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Best Value in Gaming Since The Orange Box. First off, realize that this isn't going to be an unbiased review, my internet handle is taken from this series, I eagerly anticipate anything not only with the Metal Gear title, but anything from Kojima Productions. I have imported games in the past that have not come out in the states from Kojima, namely Policenauts. The day I bought my GBA was for Boktai, I bought a PSP for Metal Gear Acid, but that game stunk as bad as the NES versions of Metal Gear, luckily they released Portable Ops and the 5th pack in title here, Peace Walker, and the only reason, and only game I own for it, I bought an Xbox was for Metal Gear Solid 2: Substance because Konami released it first on the Xbox then, subsequently, on the PS2, my system of choice last gen. Even knowing all of that, as a gamer I can tell you that this is quite possibly the best value in all of gaming, even more so than the Orange Box was. You are getting 5 fully featured games with, arguably (and I will argue the point until my last breath) the best story in video gaming that has spanned the last 25 years. It's the longest running single story using the same character in video games, period. This isn't just Square reusing Moogles or Cid in Final Fantasy games, these are the same characters that first appeared in the Japan-only MSX system 25 years ago until the dramatic, epic, awesome, life-altering conclusion of Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots on PS3 a few years back, (also the sole reason that I bought a PS3, and I bought the Gunmetal Gray PS3 with MGS4 LE pack in).
*Before I go on, I want to make everyone aware that this collection houses the Substance version of Metal Gear Solid 2 and the Subsistence version of Metal Gear Solid 3. What does that mean? Well for Substance you are getting over 300 VR (Virtual Reality) Missions, 5 Snake's Tales Missions, Bomb Disposal Missions; and for Subsistence you are getting the MSX versions of Metal Gear and Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake as well as the better camera angle for Snake Eater. There are some things missing from both versions. Substance they left out the demo Snake Skateboarding demo and on Subsistence they took out Snake vs Monkey. These are both understandable removals as they were originally cross-promotions designed to sell Konami's skateboarding game for PS2 and Ape Escape respectively. Still, I do miss sending Snake up a half-pipe to do a kick flip on the top of the Big Shell. Also, the Persistence disc isn't here. Persistence was the fourth disc to come with Subsistence which took all the cut scenes from Snake Eater and made them into a movie. As I said you get 5 of the best games with the best story of all time in video games in this package: Metal Gear, Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake, Metal Gear Solid 2: Substance, Metal Gear Solid 3: Subsistence, and Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker.
Metal Gear:
Originally released on the MSX home computer console in Japan only when it came out. Ultra Games took the game and dumbed down most of the stealth elements when they released a version of it on the NES. If you have played, and actually enjoy, the NES Metal Gear then this will be absolutely amazing to you. I thought the NES games were trash, and this game is gold. The first time that this game was released in North America was with the PS2 version of Metal Gear Solid 3: Subsistence.
In Metal Gear you play as Solid Snake on his very first mission. That's right, he's as green as Meryl was in Metal Gear Solid and as green as Raiden was in Metal Gear Solid 2. You are tasked with infiltrating Outer Heaven in a search and rescue op for your much more experienced team member, Gray Fox. While I won't spoil it, the story was actually mentioned in Metal Gear Solid, so fans of the series should already have an idea of what happened here. The game looks great and the colors are a lot more refined, brighter and vibrant than the dull, boring NES counterpart. The story has the classic twists that Metal Gear has become famous for and it's a very entertaining story during a time when not even many RPG's were known for having major story elements.
Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake
If you are thinking that Snake's Revenge is the NES counterpart of this game, just stop right there. It's not. Snake's Revenge is not Metal Gear cannon and furthermore was publicly denounced by Kojima himself. This is not Snake's Revenge. This is the true sequel to both the red headed step-child that is Metal Gear NES and Metal Gear MSX since they both relatively shared the same story. Again this story was even more touched on in Metal Gear Solid, as that game was this games direct sequel. The joy in playing this game though is to play the events first hand. The standout being the bare-knuckle fight with Gray Fox in the minefield in Zanzibar Land. I had heard about that since the first time I played Metal Gear Solid and had always wanted to go through it. This game has just as good a story as any of the Metal Gear game with just as many twists. It's a great game that should not be passed over by anyone who buys this collection.
Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker
This is the PSP follow up to Portable Ops and the second sequel to Snake Eater. In this game you play as Naked Snake who has taken the moniker of Big Boss after the events of Snake Eater. He has quit taking orders from the CIA and has instead opted to create a haven for societies dejected soldiers after their countries no longer need them once the conflicts they were trained to resolve are over. This is Big Boss creating Outer Heaven, that should be enough to give any Metal Gear fan reading this goosebumps. The story has familiar faces, most notably is Master Miller (Kazuhira or Kaz). Big Boss is still uneasy about how things ended in Snake Eater in reference to his former mentor the Boss. These unresolved feelings, and his previous actions, shape who he will become and his stance on military as it relates to being used as a tool for politicians instead of serving the soldier's own ends. It's a remarkable story, and the Boss' views are fascinating, and they clearly rub off on Big Boss.
The game was designed for the PSP, and while it does look good, it doesn't look as good as Metal Gear Solid 2 or 3.
The game centers around Big Boss completing missions and recruiting soldiers and scientists for Outer Heaven. So not only do you complete missions but you are also responsible for making sure that Outer Heaven is stocked with food, medical supplies and doctors, scientists and enough soldiers to defend it.
Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty/Substance
The PS2 sequel to one of the most influential games from the PSOne. Marked as a disappointment by some with a convoluted story and a confusing ending, but still a masterpiece of stealth gameplay. The first time in the series that you are given non lethal means to drop your foes. You can knock them out, or tranquilize them. Depending on the difficulty you are playing on, tranqs will keep them out forever. The higher the difficulty the less time you get with tranqs.
The Raiden conundrum: A lot of people express a complete and outright hatred for Raiden. While I was just as surprised as everyone else when I got control of this wispy-haired, soft-spoken "hero" I eventually grew to like Raiden and even respect his perspective. This is easier for the American audience as there wasn't any way to really relate to Snake other than just being in awe of his prowess and his views which were shaped by his previous two missions. Now we get to see Snake from another perspective, through this rookie's eyes. We get to feel Snake as a mentor taking Raiden through the ropes during his mission. Helping him along and being there when he needs backup.
This game provided a lot of different gameplay aspects like getting rid of bodies, shadows effecting sneaking, jumping/hanging from rails. It also tried to get the player to be less dependent on the radar. As you have to find the node in each of the Big Shell sections before you can use the radar.
Ocelot returns as the main villain here being the only surviving member of Foxhound from Shadow Moses (Metal Gear Solid), and this is where he took off as one of the best characters that Metal Gear has produced. This game has a lot of memorable moments, but none so much as Raiden fending off nearly 25 Metal Gear Ray units near the end of the game (depending on difficulty, higher difficulty, more Ray units). It's a spectacular scene. This game also sets the stage for Metal Gear Solid 4 on PS3.
Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater/Subsistence
We come to it at last, the great game of our time. This is my absolute favorite game of all time. Never has an ending of a book, movie, game or anything else effected me as much as this game did. I was actually choked up and had a tear welling up in my eye. It was incredible. I had no idea that characters could be cared about this much, but Kojima found a way. None of his characters are ever disposable, but this game took character development to a whole new level. I really can't say enough about just how marvelous this game truly is. If you play no other Metal Gear game, play this one.
Snake Eater follows Naked Snake on his first mission as a Foxhound agent, first Foxhound mission ever, although the unit is just called Fox now, but it's the unit that will become Foxhound. He fails his first mission and is sent in again to not only clear his name and redeem himself but stop a maniacal lunatic from using a top secret weapon to remove Khrushchev from power and take over Russia. It's a great story. There have been story parts before in the Metal Gear game that have taken from real life, but Snake Eater sits so well in factual recorded history for it's time line and world events that transpired that it could be considered history itself.
Another great game with memorable characters and the single best story in the history of video games. Changes to this game are complete removal of the radar as you know it. This isn't about rushing through a game, this is about sitting still and waiting for your moment to make it through the guards to your next objective. The radar you have is crude and takes batteries. Your weapons silencer will wear down and break. You won't get stealth camo in this game, but you can change your clothes and face paint to match your surroundings and blend in better. You have a percentage that will show you how well blended you are. Pretty much anything 80% or above is very hard for the enemy to detect even if they are walking right past you. Guards don't always follow their own walking paths, and they move more determined and with more purpose, seemingly trying to pick out their environment. There is no more cone of visions where you can stand just outside the blue cone and be invisible to the guard. Guards will see you further than ever before in a Metal Gear game. This is a true stealth, espionage experience, so go slow and enjoy it.
I realize that this has been less of a detailed review of each game and more just mentioning the games strong points. These games have all been reviewed. I was just trying to explain to anyone who might be on the fence, or who has heard negative press about titles or to clear up what is in this package. | video-games_xbox |
heeee. This game is friggin awesome. If you don't have it, get it. Or if you're like me and you've spent just about all its replay value... oh wait, that's not possible. Oh well... We can start with the campaign.
The game story campaign has a very well written plot that will keep you playing. 'Nuff said.
The sound: the sounds of this game are awesome. Every sound effect is startlingly realistic (except for alien energy weapons because, well, they don't exist, so we don't know how they'd really sound). But they sound GREAT anyway! It's lacking a little in ambience, but when the music kicks in, be it the the Gregorian chants flooding through your speakers, or the excellent, game themes thundering into your ears, you just can't stop. Speaking of thundering, play this game with the volume real high. The effect you get from high volume (or surround sound systems, for the more sophisticated entertainment systems out there) is extremely pleasing.
The graphics: the graphics are stunning. Say it with me, stun-ning. Maybe the water doesnt pour in individual drops from every leaf when it rains, but it's really great. Believe it. When you play a level starting with a beach assault and grenades are exploding all around, the effect is very Spielberg. The explosion effects are great: (not just the fire, stoopid) the debris, area effects, and decals left behind are terrific. Speaking of decals, the blood decals, previously discussed explosion decals, and the shot decals are all awesome. Consider: if you shoot the ground with a pistol then it leaves a widdle hole. If you pound the ground with a high velocity, armor piercing rifle round, the effect is very different. The same goes with pounding aliens! That'll be discussed later, but the effects of "that" are really cool. Shoot an alien with a pistol in the head and you get a small blood splatter = a satisfyingly clean (and cleanly animated) kill. Bombard a shielded alien with armor piercing rounds from a truck-mounted machine gun = cool shield effects, and when the shields wear down.. e[...] Drain an alien's shields with a burst from an energy weapon and then switch to an assault rifle for a killing spray of rifle rounds = effects to die for.
Gameplay!! Well, I gave it a 5, didn't I? Consider this: you slowly round a hallway to find a large number of footsoldiers and elite soldiers. You can kill them with small arms, yes... but why would you play in easy mode, you cheat?? Well, if you're playing in the startlingly realistic (and horribly difficult) Legendary Mode, you'll have to use some strategy. Obvious choice: explosives. Lob a frag grenade (we all know those, don't we?) against the wall and duck away, and you'll be rewarded with a satisfying spray of gore and perhaps a few flying bodies or weapons. Prime a plasma grenade and throw it at an enemy and it'll (get this) STICK to him. If you're lucky, he'll scream ("get it off, get it OFF!"), running to his squadmates, ending in the same scatter of bodies and items. The vehicles in this game are extremely well balanced, and the gravity on the land you explore makes for very, VERY fun vehicle combat. Consider this (it happened to me): You crawl over a ridge in a heavy tank, with four Marines riding. You encounter a light alien recon vehicle: it hovers. 'Nuff said. You can pelt it with tank machine gun fire (and be assisted by the riding marines) blow it across the landscape with a high explosive tank shell, or do what I did. I charged it at full speed (not very fast), but, with the assistance of the slightly low gravity of the level, I was able to smack into the alien, lifting him and his vehicle high over my tank. The Marine sniper now takes aim, and puts a round right between the eyes of the alien driver. How's that for AI? I knew the AI'd be good, but I didn't consider the AI being able to do THAT when I bought the game.
Well, my hands are sore from typing... but it's a REALLY good game, so go buy it. Do my poor hands some justice. They ache from typing... but more from playing Halo. | video-games_xbox |
Well Done Xbox Dudes. I was never much of an online gamer. I had played a couple of them, but I would much rather get my friends together and play them face to face. It's much more enjoyable because you actually KNOW the person and because of the whole bragging thing. When I played online PC games, I felt unconnected to everyone else, even when playing team games like CTF. You can chat to dudes on your team via the keyboard, but you can't do that on the fly. If your playing a FPS online and are facing say three opposing team memebers, you can't type in a request for backup without getting shot. XBOX LIVE solves this problem with the headset. It is very rare to see someone online without one. You can easily strategize with your team mates and call for backup quickly if needed. Being able to talk to your team makes you feel more like a team.
The friend feature on XBOX LIVE is awesome. You can tell where your buds are at all times, even if they are on a different game. And it's easy to send a friend request. Just click the players bar and scroll down to the person's name you want to send a request to. Or you can type the person's gamertag in at the XBOX LIVE dashboard. Also, say you're playing Rainbow Six 3 and your team is really getting pounded. You can invite your friend to play with you, even if he's not playing the same game as. This ensures that you can contact and invite your friends at anytime you want.
XBOX LIVE also temendously extends the life of your games. I had stopped playing Return to Castle Wofinstien a year and a half ago, but then I got XBOX LIVE. I was on that game for hours and hours of extra gaming time. There's always good competition, you rarely will be the uber killer. On the flip side, you can learn from the better players if your a newb and start wailing on other gamers in no time.
Overall, XBOX LIVE is a purchase that (I think) pays for itself. I have gotten fewer new games because I'm always getting new experiences out of my old ones. It is a very good investment for anyone looking to further there gaming skills or just looking for a helluva good time. | video-games_xbox |
Interesting Story and Gameplay. An unusual relationship story mixed with a classic block-stacking puzzle game, "Catherine" draws players in with its bizarre art and narrative.
"Catherine" is the story of Vincent, a 32-year-old man who has two major problems in his life. The first is his girlfriend Katherine, who is pushing for marriage despite Vincent feeling "not ready". This is compounded by the appearance of Catherine, a younger woman who seduces Vincent while he's drunk. The second problem is that, every night, Vincent is forced into a strange dream world - and if he dies in the dream, he dies in real life. The player controls Vincent through both his "day" (relationship) and "night" (dream) problems.
The "day" portions of the game are mostly cutscenes, detailing Vincent's life, his relationships with his friends and both Katherine and Catherine, and his various tribulations. The player's "control" during these segments is limited to wandering around Vincent's favorite hangout, the Stray Sheep bar, and making decisions that influence Vincent's preference towards either Katherine or Catherine (represented as a karma meter oriented towards "order" or "chaos").
The "night" portions of the game are, basically, the actual game. In his dreams, Vincent is forced to climb a tower of blocks until he can reach a safe point. The blocks are continually dropping out from under him, so Vincent must essentially form staircases by moving blocks in order to progress upwards. The blocks will hold in place if they are touching at least one edge to another block, so mastering these strange physics is key to progressing in the game. Various techniques exist to ascend the tower, ranging from making pyramids out of blocks to making a sort of "swirling tornado" of edge-connected blocks. As more levels are unlocked, new block types are discovered - crumbling blocks, trap blocks, ice blocks, and so on.
The puzzle action is pretty fun; it sounds simple, but finding ways to progress involves quick thinking and fast reflexes due to the crumbling floor below you. The use of art and sound design helps to keep these segments sort of connected to the main story despite being radically different, so it all feels pretty cohesive. The biggest problem with the game as a whole is that, really, about half of it (i.e. the interesting parts) are cutscenes. Yet the gameplay, such as it is, is well executed, and the game's style is certainly unique. It's hard to recommend as a normal "game" because it's so unusual - it's not something where you can just be like "this is a pretty good puzzle game" and leave it at that.
Overall, Catherine is an interesting game both in terms of its story and its gameplay. While those things rarely intersect, fans of one aspect may find themselves being drawn in by the other.
We purchased this game with our own funds. | video-games_xbox |
M12 Best Version since Xbox started. First the good - the gameplay is the best it's ever been (at least comparing it to the last 6 years of Maddens that I have). While animations do repeat, the tackling, blocking, catching and running all feel much more dynamic than ever before. Certain routes are still way too open (slants, TE Seams) but the AI defense is smarter and reacts more realistically - like a real football team. The stadiums look amazing and all the new camera angles really help the presentation. Custom playbooks are an awesome idea, and can be edited even in Franchise mode as your seasons progress. I play almost exclusively in Franchise mode and love the new preseason roster cut downs and in season scouting. Though, without a paper manual (manual is virtual only) there are some confusing menu popdowns that could be better explained. Like how many players are we really allowed to scout? - forums and EA website claim 15 players every 4 weeks but I've been able to scout 15 different players each and every week. There's nothing in the manual or on the menu screen that explains this.
Which leads to more of the bad - while the custom playbooks are a good idea, the execution is almost unusable. You start with a "base" formation template (team specific or style specific--for example "Run N' Gun"), but any formation that you add from outside the template doesn't get saved in your playbook in a logical way - you'll see 5 singleback formations from your base book followed by i form, gun etc. then all of a sudden 1 more singleback outside the base book, then maybe a gun, then back to singleback. The forms aren't categorized by type or alphabetically. It's so haphazard that I get penalized 5 to 7 delay of games each matchup because I can't find my darn plays. Most of the other faults are with presentation - it's always raining every home game for certain teams (Cleveland and Carolina) - and the announcer package is a mash up from several seasons and repeats the same intro every single game - Gus Johnson sounds like he has Tourrett's as this year's audio gets mashed with last year's. While the rain might be the most well known "glitch" others include the staples from years past - the ludicrously leaping linebackers who are able to bat down or pick off passes meant for wrs 20 yards away, and the impossible to complete Play Action Passes (which is why I have just 2 PA's out of the 400 plays in my custom books).
Overall though the gameplay keeps me coming back, while the presentation (lazy and sad that it is), makes me yearn for the best video football game I've ever played - NCAA 11 for the Xbox. | video-games_xbox |
It's The Little Things. Recently I took a break from playing Bully and visited an old acquaintance of mine. My ex-girlfriend, actually, but we're still an amiable terms together. She asked what game I was playing nowadays, to which I replied, "Bully," and she asked if I thought the game would be fun on the Wii, and after thinking about it for a moment I said that it would be a great game on the Wii. The reason for this statement was because Bully is comprised of loads of mini-games. Pretty much the entire game is nothing but mini-games from shooting galleries, racing, dodge ball, and dozens more. The diversity of the mini-games is enough for any Wii owner to get full use out of the stupid controller that elderly people seem to love so much. While the graphics aren't stellar and San Andreas is definitely bigger, it's the little things in Bully that make the game really fun. Not just the above mentioned mini-games, but also the fact the Bully wants you to find all of the hidden items. The game gives you the locations of these items on you map. All you have to do is pass Geography. It's the little touches like that that could've been used on any one of the Grand Theft Auto games. How many of us really found all of the statues on GTA without the use of a book or downloaded reference. I sure as heck didn't.
Unfortunately, while it's the little things that make Bully fun, it's also the little things that severely hurt the game, as well. Little things like say...NOT CRASHING would've made the game at least 42% better. It's not just the fact that it crashes, but that it crashes right after a big mission before I get a chance to save! Other little things could've been added to improve this title as well. like the ability to take off your helmet when not riding. I now you need a wardrobe to change clothes, but all I need are my hands to take off the helmet. If you want to be a law abiding citizen while on your moped, then be prepared for a lot of cut-scenes with Jimmy wearing full face protection. Maybe if they have a peanut shell helmet it would go over better, but unfortunately they don't. There are also a lot of cut scenes where the animation looks unfinished. Why does the drunken teacher's hand go through the bottle of booze instead of holding it? You see arm, bottle, and then fingers. It looks quite ridiculous. It's the little polishing touches that testers and QA people get paid to do, but are not so apparent with Bully.
Overall, the game is pretty fun. I would recommend renting it instead of buying it, though. Save your money for another day unless, of course, you own a Wii. Then I recommend you dip into that monthly Social Security check and splurge a little.
Pros:
Controls: A- (probably an A+ on the Wii)
Playability: A
Story: A- (you see a lot of plot twists coming)
Cons:
Stability: D
Graphics: B- (this is a next-gen game after all)
Polish: C (looks a little unfinished) | video-games_xbox |
BioShock "a masterpiece. BioShock is near perfect. However, there are some small problems in the game that should be fixed. The Vita-Chambers prevents the game from having true skills to be needed, simply because you won't die, but these do work in more subconscious ways. Being killed and revived over and over, while it provides no needed skill, will get repetitive and you'll be kicking yourself in the end when you see how much you fail at the game especially when fighting Big Daddies. Seriously, playing this game on Hard, it was literally impossible for me to not die at least once while fighting them... and sometimes I did die over and over again, and it really had me aggravated and made me focused on getting better at the game. Using more strategic elements will help you succeed in not dying as much in BioShock, and this game allows for it tons. Set bolt traps and proximity mines to knock down your enemies with class. Alter the AI so they are no longer your enemy anymore, but now will fight your other opponents. Hypnotize a Big Daddy even, for him to be your personal body guard... Did you get shot? The Big Daddy will take down your adversary in no time at all. So in the end, while the death-system is flawed, being a more proficient player, you'll be rewarded by going through fights with style over "go in the room and shoot the enemies". I'll also add that I barely ever used my artillery, except in Plasmid/Weapon combos.
There are 73 Plasmids in the game, 20 active, and 53 passive. Tonics, the passive Plasmids, allow you to shape your character, depending on how you play. In my first play-through, I used wrench-upgrading, security-bypassing, and alarm reducing Tonics to help me become a stealth-based player, and that's how it played, like a Tom Clancy game respectively. My next play-though, I used Telekinesis and destruction-based Plasmids and Tonics more, no wrench-upgrading Tonics, and I really became a monster with my powers, unlike what I was before. The thing is, I could have changed who I was halfway through the game if I wanted to... the reason for this is because you always have the ability to switch around the Tonics an Plasmids for others in your inventory. This is what separates it from RPGs, there is no character growth in the game, you don't upgrade static powers, being able to switch them completely takes this game away from any real RPG-comparing. Sure it has RPG elements, but it's not one at all. So what you get, is an FPS, but it's no generic FPS, mind you, the game offers you so many options to play the game how you want. If you want to go through the game with only your weapons, go ahead, nothing is stopping you. Some of the things that make this FPS deeper than any out there...: hacking, AI-altering, researching, weapon upgrading, full environment interactivity, exploration, dynamic storytelling, health/"Plasmid power ammo" (EVE) upgrading, Plasmid Power slot number upgrading, etc. Try comparing that huge list to what other FPSs (non-RPGs, though, because BioShock isn't one) offer you. Just try. Everything that this game offers you for character customizability, and then the ability to change that up whenever you feel the need to makes this game revolutionary to the FPS genre. A true classic.
10/10 (close to perfect)
Gameplay - 10/10
Graphics - 9.5/10
Sound - 10/10
Controls - 9/10
Story - 10/10
Anyone expecting a true FPS masterpiece, pick this game up. If you're expecting this go be an RPG (even though the developers have repeatedly stated that it isn't), look somewhere else. | video-games_xbox |
Better than Enter The Matrix. Okay, I have seen quite a few reviews on this game and people either love it or hate it. There is no middle ground. I have to say that while I haven't finished the game, I can report on what I have seen so far.
In regards to the graphics, I think this game pulls it off fairly well. I haven't noticed much of any lagging in the frame rate department. Yes, the graphics could have been better, but as they are I have no significant complaints. They are better than Enter the Matrix (ETM). They are definitely of a newer generation quality on the Xbox. While the graphics of the characters look good, there is a lot of background that also factors in. When you fight someone and knock them into a wall or other structure, that structure will break and reflect the hit.
The fighting system is fairly good. They have made it fairly simple and I never considered it a button mashing style. You basically have a few buttons that you use in addition to using the left joystick. You will accumulate moves as you progress through the game and also increase your "focus" which allows you to do all the famous moves from the Matrix universe such as dodging bullets and such. The training missions were a little long but they do help you to get a grip on the combat system. I have had several moments where I fought multiple opponents and had two attack me at once. I was able to grab them both as they swung at me and grabbed one hand and then the hand of the other and was able to defeat them while holding them together at the same time. It was one of the coolest moves I have ever seen in a game and it was silky smooth while it happened. You can move the camera angle during the fights and when you perform a special move the time will slow down and you can swing the camera to view it at any angle. Nice touch.
The shooting portion of the game is the one letdown here. You have to click the right joystick to draw the weapons and then you have to use the right joystick to switch from target to target by moving it left or right. The bad thing here is that you will continue to shoot a person even after they are dead. This makes you waste too much ammo. I had to switch back and forth from having my weapons drawn to switch to another target. Another annoying thing was that the camera lock would lock in a position even after the body of the person was gone. Again I had to click the right joystick and reclick it again to move on. The jump moves are nice when you engage the focus and you can pick people off from in the air.
There was a new ending rewritten for this game that is different from the movie. I haven't seen it yet but if I had I wouldn't post it to spoil it for any others playing the game. All in all it is a entertaining game that is worlds better than ETM. One thing when I popped it in the Xbox last night while playing it I definitely wanted to pop in my Matrix DVD to watch it again. This is definitely a renter for everyone. If you are a Matrix fan, you will most likely enjoy this game quite a bit. I could see a bit of influence from the Mortal Kombat games in the training sequence. When you play it you will probably see it as well. My local EB was able to hold a copy for me but they completely sold out of all the copies they had. They told me they were following the sales performance of this game but they suspected that it would be a sleeper hit. If sales of ETM are any signal, then this game will probably sell well into the millions. Give it a try. Chances are you will enjoy it enough to say "that wasn't a bad game at all". Enjoy. | video-games_xbox |
Fisher's Back. Sam Fisher is back and badder than ever. With an added assault playability now. You have the choice of going stealth,assault,or you can go on Reddings weapon recomondation. Either way there are more Replay Values now with the 3rd instalment of the Splinter series Chaos Theory. The Top Notch CO-OP online play and the Versus play ,very nicely done. The added difficulty level now there's a Expert setting. The top notch graphics. While I do think the solo campaign is too short,only 10 Levels,but its still awesome. The Heart of this game is still Stealth. There are still alarms but only now it won't result in mission cancelled,unless of course they plug you full of lead which they will easily do on the expert difficulty setting. They added improved enemy searching A.I.This game is a definate improvment in enemy A.I. They will search for you with Flares & Flashlights and when Sam whistles they will say things like 'Im not falling for that trap' or 'do you think Im that stupid'.They will also revive there knocked out comrades if they are found. The enemies will also notice lights that have been turned off and they turn them back on and search area. Also if you shoot the lite out they will say things like 'what was that' and then investigate. They will also notice hacked doors or broken locks and become suspicious. They will also notice doors that weren't previously open (if you leave them open).They will notice candles that have been blown out by you,and they will re-lite them. Sam has alot of cool New moves ,make sure before you play the first level check out the training video to learn the new moves. The very reason I bought my Xbox was for the First Splinter Cell. And its my fav Xbox series. Chaos Theory is a must own game ,with excellent Online & Versus play and excellent graphics,you really cant go wrong with this game. Sam now has added Knife attacks while hanging from a ceiling pipe and can throw enemies over railings,he can also cut through plastic sheeting to advance his position. There's enemy Tanks now and also a Flying drone type thing(on one level only) that scans the area with a red search beam ,it basicly a flying turret with a helicopter blade. The shadow lighting effect are once again execellent .Sam has better hacking abilities and can hack wirelessly from a distance as long as the computer is booted up. The gun now has a Launcher attachment for gas grenades & explosive grenades and also a shotgun attachment. Im am a little dissapointed that in Stealth choice you don't get the Silent sniper attachment. But you can still zoom 1.5x ,its just not the 3.0 x zoom that the 20mm Assault choice has. The strongest element was being able to hit targets with one head shot in 3.0x zoom with the Silenced Rifle,now you have to get closer than the previous 2 games. But these are very small differences that don't take away how excellent this game is. Splinter Cell Is definatly one of the best all-time console series. | video-games_xbox |
Review for anyone that is on the fence about buying/playing this game due to all the negative reviews. Because of all the negative reviews I almost didn't buy Aliens: Colonial Marines. I am very glad I bought the game because I have played through the campaign twice already and will be playing it more. I am a huge fan of James Cameron's ALIENS and wanted a game that made me feel like I am playing in that movie and also continued that story. This game does exactly that because of the obvious love the creators have for ALIENS.
I don't want to go into too many specifics on what you discover in this game because it's awesome to experience it for yourself. I assure you everything that makes the movie great is in this game.
If you like the look of the movie, the game replicates that. I know most people are griping about the graphics. I feel the graphics honor the look of the movie and I like that. The graphics are not perfect due to a few reasons. When there are video cut scenes, there is a thin horizontal line that appears intermittently across the screen and it should have been cleaned up. There is also some spots where the environment adjusts from plain looking to more detailed as you approach. Dead Island did this also so there are other new games that do this too and don't get s*** on as much. Do these issues ruin the game? Not for me as I am a more relaxed gamer that plays for fun.
All the sounds are spot on. From the acting, guns, soundtrack, to the aliens, it's all just like the movie. There are tense, creepy scenes that are reminiscent of the first movie Alien and action like the movie Aliens. They have also added new creepy scenarios and aliens.
The controls are very similar to call of duty which I like because there was almost no adjusting I needed to play.
This game would have deserved 5 stars from me if they cleaned up the issues I discussed. Otherwise, I couldn't be much happier that I ignored all the harsh reviews which I think are not deserved. If you love the movie as much as I do. You deserve this game and the game deserves people like us to buy and support it. | video-games_xbox |
Underrated future cult classic! One of the best games of 2014. Don't you worry about the tepid reviews, this is an epic hack and slash dungeon crawler with some genuine scares, emotion, surprises, and a killer orchestral score. That theme song is up there with the best of 'em, and the game looks chunky and glorious. And unlike Dark Souls, which I love, this game gets the difficulty just right. I know there are a couple of ridiculous boss battles that are a wee bit cheap, but with a few tweaks to your weapons and gear, and a couple of flawless gems, its nothing you can't handle. Plus, unlike Dark Souls 2, you don't inexplicably (why the f@#$ Dark Souls 2?) lose max HP every time you die. Lords of the Fallen is tough in the battles and the enemies, and it wants you to play it. And play it you will. It's one of those rare games that gets better with New Game+. I immediately started over after defeating the Judge, and with my new veteran status, developed a whole new appreciation of the game, its lore and its systems. I simply couldn't put it down.
Now for some criticisms:
- Confusing level design. While there are some genuine "oh sh! t that door opens there" moments straight out of classic Souls, in my first play through I spent more time than I needed to figuring out where to go next, often just running around in circles. The game needs either a map, or a branching system that rewards exploration, but also gently nudges you in the right direction. We also need more monster bosses, and not all humanoid ones. Oh, and more enemy variety please. Definitely more monsters to smash!
- Small world. For the sequel, we need a bigger world. What we have here is lovely, but its essentially one castle and its surroundings. We need a world ala Lordran or Drangleic, and a journey that is truly epic. Having said that, there are a lot of hidden areas, and the intimacy of the map does lend itself to a strong NG+ experience. Also the setting didn't feel quite as memorable as the Souls games. A sense of mystery, tragedy and 'what happened here' was perhaps not as strong.
- Better story and presentation. I loved Harkyn and his grizzled cockney. He reminded me of Ray Winstone. I also appreciated the premise and the way the story was told. Having said that, there was a lot that was left unresolved. Perhaps budgetary/time constraints, but parts of the game look like they could have used a bit more polish. I was looking forward to the ending, and it just left me scratching my head. Plus, what was going on with Yetka, and how come none of the monsters ever attacked her? Kaslo old friend. You will be missed. For the sequel, we need a proper story, with a proper resolution. Deck13, call me if you need a hand in that department.
None of these detract from the experience, but addressing them could only help to make Lords 2 an even more memorable and enjoyable experience. As it stands, this is one of my favorite games of 2014, and one I frankly enjoyed more than some of the bigger releases of last year, including Shadow of Mordor, Wolfenstein: The New Order, and even The Witcher 3. While some may scoff at that last one, try Lords and then let me know if you didn't think it was the equal of Witcher 3 in terms of combat and design. As far as Dark Souls 2, while Lords of the Fallen doesn't quite have that haunting majesty and impeccable design (yet), it is every bit its equal in terms of fighting system, armor and magic, boss and enemy design, and that level of satisfaction you get when you vanquish the two story high demon after 15 tries.
A triumph and kudos to CI Games and Deck 13. Here's to 2017 and more Harkyn! | video-games_xbox |
Just a few questions EA. Let me be the first to say that if you play on All-Madden,you're gonna have a bad time. No matter who you play against, rather its Arian foster or Shonn Green, they will rip right through your defense with no problem.
And can somebody explain to me exactly why somebody like B.J Raji is jumping 10-20 ft. in the air to catch these passes? But Joe Haden is dropping wide open picks? WHY? Ray Lewis is 5yrds from the QB and he jetpacks his way into the air and takes it back for six? Where do they do this at?
I'm begging someone to explain to me why on UT, my 2 star Steve Young, who's speed is 96 mind you, is getting Hawked down by the likes of Dwight Freeney? Dwight is a lineman, NO LINEMAN HAS ANY BUSINESS HAWKING DOWN STEVE YOUNG WITH A SPEED RATING OF 96, LET ALONE HAWKING DOWN WALTER PEYTON WHO'S SPEED
IS 98!!! I just don't get it!
