. All and all its just alot of fun to look at.
- Sound
The main hero is now thankfully voiced. As always the voice acting is absolutely top notch, from the range of emotions employed through the actors voice to the simple grunts and screams everything is believable and spot on. The booms from fireballs and the screech from metal-on-metal is all here and makes combat that much more satisfying.
When it comes right down to it this is a fantastic game crafted with precision and excellence. Pick this one up, its worth it. | video-games_xbox |
Going, going, gone! A must have for ANY age. Here's the deal in a nut shell. After mid November this game will be harder to find than a Cabbage Patch Kid or Tickle me Elmo! Get it now! No matter what platform!
I am a 41 year old guy who loves rpg, Mario, Pokemon, and most Kirby (Epic Yarn and Mass Attack especially) games and I absolutely hate first person shooters!
I purchased Skylanders on EVERY platform mainly for a Christmas investment but did play on 3DS and have logged 25 hours on the wii and this is why my review is in the wii platform version. Here is the breakdown of my experience end review...
3DS... This is the only way to get a Dark Spyro figure and has totally different gameplay than the bigger platforms as well as a portal that is turned on by pressing on the top rather then just sitting the figure on it and it magically appearing on your screen in the game and as of right now u can only have 2 figures on standby on the bottom screen to switch from while playing but can summon every one of them and your game play like hp, gold, level up and others will be saved on the respective figure you use on any level.. The portal also comes with a USB cable to plug into your computer so you can play online (which I have not tried yet)..
WII... WOW! Now each starter kit comes with 3 figures and to fully play the game and get to every area you will want at least 1 of each element and there are 8 different elements so to fully enjoy the game I strong recommend getting the other 5 elemental figures which are $8.00 each so a total $115.00 for everything you will need to play this AWESOME GAME. They also have "adventure" packs and at this time only the pirate ship one is the only one available but November 14 the rest of the characters hit the shelf.. If you count dark spyro there are 33 different figures and the possibilities are endless and I can see more figures in the future as well as expansion downloads and games and the 3DS says there are 38 characters? I only know of 33 right now unless they are counting the extras in the adventure packs and the 3DS also shows 4 different adventures besides the basic game adventure and on novewmber 14 there will only be 2 that I know of? So Activision is planning on doing a lot more than we know of right now with this game in the future..
I have logged tons of hours playing and they got some great voices for the main characters like the guy that plays krunk in emporers new groove and wolf in the hoodwinked movies! Each figure peaks at level 10 but there abilities you can buy with your gold to make them better so if you had all 32 figures you or your kids could spend 8-10 hours per figure getting them leveled up and getting enough gold to max each one so is $115.00 worth 800 hours of game play? ABSOLUTELY! You get the best of all worlds with this game. You can collect action figures, you get a great storyline game and hours of enjoyment, finally you get to take your maxes out level 10 Spyro and battle your friend on his/hers system weather it's a WII, PS3, XBOX 360, 3DS, or PC ! Or loan your high level character out to help your friend get through some harder levels...
Fun stuff... These figures have some cool things you can do with them, my personal favorite is the ability to rename any figure for instance my Spyro is now named Normro and shows up on all systems as Normro.. You can reset a figure back to new and it will lose all it's abilities, level,name etc and be like it was when it was new.. The game is truly for all ages because your character NEVER dies, it just goes asleep until the level is completed and this is where having more figures comes in handy cause if you have 3 figures in your game collection u only have 3 chances to beat a certain level but if you have 8 or more in your collection you you have 8+ chances to beat that level before you have to restart that level! There's no blood and guts and no foul language a very cute story and just like most games that come out for all systems, the wii has a few twists that the ps3 and 360 do not have. There is some saddle adult humor just like any pixar film and by the way pixar played a huge part in this game so you know u and your kids will love it and don't be surprised if you find yourself putting the kids to bed early so you can play this game! Lol..
INVESTMENT... Short term for 2011 Xmas season I can see these things being worth $200.00-$450.00 this holiday season if activation can't keep up with demand and that is why I own 500.00 worth of product and won't have a problem selling any of mine at those prices! I have duplicates of every figure and 1 starter pack for each system... Long term, this will depend on game support and most likely the figures will have increased value and the adventure core sets will not hold value in my opinion.. This is activisions newest cash cow since guitar hero but this is diffent in so many ways and the possibilities are endless.. They can treat it like a sims type game and I can see there being a total of 100 figures and 2 expansions at minimum by summer of 2012..
Thanks for reading and hope this helps you make a decision and I hope you and your kids enjoy it as much as we are and will continue... | video-games_xbox |
Clarification. I bought this game because of positive reviews toting an interesting story with sympathetic characters. I played this game for three and a half hours and have yet to run across either. I was going to try to give this game at least one more chance but was utterly unable to force myself to it.
-First: The main character is so generic that even Square Enix failed to come up with a name for such fearsome blandness. He's just The Father. You can put in a name. I officially titled him Nicholas but by 20 minutes in I had mentally renamed him Boring McBlandpants. The line that keeps occurring to me about him is from the Penny Arcade strip on PoP2: "I smolder with generic rage!" I guess his rage is supposed to be sympathetic because he's trying to protect his daughter, I'll get to that in a moment, and that's supposed to be On the Edge for Squeenix but really we've seen this performance dozens of times before in countless TV shows and movies. Really it's that this character is such a complete non entity that he's not even worth disliking. The only interesting thing he does is drown in 6 inches of water. That, I have to admit, is hilarious to watch.
-Second: Yonah McBlandpants, the living plot device that drives this game, is really annoying. Her dialogue is very contrived complete with those delicate hiccups that pass for fake coughs, I've only heard fake coughing like this in shows where people were mocking fake coughing in melodramas. I think she's supposed to be cute but she just looks oddly rendered. She's stupid which is necessary to the story. At first I was just apathetic about her until they started showing her "journal" as the loading screen. I think she's supposed to be 12 but her writing goes something like this: "Today Popa gave me a book from the library! Hurray! It is about a big tree. I hope it has a happy ending! There is nothing worse than a sad tree!" That was when I fervently began to wish she would die. Unfortunately trying to save her is the point of the game.
-Third: The magic in this game is a pain in the butt to use. Perhaps it's just my controllers but I kept having to hit the shoulder buttons multiple times to even get it to come up. And once it is up the magic takes too long to charge and aim to be useful. You'll just get knocked over. It's too bad since Weiss the talking Grimoire you use is the only faintly likable character. He spends most of his time insulting the main character which would be more amusing if the main character were dynamic enough to be unlikable.
-Four: The enemies in this game look like they were directly lifted from Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess. I guess they were hoping only people too loyal to ever buy a Nintendo product would play this game so no one would notice.
-Five: They threw in a token Female Warrior and made the rookie mistake of hoping if she swore and yelled all the time it would hide the fact that she doesn't have a personality. It doesn't. It's just annoying and her scream talk is awkward to listen to.
That ought to be enough to convince anyone of buying this game for the incredible story not to. It's not worth the money and it's not worth the time. | video-games_xbox |
Buyer" beware. My son and I "purchased" Destiny in January of this year. The game was pretty good, albeit a bit of a grind to keep on top of things (but really, that's how I liked it). In June of this year, we also "bought" the season pass for the first two DLC packs. Personally, I could have skipped the first DLC (The Dark Below), but I enjoyed the second (House of Wolves).
Now, you may have noticed that when I refer to "buying" this game, I use quotation marks. This is because in September of this year, Bungie/Activision released The Taken King, while at the same time, "updating" the base game to version 2.0. In effect, this change thoroughly altered the game we had purchased. Difficulty selection for all levels was removed, and the maximum level for characters was raised from 34 to 40, but only for buyers of "The Taken King". This effectively blocked me from playing the game in the way I had been playing for the previous eight months. All new legendary and exotic level weapons and armor were made off-limits to my character, while all old versions were removed from the game, except for the ones in my inventory...meaning I could not receive new weapons of the same class I had been using. Additionally, due to the level requirements, I could no longer participate in the daily and weekly heroic strikes, nor participate in the "Nightfall" events. This had not been the case previous to TTK. For both of the previous DLC releases, if the Nightfall or Heroic strike or mission was something you owned, you could participate. There were other extreme changes as well, all of which have left the game to be less than the game we bought.