Why is that when my RB, WR, TE, or QB gets knocked out of bounds, the clock keep running? I could have swore the NFL rule book states that in under a 2 min warning, a player knocked out of bounds stops the clock, why aren't you following the NFL rule book EA?
Don't get me started on the penalty system, this is just outrageous, somehow there holding on nearly every play, even when it's obviously a whole different call, these refs will just call holding instead. A DB has interfered with my passes millions of times, I may have gotten 2 of them. Do these guys not know what pass interference, intentional grounding, or clipping is?
And the last complaint I have for this review (cause I have a million more). Why exactly are the commentators retarded, I mean are they watching the same game? I spike the ball and Phil talks about me throwing a terrible pass, or me converting on 4th down and Jim saying "turn over on downs" hmm, are you sure about that one Jim?
The bad in this game just outweighs the good by too wide of a margin, you've gotta do better than this EA | video-games_xbox |
Half-Life, FULL game. The only way to give the XBOX version of this game less than five stars is to have played the PC version of the game. I've read reviews (Gamespot specifically) that talk about near abysmal framerate/slowdown drops... to the point of freezing the system. that's cold, man. and, umm, dead wrong. I have a feeling someone over there reviewed an unfinished product. The game is not flawless. It does have load times every so often (7-10 seconds) but not as bad as Gamespot says (20-40 second load times). I question the validity of what they were reviewing. I've never played FPS on PC and I don't doubt it's better. But I understand to play Half Life 2 on a PC fluidly requires thousands in upgrades, etc. It's just not worth it to me. That's a lot of beer I could be drinking, money to be gambling.
Anyway, Half Life 2 is just SUCH a playable game. The environments are really stunning. It starts in a train station where you soon learn that this world is throat under boot, a completely fascist regime with civilians walking thoughtlessly like escape psyche ward patients. You'll soon learn that Gordon Freeman, YOU, has a head on his shoulders and is respected among an underground resistance group. This game oozes similarities to dystopian society of Oceania in Orwell's 1984. The enemy in the game, similar to 1984, is a faceless totalitarian one. You'll see resistance posters on crumbling walls. You'll feel the burdens of this decadent society. Moreso, You'll feel respected when people recognize you as Gordon Freeman, the hero.
I can't say enough for the enviroments. They are so well rendered, such a great world create, to experience it slowly.. EXPLORING is not a chore... Taking your time is what you'll want to do, to enjoy the visuals that have been so well-crafted.
A big part of this has to do with the putty-like "structure" of the levels, IE the ability to interact with 99% of object on the screen. Breeaking windows and smashing tables never gets old. It's fun to throw garbage everywhere, stack a bunch of crap. And many times you'll need to.
The acting and sound in this game is extremely well done. It's a relief to come across safe havens with friends excited to see you. Gets you away from the intense action for a little bit, sometimes giving you better weapons.
The controls of the game are very good, right up there with Halo, Halo 2, Doom 3 on the Xbox. Weapon switching is done via directional pad... It's just real easy to get a feel for.
To wrap it up, the Xbox version of Half Life 2 deserves five stars. It's not gonna be a best seller and it's going to suck to geeks with PCs. It will appeal to drinkers/stoners alike who take their vices too seriously to spend that much money on a good PC. Yet these creatures of myth also respect the opinions of PC gamers. I respect a PC gamers opinion. Why? Because they do spend all that much money on their hardware. If they rave girlishly about something, I listen. But I don't have a great PC like them. I have an Xbox. You know where my money goes otherwise. | video-games_xbox |
A couple things to address before its right. Keeping this as short and sweet as possible.
Me: Racing enthusiast for pretty much every form of the sport. Regular track day go-er, with a race prepped car; stripped, full cage, race seat, harness etc... driven many tracks across the US. I play racing games to practice what I love to do in real life. And because they are fun (and cheaper)! I bought this wheel hoping it would be a good, more budget friendly stopgap before later committing to something of higher performance.
MC Pro Racing FF Wheel:
What I liked:
-Construction. It seems to be made economically. What needs to be strong, is strong; and what doesn't, isn't. I can get behind that kind of thinking.
-Aesthetics: Actually a fairly nice looking unit. Wheel covering is nice. Will make your hands slightly black for a couple of uses but honestly, who really cares. The rest of the unit looks nice enough. Its not trying to look too flashy, works for me.
What I didn't like (why I returned it):
Ergonomics of Pedals: I'll go a bit more in depth here. The range of motion of the pedals forces you to make a decision; lift your heel off the ground while depressing pedals, or let your foot slip down the pedal face as it depresses. I cannot stand driving that way, I use my whole foot for the gas pedal and feeling the pedal slide under my foot when I am depressing it, leads to grabby/inaccurate and distracting movements. This lead me to holding my right heel off the ground almost all the time, which was difficult and uncomfortable to do for long periods of time. My left foot - since this pedal set is definitely designed to favor left foot braking and doesn't really allow heel/toe- I was at least able to rest between braking zones. This was a pretty major concern.
Lack of wheel vibration: I was stupid and ordered this wheel just expecting that at this price point it would have vibration. I found out quickly that it didn't. Can't "feel" curbing, abs or wheel lockup, shifts, different surfaces, high rpms (I shift by sound but its nice to feel something). Hugely took away from the experience for me. Yes, force feedback does function in some of these circumstances. I did not have a problem with the FF. That's largely a function of game programming anyway.
As a note, I wish the gear change paddles had a positive feeling when you changed gear such such as a click (not so much heard, as felt, if you know what I mean). This wasn't a deal breaker but a minor gripe.
I think Mad Catz made a pretty good effort on this product, and it looks like they are providing good support to customers but there are some things that need to be improved and until then, I cannot recommend this wheel. | video-games_xbox |
An interesting idea with some problems. The Good: Charming graphics, good audio, lots of different creatures to play as, epic bosses
The Bad: Either too easy or too hard, little replay value, boring extra modes, watered down story and characters, downloadable content broken?
We all know what to expect of games that are launched alongside brand new consoles, and that isn't very much really. Launch titles usually are just a handful of games that kind of give us a taste of what the new console is capable of and nothing more. Kameo was just one of those games with beautiful graphics (for its time even) fun game play, and well that's about it. Kameo fails to develop a really good story and characters to be in that story, but what there works and it's enough to keep you hooked for the 5-6 hours you spend playing this.
Kameo is an elf (they can fly now?) whose sister betrayed their kingdom and woke an evil troll named Thorn. The whole game is about you setting elementals free and using them to work your way to Thorn. There are 10 elementals all together and each of them are well designed and very unique in their own rights. Kameo is a platformer developed by Rare so you kind of know what to expect here. Surprisingly (for a Rare game) Kameo is fairly easy and the only frustrating moments are bugs or design flaws more than mechanical issues with controls or cameras. The game is peppered with collision detection issues and just overall errors. These don't hinder the play, but tend to make you more frustrated than you should be. Anyways, most of the game consists of you switching between these elemental creatures and using them to kill enemies and solve (simple) puzzles. For example the first elemental you'll get is Pummelweed; he is a plant who can go under ground and uppercut, and do jabs. You may need him to get under low hanging doors or walls or use him against specific enemies. A second creature you get is Ash; he is a dragon that came shoot balls of fire and you can use him as a flamethrower.
Some enemies are more weak against him than others so there is strategy that comes into play here. Elementals can be changed on the fly via the four face buttons and attacks are done with the triggers. You can go into your Wotnot (book) and assign different creatures to your buttons. Of course you have to catch these creatures by finding shadow trolls and defeating them in a manner of throwing light trolls at it. Once the troll is defeated you absorb your elemental (and get an achievement!) Your main goal is to rescue your family members and this is down with epic boss fights (that can be TOO tough). At the end of each level you get to fight a huge boss that involves using certain elementals (usually the ones you've most recently captured).
Now you can upgrade your creatures powers by finding fruits around the world or buying them with coins. These powers are needed to become more powerful and help you through the entire game. Of course finding all these fruits is nonsense knowing Rare so just finding the ones you come across is sufficient. The game also sports a co-op mode so you and a buddy can have at the baddies in this game, or you can do a time trial mode or a "level-by-level" mode where enemies get increasingly harder. I find all these modes uninteresting since once you beat the main game you'll be pretty sick of this game to begin with anyways. The game is very repetitive even though there are multiple creatures to play as they all end up being the same in the end.
The only really awesome part is mowing down thousands of trolls with a charging horse in the Badlands (between levels you do this to save shield generators) which really showed off how many enemies can be shown on-screen at the same time. I have to admit though the enemy AI is pretty decent so don't get the game wrong there. There are some downloadable costumes for Kameo, but for some reason the game never recognized these I have no idea why. If you skipped out on this launch title I suggest you go pick it up for less than $10 pretty much anymore. | video-games_xbox |
The console itself is beautiful. Much more appealing than any of the PS4 . I'm a diehard Halo fan so naturally I bought this for the collector aspect of it. That being said it is definitely not worth the massive price hike. Maybe a $30 or $50 increase, but not $100+. I'm not going to go into hardware comparisons, you can find info on the generic consoles about that.
The console itself is beautiful. Much more appealing than any of the PS4 limited edition designs. The spaceship sounds are cute as well (when you press the power button). I will say I prefer the smooth metal touch buttons of the 360. The power button for this is like a semi-touch, semi-button. Mine came with a nick in the edge which really irritated me and I contemplating sending it back for a different one considering the dolla bills I coughed up for it. It's on the back edge though and once I put the console in my tv stand I forgot all about it. Well until now...
It comes with character cards which are useless.
The metal earth model is amazing. I've done one of them before and I love love them so I was excited to put together a guardian one. You need very tiny very pointed needle nose pliers. That being said it's hard. Like, a million tiny pieces hard. It took me well over a week to put together and I will admit getting the pieces off of the sheet without breaking off the millimeter sized edges and an all-consuming rage ensuing is very challenging but you can get the hang of it. Eventually.
The controller is beautiful but it looks like it has stickers as a design rather than paint. I'm really really worried after a year of sweaty handed groping they'll start to come off. Stars to be removed pending that happening.
But the absolute biggest con of all is it comes with a digital game not an actual disc. People who are handing over an extra Benjamin are doing it because Halo. Having a physical copy of the game to go with my others is what I want more than the pretty design. I'm going to have to buy the actual disc, yet again, when the price drops because I don't want a digital copy only. Period.
Conclusion: If you live and breath Halo, Master Chief is your secret crush, and you willing hand over your money for it get it. Otherwise buy the console with one of the deals for $150 cheaper and put that extra cash towards games. | video-games_xbox |
Could've been better, still a good deal. 3 stars. The console runs fine. FINE. It's not perfect. I've had to hard reset this console quite a lot (holding down the power button or unplugging the main power cable) in the three or so weeks I have had it. It's frozen up, not ran games all that well. My buddies all got their XB1's on Day One. And all of those consoles run very smooth. Truthfully, it could be that I am unfortunate and got the crap console, but like everyone else, this is off of one copy of the product. I don't have the money to buy 50 and beta test them all and give a perfect review, but I digress. The fact that you have to completely install all games (and this is a thing with ALL XB1's on market) has never sat well with me. That 500GB is actually about 300GB when you start up the console for the first time, which goes pretty quickly if you like to play a variety of games. Most people do. Which has caused me to order an external hard drive, which cost me about $90. All of that I am willing to manage because I have been an Xbox player for 10 years, and I can't imagine going PlayStation. I'd never get used to it.
Now, the good things. This console is white, like the original Xbox 360s, which was a big selling point for me. The controller design with the Cirrus white color ties the setup together really well. The game that comes with it, Sunset Overdrive, is a fantastic game. (Mind you, look at the rating of it before you buy it for kids! It is slightly vulgar!) The story is a fun concept, it breaks the fourth wall so many times, it's hard to count. It reminds me of the original Xbox game, Jet Set Radio Future. It's fast paced, and has a lot of great side quests, if you're into that. Overall the games gets a solid 5 stars. The price is also great. Since you get it for about $350, no kinect, just console, controller, headset, and game. It's a great deal.
So really, I would get this console for the game. That's my best advice. You get a good price on the console, which runs fine. And a good deal on a great game. I give it 3 stars because I think it could've been developed better. Not terrible, not great. | video-games_xbox |
Disappointing. I will admit I put AC1 down. I thought it was too repetitive and did not finish it until years later. I read about a lot of changes for AC2, so I picked it up. I loved it. I had a lot of fun with Brotherhood and Revelations. I enjoyed those games for three main reasons: Protagonist, Gameplay, and Story. And those three areas are all sub-par in AC3.
1) Protagonist: Altair was cool. Ezio was amazing. I rooted for him; I enjoyed his wit. Connor is unlikeable. His voicing is stiff, and his lines are kind of sad. He's naive and somewhat dumb. Ezio outsmarted people. Connor is manipulated by just about everyone. As we went through the AC2 trilogy, I could not wait to suit up as Ezio again. I hope to God we're done with Connor.
I suppose this is also the time to discuss Desmond. The modern-day "levels" (I'm being generous) are frustrating and pointless. And I don't care about Desmond's daddy problems, especially since they were so trite and cliché.
2) Gameplay: I will free run through Florence, Rome, or even Constantinople any day. Boston and New York suck. The designers were kind of stuck. The roads in the New World were wider, making it more difficult to sustain above-ground movement. Then the designers made it worse by putting guards on every third building. It completely took away from that aspect of the game. One of the main sources of enjoyment from the last three games was a frustration in this one.
The combat is dumbed down, as is something as simple as sprinting. These are not improvements.
Apparently, the game designers do not believe in what they preach. Assassins promote freedom and choice, but that is not what is supplied in this game. Too much is linear, and (even worse) cutscenes which demand certain buttons to be pressed. And that's it. For example, take Lexington and Concord - iconic, right? What's Connor's involvement? Ride over here and press B. Now ride over here and press B. Now ride over here and press B.
Also, there are far too many timed scenes and chase scenes. The chase scene at the end is horribly frustrating and a huge let down.
3) Story (and some SPOILERS): I'm fine starting the game as Haytham (though the crossing the Atlantic portion of the game was far too long). The plot twist in Boston was awesome. And then it all went downhill. The game skirted the fringes of the Revolutionary War, throwing you into some of it and completely skipping most. Everything was set up just fine. You're Connor, you have a list of people to go after, and it all culminates with a confrontation with your father. Well, almost. See, in another twist, your father is not the last person you kill. We save that for Charles Lee. And in that final confrontation with your father, it's not 1-on-1. It's 1-on-1-on-barrels, because the designers decided it would be cool if you had to counter Haytahm's attacks while standing near barrels in order to advance the plot. And the big final moment ... you get to press X in a cutscene. The rest of the game is bizarre, as you confront Charles Lee at your father's funeral and in front of everyone (but you don't kill him) and then you make it to the worst chase scene in the entire game. Again, in the final confrontation, you do nothing aside from watching a cutscene. It's enough to make one throw the controller through the television.
The only part of the story I did enjoy was the (admittedly sometimes tedious) Homestead series. Building up the area and bringing all of the people there was satisfying. But an optional storyline should not be the highlight of the narrative.
Overall, the series took a step back with this game. I saw in a video interview that Ubisoft wanted to see the reaction to Connor before putting him in another game. My advice: move on. Please. | video-games_xbox |
Took a chance, not upset. I just got this in tonight. After about 30 minutes worth of downloads, I got to play. Just a couple things before I leave my opinion.
After all the reviews, I went ahead and got a Hard drive too. The 250 gig seems to work just fine from ERainbow I think. It's not the micro soft one. The back of the game does say you need one, though the back of the case is never pictured here on Amazon. If you need a hard drive, make sure to get the correct one. I was one of the geeks who didn't know the difference between a regular Xbox and a Slim. Gotta learn somewhere. If your Xbox has a touch control for the power, It IS a slim.
That out of the way, I didn't have any problems once I downloaded the patch. I only played conquest but played 6 rounds with no lag, bugs, kicks or any of the other stuff I was dreading. The Graphics, to me, were really good. Compare the graphics here to COD Ghosts, LOL, much better. I did get to see the kill cam thing quite often as all the 7th and 8th graders out there cut me to shreds. But it was the same the first few times on Bat 3. The maps were fun and complex, like Bat 3. Stuff was blowing up everywhere and the scenery changed constantly. I give everything so far 5 stars.
Where this game loses a star, should be a loss of 15 and a punt, is in the menu and customizing. I have no idea if I have gained a level, unlocked anything or have any new gadgets or upgrades. You can only find out during play if you can change any loadout stuff, which blows. I realize I am new to Bat 4 and have to learn it but I do think some things should stay the same, the ole "If it aint broke, don't fix it" thing.
All in all, I am excited to figure this out more and will keep playing it for awhile. It does seem to be fixed in alot of places based on the release reviews. Hopefully it keeps getting better.
EDIT 1-9-14
This game rocks! I had one night where servers were down and according to forums, it was due to a hacker. I also had one time where my machine froze and I had to restart. I was on my least favorite map and getting my a$$ kicked so I didn't complain. Other than that, with tons of time in MP, no issues. Yes, sometimes in the first 10 seconds of a match, the graphics are slow with square wheels and triangle tank barrels but then it clears up and is epic, EVERY time. This game seems to be fixed since release. I have to quit typing and go back to killing. See you out there!! | video-games_xbox |
Skylanders is a winner. I just received a copy of this game, today, and got it up and running for my kids. I ended up watching (and playing with) them for about two hours. This game is a lot of fun, and I think Activision has a winner on their hands, here. Because you need to buy additional, physical miniatures to unlock in-game areas and items, the game is really on the right track to be collectable and be a very profitable franchise!
The characters in the game are very cartoony, and although there is violence aplenty, there is no blood, guts or flying body parts. Everything is very tame. Voice acting is pretty decent, and there is plenty of humor in the scripted dialogue. It seemed like my kids (ages 9 and 11) were getting the majority of it, though some of it was going over their heads. I laughed out loud a few time, and my son moreso.
Controls were easy to learn, and setting up the game with the new "portal" device is also very easy to do. Batteries are even included, so no need to go searching through your drawers for spare batteries after you unpackage the game. It all ready to use in about ten minutes.
The characters in the game are based on certain "elemental powers" that include air, water, fire, earth, tech, magic, etc. As you progress through the game, your characters will encounter magic doorways that are "element specific" can only be accessed by characters of the same element. Since you only have three different elements represented in the initial game, you will need to buy additional Skylander character packs if you want to fully explore the game world and collect all the items that ther are to be found. Thes additional characters that you purchase also act as additional "lives" for you, as when one Skylander's Health reaches 0, you will have to remove him from the portal and can replace him/her with a different Skylander who then starts with full health. While it may be possible to complete this game with only your initial three Skylnders, it will be very difficult and probably most children will not be able to do it. However, with the addition of only one additional Skylander, most children will probably be able to defeat the end-boss character, Kaos.
Each particular character has its own unique attacks, movement, and upgrades to its power set. Characters can reach a maximum level of 10, which can be done fairly easily by the end of the game. Experience points are not lost, even when your character is knocked out of play. Any powers, gold coins, experience points, and equipped items that your character has are saved on a tiny memory chip inside the actual game piece. When you take your Skylander over to a friend's house to play, you will start with everything your character had when you last played! This even transfers over between game systems, so if you are playing on a Wii at your home and your friend has am X-Box, your character will still work on his system! This is a great bit of technology, and hopefully something that carries over into future game design, as well. Parents, because your children will be very tempted to bring their Skylanders to their friend's homes to play, you will probably want to mark your own child's characters in some way so that they don't mistakenly take home other kid's characters or leave their own characters behind! Not finding a way to identify whose character is whose could lead to unwanted conflicts!
So far, I only encountered one glitch in the game. One of the characters got frozen up and we had to reset the wiimote to get him moving around again. So, if this happens to you, try this fix before thinking about returning the game.
Certain to be on many kids' (including my own)Christmas and birthday lists this year, this is a great game for kids ages 8-12. Now we'll be looking to pick up more pack so my kids can unlock more of the characters and locations in the game! | video-games_xbox |
Sci-Fi bug/robot killing fantasy on a budget. Since this is a lower budget game I was a bit skeptical, but being a sci-fi, action, shooter fan I thought I'd give it a try. Let me cut to the pros and cons.
Pros:
- Game physics: when you shoot enemies with explosives they go FLYING and it's glorious. Buildings crumble to the ground and really everything in the city can be destroyed. It is great, not realistic, but very satisfying.
- TONS of weaponry. Everything from standard Assault rifles, Shotguns and Sniper rifles all the way to Rocket launchers, Grenade launchers and Flame throwers. And the guns very from reload speed, clip size, per bullet damage, range, etc.
- Upgrades: Almost every level you are unlocking new guns so you will always have new unlocked options waiting for you in your inventory at the end of every level.
- Enemies: Good variety of enemies - giant ants, spiders, robots and other monsters. They all bleed or explode in a very satisfying manner.
- Cheesy sci-fi premise and dialogue. A bug and robot invasion with very little explanation as to the what is going on and why. Your NPC friendly soldier buddies will blurt out the most cliche, non-helpful dialogue ever. I guess this is supposed to provide some chit-chat so you don't feel so lonely playing by yourself, but it's just funny. It never felt excessive or annoying except the few times where the audio track would get stuck on a loop an you'd hear the same quote 5 times in a row until it finally reset itself.
Cons:
- The graphics are substandard, which may bother a lot of people but wasn't a huge deal for me since I knew what I was getting into before I bought the game.
- The invincible, heat-seeking spider web! Seriously, some of the spiders can shoot webbing at you from anywhere on the map and it sticks to you and pulls you in to the giant web. They can shoot it through buildings which makes no sense and it will drain your life continually until you kill the spider who has shot you. This can be VERY frustrating. Best advice is to never stop moving as that makes it harder for them to stick you and pull you in.
- Lag. If too many things are blowing up at once it will absolutely lag. Playing solo I really only noticed it when I had my grenade launcher out and shot 4 grenades in a row which caused a massive explosion which turned everything into choppy slow motion for a few seconds, still wasn't the end of the world though.
THE END. | video-games_xbox |
Different, but good. This is a very good game. Is it the best Arkham game? No. Is it the best open world game? No. But it does shed different light on Arkham series. Overall, there are two sides to Batman - the 1) 'World's Greatest Detective' and 2) The Bat on the edge of sanity. The first two Arkham games were definitely a trip through insanity (#2). This game focuses more on the detective side (#1). Where the first two Arkham games could be considered 'twisted', this game is much better characterized as 'dark'.
Gameplay- The core mechanics of the gameplay are intact from the previous iterations of the franchise, and despite the new developer, feels much like the first two as far as the way the game responds to you. The brawling fights are actually upgraded - more diversified enemy types which add variety to the game. However, about half way through the game, you get a gadget (I won't say what so as not to spoil the story) that literally negates all of the variety of the enemy types and turns all of the enemies into typical grunts. For fans of the series or for those wanting a little more challenge, I recommend not using this gadget in combat. The predator side of the gameplay virtually the same, but the levels for predator encounters are probably a little better - the original Arkham games typically featured rectangular rooms with evenly spaced gargoyles around the ceiling. In this game, the predator levels are much more varied, which require a lot more strategy. Furthermore, this game has THE BEST boss battles in the series. These battles can be quite difficult and require a lot of timing in order to succeed. So, positive scores across the board for gameplay, but the one 'super gadget' makes the combat far too easy.
Story- This is an origins story meant to fit before the original Arkham Asylum game. As such, it does a decent job paving the way for the original game. A common complaint I've heard is that the game is not really an 'Arkham' game. While the game does not take place at a facility that is called 'Arkham', this is still an adequate prequel. Much of the action takes place at Blackgate prison, which can be seen as a precursor to the Arkham Asylum facility (this isn't a spoiler, since the first scene of the game drops you into Blackgate). The story's biggest weakness is that it falls prey to the 'checkbox syndrome'. In telling an origins story, there are certain boxes that need to be checked off in order to fit with accepted canon. The original Arkham games did not need to check any boxes, and were therefore free to tell the story that they wanted to. This game, however, stutters a little when it has to take time out of the game's story in order to tell some of 'Batman's story'. However, that said, the story is quite strong. There are a few good twists (nothing of the level of games like Bioshock Infinite), but things that make the game more involved than simply fighting off a couple of assassins that have come to kill you (once again, not a spoiler - this is on the back of the game box).
Graphics- I'm not a graphics snob, but there are times when the graphics look great, and other times when they don't. The game seems to cut to more cut scenes than previous installments, which allows the game to significantly boost the graphics for pivotal parts of the story. The non-cut scenes, on the other hand, look just like the original two games, which are arguably outdated.
Glitch- Shortly after the game was released (I got it on day 1), I read about a save corrupting/freezing glitch and had a flashback to Hitman:Absolution (where I lost my entire game due to a corrupted save). This time, I didn't take any chances - I backed up my game saves to a separate storage location, so I could restore it if my saves were ever corrupted. Luckily, it didn't happen. I did have the game freeze about 3 times in my entire playthrough, but I simply hard powered off the machine and rebooted. Backing up the saves added a minute or two to my playing, and resetting from freezing only took a few minutes x3 times. Overall, the glitch does exist, but it isn't the end of the world - it isn't a 'broken' game, but it definitely needs to be patched.
Overall, this game gets a 4/5 in my book. It isn't as good as the original two Arkham games. Also, immediately prior to this game, I played through GTA V and Splinter Cell Blacklist. Blacklist is a better stealth game than Arkham Origins, GTA V is a better open world game than Arkham Origins. However, Arkham Origins is still just fun. It makes you feel like Batman, and provides an interesting take on the story leading up to the original Arkham games. If the Arkham series were released in story order (meaning this game first, then Asylum, then City), then this game would get a lot of praise for being a good, even great, Batman game. However, this game can't quite seem to get out of the huge shadow that was set by the original games. | video-games_xbox |
the best game i've ever played. First off, all I could say was WOW when I first started playing it. It was everything I wanted in a video game and more. At your command you could call upon archers, infantry(which do most of the dirty work) Orcs, dark elves, cavalry, and just about anything you could think of in a medievil battlefield. It was like living in a war ravaged fantasy(which I love) and tearing through literally hundreds of orcs or humans(depending on which side you play). this was also the first RTS I had ever played, and now they are some of my favorite types of games. Alright, time for my review.
GAMEPLAY 9/10: as I've said above, this is a great game. the only complaint that I had about it was the overly steep learning curve. Once I hit the second mission I was like "um, how do I make'em move?", but once I really got to playing, I figured it out. As I said, I had never played a strategy game at all, so I was not used to having to move fifty troops or more at once. But don't get turned off by this, its not nearly difficult as it sounds. Everything does happen in real time, and when you engage in combat with the enemy, you get to take your revenge out the good ole fashioned way, sword to face. The combat is FURIOUS, and is downright enjoyable. your heroe, human or else, can handle themselves well. the combos are not hard to pull off, though I hated playing as Lucretia, I like powerful characters, I could care less about how fast they can move. My favorite heroe would be either Kendall or Reignier. Yes, you do have to open these characters(you start out with two open characters, Gerald (human, easy campaign) and lucretia (dark elf, normal campaign).
Kendall (human) and regnier (not sure, looks human, but is super strong, and leads the Orcs) are both the Hard campaigns. And trust me HARD is the key word. but they have much bigger battles, and the gold is more free flowing.
SOUND 9/10: its got great sound effects, but sucky music.
REPLAYABILITY 10/10: very fun game, and the battles never turn out the same.
XBOXLIVE ?/?: I have not tried it, but I have heard there is lag, so your better off playing KUF: HEROES. | video-games_xbox |
For Shame. First off, For Honor is intended as an online PvP game. If you are looking for a solid single-player fighting game, stop reading now.
To play For Honor, you must have a UbiSoft account and be logged in at all times, even in single player mode. Not that campaign mode is worth playing. It consists of three 6 level sections, each designed to introduce the 3 races and character classes within that race (knights, vikings, samurai, in that order). They're basically tutorials, and you are interrupted every level or so with a lesson that pops up in the sidebar and pauses the game (how to block, how to parry, etc). Characters are chosen for you for each level. There's no choice in the matter.
The voice acting is horrible and anachronistic, not befitting an AAA title. The AI is laughable. If you walk away from enemies, they'll wander back to their post and just stand there, giving you time to heal and come back. After several levels, you are given a perk that allows you to heal while not in combat (passive skill), and another that can heal you as needed (with a recharge period).
There are no ranged weapons, and combat is needlessly encumbered with a clunky block/attack scheme. Combat is not fluid or fun, like other fighting/action games (Batman, Ninja Gaiden, or Street Fighter series). To top it off, Ubisoft designed a very stupid stamina bar where each attack takes away energy, yet sprinting does not cause fatigue. When the bar is 75%, the screen washes out to warn you.
So, there's no point to playing single player mode. For multi-player mode, matchmaking takes a LONG time. In my second ever game, match making paired me with 3 bots, against 3 human players. I was level 1, the human opponents were several levels higher than me (8, 4). Weapons upgrading is very confusing. The game comes with no instructions, so you have to look them up on tutorial and game strategy sites. Every piece of gear you can get upgrades 1 stat, but reduces 1 or 2 of the other stats.
Not fun. If you're still unconvinced, I'd say rent it before plunking down the cash. | video-games_xbox |
DICE/EA - Your Game Sucks. Awesome game... when it works, which is about 33% of the time now. Shame on DICE/EA/whoever for launching such a half-baked game. I can't believe I paid $60 for it, then paid another $50 for premium... yeah, I know, there's a term for that... BOHICA.
I spend more time trying to connect to a multiplayer game, then actually playing one. Sometimes, it puts me in the room for the incorrect game mode. Then, when the DICE/EA Gods finally deem me worthy enough to put me in a Conquest or Domination game, it crashes midway and I get booted out to the Xbone home screen. A little bit of advice for the DICE/EA junior developers - if you guys are expecting this twitchy behavior, then how about throwing us a bone and providing more info/status when we're trying to connect to a game or why we're unexpectedly booted out of one? So we're not left in the dark wondering why the Conquest and Domination Nazis forbid us from playing (no Conquest for you!).
It makes me wonder if the same guys also did the Obamacare website. Call of Duty is on my ban list for lag, now Battlefield 4 may be the last Battlefield I buy. This lack of QA is intolerable and should not be rewarded.
UPDATE 07-DEC - Good grief, the game works 0% of the time now. The game no longer launches/loads and I get booted out to the home screen 100% of the time now. Whatever update they published out last night made things worst for me. I hope uninstalling and re-installing the game will fix it. I wish I could rate it 0 stars.
UPDATE 09-DEC - After uninstalling, then re-installing the game and add-ons, it still wouldn't load. After contemplating taking my $110 disc to the range for target practice, I power-cycled my Xbone, and now all is back to normal, where normal is the game working 33% of the time. Having said that, it's been a pain to get into a multiplayer game w/ friends. We're either scattered across different teams or different squads... and that's if everybody made it into the game. BF3 had the notion of creating a squad and inviting your friends into your squad. BF4 (and Xbone) just took a big step back in progress, especially w/ Xbone parties and party chat. Yeap, there's a term for that... SNAFU.
UPDATE 19-DEC - DICE released an update on 13-DEC: [...]
I've played a couple of days w/ this update and it was still a royal pain to connect to a multiplayer game. It would still crash mid-game for me as well. What good is fixing bugs if I can't even connect and play a multiplayer game?
Well, on that note, DICE has released another update today (19-DEC): [...]
From the looks of it, this update may resolve those issues and I shall find out.
UPDATE 03-JAN - I've only played the game a few times since DICE's latest update. Needless to say, it's still no bueno. The first couple of times, it was a little better getting into a game of Conquest or Domination, but last night was awful. Party chat was not working and after 30 minutes of trying to get it to work, we switched to game chat (which sucks until you're in a game). When we were all finally able to get into the same game [of Conquest], it was so laggy that I thought I was playing Call of Duty. We decided to leave that server to find a new one, but apparently that was a big mistake. We lost our connections to EA servers and could not get into the multiplayer menu, premium menu, or battlelog. Seriously, I can't keep telling my friends "one more time" because their patience is wearing thinner than mine. This game is supposed to be my place of Zen, not a source of stress.
UPDATE 20-JAN - It looks like things have gotten better; I've played the game a few times since my last update and my friends and I can finally play more than one match of Conquest per session. However, there's still a few things wrong. First, don't bother with Quick Match and go straight to Server Browser because Quick Match has not been reliable for me; and when it puts me in the queue, I'm on the black screen [loading] indefinitely w/ no control whatsoever - I have to quit and restart the game, then quickly hit B when it prompts to leave the queue or else I'll get put back into the black loading screen. Server Browser works much better, but I have to scroll all the way past full rooms to a room w/ open spots - why can't they default the sort by ascending number of open spots instead of descending number of open spots? Party chat seems to be running ok - I haven't had many issues getting the gang together w/ party chat. And last, but not least, the server will almost always lag out once per match.
Having said that, I have updated my rating accordingly and, unfortunately, that is the max number of stars I will give the game given the frustration it has caused me the past couple of months.