Basically, the game we "bought" was fundamentally altered in such a way as to require us to purchase the latest DLC, or no longer play in any meaningful way. If Destiny had been a subscription based game, I could understand this, but this "defacto" subscription model of requiring the latest DLC to continue playing the game you already supposedly own is absolutely ridiculous. There are a great many people who just say "Just buy the DLC, it's only $40," but it's really the principle of the matter. Bungie/Activision have removed and replaced content and features for a game I purchased with no regard for continued playability for anyone who hasn't purchased the latest DLC.
Add to this that you don't even get the game with this disc, you get a stub installer and a code, meaning you can't even sell it when you're done playing it.
Basically, Bungie and Activision are attempting to alter the concept of ownership, and this is something I can't stand for. | video-games_xbox |
A great game, whether you've played pinball or not. Long story short, buy this game you will not be disappointed. Worth every penny.
This game is an updated version of the one released for the original Xbox, PS2, and the Wii with 3 added tables, higher resolution graphics, and better physics, so if you're looking to buy this game (you should be) make sure this is the version you buy.
I'm currently 35, and when I was a lot younger, I used to frequent the local arcades. Unfortunately for me, I only occasionally paid attention to pinball. Back then, I was under the impression that your point totals were simply based on your reflexes and timing of using the flippers so I concentrated on video games. After purchasing Pinball Hall of Fame: The Williams Collection, I now see how completely wrong I was in that assumption and how I missed out on some really good gaming. Pinball tables had a lot of depth to them, from lane changing, to earning scoring multipliers and multiball play, to making the jet bumpers increase their point values, and so on. A lot of thought went into the design of pinball tables and I wish I wasn't ignorant to this fact until now when it's rare to see a pinball machine out in the wild.
This game has 13 accurately recreated real life tables, some of the best that Williams had to offer from the 70s, 80s, and 90s (and after reading up on them, they have MANY more great tables so hopefully we see them recreated in another game or offered as downloadable content), these are not made up tables like you see in Pinball FX on the 360 or Zen Pinball on the PS3.
Although I missed out on these in the arcade, the hard work put into this game really gives an accurate representation of what it would have been like to play these in person. Of course I realize that NOTHING beats the real feel of playing these in person, but since I can't go back in time, this is the next best thing, the physics of the ball seems very realistic, from the way it bounces off of targets or travels around the playfield, and the I think the controls are mapped perfectly on my 360's controller - the triggers operate the left and right flippers, the right analog stick is the plunger, and the left analog stick is used to nudge the table. The sounds of the machines are spot-on as well.
I think this game has a lot of replayability too as each table has a list of goals to accomplish to earn your achievements. These goals are really teaching aids to teach the ins and outs of each table so if you were like me and had no idea about the depth these tables had, you'll quickly learn how you were missing out. There's also an option in the menu of each table called "Instructions" that is a very good tutorial that shows each and every feature the table has to offer. The newer tables like Medieval Madness and Tales of the Arabian Nights have so much depth to them, it's insane, and I'm very glad for these tutorials as there's no way I would have figured all of the stuff I could do on my own.
This game really is for everybody. If you're into pinball, this game is a no brainer. If you're a casual gamer, this game would be a fantastic choice as it is a TON of fun and a great pick up and play game if you don't have a lot of time, and there's a lot of depth to it if you do have the time. If you're a hardcore gamer this game is also a great choice because after you beat the Basic Goals of each table, there are Wizard Level Goals that are very challenging to achieve if you're looking to up your Gamerscore. If you're looking for a great family game, this game is easy to pick up and play, and you can set up a 4 player tournament to include any number of tables you've unlocked for Free Play.
I have a ton of fun with this game and it is probably the best game I've purchased in years, well worth the budget price. | video-games_xbox |
We Really Enjoyed This - Single and Multiplayer. Sega Superstar Tennis combines a variety of tennis games with a big mix of mini-games and multiplayer games, set in the variety of worlds in the Sega Universe. It really is quite a lot of fun!
First, give yourself a little time to get used to the controls. When you hit the ball, you have to fully stop THEN hit with the spin / direction you want.
Once you get the hang of that, this game is really a lot of fun. My boyfriend was a high end tennis player in his teens, while I have never played "real" tennis. So we're at different ends of the spectrum. We would be playing together against a pair of computer opponents and he'd be calling out for me to do something, and I'd have NO idea what he meant :)
So for me, sure I know the basics of tennis, and I could get a certain way through the games. For him, he was doing the "moving chess game" and succeeding quite nicely. The game rewards a knowledge of strategy.
There are a variety of mini-games set in the various worlds which are quite fun. We've played pretty much all the Sega games here, so it was a lot of fun for example to go into the Jet Set Radio world and play the minigames there. Sometimes they were straightforward - like playing tennis on a Jet Set Radio themed court. Other times they were more esoteric, like hitting tennis balls to land in the right spots on a "tag" on the other side of the court. You even have to grab the right color paint can first, and "paint" in the various letters of the tag properly.
Depending on the world you're in, sometimes you're gatherings rings, sometimes you're avoiding zombies, sometimes you're rebounding bombs. There really is a nice combination of games to play. Not only that, but in many of the games you're really learning skills that serve you well in the main tennis games. Your skill at aiming when you hit those zombies in the head does quite nicely when you go back to take on a "regular" tennis opponent.
I think if you've played the Sega games then you really get an extra level of appreciation here. For example, I love Jet Set Radio. Being able to play a bunch of fun mini-games in the JSR world, with the sound, look and feel of it was quite neat. I also love how they customized each court to really use the graphic style of the world. The Jet Set Radio court has a construction-fence-orange net with little construction lights hanging on it. The Sonic net is metal chain grid. You get a waterfall net, a wood slat net, and more. All of them have fully "active" backgrounds too with appropriate spectators and environments.
Complaints? That stop-then-hit was quite annoying, they could have done better with the controls for that. Also, the ball is yellow and often blends in with the background. Especially on the water court, the ball is almost invisible.
Also, you would think that going into one of their "worlds" would mean you're always playing "in that world" (thematically). For example when you're in the Sonic world you're playing on cool Sonic levels. However, when you unlock the Golden Axe world, you go in and start your minigame in ... the Curien Mansion theme. It's a bit disappointing.
Still, we are almost pretty much burnt out on sports games here, having played so many over the years, and we really did enjoy this. The graphic themes were very well done, the gameplay was fun, and the range of game options was quite nice. It's a game that you can play with someone young or old and find something to have a good time with. You can play solo, or the mutiplayer games are great fun for friends and family. True tennis fans might find playing with little Sonic characters or Jet Set Radio dudes a bit cartooney, but really, the game does know its tennis and poses a healthy challenge.
Highly recommended! | video-games_xbox |
Good game, very fun. This is a great game for under 20 dollars. If you're an achievement hunter, you can pretty easily get all 1000 points available. If you're into replay value, this game has a new game plus (take note developers: all games should have this). So when you complete the game you can continue with all your earned items, money, and equipment. You can even increase the difficulty to adjust to your newfound power.
The gameplay is smooth and pretty precise. Some characters have obnoxiously slow attack animations and so it is difficult to actually use them. That being said, there are 14 characters to play and all are unique. It is encouraged to level them up evenly, but you can get away with keeping an elite team of 6-8. Another great feature of this game is the "secret training" in the training arena. Where you choose one character and begin training. This saves your game and returns you to the title screen. As real time passes, your character gains experience to level up. The training maxes out in 24 hours so you need to reload and start it again from what I understand.
The enemies you'll face are pretty interesting: Classic FF enemies - bombs, flans, etc. There are also soldiers and machines most commonly so for the most part, stick with lightning as your magic of choice. Eidolons are cool but you have to sacrifice a character to summon one, if you're aiming for high ranks during missions then deaths - "casualties" - count against you.
The voice acting, English anyway, is good at points but awful at other times. It is recommended to play with Japanese voices and subtitles, but I personally think it's more important to watch the game and not the writing at the bottom of the screen. The option is available for you though.
Visually I find the game amazing, considering it's a PSP port to XBOX One. Sometimes buffs and debuffs can be distracting on the screen but it can be ignored over time. I didn't notice many visual glitches. The camera can be a little disorienting if you move it quickly. | video-games_xbox |
YES. These bad boys have exceeded my expectations!
I was looking for something, Not too expensive to help protect my controllers from bumps & short drops - But Mostly because, to me, all the New Xbox One Controllers are So Dang Slippery!! Like Crazy slippery.
So I got these, they are skins, but not a thin-skin. They have several rows of like thin ridges that start around the outside of the controller handles towards the battery compartment. This really gives some nice grips & feel to the controller. They are especially comfortable, they don't make your hands sore or anything. I have terrible arthritis and these don't hurt my hands at all. Also, if you set your controller on the arm of the sofa or even arm of your recliner, it won't slip or slide off. (I've fallen asleep in my recliner with the controller still resting on the arm of my chair for the entire night.)
I've had these for almost a month now, I've not found anything negative with these.
These go on fairly easy. I turned off my controller, and started from the bottom left handle, pull it up snugly while pulling it, and the proper holes over the controller joystick(s), buttons, then I'd pull the part up and back over where it rests just under the triggers. Check alignment with your sticks, buttons and d-pad-- it all fits Perfectly! To change batteries, you will need to hold, move over a little on the back to put the battery cover back on (Not remove the entire cover). The stick covers are nice, they're not hard, they fit really well. I swapped the different stick covers around on the other controllers, to mix up colors.
I would like to see a few different mix of colors, like purple/black, red/green, red/blue, blue/green, purple/green, purple/blue... you get the idea.
I highly recommend these. Also, as long as the price stays nice (around $ 8.82 for a pack of 3) it's really great! Check the photos I attached to see them. | video-games_xbox |
Simply Mediocre. Playing this game felt like playing a mediocre movie. Character development was poor, the characters were generally bland, plot development was practically spoon-fed to you (e.g., characters made major discoveries as if through sheer epiphany whereas ME1 would have taken the time to gather and piece together the clues). The game was severely watered-down; I don't need to get into the major complaints that you've likely already heard about the new weapon/armor/ammo system - they're pretty common. Recruiting characters was a tad ridiculous because, unlike ME1 where the people you recruited were random encounters during your mission, in ME2 the people you recruit are specifically targeted and all of their recruitment missions made them out to be essentially demigods of raw physical/biotic/mental superiority, only to have them suddenly turn into lame ducks when they were in your party (for the sake of game balance). The AI was terrible. Prepare to micromanage your team if you want to keep them alive. Not that it's a huge deal if they die anyway, as most of them are fairly useless in combat. Half the game's missions involved recruitment and loyalty missions for your squad; there was very little in the way of actual side missions or of a main quest line. You'll waste a ton of time scanning planets for minerals and launching probes to harvest them - a ridiculously tedious process, although not quite as tedious as exploring in ME1 was - and you'll be left wondering where the $%!# element zero is. Character reappearances in this game were awkward and their personalities (except for Garrus/Tali) made huge, seemingly random changes. Speaking of random, the dialog options seemed to award Paragon/Renegade points completely randomly. You'll finish a dialog to find you got both Paragon and Renegade points, wondering where on earth one or the other could possibly have come from. If you decide to be Paragon (good guy), many of the "Paragon" options involve making intimidating threats, extortion, use of force, or even for having somebody killed. That does not sound very "Paragon" to me. Very seldom are the Paragon choices truly "Paragon" in nature. This game was definitely made to be played as a Renegade, which should probably be somewhat expected, considering the entire plot line involves you being forced to work with terrorists and thug gangs. All in all, I found myself simply not caring about what happened to the people or the universe in general in this game, while I cared very much so about those in the first game because the story and the characters were much deeper.
I do have to give them credit, though, for removing the restrictive DRM in the first game, and for shipping a reasonably polished product. There were very few bugs, and the engine runs very smoothly, leading to high overall framerates and smooth gameplay (8800GT, core 2 duo E8400).
All in all, the game was passable, but it simply lost the magic that Mass Effect 1 had, which is a shame because they could have so easily have stuck to the original formula, focused more on making a solid plot with great character development, interesting characters, and a strong quest line, and had an amazing game. But hey, at least EA decided to ship this game with only a simple CD key check, and no other restrictive DRM. That's a huge plus over the first. Still, I wouldn't pay more than 20 bucks for this game. It was simply a bland experience overall. And another note, if you played ME1 on the 360, you may want to Google for a "character import tool" for ME2 so that you can make sure you're truly starting where you left off instead of going with the default story line. It makes a huge, huge, huge difference. | video-games_xbox |
Let me sum this up. I was playing a co-op match with a buddy for about the tenth time, and it hit me. This is just not a good game. Sure it has some things that I like;
1- The story has promise and they don't bog you down with it.
2- The animation reminds me of Borderlands (which I thoroughly enjoyed).
3- The character movement is somewhat fluid.
4- There is an impressive selection of weapons.
5- Multiplayer works better than anything else in the game (unfortunately, that's not saying much).
But there were certain things that really bothered me.
1- Unlocks aren't as fun as they should be; put plainly, the various weapons suck in various ways.
2- Leveling up against bots is way too easy.
3- Frustrating battle elements; for instance,
-throwing a grenade feels like you're shot-putting your lead-filled wallet to someone (and has about the same effect).
-enemy bots seem to have more health and better aim than you do... and they just keep coming.
-you'll be expected to perform time-consuming tasks with your back turned on an enemy spawn point.
-turrets seem worthless.
-power-ups from teammates seem worthless.
-enemy AI medics seem to be Harvard-Med-trained SeALs; friendly AI medics are idiots ("I'm on my way... oops, sorry, I got killed!").
-where the heck am I getting shot from?
4- Single-player missions are just shallow, endless spawn-fests with little cohesion.
5- "Revolutionary" parkour movement isn't as cool as I thought it would be.
6- The Medic/Engineer/Operative concept is nice, but in execution the classes are lame, in my opinion.
I debated giving this game two stars instead of three, but I know there will be some people it just clicks with (if the last game you LOVED was Resident Evil 5, give this a try). For me, the game is more compelling at $30 (which it will most certainly be in no time); but with all the other fun games that are out there I'm not sure this disc will go back in my XBox. After my buddy and I had played for awhile, my bro came online and started playing Section 8: Prejudice (a $15 XBox Live game). We switched over to that and had a blast, so I think that sums things up.
UPDATE 5/18/11
-Despite my criticism and low rating (which is actually better than the average of 2.5 stars, it seems), I really liked this game at first-- I enjoyed setting up my character and the way the story about the Ark began; it wasn't until a bit later--mainly after extended exposure to the wacky AI--that it just wore me down.
-When I stopped playing (after about 4 hours) I was level 16, and yet my character was hardly more capable than when I was level 1. Keep in mind the max level in this game is 20. If DLC (more $$$) doesn't increase the max level and offer better unlocks at the same time, I'm sure even people that like this game will get bored of it quickly.
-There are a few things I think that could "save" this game: if you have buddies that like it (way more fun) AND they fix the multiplayer lag issues; if some good, more-challenging DLC comes out for it; if they can somehow fix the AI in an update (unlikely); and lastly, if you can get it cheap. | video-games_xbox |
Pretty sweet for everyone. So I'm not really what anyone would call a hard core gamer. Truth is, I'm still slowly learning how to play on each system, via my boyfriend who is a gamer and is teaching me. That said, I've been attempting to play quite a variety of games and this is by far one of the easiest to grasp. The controls are pretty much learned as you go along without a whole lot of explanation. The first battle that they throw you into lets you play around a bit, getting used to how each character moves and fights, as well as how you can interact with your environment. Beware though, unlike other games, there is no jump command (at least to my knowledge), and "block" is actually a parry, which means that you have to time it right with your enemy's attack for the move to work correctly. With each battle, you gain more points based on how well you fight. With the points you earn, you can unlock new moves for a single character or the party as a whole. Also, playing this game single player can take a bit to get used to. Your companions played by the system usually don't end up helping nearly as much as they should, so you're pretty much on your own. One pretty sweet feature, though, is that you get to have the weapons the characters used in the movie. Just when you start to think, "crap, I have to hit things far away and I have an axe," the game steps in to lend a hand. You can switch weapons to long rang with the left trigger and fire them off with the same button you use for short rang blows. Gimli has a throwing axe. Aragorn and Legolas both have bows. Gandalf has magic. Probably all pretty self explanatory if you're a serious gamer.