UPDATE 22-FEB - The game is still a buggy and leggy mess, and there's no amount of free virtual crap and quadruple points months that DICE/EA can give to make it better. How can a player w/ 0% health kill me w/ 2 shots out of an assault rifle and I have 100% health? I'm tired of cursing at this game, I'm done. I tried the Titanfall Beta and it looks promising. Since it's also an EA title, I'm going to wait a few weeks before buying it. I've learned my lesson w/ BF4. | video-games_xbox |
Halo 4 Limited Edition Review. The Limited Edition of Halo 4 is a product that is either worth it or not. This product, meant for extreme halo fans, carries with it special online multiplayer content, avatar props and clothes, the full series of "Halo 4: Forward unto Dawn", and a special UNSC Infinity briefing packet. Though this packet does contain a lot of extra content, much of it is a one-time use thing. If you are a dedicated Halo fan and have followed all the games this Limited Edition is for you.
The online content is very unique as well as very noticeable. The content this box gives you is a special unique emblem and background emblem, a weapon skin for your assault rifle, and a uniquely designed recruit armor set. The emblem guarantees that's if you use it people will know that you bought the Halo 4 Limited Edition. The assault rifle skin is also a very noticeable feature during multiplayer. Whether it is you holding it or if you picked it up off the ground players will recognize that you have a special skin on your weapon. Finally the armor set has a unique design that is almost noticeable. The armor set allows for a new way to color your character but one placed in a matchmaking game all player become red or blue and this special decal becomes unnoticed. Overall, two out of three extra content is very noticeable for online and if you want your character to stand out I would recommend buying this special edition. If you do not care too much about how your player looks and just want to get right in and kill people then saving your money could be a good bet for you.
The avatar props and skins are just another added bonus of buying this box set. Since I do not edit my avatar I have not uploaded this content to my hard-drive. The content includes an Avatar Cryotube prop and an Avatar male and female version of Spartan armor. If you do like to edit and change you avatar an these two add-ons will help you to stand out amongst your friends.
The "Halo 4: Forward unto Dawn" is an action packed, live action, series of the events leading up to Halo 4. If you are a true Halo fan and have been craving a Halo movie than this is a must have. It is very exciting and includes information that relates back to Halo 4. (**Spoilers**) After watching this series there are multiple characters to show up in the Halo 4 campaign. These videos also add to the background story to the whole campaign as well as parts of the special Spartan Ops missions and storylines. They make you feel that you know more about the connection between characters than others who haven't seen this series.
Over all this Limited Edition is a must have for Halo fans that want to be recognized on the halo network as dedicated players'. If you crave new exciting info for Halo than I definitely recommend this Limited Edition set, the extra $40 is very much worth it. | video-games_xbox |
shooting fans rejoicewith a blissfull classic for the holidays. a great game and a great gift for multiplayer fun because me and my best friend play and try to make a series like the metalmayhem series on youtube some of our series are like buddy attempts to get a job and the chars are mrboss and buddy. after that i would like to say something of the vehicles like a loader or a tank well few levels have it. ok now the r.a.t the rapid armored transporter for you people who dosent know what it means and it is lightning fast and you could act like a crazy hillbilly. one big thing i didn't say corrosive the big reason you"re even buying the game but the other boss i know about is king zombie bot and his minions and can be up to 2 to 3 kills for them to fully die.there are more robots that are alot better then them. well one of the most common droids are grunts they can have a mining laser,toaster or flamethrower,rocket launcher or barrage cannon and most common weapon is awesome its the SPEW well now we move on to the guard he has an awesome laser ax and alot tougher and he seems like a mini boss on level 4 now on to a bigger and better version of the guard the titan and he acts ballistic sometimes and he uses a rocket launcher and he has one of the most powerful weapons of all time two huge 4 barreled miniguns and a rare mill is a scout he searches you down and sets the alarm. now that im done with that lets talk about is important are secrets their secret chips they help you get more levels cool huh i thouhgt so too because there are cool levels like tanks a lot so please buy this for you're kid it will be good fun because you can make spoofs of movies and games on the levels so i hope you love this review and you can think about getting this amazing classic oh wait i forgot something there is 40 missions so it can take a while to beat cause i hadnt beat it xD so have a fun challenge for a while so read all my reviews ok sinse this is my first one bye and try to write a review to bye again. | video-games_xbox |
THUG 2: THE JACKASS EDITION. There are a lot of pros and a lot of cons involved in THUG2. First let's examine the positive:
As always, the THPS/THUG series stays true to the roots of the gameplay mechanics. Always a blast to play - always a blast to go for the highest trick score. Another pro is that this game allows you to play Story Mode and Classic Mode, giving you the best of THPS and THUG gameplay. The customization options are expanded even further in this one with the creation of Create-a-graphic, making the THUG experience almost totally customizable. And as usual, humor is very relevant (more so than ever) in this THUG game. The addition of the "Freak Out" option is pretty cool. It's nothing unbelievable, but still can be cool.
Now onto the negative:
First of all, I feel that "Jackass" has had way to much influence in this game. The game actually feels like an episode of "Jackass" at times and this is not good. This is a skating game for heaven's sake. I like the subtle additions like Phil Margera and so forth, but the game feels like it's trying so hard to be called: THUG 2: JACKASS EDITION. Second of all, I'm a little disappointed in the amount of new levels available. There are only 6. The rest are all old skool levels - which is cool - but I would rather have had more new levels and less old ones, let's face it, we played them before!
Also, the game is VERY short. I beat story mode in about 8 hours. Classic in about 5.
The Mixed Bag:
As always, the soundtrack is a mixed bag. Guess it really depends on your taste. I don't care for it much, but it's a matter of taste. The graphics are decent, about the same as the first THUG I thought - nothing groundbreaking, but certainly not poor. The plot of story mode is a mixed bag as well, I thought it was rather convoluted but still seemed to hold my interest at some parts. Certainly not as good a story as the first THUG though.
The Conclusion:
I am a huge fan of this series, always have been since the first THPS. I am always excited when a new one comes out. I still have a great time playing this game and love to see what secrets I continue to unlock in the game...(for ex. I just heard that the "Star Wars Kid" is hidden somewhere in the game, but I haven't found him yet). What this game all comes down to - to me - is the gameplay and as usual, Tony doesn't fail there. The game is as fun as ever to play. In closing, I would say that the game is very worthy of the series, however, I would have made it more about skating and less about "Jackass"
A great game but I have to conclude that THUG1 was superior in most ways.
Final Grade: B+
(THUG1 I would give: A) | video-games_xbox |
It's ok. First off, the game is ok.
Originally, South Park started off as a show that, in my opinion, was based primarily on a mix of shock humor and potty humor. That being said, I did not care for the original seasons but as time passed South Park became more savvy, more intelligent and the humor a sometimes subtle but more often brash commentary on politics, religion and social values throughout America. Unfortunately for me, this game returned to that earlier humor style with only brief nostalgic glimpses to episodes I actually enjoyed. So, if you enjoyed earlier South Park you will probably enjoy this game more than later South Park.
That aside, the game has some shocking and fun moments. You will appreciate some moments more or less depending on what period of episodes of South Park you enjoyed most. I will not set out those moments as those spoilers will ruin the few real gems of the game.
As many others have pointed out, SPSOT is like playing an episode of South Park. The graphics literally are just like the show with the exception of an excursion to Canada and I think that was one of the few parts of the game where I really grinned. You will have to be an older gamer to probably understand.
Personally, the controls were fine to me but I typically lean towards a game's content over controls. I like a good story as opposed to running and gunning or hack and slash. Again, the game mechanics are fairly simple with only a few frustrating moments, ie, trying to figure out magic.
The story is decent but again you will appreciate the story more or less depending on what era of South Park you enjoy. If you like earlier South Park, I think you will enjoy the game more.
My biggest disappointment is on the length of the game. I imagined an open world rpg similar to FallOut or Skyrim, maybe not in as as grand of a scope but with more missions and side quests. Perhaps I have been spoiled with modern rpgs that literally have tons of things to do. SPSOT is a game that you can complete the entire story line and all side quests within a moderate weekend of gaming. It is hard for me to justify $60 for a game that you can complete and finish all side quests by casually gaming over a weekend. With all due respect to Matt and Treys' wallets, I redboxed the game to see if it was worth buying and ended up completing the entire game in two days.
Overall, this game is geared towards early South Park episode humor. If you enjoy later South Park, you will only get little bits of more recent episode styles. That for me was a negative because I know Matt and Trey are capable of really intelligent humor. The game play is fine. I did not have any problems navigating, using menus or playing. The game is also short. Depending on your finances, you may just want to rent the game. It is enjoyable but I am not sure $60 enjoyable. Also, the game has such limited play time that there is are a ton of weapons and armor that you will never be able to utilize.
Overall, if you highlight the three stars on Amazon's rating site it will display three stars as being "it's ok". I think that rating entirely sums up SPSOT. | video-games_xbox |
This Game Aint for Weak players. I think this game is far better than any other squad shooter out ,with exception to Brothers in Arms. I'll admit the squad A.I. is not the greatest. But if you order them CORRECTLY you will not have many problems at all. The enemy A.I. is far superior to your squads or any other game to date. This game gets some bad reviews because its probably too hard for some little kiddies and some novice gamers. This game is WAAAAAYYYYYYY MORE REALISTIC than Full Spectrum Warrior. Who the heck would go into a firefight and just command people with a giant green cursor?? In F.S.W. You just sit back and watch you men do all work. Where is the REALNESS in that? Im so sick of hearing that lame game FSW is better. F.S.W. is soo unrealistic & lame it sickens me. Also WHAT ARE YOU GONNA DO WITH A PISTOL AGAINST A MACHINE GUNNER NEST???? WHY DONT YOU PICK UP THAT DANG RPK OR AK47 & USE IT AGAINST THE ENEMY?? INSTEAD YOU COMPLAIN ABOUT NOT HAVING A PISTOL.There's a saying that goes don't bring a knife to a gun fight. Well don't rely on a pistol against a friggen 75 clip RPK.Not a wise choice. If you pick up the enemies dropped weapons there's plenty of ammo to take out the enemies. DONT GET ME WRONG AINT NOTHIN WRONG WITH A GOOD PISTOL! BUT DONT CRY ABOUT NOT HAVING A PISTOL WHEN THE DEAD ENEMY JUST DROPPED A FULLY LOADED 75 CLIP RPK ,PICK IT UP SOLDIER AND FRIGGEN USE IT BABY BOY!In the real world ,YES ENEMIES WILL SWARM YOU FOR NO APPARENT REASON THATS THERE JOB, TO TAKE YOU OUT.There's some seriously intense firefights in this game. They feel more real than the very scripted F.S.W. Not everything in real life is set up to flank at all times .Sometimes you have no choice but to go straight up the friggen middle. This game does a good job of having a ,what I would call a green squad ,where sometimes they will freeze up a little when the shooting gets tense,Im sure this happens to realworld GREEN marines ,albeit a very few though as MARINES ARE SOME OF THE BEST DANG FIGHTERS ON EARTH! This game does a great job a putting you into unfamiliar and adverse situations where everything isn't set up so precise as to just flank here ,use that wall ,or take cover there .Its more realistic feeling to me because there is a sense of intensity and tough fighters who are unpredictable at best. Its not just a cookie cutter type game where it sticks to one simple format flank,suppress,fire. Im sure real world enemies have figured out these common tactics. This game does a good job of putting us in the place of the REAL MARINES. Who are some seriously tough sons a &^%*$#.MY Hats off to you bad @$$es! First To Fight aint for whimps. Go Ahead and cast your negative vote ! Just because you couldn't beat the game on REALISTIC mode don't cry about it fancy pants!! Isnt Fight the pansy flowers with water pistols part 2 out yet? Maybe you should play that instead?If your just the casual gamer or a little kid RUN FROM THIS GAME ITS TOO HARD FOR YOU! From alot of the reviewers here from there comments I can tell that they don't know how to play this game and order there squad correctly and they don't know some of the other commands,or they don't know how to issue them. Its not your fault its just F.S.W. spoiled you kiddies! | video-games_xbox |
A little frustrating at times, but fun as hell. In response to some of the reviews, I have to say this: I have served 4 years in the Marines as an infantryman in Iraq and Afghanistan, and I have to say this game is pretty accurate. As for the language used.. guess what, that's how real life riflemen talk when under stress! The Army and Marine Corps the public sees is different from the one that servicemen actually live in. I thought the game was very accurate portraying that. There were even a few guys in the squad who reminded me of my own platoonmates. Anyway, the lessons this game teaches you about tactics are great, although kind of basic. Unfortunately, you only get one aspect of MOUT combat, and that is moving through the streets, but clearing buildings is totally different from that, and would require a totally different game engine. (like, say... Rainbow Six?) The environments, sounds, and visuals really immerse you into the experience, and the gameplay becomes easy to grasp after a few missions. Now for the gripes- first is control. The cursor sometimes will be hard to move around when you need it the most, being hard to see, or getting stuck behind objects. Second, is the reaction time of your soldiers. If they stumble across an uncovered enemy sometimes it will take them a millenia to shoot him, resulting in you getting whacked in the process. I suppose that this is a lesson in proper tactics, and that you should have made a better decision so that you wouldn't GET surprised like that. My last major gripe with this game is the M203 grenade launcher. It is a GRENADE launcher not a ROCKET launcher! it is NOT a direct fire weapon, it is meant to be lobbed. So, if some Zeke (the slang for the enemy combatants) is in defilade behind cover, you should be able to LOB the grenade over the cover and kill him. This is how it works in real life! Anyway, those are my only major gripes. The game is fun, and provides a decent look at MOUT tactics. (And, by the way.. the M249 SAW fires 5.56 mm bullets, not 7.62 mm!) | video-games_xbox |
The best. While Call of Duty has always had a solid single player campaign, for most players the true COD experience has always come from the multiplayer. It's not uncommon to find players that have owned ever version of Call of Duty but who have NEVER played the single player campaign. Fortunately, when in comes to multiplayer, MW3 does not disappoint. One of the things that you will notice immediately, is that multiplayer "feels" very similar to MW2. Unlike COD Black OPS, which in my opinion never quite played like a COD game, you can immediately see the care that Infinity Ward and Sledge Hammer put into the game.
At the time of launch, the multiplayer experience includes a total of 16 maps, each varying in both size and geographical location. If players can take their eyes out of the cross hairs for a few seconds, they will notice that the maps included in the game take players to various parts of the world from Europe, to England, to Africa and a bunch of other locations in between. My favorite map thus far happens to "Hardhat" which is reminiscent to "Rust" from MW2, offering fast-paced, close quarters combat.
Of course, all of our favorite game modes return in this iteration of the series from Team Death Match, to Search and Destroy, and of course Free-for-All. Infinity Ward also through in a couple of other very interesting game modes such as Team Juggernaut where players defend their team's Juggernaut in order gain points and become the next Juggernaut. All of these new game modes (a total of 6 in all) really add some needed variety to the game.
Now despite my love of MW3's multiplayer experience, I do have what I consider to be a major complaint. That is, players who pre-ordered a subscription to Call of Duty Elite in order to attain "Founder Status", seem to have an unfair advantage in multiplayer. For those of you who are not familiar with Call of Duty Elite, I suggest taking a look at my FAQs page. That being said, one of the main perks of pre-ordering COD Elite is that players are granted an XP boost when leveling up in multiplayer. As result, the players who decided to pre-order where leveling up at alarming rates on launch night. In under an hour after the game was released, I ran into players that were already on level 15. Players who chose not to pre-order are going to have a tough time catching up. Only time will tell if Infinity Ward rectifies this problem. That being said, below is my tenative review of Modern Warfare 3's multiplayer. | video-games_xbox |
This is The Version To Get. If you have a family or housemates the Kinect is extremely useful for automatically knowing who is using the system and logging in all the appropriate people instantly. Automatic sign in with the Kinect works amazingly well and usually happens faster than your TV can even turn the screen on. The thing can spot me from the other side of the living room. The Kinect controls the power on/off for your TV as well as the volume of your speakers. If you plan to use the live-TV or have a complex entertainment center with external speakers, cable or other streaming devices running through the Xbox you should definitely get the Kinect version. Here's why: the Kinect has an amazing IR blaster built into it that can turn on/off all of your devices as well as control the volume, the playback controls and channel of what you're watching. So even if you don't have cable TV (let's assume you have a Roku, Apple TV, Fire TV, or Xbox 360) the Xbox One's Kinect will control playback on those devices (pause/play/rewind/fast forward) via controller, voice, gesture and Xbox SmartGlass. The free SmartGlass app turns your smartphone or tablet into a very powerful universal remote by using the Kinect to send IR signals to all of your devices.
In addition with Kinect you also have a slew of other options like Xbox "Record That" game DVR, Skype video calling, Twitch camera broadcasting, Bing universal search of store/app content, controller tracking to know which person is playing and holding the controller, and instant QR code scanning "Xbox use a code" to redeem DLC/points/subscriptions.
For a hundred more you get a free game and a Kinect sensor. Even if you are not interested in any of the Kinect games (Fitness, Dancing, Music, Sports, Party, weird Japanese/Indie experimental games) it is still a good idea to get this version with Kinect. Down the line voice controlled services like Cortana (currently on Windows Phone) are coming to Xbox One and most likely VR games which will need Kinect. Most games also make use of the Kinect voice for menu navigation and controls. For a hundred more it is a good investment. I think the sensor will probably cost more to buy separately down the line. The original 360 Kinect launched at 149, the Kinect 2 for Windows costs 199. If you think you might want to have Kinect down the line you will end up paying more than just buying it now bundled.
Obviously everyone's funds are different and I'm not here to judge what you can afford right now, but it seems clear the Kinect version with a free game is without a doubt a better overall value given how much additional stuff you get. | video-games_xbox |
The PC version was so much better. Ok, a bit of a background: I bought Mass Effect for my computer way back when it was first ported over to the PC. The game was sharp, crisp, and yeah, it had a few tiny graphical hiccups here and there, but over all, it was bug free and was at the time, my favorite game of 2008.
Fast forward to 2010. I now have an Xbox 360, and have beaten Mass Effect 2 on that platform twice now already. I've since loaned my PC version of MAss EFfect to my father, but then read that Mass Effect 3 will possibly use information on your gameplay from ME 1 & 2 to affect story plots in the third game. Well, I can't allow my hours of gameplay to go unnoticed by ME 3, so I picked up the Platinum Edition version of ME 1 for the Xbox.
Out of the box, you'll notice that it comes free with the original DLC for the game. However, I would have thought that by now, Bioware would have fixed the gameplay bugs and tweaked the graphical hiccups that reviewers complained about when this was first released to the xbox. Bugs like very poor AI pathfinding for your party members (in one instance, my one character kept running into the Mako while my other teammate and I ran into the building; or enemy AI as dumb as I've ever seen on a few occasions, such as a Krogan walking BACKWARDS towards my party, shooting the wall behind him while my party and I shooting him in the back!! I've spotted graphical hiccups such as wall clipping, or enemies popping out of walls on occasion.
All in all the game is great! The story telling is fantastic, the plot is out of this world (literaly and figuratively) and I still cannot help but be drawn into the story even after playing this three or four times in the last two years. It's just a shame that these little hiccups and bugs haven't been fixed for the Platinum edition.
If you've already haven't played this yet, BUY IT!! You will not be disappointed! | video-games_xbox |
Almost perfect but, not quite. This may be the first time I've felt compelled to defend a game. Normally I only review crappy games so people don't waste their money. I just finished the game however and having heard a lot of very negative reviews I have to give my opinion.
The BAD:
Some crappy jumping mechanics (although there is very little jumping in the game), horrendous loading times (yes, it loads every time you die), and the last level being an escort mission! I cannot begin to tell you how much I loathe escort missions. How much every gamer I am aware of loathes escort missions! So they do this for the last level of a game?!!! At least there was a second half to that level that wasn't so bad, and I actually managed to finish it.
The Good:
Beating the living/undead/inter-dimensional crap out of everything in sight with tons of moves, destructible environments, amazing backgrounds, horrifically disgusting and wonderful (somewhat cartoony) graphics, one of the best video game soundtracks ever (mostly heavy metal and some great creepy orchestra pieces), more gore than I've ever seen in a game, terrific voice work with some of my favorite video game quotes, great atmosphere, very fun gory imaginative level designs, and it comes with all of the three original Splatterhouse games! You unlock one game every 3 levels and there are twelve levels by the way. Plus you get more of the story behind the mask and Rick, a great villain- Dr. Henry West, and some gorgeous fun cut scenes!
This is not by any means an easy game, but it does allow you to level up your character. And if I can get through it (on easy) then most others can. There are also some interesting collectibles like journal entries and photos of Jennifer. Overall it really captures what the original Splatterhouse games were about although some people might consider it simplistic and repetitive. Most games however are repetitive. It does have some depth, great atmosphere and despite it's flaws it is a really fun game. My kind of game anyway. If you liked the originals and have an open mind I can almost guarantee you'll enjoy this remake. Especially since there are numerous side scrolling missions similar to the first ones.
If this sounds like your kind of game then I wouldn't pass it up. Frustrating as it was at times I'm glad it's in my collection. | video-games_xbox |
Upgrade from Advanced Warfare.. DOES NOT knock MW2 or Black Ops 2 off the throne. This review is for Campaign and Multiplayer only. Also, my rating DOES NOT reflect the crappy servers this first weekend, considering every one and their sister is probably playing right now which is causing them to crash every other game (at least it disconnects every other game for me)
Campaign
Its a Call of Duty signature campaign, boom, pow bang, press X! The gameplay is very fun, the enemy is actually challenging even on just hardened ... The cheesy plot and one liners...its COD... So far the campaign isn't hooking me like the modern warfare series was but in all reality I like Infinity Ward the most out of all the COD creators (trying to keep this as un-bias as possible). I love the war room between missions. You see challenges, customize your loadouts, practice with weapons, and prepare for each mission differently based on the intel. Makes you feel like its the real deal! They nailed that. Again the story is average... nothing stand outs about it, but fun none the less. I don't know why people are complaining about the graphics, I think their great! their a slight upgrade for COD Advanced Warfare. Remember this is for console not the super computer PCs, so quit comparing the two!!
**11/11/15 - As I have progressed farther into the campaign, I've started to notice that I'm playing to just beat it and get the achievement. The story is somewhat confusing and dry..(personal opinion). I don't find myself rushing to start the next mission, rather, spacing it out so I can spend more time playing multiplayer. It might be better if you play with friends, but playing it solo, I'm somewhat bored. It does have spastic moments of fun, but for the most part, it doesn't set itself apart from previous campaigns. I also wish your character has face options outside the look of an old man (no offense to old men reading this haha). I deducted one star based on the story's replay value... Still love the incredible customization of the campaign loadouts, collectables, outfits, data, etc.
Campaign Rating: 3/5
Multiplayer
I will say right now I have a 1.14 KD and a 1.30 W/L Ratio. (Please save your you suck comments, I know, I suck at running and gunning..im learning lol) I am saying that now so people will know I'm not rage reviewing like some of these one star reviewers are...The multiplayer is very fun! lets face it.. COD is a arcade shooter and not a realistic one. Battlefield took that win a long time ago. And thats fine. Sometimes we all need a break from BF. The multiplayer is very fluid with the movements, gun fire and maps. Once you get it down, the wall run to boost jump to pray/spray is a riot! Onto the maps...The maps are amazing!!! I feel like there aren't 300 door ways into one room like their were in AW or BO II. You can move around and find cover almost anywhere. Again I'm not a big graphics guy, but I think their on point for this generation of consoles.. THIS IS NOT FOR PC. I will say it takes a minute to get used to the movements, but once you do, you'll have fun. The Loadout customization brings back the pick 10 and it is way more refreshed than the previous black ops. The weapons, attachments... on point! you go Treyarch! I love that they finally added a separate category for rifle sights and attachments...I love making my ARs a tactical christmas tree!
The bad, as usual... the Host and the spawns.... I know its hard to combat these and has always plagued COD but I feel it is still just as bad as Black Ops 2. I hate the spawn die spawn die...unload on host then get smoked by two bullets. Hopefully some updates will fix that
(11/7/15) I will not base my multiplayer rating off of the horrible server letdown going on this weekend because I know everyone is on. Everyone should know by now that every time a top tier title is released the multiplayer servers go down... so take a breath, Treyarch is working on it, cut em some slack.
**11/11/15 As I continue to play multiplayer (predominately Team Deathmatch), i still have the "migrating host" issue at times. However, matches appear way more stable. I wanted to point out that as I have progressed in the game, the score streaks are pretty fun to use. I think the best score-streaks in Call of Duty where MW3. I gotta say these score streaks top that! Their fun to use even at the low point rewards! I remember in AW the score streaks where impossible to get kills with because you had to have the reticle perfectly on the target and shoot at the enemy for what seemed like 5 minutes! The score streaks in this game are nothing like that. They are very easy to get kills with! In terms of match quality, the teams seem to be fairly divided. One complaint however, is that some matches only start you 1 v 1 in say Team Deathmatch. Eventually it does add more players to the teams though. What I love about these maps is the all the "choke points" and the center of the maps. I think they did an excellent job. The maps are creative, yet have an awesome arena feel to them with the big battles in the center.
Multiplayer rating: 4/5
Zombies
Honestly haven't touched it yet.
Verdict: 4/5 Stars
While I think this game is a great addition to the COD collection.. I do think there are some things you can do better to fix it. No game is perfect. Will this game take all my gaming time up when my Fiance is not home? No.. In a year that has games like Destiny TTK, Halo 5, Battlefield 4, the soon to be released Star Wars Battlefront and Fallout 4, I just don't think it will replace those. However, this is a great addition to add to your gaming collectionto switch it up. Therefore, I think you should pick yourself up a copy! Thanks for reading...will answer questions best I can if your on the fence. | video-games_xbox |
Do not install the "Feastday" DLC. I hope to eventually write a real review, but for now I just need to warn you: I think it is a very bad idea to install the "feastday" DLC pack. Install all the others, but this one is game-wrecking.
One of the great things about Dragon Age is the approval system -- your game choices and your dialog options and you use of various "gifts" will influence how much esteem your party members hold you in. Earn their loyalty and you'll unlock special skills, and maybe even romance. Alienate someone too much and they might outright leave.
This nuanced system replaces the literally one-dimensional morality mechanic in games like Mass Effect, Fable, KOTOR and others. I find it so much more realistic.
Here's what the feastday DLC pack does: it takes this innovative game mechanic, and completely destroys it. It gives you abundant access to cheap gifts that *hugely* pump up the loyalty ratings of everyone in your party. If you want to keep everyone at max approval, it's just too easy. It'd be really hard not to.
For each character there is one special gift that gives +50 approval, and one "prank" gift that gives -50. Here's how it went down for me. I had a character who I'd worked hard to get up to, say, 80. Not knowing what the gifts do, I gave her the "good" gift. Her approval maxed out at 100. Then I gave the prank gift. It went down to 50. I thought, "hey, I got robbed! I should get it back to 80 again." Well, this is easy: you just buy three copies of "Thoughtful Gift" from your local merchant. (I'm serious.) That's it. Only once I'd done that, I was drunk on the whole idea, long story short, five minutes later everyone in my party had max approval. Yeah, I'm weak.
Ergo, the whole interesting and motivating game mechanic of the approval system was just tossed out the window. I've never had a DLC actually ruin part of the core gameplay experience of a game before.
I cannot fathom why BioWare made and released this DLC. I say: just don't install it. If, halfway through the game, you decide that you hate the approval system and you wish the game didn't have that aspect to it at all, then go for it; this DLC pack will wipe it off the face of the map for you handily.
Sorry that this wasn't a real review. The core game is 47 kinds of awesome. | video-games_xbox |
A strong and beautiful story triumphs over mechanical issues. As a gamer who has never experienced the original Blackguards, I came into this game with zero knowledge about the universe and characters. Let me start out by saying that the aforementioned universe and characters is where this game shines. Cassia, are lead protagonist is a wonderful contrast of good and evil, justified and criminal actions surround her every step. The developer does a fantastic job at giving you control over the serious decisions that must be made along the journey.
Blackguards 2 is set up in a world map format, where each point is a strategy battle you must overcome to advance to the connecting areas via trade routs. Every so often the enemy will attempt to retake one of your captured points which throws you into battle. You recruit mercenaries known as the Silent Legion who handle most of these retaliatory fights. The Silent Legion is a wonderfully ambiguous factor that plays into the over arching story in a powerful way. Again, the writing and story telling really shines.
You keep a cast of three heroes by your side for most battles. A mage, a dwarf warrior, and another warrior who is the son of a god. As the player, you have a great deal of influence on each of these heroes and how their stories progress and end. Each character has a brilliant voice actor attached to them who, despite the rather low-end animation, gives the character life. On this topic, again, I found myself praising the wonderful writing and story telling of the developer.
Where the game falls short is in its ability to run smoothly. Loading times aren't bad for the most part but at some points they can be a bit lengthy. Also, during my play through, the game crashed on five separate occasions. The autosave system makes it easy to save your progress so in all five cases not much if anything was lost. Still, the crashing was enough to break me from the immersion of the brutally dark yet elegantly beautiful universe. Choppy moments occur, usually at the start of battles, but beyond that things are mostly good.
Blackguards 2 is a deeply satisfying RPG with wonderful customizable characters and fantastic writing, universe development, and voice acting. The crashing was annoying but not at all a deal breaker. To conclude, I would strongly recommend this game to any RPG fan who loves a good story, Blackguards 2 is a gem. | video-games_xbox |
Beautiful albeit lackluster. Destiny is a gorgeous game with some of the best gameplay mechanics you can find. For new players, the Legendary Edition is a must-have because it comes with all the current expansions and includes one EXP boost to level 25. (That means if you create three characters, you can only use the boost for one of them, rather than one for each of them.) This is a great perk in that you can almost immediately jump into the game and join in with other players. By activating your account and Guardians with the Destiny Companion, you can join clans, view your gear and info, browse what's being sold by in-game vendors, and interact with the community. With the expansions and updates, the game is more vibrant and alive than ever before.
That said, I haven't touched this in months. To collect high-level gear that's needed to compete against players that have been around since the beginning, you have to grind - that is, repeatedly play the same missions over and over for the chance to grab new and better equipment. To get the best gear, you have to enter a few different competitive multiplayer matches, which is very difficult to do and complete without a good, dedicated team. The EXP boost gets you to level 25, but the cap has been raised to level 40, which means you'll be fighting an uphill battle against a lot of players.
Personally, I love games with a lot of story and lore. Destiny has some of that, but almost all of it is found outside of the game in Grimoire cards. I would recommend reading through some of them because what's there is interesting, but it's tedious to have to do it that way. Furthermore, I don't have many friends on Xbox Live that continue to play it anymore, and it feels very unrewarding to try working your way through as a single player, though that is an option available to you. If you're determined, you can search through Looking For Group sites (such as [...]), but I haven't had much luck, especially as a lower-level player.
A pretty big negative to the Legendary Edition is that it comes with codes for the expansions rather than a disc download. This means that I can't sell or trade anything but the base game itself. I'm pretty much stuck with Destiny, for better or worse.
If you have a few friends that can form a dedicated team (reliable, mature, communicative), you'll have a great experience. The FPS part of it is fantastic, even if the PvP is lacking. You can create awesome moments and memories with your squad, which could make Destiny one of the best games you've ever played. There's still a huge number of people invested in the game. It's not for everyone, but it could be for you. | video-games_xbox |
SP hurts the overall fun. Let me start by saying this games multi is great. The main disruption here is when someone with a questionable connection hosts a game, and it crahes once the battle begins. I haven't had more fun playing a multiplayer game on the 360. There are tons of game types. I haven't even tried them all because I'm stuck playing my favorites. The multi achievements are fair. The hardest being 1hr defend. The online community is better than most. I get more talkative server than anyother game. Overall the MP is the bread and butter of this title.
The single player on the otherhand is not that great. I only played through it for the points. I found myself bored after about an hour of play. I found the missions very easy. I had little to no trouble beating the game on hard my first and only playthrough. There is an obvious tactic they tell you off the bat, and try to hide with team options. I guess if you don't exploit the hiccup you might have a challenge. To do that you can't be lazy with the game. One thing I liked about the story was it took place in a day. None of that vague timeline business from other games. It gave the game a real feel. Also the improvement on the AI is much needed. Your people don't just stand in the open to catch rounds. On the other hand they can't hit the ground falling. I found that infuriating. The sniper is the only person who can successfully engage targets.
The grafix of this game are monster. I love 'em. The lighting! The look of the player models as they run and battle under a forrest is amazing. Watching the shadows roll up and down the combatants is a new experience. The sound effects are top notch material. I can't comment on the music, because I turn it off. The menus are easy to navigate. There is a menu option to let you view your status of achievements by a percentage rating.
All in all I'm pleased with this game. I would recommend this one for purchase. The lasting appeal of the MP will last a long while. Or at least 'til Halo 3 release. | video-games_xbox |
I was expecting more. I'm a big fan of Red Dead Redemption, and have liked Rockstar games for a few years, so I was looking forward to L.A. Noire. I'm an avid video game player, and this is the first game I have ever returned! Not to say that it's the worst game I've ever played, it's just the biggest disappointment.
THE GOOD
Yes the city is beautiful, the atmosphere feels authentic, and the facial animation is groundbreaking. That's about all the positive remarks I have for the game.
THE BAD
Let me point out that this is by no means a detective game. There is no thinking required. A case requires you to walk around until you hear a chime/vibration to let you know that you are near an object that you can interact with. You press a button that lets you pick it up. You need to wiggle the analog stick until you are told you have a clue, or that the object is not important. Most objects are not important, and the clues are automatically entered into your notebook. You do this until the music stops playing, letting you know that you have found all of the clues. I don't understand the point of any of this. It plays like a bad minigame!
Next you interrogate someone by selecting a question out of your notebook. Based on the answer you have to decide if they are telling the truth, lying, or if you doubt them. I wanted to like this part of the game because I could see they wanted to do something new here, but it's just a big fail. The face animation is amazing, but to acting is so overdone, as if they were worried you wouldn't pick up on the facial clues, so everything is exaggerated. And even though you are often sure they are not being truthful, it's hard to decide if you should pick lie or doubt, since picking lie requires you to provide proof. The problem is, you don't know if you have proof, because the clues in your notebook that you have to select as proof are often ambiguous. Making it more of a guessing game than detective work.
THE UGLY
The worst part is that the game is boils down to repeating the above steps over and over until you've lost any interest of playing. There are some other elements to the game, like running after a criminal, or chasing one in a car, but those are repetitive as well. There are also a few times you have shootouts, but they are set pieces with no AI, and no challenge with the auto aim. It is an open world, but it really didn't need to be, since there's no reason to go anywhere other then the next checkpoint. After the first few cases you just make your partner drive, which lets you skip the driving all together.
At it's best this game reminds me of the first Assassin's Creed. Great concept and some revolutionary ideas, but repetitive and short on fun. Creed's developers were smart enough to learn from the first game and turn AC into one of my favorite franchises. I hope Rockstar can do the same with Noire.
I recommend you skip it!!! | video-games_xbox |
Fun, Funny, and Charming, yet Glitchy. It's good to be bad.
Set years after the original Overlord, Overlord 2 is what it was and more. In essence, you control the Overlord, who in turn control the Minions, lovable little imps who come in four convenient colors - Brown, Green, Red, and Blue, with respective elemental powers. You use these minions to fight magical creatures, and solve puzzles in a quest to defeat the corrupt and powerful Empire.
I'm gonna put this out here right now - Overlord 2 is a vast improvement over the original Overlord and it's expansion, Raising Hell. Except they didn't quite improve enough. To get the unpleasantness out of the way right now, there are numerous noticeable pathing errors, control glitches, and the animations for all characters are, quite frankly, sub par. In this technical age, there is no reason or excuse not to have lips look like they're speaking the correct words. And as much as I hate bringing it up, the game also froze up two times for me. The movement of the Overlord seems floaty and insubstantial, and the minion's AI is a bit stupid (whether this is intentional or not is debatable).
The gameplay is a good mixture of old fashioned RTSing and action game hack-and-slashing. The Brown minions are your basic melee troops, the most durable, and able to pick up and use found weapons and armor. The Reds are your ranged units, shooting fireballs and such, very weak in melee combat. The Greens are stealthy, backstabbing little imps with the ability to cloak, and the Blues are the prerequisite medics, reviving fallen minions. You must use each in your quest
To be honest, the reason I was drawn to Overlord 2 was not that I had played the first one, that I liked action-RTS games, or that I had a subconscious desire to do evil. No, the reason I saw it was because of it's writer, Rhianna Pratchett, daughter of Terry Pratchett. It's nice to see that writing talent, in this case, is hereditary. It's very funny to even walk through a town, and the writing shines in your hideous henchman, Gnarl.
In short, if you like controlling hordes of little gremlins, don't mind a few annoyances, and enjoy the writing of the Pratchett Clan, you'll like Overlord 2. | video-games_xbox |
The 5th Guitar Hero, and it's rockin. Well I would just like to say, that the average rating of this game is 3 stars. I'm very stunned by that, because this is a good game. I'm going to do a list of pros and cons.
Pros:
+ Excellent graphics, the band on stage has never looked better, and some of the effects are awesome. You either hate them or love them.
+ The song selection is huge, the biggest out of all the guitar heroes, I was really surprised with all the venues they had in career.
+ Is the song selection good? Overall it's more good than bad which is nice, I wish there were some more songs that I knew on the game.
+ The game is fun to play, it's enjoyable, and not as frustrating as some of the other guitar heroes.
+ A lot of reviews, say playing your avatar in the game looks weird and just doesn't fit in. I disagree, it gave me a chance to really make my avatar look cool, sometimes I get sick of seeing the same game characters every guitar hero.
+ The Party Play is a nice feature, I know if I had party at my house, and tons of instruments I would definetely use this feature. It's also fun, if you're to lazy to find a song to play, or just want to relax.
+ Tons of replay value, going back to get the bonuses, or completed every song in career will take a while and keep you busy.
There's a few nuetral spots, that aren't bad at all, but annoy me in some way:
+/- Sympathy for the Devil is a fun song to play, but listening to "whoo, whoo," the whole song can get on your nerves.
+/- Making a logo, wasn't all that great, I found it to be more annoying than fun when making one, but I felt good when I got it done.
+/- I only knew about 3 of the songs when I played this, some of the other guitar heroes, atleast had 5-10 songs that I knew, but not a problem at all since most of the songs are quite enjoyable anyway.
And last but not least the negatives:
- This guitar hero didn't do much in progression, what I mean each guitar hero game has some significance in doing something new for the fans, this one didn't do that for me, still a fun game.
- The store is gone, instead of money you have to unlock the stuff, and some stuff you can't even unlcok on medium, which is the difficulty I play on, which in general sucks.
Well, Overall this is a really good game, and if you're a guitar hero fan this is a must buy, with great graphics, pretty good song selection, and lots of replay value. I actually mostly bought this so I could get Guitar Hero: Van Halen for free and actually I play guitar hero with the guitar, our family is poor, and I'm only 14 and don't make much money, but still even with this is an awesome game!! Recommeneded for Guitar Hero fans, and people who need to complete their collection. | video-games_xbox |
Really fun and the DLC is FREE. I got this game some weaks after it came out and it is very fun and addicting. First Person Shooter but a small selection of weapons. You have the ability to carry med packs to regain a certain amount of health and pain pills to give that extra boost to get you to the safe house. The grafix are not the gratest but the fun and replayability is awesome. It doesnt matter what edition of the game you get becuase the contect that the Game of the Year has can be downloaded for free. Since the news of Left 4 Dead 2, their have been several petions that Left 4 Dead 2 should not come out since it has only been a year.
Single player: Their are 4 missions and the object of the game is to get from point A to B to C to D and then E. Every point their is a safe house where the zombies cannot get you. In their their will be weapons, ammo and health to fix yourself up. You then open the door and start heading to the next safe house until you get to the extraxtion point. Then its mission over and thier is only 4 missions all together. The Bots are not that smart and you should not play with them on the hardest setting.
With the free download of survival, its like Gears 2 Horde mode or Halo ODST FireFight. Wave after wave of zombies come at you while you kill them. And their is also more DLC on the way.
Multiplayer: Its 4 vs. 4 to play on the campain maps. You start as who ever you want to start as (Infected or survivor) and play through the regular campain but you which sides once the surviors get to the safe house. When you play as the infected, its rendom so you cant pick who you want to be like smoker, hunter boomer or tank. Each one has its advantages and disadvantages so you have to work as a team no matter which team your on.
If you have not played this game yet then you need to play it. I recommend that if you have other people to play with on the campain or multiplayer then you should definatly get it. Low replay value if you don't have live or nobody to split screen with at home. | video-games_xbox |
What are you waiting for? If you don't have this game by now, just buy it. A worthy sequel to Fallout 3, though I'm not as impressed by the faction alignment and the storyline as some reviewers. The atmosphere is less ominous than F3; wandering through the open Mojave tends to be less dangerous than exploring mutant filled ruins or ghoul filled subways in the Capitol wasteland. Upbeat western and Vegas themed radio stations replace Three Dog's tiresome preachyness. Gone are the dangerous albino radscorpions, feral ghoul reavers and super mutant behemoths, replaced by docile bighorners and easily defeated mantises. Even the bloatflies are less aggressive unless you get right in their faces. And with the ability to be accompanied by 2 companions, unless you have a deathclaw zeroed in on you, you just don't feel vulnerable very often.
My main criticisms of this game center around 2 things: First, I get a sense that the developers were kind of lazy on this one: The buggy game engine from F3 remains and is worse if anything; no game I've ever seen freezes as much as FNV. Locations don't have nearly the depth of those in F3, with many being nothing more than one room shacks requiring no exploration; texture flaws are common (like being able to find gaps and even being able to get stuck in them), and many of the quests involve simple repetitive tasks like ferrying messages back and forth between NPCs. Lastly, many of the items in this game were carried forward from F3 but some logic should have been applied to refining the items available. For example: There are no squirrels or iguanas to be seen, so where do squirrel on a stick and iguana bits come from? On the other hand, the radiation-free Colorado River has plenty of fish in it, but there are no fish food items. Second, it's pretty easy to create an invincible character. With 50 level-ups, maxing out your skills is no problem, and with all of the perks available including those from the add ons, plus far more powerful upgradeable weapons than F3 you become a fearless killing machine. Plus, accumulating wealth is far easier than in F3, so stockpiling ammo is easy. So the menacing feel of exploration in F3 is kind of lost and you end up looking forward to the next attack by whichever faction you are vilified by just for some action.
Playing in hardcore mode (where you have to maintain sleep, food and hydration levels) is an interesting twist but it doesn't make or break the game for me.
Having said all that, I like this game a lot. Exploring the Mojave is every bit as fun as the Capitol Wasteland, I love using the scoped weapons and I have way too many hours spent in a couple of playthroughs of this game. Like I said at the beginning, what are you waiting for? Buy this game! | video-games_xbox |
Not as good as other Cabela's titles. Shadows of Katmai is a decent game. It offers great graphics and fast game play. Unfortunately,it is a third person shooter and you are unable to change the viewing angle,which sucks. I didn't realize that it was a third person shooter and would not have bought it had I known. One very important aspect of the game to note here is that it is quite impossible to play it without the Top Shot Elite gun as the cursor moves at lightning speed when you try to use the standard wireless Xbox 360 controller to play it. I spent only $20.00 on both game and gun,so I got a great deal. As others have noted,there is a LOT of climbing and jumping in this game. It gets repetitive and a little boring and the Kamikaze crows and bats that attack you don't add to the "fun" of this game one little bit. Every single animal attacks you,and frankly,since the game is set in winter ,the only animals that really belong in this game are the wolves and crows as bears hibernate in the winter and cougars(mountain lions) do not live in Alaska at all. Oh,well another Cabela's fantasy hunting game. Look at the last few entries in the Cabela's Dangerous Hunts series. Starting with Dangerous Hunts 2 there has been an unrealistic boss to be defeated at the end of every single one. Anybody want to hunt a Kraftar(a genetically mutated Hyena of enormous size,which is the final boss at the end of Dangerous Hunts 2011)?Yup-not only is the Kraftar unrealsalistic it's also very hard to kill. On a side note,Dangerous hunts 2013 was just released last Tuesday and it's a sure fire bet that there will be a final,unrealistic boss to defeat in that one,too. I plan on buying it,even though I know that it too will be unrealistic,but hey-at least it's a hunting game and most reviews on it a have been positive( on Facebook,and a couple of gamer websites,anyway).
I liked the original Dangerous Hunts-it was as realistic as a hunting video game gets and offered many hours of fun,unlike Shadows of Katmai,which can be beaten in as little as 4 hours.
Bottom line:Try this game if you want,but get it as cheap as you can,and only if you already have the Top Shot Elite or the brand new Top Shot Fearmaster that was released with Cabela's Dangerous Hunts 2013. A good price for the game and Top Shot Elite would be around $30.00 as you can use the Top Shot Elite(or newer Top Shot Fearmaster but that's more $$$)in most of the newer Cabela's hunting games. Great gaming to all! | video-games_xbox |
It's great. Ever wanted to put your favorite image onto the front of your XBox? (Favorite game character, movie star, art (anime?), favorite motorcycle, whatever...) Well, faceplate manufacturers are not going to make anything so specific for you. It's all generic stuff. You used to have to be pretty handy with an airbrush and have awesome painting ability to get the faceplate you REALLY wanted.
Well, Nyko has made it about as easy as it's going to get. You just print out the image you want, snap it into the cover, and BAM! You've got exactly what you wanted. Others here have complained that the included Nyko Gameface paper is poor quality and isn't glossy. So what? Use super high-end glossy photo paper then! Use whatever paper and printer you want! Then use the included paper from Nyko as a template to show you where to cut the holes. It's just not that hard. Photo paper still snaps into the faceplate case just fine. I wasn't sure the thicker photo paper would mold to the contours of the face, but it does perfectly and looks flawless.
Nyko kept the software simple so that there is very little you need to understand to operate it correctly. It does what it needs to, is super easy to use, and does a fine job. If you don't like it, use any image editing program you like! Print an image approximately 3 3/4" x 11 1/2", then cut it out! Done! (2 of your faceplate designs will fit onto one sheet of legal size paper, or 4 will fit the Super B size paper, if your printer handles 13" wide paper. You could even use the standard 8 1/2 x 11 size, but your print just won't quite go end to end on the faceplate. The grey ends just end up looking like designer style stripes and are not a deterrent at all.) If you print from your image editing program, you can use the maximum resolution that your printer is capable of, so the images turn out perfect. You have never seen any faceplate in any store that is anywhere near as cool as the ones you can make for yourself. And you could make a different faceplate for every day of the year if you wanted to.
Someone said the faceplate doesn't allow the 360 to lay flat. Well, I'm looking at my 360 on the table right now, and it's sitting perfectly flat. Don't know what that guy was talking about. And none of the other complaints have any validity to them, either. There just isn't anything wrong with this product, and a whole lot right about it. | video-games_xbox |
XBOX 360 - The Premiere Next-Generation Gaming Console. I won't get into the technical side of the system, mainly because those who care about such statistics already know them.
I will say however, that XBOX 360 delivers a knockout punch when it comes to value, games, and accessories!
I'm not a Microsoft fanatic, but I am loving my system here! All the games look great - granted, some titles are better than others, but on the whole this is fun system and sound investment.
I've had my system since launch day and thankfully have had no real problems. My system froze ONCE, but that was back in December, and it's May '06 now. Anyway, every gaming system I've ever own locked up once in awhile, especially PS1 & PS2.
Honestly, if you don't have a tv that is HD or at least, HD-Ready, you're missing out on the true beauty that the system delivers. Even if you have a non-HDTV, you will still be blown away by the quality graphics. I recently bought the HD component cables for my system and the graphics skyrocketed into a realm I've never seen...absolutely jawdropping.
Long story short, don't believe the hype about ALL the consoles being dead on arrival. Every new technology has a failure rate, and those who get affected complain about it. Everybody else is too busy gaming in the next generation of video games...360 style!
The remote, wireless controllers, play & charge kit, memory cards, faceplates - all top notch quality. Microsoft went a little chintzy on the headset, but I'd rather they cut a corner there than with something more important. I speak only of the first party (Microsoft) accessories, because the 3rd party stuff is never as good as the original. Trust me people, paying the extra $5-$10 for a first party accessory is worth the trouble. All that other stuff is a waste of your valuable time and money.
Now quit reading my review and order (or actually leave your house and go to a brick & mortar store) and get your next-gen system, XBOX 360!!!!!! | video-games_xbox |
Great over-the-top action game. I picked up this game being a fan of the 'Devil May Cry series'. The action is very over the top, and overall plot/dialogue can't be taken too seriously. But the gameplay/cinematics will make up for the overall campy stroy arc.
The plot seems to be very simular to the comic/movie 'Constintine'. An eternal war between paradise and the inferno, the main characters stand between both factions to keep the lines balanced. I'm still very early in the game, but it seems to be stacking cliche plot twists I'm anticipating any moment now. But this really isn't the type of game played for the story-arch.
The gameplay is terribly simular to Devil May Cry, Devil Kings, etc. It is a third person action shooter, with a fairly simple control/fighting scheme. You can string together combos with standard punch, kick, and firearms. Weapons and fighting abilities can be purchased to add more variety in your combos. An amazing feature when aquiring upgrade items is the opportunity to try the attacks before actually purchasing them. It can be frustrating trading in game credits just for an item or weapon you soon realize "yup, I'm never using that." Accomplishing long strings of combos enables more devistating ranged attacks or cinematic "executions". Like holding an enemy while a guilituine or iron maiden appears and you throwing it into the device.
Now the drawbacks. Between stringing attacks and dodging enemies, the rhythm is very fast paced but easy to learn after the opening stages. Even with good timing, the majority of the gameplay can also be accomplished through button mashing, especially fighting standard enemies from one end of the level to the other. It can become VERY repetitive, even with new finishing movies and abilities unlocked. Because of this, you will see the same cinematics over and over again. Because of this most people will either love or hate the game. The gameplay is linear, there is no sandbox enviroment to wander around in. I think games like this are much more entertaining without the free roaming. Not everything has to entitle a GTA like wandering enviroment, but some people have accepted it as some sort of standard. Campaign mode and nothing else. I don't see what else can really be done with a game like this, but the only bonus outside of the story is online leaderboards.
Overall, if you like 3rd person action platformers, this game is definately worth checking out. Be warned, it is repetitive, but the gameplay seems well worth it. It should also be noted that the violence and overt sexual themes are endless. If by chance you're a concerned parent or offended by either, be warned this game never quits with either.
Pros:
Great action
infinate combo strings between weapons/ability upgrades
"Equilibrium" style gunplay
entertaining fight climax/cinematics
looks gorgeous in HD
mindless entertainment is easy and fun
Cons:
REPETITIVE and overall button masher
campaign, leaderboards, and nothing else
cheesy story/bad dialogue all around
mindless entertainment could get old fast | video-games_xbox |
Good game, but falls short of the original. I really wanted to fall in love with this game, and though it eventually started to grow on me, it still huddles in the shadow of Dragon Age:Origins. It's a GOOD game, but it is not the powerful epic that I expected. A bit of a disappointment compared to the original, but DA2 was still worth the purchase.
Pros: Better graphics, voiced main character, redesigned races (loved the new Qunari), battle system is improved (though not perfect)
Having the main character voiced was a huge improvement over DA:O, and really helped me feel immersed in the story. The battle system has gotten mixed reviews, probably because it's changed format completely. DA2 uses the button-mashing style, which makes it much faster and interactive if you enjoy mainly controlling one character, but is probably not enjoyable for those that liked the tactics-driven style of DA:O.
Cons: Little variety in location, less character interaction/development, plot is not as epic or choice-driven
The cons did stand out like a sore thumb compared to DA:O. Whereas DA:O gave you an epic plot in an immense world, DA2 keeps you sitting in the same city for most of the game, and caves and interiors are reused over and over (and no, loading isn't any faster). The plot is very linear as well, and no matter what choices you make, you are maneuvered in the same end direction. It is almost impossible to play a "good" or "evil" character, since this game revolves around politics, not world-changing epic battles. All choices are a shade of grey, and you're going to have dirt on your hands one way or another.
Probably the most disappointing thing about the game for me was the lack of character development compared to DA:O. This is a much darker game in many ways, and most of the characters are moody and brooding. You only get a chance to interact with your companions when they have a personal quest to accomplish, and so I never felt like I KNEW them, like in DA:O. The romances likewise felt rushed and underdeveloped for this reason. Some of the characters didn't even seem to have a very good reason for tagging along in your party. While the bantering in DA:O often left me laughing so hard I had tears in my eyes, in DA2 it often feels more like childish bickering or just uninteresting idle chatter.
The ending of the game is a complete cliffhanger without even a satisfying momentary resolution or epilogue like DA:O. They seem to be setting up for a Dragon Age 3, where hopefully they will bring back a more epic storyline and give our beloved characters more than a 10 second cameo. Dragon Age 2 is a good game, and worth the purchase for fans of Origins. Just be warned that it feels more like Dragon Age 1 1/2, a segue to something bigger rather than an epic story on its own. | video-games_xbox |
Astro A40 wireless system. I bought these off Amazon around the beginning of Feb. I did a lot of research on the internet comparing the Turtle Beach's vs the Astro's. Was concerned about the 2.4 Ghz interference and cheaply made quality of the Turtles. Some people have no problems with Turtle's but I didn't want the problems. For the $100 dollar price difference it was worth it. They were shipped from Astro on time. The package and box is top notch. Easy to set up. They were already synced to each other. You do have to fight wires between the volume control and controller but it's not that big of deal. First day I hooked them up and had them running I could hear the surround sound but didn't realize they were working. The sound was so crisp in the head set I thought it was the TV. Had to start double checking my volume on the TV and astro volume controller to finally realize that they working just fine. Construction quality on the Astro is amazing. Nothing cheap here. I would recommend trying the rechargable battery that you have to buy separate. I choose not to go that route and spent $35 dollars in rechargable AAA. It takes 3 batteries. Rechargables aren't cheap. Can get about 5-6 hours of game play out of a charge. My gaming area is in the basement and the concrete eats batteries up. The rechargables seem to be holding up so far after a month or more.
Playing MW2 was able to hear a generade hit the ground behind me before the indicator even showed up on my screen. Ticking noise or pin popping off. Was able to run away from it without damage. Also can hear rounds being fired at you and know what direction they were coming from. Easier to narrow down the enemy location. My boy has told me he can hear mag. exchanges from the enemy at a distance. As for comfort they are sweet. Played for hours on FPS and never had any comfort issues. Played a little GRAW2 last night and batteries went dead. To lazy to replace batteries and put the old basic chat mic on and felt lost. No complaints on the mic sensitivity so far. Did have my TV to high on volume once and a guy had to yell at me to turn my TV down. Didn't realize it because of the headset so sound proof. He could hear my TV thru the mic.
Only reason I don't go 5 stars is because of the wires. Its a wireless system but you have two wires (one from volume controller(VC) to xbox controller for chat and one from VC to head set for sound. Then you are wireless to the xbox. No interference if my controller battery pack is dead and going wire either. No problems with plugging into controller so far. Haven't had to fiddle with plug in at all. First day couldn't get mic to work for a few minutes didn't realize that there is an inline mute button.
Game/Voice control is nice. Some games music is loud and others is not. Simple adjustment on the volume controller and voice is the only thing you can hear. You can mix it to how you like.
Overall a great buy! We are hardcore gamers and love them. | video-games_xbox |
That old familiar feeling. I can't really think of much to say about Bioshock 2. I can't say I was disappointed by it or anything. It was just essentially Bioshock with a slight tweak. Playing as a big daddy wasn't nearly as revolutionary as I had anticipated. Wielding plasmids and weapons at the same time was nice, but by no means a MAJOR game changer. Also, the Big Sisters were somewhat of a let-down in that all the previews and trailers made it seem like there was ONE Big Sister and that was going to be the big boss battle at the end. It is too good to be 3 stars, but not good enough to be 5.
It may seem all negative, but this is a really good game. SOLID 4 stars. It is just the fact that if you've played the first Bioshock you've pretty much played this one too. The good thing is if you liked the original you'll certainly like this one. Be prepared to go through a lot of ammo. Enemies are plentiful and tough. There is one other tweak I liked. You spend time hunting down 2 people and when faced with them you actually have the option to kill them or let them live. I let the first one live, but what the second one had done was unforgivable and he had to die. The first individual assisted me throughout the remainder of the level.
I do need to give it a replay and "harvest" rather than rescue the little sisters.
Overall I'd say it is worth playing through the story, but if you are looking for a completely new bioshock experience you'll be slightly disappointed but not enough to dislike the game.
pros
+ Graphics are the same as the original
+ Gameplay is the same as original
+ Moral decisions are still difficult at times and not limited to Little Sisters
+ Excellent variety of weapons.
+ I like the new hacking much better than before
+ Although I don't play multiplayer on this I'll list it as a pro.
Cons
- See the first two pros. Little if any innovation
- There is no "would you kindly" twist in this one.
All in all Bioshock 2 is running on the same engine as the original and it was pretty well maxed out then so really expecting revolutionary changes isn't fair in this case. It is a solid game and if you liked the original definitely worth playing. | video-games_xbox |
Terrific melding of games and movies. There have been games throughout the years that have truly done something original, different and completely engaging. It always seems to be that these games fall by the wayside in terms of popularity which is a shame. Indigo Prophecy falls into this category as an original game with a fantastic premise and incredibly exciting gameplay.
Never before have I played a game that was so interactive in its story-telling. When trying to describe this game, I would point to God of War, a PS2 game in which there were scenes where you have timed button presses that would move forward a cutscene. It helped bring you into the story, the cutscenes so that it was you that were doing all of the cool acrobatic manuevers killing the hydra. Another game that used this to a lesser effect was Resident Evil 4, for example with the knife fight that you had to push buttons to keep Leon safe. Indigo Prophecy takes this idea and pushes it to the extreme.
IP is basically and incredibly interactive movie. It mixes the adventure genre, which is seldom seen on console, and movies and melds them into a cohesive and incredibly engaging story. It starts off with a bang as you immediately find yourself killing someone you don't know in a diner. You feel like you're not in control of your actions and as a result you have a body in a restroom and a policeman drinking coffee in the restaurant. What do you do? You're free to act from here on out. Do you leave the body and rush out? Do you hide the body? What about the blood? What about the blood on you? What about the knife? When you leave do you pay your bill? You can take care of all or none of the options above. And the story will be different, sometimes marginally sometimes drastically. Oh, and by the way, that cop sitting outside needs to use the restroom and soon the screen will split and you better be out of there before he makes it to the restroom.
This opening sequence exemplifies everything this game is about. Choices, story and gameplay all merged into one. But innovation doesn't end there. As soon as Lucas (the murdering protagonist) is free of the diner, you take control of two police detectives who investigate the scene. You can switch between the two on the fly and you have to find clues, make theories and basically do everything in your power to catch Lucas. Its this give and take gameplay, where you have to play one side against the other, that truly gives the game a sense of urgency and excitement.
Going back to the God of War example, when you have cutscenes in this game, you better not put your controller down. Gameplay pushes forward the story-centered bits as well. Whether its doing a simon says type control scheme to manuever your character past cars that are hurtling toward him, alternating between the L and R trigger as fast as you can to save someone who's drowning or using the R stick to make dialogue choices on the fly (you're timed) to hear all you can, the game makes sure to bring you into the story. Its very effective and really ratchets up the tension.
If there is one sore spot in the game its the graphics. While not bad, exactly, they don't necessarily push the Xbox in the way that this last year of Xbox life should. It looks like a first or possibly second generation Xbox game. Artistically the game is good. The characters in the cutscenes move really well and realistically. And there is never a moment of lag or skipping seen in a lot of games today. The character's faces have some nice emotion to them and the graphics aren't stellar, like I said, but they do a decent job. There's a ton of aliasing, however, which is sad.
Another sore spot is the controls. When you are in direct control of your character (i.e. actually moving them as opposed to having control of the cutscenes via button pressing) the game is pretty loose. It reminds me of playing the old Resident Evil games. You have the cinematic camera which causes some confusion as to which direction you should push your character. As a result, you will do a lot of figure 8s in the game which can cause a lot of problems when you have to hide the evidence because a cop is at your door and the timer is going down. Character animation while moving is also very stiff and a big difference from the cut scene animation.
The audio is terrific, however. While the box says the game does not run in 5.1 in game, I think it lies. My receiver lights up whenever 5.1 is being used and its always lit with this game. And it sounds like 5.1 is being used. The voice acting is absolutely wonderful and professional. Each voice matches the character and it helps enhance this feeling of playing a murder mystery movie. With voice acting becoming so important in games today, this is most welcome and really helps sell the game. Musically, the game also excels by using the very talented Angelo Badalamenti to score it. That name might not mean much on the outset but he has created scores to many Hollywood movies including most by David Lynch (Lost Highway, Mulholland Dr., Twin Peaks) but also Dark Water, Arlington Road, etc. The score is absolutely beautiful and moving; it really fits in with what is happening on screen.
What this game does best is meld the story-telling of a movie with the gameplay of video games. It exposes the limitations of both and yet uses the best of both to create an engaging, moving and very interactive story. For me, this game is a perfect building block for video games. I can overlook most of its flaws because it is so different, so exciting and so damn cool. It warrants a 5 star review simply because of what it did. I would most heartedly recommend this game to those who love a good story, like action adventure games and want to be impressed with what video games and movies can accomplish together. | video-games_xbox |
Best UBI Soft Game in Many Moons. Far Cry 3 is a great game. It offers an incredible degree of freedom when approaching most of the challenges that it presents, has beautiful graphics, and is insanely fun to play.
In Far Cry 3, players are presented with a variety of challenges. For example, kill certain animals, get from Point A to Point B, save your friends, and survive to list a few. In any situation players can choose how to complete the task at hand. Players can go in guns blazing or take a more stealthy approach, picking off enemies one at a time by distracting them with thrown rocks and hiding in foliage...or one could simply set the jungle on fire with cocktails, fire arrows, flamethrowers, flare guns, or anything that goes BOOM.
The setting in Far Cry 3 is amazing and is only enhanced by the beautiful graphics provided by Cry Engine 3. The lush environment looks fantastic in any of the weather conditions and at all times of the day. The sun glistens off of the water and from higher places--like radio towers, mountains, and gliders--players can see over great distances and marvel at the detail put into the island.
Surviving on Rook Island is probably the most fun i have had with a new game since Red Dead Redemption. The island presents many dangers to the player in the form of wild life, terrain (like cliff ledges and waterfalls), and of course pirates. Hunting animals is very satisfying and is needed to craft larger pouches the increase inventory size, number of weapons carried, and ammo capacity among other things. On the flip side of hunting, being hunted--whether by animals or pirates--is very exciting as well. Running through the jungle jumping over rocks and zig-zagging between trees really gets the blood pumping.
While really fun, this game does have some things that seem missing or just aren't as good as the rest of the game--like the multiplayer. The things that seem missing are the ability to sleep to pass time--like in Far Cry 2--in case the player wants to wait out a rain storm before setting the jungle on fire or use the cover of night to sneak into a base unnoticed, the feature just isn't in this game. The other thing that didn't make a return from Far Cry 2 is the in-game map. In Far Cry 3, looking at the map pauses the game. While this is convenient, it isn't as fun or realistic as Far Cry 2's requiring the player to look at a map in their hands. The challenge that this feature presented while driving would have made traveling on Rook Island even more fun in it were in Far Cry 3 as well.
Overall, I would recommend this game to anyone that enjoys a FPS because this is probably one of the best that I have playing in a long time. Whether you are skilled in the genre or not doesn't really matter since there are multiple difficulty modes to choose from (I'm playing on the hardest to add to the survival elements of the game) and a variety of ways to play the game. UBI Soft should seriously work on providing more quality games like this instead of adding games to a series that don't follow the presidents set by their predecessors (Ghost Recon Future Soldier for example) and by ending that Assassins' Creed garbage that is infesting the rest of their third-person games (like Splinter Cell) | video-games_xbox |
a shame. As a wrestling fan for 15+ years, this game has some MAJOR issues which make it exceptionally annoying. In particular:
- There is no button to change your wrestlers focus to someone else. It is inexcuseable that they forgot this. Your wrestler automatically directs his attention to the last person who attacked him. So.. say you're in a tag bout, you get too close to your opponents tag-team partner and he hits you. Next thing you know, your back is turned to the legal man in the ring, and you pretty much have to let him grab/hit you from behind in order to redirect your focus and continue your offense. Even better- it's a triple threat match, or 3-team tag match, and you cant turn around to break the pin/submission because your man is still looking at an opponents stationary tag-team partner, standing on the ring apron, who you were just brawling with on the floor for a while. I have been playing the game for 3 weeks now- and unless it is a singles bout, I know I am in for more hair pulling as a result of this. Don't even get me started on what happens when your opponent has a "run-in" from a third party during a match.
- The gambling system is the most ridiculous concept for a wrestling game I have EVER seen. You win green coins for winning matches, then gamble them for other coloured coins which can be used to buy new arenas, wrestlers, abilities ect.. What a joke- this was supposed to be a WRESTLING game, not a b-grade casino wannabe. I'll tolerate this game, because I have yet to see a better wrestling game for the X-box (which doesnt say much).
- Some parts of the game are too unrealistic. Watching Eddie Guerrero powerbomb Andre the Giant is a good example of this. Also- watching a wrestler lift his opponent up on the top turnbuckle for a superplex/other move from the top rope- within 10 seconds of game play also makes me go "hmmm..". Also- I have YET to see the PC opponent follow-up from an irish-whip to the ropes. They throw you, you rebound.. and they walk right in to you. Wash, rinse, repeat. Just once I'd like to see my computer opponent pull off a drop-kick, or even a backdrop.
- WHY IS THERE NO COUNT-OUT FOR THIS GAME?!?! There should be an option to turn count-outs on/off. Right now you could sleep on the floor and the ref couldn't care less.
- What is the point in knocking down the ref to cheat.. when there is no DQ anyway? You can walk in the ring with a chair or a bat, and the ref doesnt do a thing, so the whole concept of knocking out the ref to cheat seems redundant. If anything, he/she does little but get in the way.
I still say the best wrestling game of all time was NWO-WCW revenge for the N-64. Just my 5 cents worth.. | video-games_xbox |
The game that started it all. The original Skylanders game is a worthwhile purchase for any video game fan. If you enjoy classic RPG-element story with a Pokemon-like feel to it, this is a game for you.
The story is that an evil tyrant known as Kaos destroys a device that prevents him from controlling the elements of a realm of flying islands. To ensure his victory, he banishes the heroes of his world to Earth and they are turned into plastic toys. However, the forces of Good rally and rally fast with an Obi-Wan Kenobi-like ghost known, appropriately, as Eon who develops the Portal of Power to help bring the Skylanders back home.
The thing that really sells this game is, of course, the whole action-figures becoming living avatars thing. For little kids, it's like playing a medieval Toy Story game and lend a really interactive feel to it. The story is pretty well-written and a lot of the dialogue is hysterically funny, even for a 24-year-old guy like me. The graphics are a little dated in comparison to the later Skylanders games, but hey, you gotta start someplace, Right?