A cool feature is that the game uses scenes from the movie, and pretty much morphs in and out of game mode. The graphics are pretty cool too.
It's a cool game, and easy enough for a beginner like myself to play, while keeping its edge. What's not to like? | video-games_xbox |
Don't waste your money on this cheating game. It seems EA will never fix their obvious AI problems. Yet each year they add more gimmicks without fixing one of the main problems in their football game.
I haven't bought Madden since Madden 03, and I will not buy another Madden title until they fix the AI problems. I am sick of having CPU's sub par running backs breaking 5 and 6 tackles on 3rd and 6 just so they can get a first down. QBs breaking tackles from LBs who outweight them by 100 pounds. How about the CPU always allowing your CB's to be out of position when the CPU passes the ball, and on top of that, they slow the CB down to give the receiver a better chance to catch the ball! Sub par receivers making leaping one handed catches in tight coverage while getting hit. Passes going through defenders' bodies, helmets, hands, legs, arms etc. to end up in the receiver's hands. Balls changing direction in mid air just so the receiver can catch it. The CPU intentionally making tacklers dive in the opposite direction you expect them to, turning a would be minimal 2 or 3 yard gain into a maddening 20 yard gain. Your defenders all seem to be conntected by a string so if you go in and dive to make a sack and miss (and most of the time you will miss or the QB will miracously break the tackle), your defender who is guarding the intended receiver, will automatically dive too if you switch to him, resulting in a BS 50+ yard TD pass. The CPU automatically moving your linemen across the line on 3rd and 10, to give the offense a free 5 yard and then the CPU gets exactly 5 yards on the next play. CPU QB's getting off perfect passes while having a LB inches from taking him down.
If your offense you have to deal with your all star 95+ rated receivers dropping wide open passes. All star QBs throwing balls out of bounds. All star RB's fumbling at the worse possible time. You lineman are moved across the line by the CPU and you get flagged for a false start. Your linemen miss obvious blocks so big gains are rare in a close game. Your QB automatically tucks the ball and takes a sack if a defender is 10 feet away, while the CPU QB can get a perfect pass off while he's being sacked almost. Psychic defense that almost always know what play your going to run. Refs almost always get in the way of your receiver when you absolutely need to convert a 3rd down.
And who can forget the infamous comeback AI? No lead is safe. Even if your up by 20+ points at the half, your better off running the clock out starting in the 3rd quarter because the AI will do any and everything to get the lead and screw you; that includes your offense fumbling the ball, receivers dropping wide open passes, refs constantly calling clipping and holding on you after you get a good punt return or big gain. Refs calling you for face mask penalties or pass interference after you stop the CPU on third down so the CPU can get a free first down, bad calls in the final two minutes of the game so you can't challenge.
On special teams I have seen where I was lined up for the game winning field goal and I see my play clock is about to run out, so I call a timeout with 2 seconds left on the clock. The screen signals that I called a timeout, but a few moments after I call a timeout, the ref throws a flag AFTER the timeout was called. and I get pushed back five yards. Talk about a LATE whistle. Another occasion the CPU punted to me, and the ball CLEARLY went out of bounds at the 35 yard line. It was way beyond the side line and in fact nearly to the end of the thick white line; however the ball bounced back in bounds and the CPU downed it at the 21 yard line. I was so shocked, that I saved the replay. No matter what this CPU does to screw me, they always do one better everytime I play the game.
I have experienced these things and more in Madden. More so on defense. while these problems certainly don't happen in every game, it happens on average every other game. Sometimes the CPU will cheat on every single down making it impossible to win. Most of the time however, I can usually still win in spite of the cheating, it is still very frustrating when the CPU can constantly pull 60, 70 and 80 YD TD passes out their a$$ just so the game will be close. This ruins the experience of an otherwise fun game. I still play 2003, because I want to at least get my money's worth and play all 30 seasons while drafting college players from NCAA 2003. After that, I will never even think about purchasing or playing another Madden or NCAA title again.
For me, gone are the days that I rush out and buy the current year's sports title. It is usually the same game as the previous one. However, if you absolutely want a football title this year, get ESPN, and while it has its problems too, it is certainly a much better deal being only 20 bucks versus 50 bucks for Madden.
Since the folks at EA are shaking in the fear of a little competition from ESPN, they have decided to purchase the NFL liscense exclusively for themselves so no other companies can make NFL games. Because of this I suppose I won't be buying any football titles for the next 5 years. Even IF EA fixed their obvious game problems during these 5 years, I STILL wouldn't buy Madden or NCAA ever again. I don't even know if I will buy another EA game period. I am sorry I just can't support any company that buys their way out of competition. So long EA! | video-games_xbox |
The greatest part of the Halo series for me has always . The greatest part of the Halo series for me has always been the story. Its engaging, emotional, and full of deep lore and great characters. In this edition you can experience Halo in the best way imaginable, by playing through the Chief's story from the beginning to the end. Its like watching the Lord of the Rings extended editions in one marathon. Halo 2's remastered campaign is so jaw-droppingly beautiful, you feel like you are watching the Halo movie we fans always wanted. The other campaigns are untouched but every bit as fun as I remember.
Matchmaking, which is the main focus for lots of other people, is a point of contention right now. The fact that every single multiplayer map from every DLC pack from all 4 titles has been included in this means you can replay all those old maps in their original glory just the way you remember. I can finally replay Halo the way it was meant to be played, with no custom COD-esque classes. Wanna relive those days playing Halo 3 with your buddies on Valhalla? You can do that. Feeling sentimental and want to play some slayer on a Halo 2 classic, Ascension? You can do that...and not only on the remade and gloriously detailed XBONE version but also the original, with the Halo 2 graphics as well. And yes...you can even play matchmaking on Halo CE maps, something that wasn't even possible back in '01. The sheer amount of memories that come flooding back each match is almost overwhelming. *HOWEVER*, there are some server issues right now and its really difficult to get into online games. As i am positive that 343 will fix this in time and the campaign is just as fun and engaging I am not taking away any stars, but it is something to think about if you are the matchmaking-only type.
As a die hard Halo fan I have not been disappointed. For me personally, the insane amount of detail and beauty in the much needed face-lift given to Halo 2 alone would be worth the $60. | video-games_xbox |
A great newly developed creation for xbox. I hesitated buying this game at first because of all the mixed-reviews which were written about it. I wasn't sure which side I should lean towards. The positive or the negative. I went ahead and rented the game. When you first start playing you have to go through a training mode which is required for you to complete in order to acceed onto missions. The training can be boring, but trust me, it helps a lot to learn the controlls instead of just jumping right into action.
The gameplay is really fun. You will have a great time with this game. Strategy is involved and using it is the only way you will be victorious. Since you are in control of two teams, you can plan out many strategic plans. Such as have your Alpha team fire at the enemy and distract him while your Bravo team moves in from the sides to flank the enemy while he is not looking in that direction. It looks really cool when you are having battles between one another. It looks so real and feels so intense. You keep your eyes glued to the television as if your actually there in reality.
Gamers are saying that this game can be repetitive and monotonous because of the same sort of objectives throughout the game. Mainly the objectives are to just killing enemies. You'll find yourself fighting enemies almost through the whole game. But HEY that's war! It deffinetely is a very fun repetitivness, because there are lots of different ways you have to strategize in order to flank your enemy. You may have to look at your GPS (your computer map of the whole landscape) and see if there is a alternate route you can take and come from behind the enemy. There are lots of different things you could do.
The graphics are really good. That is the strongest, and most talked about point of the game. You can tell they wanted this to look as realistic as possible along with the realistic gameplay it has.
The sound is really good. The music goes really well with the Middle-Eastern war theme of the game.
Overall this is a very fun game, and I think almost everyone will like this game. Even though it is not a first person shooter game, there are so many other commands you can tell your troops to do towards your enemies. It gives it more style and actually takes more skill to it then regular first person shooter games. Rent first I suggest just to make sure you will enjoy it for the cost of 50 dollars. | video-games_xbox |
Better than Halo 3. First things first: I was incredibly disappointed with Halo 3. I loved Halo and was one of the few people who seemed to think Halo 2 was even better. As a result, I was eagerly anticipating Halo 3... until a couple of months before it came out and actual gameplay footage was shown at 2007's E3. The game looked ugly and dated, and I was worried about the quality of what was supposed to be THE game to justify buying an Xbox 360 (Gears of War ended up being the game that ultimately made me take the plunge and buy the system). Unfortunately, my fears ended up being confirmed when I picked up the game on release day and found a game that looked and played like it belonged on the original Xbox rather than a knock-out punch that Bungie had been given almost four years and more money than God to work on.
As a result, I was vary wary of ODST before it came out. The fact that the game had originally been described as a budget-priced expansion pack and was later changed to a full-price retail release didn't do anything to assuage my fears that I was going to get taken for a ride by Bungie once again. Luckily, I found myself pleasantly surprised when the game was finally released.
ODST offers a much more personal, interesting story than Halo 3 did, and this is probably the main reason that the game sucked me in. The characters are interesting and discovering their ultimate fates was a compelling reason to keep playing. A lot of this is due to the excellent voice work provided to your squadmates (with Nathan Fillion, Adam Baldwin, and Alan Tudyk on board, Bungie may as well just make a Firefly game at this point), and while the hidden side story "Sadie's Story" is kind of ridiculous and full of plot-holes, it does provide a much greater context to the main story and reveals great deal about the Covenant and the Halo universe, making it worthy pursuing. The graphics engine actually seems cleaned up a bit from Halo 3, and while it still has some of the same problems as Halo 3 (running in sub-HD resolution with no anti-aliasing), Bungie has wisely employed a couple of tricks suited to the art direction to hide this. More realistic HDR lighting and the outline around objects and the environment in VISR mode covers up the ugly stair-stepping that was impossible to ignore in Halo 3, and the character models and animations for the humans are much improved (especially in the faces of the main characters). The modified health system that's more similar to the original Halo's is also welcome, as it provides a more tactical experience than the run-gun-hide-run-gun-hide gameplay of Halo 3. The silenced magnum pistol is also a great tool that would've been very nice to have in Halo 3, the silenced SMG is fun to use, and the VISR mode is both cool-looking and effective. The fact that enemies can use equipment while you can't also provides a much greater sense of challenge. Overall, level design seems tighter and more imaginative in ODST than it was in Halo 3, and, thank God, there are no Flood enemies in ODST! Yes, for everyone who's hated those stupid zombie/head-crab rip-off enemies since the original Halo, they are nowhere to be found here. Rejoice!
Multiplayer-wise, ODST relies on Halo 3's multiplayer instead of a dedicated ODST-themed mode. Some might appreciate having all the maps released (including three new ones) on the disc, but I've never been a fan of Halo's multiplayer, so this isn't a selling point for me. ODST's new mode is Firefight, which is similar to Gears of War 2's Horde mode and has been replicated in Borderland's Mad Moxxi DLC. Unfortunately, unlike those two games, there is NO MATCHMAKING for Firefight, and this kills it and why I can only give this game a 4 out of 5. People have largely abandoned ODST at this point because of the lack of matchmaking for Firefight. It really is a shame, as the mode is largely irrelevant because of the lack of an option to just quickly find a pick-up game at any time. If you want to play Firefight, you're going to have to coordinate a play-session with friends (good luck finding enough people on your friend's list who still care at this point).
Overall, I enjoyed ODST. What kills its replay value is the lack of a matchmaking function for the fun but ultimately useless Firefight mode. Consider this before buying.
Graphics: 8/10
Gameplay: 8/10
Story: 9/10
Music: 9/10
Singleplayer: 8/10
Multiplayer: 6/10 | video-games_xbox |
High quality construction, acceptable audio quality, but look at wireless sets at this price. Sennheiser X320 Headset for Xbox 360
Let me begin by saying that I have tried a variety of headsets designed for audio, PC gaming, and Xbox 360 gaming. They range from wired to wireless, with some being extremely simple and effective, to others that are a pain in the butt to hook up.
While Sennheiser has a reputation for making some outstanding headsets with excellent audio quality, the X320 lacks in many areas. First off is the fact that the X320 is aimed at the Xbox 360, specifically the black "Slim" model that has an optical audio port and HDMI audio/video port. The quick start diagram even shows this model being demonstrated. I happen to have this model, and utilize the HDMI video/audio port to hook up my Xbox 360 to an Asus gaming LCD display with under 5ms response time. I run a 3.5mm line from the Asus monitor to my 2.1 gaming sound system for better audio than the built-in speakers on the Asus.
When I use the HDMI port, I cannot use the Xbox AV adapter (the one included with the Xbox that gives you the RCA white, yellow, and red connectors) since there is a special block/tab on the adapter that prevents the HDMI port from being used. I could grind or break off this tab, but it is a lot of work for something that should be plug and play. The Sennheiser X320 absolutely requires the RCA composite audio connectors. This means either using the AV adapter and using Nintendo-era graphics via the yellow video RCA, or to hook up to the RCA audio-out ports on your display/TV. Since my gaming LCD does not have such antiquated ports, I had to use my big screen TV for this test.
Before I delve further into the X320, I would like to share an experience with a headset that I favor more. My Turtle Beach Ear Force X41 wireless digital headset (currently the same price as this X320) is by far the easiest headset to hook up and use with the Xbox 360 - it relies on the digital optical audio port, a USB connection, and that is it. The Sennheiser X320 requires 2 RCA composites and a USB connection, along with several meters of unruly cord. The X320 makes it very difficult to use the latest and greatest connectors on the Xbox 360. The X320 is cumbersome especially with such a long length of cord leading out of a modern flatscreen LCD. The packaging was also frustrating due to the copious use of tabbed bands. The microphone mutes when you flip it up, but it touches my mouth when I flip it down to the lower position. I have to leave it up a little, which gets into my field of view.
The positive aspects of the X320 include the comfortable ear pads and headband, with decent audio quality. It isolates a lot of the ambient noises, and has individual audio controls for the game sound and voice chatting.
I have a Steel Series wireless Xbox 360 headset that uses RCA, but you can at least tuck the transceiver behind your TV and not have a long jumble of wires leading out from a TV. There's a reason why wired/corded gaming controllers aren't popular anymore, and going to a wired gaming headset is fairly ridiculous at this day and time.
Having a top brand like Sennheiser still produce a headset that relies on RCA (and isn't wireless) is like Ferrari making a new car that still uses points ignition and a carburetor with a manual choke, and the worst part is that the X320 is not competitively priced against other wireless models! The X320 is actually more expensive and it feels like the brand name is the only justification for this premium price. For the same price, you can get a quality wireless Xbox 360 headset like a Turtle Beach X41 with digital surround, or a Steel Series Spectrum 5xB. I can live with using antiquated RCA connectors, at least the 5xB is wireless and you don't deal with a huge length of wires leading from your modern LCD flat screen TV.
Overall: 3/5 stars, I am not sure what Sennheiser was thinking when they designed the X320. The earpads are very comfortable and the audio quality is acceptable for gaming. It is just a hassle to hook up a jumble of wires and rely on the 2 analog RCA connectors when my current gaming setup uses the optical audio for a wireless headset or just HDMI for video/audio on my gaming LCD and the 2.1 sound system.