For a kids game, the game is surprisingly challenging but in a fun way. It's basically an Action RPG with tons of puzzles. You can customize the characters, also, not just with useful hat accessories that boost stats, but also you can choose (for a price) upgrades that change your characters powers, kind of like a dummied-down and less-confusing version of the Sphere Grid of Final Fantasy X.
Much like an Action RPG, you gain experience also and the experience is saved to the figure that you are currently using as well as whatever money you have gotten during that character's playthrough. It's been a while since I played Spyro's Adventure (about a year since the disc got scratched and I couldn't play it on PS3 so I sold it...) but the cash you get as one character can't be transferred to other characters.
The only problem I actually have with Skylanders in general is that if you want to unlock everything in the game and get the whole story is that you must spend a lot of (real) money buying all the Skylanders out there. It's a worthwhile investment, though, since it is a great game and you can unlock a ton of amazing stuff in the game if you have more characters.
The great thing about Skylanders also is that according to the official Skylanders site, all previous series Skylanders are compatible with the games that come after it. So, if you have all the Skylanders from Spyro's Adventure, you can bring them over to Giants/Swap-Force/Trap-Team and they will come in handy.
Can't wait for (Hopefully) the eventual Skylanders 5! Keep em' coming Activision!
In the Box:
- The Game
- The Portal of Power
- Three Skylanders
- And Other Stuff | video-games_xbox |
Some weak mechanics and plot points can't kill the shine. Dead Rising 2 follows Chuck Greene, a survivor of Willamette trying to make ends meet and support his infected daughter, taking up death sports to pay for her expensive medication. During an outbreak at Fortune City, Chuck is framed for the release of the zombies causing the outbreak. Why would a horde of zombies only be secured by one weak fence, and how could they spread to all points of the map in seconds?... And why is there only apparently one emergency shelter in place for such an outbreak?...
...Uhm... moving on.
Dead Rising carry's over a majority of the mechanics from its predecessor with quiet a few improvements. Text is legible. The walkie is no longer as annoying, and can be ignored easily. Save points are more evenly sprinkled throughout the areas. Giddy points and disappointments are found with the combo weapons, which are tons of fun, but disappointing that you can't make them at their best until you unlock the "combo card." The camera has been removed, and I rather enjoyed that about DR1. In its place are bonus points for a much larger variety of activities and using combo weapons, which means you'll be using mostly combo weapons once the opportunity presents itself.
The Gameplay is otherwise just as you remember. Fight from group to group, grabbing new weapons as old ones break, collecting book powerups and hunting for rarer and more devastating toys. The number of weapons has gone up, though not as much as expected, though a larger area and more room to explore mean its somewhat easier to skirt groups rather than slog through everything. Levels and unlocks carry over as usual, making restarting almost strategic rather than frustrating. The level is much larger and more sprawling, but apart from being rather slow on foot, is easy to navigate and doesn't look cookie cutter from section to section.
Audio and visuals are as crisp as to be expected. The only deficiency is how few lines are used by the survivors and bystanders. Cinematics are fully voiced and well detailed.
Overall, the games what you've come to expect. Probably the most major downside is some of the times that were removed from the initial game that I'd have liked to see kept, and the lack of a sprint button. Those and some gaping plot holes right from the start are the only major smudges on whats otherwise a game thats just as fun as the original.
Addendum: I was having internet trouble initially, but I've finally gotten opportunity to play the mini game Terror Is Reality online. They have unranked games for you to get no money and no achievements, or ranked games to win money and achievements with no appreciable down side. The mini games are actually a lot of fun, have enough variety that you must play through at least 3 - 4 games to even try them all, as they are random, and you can win more cash in 5 minutes than you can in 5 hours in the actual game, making getting that shot of Zombrex a piece of cake. Not only did they make games that're fun and easy to pick up, they have a very real, very large bonus for use in game. | video-games_xbox |
It would be fun if the guitar actually worked. As a expert level player of these games since the original GH game from 2005, this game has potential to be really great. Unfortunately, the shortcomings are a huge impediment to enjoying the game:
1 - Calibration is not ready for prime time. I spent hours adjusting settings and it still does not feel right.
2 - Sometimes, the notes don't seem to match up with what you are supposed to play or the timing is weird or something. But you miss notes that you know you are playing along with soundwise. You'd have to have experienced this to understand, I guess. But it just sometimes feels very off. There are also times that you can't even hear the guitar.
3 - Sticky fret buttons. I've had this happen many times: you are playing chords on black and strumming while holding the first and second black frets. Then you have to switch to black fret two and three but the first fret doesn't "let go" when you lift your finger so you break your combo.
4 - The guitar is poorly made. The first one I received on launch day overstrummed on nearly every note so it was impossible to play a song. I got a replacement and while it was a little better, it still had serious overstrum issues and the only way I could reasonably get through a song was to downstrum only. This is not helpful for players on higher levels.
5 - The setlist on the disk itself is chock full of b-list junk and the quantity of songs is nowhere near past games.
6 - No practice mode. How frustrating to have a 6 minute song with a difficult solo 4 minutes in and you have to play the entire song to practice the solo. You can't slow it down or just practice that part of the song. This was a huge omission.
7 - No online cooperative play. I don't know how they could add this to the current model they are using, but it's a letdown that you can't play online with friends especially after getting shafted by Rock Band leaving out online play. They could have implemented some sort of cooperative play in the Live part of the game that only included the on-disk songs. That would have been better than nothing.
8 - You cannot "own" songs. If you want to play a particular song, you have to use tokens that you can earn by playing GHTV songs. I have been playing on GHTV and have had many songs repeat over and over. There is no way to skip songs. If you don't earn tokens from playing GHTV channels, you have to pay for tokens. But, you are only paying to play the song once. If you want to play it again, you have to pay again.
Even with the above issues, the game is really fun when it works so I left it at three stars. Activision has never been very player-friendly so I don't expect new features to be added to the game, unless they are features that will generate money for Activision, but for goodness sake, they should at the very least fix the broken stuff. If they are trying to make a comeback with this game, they missed the boat by putting out such crappy hardware. Some people might go through two or three bundles, never get a properly working guitar, and get a refund. | video-games_xbox |
World War 2 Again. Debate and discussions aside, whatever the reasons may be that the Call of Duty franchise was so decided to go back into the World War 2-era is beyond me and I've stopped all reasons to even considering thinking why or how come as the decision has obviously been made and people all around the world are playing this game, for whatever reason they themselves may have.
I for one am not here to speak directly about the gameplay-- while multiplayer is fun and the campaigns are a thrill to play through, my review isn't based on the actual game itself. Instead, I'm reviewing the contents and the context in which 'collectors' find themselves in when it comes to 'whatever edition' of any game that fits one's fancy.
If you're a collector, you pretty much know what you're getting yourself into. Some people collect these certain editions particular to the simple fact that they're for collecting. This is pretty much that exact reason. Honestly, now that I think about it, I do feel kind of ripped off. At least when Call of Duty 4 released its collector's edition it came with an art book-- this comes with nothing more than a couple of downloadable featurettes (which quite frankly you won't really be using all that much... unless you're a clan gamer then you'll find the clan tag deal to be something that might float your boat) and a flask you can't even use.
The tin that holds it all in though is HUGE! Probably only seconded by Assassin's Creed's collector edition tin. Most of the interior goes directly to packaging that houses the flask and that's about it. I bought this when it was still 79.99 (tax included as I bought it off a local game store), and seeing a drop in about 10 bucks makes me feel a little bit cheated but that's what I get for being the hasty, collector's edition nut of any release that follows.
In a way, I am kind of disappointed in my decision to go for this game's 'collector' edition but like I said, I pretty much knew what I was getting myself into. Almost every game I own, unless otherwise restrained, is some sort of 'edition' and this adds to just another item in that collective library of glam. | video-games_xbox |
Like Oblivion, only bigger, and with more stuff to do. I didn't write a review for Oblivion because there were hundreds of decent enough reviews that encapsulated my experience. I saw no need to add to the "ALSO, I LIKED IT, TOO, AS WELL" crowd without any negative comments worth mentioning.
The same dealy applies to Fallout 3, yet because of the sheer size and scope of it compared to Oblivion, I can be bothered to put both positives and negatives together into a decent enough review.
For note, I have never played any of the previous Fallout games, and showed no interest in them prior to this.
Also, I'll be dropping the name "Yahtzee" a bit, referring to video game reviewer Ben "Yahtzee" Croshaw and his video reviews for The Escapist magazine.
Positive:
-The world is indeed tremendous, and compared to Oblivion, which to Yahtzee was merely a square mile of English countryside multiplied again and again with wolves and bandits added, this world is simply a gaping epic story in itself to look at. Ten hours into the game, I still can't get over stopping and staring at the horizon, and knowing that This is the way Washington D.C., has looked for two hundred years! Being a historian, this trapped me in a quantam vortex of awesome and pee-pants.
-The V.A.T.S. targeting system, which has slow-motion angle shots for combat scenes. While Yahtzee mentioned that it looked "groovy pants", he also pointed out that because it's basically the same thing every time you use it, it would gradually just become "pants". For me at least, it hasn't yet become pants, after ten hours of play.
-Realistic gore! The M rating is put to use here, in the form of excessive violence. While nowhere near the sort of explicit body explosions of something like "Rambo", I never get tired of seeing a point-blank gunshot to someone's head have a chance of blowing their head up in a mess of blood, bone, and mushy meat fragments. Nor do I tire of crippling someone's arm and seeing their gun fly out of their hand, or firing at someone's limb enough times to dismember them, or to sever their head from their body by utterly destroying their neck with bullets.
-Insanely top-notch graphics for a game of this sheer size.
-Play as male or female, with dialogue options altering to fit your gender (ie, you'll get compliments as to how much you look like your mother if you're female, or how beautiful you are, or how much of a bitch you are for trying to steal from them).
-Genuinely interesting story that pans itself out gradually.
-Interactive people all around, including Ghouls who are nice to you (there's even an implied lesbian Ghoul couple who run a hotel in the Underworld)
I'm sure there's plenty more great things to be said, but I can't think of any major ones to speak of and so I'll have to move on to the bad.
Negatives:
-I can't vouch for male characters just yet, but the customizable options for females is an utter mess. Faces are disgusting lumps of blotchy, rugged, seemingly acne-scarred messes (which considering that the character isn't raised in the Wasteland, but rather in the highly clean and stable environment of Vault 101, is a curiosity), and for some odd reason, every pre-set and color option always ends up with the same result---the women have 5 o'clock shadow on their upper lip, and around their chins.
None of the other in-game women suffer from these sort of options, managing to look like actual women, whereas your character is forced to look like a pre-op transsexual without a long, long time spent into wrestling with dials and sliders which, like Oblivion, are connected to one another, making it hell to mold the flesh with one slider without every other slider moving on its own to screw up your changes.
-The game is an action/adventure RPG, but it's still an RPG, so damage both taken and delivered tends to border on the ridiculous, as in one scene I had a pistol and used the V.A.T.S. system to put three bullets into a human opponent's head, and not only did they not die, but they were still standing, and continued to beat me half to death with a baseball bat until I had to punch them to kill them dead.
-Occasional game freezes.
-The instant-transport system from Oblivion is back, which has both good and bad implications in that you can easily move back and forth from places without spending hours wandering around the ruins, but it's done without any consequence to time or health or fatigue anything in between, so you can just teleport from place to place as much as you want as quickly as your game will load.
-As Yahtzee mentioned as the biggest problem with Oblivion's immersion failure, there is a limited number of voice actors for the Ghouls. I can thankfully say that unlike Oblivion, not everyone has the same two voice actors, but with the Ghouls in particular, there are quite literally only two voice actors, one male and one female, and they don't even bother changing up their voices when playing the Ghouls. As such, every Ghoul you speak to of a certain gender will sound exactly like one another.
-There are some audio tapes/files in the "Notes" section of your Pip-Boy (such as your father's personal diary entries and such) which are almost completely inaudible due to the low sound mixed with the poor recording quality. It's only by sheer luck, determination, strain, and high volume, that I've managed to understand half of what is said in these diary entries. | video-games_xbox |
Very Good, Especially For The Price--And It Controls My Vizio TV. Ok, now that I actually have one of these remotes I can give a first hand review.
I only paid about seventeen dollars delivered from Amazon.com for this remote. It arrived on time and very well packaged. A couple of reviewers complained that this remote wouldn't operate their Vizio TV. I was concerned about this but for the price I decided that if it didn't operate my Vizio it was still worth while just for the convenience of using a proper remote versus using the game controller for watching a DVD or a Netflix download.
There were no programming codes available in the included instructions[...]. Unfortunately, there isn't a listing for Vizio. This is quite an oversight by Microsoft considering that Vizio is currently either the most popular brand name or very close to it for flat panel TVs in the U.S.. But whatever, it does include instructions on how to let the remote search for the proper code. That's what I did and it worked fine. Basically, you push the channel button and it scrolls one at a time through all possible codes.
I don't know how many codes there are but it only took a few tries to find a code that would turn my Vizio on and off and control the volume. Unfortunately, I never did find a code that would also include the proper function of the, "Input" button. I did find one code that allowed the, "Input" button to select, "RGB" input but no others so it was useless. So, in order to change from, "HDMI1" to, "HDMI2" I have to use the original remote that came with the TV. But that's ok since I didn't buy this remote for any other purpose than to allow me to watch a movie via the XBox 360 and control the volume of the TV at the same time.
It comes with 2 Duracell AA batteries. I have very large hands so for me the remote is a little too narrow. But it's acceptable and the rest of my family thinks it fits their hands just fine. The back-lighted buttons are a great feature.
When operating my TV the IR output is very strong. I can change the volume by pointing in nearly any direction. It's almost like an RF remote. When operating the XBox 360 it's a bit more picky where you point it but it's not bad. It doesn't have to be pointed exactly at it but I'd say within maybe 10 or 15 degrees. So far it hasn't been a problem for me. I think this is more a function of the quality/placement of the IR receiver, (TV, XBox, etc.) than of the quality of the IR transmitter, (The remote). Regardless, it's very acceptable for me.
For operation of the XBox 360 the remote works quite well. It's so much more convenient that using the game controller. If that was all it did it would be well worth the price for me.
I haven't yet used it to control Windows Media Center functions on my computer since I haven't yet connected it directly to my computer. I access XBox Live via a wireless connection directly from my wireless modem. I plan to use a long Ethernet cable to access my computer's Windows Media Center files and when I do I'll update this review to include those functions.
There are 4-way arrow buttons with a center, "Ok" button that works for nearly everything associated with the XBox 360 dashboard and anything related to navigating a menu while watching a video. These 4 arrow buttons take the place of the left analog joystick on the game controller with the, "Ok" button acting as the green, "A" button. There are a few situations where I would normally use the right analog joystick on the game controller but there isn't anything like this on the remote control. Specifically when there are two windows on the screen at the same time. With the game controller the left analog joystick will control the left side and the right will scroll up and down on the right side. An example of this would be in the Netflix menu, sometimes. But this is a very minor issue for me that I can easily live with. It's not supposed to take the place of a game controller for all functions and so far it has been successful with nearly all XBox functions that I've asked of it.
I've seen some complaints about this remote. Some have said it won't control their TV, specifically their Vizio. I wonder if these people went all the way through the hundreds of codes available in search mode. I don't think I went through them all and I came across at least a dozen codes that would operate my TV volume, mute, channel, and power buttons. I don't think I went through them all though. I kept track by counting the variations in how many times I had to push the button between acceptable codes. But MS REALLY should include codes for Vizio at least on their website and preferably inside the package.
Another complaint I saw was regarding the printing on the buttons wearing off. Yeah, it would be nice if that didn't happen but in my experience this is a common problem with all sorts of remote controls, even some that cost far more than this one did. The remote that came with my Dish Network DVR receiver had the printing wear off in just a couple of months and it costs several times what this remote costs. No problem. It's not hard to remember the buttons. If I use them enough to wear them off I certainly use them enough to memorize them. I've already memorized the buttons on the XBox 360 remote, or at least the ones I use right now. Just like with my other remotes, I operate them by touch, not by sight.
All in all I say that this is a great deal for a decent product. Could it be better or do more? Sure, but I wouldn't expect it to do anymore than it does for the price. Knowing what I know now I would be willing to pay more for this than I did if I had to. | video-games_xbox |
Not what I originally expected, but very good overall. When I bought Nightcaster..., I was expecting some type of Gauntlet game built to take advantage of the advanced XBOX hardware. Well, my expectations were partially correct...this is a pure action/Gauntlet type of game, but it doesn't quite play the same way and this is both good and bad, but in the end, the game turned out pretty good for the price.
You're given a great deal of freedom and your tasks usually involve wiping out enemies and enemy generators (a la Gauntlet) and occassionally you get to take part in small quest-like tasks. Where Nightcaster differs from Gauntlet is the attack system. Although you have a wand you can use as a rather ineffective melee weapon, you will ultimately live and die by the mana-based spellbook system. Four classifications of spells are yours and you cast them using the orb which you control with a separate aiming thumbstick, thereby allowing independent moving/firing movement similar to robotron. A unique system, but much different than what I expected when I bought the game.
Any downsides to this? Yes there are plenty. You have to choose your spells correctly for the area or situation you're in as certain spell classes are stronger/weaker or ineffective on certain enemies. The enemies are quite fast and you'll often find yourself retreating like crazy and switching spells on the fly in order to take them out. The save point system is just like Resident Evil and that... Enemies frequently "fade out" even though they are relatively close to you, only to reappear behind you for no apparent reason. And the camera system is rather constricting since you can never seem to move it to just the right angle. There are other problems, but I feel the game is quite good despite the issues and you'll find yourself enjoying it if you give it a chance.
This is a first generation XBOX product so you have to overlook some of the shortcomings. From a technical standpoint, the game is done well and you'll find yourself pushing on to finish the it. Should you buy it? Given the low price, I'd say yes. | video-games_xbox |
The first season of a great game. For a few years, I had heard of this game that Sam Lake wanted to do, a story in which a writer becomes the hero of a novel that he apparently wrote, but doesn't remember doing so. And unlike what I was expecting, which was a game a bit rushed out and unpolished for sometimes certain companies don't want to do great games, but instead rushed out products so that can get as much money as possible, to the detriment of the game and the designer's talent, this game is instead another proof that Sam Lake is a very talented writer and game designer.
Each level is designed as an episode of a tv series, called Alan Wake, where there is a summary starting from the second till the sixth episode, product placements with items like Energizer batteries and Verizon cell phones, and many references to horror classics such as the X-Files, The Birds, and Stephen King's works. Though I sometimes felt that it was a bit unnecessary to have Alan Wake say out loud certain references like when the Taken tries to get to Alan by axing down a door, or the Birds that attack Barry inside his chalet since those references are very popular. At least Sam Lake shows is this game that he respects and considers Stephen King as an important author and not a best-seller machine which is what certain intellectuals believe.
Apart from the story, I also loved the Night Springs mini-episodes that you can watch on certain televisions. The suspense is excellent and I still wished that Sam Lake had put them in the extras, among the soundtrack and the radios shows that you uncover during the game. Among my favorite songs, I loved the Poet and the muse by the old gods of Asgard, Up jumped the Devil by Nick Cage and the Bad Seeds, and Haunted by Poe.
Visually the game is excellent and the landscape is gorgeous. At night, the lighting department manages to create very scary environments, where one isn't too sure if there won't be a Taken around the corner to attack you, even when you're certain that there is no enemy around. The same can be said for the audio, which adds to the tension and encourages you to be careful to the sounds you hear as each one may be a Taken who is approaching.
There are however two things one must know about this game. First of all that it is not an open-world as in Red Dead redemption or Grand Theft Auto. However for each level, you get to be in a specific environment, very wide and impressive where you can find trivial informations about Bright Falls, manuscript pages, thermos bottles, tv and radio shows, all special tokens that can be difficult to find for they are well hidden. However you must know that there is no sub-quests as in Red Dead Redemption.
Finally, the ending will infuriate many gamers as it is open-ended and not all the questions are resolved. However this game is supposedly the first season of a series of games that are part of the Alan Wake universe. According to Remedy, there is supposed to be a sequel and the DLC content, such as the first one that will appear in July, will bridge up the ending and prepare us for the sequel. Which I hope they will get to make for they released the game at the wrong time, which was when Red Dead Redemption came out.
I hope Sam Lake won't have the same problems that Michel Ancel got with Beyond Good and Evil. | video-games_xbox |
Poor Product Quality & Inaccurate Product Description. Buyer beware!
If there was an ability to offer negative stars, this would be at least a solid -3.
My son purchased this product to use up a balance on a gift card. We received it today. He now, unfortunately, is learning a lesson about impulse purchases and the importance of making future purchasing decisions after considering ratings and reviews. At $6.95, this is a bargain to learn this life experience. Unfortunately that's the only positive thing I can mention about this product.
The product description says it comes with instructions, ours did not. While not rocket science, buyers should be given the manufacturer's directions for preparing the controllers (cleaning dust, grease, oils, etc.) to assure proper placement. I've worked with vinyl before and used cleaner to assure the controller was clean, dry, and thoroughly prepped. I share this because when we attempted to place the skin, it had next to no stickiness. I can only imagine an inexperienced person trying g to slap this on a dirty controller!
Regardless of consistent pressure, the skin just pulled up and off in all the wrong places. It was like trying to get a fruit rollup to attach to warm butter!
The skin itself looked as though it was cut by a machine calibrated by an intoxicated Stevie Wonder.
The button pattern is positioned far too high on the skin. If you line the borders of the skin up, the button inlay is off by nearly half and inch. That's pretty terrible.
If you start by attempting to align the buttons (and ignoring that half an inch of vinyl is hanging off the bottom of the controller), you'll quickly discover the holes for the buttons are way too small in their diameter.
The combination of poorly cut shapes and scale, along with basically no adhesive element resulted in the skin interfering with the ability to properly push the buttons and have them raise back up the whole way.
Amazon, please review this product to determine if it should ethically even be offered, regardless of the 100% satisfaction guaruntee. I'll do my part to educate my son on reading reviews, but I don't feel a product should be offered at this quality.
Buyer beware! | video-games_xbox |
Well worth it. Update: After a month I ran into issues with the game controls becoming buggy. The controls just stopped working, which was very sad because I ilke this game a lot. But the inability to swipe back and forth to move screens or to select what level you want to play makes the game almost unplayable. At first I thought it was the Kinect, but I cleaned the sensor, tried moving it, recalibrated, etc, but nothing worked. I dont' have any issues with the other Kinect games I own. Big fail guys.
I was looking for a fun fitness game to play on the Kinect and stumbled on Jillian Michael's Fitness Adventure while browsing on Amazon. I had no idea who she was, but the game looked like fun and seemed to include a bunch of exercises (such as lunges and squats) that I'd be willing to do at home on the days I don't go to the gym. I've only had the game a few weeks, but I really like it so far. It's a bit silly in that the adventure part isn't very adventurous, but there is a good range of exercies that you're required to do. The game offers a tutorial on each exerciese and warm up programs, and multiple "adventure" levels to play. I work out pretty reguarly, including both cardio and strength training and found myself somewhat sore after playing this game for a few days. It's a great way to make squats, lunges and other exercises I hate doing at the gym more fun. The Kinect does a pretty good job recognizing your movements though I have found that on some exercies the sensor won't register as well on a certain side; for example it will pick up side lunges to the right pretty well but not so well when you switch to side lunges to the left. This may be a placement issue with my smaller playing space though. Be forewarned that the controls can be a bit tough to use, most notabley when you're trying to go back a screen but not so badly that you can't use and enjoy the game. Overall I give it a thumbs up. | video-games_xbox |
Miles Beyond the First, Miles Below the Average. I would like to start this with saying that Two Worlds 2 is far superior to the first Two Worlds, which I found unplayable after the first 10 minutes. The voice acting is better, the sound effects are better, and the gameplay is better.
However, that being said, let's be honest. The first Two Worlds was a horrible mess, so saying it's better than that isn't saying very much.
Voice Acting: Though far superior to the prequel, the voice acting in this is still C rating and leaves something to be desired. Most of the dialogue is monotone and even when characters get excited, it is quite obvious there is a person in a sound recording studio trying far too hard to be convincing. The dialogue comes off as unnatural and awkward in almost every situation.
Sound Effects: The sound effects in Two Worlds 2 is probably its best point, yet still they do not go far beyond average. From sound of the environment, to weapons clashing against arms, armor, and flesh, they are certainly believable, but nothing at all spectacular.
Graphics: The graphics in Two Worlds 2 are lower than average when compared to other games of the same timeline. Though I wouldn't say they are horrible, they are only slightly appealing if seen from a distance. Blocky textures and stiff animations make up the world of Two Worlds.
Gameplay: The controls are run-of-the-mill, nothing at all new or very interesting. The spell creation system is pretty cool, but it's far too easy to break the game with this system. Spells you create make you easily able to scythe through any amount, and I do mean ANY amount, of the hardest baddies with considerable ease. When compared against such spells, the melee system just seems incredibly underpowered and inefficient, though I will say I had some fun with the polearms, which are, sadly, not included in very many games these days. The crafting system is somewhat interesting, but unimaginative. I found it more worth my time to search the shops for better gear than trying to craft anything worthwhile. The coolest aspect of the game, in my opinion, is the online village system. It was a very cool and original idea, but once you learn how to maximize the efficiency of your village production you quickly learn most everyone's village is built the same.
Conclusion: Two Worlds 2 is a game worth the 10$ you can give for it now, but don't expect anything even closely able to compare to bigger titles such as The Elder Scrolls, Dragon Age, or Mass Effect. Two Worlds 2 is a slightly amusing distraction for something different to full around with while waiting for your next triple A rpg, but the amusement and distraction will be short lived. | video-games_xbox |
Dreams have a nasty habit of going bad when you're not looking. When Sam Lake released in 2001 his first video game, Max Payne's success was incredible. With its numerous trophies that recognized its incredible drama and writing, the dark story of a NYPD detective whose american dream is destroyed by a horrible tragedy became a classic of the video game. Filled with references from asian action movies, the Matrix and even David Lynch works (ex:Lost Highway), this action game has been adapted for the X-Box console, and also for the X Box 360 as a downloadable game on X Box Live. So far, I think the transfer to the XBox works very well. For example, the controls and the camera are easy to use and the game offers enough replay thanks to its various levels of difficulties one can select at the start of the game. Though some would complain that the level design is a little bit dated today, I disagree with them for I think that Same Lake managed to put what sometimes game designers don't put in certain great-looking video games. And by that I mean that Sam Lake put in his game an atmosphere, a tension in the story, the dialogues, its comic book cinematics and an upsetting presence in Max Payne's nightmares, essential scenes to the narration of the game.
Unlike Alan Wake, which is rated for teens, this game is definitely not for younger players for it is rated for mature audiences only. With all its drug references, dark occult cults and psychotic characters, I think this game may not be a relaxing treat for those that want to play relaxing game. I'm saying this because I read many reviews for Alan Wake where gamers were a bit upset by the atmosphere of Alan Wake. But playing a Sam Lake video game is never a comfortable ride. It is a strange and terrifying world, but it is one where you find great scripts, voice-acting, soundtrack, visuals, and most of all, excellent plots, unlike what the reviewer Bob Andrews is saying.
A great way to start for those that want to see more of Sam Lake's universe and excellent prose. | video-games_xbox |
Civ 4- A revisitation to an EPIC franchise. First let me state that I am a HUGE Civilization series fan. I have been in love since Civ 1 and have played EVERY version, every expansion, in fact as I am writing this, I am pretty confident that I have spent more time on this game then any other game in my life, EVER. So Kudos to Sid Meier and the team for keeping this franchise growing. But I envision spending less time on these then predecessors, will try and update on that later. Also be forewarned there are some potential _spoiler_ alerts here.
The transition of this type of game to a console was definitely fraught with hard work and dedicated teams of people to make it as smooth as possible and they did a great job. So quick shout out because this couldn't have been easy. Imperfect yes, but almost perfection, with some minor alterations, perhaps one day an updated patch or DLC.
Now on to the game itself. I gave it a 4 stars because it was a thoroughly enjoyable romp around the world, or through various scenarios, but for my hardened elitist tastes, there were a few things I missed from the originals that would have made this game (and developers for the 360, PLEASE TAKE NOTE) much more fun for me. Things I missed:
- Civilization city organization screens. For example, I want to convert all my science to gold quickly.
- The ability to play past game completion (already mentioned in other reviews, but I had to reiterate). For example, you just won an economic victory, so now you want to buy an army and smash someone with your tanks.
- * The customization of the board. For example, sometimes I want an arid board, or a wet board, or a huge board, or a small board, or a huge board with only one other enemy, or a small board with a hoarde of enemies. This was the ULTIMATE factor for me in enjoying the previous games while I waited for the next expansion/version to come out*
And NOW onto the things I loved about this game. I loved some of the new technologies and ways to win were expanded from previous versions. I especially enjoyed the additional space race components and building that huge container ship. It looked almost feasible, even possibly within our lifetime. I also enjoyed the spacing between how civilizations grew. For example, Egypt starts with a wonder of the world, and then when they "graduate" to a more modern level of society (4 total tiers in the game, including starting one) they add on various benefits (for example, better production from certain tiles). This is cool as it is perhaps the most customized portion of your game, selecting from a larger pool of benefits, some unique to specific countries (hint: India and Spain are great places to start, very powerful IMHO).
A few stickler notes, some of which also noted in other reviews, the moving the zoom function and moving from unit to unit can be a little cumbersome, but hardly noticable and definitely not enough to detract from overall gameplay. Also the advisors are super annoying, but I kind of just zone them out. Would be nice (see desire for customization above) to edit features such as this. Finally, last slight ping on this platinum series franchise, the games are too short. This kind of goes in line with previous issues with customization. Sometimes in previous versions I wanted a game that I could finish in one or two or three hours. And this game would suit that perfectly. But, sometimes I wanted a 10 or 12 hour (think back on the best Risk sessions you have ever had) epic session.
Final note, I have not plugged this into XBOX live (my account just lapsed) so I have zero clue whether multiplayer adds or subtracts from this review, I can only imagine that it adds more depth, if not more customization and obviously the ability to fight friends online. I will try and update once I get this plugged in. Can't wait!
SUMMARY
PROS
quick
fun
easy
greatest game franchise ever
CONS
quick
not customizable
annoying minor quirks (advisors, moving cursors, etc
OTHER
replayability??
FINAL AMAZON NOTE:
(I am a Prime Member) I ordered this product Thursday afternoon around 3 or 4 and by Friday when I got home from work at 6, I was logging hours enjoying it. One day shipping for the price of two day shipping.
THANKS AMAZON, lightning fast shipping! | video-games_xbox |
Beware, did not work for me (edited, see below. I pre-ordered and received yesterday. I anxiously tried it out, hoping to be able to stand closer to the kinect. Alas, looks like the product is fundamentally flawed. The Infrared picture is totally dark start with, and the kinect tries to increase the contrast. Was able to see me OK, but the hand tracking was EXTREMELY erratic to the point of being UNUSABLE. Painfully went through the Calibration process a few times. Sometimes, the Kinect would complain that it could not see the floor. Sometimes, it could see it OK, and calibrated fine using the card. However, when I try to play any game, just getting it started is a chore, since the hand movements are barely successfully tracked. I thought this was because the room was not too well lit (I have two lamps in front, none in the back), so I tried it again this morning. Same results. Calibrated OK, but could not even get a game going. Looks like the IR light is severely attenuated by the lens, so the kinect can only barely see me in IR. I will be trying some more tests when I get back home tonight, but so far, the verdict is that this is a total NO GO for me. If it is like this again tonight, I will be returning the unit to Amazon.
UPDATE AFTER FURTHER EXPERIMENTATION:
I think I figured out why the reviews are so bipolar. I have my Kinect mounted ABOVE the TV, because that is what works best in a limited space. However, the Zoom seems to work best when the sensor is BELOW the TV. I unmounted mine and placed it below, and went through the whole calibration routine again. Now, I was actually able play some GAMES! How about that. Played with Kinect Sports (Soccer, Ping Pong), Kinect Adventure (Reflex Ridge) and some Dance Central (just the basic Poker Face). It all played OK, with me standing about 3-4 feet from the sensor. HERE is an additional catch: when the sensor shows if you are in the "good" or "best" position in the game, try to stand back as far as the room allows so it thinks you are farther behind. Then, when the game starts go ahead and move up front. It seems to work best this way. Perhaps the initial distance determination is by some kind of an ultrasound range finder, and that can't be fooled by a lens, but the subsequent computations are based upon the IR field, which IS influenced by the lens. Also, the IR reflection is stronger the closer you are to the device, so it works better.
Anyway, I am revising my stars to 2 because I could actually enjoy some game play with this thing. However, Nikko should have warned about the fact that this ONLY works for sensors mounted below the TV, and that too only in a limited fashion. I still have trouble getting it to recognize a hand wave even in the lower position. Takes me a while, but once it does, it seems to go better from that point. ALL REVIEWERS: Please state where your Kinect is mounted along with your review, thanks!
FINAL UPDATE:
I tried various games last night. Even in the lower position, hand tracking is very erratic. On some games it is totally unacceptable. For example, in Child of Eden, the hand tracking is critically important, and with this thing, you keep shooting at the wrong time, totally spoiling the fun of the game. At this point, I have given it the largest measure of the "benefit of doubt" and am giving up. I just filed for an RMA. Oh well, it was such a nice idea. I believe the only way this will work is if MS creates a supported update firmware that recomputes the geometry based on this new optics, or comes out with a version of their own (Kinect 2?). | video-games_xbox |
Great Co-op, Lackluster Everything Else. Capcom has combined the gameplay mechanics of Lost Planet 1 and combined them with MMO type instances that can be enjoyed with friends... or strangers who know what they're doing.