UPDATE 15 APR 2012:
After using the Sennheiser for a longer period of time, I find that it tends to slip off my head very frequently. The jumble of wires and the amp controls are rather heavy, making it cumbersome to use/wear for long periods of time. I still stick by my recommendation for a good 7.1 wireless headset. I prefer my Turtle Beach X41 over the Sennheiser X320. | video-games_xbox |
Astounding with some problems. From the people who brought us Knights of the Old Republic comes another genre-blending game with a fabulously twisting plot. If you own an Xbox, you should own this game. It is not only the best Action RPG on the Xbox but one of the best RPGs played in recent memory.
For those who have played KOTOR, this game will be instantly familiar. At the offset, you pick a character and are thrust into a world of moralities. Unlike KOTOR, the morality system is a little more complex for the most part. Instead of focusing on good and evil, your character has the choice of being endlessly helpful, understanding and tolerant of everyone (in other words believes in the power of the human spirit) or someone who reveres strength. As an example of this strength concept, there is a decision early on about a dam that is open and has caused problems for a town because the sailors are land locked. A wine merchant wants the dam to remain open so he can make a killing off of the sailors. If you follow the Way of the Open Palm you would probably close the dam so that the town can prosper in what is should be doing. If you follow the Way of the Closed Fist, on the other hand, would decide that if the town were strong they will survive this current hurdle and that it is only that, a hurdle. It gets a little more tricky than that and does open some areas for roleplaying your character and deciding what you would really do in that situation. Bioware is also wonderful at making you think about your decision as they give you new information just as soon as you make a decision that might change how you feel about the situation.
My only complaint with the system is that while they say that the two paths are different from looking at things as good and evil, there are still some instances where there is a "good" and an "evil" way of doing things. I might have rationalized why I would be doing something that way, yet I would get points from the side I didn't want because it was clearly delineated as "good and evil choice." So, that's a bit frustrating given that their system isn't supposed to be good and evil. But, overall the system works well and really makes you think.
I didn't really care for KOTOR because of the battle system and that is probably the reason I'm enjoying Jade Empire much more. The fighting system is simple yet deep. As you progress you will learn different martial arts style that you can map to the D-pad for quick and easy access. And you will be constantly changing your styles as the techniques to defeat enemies will constantly evolve. Some monsters are immune to certain attacks so you will have to experiment and find the best ways of devastating your foes.
On the simple side, the combat is really about rock, paper scissors. You have a quick attack and a time-consuming attack (and a knock back attack that really only helps when you are surrounded and need some space). When someone blocks you use your time consuming attack, otherwise you mostly use your quick attacks to offset their own long attacks. It's pretty simple and easy to used to. However, some battles can become a button masher either way you look at it. But it's still exhilarating and fast with many ways of deciding how you want to play. Do you want to focus on using weapons, martial arts, magic, transformations? A little of the above? It's all up to you.
The game is beautiful most of the time. The art style is impeccable and really helps create a full-flesh universe. Since it's based on oriental myth, it doesn't take place in the Orient as we know it but a mythical world that incorporates themes from oriental culture. Because of this, the desiginers are free to create whatever their imagination can make. And it's beautiful. There are some places that I stood for awhile and just looked because it was so surreally beautiful and soothing. It made me wish that sometimes our world wasn't so industrialized and that we could go back to what was a more simple beauty. It was that affecting. However, sometimes, the backgrounds look painted on. Some of the hills and areas that act as blockades for where you can't go aren't that well designed. Also my character's body type makes me laugh because his pecs are super large and his abs are indented in his body that I laugh whenever I see it.
The game moves impeccably fast as well. Your character runs and I mean runs through the areas. The framerate is great. But, like KOTOR before it, the game stutters sometimes when you are running and turning the camera. When the camera pans, the game flutters sometimes as it tries to take in everything that happens. In battles, the game hardly ever stutters. And the battles can end up having a good dozen or so enemies fighting you and your partner so they can get pretty hectic and the graphics engine does a great job keeping the motion moving.
Aurally, the game is a treat. You will find some cameo voice actors that are immediately familiar (look for John Cleese in a hysterical role). The music is well done and has a wonderful oriental bent to it (of course). Also, Bioware hired a real linguist to help create the fictional language used in the game. It is very familiar to oriental language but isn't real. It was created solely for this game. And that's amazing.
Unfortunately, my problem with the dialogue in the game is the same problem I had with KOTOR. It's great and all but all too often the plot developments and dialogue becomes a "talking head" type situation where anyone who has something important to say gets a close up of their face while their lips move and the dialogue is heard. This is unfortunate for me because I get impatient sometimes and will just read the subtitles and skip through most of their dialogue. It's never "dynamic" in cutscenes like in some RPGs I've played (hands down the best use of dialogue in an RPG goes to FFX that used dialogue to move the plot but it wasn't a novel dialogue; it was more of a movie dialogue). The dialogue in Jade Empire is sometimes like a novel. So, for those who aren't interested in talking heads delivering dialogue this might get annoying after a time. But the dialogue is genuinely well voiced and excellent.
My only other complaint is the load times. While not as annoying constant as Fable where each and every small zone no matter how small had to be loaded for a good 5-10+ seconds, it still is a pain when you have to go through zones for a quest. For instance, in the beginning of the game you have to go through the town to the school (a load screen) to get a quest, go back to town (load screen) to talk to someone, then back to the school (load screen). And it's unfortunate because the actual quest takes maybe a minute, but a good 20 seconds of the time is spent in load screens. That's a uncharacteristic load time though as generally the areas are big and don't usually require many loads. Although another incident where it is very noticeable is in an arena combat situation where before and after each arena battle it has to load for a good 5-10 seconds. The kicker is, some of the arena battles are over in about a minute or much much less and yet you have to deal with two load screens comprising a good 10-20 seconds. So, in some areas it can be annoying and definitely pulls you out of the game when you should be pulled further in. And, it becomes especially annoying considering that games like Halo 2 are seamless after the original load.
Overall, though, this game is gold. It's perfectly plotted and paced and has Bioware's trademark in excellence stamped all over it. It ranks as one of my favorite games this year so far along with God of War and Psychonauts. I would definitely recommend buying this game. There are some problems that I have noted but you know regardless of the problems, this is an excellent game with an excellent story. And, at 22+ hours, this adventure is worth taking.
**NOTE: You should definitely pick up this, the Limited Edition of it if you can still find it. For the initial run they are all Limited Edition and after they are gone, you will only be able to get the standard game. The Limited edition has a new character and weapon and a making of as well as some other fun things. Same price, so definitely check this one out if you want the game. | video-games_xbox |
Short but sweet. This game might just be the best 1st person shooter I have ever played for x box. Usually 1st person shooters have not translated well from PC to x-box, becuase the shooting mechanism was neither as accurate or quick as PC. This game overcomes this by accelerating the "mouse look" or right analog stick as you turn around, enabling you to spin quickly around and kill targets either in the air or on the ground without sacrificing accuracy. This simple enhancement makes playing so much more enjoyable as you aren't struggling with the controller to kill people that are coming from above or behind. I cannot emphasize enough how this should revolutionize fps's for the x box from here on in, i expect to see this in doom 3 and games alike. The story line is terrific and the cut scenes are very real and movie-like, probably the best cut scenes around. I love the fact that you hear real cussing throughout...this is a prison setting and the game is rated mature so no one should [...] about this. However it was a bit disconcerting at first to hear the prison guards call me a m*therf*cker, but it totally ads to the realism and the profanity is by no means gratitutious. The enemy AI is good and the fact that your vision changes a bit in stealth mode is another step i wonder why more game makers haven't thought of before. Also your sight changes to a blue tint when no one can see you, this is brilliant, because you don't need a bunch of indicators telling you on the screen what is going on. In fact, this is the first game ive played that doesnt use screen indicators all over the screen to tell you whats going on. Your life bar only pops up when you need it, such as in a fight or what not. The sound is very good, gritty and the 5.1 mix is very accurate. My only complaint with this game was that is was too short, i finished it in around 15 hours (3 days - 5 hours a day). I don't play games that long , 5 hours at a stretch, but this game was compulsively playable and immersive, only splinter cell can compare with this for the immersion factor. Im undecided as to the replayability of this game, the jury is still out with that one. There are a few puzzles (nothing too mind twisting) that have to be worked out and it is open ended , you can get lost in ventilation tubes and end up somewhere totally off course , but just adds to the game. Lastly, this game is the only fps i have encountered that actually uses stealth as an active part of the game, if you change down certain bosses or foes, youd get creamed....lurking in the shadows waiting to snap someones neck is a thrill. This is the best fps thats out there and its not only well done and thought out but very entertaining and original. I would definately recommend this game to one and all.