Concept: 8/10
Take the Mechs, Giant Monsters, and Sci-Fi Battles from Lost Planet and create some very polished levels designed around player cooperation. Throw in a VS Mode and a Training Mode, too.
Story: 8/10
This game takes place on a thawed out EDN III, which was completely encased in ice in the original game. This isn't really a character driven story like the first game. Instead, the story is used to set up the factions that exist in the world. There are Carpetbaggers, Pirates, Nevec Soldiers, Scavengers, and of course Giant Monsters called Akrid. The main storyline revolves around a giant creature that is draining the planet of Thermal Energy and could cause a second ice age. All of the planets warring inhabitants must band together to kill a creature the size of a city. The story is told through good mission design and wonderfully rendered cinematics.
Graphics: 9/10
The game looks great. There are jungles, deserts, frozen tundras, space stations, mechs, battles, giant monsters... Everything looks great and the character designs are excellent (Which is what you'd expect from Capcom.)
Gameplay: Mixed
There are 4 basic gameplay Modes and some are better than others.
Single Player Campaign: 7/10
You can play through the story alone or with friends. If you play alone, you can select 1-3 AI allies to help you. But these guys aren't the sharpest tools in the shed. They're more like a sack of hammers. They just sort of run around and help a bit. This is good because it allows the player to do the important stuff and feel like a hero. But it's also bad because it doesn't feel like they're helping enough. At least they don't hinder you. Most of the levels are over the top outstanding, but a few of them are a bit confusing. It's not exactly clear where you need to go and you might be a little bit frustrated at times.
Coop Campaign: 9/10
Man, this is fun if you have the right people. It's the same levels, but you and your friends feel like an elite special forces group of badasses as you take down enemies together. The game allows you to customize the look, animations, weapons, and special abilities of your characters. It's not to the degree as something like World of Warcraft, but you really can set up your character to specialize in a certain type of situation. (Battling vs Mechs, Monsters, Troops, aiding Allies, etc...) I'm addicted to this mode right now. And, if your party dies too many times, you can actually fail the level, so there's some pressure on the team to work together.
Training Mode: 5/10
Not sure why this is in the game, but you can run obstacle courses, try things out, or battle AI enemies in arenas. It's pretty simple and you get XP for playing.
Vs Mode: 3/10
This is not good. There are a bunch of levels with a bunch of different objectives like: Elimination, Team Elimination, Data Post Capture, Akrid Egg Capture, etc... Unfortunately, the grenades in the game are WAAAY overpowered, so the action pretty much devolves into people throwing grenades over walls. In the larger maps, you really have to know where the good weapons are or you will get owned. (Pwned) Also, this mode really could have been much better if the players were allowed to customize their gear like in Call of Duty. Instead you normally spawn with a generic gun and random grenades. It's too bad because the game really doesn't allow you to adopt a playstyle (Sniper, Support, Heavy Gunner, etc...)
Levels: 7/10
Aside from a few confusing spots, the levels are great looking, imaginative, and require some teamwork. They're very epic and over the top, too!!! Battles on trains, battles on flying warships, battles underground, battles in space, battles in the jungle... They're GREAT! The mission objectives are: Kill Giant Monster, Control certain parts of the map, Vital Suit Battles, advance through hostile territory and kill everything along the way...
Advancement: 5/10
Whenever you play any mode, you earn points. These points are used to unlock things via a slot machine mechanic. Push the button and get something. (There is no fail.) You earn either a nickname like, "Machine Gun Maniac", "Techromancer", "Shy around girls", "Need to do homework", "Outlaw", the scores of names basically allow you to give a bit of personality to your character. You can also unlock one of a hundred different emotes which range from useful, to fun, to hilarious. There are communication emotes, "Follow Me", "Over Here" to dances "The Nerd", "Hip Thrust", "Lizard Dance", etc... There are taunts, happy emotes, cooperative emotes, and group emotes. They're all very well done and pretty fun. And finally, you can unlock weapons. Machine Gun II, Machine Gun III, Gun Sword, Plasma Grenade II, etc... The game doesn't ever tell you the difference between them though, which is disappointing. I'd love to see stats. Actually, I'd love to see a gun, then be able to add parts to it like a longer clip, a scope, a flash suppressor, etc... similar to Call of Duty. That would have really helped this game quite a bit.
Sound: 10+/10
The soundtrack is an epic score worthy of a Hollywood Summer Blockbuster and the combat SFX are GREAT!!!
Replay Value: 9/10
If you enjoy the Coop Mode, you can really get a lot of enjoyment out of the game. There are 4 different difficulty levels, too. Oh, and there are 22 Unique Missions.
Maturity: Teen
There is some sci-fi violence, but nothing gory or over the top. No sex. And there are a few swear words for comic value.
Overall: 7/10
This is a pretty good single player game, a great co-op game, and a terrible Vs. game. If you liked the combat of Lost Planet 1 and you have friends to play with, you can really have a lot of fun. The game is pretty cheap now and definitely worth getting.
Buy it if you will have an Xbox Live Gold Account and will use the Coop Feature.
Rent it if you have about 10 hours to blow through the single player campaign.
Avoid it if you love VS Multiplayer. This is pretty weak and doesn't really stand up to the other shooters.
If you enjoyed the Coop Feature here, you should have fun playing Gears of War 3 and Halo Reach. | video-games_xbox |
Major Letdown. I was a huge fan of the first gears of war, and while the campaign is more engaging it's much shorter and not very challenging at all.
The MINOR gameplay enhancements are welcome, things like planting grenades as motion tripped mines is neat. The new characters didn't add anything of value to the game. The new weapons are interesting, but everyone still uses the old ones with the exception of the mortar, and very very rarely the grinder.
The biggest letdown has been the multiplayer. I spent the better part of my Gears 1 experience defending the game to people who complained about the lag. Telling them that it's the first in the series and they would learn from their mistakes and make a better game the second time around... Boy was I wrong! The lobby and menu setup is total garbage, only slightly improved from the first game. And if you're not the host, or on the host's team you can pretty much forget it. I had hoped they would fix this from the first game, but they didn't. Every single multiplayer game is one team totally dominating the other team. And when I'm on the winning team I can't help but feel like I just beat a one legged man in a race. And when I am on the losing team I can only hope the guys on the other team are having fun, because my whole team is bitching about lag and that's not fun for me.
Don't forget about the online glitches either! I know almost every game has glitches. (Thats what happens when you launch an unfinished game) But gears glitches are always extremely helpful to the exploiter, and every time they fix them there is a new way to do the same old glitches a week later. Some of the glitches have even come to be known as techniques and not glitches at all. Sliding to pickup weapons so you can't be shot, wall bouncing to shoot faster... WTF Epic, test a game before you deploy.
I pre-ordered gears of war 2 as soon as I could, Epic will be lucky if I even rent the 3rd installment from gamefly. I suggest anyone reading this review avoid the game as well. But hey, if you've got 10 tvs, and 10 xboxes, then I bet you could have some pretty fun multiplayer matches on a LAN, but I dunno I have never tried. | video-games_xbox |
The overflow of GTA. Luis Mejia (son) - Regardless how much the game has been expected, and regardless any comparisons and expectations, GTA IV is certainly a difficult game to review. Why? For all of us who expected a San Andreas part II (which I assure were my expectatives) the game is partially fullfiling, but not the masterpiece hoped. The game centers on Niko Bellic, a Balcanic character, and his personality in the game is somewhat charming (not as CJ which was breathtaking). But anyways:
1) The game overall: the graphics were completely arranged, a perfect example of the third generation of consoles, and the details were so masterfully crafted that the game is almost perfectly designed, and around Liberty City (New York) the buildings are abundant, and I can easily say the whole setting was around 3 times expanded than San Andreas.
2) The engine: this has been the problem of GTA for all their games, and IV almost escapes to this, but not completely; while the loading is really tolerable, and the entering to buildings and others is now automatic, instead of waiting to load, but the cons are fastidious: the movement coordination is terrible, SA was so easy to handle and learn it wouldn't take long to memorize, but here, the controls are too tight, the character movement is too slow and for sprinting is frustating, while driving is even worst, the car has a very low sense of direction, and both breaks are almost useless. By the other side, the whole setting gets invisible for a while, like you turn your head and it will take 2 seconds for buildings and details to appear, and this was already frustating in San Andreas. And one hughe mistake; the automatic saving doesn't really save, you still have to go to your home, so don't be surprised.
3) The story development: as playing becomes easier and comprehensible, adaptating to the new story won't take long, the whole plot carries out through really interesting stories, even better than SA, flowing in your family business, associate to works that will pay, killing, making important decisions (a real characteristic of the sandbox), getting involved with principal antagonist who later doublecross you, mafia business, and even once again (but less fun) the goverment pissing your life off! While you go playing, places unlock, and this is less inspiring, as, instead of having the whole map displayed weather you can access to it or not, you don't know what to expect, the safe houses, the food places, the clothings, etc, and some are even present but are not real places. Meanwhile, the off-the-story game is so polished that I don't know what to comment, sure the gameplay is better than the outside of SA, but too complicated or tiresome, now you can go to places; play bowling, pool, helitours, races, drinks, and you can even hang out with the selected friends, and later on this can give you benefits, also you can date and find dates on internet (even with other men...).
The two most radical changes of the off-the-story game are two: now you have your cellphone, from which you can contact people, organize, and it even got themes and ringtones, but this operative system could've been much better done, leaving a 50/50 judgement, and second, you can use cabs, you'll have to pay and you can even skip the road, but this is really usefull, at first, drive a lot for you to master this tight difficult skill. Also, you can use a computer, but once again, it is useless and polished, leaving my 50/50 judgement. Different fron SA is the player doesn't learn features; you don't learn to have better arm hability, driving, flying, swimming (you can't even submerge!) or even get muscles by going to a gym, which is not present, and cutting your hair, I mean, where is the improvement here? Plus, the story is aprox 3 times longer than SA, so you have a lot to play, which is really fun.
4) The comparisons/expectatives: this is the most delicate theme of the game, in a one line resume, everyone can fall in love with San Andreas, just most will love IV, but not everyone. Why? is really simple, SA had a feeling of completeness, it was far from being the best developed game, but the big gig of the game was the parody of life itself; uniting San Francisco, Las Vegas and Los Angeles with all parodied features, and adding a hughe forest, beach and desert to separate them was the sorry of an excuse for a respectable game, but this is what made it loveable; every line was memorable, it was long, and the errors; now that I notice; the HUGHE errors were just what gave the game flavour!
All the rumours and myths! the coincidences and failures, filled the wholes for the game to give off happiness, but now, IV got perfectly designed; precissely, a completely respectable game, but not a completely loveable game, maybe the only lovely error left is that you can steal the passenger seats of taxis! even though you can do many other things, the helicopter/flight access is really difficult and less fun, no airport, you don't have fabulous forests or exentric deserts, you don't have either an area 51, all you have is New York,so the case is the possitive stress one, for example, why people live so unhappy in perfect countries like those from Europe?
In a hughe conclussion, the game is perfectly respectable, but not perfectly loveable, its improvements made it an artful game, but don't expect San Andreas II, find the new setting acquireable, and enjoy being part of the once again present GTA experience. | video-games_xbox |
Definitive Next-Gen experience. Ah...so we enter into the 7th generation of the console wars. In this battle, we have Microsoft, returning with their Xbox 360, Sony with their Playstation 3, and Nintendo with their Wii. All three systems are offering some form of an enhanced gaming and overall multi-media experience.
Which system is better? This is an age old question that is presented during each console war. And the truth is, who really knows? What defines a console as the "best", above all others?
Each system bring something to the table. Each system has its strengths and weakenesses, its triumphs and its failures. Just like the previous console wars, no console really emerges with all the "gold coins".
Forget the other two for now, we are here to talk about the Xbox 360.
When the original Xbox came out, it was met with much skepticism and animosity. Many stated that this was Bill Gate's attempt to have his hand in EVERY market. Well, duh!
At first, the Xbox did not really impress anyone. The graphics were pretty good and the hard drive aspect was really cool. You could burn songs onto the hardrive and save game data. But that was really about it. The controller was bulky, as was the system, and the games that came out initially were lackluster and didn't really convey the true power of the system.
Halo changed everything. Not to mention a more streamlined controller.
Halo utilized the full power of the Xbox and showed the world that this system was a force to be reckoned with. I think more people bought the Xbox BECAUSE of Halo. Halo went on to become THE best First Person Shooter experience ever, not to mention the most popular Multiplayer experience. Which leads me to another factor that played into the Xbox's success, its LIVE feature. Hailed as the best live gaming feature for console systems, XBOX live united players from all over the world.
Sure, Playstation 2 had a live experience, but it was not as streamlined and user friendly, nor was it widely used.
After Halo, many other great games would come out that utilized the systems true power. We saw great graphical progressions on the Xbox, which had far superior graphics to the PS2, mind you. Actually, overall I do believe that the Xbox was a better product. PS2 had better third party support, but that was mostly because the PS2 was easier to make games for. But, and there is a big one, the Xbox could handle better graphics, faster speeds and bigger games, which game Xbox gamers some very special and exclusive treats (i.e Doom 3, a better Wolfenstein experience, Jade Empire, K.O.T.O.R 1 and 2, Fable and.....Halo 1 and 2). PS2 had exclusives as well, games that I absolutely loved were only exclusive to the PS2 (i.e Final Fantasy Series, Devil May Cry series, many other great RPG games, and for a small time the GTA series).
However, whenever games were eventually ported over to the Xbox, they sported better graphics and an overall better package.
The PS2 however had a strong loyal developer base and fan base, a better, more compact controller and a game library that was nothing to snuff at.
Either way you put it though, the PS2 and the Xbox were equal systems with pros and cons.
Onto the present day. Microsoft decided that for this new console war, they were going to be the first system out. This can have great benefits. First of all, getting a head start. That can make all the difference in the world. They aimed to grab all the gamers they could and rally them to their cause. Another great reason of being the first system is the experience. Everyone knows that most of the first wave of games for a new system are usually not that great (with a few exceptions). By being the first, Microsoft could get through the bad wave of first release games and get onto the meat and potatos of their gaming arsenal.
As there are some good things involved in being the first system out on the market, there are also very bad things as well.
It is believed by many that Microsoft rushed their product onto the market. This resulted in faulty systems that either refused to work, or overheated for no apparant reason at all. Not to mention certain "qualities" of the Xbox 360 that many would consider design flaws (i.e no rubber stopper in the CD tray, some sort of thermal foil wrap that was not taken off within the innards of the system, and poor design).
I can totally feel where most of these reviewers on Amazon are coming from. I would be utterly angry and frustrated if my Xbox 360 died after one day or even one week of use. Its a $400 system! Far from chump change!
I waited to get one. In fact, I was not even going to get involved in this present console war. No, I was going to skip the whole thing. Video games are a HUGE investment. I have a PS2 and a Gamecube at home, and for a while that was good enough.
But then I started playing Gears of War at a friends house. If you have seen or played Gears Of War, then you should know the experience I had. I was instantly addicted. You see, Gears of War is like Crack, the most potent kind. Especially the online aspect of it. Once you start playing against others in Deathmatch fun, you cannot stop. After a month or three of casually playing at a friends house, I decided I was going to pick up an Xbox 360.
First of all, its much cheaper than the PS3. I don't need a Blu-Ray player, or even a HD player. The PS3 has hardly any games out at the moment, and the ones they do have don't seem that great to me. (On a side not, Resistance: Fall of Man is touted as a "Halo-Killer". Don't believe the hype, its not THAT great).
I am always very weary about spending even $100 let alone $400 on anything. I thought it over long and hard, and then finally made my decision one night. My girlfriend had decided to get her Samsung LCD 37" TV that she had wanted, and I felt this was the perfect time to dive in head first into the console wars.
I was as giddy as ever driving home that night, awaiting the glory and entertainment that the Xbox 360 was to offer.....
...skip obvious enjoyment and fun...
I am not going to delve into the specs of the Xbox 360, because that is already offered on this product page. What I am going to say, is that The Xbox 360 provides an amazingly fun entertainment experience unlike anything experienced on a console before.
With the Xbox 360 you can:
1)Play games (solo, two player, XBOX Live - where you can play people from across the world in all types of games and matches).
2)Play DVD's - it will play almost all styles and regions of DVD's.
-However, there is a separate HD player that you must buy if you want to watch HD DVDs.
3)Play CD's - you can even burn them to the harddrive and play the songs while you play games(custom soundtracks)
4)Xbox Live Marketplace - where you can download game demos, movie trailers,music videos, Xbox Live Arcade games, wallpaper, gamertag pics, and much more
5)Send Text and voice messages to other Xbox Live gamers - you can even have private chats with other gamers while playing or not playing. - Think about it, if you have a friend who lives across the world, and both of you have an Xbox 360, you can chat for the mere price of a monthly Xbox Live Gold membership, skipping all long distance charges!
6)Wireless Controllers - probably one of the most attractive aspects of this system, and Next-Gen gaming all together. I remember getting so fed up with the chords on the controllers because they would always tangle. Now, I am not the kind of person who could properly wrap controller chords, so maybe that is why I enjoy the wireless feature so much. Needless to say, the wireless function is very nice and very handy and practical. Another great feature of the controller is its set up. The dual analog sticks are set a different angles so as to fit your hand more comforably. And actually, the controller is one of the best that I have ever used. I am ultra pleased with its performance and feel in my hands.
The buttons are not complex and are easy to access. The X in the middle of the console acts as the "Xbox Guide". Once pushed, it will bring you to a small dashboard display, where you can either sign in/out gamertag profiles, go to the full dashboard, or otherwise check on other specific things. This "guide button" makes for a much more streamlined and user friendly LIVE experience.
7) 24/7 connection to LIVE - with your internet connection either plugged in or signaled wirelessly (sold separately), your Xbox 360 will be connected to the LIVE Network 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The gamer is identifed online by a gamertag, which reveals info about the gamer, the gamers repuation within the gaming world and the various games that the gamer plays. You can set the system to log your gamer tag in once the system is turned on, or you can set it so that you have to manually log in. Either way it is another amazing attraction to the Xbox 360. Have friends playing on Xbox LIVE at the moment but don't know where they are? No problem! Once you sign in your gamertag Xbox LIVE will automatically find your online friends for you and signal you, making for an easy way to join friends online in a game or two.
Sure, the Xbox 360 is a vast multi-media center providing the gamer with everything all-in-one.
But lets focus on the main reason for its existence, games.
The Xbox 360 has amazing HD graphics and superior game play.
Gears of War was the reason that I bought the Xbox 360. This game is literally the flagship of Next-Generation gaming.
1) The graphics are the best ever seen on any system to day. The sheer amount of detail and care that went into the graphics will drop your jaw, and not just on the first experience! The character models are so detailed that you can see the neck and body muscles, you can see the wear and tear on characters armor, and even glare from light sources. Their faces are weathered and look very real, and they reflect light(i.e fire light). The backgrounds are very realistic. Brick walls look like brick walls, grass and foilage look ultra realistic. Glass surfaces reflect light. The sky looks amazing. And images don't just look amazing from afar, once you get close to a brick wall, it still looks just as amazing.
2)The game runs smooth as butter, movements are realistic and smooth. Nothing is choppy about the game. There are hardly any flaws in the design. The physics in game are second to none, and the enemy AI is super smart. The enemy will take cover, attempt to flank you, and otherwise try to remove your head from your body as best as they can.
3)Multiplayer is some of the best ever made, almost rivaling Halo.
So much detail went into this game, and you can surely tell that Gears of War fully utilizes the full power of the Xbox 360 in all of its glorious form. There is literally way too much to say about this game.
The true definitive experience of Next-Gen Hi-Def gaming.
And this is just the beginning! Wait for Halo 3...and Shadowrun..and Fable 2...and Unreal 3..and The Force Unleashed!
Many tout that the PS3 has better graphics and is generally a more powerful system. But what you need to remember (as in the case of the original Xbox as well), is that its not what the system has going for it, but rather what the game developers decide to utilize. If the game developers choose to not use the full power of a system, then the game will not look and feel as good as a game that does.
Gears of War looks worlds better than any game on the PS3 at the moment.
Of course, there are games for the Xbox 360 that suck big time and look and feel like games that somehow managed to escape the clutches of the original Xbox. Its all about utilization.
I personally recommend the Xbox 360. I achieved that wierd tingly feeling that I used to get when I played the orignal Nintento way back in the day. Now to me, that says a lot!
If you do decide to join the online/entertainment gaming sensation that is the Xbox 360, there are a few things you should know. Keep these in mind, as you are about to purchase a $400 system:
1)Don't leave your system on or play games for an absurd amount of time and then not expect this to cause some wear to your system. - Its not indestructable. Like all electronics, they don't last forever, so you have to take care of them while you have them.
2)Don't leave your system on all night (or all day). - This will also put a considerable wear on your system and shorten its shelf life.
3)DO NOT keep your Xbox 360 in a carpeted area or in an enclosed space. This beast has about 6 or seven fans for a reason! Use them! The purpose of these fans is to suck in air to cool off the innards of this bad boy, how can you expect it to do this if it is in a closed cabinet? If you store it on a carpeted floor, the fans will suck in the carpet lint, which will severely mess with your gaming. Trust me...
4)DO NOT in any circumstance, switch the resting position of the Xbox from its flat position to its side while in play or while there is is CD loaded in the CD tray! This should be obvious. The CD tray does not have rubber stoppers holding your CD in place, and the CD could become damaged beyond repair if you alter the position of the system while the CD is in play.
5) Do not attempt to over burden your system with too many tasks at once, this will lead to system crashed. The Xbox 360 is just like a computer, so you must treat it like one. If you assign it too many tasks at once, it will get confused and freeze up. This is not good.
6)Give your Xbox 360 time to cool off after play. This is important. This system gets VERY hot during play, a design factor that could have been resolved (but thats another story). Either way, play to its strengths and weaknesses. The power block also gets really hot (it even has a fan on it as well!), make sure you let these cool off, for the sake of the machine.
7)Never attmept to play a CD/DVD/Game that is severely scratched up, this could damage the lazer lens that reads the CD/DVD/Game, and then you got problems.
8)Do not remove the hard drive while the system is on, this is just not recommended.
9)Just remember, this is an investment in an electronic device that will be obsolete in 5 to 6 years. They are not meant to last, thats business for you. So do yourself a favor and rock it with respect while it lasts.
Now, don't think that the Wii and the PS3 are not without their flaws, I'm sure they have some as well.
Aside from all this, the Xbox 360 is an amazing system that has superior graphics, gameplay and an overall fun factor that shatters the ratings scales. I am very happy with my system. | video-games_xbox |
The SmackDown on this game will make your fingers go RAW. I know. Cheesy title but it's true. Second big game franchise to switch to a new developer right behind Batman Arkham Origins. There are lots of bugs/glitches with the new Batman game but it shows that 2K Sports does quality testing. I have yet to run into issues in the game and don't expect to either. Here are my thoughts on the game since I had a couple of RAW vs Smackdown games in the past.
There is not really any bad things about this game for me yet. I am still going through the 30 Years of WrestleMania mode. It's actually scary accurate of how they played out the matches to what actually happened in the past.
I have very vivid memories of WrestleMania 1-13. The WrestleManias after that I wasn't too familiar with since I lost interest in WWE just as the attitude era hit. Even though I didn't follow wrestling anymore I still loved the games they brought out and stayed familiar with all the wrestlers up to today.
When you are actually playing the matches from WrestleMania you have to meet objectives to be able to unlock certain uniform/costumes in the past for wrestlers and unlock wrestlers them self. The cut scenes seem to be very accurate because the commentating just seems to be copy past from the actual event. Then they carry out the animations as they actually happened in in real life.
I remember in WM12 when Shawn Michaels and Bret Hart had their 1 hour iron man match and it ended as a draw at first. I remember seeing the Hitman walking back towards the locker rooms. When Gorilla Monsoon ordered the match to continue Bret Hart turned around with the belt on his shoulder saying "What?!, WHAT?!". In the game you see him turn around and you see his lips move but you cannot hear what he says. But if you actually saw the real thing, you know he was saying "What, what" there and made me give the game a lot more respect.
I had RvS 2012, 2011 and 2009. Im sure making this jump from the RvS to WWE 2k14 was bigger then going from WWE 13 to 2k14. I noticed the pacing of the matches is dramatically different. 2k14 felt a lot smoother and honestly, it took me awhile to get use to the pace of the matches. In RvS its faster paced and you can end a match in 2 minutes on normal. I didn't like the pace at first because I couldn't steam roll my opponent.
Even on normal the game is very challenging. I have to play the game on easy to get more familiar with the controls and moves. The AI in 2k14 is much better then it ever has been with the RvS series. They counter/reverse moves more often, if they have a signature/finisher ready, they will use it on you as soon as they have an opportunity. At first I hated it, but it now makes the game a lot more fun with having that challenge. You actually have to play to win your matches, rather then just roll them over.
I bought the season pass and can unlock all the wrestlers/arenas now if I wanted. Since I have been enjoying the game so much I am just unlocking everything as I go instead. I think this game is great and worth the money. The only downside about the whole thing is that they have to use "WWE" for all the commentary/text for the old WrestleMania matches. Growing up with WWF was awesome and to see that classic logo changed to not have to F on it anymore made me a little sad.
Either way, this was a great takeover for 2k Sports. I got this game just because of the WrestleMania mode and being able to finally have a official roster with classic wrestlers. Worth the 60 dollars if you ask me. | video-games_xbox |
SubHuman. I was foolish enough to doubt the countless bad reviews this game got. I figured I'd give it a fair shot.
This game is bad. So bad that I will keep it short and sweet.
Graphics: I really could care less about graphics but I know it is a major selling point for some gamers. Too Human has beautiful "large" environments. I say "large" because the levels seem huge, with backgrounds that go on for days but you are basically confined to halway size paths that you run through and repetively slash at enemies.
Character equipment designs are gorgeous. Facial textures look laughable on some characters though. Mainly Baldur himself.
Sound: Sound along with equipment design are the only 2 stars I will give this game. The musical score is good and so are the sound effects.
Controls: The right-thumbstick controls are controversial. I see what the designers were trying to do and in fact the combat controls seem to work, however a totally broken lock on system breaks the controls. You will litteraly have a GIANT 2 feet in front of you. Tilt the thumbstick in front of you and there's a good chance you will forego this behemoth to target some random midget that is minding his own business 600ft away. This is inexcusable. This problem is compounded with a horrible camera system. Forget about using the default camera and pull back to ISO mode. Even ISO mode, however, cannot save you from camera seizures that happen when you try to turn a corner or even turn a 180.
Gameplay: Ok this is where I could rant forever but I will try to be brief.
- Game is made of only 4 ungodly massive levels.
- Combat is broken by the camera and lock-on system
- Character classes are totally unbalanced. Certain classes are dying machines. Imagine playing an MMO, where every class has a purpose in a team concept but there is no team, only you (maybe one friend online)
- Speaking of online, it is broken as well. The enemies level to the highest lvl character in the group. So.. I got my game a week before my friend. I reached level 35 he was lvl 15. We figured the game would find a happy medium to scale the baddies to. WRONG!! Every creature was lvl 38+. Resulting in my friend dying every 2 secs.
- Pointlessly boring cyberspace quests.
- Bosses have way too much health( GARN especially)
Story: The story is pretty bland with bad voice acting and dialogue.
+ For choosing Norse mythology instead of Greek or something else that's been run into the ground.
- For choosing Baldur as the main character when you have Thor and Tyr as supporting characters. Baldur is so sissified that his mother had to beg everything in creation not to kill her son but he ends up dying at the hands of the only thing she thought harmless enough not to ask.... MISTLETOE. :(
- The story could be compeling but nothing is explained. The designers must have figured that Norse mythology is the #1 religion in the world and everyone knows it like the back of their hands. Nothing is explained only refered to. Characters are introduced with little to know backstory. The story in this game basically sucks because of presentation.
So on a final note, there is a lot of complaining about the death scene. It is there to mask the loading/game over screen you would see in any other game. I actually think this is a good idea. The bad part of it is that you will die so many times in this broken game that you will see the valkyrie animation 100+ times.
For the love of God, if this did not detour you from playing this game at least rent it and judge for yourself. | video-games_xbox |
Exasperating Controls, Complete Fail. With Disney's name and image attached to this game, I assumed the best and made a quick Christmas gift purchase for my daughter. I realize now that I should have researched a bit more before buying. What was intended to be a relaxing evening in-between bowl games turned into a heartbreaking experience due to this game's very poor Kinect software integration. The interplay is hand gesture-driven, yet the game falls flat on just this single, critical feature. Which is surprising, seeing how the game was designed by Frontier Developments for Microsoft release. Frontier also built Kinectimals and otherwise has a pretty nice track record with respect to Microsoft projects.
I've read several similar commentaries regarding how the tedious and aggravating hand gesture interface adversely affects game play. I'm convinced that the problem lies with the game design and software, and not with Kinect. We couldn't even get through character creation because the interface totally failed to register my 8-year-old daughter's hand movements. It registered well prior to that screen, but during character creation, the game stranded her totally. Wouldn't even display the hand silhouette. What's worse is that if she extends her left arm toward the floor, it recognizes her gesturing for the menu screen with no delay. Within that screen (which is part of the system's design, not the game's) she can navigate and track with no problems as well. Only during game play does it fail to properly register and track her hand motions. It's infuriating. She had been SO looking forward to checking out the virtual Disneyland park.
It's gratifying to know that Disney seriously cares about their customer experience and may be inclined to take some action, seeing how many similar reviews exist. If we were at a Disney property, and my daughter was, say, brought to tears by an inconsiderate and offensive actor, I know full well that there would be serious repercussions for the employee and my daughter's experience would take a quick and magnificent turn for the better. Perhaps if they understand that this game literally brought my 8-year-old daughter to tears (and several other families to similar endings over what is apparently a design flaw) ought to bear some consequences for the game developer. Would a downloadable patch be out of the question?
Since most people who write negative reviews tend to check back from time to time, I hope they'll read this and take a few moments to forward their comments directly to Disney and Frontier so that there will be at least an opportunity for accountability. | video-games_xbox |
One of my favorite surprise break-outs from 2013. SoD returns with a few new offerings and it's still fun! (sometimes glitchy. State of Decay is Xbox 360 break out hit from 2013, and the second fastest selling game on Xbox Live. The game is praised for being a challenging survival sim with some RPG and Roguelike elements. You are given a slew of somewhat random characters and are tasked with missions to find (finite) resources and help rescue other survivors scattered around the wilderness. Resources in the world are finite and true to the name of the game you will eventually run out (but not before you finish the game). They include things like medicine, ammo, & building materials. You will eke out a meager existence by building up and managing a base, managing sickness, and training your survivors. Eventually youll become decently powerful and more than capable of taking on large swarms of zombies and even deadly special zombies.
SoD isn't the prettiest game around, never has been and never will, but what it lacks in visuals it more than makes up for in depth and quality game-play. Theres a long list of skills for each character you come across and you are able to level individual characters up and receive special abilities too. Combat is never dull either as you're able to find a number of good (and bad) melee weapons ranging from crowbars to swords. Even more so, you're able to find quite a few guns too, and while very powerful the noise attracts more zombies. Ammo is obviously somewhat scarce but even a ranged character will do fine with the right gear and training. Survivors are also able to use nearly any vehicle they come across but doing so might make you miss out goodies as you zoom around the landscape; stealth also plays a key part as survivors will need to sneak around to avoid attracting more zombies to an area - bigger actions make more noise. True to its name, death is permanent in SoD and while the odds aren't stacked against you it is fairly common to lose a few characters to swarms or special zombies.
The story isn't very fleshed out but the main arc carries the game well enough to do its job right, and helps flesh out some of the world lore. Buy SoD for the game-play, the great depth, and not just being another hack-&-slash. State Of Decay: Survival Edition ships with all the previously released DLCs and extra content packed into one purchase. As well, previous buyers of the Xbox 360 version get a $10 discount through the Xbox Live store for the digital copy. DONT buy SoD if you want a deep story, beautiful graphics, or are expecting an action packed block buster. | video-games_xbox |
GTA ripoff big time, how about some originality. After playing Dead-Rising at a friends house on his 360, I had pretty much decided I was going to buy one for myself, but after playing this boring, cheap-looking GTA rip-off, I'm not so sure. I was never a huge GTA fan to begin with, so you can imagine my 'joy' when after playing for 45 minutes or so, besides being totally bored, I felt like I had been playing San Andreas the whole time. I'm not kidding people, this is the exact game, drugs, ho's, pimps, ridiculous dialogue, lame tricked-out cars, lots and lots of guns...........yawn, been there, done that!!!!!!!! Now, don't get me wrong, I have nothing against violent games, Silent Hill and Manhunt are two of my favorites of all time, but the violence in those games serves a purpose, it's needed to tell the story and define the lead characters. The violence in Saint's Row is a joke, just glorified gang-warfare with so many dumb and un-necessary explosions I was closing my eyes most of the time to save myself from a seizure.
The dialogue between the pimps and ho's will absolutely crack you up, I'm pretty sure pimpin' today is nothing like it was in the 70's, but someone forget to tell this game that, absurd!!! I'm pretty sure a few woman's groups are gonna' have a field day with this title. Like I said earlier, after about 45 minutes of playing my friend and I just turned and looked at each other and just started bustin' out laughing, we both commented on how we hadn't played a game this bad in years. He bought it at Game Crazy, and upon returning it, the guy at the counter said he had had many complaints, and it wasn't the content he said people were upset about, it was just the fact that it was a lousy game-play, poor control, GTA missions we've all already done, and just a huge bore. So, needless to day, my friend was very happy cuz' the clerk understood and gave us a full refund........
Skip this one people, if you're that desparate for an envelope-pushing 'adult' game, play 'Dead-Rising' a few hundred times more (what an awesome game) or go old skool and play Silent Hill, Resident Evil, Manhunt, or hell, even go back and re-visit San Andreas, any are better then this re-tread!!!!!!!!! | video-games_xbox |
Wow should this game really be this fun. Let me start off by saying I'm not a fan of 50 Cent nor someone who usually listens to rap. I've also never played the first 50 Cent game Bulletproof. I picked up the game because it was cheap and I really didn't expect much but wanted something to keep me occupied for a few hours. Most the reviews I read gave the game low scores because of it's repetitive dialog, over the top unrealistic story, and because of the overly excessive foul language. In my opinion none of these really hurt the game much other than some of the occasional sexist remarks which my wife wasn't too fond of hearing.
The game really is unrealistic as far as story goes. 50 Cent is somewhere like Iraq or Afghanistan doing a concert and for his pay to be there he gets paid with a diamond encrusted skull. Some terrorists attack 50 and steal the skull. 50 Cent gets mad and decides he's going to take on every one who gets in the way of him getting the skull back. You play as 50 Cent and have one of the members of G-Unit playing with you such as Tony Yayo or Lloyd Banks controlled by the computer. There is a multi-player option, but it is online co-op only and will allow someone else to join your game, or you can join theirs and play as the G-Unit side-kick.
The gameplay and controls will be familiar to most people who've played recent first person shooter games such as Gears of War and Call of Duty. Blood on the Sand actually includes a duck and cover system similar to Gears of War. There is also somewhat of a melee (hand to hand) fighting system you can choose to use but all you do is press B when prompted. The melee (hand to hand fighting) is the weakest part of the fighting and I personally just avoid using it all together. Most the time you will use one of several dozen hand guns, machine guns, bazookas, RPGs, grenades, or countless other weapons to fight off oncoming terrorists.
There are plenty of weapons to choose from and unlock as you play through the game. Along the way you will find hidden things such as targets and posters that will unlock some things and provide bonuses at the end of each chapter. You will also collect money from those you kill as well as from breaking certain crates and finding hidden areas in levels that you can use later to buy and unlock more weapons, melee attacks, and even taunts that are rated by how explicit they are.
The music is basically a slew of 50 Cent and G-Unit songs which unlock as you play through the game. It does allow you to go back and listen to any song you've already heard if you just want to hear a specific track. You can also somehow unlock full 50 Cent music videos to watch from the main menu of the game. Everything I've heard dialog and music-wise all sound unedited to my ears. There will be plenty of N-words, F-bombs, M-F'ers, and all your favorite cuss words which may offend some. Luckily there is a sound option to turn up and down the volume to the music and dialog if you are easily offended or just tired of hearing it.
The game controls handle really well, are very responsive, and the graphics are better than I expected. The story line is so ridiculously over the top that it almost is a self-parody of rap music. The violence is through the roof, and the language is spewing every few seconds. The entertainment value and laughs the game provides are aplenty if you're an easy going person who can let loose and laugh at the absurdity of the game and everything happening. The game is by no means worth the $60 MSRP but if you can get it for $20 or less, you're bound to be able to get your money's worth out of the game. It is a game most people could beat if they rented it, but you might need to play through a few times if you plan to find every hidden target or poster to fully unlock everything and all the achievements.
It's actually a fun game but one to keep away from your young kids. Give it a try if you like FPS games, it really might surprise you with the great controls and over the top everything. Those looking for a in depth serious FPS shooter should look into another game. | video-games_xbox |
Everything or Nothing has Everything. This is what true Bond fans have been waiting for. It blows all other Bond games away, best since Goldeneye. It starts out with a typical intro serquence just like in all the Bond movies, only you actaully control this intro sequence! The 3rd person view may seem like a bad idea at first, but once you play, its surprisingly easy to use. The control configuration is very simple and easy to get used to. You get a very good assortment of weapons, some of my favorites like a Walther P99, Desert Eagle, MP5K, SIG 552, AK-74, SPAS 12 Shotgun, Rocket Launcher, If theres more, I haven't got to them yet. Theres also an innovative hand-to-hand combat system, ever wanted to bash someones face in with there own gun then knee them in the stomach and watch them fall to the floor? You can even peek around corners and pick the guy off before he knows what hit him. The evasive roll is a good way to quickly move in on an enemy and take him out with a good move if your out of ammo or just wanna do something fancy to the eye. You even have a repel chord cord you can use to scale up or down flat surfaces. If all this sounds to confusing, not to worry, the game makes you take a MI6 training course that teaches you these skills quite well. The levels for this game are not very hard either and there not too long. They are very creative and action packed though. In some levels you get to choose which vehicle you would rather drive. Some vehicles include a motor cycle, SUV, V12 Vanquish or "Vanish", Army Tank, Cargo Truck, even a helicopter! The entire video game actually makes you feel like your watching a Bond Movie. You even get Q briefinggs at MI6 headquarters in Scotland. What perhaps makes this game is the use of actual actors and there voices. Yes, that means Pierce Brosnan actually does the voice in the game, John Cleece as Q, and some other well known actors such as Shannon Elizibeth, Heidi Klum, and an old friend, Jaws is back! Played by Richard Kiel. With all this great stuff what could be wrong with this game? Maybe its just me, but the story line seems kind of vauge. And the way the cars drive, its difficult to control sometimes. Ammo shortages are another problem, maybe thye'd rather you use the combat system sometimes though. Overall id give this 4.5 stars out of 5. This won't be a waste of money! | video-games_xbox |
Fantastic. I've been playing games since 1987 when I got my 1st NES for Xmas. I started really playing Halo in 2008 when I got my 1st Xbox. I had, of course, played multiplayer Halo on other friends' Xboxes in college and grad school and enjoyed it but had never tried the campaigns. When I finally got an Xbox (because I couldn't resist Mass Effect), I decided it was a good opportunity to give Halo a try. I picked up the original trilogy off E-bay and got to work.
Fast forward 5 years and Halo has become one of my favorite game series of all time. Halo 4 is the near-perfect evolution of everything Bungie built over the last decade. The campaign completely blew away my expectations vis-a-vis the continuation of Master Chief and Cortana's story. If you were a fan of the original trilogy, you'll find an action-packed, emotionally-gripping tale complimented by eye-popping visuals (possibly the best graphics of any console game) and a crushingly good score. Forget any reservations about 343 taking over development (From Bungie) and Neil Davidge taking over music (for Martin O'Donnell). If you're a Halo fan, this is the game you hoped it would be.
If you like multiplayer, you are going to find a range of options and unlockables here to keep you busy for a long time. I don't typically play a lot of multiplayer. I'll play a games campaign, spend a week or so playing multiplayer and move on to another game. I've been playing Halo 4 MP for 2 months now while my game backlog builds because I just don't want to play anything else. There are modes for every taste and a growing community that'll thrive until the release of Halo 5 and beyond.
My only personal complaint is the lack of campaign matchmaking. It'd be nice if you could pop online and get matched up with someone who wanted to play the same campaign mission as you did. You have to settle for playing the campaign with LIVE friends (Halo: Reach did add this feature after the games release, so we might hold out hope). If you were in big fan of Firefight, in previous games, it has been replaced here by Spartan Ops, an episodic, story-based Co-op mode (which I personally prefer but others do not). Also I've heard some complaints online, from Halo fans, about the additions of Sprinting and Loadouts (too Casualized, too much like Call of Duty), but for my money they only serve to greatly enhance the multiplayer experience. Finally, if you don't have a Xbox LIVE Gold Account (an extra expense), you will be greatly limited in the amount of content you can enjoy (Including videos unlocked during the campaign that must be viewed through the Halo Waypoint, a Gold-required Application).
Very minor annoyances aside, all in all this game has pretty much everything a fan of First Person Shooters could want. Story, Music, Visuals, Vs Multiplayer and Co-op all blend together to create the best game of 2012 and one of the best First Person Shooters of all time. Buy this game, you won't regret it. | video-games_xbox |
No Suprises, Still A Solid Game. Halo 3. The conclusion to the revolutionary game that started it all.
Is it fun? Yes
Is it worth buying? I think so.
Is it innovative? NO.
Is it revolutionary? NO.
Is it just more of the same? Basically.
Don't expect to be amazed by this game. If you've played Halo or Halo 2, then don't expect surprises. Some people have cataloged this game as "Setting the bar of future First Person Shooters", and nothing could be further from the truth. This is a great game but it's not innovative. Halo: Combat Evolved was innovative. Gears of War was innovative. Halo 3 is basically more of the same.
One thing that I would have to disagree with the detractors though is on the story line. Most people who love everything about the game absolutely DESPISE the story line. They say every negative thing about it.
I myself found it quite engaging.
The story may be somewhat hard to follow for those who aren't familiar with the events of Halo: Combat Evolved or Halo 2, and even for those who are, if you don't FULLY read the terminals that are scattered through out the game, you won't get the full story. Without spoiling too much, you get to learn a lot more about the Forerunners, about why some of their installations were known as libraries, why you hear terms like "indexing" a lot, and even how life started on earth. Every line spoken in the cut scenes during the campaign has something to do with the big picture. Especially with the prophet of truth says about "steeling" yourself for what "needs to be done".
For those who appreciate astronomy, physics, and deep space travel, the science part of it is pretty entertaining. It's awe inspiring to imagine a forerunner installation (The Ark) so far away from the Milky Way galaxy (2^18 light-years according to the "oracle"). The science and story of the game, I found very profound and intelligent despite what others say.
Multiplayer? Come on, its HALO! Multiplayer delivers but it could've been much better. The map selection for team slayer games seems to cycle between the same 2 places. Same thing goes for team slayer.
There's a lot of content to this game. Did it live up to it's hype? No. Far from it. But its STILL a good, solid game worth buying. | video-games_xbox |
I'm a gamer first, musician second - Rocksmith delivers. I'm a lifelong gamer and have dabbled with musical instruments. I would humbly say I'm slightly better than someone who has never picked up a guitar before.
Like many who purchased Rocksmith, I was ready to graduate from Rock Band and Guitar Hero. I was hopeful that Rocksmith would do several things for me:
1. Inspire me to pick up a real guitar more often.
2. Teach me to play entire songs.
3. Improve muscle memory.
In short, Rocksmith has succeeded on all counts!
It will, however, NOT TEACH YOU HOW TO READ MUSIC. As a result, don't expect to play songs that are not in the game. This shouldn't surprise you but somehow I keep reading reviews about how this doesn't compare with a real instructor, which isn't what it's meant to do. That said, I still love this game! Here's why:
-INSTRUCTION-
Rocksmith delivers on the promise that you can plug in any electric guitar and learn to play songs. It also teaches beginners how to tune and how to use various playing techniques. The verbal directions and visual cues are perfect to help you accomplish your goals. Additionally, you can repeat any lesson along the way. Lastly, the game is adaptive, meaning that it will adjust to your skill level automatically. In other words, Rocksmith will only display one out of every ten notes initially. Once it realizes that it's too simple for you, it shows you more notes (or vice versa). This is not going to be an easy road but it's a very doable one.
-SONGLIST-
The songlist is respectable and spans many genres and several generations. The first song that is presented to you is Satisfaction. I wasn't totally excited but this is actually the perfect first song because A. everyone knows it, B. it's relatively easy to play, and C. will inject every beginner with a little confidence. By my second session, I'd already skipped ahead to try some old favorites like Sweet Home Alabama, Vasoline, and In Bloom. My only wish is that there are more mainstream songs. For instance, it has two songs by The Black Keys and two songs by Muse. I'd gladly trade one of those for a Doors, Led Zeppelin, Ozzy, or Aerosmith song. Moreover, Rocksmith seems to have pretended that the 80's glam-rock era didn't exist! No Motley Crue, Def Leppard, Poison, Ratt, etc...
-REPLAYABILITY-
It is very easy to spend an hour in this game and not realize it. Rocksmith is ideal for goal-oriented people like me. I'm motivated to play in order to improve quickly so Rocksmith gives me more notes to challenge me. With over 40 songs in the lineup (not even including all the DLC that keeps growing), Rocksmith will keep me busy for a very long time, or at least until Rocksmith 2 is released.
-LAG-
I have my xbox connected to a receiver and have no lag issues. It's as sharp as plugging my guitar directly into an amp.
-GRAPHICS-
The visuals are nothing spectacular but it works fine for the game. Let's face it, no one buys this title for the graphics anyway. From a usability standpoint, Rocksmith does a great job of utilizing colors and symbols to represent what it wants you to do.
-MULTIPLAYER-
Aside from not using miniature plastic instruments, the biggest difference between Rocksmith and RB/GH is that this is not a party game. Multiplayer is non-existent. The objective of the game is to teach you how to play songs with a real guitar, not rack up some arbitrary score or "save" each other from a virtual concert fail.
-RECOMMENDATION-
Not only do I play with my electric guitar a lot now, but I also pick up my acoustic to practice the songs I've learned so far. For someone who probably spends too much time holding a controller and not enough holding instruments, Rocksmith has made me less guilty about turning on my xbox and made it less embarrassing when playing a guitar -- all for under $100. With the right expectations, Rocksmith is a true gem. Buy without hesitation. | video-games_xbox |
Sound, comfort, and battery is great. Microphone is NOT. I bought these about a month ago and I have to say they definitely have the potential to be 5 stars. I bought them because I like to be immersed in sound while playing my Xbox One in the middle of the night without waking my family. This headset accomplishes SOME of that. The sound is great, although the 7.1 Audio didn't give the surround feel that I'd hoped for. I love the fact that it's completely wireless and doesn't require a cord to be connected to the controller like some other Xbox One headsets. However, my main issue is that the there's a problem with the microphone sensitivity. I have to speak loudly in order for the microphone to pick up my voice. What's weird is that if I use the headset to make a call on my cell phone it works perfectly fine. The only time I have an issue is when I'm chatting with it on the Xbox One. I've tried everything to solve the issue. I've reset the headset, removed and re-seated the microphone itself, power-cycled both the headset and transmitter, reset the Xbox, updated the firmware....you name it, I've tried it. What I also don't like is that Turtle Beach Support is a friggin joke. Not only does it take them several days to respond to your emails but they reply with useless, scripted junk that anyone with half a brain would have already tried. The support representative (Samson) that I spoke with had me update the firmware twice and hoped that would fix it. I still have the issue. Now he blames my Xbox. Smh.
My other issue (that many others have mentioned) is that the overall volume is way too quiet for this headset. These speakers are more than capable of much louder sound but for some reason Turtle Beach decided to cap them way too low. Even at max volume I can't help but want for way more sound! At first I thought it was just me but I noticed a LOT of reviews on the net of people complaining about the exact same issue. At this price we should not be dealing with this type of issue. There was an update released around the end of January 2015 that was supposed to fix the volume issue, I applied the firmware update and I DO NOT notice a difference is volume. However, my microphone sensitivity has gotten WORSE after this update.
Aside from those issues, I think that a headset that retails for more than $200 should be considered a "Premium" headset according to Turtle Beach, which this headset is not. Unlike the older TB XP500 headset, there are no presets that can be used to adjust the microphone sensitivity so I don't think I have a real solution for this issue.
I would have given these 2 stars but considering they are the only truly wireless option at the moment, I have to reluctantly give them at least 3 stars. I'm hoping I just have a bad headset and it can be replaced with one that does not have any of these issues I've mentioned. By the way, my hearing is perfect so that's not the issue. lol
******UPDATE: About a month after writing this review I finally got Turtle Beach to send me a replacement microphone. The mic that they sent me appears to be different from the original that was packaged with the headset. I'm please to report that the issue is gone! The new microphone does not have the low volume issue. My friends can actually hear me now and for that reason I will change this review to 4 stars.
PROS:
Comfortable
Completely Wireless
Decent battery life
Good sound
CONS:
Overpriced (as usual)
Microphone sensitivity too low
Sound is way TOO QUIET | video-games_xbox |
quick but intense. i have this long term goal of playing a game from every american war.there are 11.when i heard this was like the war we are in now,i bought the game.it was my 6th out of 11.
i started playing it on its release date,tuesday.i was done with it by the next monday.i didn't play for more than 2 hours any one day and was out of town for 3 of those days.so thats not very much content.this includes do-overs from being killed,failed missions and getting stuck.i guess im more of a rpg guy who loves 40 hours of gameplay.
i will say that ive never played a military game with more stuff to do.there was painting targets,sniping,sneaking about,riding 4 wheelers,blowing junk up from an apache helicopter,guierrilla war fare,chasing enemies through the mountains etc.it was great fun!
however,on the down side,the game was full of stuff i thought could have been better.a lot of times the parts where they are exlpaining something vital was done during a very intense shootout and were missed.the book was very basic so a lot of moves that were necessary weren't listed,instead simply said during a firefight.
a lot of times the goal was unclear.one time i fell out of a base and all of the buildings flew into the air and i died.thats what happens when you go too far after one of your buddies dies.that stopped me for a while.another time i was trying to shoot a terrorist from mountainside to mountainside.the sights were flailing all over the place.there is a special one time button press that allows you to steady your gun.only good on that mission.yet once more on a few of the flying missions i couldn't even see what i was trying to destroy.i got lucky after dozens of failed missions there.i like more straight forward games.
there was next to no story also.just a black guy in a base arguing with a white guy in an office.i would rate this game as my 3rd favorite military game ever.the 2 ahead of it have stories to go with all of the blood and guts.they are "civil war" and "turning point:fall of liberty".
i gave it 4 stars because it was great fun,mostly and there was suprisingly a lot of variety for the players activities.i also got to get as close as i'll ever get to killing any terrorists since the navy thinks i too drunk and the marines think im too violent.thats pretty bad there[both of them].it did not give 5 stars because i didn't like the price,it was too short,lack of decent story and it was a little buggy in places.
i say get it cheap.then leave your schedule open from friday after work until bed time sunday and kick some taliban butt! | video-games_xbox |
It took time for me to tinker with, but it is a wonderful console. It took time for me to tinker with the new Xbox One, but it is a wonderful console. The connection of the xbox 1 is simple. But you must adjust the position of the kinnect 2 unit just right. It can't be set to high up or to low from viewing YOU. I am a couch potato and like to sit in my easy chair when playing games. My easy chair is 4 to 6ft away from the kinnect 2 and my TV. First, you have to setup up your wifi connect. That was easy. Then log in. Go to settings and then click on Kinnect.. A video pic will show you sitting in your chair or on your sofa. No matter what it says, pick "my kinnect cannot see me" and click on that. Then click on " I can see the floor". Kinnect will say you are to low or to high. Now you will see a crescent of dots. Adjust THE TILT on the kinnect unit to line up with the GREEN circle of the dots. The white dot must line up with the GREEN dot. When it does it will tell you "It is just right. You now have your kinnect lined up properly. Now go out of settings and go into "Let us show you around" and look for a raised hand. This is the GESTURES settings you must set up for using your hand for playing games. Click on it and now just follow instructions. Just complete each step and you will be done. The AUDIO voice commands are touch and go. If it doesn't hear you at first, raise your voice louder and speak CLEARLY. Kinnect won't recognize bad enunciation, trust me. I had a cold the other day and my voice commands didn't work at all.
At this point I srongly suggest you also purchase a controller - charger unit to put in your Xbox controller. It comes with an attached nice 9ft cord to plug into your Xbox One console. This way, your controller will never lose it's charge. Otherwise without the charger, you will be constantly be poping in AA batteries into your controller.
Now for Xbox one game graphics itself. The graphics are awesome in Ryse Son of Rome and Dead Rising 3. You will definitely need to use your hand gesture to push away zombies in Dead Rising 3. Also I tried out blu ray movies on the Xbox one blu ray player. This player is the latest version and it plays beautifully. Even YOUTUBE has been updated which wasn't on a older player I had. The Xbox one controller in your hands is very comfortable and the buttons respond just by a light tap. You will find how quickly they respond when tapping the buttons in the sword slashing game of Ryse Son of Rome. I liked that.
One minus though,I didn't like that I always had to press the silver button next to where you insert a game disc to eject the disc when finished. There is no button on the controller to eject a game disc or blu ray video disc. So maybe in the future Microsoft will come out with an update. So I think I covered what's important. I highly recommend that you purchase this game console. You WILL love it after you get it set up. And one more thing. Do buy Dead Rising 3 to go with your new Xbox One. It's a Zombie blast. Enjoy | video-games_xbox |
Think carefully before purchasing. Anyone who plays video games, especially online, knows it's important to have a compatible, functional, comfy headset. I don't like to do reviews on products but with a purchase on something as expensive as this, I think everyone needs to understand what they are buying.
I'd like first start with complimenting Amazon on the one day shipping to get it to me the morning after ordering it- absolutely amazing and has only happened with this product. I also ordered this product during a flash sale which allowed me to get it for much cheaper than the original price.
With that said, I want to discuss the Astro Gaming Halo A50 headset now.
PROS:
- COMFORT is amazing on these. Wonderful padding on the ears and top of the head- the adjustments fit any head that is even irregularly large or small. I'm 22 and love video games in my spare time, as a girl playing xbox though it's always hard to find headsets that fit me.
- SOUND QUALITY is good from my perspective; with that being said, I have not had an extensive amount of experience with headsets. I bought my boyfriend the Tritan brand and he loves his. I would absolutely say these are better than Tritan, Afterglo (which I have used), and of course the starting headset that you get with the xbox one.
- FUNCTIONALITY is also great; the headset is wireless. They have one cord that connects the controls to the headset. It is not a burden for this one cord- the mix amp is wireless from the headset and is only connected to your xbox and a power source. The headset even comes with a stand which I personally love.
CONS:
- PRODUCT QUALITY is very poor. When you are spending $300 on a headset then it better meet expectations. My mic is continuously and constantly lagging and cutting me out of my chat. Not only does it affect me speaking with teammates and friends, it has been causing my controllers to lag and even glitch completely. Let me explain what has been happening: I have 4 controllers and when the issue first began I simply thought it was an issue with the controller. After running through all controllers, both new and old versions, it is absolutely something that is caused by the headset. When the headset is not being used with the controller, the controller will function normal.
- CHARGING NEEDS are mediocre. The power button makes it hard to know if the controller is on or off. The charging port is also surrounding by the headphone jack and it is indented into the headphone making it difficult to fit some chargers into the port if they have a thicker port. It also sends a shooting ring when you are running out of battery.
- GLITCHING has been occurring even regardless of the controller issue; the mic continually cuts out and it will begin to spit out a type of static beeping which is terrible enough to give someone a headache after hearing it for as little as 2 minutes.
I have set everything up as instructed. All components have been updated and I even have the newest version of the xbox. I'm very disappointed in the quality of a product that is so highly priced. The quality of this product is much lower than Astro seems to uphold.
HEADSET RECOMMENDATIONS: If you want a good headset and something that is reliable I would look into the ones that Triton produces. They have the open, over the ear headsets. The quality is good and the price is much lower than these. The mix amp, provided with this Astro headset, is overrated and unless your spending the majority of your day playing xbox online and using a headset, the Triton would work just fine for you. If you want to make the investment for an expensive Astro pair, I don't recommend this version. I would look into the other equivalents they offer. | video-games_xbox |
AMAZING game play... But monochrome? MONOCHROME?? REALLY. Let me start by saying that 70% of the game is absolutely super fun! If I could have given it 3.5 stars I would have, but that's not an option, and this game just doesn't deserve 4 stars. I've been a gamer since Asteroids was cutting edge, and can play witness to the amazing jumps in technology... This game (with it's very few, but MAJOR flaws) is a step in the right direction.
That said, the 'flaws' cannot be blamed upon the programmers, but the designers. There was some extremely poor decision making at the managerial level, and I fear that it will hurt the title.
I have played about 2 hours and have enjoyed (about 70% of it) IMMENSELY. The graphics are crisp and the action is really cool. They continue to have issues with face-mapping, clipping, and screen tearing, but, well, they chose to use the Unreal engine... You do the best you can with what you have, I guess.
PROS: (There are many)
BUGS: I bought the game the day after release and have not had a single technical issue. The menus are intuitive and useful.
HINTS: I love the cut-scenes and the hints written all over the place. It was a little distracting at first, but now that i'm used to it, it really adds to the game-flow.
DIALOG: I like that the NPCs have more than 1 or 2 sayings. In the past they have had 2 sentences that they repeat endlessly. This is an error that has been corrected and it really adds depth to the game.
SCENERY: The colors (when you're allowed to see them) are sharp and attractive. Color is what gives us depth-perception, and this game is rich and aesthetically very, very attractive... Most of the time.
CONS: (The list is short, but noteable)
STEALTH... The 30% where I'm in the shadows and the game goes monochrome and you lose your depth perception... Wait, MONOCHROME?!? Oh, give me a friggin' break... Really? That's the absolute BEST solution you could come up with? You couldn't put a sliding scale indicator on the screen somewhere? The folks that made this decision fully deserve three stars. You know, I've been in shadows before in the real world and looking at things OUTSIDE of the shadows did not cause me to go color blind. VERY distracting, unrealistic, and a game-killer for me.
PLEASE*PLEASE*PLEASE patch the game to allow those of us with binocular, color vision to turn this absolute MISTAKE of a feature off.
LANGUAGE: I have not played a game with as much profanity since GTA: San Andreas. I was not expecting it, and really, it takes from the game play. I'm not worried that it will influence the little children playing, because really, if you're young enough to be impressionable and your parents let you play this game, well, you're pretty much screwed up beyond return already.
I don't even mind the words, themselves, but rather the unrealistic volume of their usage... I'm an adult and I cuss, but I don't cuss because I need another word to go into a sentence to make it longer. It's like the writers went in and said, "Okay guys, we need to add 600 words to the script. Single-syllable, if at all possible... I KNOW! We'll just randomly add words that end in 'it', 'itch', and 'uck'!! Yeah, that will solve the whole problem!"
That's it. 2 CONS, and lots of PROS. 3 stars? Yep. They earned it. It's a shame, too, because the rest of the game is half a hair away from being bullet-proof. That said, I think I've had enough. I'm going to write this off as a $65 one-night rental and give it to a friend.
P.S. MONOCHROME?!?!? No, seriously, MONOCHROME??? Gimme' a break. | video-games_xbox |
A Step in the Right Direction. Concept: It's College Football!
Graphics: The graphics are much improved over last year's version. Animations have been updated, expanded and made smoother. Uniforms and equipment are much more detailed. There are still a few legacy issues that plague this game; such as players walking through the refs. There are few instances of the camera becoming pixilated in-between plays.
Pre-game cut scenes have been added in as well. You will now see players entering the field via the tunnels. You will also see team specific traditions such as rubbing Howard's Rock at Clemson and tapping the `Champion' sign at Notre Dame.
Sound: Everything sounds like it should; from the hard hitting sacks of the QB to the marching bands. The soundtrack, as with all installments of NCAA football, is limited to fight songs of all the schools.
Commentary is well done by Kirk Herbstreit and Brad Nessler. You won't hear anything new is this years version but everything is timely and spot on for the action on the field. Sideline reporting is done by Erin Andrews but her role is limited. There were games I played where I did not hear her voice once despite having several players suffer injuries that took them out of the game.
Playability: NCAA Football 2011 introduces the `Locomotion' system along with several much needed enhancements to recruiting.
The locomotion system uses the left analog stick to control the direction your player moves in while the right analog stick controls various skills moves such as a juke and truck. The button controls are used to execute spins, dives, stiff-arms and jumps. The system works well for those of you who like to run the football. It makes breaking and avoiding tackles much easier. You will definitely see a boost to your running backs yards per carry average.
The system also works for defensive players, especially linemen. It is much easier with the new system to shed a block and sack the quarterback. While playing offense you will have only a handful of seconds to find an open receiver and throw the ball to him. This can be frustrating if you have a poor offensive line.
Recruiting during Dynasty mode has taken a much needed turn for the better. The system is much more transparent now and uses a numbers system rather than the old `smiley face' system. It's a system that is much easier to understand and allows you to make better decisions on how much time to spend on any given recruit. The system is so transparent that you can even see how many points your school is lagging behind on any given recruit. This allows you to decide if it's time to remove your offer and focus your attention elsewhere or spend a full hour talking to that Blue-chipper.
Recruiting also no longer focuses solely on the speed attribute to determine the quality of recruit you're getting. All attributes are now put into play. You will need to spend time finding recruits that are not only fast, but agile and strong. This is a much more realistic simulation of recruiting.
Gone are the days of `Delay of Game' penalties because your team is lolly-gagging its way back to the line of scrimmage. With the push of a single-button you can force your team to hurry back the LOS. That's not to say you won't be hit with the occasional Delay of Game penalty, but it most likely won't be the computer's fault, it will be your own.
The playbook has been changed from a vertical system to a horizontal one. What I mean by this is that in previous versions of the game you pushed left and right on the D-pad in order to choose your plays. Now, you push up and down. It was confusing at first having used the old system for several years but I quickly got used to it.
You can choose from various play styles which represent the play styles used in the college game. You can choose from multiple style offense, spread, hurry-up and several others. Each style used in the game is specific to the style of play each school uses in real-life. This means you will have to adapt your own defensive style in order to counter the offensive style in question.
It seems that for every new feature that EA adds into NCAA football at least one is removed. This year is no different. Gone are the Bowl patches specific to each bowl game. While this isn't a huge setback considering all the new, and much needed, improvements, it is disappointing.
Also gone is the commentary of Lee Corso. While we all know he retired from broadcasting his voice is sorely missed in NCAA Football 2011.
Entertainment: It's College Football! Or did I mention that already?
Replay Value: NCAA Football allows you to play up to 60 seasons in dynasty mode. You can switch teams after each season if you so desire. So, it's up to you how many seasons you want to play through.
Final Thoughts: NCAA 2011 offers the player much needed improvements to the game. It's still not a perfect simulation but it is a huge step in the right direction.
Read This Review and Others Here: [...] | video-games_xbox |
Entertaining, although shallow, 360 RPG. I played the original Fable when it was released for the PC, and was pleasantly surprised. I remember thinking the original Fable was going to be the XBOX game that forced me into finally buying an XBOX...and unfortunately, the game did not live up the hype and I opted instead to wait for the PC release. I bring this up because in a lot of ways, Fable 2 is a disappointment considering the pre-release hype (something we can attribute to Molyneaux, I suppose) but is otherwise a fairly enjoyable experience.
The negative, to begin with - BUGS! Although I did not have as many problems as some of the other reviewers, there were a few missions where key personnel or items never appeared and a restart was required. Not from the beginning, thankfully, but I did lose about an hour of gameplay. I never tried co-op, however there were a number of bugs relating to that and people's character getting reset when they joined the game of a new player.
Gameplay itself is flawed in several aspects. Social interactions are never that complex, or as deep as they were advertised to be. You may have just slaughtered an entire village, but as long as you tell a few fart jokes everyone will still be in love with you. Combat is based on the premise of "anyone should be able to play at any time, regardless of experience" and is far too simple - I found myself doing the same ranged/spell/melee combination for 90% of the game. It's not that I was being cheap, but the fact that there really wasn't an effective alternative.
Speaking of combat, you'll be dealing with enough of it. One of the most annoying features is, like its predecessor, all of the enemies in a certain area will respawn once you leave that area. Combat's easy enough so that it's never a challenge, but it gets pretty annoying after the third time to kill the same exact bandits in the same exact spots.
The money system is incredibly flawed as well. Once you're able to rent out a few houses, money will flow in even when you're not playing, making jobs pretty pointless. Finally, and perhaps criminally, you can't get ALL of the achievements without dishing out some money to pay for the Pub Games. This isn't just a matter of buying DLC and the attached achievements, but an achievement that's unachievable in the core game without playing the stupid minigames.
But, despite all that, Fable 2 is still a fun, but mindless game. Once I was able to get over the hype I was able to enjoy the game a little more thoroughly. The story is pretty dull, but some of the characters you'll meet along the way are entertaining enough to make up for it. The "bread crumb trail" actually works pretty effectively, even though there are no quests complex enough that you actually require it. The moral choices through the game are usually pretty obvious, but as with the first one, it's interesting to see the initially subtle changes your character undergoes as you proceed through your character's life.
A lot of people hated the dog, but I found it was a nice addition to the game. No, I did not enjoy stopping every five minutes for something different to dig up, but the dog was somewhat useful in combat and made some of those re-treks through the largish world more bearable.