Admendment: I do love the game, but be forewarned, the replay value is not good, after i beat it I kinda lost the zeal for it and the lack of x box live buried it for me, try renting it, youll finish it in a couple days. | video-games_xbox |
Diamond Dave era Van Halen Fans Rejoice. Yes, the goings on in the Van Halen camp are childish, ego-driven fiascos of embarrassment. The antics of Eddie Van Halen and David Lee Roth are well-publicized, and Michael Anthony is the latest victim of Eddie's ego. This, unfortunately carries into this Guitar Hero game with the bass players ommission. He is insultingly replaced with Eddie's son Wolfgang, who I have no problem with...he seems like a good dude...but Mike is a constant in Van Halen's illustrious career and his backing vocals are part of VH's core signature sound. Its not that Wolfie doesn;t belong on the game, he just doesn't need to REPLACE Michael Anthony even on the classic-look characters.
While most all fans liked the Hagar era, purists never felt VH was ever the same without Diamond Dave and Diamond Dave was never the same without Van Halen. The two go together like oreos and milk. The Van Halen that is featured in this game is a salute to the Van Halen that is inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame...sans Hagar, with Wolfie being a HUGE asterisk. There is NO excuse to exclude Michael Anthony...none at all, and Eddie should live to regret this decision. But, as a DLR era Van Halen fan, this game allows me to have LOADS of fun. "Little Guitars" is a nightmare on medium and fun to play. Once I found the groove, the track proved to be the most fun of all. This game would get 5 stars if Michael Anthony was featured, so there is no denying that this game is a blast for fans of Van Halen's music. Wether or not the game would be better with Sammy tracks is debateable. I feel it should be a separate game, because the two bands, while both called "Van Halen" were WORLDS apart in feel, and attitude. Its like two completely different band experiences between a Sammy lead VH show and a DLR lead VH show...so why not two separate games?
Fans of Van Halen should buy this game. Its fun...and thats why it exist...and that is why Van Halen is the perfect fit for GH! VH is one of the most fun bands on the planet...and Eddie, while an egomaniac, is a Guitar Hero. | video-games_xbox |
Best Lego Game Ever... but pricey for completionists. I am a huge fan of the Lego games and have played most of them by now. This is by far my favorite of all the Lego games, however to do everything it is going to cost a lot of money in the end, even if you catch good sales! Somehow, I think it is worth it though for all that you get (at least if you don't pay full price for everything).
Pros:
1.) Story-line is amazing... I venture to say the best of all the story-lines, and the mash-up of all the different characters and worlds works really well! Each level takes place in a different world (Wizard of Oz, Ghostbusters, Portal, Scooby Doo, etc).
2.) Characters: There are a lot of different characters from many beloved titles, and it is cool to be able to build them and their vehicles. The characters also interact with each other in funny ways at times... although some of the dialogue is annoying (Unikitty saying to the Wicked Witch "If you spent more time singing, you wouldn't be so "wicked", witch" gets annoying fast).
2b.) Doctor Who's appearances are awesome! And so is playing a level in his world... okay this is just something awesome for us Doctor Who fans, but I thought I'd add it as a sub-point.
3.) The main story has a good length to it, and it will be fun to replay once I have all the characters necessary to get all the minikits.
4.) Hub worlds are more fun to play than any single hub world I have experienced - the variety really makes it stay fresh for longer. Individual hub worlds of course are smaller than a typical Lego game hub world, but each universe represented has its own hub world that can be played once you have a character from that world. There will be a total of 14 different hub worlds in season one, and I have already played most of them for hours as they have a lot to do in them!
4b.) Hub World races are cool!
5.) It is very kid friendly. Even my six year old daughter is able to play along in the Hub worlds pretty well, although the puzzles are a bit complex for her, so we don't often play story levels together.
6.) Works well in 2 player mode, although sometimes difficulties can arise on the split screen.
7.) Using the game pad can be a lot of fun and adds something to the game itself. Some puzzles require you to move characters around the pad to do different things, and some boss attacks require you to move the character to another space on the pad. You will definitely want to keep the game pad close to your chair. We use a small kids table for this purpose.
Cons
1.) Price and the multitude of packs you have to buy if you want to do everything! I have already spent about $250 and estimate I will spend close to $350 by the end of Season 1 and I have bought things on incredible sales and only bought what was essential to have the skills to complete all tasks. Be prepared to buy about 11 fun packs/ team packs, as well as the Level packs if you want to complete the full game. There is an in game hire-a-hero feature, but it does not always work properly and can get expensive on in game studs.
2.) Hire-a-hero is a bit glitchy, incomplete, and sometimes resets after your hero expires after just 30 seconds. It is supposed to be a feature to keep you from having to buy all the charcters, but sometimes the hire-a-hero fails to pop up (he explodes before you can purchase); other times you cannot complete the full task in 30 seconds, which means rehiring in some instances, and the task resetting and being a waste of studs in others. Also, you cannot purchase vehicles that are necessary for some tasks (Jurrassic World Team Pack is necessary to use the Gyrosphere).
3.) There are a handful of minor glitches that can be annoying at times, but do not detract too much from the game playing experience.
I might want to rate this 4.5 just because of the price and the fact you have to buy so many characters to be able to do it all, but then again for the starter pack it is well worth the $70 investment it currently is priced at (and I got it for $55), plus if you are not a completionist you don't have to get everything to enjoy the game... just slowly buy the packs you want. Since, you cannot give a 4.5 rating, and it really is a really awesome game, I will give it a 5 star rating! | video-games_xbox |
Losing Your Dignity is NOT Fun. The Star rating above for "fun" above should read ZERO stars. Sorry. My bad.
I never write reviews for products I have never even tried--unless something that is relevant to other potential buyers prevents me from trying or owning it, in which case a review is necessary to inform potential buyers. That is the case with Red Alert 3, where the Draconian copy protection issue has indeed prevented me from purchasing a game that I had looked forward to owning with nothing but joyful anticipation for a long, long time--until the day it was released, and EA Games insulted my dignity.
In a world where so many people are quick to give up their dignity in favor of "security", "comfort", and in this case, the ability to play a video game, I have no choice but to boycott Red Alert 3 and all other EA Games products.
The executives at EA games have never met me. Why then do they assume that I go to work each day to earn money, spend a large sum of that money on one of their video games, and then GIVE what I just paid for away to thousands of people whom I've never even met on the internet? For that matter, why do they assume that I would ever know HOW to do something like this, if I wanted to? This is an insult to my dignity, and an overestimation of my technical skills, for no good reason.
Furthermore, calling those lawbreakers who DO copy software "pirates" is a profound insult to every victim of real PIRATES throughout history--people who have been disfigured, raped, murdered, and sold into slavery. I'm sorry, but calling a paying customer a potential "pirate" is far more of an injury to me, than enduring the "suffering" of never owning a game that I otherwise would have gladly purchased at full price.
Let your own conscience be your own guide. But make no mistake about it--the DRM issue with Red Alert 3 IS relevant, and it IS grounds for boycotting all EA Games products. Not only has EA Games totally ruined this gaming experience for me, but they have even corrupted my memory of fun and comradery that I enjoyed playing previous versions of Command & Conquer with my friends over the years. EA Game executives have taken so very much away from us. Why then would anyone who possesses even a shred of self-worth even consider purchasing another one of their products?
I give this product 0 stars, because the manufacturer has created conditions that provide zero pleasure from this product. | video-games_xbox |
Review from a non-experienced Xbox user. As my title suggests, I'm not an expert in the world of Xbox. In fact, I don't even own an Xbox. Why did I get this controller? Simply to use with my computer, and I really wanted an Xbox controller (I own the PS3 and Wii, so those are covered).