The game may be best as a rental, one of those games you and your buddy/significant other pick up over a long weekend with some junk food. However, there's enough content in there to go back and try it again, just to see what it's like to be a better/worse person. It definitely has its faults, but if you're looking for a decent Western RPG with a little bit of charm and simple enough gameplay, you may want to look into Fable 2. | video-games_xbox |
Refreshing. As you probably noticed by now by reviews, this game definitely isn't for everyone. The Rockstar label made alot of people expect Grand Theft Auto or Red Dead Redemption with a new skin. This is pretty far from those expectations, which will definitely turn alot of people away. A game market saturated with high action first person shooters and over the top visuals and gameplay, this game will be quick to be labeled "slow" or "boring". So, if you're looking for something like that keeps your heart at 1000bpm, do not buy this game. This game is slow paced with limited action, and requires somewhat good observation skills. This game relies on the fairly good story, fantastic motion capturing, and good acting performances to get you hooked. The Xbox 360 version of this does include 3 discs, which some wish to complain about, but this is also a pretty long storied game so if you can't get up to change a disc every 8 or so hours, then you need a new hobby. But the multiple discs also tells you how big this game really is. Once you start it up and see how seriously good this game looks, you'll understand. It feels alot like an interactive movie at times with how good the motion capturing for the characters are. Another thing is, playing this on Xbox 360, i'd highly recommend installing the game on your hard drive or a flash stick to help with minor framerate issues. Another downside most seem to have is, there isn't really any replay value, other than maybe getting 100% achievements. But, again that's why it's good that this game is as long as it is. Also, i'm not really a fan of multiplayer for games like this, so the game being focused on the single player experience is a plus for me, I wish more games were still like this today.
Overall, if you're looking for something truly different, not just the same game you've played countless times just in a different location, then I do recommend trying this out. I'd really like to see them expand on this game with a sequel in the future. | video-games_xbox |
I don't like it, I LOVE IT. I have been reading these reviews and am shocked at the reaction to this game. It seems to be a very polarizing or just a misunderstood project. To be clear, Titanfall IS the next great thing! It is revolutionary. It is the epitome of multiplayer. It is little new but full of things you already love and things you didn't know you love.
I don't want to rebut another's review, however, I feel compelled to reign in the rancor. The most popular review by 007, aka "cmyth007," is a poor representation of this product. In the review, it is said the customer knew this was a multiplayer-only game, but the customer praised the multiplayer aspects of Titanfall and faulted it for having no co-op or single player campaign. If you knew no co-op or singleplayer existed, why buy it to begin with if that's what you were looking for? It is also claimed that no multiplayer-only game is worth $60 or a 5-star review. It begs the question, why buy a game you knew was a multiplayer-only game if it wouldn't be worth the $60 you paid? An edit was added that then contrasted Titanfall to Gears of War 3. Gears of War 3 is the best third-person-shooter on Xbox 360. It was a huge game that vastly improved on its predecessors. But, is that a fair comparison? Wouldn't a more apt comparison be the original Gears of War? It was the first killer app for the Xbox 360 and had meager multiplayer offerings. The multiplayer on OG Gears was thrown-together and didn't acknowledge the Xbox Live platform: no party system, no matchmaking, and broken mechanics, i.e. invulnerable as you chainsawed enemies. Gears 2 and 3 fixed these problems and expanded the game. It would be safer to wait and compare Titanfall 3 to Gears 3.
To reiterate, Titanfall is an online-only multiplayer game. The campaign is multiplayer matches mixed with back-story. It has a few modes that are different twists on game types you are already familiar with if you've played any shooters recently. Attrition game mode is like team deathmatch, but NPC kills, Titan kills, and Pilot kills add to your teams total, each being worth a different number of points. Last Titan standing is a round-based mode where everyone begins the round in a Titan and must destroy the other team's Titans to win the round, whether you kill the pilots or not. Pilot Hunter is like Attrition, but only pilot kills add to your team's total points. Capture the flag is just that; get flag, return it to "base." Hardpoint is very similar to Domination in CoD or Territories in Halo. Three capture points are fought over in order to reach the time goal first. They recently added temporary game types starting with Marked for Death. This is my new favorite mode. One player on each team is Marked as the target; the goal? Kill the other team's marked man before your team's gets whacked. If you do, you get a point and new targets are selected. Get 10 points first, to win.
Titanfall includes things you have seen elsewhere, but few games have so many in the same game. As you play and rank up you unlock challenges to complete that net you more XP and Burn Cards (We'll get to those). As you focus on unlocking the challenges, you will rank up faster and unlock more gear for your Titan and pilot. You have seen similar set-ups in games like Call of Duty. But, Titanfall does something different from Call of Duty. When you prestige, or regenerate as it is called in Titanfall, you will be given a specific list of challenges to complete before you can regenerate again. It's a nice change. Not only do you need to put in time to rank up, you'll need to be SKILLED and unlock some very difficult challenges. The other change from the norm are the Burn Cards. These are brilliant little perks for unlocking challenges that give you one-time-use advantages in game. They can give you extended abilities, stronger weapons, free Titans, extra xp and faster titan build times. They burn up after one life or game with them. Only 3 can be taken in to each game, but since this last update, you can hold around a hundred at once if you are Generation 10. For folks who have said that Titanfall got old too fast, you're doing it wrong!
In Titanfall, there is so much happening at once on screen you will have a difficult time taking it all in at first. I think a lot of these negative reviews stem from that and misunderstanding the lack of singleplayer. You have drop ships flying over head dropping off more grunts, drop pods falling to the ground with more spectres, titans roaming and dropping in constantly, and pilots ziplining, wallrunning, double-jumping, shooting, etc. No call of duty or Gears has this kind of scope. Even with AC-130 gunships flying overhead, Titanfall has more action than any of those. I went back to play CoD Ghosts and felt like my character was stuck in mud the whole game. I used to think CoD was twitchy, nope, not anymore.
Respawn Entertainment just updated the Xbox One and PC versions of Titanfall. Now, they've added new customizations of titans and new burn cards and challenges. They updated the lobbies and menu screens. The game looks even better now! And, I have more to unlock. I have been taking my time with regenerating and love just playing to play. I am currently on Generation 9, working on my challenges for 10. I have loved my Xbox One and this game. Xbox Record That! is my new catchphrase.
Note: I have both the Xbox One version (downloaded from MS) and the 360 version (from Amazon). The Xbox one is the way to go. | video-games_xbox |
Too much hype, not enough delivery. I remember seeing the previews for this game several months ago and getting really excited. Gamers were promised in Two Worlds a title that would change the way RPG's are played; a dynamic and unique multiplayer experience, a living world that would respond to your actions like never before, and graphics that would set a new standard for the genre. For this reason, I foolishly decided to march up to the game store the day after it was released to pick up my copy. Unfortunately, Two Worlds delivers none of the above. On the surface, it would appear that the ideas that went into the creation of this game are good. I like the idea of a world that responds to your actions in a realistic way (though this is not necessarily a revolutionary concept). I also like what they tried to do with the alchemy system, weapon-stacking, and skill-based customization of your character vs. choosing a class from the beginning (i.e. fighter, magic-user, or rogue) and having to stick with it. The problem is in the execution. There's no other way to describe it. By today's standards, Two Worlds is poorly executed. Other reviewers have mentioned this, but one of the main problems seems to be that the game was ported from PC with minimal changes to make it more user-friendly for console gamers. The manual even contains references to the PC controls! This is unacceptable in a game for which you are charging your customers $60. It's simply incomplete.
Graphically speaking, the game is quite impressive; but only if you're standing still. I like that they are attempting to make the world more immersive by literally displaying every blade of grass as a single, kinetic entity. However, I've seen this done in other games on the 360 with more quality. I don't know much about the programming end of things, but it appears that this game falls short of the standard. The framerate, as other reviewers have mentioned, is REALLY bad. Some people may not notice the minute details, but I don't like seeing the small details like flowers and blades of grass appear "suddenly" as I travel. This doesn't look realistic and detracts from the immersiveness of the world. The character animations are acceptable but certainly not revolutionary. Some of the enemy animations actually look quite robotic and unnatural. The movement of your character is fairly limited (quite literally run, stand still, jump, or jump back). There really isn't even an ability to walk.
In regard to audio, I did enjoy the environmental sound effects while traversing the wilderness, i.e. birds chirping. The music was appropriate and sometimes even nice. However, as mentioned in almost every review of this game, the voice-acting is garbage. Producing a game is a form of art. Every detail should be considered. The voice-acting in this game is a side-note, an unimportant add-on. The attitude of the producers is very apparent in this terrible hybrid of modern North American dialect combined with Old and Middle English vocabulary. To hear someone who sounds like my uncle use words like "mayhap" and "perchance" infuriates me. In my opinion, if you're going to do something halfway, you should just not do it at all.
To me, the UI was counter-intuitive, particularly in regard to inventory management. I'm not sure what idea or set of ideas resulted in such a clumsy interface, but it just doesn't make sense. Icons are small, cursor moves too slowly, and you can't arrange your inventory the way you want it. The only way to arrange your inventory at all in Two Worlds is to use the tiny "auto-arrange" icon found at the bottom of the inventory grid. In addition, the time-tested standard that works is being able to grab and drag things to put them where you want. Not so in Two Worlds! You can't grab and drag anything. If you want it to be equipped, you move the cursor over the item and press X. If you want to use it in an alchemy preparation, you press A. If you want to combine items, you press Y, and THEN select the combine option by pressing X. This is silly! Was it a stylistic choice or just a way of making the game different? I don't know. The skill interface is difficult to understand, and skills are represented by tiny circles with indiscernible icons. Why can't I add a skill point to alchemy at the beginning of the game? I don't know. And no one else does either because it's not covered in the manual. I applaud a new interface that breaks from tradition, but please give us a decent tutorial that will help us understand it! The map interface is laughable. Who ever heard of an RPG with no compass? This is the common thread of my criticism of this game. Where Two Worlds attempts to recreate the standard, they fail. And where they simply borrow from the long legacy of the RPG genre, they also fail.
I found the controls, particularly in combat, to be very unresponsive. Melee combat is accomplished in Two Worlds by pressing the R trigger. If you press the R trigger multiple times, you're supposed to unleash a combo. This works about half the time. Sometimes your character completes the combo, sometimes he simply swings the weapon, and other times he does nothing at all. This results in little more than button-mashing in combat. Horse physics in this game are atrocious. Although I understand the logic that a player should really be commanding the character, who then commands the horse, this just isn't executed in Two Worlds in a way that is functional. Horse combat feels awkward. The advantage that being mounted should give is scarcely perceived, as I felt like a cripple most of the time trying to fight from horseback. I also didn't like that pulling back on the control stick would make the horse stop out of a full gallop, rather than slow him down steadily. This doesn't make sense and makes travel by horse very awkward, especially when you don't want to stop but just want to slow down to navigate a curvy road, for example. The alternative is to stop completely and then start over again to find the right speed.
I can't say much about the multiplayer experience but that it again just seems incomplete and unpolished. You can't actually go through the main quest with your buddies. You can join them in an "arena" which is a certain area of the map and do some of the quests that are native to that area, but that's it. In addition, the lag is terrible, to the point that the game just feels unplayable at times. You can't name your character, and since you start as a certain "class", your stats have been fixed and further customizability is limited, basically just that your character gets stronger in his chosen class.
I'm truly sorry that I paid full price for this game. I'm sorrier still that I lost $25 after trading it in just 8 days later. The game store says they can't offer a refund for a game because you just don't like it. In that regard, I guess buying any game is a calculated risk, because marketing teams are paid to make every game seem like the "next big thing." Unfortunately, this title was over-hyped and South Peak under-delivered. There is nothing new or revolutionary about Two Worlds. As a matter of fact, we don't even find old ideas executed well in this title. We end up with a half-produced and recycled mishmash of clunky interface plus mediocre gameplay. One star because that's where we start. Two stars because there are SOME redeeming qualities to this game (though few and far between). It's certainly worth a try. If you have the patience to work through all the problems, maybe you will find some enjoyment in this game. As for me, I want a game that captures my attention from the beginning and keeps me hooked by not throwing evidence of poor production my way at every turn. Did I have some moments of fun? Sure. Does Two Worlds even come close to the standard for RPGs on today's next-gen consoles? Absolutely not. What we gamers got instead was a lemon; a nice shell, a promise from a shrewd car-dealer, but underneath it all a faulty engine. Rent this title before you buy it. | video-games_xbox |
What's So Bad About It. This game isn't that bad. I mean , yeah , it's got some annoying parts to it , but it's over-all good. To appease the haters , I will start with the complaints.
All the characters have a HUGE mouth in the middle of their face ( as oppose to the side of their face , as it usually is) which looks ugly.
Tails runs slow and has bad attacks.
Soleanna. You are supposed to find certain things and places in the city but the city is huge and repeating , causing you to waist a lot of time trying to find something.
Load times. You have to wait around 30-45 seconds just for someone to tell you something like "Kill 30 Enemies" , a mere 3 second video of a sprite.
Elise (Need I say more?? But I will.) She is an annoying princess in love with Sonic (She is a human , by the way.) and is really just a portable damsel-in-distress for the game.
Rouge walks around nearly-topless the entire time except for the CG cutscenes (the ones not done by the sprites)which is disgusting , seeing that she's a bat and it's just inappropriate .
You REALLY have to be a dedicated Sonic fan and a dedicated gamer to beat this game.
OK , glad we got that out of the way. This game actually has some good to it. It's got good attacks , realistic-looking characters as far as Robotnik and his Badnik's are concerned , and fun bosses.
Silver is one of the few new characters that I have accepted , since I usually reject characters like Rouge and Cream .(To the Rouge lovers , I would accept her if she wasn't disgustingly exposed.) Of course with a new hero , comes a new enemy , Iblis. Thankfully , he doesn't appear in cutscenes much or have the character interaction that Robotnik has with Sonic , so he doesn't receive the hate I have for nearly all Non-Eggman enemies. Silver uses the Sonic equivalent of The Force , called Psycokennesis to destroy Eggman's Badniks , bosses , as well as Sonic , Shadow , and Iblis and his hoards of Badnik-like creatures.
Shadow takes on Mephelis , a freaky rock-ice-zombie-demon version of Shadow. He is the only Non-Eggman antagonist that I have accepted completely , though I'm glad he stayed in just the one game. Shadow's Episode is probably the most fun of the three , not because it's shadow , but because of its lack of insane difficulty and the length. Omega and inappropriate Rouge tag along and are played as , but Omega comes in later than Rouge.
Sonic fights Robotnik , Silver and Iblis. His main goal is to rescue Princess Elise , who Robotnik captures multiple times. Sonic , Shadow , and Silver's stories all intertwine ; they fight some of the same bosses , and have some of the same cutscenes in their Episodes. Of course , Chaos Emeralds play a big role in this game , but you collect them all in the "End of the World" Zone , just before you fight Solaris , a combination of Iblis and Mephelis , which looks like a big grey rock-bird and is also the final boss.
Let us now look upon the amazingly good parts of the game!
Nice and long.
Most levels have a good difficulty.
Good Robotnik and Mephelis Bosses.
Good Story.
ELISE DIES!!!! But so does Robotnik and Sonic goes back in time to save Elise from the crashing Egg Carrier , thus "saving" Robotnik as well.
Good Shadow and Omega levels and some fun in the Silver levels.
Good attacks.
Nice buyable things at the store.
Good graphics.
Badniks are cool.
Robotnik looks real , which is nice , but I'm glad it stayed here.
New abilities.
That's all I can think of as of now. This game is still fun besides its flaws. Play it open-minededly (if such a word could be used). Thanks for reading , GOD BLESS!! | video-games_xbox |
Great game, but the peripherals may cause you some problems. I have been following Harmonix games since their cult classic game Frequency. I've played every single Harmonix game since then including Amplitude, all of the Guitar Hero games and now Rock Band. Rock Band now has a tight grip on me and I don't see myself ever becoming bored of this amazing game. There is one major downside that prevented a 5 star rating, which I will discuss in a minute.
Harmonix really took a risk with this game. They are making a game that includes four peripherals. You get a guitar that is modeled after the Fender strat, you get a set of drum pads that include 4 pads and a kick pedal, you get a mic and finally you get a USB hub so you can plug everything in at the same time. The risk here is that with so many goodies, this game is above the average consumers comfort zone as far as price is concerned ($170.00 at the time of this review). That's a steep price for many but trust me when I say it's worth it!
Lets discuss each instrument before I talk about the game.
The guitar that comes with Rock Band is a bit different then the guitars that you may be used to if you play Guitar Hero. It looks different, it plays different and it has some cool new features. One of the coolest new features is the new buttons high on the neck. These allow solos to be played without strumming and also they make solos a bit more fun to execute. This guitar also has a switch that allows you to change effects such as reverb, flange, wah-wah, delay and a couple more. Some call this a gimmick, but I have great fun messing with this switch. The strum bar on this guitar is built so that it doesn't make that clicking sound like the previous guitars in the Guitar Hero games. I see a lot of people complaining about the new guitar because it feels quite a bit different. Personally I don't like the new strum bar because it feels very mushy and fragile.
The microphone that comes with this game is very simple yet elegant. This mic looks and feels just like a real mic, it doesn't feel cheap or fragile at all. This is probably the best looking/feeling mic I've seen in a video game, but that's just my opinion.
Ah, now the drums. I love the drums! You get an attractive set of four drum pads and a kick pedal. You can adjust the height of the drums and move the kick pedal wherever you like. There is some assembly required, but it's very easy to assemble and doesn't require any tools. The only issue with the drums is that the pads don't provide very much rebound and I'm constantly paranoid that I will break the kick pedal.
Before I talk about the game I want to mention why I couldn't give this game 5 stars despite being such a joy to play.
During the early releases of this game (at the time of this review) there have been so many technical issues with the instruments. Almost everyones guitar has had problems with the down strum mere hours into play, including mine. I know of a person that took their game back four times because the down strum simply stopped working! A lot of people have had problems with their drums as well, especially the wires that are soldiered on the bottom of the pad becoming disconnected. I took a look at my wires and they are very thin, cheap and just barely soldiered on. These drums should be designed to take a beating! Another major issue is the kick pedal snapping in half. I've taken great care not to press my pedal too hard and it always feels like it's going to break because it's made with very flimsy plastic. Some people may believe people are just playing the guitar too hard, but that's absolutely not the case. My original Guitar Hero guitar still works great and it's taken MUCH more abuse from friends and family over the years.
Right out of the box it's evident that they rushed this release for two reasons. First, when you open the box you see a big pink piece of paper that pretty much says "STOP! If you have problems with the instruments then please don't take them back to the store, contact this website". Second, I noticed that the back of the guitar has a slot for three batteries. The battery slot is useless because that is used for the PS3 version of the guitar so it can be wireless. The battery slot is pointless for XBox 360 owners, it's simply just sitting there, disconnected (I've opened up the guitar to verify). They simply took the same exact guitar, battery slot and all and just threw in a USB cord so it would work with the XBox. This leaves a lot of XBox 360 users confused.
This may have you wondering why I even gave the game four stars, there has been nothing but problems with the instruments. The reason is because they will have to build better instruments for this game to survive. They simply rushed this out the door and EA and Harmonix are paying dearly for that mistake. I'm sure they are doing everything they can to have these instruments built right or else they will be spending a lot of money replacing everyones gear. I imagine when I get my new instruments back they will be much better or else they will have to pay for another replacement and nobody wants to do that. I couldn't give five stars because of the initial heartache with the mechanical issues. I couldn't give less then four because later releases will be much better and three stars or less would be unfair because this game is so amazing! When everything is working right, it's the most fun you can possibly have in a video game - guaranteed (especially with multiplayer, more on that in a minute). Just be warned, if you buy this game before the 2007 holiday season there is a pretty good chance you will have issues. I imagine that early 2008 everything will be ironed out (hopefully you guys that buy this game as a gift for the holidays don't experience any issues!)
Now the game.
Really, what you're getting here is three games in one. You can do a solo career for any of the instruments, except the bass guitar. If you play solo mode then it's quite similar to Guitar Hero games. You start out in small venues playing easier songs and progress your way up through the ranks jamming in new venues and playing songs that are progressively harder to beat.
For the guitar and drums you play each note as it comes scrolling down the screen. If you're successful you can get the crowd really pumped and earn extra points. If you like singing then you must sing each note at the correct pitch to forge ahead. There is a visual indicator that lets you know if you're singing too high, or too low. If you play flawlessly then a multiplier will increase your score even more. If you play notes that are highlighted in white successfully then you can earn overdrive which nets you even more points. The overdrive mechanism is different for each instrument. For the guitar you lift your guitar vertically, much like you would to activate star power in the Guitar Hero games. For the drums you play a drum fill however you see fit but you must hit the cymbal at the end of the fill. For the microphone you just yell whatever you want!
Each instrument provides a unique solo-career mode. They are all the same in that you play songs that progressively become harder until you beat the game, but the unique feel of each instrument really makes Rock Band three games in one. Worth mentioning is that the order of songs is different for each instrument because what may be easy on the drums can be quite a bit more challenging on the guitar, or singing. The solo career for the guitar feels a lot like Guitar Hero games (especially Guitar Hero I and II), but this is not a bad thing.
Although I haven't played online I do know that you can play people in a few different games online. There is no tour mode (which i'll talk about in a minute) but you can rock with your online buddies, or play tug of war. In tug of war you each play the same instrument and whoever does better, wins! I cannot comment much about online play because I haven't played online at all, but I do know the real meat of this game is in the offline multiplayer tour mode. This is where most of the fun is at.
In the band tour mode you create a band with two to four players and rock out all over the globe. Your job is to earn money and fans and to progress further into your career as a band. At first you start out with nothing and you play a few local gigs. After awhile you earn a tour bus where you can gig around the states. Finally you earn a jet so you can travel around the world earning new fans and lots of cash to customize your characters (it's worth mentioning that the character customization is surprisingly deep). This mode is addictive, it's very easy to fall into that mode "lets just play one more 3 song set...". This can turn into a long, fun night of rockin' with your best friends and family. You will often see challenges which can net you more fans or money, such as 'if your band can play all x songs with an average of four stars then you earn twice as many fans, otherwise you get nothing'. This game really focuses on playing as a band. If one member isn't doing well they can bring the entire band down. Luckily if a band member fails then the other band members have a chance to save them if they are able to activate overdrive before it's all over. Each player can play on their own difficulty levels, however you can cap out your maximum number of fans if someone is playing on a lower difficulty level. You play your desired difficulty before each set, so once a weaker player becomes better they just increase their difficulty and you can begin to earn more fans. This endless band tour mode is easily the most solid mode in Rock Band, I believe with the right friends and/or family members this is the greatest fun you can have in a video game.
Okay, now for the sound and graphics.
The sound in this game is top notch. There are many great songs in this game and quite a few of them are done by the original artist. Amazon already provides a complete list of the songs that come with the game so I won't go through all of them, just check out the list! There has to be something you like. If there's not very much you like then don't worry, you can download new songs for about $2.00 a piece - a bargain if you ask me! There are a lot of great tunes available for download including my favorite at the time of this review "Ride The Lightning" by Metallica. They put up new songs every week. This is a great feature which is sure to keep this game fun for a very long time.
The graphics in this game are done very well. You probably won't notice the visuals too much because you'll be concentrating on your song, but what you do see is done very well. I especially like how the character animations are spot on, right down to their lip movement while singing. The graphics are a bit grainy (on purpose) giving the game a gritty, raw, hard rockin' feel.
In closing I want to say that this game is great. It's really too bad I keep having problems with the instruments that came with this game otherwise I would give Rock Band a perfect score. Already I've had problems with my guitar and my yellow drum pad suddenly stopped working. EA does a good job getting you new gear (free 2 day shipping if you have problems), however it is a bit scary because the warranty is only good for 60 days. Many people are having problems with the gear, so it's not just me. At the time of this review I am still waiting for my replacement drums to come in, I'll update this review when they come in and let you know if they are any better then the originals. If you are reading this before the holiday season of 2007 then I recommend you wait until all of the bugs are ironed out so you don't have as much heartache as I've had. Of coarse if you're impatient like me then just buy the game! With any luck you will not have any problems and if you do, hopefully they surface before the 60 day warranty is up! | video-games_xbox |
Not a Good Compilation; Not Good Games. Family Game Night one from XBox Live was great. The original versions of the games were well done and the new versions of each game added to the variety. They had replayability, ease of play and most importantly fun going for them. There is a reason that these 10 games were not included in the original set and are crammed together on this hastily compiled edition: they aren't much fun.
One thing that the original game did poorly was presentation. The long load times to load the game, get through the menus, to load each game all took too long. Mr. Potato Man was not a benefit but popped up and hindered game play. Fortunately, you can turn him off for many of the games. This game, Collections 2 and 3, suffer from the same issues plus the two games are not combined on the disc and you have to quit one then load the second. It makes little sense since the XBox Live version of the first game had a tiled wall and the extra games would just add to the wall (your menu.) Why couldn't all ten of these games be added to one wall?
Unfortunately, game play isn't great either. As you would expect, there is no way to play the original versions of some of these games. How can you play Twister on your TV? You can't so it's now just a button pushing game. Jenga tries to work, but real gravity and real touch cannot yet be replicated. So we get new versions of the games, which are really just the name of the game with a what-could-be-done mini game. Disappointing.
The game comes with Operation, Jenga, Bop-It, Connect 4x4, Pictureka, The Game of Life, Clue, Twister, Mouse Trap and Yahtzee Hands Down but the best of the games, Connext and Pictureka can be downloaded on XBox Live and added to Family Game Night one. But even the best games on this compilation fall flatter than a ruined game of Jenga after just a few minutes of play. If you don't believe me then download the demos on Live Marketplace.
If you want board games to play get the real ones. If you must have them for your Xbox 360, then get Family Game Night one from the Xbox Live Marketplace. I don't recommend this game. | video-games_xbox |
Power of The Force. Star Wars: The Force Unleashed is an amazing game that any fan of the Star Wars movies can enjoy. The story takes place between Episodes III and IV, and you play as Darth Vader's secret apprentice, Starkiller.
The gameplay is heavy on the action, with an emphasis on using your force powers. You'll also be using your lightsaber a lot, which is fun. You'll get to shock several enemies at once with force lighting, force push enemies into walls or force fields (destroying their bodies instantly), pick up and throw enemies, pick up an enemy and impale them with your lightsaber, or throw your lightsaber like the world's baddest boomerang.
All the while, you'll be leveling up your force powers and your abilities, plus unlocking new moves and combos. Even after you've beaten the game, you can start a new game with all your current stats, and continue to level them up until you've finally maxed out all your powers and created the ultimate Sith.
The story in this game is just great, I'd even say better than some of those prequel movies. The characters come to life with great animation and voice acting. It's just a great Star Wars story from start to finish, and has two different endings.
The graphics in this game are great too, with diversity in the worlds you travel onto. You'll travel to the Wookie homeworld, to a planet made of giant plant life, to a planet that is nothing but a giant junk yard, to inside a Tie fighter factory, and even into the Death Star itself. Some of these worlds you'll end up going to twice, but you're not backtracking through the exact same level as before. It'll be a new level, just on the same world. And especially if you have an HDTV, you'll defiantly be in for a treat visually.
Unfortunetly, the game is rather short. It should only last around 6 hours or so. So it's a bit of a quick wham bam thank you ma'am type of game. You'll be wishing there was more by the end of it, or wishing they had thrown in a couple of more levels to help make it longer. But like I said before, you can always play through again and continue to level up and to get the alternate ending.
If you're a Star Wars fan and love video games, then this is a great game to own. The story is awesome and shouldn't be missed, and using the powers of the force to throw around storm troopers like little ragdolls shouldn't be missed. The game also has several different difficulty levels, so you should be able to find just the right setting that balances out enjoyment with challange. | video-games_xbox |
Do you smell CPU comebacks. Do you love the old 8 and 16 bit days where you would just be annihilating said computer controlled opponent, only to have them come back at the end and pull off this ridiculous victory? Ah...welcome back!
CPU controlled opponents are ridiculous in 3 and 4 way matches. In three way matches, the CPU will largely ignore each other and focus on you. One AI opponent will literally follow right behind the other opponent and not strike them if they are looking for you. It's pretty ridiculous. In four way matches, one AI opponent will beat down another AI opponent while you wrestle the other. The AI opponent receiving the beatdown from the other AI opponent will pretty much not fight back, ensuring that you will still have at least one opponent with nearly full health to battle.
Collision detection is pretty wonky on characters and it is my biggest gripe in the game. If you attack them when they are getting up, they will not take any damage. If you fly off the top rope at them and then are in the middle of getting up, they will take no damage. Except sometimes, if you time it right, they will take no damage while getting up but then when they stand up they will fall over, like some kind of delayed contact. Looks terrible. Sometimes if you are REALLY lucky you will get a magical flying character. What I mean is, I was Randy Savage and I was on the top rope, just about to jump off. HBK punched me in mid air just as I jumped and Savage fell over but glided across the ring in mid air, like some kind of floating genie on a carpet and then fell over the turnbuckle on the other side of the ring.
Load times are bad if you turn on ring entrances. If you turn them off the load times are totally fine. The "action" in the ring is not as fast as I expected but it seems to be better than in the demo. I've no opinion about the create a wrestler because I did not try it and I do not care about making my own wrestler. If accessorizing is that important to you then maybe you should put down the wrestling games and go get some Barbie's to play dress up with.
I imagine this game is crazy fun with a group of friends or maybe over Live. But the CPU drives me absolutely bat**** insane with its lame comebacks, non stop reversals (I'm looking at you Rock), and ability to do special moves without having their special meter charged up. I want to give this a 3.5/5. But there are no half numbers at Amazon so I will give it a 4/5 because it is a wrestling game that does not suck and that is impressive.
Oh, and I will admit that nailing Andre the giant with the Macho Man's flying elbow finisher to score a KO was probably the most satisfying gaming experience I've had this year. | video-games_xbox |
Mediocre, open world RPG. The bad:
The game doesn't feel like a finished product. I think they probably released it too early or they didn't do enough QA. Not sure how anyone could possibly miss the breast twitching bug. The combat system is incredibly frustrating. It's hard to get your moves off in melee combat because it makes you stand still which is totally stupid. Sword fighters in real life are perfectly capable of swinging their swords while dodging and moving around. So I'm not sure why PB would put such a stupid limitation on their combat system because it's totally unrealistic. The character models are way too redundant. You see the same people with the exact same face or exact same hair all over the place. Voice acting is sub par... especially for the main character. Also there is zero character customization. IMO, open world RPGs should always have character customization.
The good:
It's a big open world full of places to scavenge. Even with the bad voice acting, I still enjoy doing the quests. It's sort of like if you mixed Skyrim and Fallout but you only did it with only B-movie level quality. Ranged combat is playable. The story is very open-ended and your choices make a big impact on the game. The open ended story line and how the player choices effect things is probably what they did best in this game IMO. It kind of reminds me of the old KOTOR games on original Xbox in that regard.
Final Verdict:
If you aren't a huge fan of the Gothic series or other PB games then it's probably not going to be worth the $50-60 price tag. Wait til it goes down into the $20-30 range but only buy it if you don't have anything better to play. If you need something to fill some time and you enjoy open world RPGs then it would be worth it after the price comes down. It's not an epic, greatest hit like Skyrim or the Witcher. If you go into it expecting it be the greatest game ever then you are going to be disappointed. It's a mediocre open world RPG. I enjoy open world RPGs enough that I even enjoy the mediocre ones like this one. So it works if you love that genre. Just manage your expectations. | video-games_xbox |
This game is AWESOME. Okay, first you can totally believe the hype that surrounds this game!
If you like horror based games (RE, AITD, etc...) this is a great game for you, but even if you don't like horror games, you will find plenty to challenge and thrill yourself with while playing through this game.
The mall and surrounding area that you can explore is huge, which is where it seems games are going (Huge maps, lots to explore, tons of enemies, hundreds of weapons - we've seen it before, but not quite like this).
The battle axe, shotgun, chainsaws, and katana are the best weapons in the game. I also like the idea of being a journalist and having to take pictures. It's fun to look back at the the photos and reflect on things that you did in the game that you snapped pictures of. I love this concept, but sometimes I get so into what I'm doing I forget to snap pictures.
It would be interesting to see other games using the journalist/camera/take pictures idea.
Maybe a crime scene investigator or something like that. Imagine a creepier version of Seven (the movie) in a video game, that would rock!
I've even read online that if you kill the population of this town (53,000-ish) you unlock a tank!
I'm almost through the game, and I've spent plenty of time killing zombies, but I'm barely hitting the 4,000 mark.
(!)
To kill 53,000 would take a while and probably be boring to accomplish, but hey, you do get a frickin tank!
The replay value is extremely high, alternate endings, different outcomes, unlockables, etc... (Thanks Capcom!)
There are missions and survivors to rescue, but there's also tons of fun areas to explore and plenty of time to fart around the mall.
Walking between stores and dressing your character as a child or a woman is fun at first, but once this game grips you, you'll forget about shopping and you'll get locked into an addictive game that you'll be thinking about and planning what to do next, even when you're not playing it.
I've caught myself at work thinking about where to go, who to rescue, etc...
Also, if you're a horror fan like me (I love the Romero movies, and zombie movies in general), you'll find yourself getting hooked from the start, with plenty of surprises around the corners.
I've noticed that during intense sequences, my heartrate goes up, my hands get sweaty, and sometimes I found myself standing in the middle of a sea of zombies armed with only one baseball bat, when it finally breaks and there's nothing around the immediate area to defend yourself with, I usually started running and squirming like a little school girl to get away from the zombies, fleeing to a nearby sporting good store for a fresh baseball bat or the nickknack shop for a sword or axe.
Once I'm armed again, it's back to slaying zombies. FUN!
Great game!
I also like the idea of using time and having to check your wristwatch, it kind of drives the whole game and makes you have to hurry to the next area or safe zone to see what happens next. Great concept!
You won't be let down, it's fun, addictive, and best of all creepy.
YES, thank you Capcom, may I have another?
Bring on the horror games and more zombies please!
RE5 is going to be so awesome, I can't wait!
Dead Rising is simply an amazing game!
Worth every penny of $60.
But it now, you can thank me and Capcom later... | video-games_xbox |
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