Anyway, I've been wanting to get this after all the phenomenal reviews of the 360 controller, and was going to get the glossy black one until I heard the announcement about this special edition. Because I mainly want to use it for old-school emulations (and the occasional Halo), I thought the transforming d-pad would be neat. I got it a week early from another website, and I can say without hesitation that I'm glad I made the purchase.
I've hardly used Xbox 360 controllers, so I can't compare it to previous and current models, but the d-pad is a welcome addition. It does feel different jutted out, but the only issue is that it feels kind of "squishy," if that makes sense. It's not as smooth or tactile as other d-pads (DualShock and Super Nintendo), but it gets the job done. The d-pad is easy to transform, and stays in place due to a locking mechanism. As another reviewer mentioned, this seems to be the same d-pad as other Xbox 360 controllers, but the transforming helps to have better control over the directions.
The monochrome look is nice, and I can see why Microsoft did it (to save money and have it blend well with the silver tone of the controller). I would prefer convex (not concave, right?) analog sticks as I tend to put the the middle of my thumb over them rather than the tip, but I'll live.
The top triggers are great, but the bottom two squeak (not sure if that's a common trait amongst these controllers). And to note: this d-pad is NOT a feature among all or future Xbox 360 controllers. It is specific to this silver controller, and the words "Special Edition" are stamped right on the packaging.
It comes with a Play and Charge kit as well as a regular battery case, which I use instead, seeing as Eneloops pretty much dominate other rechargeable batteries.
P.S.
In case you were wondering, I use this on my MacBook Pro. It's a pain in the butt to get some games to work seeing as I'm using a Microsoft product on an Apple computer, but once I get Bootcamp running I'm sure it'll be smooth sailing from there. | video-games_xbox |
Not as bad as people make it out to be. I am not going to hype this game or make negative aggressive remarks about it either. The problem that we have here is there are no good NHL games in the video game market at this time. I own ESPN NHL 2k5 for the PS2 and I thought it was a terrific game and even improved on last year's ESPN Sega title. That was until I got 26 games into a dynasty and the game froze up on me. Not one of those oh damn maybe I should reset the game and play it over. No, the dynasty froze up. I could not even simulate past the game that I was playing to go on with my franshise. The game played like a 20 dollar game when it happened to me again. This time during my playoff run. I received an Xbox for Christmas and purchased NHL 2005 with a gift card. The game was refreshingly fun to play, although I must say that the ESPN 2k5 game was the better game all around, the fact that the NHL 2005 game shows promise not to freeze up gives me hope that I can somewhat enjoy a hockey game for a console. The graphics are very good and the shadows on the ice and the jerseys are much more vivid and refined than last year's EA Sports title. There are times when players seem to do incredibly impossible moves that I believe are graphic glitches. The players still seem like they are running on a frozen mat and the physics of ice skating do not seem very well done. The dynasty mode is deep as usual and fun as ever. The player models are well done and are looking better and better with every year that goes by especially with the player's looking more and more like their real life selves. The main drawback there will be is that the dynastys only last 10 seasons. There really should be more seasons than that when other EA sports games have dynastys that last 30 years for Madden, 120 years for MVP baseball and 25 years for NBA Live. I recommend this game for anyone who is looking for a DECENT hockey title to play until the players come back from the lock out. Like I said earlier, the ESPN game would beat this game in overall gameplay and fun factor if they did not have those software glitches. I rather have paid the extra 20 dollars or so to have a complete game. Overall NHL 2005 receives 3.75 out of 5 stars. There are too many things that keep this game away from getting a full 4 star rating i.e too much hitting, corny commentators etc... | video-games_xbox |
Still work to do. Pro Evo 08 is better than 07, but Konami still has a lot of work to do. The gameplay is more realistic and discourages straight-up speed-soccer, which I like. The animations and player characters are much more realistic and detailed. They've re-instated the replay save feature and the jersey/team mod feature, which should have never been taken away in the first place. The Master League is more fleshed out and detailed as well.
One gripe, which is likely out of Konami's control, is the licensing aspect. I don't want to play as the German national squad and score a goal with a Schweinsteiger clone named "Slinslizel". I'm happy that Newcastle and Tottenham made it, but -zip- there goes Man U and Arsenal. I want more arenas. I keep hearing that this is one of the, if not THE, top soccer/football games purchased and played on the planet. I wish Konami would use the bank they make off the series to muscle into some licensing.
I played my first game on Xbox Live yesterday against my friend yesterday and encountered the worst lag/glitchy play I've seen since... hell, I don't know when. Shevchenko was bringing the ball top-left of the box. I advanced with Maldini and took the ball from him. As I was exiting the box, the ball completely disappeared from my screen and reappeared in the back of the net. My friend was yelling 'goal' through his mic. I explained that I took the ball and there was a glitch, but he didn't see any of it. Stuff like this happened throughout the 1.8 games we played, before he got booted from his connection (note - we both have solid connections). How the %@#$ am I supposed to play when the ball disappears and reappears at random intervals? In '07, when there was lag the entire game would slow down, which was annoying, but at least you could discern where the ball and your players were located on the field. In '08 when there's lag, the speed stays the same, but the animations disappear and the ball zips around like a hummingbird. That's completely ridiculous.
It's still PES and it's still a great game, but don't try to "play" it on Live. I'll be playing the Master League and Cups and physically hanging out with my friends in person to play multiplayer. | video-games_xbox |
Recommended for all Tekken Fans and Fighting Fans. Being a Tekken fan and playing a majority of the games (haven't played ttt2, t4, t5) I was really looking forward to this game. All I can say is that I am not disappointed at all. However, there are a few issues that need to be brought up.
When it comes to presentation, the game looks better than Tekken 6. Everything is more polished with facial features and richer, more vibrant environments. The new noticeable features is perspiration on the fighters building up as the fight continues as well as water soaking the fighters as they fall into it and gravel/dirt when they land on the ground. Music is much more electronic based this time around. I enjoy this soundtrack as many of the songs were pretty catchy. Others, however, didn't like it. To me, it's all a matter of taste for genres.
For the core fighting experience, Tekken still remains as one of the best pure fighters on the market. There are currently 59 characters in this game, making it the most to appear in any Tekken game. The quantity is great having characters that haven't been in the game since Tekken 2 and still being very unique in how they fight. Even with this huge quantity, the characters are still well balanced with none of them feeling broken or cheap. Pulling combos is still enjoyable, and the tag mechanic is fully developed featuring tag throws, tag assaults, team-specific tag throws, tag combos, and many more features. However, the juggle mechanics are a bit too emphasized this time around. I find it a bit too easy to have 12-hit combos of just juggling your opponent to the other edge of the stage. It happens a bit too often for my liking, and I hope it is toned down in future releases. Also, it is much easier to spam the same moves over and over again in order to continue juggling your opponent.
For the lasting impact, Tekken Tag Tournament 2 certainly delivers. There is a fully featured and pretty stable online mode as well as a packed offline mode. You have arcade mode, ghost battle mode (where you fight computer opponents), Team battle mode, survivor mode, pair play, and Fight Lab. Fight Lab serves as a tutorial for the game's main features, but a few things are left out for you to find out on your own. During Fight Lab, you are able to develop the moveset for Combot (which possibly hint on a character creator for Tekken 7). As an added bonus, you are able to take your custom Combot and use him in the game against other players and in offline mode. Character customization returns, but it is much simpler and less items than before. Money is not as valuable as in Tekken 6 since most of the Auras, Effects, and Rages are unlocked in-game instead of buying it.
Overall, Tekken Tag Tournament 2 is a great game. The graphics are good, the music and sound is great, and the fighting engine (while having some annoyances with excessive juggling) is excellent. There are loads of content to keep you busy for a long time. Any Tekken fan has no excuse for not buying it. Fighting gamers should definitely buy it. You might feel overwhelmed at first playing this game due to the huge roster of characters, but you'll never know what you're missing unless you try. | video-games_xbox |
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